Training Children In The Last Days by Zac Poonen

the Bible says that we must live as those who have understanding of the times in which we live and especially in the matter of bringing up children it says in second Timothy I'm sorry yeah 2nd Timothy chapter 3 in the last days difficult times will come and we in the context in which it is spoken it's not speaking of financial difficulty because that's been there through ages it's not something particularly for the last days most of us are not facing financial difficulty but the Living Bible paraphrase is it very well in the last days it will be very difficult to be a true Christian that we know so that's the difficulty spoken of here it's difficult to be true Christian and in that context it speaks about people verse 5 who hold to a form of godliness that means they appear to be Christians but they don't have the inner power they deny the power that means they don't value or appreciate the power necessary to be a true Christian and that's the power of the Holy Spirit in other words what we would call them in our churches religious people not spiritual spiritual people are people who are filled with the Holy Spirit who depend on God in the Holy Spirit to live the Christian life religious people are those who you know follow up form and but you have to have a form of religion means they go to church regularly they read their Bible they look like born-again Christians but it says here in spite of that verse 2 all these people will be lovers of self lovers of money boastful arrogant now these things are always true of people in the world and the people in the world have always been lovers of self lovers of money cetera et cetera et cetera but you must see it in the context of what's written here this is referring to the last days when people will have a religious appearance of Christianity but still will be lovers of self lovers of money boastful arrogant revilers and disobedient to parents I don't want to go into all the others but just that one phrase so in the last days we can expect Christian children to grow up to be disobedient to parents well children are being discipline into parents right from the time of Adam that's not peculiar in the world but it's going to be people who have an appearance of religion but disobedient Skol and what is the reason for it because the Bible says you train up a child in the way he should go when he's old he will not depart from it I mentioned before how some of the smaller children ask their parents and CFC if I can't I be like that person why can't I dress like her and my answer to them has been there are good examples and bad examples in CFC and you have to make a choice there was a Peter and a Judas Iscariot in Jesus's Church you could make a choice for the you aligned yourself with Peter orbit Judas Iscariot and thankfully the 10 of them aligned with Peter and not with Judas Iscariot that's why it was a good Church in the Garden of Eden paradise that was a choice between this or that so in the best places in the world is a choice and as your children grow up and everybody who is observed CFC in the last 30 years will see that some children join up with the wild crowd and others move towards those who are more god-fearing and that almost determines their future but who is it who determines which way these children go and when you look at a baby born in a hospital looked at these two children who went in different ways if you saw them the day they were born they were absolutely innocent how is it a different skin there can be only one reason the reason God gives is it's the way the parents brought them up the reason parents give because all human beings like to justify themselves and say the fault is not with us from the days of Adam who said the fault is not with me it's my wife there are parents who will blame something else maybe I'm ok but my wife is not that's what children are like this I mean that's an old story from the days of Adam don't use it but the real reason is that there's something in the lives of the parents it's not the teaching in the lives of the parents which is inconsistent and through the years I've tried to privately study this why is it some children turn out this way and some children turn out that way and sometimes I have seen even in CFC all the children in one family are very respectful and the way they speak and then I've seen all the children another family I just couldn't care less they wouldn't even say hello I mean it can't be that all the children are turn out one way that's not a reason it's the atmosphere in which they grow up that's where the responsibility of parents is very great the moment you put the blame on something else oh it was they're bad friends of course I'm perfect but my children got into bad company aha your children never turn out right till you learn to take the blame yourself that's the way Christians go we judge ourselves not blame others saying oh they're gonna get bad company in school or college they were okay they're such sweet children I've heard these excuses for years I don't say anything because whatever I say will not convince them they truly follow Adam saying the fault is not with me said somebody else we should follow the thief on the cross who said Lord I'm guilty he didn't say my parents brought me up badly Hyorin I went into bad company hi it's fault is with me she said really you deserve to come to paradise paradise is meant for those who take the blame themselves Adam was kicked out of paradise because he couldn't take the blame himself for what he did blame somebody else the thief got into paradise because he took the blame himself I've said that many times but apply that to children dear brothers and sisters there's nothing wrong in humbling ourselves saying Lord the fault is with me not my wife not my husband not the company they keep not their school not their College not other people in CFC you let them astray it is 100% with me then there's hope is it throughout the Bible you see it you know the woman caught in adultery and the Pharisees accusing her she admitted it I don't she didn't defend ourselves oh it wasn't me they somebody looked like me and all that no yeah I committed adultery what a terrible thing she admitted in those Pharisees who are accusing her wanting to throw stones at her jesus said if anybody was without sin throw the first stone everybody went away wasn't there even one of them who was so broken by those words of Jesus and say Lord I feel so guilty that I had such a spirit of accusation when there was so much sin in my own thoughts will you please forgive me I wish there were one among those Pharisees there were none they all went away cause they didn't throw stones because they wouldn't dare to do that with Jesus being there because he would've made a list of all their sins publicly that have been terrible but it's sad that throughout human history it's been so difficult for people to take the blame I believe you'll discover when we get into eternity that it's people like the thief on the