Glad you're here. We're here, I don't know if this is our seventh or eighth meeting of The Godly Home, and we are in the third chapter of The Godly Home book that you all have that we get from Chapel Library. And for you that are not with us on a regular basis, we get lots of good stuff from Chapel Library. The Godly Home is a great one, The Wife's Respect is a great one, and The Husband's Love is a great one. But we are in the third chapter of this book, and this chapter is written by John Bunyan, and it's upon the family. And so in this, we have looked at the duties of the husband, we have looked at the duties of the wife, and now we are looking at the duties of parents. towards their children. All right, so if you would make sure everybody's got a booklet, it'd be good. There's a booklet that's got duties of the parents on the top. And we also have that in Spanish, Edwin. Is that in Spanish? We have some in Spanish. The Spanish ones are in the, there you go. If you'd rather have Spanish. All right, so Edwin, you need a Spanish? It's okay. Okay, all right, so anyway, we're looking at duties of parents. And I'm gonna talk to Josh after we, sometime soon, Josh doesn't have anything to do. We've got him pretty loaded down, but if you'll remember in 2023, I preached a Mother's Day message, I preached a Father's Day message, I preached a message to the children, and I preached two messages on the duties of the parents. Not because I did it, but because I had good stuff to work with. Those are some powerful lessons. And so I want us to put it on our website and put it on Sermon Audio as a series. And so we are to one of those places in the godly home that we drew from when I preached those messages. The duty of parents. And you guys have heard me say it. I'll continue to say it. I'll say it over and over and over again. especially until Christian parents get back to raising their own kids. We will continue to go down the slide of destruction. I've been going to jail for 29 years and I'm convinced we can close the county jail and we can close prisons if parents will begin to raise their children in the fear and the admonition of the Lord. We are in a crisis. The parents have given the raising of their kids over to the pad. Okay, y'all know what I'm talking about? The iPad or the phone. And then as soon as they can, they send them to a government school and they have turned the raising of their children over to the teachers, who for the most part are unsaved. And so we're in trouble. and until parents take upon them the responsibility of raising their children in the fear of the admonition of the Lord. Even in the church, even in the church, we will continue to digress. So let's pray together. Lord, I pray as we study together this morning and as the women study together at noon, that men in particular would take up their roles as fathers to raise their children to know the Lord. I pray that you would bless us as we look at this study this morning. I pray that it would bring honor and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. It would encourage these men, and it might build up the church. Lord, we love you, we praise you, and it's in Jesus' name that we do. Amen. All right, so you've got your notes, and we'll move right along because I've got plenty to cover. We'll go over and get some coffee and snacks when we get through. Ephesians chapter six, verse four. You you're looking at it says fathers do not promote your children to anger But bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord you would not believe this In the last two weeks, I've met a young man over in Pike County. He's 39 years old He you guys that have been around the block just a little bit. You'll understand this this lingo He caught his first charge in 2009 He was raised by a very godly, very controlling father. A father that probably thought he was doing well, but obviously provoked his son to wrath, okay? And if I said the name, maybe you younger guys, but this was somebody that you saw advertisements for his business on TV every time you turned on. This is back in the 70s and 80s, had a big business in Arkansas. And so it's just interesting that I'm teaching this lesson and he felt, now I don't know, I wasn't there. He may have taken it as being provoked, but surely he's taken it He is claiming it now that his father provoked him to wrath. So fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but ring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. So there is a way to do it in such a way that God gets all the glory and the children are edified in how we raise them. And that's what we're looking for. So what is God's design for the family? What does God's design look like for mothers and for dads and children? You think the Bible lays it out? You think it's pretty clear what that is? Yes, it is pretty clear. But let me ask you, even in the home, even in the home of Christian parents, how much godly parenting goes on? Not very much at all. Because, like I said, we have abdicated our responsibility to other people. So, how do we get there? How do we get to the place that parents are raising their kids? How do we get there? Well, we keep going back to God's word. We've got to teach more and more on God's design. We've got to have more and more meetings like this. We've got not only just to teach the adults, but I am so thrilled that one, two, three, four, five, six in here are not married yet. And we surely need to be teaching us