Participants: 4Q20 Education<\br> Lesson 2<\br> The Family
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP200041S
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00:01 Hello friends, we are diving into lesson number two
00:04 in our study on education. 00:06 And this week we're going to be taking on the family, 00:09 the family and education. 00:10 And you may be new to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:12 And we want to tell you exactly 00:14 how you can get a copy of this lesson, 00:16 so you can follow along with us. 00:17 First of all, we encourage you to find 00:19 your local Seventh-day Adventist Church. 00:21 And, of course, they will have a free copy there for you 00:23 and you get to study with the group. 00:24 So we certainly encourage that but if you want a free copy, 00:27 you can go online to absg.Adventist.org. 00:33 Again, that's absg.Adventist.org. 00:36 And you can access a copy of this lesson for free. 00:39 So again, as always say 00:40 get your notepads, pens, pencils, 00:42 anything to write and take notes, 00:43 because we're going to have an exciting study today 00:46 on the family and education. 01:20 Hello, and welcome again 01:21 to another week of 3ABN Sabbath School panel. 01:23 We're in week number two, 01:25 we still got a ways to go 01:26 but hey, we have an exciting study on education. 01:29 We're studying education and its spiritual implications 01:32 on the home, on the family, on the church, etc. 01:35 So we're glad that you're joining us again. 01:36 Each and every week, we thank you for your love, 01:38 prayers and support of 3ABN ministry. 01:41 Again, lesson number two, the family, 01:43 there's lots to be said. 01:44 I'm going to introduce this amazing panel 01:47 that we have such an awesome time 01:49 with each and every week. 01:50 To my left we have my brother, my friend, 01:54 Brother Jason Bradley, Dare to Dream General Manager. 01:56 It's a blessing to have you, Brother. 01:58 It's great to be here. 01:59 I'm looking forward to diving into the lesson. 02:01 Amen. Praise the Lord. 02:02 Amen. And we have Miss Jill Morikone. 02:04 It's always a blessing to have you. 02:05 Thank you, Ryan, privileged to be here 02:07 and open up God's Word. 02:09 Amen. Praise God. 02:10 Brother Kenny Shelton, 02:11 I know you have something powerful 02:13 to give us today. 02:14 It's good to have you as well. 02:16 Man, the Word of God is good 02:17 and we're going to taste and see. 02:18 Amen. Praise the Lord. 02:20 And I said it from the beginning, 02:21 it's a little nostalgic feeling 02:23 because we went two whole quarters 02:24 without you Miss Shelley. 02:26 But it's a blessing to have you back, 02:28 your words of wisdom and encouragement 02:30 of the Word of God. 02:31 It's a blessing to have you always. 02:32 Oh, I'm just excited to be back with you all 02:35 and with you at home as well. 02:37 It's so much fun to share God's Word. 02:40 Absolutely. Amen. 02:42 Praise the Lord. 02:43 I'm going to read our memory text 02:45 and then we're going to have a prayer. 02:46 But I just want to read this because this is probably, 02:49 this has become one of my favorite ones 02:51 since studying this lesson. 02:52 Proverbs 1:8 02:54 from the New King James Version. 02:55 It's plain and simple. 02:57 It says, "My son, 02:58 hear the instruction of your father, 03:00 and do not forsake the law of your mother." 03:05 Watch out because when mama speaks, 03:07 mama speaks, amen? 03:09 That's a good scripture 03:10 and we're gonna fit that into today's lesson. 03:12 But before we go any further, 03:13 let's ask the Lord to lead and guide us, 03:15 Miss Shelley, would you have our prayer for us? 03:16 Absolutely. 03:17 Heavenly Father, we are so grateful to You 03:20 and thank You so much, Father, for Your plan of salvation. 03:24 We thank You that You are a God of restoration 03:26 and that You give us 03:28 not only Your Holy Spirit to empower us, 03:31 but Your word to be a light to our feet. 03:35 We ask now for Your anointing on our ears, 03:38 on the ears of all of the hearers. 03:41 And, Lord, let Your word do a work in us. 03:46 In Jesus' name, amen. 03:48 Amen. Praise the Lord. 03:49 Thank you for that. 03:51 Life itself is an educational experience. 03:56 It's the ultimate educational experience. 03:59 In fact, I love this quote 04:00 from Sabbath afternoon section of the study. 04:03 This comes from the Desire of Ages, 04:06 page 69, 04:08 and it's a little lengthy but listen to it, 04:10 it's got powerful words of wisdom here. 04:11 It says, "From the earliest times, 04:14 the faithful in Israel had given much care 04:16 to the education of the youth. 04:20 The Lord had directed 04:21 that even from babyhood the children should be taught 04:25 of His goodness and His greatness, 04:27 especially as revealed in His law, 04:30 and shown in the history of Israel. 04:33 Song and prayer and lessons from the scriptures 04:39 were to be adapted to the opening mind. 04:42 Fathers and mothers were to instruct their children 04:46 that the law of God is an expression 04:48 of His character, 04:49 and that as they received the principles of the law 04:52 into the heart, 04:53 the image of God was traced upon soul, 04:57 the mind and soul. 04:59 Much of the teaching was oral, 05:01 but the youth also learned to read the Hebrew writings, 05:05 and the parchment rolls 05:06 of the Old Testament Scriptures 05:08 were open to their study." 05:12 And I love that because, you know, 05:14 shouldn't that be the case today in our homes? 05:16 Shouldn't that be with every single family, 05:18 we need to be raising up as the Bible says, 05:20 raising our children in the way of the Lord, 05:22 and they will not depart from the faith. 05:24 And so we're going to be looking into Sunday's lesson 05:26 at this moment. 05:27 It's entitled, "The First Family." 05:29 There's some lessons that we can learn 05:30 from the first family. 05:31 And it's kind of ironic, because, truthfully, 05:35 you know, there's not much in Scripture 05:37 on how Adam and Eve educated, 05:39 you know, little Cain, Abel and Seth, right? 05:42 We don't really have much, much information 05:44 on how they carried out that education. 05:46 But you can only imagine it's, 05:48 it just leaves open the imagination to, 05:50 you know, I can imagine that Adam would have taught this, 05:52 and Eve would have taught this 05:54 and little Cain and Abel and Seth would have been, 05:55 you know, educated this way. 05:57 So while the Bible may not have 05:58 a lot to say in detail about it, 06:00 we can find principles 06:02 and wonderful passages of Scripture 06:05 throughout the Bible that gives us some insight 06:07 on what would have been taught 06:09 in the home of God's first family. 06:12 And so I want to start out with a quote, again, 06:15 from Education page 33, 06:16 to kind of set the foundation for this segment. 06:18 It says, "The system of education 06:20 established in Eden, 06:22 centered in the family," 06:24 okay, I like that, 06:25 it was a family centered education, 06:27 "Adam was the son of God," and according to Luke 3:38, 06:31 "and it was from their father 06:33 that the children of the highest 06:35 received instruction. 06:37 There's, in the truest sense was a family school." 06:43 I like that, a family school. 06:44 Again, life is a never-ending experience 06:47 of education. 06:48 But you know, we live in a different day and age now, 06:50 where education comes kind of from 06:52 outside of the home, 06:54 seems like there's our kids are being educated 06:56 and raised more from other people 06:58 than it is in the family. 