In this message, by God’s grace, we will look at family from the perspective of the Gospel writers.  In particular, we will explore our LORD’s words concerning His person and message, and the propensity of both to, at times, cause division.  And yet our God wants families to be unified and blessed!  So we will wrestle with the text, examine the outworking of the gospel in families, and point to Jesus as the creator and sustainer of our households.

Well, praise the Lord. It is an honor to be before you today. Would you grab your Bibles and turn with me to Matthew chapter 1? We'll read a verse there verse 1 and then a few verses towards the end of that chapter And then we'll fly over to Matthew chapter 28 just briefly and read the marvelous words of the Great Commission. And I have been given the honor and the privilege to present the family in the Gospels.

I don't know if that's good or bad. I love Scott. So, we'll we'll do our best. Matthew chapter one. Verse number one and then down to verse eighteen through the end of the chapter.

Reading from the King James version of the Bible and the word of god declares the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, son of Abraham. Just that one verse then and now in verse 18, same chapter. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise, when as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man, not willing to make her a public example was minded to put her away privately but while he thought on these things behold an angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream saying Joseph thou son of David fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost and she shall bring forth a son and thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of of the Lord by the prophet saying, behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son and they shall call his name, Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us.

Then Joseph being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bitten him and took unto him his wife and knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son and called his name Jesus. Now very briefly to Matthew chapter 28 verses 18 through 20. Matthew chapter 28 verses 18 through 20. And the scriptures declare, and Jesus came and spake unto them saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.

Let's pray together. Eternal God, woe is me. I am a man of unclean lips. I am undone and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. For we have looked into thy word and seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

And so Lord, we have no chance to do this accurately unless by thy spirit you would endow such. I pray that you would bless the speaker that I would be free from error, that your people would feel thy love, and that you would bless the ear of the hearer so that this time we share together would be fruitful, that your people would be encouraged, that they would leave this place differently from the way that they have come because they have met you here. We love you so much with all of our hearts and we give you praise in Jesus' name. And everybody said, amen. Well again, greetings.

I have the privilege to share with you just for a few moments, the family and the gospels. And I read the first verse because the gospels begin with family. Through those families, God sent his son to save people from their sins. And ultimately, if I'll give you the punchline first, godly families are used by God for redemptive purposes, to display Christ, to preach the gospel, to make disciples, to engage in spiritual warfare, and to be a vital part of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the very church that he is building. Primarily, the gospel's however about the birth, the life, the teachings, the trials, the battles, and the accusations, the arrest, the death, and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In other words, the gospels are about the breaking in of the kingdom of God and break in it did in the person of Jesus Christ the son of the living God. The Bible declares but if I with the finger of God cast out devils no doubt the kingdom of God has come upon us. The Gospels unveil in crystallized, Spirit-empowered clarity the Messiah of God, who was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The word that was conceived of the Holy Ghost for the power of the Most High, grew up in a family under the careful tutelage of a chosen man and woman named Joseph and Mary, and was a relatively normal little boy, if you could ever call Jesus normal. Luke 2 tells us that after our Lord's presentation at the temple as a baby and all of the things that were required of the law were done and were performed, his family returned to Nazareth where as the child grew and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom and the grace of God was upon him.

When our Lord was some 30 years old in rapid succession the gospel narratives depict three events that would characterize the ministry of our Lord. He was baptized continuing to signify his absolute devotion to his father. The Bible says the spirit of the Lord descended upon him like a dove and the father declared, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Another thing that characterized his ministry is his battle with the devil. We see it right away as ministry began that he's led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

And his ministry would be characterized by such. And then as he starts his ministry, he begins to preach his gospel. The Bible says in Matthew chapter four and verse 17, from that time, Jesus began to preach and to say, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Yes, friends, the kingdom of God has come. And as we read the gospels, we read also that he commissioned his disciples to do the exact same thing that he did, to be baptized and to baptize, to battle with the devil and to preach the gospel.

And through families, the Messiah came to save his people from their sins as brother Kevin reminded us, his name literally means Jehovah is salvation or Yahweh saves. And so the Gospels really are about Jesus. They're about his birth. They're about his life. They're about all that he went through, all that he taught, all that he requires of his people.

