Click the File Folder to Download Your PDF

OR Read Online Below

Grace Bible Church
Pastor Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Tree of Life
Weekly Review
082618
Supreme Court of Heaven: Child abuse and the effects

As we continue our closing principles concerning the ninth commandment, I would like to begin with a few principles concerning the application of the word of God to your life. First of all, just because a subject may not be applicable to you, that does not negate your responsibility as a member of the RFOG to learn it as well as teach it.

For example, PRO 30:5-9, Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to His words Lest He reprove you, and you be proved a liar. Two things I asked of Thee, Do not refuse me before I die: Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, Lest I be full and deny Thee and say, “Who is the Lord?” Or lest I be in want and steal, And profane the name of my God.

The point is that whether or not a subject is of interest to you does not matter. What matters is whether or not you fulfill your obligations such as 2CO 5:20, Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

My point is “be careful that you don’t add to His word or “take away from His word,” You should learn and apply the principle that the apostle John wrote in REV 22:17-18 to not add or take away from His Word.

REV 22:17-19, And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come. And let the one who hears say, Come. And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God shall add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.”

So, what is the solution to all of this?

1PE 3:15, It is to sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;

For you to be always ready to give an answer for the reason of the hope or confidence that lies within you, then you have to learn the whole realm of Bible Doctrine with the Lord. This leads us to Point 2. The Supreme Court of Heaven (SCOH) is always Open and Available for Believers Only and for any problems we may face. This means that SCOH is always open and ready to listen whenever any believer appeals to the SCOH.

This also means that the Lord is with you and available to you no matter what it is that you are bringing to the SCOH. It may be something that is not important to you but it is important to someone else. If you desire for Him to take over whatever is that is hindering you or prohibiting you from serving God with joy and inner happiness then give whatever it is that is taunting you to the Lord.

Ask God the Holy Spirit for guidance and direction in the matter and He will always guide you to do the right thing, in the right way and at the right time. In fact, timing is of extreme importance in solving your problems within the SCOH with the power of God the Holy Spirit as your strength! We need to understand some of the very basic principles that we need to be aware of when we are serving God with joyfulness of heart. We will be targets for Satan and his kingdom of demons and fallen angels.

So, let me remind you: The supreme court of heaven is composed of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and hears cases related to the following categories:

  1. Evil in the world.
    b. Sinfulness and injustice in human affairs.
    c. The rise and the fall of nations.
    d. Anti-Semitism, personal or national.
    e. Conflicts among believers.
    f. Satanic accusations against believers.
    g. Divine discipline of believers.
    h. Child abuse.

Now, those are some of the areas that you may have to deal with in the SCOH. Let me give you some passages that guide us and direct us to some of these areas I just mentioned, but this time I will give you some passages with each point. Therefore, here they are!

  1. Evil in the world. 1TH 5:21-22, But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good;  abstain from every form of evil. Give it over to the SCOH!
  2. Sinfulness and injustice in human affairs. PSA 53:1, The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God,” They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice; There is no one who does good.

Let God handle some of these areas and don’t burden yourself.

  1. The rise and the fall of nations. REV 2:26, And he who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations;

The Lord will take care of this at His Second Coming.

  1. Anti-Semitism, personal or national. GEN 12:3, And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Always be very careful when you talk about the Jews because how you treat them will determine whether you will be under blessing or under a curse.
  2. Conflicts among believers. JAM 4:2, You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. These should be private for the Church to handle. Do not bring your negative vibes out into the cosmic system. If possible fulfill ROM 12:18. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.

1CO 5:11-6:11, But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so called brother if he should be an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves. Does any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?

Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, matters of this life? If then you have law courts dealing with matters of this life, do you appoint them as judges who are of no account in the church?

I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not among you one wise man who will be able to decide between his brethren, but brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers? Actually, then, it is already a defeat for you, that you have lawsuits with one another.

Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? On the contrary, you yourselves wrong and defraud, and that your brethren. Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.

  1. Satanic accusations against believers. REV 12:10, Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night.
  2. Divine discipline of believers. HEB 12:5-6, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,   Nor faint when you are reproved by Him; For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.”
  3. Child abuse. MAT 18:6, Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Let’s begin by reading the passage in MAT 18:1-10, At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such child in

My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling

block comes! And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out, and

throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into the fiery hell. See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you, that their angels in heaven continually behold the face of My Father who is in heaven.

Now, I have to be careful in what I say because “child abuse” has destroyed many marriages, families, and even in a social life. Before I look at these verses let’s begin with an introduction of MAT 18:1-10.

