Ephesians 5:18-6:4
Family --- The collective body of persons who live in one house and under one head or manager; a household, including parents, children and servants, and as the case may be lodgers or boarders. W. D. 1828 edition.
Household --- Those who dwell under the same roof and compose a family; those who belong to a family.
Parents --- A father or mother; he or she that produces young. The duties of parents to their children are to maintain, protect and educate them.
Child --- A son or a daughter; a male or female descendant, in the first degree; the immediate progeny of parents; applied to the human race, and chiefly to a person when young. The term is applied to infants from their birth; but the time when they cease ordinarily to be so called, is not defined by custom. In strictness, a child is the shoot, issue or produce of the parents, and a person of any age, in respect to the parents, is a child. Biblically, a family is made up of a father, mother, and children. This is known as a traditional family.
Turn to Mark 10:1-12. Verse 10 is interesting. Why would the disciples ask Jesus concerning what He just said concerning marriage? For some reason in our minds, we view the days of Jesus as not being like the days of today. We view families as being together with no problems and no protest against the Biblical family. We view everything from our American history. We see how our country is becoming more and more ignorant of the Bible; the result is generations of people who have no fear of the Lord or reverence for the Bible. What we end up with is a society where every one does that which is right in their own eyes. The result of this is unrestrained sin. Unrestrained sin is the desire and will of a depraved person. They see restraint as holding them back from fulfilling their lustful desires; the Bible says "Thou shalt not" and they hate and despise it, so they want to do away with it and with those who preach and teach it.
Anything that they see that convicts them of their sins they want to get rid of; or change it to the point that it no longer convicts them. This is the attack we see on the family today. Family today is seen as a drag on society. Children are seen as restraints to people who want to live for their own pleasures therefore abortion is legalized; murdering children is legalized because having children has become inconvenient. The feminist movement hates the Bible; because it has words such as "submit" in Ephesians 5:22 "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord"; and in I Peter 3:7 "giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel". If you want to see how much you have been influenced by anti-biblical movements, just ask yourself how mad you get at verses such as these. To go further, turn to Titus 2:3-5.
We look at this and say surely during the days of Jesus and of Paul weren't like the days of today. Everyone did what they were supposed to do and everyone had a nice little family with a dog and a cat. Sin wasn't abounding like it is today. In our minds we truly think man has gotten worse when in reality we simply have new ways to show and do our wickedness. I Corinthians 6:1-11; Mark 10:1-12. "The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?" Matthew 19:3.
For every cause means for anything. They are asking, is it ok for us to divorce our wives for anything? Notice it is the religious crowds who are asking this. Those who are asking this are the religious teachers of the day. They are the ones teaching and leading by example. Notice that they came asking this question "tempting him". "Tempting" Of persons, to tempt, to prove, put to the test. In a bad sense, with ill intent. This is implying that they were for divorce, for any reason.
There were two sides on divorce during Jesus' day. There were those who believed you could only get a divorce for unfaithfulness: adultery. Then there were those who believed you could get a divorce for anything. When I say anything, I mean anything. There were two sides on divorce; therefore there were two teachings on divorce. One teaching said you could only get a divorce because of adultery, the other said for anything. Again, anything meant anything. Any way in which your wife displeased you gave you a reason for divorce. If she burned your food; or if she spilt your food; it even got to the point where if you saw another lady that you "wanted", then your wife displeased you and you had a reason for divorce. Which of these teachings do you think was most popular to an unregenerate, unredeemed people? This meant that divorce was an everyday event. What we see is the unraveling of the family unit. Kids being raised in one parent homes or with multiple step parents. You have a society that is very selfish; everyone living to please self at the expense of others. Because of divorce you have moms working to provide for the home, which means the kids are left to their own or to a baby sitter; depending on their age. The kids are neglected, not nurtured. The structure of the home is heavily damaged. These kids are raised thinking this is how the family is supposed to be. If you no longer like someone, you get a divorce. Kids today are taught this during their dating years, which is very destructive.
So, we see an attack on the family from generation to generation. A breakdown of the family, a breakdown of fundamental admonishing, and with each generation it gets worse and worse. These kids grow up and become leaders in society. They lead nations and they make the laws which govern the nation. The one thing they want to get rid of is the Bible, and all that pertains to the Bible. They want to redefine what the family is. Instead of a man leaving his father and mother and cleaving to his wife, what we have today is the teaching that a person leaves father and father or mother and mother or father's and mother's to cleave to someone of the same gender. This is a mocking of God. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap," Galatians 6:7.
How did we get here? How did this country get to this place? How did this state, this parish, this city, this town, this community, and this family get to the place where the family is now anti-cultural? We will look at this answer next time. May the Lord grant us grace to love Him, His Word, and that we would submit to Him and His Word out of love for Him. More than anything else, what we need are people who claim to be a Christian living like Christians. This means they will be lovingly proclaiming the gospel to the world. Laws cannot make society's better, only Jesus can, and He does. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek," Romans 1:16.
Please send questions and comments to richardsonbaptistchurch@gmail.com. Soli Deo Gloria.
