God's Fundamentals for Your Family

And tonight, as we come to the end of our series, God's Hope for Your Home, we trust that you would have learned many principles from the Word of God that would help you as a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, a grandfather, a father-in-law, mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, whatever you may be this evening, that somehow God has used his word to transform your thinking about your life and your home, especially on how it relates to your responsibility in the home. Our desire is to look at God's fundamentals for your family.

We want to summarize everything that we have said in four pillars, four major foundation, four pillars that will hold your home together.

And from those four pillars give you four principles that will help govern how you interact within your home environment. They're nothing earth-shattering. They're nothing new. You're not going to leave you saying, oh, man, I have never heard anything like that in my entire life. No. You've probably heard it a million times. That's why they're fundamentals. That's why they're pillars. That's why they're foundations for your family. Because they're simple, they're basic, but they are solid. They are structures that you need to have in place in order for your family to bring glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Every society that fails fails because the family somehow falters. Billy Graham in a book he wrote some years ago entitled World of Flame said these words. He says the immutable law of sewing and reaping has held sway. We are now the hapless possessors of more depravity and we seek in vain for a cure. The tears of indulgence have overgrown the weed of moral restraint. Our homes have suffered. Divorce has grown to epidemic proportions. When the morals of society are upset, the family is the first to suffer.

The home is the basic unit of our society. And a nation is only as strong as our homes. The breaking up of a home does not often make headlines, but it eats like termites at the structure of the nation. That's true. While homes around us are breaking up, you don't read about them on the news every day. But while each and every home around us faces conflict and some of them are breaking and crumbling around about us, the more they crumble, the more society will fail. Pillar number one is the Word of God.

I would like to say that the people at Christ's Community Church, because they have been here for the seven years of our existence, that they are really grounded in the Word of God. And their families are grounded in the Word of God. But that's not necessarily true. It is for some. It is for a lot. But it's not for all. That's why we keep emphasizing the importance of the Word of God. The Bible says in 2nd Timothy 3, verses 16 and 17, that God's Word is profitable for all things.

in order that the man of God will be thoroughly equipped for every good work. So whatever work you do that's going to be good, in God's eyes, is going to come because you have been thoroughly put together by the Word of God. God's Word is sufficient enough to teach you, to lead you, to guide you, into what you should be doing. And yet, we minimize that. we minimize it and inevitably when someone comes to see me the very first words that are my mouth are these after they present to me whatever situation they're in is this the Bible says and then I tell them what the word of the Lord says I read them what the Word of the Lord says I will quote to them what the Word of the Lord says why because the foundational element of your home is the Word of God That's pillar number one.

Over in Colossians 3, verse number 16, it says, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. It's the word that means to be at home in your hearts. Let God's word be at home in your heart. If God's word is at home in your heart, it'll be at home in your home, right? But sadly, God's word is a stranger in many people's homes. And yet, without the foundational element of God, God's word reigns supreme in our lives. Our homes will fail. Psalm was said in Psalm 138, verse 2, that thy word all Lord is magnified even as thy very name.

It tells us the importance of the word of God. Isaiah 66, verse number 2, God says, to this man will I look?

To him who is of a broken and contrite heart, and who trembles at my word. Now, I've probably quoted that verse no less than a hundred times in the last year. from our pulpit here on Sunday morning Wednesday nights. But yet, it's so important. God says, this man is the one I'm going to look to.

This is the man I'm going to bless. This is the man I'm going to pull my life into. That's the one who has a broken and contraught heart and who trembles, who shakes uncontrollably under the authority of the Word of God. I can use that kind of man. I can work through that kind of man. But any man does not shake under the authority of my word I can't use. Because, you see, he is independent of me. He wants to operate without me. But the man who shakes under the authority of the Word of God is one who recognizes my power and wants to be used of me in a powerful way.

Or used by me in a powerful way. And you see, we need to realize that as parents, we need to do whatever God says we need to do.

do. And yet so many times we buckle because we don't want to submit to what God says in its word. So important. The pillar is the word of God. Here's the principle. Scripture is your authority. Scripture is your authority. Simple as that. Scripture dictates to you you what to do, where to go, when to do it, and how to do it. Because Scripture is your authority. That's the bottom line. Now, ask yourself this question. Is Scripture my ultimate authority? Now, don't answer that. Just ask yourself that question.

And the people of the world need to know for certain that we, the people of God, believe that Scripture is our authority. Pillar number one, the Word of God.

Principle, Scripture is my authority. Pillar number two, the worship of God. The worship of God. The worship of God. I love, for many of you know, the book of Revelation, because the book of Revelation is about the worship of God and putting God on display and talking about what's going to When we get to heaven, it's about the worship of God. And so you figure that if you go to heaven and you're going to be worshiping God for all eternity, then you need to realize what worship was all about before you get there.

So the Bible says in John 423 that the Father seeks true worshippers. God wants people who will worship him. God wants people who will adore him. And so what did God do? God gave a mandate. God gave a mandate. Way back in Exodus chapter 20. verses one and two. I said, listen, you'd have no other gods before me. You ought to worship me and me only. I am the only God. I am the true God. And you are to have no other God beside me. I am it. Worship me. And then he says this. If you don't worship me primarily, and if you don't worship me properly, I will visit the iniquities upon the third and fourth generations of your family.

