The Man's Vocation in the Home
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Our Vocation in the Family
Our Vocation in the Family
Introduction:
16 The heavens are the Lord’s heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man.
God’s goodness is seen in making this beautiful creation and giving it to us to enjoy
The need for vocation to actually enjoy it
Cedar Point without direction ceases to be enjoyable
Our godless society knows nothing of vocation and therefore it produces aimless people
Men are not men but stay boys—more interested in video games and sports than a holy calling God has given them to enjoy
Women are told that it is backwards and demeaning to be woman and so seek to be something other than what God has called them to be
Children and adolescence are bored without a calling from God and so seek fulfillment in trouble
Greatest generation and WWII—this gave them meaning which produced “greatness”
We don’t need such a conflict to have such meaning, we have the spiritual warfare in our own homes
The enemy wants to destroy you and your family—knowing and fulfilling our vocation from God keeps the enemy at bay
But one major indicator shows that many Christians are not doing this
70 percent of our children who are nurtured in our homes for 2 decades leave the church to join the world
We are in need to know our vocations and celebrate them by living them out in worship
Let’s go to the beginning to see the first vocation, the first family, and Satan’s strategy to undermine it that he still uses today
Adam’s vocation was to take care of the amazing creation God had created, and to do so in righteousness
The enemy comes—used by God to prove Adam and the vocation given to him
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
Notice the strategy of the enemy here is to question God’s Word
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”
And the man…no the woman
4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Here’s another aspect of Satan’s strategy, to bring into doubt the goodness of God’s vocation for Adam and Eve
The vocation God has for you limits your happiness…if you disobey and create your own meaning for existence you will be happier
Also, notice how Satan tries to get their focus off God and His kingdom that Adam was called to spread and on to the creation itself
Just like Jesus was tempted when Satan showed him all the kingdoms of the world
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
Notice another aspect of the strategy of the kingdom of darkness: working through adverse desire
14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
Genesis 3:6b She took the fruit and ate and she also gave some to her husband
Adam seemingly there the whole time should have protected the garden and tell Satan the truth in light of his lies, as Jesus does thousands of years later
Instead he is standing idly by like the common 21st century husband
One result of this fall that is important to us now is
16 To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”
The family relationship and dynamic is most fundamental, and instead of being focused on the objective given by God, it is wrought with adverse desires and contention
Now today, we do not have a garden but we do have our homes
And we are called in our vocations to make it a place where righteousness dwells
Not to allow Satan and the Fall of Adam to flourish but to allow the gospel of the second Adam to take hold
And we have the same enemy that uses the same tactics
Did God really say?
No you are to do this instead, this will make you happy
And since we are fallen in Adam, such tactics work with our evil desires which destroys our families
If I were to ask you what is the goal of your family as husband or wife
How would you answer?
A healthy 401K, kids that grow up to get good jobs, a wife that is reasonably happy
When our goals are no different than the pagans then something is wrong.
When it is stuck in the physical world and does not lift off to the spiritual, something is wrong
God has always wanted his kingdom to spread on earth, and Satan always wanted to distract away from this by a focus on the physical
1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
As individuals we are to seek first the kingdom of Christ and all the niceties of this life will organically follow
And a family is made up of individuals gathered together and it has the same goal to seek first the kingdom of Christ
A great trick of Satan is to make a home look well put together with the goal being everything but the kingdom of Christ
The crack house that gets their kids taken away is serving the domain of darkness just as the morally sound home that does not have the service and worship of Christ at its center
In our age of religious degradation, most Christian homes have enough morality to keep from being the crack house but not the fortitude to be a bastion of Kingdom activity
And so one generation of the Christian family fails to produce the next
The marriage relationship fails to be an example of the relationship of Christ and His bride
We need to stop blaming the world and start looking if our families are fulfilling their vocations or callings from God
Either the Word is being nurtured and ministered in our homes or the lie of Satan started in the garden is growing like cancer
Either one or the other is happening right now in your homes
14 “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” 16 Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods,
WHO not IF
You are either actively serving the true God of the Bible in the home or falling prey to the false gods Satan has set up
Men what are you doing to kick Satan out of your Garden to magnify the Word of God instead?
If you were to tell me you are planning a two week trip out west and I were to ask you your plan in making that trip and if you were to say, idk I would call you nuts
There is a liar and deceiver looking to undermine what God has for you and your family, if you do not have an organize plan how to serve God in your home I now call you nuts
What is it that God has said? What is our vocation in the home?
