Christian Education: What is it all About?

The Question of Christian Education's Purpose

0:04 Now, what I want to do tonight is not to preach a sermon that would be easy to do. And you see this many people, it would be easy to do. But what I want to do is I want to talk to you on the subject of Christian education. In fact, the title for the lesson tonight, our subject, is Christian Education, What in the World is it All About?

0:25 Christian Education, What in the World is it All About? Suppose you were to go out here tonight, and on the way out someone walked up to you and said, So what in the world are you doing going to church Saturday night? Oh, I was there for a banquet. Banquet? Saturday night? Yes.

0:38 What was it about? Oh, it was in connection with the Christian school. Christian school? What's that?

0:43 Well, you know, that's a school where it's Christian. Well, why have a Christian school? Costs you money, doesn't it? Well, you bet your boots it costs me money.

0:52 Pay your tuition, and then they're in your pocket for gifts.

0:56 Costs money. I know, I have my kids in Christian schools. And then they ask the question, well, why in the world send them to a Christian school?

1:04 Could you give them an intelligence? Could you give them an answer? Could you give them an answer that was rooted in something more than, Well, I don't like this evolution bit and this sex education bit, so I'm going to protect them, but I'm going to have them in a Christian school. Is that your only reason?

1:19 Have you really seen through to the heart of what Christian education is all about? Well, if you haven't, I hope tonight God will open your eyes. And if you have, I hope what we share from the scriptures tonight will open them a bit wider and underscore things in red pencil and make them a little clearer in your mind. And to approach the subject, I want to start with a very simple illustration.

The Blueprint Analogy: Building with God's Plans

1:42 I put myself through college doing coolie work for a construction man. I used to carry a hog and mix cement. And when we got done that, it was no union outfit. You then picked up a trowel and you laid block.

1:54 And I'm grateful for that experience. But one of the things I always noticed is when we did construction work, we simply didn't go on a job and grab a trowel and grab some mud, as you call it in the trade, and grab a block with some brick and start slapping things. No, no. The first thing the boss always did was to go to the blueprints to find out what the architect had in mind as the end product.

2:17 Now, suppose you were in some area of Philadelphia where there was some house construction going on. And you come by a lot where there's a bunch of guys really working up a ladder. I mean, these guys are really working. One guy's pounding nails, the other guy's mixing up cement, and the other guy's running up and down a ladder.

2:34 And you say, something looks strange here. There are no two boards or any of the same length. Nothing comes at a right angle. And they're putting something together that, for the life of you, you can't even figure out what it is.

2:45 So this thing so intrigues you that you stop and you say, Hey, fellas, we're busy. Leave us alone. And the guy goes away mixing his cement. The other guy's slapping it on some brick.

2:54 Someone else is sawing away on a piece of it. Someone else is banging. Fellas, will you stop for a minute? And suddenly they say, well, just for a minute, because we're really in a hurry building something.

3:02 You say, yeah, that's just the question. What in the world are you building? Oh, we're building us a house. A house?

3:09 Yeah, can't you see? We're putting boards together, brick and mortar. We're building us a house. You say, wait a minute, fellas.

3:15 There's no two lines that run in the same direction. There's no two pieces of wood the same length. Nothing is in a right angle. What in the world are you doing?

3:23 Have you guys even consulted the blueprints? They say, blueprints? Man, what good's a piece of paper? You can't sleep in a piece of paper.

3:29 A piece of paper doesn't keep you warm. A piece of paper doesn't protect you from the rain and the snow. We've got to get us a house. We've got no time for blueprints.

3:37 Now, what would you think? Of some builders who went out there building that way?

3:45 You would say they've got a few bricks less than a full load up here.

3:51 You'd say they're crazy. And you'd be right. No, blueprints never provided shelter from the cold. Blueprints never provided a kitchen in which to sit down.

4:06 No. The kitchen, the bedroom, the living room are made of wood, nails, sheetrock, plaster, whatever else goes into the construction. But listen, only a fool would dare to build a house with no plans. You say, what in the world does that have to do with Christian education?

