I found myself torn between two topics I felt led to preach on this week, but I believe the Lord used elder Jermaine’s last sermon to help me decide.
I don’t know what part of that message resonated with you; but for me, the most powerful point that he brought out was this: Speaking of the great flood and also the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah he said, not only did adults perish in those terrible judgements of God, but “small children and even infants were also destroyed because of decisions that grown folks made...”
This is so important for us to realize, because not only were and are children dying every single day in our world because of decisions that adults make, but, even more tragically, they are also losing their salvation, in part because of something an adult in their lives either did or failed to do…
As you may recall, I’ve mentioned more than once how much spiritual danger our children are facing, particularly in the day and age in which we are now living. But today, I want to do more than merely mention it. Because, you see, now more than ever, there is an intense, psychological and spiritual battle for the custody of the minds, bodies and souls of our children.. And yet many Christian parents aren’t even aware that this battle is going on. And so, little by little they are unwittingly giving up custody of the very minds and souls of their children to others.
Let me put it bluntly, the devil knows his time is short, and he’s fighting, tooth and nail every day to get spiritual custody of our children, and he’s using worldly entertainment, social media and even our own government to do it.
Our president came on television the other week and said something that didn’t surprise me, but it did disturb me. He said this; “There’s no such thing as someone else’s child; I mean that, there’s no such thing as someone else’s child; our nation’s children are all our children..”
Now, you may be tempted to think he simply meant that we should all “care for one another’s children,” and maybe that is what he meant; but judging from a lot of recent legislation and things being taught in public schools and government subsidized universities, he thinks the government has the right to teach, influence and even groom our children to accept and take part in activities and lifestyles the Bible clearly condemns as sinful.—and they’re doing it without the consent or knowledge of the parents.
In short, they think they have custodial rights in raising our children. Whether we choose to acknowledge it or not, we are in a custody battle.
Don’t misunderstand me here; I am not getting political, I don’t care who is in the White House—Democrat, Republican, or Communist… sin must be exposed for what it is and decisively condemned wherever it is—especially when that sin threatens the spiritual welfare of our children.
Some of you may remember that it wasn’t that long ago that the most spiritually dangerous thing our kids had to face in a public school setting was the teaching of evolution. I long for those days!!.. Today, they have to deal with the constant promotion of the LGBTQ lifestyle, this trending gender identity nonsense,—with some children and adults even identifying as pets…..and our children are continually subjected to a false narrative about racial and ethnic inequality that intentionally promotes division and animosity.
And because true biblical Christianity clearly denounces this godless ideology, Christianity itself is not only being mocked and derided, but now it has virtually been labeled a religion of intolerance and hate…
Many, if not most of you young people listening to me right now, have already been exposed to a lot of propaganda from school, Hollywood and social media. Propaganda that is meticulously designed to lead you to believe that Christianity—especially conservative, Bible believing, commandment keeping Christianity—is antiquated, narrow minded and intolerant.
And sadly, the vast majority of our young people are actually buying this lie. And why? I believe it’s in large part, because of things adults did and or failed to do in their lives…
But I’m not here today merely to point out this very serious and urgent threat, I want us to look at some powerful Biblical safeguards and strategies we can utilize to actually strengthen, equip and protect our precious children from being psychologically and spiritually abducted.
To begin with, we need to realize one very important fact: the president was right when he intimated that our children are not solely our children—he was right about that, but he was dead wrong to imply that we share custody of our children with the government or society at large. Our children are actually God’s children first, and as parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, God has given them into OUR custody to nurture, protect and raise them to know Him as their heavenly Father.
And I believe we, as parents will be held accountable if we fail to take this responsibility seriously. Jesus said, “if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone tied around his neck and be thrown into the depths of the sea..” (Matthew 18:6; Mark 9:42; Luke 17:2)
So, what steps can we take to ensure we retain full earthly custody of our children?