06:59 But when we look back at the biblical model, 07:01 we can see that God had a plan and His original plan, 07:04 His original model was that in the home, 07:06 mommy and daddy was to be raising the children 07:08 in the way of the Lord. 07:10 And so, even though we don't exactly know 07:12 exactly what they taught and the things that they said, 07:14 there are things that we can for sure know. 07:16 I can just imagine, 07:18 you know, Adam and Eve gathering, 07:20 you know, little Cain and Abel and Seth together and say, 07:22 "Hey, guys, come here, story time. 07:24 Let us tell you about creation." 07:27 You know, Genesis Chapter 1-2, 07:29 creation is essential to Christian education. 07:31 Yes. 07:33 We are grown, I actually went and this is quick story, 07:35 I actually got my undergrad degree 07:37 at a Christian University. 07:39 And in that Christian university, 07:41 I was taught by seminary professors 07:44 that were again, these were men of God, 07:48 you know, these were people who were ordained 07:49 in this particular denomination, 07:52 I'll say it wasn't Seventh-day Adventist. 07:54 But in this case, 07:56 I was actually taught in this university 07:57 that they had reached a conclusion 07:59 within the scholarly works and the scholarly world 08:02 that you know what, 08:03 Genesis 1-2 can't be taken literally. 08:05 And perhaps maybe creation 08:07 isn't exactly the way we perceived. 08:09 There was a negative connotation and educate 08:11 almost like a reverse of education 08:13 that I had been raised on 08:15 someone telling me when I was older, 08:16 that all that stuff 08:17 you've been taught about creation, 08:19 wipe it clean, it's not really the way it is. 08:21 I can imagine Adam and Eve probably set the record 08:23 straight more than once, okay. 08:25 We're talking about individuals who live for hundreds of years, 08:28 I can imagine them gathering together 08:29 and teaching them about how God, 08:31 what He did on day one, 08:32 what He did on day two, what He created on day three, 08:34 and how He separated this, and there was light, 08:36 and then there was darkness, and then there was water, 08:38 and then there was the birds of the air 08:39 and the fishes of the seas, 08:41 and then you get down to day six, 08:42 and then God created us, right? 08:44 And you could just imagine them, 08:45 their eyes lit up like ah, man, this is awesome 08:47 that God breathed into his nostrils 08:50 the breath of life and man became a living soul. 08:53 And then on day seven, 08:54 God rests 08:56 and that's why we keep Sabbath, right? 08:58 Absolutely. 09:00 I can imagine the story time of, 09:02 you know, hey, daddy, hey, daddy, 09:04 tell us about that serpent again. 09:06 Tell us about what happened before and after 09:08 and we aren't there anymore 09:10 and I could imagine them giving in great detail 09:13 the story of Genesis 3:1-15, 09:16 you know the story very well. 09:17 The serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field 09:20 which the Lord God had made 09:21 and he deceived the woman and you can, 09:23 I can imagine them telling that story 09:26 and the boys learning of the, 09:29 you know, the education and learning of, 09:31 you know, the ways, the way of God before, 09:33 what's God's perfect, uninterrupted plan of salvation 09:37 was before they fell, 09:38 before they were kicked out of the garden, 09:40 then life afterwards. 09:41 Only Adam and Eve could tell that story. 09:43 Wouldn't it be awesome to have Adam and Eve as parents, right, 09:46 to hear that amazing story? 09:47 This is what life was like, this is what God intended, 09:49 but, man, we messed up. 09:51 And now this is why we have to, 09:52 you know, do this and raise our own food 09:54 and all these other stuff 09:55 and all the things that God gave us. 09:56 There was a wonderful educational experience 09:58 within that home. 10:00 There must have been. 10:01 Another one, I could imagine. 10:03 Let's go to 2 Corinthians Chapter 4. 10:05 I can imagine this principle was shared and taught 10:07 within the home, 2 Corinthians Chapter 4. 10:09 I'm going to begin with verse 6. 10:12 It says, "For it is the God who commanded light 10:16 to shine out of darkness, 10:18 who has shown it in our hearts to give the light 10:20 of the knowledge of the glory of God 10:22 in the face of Jesus Christ." 10:25 Genesis 3:15, you know what? 10:27 It seems like we have fallen, it seems like there's no hope. 10:30 But you know what? 10:31 There's a man coming, 10:33 the seed is coming, Messiah is coming, 10:36 little Abel, little Cain, little Seth. 10:37 Just know, after I'm gone, and you're still here, 10:40 whatever the case may be, 10:41 you look forward to that promising seed, 10:43 they probably didn't know at the time 10:45 that His name was Jesus. 10:46 But you could imagine 10:48 that Jesus shared that story with them, 10:49 Adam and Eve, it was etched into their mind, 10:51 and they're sharing that with their, 10:52 there's a coming Messiah, there's a coming Savior, 10:55 an anointed seed 10:56 that's going to reverse every bit of this. 10:58 He's going to put in into all of this fallen world. 11:02 I can imagine Luke10:27, 11:04 the principle there that should have been 11:06 and would have been taught in the home of Adam and Eve. 11:09 Again, Luke 10:27, it says, so he answered and said, 11:13 "You shall love the Lord God with all your heart, 11:15 with all your soul, and with all your strength, 11:17 and with all your mind 11:19 and you love your neighbor as yourself." 11:22 So right there very clearly, the principles, 11:24 the very two principles on which the law hangs, 11:27 love God with all your heart, 11:28 mind and soul and your neighbor as yourself. 11:31 I can imagine Adam and Eve instilling those principles 11:33 within their children's hearts and minds, 11:35 you put God first in everything. 11:37 And when you put God first in everything, then guess what? 11:40 You're going to also 11:41 because you have the love of God in your heart, 11:43 you're going to have love for your neighbor, 11:45 no matter what, right? 11:47 And that brings me to again, my main, next point, 11:50 that wasn't necessarily highlighted in the lesson, 11:51 but I just, I just had to believe, 11:54 I could imagine Adam and Eve taught the law of God 11:56 to their children. 11:57 Now, a lot of people would argue with that. 11:59 I'm going to have people probably watching right now 12:00 that says, "Oh, no, no. 12:02 Ten Commandments didn't come until Mount Sinai." 12:04 But there's plenty of biblical evidence 12:06 that there must have been a law 12:08 in those days that they abide by. 12:09 For instance, let's just take in consideration 12:11 the Bible teaches us in 1 John 3- 4, 12:14 that sin is transgression of the law. 12:17 Adam and Eve, the Bible says, sinned, sinned against what? 12:20 Well, we also understand that according to Romans 4:15, 12:23 that where there is no law, 12:25 there is no transgression, right? 12:27 And you go through the Old Testament, 12:28 up to Mount Sinai, 12:30 there's so many different instances, 12:31 for instance, Ezekiel 28. 12:32 You know, Lucifer, he was perfect 12:35 in all his ways until iniquity. 12:36 There was a law in heaven. 12:38 When God created heavens and earth, 12:39 the men of Sodom, 12:41 according to Genesis 13:13, they sinned. 12:43 And according to Peter 2, they've done unlawful deeds. 12:46 What unlawful deeds? There wasn't a law, right? 12:48 There was a law, Abraham, the Bible says in Genesis 26:5, 12:52 Abraham kept all of God's commandments. 12:55 So again, and even all the way down. 12:57 I'm really skipping forward here. 12:58 But as Exodus 16:28, 13:01 God says to the children of Israel 13:02 before He'd even given the Ten Commandments. 13:04 He taught them keep My Sabbath. 