4:24 Just this. I have seen Christian schools go together like that house. We've got to get away from all that rottenness in the public school, and we're going to have us a Christian school. So we're going to get us some teachers, and we're going to get some textbooks, and we're going to get some blackboards, and we're going to get some buildings, and we're going to throw it together, and we're going to have us a Christian school.

4:46 And the parents who put their kids in that school, never sat down and said, does God have any blueprints for a Christian school? And teachers who teach in a Christian school have never backed off and said, does God have any blueprints for how I, as a Christian teacher in a Christian school, should teach? And so what I want to do tonight is to lay out the blueprints. To lay out the blueprints.

Principle 1: Parental Responsibility for Total Child Training

5:08 What lies behind the whole matter of constructing a Christian school? And I'm not talking about the building now. I'm talking about teachers and pupils and the interaction between the two, and boards. And board members and administrators and soup servers.

5:23 What really makes it a Christian school? Well, I propose to answer that question by giving you three simple principles. And these are the three main lines that form the framework of a Christian school. Here they are.

5:38 Number one. The Bible teaches that the training of children in the totality of their being is the God-given responsibility of their parents. The training of a child in the totality of that child's being, that's his mind, his body, his social relationships, his intellectual, his spiritual development, the totality of that child, the training of that child is the responsibility of that child's parents. Now, where are we taught that?

6:15 In Ephesians chapter 6, the Apostle Paul having spoken, first of all, to wives, then to husbands, then to children. Now he speaks to parents, and this is what he says. And ye fathers, Ephesians 6, 4, provoke not your children to wrath, but nurture them. That is, bring them to full development in the chastening and the admonition of the Lord.

6:45 Now notice what Paul says. He doesn't say, and ye teachers, and ye, and ye state powers, and ye church leaders, nor does he say, and ye mothers. He says, ye fathers, nurture your children.

7:06 The father is the administrative head in the training of his children. He doesn't say parents. He had a word for parents. He used it up in verse 1.

7:17 Children, obey your parents. He says, ye fathers, ye fathers, in other words, I as a father of three children, Joel, Heidi, and Beth, I am primarily responsible for their total development. Nurture them, not just their bodies, by bringing home the gravy and being the breadwinner. And many a man thinks if he does that, he's a good father.

7:45 Good father, nothing. A trained chimpanzee can do that.

7:52 Ye fathers, nurture them. What's them? Everything about them. Who are they?

8:00 They are creatures made in God's image. You have a mind. I'm responsible for the training of their minds. They are creatures made with a body.

8:08 I'm responsible that they learn how to regard that body as God's gift, to be used for God's glory with all of its energies, to be invested in doing the will of God. They are creatures with a social need and with social capacity to interact with other people. I'm responsible to see. I'm responsible to see that developed in such a way that they learn how to take their place in the world rightly related to all that they touch.

8:32 Whose job is that? Mine as a father. I didn't say it. God said it right here.

8:40 Ye fathers! Ye fathers! The job is mine. The total development of the total child is my responsibility.

8:52 And my wife is to share it with me intelligently, prayerfully, and with deep love. With deep conviction that when we stand before God, God will not call the local school board to give an account for the development of those children, nor will God call the board of this Christian school into account for their development. God's going to call me and you into account for the training of those children. The responsibility is laid upon us.

9:23 You find the same emphasis in the Old Testament, in Deuteronomy chapter 6, where God says to the fathers and mothers in Israel, these words that I speak unto you shall be in your heart. And then he says, thou shall teach them to thy children. When? One hour on Sunday morning, giving the job to a Sunday school teacher.

