THE LIVING WORD TRANSCRIPT

Program Air Date - 11-18-07

LESSON TITLE: "THE HOME AS GOD INTENDS: GOD'S DESIGN FOR THE HOME"

WELCOME

"So walk in Him...established in the faith... abounding in it with thanksgiving." Are you established in your faith with true thanksgiving before God?

We thank you this day for joining us for the Living Word program. As always, it is a blessing to have you with us as we together break the bread of life and as we magnify our Creator. You have made the right decision to give this time to God, so let's all do so with our full hearts and in accordance to His Will.

So, as we continue to focus on God, will you bow with me in prayer.

(PRAYER)

Well, it is time to join in our first song of the morning. Our first Hymn focuses on the importance of our journey as Christians. So, won't you participate with the congregation at this time as we sing together, "Higher Ground!"

(SONG # 1)

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS

Can you believe how fast this year has flown by, and now here we are only a few days from Thanksgiving! We are all so blessed in this country and we have so much, so you would think that at this time of year everyone would be ready and happy to show appreciation for it. And although we all have struggles and trials from time to time in life, we can still find great happiness and comfort in life though Jesus Christ.

No wonder Paul said in Philippians 4:4-6, "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God!" What a great passage this is of strength and encouragement. And what precious truths are clarified here by this inspired writer of God.

The reality is, we need to learn to rejoice in the Lord in all things. Why? Because God is real, He is there and He has promised to be with us every step of the way. So whether we're experiencing joy or sorry, happiness or pain, our God will always pull us through - thus rejoice!

We also notice that Paul says that we should be gentle to all men. What better way can we exemplify Christ than by letting others see Him in our actions, words and deeds. Jesus certainly had a caring and gentle spirit towards all men, and we must learn to imitate this fine characteristic.

Finally, notice that our text encourages us that we need not to worry, but rather we must learn to take all of our needs, wants and requests, before the mighty throne of God. And we know that if we speak to our God in prayer, He hears us and He answers our prayers according to His perfect and complete Will. And all these things we do before God's throne with "thanksgiving." For it is only because of Him that all things are possible.

Our God is great, mighty and wondrous and with His help we truly can accomplish all things as He has commanded! So do we show the thankfulness to God for all He has done, is doing and has promised to do for us? In just a few minutes it will be time to begin our main study of the day. As far as our topic of study, we will again focus on our series entitled, "The Home As God Intends." Our specific lesson of the morning deals with, "God's Design For The Home." So please stay with for this study from God's Word, and at the appropriate time our speaker of the morning will lead us in these thoughts from God's Word.

As far as our guest speaker, we are happy to have brother Kevin Patterson with us today. Brother Kevin is the minister for the Bolivar Church of Christ in Bolivar, Missouri. We thank him for being with us and we look forward to him guiding our thoughts in just a few minutes. However, before that study, let's join together in our next song of the morning. The name of this hymn, "Does Jesus Care."

(SONG # 2)

LESSON

Speaker: Kevin Patterson

Good morning. As always, we thank you for staying with us and making this program a part of your Lord's day morning. It is our aim and our prayer through this ministry as is recorded in Acts chapter 20 and verse 27 to declare to you the whole counsel of God and we do this so that you might be encouraged and edified by God's Living Word.

Last week, we began a new series of lessons entitled, "The Home As God Intends." And of the three institution of God given to man, the home, the government and the church, the home was the first divine institution that was established. This happened back in the Garden of Eden when after creating Adam, the Lord God said in Genesis 2 and verse 18, "It is not good that man should be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him." Down in verses 21 and 22, we see that helper created when "the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam and he slept, and He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man, He made into a woman and he brought her to the man." Thus, the home as God intended began.

This week, we are going to examine the theme, the specific topic, "God's Design For The Home." Every creator has an intention for his creation and every designer has a plan for his design. For instance, the watchmaker designs the watch so that it will tell time and do so accurately. We also see the architect who designs buildings so that they will stand true and solidly. Likewise, God who created the home did so with a purpose so that it would function according to its design. Well, what is that design? This morning, we are going to take a look at a number of points that help us to understand what God intended for the home and what His design is for us today.

