Address—D.C. Buchanan
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I believe that our God.
Is a family man type God?
It's wonderful to be members of a family.
And it's wonderful to be members of God's family.
God institute that.
God conceived that idea of family relationship.
And it's wonderful to learn to know what it's like.
As I think about.
Family relationships.
I look back and I think of how I was brought up.
It's a wonderful thing to have Christian parents.
And I want to encourage.
All of us who are Christian parents or members of a family in some way or the other.
And God has given us principles.
He's marked out what family life really should be, and we have many examples. We were already talking this afternoon a little bit about Eunice and Lois and Timothy and so many others we have.
You know, as I look back.
In our home, we got up.
Somewhere between 6:00 and 7:00 in the morning. Usually it was closer to 7.
We had to make the bus at 7:30.
And then after school was over, there were chores to do, work to be done. And in our family, every morning before we went went out to get that bus, we had a family reading. At least 10 verses are usually a whole chapter was read and we prayed together. And on Wednesday nights we always attended the prayer meeting and reading meeting.
Lord's Days.
Everyone knew the breaking of bread was in the morning and Sunday school in the afternoon.
That's the way I was brought up.
I'm thankful for it.
Now I'm grown up and I have a family and I've traveled around a little bit and I found out that other people have different routines of how they conduct their family, and I believe there are many godly ways how families can carry on.
And I believe each and everyone of us needs to.
Find that out for themselves how God would have us conduct.
Us in our family relationships.
It says, for this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh. God was the one that said that he started it all out.
He says I will that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary.
Says Lo. Children are the heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward. All these verses would tell us of how God.
Intends.
To have these kind of relationships and to go on, it's God's plan.
And now I'm sure as we are here together this afternoon.
All of us have that desire to go on the way the Lord would have us.
And.
I don't want to stand up here and talk about how bad the world is and how much departure.
We don't need any more of that. We have enough of it. We're bombarded with the world, with changing of our society that was thankfully formed mostly on Christian principles.
It's a wonderful thing, you know that on Lord's Days, most businesses still do shut down.
That's something to be thankful for, but it's a real challenge to us.
As these things change about us and I believe the enemy is making a special attempt to destroy.
00:05:08
The family relationships destroy homes and we had a nice word about the fight of faith and that's part of it.
And sometimes we're not aware of what's going on.
I would like to turn first of all to the 10th chapter of Mark, just to look at one example.
That came in the life of our Lord Jesus.
When some came to him with the question about divorce.
And it's wonderful to see how the Lord answered that just for a principle or two not to be talking about divorce in Mark's Gospel chapter 10.
Verse 2.
Says And the Pharisees came to him, that's the Lord Jesus, and asked him.
Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife tempting him? And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you? And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.
And Jesus answered and said unto them, From the hardness of your heart, he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the creation God made the male and female.
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife.
And they train shall be one flesh. So then.
They are no more twain, but one. What therefore God hath joined together?
Let not man put asunder.
I find it very instructive here to see the way the Lord Jesus handled this situation.
It would be wonderful if everyone of our families was in.
100%.
Agreement with God's thoughts about it, but I'm afraid that most all of us here will recognize.
That it's not always so.
And it's one thing to go on together in a family relationship when all things are going well.
But it's another thing when tests come in.
And so I believe there are.
Scriptures that would indicate to us how we're to conduct ourselves in the family.
But there are also principles that will guide us when things go wrong.
To me, it's a wonderful thing, brethren, that no matter what circumstance we may get ourselves into in this day, the grace of God is sufficient to help us and sustain us.
I don't say to Riddus of the circumstances or the results of departure, but the grace of God can come in. I was really impressed with the mention already of how that Timothy, whose father or whose mother married a Greek, and then how God came in and God knew that it was about that time when He was going to bring the Gentiles in. I don't know if they were married before then or not, but most probably so.
Or about that time and God opened up the way.
So that Timothy could be a special blessing. That's just one example of how.
God can come in in spite of ourselves and what I like to say a word of encouragement to those of us who may have difficulties and find that everything's not 100% right in your family life.
Oh brethren, we have a place to go to. We have a resource.
And there is no situation where the grace of God can't come in and help us in our difficulties.
But we don't want to spend our whole lives like that. Our primary purpose is to maintain that Christian relationship that those principles that God has established.
00:10:05
A young man leaving, his father and mother being joined unto his wife, and a new family being started. And if the Lord blesses little ones, coming into the world.
And the training up of that family and so one generation.
Passing on to the next generation a wonderful things.