But if you worship me primarily and properly, I will bless thousands of generations that follow you. God says, listen, I am so interested that you understand what worship is, that if you don't worship me properly, it's going to affect your children.

It's going to affect your grandchildren. It's going to affect your great-grandchildren. That's the importance of worship. So we need families that understand what it means to worship God. Now listen, worshiping God is the response to divine revelation. That's worship. So you have the Word of God first.

You have the worship of God second. The only way you can worship God is to respond to who He is based on the revelation of the Word of God. So worship is the human response to divine revelation. So when God reveals himself to me through the Word of God, then I respond. to him. That's so important. Every true person, every person who truly worships God, realizes that, number one, there's a recognition of his person.

Number two, there's a rejoicing in his presence. Number three, a reverence for his power. And number four, a response to his precepts. That's a true worshipper. In fact, over in Philippian chapter 3, verse number 3, it says this. for we are the true circumcision. We are the marked out ones. We are the truly marked out ones. There are a lot of people who say they are the circumcision. That is, there are a lot of people who say they are believers. They are Christians. Paul says, these are the true ones.

We are the ones who worship God in spirit and glorify in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. The very first characteristic of a truly born-again believer is that he worships God in spirit and in truth.

He's a worshipper of God. God is his soul reason for existence. He loves to live for God. So God gives a mandate. And then when Christ comes on a scene in Matthew 4, what does he do? He models worship, right? Satan comes to 10th in Matthew chapter 4. And Christ says, man should not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

It's all about the authority of the Word of God. And then Satan says to Christ, what? Follow down and worship me. I want you to worship me. I want you to bow before me, and I'll give you anything you want. I'll give you all the cities of the world. I'll give you anything you can ever see. It's all yours. Just follow down and worship me because Satan wants to be worshipped. And what did Christ say? You should worship only God. and serve only him. You see, Christ responded in the first temptation by submitting to the authority of the Word of God.

And then he would be able to respond in the last temptation. Why? Because the Word of God would dictate his worship of God. And so you need to realize that Satan's job is to get you to get what you want now.

Now, in any way he can do that for you, he will do it. So then your worship now becomes distracted because something else has taken precedence in your life. Something else becomes more important. And when something else becomes more important to you than God, guess what? That is what or who you worship. And then God takes second place, or third, or fourth, or on down the line.

God says I want to be number one. I want the priority. I don't want to be number two. I'm a jealous God, he says. I want number one in your life.

I deserve to be number one. I'm the creator of the world. I created you. I know everything you need. I need to be number one.

And if I'm not number one in your life, your children, your grandchildren, and your great-grandchildren will feel the effects of your iniquity.

But, he says, if I'm number one, guess what? Thousands of generations will be blessed because they will know of your priority. The worship of God. Here's the principle. If worship is the second pillar, the principle is this.

Scripture is your duty. Excuse me, sacrifice is your duty. With the word of God being pillar number one, scripture is your authority.

With the worship of God being number two, sacrifice is your duty and your joy. Sacrifice is your duty and your joy. Boy, I love to read about Anna over in Luke chapter 2, where she would spend her whole life in the temple, worshiping and sacrificing to the Lord. her life was consumed with that the greatest old testament example of course is Abraham when he would sacrifice all of his dreams on the altar for the sake of the word of God the word of the Lord came to him told him what to do he submitted to it because scripture was his authority and sacrifice then became his duty once scripture is your authority sacrifice becomes your duty and then sacrifice then because it's your duty inevitably results in your joy your joy comes through the giving a way of your life and willing to sacrifice whatever God says the sacrifice for him.

God says, I want to be number one. If I'm number one in your family, guess what? The joy will be tremendous. Tremendous. Psalm 2, verse 4, worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling. Worship the Lord. Endure with reverence. I was watching my favorite TV station the other night, TBN. and this guy on TV. And it was amazing. I said, I could not believe the words coming to this guy's mouth. He said, the Lord woke me up the other night. I'm going to paraphrase a little bit here. The Lord opened me up me up the other night.

He said, Jesse? He said, yes, Lord. He said, Jesse, I want to talk to you. He said, what are you what, Lord? He said, the Lord said to me. He goes, listen to me. He said, the Lord said to me, I'm really sad today, Jesse. He says, really? Are you sad, Lord? He said, I'm really sad today. He said, did someone grieve you, Lord? He says, yeah, one of my children grieve me. He says, Lord, I am so sorry. I'm so sorry. Let's just talk about it. He said, the Lord needed somebody to talk to that day. He needed somebody to talk to you, so he woke me up, and then he wouldn't like to talk to me.

I thought to myself, how blasphemous. God doesn't need to talk to anybody, let alone this guy. Who doesn't even know the Lord? As far as I'm concerned. but the bottom line is that listen the Lord doesn't need you for anything but to make us think that he was of such importance that God needed to wake him up and talk to him because God was down in the dumps and listen my God has never down in the dumps my God is never sad my God controls everything he created everything he rolls over everything it's all happening just as he planned it to happen but I don't see somebody worshipping the Lord in fear and trembling.

