Sermon
Respect Is Correct
Publisher transcript
Transcript
-
Take your Bibles tonight, if you will, and turning them to
-
Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6.
Ephesians 6 chapter mention Ephesians 6 chapter mention
-
It's been a little while since we have done one of the
-
discovering the stories of the Bible.
-
We just had so many other things that have that have come up and
-
so many different messages that I've preached and I'm not doing
-
it tonight either. I will get back to it very soon
-
though. I'm going to give you a message
-
tonight on the family and we're going to begin here in Ephesians
Ephesians 6 chapter mention
-
chapter 6. I think this is probably going
-
to go till next week as well. But there's there's so many
-
things and it's it's a tremendous, tremendous thing, I
-
believe to have young people in our church.
-
And I'm so thankful for that. And you know, I say it so often
-
they are the next generation. And I think a lot of the
-
messages that we preach out to be on the family.
-
And I know that some of you are, you know, you have kids that are
-
grown and gone and you have grandkids that are grown and
-
gone and you have great grandkids that are grown and
-
gone. I'm just kidding.
-
You don't have that old. Nobody's in here that old, but
-
you have your kids are gone. And, and, you know, sometimes
-
all this is not for us, you know, but I think all of these
-
things are things that we can learn from because not only is
-
it for the parents who are doing it and, and raising their
-
children now, but you are an example to the parents who are
-
raising their kids and you're an example to the kids themselves.
-
And I mean, you can not only that, but you can be, you can be
-
a help to your grandkids on top of it.
-
You know, sometimes you get opportunities here and there to
-
spend some time with them, just you and them.
-
And man, they look up to you. You're their grandparents.
-
You know, you can do no wrong and you don't have to spank them
-
and send them back. You know, you can just be so
-
nice. And but this is a great
-
opportunity for you to kind of get some of these things in
-
there and, and you know, have a heart to heart talk, if you
-
will, with them about some of these things.
-
That'll just be a big help to them as well.
-
So, but not only that, these are all things that we can improve
-
on in our own lives and not only so that we can be an example,
-
but so that we can be pleasing to the Lord.
-
And all of these things are things that I believe will help
-
us. So I appreciate you being here
-
and I hope this will be a help to you tonight.
-
But I'll tell you this. Well, let's just read Ephesians
Ephesians 6 chapter mention
-
chapter 6. I'm just going to read the first
-
2 verses there tonight. This is for the parents, but
-
this is also for the children's, for both, maybe directed more at
-
the parents than the kids, but it's definitely, definitely for
-
the young people as well. Children, obey your parents and
-
the Lord for this is right. Honor thy father and mother,
-
which is the first commandment with promise.
-
Does it ever seem to you that respect has evaporated from our
-
society? I don't think that's that's not
-
even really a question anymore where whether or not there's
-
respect, narcissism, sarcasm, disregard for authority.
-
I mean, it pervades our entire society.
-
And one of the sure signs I read this.
-
I mean, the the bad thing is there's a lot of stories to pick
-
from. If you just go back into the
-
news this week or the last couple weeks, you'll find 345
-
stories just like this. But I heard about this 124 year
-
old was at Costco and they had a sample of some crackers with
-
some Nutella on it. And he went over there and
-
started eating all of the samples, just one rat after the
-
other. A 78 year old guy walked up and
-
was getting ready to grab the last one.
-
And this guy went to grab it in front of him and the old man
-
said, hey, leave me, leave me at least one.
-
You ate all the other samples. And this 24 hour guy turned
-
around and punched the 78 year old man in the face, knocked him
-
out. He had to be taken to the
-
hospital, bleeding and everything else over a Costco
-
sample. You know, it used to be that a
-
24 year old number one wouldn't be the one gobbling up all the
-
samples in Costco, would be the five year olds that are doing
-
that, right? But it used to be that you had
-
respect for your elders. You're 78, You go in front of
-
me, right? Let me help you with that.
-
Even if you're capable, you've you've earned it because of your
-
age right here, let me give you a sample.
-
Take this, you know, it's the it's the exact opposite of that.
-
And you know, during the late 60s and the 70s and I wasn't
-
alive then, but I've read a lot about it.
-
The rebellion against society really was at its peak.
-
And you know this, this rebellion against not just
-
society, but against authority. You know, the hippie movement
-
that came about during that whole time, the anti
-
establishment, all of those things.
-
It isn't quite today what it was decades ago, but it's still
-
alive and well in different forms.
-
And honestly, I mean you, what do you expect to happen?
-
When the 60s and 70s hippie generation raised the generation
-
that grew up in the 90s and the 2000s and now they're raising
-
another generation, What did you expect was going to happen?
-
Other than what's happening, there is no respect left in our
-
society. And where is it eroding?
-
What's eroding it? I guess that'd be the question
-
to ask. The loss of respect, though,
-
begins in the home. It shows itself in society, but
-
it begins in the home and many times by parents who don't even
-
know or don't even realize, maybe I should say, that they
-
are contributing to the loss of respect in our society.
