Confessions of a Church: Know the Condition of your Flock

The Psalm writer wrote: Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law. As we come before a Holy God and hear his word, may we have eyes open to the wonderful and fearful things from his law. May it move us to repent and seek forgiveness, fear disobedience, and live in light of the grace we have received. This is the word of God. It is eternally true and applicable for all of life.

Proverbs 27:21-27 The crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold, And each is tested by the praise accorded him. Though you pound a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, Yet his foolishness will not depart from him. Know well the condition of your flocks, And pay attention to your herds; For riches are not forever, Nor does a crown endure to all generations. When the grass disappears, the new growth is seen, And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in, The lambs will be for your clothing, And the goats will bring the price of a field, And there will be goats’ milk enough for your food, For the food of your household, And sustenance for your maidens.
This is the word of the LORD.

It is the norm in our society among couples who have children for both to have careers which necessitates dropping little Johnny or Sally off at daycare, public, or private school for their upbringing. Having others train their children, teach them morals, and indoctrinate them into state-approved patterns of thinking and behaving is no problem for most Americans in 2021. Proof positive of this is the speed with which marriage has fallen out of fashion, and lifestyles such as cohabitation and homosexuality have become the norm, just in the last 20 years or so.

Lest you think Christendom is any better off, consider how in most churches, the vast majority of exposure to scripture, bible reading, and moral training that children are exposed to happen not in the home with father leading family worship. Most training does not take place at home with mom teaching Sally about the blessings of children, or dad teaching Johnny his duty to one day provide for his family. No, but rather, many if not most Christian parents are content to co-opt their children's spiritual training to well meaning but ill equipped Sunday school teachers. Most Christian men seem to believe that so long as their children are within the four walls of the church house on the Lord's day then they have fulfilled their God ordained obligations to wife and children.

This hands off approach to God's commands has serious ramifications. As I have touched on previously, a mass exodus is taking place among young people from the church. Why? I believe part of the reason is because rather than teaching their children to delight in the things of God, His Son, His Word, His people, many have succumbed to the belief that unless something is fun, entertaining, and appeals to the flesh, then it is to be discarded and abandoned. Many Christian parents have fallen into the trap of attempting to satisfy the never satisfied fleshly lusts of their children, then seem shocked when their children turn their noses up at scripture which tells them to deny self.

So, all this said to make one succinct point this morning:
Know well the condition of your flocks, And pay attention to your herds

You husbands and fathers will give an account for the condition of your household, just like the servant who hid his master's talent rather than wisely investing it. Those that are not faithful stewards with what God has entrusted to him are cast into outer darkness (Matthew 25:30).

At SKC we know where many of the major battlefronts lie. Just yesterday we watched as a dozen and a half women abandoned their biblical duties and murdered their offspring. In each of those circumstances what we didn't see were the boyfriends, husbands, mothers, fathers, grandparents, and even churchmen who enabled that murder to take place because they shirked their responsibility to love neighbor as self.

Brothers and sisters, let me ask a really long question: If your sons and daughters are not being readied for the great responsibility and joy of marriage, and parenthood, if they are being taught "career", and "education", to the neglect of the biblical duty to be fruitful and multiply, if your sons are growing up to be those kind of young men that no reasonable young lady would give a second thought to, and your daughters are shaping up to be those that all the boys flock to, and it isn't because of her holiness, or gentle and quiet spirit, are you ready to give an account for this? Here's another question which may reveal where your heart is on this matter: do you even know the spiritual condition of your children's heart's well enough to be able to answer any of the previous questions?

Fathers, your children need you to love them, and we do that by disciplining them from the word of God. As we scramble around prepping for marxist Armageddon, let us not do so to the neglect of our children's souls. Let us not be so earthly minded, that we forget we are to set our minds on the things above. Let us remember that for our children to be truly prepared for the dangers and pitfalls which await them, what they need is a solid foundation in God's word. Without that, career, hobby, man skills, and the most complete stash of prepper gear will not matter a hill of beans. Your child can grow up to be the most successful person in their field, the most talented, smart CEO, and have a really fat paycheck, and apart from God's grace, which includes an upbringing full of instruction from his word, all you will have created is a well dressed, articulate, son or daughter of the devil.

Let us repent where we have neglected our duty as fathers and mothers.
Please join me in kneeling as we pray.

Heavenly Father,
We thank You that as our Father, you do not leave us without discipline and correction. You did not establish Your church without a cornerstone and foundation. Father, we know You are a loving Father who disciplines the son whom He loves, and as Your image bearers, we are to reflect this great truth in the raising of our sons and daughters Please forgive us fathers when we have allowed the chaotic currents of life to knock us off course. Please forgive us when we have fallen prey to the lies of the world, rather than Your Word, when it comes to the path our children ought to be on.

Father please be with the children of SKC, fill them with Your Spirit, help them to delight in Your ways, help them to see that the things of this world are passing away but You are eternal. Father, please help the children to honor their father and mother by growing up to be godly young men and women who glorify you with their manhood and womanhood. Please crush any rebellion found within their hearts.
It's in Jesus's Name we pray, Amen.

Please join me in standing and listen to the comforting assurance of the grace of God, promised in the gospel to his church:

Matthew 6:3-11 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

To all those who thus repent and seek Jesus Christ for their salvation, your sins are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lift up your hearts!

(From the 01/17/2021 liturgy of Sovereign King Church written by Aaron Sabie)