9:41 He says, no, you fathers and mothers, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, when you rise up, wherever you go, you're to be training that child to think God's thoughts after him. The Lord Jesus is a beautiful example of parents who did their job. For the scripture says that Jesus, when he was down in Nazareth, subject to Mary and Joseph, that the child grew in wisdom, his intellectual development, stature, physical development, in favor with God, spiritual development, in favor with man, his social development. And as the God-man, but a true man, the Lord Jesus passed through that stage of, from infancy to maturity, and found development at all levels by the gracious influence of his godly father and mother, as they understood Joseph to be his father, though we know he was conceived of the Holy Ghost. Now that's principle number one. Now let me ask you something very frankly, as a Christian parent. Has that truth ever come home to your heart in such a way that it's haunted you?

10:54 You see, we live in a society in which we can very easily never confront that truth. We think, well, I'll just never get them out of my hair from the time they're born till the time they're ready to go to kindergarten, and a mother, the day she sends them out to kindergarten, breathes a sign. Oh, listen to me, parents, listen. That's your attitude?

11:23 When you go in and see those kids sleeping at night and you look at them lying there in your bed, their beds, do you say, Oh, God. Oh, God, what an awful responsibility you've laid on me as a parent. I'm responsible for their total development. I look at my two daughters and I say, Oh, God, what kind of wives and mothers are they going to be?

11:44 And humanly speaking, there'll be no more as wives and mothers than my wife and I under God make them. What kind of a husband and father is my son going to be? He's going to be no more than under God I've been able to make him by my own example and by my own instruction. That's the first grade principle that forms the blueprint of a Christian school.

Principle 2: Training in Totality Must Be According to God's Word

12:07 Second one is this. Not only must we see that the training of children in the totality of their beings is our God-given responsibility, but secondly, the training in its totality must be in accordance with the Word of God. Not only am I responsible to train the whole child, but I'm responsible to train the whole child in accordance with the Word of God. Where do we get that?

12:34 From the same text, Ephesians 6, 4. Notice. Ye fathers, nurture your children in the chastening, that's corporal punishment, and admonition, that's verbal instruction, of the Lord. And that little phrase, of the Lord, is pregnant with meaning.

12:54 I'm to nurture them, bring them to maturity in the totality of their God-given personality by means of discipline and instruction that is of the Lord. That is discipline and instruction that comes from God as He's revealed His mind in His Holy Word. It is discipline and instruction that comes from God as its origin. Discipline and instruction that is carried on under the authority of God.

13:25 Discipline and instruction that is carried on in the power of God. Discipline and instruction that has as its goal the glory of God. That's what it means to nurture them in the chastening and admonition of the Lord. That is, every single area of the child.

13:43 Nurture them, not just their souls. The idea that, well, we'll teach them the Bible and take them to church and nurture their souls. God says, nurture them. The Word of God not only speaks to the issue of their souls, it speaks to the issues of life in all of its dimensions.

14:03 Saturday mornings, my son and I have our special time together. We have our family worship every night for supper. But Saturday morning, my son and I have a special time together and my wife meets with the girls. And we've been going through the book of Proverbs together.

14:17 This morning, we are on the subject of laziness. A little folding of the hands, a little slumber, a little sleep. So shall thy want come as an armed man. God warns about it.

14:29 Well, you hear, it was the wonderful opportunity to seek to nurture my son on the dangers of laziness. The attitude in our day, lean on the shovel if you can get away with it. God abominates this. God hates it.

14:44 He's not going to be able to face life unless he has a biblical attitude about the nobility of work and the honorableness of sweat. Whose job is it to teach him that? My job. My job as his father.

14:57 He's to view work not the way the world views it. Work is looked upon as a necessary evil. Do as little as you can for as much as you can so you can run off and play and have a good time. That's the philosophy the world has.

15:10 That's not the philosophy of the Word of God. Hard manual labor has been forever sanctified by that one of whom they spoke in a very deriding way, but it was truthful. Is not this the carpenter? The gnarled hands of the Son of God, God in human form, have forever sanctified the nobility of hard labor.

15:38 Now where is a child to learn that? He's to learn it from his mother and father. They are to nurture him in chastening and instruction that comes from God. They are to think God's thoughts about work.