First of all, the question that needs to be answered and understood is how do children handle pressure and adversity? Depending on the age, growth, and maturity of the child, adversity, stress, and circumstances can be all one and the same. Therefore, the parents should be the child’s FLOT line of the soul (the forward defensive line of troops). Look how Moses taught the adults and the children.

DEU 6:1-9, “Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do   them in the land where you are going over to possess it, so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the

Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

 

You cannot be a FLOT line for the your children when you cannot be a FLOT line for yourself. So, the main question that needs to be answered and understood is  how did the Jewish children handle all the pressure and adversity? First of all, The parents should be there to prevent the development of stress in the life of a child. Parents have been entrusted to care for and protect the soul of their children.

What happens to the FLOT line protection, if: the parents are not there, the parents are hearers of the Word and abuse their authority or  the parents are totally inflexible with the “I am right” syndrome. This is simply (authority with no leadership), such as happens when the parents are fighting all the time or the parents do things in front of their kids that they should not do, or they tell their children doctrine is number one in their life and then they divorce.

Now this means that the child has no FLOT line but only stress from the parents who are suppose to be protecting him or her. Stress in a child’s life is directly proportional to the stability of the parents or parent. Incest and child abuse are sickening, but if one in three children are sexually abused (and they are), then probably eighty percent are mentally abused and deprived of their parental FLOT line.

Now then, listen to what I am about to say which is the fact that that your true life is based upon learning, believing, and applying the principles behind your spiritual life not advance in the cosmic system. And, believe me, we do not need teenage programs but what we really need is what the apostle Paul taught us --- we need parental application.

Many parents expect different results in their life when they do the same thing. What we really need are the changes in our doctrinal perception and application to get the differences that result from us being humble or being humiliated, whatever we choose.

When?

Whenever we’re ready and prepared we will also be thankful and grateful for all the other believers who stood with us against Satan and the kingdom of darkness. The immature or ignorant believer thinks that because he has the knowledge of divine blessings and how to receive them, and he actually thinks he is now qualified to receive those fantastic blessings as they work together with Satan and his kingdom.

Now, it is true that God blesses His people, however, He is not ashamed to call us brethren. In our day, we need more application in the area of marriage and the family. Parents need to know how to use their tools, how to use their influence  because children begin life with blind faith and trust.

If the parents destroy their children’s trust, what does the child substitute and how difficult is it going to be for him to trust God and metabolize doctrine because of garbage he developed in childhood?  Parents have the most influence in a child’s life.

God goes out of His way to do anything He can to save the soul of the abused child. He will judge those who have abused children. The believer victim must not have any mental attitude sins toward those who abused them. The greatest and highest function of your spiritual life is to win a complete victory over any traumatic experience of your life

MAT 18:1-14, all of these verses are part of one subject--young people and child abuse.

The outline of the passage:   Verses 1-4 are the background analogies.

1) The question of the disciples, verse 1.

MAT 18:1, At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

2) The illustration of the child, verse 2.

MAT 18:2, And He called a child to Himself and set him before them,

3) The analogy to conversion, verse 3.

MAT 18:3, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.

4) A second child analogy, verse 4.

MAT 18:4, Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

MAT 18:5-10 are the realities.

1) Parents are the guardians of the child’s soul, verse 5.

MAT 18:5, And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me;

2) Soul murder of the child, verse 6.

MAT 18:6, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea.

3) The first guardian of the abused child, verse 7.

MAT 18:7, Woe to the world because of {its} stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!

4) The warning to the unbeliever child abuser, verses 8-9.

MAT 18:8-9, “And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out, and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into the fiery hell.”

5) The second guardian of the abused child, verse 10.

MAT 18:10  ”See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you, that their angels in heaven continually behold the face of My Father who is in heaven.

Verses 11-13 are the recovery from child abuse.

MAT 18:11-14, [For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.] What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? And if it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety nine which have not gone astray. [And then a vital principle that needs to be mentioned in MAT 18:14], Thus it is not {the} will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.”

Alright, we just had an outline and now we are ready for more understanding on how to handle this terrible ordeal.

MAT 18:1, “At that hour the disciples came to Jesus and said, `Who then is the greater in the kingdom of heaven?”

The background to this is that the disciples have gathered for a party in honor of the Lord at the home of Peter, MAR 9:33-34. And what were the disciples doing when our Lord was teaching them this important lesson.

Well, Mark tells us in MAR 9:33-34, And they came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house, He {began} to question them, “What were you discussing on the way?” But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another which {of them was} the greatest.

All day they have been arguing about which one is the greater. The point being here that you can create your own outside pressure by the thoughts in your own soul.  Stress is what we do to ourselves. We do not need any outside help to create stress in our lives. We often deal with this stress by using a defense mechanism, which creates unconscious garbage in our souls.

Scroll to Top
Scroll to Top