Where is the precious Flock that you’ve been entrusted with?

1. Where is the precious Flock that you’ve been entrusted with? It’s 11pm on the clock of this earth’s history: Do you know where your children are???

2. Teach Our Sons & Daughters Deuteronomy 4:9 (9) Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;

3. Teach Them Diligently Deuteronomy 6:5-7 (5) And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. (6) And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: (7) And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

4. Teach Them God’s Law Proverbs 3:1-2 (1) My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: (2) For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.

5. Question #1 Does a Godly father automatically result in a Godly child?

6. Hezekiah: Good Father 2 Chronicles 29:1-2 (1) Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. (2) And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done.

7. Manasseh: Wicked Son 2 Chronicles 33:1-3 (1) Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem: (2) But did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. (3) For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served them.

8. Question #2 What happens when, as parents, we neglect to correct our children for fear of hurting their feelings?

9. Nadab & Abihu: Strange Fire Leviticus 10:1-2 (1) And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. (2) And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.

10. Nadab & Abihu: Upbringing Nadab and Abihu had not in their youth been trained to habits of self-control. The father's yielding disposition, his lack of firmness for right, had led him to neglect the discipline of his children. His sons had been permitted to follow inclination. Habits of self-indulgence, long cherished, obtained a hold upon them which even the responsibility of the most sacred office had not power to break.

11. Nadab & Abihu: Upbringing (cont.) They had not been taught to respect the authority of their father, and they did not realize the necessity of exact obedience to the requirements of God. Aaron's mistaken indulgence of his sons prepared them to become the subjects of the divine judgments. Patriarchs & Prophets, p 360

12. Like Father, Like Sons Exodus 32:1-2 (1) And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him. (2) And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.

13. Like Father, Like Sons (cont.) Exodus 32:3-5 (3) And all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. (4) And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. (5) And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD.

14. Parental Obligations Neglected "Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, . . . for the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you." Aaron was silent. The death of his sons, cut down without warning, in so terrible a sin – a sin which he now saw to be the result of his own neglect of duty– wrung the father's heart with anguish, but he gave his feelings no expression. By no manifestation of grief must he seem to sympathize with sin. The congregation must not be led to murmur against God. Patriarchs & Prophets, p 361

15. Question #3 Which is more important: A good testimony OR… A good witness?

16. David’s Unfaithful Witness 2 Samuel 12:9,13-14 (9) Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. … (13) And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. (14) Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.

17. David’s Parental Legacy • Amnon • Slept with his half-sister, Tamar; Killed by Absalom • Absalom • Tried to take the kingdom from his father; Killed by Joab • Adonijah • Tried to take the kingdom from Solomon upon David’s death; Killed by Solomon • Solomon • Born of Bathsheba, the former wife of Uriah the Hittite • Wisest and richest man who ever lived • Turned to idolatry in his old age • Returned to God after a number of wasted years

18. Absalom The shameful crime of Amnon, the first-born, was permitted by David to pass unpunished and unrebuked. The law pronounced death upon the adulterer, and the unnatural crime of Amnon made him doubly guilty. But David, self-condemned for his own sin, failed to bring the offender to justice. For two full years Absalom, the natural protector of the sister so foully wronged, concealed his purpose of revenge, but only to strike more surely at the last. At a feast of the king's sons the drunken, incestuous Amnon was slain by his brother's command. Patriarchs & Prophets, p 727

19. David’s Neglect Like other sons of David, Amnon had been left to selfish indulgence. He had sought to gratify every thought of his heart, regardless of the requirements of God. … David had neglected the duty of punishing the crime of Amnon, and because of the unfaithfulness of the king and father and the impenitence of the son, the Lord permitted events to take their natural course, and did not restrain Absalom. When parents or rulers neglect the duty of punishing iniquity, God Himself will take the case in hand. His restraining power will be in a measure removed from the agencies of evil, so that a train of circumstances will arise which will punish sin with sin. Patriarchs & Prophets, pp 727, 728

20. Why Are We Slow To Correct? • We don’t like how our parents treated us, so we adopt a more lax attitude with our children • We want our children to like us • We feel hypocritical because of the issues in our own lives that our children may or may not know about • We think that it’s too early to get serious about discipline • We think that the time for discipline is past

21. David’s Weakened Influence There was a great change in David himself. He was broken in spirit by the consciousness of his sin and its far-reaching results. He felt humbled in the eyes of his subjects. His influence was weakened. Hitherto his prosperity had been attributed to his conscientious obedience to the commandments of the Lord. But now his subjects, having a knowledge of his sin, would be led to sin more freely. His authority in his own household, his claim to respect and obedience from his sons, was weakened. A sense of his guilt kept him silent when he should have condemned sin; it made his arm feeble to execute justice in his house. His evil example exerted its influence upon his sons, and God would not interpose to prevent the result. He would permit things to take their natural course, and thus David was severely chastised. Patriarchs & Prophets, pp 727, 728

22. Start With The Scriptures 2 Timothy 3:14-17 (14) But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; (15) And that from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. (16) All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (17) That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

23. Don’t Get Distracted Matthew 6:20-21 (20) But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: (21) For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

24. Don’t Look Back Genesis 19:17-26 (17) And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. … (24) Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; (25) And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. (26) But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

25. Commit Them To The Lord Isaiah 54:13 (13) And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children. Isaiah 49:25 (25) But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.

26. A Personal Relationship Ezekiel 14:20 (20) Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.

27. Saving Our Children Eternally • They need to Know Jesus for themselves • They need to Hear how much we love Jesus • They need to See how much we love Jesus • They need to Understand the need for discipline • They need to Commit themselves to God

28. Start the Relationship Psalms 37:3-6 (3) Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. (4) Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. (5) Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. (6) And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

29. We Must Teach Our Children Deuteronomy 4:9 (9) Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;