0:00 Девушки отдыхают 0:30 So now we want to... We're going to have two sessions. And now we're going to continue where we left off at our last session. In our last session we spoke about the missing message in a lot of our churches anyway, 0:55 and many churches, particularly in India. Of husband-wife relationships. That's around the world. We must remember that the devil is seeking to attack the Christian home. 1:17 Because he knows that if he can destroy the Christian home, he can destroy the church. It's very important to recognize that the church is built on the home. And the home is built on the individual Christian's walk with God. 1:45 And the individual Christian's walk with God is built on the foundation of God's perfect love. So here is a three-story building. The foundation is God's perfect love for us. And the first story, on top of that, is our personal, individual walk with God. 2:04 Husband walking with God. Wife walking with God. On top of that, is the home. Husband, wife, children. And on top of that, is the church. That is a missing message in Christendom today. 2:26 Because many, many great Christian preachers who've got tremendous gift do not have a good relationship with their wives. Many great preachers that you read of, you'd be surprised to know some of the great people you see on television, Christian television. 2:48 Famous people, wonderful teachers. If you go into their family life, you'll be surprised to discover they are divorced. They couldn't get along with their wives. Wives couldn't get along with them. Or, they were unfaithful to their wives and went and slept with some other woman. 3:13 They were committed adultery. This is the state of today's Christendom. And the other thing, which of course you see more in India also. The children of some of these great preachers are all wayward. They're not following the Lord, many of them. 3:31 Rebellious. Disrespectful to their parents. Disobedient. So, the third story is shaking. Why? Because there is no proper second story. They're trying to build a third story on thin air. And the second story is shaking. Family relationship. 3:52 Because they don't have an individual walk with God. That's why they're unfaithful to their wives and husbands. It's very, very sad. This is a state of affairs in the world, around the world today. And all because we're not rooted on the perfect love of God for us. 4:15 The foundation, we must be absolutely convinced. God loves me perfectly. He delights in me. And every commandment he has given in his word is out of his tremendous love for me. Don't you parents know that? When you tell your teenage daughter you must come home by such and such a time, you must not be later than such and such a time. 4:41 I don't want to specify the time because I don't know what time you have set in your home. And I never had a teenage daughter. I got daughters only after they came into their 20s. But don't you parents know that when you make a rule like that, it's for their good? 5:02 But those teenage daughters don't know that. It's like that. Most of God's people don't know that when God places a restriction, it is for their good. We are as stupid as those teenage girls. So when you see those teenage girls being rebellious, remember, that's how we are towards God very often. 5:23 God says, don't do this. We go and do it. God says, do this. We take it lightly. But when we are perfectly grounded in the perfect love of God, we say, God, everything you have commanded in your word is absolutely the best for me. 5:40 And God says, oh, I wish that my people would realize that. That everything I have commanded, they would do it so that it might go well with them. Do you know that just like you want it to go well with your children, God wants it to go well with you? 5:56 How many of you parents want it to go badly with even one of your children? You've got to be an evil parent to be like that. Even evil parents want it to go well with their children. Multiply that by a million and you'll understand how well God wants it to go with you. 6:13 I believe that. It's changed my life to recognize that God wants it to go well with me. Every day of my life, he wants it to go well with me. And everything he tells me is so that it may go well with me. And that's why I want to strictly obey the word of God. 6:30 Why do I want to study the Bible? Because I want to know what God has said that it might go well with me. In a sense, it's a very selfish thing to do. I want it to go well with me. Because my heavenly father wants it to go well with me. 6:45 And this whole book is a book of God's love for me. Some of it may be quite strict. That's out of his love for me. Just like you're strict with your teenage children. And so, how shall I build a home? Exactly like it says in the book. 7:04 I want to show you a little expression in the book of Exodus. Build your home like Moses built the tabernacle. Okay? Moses had so many brilliant ideas when he was 40 years old in Egypt. He studied in the best academies in Egypt. 7:23 And you can read all the great books written by psychologists on how to have a happy home and all that type of stuff. But there's nothing to beat the Bible. Moses had all that wisdom from Egypt. And God said, that's not the way I'm going to build my tabernacle. 7:39 I want to give you a pattern for the tabernacle. Do it according to that. Exodus 39. We read an expression that comes 15 or 20 times in these two chapters. One of those is in the last verse of 39, verse 43. Moses examined all the work and beheld they had done it just as the Lord commanded. 