15:50 Where are they to get their philosophy about the dignity and the purity and the sanctity of sex? They won't get it down the corner when the guys are telling the latest stories. They won't get it from the latest penthouse or Playboy magazine. They won't get it for the most part from prudish parents who treat their bodies as though the devil gave them their bodies and God gave them their souls.

16:12 They learn it from a mother and father who have a wholesome biblical acceptance of the dignity and purity of their sexuality and who are open and frank and discreet in instructing their children so that they grow up with a positive biblical view of the beauty and the sanctity of the two-one flesh relationship so wonderfully preserved and protected by God within the sacred bonds of marriage. When you come in your devotions to the song of Solomon you don't try to tell him well this is a beautiful poem. You tell him about Christ in the church you tell him what it is. It's the Holy Ghost who's inspired a poem of the beauty and the sanctity of the relationship of a man and woman within the sacred bonds of marriage. That's where they'd learn that. Mother and father they're to think God's thoughts after him. How?

17:10 As you nurture them you see not only must I see that the totality of the responsibility falls upon me but the totality of that child's thinking about life and all of its dimensions is to be rooted in the scriptures in the word of the living God. Does not the word of God say blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly nor standeth in the way of sinners nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful but his delight is in the law of God and in his law doth he meditate day and night. We want our children blessed don't we? Isn't that what we say?

17:47 In the area of life they don't think the thoughts of the ungodly they think God's thoughts after him. Now who's responsible to teach them God's thoughts after him? You parents. I as a parent we as parents we are responsible under God.

Principle 3: Substitutes Must Reflect Parental Biblical Principles

18:03 And so that's the second grade principle that forms the great blueprint for Christian education. Principle number one the training of children in the totality of their being is the responsibility of parents. Secondly we have seen that the child in the totality of that training is to be acquainted with the word of God and the third principle is this any substitute whom I appoint as a parent must train them according to the principles that I understand to be rooted in the word of God. If God says I'm to train the children and if God says every part of my training is to be rooted in the word of God then anyone whom I appoint as my substitute must do in that area of my child's training what God has made me responsible to do. That makes sense doesn't it? So if we live in a society in which we have a structure that demands of us that we put our children in an educational framework for five to six hours a day for thirteen years then the answer is clear. I must seek out a framework that most closely approximates what I would do were I training that area of my child.

19:29 For instance suppose the kids have a spat at home and one says well I didn't start the fight and yes you did no I didn't no you didn't somebody's lying so what do you do? Well let me ask what should you do? Maybe that's a better question. All right you try to sort things out right now hold off right now let's get the facts.

19:58 Now Heidi what happened? She gives her side all right now you be quiet Beth what happened? Well I said all right Joel were you around? Yeah dad well what did you see?

20:10 Let's bring you in as a witness what did you see? All right we try to get the facts then we sort them out and then we say all right Beth was the instigator she needs a spanking so we go off in the room and we say to her now Beth didn't you? Yes what does God say about lying? Lying is sin what does God say daddies and mommy must do when their children lie?

20:34 Spank All right then what must daddy do? Daddy must spank me Why? Because God says he must I'm not theorizing my children sign the death warrant for most of their spankings just this way place her over my knee pull her panties down make sure I don't hit her back right in that place where God's put an extra wad of flesh with a lot of nice sensitive nerve endings that can feel daddy's hand and then if it's expedient pray with her underscore why do you do that? because I have a wicked heart you see what I'm driving at?

21:15 When I as a parent deal with a behavior problem in my children how do I approach it? Do I approach it from the standpoint that the child is basically good and that this is just a stage through which he is passing and therefore I dare not impinge upon the good of the child and that this is just a stage through which he is passing and the good that's coming out when he or she is pulling someone else's hair kicking him in the shins no, no I view my child scripturally a creature not only made in the image of God but fallen in Adam and my Bible says the works of the flesh are manifest which are anger and wrath and my Bible says foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child but the rod of correction driveth it far from him that's what the scripture says now if that's the way I deal with a behavior problem at 7 o'clock at night I want to make sure that at 11 o'clock in the morning if that same behavior problem crops up it's dealt with the same biblical way if I don't I'm creating a terrible tension in the mind and spirit of that child who's right the teacher or my daddy daddy says God says I must be spanked and disciplined for willful disobedience teacher says I must be cajoled and handled with kid gloves well which training is coming from the Lord