13:05 And when they didn't, He said, "You're violating My laws. 13:08 Why are you violating My laws?" 13:10 The point of the matter is, 13:12 is I can imagine in the home of Adam and Eve, 13:13 they're saying, hey, look, 13:15 you know, this sin problem that we got caught up in, 13:16 it's because we violated God's law. 13:18 And I believe 13:19 with all my heart, mind and soul 13:21 that they taught to little Cain, Abel, and Seth, 13:23 and all, you know, their daughters, 13:25 because we know that they had daughters, 13:26 they talked to their children, the law of God. 13:29 And they instilled that within them, 13:31 because again, the law of God is the character of the Lord. 13:34 Again, it doesn't save us, we're not saved by the law, 13:36 but we are saved by Jesus Christ. 13:38 And when we're saved by Jesus, His love and His grace, 13:40 my friends, we should have a desire to be obedient 13:42 to His law. 13:43 Really quick, Galatians 3:11, 13:45 "But that no one is justified by the law." 13:47 That was kind of the point I'm making here. 13:49 I'm sure that at the same time while they're teaching 13:51 and etching the law 13:52 into the minds and hearts of their children, 13:54 they're also saying, Hey, don't become, 13:55 don't become legalistic little Cain, 13:57 don't become legalistic little Seth and little Abel. 14:00 Okay, we need to understand that while we are not saying, 14:02 while we should be obedient to God's laws, 14:05 we are not saved by them. 14:06 And so, I'm sure that these principles 14:09 were etched into the mind just as in our homes, 14:12 it should be a family based education. 14:14 Train up a child in the way they should go now 14:17 and they will not depart from it. 14:20 I have a whole lot more to say, 14:21 but I'm going to toss it to you now. 14:23 I love it. 14:24 I love the way that you tell stories and all of that, 14:27 and thinking of stories, 14:28 I have Monday's lesson 14:30 and Monday's lesson is entitled, 14:31 "The Childhood of Jesus." 14:33 The lesson begins by pointing out the fact 14:35 that scripture gives us very little detail 14:38 about the childhood of Jesus. 14:40 However, we have been given some insight 14:42 into the character of His earthly parents 14:45 and I want us to take a look at a few passages. 14:49 As we examine the childhood of Jesus, 14:51 the first passage I want us to turn to 14:53 is Matthew 1:18-24. 14:56 Again, that's Matthew 1:18-24. 15:01 Beginning in verse 18, 15:03 "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: 15:06 After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, 15:09 before they came together, 15:10 she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 15:13 Then Joseph, her husband," 15:15 and I want you to pay attention to this now, 15:17 "Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, 15:19 and not wanting to make her a public example, 15:22 was minded to put her away secretly. 15:25 But while he thought about these things, 15:28 " I would imagine his mind was racing, 15:30 "behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, 15:33 saying, 'Joseph, son of David, 15:35 do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, 15:38 for that which is conceived in her 15:40 is of the Holy Spirit." 15:42 I love how the angel of the Lord came 15:45 and comforted him in that moment. 15:47 And she will bring forth a Son, 15:49 and you shall call His name Jesus, 15:51 for He will save His people from their sins. 15:53 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled 15:56 which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 15:59 'Behold, the virgin shall be with child, 16:01 and bear a Son, 16:03 and they shall call His name Immanuel," 16:04 which is translated, 16:06 "God with us. 16:07 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, 16:10 did as the angel of the Lord commanded him 16:12 and took to him his wife.' " 16:15 Now, I can only imagine the thoughts 16:17 that must have been running through Joseph's head 16:21 in that very moment, 16:22 but he handled the situation with such grace. 16:25 Yes. 16:26 Oh, man, I really, I want you guys 16:29 to think about it for a moment. 16:30 And I want to take a second 16:32 to speak to my fellows out there. 16:33 So, guys, I want you to listen up to this 16:36 and women you listen too, 16:37 because I want you to imagine 16:38 being on the other side of this. 16:40 But imagine you just got married, 16:44 you haven't been with your wife. 16:47 And she comes to you and says, "Babe, I'm pregnant." 16:52 Now, what are you going to be thinking at that very moment, 16:55 you're going to have a lot of things 16:57 running through your mind. 16:58 Now, this wasn't any type of ordinary situation. 17:03 But the reality is, that was Joseph's situation. 17:07 He could have shamed her in public, in public, 17:10 but he chose to put her away secretly. 17:12 And that was huge. 17:13 Turn with me to Deuteronomy 22:23-24. 17:21 Twenty three, all right. 17:27 So, "If a young woman who is a virgin 17:30 is betrothed to a husband, 17:32 and a man finds her in the city and lies with her, 17:35 then you shall bring them both 17:37 out to the gate of that city, 17:38 and you shall stone them to death with stones, 17:40 the young woman 17:42 because she did not cry out in the city, 17:43 and the man 17:45 because he humbled his neighbor's wife, 17:46 so you shall put away the evil from among you." 17:50 Now, Joseph's response to this situation 17:54 said a lot about his character 17:56 and Mary's excitement and willingness 17:58 to be faithful to God 17:59 said a lot about her character as well. 18:01 Now we know 18:02 that Mary didn't do anything wrong 18:04 in this situation at all. 18:06 But if Joseph would have jumped to that conclusion 18:09 and shamed her publicly, 18:11 it could have been a different outcome for Mary. 18:14 Jesus couldn't have had better earthly parents. 18:17 And Luke 1:26-38, 18:20 Mary is receiving the news 18:22 that she is going to have a child, 18:24 but not just any child, 18:25 she is blessed 18:26 with the privilege of being Jesus' earthly mom, 18:30 and what an honor that must have been. 18:32 I think it's safe to say 18:34 that she was thankful for the honor 18:35 because in Luke 1:46-55, 18:39 Mary is singing praises to the Lord. 18:42 Now, I encourage you to go to your Bibles 18:44 and check this story out when you get a chance. 18:46 We're not going to go there right now. 18:48 But when I think about the birth of Christ, 18:50 I'm amazed at all the obstacles that He faced. 18:54 I mean, He was swaddled in cloth and laid in a manger. 18:56 So He wasn't born 18:58 into the world's greatest hospital, 19:00 He wasn't placed in the world's greatest hotel, 19:03 He was in a manger, this is our Savior. 19:06 He was misidentified by the wise men 19:08 as the King of the Jews. 19:10 So they didn't understand His purpose. 19:12 They didn't understand why He was here. 19:15 And then, if that weren't enough, 19:18 there was an assassination attempt 19:19 on his life. 19:21 King Herod ordered the killing 19:22 of all male children in Bethlehem 19:24 and in all its districts, ages two and under. 19:28 All of this transpired 19:29 at the very beginning of Jesus' childhood. 19:32 Let's journey deeper 19:33 into the childhood of our Savior. 19:36 Let's look at Luke 2:41-52. 19:39 Again, that's Luke 2:41-52. 19:44 "His parents went to Jerusalem every year 19:46 at the Feast of the Passover. 19:48 And when He was twelve years old, 19:50 they went up to Jerusalem 19:51 according to the custom of the feast. 19:54 When they had finished the days, 19:55 as they returned, 19:56 the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. 19:59 And Joseph and His mother did not know it, 20:01 but supposing Him to have been in the company, 20:04 they went a day's journey, and sought Him among their 20:08 relatives and acquaintances. 