7:59 He had done so. Moses blessed them. Moses had given some details to the workers saying, this is how we must do this. This must be the length of this. This must be the material for this. The curtains must be made of this, this, this, this, this, this. 8:10 Finally, he examined everything exactly like the Lord commanded. And then we read many times in this chapter 40, it says, verse 16, Moses did as the Lord commanded him. Right through that many, many times, it keeps on saying, just as the Lord commanded, verse 21, last part, just as the Lord commanded Moses, 23, last part, just as the Lord commanded Moses, 25, and on and on and on and on until the end of the chapter. 8:36 Thus, verse 33, Moses finished the work. Just as the Lord commanded Moses, verse 32, thus he finished the work. And when he finished the work, it comes a number of times, I don't have time to show it all to you. When he did everything as the Lord commanded, you know what happened? 8:50 The same thing will happen in your home. The glory of the Lord, verse 34, filled the tabernacle. And they couldn't enter. Because the glory of God was there. Don't you want that in your home? Oh, I long for that. More than better furniture, better curtains. 9:12 I don't care. Lord, I'm willing to live with old furniture and old curtains. But I want your glory. I want people who come into my home to sense the presence of God. I want them to be blessed. Not only my home, I say, if people enter my compound, they must be blessed. 9:38 Just like in the tabernacle, the glory of God was there. I long that my home, I prayed for that. That every person who enters my compound will be blessed. Enters my home will be blessed. Not by me, but by the Lord who is there. 9:56 And that's why I want my home to be a home of peace. Because God dwells where there is peace. And it's the God of peace who will crush Satan under our feet. Romans 16, 20. If there is no peace in your home, Satan cannot be crushed. 10:11 You may not know that, but Satan knows that. And that's why he always tries to bring unrest into your home. Either between husband and wife or between parents and children. Perpetual unrest. Be alert. Head of the home. Husbands, be alert. 10:29 If your wife is upset, keep your mouth shut. Sisters, maybe you're more godly. If your husband is upset, keep your mouth shut. At least one of you bring peace into the home. Maybe fellowship has not yet come. But start with peace. 10:43 Next step will be fellowship. You know, as I said, you need two hands to make a noise. If one hand refuses to cooperate, there's no fight. There's peace. If both cooperate, there's fellowship. So that's how it must be in a home. 11:01 The glory of God must fill our homes. We need homes in India where the glory of God fills it. It may be a hut or it may be a palace. It makes no difference to God. Jesus was born in a stable. He was quite at home in poor people's homes. 11:14 He was quite at home in rich people's homes. He wasn't against this or against that. Some Christians are against rich people's homes. That's because you're not like Jesus. Jesus could go equally to a rich person's home and a poor person's home. 11:26 It was just the same to him. Because he knew these things don't make a difference. This one stone will not remain upon another. So what does it matter whether it's a palace or a hut? Is the people, is there peace in this home? 11:38 That's what the Lord was looking for. And that's what he looks for in your home and mine. Seek to be a home where Jesus can dwell. You know, when I got baptized in the Holy Spirit, a renewal of the baptism in the Holy Spirit 32 years ago, 11:54 nearly 32 years ago, it was January 1975. The brother with whom I was praying as he was leaving our house, this is January 1975, he said, Zach, I want to leave a word with you. It was a prophetic word. I never realized it then. 12:13 He said, this is the word that I want to leave with you. The news went around that Jesus was in the house. Mark chapter 2, verse 1. The news went around that Jesus was in the house. And I never knew that the church would start meeting in our home. 12:36 But I've never forgotten that word he left with me. The news went around that Jesus was in the house. When Jesus came to Jerusalem and Judea, they didn't think he was the son of God. 13:09 You know what they called him? What did they call him? Beelzebul, prince of devils. So all may not recognize it. Paul says we are a saver of life to some and a saver of death to some. There was a man, there was a Pentecostal man in Bangalore some years ago who hated me so much. 13:27 He wrote a tract called The Head of the Serpent is in 16 DaCosta Square. The Spirit of the Antichrist. It doesn't matter what people say. They called my saver, saviour, prince of devils. That man, I don't know where he is. 13:47 He's dead and gone. He could never build anything. I have nothing against him. I don't know whether he's in heaven or hell today. He doesn't bother me. But I know whatever people may say, I have seen how the Lord has blessed different people who have entered my home. 14:11 Poor people, rich people, it makes no difference. I believe your home must be like that. Throw your home open to God's people. God will bless you, reward you. As you're able to have meetings, have meetings in your home. 14:29 Even if your home is small, gather three, four people there once in a while and have a prayer meeting. Share God's word with them. Let the news go around that Jesus is in your house. Not only at the meeting time. Any time if people walk in, they see husband and wife loving the Lord. 14:47 The husband, the head of the home. The wife in her position as a submissive wife and a helper to her husband. And children who are God-fearing, who obey daddy and mommy, who help daddy and mommy. Think if you can have a home like that. 15:09 Whether you have two children or ten children. That there's a testimony there. This is missing in today's Christianity. You hardly hear much teaching on the home in most Christian churches. Because most pastors and preachers don't have the authority. 