22:45 the child is confused there's no consistent emphasis no consistent treatment you see this is the third great principle that undergirds the whole matter of Christian education it should be an attempt on the part of parents to project into the learning situation all of those basic biblical perspectives that they see love and are implementing in the domestic situation therefore the teacher is looked upon as being in the place of the parent acting under the same authority of Jesus Christ seeking to implement by the same means of the word of Christ constantly trusting in the power and in the presence of Christ now do you see why it's so essential the two great elements of a parent controlled Christian school without which there'll be no true Christian school are these Christian teachers who are thoroughly committed to the word of God in its entirety not merely Christian teachers who say well I'll never teach evolution I'll believe Genesis one and two and I won't teach those naughty sex education courses of the public school I'll throw that out but who in every other area are pure secularists they've got their philosophy of education from the world and now they've sprinkled it with a little bit of the holy water

24:14 of a verse or two a Christian school a Christian school in fact is that situation in which the teacher is seeking to bring every thought captive to Christ so when a kid says teacher I finally learned something in the math class two plus two always make four don't they I mean up there in the moon when an astronaut reaches in his pocket and takes out two little batteries in one hand two in the he'll have four won't he that's right up on the moon on Mars some day and he happens to have cooties and he pulls them out of his hair he pulls two with his hand two of that if he puts them together he's gonna have four teacher how come two plus two always equal four Christian teacher who's teaching math looking for opportunities to say to the children that everything in God's world reflects him it's because math being such an exacting discipline is a reflection of an exact God who never changes who is the from beginning to end the Alpha and the Omega the God who says I am the Lord I change not that's a Christian teacher seeking to bring every discipline under the authority of the word

25:40 of God and the second grade ingredient of the Christian school if it's a parent controlled school there's parents who are seeking to do at home what the teachers are seeking to do at school and there's some of you parents that if you weren't so old and some of you I'd like to put you on my knee and spank you you know why because you're throwing the whole job off on the teachers and you send undisciplined spoiled brats into the classroom and then you pout when the teacher can't straighten them out God have mercy on you the teacher is there to carry out and underscore and enforce and expand the principles that you are implementing at home and oh what a beautiful thing it is to have a Christian family far from perfect they confess their sins not only to God but to their own kids when they discipline them in anger they're not too cotton-picking big shots in their own eyes to tell the kids look I'm sorry I sinned against you and they humble themselves and confess their sins but they're trying and they're letting the word of God discipline them what a beautiful thing when parents like that can come to the teacher at the beginning of the year sit down with our teachers and say now look

27:09 we want you to know how we look on you we look on you as our God-given representative for five hours every day five days a week to mold and to shape our kids we want you to be brutally honest with us you see character defects let us know character defects may show up there in school in the social relationships that we don't see at home how can we work on them unless you tell us if you see areas tell us strengths that we need to encourage tell us we pray for you plead with God to make you wise in the molding of our children because we look upon you as our representative and we're going to give an account for those into whose hands we've placed our children and what a joy it is to have teachers at times we felt was uncanned they knew our kids as well as we did and they're praying about the same areas of weakness that we're praying about they're working on the same areas we are and what a joy it is to have the teachers then come and say it's been a joy to be a teacher to your kids we can tell what we're trying to enforce here the nails are getting bent over at home can your kids teachers in this school say that about you can they say I'm not sure well seek them out tonight and ask them well you say they might well you better find out the truth now while you can do something about it my friend we're not passing through this world as a mutual admiration society we're here to

