Sunday Message – Special Message 2

25/03/07
<1 Samuel 2:27-29; 3:1-4; 3:19-21>

THE EDUCATING MEANS THROUGH “COMPREHENDING GOD’S PERFECT WILL”

• Our Sunday school starts next week. Not only do the teachers need to pray about it. The parents
must also receive much grace
• Sunday Schools are meant for the parents to receive greater grace because when the children
start to learn about God, the parents must pray that the children will really know God clearer
• The parents and all of us must receive these answers: 1) receive comfort and 2) renewal
• No matter what seems to be happening to your children now, God’s reason is in it. Thus, you
must receive comfort
• Since you know that God is working in your family, you must get renewed to understand God’s
work clearer
• <1 Tim 3> when Paul wrote to Timothy, he mentioned that the teachers must look after the
children. It also refers to how the pastor must teach the members
• Some parents will receive hints when they read this verse. However, it means that we must teach
our children in a way such that they like to follow us. They follow us with joy and freedom
• A lot of parents feel that they lose face because their children.
• Thus, we must teach our children within God’s perfect will
• It is because the Holy Spirit will only work in accordance to God’s perfect will.
• When the Holy Spirit works, there are infinite methods in teach our children
• A lot parents teach their children with the intent to prevent their children from turning bad or
failing.
• It is not about this intent, we must teach them in accordance to God’s prefect will
• E.g. my daughter likes to eat French fries, even when she is sick. If she really has such desires
that she won’t eat anything else apart from fries, then we would give it to her. When she falls sick
after that, we will explain to her the reason why we stopped her from eating fries. After a few
times, she will understand that the reason why we stopped her from doing is for her own good
• If we restrain our children based on our level of understanding, their level will never get beyond
us. In so doing, we are passing a lot of spiritual problems to them. Even if they receive more
education than us, our spiritual problems will be passed to them. They will not receive greater
convictions from Holy Spirit when we teach them only by our standard
• If we don’t restore the teaching method of understanding God’s perfect will, we are teaching them
subjectively. We are restricting them and all of us don’t like to be restricted.
• If the pastor becomes too subjective, a lot of members will not be pleased too. Pastors should
teach God’s absoluteness and not by their own subjective thinking.
Read <1 Samuel 2:27-29>
• v29 It is the beginning of our failure when we respect our children more than we respect God
• Our children will not listen to us when we ask them to obey God’s word if we don’t follow God’s
word ourselves
Read <1 Samuel 3:1-4, 19-21>

1. Heavenly Father’s absolute education method: Teach the parents through the process of raising
up their children
• A lot of parents are interested in education methods
• In fact, God’s method for educating the children is to let the parents be educated
• God has a method to educate us
• Many times, parents educate their children thinking they’d no choice since the children are
already born
• Such thoughts will only cause the parents to fail
• We must know God and know that we are God’s children
• Thus, God’s wish is to educate the parents first
Through our children, we will understand the following better:
1) Who is our Father? How is our relationship with the Father?
• We value our children not because they are our children. We will understand the love and
concern of God for us by looking at our children
• If possible, we will definitely want to exchange our bodies with our children’s when they
have some physical problem. This reflects God’s infinite love for us
• This is the nature of parents, which is given by God. This nature enables us to want to get
closer to God
• Through our children’s illness, we are able to see how painful it is for God and how much
more He wants to love us when we are weak
• We will become stronger after we have realized this truth. Our love for the children can
only last for some decades, but God’s love for them is for eternity
• Our children have become our idols when we start to feel miserable because of them.
When that happens, we must get reconciled with God
• Some parents will lose sight of God’s love on them once they become parents

2) The desire of the Heavenly Father

• God’s desire: Glorifying God, blessing others and building the Kingdom. This is God’s
desire for His children
• The most blessed parents are those who have a compassionate heart for other people
because of their children
• We are able to see the problems commonly faced by people after we have children. Men
are born in a way that they can get hurt easily and will often feel frustrated because of
their children.
• Thus, we have already got hold of God’s desire if we want to know His desire more when
we become parents
• When that happens, we are able to bless the people around us easily

