Look at men raising up and being responsible and accountable, following the example of Christ with their wife. Any energy and effort that you put into loving and caring for your wife, God will give you 100-fold back for it. Every lady will respond to loving leadership, done with meekness and humility. Now, you can alienate, and we talked about that a little bit this morning. That's not our goal. We want to open up. We want to encourage. We want to be able to teach families. Look in John chapter 2 and verse 12. Praise the Lord. He's so good, isn't he? His mercy endureth to all generations. In 1 John 2 and 12 it says, I write unto you little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his namesake. I write unto you fathers, because ye have known him, that is, from the beginning. I write unto you young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you little children, because ye have known the father. I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. Verse 15, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eye and the pride of life is not of the Father, but of the world. The world passeth away and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. You know, everything in the world that is a temptation is presented to look very alluring. And out of the word of luring, we get a fishing lure. And a fishing lure is designed to look like a little frog or a minnow or a worm or a leech, something that a fish would just love to eat. And the fish, many times, is not tricked by the lure. It's just his natural reaction. If he sees something like that, he snaps at it. And through the habit, a fisherman casts in that lure right next to the fish, and the fish bites it before he has a chance to even think about it. Now, on top of all that, you got to remember he has a brain about this big inside his cold-watered head. If we look at this and we think about how it applies to us, the devil paints things so that they look appealing to us, so that they are pleasant to the eye and desire And that's exactly the presentation he gave to Eve. A presentation that it was the desire to make one wise and good for food, and it was pleasant to the eye. And why don't they go ahead and eat it? And there was so much death in that fruit. God said, the day that you eat of it, you'll surely die. Here's what happened the day they ate that fruit. Cain died. Abel died. Adam died. Eve died. All of their grandchildren died. They had not been designed by God to face death and perhaps they were going to live forever in that garden, but because of sin, now that could not happen. There's a whole lot of things that happened inside of their family, inside the family of mankind. The day they ate off that tree, every person that you know that was in bondage to alcohol, they fell into that that day. Every person you know that has been enslaved by drugs and driven by that, they fell that day. Every person you know that has been enslaved in any other sin, that day they became servants to sin It just hadn't played out in history yet But it all happened when they ate off the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and here we have love not the world neither things are in the world if any man loved the world the love of the father is not in him and The three things the devil comes in a lot He tempts us with all that is in the world the lust the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father But is of the world We're just like those fish. Most of the time we're not fooled by the temptation that takes us. We choose it. We choose to sin. We would like to have the background or the cover that we were tricked but we were choosing to sin. And the Bible has given us a lot of extra accountability, and it's given us a lot of extra information. And to whom much is given, much is required. We come down and see the world passeth away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. And 18 little children, now is the last time And as you have heard that Antichrist shall come, and even now there shall be many Antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last time. As in 19, they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that they might be manifest, that they were not of us. We have three groups here in this scripture, and they're grouped up in their spiritual maturity. We have the group of little children, and that represents new Christians. And I believe that the Bible shares with us and teaches us that God gives extra care and nurture to new Christians. As Christians, we ought to seek to do the same thing. The next thing is to the fathers. And that would be a group of mature Christians. And the fathers are addressed several times throughout here. The little children are addressed several times throughout here. And then we have one more group, the young men, growing Christians. Christians that are growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ and in their faith, and they have a strength and an understanding. God has given them a few tests and trials, and they've had some victories. And through their trials and their victories, they're growing. They're growing in strength. And it says, because you have overcome the wicked one, in verse 13, it says, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you and you have overcome the wicked one. Where is the victory that overcometh the world? It's even our faith. What is the victory that overcomes temptation and the devil? God won't leave us without a way of escape. But with the temptation, he's made a way of escape that we may be able to bear it. And if we look