-
This was a study that was done in 1947, a publication that was
-
done by a Harvard society professor by the name of Carl
-
Zimmerman. And he published this this this
-
study in 1947. So this tells you how far it
-
goes back. But he traced the historical
-
disintegration of cultures to the disintegration of the
-
family. And I don't know exactly how he
-
did all of his research and everything else.
-
But among the list of the indicators, indicators for the
-
deterioration, he said fewer children and less respect for
-
parents and parenthood. That's where it started.
-
That was back in 1947. And so it is today.
-
Adults believe that that that having children is a waste and
-
that parenting is a burden. That's what gave rise and made
-
it made abortion so such a great option for so many people.
-
And now you have these women who are not just, you know, standing
-
up for abortion, but championing it and and parading around,
-
talking about how proud they are that they've had an abortion.
-
That is a disintegration of respect in society, not just for
-
other people, not just for parents, for themselves, for for
-
life, for everything. And parenthood today is even
-
viewed with less respect. You know, most of these
-
Hollywood actors and things like that, they go through their
-
entire careers. They're 455055 years old before
-
they finally decide to settle down and have kids, right?
-
Because I've got a career that I'm trying to, to, you know,
-
establish and I've got a, a job that I'm trying to do and I just
-
don't have time or place for children.
-
Not every one of them is like that, but that's the, that's
-
the, that's the thinking with many of them.
-
Children often have less respect for their parents as well.
-
And you know, the, the more sarcastic a child is to a
-
parent, the funnier it is. And I'll be honest with you, a
-
lot of it started with Hollywood because they started producing
-
movies and TV shows and all of these other things that made the
-
dad look like the Dunts and made the mom look like she didn't
-
know what she was talking about and made the kids the heroes of
-
all these movies. You know, the parents get
-
themselves into a difficult situation and it's the kids that
-
have to get them out of that difficult situation because the
-
parents are too dumb to know what the kids already know,
-
right? It's not that way in real life,
-
but that's what we've taught our children.
-
That's what and and listen, that's what we've taught our
-
parents. The parents have that mindset
-
now and so they don't demand respect.
-
They don't, they don't, they don't earn that respect.
-
And so everything just erodes. How do we turn that trend
-
around? How do we teach our children the
-
fundamental values of respect? Well, the Bible word that's used
-
most commonly for respect is honor.
-
We see that word all over the place in the Bible.
-
In fact, I've got a lot of different verses.
-
Turn to as many of these as you can with me.
-
But wonder is a thread that runs throughout the Scripture and
-
it's commanded in society. It's commanded in the church,
-
it's commanded in the home. So here's a here's a bunch of
-
examples. Number one, turn over to Romans
-
13. I'll give you just a few seconds
-
to get there and then I'm going to read it.
-
If you can get there, maybe just write it down.
-
You can go back and look at these a little bit later if it's
-
easier. But citizens are are are to
-
honor their government. Now that's a, that's a place
-
where a lot of those things have broken down, isn't it?
-
Romans 13 verse #7 render therefore to all their dues,
-
tribute to whom tribute is due custom to whom custom, fear to
-
whom fear, honor to whom honor. And again, I'm not going to, I'm
-
not going to take the time to explain every one of these
-
points because we'd be here all night and this would be the end
-
of it. But you know, honestly, it's
-
exactly what we see in our society today.
-
Listen, I there's a lot of politicians that I don't agree
-
with, right? I was, I did not agree with Joe
-
Biden's policies, probably 99.9% of them.
-
But if I met Joe Biden in a parking lot, I wouldn't punch
-
him in the face and knock him out.
-
I would treat him with the respect that is due the
-
President of the United States because of that position.
-
Most people wouldn't do that, right?
-
Give the opportunity and they'd shoot Donald Trump in the face
-
if they could do it right? Because there's no respect.
-
There's no respect for the office.
-
There's no respect for those that are in, in our government.
-
And the Bible commands it. And, and Romans 13 is a whole
-
chapter about that. It's just one verse that, that,
-
that, that talks about that. But #2 Christian employees are
-
to honor their employers. First Timothy chapter 6.
1 Timothy 6 chapter mention
-
First Timothy chapter 6. We have that obligation.
1 Timothy 6 chapter mention
-
We have that duty, right? You look at our society today,
-
the employees always are demanding this and demanding
-
that, and you don't pay me enough and you don't give me
-
that. You were the one that agreed to
-
work for that, right? Give an honest day's wage.
-
Want to sue the employer because they're trying to make more
-
money for nothing. First Timothy chapter 6 and
1 Timothy 6 chapter mention
-
verse one. Let as many servants as are
-
under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor,
-
that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed.
-
That's pretty strong when you think about it, right?
-
You, you give it to your master so that you don't dishonor the
-
name of God, blasphemy, the name of God.
-
That's that's pretty strong. Pretty strong language there.
-
First Timothy chapter 5, churches, that's number three
1 Timothy 5 chapter mention
-
are to honor their leaders. First Timothy chapter 5 and
1 Timothy 5 chapter mention
-
verse #17 let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of
-
double honor, especially they who labor in the word and
-
doctrine #4 church members are to honor one another.