Let us begin by recognizing first of all that God designed the husband and wife to be a man and a woman, not a man and a man, and not a woman and a woman. Back in the very beginning in Genesis chapter 1 and verse 27, we read that "God created man in His own image. In the image of God, He created them. Male and female, he created them." Jesus made this point again in Matthew chapter 19 and verse 4 when He answered a group of people and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female?" We live in a society where the distinctions between these boundaries have been blurred. There is a lot of confusion about what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. We live in a society that pushes tolerance and yet, they ignore what God says He will and will not tolerate Himself.

Paul in his letter to the church at Rome in Romans chapter 1 verses 24-27 shared some light as to just exactly what God's position is concerning homosexuality and thus the relationship between men and women. In verse 24, we read that God also gave them up to uncleanness in the lusts of their heart to dishonor their bodies among themselves, to exchange the Truth of God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions for even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also, the men leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lusts for one another. Men with men committing what is shameful and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due." One of the things that we read in verse 25 is that there are always going to be people who will exchange the Truth of God for a lie. Indeed, that is correct. When people say something loudly enough and long enough, other people begin to believe it. Some people will even think that it is natural or even normal, but the Bible is very clear that the relationship between people is to be between man and woman. The marriage relationship is to be between a husband and a wife.

God also designed the husband and wife to create their own family separate and apart from their existing families. I remember a woman several years ago who got in a discussion with me and she was making the point, she said, "When you marry a spouse, you marry their family." I had a little bit of a problem with that because when I got married, I married my wife. I didn't marry anybody else. But I do understand what she was saying. She was saying that there is an important element to marriage and that is your spouse's family and the relationship that you'll have with them. But that relationship, in order for it to be a good one, in order for it to be a productive one and as little problem as possible, we need to recognize some of the guidelines that the Bible teaches us concerning this separation.

Once again in Genesis 2 and verse 24 we read that "A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and they shall become one flesh." Once again, Jesus reiterated this point in Matthew chapter 19 and verse 5 when He said, "For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh." It is important that when a new family begins, when a husband and a wife become one, it is important that there be a separation from those former families so that they can start this family on the right footing. Well, God designed also the marriage of the husband and wife to be permanent and permanent until death parts them. Many times in marriage ceremonies have I informed and made the point to the young couple who are getting married that this is a permanent relationship. It is permanent until death parts you. Well we read once again in Matthew 19 and verse 6 Jesus making this point, "What God has joined together, let not man separate."

We do live in a society where divorce seems to be rampant. So many marriages that start off on such a good foot end in such a tragedy. But it is important for us to understand that from the very beginning of time God has never intended for divorce to be a part of the equation. We're even reminded of His attitude concerning divorce in Malachi chapter 2 and verse 16 when he said that "He hates divorce."

But Paul made this point concerning the end of marriage that would occur at death when he wrote the church at Rome in Romans 7 verses 2-3. He wrote, "For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives, but if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. So then if while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress, but if her husband dies, she is free from the law so that she is no adulteress though she is married to another man."

Paul also said in 1 Corinthians 7 verse 39 that "A wife is bound by law as long as her husband lives, but if her husband dies she is at liberty to be married to whom she wishes only in the Lord."

It is so important that we encourage our young people and perhaps even older people alike who are setting out on the course of marriage for the first time in their life to recognize the permanency of this institution.

Well, when you have a marriage, God designs the role of the husband and the wife to be a different one. In fact, He does not suggest that men and women are not equal, but He does suggest that men and women have different functions within the marriage relationship and within the home. Ephesians chapter 5 verses 25 and 26 teaches concerning husbands that "husbands are to love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water with the Word." And in verse 28 of the same chapter, "Husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself."

We recognize that it is very important for husbands to love their wives. In Colossians chapter 3 and verse 19 adds just a little bit more to that factor. "Husband, love your wife and do not be bitter toward them." In other words, husbands needs to treat their wives with tenderness and affection and a type of love that would demonstrate a respect of their other half.

