So, dealing with the church's role in education. The teacher just announced to her class of first graders that it is now time to draw a picture, if you imagine this. The picture is stated, but the paper is being handed out and all the children, the first graders, are eagerly anticipating an opportunity to draw. They have plenty of crayons. Jimmy immediately starts to draw. The teacher walks over to Jimmy and kindly asks him, what are you drawing, Jimmy? Jimmy immediately says he has so many pictures that he would like to draw, so many different ideas of things that he would like to do in color. The teacher smiles and graciously instructs the class that today they would be drawing a picture of a flower, a yellow flower all by itself. Jimmy sheepishly smiles and draws the flower. A few years go by and Jimmy is now in the fifth grade. He had just finished all his work for the day when the teacher announced that it was time for the class to draw a picture. Any picture they wanted to draw. Jimmy thought and he thought. But he couldn't think of anything to draw. Can't you think of anything to draw, Jimmy? No, I can't think of anything. Finally, the teacher came and asked him what he would like to draw, and he had this idea. And he ended up drawing a flower, a yellow flower, all by itself. For most of us, the bulk of our educational experience was geared to teach us how to be really good at drawing yellow flowers. and yellow flowers all alone. We learn that education is a matter of following instruction rather than investigation. To follow and fit in to the various peer groups, to get good grades, to obey the teacher, so that we could get a job and be good consumers. rather than gaining wisdom and understanding so that we can learn to be godly producers. This yellow flower method of modern education consists of the mastery of predetermined information. Information that is always and only seen as a part but never as the whole. To be educated then is to know this information very, very well, and to disregard by looking down upon all other information not approved by the professionals. Mastery of information is defined by knowing it, and is tested by recounting it." Brothers and sisters, This is mind control designed to limit your God-given potential. It is education that is built on the fear of man that rejects the fear of God. But God who is rich in mercy, God who grants us his truth has a different plan. a plan to get us out of the box and into the book, the Bible. The Bible teaches us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. The Bible teaches that it is the church. Churches full of Christian families, households, are to be the educational centers of their communities, not the government-forced indoctrination centers. God does have a plan for education, and he gives that plan to his people. God has given us this plan, and we must take it back. There are outlines for this sermon. They're back on the table. Someone could go back and grab them there, so you have an outline in your hand. If there's a two-sided one, and you're gonna need both sides, there's a graph that you're gonna need to see. How can we take it back? How can the Christian church recover its place as the educational leader within the community? And there's two steps. Two steps. First step, recover the mission. Recover the mission. And that mission, given in the Great Commission, starts with the issue of authority. Education is first and foremost a matter of authority. Who has the authority to teach who, what, when, where, and why? We could ask the question, why are we here at this conference? What gives me the authority to teach you anything? Why do you think they call it compulsory education. Do you ever think about that? Why is it called that? Compulsory means having the power or authority to force something to be done. The state has declared itself to have the authority to force all the children in this nation to learn what and only what they want children to learn, when they should learn it, and how it should be learned, who should teach it, and where that should be done. This is what compulsory state education means. The state has the authority to educate, and if you break truancy laws, the state can fine and imprison parents of the children who do not comply. This is grievous. The Proverbs says in 29.2, when the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan. Or sometimes they just sing songs. Pink Floyd. wrote this song about education. We don't need no education. We don't need no thoughts control. No dark sarcasm in the classroom. Hey, teacher! Leave those kids alone. And he gives the reason why. Because all in all, you're just another brick in the wall. Let's think about what is being said. Teacher, where do you get your authority? Why should I listen to your sarcastic message where you're trying to control my thoughts? We don't want it. It's so impersonal. Just another brick in the wall, another cog in the wheel. A pupil in the assembly line, ching, ching, ching, ching, going through the motions, the robotic motions, the bells ringing, go to the classroom, the bells ringing, go to the classroom. Leave those kids alone. Where do they get this authority? The state has no answer for this question. other than cutting sarcasm and raw power. That is why state education has to be forced. It had to be forced when it started because nobody really wanted it. Children working in the factories would way rather go to the factories than go to school. That's why they call it compulsory education. Okay, so let's go back to the question, why am I teaching you? By what authority do I teach you? Well, turn in your Bible to Matthew 28, verse 18. Education is first and foremost a matter of authority. And the Bible says, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Jesus came and spoke this to them. And he says, Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. Jesus Christ has given His church the authority to teach. So I stand up here before you because I've been given the authority of Christ to do so. God delegates his authority. God has delegated a certain amount of authority to various spheres. We call these spheres