That God has recovered for us, and this time I believe it's God's way.
And we see the world trying to tear that down. And we're not exempt as Christian from those those kind of temptations that would come in.
Or from the neglect, the lack of reading the scriptures.
Are turning to other sources for our guidance.
In such occasions.
Well, here the Pharisees came to the Lord.
And they have this situation they ask about is it lawful to put away?
A woman to write a bill of divorcement and put her away.
I find it instructive that the Lord first of all returns the question to them.
What would they answer? What did Moses command you?
God had already given them instructions about this, and so the Lord doesn't set aside any of that.
And so it seems to me they must have already known that. Maybe they even suspected he would he would turn back to that. And so they answered yes. Moses allowed a bill of divorcement.
But the Lord doesn't stop there.
He says from the beginning, but from the beginning of the creation.
Well, I should read the first part. His answer is for the hardness of your heart. He wrote you this precept, and then the Lord goes back to the beginning. And that's what I would like to emphasize this afternoon. Brethren, when things get out of order, it's so easy to focus only on our little circle of problems.
And not go back to the beginning.
God instituted these relationships that we're in. God had a perfect plan and man has never improved on it, and he never will improve on God's plan. That's the reason we need to go back to the beginning, because God knew what He was doing when He established all these things and He had a reason for doing things the way He did, even if we don't understand them and as we grow up.
We learn a little bit of these reasons. It's a wonderful thing to learn to know our God.
Through these things.
And I believe that's why those lines of that hymn, that last verse that we sang.
There no stranger, God shall meet thee. It's a wonderful privilege to learn to know our God through these relationships and these circumstances that God has allowed us to be put in. Oh dear brethren.
We ought to know what God is like before we get there.
And I believe that's part of the reason he allows us to go through.
Christian wilderness experience. These things bring out and reinforce in our minds the reality of God in His ways and the vanity of any other way. Many times we have to learn that the hard way. But it's better to learn it the hard way than not to learn it at all. And God is faithful in it all. What a privilege then, it is to be participants, then, of these things.
And to know the relationships that God has with his people, because it seems to me that they're based on.
And similar to the earthly relationships that we have.
From the very beginning of the creation.
Since Adam and Eve, these things began coming out.
Why did God institute marriage here on earth, and tell the young men that they were time, when they grew up, to leave their father and mother, and to be joined unto their wife?
Because God had in view his Son and the bride, that he would have the church.
00:15:05
I believe that the husband wife relationship is probably the nearest and most blessed earthly relationship you can be in. And that's why I believe God picked that relation out relationship out to be an example of His Son and the Bride of Christ and how we'll be caught up to be with Him in glory. But even now we know Him.
As our bridegroom.
It's a wonderful thing to experiment that relationship in the earthly sense.
And then look up to heaven and recognize that.
The in view of marriage isn't just here on earth and the joys and the blessings and all.
That we can enjoy in it, but this is something to teach us about God's relationship with his people.
That's great. That's wonderful, and I want everyone here to enjoy that, to learn to know it. And I know the young men and the young women are looking forward to the day when they'll enjoy the earthly side of it, God willing. That's wonderful.
But Satan is busy and he always has his imitations, and Satan desires to destroy that relationship.
And the relationship of children to the submission.
Children, obey your parents, the scripture says. We've heard that most of us.
And I suppose if I were to ask here some of those who come from broken homes where that earthly relationship has been damaged or destroyed, or some of the single parents or some of the widows, I'm sure I would get the most adamant defense of God's principles on these things from them, because they have reaped in sorrow when things are out.
A St. With God's plan, they would be the one that would tell us how awful it is when those things are departed from.
Well, these are real things we live with from day-to-day.
And I believe in my own soul that I've learned a whole lot more.
About this subject, just from sitting at home and observing.
In my own home and in my parents home, in other Christian, godly Christian homes where these principles are upheld, where there is that love of the husband to the wife and the submission and the obedience on the part of the children and all these things, the respect.
I didn't learn it from people standing up on the platform, but it is wonderful to talk about it too.
And I want each of us to look to the Lord about this and to look to those homes where you do see God's order upheld and see if God isn't right in establishing it the way He did.
It is so.
Well, the Lord Jesus here.
He goes back to the beginning.
And so when things get out of order in our families or on our own personal life, or for that matter, even in the assemblies.
We have a place to go to. Back to the beginning. How did God set it up?
And that's what's important.
