Train a child in the way he should go

25th April, 2010

Written By Rev Law Hui Seng

Posted By Teresa Han

Proverbs 22:6

Main idea: Train a child to fear God

Objectives: a. To challenge the congregation to give priority to train a child to fear God. b. To challenge the congregation to train a child in his or her characters.

A. Introduction

- How challenging is it to nurture (or disciple) your children? Some of you may face babies or young children who used to get sick and you became very anxious; children who have behavioral problems like computer games addiction; watching pornography; stealing; lying; cheating; not respecting people; wasting money; disability to appreciate what has been done for their good; fighting with others in school or even in Sunday school; do not realize the importance of education and character development though you try to discipline and train them, etc. Your children may have kept disobeying you? As you look back, do you ask what has gone wrong?

- Let me preach to you this morning (evening) that it is because of the major reason that we have given wrong things to a child. We have given so many things like computer games, education. Clothing, food and nutrition, best comfort, best school and the best facility, etc, but we have either fail to train our children in the way they should go or we neglect to train them in the way they should go.

- Brothers and sisters, we can be successful in our careers, we may live in comfortable homes and driving nice cars, but if our children (the next generation) are not trained in the way they should go, we will have no peace, harmony at home; we may not enjoy our old age.

- Please do not misunderstand me. It is not a burden to be parents and therefore, you do not want become parents. It is a privilege given by God to be parents. Family with children is God’s idea and it is instituted by God.

- Proverbs 22:6 “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”

B. How to train a child in the way he should go?

- What is the meaning of training here? Training means you need to be dedicated and committed to repeat over and over again what is right, it may repeating an action, an attitude, a idea, a pattern of thinking or behavior, etc. Now, remember, these repetitions are for the purpose of doing the right things or the truths. For Christians, we say, to do what God desires us to do in the Bible. And this is everything to do with the next phrase, in the way.

- What is the way? The right way, the way of wisdom (Proverbs 4:11 ‘I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths.’), not children’s way.

- When you train your children in right way, then, proverbs, you equip your children throughout his life or her life that he or she will always stick to doing the right things. Of course, until old age, he will not depart from it.

C. Applications

- For us Christians, we have the bible in our hands; it is a privilege for us to own it. It is the authority and basis of how we train a child he should go. The bible says we must train our children to fear God/ honor God/ obey God. How? I find that there is a lot homework to do. This is the homework and the constant challenge.

- Proverbs 3:5,6 ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your won own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.’ Can you train your children to do it? To fear God like that?

- The second point of application is the right way is the way of characters. As you train your children to form the concept of fear of God in his life, you must show him how this God whom he fears is expressed in his life. How God in the person of Jesus is shown in his life? How his life reflect Jesus? It has to be the godly characters. And these characters building like responsibility, love, honesty, compassion, boldness, patience, obedience, humility, etc, really take time and it is a long process. We need the filling of the holy spirit to do it. You need to do a lot of modeling.

- You need to spend time with them in order to bring across the fear of God and do character building.

- Listen to this powerful illustration of an axe cutter to show you how we must prepare our children to face the sinful world and stand up for Jesus and become His strong disciples. It shows the importance of training our children to be God fearing and in character building. This wood cutter can use an axe to produce the maximum numbers of trees he cut everyday. From the start, it is 100 trees everyday. After a while, the production decreases to 20, 30 and 10. He is fired from his job. He wanted to kill himself and but he met a sage, a holy man, a wise man. This wise man just laughed and laughed at him, telling him not to be so stupid to get suicide, but he just need to find out the reason for the decrease in production. The answer is because he has not sharpened the axe, the tool.

- As your children are facing the world, have you given them a sharp axe in the form a godly character, God fearing and with all godly characters? Do not think that education along will make the axe sharp enough.

D. Conclusion

- Are you convinced to train your children to fear God and build up in his godly characters.

How to live as husbands and wives (Family value, series 1)

18th April, 2010

Written By Rev Law Hui Seng

Posted By Teresa Han

1Peter 3:1-7

Main Idea: Fear God in your marriage

Objectives: a. To challenge husbands and wives to fear God in their marriage. b. To teach husbands and wives how to treat one another.

A. Introduction

- For those of you who are married, have you faced any challenges in your marriage? Any disagreements? Any tensions? Any Frustrations? Any hurts?

- You may be seeking answers to your challenges and you may find that you face deadlock. You do not seem to find a way out and some of you may think of ending your marriage.

- If your marriage is very good and happy, then, I must congratulate you and you may like to share with others in small groups and in other occasions. You must especially witness about your marriage in front of other people.

- Today, we are embarking on a passage out of only a few marriage passages in the bible. I pray that it will inspire you to be better wives and husbands.

- Let us see what 1Peter 3:1-7 tells us how to live together as husbands and wives.

B. Wives, be submissive to your husbands (verse 1)

- This passage on marriage is very much in the context of Chapter 2. What has been said by Apostle Peter there affects the present passage. Especially in 2:13, 14, Peter urged the readers, for the sake of God, to submit themselves to every authority instituted among men, namely the king, supreme authority, governors, etc.

