7 Lessons for Parents Parenting thier Children - Part 1

Enjoyed all of that worship. I like that prayer, "Take my life and let it be." Notice that was a very simple but yet much needed prayer. And then that last song was all about the cross, the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross. Keith, I'm going to ask you if you'll sing that when we close the service out. And I'm going to go ahead and ask you to do something. When we sing that last song after the service, I want you to tune out your thoughts, the burdens on your mind, the things of this world that are pressing in.

And I want you to sing that with all that you have from the bottom of your heart in worship in light of what we're studying. Folks, I believe we worship and we worship well through song, but I think there is another level at which we can sing and worship from the bottom of our hearts in relation to what we have been studying. So I'm challenging you to do that. I know that I look forward to that. Well, if you would, take your Bible, turn back to John chapter 3. I say turn back there.

We didn't read that in our scripture reading, but I did say that's where we will start off our message, John chapter 3, just those first three verses, verses 1, 2, and 3. And then later on, I will call you to turn to Ephesians 5 verse 18. We know that verse. And then 2 Timothy 3 verse 16 and 17. Now it's been a couple of weeks since we've been in our study in Ephesians. I was out of town last week on a little vacation. Glad to be back. Of course, I'm always thankful for the men who can stand in when I am out.

But in those last two messages, we dealt with the responsibilities that children have to parents and then we dealt with the responsibilities that parents have to children. In our first message, we covered verses 1, 2, and 3. And here we saw that God calls children to obey their parents in some things. No, the text says in all things. And we saw that they should obey them in the Lord or for the sake of the Lord. And this obedience pleases God. I love what the King James says. He says this obedience is well pleasing unto the Lord. Children, do you see that? Your obedience to your parents is well pleasing unto the Lord.

Now listen to what Paul says in Ephesians 1, 6 and then in Colossians 3, 20. Paul says in Ephesians 1, 6, children obey your parents in the Lord or for the sake of the Lord. And then in Colossians 3, 20, he says, children obey your parents in everything for this pleases the Lord. It is well pleasing to the Lord. And then in our second message, we covered verse 4. Here we saw that God gives two commands, one on the negative side and one on the positive side. He calls fathers and mothers not to provoke their children to anger or wrath. That's the negative. But the positive is that God calls fathers and mothers to nurture their children.

But this responsibility, we learned, is primarily for the father. And we saw that God tells fathers how they are to nurture and bring up their children. First in the discipline of the Lord, which is correcting them in wrongdoing and instructing them in right doing. And then also in the instruction of the Lord, which is putting God and the things of God, the Word of God into their minds and into their lives. I love what John MacArthur says about provoking our children to anger.

He says, and I'm quoting, "To provoke to anger suggests a repeated ongoing patter of treatment that gradually builds up a deep-seated anger and resentment that boils over into outward hostility." I think he hits that right on the head. And I love what Albert Barnes says about bringing up our children. He says, "Bring them up, place them under such discipline and instruction that they shall become acquainted with the Lord." I love that phrase, "acquainted with the Lord." I love what Warren Wiersby says about bringing up our children. He says, "It is not enough to nurture the children physically by providing food, shelter, and clothing.

He, that is the father, must also nurture them emotionally and spiritually." Emotionally and spiritually. Now church, I want to speak to us all, especially men and especially fathers. I challenge you all to get all of that teaching from those two messages. I challenge you to study that. I challenge you to meditate over that until all of that teaching is in your mind and it is in your thinking. All of the teaching from those verses is clearly explained and illustrated in those messages. And those messages are full of some practical, much needed instruction pertaining to certain critical commands in the verses.

I gave us five reasons why children obeying their parents is good in the home and good for the home. And then I gave us eight ways parents can provoke their children to wrath. And you need all of that practical teaching more than you know. And from those messages, not only will you learn about parenting well, you will learn about having poverty and riches in your home and then you will learn about raising rattlesnakes in your home and even raising possums in your home. Now if you don't have a clue as to what I'm talking about, that tells me you didn't get the messages. And you need to go back and get that teaching.