-
And these are just single verses, but there's many, many
-
verses on each one of these things that that that give us
-
these ideas and these principles and these commands because
-
that's what they are. Romans chapter 12 and verse 10
Romans 12 chapter mention
-
be kindly affectioned 1 to another with brotherly love in
-
honor, preferring one another. It's that word again.
-
And every one of these has that word honor in it.
-
But it's it's the idea of respect with respect toward one
-
another. How about first Timothy chapter
1 Timothy 5 chapter mention
-
5? Turn back over there.
-
I know we were just there. I should have kept your finger
-
there. But first Timothy chapter 5,
1 Timothy 5 chapter mention
-
churches are to honor their widows.
-
First Timothy chapter 5 and verse #3 honor or respect widows
1 Timothy 5 chapter mention
-
that are widows indeed. First Peter chapter 3.
1 Peter 3 chapter mention
-
First Peter chapter 3 verse #7 husbands are to honor their
1 Peter 3 chapter mention
-
wives. Likewise he husbands dwell with
-
them. The wives according to
-
knowledge, giving honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel
-
and as being heirs together of the grace of life that your
-
prayers be not hindered. We talked about prayer this
-
morning, sin in our lives, right?
-
The idea of not honoring your wife hindering your prayers.
-
That's a pretty serious thing about Ephesians chapter 5.
Ephesians 5 chapter mention
-
Ephesians chapter 5 said that husbands are to honor their
Ephesians 5 chapter mention
-
wives, wives are to honor their husbands.
-
Ephesians chapter 5 and verse #33 Nevertheless, let everyone
Ephesians 5 chapter mention
-
of you in particular so love his wife, even as himself and the
-
wife see that she reverence her husband.
-
Keep your finger there in Ephesians chapter 5, and then go
Ephesians 5 chapter mention
-
to Hebrews chapter 13. I could do him out of order, but
Hebrews 13 chapter mention
-
then it would be out of order up here.
-
Hebrews chapter 13 husbands and wives are to honor their marital
Hebrews 13 chapter mention
-
vows. Hebrews chapter 13 and verse #4
Hebrews 13 chapter mention
-
marriage is honorable and all and the bed undefiled, but whore
-
monger as an adulterer is God will judge.
-
Marriage is honorable. You are there in Ephesians
Ephesians 6 chapter mention
-
chapter 6 and this is this is kind of the culmination of all
-
of those things. Ephesians chapter 6 Children are
Ephesians 6 chapter mention
-
to honor their parents under thy father and mother verse #2 which
-
is the first commandment with promise in every relationship,
-
in every area of life, respect and honor are essential.
-
But how do we, in a society that is increasingly praising
-
disrespect, teach our children to value and demonstrate
-
respect? It begins in the home, begins in
-
the home and I'll tell you it's moved into our society and every
-
aspect. And I don't have to tell you
-
that because you see it everywhere.
-
But you know, the kid that has the great comeback against the
-
teacher, you know, everybody's like, you know, praising this
-
kid for being so witty. It wouldn't, you would never
-
have seen that 30-40, fifty years ago, that kid would have
-
been slapped into his place so fast.
-
He wouldn't have known what hit him, right?
-
You wouldn't even have done it. Same thing with my parents.
-
Like when I was growing up, I wouldn't even if I thought about
-
it and it was a great comeback, I never would have said it to my
-
dad because I wouldn't have been able to walk for a week.
-
And I know it and I would, I would have deserved it if that
-
was the case, right? We were taught respect.
-
How do we teach that same respect to our children?
-
Well, there's a few things here that I want to give you.
-
And so in this lesson tonight, probably moving into next week
-
as well, what what are God's instructions for raising up a
-
generation that shows honor and respect?
-
Let's pray we'll jump into this for a little bit tonight.
-
Father, again, we thank you so much for your goodness to us.
-
So thank you for the the heritage that you gave me and
-
for the the upbringing that many of us in this church had.
-
I thank you for that God, I pray that you help that us to be able
-
to pass that on to the next generation that needs that
-
respect that is required and that is commanded of us in God's
-
word. And God, may our young people
-
grow up with the respect not only for their parents, but also
-
for you, for your will, for the things of God, and that they
-
have a great desire to follow them because of it.
-
And we'll thank you for what you do in Jesus name, Amen.
-
First thing I want you to see is this very simply, expect
-
respect. Expect respect.
-
You think about the instructions that were given here in
-
Ephesians chapter 6. Children, obey your parents and
Ephesians 6 chapter mention
-
the Lord honor thy father and thy mother.
-
Parents clearly have the obligation to expect obedience
-
and respect from their children, right?
-
And so the first thing that I want to give you underneath this
-
is that parents should expect respect.
-
And I know it's kind of the same, the same point, but I've
-
got a second point that I'm going to talk to you about that
-
kind of not contrast, but goes along with that think splitting
-
it up here is a is a help. Turn over to Joshua chapter 24.
Joshua 24 chapter mention
-
Godly parents are servant leaders in the home, meaning
-
this. You don't and, and, and we see
-
this later on in verse #4 of Ephesians chapter 6.
Ephesians 6 chapter mention
-
You fathers provoke not your children to wrath.