jurisdictions. A jurisdiction is the outworking of God's authority that is based on lawful words which are spoken by God. For example, jurish, jurists, means law, and diction means word. Thus, a jurisdiction is created by the law, word of God. for a jurisdiction to be legitimate, its source of authority must be God's law word. As He is the source of authority, He is the law giver. God is the only unlimited and ultimate source of authority. All authority that God grants is delegated and has a limited focus within the sphere to accomplish what and only what God has given each sphere the authority to do. Each jurisdiction then is accountable to God for its purpose and function. It is the law word of God that reveals the purpose and function of each jurisdiction. So before you have an outline that has all of these jurisdictions on one page. And I want to review these. The three jurisdictions are the family, the church, and the state. And we're going to look at the mission, authority, function, discipline, and objective of each jurisdiction. What is the mission of the family? Genesis 1, 26 to 28. Be fruitful and multiply, take dominion of the earth. That is the mission of the family. The ultimate purpose of all jurisdictions is what? To the glory of God. The specific mission that is given to every family on earth is to be fruitful and multiply and take dominion. What is the purpose of your family? To glorify God. How do you accomplish that purpose? Be fruitful, multiply, take dominion. What authority has God given to the family to accomplish this mission? Fathers as leaders, parents over children. Ephesians 5, 22 to 6, 4. What is the function of the family? What functional design is given for the accomplishment of this mission? Well, from the beginning, have you not read? God made them male and female. Jesus Christ makes this very clear. So humanity is designed to glorify God and is given this mission. And so God created us male or female so that we could marry in covenant and come together to create this mission for the family. So marriage forms the foundation for the family, and family is the foundation for an orderly society. Family is designed for love, intimacy, companionship, and procreation. Parents are responsible to love and train their children and observe and oversee the establishment of future homes. It is multi-generational. Family has been given the earth to take dominion. That involves agriculture and industry. all the variety of economic developments given to the family. The earth is given to the family to take dominion. How does the family deal with disobedience? And every jurisdiction has to deal with disobedience because the function is that each jurisdiction fulfills its mission and obeys God by faith. And so when that doesn't happen, there has to be discipline in place within each jurisdiction. And for the family, God has given the powers of the rod, rebuke, instruction, education. So we summarize these simply as the rod. The objective for the family? is that generations of faithful worshipers would rise from families, generation after generation, to praise God and glorify Him and communicate to the next generation, multi-generational. That's Psalm 78. So that's, in a nutshell, the purpose of the family. It's mission, authority, function, discipline, and objective. Now let's go to the jurisdiction of the church. the jurisdiction of the church. Purpose is to glorify God. Mission, go make disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe all things. That's the mission. What is the authority given to the church? Who has authority to do this? Well, every member is responsible to carry out the Great Commission, aren't they? So each member within the body of Christ is given this commission to go and preach the gospel, Acts 8.4. And then there's specific authority given to elders who have authority to oversee the missional outworking of the church. Ephesians 4, 11 and 12, 1 Timothy 3, 1 and 2, Hebrews 13, 17. The authority. What about the function? How does the, what is, how did God design the church to function? And I could summarize that, love. Jesus said in John 13, 35, By this, all will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another." And that's a biblical understanding of love, covenantal love. The church is a local group of disciples or believers who gather together to worship Jesus Christ. It is a fellowship of saints who together express a unity of love, edification, instruction. The church is a community of faith. And they continue steadfastly in the Apostles' Doctrine of Fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Acts 2.42. What happens if someone doesn't obey in the church? Well, the church is given the power of the keys, the church discipline, the powers of rebuke, instruction, discipleship, education. What is the objective of the church? The worldwide expansion of the gospel by witnesses who obey God and teach the nations to do the same. Acts 1-8. So that's the jurisdiction of the church, the sphere sovereignty that each jurisdiction has given its mission, authority, function, discipline, and objective, all to the glory of God and for the obedience of the faith. How about the state? What is the mission of the state? 1 Peter 2.14, very simple. Sent for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do good. The state is very simple. civil magistrate authority. Who gives it that authority? God gives it that authority. Romans 13, 1-7. Civil magistrate is appointed by God and selected by men. Kings, governors, they have authority to carry out their mission. What function is that? Well, the mission weighs the establishment of justice, seeking to establish justice. So there's the holding of trials, gathering of evidence. This punishment involves the just use of force on all who do not obey. Thus, the structure and function often involves a military-like structure. Luke 7, 8. Men or elders representing their communities form a representative governing body. Exodus 18, 21 to 22, Deuteronomy 17, 8. So the function in the state is very specific to its mission. Discipline. How to deal with those who do not obey. Well, Their power is to praise those