Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb19931205.htm

EPHESIANS: THE BUILDING AND COMPLETING OF THE CHURCH
Part III: The Construction of God's Church, Ephesians 2:1-6:20
C. God's Church Organization for Christian Unity, 4:4-16
4. "Truthing" In Love About Parent-Child Relationships, 6:1-4
(Ephesians 2:1-6:20, 4:4-16, 6:1-4)
  1. Introduction
    1. Today's world is getting to be more and more complex a world in which to raise children!
    2. We examine Ephesians 6:1-4 to find God's guidance in such needy times in the home.
  2. "Truthing" In Love About Parent-Child Relationships, Ephesians 6:1-4.
    1. After the filling of the Spirit, believers are to relate skillfully in relationships, Ep. 5:18,22-6:20.
    2. ONE of the settings where the filling of the Holy Spirit makes a difference is the home, 6:1-4:
      1. A word to the Subordinant Party--the Child living at home, Eph. 6:1-3:
        1. Children living in their parents' home are to obey those parents, Eph. 6:1.
        2. Additionally, children are to honor their parents to enjoy a long life, Eph. 6:2.
      2. A word to the Overseer Party--the Parents at home, Eph. 6:4.
        1. Paul addresses FATHERS because they are the heads of their homes, Eph. 5:22-33. Yet this input applies to wives also as they are over their children, Titus 2:3-5; 1 Tim. 5:14.
        2. Parents--particularly the FATHERS--are not to exasperate their children, the KJV "provoke" meaning to "provoke to anger," The Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament, Moulton and Milligan, p. 496; UBS Greek New Testament, p. 678. Rather, they are to "nurture them up" in the (1)"teaching discipline" and (2)"training by word of mouth" of the Lord, cf. UBS Greek New Testament, loc. cit.; Synonyms of the New Testament, p. 112. We detail this input as follows: (a) The word translated "teaching discipline" is used predominantly for rearing YOUNG children, cf. Trench, op. cit., p. 111. The other expression--"training by word of mouth"-- deals less with training by discipline and more with VERBAL input, Trench, op. cit., 112. (b) A companion passage in Genesis 18:19 expounds these ideas: God reported there that Abraham would teach his sons "justice" (tsadakah) and "judgment" (mishphat), the former word meaning RULES, the latter implying the application of rules to events to make judgments, something akin to LATER childhood, cf. Biblia Hebraica, p. 23; Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, B.D.B., p. 842, 1048 respectively. (c) In summary, parents are to educate with rules, complete with actions of example and discipline (spanking) to YOUNGER children, moving in time to guide MATURING children to make sensible choices BASED upon those rules through verbal encouragement and criticism. All of this must be done within the Biblical guidelines of WHAT is Biblically right and wrong. Deviations from this order in any way spell trouble at home! (d) A word to parents who failed in early childhood rearing - shift to the "missionary approach", assuming that the prodigal is paganistic!! ((1)) use unconditional love (Rom. 9:1-3), ((2)) remove offensive habits we have (1 Cor. 10:31-33), ((3)) let God do any "pushing" you into confronting him (Acts 18:5-6), ((4)) hold your ground if pushed into a confrontation (Acts 18:5,6,19), ((5)) nourish the SLIGHTEST progress in the prodigal (Acts 19:1-7), ((6)) isolate the prodigal from peer pressure if possible (Acts 19:9), ((7)) let GOD establish your credibility for you before the prodigal (Acts 19:11-20), and ((8)) help other parents who struggle, Titus 2:3-4!!
Lesson: To be blessed at home, the parents and children both need (1) salvation by faith in Christ (Jn. 3:16), (2) followed by the filling of the Holy Spirit which results from confession of sin and dependence on the Spirit's prompting (1 J. 1:9; Gal. 5:16-22). (3) Later corrections for former errors are possible by the parent assuming a "missionary" posture with a "paganized" adult child, and using input from Acts and the Epistles for guidance!!