NOT… How to Raise Good Kids
BUT…How to Raise God’s Kids
TEXT:
Psalm 127:3 = Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
INTRODUCTION:
Our text today reminds us of some wonderful basic truths regarding the family:
1.)
God is the founder of the Home.
a.
He made the 1st man and woman
b.
He brought them together
c.
He performed the 1st marriage ceremony
d.
He gave them simple, and concise, instructions on how to live with one another and get along
2.)
God intended for one man and one woman to spend one lifetime together in wonderful harmony serving
Him.
a.
He designed marriage to meet man’s deepest needs
b.
He intends for the home to be a little taste of heaven on this earth.
i.
A sanctuary
ii.
A haven of rest, peace, harmony, and fun
3.)
God created us in such a fashion that families could (if He so chose to do so) be rewarded with
the extra special blessing of children.
Psalm 127:3 = Lo, children are an heritage
of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
NOTICE: The word “heritage” is simply the word “inheritance” = a portion or an heirloom passed
down from one generation to the next.
THINK: When we got saved, God promised us all a special future inheritance:
·
A home in heaven (i.e. a mansion; not a room)
·
A new body – free from sin and the curse of sin
·
Eternal Life with Him (at death or the Rapture)
·
His unfailing, unending Comforting Presence
ALL of these things are part
of our spiritual inheritance!
NOW…
for some families God blessed them (ahead of time) with the inheritance of children!!
What does this mean?
1.)
Children are gifts/rewards from the Lord!!
a.
They are not accidents.
b.
They are not incidents of some kind of evolutionary process.
i.
They have a Divine Creator!
ii.
They are here by Divine design.
iii.
They have a Divine purpose.
2.)
Children are a heritage of the Lord!!
a.
They came from God!
b.
They belong to God!
i.
Your children are NOT your own
ii.
You have been entrusted with these gifts!
iii.
You have been favored with these gifts!
KEY POINT: SO… what does this all mean? Since these children (living in my home) are God’s children; parents have an obligation to raise them God’s
way!!
· The goal of every Christian parent should NOT to be to rear a "good kid"!!!
· The goal of this message is NOT to teach you how to rear a “good
kid”!!!!
· The goal of Christian parenting is NOT to have students who are excelling academically
· The goal of Christian parenting is NOT to have children who are great athletes
· The goal of Christian parenting is NOT to have children who grow up and excel in business – and
fall prey to materialism
· The goal of Christian parenting is to equip our children, these young saints, "for the work of the ministry" (Ephesians 4:12,
· The goal of Christian parenting is to train them to love God, serve God, and be useful to their God!!
How does a Christian parent know that they are succeeding as a “Christian” parent?
- when your children get saved
- when your children show that they love God
- when your children pray on their own
- when your children love to serve the Lord
- when your children love to tell others about Jesus
Who cares if your child made the team?
Who cares if your child made straight A’s?
Who cares if your child graduated with honors?
Who cares if your child was voted “Most Likely to Succeed”?
Who cares if your child is making a lot of money? (Now…that’s important because that will
determine what kind of Nursing Home you go to later on!)
But if your child doesn’t love God; doesn’t
serve God; doesn’t 1/2-way come to church; doesn’t read his/her Bible; and hasn’t ever led a soul to Jesus
Christ (or even tried) – IT SEEMS TO ME THAT YOU HAVE FAILED AS A “Christian”
PARENT!
WHY? Because we’re NOT just trying to raise “good
kids”; we’re trying to rear “God’s kids”!
OUR
TEXT: Psalm 127:3 = Lo, children are an heritage
of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
Do you understand that Satan has always tried to steal what belongs to God?
·
He tried to steal away God’s throne.
o He wanted to be
like the Most High.
o He wanted to ascend
up to the level of God.
·
He even tried to take away heaven from our God.
·
He tries to steal away the glory of God – and let us take some
for ourselves.
·
He tries to steal away the Word of God when it’s planted into
a tender heart. (And if the devil can’t steal the Word; he’ll try to distort and corrupt the Word!)