15:26 They cannot stand up and say, I never shouted my wife 365 days of the year. They can't say that. Well, how can they preach about it then? Unless they're hypocrites. They can't say that all my children are born again and baptized. 15:40 Because many of them are not. So, we must fight the battle here and say, Lord, we want a home like that. You remember what God told Moses before he built the sanctuary. He said in Exodus 25. 16:03 The Lord said to Moses, it's amazing. It says in verse 2, Exodus 25 verse 2. The Lord said to Moses saying, tell the sons of Israel to raise the contribution for me. Every man whose heart moves him, you shall raise the contribution. 16:25 You are to raise from them gold, silver, bronze, blue, purple, scarlet. Have you ever thought how this bunch of slaves got so much money? Do a bunch of slaves have gold and silver and scarlet and all that? Do you know there's a little verse written in the book of Exodus that when they left Egypt, 16:48 God told the Israelites, let me paraphrase it. You fellas have worked here for 430 years and they have not paid you your salary. Go and tell the Israelites to pay you your salary before you leave. Collect gold and silver from them. 17:04 Is there anything wrong in collecting your salary? Imagine if you got 430 years of salary altogether once. They came out as millionaires. I don't have time to show you that verse. And now the Lord said, see how I have blessed you? 17:18 You never expected that. You thought you'd come out as slaves. You'll come out as millionaires. Now give some of that to build my home. Build, verse 8, a sanctuary for me that I may dwell in your midst. They were not doing God a favor. 17:34 God gave them such an abundance that they gave a little bit of that to God. You can only give to God what he's given to you. What is your home to be? A sanctuary, a holy place where God can live. Build it according to the pattern. 17:54 Not according to your Egyptian wisdom. Not according to the wisdom of Egypt's psychologists. But according to the word of God. You'll have a godly home. And years later, when you come to my age, you should be able to say, 18:12 come and see. You may not be able to say that when your children are small. But as you grow up, you should be able to say to others, come and see. Come and see how my wife and I live together. Come and live with us and see. 18:26 Come and see how our children are. How they've grown up. I'm not saying that they will grow up perfectly. I never expected my children to be like tin soldiers in the house. You know, when they were small, people would come and ask me, 18:45 Brother Zach, do your boys ever fight with each other? Yeah, I said they're normal. They're all children of Adam. They fight. I don't allow them to fight physically. That happens even once. I stop them, separate them, and tell them to go and lie down on their beds 19:00 for a few hours till they cool off. But if they argue with words, I say, oh, that's okay. Words are just... But one thing I found about children fighting with words, they can fight as if they are the biggest enemies and half an hour later 19:17 they are the biggest friends. but when grown-ups fight, husband and wife won't talk to each other for days. Learn from your children how they argue and become friends so quickly again. It's not serious if your children have 19:35 these little tussles and when they go into their teenage years they go through a little patch up and down. Some go through smoothly, some go through a difficult patch. You know why? Because they are children becoming adults. 19:53 They are sort of in a transitional stage. They are neither here nor there. The parents think they are babies and they think they are adults. Both are wrong. Parents think, oh, my little baby. He is not your little baby anymore. 20:10 And the little baby who is probably 15 years old thinks I am a man. You are not a man, brother. You are still a kid. So it's because both are wrong. That little 15-year-old thinks he is a man and the parent thinks he is still a 3-year-old. 20:26 You can't treat a 15-year-old like a 3-year-old. No, you can't. As far as I can remember I did not physically beat my children once they came into their teenage years. I felt I had to pray with them and love them and judge myself. 20:47 That's the position I took that if my teenage children I mean I was born again before they were born so I tried my best to discipline them. Some may ask me did you discipline your youngest son as much as your oldest son? 21:04 I said perhaps not but that's partly because I was a little older and when you get older you get a little more patient and a little more control over your temper than when you are young and what to do. I mean if I became a father 21:21 at the age of 67 like right now I would do most things so perfectly but unfortunately I became a father when I was 29 and I was pretty stupid and foolish like all of you so I often wonder Lord why you didn't allow us to become fathers 21:37 after we become 70 or something like that and I think you know if I was never a parent I would still be as foolish when I'm 70 that's what we don't realize we learn wisdom as our children grow up and you can read all the books on marriage 21:56 and hear all the messages on marriage you'll still do some of the foolish things I did when I was 29 because you've got to learn it the hard way you know like children learning to walk supposing from the time your child is born 22:07 