Now this morning I'm going to do what I do at certain times. I sometimes call this preaching back into the verses that we've already covered. This message this morning will complement what we've been studying in chapter 6 verses 1 to 4. This message will help us better accept that teaching and better absorb that teaching into our homes. I firmly believe it. And this morning I will give us seven lessons for parents who were working at parenting their children in the Lord. And I firmly believe that this teaching can enable us to parent in such a way that is acceptable to God and very pleasing to God.

Now parents, let's be honest, do you want that? Do you want to parent in such a way that is acceptable to God, that it is very pleasing to God? Look, parents, this might surprise you. This is not that complicated. Now it's hard work. It is hard work. But it is not that complicated. And the sinfulness of men complicate things here. And I want to speak to another group of people. If you're 12 or 13 years old, maybe 14 years old, maybe 11, you have the capacity to understand a lot of what I'm teaching. See parents, with your younger ones you have to kind of go home and interpret these things to your little ones.

But if you're 10 or 11, 12 or 13, you need to listen to these things because what I'm teaching you this morning can help you when you are married and when you have children. Now a little bit of instruction before I jump into the message. I would rather you follow me with your eyes and your mind and your heart than lose me trying to write all these things down. We should take notes and pray over those things. I do encourage you to do that. But we must stay engaged when someone's preaching God's Word. And we must stay engaged with our mind, with our hearts, even with our eyes and our bodies. When God's Word is taught.

So seven lessons for parents parenting their children. Now I'll go ahead and tell you we're going to cover three this morning. The other four are a little shorter. So lesson number one. Lesson number one, saving faith is the key to unlocking the door. Saving faith is the key to unlocking the door. Now when we think about a key unlocking a door, we are talking about unlocking a door so that we can gain entrance. If the door is locked we are locked out. If the door is unlocked the door can be opened and we can enter. Maybe into our home, maybe into our office, maybe into something like a storage building.

You know we have progressed in our society in such a way that we don't even need a key anymore. All we have to have is a combination. I kind of like that. Well when we are seeking to parent our children in the Lord and according to God's Word we must see that if we do not have saving faith the door will be locked. The door to the kingdom of God will be locked to both parents and children. Now let me give you a portion of scripture and an event here that will help us. We'll turn to the verses here in a moment. In John chapter 3 verses 1 to 15 we have Nicodemus coming to Jesus at night. We know this story.

And Nicodemus was clearly coming to Jesus seeking instructions in the ways of living for God and serving God. But Nicodemus was not a bad guy. We can honestly say that he was in every way the very best at serving God according to the ways of Judaism. He was a Pharisee which meant that he lived according to the strictest religious rules possible in Judaism. And although most of the Pharisees were terrible hypocrites it really seems that Nicodemus was very sincere as he came to Jesus. He was also the teacher of Israel, verse 10 says, which meant that he was a leading Pharisee who held a special particular office.

He was actually a master teacher of the Old Testament scriptures and all of the writings of the Jewish teachers that had been given throughout the centuries. But in one statement with a handful of words Jesus scooped up everything Nicodemus was, everything Nicodemus lived for, and everything Nicodemus hoped for and he balled it up and he threw it away right in his face. Let's look at John chapter 3 verses 1, 2, and 3. Jesus does this cruel, awful, but helpful thing in verse 3. "Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

This man came to Jesus by night and he said to him, 'Rabbi or teacher, we know that you are a teacher come from God. I think that tells us that he was sincere.' He says, 'We know you've come from God, for no one can do these signs, this would be miracles, that you do unless God is with you.'" Now you would think Jesus would be impressed, but notice what Jesus says. "Jesus answered him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.'" Now notice church, Jesus said two things here that utterly destroyed this man.

Jesus told him that he had to be born again, which means he had to be born from above or born anew. Jesus was telling him that he was not in right standing with God, that he needed to be born again, born of the Spirit. And he tells them that if he is not reborn by the Spirit of God, he could not even see the kingdom of God. But this word 'see' here in verse 3 does not mean 'see' like seeing with our eyes. This means to perceive, this means to discern, this means to know, this means to have a knowledge of, this means to understand.

So Jesus was telling him that although he had served God all of his life, and although he believed he was right with God, he had to die to himself, he had to die to all of his religious effort, he had to die even to his own religion, and he had to be born again by the Spirit and the power of God. And Jesus tells him if he was not born again, he could not even understand or know what it means to live in the kingdom of God, and he would be excluded from the life of God. Now at this point I want to show you how this relates to parents and parenting.

