Subject: [kingdom-alert-update] #165 (6-16-02) Date: Sat, 15 Jun 2002 20:56:54 -0700 From: "J. Faust" To: Kingdom Alert THE KINGDOM ALERT (WEEKLY UPDATE) Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. **************** IN THIS ISSUE: **************** -AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO ALL THE FATHERS: -FAMILY WORSHIP IN THE HOME: THE MAN'S DUTY -GEORGE WHITEFIELD ON FAMILY WORSHIP -"THE ROYAL PATH OF LIFE" ON FAMILY WORSHIP ********************************************* AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO ALL THE FATHERS: ********************************************* FAMILY WORSHIP IN THE HOME: THE MAN'S DUTY The man should be leading his home, and should not take a backseat in regard to holiness and Bible knowledge. Scriptures should be read and studied regularly in the home. There should be regular family prayer. The husband and wife should also interact regularly by discussing the Scriptures. The following Scriptures reveal that the man in the home is called to lead his wife and children spiritually: 1 Corinthians 14:35 And if they will LEARN any thing, let them ask their HUSBANDS at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. Ephesians 6:4 And, ye FATHERS, provoke not your children to wrath: BUT bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. 1 Timothy 3:4 One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; 12 Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. Genesis 18:18 Seeing that ABRAHAM shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I know him, that he will COMMAND his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. Genesis 35:1 And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. 2 Then JACOB said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: 3 And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. 4 And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. Deuteronomy 11:18 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. 19 And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and MY HOUSE, we will serve the LORD. Psalms 78:4 We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. 5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should MAKE THEM KNOWN to their children: Proverbs 4:1 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a FATHER, and attend to know understanding. 3 For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. 4 He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. Job 1:5 And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that JOB sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job CONTINUALLY. It is the man's responsibility to gather the family together at the appropriate time for worship in the home. He must keep order during this sacred time. Therefore, the common excuse, "It is her fault that we don't have regular devotions in our home" is not justified. The man is the leader and he is responsible before the Lord to lead and rule his home. The wife is commanded to submit. The husband is commanded to love. In explaining this Biblical love, the Holy Spirit reveals that the husband's duty is to wash his wife with Scripture (Ephesians 5). To neglect to wash the wife with Scripture is as sinful as the wife refusing to obey her husband. GEORGE WHITEFIELD ON FAMILY WORSHIP "And this will appear, if we consider that every governor of a family ought to look upon himself as obliged to act in three capacities as a prophet, to instruct: as a priest, to pray for and with; as a king, to govern, direct, and provide for them....For if, as the apostle argues, he that does not provide for his own house in temporal things has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel, to what greater degree of apostasy must he have arrived who takes no thought to provide for the spiritual welfare of his family?" (George Whitefield, "The Great Duty of Family Religion") "THE ROYAL PATH OF LIFE" ON FAMILY WORSHIP: "A prayerless family cannot be otherwise than irreligious. They who daily pray in their homes, do well; they that not only pray, but read the Bible, do better; but they do best of all, who not only pray and read the Bible, but sing the praises of God....The influence of family worship is great, silent, irresistible and permanent. Like the calm, deep stream, it moves on in silent, but overwhelming power. It strike sits roots deep into the human heart, and spreads its branches wide over the whole being....It affords home security and happiness, removes family friction, and causes all the complicated wheels of the home-machinery to move on noiselessly and smoothly. It promotes union and harmony, expunges all selfishness, allays petulant feelings and turbulent passions, destroys peevishness of temper, and makes home intercourse holy and delightful. It causes the members to reciprocate each other's affections, hushes the voice of recrimination, and exerts a softening and harmonizing influence over each heart....Its voice has sent many a poor prodigal home to his father's house....The child, kneeling beside the pious mother, and pouring forth its infant prayer to God, must attract the notice of the heavenly host....But in order to do this, the worship must be regular and devout, and the whole family engage in it....It must needs be that trials will enter a household. The conflict of wishes, the clashing of views, and a thousand other causes, will ruffle the temper, and produce jar and friction in the machinery of the family. There is needed then, some daily agency that shall softly enfold the homestead with its hallowed and soothing power, and restore the fine, harmonious play of its various parts. The father needs that which shall gently lift away from his thoughts the disquieting burden of his daily business. The mother that which shall smooth down the fretting irritation of her unceasing toil and trial; and the child and domestic that which shall neutralize the countless agencies of evil that ever beset them....See what home becomes with religion as its life and rule....Compare an irreligious home with this, and see the vast importance of family worship. It is a moral waste; its members move in the putrid atmosphere of vitiated feeling and misdirected power. Brutal passions become dominant; we hear the stern voice of parental despotism; we behold a scene of filial strife and insubordination....Domestic life becomes clouded by a thousand crosses and disappointments; the solemn realities of the eternal world are cast into the shade...the sense of moral duty distorted....Natural affection is debased, and love is prostituted to the base designs of self....Let yours, therefore, be a religious home; and then be sure that God will delight to dwell therein, and His blessing will descend, like the dews of heaven, upon it....And then in the dark hour of home separation and bereavement, when the question is put to you mourning parents, 'Is it well with the child? is it well with thee?' you can answer with joy, 'It is well!'" (1882)