Praise be, honor be to our Lord today. I would be remiss after having studied the Gospels to just pause just for a moment to praise the God who sent his son to do for us what we could not. He is Alpha and Omega. He is the creator of all things. He is our great high priest.

He is our peace and our propitiation. He is the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over every creature. He is the I am that I am, the bread of life, the door of the sheepfold, the good shepherd, the way, the truth, the life, the judge, the root of Jesse, and the root and the offspring of David, the lion of the tribe of Judah. He is our savior and he is our Lord, bless his name.

Revelation 5, 12 says, saying with a loud voice, worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. The gospels are about that one. And my assignment today is to help us see the family as it is revealed in the Gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and to connect such a vision with the rest of the biblical revelation concerning the household and in the end, in the short time that we have together, If you leave this session, encourage that the family life should be centered around Jesus, experiencing daily the mercy of Jesus, displaying the grace of Jesus and how they interact with one another and the world around them and preaching Jesus one to another and to a lost and dying world than I would I believe have done my job and so I've organized our time together into seven sections that we might understand the family in the Gospels. The first, I call it the genealogies, God's providential plan for the coming of Jesus.

Then number two, the grand vision of marriage, Joseph, Mary, and our Lord's teachings on marriage. Number three, the gathering of children, our Lord's love of little children. Number four, the grief of family conflict, disappointment in family life because of Jesus. Number five, the gravity of right priorities for family, proper family life through proper devotion to Jesus. Number six, the grittiness of spiritual warfare in family, the need for deliverance in Jesus.

And finally, number seven, the great commission. God's plan to rescue families through the gospel of Jesus Christ and within this breakdown, I pray that you see God's love for his children by setting them in families and his kind shepherding and fierce protection of them as they attempt to carry out his will. My friends, I want you to leave this session. I I suppose with a more intense love for Jesus but also with hope. There is hope for every family in Jesus Christ.

So, as we turn our our attention to number one, the genealogies and god's providential plan for the coming of Jesus in the two genealogies that we read about in the Gospels. One in Matthew chapter one, the other in Luke chapter three, we find the mention of some pretty interesting names. Many acknowledge that Matthew's genealogy traces our Lord's lineage from Abraham to Joseph and focuses on our on our Lord's Messiahship whereas Luke's genealogy focuses on Mary's family and our Lord's humanity, connecting him with Adam. And these genealogies are critical. Indeed, as it relates to Matthew's gospel, one writer said, a casual reading of the New Testament may cause a person to wonder why it begins with something as seemingly dull as a family tree.

One might conclude that there is little significance to be drawn from this catalog of names and thus skip over it to where the action begins. How many of you ever skipped the genealogies? Don't raise your hand. However, the genealogy is indispensable. It lays the foundation for all that follows unless it can be shown that Jesus is the Messiah king of Israel.

Matthew begins his account where he must with the documentary evidence that Jesus inherited the legal right to the throne of David through his stepfather Joseph And so these are important things for us to consider. And within our time constraints, we'll narrow our focus a bit to just Matthew's. For example, in the genealogy of Matthew, we read, and we have already heard about Abraham, a man of great faith, but who was also a two-time liar concerning his apparently very beautiful wife Sarah, saying that she was his sister both to Pharaoh in Genesis 12 and to Abimelech in Genesis chapter 20. Also we read about Abraham's consent to conceive with Hagar birthing Ishmael and how's that worked out for us? We read about Isaac who did something similar with his wife Rebecca and the Abimelech of his day in Genesis chapter 26 and verses 6 through 11.

We read about Jacob, the deceiver or the supplanter who used deception to take Esau's birth right. I'm going somewhere with this. We read about and we've heard about expertly I might add David, the great warrior who loved and worshipped the Lord but took eight wives, had many concubines, committed adultery with Bathsheba resulting in the death of their first son. He failed to properly father several of his children as we heard last night. Absalom who took David's concubine stole his kingdom for a time and killed his own brother Amnon who also assaulted his sister Tamar.

Uh Adonai who aspired conspired to usurp the kingdom from Solomon and let's not forget about Solomon David's son, the son of Bathsheba who is a very wise man but at the end of his life had some 700 wives and 300 concubines. Rahab we read about her in the genealogies. Rahab was the harlot who hid Israel's spies at Jericho, lied to her king about it, and nevertheless is listed in the Faith Hall of Fame in Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 31. There are many others that we could mention. Well, why are you kind of picking these out?