Let’s begin with a very broad but powerful admonition we often hear quoted from Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
“Train up”…training is not easy—say if one was to train for an Olympic sport; that phrase brings to mind words like; commitment, hard work, consistency, diligence, sacrifice and determination…
Ephesians 6:4 “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 “4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”
Teach them the Word of God, teach them that this book is God inspired, infallible and timeless. Encourage them to memorize Scripture and show them how to apply those Scriptures to their own lives. Show them the Word of God is relevant to their lives—in fact it should be the great roadmap of life that leads them through this life and into the life beyond.
Constantly explain to them how the beauty, majesty, diversity and interdependence of all of creation is God’s handiwork.
Help them to understand that they themselves are gifts from God and that they were created in His image. Teach them that Jesus desperately loves them—even when they make mistakes..
Teach them reverence for the holy things of God, such as His name, His Word, His Sabbath, His House, Teach them that their bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and should never be defiled—they should never poison them with drugs or alcohol, or mark them up or carve them up—no matter what the current trend is.
Teach them that there is an enemy that prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. teach them that “friendship with the world is in fact, enmity with God.”
The greatest thing you can do for your child is not a stellar academic education, it’s not having a dozen or so extracurricular activities, it’s not even the million dollars you leave them when you’re gone..... the greatest thing you can do for your children is to guide them into a close personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And you don’t have to be a Bible scholar to do this, because the very best way to teach them is by example... (Does your family pray and study God's Word together? Do they see you setting aside time for your person Bible study and prayer? Do they know by how you prioritize your time and finances that you put God first? Do they, even when things aren't going great in your life, see Christ in you??)
John 10:10 Speaking of the devil, Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.”
Yeah, I’ll say it again; the devil prowls around like a roaring lion; seeking whom he may devour…” I’ve watched enough nature documentaries to know how lions usually hunt. They are constantly sizing up the herd, looking first for the very young, the vulnerable. Then they try and distract the adults while separating the little ones from the herd....
I’m sure you remember the tragic mass shooting two years ago at Robb elementary school in Texas where 19 innocent children and 2 teachers were brutally killed. As you may recall, there was and still is a lot of controversy surrounding that terrible incident. Investigators found two preventable mistakes made at the school that day that allowed a bad situation to become much, much worse. 1. There was a door left open. It appears that a teacher had left her phone in her car and went to get it. She didn’t want the security door to close and cause her to have to walk all the way around to the front of the school, so she propped the door open while she was gone. There was no malicious intent, she wasn’t going to be very long, and she certainly would not have done that if she had known what was about to happen.
But the door was left open, and that open door was used by a deranged killer to gain access to innocent children.....
Are we, as parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles leaving any doors open by which the enemy could have access to our children?? (internet, social media, movies, the wrong crowd of friends)
2. Police were on the scene but waited way too long before going in and neutralizing the threat. They were waiting for backup while innocent children were being killed. Those who were supposed to protect those children didn’t act swiftly and decisively enough. Sadly, so many Christian parents today are doing the same thing; they see their kids involved in certain things that threaten their spiritual welfare, but they delay in talking with them about it, hoping it will resolve on its own or that their faith is strong enough to withstand it. Worse still, they are oblivious to what their kids are being exposed to.
Do your best to know what’s going on in your child’s life. Ask them what they are learning in school, warn them of some of the lies they are likely to be told; help them to be on the lookout for anti-Christian propaganda and help them to know how to stand firm in the truth...
We could go on and on, but I need to close. And I want to leave you with three short but important points:
1. Remember, your children are God’s children; He loves them even more than you do, and He is eager to work together with you to do everything possible to guide them into the way that leads to life.
2. No matter if your child is now a senior citizen and has left the faith, and there seems to be little hope that he or she will return, as long as they are alive, there is hope.
3. As you put into practice all these things we’ve talked about today, bathe them all in PRAYER. Pray with and for your children because prayer offered in faith demolishes the strongholds of the devil and unlocks the mighty power of God!
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