how to do it and people with children how to do it. But what we really need to be doing is teaching our children what being a godly man looks like, especially in the church and in the home. Amen? And so look, I can tell you these six young men in here, I know they're ahead of where I was at that time. But let me tell you, we got lots of ground to make up. We must empower individuals to be what God intended them to be. Godly men, godly women. We need to empower people to live their lives significantly that God's called them to live. And here's three things, and you've got it there in your notes in some different places. Living every day for God's glory. Living every day in expectation of heaven. And doing all we can to take our wife and our children to heaven with us. Now, here's your biblical mandate. Forget making money. Forget having a career. Forget about winning a bass tournament, or whatever the case may be. Here is your biblical mandate as a man, to take care of your soul, to be headed to heaven, and doing all you can to take your wife and your kids with you. That's where you'll find your contentment. Matter of fact, that's where you'll find your contentment, listen to me, for eternity. headed to heaven, taking care of your own soul, without a doubt being headed to heaven, taking your wife and your kids with you. That's your biblical mandate. Everything else will fall into place. A father's primary purpose in life is to go to heaven and to take his wife and children with him. That's it. That's God's biblical mandate. A mother's primary purpose is to help her husband, now listen, help her husband to become the man of God God wants him to be, and to help to raise the kids to go to heaven. That's a mother's place, to help the man be the spiritual leader. To birth and raise the children is what the mother is to be about doing. Now listen guys, to help the husband raise the children to go to heaven, and let me tell Until we think seriously about sending mama to work every day, we're going to have a hard time getting back here. Because I can tell you, she can't work 40 hours a day, 40 hours a week, and have the energy to be your helper and the primary raiser of the children. She can't do it. It's an impossibility. There's no superwoman. Listen to me. We've got to get back there. And I think for the most part, I heard this yesterday from a young family, I heard this, we just want to buy what we want when we want it. That's the goal of most young people. We just want to get what we want when we want it. So how many jobs are they willing to work? Two or three, for sure, to get there. Malachi 2.15 said, did he not make them one, talking about a husband and a wife, with a portion of their spirit in their union? And what was God seeking when he put a godly man and a godly woman together, a godly offspring? So guard yourselves in your spirit and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. Okay? Now, we're on top of the page where your notes probably ought to kick in about now. What does this training process look like? Parents raising the children to know the Lord. You get a handout, Paul? Okay, I'm talking about the other Paul. Both of the Pauls have got them. You guys really ought to sit on different parts of the room so I could know who I'm talking to, and you'd know who I might be talking to. Okay, so what does it look like? to raise your children to know the Lord. Ephesians 6, 4. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. That's what we're looking at today. How do you bring your children up in the instruction and discipline of the Lord in such a way that you don't provoke them? That's the goal of the class today. What are mothers and fathers to do? Well, let me tell you, the last thing you want to do is to go to a parenting class taught by some psychologist or taught by the government. That's the last thing you want to do. Matter of fact, I said last Sunday, it scares me. CASA, C-A-S-A, Advocate for Oh, what's that word? Children, abused children, okay? I heard a long advertisement over in Pike County, and that group, a government group, is having parenting classes. Well, let me tell you who ought to be having parenting classes. The church. And the room ought to be filled. Amen? The room ought to be filled up. When we have marriage classes and parenting classes, the room ought to be full. Because I'm telling you guys, that's where the battle's being fought. I'm going to say it this morning in this class. I'm probably going to say it this morning in church. I'm probably going to say it often. You remember what the gay and lesbian and the queer crowd in New York said during their little chant in a gay pride parade? They're coming after what? Your children. The devil is after your children. We must do everything we can to push back and be sure he doesn't take our children. So what do we got to do? We've got to return to the ancient ways. We've got to return to diswing our kids the way the Lord says to do it. Jeremiah 6.16 says, Thus says the Lord, stand by the roads and look and ask for the ancient paths where the good way is and walk in it and find rest for your souls. It's in God's word. People won't look for it and then when they find it, they'll say this, we will not walk in that way. Even Christian parents, we will not do that. Why? Because they want two incomes that they can have what they want it when they want it. The last few years, we've been looking at family worship, and I'm glad we