“Home Sweet Home” is a hymn by Mabel Powers, and she was always looking for that home that is in heaven.
Let us open our Bibles to Genesis 17:7. I will use just the last half of the verse:
“To be God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.”
God made a covenant with Abraham. He promised that He would be God to Abraham and also to his children.
Let us also turn to Acts 13:36. This is the theme verse for this year’s Christian Family Conference:
“For David, after he had served the counsel of God in his own generation, fell on sleep.”
We spoke about serving one another and how the Lord serves us. What draws me here is that David served the purpose of God—not just any service, but the purpose of God in his own generation.
Lord, indeed, we want to give this time to You. Lord, You have given us this hour to share what is the burden in Your heart. Lord, this matter of God being God, not only to Abraham but also to all his children, is a matter of family. The parents ought to share the purpose of God with the children in the family.
We really want to commit this time unto You, Lord. We pray for the anointing of the Holy Spirit to be with us, to bring these matters to all of us, Lord, that we may have ears to hear what the Holy Spirit says to the churches. We commit this time unto You. Thank You. In Jesus’ name we pray.
I really appreciate this time to share. I hope I have an hour. When I considered this time together, I asked the Lord last week for a hymn to encourage one another. The hymn He gave me was “He Looked for a City.” It is quite fitting with Genesis 17:7, which concerns Abraham.
This matter of “Home Sweet Home” is precious. Our sister looked for a home in heaven, but I do trust that God is very practical. It is heaven on earth. It is not something for which we have to wait until the Lord comes. We can experience that heavenly home on earth.
What is true in heaven can be true on earth. I want to confess that this is something I had not considered, even though we had children. If we narrow the scope of serving the generation, we have to start somewhere, right? How are we going to serve the children in the family? That is the burden.
As husband and wife, as parents, we had not considered this until recently, when our children were married and had children of their own. Then we had grandchildren, and we asked the Lord what we could do to help them understand this matter of serving God’s purpose with the children in the family.
One piece of advice to our children would be, “Do not do what we did.” But that is negative. When we look back over all these years, I think we did not do a good job.
Many years ago, when our children were young, we served them in a traditional way. We tried to do the best for them. But when we do not know God’s purpose for children, we lose our way. We have no goal; we have no aim.
It is really important to consider this question: What is God’s purpose for the children in the family?
We tried to serve the children with good intentions, but it is so easy as parents to lean on our own understanding instead of seeking God’s purpose and God’s way. We wanted them to go to a good college. We heard that college admissions placed great value on extracurricular activities, so we knew what to do.
We sent them to music lessons, music practice, music contests, performances, symphonies, and SAT preparation classes. Oh boy, we were busy.
But is that the way? That is not the way. What suffers is their spiritual world. We can keep them very busy, but that can hinder their spiritual growth.
Every parent loves his children. But because of human nature, we often love ourselves more. When I was younger, with children at home, I was starting a career and pursuing more education. I kept myself very busy, doing this and doing that, and I had very little time to bring Christ to the children. I missed that opportunity.
So, instead of simply telling them, “Do not do what we did,” how can we help? How are we going to share with them what they ought to do?
We do not want to dwell on mistakes. We can move forward. Today, I would like to share in three areas:
The third area is critical, especially in this time.
I want to use Abraham as an example. That is why we sang that hymn. Genesis 17:7 emphasizes that God wants to be God to Abraham and to his descendants after him. The God who was God to Abraham is also the same God for his descendants.
We call Abraham the father of faith, and that is true. But I appreciated what was shared last week from Hebrews 11. Abraham’s life was a life in which God worked deeply.
Hebrews 11:9 says:
“By faith he became a sojourner in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise.”
God worked in Abraham to the point that, although he traveled from Ur of the Chaldeans to the land of Canaan and went up and down throughout the land, he did not find the city he sought. Abraham did not own any land except a burial place for himself and his wife. That was all he owned in that land.
Why? Because he was drawn by the city that is in heaven.
Hebrews 11:16 says:
“But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God; for He hath prepared for them a city.”
When we ask, “What is God’s purpose for our children?” is it merely that they should be saved? Or is it that God would work in them so that they would not be earthbound, but heaven-bound?
The Bible says that we are in the world, but we are not of the world. There is a heavenly drawing within us. There is something in us that craves that heavenly city. I trust that God wants this in our children also: that they would have a drawing toward the heavenly city.
When they see the things of the world, they can leave them behind and fix their eyes upon the Lord Himself.