General Question: Earnest Desire for Scriptural Scrutiny

28:38 exhort one another encourage one another point out each other's sins while we can do something about it the Lord isn't going to be too polite with us he's no respecter of persons nor of reputations this is the genius of the Christian school three simple principles you got them let me give them to you again and then I want to go from there and conclude by asking some very practical questions to drive the points home the three principles are these the training of children in the totality of what that child is is our responsibility as parents second principle the training in its totality is to be rooted in the word of God thirdly in the totality of what that child is any parent appointed substitute is to reflect the perspectives of that parent now then in the light of that I want to ask one general question and then I want to leave the general and go down to the buck privates three very specific questions alright the general question is this and I ask this question seriously without an ounce of humor I ask it in all sobriety I ask it of every parent who has a child in this Christian school I ask it of every teacher I ask it of every teacher I ask it of every administrator I ask it of every administrator anyone connected in any way with this Christian school I ask you this question here it is are you earnestly desirous of bringing every facet of this school under the scrutiny and discipline of the word of God are you

30:08 earnestly desirous now I didn't say do you have an occasional fleeting passing notion that this would be nice when a man's in earnest do you know what he wants to do I don't know what we're talking about are you earnestly desirous of bringing every facet of this Christian school under the scrutiny and discipline of the word of God as a parent when you come to parent teacher meetings don't call it that what do you call it parent teacher fellowship I know there's a different word in there parent teacher fellowship what is your concern when you come when there's discussion when there's debate to get your viewpoint across to get your viewpoint promoted or is your concern oh God what principles of scripture apply what demands does King Jesus make upon us Lord Jesus power in our head we want this school to be such that the scepter of your kingly rule touches every single part is that your design how about you teachers you've been teaching a couple of years and you've got all your lesson plans laid out and all your course material you can have

31:34 I'm not ignorant of Christian schools or of schools in general but you get so you know the ropes you get three months break like nobody else does from their job you get periodic week vacations throughout the year listen listen but if you as a Christian teacher take your job seriously Lord every treatment of the children must reflect biblical principles all of my curriculum must increasingly reflect the kingship of Christ over the entirety of his creation he is Lord of all in him all things consist in him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge and then to try to implement those perspectives as God increasingly opens them up I say there is no job next to that of a faithful pastor that is more self-sacrificing and more demanding than the job of a Christian teacher many a time I've said to my wife in the world do they do it I know what it's like when the kids are off for a week and my study happens to be home and just the demands of seeking to minister to the children for those hours throughout all the waiting hours the train as you seek under God to walk before them as a thorough Christian and as you seek

33:03 to touch every part of your dealings with them with the principles of the word of God I tell you Christian teachers if that's your earnest longing what is it what about you board members administrators are you pragmatists oh you'd be shocked if someone ever introduced the idea that you teach evolution in the science courses but are you shocked when someone brings some method of carnal promotion into how you raise your money or doesn't the scripture have anything to say to us about these matters that's my first in general question and I hope God the Holy Ghost will burn it into our hearts and minds and haunt us with it are you earnestly desirous of bringing every facet of this school under the scrutiny and discipline of the scriptures Jesus said you're my friends if you do whatsoever I command you the proof that you love him is not obedience where it's convenient but obedience where it hurts obedience where it pinches now I'm going to decide to hand to my buck privates three specific questions and with this I'm done question number one specific are you in your home this is addressed

Specific Question 1: Implementing Biblical Perspectives of Right and Wrong

34:32 to teachers and to parents are you in your home and in your classroom implementing biblical perspectives of right and wrong what do you mean biblical perspectives of right and wrong by that I simply mean this as you give direction your expectations are not simply rooted in the fact that you like it this way and you're bigger than they are therefore they better shape up or ship out or take the consequences that isn't how the apostle Paul taught children he said children obey your parents why because they're bigger than you are and they'll give it to you if you don't he said children obey your parents for this is right and why is it right because he says honor thy father and thy mother which is the first commandment I don't know who you think you are but I know who you are you're creatures of God you're accountable to God and the great God of heaven and earth has a right to tell you what to do and not to do and your conduct is to be regulated by the thou shalt's and the thou shalt not's of the living God of heaven now is that the way you teach right and wrong to your children that right and wrong are rooted in the authority of God do you teach them that when they choose

