War Zone

The last year of pictures beamed into our living rooms from Afghanistan and more recently Israel often shock us. 

Homeless families,  maimed and wounded bodies,  rubble everywhere,  pictures of distraught mothers looking for their children,  pictures of orphaned children whose parents have been killed.

There is nothing glamorous about war,  it changes people’s lives forever.

Parallel

Yet many don’t recognise we have a War Zone of our own.  Satan is viciously fighting for the soul of our nation.  The chief battleground is the home,   where the family and future generations are at stake.

NZ -  once called Godzone,  now one of the world’s foremost secular nations:

-          this week officially become the largest single parent family nation in the world!

-          High rate of Cannabis use

-          Out of control teenage binge drinking (check out Bay Times)

-          Over 15,000 aborted children annually for last 3 yrs

-          MP’s that want to remove the words marriage,  husband & wife from all legislation

-          Prisons that are full to overflowing,  so much so we have to build new ones in order to keep up.

We are now living in a day where the family is under attack from every direction.

The Church to build an Ark of Safety

“As it was in the days of Noah,  so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man”  Luke 17:26;  Gen 6:5

The world was destroyed because of its wickedness,  but Noah and his 8 family members were saved from the flood.

The church of the 21st Century is called to build an ark of safety for the family,  an atmosphere that opposes the dark,  Satanic atmosphere of a permissive,  downward spiralling society.

Lot also found himself in the middle of a city that was fully embracing of evil.  Only 3 family members could be saved:

These societies were dominated by :

Desire dominated by lust

Shameless deeds

Morals without embarrassment

Dedicated to greed

Destroying the souls of their children

God Promises our Generations Preservation

Ps 12:7
7You shall keep them, O Lord, You shall preserve them from this generation forever.

Ps 97:10
10You who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.

Eph 6:13
13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

How did Noah Preserve his family from destruction?

Heb 11:7
7By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

1.                  Noah had a responsive heart to God’s Word

’by faith..’   Noah had caught what God had told him would happen and began to build his life around it,  even though the world did not even know such a thing as rain!  (It came 120 yrs later)

2.                  Noah built an ark according to the pattern God had shown him.

God has a pattern for building strong families:

Patterns for Marriage

Eph 5:22
22Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.

Eph 5:25
25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her

Heb 13:4
4Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

Parenting tips

Eph 6:4
4And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

Pr 22:6
6Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.

Instructions for Children

Eph 6:1-3
1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.   “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise:
“that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”

For those today who are already looking to build according to God’s pattern,  here is an anonymous poem to provoke your mind:

1563 If Jesus Came To Your House

If Jesus came to your house to spend a day or two. …

If He came unexpectedly. I wonder what you’d do.

Oh, I know you’d give your nicest room to such an honored guest.

And all the food you’d serve to Him would be the very best,

And you would keep assuring Him you’re glad to have Him there. …

But. … when you saw Him coming, would you meet Him at the door.

With arms outstretched in welcome to our heav’nly visitor?

Or would you maybe change your clothes before you let Him in,

Or hide some magazines and put the Bible where they’d been?

Would you turn off the radio and hope He hadn’t heard,

And wish you hadn’t uttered that last, loud and hasty word?

Would you hide your worldly music and put some hymn books out?

Could you let Jesus walk right in, or would you rush about?

And I wonder. … If the Savior spent a day or two with you,

Would you go right on doing the things you always do?

Would you go right on saying the things you always say?

Would life for you continue as it does from day to day?

Would your family conversation keep up its usual pace?

And would you find it hard each meal to say a table grace?

Would you sing the songs you always sing and read the book you read?

And let Him know the things on which your mind and spirit feed

Would you take Jesus with you everywhere you’d planned to go,

Or would you, maybe, change your plans for just a day or so?

Would you be glad to have Him meet your very closest friends,

Or would you hope they’d stay away until His visit ends?

Would you be glad to have Him stay forever on and on,

Or would you sigh with great relief when He at last was gone?

It might be interesting to know the things that you would do,

If Jesus came in person to spend some time with you.

—Author Unknown

Conclusion

With the Ark completed,  Noah and his family “entered in” and were safely protected.

Is 59:19
……. When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.

The floods of family destruction are looking to sweep havoc in our own families,  but God has promised if we build according to his pattern and build our lives on an unshakeable ROCK we can weather the storms.

Lk 6:48
48He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.

That Rock is Christ – is your life being built on Him?

Maybe you’re here today and you haven’t yet surrendered the steering wheel of your life into Christ’s hands.  Perhaps you are struggling with some major issues in your family and today you realise that you can’t continue to live without God’s help.

Today is the day of salvation,  the time to see your past forgiven in the twinkling of an eye,  the slate wiped clean,  with a heart ready to receive Jesus as Lord and Saviour.

CALL