20:10 So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, 20:13 seeking Him." 20:14 Now, I want to pause for a moment right there. 20:16 And I want you to really think about this as a parent, 20:20 okay, I don't have any kids. 20:22 But I can imagine, as a parent, 20:25 you have to be super concerned about your little kids, 20:30 you have to be concerned about them. 20:32 And here you have Mary and Joseph 20:35 thinking that that baby, well, not baby Jesus, 20:37 but that Jesus at 12 years old that He is, He's with them. 20:43 But they went a whole day's journey. 20:46 And so you can't just catch a cab. 20:49 You can't go on the app, that we won't name the company, 20:52 but you can't go on the app, 20:54 and you can't go back to Jerusalem. 20:56 You can't get there fast. 20:57 Okay, so they want this whole day's journey. 21:00 They're worried and everything. 21:02 And it's going to be, 21:03 they were kind of setback a little bit here. 21:06 All right. 21:07 "So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, 21:10 seeking Him. 21:11 Now so it was 21:12 that after three days 21:16 they found Him in the temple, 21:18 sitting in the midst of the teachers, 21:19 both listening to them and asking them questions. 21:23 And all who heard Him were astonished 21:27 at His understanding and answers. 21:30 So when they saw Him, they were amazed, 21:32 and His mother said to Him, 21:34 'Son, why have You done this to us? 21:36 Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.' 21:41 And He said to them, now get this. 21:43 He said to them, 'Why did you seek Me? 21:46 Did you not know 21:47 that I must be about My Father's business?' " 21:51 That was deep. 21:52 But they did not understand the statement 21:54 which He spoke to them. 21:56 "Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, 22:01 and was subject to them, 22:02 but His mother kept all these things in her heart. 22:05 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, 22:09 and in favor with God and men." 22:12 Now, I love what the lesson points out here. 22:15 And look at the quote from Desire of Ages, page 70. 22:19 "The Child Jesus did not receive instruction 22:23 in the synagogue schools. 22:25 His mother was his first human teacher. 22:29 From her lips 22:30 and from the scrolls of the prophets, 22:32 He learned of heavenly things, 22:34 the very words which He himself 22:37 had spoken to Moses for Israel, 22:40 He was now taught at His mother's knee. 22:43 As He advanced from childhood to youth, 22:45 he did not seek the schools of the rabbi's. 22:48 He needed not the education 22:50 to be obtained from such sources, 22:52 for God was His instructor." 22:55 God was His instructor. 22:58 That's so deep to me that the very words 23:00 that Christ had spoken to Moses for Israel, 23:04 He was now being taught at his mother's knees." 23:06 Amen. 23:08 Man, there are some important lessons 23:10 that we can learn from Jesus' childhood. 23:13 And we'll go through a couple of them. 23:16 One, we should always be about our Heavenly Father's business. 23:20 And so we need to take a deeper look 23:22 at what it is that we're doing on a daily basis. 23:25 Is this helping to advance the kingdom of God? 23:28 Am I leading people to Christ? 23:31 Or am I leading people away from Christ. 23:32 We have to focus on those things. 23:34 Number two, when Jesus was at the temple, 23:37 He listened and He asked questions. 23:41 He listened and He asked questions. 23:43 We should apply that same methodology 23:46 when we are witnessing to others. 23:47 You know, so often, we tend to want to speak, 23:50 we tend to just want to preach, 23:52 we tend to just want to tell people 23:55 what they should be doing instead of listening, 23:57 asking questions, 23:58 and then being an effective witness. 24:02 We need to continue to grow like Jesus did. 24:05 Luke 2:40, says, 24:06 "And the child grew and became strong 24:08 and spirit filled with wisdom, 24:10 and the grace of God was upon Him." 24:13 I love this lesson. I love it. 24:16 Jesus taught us stuff even in His birth 24:21 and throughout His childhood, 24:22 and He honored His father in heaven. 24:25 Praise the Lord. 24:26 Who would've known we can learn so much from little Jesus. 24:30 All right. Praise the Lord. 24:31 We're going to take a short break 24:33 and we'll see you in just a moment. 24:38 Ever wish you could watch 24:40 a 3ABN Sabbath School Panel again, 24:42 or share it on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? 24:45 Well, you can by visiting 3abnsabbathschoolpanel.com, 24:50 a clean design makes it easy 24:53 to find the program you're looking for. 24:55 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guide 24:58 so you can follow along. 25:00 Sharing is easy. 25:01 Just click Share and choose your favorite social media. 25:05 Share a link, save a life for eternity. 25:08 Welcome back to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 25:11 We're going to skip it over to Miss Jill Morikone 25:13 for Tuesday's lesson. 25:15 Thank you so much, Ryan and Jason, 25:17 what an incredible foundation, the family, I love that. 25:20 I have Tuesday's lesson, "Communication." 25:24 And, boy, if you need communication anywhere, 25:26 you need it in the home and in the family. 25:31 Education is what? 25:32 All about acquiring knowledge, learning facts, figures, 25:35 information, wisdom, learning how to think. 25:39 But really, it all boils down to communication. 25:43 At any level education is all about communication. 25:48 The teacher needs to communicate 25:49 with the student and the student needs to learn 25:52 and receive from the teacher. 25:56 Good relationship must be built. 25:57 In order to have that good communication, 26:00 you need a good relationship and good communication 26:03 leads to a good relationship. 26:06 I certainly know that in my marriage with Greg, 26:08 if you want a good relationship, 26:10 you need good communication. 26:12 As husband and wife or parent and child, 26:15 you need that good communication 26:16 within the home. 26:18 So we're looking at the do's and don'ts 26:20 of biblical communication. 26:23 We're going to have five do's, 26:24 you know, I got to get the list in there 26:26 and three don'ts. 26:28 So five do's and three don'ts for biblical communication. 26:33 Before we go to the do's, 26:34 let's just read an opening scripture. 26:36 This is Proverbs 18:21. 26:39 Proverbs 18:21, 26:42 "Death and life are in the power of the tongue. 26:47 And those who love it will eat its fruit." 26:51 This means by the words that we speak, 26:54 we can build people up, or cut them down. 26:57 We can bring life to someone or to a relationship, 27:02 or we bring death. 27:04 So let's look at how we can bring life, 27:07 the do's of biblical communication. 27:10 I'm going to give you all five do's 27:11 and we'll go back and unpack them. 27:13 Do listen, do think, do practice honesty, 27:20 do react in love, and do act. 27:24 So let's go to number one, do listen. 27:26 Now, Jason already talked about this. 27:28 Listen, learn to listen before you respond. 27:31 Let's look at James. 27:32 James Chapter 1. 27:34 Now, I don't know if you're like me, 27:35 but sometimes I make this mistake. 27:37 I'm in a conversation with someone they're talking 27:41 and I might not be listening. 27:43 Maybe you're thinking about what you're going to say 27:46 or how you, what story, they're sharing a story. 27:48 Oh, I got a story like that. 27:50 And I'm going to share a story, 27:51 instead of taking time to sit back 27:54 and actually listen to what the person is saying. 27:58 James 1:19- 20, 28:01 "So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be," 28:03 what's that word? 28:05 "Swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. 