who do good. Thank you for obeying God. Good job, we give you a tax break. Maybe, don't even, it's not, actually, we don't even go into your jurisdiction. Okay, that's a thank you, right? And those who don't obey, they have the power of the sword to kill, tax, and various ways of applying justice. So you can summarize the power of the state by the sword, summarize the authority of the church with the keys, summarize the family with the rod. The objective of the state is what? Just punishment and removal of all who do not obey God. So you see, a similarity between the objectives of all of them, all of them are function to secure obedience to God. And that is not legalism, it's believing truth and applying truth by faith in the home, in the church, and in the state. Now, I've already took a minute and said, eschatologically, how it works in his system. Millennial. So, I'll take a moment and just say how it works in my system. In my system, I hope it all works out on earth, right here, right now. I hope for a post-millennial overflow of the jurisdictions all coming together and to see God's kingdom come like that. I have a post-millennial hope. All right? But I have a amillennial experience. It doesn't look like it's coming together. I know Jesus Christ is ruling and reigning now, right? But it doesn't look like it's really coming together. So I have an amillennial experience. However, I have a historic premillennial belief that tells me that when Jesus comes back, he'll make it all work out. So, That's my eschatological nuance. And I got there by getting out of dispensationalism. So I'll tip my hat a couple of different ways on that one. But back at hand here. So I hope that's helpful. Seeing that chart and just putting that all together. If you're not going to understand what we're talking about, family integration, this is fundamental worldview stuff. The jurisdictions. About thousands and thousands of questions just evaporate. Oh, this goes here. It's a biblical worldview. God is truth. He's lawgiver with the nature of man has fallen. The big picture. And then you get jurisdiction. These pieces go here in the family. These pieces go here in the church. These pieces go here in the state. Okay. Who has the primary authority and responsibility to teach of the jurisdictions? Does the state have any authority or commission or function to teach? None. None by God. So should the state be teaching like that? No. except they should maybe teaching this is good or accepting this is good and evil and this is why we're doing what we're doing. They should say that, right? We're putting this, there's a little bit, but it's very focused on not in the role of education, no. The church has the primary responsibility to teach. It's the mission of the church to teach believers in every nation. It's the mission of the church. So an educational reformation begins with the church. I believe Reformation begins in the church, not the family. However, and I'll explain that a little bit, it is the responsibility of the family to teach their children. And you get there through the jurisdictions. But the way you get there is through understanding how Jesus Christ taught, and that's with authority. Jesus Christ taught with authority, and that authority Let's just review that for a moment. Matthew 7, 28, after the Sermon on the Mount. And so it was, when Jesus had ended these things, that the people were astonished at his teaching. Why were they astonished? For he taught them as one having authority, not as the scribes. Authority, exousia. He possessed the right to command obedience in those who heard him. Jesus' teaching was distinguished by his authority, Matthew 21, 23. Now when they had come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted him as he was teaching and said, by what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority? See, they understood that the teaching of Jesus Christ was first and foremost a matter of authority. Who gives you the authority to teach this? Who gives you the authority to teach this? But Jesus answered them and said I also will ask you one thing Which if you tell me I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things and of course they could not Because they had an illegitimate authority They were rejecting authority His authority enabled him to prove that what he said was true. And because he could prove what he said was true, it always worked out in real life. Matthew chapter nine. So he got into a boat, crossed over, and came to his own city. Then behold, they brought to him a paralytic lying on a bed. Then when Jesus saw their fate, he said to the paralytic, son, be of good courage, your sins are forgiven you. And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, this man blasphemes. But Jesus, knowing their heart, said, why do you think evil in your heart? For which is easier to say your sins are forgiven you or to say arise and walk? But, verse six, that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. And the word power there in the New King James is exousia. That you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. He said to the paralytic, what? Rise, take up your bed, and go to your house. And he did it. That's how Jesus Christ taught. Jesus Christ had authority to command obedience. And they listened. Jesus never separated His actions from His words. His actions always proved His words because He had legitimate authority. He confronted those who would tend to separate their education from their ethics. They were called Pharisees. He said, you preach, but you do not practice, Matthew 23, verse three. He was always confronting them. That's why the issue of authority was always brought up. They were preaching, but they weren't practicing. Jesus always practiced what he preached, and he showed his authority in that way. So the followers of Jesus Christ have the same authority. In Matthew 10, verse one, And when He had called His 12 disciples, He gave them authority, power over unclean spirits. Acts 4.13, Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, perceiving that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled, and they realized that