First, dad's moms, if you have not been born again, if you have not been made alive together with Christ, Ephesians 2.5, you are just like Nicodemus. This means that you are outside God's kingdom of the redeemed and those who are ruled by Christ, so you cannot see, you cannot perceive, you cannot understand or know God's kingdom. So if that is you, how do you expect to parent like we see in Ephesians 6, verse 4? You cannot bring your children up in the discipline and the instruction of the Lord because you do not know the Lord.

At best, you will parent your children with rules and traditions and standards, and these things may be even, these things may even be Christian standards and Christian traditions, but all of those things will be void of spiritual life if you do not know God. Let me give you an example here. I'll speak about my marriage. It's kind of dangerous to do that when my wife is here before me. If you'll notice, usually I'll make little comments about my marriage when she's in the nursery. Somehow she always seems to find out. Listen, my marriage is not about arrangements. My marriage is not about rules.

My marriage is not about traditions or standards. Even Christian rules, Christian standards, Christian traditions, Christian arrangements from the Bible. My marriage is so much more than that. I have a living, loving relationship with my wife. Think about that. I have a living, loving relationship with my wife in every way, physically, spiritually, emotionally. We are one. And so parents, if we know God, we walk with God. We live our lives connected to God in a living, loving, real relationship. Therefore we can bring up our children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord and the God that we know.

And then second, dads and moms, just like you must be born again, our children must be born again. Now what I'm aiming at here is this. Yes, we bring them up. We nurture our children up in the discipline and the instruction of the Lord. But if our sons and our daughters are not born again, they cannot see, they cannot perceive or understand the kingdom of God either. They cannot live in the kingdom of the redeemed by Christ, which is ruled by Christ. That means that the discipline and the instruction of the Lord will not have life in it for them.

Because they are not alive together with Christ, the discipline and the instruction of the Lord cannot have life in it for them. It will ultimately be just empty religion. If they continue unregenerated, ultimately it will just be rules and standards and traditions. And right here is where so many parents make a life and death heaven and hell mistake.

They think that if they catechize their children, they think that if they educate their children in a Christian manner, they think that if they teach their children the scriptures, maybe even lead them to memorize the scriptures, they think that if their children can grow up to be good Christians, well, they are Christians. But look, church, Christians are not raised. They are reborn. Christians are born from above. And our children must be born again because Jesus says you must be born again. And you know, it blows my mind. I look at that particular group of Christianity that would be called the Reform Camp.

And so many in the Reform Camp are so biblically astute. So many know their scripture. So many know their doctrine. And so many understand the teaching of regeneration and how we must be born again first before we can ever trust and believe. But so many fail to see that they can't raise Christians. We can never raise Christians. Only God can birth them. And we must remember that the power of God to save the lost sinner is not found in bringing up Christians. Oh yes, God uses us to bring them up. But the power of God to save the lost sinner is found in the gospel.

Yes, we are supposed to instruct our children and discipline our children in the Lord. We are supposed to educate our children in the ways of God. But those efforts and those efforts alone will not save them. Here's a verse that will help us here. John 1 verses 12 and 13. John says, "But to all who did receive him," this is savingly, "who believed in his name, not savingly believing and receiving him. He gave the right to become children of God." Yes, they're born again. Who were born, notice, not of blood, that's heredity, nor of the will of the flesh, that's something that we could do for ourselves, nor of the will of a man.

That's something that someone can do for us. And what does he say at the end, "But of God?" Now a question. A very practical question and much needed. How do we evangelize our children? And then how do we bring them up, nurture our children in the discipline and the instruction of the Lord like we're supposed to in Ephesians 6, 4? First, first of all, and at the top of the list, we never ever tell our children that they are Christians. We never give them any assurance that they are right with God until they have been born again, until they have savingly believed in Christ.

If we give them any indication that they are right with God, we give them a false assurance that they are in the kingdom of the redeemed. And then second, we always confront their sin. We explain to them why they sin. We explain to them that they sin because by their very nature they are sinners. Folks, the Bible never says our little boys and girls are good boys and girls. The Bible just doesn't say that. We explain to them that they are dead in their sins, but yet they are alive in their sin and in their sinfulness. Ephesians 2, verses 1 to 3 tells us that they are death walkers. Remember that message? They are spiritual zombies.