you say I'm going to teach you how to walk I'll tell you I've had enough experience I'll tell you tell you it'll still stumble and fall a thousand times and learn to walk so don't be afraid of making mistakes as parents 22:17 we'll all make mistakes acknowledge them before God I used to punish my children with anger but I used to repent of it because I knew the discipline was right the anger was wrong and I used to go before God frequently and cry out 22:32 and say Lord please help me I need to eliminate the anger from my discipline the discipline is right the anger is wrong sometimes I punish my children wrongly and I've had to repent of that before God now the question is 22:46 did I go to my children each time I punish them wrongly or in anger and apologize to them should I I should but I didn't I'll tell you why because I felt that they were not old enough at six or seven years of age to understand 23:05 the difference between anger and discipline so if I go to my six year old and say listen I'm sorry I beat you with anger that time okay dad I forgive you and then next day or next week again I beat them with anger again 23:25 he lift up and said okay dad forgive you and the next time I beat him he'll say I know what dad he's going to come back after five minutes and apologize to me he'll never appreciate my discipline because he doesn't have wisdom 23:35 so you know what I did I never apologized to them when they all became 18 years I gave them a consolidated apology for all the years I made a mistake say I did it wrong but please forgive me because then they were old enough 23:53 to appreciate it you know it's like a servant in your home or a supposing you're a supervisor in an office and every time you did something wrong you went and apologized for the anger that guy's not even a Christian he'll have no respect 24:03 for your authority so you've got to be wise don't live by laws be wise see whether the other person understands what you're trying to say and children sometimes don't understand then you've got to repent only before God 24:15 so some people are so legalistic they do things in a legalistic way mess up make situations worse than it was before but I believe it's right to discipline because the Bible says that I want to go to the New Testament you know 24:32 people say Brother Zach don't go to the Old Testament and these things because you always preach to us from the New Testament okay I used to go more to Proverbs in the old days you know train up a child in the way he should go 24:44 when he's old he will not depart from it and foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child but the rod of correction will drive it par from him these are verses it's true but I want to turn to the New Testament Hebrews chapter 12 24:56 and it says here in verse 5 you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons my son do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord nor faint when you are 25:17 rebuked by him for listen to this those whom the Lord loves he disciplines what does the Lord do to those whom he loves he disciplines and every son whom he receives 25:37 every single that means son and daughter there's no exception what does he do what does your Bible say scourges you see my belt that's scourging scourging is with leather it's not 25:57 a rod scourging the Lord does it don't try to be more spiritual than God if God does it to his children it says in the next verse it is for discipline that you endure God deals with you as with sons it's true 26:18 I have never scourged or disciplined those who are not my children even in the church I treat people in the church as my children I discipline them people in other churches they can do ten times worse things I don't do anything 26:32 to them we only discipline our own children and listen to this expression read it carefully what son or daughter is there whom his father does not discipline in the first century Paul could say that in the 21st century it's 26:53 not Paul whoever wrote Hebrews I'll show you thousands of fathers like that today and you see the result in today's rebellious children who have no respect for older people who got religion without spirituality because their 27:12 fathers never taught them discipline I read somewhere that sometime in the 1940s a book came out in the United States of America called Baby and Child Care written by Dr. Benjamin Spock that became the standard book for all 27:30 parents of that period to bring up their children and he said don't discipline your children the result was seen in the 1960s when all the children became hippies lots of them rebellious such a thing had never happened in the 27:47 United States for so many years I read this somewhere it's not my research but I read this somewhere the influence of the teaching of one man whose book was accepted as standard no no we don't discipline our children there 28:02 are better ways negotiate and negotiate what are they business partners or something that you negotiate with them they neglected God's word and they reaped the consequences well thankfully that book was not circulated much 28:16 in India but it says what son is there whom his father does not discipline it's because you love whom the Lord loves he disciplines if you love your child you will correct him and discipline him and because even God put 28:33 man under law before he brought him under grace and law involved punishment have you heard the story of the carrot and the stick the carrot and the stick means the way to get a donkey to move forward is hold a carrot in 28:48 front of him the donkey will keep going if he doesn't move use a stick behind him bring 29:18 up grace they haven't come to the life of walking