3) God’s righteousness and love

• We must have God’s righteousness and love. Otherwise, we cannot treat our children in a
balanced manner (i.e. between love and discipline)
• God doesn’t want us to teach our children based on balanced love and discipline. God’s
100% righteousness is within His love
• God gives birth to us to sanctify and heal us
• Many Believers will be dishearten the moment they are disciplined, thinking that God
doesn’t like them. However, when we are disciplined, it is the time for us to restore our
identities as God’s children
• Parents must restore the standard of God’s love for them
• Some parents think that they are not in the wrong for beating their children because it is
for their own good. However, God’s main concern is not on whether the parents have
done correctly or not. More importantly, it is whether the parents and the children will get
closer to God after the beating
• God doesn’t give us children simply to educate them to be good people. God wants us to
get closer to Him because of the children
 4) God’s complete leading and reason in us
• For the sake of our children, we must know God’s complete leading and reasons in us
• Have we already discovered God’s guidance and reasons for all our conditions?
• We can know our parents, family, reason for my low education level, etc because of our
children
• We will only understand the depth of our parents’ love for us after we have children
ourselves
• After we are married, our parents will be most delighted when we spend time to be with
them
• We will only realize the true blessings our children bring to us and our family after we
have discovered God’s guidance and reasons for our children
• Parents’ joy and assurance in a child’s education are very important
• After the parents grasped God’s method of education, they know when they should hold on to
the children and when they can let go; they know when to beat them and when to comfort
them

2. Children’s Education: 5 means

1) Spiritual education: To teach in a practical manner
• This is the most important. We must tell our children to be connected to God spiritually
• We must use God’s truth to tell our children to be connected to God spiritually. The truth
is: God loves them very much and God is always with them
• This allows the children to have self-esteem. They are God’s children and God created all
things for them
• It is only when the children understand this truth that they are able to connect with God
• Many times, we are deceived by our own prejudice and emotions, because we do not see
the truth.
• If the children do not see God, they would think that God and their parents do not love
them when they are being beaten
• In other words, being beaten means not being loved by God
• For us, when we are disciplined, it means that God does not love us
• Many times, our frustration and pain is a result of us being deceived by our prejudice,
emotions
• Our emotions are being controlled by our Spirit
• Our own desire and mischievousness, etc are beyond our control
• Satan’s power lies in deceiving our spirit, causing us to be unable to control ourselves

2) Emotional education: Love God, love people

• Emotional education talks about love: Loving God, loving people
• Loving God, loving people = Loving God’s purpose (Glorify God, benefit people and build
His Kingdom)
• We do not use “frivolous” examples to teach them. It is not just about teaching them to
share their toys. It is about how when they share, God will give them more things.
• We all need to teach our children to learn and read but before that, we have to teach
them the reason for learning and reading.
• We have to use big and eternal examples to attract and guide the children and not use
force on them when teaching
• We also do not like others to force us to do things
• Our priorities can be seen by our children. Where is our focus?
3) Education on rationalism: Discover the potential God placed in your child
• The reason for rationale education is for us to discover the potential God placed in our
children
• No child is born being good in all areas or being weak in all areas
• Rationale education includes the knowledge of this world, language and culture, societal
knowledge, biological knowledge, etc
• When children reach the age of about two, they will start to ask many questions. We
should not belittle or ignore their questions
• When teaching them about rationale, we can discover a child’s strength and weakness.
There are some who are more interested in music while there are some who prefer
sports. Their interests are guided by the Holy Spirit
• Their interests will change along the way. When their interests change, they will
encounter different environment and people. These are related to their future
• Encourage them to explore more on themselves and not get them to follow the parents’
thinking of what is good
• One of bad examples of rationale education is when parents want their children to learn
what other children are learning
• Parents must help their children discover their strengths and their weaknesses