- That is why in verse 1 here chapter 3, Peter says, “Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands…” You see the submission done in the context of submitting to authorities instituted in those days.

- Now, please do not misunderstand the passage as encouraging you to get married with non-Christians. The context at that was such that there were Christian wives who were converted to Christianity and then, they had to face their unbelieving husband.

- Their submission to their husbands was made very challenging because the common practice in that society was for wives to follow the husband’s religion. Now, Peter really addressed this issue.

- He teaches them to submit to their husbands who do not believe in the instruction of God’s word. How the wives were to do it? It was an uphill task. The answer is not to verbally preach to them and won them over to Christianity. It was done through the behavior of the wives, as taught in verse 1b, “…they may be won over without words by he behavior of their wives,…”

- The submission of the wives through behavior would help their husbands to see their purity and reverence to their God (verse 2). They should not emphasize outward appearance like braided hair and wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes (verse 3). Instead, they should emphasize the inner self beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which is of great worth in God’s sight (verse 4).

- Why? It is because the holy women the past like Sarah who put their hope in God submitted to their husband and do what is right and do not give way to fear (verses 5, 6). Now, from these 2 verses, you see that the Christian wives are not to submit to their husbands that they need to embrace the husbands’ religion. Otherwise, apostle Peter cannot use the example of Sarah, who fear God. What they need to do now is to respect the husbands for their belief and the same time, they need to prove to their all the godly characters like purity, reverence, not emphasizing outward wear, be gentle and quiet in spirit, and they would do fine.

- I can see that what apostle demands of Christian wives at the time and also very today is this: in wives, there must be a strong sense of fear of God. Otherwise, you cannot understand why he asks wives to be submissive to husbands (for it is commanded by God to submit to authorities), to be pure and reverent, and to be gentle and quiet in spirit. All these characters point wives Godward, fear God/ respect God/ honor God. Is this also relevant for today?

C. Husbands, be considerate as you live with your wives (verse 7).

- Then, the instruction for the husband is very brief. I can understand why it is such a short paragraph. For if a husband is already a Christian, then, it is not so much of an issue because the norm of the society is for the wives to follow the husband’s religion.

- However, if the wives are not Christians yet, the husbands cannot force her to accept his religion also, as he instruction says that husbands need to treat their wives with respect as the weaker partners. They are supposed to be co-heirs of God’s salvation in the eternal life. As husband respect their wives as a weaker partner, then, the husbands will not be hindered in prayers. In his worship and belief of God, service for Jesus.

- Again, like the Christian wives, Christian husbands who treat their wives with respect, Peter similarly brought out the point that they must fear God in their marriage. They respect their wives because God desires theme to do so.

- I strongly believe that as husbands and wives fear God, no matter how we are challenged in our marriage, there is going to be a way out.

D. Applications

- How wives submit to their husbands? How do you fear God in your marriage? I strongly feel that all our problems of submission have to do with our sin of self-centeredness. It can be the problem of husband and wife. If you are willing to go to God with self-centeredness with lots of prayer and seeking God for a way out, as you fear God by obeying His commands in the bible, you will let go and you will submit to your husbands.

- How husbands are considerate towards their wives and respect them as weaker partner? How do you fear God in your marriage? Why husbands do not respect their wives, not love them? Again, it can be deal to self-centeredness of both sides. Can you deal with that sin by producing the fruit of the Holy Spirit? When you do so, of course you will love and respect your wives.

E. Conclusion.

- You see why I keep emphasizing fearing God in your marriage. You need to keep telling yourself, in God’s word, He expect you to do this and that.

Are You Alive To God In Christ?

4^th April, 2010

Romans 6:1-14

Main Idea: Be A Living Disciple of Jesus

Objectives a. To teach that disciples of Jesus cannot go on sinning against God. b. To teach the congregation on to be alive to God in Christ.

A. Introduction

- Have you ever kept on sinning against God in the person of Jesus? You know it is wrong, you just keep doing it.

- You can be doing it just because you always have Jesus to forgive your sins. After all, Jesus is very forgiving. You reason with yourself, you are not a perfect person, you sin first, and then, Jesus will definitely forgive you as He promises in the bible. And so, some Christians have the mindset that on Monday to Saturday, they take their liberty to sin against Jesus and they believe that however much the sin is, on Sunday, once they ask for forgiveness of their sins, all their sins are cleansed.

- This is exactly the practical issue of holiness that apostle Paul is dealing with in today’s passage.

- That is why he ask the question in verse 1, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?

B. Shall we go on sinning?

- Apostle Paul immediately gives the answer in verse 2, “By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” He is really telling Christians can no longer live in sin. How can you as a Christian sin against Jesus habitually from Monday to Saturday?

- He justifies his answer with the following verses in the passage. It is eye opening and there is great learning and reminder for all of us today in this Easter. Through verses 3 to 4 he teaches that the readers then and of course all of us today since we are baptized into Christ’s death, we are now buried with Him. And now, we are raised from the dead through the glory of the Father and now we can live a new life.