they had been with Jesus. Christ delegates His authority to His followers. It's a narrow authority. It's not all authority. All authority is only given to Christ, and all authority only resides in God. but he delegates that authority. Titus 2.15, speak the things, speak these things, exhort, rebuke with all authority, let no one despise you. That's what the church has been given. The first step in understanding education is first an issue of authority. Who has the authority to teach what, why, and where? Legitimate authority provides the legitimate power to do good. Without such authority, there is no real ability to do any good. That's why those who have no authority can't do it in the real world. That's why those who have no authority have to go out of the world, the real world, real life, and set up a little cubicle and say, we'll do it here, because here we can make it work. Real education happens in real life. That's how Jesus taught. Here's an example, a funny example, I think. It's from John Taylor Gatto's book, Weapons of Mass Instruction. Warren Buffett started a business at the age of six, selling ice. Coca-Cola's door-to-door in un-air-conditioned Oklahoma, Nebraska. Steadily, he added other businesses to his string, selling lost golf balls, discarded racetrack tickets looking for winners, building a system which allowed him to deliver 1,500 newspapers on one route. By the age of 13, he fully supported himself, and by age 18, he had the equivalent of $100,000 in the bank. Then he applied to the local business school, and they denied him. Why did they deny him? Because what Warren Buffett learned in real life by risk-taking, by imagination, by hard work, that's not what the schools were designed to teach. And Godot says this, he says, either they cannot teach or they will not teach. I'm saying they cannot teach because they have no authority to teach. Education must be in real life. When the church patterned itself after the world, it too loses its effectiveness to be salt and light as Christ has designed it to be. Authority has been given to the church. To do what? To do what? To do this. Go make disciples. The authority has a focus. Go make disciples. Do this. What is a disciple? A follower of Jesus Christ. How do you do that? Preach the gospel. Those who believe are baptized. Go make disciples of all the nations. So authority over who? All the people, all the families of the earth. The church has jurisdictional authority over all the families of the earth to do what? To preach the gospel, to call them to repentance, repentance and following Christ. That's a pretty big role of authority that the church of Jesus Christ has. How are those believers identified? They are by faith and they are baptized, baptizing them in the name of the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What does that discipleship consist of? What's the method? Teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. In other words, the key for the church's role in education is this. Teaching them to obey. That's how I would answer that. Teach them to obey. Why? All authority be given to the church. Teach you, all the families, all the nations, ta ethne, all the nations of the earth, to obey God. And here is one of the greatest lies regarding the Great Commission of our time. It is the separation of education from ethics. It's the separation from teaching from obeying. It takes the command to teach and narrows it down to the transfer of factual information from one person to the other. The fulfillment of this command occurs when a disciple knows the correct Content that is being taught from the Christian teacher and our entire system of Christian Education in the West is based upon this faulty premise teaching takes place when information is communicated Successful teaching is when a student can remember what is being taught the favorite method used to teach in this matter is the classroom Here is where we're at now you can't divorce a Because I know teaching involves the communication of content. That's what I'm doing right now. I believe that. Okay. But we've so narrowed it in to that only focus because we've all experienced that already. We've been pre-discipled. that as a culture, this is where we are. And this is from a very important book by George Barna, Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions, Why Children Should Be Your Church's Top, Number One Priority. And he says this, today, less than one out of every 20 families have any type of worship together, and 90% of parents who regularly attend church do not read the Bible, pray, other than at meals, or do any type of service with their children during a typical month outside of church. That's where we are. You can't divorce the whole family integrated church movement. That's what we're after. Obedience, faith-based obedience. They preach, but they do not practice. And authoritative or non-authoritative teaching, factual communication of information can go on all day long in the churches. All the Sunday schools and all the education go all day long and never touch that. Taking all the tests, yes, you can sign off on the, I believe this in this category, but in my life, I live in this box and they don't touch. That's hypocrisy and it can happen on a personal level, a person, and it can happen in an institutional level. And I believe what has happened in the church in the West is we have institutionalized hypocrisy that has disabled us from fulfilling the Great Commission because we will not practice what we preach. And so we narrow the Great Commission to the communication of information and say, look, we're doing the Great Commission, we're teaching, we're passionate about teaching, but we've divorced it from obeying. Brothers and sisters, Fulfillment of the Great Commission is not about the communication of factual information alone. That is only part of it. The command is teach them to observe all things I have commanded. What does observe mean? Here, observe does not simply mean to look at something as it does in English. I think maybe observe kind of throws us. Observe these things. So we say, okay, I'm going to observe this. Like, I'm