It isn't necessary, I don't believe, to know all the pitfalls there are in life. It's good to be aware of some of the major ones, but we don't want to be occupied with that. We want to be occupied with a positive, with what God has established and what he's written.
I would like to mention though two things.
That I have felt of late, that I think.
Are coming into the society that we live in.
They are the first and last things mentioned in the list in First Timothy five of the last days.
And the first one is men shall be lovers of them all of their own selves.
00:20:06
This self esteem bit.
Is a trend.
I think we need to be aware of it.
I don't want to say anymore about it.
The last thing in that list.
Men shall be lovers of pleasure more than lovers.
Of God.
I believe that is another thing that those of us as parents.
Those that young people, all of us need to be aware of.
Be careful about these things in the training up of our children.
We have to prepare our children.
For this kind of environment that they're brought up in.
How I believe that rather than putting ourselves as the center of attention.
In trying to get the most potential out of our young people and not of our children.
Christ should be the object.
And if you've ever been caught up in that vicious cycle or vicious circle of being occupied with about yourselves, it's a miserable vicious circle to get in, and it's turning to the Lord that gets us out of that.
Merry go round of ups and downs and highs and lows in our Christian all to be able to focus on Christ.
He's the worthy one. He's the one that's given us life. He's all to us.
And isn't he also enough?
Isn't he the one that would make us choose the grits instead of the beef steak, as the Satan would say in his lie?
That's not the way it really is.
If what the Lord has to offer us in our Christian.
Family relationships isn't better than anything.
This society has invented.
We might as well close up our Bibles and terminate this conference.
But we know it is true.
Man has never improved on God's.
God's principles.
Now I would like to turn back and briefly to the Old Testament to an example in the Book of Two Kings.
A story about the great woman of Shunam. Now we're not going to have time to read the whole story. It would be nice to.
We'll try to pick up little sketches of at least read the first part.
In Two Kings 4.
This account has meant much to me.
To see the faith of this woman and her family relationship.
And how she had faith.
In Second Kings chapter 4.
Beginning with verse 8.
And it fell on a day that Elijah passed to Shoenum, where was a great woman, and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was that as OFT as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. And she said unto her husband, Behold now I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall, and let us set for him there a bed in the table, and a stool, and a Candlestick, And it shall be.
When he cometh to us, he shall turn in thither, and fell on a day that he.
Came thither, and he turned into the chamber and lay there. And he said to Gehezi his servant called the Shunamite. And when he had called her, she stood before him. And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast careful, thou hast been careful for us with all this care. What is to be done for thee? What is thou? Be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host. And she answered, I dwell among my known people.
And he said, What then is to be done for her? And gahe's I answered, Verily, she hath no child, and her husband is old. And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood at the door. And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my Lord, the man of God, do not lie unto thy handmaid. And the woman conceived, and bear a son at that season.
00:25:06
That Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.
Now I'd like to make just a few comments before we notice the end of the story.
I like to think of this as an example in contrast.
To that previous story about the widow woman who had lost her husband and her two sons were in.
Danger of being taken as slaves.
Because I believe in the first story, we have an example to us of how the Lord is sufficient, the minister of grace is sufficient.
In a time of trouble or in a time when things are out of order.
But I like to think of this story as how God and his love and grace.
Can bless even when things are in order. I say that because sometimes I think we get the impression that in order to properly appreciate grace, we have to do like the prodigal son and get really far away from God.
Now, brethren, I don't think that's necessarily true. And that's the thing that I appreciate so much about this woman.
That this woman didn't have to get far away from the Lord to be content with what she had to live a godly life, pious, diligent, and all the things that we can notice here in this chapter. Brethren, we don't have to go off and learn things the hard way.
God has written these things down in his book so that.
It's even more blessed to learn them without learning them the hard way.
And that's why I would like to speak to ourselves this afternoon.
In order that these things may keep us close to the Lord, keep us appreciating what we have, and go on in that way. And it seems to me that's why she's called at least one of the reasons, a great woman.
She was a great woman. Well, you might just notice here that she.
Had this care for the man of God, appreciation for him and it even seems to be her idea to build onto the house a little room for this for Elisha the servant of the Lord, these things and after she had done all these things.
No doubt Elisha felt a little indebted to her and so he asked her what could he do for her in payment for this.
All breathing. We don't do things as Christians to get paid for it.
There's a higher motive than this and I believe this woman had laid hold of that. That's why she was content, That's why she didn't need to be spoken for before they came and some grand thing done for her.
Oh, she was laying hold of what God had given to her as a as an Israelite woman, and she was content.
