Generational Curses - Part 2

He completely left Lorena's mother and Lorena before she was three years of age, which often is the story with the occultists. They try to get a child under their control sometime between their birth and three years of age, and they try to sort of take over the mind of that child and begin to program the child for the whole process of the occult movement. Some of those are chosen to be made very useful tools in the hands of the kingdom of darkness. On top of this, she was exposed to that during those years from the time she was probably about one and a half to three years of age, and then she's never had any further overt contact with her father. Her mother was a devout Roman Catholic, and she was not just a Roman Catholic, but she was one who engaged in all of the magical things associated with some phases of Roman Catholicism, so that she had a very strange background, and yet grace and mercy was at work in Lorena's life. A 13-year-old young person who was going into high school with Lorena took a very special liking to her and took her to her church and personally led her to saving faith in the Lord Jesus. So this girl was privileged to come to know our Lord, and then also in the mysteries of grace and mercy, she had no particular way to ever get into Wheaton College, but that's what happened. And she graduated from Wheaton College and went on in her education program and has two master's degrees. And it was about maybe four years ago that the Lord, in his mercy, began to make her realize there were problems in her life for which she had no answers. Even though she had a brilliant mind and the finest of education, the generational consequences of the sin made her very isolated. Occult associates, people who are connected with the occult, wherever she was working, whatever she was doing in the education field, these people suddenly would appear. And it was obvious they were occultists by the things that they did and the things that they had in their offices and so forth. And consequently, she has had a tragic life of alienation from others, isolation, and the constant plaguing of that background has followed her. I'm happy to say that she lives in the Chicago area, so Dr. Dickinson and his wife Jean have been very gracious to minister to her. And gradually, she's beginning to get free, more and more free. But when you work with people like that, you often need a process of time, much patience, much prayer. But we're seeing tremendous progress made. And so generational evil is not an impossible thing to overcome. Grace and mercy are much more powerful. And setting people free. And that's what we're all about. So I hope that you will understand that. My wife and I, for our 50th wedding anniversary, our three daughters and their husbands got together and decided they would give us a gift of sending us to Germany to visit the historic places of the Reformation. And so for about three weeks, we had a trip to Germany. And we were privileged to have Thomas Gerlach. Some of you, he's been at some of our biennial conferences. And it was interesting that his father and I were thrust into helping spiritually oppressed people about the same time. He in Germany, and I was here in America. And we developed a very good relationship together. But Thomas is a trained theologian and a brilliant historian. So you can imagine the treat we had in visiting Martin Luther's great sites of the Reformation. But what I really wanted to see also was the place from which my generational heritage on my father's side of the family came. I knew it was in Rothenburg, but we had very little information. And we discovered that the Rothenburg that my family was associated with was a little village near Stuttgart. And so after we had finished the tour of the Reformation sites, Thomas took us to Rothenburg. And it was a very moving time in my life because I knew that there was a tremendous heritage that had flown into my life from my great-grandfather, William Ludwig Bubeck, who came in the early 1800s to America. But he wasn't saved until a personal worker led him to Christ in New York City. But I carry in my briefcase, I think I have it with me, a document that my brother who attended a family funeral got that told the story of William Ludwig Bubeck. He was a great Christian. He was a giant of the faith. He was a shoe salesman and had his own shoe business, but his main business was being a Christian. And the whole obituary that my brother had tells the story. So I knew my Christian heritage went back at least that far. But when we got in in Rothenburg, we didn't know where to go. One of the things that was so strange is even though my great-grandfather came from a family of some 14 children, there was no contact. And we even learned why that was because anybody that left Rothenburg was considered to be an outcast. They deserted the family. And so they just cut off all contact. And that was the kind of heritage that apparently he lived with because he had come to America. But we found, I'll never forget when we went into a winery because that's really a country where they grow a lot of wine. And so Thomas walked in and of course the workmen were there. They were gathering the fruit about that time we were there. And he said, are there any Bubecks here? And a young man about 19 put his hand up, said, I'm a Bubeck. And of course that was the beginning of an open door. We got information from him and I was able to interview a lady who was a Bubeck family member. And we had lots of good conversation, but it wasn't until I went to the cemetery that I was almost overwhelmed. We'd learned that this little village was a very strong supporter of the Reformation. And people were willing to die for what Martin Luther represented in the justification by faith. And so it was a very strong heritage. And the reason we went to the cemetery at the suggestion of this lady was on almost all of the tombstones, they had etched in the tombstone little words. And I couldn't help but notice how many of the Bubecks had scripture verses. And because Thomas could read the German, we discovered they were verses like to be absent from the bodies, to be present with the Lord and looking for that blessed hope and the glorious spirit. And I was so moved because all of a sudden I understood that my Christian