-
Bring them up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord.
-
That's a servant leader. Parents don't Lord over your
-
children as a demanding boss or this authoritarian dictator, but
-
you lovingly serve them in saying that one of the ways that
-
you best serve your children is by insisting on their obedience
-
and their respect. I'm not saying that that you
-
shouldn't say anything to your children about correcting them
-
because you're a servant and you're a servant should be a
-
leader, right? Yes, you should be a servant
-
leader. But at the same time, the one of
-
the best ways that you can serve your kids is teaching them that
-
respect and that honor. Parents who relate to their
-
children as if their peers ultimately do their kids a great
-
disservice. I see it happen so often that,
-
that that parents are buddies with their children.
-
And I'll see, you know, from time to time a little Facebook
-
post or something like that. Here's a dad.
-
He's got his little 7 year old boy.
-
This, this is my best buddy. No, you're not buddies.
-
You're the dad. He's the child.
-
That's the relationship. Be buddies when he gets to be 21
-
years old, right? You can be buddies after you've
-
raised him to be a respectful young man, after you've raised
-
him to be a godly young man, then you can be buddies.
-
But he doesn't need a buddy right now.
-
He needs a parent. He needs a dad.
-
He needs somebody to tell him when he's wrong.
-
And we're not. We do our kids such a huge
-
disservice when when you know it.
-
It's because again, and I don't, I don't mean to keep harping on
-
Hollywood, but that's what Hollywood has done.
-
You know, this, this wonderful little story about how a father
-
and a son got along so well and they did this and they did that.
-
And you should get along well with your children.
-
But at the same time, your kids should know that you demand
-
respect just by the very fact that you're the father and
-
you're not going to get that respect if you're the buddy and
-
you're like, hey, what's up dude?
-
You know, I mean, fist bumping and all of those kind of things
-
like you're on the same, you know, softball team together.
-
You can do that with your buddies on the softball team.
-
Your kids need a father. They need a they need somebody
-
to be the dad and to tell them where they're wrong.
-
That word, father and fathers, is used over 1500 times in the
-
Bible. Do you think that God has an
-
importance that He's placed on that?
-
God instituted authority in the home, and He set it up for
-
parents, not children, to leave the home.
-
And he called upon parents, particularly the father where
-
one is present, to provide a leadership model that expects
-
respect. One of the strongest examples of
-
strong leadership in the Old Testament is Joshua.
-
He led the children of Israel into the promised land through a
-
series of of military conquests. But Joshua's leadership wasn't
-
just national leadership. He led in his own home as well.
-
And I'll tell you what happens many times the people who are
-
the greatest leaders of men in their field are the worst
-
leaders at home. And it cannot be that way if you
-
expect your children to grow up and live for the Lord, if you
-
expect your children to grow up and have respect.
-
Joshua chapter 24 and verse #15 And if it seem evil unto you to
Joshua 24 chapter mention
-
serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve, whether
-
the gods which your father served that were on the other
-
side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land
-
do you dwell? But As for me and my house, we
-
will serve the Lord. Providing that leadership in the
-
home not only provides the direction that your children
-
need, but it also helps them develop a sense of respect for
-
authority. In fact, children who learn this
-
in the home are light years ahead of their peers, the ones
-
who are there around all the time when it comes to the
-
authority figures throughout their lives.
-
You learn respect in the home. You're going to have respect
-
everywhere else. You learn to respect your father
-
and your mother. You're going to have respect for
-
your pastor. You're going to have respect for
-
your teacher. You're going to have respect for
-
your boss, and you're going to treat them with respect because
-
it was demanded of you at home. So rare that somebody knows how
-
to respect their parents and then goes out and disrespects
-
everybody else because it starts in the home.
-
Look again back there in Ephesians chapter 6, I'll be
Ephesians 6 chapter mention
-
honest with you. Even before a child is old
-
enough to understand the meaning of respect, the meaning of
-
honor, the meaning of obedience, you're responsible to set that
-
tone, set that tenor, if you will, of respect in your home by
-
providing a leadership that insists on respect.
-
Your kids are learning from before they even know what
-
they're what they're doing. And I'll tell you this.
-
If you wait until your kids are 23456 years old to start
-
training them in this area or any other area, you are way
-
behind where they need to be. Here's what we did in our home.
-
And I'm not saying that my kids are perfect.
-
They're not. But by the time they were five,
-
6-7 years old, they obeyed and they didn't even know why.
-
But I'll tell you, it's exact goes back to this whole idea of,
-
well, if I spank him, then he's not going to like me.
-
And if he doesn't like me, then he's not going to want to sit on
-
my lap all the time when I want to cuddle with him and all of
-
those other things. And then I'm not going to have
-
that, you know, Instagram lifestyle that everybody wants
-
to see. And I'm not going to be the
-
model parent to everybody. And what ends up happening is
-
you're raising a little demon, and then by the time he's 678
-
years old, you're going to try to fix it.
-
It's going to be too late to fix.