If Abraham had been left to himself, I do not believe he would have ended where he did. Abraham was a rich man in the land, but he looked for a city. Is that what we want for our children? I trust that this is what God wants for the children in our families.
Hebrews 11:9 also says that Abraham dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob. His son and grandson traveled with him through the land of Canaan, and they too were looking for the heavenly city. How wonderful that is.
As parents, do we carry our children along as we journey through the world? We are not earth dwellers. We are strangers and pilgrims in this world. As far as I understand, this is God’s purpose for our children.
The second thing I want to share concerns the role of the family in the economy of God. A word shared last week touched my heart: the matter of having the testimony of Jesus.
We often think of an individual having the testimony of Jesus. We think of the church having the testimony of Jesus. But how does the family fit in between? We do not often speak about that.
Ephesians 3:14–15 says:
“For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father,
From Whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.”
Of course, the family in this passage refers to the church. Yet it gives us a hint that God desires a family for His Son. Hebrews 2:10 says that Christ would bring many sons unto glory. There is a family matter in God’s purpose.
In Ephesians 5:22 through Ephesians 6:9, Paul speaks of practical family relationships: husband and wife, fathers and children, and masters and servants. Likewise, Colossians, a book that speaks of the supremacy of Christ, addresses family relationships in Colossians 3:18–24.
We often think about the individual and the church. How does the family come into this? This morning, we had the Lord’s table. Its background is Exodus 12.
Exodus 12:3 says:
“Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household.”
A lamb for a household. What does that indicate? Even at the beginning of God’s bringing the Israelites out of Egypt, before He made them into a nation, there was the Passover feast: a lamb for a household, a lamb for a family.
The Passover feast indicates more than Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. It is also a testimony. The Lord’s table is a testimony, and the Passover points to that testimony.
We should see the connection. There is an individual testimony, and there is a church testimony. But the family also comes in. The church itself consists of families coming together. In many New Testament letters, greetings are sent from the household of someone. A household, a family, stands as a testimony.
Therefore, I believe that the family itself should have the testimony of Jesus—not only individuals and not only the church, but the family.
The testimony is not carried by individuals alone, nor even by a family in itself. When God has a purpose, He provides every resource needed.
Let us consider the Passover feast, because that is our basis and our provision. Exodus 12:12–13 says:
“For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord.
And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you.”
Exodus 12:3–8 says:
“In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household.
And ye shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at even.
And they shall take of the blood, and put it on the two side-posts and upon the lintel, upon the houses wherein they shall eat it.
And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; with bitter herbs they shall eat it.”
There are three elements in the Passover feast. First, the lamb had to be killed. Its life was taken. John 1:29 says:
“Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world!”
He not only took away the sins of the world; He also took away us—all the personal things and all the things belonging to the first creation. In His universal death, our old self and the world were dealt with. That is the death side.
Second, there was the blood on the doorposts and the lintel. When God saw the blood, He passed over that household. Whoever stayed inside had life. In the midst of death throughout the land of Egypt, there was life. Life overcame death, and that was the testimony.
Third, there was the flesh of the lamb. The lamb had to be eaten. That is our basis for living: feeding on the Lord. Christ is the food of God’s people.
Christ is also the food for the children’s growth. He sustains our journey to the heavenly city. It is all Christ—Christ as our food.
The family was to feed together upon one lamb as a testimony. As a family, are we doing that?
Long ago, I read a small pamphlet entitled, “Do Not Leave Our Children in Egypt.” I think that is very true. In a household where there is a testimony, Christ must become our food and our nourishment—not only for the parents, but also for the children—to sustain them on this heavenly way.
As Hebrews says, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob traveled together on this heavenly way. Christ is our provision. Christ is sufficient to meet the purpose of God in the household—for parents and children.
I want now to share concerning serving God’s purpose in a practical way with the children at home. One of our deepest desires is for our children to be saved. I do not think anyone would disagree with that.
But I feel that it is not merely a matter of being saved. It is full salvation, and that is always in the heart of God.
I want to use the story of Paul and Silas and the jailer in Philippi, recorded in Acts 16:30–33. Paul and Silas were in Philippi, where they encountered a girl possessed by a spirit. Paul cast out the spirit, and the girl’s masters became angry because they could no longer make money from her. They stirred up the people against Paul and Silas, who were beaten and put into prison.
At night, Paul and Silas prayed and sang, and there was an earthquake. The prison doors were opened. The jailer thought the prisoners had escaped, but they were all still there. That was a miracle.
The jailer asked:
“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
And they said:
“Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house.”
They spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. The jailer brought Paul and Silas into his home. He washed their wounds, and immediately he and all his household were baptized.
What a wonderful story. The jailer asked, “What shall I do?” He felt that he had to do something to be saved. But Paul and Silas said, “Just believe. Just believe.”
The amazing thing is that not only the jailer was saved, but the whole household—the whole family. They were immediately baptized.
As parents, we all desire our children to be saved. God desires to save the whole household—parents and children together. The word is simple: believe in the Lord Jesus. Do we believe what the Word says? That believing enables the Lord to do His work.
Another example that draws my heart is Noah. In Genesis 6, there was great wickedness on the earth. Every intent of the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil continually.
But God found Noah. Noah was different from everyone else. Genesis 6:9 says:
“Noah was a righteous man, and perfect in his generations: Noah walked with God.”
The Bible does not say much about Noah’s family—his three sons and their wives—but it tells us that Noah was righteous, blameless in his time, and that he walked with God.
God revealed to Noah what He was going to do. God said that the flood would come, and He gave Noah the instructions to build the ark. From that time forward, Noah’s single vocation was to build the ark.
In those days, there had never been rain, so people did not know what a flood was. I am sure Noah was ridiculed throughout the years he was building the ark.
But when the ark was finished and God was about to send the flood, He commanded Noah to take his family into the ark.
Hebrews 11:7 says:
“By faith Noah, being warned of God concerning things not seen as yet, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.”
He prepared an ark for the salvation of his household. That touches my heart. Of course, we know that the ark is Christ. But as far as the responsibility of parents is concerned, there must be prayer. There must be the character that God worked into Noah: righteousness and walking with the Lord. That draws the children into the ark.
The eyes of our children are sharp. They look at us. They look at how we behave. What we do and what we do not do either encourages or hinders them from believing and receiving full salvation.
We are saved individually, but we can be used by the Lord as channels of Christ’s life to urge our children to enter into Christ, to facilitate their maturing process, and to pray on their behalf for the Lord’s keeping and covering. That is the responsibility of parents.
Every parent desires full salvation for his children—not merely that they should be born again, but that they should grow unto maturity.
There are a couple of things the Bible teaches that parents can do. God made a covenant with Abraham, and the sign of that covenant was circumcision.
Genesis 17:11–12 says:
“And ye shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of a covenant betwixt Me and you.
And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations.”
Notice that Abraham and his descendants were circumcised together. Circumcision is a type and a picture. Colossians 2:11 speaks of being circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ.
This is the circumcision of the self-life. It is not merely the children who need this; the adults do as well. Abraham also needed circumcision. This is the sign of the covenant.
As parents, we need this experience of the removal of the body of the flesh. At the same time, we desire that our children would be circumcised in heart. Do we teach this to the children? Do we earnestly pray that the removal of the body of the flesh would be effective in their lives? We must take up this burden in prayer.
Another thing is to recognize that our children are not ultimately ours; they are God’s children. Exodus 13:2 says:
“Sanctify unto Me all the first-born, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is Mine.”
The firstborn represents the family. To sanctify means to set apart. God is saying that not only the parents belong to the Lord; all the children belong to the Lord.
If they are set apart to the Lord, they are under the Lord’s care. His care is much better than our care. The Lord knows how to care for them and how to nurture them unto full growth. We need to recognize that we are to consecrate our children to God.
The next item I want to touch is this matter: “Feed My lambs,” “shepherd My sheep,” and “feed My sheep.” This is in John 21:15–17.
“So when they had broken their fast, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me more than these? He saith unto Him, Yea, Lord; Thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith unto him, Feed My lambs.
He saith unto him again a second time, Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me? He saith unto Him, Yea, Lord; Thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith unto him, Tend My sheep.
He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me? Peter was grieved because He said unto him the third time, Lovest thou Me? And he said unto Him, Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed My sheep.”
Peter was called to be a fisher of men in Matthew 4:19. Now, at the end of John’s Gospel, Peter was called again by the Lord Himself to be a shepherd.
The important words are, “My lambs” and “My sheep.” As I mentioned before, we sanctify the children to God because the children are God’s. They are God’s sheep.
A lamb is a small sheep. They are small, weak, and helpless. When children are young, they do not know much. They may not know how to choose between good and evil. They know little about words, deeds, habits, the world, or God.
In these surroundings, parents become under-shepherds. What a responsibility it is to have God’s lambs and God’s sheep in the midst of the family.