going to look at it. That's the word. Oh, I observe it. Okay. And then I go away and live my life. In the biblical language in this context, observes, terao, means to obey. For example, in Matthew 19, 7, Jesus answers the rich young ruler stating this imperative. Terao the commands. Keep the commandments. Do you think Jesus was talking to the rich young roar and you think he just meant, hey, have you ever just look at the commands? No, he did not mean simply to look at them. He meant obey them. The same meaning is found in Matthew 28 20. The Great Commission involves the process of teaching disciples to obey God's word. For someone to teach like this, they must have authority. Teaching with authority means having the right to command and teach others to listen and obey. And to obey like this, someone must have what? Faith. I mean, if you don't have faith, what is it for you? Legalism. And Jesus Christ is not commanding, go into all the world and make legalists. who try to obey without being saved or without having faith in the gospel to power them to obey. Go into all the world, here I define them as disciples who are baptized. Teaching them this, confessing Christians who have repented of sin and trust in Christ, follow in Christ, teach them to obey all things by faith. And obey what? All that I've commanded you, all of the scriptures. Red letter edition only? No. All scriptures given by inspiration is profitable. 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17. Obey all of God's word. Why? For the glory of God, Ephesians 3.10, to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. And we say praise God, hallelujah, that is an incredible blessing. that the church gets to participate in. Now, if you put these things together, what does this look like? What does the fulfillment of the Great Commission look like? And here, I would suggest that the fulfillment of the Great Commission looks like this. The establishment of jurisdictional obedience. The establishment of jurisdictional obedience, and I believe it's the church that has been given the primary charge to communicate this, to make this like, because it's all nations, to go into all the world and teach all the nations to obey Jesus Christ in the authority that Christ has established that works itself out through delegated authority, the law word of God, jurisdictionally. So it is all about establishing God's order. How then does Christian education, the church, encourage this educational process? And this is a pivotal question. And this is a hinge point for family integrated churches. It's this. The church does not establish this by doing the role of the family. It's not by doing the role of the family, but by establishing obedience to God within the family. You see the difference? I as a pastor illustration it with this way. I as a pastor don't have the authority to go into your family and say, here, sir, dad, this is what you must do in your sphere. And I set up a program to love your wife and pay your tithes and train your children. Okay? The church doesn't set up programs and ways to do that in the family. Rather, The church has authority to make sure that it's happening within the family under the direction of parents, fathers. To encourage that and to train that. Each one doing their share within their jurisdiction. How does that happen? It's by the truth. It's by preaching the gospel. It's the mission of the church to bring God's good order to the earth. Truth is the tool that God has given us. Jesus said in John 17, 17, sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. And so the church stands back and we call for the total reunification of a unique redeemed society around the jurisdictions that God has established. So one of the fundamental purposes of the church or why I am a family integrated pastor is because I see it as a way to reestablish God's order in society. It's all about the reordering of society around biblical truth. It's what it is. It's a foundational reordering and I believe that is an essential part to the Great Commission. The reunification of a uniquely redeemed people How do you do that? You come out from among them and be separate. You come out from among them. You understand the fragmenting philosophies of the world that have just made things a mess. on purpose, just to fragment everything and compartmentalize everything and confuse everybody. So nobody knows why they're here, nobody knows their purpose or their function, or they don't even know why they're a male or a female today. My goodness, there's so much confusion. And I think it's the level of that confusion that gets us to ask fundamental questions. Why am I here? What am I doing? How does this work out? Wow, there's a biblical worldview that puts all these pieces together. So the church then comes along and says, come out from among them. Believe the gospel. Jesus died for your sins. He rose again the third day. Repent and believe the gospel. And as many as those who call, they come and they believe the gospel. They come out from among them and be separate, and God redeems the holy people. And we teach this group of people this foundational jurisdictional obedience. You say, well, where do you get that? Have you read the book of Ephesians? I get it from the Apostle Paul, who instructed people on the great glorious doctrines of salvation. That it has its source in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That the Father chooses, the Son bleeds, and the Spirit applies the great salvation. Ephesians 1. And it's by grace that you're saved through faith, not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2. And that sanctifying role of the Spirit. You've got Jews and Gentiles together in the church in Christ's resurrection. And He's given good gifts. Ephesians 4. And pastors are here to equip the saints for the work of ministry. And we need to put on truth and put off falsehood and stop lying to each other and put on, put off in this sanctification method. Amen. And it's going. And we've got Ephesians 1, 2, 3, 4. And then where does Paul work the applications into? And he goes to the home. Fathers, love your wives. Husbands, love