- A Christian, after being converted, after going through baptism, he now must live a new life, a different life from before his conversion. He is no more the same person as before, who had no power over sin, who sinned against God all the time. Now, let us from verses 5 to 10, how Paul explains about the new life, new creation in us as a Christian.

- As Paul explains in detail about the implications of baptism, he says in verse 5 that when we are baptized in Christ, in His death, we are also united with Him in His resurrection. This resurrected life, new life, is a life where our old self, the life before conversion, which was crucified with Christ. Now, this new life, new body is no more a slave to sin. If you, after conversion, you still habitually sin against Jesus from Monday till Saturday, and you expect Jesus to forgive on Sunday, then, I like to question your conversion. Was it a genuine conversion? Because a new life in Christ is no longer a slave to sin. Because in verse 7, it says, anyone who has died in Christ and buried with Christ has been freed from sin.

- So, Paul now emphasizes that this new life has Christ who rose from the dead is now living in a Christian. And this Christ who died once for our sin will not die again, He died to sin once for all. Paul is really teaching that since this resurrected Christ is now living in us, He gets us to live unto God.

- The powerful Christ who overcomes death and sin, the resurrection power of God is now in us, can we now choose to continue to live in sin. Paul’s answer is strictly no.

- That is why in verse 11, he says, “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Once you have the resurrected Christ in you, you have the resurrection power (the power which raised Jesus from the dead), you will choose to live a new life, you will be alive to God in Christ. You will have all the power to overcome your sinfulness.

- Then, Paul goes on to show his readers and all of us today how we can be alive to God in Christ today in verses 12 to 14. Now, before I go into the details of how to be alive to God in Christ, you must remember that I keep telling you that Paul says the resurrected Christ is living you and so I keep telling you that the resurrection power that caused Jesus to rise from dead is also in you. With this resurrected Christ living in you, any temptations that come along, do you believe you overcome them or not?

- No wonder, Paul can remind you and me in verse 12, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desire.” If his readers had no means to overcome temptations and sins, Paul could not teach that.

- Not to mention verse 13, “Do not offer the parts of body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life…” But now, in later part of verse 13 he is able to say, “…and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.” How can this be done, because of the resurrected Christ, who is living, who has the resurrection power.

- Of course now, sin cannot be our master as Paul says in verse 14. As we are under the forgiving grace of Christ, not law, where we have to hard to obey the law.

- I can read and understand from verses 12 to 14 that we ourselves to exercise our will power, as Paul reminds us, “… do not let sin reign in your mortal body… Do not offer the parts of your body to sin… offer yourselves to God…offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.” All these words and phrases show that we need to use our willpower to choose to be righteous, only the resurrection power becomes effective in us.

- This is how you can be live in God in Christ.

- With explanation of the text today, may I preach in the same of Jesus Christ to you that if you choose to continue to sin against Jesus from Monday till Saturday, then, on Sunday, you expect Jesus to forgive you sins again and again, then, you are proclaiming to the whole world, to the people around you, your loved ones, relatives, your colleagues, your neighbors, etc, your Christ is dead. Your Christ is not relevant to your life at all; your Christ cannot save you from your sin; your Christ is not a living God; your Christ is your slave who is made to forgive your sin at your command; and the most scary implication is this: YOU ARE YOUR OWN GOD AT THE CENTRE OF YOUR LIFE, YOU ARE MORE POWERFUL THAN JESUS IN YOUR LIFE!

- If we sin against God habitually all the time, we end up we are all the time we are the ones who crucify all the time and we do not want Him to resurrect!

C. Applications

- Let us do some very serious applications now with the above teaching of Paul on how to be alive to God in Christ.

- (1). To be alive to God in Christ, you need to exercise your will power to do God’s word and at the same time you need to be empowered by the Spirit of Christ (the resurrected Christ); (Romans 8:5-11). God does not force you to do the righteous. If so, He should have made you to be a robot. He gives you the freewill to choose the right thing. When you choose the wrong path, way, ideas, sins, etc, you suffer the consequences. That is universal truth. But when you need to choose the right paths, choose to do His will and you encounter difficulties, you have the resurrection power of Christ, you have the Christ living in you to help you. Let us read Romans 8:5-11. You see the spirit of Christ help you to overcome sin?

- (2). To be alive to God in Christ, you need to be like a living fish in the sea; not a dead fish, a salted fish. We are all living in a fallen world, a sinful world. But we can be a most powerful disciple of Jesus with the Christ who lives in us and we can choose a life that is not sinful like the rest of the sinful world. We can be like a living fish living in a salty sea, without being salty. Only with the help of the living Christ, resurrected Christ living us in helping us to overcome sin and temptation. Unlike a dead fish, a dead Christian, who has no Christ in him, of course, now, salt, the sin of the world can now enter his body and become salted, sinful. Brothers and sisters, without the empowerment and presence of the resurrected Christ in you, you become a dead salted sinful Christian/ fish.

D. Conclusion

- You need to constantly prove to the world, the people around you wherever you go that you are alive to God in Christ. Can you now see why Jesus matters so much to you?