36:00 the right, they choose the wrong or refuse to do the right it makes them morally guilty before almighty God and that the wages of sin is death you want a shocking thing maybe sit down with your kids tomorrow afternoon use your Sunday afternoon to good profit and say now look, mommy and daddy have taught you certain things are right or wrong why are they right, why are they wrong you may be humbled to see that your kids don't have a clue of what the real basis of right and wrong is they are creatures of God, accountable to God and they'll stand in judgment before that God how about in the classroom do you teach them the reason they must respect you as a teacher is that you stand by the appointment of God over them and that rebellion against you is rebellion against God are you implementing biblical perspectives of right and wrong second specific question is this are you implementing biblical principles of discipline in the home and in the classroom you see the book of Proverbs is an extended commentary on Ephesians 6-4 what's it mean to nurture children in the chastening that's corporal punishment and admonition that's verbal instruction of the Lord what's that mean, read the book of Proverbs

Specific Question 2: Implementing Biblical Principles of Discipline

37:28 what a beautiful example of a father who's admonishing his son tells him what true wisdom is the fear of the Lord is the cheap part of wisdom, but fools despise wisdom and instruction he says my son hear the instruction of thy father and then he warns him about getting into bad debts he warns him about wicked women he warns him about laziness he warns him about shady financial deals he warns him about get rich rich quick schemes he warns him about all of these things that our poor generation is just falling before like flies admonition, how are we to do it discipline discipline discipline well you read the book of Proverbs foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child but sweet little words and pieces of candy will entice him away from it I don't know what the scripture says it says foolishness is bound up in the heart of the child but the rod of correction driveth it far from him there is a direct pipeline of communication between here and here the rod of correction driveth it far from him the writer of Proverbs says and oh how we need this admonition chasten thy son while there is yet hope for if thou beat him with the rod he shall not die

38:55 thou shalt deliver his soul from hell some of you praying for the salvation of your children aren't you you're saying oh God save them give them a new heart turn them from their sins show them the glory of your son enable them to repent and to believe my friend listen all those prayers are mockery if you don't join with those prayers the disciplined sanctified admonition of the rod of correction it's a means of grace in the hand of God you say to your kids now you don't do that or do that and mom is going to wear you out or mom or daddy is going to give it to you and then mom and daddy doesn't give it to you all you give is more words more words more words then they hear the preacher say except you repent you'll perish and they say God's like mom and daddy he don't mean what he says listen that's not just a possibility many a kid has gone out from a Christian church in a sound ministry to live like the devil and end up in hell because he had a mom and dad who undercut his confidence in the warnings of God kids can't see God who says except you repent you'll perish but they sure can see that dad who's a dad of love and compassion and a dad they know when he says do this or else the or else will come and sure as night follows day and the kid begins to reason if dad follows through

40:24 how much more daddy is God I better take daddy's care at least God seriously you want to make your kids little hypocrites you just give them a bunch of warnings that'll never follow through or you want to completely warp the thinking of your kids I've had to try to sort out people who couldn't even after they gave real evidence of being saved they couldn't come to an appreciation of the doctrine that God is our father if we are God's children through faith in Christ because their only image of a father was this unfeeling distant character that came home and plopped a check on the table then went off behind his television or behind his newspaper and there he was in silence until something disturbed him and then he came from behind that barrier of his paper like an angry pear and consumed anything in sight and they read in their Bibles that God is father and the only image they get is that lazy character sitting on his backside behind his paper and coming out like an angry pear once in a while to growl and to paw anything that gets in his way is that the image your kids are going to have? oh my dear people listen listen let the question burn its way into your conscience tonight are you implementing biblical principles of discipline? biblical principles that are always rooted in love whom the father loves he chastens fathers provoke not your children to wrath

41:53 don't discipline unfairly don't discipline in anger don't discipline with partiality don't discipline on impulse discipline in love with firmness with reasonableness with scriptural authority are you seeking to implement biblical perspectives of right and wrong? question two are you seeking to implement biblical principles of discipline in the home and in the classroom?

