God's Priorities for Parents, Part 2

Tonight, as we continue our study in God's hope for your home, specifically looking at God's priority for parents, I want to remind you that having children is an awesome responsibility. Of course, those of you who have them have recognized that. Those of you who are grandparents are glad that day is over. Those of you who are looking to be parents, well, you're anticipating that day in which you will have those children to raise, to nurture, to care for, to love, and to be with for a long time. in God's word we have the truth the Bible says in Psalm 119 verse number 130 the unfolding of thy words gives light it gives understanding to the simple tonight if you're one of the simple-minded God's word gives you understanding God's word explains to you what you need to be doing you never need to be lost in your responsibility because God's word Ched Shelds Fila met for you.

So you need to be a student of the Word of God. Then you'll receive the right kind of counsel because the issue in your life is how close do you walk with the Lord Jesus Christ in every area of your life, especially in parenting, because your children need to catch the Christ-like life. So number one, number one priority, demonstrate your children, the character and compassion of Christ.

Number two. Number two. Dedicate your child, your children to Christ. Dedicate your children to Christ. Turn it in your Bible, if you would, to the second chapter of Luke.

The second chapter of Luke. And we need to understand that this becomes a very important element of your parenting. You know, every once in a while, we'll have somebody come up and bring the newborn child up here, and we'll bring them before you, we'll let you see the baby, we'll pray over the baby, we'll exhort the mother and father as to their responsibility, we give them a gift, but that's just not something trivial that we do. We have a biblical model to follow. It's something that we're following in the scriptures.

It's something that you as a parent need to realize that your responsibility is to dedicate your children to the master, number one, for the ministry number two.

This is so important, and parents miss this. But it's absolutely crucial to your parenting. Why is that? Notice the text in Luke chapter 2, verse number 21.

And when eight days were completed before his circumcision, his name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the days for their purification, according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him, that is Jesus up to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord. As it is written in the law of the Lord, every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the law of the Lord.

Now the very first thing you notice about Mary and Joseph, is that they were committed to the law of the Lord.

We just read about it two times. Once in verse number 22 and once in verse number 23. If you go down to verse number 27, it says this, and he came in the spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child, Jesus, to carry out for him the custom of what? The law of the Lord. And then over again in verse number 39, and when they had performed everything according to the law of the law, they returned to Galilee. You see, the significant thing about Mary and Joseph is that they were committed to the law of the Lord.

They were committed to the word of God. Whatever God said Mary and Joseph were going to do, there were no question about what they should be doing. They knew exactly what the law said. On the eighth day, you circumcised a child. On the eighth day, you named a child. And if you have a male, after 40 days, there's purification. If you have a female, after 80 days, there's purification. And they went to the temple to present this child to the Lord, to the master. They wanted to do exactly what the law of God prescribed for them.

Because remember, Jesus Christ was born under the law. So Jesus Christ did everything according to the law of God in the Old Testament. And his parents were instrumental in following the Word of God to present him before the Lord at the exact time he was supposed to be presented. Exodus 13, verse number two, and verses 12 to 15 speak about the dedication of the firstborn son required by the law of Moses.

And it says in verse number 24, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons were offered as a sacrifice according to the law of the Lord. Now, you understand that Mary Joseph were poor people as a result of what they sacrificed on that day. But God had given to them a very sacred task. And Luke is the only gospel writer, listen very carefully. Luke is the only gospel writer that picks up on this. He's the only one talks about the dedication of Jesus. Why is that? Because Luke writes to emphasize the humanity of the Son of God.

He writes to emphasize the humanity of this child called Jesus. us, the Messiah. These parents would come and they would dedicate their child to the master in accordance with the law of God. That's important. And God wants us to understand that we have responsibility and that is to dedicate our children to the Lord. Now you say, well, what's the big deal? The big deal is this. When you publicly say I'm giving my child to the Lord, you are making making a monumental statement. You are verbalizing to the whole church that God can do whatever he wants with my child because my child is his.