They are death walkers, but yet they are alive to sin. All the while they are spiritually dead. And then third, as you point out their sin and you explain to them their sinfulness, point them to their only hope and that is Christ and his substitutionary death on the cross. Tell them that Christ died as the one and only substitute for the sin of men. Explain to them that if they are not born again that they will have to pay for their own sin debt all throughout eternity in hell. And call them to repent from their sin. Call them to trust in Christ and to believe in Christ for salvation.

Tell them that they have a responsibility to God to repent and believe the gospel to be saved from their sin, to be saved from their sinfulness and the wrath of God that is to come. Do these two things over and over and over. Every chance you get, pray for your sons and your daughters while you do this and you do this over and over. Now of course you take into account their age and their maturity. The way you deal with a three year old will be a lot different than the way you deal with a 13 year old. And if you need help there we can help you. And then fourth, do nothing else. Do not lead them in a sinner's prayer.

Do not lead them into some kind of a spiritual decision. Lead them in their sin and in their sinful predicament. Do not assure them or make them feel better about their awful spiritual predicament. Look folks, can a person feel better if they are separated from God and they are in danger of eternal fire and punishment? I thought about it like this. You know in our culture we have some wonderful things and we see from time to time these little boys and little girls maybe they have terminal cancer. And they are these organizations that will send them on trips of a lifetime.

And you know if you have a 10 year old boy and he has terminal cancer he might spend a week in Disney World and he might feel better for that week but yet as soon as he comes home he still has the fact in front of him that his life is going to end soon. And so we cannot make them feel better when they are separated from God and they are in danger of an eternal hell and punishment. And we leave room for the Holy Spirit of God to work here. We trust in the Holy Spirit of God to work. We wait for and allow the Holy Spirit of God to do His work. And if you get in the way of the Holy Spirit of God here you grieve the Spirit, you quench the Spirit.

A rhetorical question but I don't mind if you answer it out loud. Who is the Holy Spirit? God. And can we trust God? Who is it that convicts sinners of their sin, God's righteousness and the judgment to come? Who is it that brings about the new birth in men and women and boys? God, the Holy Spirit of God. And if we understand this work sometimes we will see our children simmer under conviction. Sometimes we will see them even suffer under conviction and that is the work of the Holy Spirit. And you know that there are people here this morning they are simmering under the conviction of God and sometimes they are suffering.

They are being persecuted by the Word of God. They are being prosecuted by the Spirit of God. And it is not my job to make you feel any better. It is my job to stay out of the way and let the Holy Spirit of God do His work until He brings you to a place where you can believe in Christ, trust in Christ, repent of your sin and come to faith in Christ, savingly. And you may say, "Well, Pastor, with that approach like that I cannot do anything but share the gospel with them and pray." That's right. You tell your children the gospel and then you pray and ask God to send the Holy Spirit to work in their lives so as to birth them into the kingdom.

Let me share something with you that is very personal. I have seen parents have sons and daughters in a gospel preaching church under pastors and ministers who believe these things correctly. And I have watched mothers and fathers have a son or a daughter under great conviction. They're going home, they're asking questions, they're listening to the preaching. God clearly is working in their heart and mind. And because of some petty reason, they take their son and their daughter out of that church and they go somewhere else. Now can God save them somewhere else? Yes.

But why in the world would you remove them from the work of God in the church when God is drawing them to faith in Christ? In the entire time you're doing this work, this work of waiting, this work of waiting. What are you doing? You're bringing them up in the discipline and the instruction of the Lord. You're living Ephesians 4. You're teaching them the scripture. You're teaching them the ways of God. You teach them how a true Christian should live by your words and by your life as you live it before them. You discipline them and you instruct them in the scriptures, in the ways of God and in life.

You discipline and you instruct them in the ways of life that would please God, all of the ways of life that would please God. And ultimately parents, as we as parents, we do this work. We do this work, yes, but we look to and we wait on and we trust in the Spirit of God to do what only the Spirit of God can do. And if He doesn't save them, we have no hope. Look, church, the key to the door of the kingdom of God is saving faith. What did Jesus tell Nicodemus? He threw it all away. He said, "You must be born again." That is why saving faith is our first lesson. It's really not that complicated, but oh, it's hard work.