-
But if you do the hard jobs, the hard part, when they're 2345
-
years old and you spank them when you say no and they don't
-
obey you, you know what a kid does when they're three years
-
old and you spank them 10 minutes later, they're crawling
-
up in your lap anyway, right? Because they want you to be
-
pleased with them. They want to do things.
-
They just have to know what those boundaries are.
-
And if you teach them the boundaries, they're happy within
-
those boundaries. And then they get to be 567
-
years old. You tell them to do something,
-
they do it, and they don't even know why they're doing it
-
because they don't remember what happened at 2-3 and four years
-
old, right? When's the, what's the earliest
-
memory you have? I think for me, I was 5.
-
I don't remember how many times I got spanked when I was 3, but
-
I knew that I better obey by the time I was 567 years old.
-
And that's because my parents started early with me and they,
-
they demanded that respect and they demanded that obedience
-
even from a little kid. And I needed it, right?
-
I mean, they went, they went out there with a 8 foot long, 2 by
-
4, beating me over the head with it.
-
But a spanking is what I needed and by the time I was old enough
-
to know what was going on, I obeyed my parents and I
-
respected my parents. Ephesians chapter 6, really it
Ephesians 6 chapter mention
-
gives it. There's 2 commands that are
-
addressed here to to children in the home.
-
Obedience refers to listening to instructions and heeding it.
-
It's conforming to what has been required.
-
Honor refers to valuing or revering somebody.
-
So you have two commands, obey and honor.
-
So our children are not just to do what we say, but they're also
-
to value that relationship, to give that respect.
-
And so I say that parents should expect respect.
-
You ought to expect it from your kids.
-
Well, he's just a kid. No, you expect those things from
-
your children. And that brings me to the second
-
point then #2 parents should teach respect.
-
Turn over to Proverbs chapter 4. Children don't naturally exhibit
Proverbs 4 chapter mention
-
respect. They have to be taught the same
-
way that they don't naturally tell the truth.
-
They have to be taught the same way.
-
They don't naturally obey. They have to be taught.
-
And essential to that process is a parent who cares too much
-
about their child to allow disobedience or disrespect.
-
Again, society has trained parents that that's just the way
-
the kids are. That's just what they're going
-
to do because they're kids and they're growing up and that's
-
the way they're going to be. And that's why they go to school
-
and punch the teacher in the face when the teacher doesn't do
-
what they want them to do. And the teacher says, put your
-
cell phone away and they won't. And the teacher has to fight
-
them for it. I mean, you see stuff like that
-
all the time. And I don't know how these
-
teachers do it because honestly, I couldn't.
-
I couldn't. I would be in jail probably
-
right now if I was a teacher in the public school because I
-
can't. I can't handle the disrespect
-
because I was trained to have respect.
-
Yeah. I don't know how Brother Paul
-
does it. How do you do it?
-
Yeah, pulled all his hair out. That's exactly what it is.
-
That's the only way you can deal with it.
-
But I'm sure you see it all the time.
-
That just the disrespect because it starts, it starts at home,
-
children. The Bible says in Proverbs
Proverbs 4 chapter mention
-
chapter 4 and verse #1 Here ye children, the instruction of a
-
father, and attend to no understanding.
-
For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.
-
For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the
-
sight of my mother. He taught me also.
-
And he said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words, keep my
-
commandments, and live. That is a father that is
-
teaching his child to obey, to honor, to respect.
-
One of the most loving things that you can do for your child
-
is to discipline them when they disobey.
-
Oh, I would never hit my kid. That's the that's the argument
-
against spanking, right? I would never hit my kid.
-
How can you? How can you ever think about
-
doing that? That's in the Bible and we have
-
not only that the different verses, we're going to look at
-
them in just a minute that we have in the Bible, but also with
-
the example of Jesus Christ God. What does God do to us as his
-
children when we disobey? He chastens us.
-
He chastises us, right. It's true that the words
-
correction and discipline call to mind undesirable extremes,
-
and maybe you grew up in a home where some of that was extreme,
-
the discipline, right? Parents who hear either word
-
tend to put up walls of resistance toward whichever
-
extreme they've experienced or seen in the the classic extremes
-
are anger and passivity. Somebody who who blows up, you
-
know, angry Alvin, that just that just, you know, blows up
-
every time his kids do some things that he doesn't like.
-
And many times that same guy doesn't think that he has a
-
problem with anger. He does, and everybody can see
-
it except him. And he's constantly punishing
-
his children for what turns out to just be childish behavior.
-
Now that that foolishness needs to be driven out of a child.
-
But sometimes kids are just going to be kids, right?
-
And if they're, you know, playing a little bit rough or
-
they're doing something, I mean, it doesn't always demand that
-
you, you know, whip your belt off.
-
I'm sure you've probably heard those.
-
And start whipping them and beating them with whatever you
-
can, you know, whatever you can reach, right?
-
Discipline ought to be done very orderly in the home, right?
-
You spank your kids in anger. You've already lost.
-
You just, you just go off and start start spanking them and
-
spanking them and spanking them because you're mad.
-
You've lost and you're going to lose your kids.
-
They know that you're spanking them in anger, right?
-
The other side of that coin is the passive father let his kids
-
burn the house down. As long as he doesn't have to
-
leave the couch, he's all right with it.