have. Teaching mom and dads about evangelizing and discipling their children. You men already know, hear it from me again, it is not my responsibility to teach and instruct your children in the way of the Lord and to evangelize them. It's your responsibility. It's my responsibility to teach you how to do that. Because you're the one mandated to do that, not the pastor of the local church. You are. Listen very carefully as I give to you some John Bunyan statements with a little South Arkansas translation, because John Bunyan in the 1600s didn't speak like we speak today, and you've got these to follow along. I tell you, this was one of the most impactful statements I've ever seen in my life, that John Bunyan said, your child has an eternal soul. And I tell the guys in jail, I don't care how many children you have begot out of wedlock, that you spewed your sperm into a woman in a one-night stand, even that child that was conceived has a soul that's going to spend an eternity somewhere. They have an attorney to come in in one of two places, either heaven or hell. And I can promise you, you will have the most impact of any human being upon whether your child goes to heaven or hell. Nobody else will. Your kid knows you're supposed to have that influence. The Bible teaches us that. They must be of God. They must be born again, just as each of us must be. What that means is we must work until we see that God has transformed their lives. If they're not born again, they will be assigned to burning hell and a torment forever. Listen very carefully, unless we are careful and thoughtful of those to whom we have brought into this world, they will likely perish for lack of attention. A child left unsupervised in the way of the Lord is headed for hell. What we've seen clearly in scripture is hard work. Let me tell you how much time you got for boats, side-by-sides, duck blinds, golf carts. Let me tell you how much time you got for that. Zero. Now maybe someday when your kids are gone, you might have a little time. By the time a guy works 10 or 12 hours a day to provide for his family and comes home and washes the dishes and wipes hineys and get the kid ready for bed and teach him a little about scripture, ain't got no time for nonsense. Ain't got no time for nonsense. Like Adam, we're lazy and passive. Listen to this. Lewis uses this word often and I want you to hear this word. Like Adam, we are lazy and passive if not motivated by the grace of God. If God's grace doesn't motivate us, if it doesn't motivate you and empower you, you're not going to do it. You don't have the energy to do it. It must be by God's grace. It is hard work, but come on now, guys. It will be the most rewarding thing you've ever done. When you're on your deathbed and you are convinced that all of your kids is following you to heaven, there'll be a great reward. There'll be a great reward in heaven, amen? So Ephesians 6, 4, fathers do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and the instruction of the Lord. So how do we do this? T-I-M-E, lots of time, lots of study, a lot of energy. Listen, they are being deceived by the devil, the devil's world and technology. I mean, they're after them. Every waking hour, they're after our kids. And then we load them up. We make sure they go to school every Monday morning, even if they don't feel very well. But on Sunday morning, we may let them lay out of church. That's the wrong approach. So how do we fix this mess and have no regrets? Listen, guys, if I'd have known better, I'd have done better. Same thing goes for you. Don't beat yourself up. But wherever you're at right now, grandpa, are dads with kids gone? Don't yet have grandkids? Whatever the case may be, you pitch in right now. You start reading. You start studying. You give your kids and your grandkids good books. You do all you can to overcome what we didn't do in the past, amen? Don't beat yourself up. Just get in the game. I'm glad Charles is in the game. His kids are gone. I'm glad Kelly's in the game, his kids are going huge. I'm glad you're, get in the game. If you can't do anything else, encourage the other guys. So we got a mess, guys. And here's the deal. Just, I don't know what a generation is. Is that 10 years or 18 years? I don't know what a generation is. But just one generation comes, and here's the next one. Your kids, right? They came, then they're having kids, and just that quickly, a generation's gone. So we got a lot of catching up to do. So today, we're gonna look at three detailed steps that we must be working through. Deuteronomy 6-7. I think you have this scripture. You shall teach them diligently to your children. You know what that means? With intention. Y'all have that note? Is it there? Okay. It won't just happen. Now, a lot of things ought to just happen as you're at home, but some things have to be intentional. Scripture memorization. Let me get in my mind here. Catechisms, reading, studying good books, those things are intentional, but a lot of things just happen. So teach them diligently to your children and she'll 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. All the time. For he says in Genesis 18-19, For I have chosen him, Abraham, you, us, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him. Moses makes it clear that the passing on of the faith must be intentional. You gotta make up your mind you're gonna do it. And today calls for action from the church and parents to combat this all out attack on our children