in the spirit and any person who's not walking in the spirit is under law even if he's 50 years old if you're not filled with the spirit my brother sister even if you're 29:29 100 years old please be under the law otherwise you'll live a life more wicked than Old Testament people the law every man who does not walk in the spirit must be under the law and children do not know what it is to be in 29:42 the spirit and therefore they have to be kept under the law and the law has a carrot and a stick you read in the Old Testament go to Deuteronomy 28 it's very clear so which son is there whom his father does not discipline 29:55 and listen to this verse 8 if you are without discipline which all children become partakers then you're not really God's sons you further more verse 9 we 30:15 had earthly fathers to discipline us that was universal in the first century all fathers disciplined their children and we respected them yeah one day your child will respect you if you 30:36 discipline them and we shall we not much rather be subject to the father of spirits and live further verse 10 fathers disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them that 30:58 means we don't do it perfectly that also is recognized in scripture we don't do it perfectly because we are not perfect but God who is perfect disciplines us perfectly all discipline whether we give to our children or God 31:14 gives to us verse 11 does not seem to be joyful no child appreciates a spanking it is very painful and when God disciplines us also it's painful if you're disciplined in the church it is painful but to 31:34 those who don't get offended by it those who are trained by it not everybody those who allow that discipline to work in their life afterwards it will produce peace and righteousness so fathers 31:54 don't be discouraged I want to read something to you which if I can find it about how you know people 32:15 consider their fathers somebody wrote this at age four the child says my daddy can do anything when he's seven years he says my daddy knows quite a bit when 32:36 he's nine years old he says well dad doesn't really know everything when he's twelve years old he says dad doesn't understand when he's fourteen years old he says dad is old fashioned when he's twenty years old he says boy 32:52 my dad is completely out of touch with reality when he's twenty five years old and he's close to getting married yeah I think dad's okay when he's thirty years old he says I wonder what dad thinks about this I'd like to 33:08 know when he's thirty five he says I'd like to get my dad's opinion on this matter when he's fifty years old he thinks what would my dad have done in this situation what would he and when he's sixty well my dad's not alive 33:25 I wish he were here I could talk it over with him so don't get discouraged if they are at different stages and say different things they'll change their mind as they grow older don't get discouraged if your children don't 33:40 appreciate what you're doing for them right now one day afterwards it'll produce results that you'll be thankful for your children will thank you for the discipline the correction the strictness that you had at home concerning 33:52 time when they should come back certain things you are not allowed them to do you did not give them indefinite amount of money for them to spend as they like you did not buy certain things because you can't afford that in 34:05 our home you taught them to live simply and be frugal in the way they lived it'll help them in the long run your children will not get into debt when they set up a home because they saw in your home you never bought anything 34:19 that you couldn't afford I've seen a lot of people testimony if that happened to you repent don't let your children see parents who are in debt it's not a good testimony cut 34:40 down your expenditure let them see how you live at home how you use money carefully that money doesn't grow on trees that you can just get it and spend it giving them 35:00 everything they want everything you can afford it's not wise it's not good it's good for children to learn to work and not have everything done for them it's good to have children to learn to struggle a little bit that'll 35:15 make them tough to do work around the house and to I believe in India how important it is for children to get an education I believe that's one of the great things Indian parents excel I think they are some of the best parents 35:31 in the world as far as this is concerned that they really take seriously their children's education I've seen a lot of Western homes that parents don't even seem to bother whether children are educated or not and those children 35:41 grow up later on and struggle struggle financially they get into debt and there are hardships because their video of this black young African 36:01 American boy in America who grew up in a slum in a ghetto as they call it with all bad friends and I think his father had left him only his mother was bringing up and you know fights and quarrels he almost killed somebody 36:18 etc but his mother was determined to give him an education and worked hard and encouraged him and encouraged him and by the time he was around 32 years old he became the top children's neurosurgeon 36:39 in one of America's top hospitals doing unique operations it's an amazing story and it was due to a mother who was determined to give her son a good education you know that's I believe that's something that parents need 36:56 to take care of that we allow our children to be able to stand on their own feet when they come of age that we encourage them and therefore it's important that parents take time to sit with their children to do their homework 