In Ephesians 5 and verse 23 however, we read that the husband has a particular function in the family. We read that "The husband is the head of the wife as also Christ is the head of the church and He is the Savior of the body."

I would never suggest that I am in the same place as Jesus is in regard to the church. I am in submission to my spiritual head. Well likewise in the family, God has made the man the head of the home. In Ephesians 5 verses 22-24, Paul explains this more fully when he says, "Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord for the husband is the head of the wife as also Christ is the head of the church and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything."

Therefore, Colossians chapter 3, verse 18 we understand why Paul wrote the Christians in the city of Colossi and said, "Wives, submit to your own husbands as is fitting in the Lord."

God's design for children is that they be brought forth within the confines of marriage. Obviously having children is a normal function of the home, but God designed that children be brought about within the confines of that sacred institution called marriage. In Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 4 teaches that "Marriage is honorable among all and the bed undefiled, but fornicators and adulterers God will judge." The aspect of life, that is procreation, and the bringing about of children is something that should be respected as God designed it as something that simply is a part of the home. God's design for children as they come into that home is to respect and to obey their parents.

Colossians chapter 3 and verse 20 teaches us that "Children are to obey your parents in all things for this is well-pleasing to the Lord."

And I would have you to consider several passages from the book of Proverbs that teaches the importance of the role of children I the family. Proverbs 10:1 reads the Proverbs of Solomon, "A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is the grief of his mother." Proverbs 13:1 reads, "A wise son heeds his father's instructions, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke." Proverbs 17:25, "A foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him."

Ephesians chapter 6 and verses 1-3 is a very familiar passage to many of us and it reads, "Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. Honor your father and mother which is the first commandment with promise that it may be well with you in that you may live long on the earth."

We recognize that parents have generally had more experience in children in living life and therefore, children need to follow their parent's example and need to obey them so that they may live long and well on the earth.

God's design for parents however is also important and that is that they raise their children in the ways that are right.

Proverbs chapter 22 and verse 6 teaches us to "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it."

Colossians 3:21 teaches us that a part of this training is that we should not discourage or provoke our children in any way.

Ephesians 6:4 says this, "Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and the admonition of the Lord." Part of that training involves discipline. Although the Bible has a lot to say about discipline, even in the realm of corporal punishment, we have to recognize that discipline is a good thing.

Proverbs 13 and verse 24 reads, "He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him properly."

Proverbs 22 and verse 15, "Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child. The rod of correction will drive it far from him."

We recognize that discipline is not something that is spawned out of hatred or anger. Discipline is in fact something that comes out of love. Hebrews chapter 12 in verses 5-11 demonstrates this probably as well as any passage of scripture when it reads, "Have you forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons? My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him, for whom the Lord loves He chastens and scourges every son whom he receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons for what son is there whom his father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening of which you all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who have corrected us and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more be readily in subjection to the Father of Spirits and live for they indeed for a few days chastened us as seen best to them, but He for our profit that we may be partakers of His holiness. No chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful. Nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."

So many of our problems today would not even exist if people did not ignore God's design for the home. It would be such a wonderful world and with a more peaceful number of nations with more cooperative states and more neighborly communities if everyone would not only learn God's design for the home but live it. So if you are not living it, won't you try that today? May God bless you.

(SONG # 3 - "The Great Physician!")

CLOSING COMMENTS

Let me thank you again for choosing to be with us today. How blessed we all are to have times like this to commit to the things of God. We invite you to join us every Lord's Day, at 7:30, as we commit ourselves to this offering toward God!

But for now, let me ask if you have any questions or comments about today's lesson? Maybe, you would like a free transcript or a cassette tape of this program? Possibly, we could assist you with free Bible materials or correspondence courses? No matter what your need is, please contact us at the following address:

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Thanks be to God that He has given us a clear design for our homes. That we might do those things that are pleasing in His sight, so we will be rewarded in the end.

(Program closing)