See, parents don't want to do that because they don't want God to do whatever God wants to do with their child. They want God to do what they want God to do with their child. But when you dedicate your child to the Lord, you're saying, God, he's yours. I recognize that. I recognize that this child is a gift. And I recognize this child is a reward. And I recognize that I'm not going to have this child forever. So therefore, Lord, what I'm going to do is I'm going to dedicate this child to you because he's yours anyway.

And, Lord, we recognize that you're going to do whatever you want with our child. Because you're in charge and we are not. That public statement is very important. Because, you see, once you make that public statement, your whole life needs to be a reminder of what you have done. and every time you look into the eyes of your child, you look into their eyes saying, this child is the Lord's. The Lord can do whatever he wants with my child. And so when your child gets sick, and in the hospital, you say, Lord, we've dedicated this child to you.

They are yours. They are yours. You can do whatever you want to with them. You can take them home to be with you, or you can heal them, Lord, because they are your child. They're just gifts to us. And that process is so important in your life. Why? Because you dedicate your child to the master, number two, for the ministry.

For the ministry. And again, parents don't want to do this either. You know, we have certain plans for our children, don't we? They're going to be athletes. They're going to be lawyers. They're going to be doctors. They're going to be, I don't know, whatever your dream is. You know what I'm saying? We've got big aspirations for our kids. and we want to put them into a hole and say, this is what my kid's going to do. And I can't wait to see it. We formulate our retirement based on the plans of our children and what's going to happen with their lives.

But nobody has a kid and says, oh, man, this kid's going to be a preacher. I can't wait until he becomes a pastor of a church someplace. I meet very few parents who want to do that. The bottom line is, is that when you dedicate your children, you dedicate them to the ministry of the Lord. That is, you help them understand that their life is committed to the vocational ministry of serving Christ no matter what their occupation is. Because they all have different occupations, right? They all can't be preachers.

They all can't be missionaries. They all can't be doctors. They all can't be athletes. But whatever their area of ministry, wherever God puts them, that becomes their area to live out their spiritual existence. and they need to see that whatever area it is, no matter what department you work for, that becomes the place that you are salt and light. Jesus realized as he increased in wisdom that his mission in life was to be the sacrificial land for the world. and he kept all right on that mission to the very end.

I wonder if your children at the age of 12 know about their mission in life because you've taught them and trained them in their growing wisdom and they're standing in their walk with God. That's our responsibility as parents. To dedicate them to the Lord and to the ministry of the Lord that they would realize that no matter what they do, no matter what it is they do, whether you eat, whether you drink, you do all to the glory of God and God the Father. Everything is about God in his glory. Everything is about magnifying his name.

Everything is about putting God on display. That's why, remember one priority, demonstrate your children the character of Christ because you realize as parents, your job is to magnify the Lord, to glorify his name, to put him on display so your children see him in your life. And they begin to catch that. Remember, Mary and Joseph, the Bible says, we're righteous people, holy people.

They love the Lord. They wanted to serve the Lord. And God blessed them in a significant way by giving his son to them, to raise. That he might grow into wisdom. That he might increase in knowledge. And that he might realize at a very young age, his mission in life. And that he was in a unique relationship with his heavenly father. Do your children know that? Our children have corruption all around them. And they have the curse within them. And the priority of parents is to, number one, demonstrate to our children the character and compassion of Christ.

And number two, dedicate our children. children to Christ. The whole realm of consecration, dedicated them to God, saying, Lord, they're yours. You take them and do whatever you want with our children, because they are yours. Number three, priority.

Discipline, your children. Discipline, your children. Your children. Your children. Remember we told you that your order is very significant? it is this is your order you do it in demonstration dedication then discipline order is significant and so you discipline your children according to the word of the Lord tell me in your Bible if you would to Ephesians chapter 6 the Bible says in verse number four fathers do not provoke your children anger but bring them up in the nurture or discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Now, the word nurture or discipline is Pidea, which is used several times in the book of Hebrews, 12th chapter. Specifically in Hebrews chapter 12, it says this, My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, same word, the nurture of the Lord, the pidea of the Lord, nor faint when you are approved by him. For those whom the Lord loves, he disciplines, and he scourges every son whom he receives. It is for discipline that you endure. And God deals with you as with sons, for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. The Bible is very clear that what makes you understand that you are a child of God is that you are in the nurturing process. You are in the discipline of God. that God is going to nurture you, that God is going to do the training, the development of your life, and one of the ways he does that is to rules and regulations that he sets up to help you understand what his parameters are and the reward and punishment that follows if you break or keep.