and to do something about it. The kids have got to have help and we're the only ones to do it. We're the only ones concerned about their soul. That's why God gave them parents. Y'all listen to me now. Let me tell you why. Let me tell you why God gave children parents. They don't know yet what they ought to do and ought not to do. And that's why you're there. Now as they get a little older, you give them a little more rope, right? But they need parents so they'll know what to do and what not to do. This is why the church must equip and insist that parents do their jobs. Do their jobs. Absolutely do their jobs. And I have hope. Look. This may be our biggest crowd and we're eight months in, but I have hope that somewhere a small group will decide to back their ears, pray and study and raise the kids the way the Lord says to raise them. As difficult as it may be in the different situations that we're in, I believe there's a remnant ready to do it God's way. And remember, every day living for God's glory, living in expectation of heaven, and living to take your wife and kids with us to heaven. That's our mandate. Now look, we can't be satisfied unless we're out trying to do what God would have us to do. And I believe this is God's primary purpose for parents, to raise their kids to know the Lord. Now, this may be simple, but let me tell you, this, I'm talking about living for God's glory, living headed to heaven, and taking your wives and kids with you. That may be simple, but it is profound, and it's going to change things. It will change our lives. It will change the lives of our children, the church, society, the world, and give our children hope for eternity. You know, we sing about 10,000 years. That's how long we're gonna be in heaven at one time, right? But 10,000 will turn into millions of years. Get that, put that in your mind. Millions of years. Billions of years. Eternity in one of two places. You know what? We don't want to make a mistake about that. Now, it's either that way or we are Jehovah Witnesses and believe in annihilation. You know what that means? You suffer for a minute and then you're gone. Not what the Bible teaches. It's important. The Bible mandates and gives the avenue and the method of this happening. It is certain that the manners of the world are not working. Let me say it again. What's one of my most famous statements? Peaceful parenting will not work. Letting kids raise themselves is not working. That's what he gives kids' parents for. And the Bible alone gives us the proper and age-old plan for raising children. The Bible gives it to us. And I am so thankful we have good stuff out there that we can look at. I'm gonna give you a chance to jump in here in just a minute. The Bible makes it clear. Look at 2 Timothy 3, 14 through 17. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it. And have from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. So, who taught Timothy the ways of the Lord? Tell me, to what? To women. Mama and grandma. Now, I don't know where his father was, but the ones that really influenced him was mom and grandma. Verse 16 says, all scriptures God breathe. All right, so look at this now. Let me go back and get this and I'll finish that up. Okay, they know from whom they learned it. Timothy learned it from somebody that he knew he could trust. That's why it's so important that dads and moms do it. Because the kids have learned they can trust them. They may not know they can trust me. They don't see me every day. All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be completely equipped for every good work. Here's your good work. Headed to heaven, taking your wife and your kids with you. And you'll have to be a man of God in order to do that. The discipline and instruction and discipling of our children are some of the good works that the Bible instructs us in. And look guys, they are mountains of scripture dealing with raising children to know the Lord. Mountains of scripture. Proverbs alone is full of wisdom and guidance on child raising. So if we are to raise our children, we are to return to the ancient paths. I've already read it for you. Let me say it again. Jeremiah 6, 16, thus says the Lord, stand by the roads and look and ask for the ancient paths where the good way is and walk in it and find rest for your souls. But they said, we will not walk in it. So what does this look like practically? How can you raise your children to know the Lord? How can you be about going to heaven, taking your wife and your kids with you? So any comments about this introduction, generally speaking? Do we have some things to learn? Yeah, I don't know how many generations. I don't know how many generations it went. My dad, my grandpa, I don't know how far I would have to go back to find a generation that raised their children to know the Lord. But all it takes is one to lose it. And so, then we gotta come along wherever we're at. Look, look guys, look at how many generations this room can have an impact upon. Maybe four or five generations right here. Let's just multiply grandkids and grandkids and great grandkids of this group. Let's just multiply that and let's talk about how many lives we're going to impact. Any comments about what I've said? Your purpose is to be headed to heaven taking your wife and your kids with you. Is there any bigger purpose in your life than that? No. But we raise our kids as making money is the biggest purpose, or having the greatest career, or having