4) Education on Character-building: Reward and discipline

• We do not need to be overly concerned as to when we should reward and when we
should discipline them
• It is only towards our employees do we have to frequently monitor their performance and
reward/ tell them off accordingly
• There are times when children are disobedient. When they have their own desires, they
will not listen. Under that situation, we will have to encourage and reason out with them to
teach them. We should also give them alternatives to consider
• This is treating the children like humans and not just asking them to submit to our own
ways and ideologies
• If they still do not listen despite our advice and reasoning, we have to learn from God to
“turn our faces against them” and discipline them
• We have to be careful when we beat and discipline our children. If we have to do it, we
have to do it with authority
• If we discover that we tend to beat our children every one to two days, we have to self-
reflect and renew ourselves. We have to ask ourselves if there are any areas where we
have misunderstood or have not understand enough of our children
• Those children who are beaten every two to three days will become more and more
rebellious! It is obvious they do not like to be beaten. Thereafter, they may develop low
self-esteem or become a loner
• Then again, the children of those who are never beaten will not turn out to be anything
“good”

5) Societal education: Allow the children to live among other people

• Our children are children of promise
• There are some children whose conditions seems to be below standard or just ordinary
but they are good in inter-personal relationships
• Children who grow up in church will learn how to grow up with people from young
• There is no need to be too protective of the children by following them wherever they go
 • We must ensure that we allow our children to be independent in a secure environment.
Let them have their own personal space and let them discover what God has prepared
for them. When they have failed, then we come forward to teach and guide them on the
reasons for failure etc
• If we do not pray, these 5 areas of education will not work. Even if they do, there will not be a
balance
• The essential way to know God’s perfect way in teaching children is through prayer! If we do
not pray and still continue to teach all these, we will be in frustration and pain
• We have to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit when teaching our children

3. How to let my child live in blessings

1) Examine as we teach
• Examine the love of God in us and our children. Examine what is important and what is
not (e.g. whether to scold a child or not etc)
• Examine what are the appropriate words to use, ie. words that children like to listen to.
These words come when we have fixed time prayers
• We do not just pray for our children to become obedient. Instead, we need to discover
God’s perfect will in our prayers for them
• In the midst of examining, we will discover that our children may not be perfect but they
will definitely improve
• In the midst of examining, we will know what words to say first and how to proceed next.
When teaching the children, we must first encourage them, acknowledge what they say
and tell them how they can be better
• Those who do not examine will get worried for their children easily or will easily quarrel
with their spouse etc. This does not apply just to the children but also to the relationship
between partners

2) Reflect as we teach
• Our teaching method is not one that is all-encompassing and complete. The teaching
method that the Holy Spirit gives is one that requires us to continue to reflect and to
renew
• The teaching method by the Spirit is to get us to improve continually. The teaching
method by the Spirit is one that is “perfection of imperfect”
• Humans are not perfect. Therefore, we gave to grow together with our children
• It is better to teach a children from “bad to good” than to start off with very obedient
children
• The content of reflection: Tone (what is the tone we use towards our children?)
• Reflection is done while we are praying
• Teaching with reflection is done by submitting to the Holy Spirit
• Parent who do not self-reflect do not love their children but they love themselves (love
their own pride etc)

3) Discover as we teach
• We do not know everything. Therefore, we have to continue to discover as we teach
• For example, discover the children’s preference for some food and not just stop them
from eating what they like
• Talk more to them as the children slowly grow up

4) Timely Education
 • Say the appropriate words at the appropriate time
• Children would not like it when we tell them what they should do when they are very tired
and upset
• Someone who does not pray will not understand a child’s mood
• We have to teach our children in a practical way through spiritual means
• Through the children, parents would have to pray
• If you discover that you cannot teach your children in a proper manner or you do not have the
ability to teach them, the more you would want to draw closer to God. A parent who prays is
the most blessed. Their children will definitely have no problems
• The most blessed education method is one where parents draw closer to God because of
their children
Sharing and Prayer Topics
1. Discover: What is God teaching me by giving me children? Ponder: Am I close to God by
being close to my children? If not, what are the reasons?
2. Examine: Through the Sunday Message, God taught me the 5 education means. Using the
method of praying, how do I practise such means of education with my children daily?
3. To do a concentration prayer this week: To obtain Jesus Christ’s absolute answer in the
problems encountered by myself and my children!