37:16 to teach them the subjects that are difficult for them to understand or get help for them it's very important I mean it may mean effort it may mean money it may mean sacrifice but when your children are one day standing 37:31 on their own feet they'll thank you for it we've got to live for our children as parents that's the mark of a good father and mother that you don't just think of yourself you know a good father and mother will always make 37:44 sure that children get good food if they can't afford good food for everybody they'll deny themselves and make that children have good food in the same way we want to have it good for our children give them a good education 37:54 so they can be established on their own feet they don't appreciate the value of education when they're 13 14 years old they may want to play the fool because they don't appreciate it enough but we who are older and we have 38:05 lived in the world we know how that's important for them to if it's only a good education that will enable them to get a good salary later on and be able to earn their own living so that they are not dependent on others 38:21 and they can stand on their own feet and there's a certain dignity that comes about them when they can stand on their own feet and even spiritually it helps them when they know that they're not having to constantly struggle 38:32 because their parents ignored their education I've come across a number of cases like that of parents who couldn't care less for their children and I've seen those children suffer suffer suffer suffer suffer please we see 38:46 it's unfortunate some of their parents were not believers they were godless and such children can only forgive their parents they were ignorant forgive them for they don't know what they did but we need to learn lessons 38:58 from that and I want to say to you parents don't get so busy with your work that you neglect your children and not just education I want to show you a verse in Malachi chapter 4 Malachi chapter 4 we read this verse that 39:16 we already saw in the last days the Lord will send someone the last verse of the Old Testament says the Lord will restore the hearts of the fathers to the children through his servants and the hearts of children to their 39:31 fathers otherwise he will come and smite the land with a curse you know what is the great need in the last days in the great and terrible day of the Lord when the world will be judged and the church as I said in verse 5 39:51 is to come in the spirit of Elijah and John the Baptist and what are we to proclaim the missing message we need fathers in the church we need spiritual fathers we don't need directors superintendents certainly we don't need 40:11 dictators we need fathers in the church fathers who will sacrifice time energy for the sake of their flock and who will discipline their flock just like you do at home and in the home we need fathers not a word is said here 40:31 about mothers fathers just like the husband is the leader of the home the father must lead his children to teach them the scriptures don't leave that to the Sunday school no I left the teaching of scripture to the Sunday school my children attended Sunday school here from childhood 40:49 but I said that's not the place I'm not going to let the Sunday school teachers take the responsibility I have to make sure first of all that they know the facts of the Bible so I used to get them a Bible story book that they would be encouraged to read with pictures and all that so that they would know the facts of the Bible I don't have to instruct them all if they themselves read it that's great 41:08 but then but then the principles of the principles of the Bible I have to teach them and we would talk about it at different times and my wife was particularly careful whenever the children came back from school to talk to them I think every single day how was your day at school I wasn't often at home I was traveling so much in the preaching of the gospel but how was your day and then you discover so many things that happened in school maybe they picked up some bad words in school I remember one of 41:37 one of my children once I don't even remember who it was and I don't want to try and remember who it was used a bad word I don't know if I was six or seven years old I knew he didn't even know the meaning of it because we never used it at home 41:52 so I laughed inwardly and I said do you know the meaning of that word he said no somebody used it in school I said please I'm not going to explain the meaning of the word to you but it's a bad word don't ever use it again and I never heard him use it again 42:07 you can't blame the child they're surrounded by people who are doing all types of wicked things in school you got to just like you give them a shower or a bath when they come home you got to give them an inward shower or bath from the habits they have picked up 42:21 from school who's going to teach them that if somebody steals your pencil in the kindergarten you should not steal somebody else's pencil you know that as an adult but a child's logic is hey somebody stole my pencil I see a pencil there 42:36 let me take it and they come home with somebody else's pencil do you check their bags when they come home and they'll tell you well somebody stole my pencil mommy I stole somebody else's a child's logic that's correct but you say no we are Christians please go back tomorrow and return that pencil to the teacher and say I found somebody's pencil here it is I'll give you another pencil don't worry 43:00 when you have children people will steal all types of things of yours we'll replace it don't worry but don't ever touch another person's property you know