the best recreation life that we could ever have. Brother Bruce. Yes. It just came to my mind. The word says to make disciples. Yes. Well, our first responsibility in discipling would be our kids. Absolutely. Is that not right? Absolutely. I mean, we're worried about everybody else's kids, or everybody else's... yeah. Alright, so let's just take this step, okay? Nobody is qualified to disciple anybody else until they've discipled their who? Their own house. That's the bottom line. I'm not qualified to stand here and preach to you unless I preach to my wife and my kids. And I've told you guys, I was a lost man and began to disciple my children. Molly never knows of a time that she was a disciple at the breakfast table and scripture read and prayer was said almost every morning. And she is 46. I have a 48-year-old that sometime it started in her life. So she wasn't born into that, but that's one of the reasons. Only by the grace of God. I was a lost man. I wasn't even saved yet. I think one important thing, too, is aside from just discipling them, which would be good, I'm saying that's our job. But if we're not praying for them, that there's going to be fruit out of that, like Joe. We can disciple them all day long. They're still probably lost. They're still going to face the same thing we did if we're not praying for them. What do we know? We're not going to save them. We know that. We know they're not going to save themselves. So what's that make us? Prayer warriors that what? God would save them. That's the bottom line, guys. I can't save them. Can't save us all. You can't save them. Oh, I can get them to say a prayer. You can get them to say a prayer. You can get them to walk down an aisle and make a commitment. We can get them baptized, but we can't save them. Only God can change souls. Only God can take a dead man and make him alive. Any more comments about generally speaking? I made a lot of mistakes. We brought our son to church every time it was open on Sunday. Trying to teach him, y'all excuse me, the ways of the Lord. But what we didn't do, and it's coming and going. We didn't know who he was socializing with. We didn't know what he was doing, but we were hoping that he would come home. So in raising our kids, we got to know. What to do, being intentional. Yes, and who they're hanging out with, and where they're going, and pray that what we put in them will stay with them. He's lost. God only can save him. Yes, but I know he reads the Bible every day. So Charles doesn't beat himself up. We don't beat ourselves up, but we gotta learn from it and do everything we can to help rectify the situation, amen? Don't be discouraged by it. So we've looked at the biblical mandate. Today, the how. That's where we're at. All right, you got your notes. We are on where it says, what are we to do specifically in helping them to find God and live in obedience and honor God and others in authority? Number one is discipline. Y'all see that? Okay, discipline. Obedience, honor, and respect. Listen, the fifth commandment is honor your father and your mother. If you don't teach them to respect you and to honor you, they'll never respect authority. It's a mandate. Teach them to respect you. Children, obey and honor, respect your parents. Do what, okay, teach them to do what they're told to do. Look, guys, I'm gonna count. One, two, I'm gonna count, okay? I said do this. You know, you teach them that when you say do it, they're to do it. That's what God expects from us, right? That's what we should teach them. Teach them to do what they do with a respectful attitude. You know what I'm talking about? They're gonna do it, but they're gonna let everybody know that they don't like it. Gotta teach them that's not right. Submitting to authority. Listen, if our kids never learn to submit to our authority, they'll have a hard time submitting to God's authority. We've got to teach them to submit to authority. This is a biblical mandate. Teach them to do what they're told to do when they're told. All right, discipline. All right, no instruction without discipline. Listen, guys, let me tell you one reason why education is failing, especially public education. You cannot instruct a child that's not disciplined. I don't care how much money you throw at them. If they're not disciplined so they can be instructed, you can't instruct them. It takes discipline to be instruction. Here's some more bunion. Now, to do this to purpose, okay? All right, so when we're dealing with our kids, see if kind and gentle words to get them to turn from sin into rebellion. You want to start out with words, right? You want to reason with them. You want to speak to them about their behavior. You hope words will work, right? Anybody getting this? You start out trying to use words to move your children. Let your words be thoughtful, few, and to the point. We can all be guilty of this. Jack, a six-year-old's probably not up for a five-minute lecture, okay? So we got to have a few words, they got to be thoughtful, they've got to be choice. Ask questions and make sure they've not taken, here's Charles, ask questions and make sure they've not taken up with pagans and heathens. You've got to communicate with your kids enough to know where they're going, who they're going with, and what they're doing. And listen, this is 20 years ago at church camp. This was the advice that a group of 10th, 11th, and 12th graders told Jeannie and I at church camp. What advice could I give your