·
He tries to steal God’s churches.
·
He tries to steal the blessings God desires to give to us.
MARK THIS DOWN (and listen carefully): Satan is doing everything he possibly can to steal God’s kids!!
·
I’m talking about the little ones in your home.
·
They are God’s inheritance.
·
They are gifts entrusted to your care
·
Satan would give anything to steal their lives and their precious
souls!
I believe that there are five shields that Christian parents can place around their children to keep them from being
stolen by the devil:
# 1 = The Shield of Prayer
EXAMPLE of the Canaanite Woman (Mt.
15:21-28):
1.
Her daughter was “grievously vexed with a devil”
2.
She came to the Lord for help.
3.
She clung to the Lord.
4.
She would not be pushed away by uncaring disciples (hypocrites in the church / unkind people)
· Make sure your children hear you pray, and in your prayer let them hear you calling their
name to God.
· Teach your children how to pray.
· A mother’s prayers can shield your child from all the things you haven’t even dreamed to warn them
about!
# 2 = The Shield of Love
· Children need to be secure in their parent’s love
· How many children live in homes where there is constant fussing and fighting????
· Make sure you tell your children you love them often and consistently.
· Make sure your children hear you and your wife tell each other that you love each other.
EXAMPLE: of the prodigal
son (Luke 15) = he knew he was welcome back home!!
# 3 = The Shield of Discipline
Proverbs 29:15 & 17
The goal of Christian parenting is to develop Godly character! This is done with the proper use of the rod and of reproof!
· A child must learn to obey the first time. A child must learn never have to be told more than once
to obey.
o Start while they are young!
o “Better for
the child to weep now; than for the parent to weep later.”
o You have to insist (demand) “prompt obedience with respect”
· Make sure to discipline correctly and consistently.
o NOT in temper and in anger
o NOT inconsistently – which is confusing to the child
and provokes them to wrath (Eph. 6:4)
EXAMPLE: of Susannah
Wesley: “In order to form the minds of children,
the 1st thing to be done is to conquer their will, and bring them to an obedient temper… I insist upon conquering
the will of (my) children… as self-will is the root of all sin and misery… Heaven or hell depends on this alone…”
EXAMPLE: John R. Rice:
“Happy is the child who learns early in life
that sin brings trouble.”
· Do not coddle them or smother them.
· Be their parent; NOT their best buddy
· NEVER abuse
them!
· Teach your child how to concentrate. (Wean them off the media.)
· Spank when necessary (in the proper loving manner) (Don’t
listen to the world’s psychologists!!!)
o Proper spanking takes away pride and stubbornness
o Proper spanking takes away rebellion
o Proper spanking creates a tender heart
o Proper spanking teaches respect for authority
o Proper spanking ultimately creates a reverence for God!
# 1 = The Shield of Prayer
# 2 = The Shield of Love
# 3 = The Shield of Discipline
# 4 = The Shield of Spiritual Training
II Chronicles 20:13 = And all Judah stood
before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
·
Be in church together at every service!!
Deuteronomy 6:4-7
·
Teach your child the Bible stories – at home.
·
Teach your child the great doctrines of the Bible!
·
It is a shame the children know more about TV than they do about
the Word of God!
·
Have a family altar.
·
Make sure your children are educated
in a Biblical, Godly, Christian, wholesome atmosphere. (i.e. “home”)
·
Train them how to serve the Lord! Disciple your family!
·
Guard them from evil influences:
o Television
o Worldly music
o Wrong friends
o Ungodly influences
o “dating mentality”
o Worldly values and morals
# 1 = The Shield of Prayer
# 2 = The Shield of Love
# 3 = The Shield of Discipline
# 4 = The Shield of Spiritual Training
# 5 = The Shield of a Godly Example
EXAMPLE of Timothy’s mom and grandmother:
II Timothy 1:5 = When I call to remembrance
the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded
that in thee also.
MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT: If you do all the things
we’ve talked about thus far, and your children see that you don’t really love God yourself – you will have
sufficiently ruined your chance to influence their life!!
You can’t give them something you don’t have yourself!
You can’t teach them to love God if you don’t love God!!
Our children need to
see us living what we teach and preach!!
· Make sure your children see you obeying God!
· Make sure your children see you give out gospel tracts to others.
· Make sure your children see you praying
· Make sure your children see you giving back to God!
· Make sure your children see you praying for the lost!
· Make sure your children see you giving thanks to God
· Make sure your children see you live a holy, separated life
· Make sure your children know your testimony of salvation.
· Make sure your children know that God means more to you than anything else in life!
CLOSING EXAMPLE:
How many of you have heard about a degenerative disease called “polio”?
“Polio”
= (“infantile paralysis”) a terrible, crippling disease that struck
so many kids, teens, and adults in the early 1900’s.
1894 - The first major polio epidemic reported in the United States occurs in Vermont, consisting of 132 total cases,
including some adults.
1916 - There is a large outbreak of polio in the United States. Though the total number of affected individuals
is unknown, over 9,000 cases are reported in New York City alone. (with 2,343 deaths) Attempts at controlling the disease
largely involve the use of isolation and quarantine -- neither of which is successful.
1921
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt contracts polio and
is left with severe paralysis.
1934 - There is a major outbreak of polio in Los Angeles. Nearly 2,500 polio cases are treated from May through November
of that year at Los Angeles County General Hospital alone.
1945 - World War II ends. Large epidemics of polio in the U.S. occur immediately after the war with an average of more
than 20,000 cases a year from 1945 to 1949.
1952 - There were 58,000 new cases of polio in the United States, the most ever.
* It was horrible!
* Little babies would be stuck with the disease
* It seemed to come into a town and infect all the kids almost at once!!
* They had to build make-shift wards / tents for all the sick:
-
most of the time it only produced flu-like symptoms
- about 5% of the children would die
-
about 1% would be paralyzed
-
about 20% of the teens and adults would die
* Signs were posted at the edges of town forbidding children under 16 to enter town without a health
certificate
* In 1916, a man in New York drove his baby to the hospital – but it died on the way – the hospital
would not accept the diseased body. He drove around for hours trying to find a place that would
accept the body of his baby!
1955 – Jonas Salk’s vaccination treatment is proven to work, and a nationwide vaccination program is
quickly started.
1964 - Only 121 cases of polio are reported nationally.
1979 - The last case of wild polio virus occurs in the U.S. All future cases are either imported or vaccine-related.
HOW DID THEY CURE POLIO?
Medical scientists developed a way to keep
people from getting polio!
They took a weakened form of the polio
virus and they injected it into all the kids. The immune systems of all those kids began to fight against that weakened polio
virus – and the bodies of those kids developed something in their blood called “anti-bodies”.
“Antibodies”
= “Marine attack cells” that go around looking for a particular virus
– and pounce on it and destroy it as soon as they find it.
SPECIAL
NOTE: Each antibody is built ONLY to look for one type of virus!! Whatever antibody created it, is what it will fight.
Whenever you are injected with a weakened
form of a virus it’s called an “inoculation”.
NOW WHY AM I TELLING YOU ALL THIS? I
believe firmly in my heart that most of our children have been inoculated against true Christianity!
We have
injected their minds / hearts with a frivolous, meaningless, ceremonial, weakened form of religion that barely resembles the
fiery, living Christianity of the 1st century!
We have
convinced them that all that is necessary is to assent mentally to a certain Biblical creed / set of doctrines… and
all will be well by and by… and in the mean time, we can live our lives pretty much how we please – with the exception
of being sure to participate in certain rituals and ceremonies we perform once a week on Sunday!!
And what
will be the end result of this Satanic inoculation?
CLOSING:
There is a way to parent… in order to raise “good kids”; AND… there is a way to parent… in order to raise “God’s kids”… which kind of
parent are you????