Well, because the family, as it is displayed for us in the gospels and indeed in all of scripture, we're all flawed. We all need grace. We all need Jesus. They all needed redemption. Nevertheless, God used those families to bring forth his redeemer, his beloved son.

And so the family is presented right from the get-go in the gospels as rife with redemptive purpose. Rife with redemptive purpose. And as we walk through these, I'd like to give you three each one. If we have time, I'd like to give you three encouragements to just jot down perhaps as you as you consider your family in the redemptive history of god. Family as presented in the Gospels is rife as I said with redemptive purposes and may we all be exhorted that there may be things that God is doing in our families that as was again said last night, we don't see and so I'd like to give you three as you consider the genealogies of the gospels and as you consider your family and where they are currently.

Number one, teach them that there's hope in Jesus. Teach your children that no matter what has happened, there's grace for them, There's forgiveness in Jesus. So often we slip into religious perfectionism. So often every slight and every sin, as we look into the hearts and minds of our children, or as we hear their hearts and minds, as they tell us what they're going through. We don't respond with enough love and grace.

Teach them that just as these people were flawed and God used them, guess what, beloved? You're flawed, but God can use you too. Encourage your children. I'm so glad Dr. Beekie brought that point out.

He made the point of saying don't let over 50% of your conversation be corrective, but rather encourage your children. And so again, there may be, I mean, not to say that we are affirming what they did, but I mean, you may have an incorrigible David who loves worship but who, you know, who's always getting in the fight. So you may have a daughter that you're trying to keep from Rahab tendencies and these are things that we don't want to talk about but they are real things. Well, teach them and encourage them and set boundaries and give discipline but recognize that God, if God can use you, then God can use anybody. And back home I say right there, can I get an amen?

Okay, so if he could use a sinner like me, then he can use anybody. So Teach them, encourage them, and then model before them the purposes of God. Let them know that you're not flawed, or you're not perfect, that you're flawed as well. Tell them your struggles, and here's what Dad's dealing with, and these things aren't always the way I want them to be, but I'm trusting in the Lord to forgive me and to heal me and to bear me up. If he can, again, if he could use Abraham, if he could use Isaac, if he could use Jacob, if he could use Rahab, if he could use David, if he could use Solomon, and there's so many others that he could use us too, because the redemptive plan of god is still in effect.

Our god is still saving people. Amen. And so that was number one. It was the the redemptive plan of god as it relates to the genealogies. The the purposes of god.

Number two is the grand vision of marriage. And we in the the obvious example in the Gospels of Joseph and Mary but our lord did some teaching on this as well. We see in the Gospels Christ's affirmation of the Genesis model of marriage and his commands for marital fidelity. Matthew chapter nineteen verse one says and it came to pass that when Jesus had finished these sayings he departed from Galilee and came into the coast of Judea beyond the Jordan and great multitudes followed them and he healed them there and the Pharisees also came unto him tempting him saying and saying unto him Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And he answered and said unto them, have ye not read that he which made them at the beginning made them what?

Male and female, and said, for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife and they twain shall be one flesh. Wherefore they are no more twain but one flesh, what therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder. And they say unto him, why did Moses then command us to give a writing of divorcement and to put her away? And he saith unto them, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, suffered you to put away your wise, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you whosoever shall put away his wife except it be for fornication and shall marry another commiteth adultery and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery and his disciples say unto him if this is the case if this is the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry.

In other words, this is all too hard, Lord but he said unto them, all men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. Jesus affirms one man and one woman. Let me say that again. Jesus affirms one man and one woman. Jesus affirms the biblical narrative that we find in Genesis and indeed all of of Genesis and this is significant in the day in which we live at the pause here And just kind of make this point because you're often finding people saying or hearing people saying things like Jesus never covered this or Jesus never covered that or Jesus didn't really deal with homosexuality or Jesus didn't really deal with marriage or it's not really there.

Well, beloved, here it is in black, red, and white. One man and one woman. Hallelujah to God. Right? So he affirms one man and one woman in black, red and white.

One man and one woman. Hallelujah to God. Right? So he affirms one man and one woman and in doing so he condemns any other sort of marriage. Jesus lifts up the unique leave and cleave, one flesh nature of the marital covenant.

