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- The Heart of Your Training
- Presentation can be found at http://swcassembly.org
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2
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- The Benders*
- “We just made some decisions early on as to what was going to be our
priorities. Once you do that,
it’s pretty simple.”
- Elisabeth Elliot*
- “No matter what, we always gathered into our living room every night
[for Family Worship]”
- Richard “Little Bear” Wheeler*
- “If there was one thing I wouldn’t change, it would be spending time in
the Word with my children every night.”
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3
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- Just about every covenant made by God in the Scriptures are made with
heads of households
- There is a correlation of Family Worship, or lack thereof, with the rise
and fall of God’s people
- Family Worship is a key ingredient to the training up of our children
commanded in Scripture
- It’s very simple. Any man can do it…
God will take care of the rest
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4
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- Adam (Gen 1:28, 2:16-17, 3:9-12, 3:16-17)
- They were commanded to subdue the earth.
- Adam was commanded what to eat, not eat
- Adam was the one held accountable for the failure of his family
- Noah
- “Then God said to Noah, “… behold, I am about to destroy them with the
earth… But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter
the ark--you and your sons and your wife, and your sons' wives with
you. ” (Gen 6:13,18)
- “Then the LORD said to Noah, "Enter the ark, you and all your
household, ... ” (Gen 7:1)
- God addressed “Noah and his sons” (Gen 9:1-17)
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5
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- Abraham
- “…I will make my covenant between Me and you… My covenant will be with
you, and you will be a father of many nations… And I will establish My
covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their
generations…” (Gen 17:1-7)
- "For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and
his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing
righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what
He has spoken about him." (Gen 18:19)
- Moses, with Israel prepared to go into the Promised Land
- “You stand today, all of you, before the LORD your God: … even all the
men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, … that you may enter
into the covenant with the LORD your God ” (Deut 29:10-12)
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6
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- Ten Commandments
- "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet
your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his
ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor." (Ex
20:17)
- Elders & Deacons
- “… husband of one wife…” (1 Tim 3:2,12, Titus 1:6)
- “…manages his own household well…”
(1 Tim 3:4, 12, Titus 1:6)
- “(but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will
he take care of the church of God?) ” (1 Tim 3:5)
- Trainer of Children!
- “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in
the discipline and instruction of the Lord. ” (Eph 6:4)
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7
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8
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9
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10
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11
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- You (head of household) need to love the Lord above all things
- Not the things/gods of the world
- Get rid of God’s enemies from among you
- Living in the land of plenty, don’t forget the Lord!
- DILIGENTLY teach your children, all the time
- As you rise up
- As you sit in your house and walk by the way
- As you lie down
- When the children ask questions, you are supposed to answer them, not
- “Go ask your Sunday School teacher!” or even
- “Go ask your pastor”
- They need to do the same with their future families
- It’s for our good and our survival!
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12
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- God doesn’t say
- Your job is to provide and support your wife in this homeschool thing!
- Your job is to make sure your child excels academically so s/he can go
to a good college
- Find ways to get them into all the activities they would have been in
if they were in government schools (or Christian schools)
- Find a church with a good children’s program so they can be around
other good kids and pick up some bible knowledge.
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13
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14
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- That Old Testament stuff doesn’t apply today, does it?
- Wasn’t this just for the Jewish nation?
- Wasn’t the “seed” about preserving a line to Jesus?
- Isn’t everything under grace now?
- You can’t train a child to become a believer, the Lord must do it!