28:09 For the wrath of man does not produce 28:12 the righteousness of God." 28:14 We often talk instead of listening. 28:17 Our mind wanders instead of listening. 28:20 Maybe you even do another project 28:22 while you're trying to listen at the same time. 28:24 I don't know if you've been guilty of that. 28:26 But sometimes we try to fix instead of listen. 28:31 Now, that we always say it's true of the male gender, 28:34 but I think women can do that too. 28:36 And women can clearly jump in and say, 28:38 "Well, I'm going to try to fix this as well." 28:40 So the first principle is listen, 28:42 second principle, do think. 28:46 Learn to think before you speak, 28:49 the same scripture. 28:50 I get this principle from the same scripture 28:52 we just read in James 1. 28:54 Let every man be swift to hear slow to speak, 28:57 that means think before you answer. 29:02 You don't always have to say the first thing 29:03 that comes to your mind. 29:04 Filter your words through the Spirit of God. 29:08 Principle number three, or do number three, 29:11 do practice honesty. 29:13 Tell the truth, even if it is difficult. 29:18 Proverbs 12:22, 29:20 "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, 29:24 but those who deal truly or truthfully are His delight." 29:28 Our God delights in honesty. 29:32 Proverbs 27, 29:33 if you jump over just a couple of chapters, 29:35 Proverbs 27:17, "As iron sharpens iron, 29:40 so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend." 29:44 You know, if you have a relationship with someone, 29:47 I think it makes it much easier to practice this principle. 29:51 And to be honest with them, 29:53 I know there's people in my own life 29:55 that I've given permission 29:57 as it were to speak into my life. 29:59 Now anyone can choose to speak into your life 30:01 and you accept that or take it to God, 30:04 God, what do you want me to do with this? 30:06 How can I, you know, 30:07 learn from this and grow from this? 30:09 But especially the people, you know, 30:11 the people who are close to you, 30:13 the people that love you, 30:15 you say, I want you, I've gone to people, 30:17 I want you, 30:19 I need you to speak into my life. 30:22 Practice honesty. 30:24 Ask them to be as the iron that sharpens iron 30:27 with your own life. 30:29 Honesty does not mean that you sweep things 30:31 under the carpet. 30:32 It doesn't mean that you ignore difficulties in relationship. 30:35 It doesn't mean 30:36 that you pretend things are fine. 30:38 It doesn't mean you try to be a good Christian 30:40 and just wear the mask that everything's fine. 30:42 On the flip side, 30:44 honesty does not mean that you tell people off, 30:46 or that you say what you want, when you want, 30:48 how you want to say it. 30:50 It doesn't mean that you hold to the truth 30:51 and say only the truth 30:53 regardless of how it comes across. 30:55 This leads us to principle number four, 30:58 do react in love. 30:59 Say the truth. Yes, but always with love. 31:02 Ephesians 4:15, Paul says, "Speaking the truth in love, 31:07 that's a God based self-sacrificing love." 31:10 We may grow up in all things into him who is the head, 31:13 even Christ, what you say matters, 31:15 but how you say it matters even more. 31:19 This is where relationships matter. 31:22 People don't care what you have to say 31:24 until they know how much you care. 31:27 Principle number five, do act. 31:29 Follow your words with actions. 31:31 Don't just say it, 31:33 but follow up with those actions. 31:35 1 John 3:18, 31:37 "My little children let us not love 31:39 and word in tongue but in deed and in truth." 31:42 Don't just say, oh, yeah, I'll help you. 31:44 Oh, yeah, I'll be there. 31:45 Oh, yeah, but follow that up with actions. 31:48 Let's look at the three don'ts. 31:50 If we do not practice these, our relationships, 31:54 our communication would greatly improve. 31:58 Don't judge or criticize others. 32:02 James 4:11, 32:05 "Do not speak evil of one another brethren. 32:09 He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother 32:12 speaks evil of the law and judges the law. 32:15 But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, 32:17 but a judge." 32:18 Now that word speaks evil 32:19 occurred three times in that verse. 32:22 It's all the same Greek word. 32:24 It only happens five times in the entire New Testament, 32:27 three times in this one verse. 32:29 And it literally means to detract 32:31 from someone's reputation 32:34 by malice or a speech 32:36 that's directed against your neighbor. 32:38 It is what we would call gossiping about someone else 32:41 or criticizing someone else, railing against them. 32:46 Choose not to gossip, 32:47 or criticize or judge other people. 32:51 In Titus, Paul tells us the same thing. 32:54 Titus 3:1-2, 32:56 "Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, 32:59 to obey, to be ready for every good work, 33:02 to speak evil of no one." 33:05 That's that not to slander other people, 33:08 to be peaceable, gentle, 33:10 showing all humility to all men. 33:13 Don't number two, don't speak hurtful words. 33:19 Do not speak hurtful words. 33:22 Proverbs 12:18. 33:24 "There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword 33:28 meaning what they say, 33:30 the words that they use wound other people, 33:34 but the tongue of the wise promotes health." 33:37 Or if we are wise, the words we use, Jay, 33:40 will be healing to other people, 33:43 will build up and edify the body 33:45 instead of tear down. 33:47 Don't number three, 33:48 don't respond with your feelings. 33:53 I just want to speak to my sisters 33:55 since you spoke to the fellows. 33:56 My sisters, this is so common as a woman 34:01 to just want to react by how you feel inside, 34:04 but don't respond with your feelings. 34:08 Ephesians 4:29, "Let no corrupt word, " 34:13 that word in Greek is rotten, useless, corrupt. 34:17 "Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth. 34:20 But what is good for necessary edification 34:23 that it may impart grace to the hearers." 34:26 Jump down to verse 31, 34:28 "Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking, 34:33 be put away from you with all malice." 34:34 Now you notice there was two words for anger. 34:36 There was wrath and anger. 34:39 Now that's in the New King James. 34:41 Wrath means passion driven anger 34:43 that would be a sudden outburst of emotion. 34:46 Anger means a fixed, controlled or settled anger. 34:52 So Paul is saying, 34:54 don't rush out with what you're going to say 34:55 and neither hold on to that anger either. 34:58 Both are wrong. 34:59 Verse 32, "Be kind to one another, 35:03 tender hearted, forgiving one another, 35:05 even as God in Christ forgave you. 35:08 How often we judge people and speak hurtful words, 35:11 but instead we are called to reach out to listen, 35:15 to think, to practice honesty, react in love, and act, 35:19 let your actions follow your words. 35:22 Praise the Lord. 35:23 Man, I was challenged on several of those. 35:25 Me too. 35:27 I don't know about anybody else here. 35:28 But I think honesty is, you know, it's good. 35:30 It's for the sole part, 'cause honesty and to love is, 35:33 the word sometimes very 35:34 is challenging to us as Christians 35:37 and when I get challenged with the word, 35:39 I know, I need to get back in the word 35:40 and I need grace and strength to gain a victory in that area. 35:43 So thank you for presenting that. 35:45 We're going to let Wednesday's, 35:46 Wednesday's lessons are good. 35:48 It can go a lot of different directions. 35:49 But you know, we're looking at the role of parents. 35:52 And so it's been mentioned, 35:54 the role of parents is so very important. 