And then lesson number two, being a Spirit-filled parent is the key ingredient. Being a Spirit-filled parent is the key ingredient. Now when we think of a key ingredient, we probably think about cooking. Isn't that right? We're going to eat later. I can't wait. We may have a key ingredient for our rub when we put some meat on the smoker. It's a little too hot outside to stand by a smoker these days, I think. We may have a certain way we spice our red beans and rice. We may have a secret ingredient or two for our seafood gumbo. Years ago when I lived in Ellisville, I have a friend of mine who has a restaurant there.

And I remember when he started that restaurant, I'd go by there at lunch and eat lunch with him and he would always have something he was working up, some sauce for chicken. And he was always working it up. And he'd have this ingredient and that ingredient. And sometimes I'd say, "What's in that? Why does that taste so good?" He said, "I can't tell you." Well when we are working to be Christian parents and to parent our children for the sake of the Lord, we must see that if we are not Spirit-filled Christians, we have no power. We have no power and we are missing the key ingredient. Now let me give you a scripture here.

We've already studied this. Ephesians chapter 5, we know right where that is. Ephesians chapter 5 verse 18. Paul says, "To the Ephesian Christians and to us, do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery." Now let me pause there. You could substitute a whole lot of sins there. What Paul was saying was this, "Do not be drunk with wine which leads to all kinds of sinfulness." You could say, "Do not be caught up in sin that can lead to all kinds of sinfulness." You could substitute wordliness there. But what does he say, "Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit." We studied this verse extensively.

We had a part one back in December and then we had a part two in April. We learned that in Paul's day this word field was used quite a few ways. It was used to speak of a wind filling the sail of a ship so that that ship could sail across the sea. This word was used of something being soaked or saturated. Meat was soaked. Meat was saturated with salt so that it could be preserved. This word was also used to speak of being controlled by something, like when someone is controlled by anger or grief or bitterness. So what Paul was teaching here is this. When a believer is filled with the Spirit, there is a sense in which they are filled.

So that believer is filled with the Spirit, they are carried along by the Spirit. When a believer is filled with the Spirit, there is a sense in which he is soaked or saturated by the Spirit. And when a believer is filled with the Spirit, there is a sense in which they are controlled by the Spirit. But we need to remember that this was a command. And what kind of command this is. This is a present passive command, which means this was to be an ongoing work in the life. This is a passive voice command, which means that we are to let ourselves be filled because we cannot produce this filling.

This is an imperative command, which means that we are commanded to be filled with the Spirit and commanded to continue to be filled with the Spirit. Now at this point I want to show you how this relates to parents and parenting. Dads, moms, you cannot evangelize your children as you should unless you are filled with the Spirit. And you cannot nurture and bring up your children in the discipline and the instruction of the Lord as you should unless you are saturated and controlled by the Spirit. And this is critical. This is critical. Because to do otherwise means to do these things in our own strength.

And when we do these things in our own strength, we are prone to do these things our own way. Let me repeat that. Being filled with the Spirit is critical because to do otherwise means to do these things in our own strength. And when we do these things in our own strength, we are prone to do things our own way. But why do you think so many Christians fall for false teaching regarding the family and how to parent? Because they are not filled with the Spirit and they do not know the Word of God. And we'll get to that here in a minute.

You may say, "Pastor, well how do I live the Spirit-filled life in my parenting?" First and foremost, we walk in obedience to the Lord. And we have to walk in obedience in every area of our life. If we have sinned, we confess that sin and we put that out of our lives. First John 1, 5-9. Then we submit ourselves to God's control. Romans 12, verses 1-2. And then we let the Word of God dwell richly in us. Colossians 3, 16. And then we empty ourselves of self. Galatians 2, 20. And then we submit ourselves to the Lord in these things.

And we seek to know what God's Word says about the home and about home life and about parenting and about nurturing our children. And then we let that teaching dwell in us. And then we prayerfully live out that teaching and obey that teaching in our home with our children. And as you walk with God in these things, being Spirit-filled, you will begin to see that you are Spirit-controlled. You will look and you will see that the Holy Spirit of God is guiding you in your parenting.