Those rules and regulations. Same way it's supposed to happen in the home. We have to raise our children in the discipline and instruction or the nurture and admonition. of the Lord. That's our priority as parents. It's important to understand Susanna Wesley, who by the way had 19 children, two of which were John and Charles Wesley, wrote these words. The parent who studies to subdue the self-will in his child works together with God in the renewing and saving of a soul. The parent who indulges it does the devil's work, makes religion impracticable, salvation unattainable, and dams his child, body, and soul forever.

She realized, Mother of 19, that the responsibility of parenting was to subdue the self-will of the child. To help the child understand that his will needs to be subject to another will, and that is God's will. Very important. All of us, no matter how old we are, never grow out of our need for discipline. None of us do. That's why Hebrews 12 speaks about our heavenly father who disciplines his children. We are as children. We never outgrow the need for discipline. It's designed by God to prevent us from having a wrong attitude toward authority and provide us with the experience that gives us a measure of maturity.

So God wants us to be disciplined, and God has given parents to children to discipline them in the ways of God. So tonight, I want you to understand with me six principles in disciplinary measures that will help you realize your responsibility before the Lord. And no, we won't finish all six of them this evening. Over in Ecclesiastes chapter 8, it says this. verse 11 because the sentence against evil or against an evil deed is not executed quickly therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil did you get that because we don't bring the sentence quickly upon evil.

The hearts of men continue to do evil. The Bible is very clear that when someone steps outside the bounds of God's law, there needs to be a consequence for that disobedience. And whenever you delay the consequence, you enable the child or the individual to continue in disobedience and to continue their rebellious state. that's why it says in Ecclesiatic 8-11 Solomon a man of great wisdom says discipline the sentence for whatever crime is committed needs to be executed quickly quickly and you know what you find out as a parent two things one is we're too lazy and number two is we're lost as to what to do we see our children and And they do this, and they do that, and you know what?

We get, forget it. I'm just not going to deal with it today. And we become lazy in our discipline. And all that does is help the child realize, well, you know, if I just keep on doing what I'm doing, mom's going to get tired and dad's going to get tired, and I can just keep on doing it. And I can win. And so what happens is you realize that as a parent, you're never off duty. You're never off duty, are you? I wish for one day I could not be a parent. Just one. Just one day. But I can't. I'm always going to be a father.

My wife is always going to be a mother. And we're going to be a father and mother for a long time. And when we have our grandchildren, I'm going to be grandparents for a long time. But, you know, sometimes you just want to take a break. But you know what? You can't. Because parenting is 24-7 for as long as you live. As long as they live. you're a parent. You can't afford to be lazy because every time you get lazy and your discipline, your child knows it, and they just keep right on in their rebellious state.

And sometimes we find ourselves not necessarily lazy, but just lost as to what to do. They say, I don't know what to do with them. I've tried to be there is. I don't know. Anything else, forget it. And just ignore them. Let them do whatever they want to do. And yet God's Word is designed to help us know what to do, right? And so let's begin by this principle, principle number one.

Remember the purpose and discipline. That's number one. Remember the purpose and discipline. We forget that. What's our purpose and discipline? And I want to give them to you this evening. No one applies discipline properly and correctly without understanding the purpose of discipline. If you miss this, you can't discipline biblically. Okay? Number one.

The first is to remove foolishness. That's the number one purpose. The Bible says this in Proverbs 22, verse number 15.

Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child. The rod of discipline will remove it far from him. The Bible says that foolishness is bound up in the heart of your child.

