OceanSide church of Christ

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ATTACKS ON THE HOME (1)

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.    Anything God has ever established Satan has attacked.  Why?  Because Satan would love to defeat God even though he knows this is an impossibility.

 

B.      One of God’s divine institutions is under attack today in a severe manner.  That institution is the home.

1.        God established the home at the beginning of the Creation. 

a.       Marriage was instituted (Gen. 2:18, 21-24).

b.      In the marriage bond, children were to be born (Gen. 1:28).

c.       God provided the home with both its roles and its responsibilities (Gen. 3:16-19).

2.       NOTE:  Some want us to believe that the nuclear family is a relatively new institution. 

a.       They tell us that the home evolved when the concept of private property was developed.

1)       Man started owning his own property.

2)      He did not want to lose his property.  He wanted to retain ownership in some way.

3)      Thus, the family evolved so he could transfer his private property to his children.

b.      NOTE:  This is a Marxist idea that is now beginning to circulate once again.

c.       ANSWER:  The home is not new.  It is the most ancient institution among man.  The concept of a father and mother and children as a unit dates all the way back to Day 6 of Creation.

 

And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept:  and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.  And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh:  she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man.  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife:  and they shall be one flesh.

 

C.     In this lesson, we want to look at some of the attacks that are being waged against first divine institution, the home.

 

I.             REDEFINING MARRIAGE

 

A.    The home begins with marriage.

1.        According to God’s Word, marriage is the union of a man and a woman who can be Scripturally be married.

2.       Matthew 19:4-5

 

And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife:  and they twain shall be one flesh?

 

B.      There are some among us who want to refine marriage to include the union between two people of the same sex. 

1.        Florida approved of same-sex marriage on August 21, 2014.

2.       The Supreme Court has ruled that it is unconstitutional for states to ban same-sex

marriages (Obergefell vs. Hodges, June 26, 2015).

3.       Fourteen states still not allow same-sex marriages, having enacted “Defense of Marriage”

acts.

 

C.     People make the wrong statements about same-sex marriage.

1.        It does not harm anyone.

2.       A person’s private life is his/her own business.

3.       It is a matter of love and affection.

4.       Those in heterosexual marriages have their problems.

5.       It does not harm children who are in these homes.

 

D.    The point is that is opposes the divine arrangement for the home.

1.        Man flaunts his wisdom over the wisdom of God (I Cor. 1:25).

2.       Man removes important aspects of the home that should be there (Eph. 5:22-33)

3.       Man injects immorality into a unit that intended to promote moral purity (Rom. 1:26-27).

4.       Man closes his eyes to the harm that is being inflicted upon the home and society (Jer. 6:14).

 

II.           DIVORCE AND BLENDED FAMILIES

 

A.    God has never approved of divorce

1.        His marriage law is simple:  one man with one woman for life (Matt. 19:6b).

2.       The Bible tells us that God hates divorce (Mal. 2:16).

3.       The only lawful right God has given for divorce and remarriage is fornication (Matt. 19:9).

4.       If a person divorces for a cause other than fornication, and marries another, both individuals are in an adulterous marriage (Rom. 7:2-3).

 

B.      Satan knows God’s law.  He has done everything he can do to convince man that divorce is an acceptable alternative.

1.        One of every two marriages ends in divorce.

2.       One of every two Christian marriages ends in divorce.

3.       Once a person has divorced, the chanced of another divorce increases.

4.       When children come from a divorced home, the chances of their having a divorce when they marry increase.

5.       A multitude of people are in adulterous second marriages.  Sadly, hardly anyone gives any consideration of this immorality at all (See Gal. 5:19-21).

 

C.     There are many difficulties that are involved in both split and blended families.

1.        Divided loyalties among the children

2.       Anger and jealousy

3.       Children splitting their parents

4.       Parents trying to jockey for the “parent of the year award.”

5.       Behavior issues

6.       Emotional issues

7.       Educational issues

(NOTE:  When we list all of the problems that come with divorce and blended families, perhaps we can understand why God hates divorce).

 

III.         LEGALIZED ABORTION

 

A.    God’s plan

1.        Two people fall in love and get married.

2.       In time, God blesses that relationship with children.

3.       Those children are loved, nurtured, protected, and perfected according to the will of God.

4.       The children grow up to be responsible citizens of society, and, eventually form homes of their own.  They repeat the process involved in a stable home.

 

B.      Satan’s plan

1.        Two people are sexually attracted to one another.

2.       Their relationship causes the woman to become pregnant.

3.       They do not love one another.  They are not able to support children.  They just do not want children.

4.       The consequence of bad behavior does not have to be suffered.  The child while in the womb can be destroyed through abortion.  Problem solved.

5.       NOTE:  Some women have two and three abortions in their lifetime.

 

C.     Abortion enables individuals to have free sex with no responsibility and no consequences.  Notice, the home never has to exist for these individuals. 

1.        No trust

2.       No love

3.       No covenants

4.       No commitment

5.       No responsibility

6.       No children

7.       The only things that exist are

a.       A long trail of dead children who were aborted by the ones who are supposed to love them and care for them the most.  The ones who are supposed to be their protectors becomes their executioners.

b.      A long trail of murderers who are allowed to escape punishment because of immoral laws and God-less court decisions.

 

D.    God’s law on this point will never change:  “Thou shalt not kill” (Exo. 20:13; Rom. 13:9).

 

IV.        SINGLE-PARENT HOMES

 

A.    This writer realizes that there are several ways “single-parent” homes can be formed.

1.        The death of a spouse

2.       A divorce

3.       A young person makes a mistake while dating

 

B.      We are talking about intentional, whole-scale single parenting.

1.        The woman did not make a mistake and have a child.  She has had three, four, and five children.

2.       The fathers of the children are all different.

3.       The fathers often do not play a role in the life of the child at all.

4.       Most of the assistance received by the home comes from government aid.

 

C.     Again, this is not the divine model for the home (1 Tim. 5:14).

 

I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.

 

1.        God wants children to have a mother and father.

2.       God wants fathers providing for their children and being the leaders of the home.

3.       God does not want women bearing children out of wedlock.

4.       God does not want women assuming the roles of both father and mother.

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.    In this lesson, we have tried to show that the home is under attack from several different angles.

 

B.      We have not touched on every attack that could be discussed.

1.        Governmental control

2.       Fathers looked upon as sissies

3.       Lack of spirituality

4.       Materialism

5.       Busy-ness

6.       Technology:  computers, ipad, and cell phones

7.       The theory of evolution

8.       The move toward Marxism

 

C.     The church is going to have to do three things to protect the home as God would have it.

1.        It is going to have to study about the home and teach God’s principles regarding it.

2.       Members of the church are going to have to be fully committed to these principles every day of their lives.

3.       The church is going to have to stand in staunch opposition to everything that would ruin the very first divine institution God place upon the earth