Jesus teaches that divorce is permissible only under the most extreme and devastating of circumstances. And I recognize that there are other views there. Jesus does not back away from the high standards of marriage despite the disciples trepidation when they heard his teaching. In Scripture as it was originally designed, marriage is the fundamental building block of the vast majority of households and indeed of all godly societies it is the normative state and every time I say it my church marriage is the normative state I always want to tell our singles that but that'd mean you're abnormal but marriage is the normative state it consists of a strong man who leads his family who is willing to sacrifice himself for his wife and his children who is determined to follow god. It also consists of a god-fearing woman willing to obey her lord Jesus and submit herself to her husband and care for her home and for her children and the great examples in the gospels that we see of this is none other than the parents of our Lord, Joseph and Mary.

Joseph, a man of honor and integrity, who heeded the voice of God through an angel and took Mary as his wife. I hope we often kind of gloss over that, but if we put ourselves into his position just for a moment, can you think just briefly about Joseph's initial disappointment to already be betrothed to Mary and to get this news that she is with child. And there ain't so much a man of such honor, such integrity that an angel had to come to reassure him that all was well. Think about the scandal though at the time. Think about the sacrifice of Joseph, the flight into Egypt, which must have been extremely difficult.

His return still under a cloud of suspicion, most likely with gossipy type neighbors, and his humility of giving his life to raise the King of kings and the Lord of lords knowing that as Jesus would increase he would most certainly decrease in fact we don't read much at all about Joseph after this point he simply spent himself for his family and for his children. Mary the humble handmaiden of the lord willing to submit herself to bring Messiah into the world willing to endure any cultural shame. This may have brought upon her and can you imagine again the shame in this in this day to see that baby bump growing when it started to grow. In Joseph and Mary, we see a picture of a godly marriage, however, filled with selflessness, sacrifice, honor, perseverance, and purpose. They certainly knew that their lives were about more than themselves.

The Gospels show us our lord's love for and honor for his his parents as well from his willingness to turn water into wine at Cana at his mother's request to his rebuke of the religious leaders in rejecting the command of god for parental care, calling their financial help, Corbin, or gifts to god instead of going to their parents as they should have gone to Christ's instruction while he was on the cross to John the apostle to care for his mother. Oh, beloved, and there's so much more. But again, the Gospels don't teach anything contrary than we see any place else in scripture and I only highlight that point because of how people tend to try to play Jesus off of Paul or Paul off of Jesus or discredit the epistles in some way. Everything that we read about everywhere else in scripture is affirmed by our Lord in the gospels, bless his name. The gospels serve as a fountain head, reestablishing in the new covenant, the new, the biblical household rather, and the godly view of children in the New Testament.

And so by way of encouragement, just one, just the first of three quick things. Number one, be bold, beloved, Be bold out there. Be bold right now. Be as Josh said the other night, be a bold voice and a bold witness to the commands of of Christ and to the commands of the Bible as it relates to biblical manhood and womanhood and marriage. Be bold and then be vocal.

You know, don't be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Don't be ashamed of anything that our Lord has taught. Teach your children in the midst of cancel culture to be willing to be canceled. Amen. You know, the pressure is on right now to affirm, I don't know how many genders, I've lost count, but there are two sexes, as our brother shared with us the other night.

There are two, be vocal, be bold, number one, be vocal, number two, and then be prayerful for God's wisdom in your household, how you can share these things and raise up children and raise up your children's children who also believe and share these things because of the time in which we live. Such beautiful and simple truths are most certainly under attack. And so the grand vision of marriage is also unfolded for us in the Gospels. If we look at number three, which I call the gathering of children, our Lord's love for children, the family as shown in the Gospels is highlighted by our Lord's love for children. He gathered them.

He wants them protected and he healed them. Matthew 19 verse 13 says they were brought unto him little children that he should put his hands on them and pray and the disciples rebuked them but Jesus said suffer the little children and forbid them not to come unto me For such is the kingdom of heaven. And he laid his hands on them and departed thence. Our Lord loved children and loves children. He called them, he encouraged them and he blessed them.

He also used them as a model. If we read Matthew 18 verse 1 the Bible says at the same time came the disciples unto Jesus saying who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven and Jesus called a little child unto him and set him in the midst of them and said verily I say unto you except ye be converted and become as little children. You shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And who shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me but whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and that he were drowned in the midst of the sea.