parents? Here's what the kids said. Ask questions, ask questions, ask questions, ask questions of your kids. What'd you do today? How'd it go? How'd you feel about that? Who'd you see today? Who are some of your friends? Ask questions, ask questions, ask questions. Make sure they're not taking up with pagans and heathens. Here's what you're gonna have to convince them. So your girl's gonna tell you, you just don't like him. And what you've got to do is convince her, it's not that you don't like him, but you've got to convince her you don't like his ways, his actions. That's what they've got to see. Psalm 99 and 8 says, Our Lord, O Lord, our God, you answer them. You are a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings. God wants us to look at the wrongdoings of people and not at the people necessarily themselves. So all that you're doing, listen, when you do it, here's what your kids gotta know. They gotta know that you love them, they gotta know that you're devoted to the Lord, and you're devoted to their mama, and you're devoted to them, and you've got to do it with humbleness, and what did Louis say? And what? Prayer. Listen, nothing we will do with our kids or from the pulpit or right here will do of any good except God do. Except God makes it go forth with power, amen? Okay. Number five, be often convincing of the day of their death and judgment to come. You know what that means? You ought to talk often about you're going to die one day. You're either going to be cremated or put in a grave. Christ is going to come back. When he comes back, he's going to call those all out of the grave, and we're all going to stand before God in judgment, and we're going to either hear heaven or hell. You need to talk to your kids often about that, because if you keep saying that over and over, Paul, what's gonna happen? They're gonna be into what? They're gonna think about it. Paul says he's sitting somewhere this week, out of the blue, he thought about dying. Hey, if kids are never, they never hear about dying, it's easy to put it out of their mind. be often convincing of their death." And which one of them? Was it Felix or one of the kings? He reasoned with him about righteousness and judgment. You know what he's talking about? Your kids must know that one day they'll stand before God in judgment. What are they going to stand before God in judgment with? What they've done or what Christ has done? These are things you got to reason about. Deuteronomy 32, 29. If they are wise, they would understand this. They would discern their latter end. Listen, young people, you will be wise to hear and learn from your parents that you're going to die, be resurrected, and face God at judgment. That'll make you wise. It'll temper everything that you do. Number six, I love it, guys. Maybe the guy I was talking about, earlier did not know this when he hadn't read Bunyan. If you are driven to spank them, do not spank them in anger. You know what that means? If you gotta give them a good whooping, don't do it when you're mad. But now listen, little guys, you can't wait next week. A little guy, a two-year-old, a three-year-old that looks at you in the face and spits in your face or does something like that, you might need to take a deep breath. But they need to handle it pretty quickly. Because if you wait till tomorrow to talk to them about it, they done forgot it, man. They've moved on. Are you with me? All right, so listen. Tell them calmly why they're being spanked. Man, what's some good stuff? You got a three-year-old, and they have just spit in your face. You sit them down in their chair, and you get down in front of them. That'd be a good thing to do. And say, Blake, do you know what you just did? Yes, sir. What did you do? I spit in your face. You know that's wrong. Reason with them, OK? Talk to them calmly. about what you're about to whoop their hineys for, okay? And tell them, it breaks my heart I have to do this. It doesn't bring me joy to spank your hiney. They need to know that. It breaks your heart that what you're doing is in obedience to the Lord and his word and your love for them. It says over and over to spare the rod is to what? Spoil the child. Tell them that if, this is so good, tell them if you would have listened to me and my instruction, you would not have to spank them. It doesn't have to be this way. So, now listen, are you trying to get to this right here? Huh? What you gotta realize, this right here is connected to this. Okay? And this right here is connected to their... You're after their mind and their heart. You remember David Miller? He said his mama was smarter than most people. She knew that his hiney was connected to his heart and his mind. That's what you're after. You're not after their hiney. You're after their heart and their mind. And listen. And kids know that if you love them, you will discipline them. And so when you don't discipline them, what do they know? That you don't care. You ain't got time nor care enough to do it. That's the truth of the matter. Pray over them. Oh, listen. How about this one? Pray over them with conviction and tears. Hey, before you whip them, wouldn't it be great to be praying over them and the whole time you're praying, all they can feel is your tears running out of your eyes and falling on their heads. And you're pleading with God for their souls. Wow! Is there a right way to do things? Huh? There's absolutely a right way to do things. All right, so Proverbs 22, 5. Folly