Let’s start with marriage—the beginning of every family
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
The first thing I want to emphasis is that our vocation as men in the home is now centered on Christ
The first Adam failed in his vocation as the representative head
The second Adam, Jesus our Lord was successful
Therefore, any talk of properly fulfilling our vocation as men has to be centered on Christ and his kingdom
Thus if I ask you, what’s the goal in being a husband or father, if it is not saturated with talk of Christ and his kingdom, you have missed the point
Our purpose for our marriage matches Jesus’ purpose for his
Sanctify his bride through washing of sin
The primary means is the Word
Where defilement came originally by being enticed into a lie about the vocation God has for us
Our vocation now in light of Christ is to minister the Word, the truth as it performs its sanctifying or washing effect
Another words, husbands your greatest desire in your marriage is to sanctify your wife
And the tool used is the Word of God, the gospel of our Lord
What should be at the center of your marriage in your home then?
The Word of Truth, rather than the lie of Satan
A marriage is in conflict because somewhere somehow they are believing the lie of Satan rather than celebrating the truth of Christ
Wives and Husbands this text should cause you dread that is relieved when you fall down and rely upon Christ to bring you up
Wives you are to submit so that husbands can lead without hindrance
1 Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they see your respectful and pure conduct. 3 Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— 4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. 5 For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, 6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.
Husbands you do not get to define your own vocation but have a direct calling to love your wife as Christ loved the church
Your greatest desire is not to dominate her but to see her grow more sanctified—using the WORD of truth (as opposed to Satan’s lies)
Husbands do you have a burden to talk to your wife about the Word, and apply it?
When’s the last time you asked your wife how her daily devotions are going?
And to have a deeper conversation about it—rather than having surface conversation only
When is the last time you felt a burden to help your wife understand the Word better?
You are the pastor of your wife—pastors feel a burden to know God’s word better to be able to teach their congregation better
Let such a burden be in your heart men as you desire to minister the Word to your bride
Let the burden of the husband and wife to see Christ and his word, therefore his kingdom shine for within the intimacy of their home
You and your wife will naturally have children.
What is our goal or desire in raising these children?
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise),
So that Fathers (and mothers) have no hindrance to...
4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
1—The contrast between raising our kids in our instruction and therefore provoking them to anger and bringing them up in the Lord’s instruction
2—How organized “bringing them up” should be
3—Just like marriage, this relationship is centered on the Word (discipline and instruction) of Jesus and not the lie of Satan
You are NOT “bringing them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” by bringing them to youth group a lot
You want to know why there is no youth group title in the Bible?
Because that title goes by a different name in the Bible, it is called Fathers
Application:
Mother’s and Father’s our raising of children in the Lord must begin in our own hearts and create a particular environment in the home:
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
18 “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 19 You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 20 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.
From the overflow of your own soul comes the bringing up your children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord
If a child’s experience of being trained in the Lord amounts to simply being brought to Church, but not in the intimacy of the house, that is a good way to create fakes that will leave as soon as they have the freedom to do so
If asked how did you raise your children in the Lord, do not let your answer be that you made sure and brought them to church
You are the pastor of your children, they need to see gospel warmth in the intimacy of the homes
There is natural worship that parents need to facilitate in the home
And a very practical step that I ask all of you to consider in your families to encourage such an environment is family worship
A time that the family explicitly gathers to worship God with the desire that it sets the worshipful tone for the day
When you examine periods of church history when it is healthy, you see intimate family worship being practiced
Early church it is clear that family worship was practiced
The puritans and early reformers speak of the necessity of father’s leading family worship
It is a simple time together where the Word is celebrated
To answer the lies of Satan and his desire to destroy you and your family with those lies
The Word of truth is read, sung, and prayed
The goal is to have the Word of God opened with intimate conversations about how to fulfill our different callings for that day
As a church we have this time here to come together to worship God as we read/preach the Word, Sing the Word, and Pray the Word so that we can then go out about our week continuing that worship in our daily lives
Family worship is like that only intimate in your homes, where you read, sing and pray the Word to bring it with you through out the day
I think 70 percent of kids are leaving the church as adults because they are seeing Christianity played out in the church building, but not in the intimacy of the home
The calling we have from God is to have worship penetrate all areas of our lives and especially in the home
Husbands and wives I pray you take this calling serious and have a conversation today whether or not that is being done faithfully
If you feel like this order is too high for you to do, good!
That is the first step
We must first rely upon the promises of the NC to place this ability within our hearts