Are you content with what God has given you? If God would give you a blank check and let you fill it out for what you wanted, what would you put down on it?
That's a very searching question.
This woman was content with what God had given to her.
She didn't have to be told over and over again that godliness was contentment is great gain.
She had it.
Well, Elisha.
Who was a true servant of God? He felt that he would like to do something in appreciation, and so he asked his eye the servant, and he comes up with a pretty good thing, I think. She doesn't have any children.
That was what a godly Israelite woman looked for, probably more than anything else, because if they didn't have any progeny, they didn't have any one to inherit the land When the Messiah came. It was pretty important thing for them.
Well, the fruit of the womb is his reward, God's reward, and what God gives us in our families is best.
Well.
God gave her a son.
I'm sure she appreciated that, son.
00:30:00
And those of us who do have families, it's a wonderful thing. But then when we think about bringing up these little ones for the Lord.
And when they get bigger too, sometimes the problems even get bigger as they grow bigger.
How to meet these situations? What are we going to do for these children that the Lord has given us?
Well.
This woman took this gift.
On the basis of grace, she makes this statement. Statement. Do not deceive me.
Well, if we would read on down in the chapter, we'd find out.
Later, that son died.
And let's begin reading from.
Verse 23. Verse 22.
And she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the ***** that I may run to the man of God, and come again. And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him? To day it is neither a new moon nor Sabbath. And she said, It shall be well.
Her faith it shall be well. From whom did she receive that son?
From the servant of God, and her confidence was in him. She didn't run to the doctor, she ran to the source that had given her that son.
Oh, what a beautiful example for us. Where do we go when the problems come?
To the one who gave us our children, or to the one who put us in the circumstances that we are in.
That's good. That's wonderful.
And she says to the to the servant Dr. and go forward slack not for the slack not thy writing for me, except I bid thee we already had a little bit about enduring hardship. Another Christian grace that this woman had.
An important issue was at stake here. The life of her son was at stake.
She must get her answer from the man that had given her that son.
And so she goes.
Sometimes it seems like, you know, after we've had a hard week.
And maybe the children come home and they're kind of grumpy and we've had a hard day on top of it. You know, it's kind of easy to kind of let down and become discouraged, but I believe the Lord would have us endure hardness in these relationships.
Why? Because soul's eternal welfare.
Is at stake our children, our loved ones, our family members.
Does God care about them less than we do?
No. And so she comes to the man of God, and the man of God, Elijah he.
Says something about sending to Hazei.
But notice what she says.
She says in verse 28.
Then she said, Did I desire a son of my Lord? Did I not say?
Do not deceive me.
She had said that.
Brethren, if we receive what we have from the Lord.
And seek to go on using it for the Lord.
In a time of trouble, we can rightly go.
To the one who gave us those, thanks.
Turned to him.
If we make a question of our own desserts.
Of anything we have, we get off the ground of grace.
In our Christian pathway and we're on shaky ground.
If all I have is because I deserve it, therefore if I am become unworthy of it, it would be right for God to take it away from me. But this woman had not received that son on that basis.
To me, it's an example of what we have in the New Testament.
Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
That's recognizing the Lordship of Christ in our families.
00:35:02
This woman is doing that. She goes to the source, she says to him.
Did you take this child away from me in my own? I'm interpreting it how I understand it here.
She's saying to this man of God.
Did you take this thing, this child, away from me?
When it was your idea to give it to me in the beginning, did I have anything to do?
With receiving this child, is this the kind of God that would give and take away?
She has a pretty good argument.
Oh, brethren, if we can turn to the Lord in our problems and receive it from him, if he was, if he wants to take one away, yes, he does have the right.
But when she puts it in that light, I believe Elijah was constrained to go.
And he adds further that when he suggests sending the servant and carrying the rod or the staff, she says she would not leave him.
She would not turn away from that source of her blessing no matter what. Oh brethren, no matter how hard the family situation is, never turn away from the God that blessed you and gave you everything that you have. That would be the worst mistake we could ever make.
Does not God do all things for our good? Yes he does. She believes that she laid hold of it and God gave her back her son. It was a real test for her and to me it's a picture of receiving our children back in resurrection life, being born again. It's not just enough to have a nice family.
The real issue, brethren, today, do those children belong to the Lord?
Is my family going on for him? All of us?
How can we be content when it's not? When it's not that way? She was not. And so in her earnestness she clung to the servant of God. And he goes and gives her back her son. No doubt she was worthy of it. But.
More than that, God wanted to do that because He is good.
Shall we pray?