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15
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16
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17
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- Although OT men were addressed, families were almost always present
(Ex 10:9, Deut 29, Josh 8,…)
- Most feasts were celebrated with households, often in their own
dwellings
(Ex 12, Lev 23:14,21, Deut 12:6-7)
- NOTE: Tabernacle was rather small, heads of households often went there
to get instruction and take it back to their households
- As letters were read to the church, they were typically addressed to men
but women and children were addressed explicitly by same letter
(Eph 6:1, Col 3:20)
- Sunday School? (2 Opinions 3:12)
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- Abraham sacrificing w/ Isaac (Genesis)
- Feasts in the homes (Exodus-Lev)
- The call of Solomon to his son (Proverbs)
- Households in the NT
- The household of Cornelius (Acts 11)
- The household of Phillippian jailer and Lydia
(Acts 16)
- The church in [someone’s] house (Rom 16:5; 1 Cor 11:22, 16:19; Col
4:15; Philemon 1:2)
- Apostles taught publicly and house to house
(Acts 5:42; 20:20)
- Assumptions
- Wives are to ask their husbands to teach them at home (1 Cor 14:35)
- Fathers, discipline & instruction of the Lord
(Eph 6:4)
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- “But while the earliest religious teaching would, of necessity, come
from… the mother, it was the father who was ‘bound to teach his son’…
every other engagement, including the necessary meal, should give place
to this paramount duty; nor should it be forgotten that, while here real
labor was necessary, it would never prove fruitless. That man was of the profane vulgar,
who had sons, but failed to bring them up in the knowledge of the law”*
- “Fathers, ‘bring up your children in the nurture and admonition of the
Lord’ and teach them the Holy Scriptures…” Epistle of Ignatius to the
Philadelphians
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- “It was not nearly at noon, and in time of their meals, the the
primitive Christians read the word of God, and sang praises to his
name. At an early hour in the
morning, the family assembled, when a portion of the Scripture was read
from the Old Testament, which was followed by a hymn and a prayer… In
the evening, before retiring to rest, the family again assembled, when
the same form of worship was observed as in the morning, with this
difference, that the service was considerably protracted beyond the
period which could be conveniently allocated to it in the commencement
of the day. Besides all these
observances, they were in the habit of rising at midnight, to engage in
prayer and singing of psalms.” Lyman Coleman, The Antiquities of the
Christian Church
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21
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- Bible Reenters the Home
- “It was the husband’s responsibility to channel the family into
religion; to take them to church on the Lord’s Day, and oversee the
sanctifying of that entire day in the home; to catechize the children,
and teach them the faith; to examine the whole family after each sermon,
to see how much had been retained and understood, and to fill any gaps
in understanding that might remain; to lead the family in worship daily,
ideally twice a day; and to set an example of sober godliness at all
times and in all matters. To this end he must be willing to take time
out to learn the faith that he is charged to teach” J.I. Packer, A Quest
for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life
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- Scots and Westminster Confession
- Elders must “have the worship of God set up in the families of their
bounds” (act of Assembly 1596)
- Three types of worship
- Secret worship (personal “quiet time”)
- Famly worship (led by father)
- Corporate worship (congregational meeting on Sunday)
- Directory for Family Worship
- Prayer and Praises
- Reading of the Scriptures
- Simple teaching
- Attendance by entire family mandatory
- Heads of households who persist in neglecting this duty will undergo
church discipline
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- Pilgrims (Separatists) and Puritans practiced Family Worship
(1600s-1700s)
- Early Presbyterian Church took on the practices of the Scots (1700s)
- Great Awakening of late 1700s
- George Whitefield: “The Great Duty of Family Religion”
- Jonathan Edwards: “Each christian family ought to be as it were a
little church…” (Farewell Sermon)
- “The Family” Palmer & Alexander (1800s)
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- Although figurative, also instructive
- As you rise up
- As you sit in your house and walk by the way
- As you lie down
- First thing in the morning?
- At the end of the day?
- At teachable moments throughout the day
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25
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- Make it a priority
- Everything else is less important
- Pick a pseudo-regular time every night
- Read the Scripture
- Ask children what it said and what it meant
- Expound if necessary
- Give illustrations in your life or those you know
- Sing
- Praise songs
- Hymns, perhaps examining the words
- Praise
- What are you thankful for today?
- Prayer
- Prayer requests?
- Everybody, or just Daddy prays
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- Children know the Scripture (and some hymns)
- They here testimonies of the Lord in your life
- They see Daddy
- Is serious about putting God first
- Is a teacher, too… not just Mommy
- Especially important for sons
- They learn
- Reading comprehension
- Interpreting Scripture
- What a Spiritual head of the family looks like
- I learn
- I’m sanctified
- I become able to teach
- Family togetherness (praying together, staying together)
- Counters worldliness and materialism
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28
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Notes