Parents need to lead and nourish them carefully. We are to feed them, not with the things of the world or the pressures of the world, but to lead them to the green pastures of God’s Word.
In the past, I thought that if I brought my children to Sunday school, that would be enough. We have brothers and sisters who are burdened to minister to the younger ones, and that is good. But we need to eat every day. Children need nourishment from the Lord seven days a week, not merely on Sunday.
Children are with their parents seven days a week. I think it is truly the parents’ responsibility to feed them Christ. Otherwise, they will be malnourished.
How do parents feed the lambs and sheep? The word the Lord said to Peter was, “Lovest thou Me more than these?” The Lord must speak to our hearts. We may love something else more than the Lord Himself.
I used to love my work. I used to love pursuing other things more than the Lord. This is very challenging, but we have to give an answer.
Another matter is discipline within the family. We do not like to discipline children for various reasons. We may feel that discipline is not love. It is hard. It is easy to do things for children, but it is hard to discipline them.
Yet 1 Corinthians 4:14–15 says:
“I write not these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children.
For though ye have ten thousand tutors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I begat you through the gospel.”
Paul was a father to the Corinthians. In that context, he wrote to admonish them as beloved children—to discipline them, to point out that they were going down the wrong path, and to warn them.
Warning must come out of love. Revelation 3:19 says:
“As many as I love, I reprove and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.”
There must be discipline, and discipline must come from love. Sometimes we say that love is blind. Love is not blind. Philippians 1:9 speaks of love abounding in knowledge and all discernment. Parents must discern, because discipline is for good. Discipline is for correction, and it is necessary.
One more thing concerning the family, testimony, and children is found in Joshua. At the end of Joshua 23 and 24, Joshua was old and spoke to the Israelites one last time.
Joshua 24:15 says:
“But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua did not say merely, “I will serve the Lord.” He said, “As for me and my house.” My family and I will serve the Lord together.
This togetherness in the family—serving the Lord together—is important. I think it is the parents’ task to lead the family, together with the children, to serve the Lord together.
These are a few practical examples of serving the children and serving the Lord’s purpose in the children within the family. But there are times when things do not work out as we expect. Satan does not like a family that has a testimony at home. Therefore, we must stand against Satan’s work.
Judges 2:10 says:
“And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, that knew not the Lord, nor yet the work which He had wrought for Israel.”
This speaks of Joshua and his peers. Joshua and Caleb stood for the Lord, but the generation that came after them did not know the Lord, nor did they know the work of the Lord.
This should be a warning to us. Our children may hear much about the Lord and receive much teaching, but do they have their own experience? Judges 2:10 does not say that they had not heard of the Lord. It says that they did not know the Lord. They did not experience the Lord as Caleb and Joshua experienced Him.
The matter of a personal encounter with the living God is vital for both parents and children. It is not merely teaching. We must pray that the Lord would bring them into an experience with the living God. Without that, they can be swayed left and right by the winds of the world.
I am also impressed by the parables in Luke 15: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son.
Luke 15:3–4 says:
“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, and having lost one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?”
Luke 15:8 says:
“Or what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a lamp, and sweep the house, and seek diligently until she find it?”
Luke 15:20 says:
“And he arose, and came to his father. But while he was yet afar off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.”
In these three parables, we often see ourselves as the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. That is true. But we can also relate these parables to parents.
There are times when children are lost, like the lost sheep. There are times when children no longer function in the house of God, like the lost coin. There are also times when children have enjoyed much in the household but believe that the grass is greener on the other side. They ask for their inheritance and leave home.
In the cases of the lost sheep and the lost coin, someone actively goes to seek what is lost. The shepherd seeks the sheep, and the woman seeks the coin. These are active words, not passive ones.
When this happens, there must be prayer. We cannot give up, even when they are lost. We need to pray for the recovery of the lost sheep and the lost coin.
In the case of the lost son, I am impressed that when the son returned, the father saw him from a long way off and ran to him. This indicates to me that the father must have been waiting and watching. Otherwise, he would not have seen the son coming.
May the heart of the father for the lost son be in us also. It is hard to recover, and it is hard to pray, but we must pray for the lost son. Perhaps, as parents, we all have this burden: to pray for lost children to return home to the Lord Jesus.
We are in difficult times. One of my favorite verses is Galatians 4:19:
“My little children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you.”
This is a striking verse. We have Christ, but how can Christ be formed in the Galatians? When Paul wrote to them, they had not seen Christ clearly. They had not apprehended Christ clearly. Christ was not distinctly formed in them.