In other words, you better leave these children alone. You better protect them. You better not teach them anything that I wouldn't want them to know. You better, you better put your hands upon them and bless them and gather them and put them into my presence and keep them into my presence. You might remember the instance of Jerry's his daughter in the Gospels.

Mark chapter five for example, the Bible says, he took the damsel by the hand and said unto her, which is being interpreted damsel, I say unto the arise. You recall the story of man who who ran a synagogue named Jerry or who was a leader in the synagogue named Jerry had a daughter who was very sick and he he sent for Jesus and Jesus was on his way and got got sidetracked by a woman who had an issue of blood for some 12 years and he healed her and by the time the word guy, what time he turned his attention back to to Jerry's his daughter. The word came and she was already dead. He said, no, she's not dead. She's just sleeping.

Aren't you glad that our god is a healing god? I know. I'm feeling like I'm home right now. Aren't you glad that he can still touch you wherever you are and raise you up out of any situation. I hope in all of and and and all of our getting, we don't forget the power of the living god to touch, to deliver, to set free and to heal and he healed you, didn't he?

He took you from where you were as a sinner on your way to a devil's hell and intersected you with his gospel and who you are today with your with your saved self sitting up in this beautiful conference. Hallelujah somebody. Be able to lift a voice or lift your hand and say, thank you Jesus for saving a sinner like me. Oh, he's still doing it. I'm glad about it.

I hope you are too. So, he turns his attention to this beautiful young girl of some 12 years old and he lays his hands upon her and speaks these words to her damsel, I say unto thee, arise. And she was again the age of about 12 years and they were astonished with great astonishment. So the gospel's image, this Jesus who loves children, this Jesus who brings them to himself, this Jesus who lays his hands upon them, this Jesus who heals them. If we had time, and we probably won't, but who will cast the devils out of them too in the Gospels.

Here's what we need to understand. Given our lord's love for children. Let us continue to disciple our own. Let us continue to worship with them. Let us continue to pray with them.

Let us continue to put godly examples in front of them lest we cause them to stumble. Three encouragements. Pray with and for your children. Teach them the great doctrines of the faith and then model for children the right way that they should go. Lest we put anything in front of them that would cause them to stumble.

Number four, the Gospels force us to confront a harsh reality that following Christ can have a high cost. The grief of family conflict. The grief of family conflict or possible disappointments in family life because of Christ. The Bible says it this way in Matthew chapter 10 verse 34. Think not that I have come to send peace on earth, I came not to send peace but a sword.

For I am come to set a man at variance against his father and the daughter against her mother and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law and a man's foes shall be they of his own household. Faith in Jesus Christ can bring conflict. As one writer put it, a converted father would be opposed by his unbelieving son, a Christian mother by her unsaved daughter, a born again mother-in-law would be hated by her unregenerate daughter-in-law. So, a choice must often be made between Christ and family. No ties of nature can be allowed to deflect a disciple from utter allegiance to the Lord.

The Savior must take precedence over father, mother, son, daughter. One of the costs of discipleship is to experience tension and strife and alienation from one's own family. This hostility is often more bitter than is encountered in other areas of life. Of course, it's not what we want. It's not what we're working for.

We want unity in family around Christ. But I'm so grateful that it has been affirmed again and again in this conference that family is important, but God is ultimate. God is ultimate. Our Lord understands this. At one point in his own ministry, some of his family members did not believe in him.

John chapter 7 verse 5. At another point, his family, King James says friends, other versions like C.S.B. And E.S.B. Said family. His family came to see him and said he is beside himself.

Some of the more thoughtful thought translations say He's crazy. Mark chapter 3 and verse 21. And so sometimes as we read about in the text, sometimes family members don't understand this radical conversion, this overwhelming passion for Christ and his word. You might experience it amongst siblings. You might experience it with parents or with grandparents or with cousins.

You might be the oddball family at the family reunion where everyone else is going to do this, but your family decides we're not going to or you're you guys are antisocial no we're just not going to go bump and grind with you guys I'm not the only one who will step out of some wedding receptions early because when all the holiness goes away and the music starts, it's time for me to go. And that brings, that can bring tension and that can bring strife, but our Lord gives an interesting perspective on the matter. In Matthew chapter 12 in verse 48, he says these words, who is my mother? Who are my brethren? He stretched forth his hand toward his disciples and said behold my mother and my brethren.