to God in faith, we have opportunity to defeat the temptation. Now, flip over to chapter 1 of 2 John. That's a tiny little book, a few pages over. If you're not careful, you'll go right to Jude like we were this morning. And in 2 John, in verse 1, it says, unto the elect lady and her children. So we have John the elder writing and he says to the elect lady and her children, inside of this group of believers here is a lady that for one reason or other, the Bible doesn't really give us all the details, but for some reason or other she was without her husband. And she's a lady of children, it says, whom I love in the truth. And not I only, but also all they that have known the truth. For the truth's sake, which dwelleth in us and shall be with us forever. Grace be unto you, mercy and peace. From God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. son of the Father, in truth and love. I rejoiced greatly when I found that thy children are walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father. And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I write a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another, and this is the love that we walk after his commandments, And this is the commandment that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it. It's interesting because we have this Lek lady, her name is not exactly mentioned, and her children, and her children are walking in truth. What I want to point out here is that she has done a good job in teaching and training them And I do thank the Lord for every mother who does a good job exposing their children to the truth, of introducing their children to God, of maintaining a fellowship and a conversation and helping them in their faith. And certainly, if your family functions as God would have it, it provides you some easier pathways to understanding and believing in a Heavenly Father. It provides you with some better understanding of the functions of the church. Some people don't have any of that background, but here we have this single mother, and she's teaching these children. I wanted to just hit a couple points on on preparing your children and teaching them in the way of the Lord. The first one is that we should prepare them. We should teach them. We should teach them the Bible. We should teach them to pray. We should teach them respect for God. We should teach them about our faith. We ought to open the window as adults and give them a little look into our personal spiritual life. Not as a point of bragging or anything, but that they would see that we love God, that it's not academic, it's not institutional, it's personal. The next thing is that we should pray for them. And sometimes we think that we could protect them better with our presence and with our physicality, but really there is nothing greater we can do than pray for our children. And that is not affected by logistics. That's not affected by distance. Mrs. Jackson can't pray better for her children that are living in Vancouver or grandchildren. than she can the ones living in Pennsylvania. God's not affected by the distance or time. The next thing is that we should teach our children, we should prepare them, we should pray for them, we should protect them. As a parent, it never ceased to surprise me how some folks would just let their kids go anywhere with anybody. And I did not. And other parents would look at me and go, well, we're all sending our kids here. I'm like, well, I'm not. Jackie and I didn't have these kids and get a responsibility from God to always be looking for a way not to fulfill that responsibility or to pawn it off on someone else. We did not have our children stay away from us very often. It was just a handful of times because we felt personal responsibility for them. And unfortunately, the world is more wicked than we would like to think. As we worked in a Christian school, we were aware of children who were injured in spirit and mind. by people that everybody would have thought maybe they could trust. I want to say that I don't even care if somebody says overprotective. I would like to be overprotective. I would like to maintain their Innocence, I'd like to let them be a child as long as possible. I would like to not introduce them to some of the horrific facts of the world. And I know that all my children have all the understanding, knowledge of those things now. But my thoughts and ideas were they don't have to do it when they're 10 and they don't have to do it when they're 12. And they can grow into it and mature to a place where they're ready to handle it. We've shocked and lived the experience and our kids know everything before they're 14 years old. They've experienced everything before they're 14 years old. And if I can jump in and do some protecting, that's what I want to do. The next step is that you have to propel your children. It's interesting that the eagles, when they were getting ready to have the little eagles fly, they would go to the nest. You know, the eagle's nest is 2,000 pounds. It's just a bunch of sticks up there, but inside they've got it feeling pretty comfortable. And when they're getting ready to teach those little eagles how to fly, they take a lot of the cushion out of the nest and they throw it off the sides. And now the little eagles aren't really as comfortable in the nest. And they're sitting on the nest of sticks. And it's like, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch. And then, hey, we're going to teach you how to fly. Oh, we're going to get out of the nest. And then they're like a little more eager to get