heritage didn't just go back to William Ludwig Bubeck. It went all the way back to the Reformation. How blessed I felt. How moved I was. And it was a tremendous important thing in my life. Now, we need to understand that they're not just generational blessings, as important as that is. But because the scripture is so clear on it, there are generational sin problems that has powerful strength to do evil and to bring evil consequence upon our children. And that's one thing that impressed me so much about the outline that we have of that 25th chapter of the 1st Samuel or 2nd Samuel. Anyway, of David and Abigail and, oh, his name's out of my mind, Nabal, right. And Nabal had a tremendous heritage. He was a Calebite. Wow, wouldn't you like to have Cable? Caleb in your generational heritage. What a tremendous man he was. He stood against all of the spies who wanted to back away from God's promises. And then, of course, he wanted the mountain. Well, of course, Nabal just despised all of that and walked away from it. And he became a very wicked man. Even though he had that kind of heritage, he wasted his heritage. And what a tragedy that is. And I'm sure it happens more often than we know. But anyway, I hope that you understand that there are consequences. And as you counsel people, there's one thing you want to look for in their lives is perhaps generational iniquity that needs to be dealt with. I think every one of us that's tried to help people get free, we've had to help them deal with that issue, because sometimes it's a very powerful thing. But let's come back to the thought that generational righteousness has powerful projections for good. When I was pastoring in Oak Park, a young couple came to our church, Tom and Carol. And they had been Christians only for a short time. He was saved out of a Roman Catholic background and she out of a liberal Methodist background. But they really had transforming experiences with the Lord. I didn't lead them to Christ. They knew the Lord before they came under my oversight as their pastor. But we had a very close relationship because they somehow were drawn to understand what I was teaching them about the spiritual battles of life and that we could walk in freedom and victory. And Tom was a gifted salesman. At first, he was just a very prosperous salesman. And then eventually he formed his own company and he became the head of the company and a rather wealthy man. But his gift of selling made him an ideal prospect for leading our evangelism explosion ministry. And Tom became the leader of that. And that was back in the days when it was just beginning. In fact, D. James Kennedy only had mimeographed notes back in those days. And so we went down to Coral Ridge, the two of us, and we wanted to take the training right at the source. And that was a very profitable time. But one of the most profitable things was that Tom said to me, he said, Pastor, I've heard you talk about how you pray over your children and watch over them to protect them. And Carol and I, well, I should back up and tell you that they didn't have any children when they came and they couldn't seemingly conceive. But one Sunday while Tom was seated in church, the Lord just communicated to him that he was going to have children. And the first one born was a lovely daughter. And the second one born was their son. And so by the time we went down to Coral Ridge, those children were beginning to grow and develop as children. And he said, I would really like to know just how you do that. Would you pray not only for your children, but for mine while we're down there? And so just really delighting to have him interested. And we did that when we had our devotional time each day. And I had no idea how deep that was going into Tom's life. I didn't learn how deep it had gone until long after I'd left that church and was pastoring another place. And we had occasion to meet together. And Tom shared with me about how he, as an outgrowth of that relationship we had in prayer, that he would every night when he'd get home, often after the children had gone to bed because of his selling position, he often had to stay late. But he would still go into the room. And he would pray doctrinally over them. And I was so impressed with what I heard. I said, Tom, would you write that story for me? Because I was just beginning to write Raising Lambs Among Wolves. And I knew it would be important to include that. So those of you who've read the book, you've already heard this story, how he would go into their room and pray over them. Sometimes they'd wake up, and it was kind of a family joke as far as the kids were concerned. Those long, boring prayers. They'd hear their dad praying in their room. But it began to become very important to them, especially as they grew older. Well, they went away to Wheaton College and when Thanksgiving, they were home. And the daughter came in where Carol was preparing the food. And she said, Mom, is dad still going into our room where we've been, even though we're not home anymore and praying for daily? And Carol said, Yes, but how did you know? And she answered with tears. I saw his footprints in the carpet. Oh, how wonderful it is to have footprints in the carpet, bringing blessing to your heritage. Both of them are now married and have their own families and are living for the Lord. And the son is going to be taking over the business. So, it's just tremendous, the heritage of blessings that can come. But I need to quickly move on here because our time is rapidly going. You'll notice that we can look at some biblical and natural implications concerning the bringing of both blessings and curses through our heritage or upon our heritage. And you'll notice in your notes, you have that point, generational sin makes redemption necessary. By the way, this to me is one of the strongest evidences for this whole generational issue. And that's never made more clear than in Romans chapter 5. And there's just some rather startling statements in there about why we need to be redeemed. And it has all to do with generational sin. Look at verse 12. Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men because all sin, so that through one man, the consequence of sin that is enough to send us to hell flowed to us. I remember when I studied that, I was preaching through Romans. And for some reason, I'd never quite understood that. Somehow I'd always thought that it was my own personal sin that sent me to hell. But it's just stressed over and over in Romans 5. Again, in verse 14, nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even though those who did not sin by breaking a command as did Adam. Notice in verse 15, many died by the trespass of the one man. I'm stressing that because that's what we're talking about. Of course, the contrast is what the work of Christ does for us. But verse 16, the judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation. Verse 17, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man. Verse 18, consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men. And verse 19, for justice through the disobedience of the one man, the many were made sinners. Oh, that's powerful to make you realize the strength of this whole issue of heritage and how we're tied to the fall of Adam and what it brought to us just causes us to wonder after God's working through all of that to bring us to faith. So, generational sin makes redemption necessary. That's a pretty strong point if you want to share with others some of this important truth. The second point, generational sins produce natural disasters for children. You don't have to be too smart to look at that and know that's true. We know that when children live in an atmosphere of sin and corruption and disobedience and wickedness, that it takes a terrible toll upon them. And some of you who are part of this group have experienced that, where your parents abandoned you when you were a little child because some problem they saw they couldn't handle. And my, the hurt that brings to a little child. And you don't just walk away from that. It takes the healing of God's grace and mercy. It's so important to protect our children. One of the great disasters of our culture is the addiction to drugs, to alcohol, to pornography, to cursing and smoking, and the immorality that our children have to live with. Part of their family, and that has potential for grave disaster. They may hate their past home life and yet they're caught in the web of repeating the disaster that surrounds them. There are psychological disasters. The medical community is very familiar with that. Psychologists, and oh my, some of the things that come upon those that have been psychologically abused. I'm thinking of two boys that took a lot of my time when I passed here to no part, just because I tried to reach out to them and help them. More broken lives I've never witnessed. Where'd all that come from? From mother and dad who constantly put them down. Who said things to them like, you're no good. I don't know why we ever had you. You'll never be anything but a failure. And both parents, I never knew the father, but I knew the mother and I saw some of that coming against these two young men. The abuse that comes to children from parents' sin in that way is measureless. Thank God that grace can reach through, mercy. Both of those young men profess faith in Christ, but they walk through life pretty much with those kinds of wounds. And of course, there are physical disasters that come from the sins of the fathers and mothers. The medical community doesn't call it generational sin, but they give it other names like harmful vices or unhealthy habits. But they know the reality of it. A mother can't even smoke cigarettes, but what is going to have a negative effect upon her child that she's carrying? And then we all know about some of the other consequences that come. Alcohol, drug addiction. And there are those who have ministry to those who have been wounded by being born to addicts, alcohol and drugs. And it's not an easy thing to deal with, physical disasters. And we would be remiss if we didn't talk about the HIV. The little children are born with AIDS, and they had nothing to do with what gave them AIDS, but they have to live with it. And it's all over Africa today. Wounded, hurting children. We have one granddaughter who wants to spend her life as a missionary ministering in Africa to the AIDS children. And I just have to kind of take my hat off to that kind of vision and have to admit I really don't know anything about that kind of love, compassion. I'm so grateful it's in the life of a granddaughter. And so, there's great ministry to those. And then there are spiritual disasters, the failure of parents, even though they may be Christians, to lead their own children to Christ. What an awful consequence that is. One of the great joys of our lives, and I'm sure many of you, was to pray and watch over our children. We never tried to force them, never tried to sort of manipulate it, but we just wanted them to be under the influence where they could hear of their own personal need of Christ. And then what a joy to see them one by one come to Christ. I have a rather personal involvement with that in my own life. I was saved when I was eight years of age, and I remember it so vividly. I was in vacation Bible school, and the Holy Spirit was just dealing with me powerfully. And at the closing day, the teacher said that anyone there wanted to confess faith in Christ should just stand up and come to the front. Well, the movement of the Spirit of God was marvelous. You could have heard a pin drop. Several girls got up and went, but no boys. But all of a sudden, I just couldn't sit there anymore. And I remember standing up, and my friend, and I was in this one-room schoolhouse, and one of those two-seater desks, he snickered as I got up. But it didn't matter. The joy of the Lord just flooded upon this young boy. I knew something wonderful had happened to my mother. When my mother came to pick us up, take us home, I told her what had happened. My mother's response was so typical. She said, well, Mark, you did that last year. And I'm sure I probably did. I don't remember that at all, because it was something I did probably because the other children were doing it. But when I was eight, God did it. In my heart, it's a wonderful thing to pass on that kind of heritage to your family. Now, the next point is the one that's really difficult for a lot of people. The generational sins may introduce spiritual bondage into children's lives. People can accept the fact, yes, there are psychological wounds, and physical disasters, environmental