Listen, your child, your child, child might look cute, but they are corrupt and they are cursed because they are born sinners. So the purpose of discipline number one is to remove foolishness.

And so the question comes, what is foolishness? How do you know my child's foolish? And how do I define foolishness? Well, that's simple. The Bible tells you that. Proverbs chapter one, verse number 22 says this. How long were naive ones will you love simplicity, and scoffers delight themselves in scoffing? A fools, and fools, hate knowledge. A fool is one who hates the knowledge. That is, a fool is one who hates the truth. A fool is one that hates the wisdom of God. That's a fool. A fool doesn't want rules.

A fool doesn't want to be told what to do. Over in Proverbs chapter 10, it says this. about foolishness. Proverbs chapter 10, 1st number 23. Doing wickedness is like sport to a fool. That is, fools love to be wicked. That's their sport. They live to be wicked. They live to be evil. Your child lives to be wicked. Now, I know you don't want to hear that, but that's what the Bible says.

Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, therefore to understand foolishness, you must understand that the Bible says fools hate knowledge fools are ones who love wickedness that's their sport over in uh proverbs chapter 13 verse number 19 it says this it is an abomination to fools to depart from evil now that means that fools love evil so much that they don't want to depart from it that's why the rot of discipline drives foolishness far from them because they love evil so much they want to do all.

That's why when you look at your child and say don't do that, they look back and they do it anyway. You know why they do it anyway? Because they love to do evil. They love evil. They love wickedness. They love rebellion. Say, not my child. Yeah, you child. Says so right here in the Bible. Foolishness is bound up to another child and children who are foolish love to do evil. And that's why the raw discipline drives it far from them. And the purpose of discipline is to remove foolishness. The Bible says that excellent speech is not fitting for a fool, and children will say the most rotten, most perverse, most nasty, or the nastiest things they can think of, because that's what fools do.

And the rod of discipline drives it far from them. It goes on to say in Proverbs chapter 19, verse number three, these words, the foolishness of man subverts his way, and his heart rages against.

the Lord your child's heart rages against the Lord why because your child is born in sin your child is born separated from God and it rages against God it rages against the Lord and part of our process of parents is to drive that foolishness from them and punishment is what does that and discipline does that so we number one are to remove foolishness number two to rescue from judgment.

What's the purpose of discipline? To remove foolishness. And number two, to rescue from judgment. Proverbs 23, verse number 13, says this. Do not hold back discipline from the child. Although you beat him with the rod, he will not die. You shall beat him with the rod and deliver his soul from shio. Listen, the purpose of discipline is to rescue your child from judgment. if they continue going down a rebellious path, if they continue raging against the Lord, if they continue saying things that are wrong, if they continue doing their own thing, they will end up in hell.

And therefore the rata discipline is to be applied to them that foolishness might be driven far from them. So the purpose of discipline is to remove foolishness to rescue from judgment. Thirdly, to receive wisdom.

Proverbs 29, verse number 15, says this. The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child who gets his own way brings shame to his mother. Verse number 17, correct your son, and he will give you comfort. He will also delight your soul. Your child receives wisdom through discipline. He does not receive wisdom if you don't discipline him. And it consists of two things, the rod and reproof. The discipline and the instruction. the nurture and the admonition. The two go hand in hand. So we discipline for the purpose of removing foolishness, rescuing from judgment, receiving wisdom, relieving anxiety.

Paul verse 29, verse number 17, correct your son, and he will give you comfort. You don't have comfort in your home? That's because you're not correcting your son. You're not disciplining your son. And he also will delight your soul. And then lastly, the fifth purpose and discipline is that we might reflect God's character. And we read about it in Hebrews chapter 12, verses 10 and 11, when it said these words, Our Father's discipline us for a short time as they seem best to them, but He, that is God, disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness.

All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyous, but sorrowful. Get to those who have been trained by it. Afterward, it yields a peaceable fruit of righteousness. And that's why we must understand and remember the purpose and discipline. And as God shows us in His Word what he wants us to do, we realize this is our responsibility, and it becomes a priority for parenting.