Specific Question 3: Conveying Biblical Concepts of Sin and Grace

42:19 my final question is this are you seeking to convey at home and in the classroom the biblical concepts of sin and of grace?

42:30 oh my dear parents and teachers listen a child can go through life not knowing many things but if he goes through life with unbiblical views of these two things sin and grace it were better for that child that he'd never been born let him go through the finest education process in the nation let him go straight through the finest schools and get a dozen PhDs and be acclaimed as one of the great intellects in the world let he or she become cultured and refined and all the rest but if he or she becomes cultured and refined my children if your children go through life ignorant of the biblical concepts of sin and of grace it were better that they'd never been born what do I mean by biblical concepts of sin?

43:25 that sin is basically this two-pronged moral evil that has inundated the human race it involves guilt rooted in rebellion against almighty God it involves the pollution of a man's very nature the problem of a bad man's life the problem of a bad man's life the problem of a bad record in heaven the problem of a bad heart on earth I am defiled and I am guilty that's the biblical concept of sin and what do I mean by the biblical concept of grace? well that no one can rescue me from that dilemma but almighty God and if he does it he'll do it because he gives us the exact opposite of what we deserve grace is God taking the initiative God providing a way of escape God coming to us as he came to us as he came to that first sinner of the human race Adam's sin what did he do? he'd go running around oh God where are you? I've sinned now I want to find my way back God where are you? God help me no sir what did he do?

44:25 what did the bible say he did? he ran he heard God's voice bang there he was behind a tree somewhere who came?

44:36 God came and said Adam where art thou? God took the initiative that's grace that's grace God took the initiative the cringing shriveling rebel and got him to own up to his sin and then he graciously stripped away the coverings he tried to make and we're all fig leaf manufacturers by nature and we're going to do it our own way and the skins never clothed Adam till the fig leaves came off and he felt the shame of his nakedness and you'll never be clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ until you feel the pain and the shame of nakedness before God until you stand up and say stand before him and say foul I to the fountain fly wash me savior or I die and now I leave talking about the children and I discharge my debt to you my friend if you tonight are ignorant of the bible concepts of sin and grace you're in a place I wouldn't want to be for ten seconds the wrath of almighty God hangs above your head nothing but infinite mercy keeps you from dropping into hell in the next moment your sins cry out to God like a billion voices damn me crush me with judgment that's what your sins say to God what keeps God from answering infinite patience and love

46:04 oh my friend if you're here as a parent a teacher a stranger to sin and grace in the biblical sense may God give you a sight of your heart and the sight of the savior that even here in this place tonight you'll flee to him and say oh Lord Jesus have mercy upon me then as we seek to instruct our children those in our classroom those in our home we can teach them biblical concepts of sin and grace because we've learned them first hand right here by the Holy Ghost through the word what's Christian education all about well I've tried to give you a little sketchy outline of what it's all about is this what you're committed to now I'm really going to stick my neck out if you just want a nice little ha-ha house that'll preserve your kids from that terrible wicked demon called evolution and that double demon called sex education if that's your only concern in putting them in a Christian school my friend I hope you're so miserable tonight you can't wait to get out of here I'm serious because in the light of what your administrator has said tonight there's a vision broader than that there's a goal higher than that do you share that vision do you share that goal

47:32 are you proving it in your own home may God grant that by his grace and power this will become the most thoroughly Christian school that the grace of God and the power of the Holy Ghost are able to make it until that day when all classrooms down here are shut up and we're taken up higher may the Lord bless the truths of his word and these things we've attempted to share with you tonight and give us grace to face them honestly and to be a part of it and to bend to whatever demands they make upon us I haven't spoken tonight in such a way that I'd like you to go out and say oh that was sort of like a nice after dinner mint just put a nice flavor on the night I've come praying Lord help me so to speak that it would be a catalyst to spring loose some serious thought may the Lord be pleased to answer that prayer for his glory and for the good of these precious lives that God has entrusted to you and to me Amen