Christ was not settled in their hearts. Therefore, they could easily be swayed by the winds of the world. If Christ is not formed in the children, they can be drawn away by the world and by Satan to pursue other things.
Paul’s heart for the Galatians was like a mother in labor again, until Christ would be formed in them.
Children grow up, and they are no longer at home. Sometimes they go astray. What are parents to do? This is often a very difficult question.
But I am encouraged that prayer has no boundaries of time and space. Prayer is effective even when parents and children are far apart. Prayer enables God to do His work. We cannot bring the children back; only God can do it.
Therefore, we need to pray for our children without ceasing. Sometimes we may not see the evidence right away. We may not even see the evidence during our time on earth. But we can see these things with the eye of faith. We trust the Lord, continue to pray, and God will do His work.
Now that our children have grown up, I often ask the Lord, “What can we do?” Even if we did not serve our children according to the purpose of God when they were young, do we have a second chance?
The answer is yes.
I was encouraged by Joel 2:25:
“And I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust hath eaten, the creeping locust, and the stripping locust, and the gnawing locust, My great army which I sent among you.”
What a confident word. In the same chapter, Joel 2:12–13, the Lord is looking for repentance. If we repent and turn our eyes back to Him, He will restore what we have lost. He will give back what was eaten by the locusts.
Joel 2:25 speaks of restoration. God will make up to us for the years of loss. With God, everything is possible. We may think recovery is impossible, but everything is possible. We need to trust God’s Word. There is a second chance.
Children are forever our children. They may grow up, but they are still our children. Let us accept the responsibility of ministering to the children in the family.
What I have shared does not apply only to the family and children. There is a broader application. The theme of this conference is serving the purpose of God in our own generation. I am simply saying that we should start with the family.
Exodus 12:4 says that the household could be enlarged. If the household was too small for the lamb, a neighbor could be invited in to share the lamb. Of course, the Passover Lamb is Christ, and He is always more than sufficient for a single household.
It is not a matter of what the Lord can do; it is a matter of our hearts. Do we have a heart that reaches beyond our own family to other families in the church?
Today I have shared that the life of the parents and the life of the children are intertwined. I believe that God’s purpose for the children is clear.
First, as Abraham looked for a city, so should the parents and the children look for that heavenly city. Second, the testimony belongs to the family—not merely to the parents or the children individually, but to the family together.
The children are the Lord’s, yet parents are accountable for their welfare. Parents are accountable to raise their children for Christ through feeding, shepherding, disciplining, leading the family to serve the Lord together, and having the testimony of Jesus together.
Prayer has no boundaries, and prayer enables God to work. We need to stand against the work of the enemy concerning our children. When children go astray, we should actively intercede for them so that they may be restored.
This may sound like a burden and a work to do. But we are not carrying the load by ourselves. We are yoked together with the Lord. He is the One who carries the load. He is the One who carries the burden.
The Lord is full of mercy. He gives us a second chance. If we missed the first opportunity to serve the children effectively, we can receive that second chance. We should repent, and the Lord Himself will restore to us the years that the locusts have eaten.
Ephesians 6:13 says:
“Wherefore take up the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand.”
Having done all, stand. We cannot sit back, and we cannot be passive.
Having done all, stand. Stand for the purposes of God for the children in the family. We are accountable for their well-being. If we do not stand for God’s purpose for the children, who will?
The Lord is looking for faithfulness. Are we faithful to the purpose of God for the children He has placed in our care? That is the bottom line: to stand for God’s interest in the midst of the children and in the family.
Lord, we do want to give thanks to You for this word today. Lord, this matter of serving Your purpose—the purpose of God in the family and in the children—is precious.
Lord, we thank You that You initiated the covenant with Abraham, that You would be God to Abraham and that You would be God to his descendants. Lord, we pray that You would fulfill that will not only in our lives, but also in our families and in our children.
Help us not to be earth dwellers, but to be strangers and pilgrims in this world, because we do not belong here. Our yearning is for the city in heaven.
Lord, give us grace that, having done all, we may stand for Your interest in the family and for the children. Give us grace that we may have the opportunity to raise them properly for Yourself.
Give us grace that we may pray for them, even when our children go astray and depart from You. Give us grace to intercede for Your covering and for Your recovery.
Lord, we thank You. It is truly Your mercy. It is truly Your heart for the family. Lord, You want the Christian family to stand and to have the testimony of Jesus.
So we commit this word back to You, Lord. Use it in a way that will bring You glory. Thank You, Lord. In Jesus’ name we pray.