even in when they're 12 standard one friend of my one of my children came to my house and stole his calculator 43:15 okay forget it and my children are so loyal to their friends that till today they never told me who stole it because they got it back finally but they wouldn't tell me till today who did it yeah I appreciate their loyalty to their friends 43:31 my point is this children don't know many things we have to teach them don't assume that they know they don't know you're supposed to teach them little little things I'm not saying we my wife and I did it perfectly we made many mistakes but we would go to James chapter 1 verse 5 always if anyone lacks wisdom 43:50 let him ask God that's my favorite verse for parents if anyone lacks wisdom let him go to God and boy we lacked wisdom Lord give us wisdom and I believe that if we live in humble dependence on God and we try to honor God in our home even if we do 101 wrong things like I did 44:07 like my wife did and like all of you will do God will still make it go well with our children because deep down in our heart our desire was to do His will our desire was that our home should honor God and if your desire is that God will help you 44:23 one of the things I tried to be careful as a father was that if there was any event that my children were participating in whether it was a public speaking in the school or a prize giving in the school or a sports event or something 44:41 wherever my children were participating I would always make sure to the best of my ability that I would be in Bangalore at home for that particular time because I didn't want my children to feel that dad was so busy serving the Lord he didn't have time for us 45:00 I know I was busy serving the Lord I had to go here and there travel so many places some of the privileges I never had as a father was to be able to sit with my child during the meetings I never had that privilege because I was always sitting up in front leading the meeting 45:17 my wife was taking care of the children but it's a wonderful thing to sit with your children in a meeting to be able to teach them how to turn to a song or to turn to a verse in the Bible that's great and the other privilege I rarely had was to be with our children and weekends 45:36 weekends was the time I was always traveling because most other places churches and all they would want me on a weekend and weekend was the time my children had holidays from school I'd say Lord well that's one of the sacrifices I have to make because I serve you 45:49 but you got to make up for that and I tell you God is made up for that in many ways but whenever they had an event I always tried to be there to help them if they were having final examinations public examinations I'd make sure I was there so that 46:09 they'd be in school on time so I worked my program around certain to me the certain events that my children took place took part in school were very important days for me and I wouldn't neglect them for my work sometimes it was not possible but to the best of my ability I tried to do that for all of my four boys 46:30 you know it means a lot to your children to know that you as a father and mother are interested in things which are important to them may not be important for you but it's important for them and let your children see that you as a father are interested in that 46:43 that's how the heart of the father like it says here gets turned to the children and if your heart is turned to the children the children's heart will be turned towards you that's what the Bible says and especially in the last days before the great and terrible day of the Lord 46:55 before God smites homes with a curse like it says here I don't want my home to be smitten with a curse do you want your home to be smitten with a curse no then fathers turn your hearts towards your children take time to be with your children 47:10 have a date with your children I wish I could have done that much more than I did it some things I wished I did a lot more was to spend a little more time with children individually but you know so many people used to come to my house 47:27 and I didn't always do it wisely because I remember once when one of my boys I promised to take him out on his birthday and just as I was about to take him out some brother came to see me with his problem and spent a couple of hours with me and it was so late 47:43 I disappointed my son that day and I never forget it I'll never forgive myself he has forgiven me but I feel so bad that I if I had that more wisdom I'd have told that brother listen can I talk to you tomorrow I promise to take my son out for his birthday today 48:01 there's nothing wrong in that I was young I didn't have a spiritual father to guide me in all these things so I made a lot of mistakes which you don't have to make don't neglect your children greet them on their birthdays 48:16 it's a habit that all of us have developed in our family to greet one another on our birthdays wherever we are nowadays we call each other on the phone in the olden days we phones phones calls was expensive through the distance 48:30 we'd write letters we'd write cards and even little children would write on a small piece of paper and say happy birthday daddy or mommy and to greet those children and make one day in the year special for your children 48:41 at least on their birthday not just cutting a cake but much more than that pray with them lay your hands on them father and mother and make that child feel that you're so honored that God brought that child into your family 48:58 for you to bring up it's wonderful it's wonderful you've got to make your child feel special just like you know how you feel excited when you realize