your wives, not fathers. Husbands, love your wives. Wives, see that you submit to your husbands. Children, obey your parents. Slaves, be obedient to your master. Paul establishes the jurisdictional obedience right there. He goes from salvation to sanctification to walk in and out in jurisdictions. The law, word of God, it all funnels through this. It's the mission of the church to establish this like Paul did. Where the church has dropped the ball is by compromising with culture. not being willing to come out from among them and be separate, to be holy. And it's left families defenseless to the lies of the enemy, the lies of Satan, all of the feminism, egalitarianism, all these swift of hand, all these lies. And the church just allows the families Oh, you can redefine marriage, fine. You can redefine this, fine. Let's just not talk about the mission of the family to be fruitful multiply. Make up your own mission, there's no purpose in life. It's the undertow. And rather than confronting the culture, the church has allowed the culture to infiltrate through the families and it leaves them defenseless. rather than transforming culture for the glory of God to a uniquely redeemed community. The salt and light. Again, this is what the church is called to do. The obedience to the obedience of the faith. Paul writes in Romans 1 and he ends it, Romans 16, to the obedience, for the obedience of the faith. To be an obedient church, where church sees its mission to glorify God, I mean its purpose to glorify God, its mission to preach the gospel and make disciples with authority. When there are those who will not obey, they are And if they do not repent, they are church disciplined. Why? Because a little leaven leavens the whole lump. Bodhi did a great job preaching that. A little leaven can leaven the whole lump. And you let that fester and it spreads like gangrene throughout the churches and can ruin everything and subvert the Great Commission. James 1.22, we must be a doer of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. The charge for the church, as Paul says in 2 Timothy 4.1, I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing in His kingdom. Preach the Word and be ready in season and out of season. Convict, rebuke, exhort. with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires. Because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. But you, be watchful in all things. Endure affliction. Do the work of an evangelist. Fulfill your ministry." Fulfill your ministry. The church reinforces the jurisdictions by the preaching of the Word of God. The church informs the jurisdictions by the preaching of the Word of God. The church establishes the jurisdictions by the preaching of the Word of God. Authoritative preaching and authoritative or faith-based living obedience. Sometimes people call me on the phone and they want counseling. Are you a counselor? Yeah, I do counseling. But I want you to know, you don't pay me. I do it for free, and I do it as a pastor. Okay? If you want to make a contribution, and I'll, I mean, as long as I have time, I'll counsel anybody. Okay? But if you want to make a contribution, give it to the church, because I'm not a for-sale counselor. And again, I understand there's different ministries and whatever that they, okay, but Why? Because when I'm counseling people, I'm going to command them to obey. I'm going to command them to believe. Because that's the mission of the church. To command them to repent and believe in the gospel. That's how these things work themselves out. So the church reinforces the jurisdiction of the family. How does it do that? It teaches families their roles. So many of these questions here that were asked to vote, I was just thinking through that, I mean, a lot of what's lacking is the church isn't equipping families to be families. Right? They're not equipping families to be families. And they're going to their elders and saying, hey, we want to learn how to be a family. And they say, you are a family, be one. But we don't understand, and we're all confused, and we're coming out of the culture, and the culture's really wrecking our brain, and we don't know what a man is supposed to be like. We don't know what a woman is supposed to be like. We've had all these bad experiences. What do we do with children? Send them to Sunday school. They'll learn there. Wow, right? Discipleship. And then they come to our family integrated church, and it's still wow, right? It's still wow, it's not perfect, but we want to be honest dealing with these things openly and say, I want to encourage you to be a father in your home. And I'm not going to do that for you, but I'll show you how and I'll hold you accountable. That's the approach of the church. That's how it happens. Teach men to love their wives, wives to submit to their husbands. Teach children to be faithful to their husbands. Did I say that wrong? Teach children to be honoring to their parents. What about in the church? The jurisdictions are complementary. So we can go to Titus. This is the kind of stuff that the church is supposed to speak. And you know this passage. It illustrates it so wonderfully. We're informed by the Scripture. Titus 2, but as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine, that the older men may be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in the faith. So who's doing this teaching? Elders, right? That's Ephesians chapter 1. Elders are to hold fast the faithful word, and as he has been taught, that they may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and convict those who contradict. Why do they contradict? Because they separate their education from ethics. Titus 1.16, that they profess to know God, but in works they deny him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work. So they confess truth. They don't obey the truth. They separate their education from their ethics. So elders are appointed to go speak sound doctrine to them. And it sounds like this. The older women, likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things. That they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the Word of God may be not