out of the nest. Sometimes when God's going to move you, he makes you less comfortable where you're at so that you can be ready to embrace a move a little more quickly. We should propel our children with some expectations. We ought to find the good in their character and in their life and define it back to them. Give them something to live up to. We ought to propel them with a work ethic. with an understanding that it is wholesome and healthy to work hard and to have good relationships and to be able to get along with people and to be the kind of person on a workplace or a job that everyone would say, hey, that's the kind of person we want to keep around. The last thing, and this is sometimes very difficult, Because you're always looking for a place to teach, and you're always looking for a place to critique or care or protect, and sometimes praising your children drops by the wayside. One of our basic human needs is that we need to be approved by those that we love. Let your children know that you're happy with them, that you're honored by their behavior, that you respect them, that they do well. And don't give false praise, but be a good finder and find the gold. And when you find the gold, pounce on it. I was talking to a fellow and he was fishing in a little stream in Alaska. He was fishing for trout and he saw a little piece of gold the size of the end of your thumb. Now what do you think he did when he saw that piece of gold? Oh, I'll probably get back and pick that up before I leave. Do you think he said that? No, he jumped right down on it and got it. And I was like, not let the current roll it down and it come under a rock or under a leaf or something else. And as I found it right now, I'm going to grab it. In the moment when you recognize. Stop and praise your children. When you find that nugget of gold. If you can't find anything, you are just a Grinch. You're just too picky and fussy. If you can't find anything, goes back to this morning, it's a reflection of your failure as a parent. your failure of how you failed your child, and maybe you can start in that direction and say, hey, I'm sorry I failed you, and I wanna work on building some things in your life. In Titus, we looked at this Wednesday, the aged women, likewise, in verse three of chapter two, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness. not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things, that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. When we profess as Christians And then Christian families are broken into shambles and young ladies are disillusioned and disappointed and they leave. Young men are burdened by the responsibilities of having family and they leave. The word of God is blasphemy. that you could be a blessing to a younger lady. Teach her to love her husband, teach her to love her children. Sometimes we know everything but we need to be reminded that these are the good old days and that in the moment now is the moment to make the best of things and look and understand what God's really given you. And what you actually have In Proverbs 31, 10 down through, I got a couple verses and I'll skip to 28. It says, who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband does safely trust in her so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life, and then down to 28, Her children rise up and call her blessed. Her husband also, he praises her. I want to say to the men that we need to protect and care for our wives, provide for their needs, help them with their expectations. We need to preserve them in righteousness. We need to, in that relationship, on purpose, be sensitive, understanding, patient. As Christ loved the church and gave himself for it, we have the opportunity and blessing to live our lives out for our children and for our wives. And it's a living sacrifice that is honoring to God. A man should prefer his wife to all others. I know it was part of my wedding vows that I would hold only to her. And that includes going out with the guys. They say, buy your wife perfume. Have times where you can get apart and you can play together, where you can enjoy one another's company, where you can have time and opportunity without stress. Husbands, make sure your children rise up and call her blessed. Make sure that you praise her. She's bones of your bones and flesh of your flesh. She's better than you are. And if you can't praise her, you've got some issues. I'm just in this way, families. Look at the little children. Look at the children nurtured in the admonition of the Lord. Look at the husbands and the young men and then following in God's will and having victory over sin and the devil in the world. Look at the women teaching and mentoring and encouraging. First their blessing in their own family, and then they turn around their blessing in the whole church Look at men raising up and being responsible and accountable Following the example of Christ With their wife any energy and effort that you put into loving and caring for your wife God will give you a hundredfold back for it Every lady will respond to loving leadership done with meekness and humility. Now, you can alienate, and we talked about that a little bit this morning. That's not our goal. We want to open up. We want to encourage. We want to be able to teach families. You've been listening to a message from the pulpit of Town Center Baptist Church in Happy Valley, Oregon. We invite you to come visit us at 10505 Southeast 85th Avenue in Happy Valley. If we can be of help to you, please call us at 503-659-4494. We wish you God's very best.