is bound up in the heart of a child. Look at this now. But the rod of the what? Discipline. Discipline drives it far from them. Questions about discipline. Comments about discipline. You know, as a child, I wasn't really disciplined, but I didn't want to be disciplined either. Just to be honest, I just, yeah, I just, anyway, but you know, but when I think of it now, my greatest discipline in my life has been from the Lord. And the things that he has shown me, and when I was younger, he was trying to show it to me through other people, not necessarily, you know, not family members, because I didn't have any, But people within the church that didn't know me would take me to church and try to teach me and this and that. And I just wasn't about the discipline. I'm my own man, even though I'm a kid. But now that I'm older, discipline is great. It's good. Yeah, it's great. It's good. It's great. It's a tool. Yeah. that God uses, amen. All right, number two, instruction. It's the parent's role, responsibility to instruct children to believe like Christians and act like Christians. Christians, tools to do that with. The word of God. Listen, the Bible must be your primary book of instruction. It must be read, taught, and memorized. The catechism, the little tool, the catechism tool for children and adults. First of all, the parents have got to embrace it. The second thing they've got to do is introduce it to the family. It is a great way to teach your kids what we know. Other good books. You've got to always be reading, studying, praying, and thinking about getting your wife and your family to heaven. That, hey listen, that ought to occupy some of your time. Just as I sometimes have time to think and sit and think about the church and the direction the church needs to be going, a man ought to think at least weekly, at least weekly, about whether or not he's leading his family in the right way spiritually. He ought to be thinking about that. Good books. Pilgrim's Progress, it's a great book to read with your kids. Essentials of Our Faith by R.C. Sproul, Attributes of God by A.W. Pink, Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Devotion, and I had one for you guys to read to you guys this morning, but we don't have time anyway. It partook, or it had to do with what we're looking at. So here's, now we're talking about instruction now, but what is the primary instruction book? All right, so let me tell you. Did you know that public education was founded upon one, one textbook? And now in public education, it's outlawed. You know what the founders of the country said? They feared the day when the textbook was not the Bible. But yet we just continue to send our kids to that ungodly institution. Okay, now, some more bunion, do this with purpose. Do it with words easy to understand. 1 Corinthians 3, 2, I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you're not ready for it, and even now you're not ready. Just give it to the kids in a way they can understand it. You with me? It's gotta be pretty simple. Do not fill their hearts with your opinion or worldly philosophy. Fill their heads with who God is. They need to know who God is. You need to talk about righteousness and holiness. You need to talk about this life and the next life. You need to talk about judgment and eternity. You need to talk with your kids about things they can understand. Can somebody say amen? Amen. Lewis can help you more about this. What may work at your house today, next week you may have to change things. Because kids go through phases. One day they're into scripture memorization, the next week they're into doing the catechism, the next week maybe all you can do is read a chapter of scripture. You just got to figure out what works in your house. There must be much gentleness, patience, and constancy. You get that? Diligent and constant, okay? Listen, you've got to keep pounding that point home. You've got to keep talking about death. You've got to keep talking about judgment. You've got to keep talking about the holiness of God. You've got to keep talking about Christ. You've got to keep talking about repentance until they get it. They are not to be discouraged, but you are to do it with gentleness, patience, and constancy. All right, number four, convince them by your instructions, your fervency and your actions that it is true. Again, that Timothy scripture. They know who they're going to learn it from. Now, look at me. Let me tell you this, guys. You're going to have a hard time teaching it if you're not living it. So you're going to have to live it. And when you don't live it, you're going to have to own it. Confession. When you're ugly to their mama or ugly to them, they got to hear you say, I am sorry. Will you forgive me? All right, so we had discipline. No instruction without discipline. We had instruction. And lastly, discipleship. Now this is where Dylan and, I'm gonna get your name here, Jonathan are. This is where Paul is. Discipleship, and here we go. You've got to get to the place that you're living every day for God's glory, living in expectation of heaven and doing everything you can do to take your wife and kids with you to heaven. And as our kids grow older, Martin and Pablo and Amy, they've got to help Dylan and Jonathan and Paul how to figure out how to walk that out. Discipleship, okay? You're past discipline, and you're mostly past instruction, and you're at the point that you're trying to help them figure out what that