-
Do whatever you want to do. I don't care, right?
-
Burn the house down. Do whatever.
-
There's, there's two extremes, right?
-
He doesn't know where his children are, who their friends
-
are, and maybe he'll set boundaries for his kids, but his
-
kids know that he has no intention of enforcing those
-
boundaries, right? The truth is both of those
-
extremes and maybe some of the, the less extremes in the middle
-
are hurtful to children. Both of those things communicate
-
a lack of love. You, you get angry and lose your
-
temper on your kid. It's it's just illustrating and
-
demonstrating a lack of love. You let them do whatever they
-
want to do. That's demonstrating a lack of
-
love. Oh, and that's, that's why
-
parents are I just, I that's just what he decided to do.
-
Listen, if my kid was running around in Broad Street, I'm
-
going to do everything I can to keep him from doing that, right?
-
I'm going to spank him and say don't go in Broad Street
-
anymore. Well, that's just what they
-
wanted to do. Yeah.
-
And and you'll just be putting them in a coffin and burying
-
them six feet under the ground because that's what's going to
-
happen. You don't love your children if
-
you don't discipline your children.
-
The Bible says for whom the Lord loveth he chasing it.
-
And the same is true for for us is with our kids.
-
God not only calls parents to set boundaries, but to enforce
-
those boundaries. Turn over to Hebrews chapter 12.
Hebrews 12 chapter mention
-
If you give instruction to your child and he deliberately
-
disobeys it, you're not loving him to look the other way.
-
And by the way, this has happened with my kids before.
-
I tell them something to do. They're standing right next to
-
me and 5 minutes later it's not done.
-
And I say, how come you didn't do that?
-
Oh, I didn't hear you. I said, well, you're getting
-
spanked. Listen next time, right?
-
It's it's an easy excuse. I didn't hear you.
-
I didn't know, right? Guess what they do the next time
-
when you speak? They listen.
-
And it's not it's not authoritarian.
-
It's teaching them to mind their authority, teaching them exactly
-
what the Bible tells them to do. Obey your parents, honor your
-
parents. You're communicating a lack of
-
love that's going to breed a lack of respect in his heart.
-
Because Hebrews chapter 12 here tells us that even God's love,
Hebrews 12 chapter mention
-
which God's love is absolutely perfect, there is no better love
-
than the love that God has for his children.
-
Even God's love is sometimes shown through chastening
-
correction with pain. That's what chastening is.
-
When we're disobeying, we're going our own direction.
-
Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 6, For whom the Lord loveth, He
Hebrews 12 chapter mention
-
chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
-
That is a perfect love from a perfect father.
-
And he says, I love you and that's why I'm chastening you.
-
You've got to understand that you just cannot live that way
-
and get away with it. When you correct the child
-
lovingly, properly, biblically, your correction says I love you
-
too much to allow you to make those wrong choices.
-
Turn over to Proverbs chapter 13 because Scripture goes so far as
Proverbs 13 chapter mention
-
to say that if you don't correct your children, you don't love
-
them. And that's what I say.
-
There's two extremes. One that goes way overboard with
-
the correction, one that doesn't give the correction, and both of
-
those show a lack of love. Proverbs chapter 13 and verse
Proverbs 13 chapter mention
-
#24 These are the messages that the kids just absolutely love.
-
Proverbs chapter 13 and verse 24.
Proverbs 13 chapter mention
-
He that spareth his rod hateth his son, but he that loveth him
-
chasingeth him. The times that word betimes
-
means timely or within a short time or soon, right?
-
It speaks to a parent who corrects their child early in
-
his life when a correction can be less severe and have more
-
impact. Right.
-
If you're still beating your kid at 16 years old, you've missed
-
the opportunity to correct him. If you still, you know, blow up
-
in anger and go spank your sixteen 1718 year old kid,
-
you're doing far more harm than you're doing good.
-
That should have been done a long time ago.
-
And what do you do if you've missed the missed the
-
opportunity? Well, you pray for him and you
-
have those talks where you sit down and you go through some of
-
those things with them. But you know, you, you missed
-
out on a lot of opportunities if you don't start early with your
-
kids by loving your child enough to correct them when they're
-
disobedient, you're going to you're helping them develop a
-
sense of respect for authority that'll guide them throughout
-
their life. But on the other hand, if you
-
neglect to correct him when he's young, you're setting up, you're
-
setting them up to receive a harsher correction later from
-
authorities who won't have a parent's love for him, right.
-
You think about the kids who are 1516, seventeen years old
-
running the streets because they have no parents that are there
-
to correct them. You think the, the, the guy
-
doing a job in the juvenile detention center loves that kid
-
the way a parent should love a kid?
-
Absolutely not. He's doing a job.
-
You're there because you are, you're, you know, you messed up
-
and you're a hindrance to society and everything else.
-
They didn't love you the way that a parent loves you.
-
But he's so sweet. I can't spank him.
-
You're, he's a sweet little devil.
-
And that's what you're going to be raising.
