INTRODUCTION
Child crime.
Leave the house, leave the Lord.
SERMON
THE ROLE OF CHRISTIAN CHILDREN. Verses 1-3
A. OBEY YOUR PARENTS. Verse 1.
1. In the original text the word which is translated “obey” comes from two words, under and to listen. A rigidly literal translation could be to listen under. What is in view here is a conscious and deliberate listening, listening so as to really hear
2. God’s word of wisdom to children is simple: Children, obey your parents in the Lord. It is a simple and straightforward word. How it is needed! I know this might be a shock to you, but children don’t always obey their parents! I heard of a mother who was asked by her three children what she would like for her birthday. She answered, “Three well-behaved children.” One of the children thought about her words for a moment and said, “Great! Then there will be six of us.”
3. PROVERBS 6:20 My son, observe the commandment of your father And do not forsake the teaching of your mother;
4. PROVERBS 23:22 Listen to your father who begot you, And do not despise your mother when she is old.
5. WHY OBEY YOUR PARENTS?
a. It is commanded by God!
b. COLOSSIANS 3:20 Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord.
c. For your own well-being and safety!
B. HONOR YOUR PARENTS. Verse 2.
1. To honor means to place value on, to put a price on.
2. It is not enough to just do what your parents say, but you must value them and respect their position.
3. Exodus 20:12 gives a promise for the person who honors their parents.
a. The promise is two-fold. The first aspect of the promise is that it may be well with you. The second aspect of the promise is that you may live long on the earth. In other words, if you honor and obey your parents, life will be less a hassle and they won’t kill you. Quite a promise! Seriously, God does promise that life will be easier if we obey our parents. Hassles at home will be fewer, and life will have a more peaceful and joyous quality to it. Generally, this will result in a longer and healthier life.
4. You have a choice to make as a child, you can obey God or disobey. If a parent is trying to lead a child to sin, then they are to obey God as we are to do in all areas of submission.
5. The children’s rights movement has done nothing except to try to undermine the home. Parents do not have the right to beat and mentally torture their children, but they have a God given responsibility for their upbringing in the Lord!
THE ROLE OF CHRISTIAN PARENTS. Verse 4
A. DO NOT PROVOKE YOUR CHILDREN.
1. One way is through unreasonableness.
2. Fault-finding is another way in which we can provoke our children.
3. A real cause of provocation is inconsistency.
4. I believe one of the leading causes of angry, rebellious children is parents who do not demand obedience. There is a fascinating dynamic at work here. A subtle deception is perpetrated on parents which leads us to believe that if we capitulate to the demands of our tantrum-throwing kids, they will be happy, not angry. After all, they do seem very angry when they are throwing their tantrums. Don’t we just add to their angry behavior when we don’t let them have their way? But this is the deception. When we do not demand obedience from our children, and let them have their way every time they throw a fit, we simply reinforce and encourage angry behavior as a means for them to get their way.
5. Colossians 3:21 gives us the reason for not provoking our children:
Fathers, do not exasperate your children, that they may not lose heart.
B. DISCIPLINE YOUR CHILDREN IN THE LORD.
1. What is discipline?
a. It means to teach. It is the same root word as disciple.
b. Discipline is not senseless beatings. It is designed to teach.
c. It has the flavor of pointing out what is wrong and correcting the action.
d. PROVERBS 19:18 Discipline your son while there is hope, And do not desire his death. There is proper timing for discipline. You will not be successful if you wait until you kids are problem teenagers. Discipline must start at an early age.
2. Why discipline?
a. HEBREWS 12:11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
b. PROVERBS 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.
c. 2 TIMOTHY 3:15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
d. Eli who was the priest and prophet before Samuel ruined his family because he did not discipline his sons.
C. INSTRUCT YOUR CHILDREN IN THE LORD.
1. We’re not only told to discipline our children but that we should give them instruction of the Lord. What is meant by instruction is both verbal information and verbal warning. The word literally means “to place before the mind.” Instruction contains the idea of teaching and also the element of confrontation. We must share with our children both the blessings of serving Jesus and the hazards of failing to do so.
2. Instruction is teaching that regulates character.
3. READ 1 Samuel 3:11-13 This passage is interesting because the Greek word for “rebuke” in the Septuagint is the same root as the word for “instruction” here in Ephesians 6:4. Instruction means that at times we must aggressively confront our children with the truth.
4. DEU 6:7 You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.
5. Whatever we do, however, it is our responsibility to nurture, train, and instruct our children in what it means to follow Jesus. The greatest gift we could ever give our children would be a desire to know Jesus. To do that we must use every opportunity to share with them by our lips and lives just how important Jesus is to us. As we live before them, honestly admitting our faults and mistakes, genuinely seeking to be all God would have us be, then we will be doing all we can do to assure that one day they will come to know Jesus.
CONCLUSION
Say, are you bringing your children up in the "nurture and admonition of the Lord"?
There’s a wide-eyed little youngster
Who believes you’re always right;
And his ears are always open,
And he watches day and night;
You are setting an example
Every day in all you do,
For the little one who’s watching
To grow up and be like you!