See, we want to treat the Lord with frivolity. We want to treat him as if he's just our good friend. Jesus and I are good friends. We commune together all the time. He talks to me and I talk to him and we're on a first name basis.

Really? You don't know the God I know. You don't know the God of the Bible. Because the God of the Bible only looks to those who have a broken and contrite heart and who tremble at his very words. The worship of God is so important. Psalm 33 8 says, Let all the earth fear of the Lord, but all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. Stand in all of Him, in complete all. I leave the book of Revelation. What do I have? I have angelic beings falling down before God in their face. Perfect beings falling down before God on their face.

Why? Because they recognize his person. They rejoice in his presence. And therefore, they're able to respond to everything he says because they love himself. How about you? The Word of God, pillar number one.

Principle, Scripture is your throat. With the worship of God, principle, sacrifice is your duty. And sacrifice will be your joy. That's why Paul said in Romans 12, I beseech you, brethren, present your body as a living sacrifice. Based on who God Is, put yourself on the altar. Sacrifice all your dreams, all your hopes for him that he might work in and through your life. Be a living sacrifice because that's the only acceptable form of worship. Pillar number three, the will of God.

The will of God, we must hurry. The will of God is the third pillar. The word of God, the worship of God, and the will of God. If Scripture is your authority, then sacrifice will be your duty, ultimately your joy. And then thirdly, submission is your priority.

Submission is your priority. That's the will of God. 1 Peter chapter 2. 1 Peter chapter 2. Verse number 13 says this, submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as a one in authority or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evil doers and the praise of those who do right, for such is the will of God. Submission is your priority. If you go over to Ephesians chapter 5, Ephesians chapter 5, verse number 21 says, and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

Submission is your priority. Listen, if you read John 434, John 530, John 638, what do you have? You have Jesus Christ submitting to the will of the Father. Psalm 40 verse number 8, I delight to do thy will, oh my God. Thy law is within my heart. Listen, when Christ came to earth, he said, He said, my will is to do the will of him who sent me. My whole desire is to do his will. He said, my food is to do the will of Father. In order for me to be sustained from day to day, then I need to do what God says.

I need to do the will of the Father. I need to submit to my Heavenly Father. Listen, in our families, submission is a priority. Submission to God because we fear Him and submission then to one another, because we want to honor one another and lift one another up. We are so busy trying to gain control. We are so busy trying to be the top dog. We are so busy trying to be number one.

We are so busy trying to be the best that we end up being the worst. Because we're willing to submit as a priority. To rank someone else above us. To esteem them better than ourselves. Wow. That's something all but you need to learn, right? The family, the will of God, submission has got to be your priority. And lastly, the work of God. The work of God. If Scripture is your authority, sacrifice then becomes your duty as well as your joy. submission then becomes your priority and service becomes your responsibility service becomes your responsibility Psalm 103 verse number 21 says this bless the Lord all you as host you who serve him doing his will if you receive nothing out of the six months that we've been together receive this, that I will serve my God, no matter what it costs me in my family, because that's my responsibility.

The Lord said in Matthew 20, verse number 28, Son of man did not come to be served, but to do what? But to serve. That was his responsibility. Service was his responsibility. To do the work of God. And that should be our responsibility, right? To do the work of God. God, listen, sanctifies you that you might better serve him. He gifts you in order that you might glorify him. He wants to be used in and through your life. He wants you to serve him with all of your heart. Do the will of the Lord from the heart.

Ask yourself, how can I better serve my family tomorrow than I did today? Listen, when you wake up in the morning, ask yourself, Lord, can I serve you better today? How can I serve you better today than I did yesterday? How can I serve my husband? How can I serve my wife? How can I serve my kids today? Better than yesterday. That should be the first thing in your mind when you wake up in the morning.

God, how can I better serve you by serving my husband, my wife? You see, the problem with us is that we want to be served. We want to be served. We want breakfast in bed. We want the laundry done. We want an iron. We want the dishes done. We want everything done for us. But nobody wants to get up early, stay up late, do whatever it takes to serve our fellow man, our fellow family members. Because we want them to serve us. Listen, as long as you want someone to serve you, guess what? You'll never have a good family.

Because a great family is not about what you get from it. It's about what you give to it. And that's what it's all about, giving yourself away for the sake of your family. Jesus gave himself a way for the world. He gave himself away really for the world. Because that's what his responsibility was, because sacrifice was his duty, but sacrifice was his joy. He knew that the greatest thing in all the world was to give his life away. What are you giving away? Every day, ask yourself, what have I given away today?

Did I give away my time? Did I give away my interests? Did I give away my money? Did I give away my giftedness? Did I give away anything to see someone else be better off in my family? Four pillars. Very simple. The Word of God. the worship of God, the will of God, and the work of God. Those four pillars will hold your home together. If Scripture is your authority, sacrifice will become your duty. If sacrifices your duty, it becomes your joy. And therefore, submission then becomes a priority, and service is your responsibility.

And watch and see. what God does in your home.