that God makes you feel special make your children feel special it's terrible when you know never talk to your children saying you're good for nothing 49:17 they make a mistake I hear sometimes that some child says my father told me you're good for nothing and they get an inferiority complex never say that never say to your child that oh how many times I told you not to do that 49:33 but if God taught you like that talked to you like that how many times I told you not to do that we'd get discouraged imagine if Jesus appeared before you and said how many times I told you not to do that but you wouldn't be able to raise your head for the next few years 49:48 don't ever speak to your children like that they are weak they are foolish we are also weak and foolish be compassionate be strict but be compassionate I always say we must be strict with them because they've got a fallen nature 50:10 and we must be compassionate with them because they got that fallen nature from you they didn't get it themselves so we need to be strict and compassionate and as we do that I believe that God will help us God is interested 50:28 that our children should grow up to be God-fearing witnesses let me turn you to this verse in closing Psalm 127 written by a man who did not practice what he preached 50:50 you know do you know there are some people some passages of the Bible written which are absolutely inspired by the Holy Spirit but the man who wrote it never preached it never practiced it Proverbs for example was written by Solomon 51:05 how much he has written their warning about evil women and how many did he marry 700 of them can you believe that he wrote Proverbs that shows how even today there are preachers who preach things which they don't practice 51:19 but what they said was right so Psalm 127 is one of the Psalms written by Solomon and he says verse 3 children are a gift of the Lord fruit of the womb is a reward like arrows in the hand of a warrior so are the children of one's youth 51:35 how blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them they will not be ashamed when they speak of their enemies in the gate the Lord's people have a lot of enemies but their mouths will be shut when they see our children the way we have brought them up 51:50 people who criticize you make fun of you and call you a heretic false teacher this that and the other their mouths will be shut when they see the way you have brought up your children because your children know everything 52:01 about what you live for at home you can fool everybody in the church for 50 years but you can't fool your children because they see what you live for at home if you want to know who's the head of the home ask the children 52:11 they'll tell you if you want to know how daddy and mommy behave with each other people in the church don't know ask the children they know they may cover up for their children but they know and the example you have left your children 52:23 is the thing children are a gift from the Lord and it says here they must be like arrows imagine having your child as an arrow that you're going to fire against Satan and when we stand with our enemies their mouth is shut 52:41 Isaiah 54 is a word that God gave me and my wife many years ago when our children were very small we used to claim it you know I always say that there are promises in scripture they'll never be yours until you claim them 52:58 if somebody gives you a check for 100,000 rupees it'll never be yours till you go and cash it in the bank here is a promise I've underlined it in my Bible Isaiah 54 13 all your sons will be taught by the Lord and the well-being of your sons 53:16 will be great I printed it out and put it on a board in front of my dining table all your children will be taught by the Lord and the well-being of your sons will be great yeah there are wonderful promises like that that you can claim 53:37 Isaiah 59 verse 21 my spirit which is upon you and my words which I put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth nor from the mouth of your children nor from the mouth of your grandchildren and another verse 53:58 Isaiah 61 you know these are promises in scripture anybody can claim them Isaiah 61 in verse 8 in the message translation it reads like this your children will become well-known all over and your children who are in foreign countries 54:17 will be recognized at once as the people I have blessed I go to these scriptures and I say I claim them in Jesus name and you can keep your checks buried at home if you like but I'm going to take them to the bank of heaven 54:29 and cash them in Jesus name you can cash them too this is in your Bible as well as mine we miss so much we miss so much by not claiming the promises of God for our children I want to say this in conclusion don't let your children become spiritually poor 54:47 because you don't claim the promises of God for them think how Abraham claimed the promises for Isaac and blessed him and say God has blessed me and he's going to bless you and Isaac continued that the next generation he called Jacob and said 55:04 God's blessed me he's going to bless you and Jacob called all his children as he was dying and he called each one of them and said God's going to bless you bless you why can't we do that to our children let's do that let's change the way 55:19 we live with our wives and our children and make it really good in the days to come let's go humbly before God and say Lord make me the father and mother you want me to be I believe God will help us Amen a little louder 55:35 God will help us Praise the Lord let's pray thank you Father we confess our hope right now you will help us to build godly homes in this generation in Jesus name Amen