blasphemed. So elders are to go to families and say you must fulfill your biblical role within the jurisdiction that God has established for you. That's how it works together. And that could involve, I mean, I use the word must, and it's imperative, but there's a lot of counseling, there's a lot of love, there's a lot of, you know, falling down and mending nets. I mean, equipping the saints is a net mending job, okay? It's not like you have to, no, we walk alongside, so walk along, talk along, we, you know, shepherd with love. But if they don't obey, they're blaspheming God's word. So right here, feminism blasphemes the word of God. What do elders do? They go and they shepherd. If they're not, they're derelict of their duty. They're blaspheming God's word and they're guilty along with the people that are doing it. We have to stand before God and give an account. Likewise, exhort the young man to be sober minded. This is what sound doctrine looks like. These things, exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you, Titus 2.15. And people will despise you. People will despise me because they have itching ears, not wanting to hear. So the church establishes the jurisdiction by teaching the family to obey what God has commanded them to do. The church also establishes jurisdictional authority by reinforcing The role and function and authority of the family in the church. Well, how does that happen? Well, when you come into the church, we don't automatically fragment. That's an easy one. Okay. Here's another one. 1 Timothy 2, 11. 1 Timothy 2, 11. Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. This is in the context of the church. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. Should women speak in church? Why? No, they should not. Why? Creation ordinance. It goes against the creation ordinance pattern of God, as God designed male and female to work together. You want to talk about being radical in our day? There's people that when we do our men sharing time and the women are not permitted to speak and I go to these verses, we've had people right there, they're gone, they're out the door. That, you just stepped on a feminist toe big time. And I'm talking men and women here, all right. So I say right on, the preaching of the word of God corrects, produces, and protects the church. It's what it's supposed to do. I love people, but I love God's word more. I do love people, but I'm not accountable to people. I mean, kind of, but I'm really accountable to God, and I'm gonna give an account to God. So we must have truthful relationships based on the word of God. How about 1 Corinthians 14? This is a beautiful harmonization of the jurisdictions that is such a very important Because God does not let men off the hook. What do men want to be let off of? They want to be let off the hook. They want to be like Adam watching Eve, eating the apple, her husband who was with her, and just, you know, lollygagging around. Oh yeah, you know. God says this, 1 Corinthians 14. And again context is the church how then brethren 26 are 26 whenever you come together each you has a psalm as a teaching as a tongue as a revelation has an interpretation but all things be done for edification purpose of the meeting edify if anyone speaks in a tongue let him speak there'll be at least two or three, at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in the church, and let him speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. And the spirit of the prophets are subject to the prophets, for God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. So our best application of that is in the meeting of the church, there's an opportunity for the men to share the prophetic word of God, to share truth, okay? And there's an open time where one may speak and the other man is silent, okay? And there's an opportunity for that to happen. And I know there's different applications that people make. So the admonition for the women not to speak, I see is in that context, verse 34. Let your women keep silent in the churches for they are not permitted to speak, but they are to be submissive as the law also says, what law? Creation ordinance. And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home. In the meeting of the church, the family jurisdiction is not violated. In the meeting of the church, the family jurisdiction is upheld. Because the family is the foundational jurisdiction. It's the foundational. Everything is built. The family, the church, and the state all are built on the family jurisdiction. Men are men and leaders in the family. Men are men and leaders in the assembly. And men are to be men and leaders in the community and in the state. Let them ask their own husbands at home. The men don't get off the hook. The church is not, the church is designed to work against role reversals. Amen? The church is designed to work against role reversals. We're not supposed to facilitate role reversals in the church. We're not supposed to facilitate women taking the lead and who wants to pray and, you know, sisters want to pray, great, but the men are supposed to take the lead, lead, lead. When you start applying these things, we say no more passive men, no game boy, play boy, lazy boy. We want godly men to feel the weight and understand the weight of their calling. The church is designed to encourage men to be men. And if your wife has a question, see, God doesn't want women ignorant. He wants them obedient, well-learned and obedient. I tell you what, feminism is just, you know, women trying to get power over men, right? Theism, biblical Christianity says our power comes from God. I tell you what, you want to see a strong sister of faith? A truly strong sister of faith is someone who can sit there, have a question, and ask her husband at home and listen to her husband and show him respect and listen to him talk. That is the most uncomfortable thing for both men and women, right? A man would way rather say, yes, ma'am, and fall underline to his wife, I will obey, I'll dutifully obey you, than to have to sit there and lovingly instruct his wife and hear her questioning him. Sisters, the Bible commands you to question your husbands. Submission does not mean doormat. It's an active living out of faith with your husband. You better believe the Bible says, ask your husband at home. You don't pester him, but ask him, right? For it is shameful for women to speak in the church. Why? Because it's a role reversal, it's out of order. the correct ordering of society, a redeemed, unique redeemed society around the Word of God. That's what the church is called to do. Or did the Word of God originally come from you? So there are those who think they're more spiritual than this. And Paul says, if anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge the things which I write. You got to believe the truth, and that truth will set you free. So we see, there's just some practical applications, there's so many more on how the authority of the church, or the jurisdictions reinforce each other. The key to making this happen, and this is my last main point, my time is almost gone. Acts, I just love this passage. What do we need? We need elders, qualified elders that are living for the glory of God, that are family men, that their families qualify them to be leadership because how can a man take care of the church if he doesn't take care of the household? How can a man take care of the household if God doesn't take care of his own family, right? How can a man expect to have a fruitful ministry, multi-generational ministry, when he cuts off his own seed? Does that even make sense? Right? We're supposed to be like wanting fruit. And he's going to voluntarily make himself a eunuch and then qualify himself for the ministry so he can study education with no application. And that's his credentials for ministry, a piece of paper. Now again, we're not against pieces of paper, but that's where we are. So you can't understand the family integrated church movement, which is very imperfect and it's not the main thing. I understand all that. But what we're trying to get at is these applications to repent of our sin and to establish a biblical ordering of events in the church, the family. and in the state for the glory of God. How does that happen is effective elders. What is an effective elder? And I'll just leave it at Acts 20. Acts 20. 20-20, 20-20 vision comes from Acts 20-20. How I kept back nothing that was helpful. Paul says, I kept back nothing but was helpful, but proclaimed it to you and taught you publicly and house to house. There's the key to effective pastoral ministry. Publicly and house to house. That's how you make disciples and see that they're obeying because you go in their homes. It must be local churches that do the work. Conferences are great. I shared the purpose of this conference is to cast a vision. It can't make this happen. This happens in local churches that pastors who love the word of God more than you. hold back nothing that is helpful, and they preach it publicly, and they go to your home, and they apply it personally. Publicly and house to house. Josh McDowell said this, and I'll never forget. He said, post-modernism began when Christian leaders and Christian parents stopped applying truth in their home. I was like, whoa! That's when we moved from modernism to post-modernism. It was a statement like that. And I remembered this verse, I'm like, that's how it happened. We stopped applying truth in our personal life. We have our public life and we have our personal life. I've had several men say to me, when I'm saying that a woman's role is in the home, you can't say that, that's personal. I don't believe in a dichotomy between personal and public. In that way, truth defines that. Truth is a category. Now there are some things that are modest and immodest, right? Paul says you have presentable parts and your non-presentable parts. There are things that are immodest that happen between closed doors. Husband and wife, right? But this whole idea of this personal nebulous zone that I can go into and I can put things in a personal category and ethics can't touch it is not right. Okay. Publicly and house to house, proclaimed it to you, taught you, testifying to Jews and also to Greeks, repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. So I'm encouraging you, I'm preaching to you, I'm living with you, I'm walking with you. Repent and believe the Gospel. Repent and trust the truth. Repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. And see, I go now bound in the Spirit of Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulation await me. But none of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And indeed now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more. Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare to you The whole counsel of God. And that is my greatest motivation to hear, well done, thou good and faithful servant. I have not flinched to declare the whole counsel of God, especially where you needed it most. And that's the mark of a good shepherd who loves his flock compared to the hireling who runs away from the conflict. We walk through the conflict with our flocks. Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to do what? Shepherd the church of God, which you purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after My departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among themselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after themselves. Therefore, watch." Watch. Watch. So let's be watchful. And let's seek God to establish and recover the mission of the church. And to teach and establish jurisdictional obedience in the family, the church, and the state. In conclusion, how do we see this happening? and educational reformation, the renewing of the mind. Romans 12, one and two, renewing of the mind that you may prove. How do you prove it? You walk it out. What is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God? And by the way, as you do that, you have the opportunity to draw as many kinds of flowers God is created on as many landscapes as God is created Directed only by the law word of God That you take every truth in God's Word and press it into your soul and walk out its beauty to shine forth God's glory and God's light in Jesus name Amen