And you will see that the Holy Spirit of God is leading you and governing you and helping you as you evangelize your children, as you instruct them in the discipline and the instruction of the Lord. But you know I've left somebody out. Teenagers, look at your pastor now. Put both eyes on me. If you're born again, if you profess to be a Christian, you have a responsibility here as well. You are to live Spirit-filled. You are to be controlled by the Spirit. And children, as your parents are parenting you, are you filled with the Spirit? Are you controlled by the Spirit in your obedience?

You might say, "Pastor, it's kind of hard for me to do that. My parents make a lot of mistakes." You do too. If you want grace, you've got to give them grace. So my question is, do you submit to your parents in obedience, therefore proving yourself to be Spirit-filled? But why do I say that being Spirit-filled as we parent our children is the key ingredient? Because as believers, we cannot live the Christian life without the Holy Spirit. And I personally believe that many true believers miss this teaching. They are ignorant of these things, so they are not as Spirit-filled as they should be. Now if you think about it, that's a bold statement.

That's a broad brush with a lot of paint on it. But I can give you evidence of that. Look at the home lives of true Christians. Look at the home lives of true Christians. Many are doing it right, but many are not. That is why being Spirit-filled in our parenting is our second lesson. So first, we must be right on salvation, and then second, we must be Spirit-filled. Now let me pause before I go to number three. What kind of a revival would take place in our church if all of us men and fathers and mothers were truly Spirit-filled and we took what God's Word says about parenting and we lived that out? God would be moving mightily, I believe.

And then lesson number three, knowing and understanding and submitting to God's Word. Knowing, understanding and submitting to God's Word. Now if I ask you to think of instructions for Christian parenting, if the first thing that comes into your mind is a book or teaching other than the Bible, you're awful. You're not starting off right. Now I'm not against teaching other than Scripture. Hear me right. Unless it is flawed or downright error. I am not against teaching other than the Scripture. As a matter of fact, good teaching on Christian parenting can be good, and it should be good, and it can be helpful.

But the first thing that should come to our mind when we think of instructions for parenting is God's Word, Scripture, the Bible. This is where I want us to go to 2 Timothy 3, verse 16 and verse 17. You know, verse 16, I know from some vacation Bible school music. I love that. 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17. Paul says, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God," you can say, "the woman of God may be complete, equipped for every good word." Here there are three specifics that we need to see in these verses, and this will help you in your parenting more than you know.

First, Paul says that all Scripture is breathed out by God. Now I'm reading from the English Standard. The King James says all Scripture was given by inspiration of God. And although this is mysterious, this is actually quite simple. This simply means that God breathed His Word to men, and He inspired men, and He equipped men to write those things down, all while at the same time He was allowing them to have a particular style to reveal their personalities and to even reveal their personal experiences. I love what William McDonald says here.

He says, and I'm quoting, "The writers of the Bible did not give their own private interpretation of things, but wrote the message which was given to them by God." He also says, "This is one of the most important verses in the Bible on the subject of inspiration. It teaches that the Scriptures are God-breathed. In a miraculous way, He thus God communicated His Word to men and led them to write it down for permanent preservation. What they wrote was the very Word of God, inspired and infallible." And then second, Paul says that all Scripture is profitable. This means all Scripture, old and new, is helpful. It is useful. It is beneficial.

But for what? For teaching and reproof. Convection simply means conviction for correction and for training in righteousness. And righteousness means right and just living. Now let me ask you a question here. Just with that very simple explanation and that simple understanding of verse 16 that I gave you, do you have more confidence that God's Word can equip you to parent as you should? You should. If you do not, you need to go back and meditate on verse 16. And then third, Paul says that God has given His Word so that the man of God may be complete and equipped for every good work. Every good work.

This word complete simply means complete or in shape. It means in fit condition. In this word equipped is almost the same. It means equipped for service. So in summarizing what Paul is saying in verse 17, Paul says the Scriptures outfit. The Scriptures equip any believer so that they are able to do the work that God has for them. That means the Scriptures and the Scriptures alone are able to outfit us and to equip us, any and all of us, to parent for every good work pertaining to the home and parenting. You know what? I feel so sorry for the Christians who live in these poor third world countries. All they have is the Bible.

All they have is the Holy Spirit. They cannot parent. They don't have the latest seminar. They don't have all the books. They don't have all of the teaching. They can't go on the internet and listen to all of these guys talk about parenting and the home and fathers and mothers. They don't have all that. Poor fellows, they can't do it. Listen again to 2 Timothy 3, 16.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and it is profitable for teaching, for reproof, and for correction, and for training in righteousness that the man of God, the man of God, the woman of God may be complete and equipped for every good work and you can write out there for parenting. You can. Every good work includes parenting. You know what? I hope and pray you have more confidence in God's Word right now. Now my question for you right now is this, parents, moms and dads, are you reading books and listening to others more than you're studying and searching the Scripture to know how to parent? If you are, you're off.

You got some things out of order. Of course, someone can be explaining the Scriptures. That's what I'm doing. But someone can be giving you their opinion. Be careful. Someone can be giving you their opinion and they can be adding to or taking away from the Scriptures here. And look, one of the greatest dangers is adding to what the Scriptures say. And one of the greatest dangers I've seen out there is when people add to what the Scriptures say about the home life and about parenting. I'm going to give you an example of one. This is going to make me go a little longer, but just forgive me. This one's gotten me in trouble before.

You look in the Bible, you will not find a verse about the family altar. You're not going to find it. Now the Puritans believe in family altar. I'm okay with that. But there's not a verse in there about the family altar. I've had people tell me, "You must have a family altar. You must have a family altar at the same time every day. You must sit your family down and worship the Lord together. You must sit down and teach them the Word of God with a family altar." Now a family altar can be good. I'm not against it.

I'm going to go home and get on Facebook or Twitter and say, "My pastor is against the family altar." No, that's not what I'm saying. But what I am saying is the Bible doesn't say that. Should we lead our children in worship? Yes. Should we teach them the Word of God? Yes. Should they see us worshiping our Lord? Yes. If my kids were up this morning, they would have heard me worshiping the Lord when my ear phone's in, listening to music, and I was meditating on verses, the Word of God. I was worshiping the Lord as I was ironing my shirt. Raise my hands a little bit. But what I'm showing you is this. The family altar's not there.

There's nothing wrong with it. But some people will take that and they'll run down the road with it and they're really adding to the Scripture. And parents, I believe God can use the teaching, the example of others, yes. But if we are born again and we're spirit-filled and all we have are the Scriptures and our parenting, that is enough. That is enough. And to be honest with you, if we have the Scriptures and all of what the experts say, we ought to be a lot better at it than we are. So first, we must be right on salvation. If we miss salvation, folks, we might as well close the door and just go to Lake Lincoln.

And second, we must be spirit-filled. If we're not spirit-filled, we're doing it in the flesh. We've done it in the flesh far too long. And then third, we must understand, know, and submit to God's Word. And God's Word's enough. Now as I close, next week we'll look at four more valuable lessons. This all goes together. It's all beautiful. It's all wonderful. To be honest with you, I was a little mad that I couldn't get to all of them this morning. But that's just the way it works out. Now in closing, I want to call you to remember real quickly some foundational truths that we learned when we were covering verses 1 to 4 of Ephesians 6.

Remember the family was and is ordained by God. That means that the family and parenting and our children, it's all God's. It's all God's work. It's all His, folks. Again, I'm not supposed to use this word. It ain't ours. It's His. We are just to be good stewards, good managers of what God has given us. Are we being good stewards here, folks? And then children are a blessing from God. This means that our children are a blessing. They're a gift. They're a reward from God. They are an inheritance. And if we are blessed with children, then we are to parent them according to what God's Word says because they're His. They're not ours.

And then fathers, we are to be the leaders in nurturing our families. Men first. Men first. Fathers first. Ladies, you're right behind us. And when it all comes down to it, if it's not working out, fathers, it's on you. It's on me. It's on us. So let's pray. Let's commit these things to the Lord. And then we're going to sing and worship. We're going to worship the Lord by what He's given us. And then we're going to leave, and we're going to work our hearts and fingers to the bone to live these things out for the glory of God. Let's pray.