-
You need to get on it early and spank them, correct them the way
-
the Bible says to do that. Hebrews chapter 12, turn back
Hebrews 12 chapter mention
-
over there because Hebrews chapter 12 relates the
Hebrews 12 chapter mention
-
correction or the chasing that we're to give to our children to
-
the correction that God gives us as his children points out that
-
that the parents typically correct only their own children.
-
So one of the proofs that you are a child of God is that
-
correction. You do wrong, God punishes you
-
right. Here's what He says in verse #7
-
We already read verse 6. But verse #7 if you endure
-
chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons.
-
For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not This is
-
God is saying this OK? For whom the Lord loveth, He
-
chasteneth. He scourgeth every son whom he
-
receiveth. Well, what kind of father are
-
you if you don't chase in your children?
-
That's what he's asking. That's the question that God is
-
asking there in verse #7 if you endure chasing and God deal with
-
with you the same way that that that, that he deals with sons
-
the same way that a father deals with his son.
-
And what son is he whom the father chasing is not?
-
Are you really a son if the father doesn't chase in you?
-
That's what he's asking. Verse 8 But if you be without
-
chastisement, where of all our partakers then are you bastards
-
and not sons? That means you're illegitimate.
-
Are you even God's son if he doesn't chase you, chasing you?
-
That's what he's saying. And the whole, the whole, the
-
whole point that I'm making with this is it's the same for
-
fathers with their children. Not is he your son if you don't
-
spank him, but it's kind of that's the same question.
-
God, God is saying, what kind of son is he if you're not going to
-
chasten him and tell him where he's wrong and help him to fix
-
the things that need to be fixed?
-
That passage goes on to point out that correct in our children
-
teaches them respect for us, which is eventually transferred
-
to the respect for God. Verse #9 Furthermore, we have
-
had fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them
-
reverence. Shall we not much rather be in
-
subjection to the Father of spirits and live, Hey, we had
-
fathers that corrected us and taught us respect, and because
-
they corrected us and taught that to us, we respected them.
-
How much more than if we have respect for our fathers on this
-
earth, should we have for our Heavenly Father?
-
That respect that comes from the discipline that's given to a
-
father who will actually discipline his child in the
-
right way and with the right spirit, with the right attitude,
-
how much more that's transferred to our Heavenly Father?
-
That's a powerful passage. And when it comes to discipline,
-
that's perfect love. That's perfect love.
-
That's God's love to us. And that's how he treats us as
-
his sons and His daughters. Not correcting your children,
-
including, by the way, threatening to correct them and
-
not doing it, not correcting your children, actually causes
-
them to lose that respect for you and question your love.
-
My dad's just going to let me do this.
-
He knew how harmful this was, and he's just going to let me do
-
it, right? Would you let your kids drink
-
poison because that's what they want to do?
-
Well, it's their life. It's their decision.
-
That's what they want to do. It's going to be harmful for
-
them, but they'll find out at some point that it's harmful for
-
them. That's not parenting and that's
-
not love. But, you know, the same thing is
-
true when it comes to threatening.
-
And this is what we see all the time.
-
I'm, you know, you're in a grocery store.
-
Get back over here. Get back over here.
-
Come here. I said come here 122 and a half.
-
The kids like, alright, is he going to go to 2 3/4?
-
How long do I have to get back over there and obey?
-
Right? That's not demanding obedience.
-
And a kid learns to play your little game and guess what, if
-
you don't start counting, he's not going to obey.
-
Why would he, right? You're not demanding obedience.
-
You're giving him. It's it's a game to that kid,
-
right? And you've taught them how to
-
play it. That's not correction and
-
ultimately that's not love. When your children are directly
-
disobedient, you have to correct them so that they understand
-
that there's freedom in submitting to authority.
-
We like to think of our children as angels with occasional
-
lapses. That's not the case.
-
Proverbs 22 and verse 15, Proverbs 22 and verse 15.
-
We're coming to a close here for tonight.
-
This does not describe children. Foolishness is bound in the
-
heart of a child. But the rod of correction shall
-
drive it far from him. What's going to drive it from
-
him? The rod of correction, right?
-
It has to be applied in the right way and we go into
-
Ephesians chapter 6. Ye fathers, provoke not your
Ephesians 6 chapter mention
-
children to wrath. Bring them up in the nurture and
-
the admonition of the Lord. There's a right way to do it and
-
there's a wrong way to do it. But if you're doing it in the
-
right way, see, our children, just like us, are born with a
-
sin nature, a bent toward doing wrong.
-
The foolishness that this verse says is bound in the heart of a
-
child. It's it's not just childish
-
behavior, spilling a glass of milk, right?
-
Yeah. Should they be more careful?
-
Yes, they should be more careful.
-
But they spanking because they spilled milk.
-
Well, maybe depends on what led to it.
-
If you told them to sit down and they didn't sit down and they
-
spilled the milk, well, that's not just childish behavior,
-
that's disobedience. But if they were reaching for
-
something across the table and knocked their milk over, it's a
-
childish thing. It's an accident, right?
-
People blow up and RIP the kid out of the chair and throw him
-
in the bedroom and spank him until he can't stand up for
-
spilling milk, right? That's, that's a that's, that's
-
anger. That's anger and that's not
-
love. That's not love.