35:56 We're going to look 35:57 at the three powerful scriptures 35:59 to consider. 36:00 Number one is considering, it deals with the father, 36:02 number two, it deals with the mother. 36:04 And then it combines, 36:06 the third one combines mothers and fathers together. 36:08 I think that's very good 36:09 that we look at these things in here 36:11 because Ephesians 6:4, to start with here, 36:14 it says, and you fathers. 36:15 Now listen, I've read this many times when I was younger, 36:17 I don't know if I understand it all now, but part of it, 36:21 but I'm excited to learn more about it. 36:23 Because I think I understand a little bit better 36:24 after studying this. 36:25 "And you fathers provoke not your children," 36:27 Ephesians 6:4, to what? 36:29 "To wrath, 36:30 but bring them up in the nurture 36:32 and the admonition of the Lord." 36:33 Part of it, you understand, pretty easy. 36:35 And next part, you're saying, hmm, 36:36 how do you know provoke not your children to wrath. 36:40 Sometime I know when I got corrected, 36:41 I was a little bit hot around the collar 36:43 when I got what was coming to me. 36:45 Maybe the rest of you didn't realize, you know, 36:47 when you got, we thought, well, we deserve this. 36:49 Listen, according to Scripture, 36:50 the father is the head of the family. 36:52 We read it over and over and over. 36:53 So let's look at the father. 36:55 I've heard many times say the father is the house-band. 36:58 The husband, house-band 36:59 we realize they're supposed to hold 37:00 everything together. 37:02 And you know, bless your heart, 37:03 if you have a home 37:05 where dad's just not with the program, 37:08 if he's not accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, 37:10 bless your heart, mama, and you have children, 37:12 it makes it pretty rough in the home, 37:14 you know, need a lot of prayer. 37:15 And again, mother has to take the responsibility 37:18 that dad should be doing here. 37:20 But you know, 37:21 if father is strong in the Lord, 37:24 the family is going to be strong in the Lord, 37:26 the children are going to be strong in the Lord. 37:29 But if the father is, we just say weak, Lord, 37:32 it's going to affect everything he does, 37:34 there's going to be consequences 37:36 that's going to happen in life. 37:38 Now, what does it mean when it says 37:40 fathers provoke not your children to wrath? 37:45 Well, to me when you think of fathers, and it was, 37:47 when I was growing up, 37:48 fathers were usually linked with discipline. 37:51 You know, you've heard a lot of time you say, 37:53 Father, and you think about somebody need discipline, 37:55 it's going to be the father's going to do it. 37:57 Now, this was not always the case in my home 38:01 when I grew up, right? 38:02 It was not always the case, 38:03 because sometimes my mom took care of things. 38:05 Mom would take, we say, matters into her own hands. 38:08 And she would deal with the issue right then 38:10 and right there. 38:11 And then, you know, I've heard said many times, 38:14 just wait till your father gets home. 38:17 Any of you ever heard that? 38:19 My, I start to tremble. 38:20 Wait till your father gets home. 38:21 Man, she'd already you know, 38:23 I think when she gave the punishment 38:24 sometimes it just didn't have its intended effect, I guess. 38:28 And when your father gets home, you're going to see, 38:30 well, you got to lower it a little more harder 38:32 for mother to so you know that, 38:34 you know, wait till your father gets home, 38:36 he's going to show you how this... 38:37 You're going to see. 38:39 I heard that a lot of times. 38:40 And again, is that's not necessarily 38:42 the way that we want to be corrected. 38:43 But you know what? 38:45 It happens in millions and millions of homes 38:46 and to act like it doesn't 38:48 it's not to really look at what's going on 38:49 in the world today. 38:51 There needs to be, at least to me, 38:53 I'm still learning a good balance, 38:55 good balance in the home. 38:57 Dad sometime can be a little bit over the top 39:00 and sometime mothers can be a little bit 39:02 under a little bit lacks, we know that. 39:05 But in Colossians 3:21 tells us, now again, 39:10 why don't provoke your children to wrath. 39:13 And Colossians 3:21 tells us why, it simply says, 39:16 "Lest they be," what? 39:18 "Discourage." Be careful. 39:20 It can be very discouraging sometimes parental authority, 39:24 again, the role of parents we're looking at here. 39:26 Parental authority is a, 39:27 sometimes it's a little bit unjust, 39:29 it seems and sometimes we as parents 39:31 didn't handle it quite in the right way. 39:34 Sometimes it's irritating 39:35 even to the child and sometimes, 39:37 can I use the word brutal, 39:39 sometimes it's a little bit brutal. 39:41 And sometimes it's just like it goes to the point 39:43 where it's even abuse sometime. 39:45 And so this may be agitates the child in some way here 39:48 so we need to be careful. 39:50 And we can be sure of this. 39:51 If we handle it outside of the way the Scripture 39:54 has lined it out for us here, 39:57 it will come back to backfire. 39:59 It will backfire. 40:01 Yeah, you might get 40:03 what you're asking the child to do. 40:05 But you know what? They won't forget that. 40:07 And sometimes we ask them to do things 40:09 that were they don't think they should. 40:10 But there's a right way certainly which we do, 40:12 it's going to cost in many ways. 40:14 We long to bring up our children, 40:16 I like it in the nurture and what? 40:18 And the admonition of the Lord. 40:21 That means, you know, in discipline and instruction, 40:25 so I like discipline and instruction. 40:26 That's the way Jesus said, He's bringing us up 40:28 and we should bring our children up. 40:31 Christ instructed in the Garden of Eden. 40:34 Christ instructed, God instructed, 40:36 and also discipline. 40:39 None of us like to be disciplined. 40:40 None of us liked to be told that we did something wrong 40:42 and wait till your dad gets home, 40:44 you'll see, none of us want to hear that. 40:48 But Jesus said, you know, was it Revelation 3:19, 40:51 as many as I love, what happened? 40:53 I rebuke and chasten 40:55 so, you know, and he's doing it, why? 40:58 I think the difference in some time mine 40:59 when I was younger, and so on is Jesus, 41:03 Jesus want to do it in a way to win us. 41:05 Amen. 41:06 And I think sometime I did it 41:08 because I said, I want it done this way and it wasn't. 41:11 And sometimes you don't conduct yourself in the right way. 41:14 When I learned to conduct myself 41:16 in the right way, maybe in years down the road. 41:18 But I realized 41:19 until I was able to pray with them, 41:23 be able to take hold of their hand, 41:24 even though you're going to give him 41:25 a little spanking when they got done. 41:28 You got to hold their hand, you knelt and you prayed, 41:29 and you tell them, 41:31 and you told the Lord how much you love them. 41:33 But they know they did the wrong thing 41:35 and they knew this was going to be 41:36 the punishment with it. 41:38 And then you gave them a nice big hug, 41:40 and told them you love them and you got up 41:42 and you corrected them. 41:44 I had to follow through with that. 41:45 And that's, you know what, that's hurtful. 41:47 That's where it comes into where my dad said to me, 41:49 "This is going to hurt me worse than it did you." 41:51 I never believed that but I do now. 41:53 Sometimes as parents you don't want to do that. 41:55 You don't want to do that, 41:56 well, wait till your dad gets home. 41:58 I just bring that up 41:59 'cause many time that I was gone all day 42:00 and when you see the children come home 42:02 and you see the one little outside, 42:04 running around, running around daddy's home, 42:06 daddy's home, daddy's home. 42:08 First thing mama comes out and says 42:09 he got a whipping in school. 