cross who took the blame hundred percent who got into paradise you'll see that you don't believe me you'll see that the judgment seat of Christ people like the thief on the cross were probably very wicked but it took the blame 100 percent themselves for their sin got into paradise and a lot of people like Adam who put the blame on others who went to hell we're all evil some take the blame some don't apply that to your children my dear brothers and sisters don't blame anybody else say Lord if my children are not following the Lord today you can blame 101 circumstances I hope you'll get rid of that from today and say Lord the fault is with me and if a husband and wife can kneel down before God and say the fault is with me I want to say there's hope for the worst possible child I believe that the worst possible I have told parents around the world who's grown up adult children or left the home and gone astray I said you and your wife will kneel down and spend just two or three minutes every day's at a long time two or three minutes every day and unite settle all your differences and quarrels between yourself first pray in one spirit and claim the promise that if two of you agree concerning anything Matthew 18:19 it shall be granted and pray every single day that your wayward son or daughter will come back and be a disciple of Jesus I said I can guarantee you they'll come back prayer is like a a rope a lasso that we put around a child and there's a long leash to it I mean it's so long it's very long so they can go run run run run away but one day they come to the end of the rope God will pull them back but we don't have to wait till our children go astray it's good to start from day one from the time they are born I mean I believe that even children in the womb can be influenced by prayer I've encouraged pregnant mothers to put their hands on their stomachs and pray for that child in Jesus name hmm but only in life the child will give their life to Christ and that from the time they are born that your main goal is that that child we want our children to be healthy of course but they'll be spiritually healthy I wish we have a burden for their spiritual health as much as we have when a child gets a little fever or gets a cold and we get all what shall we do go to the doctor good we want children to be healthy I wish we'd have the same concern when as they grow up and we discover certain traits in them which are not good that you immediately put an end to it I have warned some parents here in years past when I saw that children behaving rudely to them said don't ever allow your child to do that to you as a father I don't know whether it took me seriously the children are gone astray don't allow your children to speak rudely they're only two things primarily but you must be very careful with children must respect parents and that means also older people I would not allow my children to speak rudely to anyone older than them even to a servant in the house but I've seen some CFC children whose speak rudely to some servant working in the house it gives me it gives me the shivers I say I scared what's going to happen to this child when I grow up just because you're in a lower classes society yeah these are the things you know if you're not careful our children pick up certain habits it's very difficult to change it later you know like they say if you want a tree to ghost grow straight please growing crooked as a plant straighten it pulls put some ropes and make it straight if you allowed try to change it after a few years is impossible so teach them to respect that's number one very important to speak respectfully go and apologize to mummy immediately before you do anything else don't spare them and secondly never allow them to tell lies that's very serious the Bible says children are goes straight telling lies from birth in the Psalms that's something we got to help them to get over and we must tell them listen I don't care if you broke the most expensive thing in my house don't tell me a lie I will not punish you it's okay things don't mean anything to me if things mean something to you in your house you better get rid of that a lot of our anger is because we love material things I remember somebody telling me brothers a guy got a problem with anger I said you love material things in your house maybe that's the problem and you'll never get over anger till you get rid of your love for material things because when you lose them or something's broke and you get upset if you're free from that love you won't get upset so some of these sins are interconnected so you know children at home they can upset so many things and disturb the meet arrangement in your house and so many things those are not important my brother sister they run around they scream they do so many things it's okay they're children they've gotta grow up but the things we need to really correct them in is speaking respectfully and telling the truth always those are the things we have to highlight and emphasize and if we start from the beginning and they understand don't think there to be 4 years old before they understand one year they can understand the word no it's amazing and they are pretty sharp and quick to disobey I forgotten how my own children were because it happened so long ago but I got a second chance now seeing my grandchildren and I remember seeing one of my grandchildren walking up to the stairway in the house and the father said no because it's too small to go up the stair fall down but turned round and came back only one year old the next year eyes next day the next day I saw the child going up to the stair case and looking back what did that indicate is anybody watching no different from any other child in the world exactly the same exactly like you and I were when we were one-year-old we have to help them to guide them in the right path just like we take a knife out of their hand even if they scream you have to discipline them correct them even if they scream we pray that all our children will be saved so one of the things I used to emphasize when I was here we want every child in CSC to be in heaven we don't want one of them to be lost and we strive I know I have striven all these years to direct parents in that way but it cannot be done just by the elders in the church you have to cooperate too and it can be done see some of the excellent young people that we have seen growing up in CFC not excellent in terms of being gifted or they got big jobs no no I'm not worried about all that but who are humble who will speak to the most ordinary poorest person here that is greatness not that don't boast that your children are highly qualified and earn a lot and there's a lot of rubbish or people in the world who do that but who got character or who got humility willingness to fellowship and talk with the lowest in the poorest in the church may God help us too is children like that

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Length: 20min 3sec (1203 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 01 2013