disasters, and on. But you don't mean to tell me that a little child can be demonized because of the sins of somebody in his lineage, someone in his family heritage. And I don't think we should press this too much. I tried to discuss it a little in Raising Lambs Among Wolves, the book that's now called The Adversary at Home. But it, I believe, can be, when I was writing that book, I was thrilled to get G. Campbell Morgan's evaluation of the Mark 9, 16-22, or actually 16-29 passage. Because it seems to me that there's no way to account for that little child that was so demonized that he would fall into the fire, and he would have these demonic seizures that our Lord freed him from in answer to the pleadings of the Father. And we can rejoice in that wonderful story. And the Lord's still doing that in many situations. But the bondage perhaps had generational overtones. In verses 22-29, you remember, the Lord Jesus said, he kind of rebuked the man for saying, if you can. And Jesus responded, Jesus rebuked him, everything is possible for him that believes. And then the man confesses, what well may be, his generational sin. Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. And of course, hopefully, there was a tremendous change that took place in the father's life as well as the child. But we need to recognize that generational sin can be cleansed, it can be conquered, and the effects of it can be removed from the family. And that's why we believe this is a very important thing to interject into our whole seeking to present a balanced biblical view of the importance of spiritual warfare. And I mentioned about the application of the truth of scripture and believing God for the freeing, coming under the covering of our position in Christ and beginning to battle for our children and our grandchildren, wherever we see the problem emerging. And I would just urge you to understand your authority as a parent, as a Christian, as a believer, to battle for those under your responsibility to minister to them and to just stand strong. You know, there's nothing worth fighting for like your children. And your grandchildren before the throne of God, not to get your will done, but God's will done in their lives. And oh, how the Lord honors that. And it's just amazing the stories that could be told about how benefit has come upon children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren by the intercessions of those who understood the battle and began to really take it seriously to heart. Well, we'll kind of bring this session to a close on that note, and it's almost time for lunch. Maybe a question or two. I know I certainly have not covered all of it yet. Yeah, that's a good observation. Could it be more intense in the child than it was in the father or whoever was in the lineage that seemed to give the most ground? And let me just say that that's one of the mysteries of this whole area of study. It's not unusual for other children to be born in a family that have no particular evidence of any kind of spiritual disaster in their lives, even though they're under the same lineage. And all we can say to that is that God in His sovereignty allows that. And there's something about the demonic realm that we don't understand, that certain personalities seem to have more receptivity to the work of the spirit realm. And they try to access those people in order to dishonor God, in order to captivate or capture those children and use them for the kingdom of darkness. And so that's part of some of what we don't know and understand, perhaps won't until we get to glory. But it is a very real thing. And it's not unusual for the problem to intensify in a particular child, even though the father, as we pointed out, had an unbelief problem. The child's problem was much more serious, at least on the appearance of things. If I understood your question, I didn't hear it too well. But you're concerned about how you would approach a parent where you see there's abuse taking place very delicately and very lovingly and carefully, because that's an area of great sensitivity on their part. And sometimes you can do it through reading, sometimes through Bible study approach, where you draw them into a personal Bible study, where you're seeking to help them understand the difference between a loving approach to parenting. It doesn't mean you're not firm and guiding, but it does mean you always treat them in love. One of the truly great stories of my life, which I've shared with some of you, is I was about 11 years of age when I got my last spanking from my father, and I deserved it. My father had given me the privilege of driving our family car out into the fields where he always put, in the spring of the year, the chickens that were being prepared for market. And so he would let me go out and feed the chickens and take care of them. And of course, like most young children, driving a car at 11 years of age was a big deal. And I drove too fast sometimes, I'm sure. In fact, I know. But it was just a big deal. Well, one time when I came home, my little brother Ralph, I was eight years older than Ralph, and so he was just a toddler. He came out and when I drove in, and back in those days we had running boards on the car, some of you remember that, and so he jumped up on the running board. And brave Mark put his big strong arm out and around him, and I drove forward, and I drove backward, and my mother saw it. And she, of course, put an end to that pretty promptly. But that night after dinner, my father said, Mark, I think you and I need to have a little private time. And so he took me out to the back gate, and there was a strap there that I had put there from the horse I loved to ride, and he just conveniently talked to me about what I'd done. And then he neatly folded that strap and applied it to the seat of learning. And I was crying up a storm. I really think I was suffering much too much, but I remember what a lesson I got when I looked at my father, and tears were running down his cheeks. What an impression that made on me. I never forgot it. And it helped in my whole approach to discipline of my own children. And every child needs discipline, but there's a way to give it that's full of love. So before I break down in tears, we better quit. Thank you so much for listening, and it's time for lunch. Thank you.