42:11 So you know the rules. You got to whip him now. 42:13 Man, I didn't want to hear that. 42:15 He was so happy to see daddy, you know what I'm saying, 42:17 so there's things that we need the admonition of the Lord. 42:20 And admonition here simply is to put in the mind. 42:23 So what we're reading in Scripture, 42:24 God wants us as parents, 42:26 to put in the mind of the children warnings, 42:30 and notice, and reprove the child's mind. 42:33 There's a place for warnings. 42:36 And that's when they're doing well 42:37 and it's when they're not doing so well. 42:39 We need these warnings. 42:41 I know that I do from Scripture, 42:42 and I praise God for that. 42:44 Second text Proverbs 31:10. 42:46 Proverbs 31:10 says this, 42:48 I'm gonna skip over quite quickly 42:49 because you can, 42:51 "Who can find a virtuous," what? 42:52 "A wife, for her worth is far above rubies." 42:56 So we're skipping through 42:58 because we have few minutes left. 42:59 Mothers seem to have the most important role 43:02 in the home. 43:03 Really. 43:04 And the saying is very true as you well know, 43:06 if mama's not happy... 43:07 There ain't nobody's happy. Can I say that? 43:09 There ain't nobody happy. 43:11 They're just not happy. 43:12 Mama makes a difference more than dad, 43:14 I'm just telling you, when she's happy, 43:16 everybody's happy, you know. 43:18 And so her influence I think is so, so very important, 43:22 her character, the way she responds, 43:25 the way she deals with, 43:26 sets the whole stage for the role of the parents 43:30 and, you know, we look at virtuous woman 43:32 simply means a woman. 43:34 I want to say this in right way, 43:35 a woman of power. 43:38 The home needs a woman of power 43:40 and we're not talking about overbearing power, 43:44 but we're talking about strong and vigorous 43:46 and excellent qualities and good character. 43:50 Third text we want to get into Deuteronomy Chapter 6, 43:53 this is one's really everybody should be reading. 43:55 God's teaching us that we need to do 43:57 three words as what, 43:58 teach them in the morning, right? 44:00 Teach them at noon, 44:01 and teach them in the evening we need to be doing that. 44:04 I kind of like it the way one guy said it one time, 44:06 he explained about how we as parents 44:08 what we need to do. 44:09 And again, read Deuteronomy Chapter 6 44:10 and several verses, that's just so, so good, 44:13 you know, walking away when you lie down, 44:14 when you get up, when you go out 44:16 and so on and so forth. 44:17 And so, our obligation that we have to our children, 44:20 obligation that we have to God is to teach them, 44:23 bring them up in the admonition the teachings 44:25 and the warnings of the Word of God, 44:27 which had been brought out in these lessons. 44:29 And you know, again I look back at myself about younger age, 44:32 you know, I totally seemed like ignored the word. 44:36 Didn't really mean to, but sometime you got hot. 44:40 Is anybody with me? 44:42 When the situation was there, we got a little too hot. 44:44 And if you're a little too hot, mom and dad, sit down, 44:46 cool down, pray about first 44:48 and then go ahead and do what you need to do. 44:49 But anyway, I like the role of parents here. 44:51 When one man said this one time, he said, 44:53 here's what you do. 44:55 Here's what you do as a parent 44:56 and this is what you do with your children. 44:58 He says, "What I need to do?" 44:59 He said, "I, you turn the Word of God on its side." 45:04 You've heard that? 45:05 Turn the Word of God on its side. 45:07 And then what you do is you take it, 45:09 and you turn it on the other side. 45:14 And that way it gets done. 45:16 Did you get it? 45:17 Take the Word of God, turn one side 45:19 and then you take a turn 45:20 just like you do at home when you're cooking, 45:21 and so on and so forth. 45:23 Good admonition in the Word of God, 45:24 take it serious. 45:25 Amen. Amen and amen. 45:27 Well, I have Thursday, "Lest Ye Forget." 45:29 And we are going to get into Deuteronomy 6. 45:33 So if you have your Bibles open, 45:35 let's look at Deuteronomy 6. 45:38 The great thrust of Deuteronomy 6:12. 45:45 And it says, 45:46 "Beware lest ye forget the Lord 45:50 who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 45:54 from the house of bondage." 45:57 So what is Moses saying? 45:59 He said, "Don't forget, God is your Deliverer, 46:03 God is your Redeemer. 46:06 The title Deuteronomy 46:10 actually means the second giving of the law, 46:13 it's an English title. 46:15 And it's taken 46:16 when the Old Testament was translated into Greek, 46:20 we call that the Septuagint. 46:22 They took that Greek title, and gave it, 46:26 the English is Deuteronomy. 46:28 So it's essentially, Moses' last will and testament. 46:33 What he is doing, 46:35 you remember when he wrote the book of the law 46:38 up on the mountain, 46:39 God wrote the Ten Commandments, 46:41 but then He recited or dictated to Moses, 46:47 as Moses wrote the book of the law. 46:49 They are the book of the covenant. 46:51 Deuteronomy is called the book of the law. 46:54 So what He's doing here, 46:55 they're standing at the edge of promise. 46:58 And Moses knows he can't enter. 47:01 So he's telling them all over again, 47:03 he's recounting the wonderful ways 47:07 that God led them. 47:08 He's recounting the grace of the covenant, 47:11 and God's all sufficiency, 47:14 the way of hope 47:16 being obedience is a pathway to God's blessings. 47:19 So what you find in Deuteronomy 6, 47:22 these are Christian principles 47:25 that need to be taught to our children 47:27 or to anybody that doesn't know the Lord. 47:29 And let's look at verse 2, Deuteronomy 6:2, he says, 47:34 "That you may fear the Lord your God." 47:37 Well, why would we have to fear a God who is love. 47:43 You have to understand this word fear. 47:46 It means that we stand in awe of the glory of God. 47:53 We look at His perfect character 47:57 of love and power. 47:59 And to fear the Lord 48:02 means that when we understand that character, 48:08 and we stand in awe of who he is, 48:11 it elicits a response of obedience. 48:16 And so he says, 48:18 "Fear the Lord to keep all of his statutes 48:22 and his commandments which I command you, 48:24 you and your son and your grandson 48:26 all the days of your life," what? 48:30 "That your life may or your days may be prolong." 48:35 So as we keep His commandments, 48:38 that is the pathway to blessing that the life can be prolonged. 48:42 Now let's look at verse 4 and 5, 48:45 Deuteronomy 6:4-5, is called in the Hebrew, 48:50 the Shema, and that means hear, 48:55 the word H-E-A-R, hear, Shema, 48:59 "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, 49:02 the Lord is one. 49:05 You shall love the Lord your God 49:07 with all your heart, 49:09 with all your soul, with all your strength." 49:11 Now, this is interesting. 49:13 This is a concise, monotheistic statement, 49:17 the Lord is one. 49:19 But the word one there doesn't mean singleness. 49:24 Right. It's the word for unity. 49:26 Like in Genesis 2:24, when he said, 49:30 that the man and the woman 49:32 shall be one as husband and wife, 49:35 or when Jesus said in John 17:22, 49:38 "Oh, Lord, let them be one like you and I are one." 49:41 So this is the same thing that God or Jesus, 49:46 when He was asked, 49:48 what's the most important commandment. 49:50 Was he doing quotes this, "Hear O Israel, 49:52 the Lord our God is one, 49:53 you should love the Lord with all your heart, soul, 49:56 mind and strength 49:57 and you shall love your neighbor as yourself 49:59 because" Romans 13:10 says, 50:01 "love is the fulfillment of the law." 50:07 Jesus said, "There's no greater commandment than this." 50:10 Now let me say something. 