-
The rod of correction, though, the Bible says can refer to it
-
can refer to any kind of discipline, words of correction,
-
corporal punishment, loss of privileges, different things,
-
but there's probably no more debated area of parenting than
-
discipline, right? Especially if that includes a
-
discussion on corporal punishment.
-
Oh, you know, this was this is what happened back in the 70s
-
at, in, in Indiana at the church that I grew up at, a mother was
-
spanking her child not even not even, you know, out of line with
-
the way that she spanked her child.
-
He called welfare and I came and took him and long court battle
-
and turns out that Hillary Clinton was the one that was
-
behind all of it in the early days.
-
And they won the court case. Because a parent has a right,
-
according to the Bible, to spank their children.
-
And you should spank your children.
-
You start talking about that and oh, they don't like it.
-
They don't like it. But it's important to understand
-
that often the strong feelings on that issue are targeted at
-
the extremes and the abuses. And they should be right.
-
There's a There's a difference between discipline and child
-
abuse. Right, and, and people who lose
-
their temper who, who, who are not in control of the situation
-
crossed into that area of child abuse.
-
That's what it is, right? But discipline done God's way is
-
not child abuse at all. It shows your child that you
-
love him, and it's going to teach your child respect.
-
And the sooner you start farther along, you're going to be with
-
your kids when they turn 4567 years old, and they're going to
-
have that respect. They're going to obey.
-
They're going to do the things that you tell them to do.
-
And many times they're not even going to know why they do it.
-
But you did it God's way, and that's what God tells us to do.
-
But when a child directly disobeys and you calmly
-
administer swats, whatever you want to call them, get their
-
attention, reach their heart in a way that a timeout is never
-
going to do right? God didn't say foolishness is
-
abound in the heart of a child, but a timeout will drive it far
-
from him. All right, I didn't say that
-
because that's that's not God's way.
-
There's something wholesome for a child to having a disobedience
-
dealt with quickly and then move on, right?
-
You stay mad at your kid because they disobeyed all night.
-
That does God do that with you after he corrects it and you get
-
it right? No, you just, you take it and
-
you move on. Parents should become abusive.
-
Do it with their words. They do it with, you know,
-
exorbitant whatever timeouts, groundings, other forms of
-
correction. You can get very abusive very
-
easily if you're not in control of the situation.
-
But I'll tell you, I'll tell you how parents usually lose control
-
because they're not consistent. They're not consistent.
-
If you tell your kid do this and they don't do it, they should be
-
punished, not do this. I told you to do this, I told
-
you to do this. If you don't do this, you're
-
going to get in trouble. And then they blow up because
-
the kids still didn't do it. Because you failed.
-
It's not the kids fault. It's your fault that the kid
-
didn't obey because they should have gotten told one time and if
-
they didn't obey, they should have been punished for it.
-
There's not much room for losing your temper when you tell the
-
kid once and they don't do it and you just calmly take them
-
into the bedroom, give them spankings, and then bring them
-
back out, right? It's, it's not you're in control
-
because you're consistent. But whatever form that
-
correction takes you, you as a parent have to establish respect
-
in the home, and you have to rely on the Holy Spirit's
-
guidance as you do that because every child is different.
-
You need God's wisdom. You need the wisdom of God to
-
help you with those things and applied discipline that'll reach
-
that child's heart. Our children need to learn
-
respect. Our children need to learn that
-
as parents, we are the ones in control in the home.
-
We are the ones that they obey in the home, right?
-
We need to be the ones taking the responsibility to teach it
-
to them. We'll stop with that tonight.
-
I think it's important that that we established this, that not
-
only should we expect respect, but you have to teach that
-
respect to them. And if you don't teach it to
-
them, who's going to who's going to Society is not going to do
-
it. The movies are not going to do
-
it. Most of your rock music out
-
there is all about rebellion against society or rap music is
-
all about, you know, rebellion against society, all of those
-
things. And if you if you wait and you
-
allow society to do it, it's too late and you missed out.
-
And your kids are going to be one of those ones that grows up
-
without respect and they're going to look back and they're
-
going to say, did my parents even love me?
-
Did my parents even love me? Oh no, I love them so much that
-
I just couldn't bring myself to No, that's not what the Bible
-
says. When the Lord loveth thee
-
chasteneth. And that's what a, that's what a
-
parent does for their children as well.
-
We'll continue with this next week, but let's pray.
-
Father, again, we thank you so much for your goodness to us.
-
We thank you for the opportunity we have to discuss these things
-
from your Word. God, may you help us to be
-
parents who are #1 completely in control of ourselves, completely
-
in line with the Word of God. And God, may you help us to be
-
the disciplinarians and the authoritarians that you expect
-
us to be in the home that we can raise young people who are
-
raised with respect not only for authority, but for your
-
authority, and that that would lead to each one of them finding
-
your will for their lives. God, may you help us.
-
May we have your wisdom, may we have your guidance as we do that
-
well. Thank you again for all that you
-
do for us. In Jesus name, Amen.