Whosoever shall do the will of my father which is in heaven, the same is my brother and my sister and my mother. Now, Christ here is not in any sense disrespecting his family. Rather, our lord emphasized the eternal and ultimately superior nature of spiritual family. The sad reality is there are some blood relations that you won't be in heaven with. But the people in this room will never get rid of each other.

We'll spend eternity together. So we might as well rejoice in one another now. Amen. Amen. Earthly slights, although painful, will one day disappear.

Overshadowed by the glory of our king in our eternal home. So, yes, we must work for peace within our households, carefully following the commands of our God, but we must never under any circumstances deny Christ. And so three encouragements very quickly here. One, be willing to pay this price, because it's one that our Lord teaches us about in the Gospels. Number two, pray for peace in your family though, because we all want it, and we don't wanna have to deal with this in our family, so pray for the conversion of your family members and for unity in your family.

And number three, preach the gospel. Never stop preaching the gospel in your family. Moving along, looking at the clock there. Number five, the gravity of right priorities for family, proper family life through devotion to Jesus. The gospels teach us that all believers, including those in family, must prioritize Christ.

He said, he that loveth father and mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, and he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it and he that looses his life for my sake shall find it. Matthew chapter ten verses thirty-seven through thirty-nine. Luke says it this way in Luke fourteen and twenty-six. But if any man come to me and hate, this is interesting language, and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters.

Yea and even his own life. Also, he cannot be my disciple and whosoever did not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple Charles Spurgeon gives a wonderful example to help us understand this passage in Luke fourteen and twenty-six and twenty-seven. He says it's like a he said there's a there's a there's a guy who's about this man who's about to be martyred. He had a wife and eleven children and they were taking him to be burned or taking him to the stakes and his wife was pleading with him, pleading with him. Please just recant.

Please don't be so stop being so willful. Stop being so stubborn and she put her children but their children before him as he was arrested and being carried away. And the children were pleading with their father, daddy, daddy, please, please, please, oh, daddy, we love you, please don't do this thing, daddy, live for us, dad, live for us. The father said to his wife, I love you with all of my heart. And to his children, I love you with all of my heart.

And I'll do anything for you short of deny my Lord. You mean the world to me, and you're breaking my heart. But my love for Christ is such that it's it's as if I don't love you at all. It's amazing example that he gave because because because we so deeply love our wives and we so deeply love our husbands and We so deeply love our children but our love for Christ by comparison. I love for our lord by comparison.

Much be so great. So great. That our love for our wives and our children pale by that same comparison. The gravity of right priorities. Every household will be tempted to set up its own household gods.

To place things above Christ and the sinful inclination must be resisted. Ironically, the things that we desire most in our households can only come when Christ is in his rightful place. Only when Christ is central can we love one another the way he has prescribed. The Bible says thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind, this is the first and great commandment and the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

Matthew Twenty-two verses 37 through thirty-nine. And so, three quick encouragements for you as you process this information. Number one, pray for a spirit empowered love for god to be poured out in your family. Pray that you would just love god more. Number two, pray for the same one to another That you would love each other in the love of Christ.

And then number three, pray in your family for the manifest actions that flow from families who love God and love one another the way the Bible commands. That your service to one another would be joyful. Your speech concerning one another would be kind, that you would enjoy one another heartily. Number six, the grittiness of spiritual warfare and family, the need for deliverance in Jesus. The gospel's paint a harsh reality, Another one that we must continually face that there is an unseen realm.

It's already been discussed by our dear brother, the cosmic war in Genesis three, breaking out and depending on your interpretation, we can go a little further in in Genesis six and see some interesting things happening there. We didn't have time to go over it in Job by brother Sam but if you read on in Job, you see this, it's amazing thing that happens as Satan is moving to and fro in the earth and the Lord actually brings Job's name up. Have you considered my servant Job? We we read of the of the demons behind all of the false gods that Israel sadly worship bail and and Molech and and Asherah. We read this astonishing narrative in in in in first Kings 22 where Jehoshaphat and Ahab are trying to figure out whether or not they want to go get recapture.