50:12 Love cannot be coerced. 50:14 Love cannot be forced. 50:17 It cannot be compelled. 50:19 Love is a choice. 50:21 Love is free will. 50:23 You were talking about a strong husband, 50:26 a father that's strong in the Lord, not weak. 50:29 He's not talking about a father 50:32 that's constantly berating his children and saying, 50:35 strong in the Lord is to be strong in love, 50:39 to know the love of the Lord. 50:41 And I'm going to tell you something. 50:43 If you don't understand 50:47 the character of God yourself, 50:50 get in the Word and study it 50:52 before you try to teach your children. 50:54 I grew up fearing the Father. 50:57 I knew that Jesus loved me and died for me. 51:00 But all I knew about the Father, 51:01 I thought He was just watching me 51:03 ready to zap me anytime I made a mistake. 51:06 And I was telling, Kenny, when we first sat down here, 51:10 I remember in college, 51:11 I was such a good girl all through high school, 51:15 first two years of college. 51:16 But then I became frustrated 51:20 and I remember shaking my fist 51:22 in the face of the Lord and saying, 51:25 "I can't please You, " 51:26 and I walked in the other direction. 51:29 He chased me down with His love 51:31 but we've got to 51:33 when you are teaching your children, 51:36 we've got to be teaching them God is love. 51:39 Deuteronomy 6:6-7, He says, 51:42 "These are words which I command you today 51:44 shall be in your heart, 51:46 you shall teach them diligently to your children, 51:50 you shall talk of them 51:51 when you're sitting in your house, 51:53 when you walk by the way, 51:54 when you lie down, when you rise up, 51:56 teach them diligently." 51:58 We all learn through repetition. 52:01 You can't just hear it once and remember it. 52:04 So when you're sitting down, when you're at rest, 52:07 when you're walking, when you're active, 52:09 when you lie down at nighttime, when you get up in the daytime, 52:13 it is an intention novelty 52:17 that you are repeating the focus of the word teaching. 52:23 Make God the subject of your conversation. 52:26 Teach your children how to integrate 52:29 the teachings of the Bible into their everyday life. 52:33 Make this something 52:34 that God is part of your everyday action. 52:38 Teach your children the constant presence of God 52:42 that He's right there with them, 52:44 teach them constant devotion to God. 52:48 And I just want to say this, 52:50 a wholehearted commitment of love. 52:53 If you want your kids to obey, 52:57 you need to teach them to love the Lord. 52:59 Jesus said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." 53:05 Obedience is not legalism. 53:08 Obedience is love. 53:11 And when you want your children, 53:14 the more they respect you as a parent, 53:17 the more they understand how you love 53:20 and have only their best in mind for them. 53:24 That's when you have a child who's obeying from their heart. 53:28 And this is the same thing with the Lord. 53:32 He says in Deuteronomy 6:18, 53:35 "You shall do what is right and good 53:37 in the sight of the Lord 53:38 that it may be well with you it is." 53:40 You know, God does have clearly defined boundaries. 53:43 You talked about boundaries in the last program. 53:46 But his boundaries 53:48 are to keep us on the path of life, 53:50 so that we experience an abundant life now 53:53 and that we avoid the consequences of sin. 53:58 But if you have an incorrect or incomplete understanding 54:03 of God's character, 54:04 you're going to have kids 54:06 that are obeying out of legalism. 54:08 And guess what? 54:10 Rules without relationship result in rebellion. 54:12 They're going to end up stirring against the yoke. 54:17 Deuteronomy 6:24, 54:19 "The Lord commanded us to observe all these things 54:22 for our good always 54:24 they might preserve us the light, 54:26 then it will be righteousness for us, 54:31 if we're careful to observe all that God has commanded." 54:35 You know, you want your children 54:37 to understand righteousness by faith, 54:39 that is so important 54:40 that they can never be perfect, and it's not, it's Christ, 54:45 the grace of the covenant relationship, 54:47 but at the same time, 54:50 teach them to practice righteousness. 54:52 1 John 3:7 says, 54:54 "Little children, let no one deceive you. 54:56 He who practices righteousness is righteous, 55:01 just as he is righteous." 55:03 So, teach your children not to forget 55:07 all that God has done for them, that He is their Redeemer, 55:11 that He is the source of their existence, 55:15 and that He is their Sustainer, 55:17 even to the point that God says, 55:20 I'm the one who will sanctify you. 55:23 Amen. Praise the Lord. 55:24 That's right. That was good. That was good. 55:26 You said something that I would like to tweet 55:29 or post today. 55:30 I'll say that in just a few moments. 55:32 But let's get some final thoughts. 55:33 Okay. 55:35 Well, I just think that we really need to take on 55:38 the life of Christ from His childhood 55:40 to all the way through His ministry, 55:43 we need to take on the life of Christ, 55:46 and live for God 55:47 and be about our Father's business. 55:49 Amen. 55:50 Colossians 4:6, 55:52 "Let your speech always be with grace, 55:55 seasoned with salt that you may know 55:57 how you ought to answer everyone." 55:59 And you might be saying, 56:00 but I don't communicate with all those do's, 56:02 and I'm afraid I do a lot of those don'ts. 56:05 Go before the Lord Jesus Christ. 56:07 He is the one who changes our thoughts, 56:10 our minds, and our words. 56:13 Amen. Praise the Lord. 56:14 You know, the most powerful, powerful witness 56:17 for the role of parents, 56:18 it's what Sister Shelley just brought 56:20 with Deuteronomy Chapter 6, and we follow God's Word. 56:24 And we see what God will do in our home, with our family, 56:27 with our children. 56:29 You know, where there's life, there's hope. 56:31 Don't get discouraged. Amen. 56:32 I would just say that being a parent 56:35 is the highest calling to ministry there is 56:37 and it's a full-time ministry. 56:39 But the most important thing you can do 56:42 is to teach your children 56:43 to have an intimate love relationship 56:46 with a loved one who loves him so much 56:49 He came to earth, 56:51 became a man and died for them. 56:53 So teach your children that obedience is not legalism. 56:58 Obedience is love. That's right. 57:01 Praise the Lord, The Family, what a powerful lesson. 57:04 This quote here, I didn't get to read 57:06 on my particular day, 57:07 but I think it kind of sums up everything 57:09 that we've been talking about, 57:10 comes from Education, page 20 and it says, 57:12 "The system of education 57:14 instituted at the beginning of the world 57:16 was to be a model for man throughout all after time. 57:21 As an illustration of its principles, 57:24 a model school was established in Eden, 57:27 the home of our first parents." 57:29 And so, hey, it's all about that home education. 57:31 Listen, hey, get this click. 57:33 If you want to post something on Facebook 57:35 or tweet something worth sharing, 57:37 right now I'm going to quote Miss Shelley Quinn 57:39 and I think is the statement of the day. 57:41 When you are running away from the Lord, 57:43 God will chase you down with His love. 57:45 I like that. 57:47 When you're running in the opposite direction, 57:49 God will chase you down with His love. 57:51 Praise the Lord. 57:52 Thank you so much for joining us this week 57:54 on 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 57:55 Next week, got to come back. 57:57 We're talking about the law as a teacher. 58:00 God bless. See you next week. |
Revised 2020-10-26