1. God has ordained the family. God has only ordained three institutions: the family, human government, and the local church.
2. If the family goes, so will the government because strong families are the bedrock of a civilized society.
3. If the family goes, so will the churches because you cannot have strong churches without strong families.
4. God’s order for the family is found in the Bible (cf. Col.3:18-21). But I am not going to preach much on the family today.
5. I do believe however, that the modern family is all mixed up. The Bible says wives should submit themselves unto their own husbands (Col.3:18), but nowadays most wives will not submit.
6. This reminds me of the nagging wife who nagged her husband so much that she sent him to an early grave. When the preacher found out he went by the house to visit the family. He asked their youngest son, "What were your father’s last words?" The little boy said: "He didn’t have any. Mama was with him to the end."
7. And next the Bible says, "Husbands, love your wives…" (Col.3:19). Some husbands are not very loving. And some children are not very obedient (Col.3:20).
8. This is an important subject but I am not going to preach on the family. Rather I am going to preach on the family of God. There’s a popular Gospel song that goes, "I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God."
9. I am not endorsing the Gaithers’ ministry, but that particular song (and a few others) is Scriptural (cf. Eph.2:19; 3:14,15). As a matter of fact, Eph.3:15 is the only reference to the word "family" in the NT.
10. Today I would like to speak on the family of God.

I. EARTHLY TIES HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE FAMILY OF GOD.

1. To get into the family of God you must be born again (John 1:12,13; 3:7; I Peter 1:23).
2. Therefore, earthly ties have nothing to do with spiritual ties. Sometimes God will save an entire family but oftentimes He will not (cf. Acts 16:30-34; 2:39; 10:44; cf. 11:14).
3. I have said all of this as a lengthy introduction to our text (I did not forget we were going through the Gospel of Matthew.)
4. When our Lord said, "Who is my mother? and who is my brethren?" (Matt.12:48), He was making a distinction between earthly ties and spiritual ties; families of men and the family of God.
5. Some Roman Catholics teach that the "brethren" mentioned here are His "spiritual brethren" (i.e. disciples), but that would make the entire passage meaningless. If these men are His disciples, then what is the point?
6. Do you remember the time "a certain woman" shouted out, "Blessed is the womb that bare Thee, and the paps which Thou hast sucked"? (Luke 11:27). Our Lord corrected her (11:28).
7. According to the context, this incident took place around the same time as Matthew 12:46 (cf. Matt.12:45; Luke 11:26).

II. OUR LORD HAD BROTHERS AND SISTERS.

1. This is not the only passage which speaks of Mary’s children; there are a few others as well (cf. Matt.13:53-58; Mark 3:31-35; 6:1-3; Luke 8:19-21; I Cor.9:5; Gal.1:19).
2. The RCC teaches that Mary remained a virgin her whole life but this is contrary to the Bible (cf. Matt.1:18,25).
3. This ties in with their false teaching that celibacy makes one holy. Therefore, their priests and nuns are forbidden to marry (cf. I Tim.4:1-3).
4. This "doctrine of devils" has led to much mischief and immorality.

III. OUR LORD WAS REJECTED BY THE MEMBERS OF HIS OWN FAMILY (JOHN 7:1-5).

1. When our Lord hung on the cross, He asked John to look out for His mother (cf. John 19:26,27). This is probably because Joseph had died (he is last mentioned when our Lord was twelve years old), and because His brothers were still not saved.
2. I have four brothers and one sister. They all have good jobs, and many good qualities. But they are not saved. Therefore, if something should happen to me I would not want them looking after my family. I would rather have some Christian brethren take on that responsibility.
3. We know that James and Jude were converted later on, after the resurrection of our Lord (cf. I Cor.15:7; Acts 15:13; Jude 1).
4. We do not know who else was converted but Luke refers to "His brethren" being in the upper room with the other disciples (Acts 1:14).

CONCLUSION:

1. The Lord has burdened me for all of our members with unsaved loved ones. For example, my mom and dad, brothers, sister, etc.
2. We have men here with unsaved wives, and wives with unsaved husbands.
3. Or maybe you are not sure if they are saved or lost.
4. Why don’t we all gather up front and pray for our unsaved relatives.
5. God answers prayer.