looks like in their life. You with me? That's discipleship. Family worship. Look, now, family worship. You do family worship at your house, so Jonathan will know how to do it at his house. Okay? You've got to make your local church a priority. Listen, if our kids don't understand that our church is a priority, there won't be no church. We're talking about discipleship and striving to learn this, how to do this with their families. Listen, If we could just take these six young men and them to leave the home and be looking for a godly woman so they could raise their kids to know the Lord, I want you to look at the impact we could have. Because I'm about to be done. Some of my kids have already cut me off. They've already canceled me. Kids and grandkids, okay? All right, so any comments about discipleship? I'm gonna give you a couple more things from Bunyan. All right, so discipline. Look, guys, I'm telling you, they may be cute as an 18-month-old or a two-month-old throwing a little fit. It ain't cute when they're 18. And if it's not dealt with when they're young, you're gonna have to deal with it. Okay, here we go, some more bunion. Make sure that they're not learning their misconduct from you. Guys, I got two grandsons that have not seen anything in their life, and one of them's 21, took a girl that's about to graduate from Washtenaw to a prom last night. He saw no example or very little example of the right way from his daddy, who divorced his mama. What I'm telling you is, he's got lots to unlearn going forward. You with me? Lots to unlearn. We want to be sure, men, they're not gonna have to unlearn something that I taught them or you taught them. You with me? Make sure that they're not learning their misconduct from you. Teach them to take their sin, their integrity, and their morality, not to take it lightly. Okay. When they lie to you, they need called out. When they do something that's immoral, they need called out. Those are not things to be overlooked because they're really sinning against who? God. And they're really showing their what? Character. And it's got to be dealt with. Make sure you do not intentionally talk rudely to them or insult them. I'm talking about your kids. And when you do, apologize. Do not make light of their conduct or joke about their disobedience. Don't take misconduct lightly. Deal with it. That's more Bunyan. All right, so here's the ending. So, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipleship, discipline, and instruction of the Lord. Genesis 18, 19, men, I have chosen you that you may command your children and your household after you to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to us what he's promised, that we might have godly offspring. Deuteronomy 6-7, you shall teach them diligently, systematically to your children. Talk of them when you sit their house, when you walk with the wind, when you lie down, when you rise up. You guys tired yet? Now listen, I said, I said probably a, oh, a 50, 60 hour a week job. And then your real job starts. Lewis is pretty blessed, okay? He has time from the time he gets off at 12.30 to call and pray with me and to get psyched up to come home and to be a daddy and a father and a husband. Sometimes you need every bit of that time, don't you? Every bit of all those prayers. Because it's a job, guys. And guess who your number one enemy is? The devil. And he'll fight you every step of the way. Because he wants your what? He wants your kids souls. If he can't get yours, he wants your kids. You've really got an enemy. Listen, love them. Be there. You know where you need to be? Right in the middle of their lives. I know parents that wouldn't think about missing a baseball game. But they'd think about missing church. They'd think about not having their prayer time at home. Be there, right in the middle of their lives. Discipline them. Instruct them. Disciple them. Do it for God's glory. Your child's eternity is at stake. And expect God to bless you and them as you raise them to know the Lord. Any comments or questions? Let me say it again, guys. Don't beat yourself up. Charles, we'd have done better if we'd have known better, wouldn't we? That's right. You know, all that Charles and I can do is work until the day we die to fix the wrongs that we've done and to teach other men how to do it right, right? Yeah. Comments? Closing comments? All right. Here we go now. I'm going to ask you next week. Listen to me. What are you going to do different at home this week? It's probably already come to your mind. What are you going to do different at home this week? It's going to be different from Charles and Martin or Pablo. What are you going to do at home? And next week, I want you to share with me what that was and what kind of opportunity and impact you might have had. You know, in some of us, all we can do is pray, right? All we can do is be thinking and conniving how I can still have some influence. Lord, I thank you for this group of men. What an encouragement it is to me this morning for them to be here. What an encouragement it is to see older men here. That all we can do is confess what we've done wrong. pray and ask for forgiveness and do all we can to correct and to help other young men. So I pray that you'd help us do that. I pray these guys would read, I pray that they would study, I pray that they'd have a plan this week, and I pray that they'd carry it out. Lord, we love you, we praise you, and it's in Jesus' name that we do, amen.