Ramoth, Gilead and they gather the prophets and all of them is telling them what they want to hear and there's one prophet Micahiah who comes and tells them the truth that Israel is about to be defeated and he he shows them by by way of a prophetic vision. Uh the throne room of god with the hosts of god gathered around him and god says, anyone want to help me go deal with this? And one says, I'll go. Spirit says, I'll go. I'll go be a lying spirit in the mouth of your prophets and so we can look in the Old Testament and see you know the the the grittiness of spiritual warfare as well, but when our Lord comes on the scene It's like the thing Explodes right the Gospels paint a picture of Christ just just right from the beginning dealing with the enemy, dealing with unclean spirits, cleansing the land of demons and devils, taking back its inheritance as has already been communicated.

Please understand beloved evil spirits, the Satan, the accuser hates your family, hates our God and hates a conference like this wherein we are trying to recapture biblical ethics concerning family. And in the gospels we see our Lord's love for family and delivering them from the Canaanite woman whose daughter the crumbs that come off your table. Heal my daughter or the desperate father over in Matthew seventeen who brought his son to Jesus. The Bible says he was an lunatic and sore vexed with the devil in both in both cases, Jesus frees them from their bondage. The prayer of the father and the last example continues to be instructive as brother Kevin exhorted us just yesterday.

I believe. They brought unto him brought him unto him and when he saw them straight way, the spirit tear him and he fell on the ground and wallowed and foaming. Can you imagine being the father of this young man and he asked his father, how long is it ago since this came unto him and he said of a child since he was little and often times, it casts him into the fire and into the waters to destroy him but if thou can't do anything have compassion on us and help us and Jesus said unto him if thou can't believe all things are possible to him that believeth and straightway the father of the child cried out and said with tears lord I believe. Help thou my unbelief. Perhaps you felt like this dead, powerless with small faith, desperate for a miracle, beseeching god to save your child or perhaps you're the child, the younger person in the home, seeing things go terribly awry in the lives of your parents.

Oh, how desperately Does every godly household need the power of Jesus Christ? No of a surety parent and child, grandparents and young adults. We need the one who can enter the strong man's house and bind him. Jesus our Lord, who by the finger of God, as we said, casts out devils. The Gospels teach us that Jesus has all authority and power and that evil spirits are subject to him.

Therefore, by way of encouragement, number one, pray for the power of God in your home. Pray number two for the presence of God in your home and number three pray for the product you would understand the providence of God in your home that he would give you the patience to endure whatever you must endure as you wait upon him to do those things that only he can do. And then finally the great commission God's plan to rescue families through the gospel of Jesus. Through families came Christ. Now Christ commands us to go and rescue other families.

He's given us a message to proclaim a message that still in the hand of the spirit of god causes men to repent and demons to tremble for I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures and saying the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of god is at hand. Repent ye and believe the gospel And Jesus came and spake unto them saying all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son of the holy ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you and lo I am with you always even to the end of the world. Amen.

The gospel of Jesus Christ remains the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. The gospel of Jesus Christ can heal broken families, deliver captive families, Bring the recovering of sight to the blind families and set at liberty families that have been bruised that they might know the acceptable year of the lord and so by way of encouragement, number one, preach and rejoice in the gospel. Number two, obey the great commission, not just the gospel but all those things that our lord has commanded and number three, please know that he is with you. That he's not left you. That you're not alone.

That our God is right there. And so as we close, the family as portrayed in the gospels is a picture of a spiritually arduous, but nevertheless, a picture of beautiful truths that we can be blessed by family lineage but not bound by family lapses because of Christ. That struggles can arise within marriage but we can be strengthened in its covenant because of Christ. That raising godly children can be hard but they are still in heritage from the Lord in Christ. That families will at times fail but can be forgiven in Christ.

That our households can lose focus but with the Holy Spirit's help we must fix our eyes upon Christ. That the devil wants to destroy our homes but that deliverance is available in Christ and that declaring the gospel to all the nations begins at home. We must disciple our children unto Christ. The picture is one of household hope and redemption in Jesus. One that we see clearer even in acts and in the epistles.

Because of the coming of Jesus Christ, the son of god and god the son, there is hope for every family. Amen. Amen. Let's pray together. Our father who art in heaven.

Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. That will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen.