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If we are not faithful to disciple our children, there is an enemy out there that is more than willing to do it for us, to their destruction. Mom and Dad, it is your job first to disciple your kids when we understand the text.
Many of the Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text is an online ministry committed to teaching sound doctrine and exposing the faulty. Visit our website at www .utt .com.
Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes. Thank you, Becky.
And greetings, everybody. It is Friday, and it's on the Friday edition of the podcast that we respond to questions from listeners. Once again, the email address is when we understand the text at gmail .com.
I really only have one question that I'm responding to today, but you'll understand why when I get to it. First of all, I want to ask once again that if you subscribe to this podcast through iTunes, would you leave us a review?
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And so again, the more positive reviews that we get, the more traffic that it generates to this program. Thank you very much for listening and for letting other people know about when we understand the text.
Last week, I said that I had a new video coming out that featured John MacArthur in the video. I said it was going to drop on Saturday. I didn't get it done, but did I? You didn't see a new video on Saturday, but I didn't say which Saturday, so it'll be tomorrow, the Saturday tomorrow.
I'll finally have that video done. All right, let's get to the question that I have today. This comes from Rich and he says, Pastor Gabe, on a recent podcast, you mentioned possibly assembling a list of sermons that have really moved you or meant a lot to you.
You mentioned several sermons to include John MacArthur's The Wrath of God, Matt Chandler, God is for God and Paul Washer's Youth Sermon. I had previously heard MacArthur's since I thoroughly enjoy his teaching.
I don't know how I missed the other two that you mentioned, but I was able to listen to Chandler and Washer. These sermons were two of the best sermons I've heard. Well, now Rich, you understand why those sermons have been so impacting for me in my life.
Thank you for mentioning them since they will be two that I will come back to from here on out. Having said that, I really hope you consider putting that list of your favorite sermons out there so we can all enjoy the ones that we may have never heard.
Thank you for your ministry and I enjoy listening to the What Podcast daily. Well, thank you very much, Rich, and I will take you up on that. Sometime I'll probably assemble a blog and I'll tick through several sermons for people to listen to that have really meant something to me.
Here's those sermons that Rich mentioned and a fourth one that he did not, that I talked about but didn't have the title of, I actually just recently found this sermon, so I'll tell you about it here.
The first one is called When God Abandons a Nation. That's by John MacArthur. It was preached years ago, I think like 10 years ago when he first did that sermon. The other one is God is for God by Matt Chandler.
That was just a few years ago, I think about six years ago. He did that one at Elevation Church, which is Stephen Furtick's church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Now, Matt Chandler came rebuking that church for the way that they listened to and received the scriptures.
And so he's rebuking that church in that sermon. God is for God. You can find it on YouTube. God is for God by Matt Chandler. Also the other one by John MacArthur. You search for it by that title and you'll find it on YouTube.
When God Abandons a Nation by John MacArthur. Another sermon I mentioned is entitled, because I don't know that this message has ever had a title, so it's just been known as The Shocking Youth Message by Paul Washer, and you will find it under that title.
He delivered it in 2001 in Alabama. I heard it around 2007, 2008. When I was in a period of time in my life, I was starving for the gospel. And so I was surrounding myself with teachers that just preached the gospel.
And boy, Washer just hammers it home in that particular sermon. So look that one up on YouTube. If you haven't heard it, you won't regret it. And you know, I mean, if you've even heard the name Paul Washer and have listened to sermons of his, then surely you've heard that one.
It's probably his most well-known. Okay, this next sermon here, the fourth one that I mentioned, I did not have the title of, in fact, only had a portion of the audio. But I've since found the whole thing.
It is a sermon that was delivered by Votie Bauckham speaking at the Southern Baptist Texas Convention on Saturday, February 18th, 2006. And the name of the sermon is The Centrality of the Home in the Evangelism and Discipleship of the Next Generation.
That's the name of the sermon. Now, you won't find it on YouTube, but it is on Sermon Audio. There's also a transcript of the sermon. So if you do a Google search for the title of that sermon, you'll not only find the audio on SermonAudio .com, but you'll find the transcript of it as well.
Again, the name is The Centrality of the Home in the Evangelism and Discipleship of the Next Generation. I heard this sermon before I had ever even met my wife. So I was not yet married. I did not have children.
And I did not even have any ambition whatsoever to become a pastor. And yet this sermon, when I heard it, messed me up. I was hugely convicted and did not know why, because I was not a husband or a father or a pastor.
And those are the three things that Bauckham is speaking into in this particular message. I saved it, and I still come back to at least the portion of the audio that I had. I didn't have the full sermon.
I only had like the last half. But I still come back to it every once in a while to be reminded of the calling that is upon me as a husband and a father and a pastor. I'm going to play for you the portion of the sermon that I have, but you can listen to the whole thing once again on SermonAudio .com.
Here is Votie Bauckham.
Children, obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. Now in order to understand the context of that verse, you've got to back up to the paragraph before it. You back up to the paragraph before it and you start with, husbands, love your wives as Christ also loved the church.
But the problem with that is, you get there, you've got to back up the paragraph before that one to see the context of this section. Wives be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord. The problem with that is that it is the beginning of the section, but it's got no verb.
I know what you're saying. You've got a verb right there, be subject. Isn't that the verb? It ought to be italicized in your Bible. The reason it's italicized is because it's borrowed from verse 21. In the Greek, there's no verb there in verse 22.
So it's borrowed from verse 21. Problem with starting with verse 21, if you start with verse 21, you start at the end of a paragraph and you can't do that. So in order to understand the context of Ephesians chapter 6 verse 1, you've got to go all the way back to Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 15.
Trust me, we're going somewhere. When you back up to Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 15, here's what you get. You get three contrasts, and then you get three commands, and then you get three contexts, alright?
Three contrasts. Let's look at them, beginning of verse 15. Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. That's contrast number one.
Contrast number two, next verse. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. That's the second contrast. Don't be foolish, understand the Lord's will. Third contrast. Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.
On the third contrast, you get three commands. Those three commands are connected to the third contrast. Look at what he says, beginning of verse 19. How do you know if somebody's living a Spirit-filled life?
Verse 19. Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord. If you show me a worshipful person, I'll show you a person who's more than likely being controlled by the Spirit of God.
Show me a person who's not a worshipful person, and I'll show you somebody who more than likely is not being controlled, and is not yielding to the Spirit of God. You can't tell me that somebody is Spirit-filled, and they're not worshipful.
The two just don't go together. Fair enough? Look at the next verse. Here's the next command. Verse 20. Always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God, even the Father.
So, you're a worshipful person, secondly, you're prayerfully thankful. Prayerfully thankful. Show me somebody who's prayerfully thankful, and I'll show you somebody who's probably being controlled by the Spirit of God.
Show me somebody who is neither prayerful nor thankful, and I'll show you somebody who's not Spirit-filled. Fair enough? Those were easy. Verse 21. Be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. Contrast.
Show me somebody who submits to proper Biblical authority in their life, and I'll show you somebody who is Spirit-filled. Show me somebody who does not submit to proper Biblical authority in their life, and I'll show you somebody who's not Spirit-filled.
Now go to chapter six and verse one, and look at it in context. Children obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. In other words, three contrasts, three commands. On the third command, you get three contexts.
Context number one, wives and husbands. Context number two, children and parents. Context number three, servants and masters. Here's what he's saying in verse one. Show me a child who is not submissive to their parents' authority, and I'll show you a child who's not yielded to the Spirit of God.
So number one, we see the centrality of the home in the context here. He says, you want to take the spiritual temperature of a young person, you take the spiritual temperature of a young person by whether or not they are submissive to the authority of their parents.
Secondly, look at the centrality in the home in his use of the fifth commandment. Look at what he says here. The next verse. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.
Now as Americans, we're rugged individualists. So the first thing we want to do with this verse is we want to say, that's talking to the individual child. Child, you obey me, you'll have a long, prosperous life.
No. No. Understand the significance of the fifth commandment. First of all, the fifth commandment is the first of the horizontal commandments. There's 10 commandments, first four vertical, last six horizontal.
Number one on the hit parade of the horizontal commandments, the man-to-man commandments, number one is honor your father and your mother, which means there is nothing that the church can teach a child that is more important than honoring their father and their mother.
Now not only do we see it because of the position, secondly we see it because of a promise. That's the first one with a promise. That's huge. Do you know what the first four commandments are? Commandment number one.
I'm God, you don't get another one. Lord, can we get a promise with that one? Uh-uh, no promise. Just do it. Commandment number two. Don't even make nothing that look like me. OK God, can we get a promise with that one?
Uh-uh, just do it. Commandment number three, don't even mess with my name. OK God, that's kind of serious right there. You know, you got to give us a promise on that one, uh-uh. Commandment number four, don't even mess with my day.
Now wait a minute now, you know, I want my boy to be a baseball player and most of the teams, you know, he'll have to go and he'll have to play on Sunday sometime and God, I'm sure you'll don't mess with my day.
Can we get a promise with that one, Lord? No promise. Commandment number five, honor your father and your mother. Can we get a promise with that one, God? You better believe you can. On that one, do you see the importance of the fifth commandment?
The fact that it's the first one with a promise screams of its importance. Now listen to this. The fifth commandment was not for the individual child, it was for the community of faith. Here's what the fifth commandment is about.
Remember, we get them in Deuteronomy 5, in Deuteronomy chapter 6, what does he teach us? He teaches us how to disciple our children in our homes. He teaches us, listen Israel, hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your might. These words which I'm commanding you today shall be on your hearts, and you shall teach them diligently to your sons, when you lie down, when you rise up, and when you walk along the way.
Disciple your children. Can I give it to somebody else to do? No. It is your job as parents. Listen to me, you're clapping, but almost every one of you has a youth ministry in your church that is operating unbiblically.
And I'm not talking about including more parents in what we do, I'm talking about changing the entire paradigm. Why? Because here's the purpose of the fifth commandment. God says, you are my people, but you're about to go into a pagan land where they worship pagan gods.
If you want to continue to be my people, here's what you must do. Number one, you must have a boatload of kids. That's what it means, to multiply greatly. By the way, when he sends them into the promised land, what does he say to them in Deuteronomy?
That they're to multiply greatly, so that when he sends them into the promised land, they won't disappear as God's people. When he sends them into exile, in Jeremiah 29, what does he say? Multiply greatly.
You want to avoid disappearing in the midst of a pagan culture? Outbreed them. There's some of us in the room who need to repent because of our attitude toward children, and because of what we've said to people, communicating our attitude and not the Biblical attitude toward children.
Some of us need to get on our faces before a holy God because we have mocked being fruitful. Children are a gift of the Lord. The fruit of the womb is a reward. Our attitude from here is why a lot of people out there aren't having enough kids.
Starts with us, and it all goes back to prosperity. God help us. We're dying one generation at a time because we refuse to receive the gift that God wants to bring through the womb. Finally, in case you don't understand what he said by the context of this passage, and in case you don't understand what he said by him pointing to the fifth commandment, how about a plain, black and white, straightforward word?
Verse four, and fathers, and fathers, do not provoke your children to anger but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. It doesn't get clearer than that, folks. The context of this passage says the home is central in the evangelism and discipleship of the next generation.
The fact that he points to the fifth commandment screams that the home is central in the evangelism and discipleship of the next generation. And then, in case we didn't get those two hints, he says it in black and white, fathers, disciple your children.
Fathers. If we believe this, then why is it that we've done everything in our power not to allow that to happen? And I hear you. We go back to this whole thing, I understand that, but they're just not equipped.
They just don't know. Here's what's interesting, if the people in your church are not tithing, you don't start a ministry to tithe for them, do you? No. You simply teach them and expect them to do what the Bible says is their job.
If it works for tithing, why don't we think it'll work for the discipleship of the next generation? So what do we do with this? I'm not telling you all to go fire your youth pastors tomorrow. It's not what I'm saying here.
But we have to completely revamp our philosophies. In the last couple of minutes that I have left, let me give you a few things that we must do. Number one, I beseech you, if you don't have a Biblical view of children, get on your face before Almighty God and repent.
And if you have been mocking children from your pulpit, and if you like one pastor, one pastor that I talked to recently, said, brother, when you said that, here's what I thought. The first thought that came to my mind was last week, I talked to my people, and I told them that we thought my wife was pregnant.
And when I said that, I told them that after we found out that she wasn't, I said, we had a close call. He said, I need to go get on my face right now, because I communicated to my people that children are a curse, and a scourge, and not a blessing.
Do not make a mockery of children. You encourage people to welcome children into their homes. You throw a banquet when that woman walks into your church with six or seven kids behind her. You honor her, and let everybody see you do it.
Because if it wasn't for a woman like her, we'd have no future. Secondly, if you have a youth ministry in your church, and you have a mission statement, you line it up against what we looked at in Scripture, and if it's wrong on its biblical and theological merit, you crumble it up, put it in the trash, and start over.
Because it will not change until we change our entire mentality about what it means to disciple the next generation. Our entire mentality has to change. Thirdly, and this is the toughest one to talk about, we have to adopt a biblical view of church leadership.
I want to tell you something, there's two skills required of a pastor. And only two skills. There are a lot of character qualities that are required, but only two skills. Number one, he must be able to teach.
Number two, he must manage his household well. Our churches are filled with biblically disqualified pastors. Titus chapter one makes it clear. If you do not have faithful children, and if your children are accused of rebellion or dissipation, you are disqualified biblically.
And you hear that, and I know we hear that and we go, oh brother that's harsh, nobody's perfect. Listen to me, the same passage says, and here's what boggles my mind. Same passage, same paragraph, must not be addicted to wine.
That says, he must not be a drunkard. He must not drink in excess. We say, he can't drink at all. Listen to me, I'm not a drinker, I'm not promoting drinking. I've never had a drink. Not drinking is easy for me, and it's easy for most of you, because most of you never drink.
And you stick your chest out and pop your collar because you don't drink. It means nothing to you, unless you've been an alcoholic. It is not hard for you to do. Discipling your family is a different story, and it amazes me that in the same paragraph, we take one of those requirements and raise it, and the other one and lower it.
You want to know why our families are in turmoil? Because most of you, when you got hired at the church that you're at right now, they never even met your family. They heard you preach and voted on you.
When the Bible says, if you're not discipling your children in an exemplary fashion, you're not worthy of being called a pastor. From the top down, we are wrong on the family. Why? And we are losing the culture war, one family at a time.
And we have gotten so pathetic that now there's a euphemism in our culture called the PK. Why do we use that term as a euphemism? Because pastor's kids who live like they were raised by the devil has almost become the norm.
If the church is a corporation, that's completely acceptable, because all you have to do is stand at the top of a machine and make sure that people go in one side of it and out the other, and that there's more of them going through the machine next year than this year.
But if the church is a family of families, and if God is serious about families being expected and equipped to disciple their children, then the people who stand at the helm had better be exemplary husbands and exemplary fathers.
And until we believe that, we'll continue to lose the culture war, one family at a time. Listen to this from Richard Baxter and the Reformed pastor. If you are ungodly and teach not your families the fear of God, nor contradict the sins of the company you are in, nor turn the stream of their vain talking, nor deal with them plainly about their salvation, they will take it as if you preached to them that such things are needless, and that they may boldly do so as well as you.
We will never be able to tell our children to raise and disciple a house full of warriors for Christ if we don't begin to do it.
Listening to it again, it still chokes me up. I mean, it is, even if you have no ambition to become a pastor, if you're a husband or a father, those words should have eaten you up. If you're not a husband or a father, but you have a desire for this culture, you love the people that you live among, and you know that they need to hear the gospel, you desire to see healthy families raised up on a foundation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, then that sermon speaks into all of that.
It is just as relevant now as it was when Bockham delivered it 10 years ago. And so may we be a people that are filled with the gospel of Christ and are teaching that word to others. If we as husbands, as fathers, and I guess moms as well, I'm speaking to all parents, if we do not have a desire to disciple our children, there is an enemy out there that is more than willing to disciple them for us.
We have got to be on the offensive, sharing the gospel with our kids. And it is your job, mom and dad, first and foremost, before it is anybody else's. That's going to wrap things up for me, friends. Thanks so much for listening to this program and telling others about it.
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God bless. I'll talk to you again on Monday as we continue our study of the book of James.
This is When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. There are lots of great Bible teaching programs on the web and we thank you for selecting ours. But this is no replacement for regular fellowship with a church family.
Find a good gospel teaching Christ-centered church to worship with this weekend and join us again Monday for more Bible study when we understand the text.