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All right, so we're there in 1 Kings chapter 2, as I was studying through Kings last week and the week before, you know, David's final charge to Solomon just kind of struck me, you know, and I think there's a lot of good points out of there that we can pull from on how to become great fathers. So if you haven't guessed already, you know, I'm preaching about Father's Day because it's Father's Day. I mean, I can't promise you that every Father's Day I'm going to preach a Father's Day sermon because I'm not smart enough to, you know, recreate the wheel every year, but, you know, I'll give him my best shot. Some of this may sting to some of you, I'm not going to lie, you know, I took it easy on the mothers, but, you know, you fathers, just like David said to Solomon, hey, show thyself a man, you know, if this stings, if this hurts, you know, you need to man up, you know, and keep in mind, too, I forgot to mention this during the announcements, we do have a free gift for all the fathers here, so just, you know, if you start feeling a little sad, a little down, you know, just realize you're going to get yourself a gift, and also, remember this, the human being's giving a free 16-ounce drink out today to all fathers that go down there, so I also checked for you, they have soy milk, so, alright, keep that in mind, alright, so if you're hurt, you need comfort beyond this, you can go down there and grab you a drink, alright, so I got to give you guys a hard time, it's just how I am, I have seven points for you this morning, I think we can get through it pretty quick, I know somebody was a little irritated that I preached over an hour the last few times, but don't worry, you know, today, I'll get you out, I'll get you down to the human being, you know, with plenty of time, before they run out of coffee, alright, so, alright, so we're just going to get right into this thing, so, point number one is a faithful father gives charge to his family, and that's the title of my sermon this morning, A Faithful Father, how do we become a faithful father, what does the Bible teach on how to become a faithful father, and if you're sitting here today saying, well, I don't have any children, well, you know, you may have children one day, right, but these principles, these teachings here are for everyone, it's not just fathers, so don't think that all this doesn't apply to me, because it does apply to everyone, so you're there in 1 Kings chapter 2, look down at verse number 1, it says, now the days of David drew nigh that he should die, and he charged Solomon his son, sing, I want you to think about that phrase that David says to Solomon, or that the Bible says what David said, it says, and he charged Solomon his son, now, I want you guys to keep your place in Kings, but go to Deuteronomy chapter 6, so the narrator here says, now the days of David drew nigh that he should die, it says, and he charged Solomon his son, sing, so point number 1 is a faithful father gives charge to his family, what does that mean, it means a faithful father realizes that he is in charge, and he gives commands, because that's what the word charge means, you see, today we live in a society where that has become a bad thing to give charge to somebody, everybody understand what I'm saying, I mean, even at the place where I work, it was a couple weeks ago I did a job for somebody who had quit, who had moved on, and they were like, do you want us to pay you X amount of dollars for that job, I was like, well, I don't know, I mean, what's the deal here, what do you mean, like, well, I just wanted to know, they were literally asking me if I wanted to receive pay for that job, because that guy did all the diagnostic, he did all the hard work, all I had to do was go there and spend 5 minutes and put a part on for somebody, and they were like, do you want us to pay you the full wage, yeah, okay, no problem, it's like, what happened to the days where people were like, hey, this is how much you get paid if you do this, this is the deal, this is the deal, you see what I'm saying, unfortunately, that's become a bad thing in our country, right, we're being raised in a society where it's a wrong thing to give charge, to tell it like it is, to tell the truth, and you know what, as Christians, if we want to be a faithful father, if we want to be a faithful Christian, if we want to please God, we cannot be like that, we have got to learn how to give charge, and that's what the Holy Ghost said that David was like, he gave a charge to his son, so I want to encourage all of you in here today, especially you fathers, to learn how to give charge, not options, there's a time and a place for options, I get that, I understand that, but the real fact of the matter is, we need to learn how to give charge, there are some things that are not optional, and serving God is one of those things, everybody understands that, right, it's not optional, if you want an option, go down to the community church, they will give you plenty of options, they'll give you options on Bible versions, they'll give you options on when to attend church, they'll give you all sorts of options, right, but God's not like that, God says it's my way or the highway, right, and David obviously being a man after God's own heart is somebody who understood that, and we need to learn from him, so you're there in Deuteronomy chapter 6, look down at verse number 6, it says, and these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart, think about that, and these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart, you're not going to be able to give charge to your children and dads if you don't have God's word in your heart. Verse 7, and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shall talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by thy way, and when thou liest down and when thou risest up. So right off the bat, the second verse, what does he say, thou shalt teach them diligently, very carefully, that means you have to have had that word in your heart, you have had to have these words meditated upon in your mind, that is the only way that you can diligently teach them to your children. You say well I bring my kids to church three times a week, well that's great, but if you're not reading the Bible the rest of the days of the week, then guess what, you're already failing, you're already wrong, and don't get mad, just get right, it's okay, you can change, look I wasn't always zealous for God my whole life, my whole Christian life, I mean I got saved when I was nine years old, I went years without going to church, years, and then even when we did start going to church, I wasn't that zealous, you know, so look if I was able to make it to where I'm at today, so can every single person in this room, and don't ever forget that, it's never too late, look at verse number 8, it says, and thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. You know, we often get accused of spiritualizing everything, right, but what else are you going to do with this? You know, the spiritual application of this verse here is binding God's word in between your eyes, having it in your brain, memorizing it, reading it, thinking about it, talking about it, all the time, all the time, with your children, with your spouse, even with people at work, going out soul winning, right, always talking about the things of God, you know what, this was given to the children of Israel during this time period, and what happened? They went into perils, right? We're studying through the book of Judges, what do you see? They always go backside, why? It's because the fathers neglected to adhere to this teaching, that is why. That's why, that's what destroys God's people, it is a lack of knowledge. Look at verse number 9, and thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. So what God's saying here is, hey look, fathers, since you're the leaders, guess what, it's your duty to ensure that your entire life is surrounded by the word of God. I mean, go back up and read verse 7 again, and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house. What is the meat, what's the main thing that's spoken about in your house, dad? Is it always the things of the world, or is there time for God? What's up? Which is it? You know, what's it gonna be? What is the substance, what is the meat, what is the bulk of the things that you talk about with your family? Is it the things of God? Because you know what, it should be. You can't just rely on the preacher to tell you the things of God, you have got to study these things and put them into your own hearts so that you can diligently teach them to your children. Why? So that they can learn to do likewise, so that they can have discernment, so that they can grow, so that they can pass these things on, and so that we can continue with the mission that we have that God has given us. Now go back to Kings. Go back to 1 Kings chapter 2. So just real quick, we just read, what did we just read? That God's expectation for us is to have God's word in our minds, in our hearts, and to be everything that we do. It's true. Right? In our houses, in our jobs, everything, everywhere. Because you have no idea how quickly, if you don't do that, that you can forget. All it takes is taking one step back, and before you know it, you'll just start sliding. You'll just start sliding backwards, sliding backwards, and before you know it, you're no longer serving God. So let's move on here. Point number one is a faithful father gives charge to his family. See a faithful father realizes, you know what, there's some things that are just not optional. Some things that I cannot compromise on, and I will give charge to my children. I'm going to tell them like it is. You know what, they're not always going to like it. You know what, but that's why David said, hey, show thyself a man, right? Show thyself a man. Be strong. Right? And part of that is dealing with criticisms, it's dealing with people that are unhappy, it's dealing with your children when they're crying, when they're not happy. You know what, show thyself a man and just accept the fact that this is the charge that God has given you, this is the charge that God has given me, he has given all of us. And when we do things God's way, it's always kind of funny how things just tend to work out. All right, so point number two, a faithful father sets his children up for success. And I'm not just talking about worldly success, I'm talking about maturity. Remember what Jesus said, he said, seek ye the kingdom of God first, and then all these things will be added unto you. That's what he said, right? So we want to learn how to be mature in the Lord, and then all those other things will fall into place. You see, we've got it backwards today in America. We want to make sure that our kids go to college, we want to make sure that our kids get the best education so that they can have the more money, the more stuff, and all the goods and stuff that go along with that. But you know what, that's backwards from the word of God. That's not right. We need to have our hearts right with him first, and he will add all of that stuff unto you if it's his desire. You know, it's not always his desire that you be rich, right? I mean, rich people fall into temptation and a snare. You know, it's a dangerous thing. So be careful, guys, about wanting your children to grow up and be some elaborate, you know, politician or doctor, and there's nothing necessarily wrong with those professions. But look, you know, is that going to take them away from the things of God? You know what, it's true. There are some jobs that Christians shouldn't have, and maybe depending on the situation, those may not be one of them. You know, I would rather serve God than obey man. And you know what, that's what God would tell every single father in this room, and that's exactly what he's saying in his word here. So point number two, a faithful father sets his children up for success. Look down at verse number 22, he says, I go the way of all the earth. Be strong, therefore, and show thyself a man. So David's giving him a reality check here. He's saying, hey, look, I'm not going to be here to take care of you anymore, right? I'm going to be gone. I go the way of all the earth. And because of that, you have to be strong. You see, if David would have waited till the last day on earth for him to tell Solomon that it was too late. I don't believe that. I believe that even though David had his issues, he had as many wives and all that, I believe that he probably instilled this stuff in his children from day one. That's what I believe. Turn to First Corinthians chapter 16. So he says, I go the way of all the earth. Be strong, therefore, so for that reason, right, and show thyself a man. And you might say, okay, well, that's only because Solomon was going to take over the kingdom. Well, you know what, that's funny because Jesus said that we're all kings and priests. You know what? You are in the kingdom. You're in a leadership position in the kingdom of God, right, and it's time that we start to act like it. It's time that we start to move forward with dealing with those types of things. So while you're turning there, you know, you're going to find this phrase here, quit yourselves like man or show thyself a man, several times throughout the Bible. One example here in First Samuel chapter four verse nine, listen to this. This is the heathen talking, right? The Philistines are getting ready to go to war with God's people, and they're concerned about God. Don't you know what God did for them? How he parted the Red Sea, how he did all these miracles, and you know what their attitude was? Listen to this. It says, this is what the Philistines said, be strong and quit yourselves like men, O you Philistines, that you be not servants unto the Hebrews as they have been to you. Quit yourselves like men and fight, and you know what? If you read the rest of this chapter here, they actually win. Now obviously it's because the children of God were in disobedience during this timeframe, but even the heathen people understand, you know, even there are certain people out there that aren't saved, they understand these things though. You know, this wisdom is in the world, and these Philistines here, they understood, hey, if we just be mature, if we just man up, we might actually do something here. We might actually just win something here. So how much more would we win? How much more victory do we get? How much more success are we going to have if we do it with God on our side, right? Look at, you're there in First Corinthians 16. Look at verse number 13 says, watch ye stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. So Paul just got done ripping the Corinthians face off here, right, for 15 chapters. And the last thing that he says to him is, hey, watch ye stand fast. And then he says, quit yourselves like men, be strong. You know, and that's how, that's the attitude that we need to have. When we get our faces ripped off by God's word, when we get our faces ripped off because we did something wrong, right? You know, you kids, you need to understand this as well. You need to be strong. You need to learn to hold fast in the faith. You need to learn to watch. You need to learn to be obedient, and you need to learn to obey your parents. That's very important. You know what? Paul didn't say, hey, I'm so sorry that I, you know, I hurt your feelings. No, he's just like, hey, some of you, I don't even know if you guys are saved. You've got no discernment. I can't even give you any kind of meat. I have to just feed you with milk because you don't understand the Bible. And he's like, the last thing he says, hey, watch, stand fast, quit yourselves like men and be strong. You know, we're living in a day and age where if you really want to be a Christian, you have to be strong, right? There's a lot of persecution out there. These queers and these faggots that are running around here, they want nothing more than to harm you and your family. They want you fired from your jobs. They want to shut your banking down. They want to do all this horrible stuff. And you know what? The only way you're going to succeed, men, is if you watch and you stand fast and you be strong. You just have to settle it in your heart. You need to reach down your throat and grab your guts and pull out some intestinal fortitude in order to fight and stand fast for the things of God in this day and age. And you know what? Most people today, they're going to reject that. They're not going to do that. You know what? And it's obvious when you look out there, it's obvious when you go knock on people's doors today, what they've been taught, how they feel, right? What their mindset's like. Well, God doesn't judge anyone, so I don't want to say if I'm going to heaven or not. You know how stupid, how retard? Yes, that is retarded. That is a retarded mindset. And I know that word bothers a lot of people, but it just means not being fully mature. That's all it means. I'm not making fun of handicapped people, right? That idea that, oh, well, I don't know if I'm going to heaven. I'm not the judge. Only God can judge me. Yeah. Well, guess what? That's why we came to your door. Because he is going to judge you. And his word said that if we don't get you saved, you're going to hell. Anyways, that's another sermon. We got to move on here. So go to 1 Samuel, chapter number 18. Support number two is a faithful father sets his children up for success. We took a couple of looks of examples of what that means, right? What did Paul tell the Christians at Corinth, at the churches in Corinth? Quit yourselves like men and be strong. Dads, you know, you do us really well to learn to teach our young men to act like men and teach our young ladies to act like ladies. And guess what? That's another thing that offends people today. Isn't it? Right? We live in a society where they want to put little colored index cards out in front of two year olds and let them decide what their gender is. Right? Yeah. That's the times that we're living in today. And you know what? We can never go along with that. That is horrible. That is disgusting. But you know what? That is really what's going on today. You know, there's no more charge left in the world. It's options. Right? Give them the options for everything. Look, if you want to ruin your families, learn to not give your children charge. Learn to never say no and just give them the options to do everything. And you'll watch, you'll lose your children's hearts and you're going to fail in everything that you do. I promise you that. So what we're going to do here is we're going to take a look at two men in the Bible and how they influenced their children. And the first person we're going to take a look at this morning is King Saul and how he let envy, how he let his backslidings influence the way that he raised his own daughters. So you're there in First Samuel chapter 18. We're going to pick up the story here. This is after David's already had a lot of success. He's already, you know, been winning battles. Obviously Saul's been doing great things too up until the point where the women start singing the song that, you know, say, well, David slew his ten thousands, you know, and Saul slew is, you know, his thousands or whatever. I don't, I don't have the verse memorized, but you know, they're basically, uh, the, the people of the land, the people of this time, they're like, well, David's killing everybody. You know, I mean, David's really doing well, you know, and Saul's, you know, Saul's doing his thing, but not like David. And so Saul hears this and he gets really envious, right? And he, what happens? He starts to basically set David up for failure. He wants to kill him. He wants to drive them away. And so he's going to wind up using his own daughter to try to accomplish that. So first Samuel 18, look down to verse number 17, it says, and Saul said to David, behold, my elder daughter, Merab, her will I give thee to wife only be thou valiant for me and fight the Lord's battles. For Saul said, let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him. So you can see his evil intentions there. Look at verse 18 and David said unto Saul, who am I and what is my life or my father's family in Israel that I should be son in law to the King. I love David's attitude here. He really is a man after God's own heart. So humble, you know, just, just an awesome character. Look at verse 19 says, but it came to pass at the time when Merab, uh, Saul's daughter should have been given David or given to David that she was given unto Adriel, the Maholothite to wife and my call Saul's daughter loved David and they told Saul and the thing pleased him. Now, why did the thing please him? You got to ask yourself that question. So he's going to originally give one daughter to David. That didn't work out. So then he's like, he hears, well, my call loves David and he's like, ah, that's great. Now consider David or I'm sorry, consider Saul's attitude during this time. He's envious, he's backslidden, he's got, you know, he's getting an evil spirit sent to him from God. I mean, he's not exactly in a good state of character here, right? And he says, this thing pleases Saul. Look at verse 21. It says, and Saul said, I will give him her that she may be a snare to him and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore, Saul said to David, thou shalt this day be my son-in-law and the one of the twain. I, you know, it kind of cracks me up here, you know, and Saul's like, you know, this is great. Don't worry, David. You know, it's all going to work out. I'm going to give you my call. She loves you. But in his heart and in his mind, he knows that she's not the ideal wife. And why is that? It's because of the way that he acted. It's the way that he's raising her because of the envy, because he's removed the word of God from his heart. He's been in disobedience. Remember what Samuel told Saul. He said that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. So Saul right now, he, I mean, he's living in serious disobedience. I mean, he's been rebellious. He's been doing all these horrible things. So how do you think that affected his household? Well, apparently it affected this daughter pretty well. And he knew that she was troubled. He knew that she was a problem, but it doesn't ever say that he goes around and he tries to correct her or anything like that. It makes him happy. He's pleased that she's a bad person. It's pleasing to him that she's going to ruin this guy's life. You know, the Bible says, you know, that it's better to dwell on a house, a house top than with a contentious and brawling woman. You know, it's so true here, you know, but luckily, you know, obviously God is looking out for David. So turn to Joshua chapter 15 and we're going to take a look at a good example now. So that'd be a bad example of how envy, how backsliding, how bitterness and unchecked anger, right? Uncontrolled anger can influence and it can affect your children. So dads, look, what's the lesson here for us, right? When we allow our spirit to constantly be in a state of derision, it's going to pass on to your children, right? We saw that with Saul. Now let's look at a good example here. We're going to take a look at Caleb here. We're going to take a look at how Caleb cared for his children. Now I would give you four words to describe Caleb charge, control, confidence, and care. You see all four of those attributes if you study the life of Caleb. Now look at verse number 14. So Joshua chapter 15, look at verse 14. So Caleb's on a roll here. You know, Caleb, you remember he was one of the spies with Joshua that did not bring an evil report back to Moses when they went to spy out the promised land. You know, they were faithful. They were zealous and God said, you know what, I'm going to spare those two men and I'm going to give them long, you know, healthy life. So look at verse number 14. It says, and Caleb drove thence the three sons of Anak, Shishai and Ahimein and Talmai, the children of Anak. Verse 15, and he went up thence to the inhabitants of Deir and the name of Deir before was Kirjath Sefer. And Caleb said, he that smiteth Kirjath Sefer and taketh it, him will I give Aksa my daughter to wife. Now think about that there. This was a hard mission and Caleb knew that, right? And you can tell that Caleb loved his daughter and that Caleb had high standards for his children. Probably, you know, I mean, that's the idea here. You know, he's thinking, okay, this is a tough thing, right? He's like, I'm on a roll. I just beat these giants. You know, I'm doing good here. He's like, but my daughter's getting to the point to where she needs to marry. She needs to find somebody, right? And notice the language here. He says, him will I give, I'm going to give the charge. I'm going to tell her what's right. I'm going to give her hand in marriage. I'm not just going to make it the option in her hands. And obviously today we should give the option to our children. We shouldn't force and arrange, you know, marriages for our children and stuff like that. But nonetheless, the principle here is the same, that he had high standards. He said, okay, I've got this tough job and I know the only person that can do it is going to be right for my little girl, is going to be right for my daughter. This is going on. Look at verse number 17 says, in Othniel, the son of Canaz, the brother of Caleb took it and he gave him Aixa, his daughter to wife. Now you can go back to first Kings chapter two. I just wanted to compare really quickly those two situations, right? Where we saw Saul, he didn't care about his daughter, right? He cared about himself. He cared about his image. He cared about how he looked in front of other people more so than he did his own children. And you know what? That wound up destroying him. It destroyed his entire family. And you know what? We're not really talking about Saul in a positive light today. You know, he never really got it right. He never turned it around. But then we take a look at Caleb and how he was. I mean, he went through the wilderness for 40 years. He went through hard times. He suffered as a consequence to his brethren and the evil report that they gave. But nonetheless, he didn't get bitter, right? He didn't get angry. He didn't let that fester and pass on to his children. He said, no, I'm going to continue to serve God. I'm going to be a faithful father and I'm going to set high standards for my children. If any man is going to take my daughter, he's going to be a mighty man of valor. He's going to be somebody that wants to work hard. He's going to be somebody that serves the Lord. And you know what? Othniel, he became the first judge of Israel and we studied that a few weeks ago. So point number one was a faithful father gives charge to his family. He doesn't give options. He gives charge. Point number two is a faithful father sets his children up for success. And by success, I'm talking about godly maturity. That's what a faithful father does. He's concerned about that. And you saw that with Caleb, right? He's concerned about the future generation. He wants his daughter to marry somebody who's godly, who is mighty, who is strong. Why? Because he loved the Lord. So point number three is a faithful father instills endurance in his children. You see, it doesn't do us any good to make a temporary commitment. Say, okay, I'm going to be faithful in this area. I'm going to be faithful in this area. And then just to quit three, four months later. You know what? You have to decide to make this the long haul. That's what God's telling us here. So point number three is a faithful father instills endurance in his children. And another point here is how are you going to instill endurance in your children if you yourself don't have any endurance? If you yourself don't read the Bible, if you yourself don't pray for your children, if you yourself don't serve God, there's no way you're going to do it. Now you're just leaving it in the hands of them. Now you're back to instead of giving the charge, you're giving the option. And that's not the way that God wants us to do business. So look at verse number three, it says, and keep the charge of the Lord thy God to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes and his commandments and his judgments and his testimonies as it is written in the law of Moses. And then he goes on to tell us why that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest in whithersoever thou turnest thyself. See there is a benefit to serving God. You may not see it right away. You may not see it for months, but when God sees that your heart is turned towards him, guess what? You will prosper because he will cause you to prosper. That's what the Bible is saying. David, a man after God's own heart, a sinner just like you and I understood this. And he said, Solomon, you know what? If you listen to God's words, if you he, if you hearken to this council, guess what? That's how you're going to prosper. And you know what Solomon did it for part of his kingdom. And then what happened? He went after strange women, right? And those strange women brought him down and then the nation of Israel basically split in half and went into captivity and you know, here we are today. You know, it would do us very good to keep the charge of the Lord. So David wasn't just concerned about a temporary commitment here. He says, keep the charge, keep these things. You know what? If Solomon would have listened to this whole life, if he would have not gotten complacent, you know what? That we would, times would be different today. I mean, think about that. Who knows what would have happened? You know, they would have been, you know, a nation of 12 tribes, probably for many, many years, many more kings to come if they would have just got right, if they would have settled this stuff in their hearts and passed it down to their children. Look at verse four, that the Lord may continue his word, which he spake concerning me saying, if thy children take heed to their way to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee, said he, a man on the throne of Israel. So turn to Hebrews chapter 12. So point number three is a faithful father instills endurance in his children. That is what David wanted for Solomon. You see, we're not Calvinists here this morning. This isn't a Calvinistic church, right? Solomon had free will and you know what? He just decided, I'm the wisest man alive. I'm going to test some of these other things in the world. I'm going to test my abilities with these strange women and he failed. He lost that battle big time, he lost that battle. You know what? But we don't have to be like that. We can be different. We can make the choice to serve God. We can make the choice to walk in his testimonies, walk in his commandments and pass those things down to our children, right? Lead by example, right? Instill this stuff in your kids. It's the only way that you're going to survive. And God said, Hey, look, this is how you prosper. You know, the Bible says, train up a child in the way he should go. And when he is old, he will not depart from it. You know, and you say, okay, well, Solomon, you know, he, he made all these mistakes and he departed from it. Yeah. But when you read Ecclesiastes and you read through that book, you realize at the end of his life, he realized what had happened. You know? And I believe that Solomon, when he was at his last days, his final days, I believe he didn't depart from it. I believe he went back to the truth. Why else would God put Ecclesiastes in the Bible? Why else would God put these proverbs in the Bible if he wasn't saved? You know, I hear a lot of people out there say, well, I don't think that Solomon was saved because he, you know, he departed and he went after Asheroth and all these other gods. It's like, look, I think that was in vain just to please the wives. But nonetheless, you know what? He was saved. You could tell why. Why else would God, why would Jesus speak highly of him? You know, I mean, come on. It's just ridiculous. So you're there in Hebrews chapter 12. Look at verse number one. It says, wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witness, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. You see, the only way to win a race is to instill endurance in yourself, right? If you want to run a physical race, you have to train for endurance. Well, guess what? It's the same thing with God. It's the same thing with being a Bible believing Christian. If you want to win the race, you have got to do these things all the time. You have got to instill endurance in yourself, dad, but also in your children. You understand what I'm saying here? Paul, I believe Paul wrote Hebrews, but even if you don't, it doesn't matter. The writer of Hebrews says under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost that we have a race that we're running a race and we need to run that race with patience and with patience. What does that mean? That means you've got to have some endurance, right? You have to make that at some point in your life, your focus, that you're not going to quit, that you're not going to give up, that you're not going to be a quitter. When your children see you quit stuff, right? When they see you quit on God, guess what? That goes into their hearts, that goes into their minds, that goes into their souls. And then later on in life, they may just decide to follow suit and be just like that. I don't know if you guys remember Brother Jared who came here a few months ago and preached while we were still at Brother Mike's. He told me this story and I hope I can get the story right. I should have called him and asked him again, but I thought it was great. It was right before he moved. He was telling me that he was at the stoplight. He's got a Chevy Tahoe, just like we do, and he said he looked over and he sees this fancy car here. I want to say it was a Lamborghini, but it probably was. It was some kind of fast-looking car, and he said he revved up his engine and then Jared looked at him and was like, all right, so he revs up his engine, and then Jared said when the light turned green, he just floored it. And he said he got down to the next light, and he was just cheering because he smoked this guy. He's like, yeah, I got you in a Chevy Tahoe, eat that with your fancy car. And I guess the guy came up to the stoplight and was like, I didn't know we were racing. That's what he told you. I didn't know we were racing. You know what? And Jared's like, I'm going to preach a sermon about that someday because that's so true. There's so many Christians in life today that don't know that we're racing. They don't know that we're in a race. They have no idea. They think, okay, it's just salvation, and that's it. Oh, I got saved. I'm good. Right? Yeah, you are good. You're not going to go to hell. Praise God for that. Right? But what about the rest of it? I mean, look, there's a lot of information in this book. I mean, this is a big letter one so that I can see, but there's a lot of stuff in this book. There's a lot of stuff to learn. There's a lot of stuff to pass down. There's a lot of stuff to teach. There's a lot of stuff in our own lives that we have to get right. We are running a race. I hope everybody in here is aware of that and understands that, and you know what? We need to pass on after we die. David understood that, right? That's why he said, I go the way of all the earth, and then he said, be strong therefore and show thyself a man because he wanted his son to win that race. He wanted his son to finish that race, and you know what? That's what Jesus wants for us. He wants us to finish the race. I mean, that's why Paul poured his heart and his soul into his ministry so that we could have these words so that we could win the race. You understand what I'm saying? We need to instill endurance in ourselves, dads, and we need to make sure that we pass that on to our children. You know what? We need to pass that on to everybody that's around us. We need to be that positive influence, which is diminishing greatly from this planet. So let's move on here. Go to 1 Chronicles. Go to 1 Chronicles, and while you're turning there, I'm going to read for you out of Philippians chapter 3. So go to 1 Chronicles 29, 1 Chronicles 29. So while you're turning there, I'm going to read out of Philippians chapter 3, which says, Verse 12 says, See, one of the things that slows us down in our race is our past, right? All of us have a past. All of us have things that we are not proud of. We have sins. We make choices. You know what? Often times, the devil's like, hey, don't forget about what you did. Don't forget about that big sin that you did. Don't forget about that mistake. Are you really going to be able to serve God? But you know what Paul said? When he told the Philippians, hey, just lay the, put those things behind you. Who cares? It's done. You can't change it. Let it go. That's how you're going to win the race is just by shedding weight, right? Dropping weight. It's the same thing physically, right? If you want to run a race, the lighter you are, the faster you move typically. You know what? It's the same thing in the spiritual race. The lighter you are, the more you can let go of your past, the more you can just drop the sin, which so doth easily beset us, the faster, the more efficient, the better you will run the race. And then he says, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. So you're there in first Chronicles 29, just a real quick recap here. Point number one is a faithful father gives charge to his family. He doesn't give options. Point number two, a faithful father sets his children up for success and point number three was a faithful father instills endurance in his children. He makes sure that maturity is there and that they are set up for the long haul, not just temporary, right? And they're going to get that from you, dad. They're going to get that from your leadership, from your charge, not just from your options. Point number four, a faithful father prays for his children. A faithful father prays for his children. Well, we're talking, we started the sermon off with David's charge to Solomon. Let's look at what David did for Solomon here. This is David's prayer about his son. First Chronicles 29, look at verse number 18. First Chronicles 29 verse 18 says, Oh Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and of Israel, our fathers keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people and prepare their heart unto thee and give unto Solomon my son, a perfect heart to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies and thy statutes and to do all these things and to build the palace for the which I have made provision. So look, David wasn't a guy who was just playing games, right? David really did live out what he believed. He really did pray for his children, right? If he prayed for Solomon, then guess what? He probably prayed for Absalom too. He probably prayed for all of his children, right? He was a man after God's own heart and he's petitioning God here. He's praying for his son, right? Dad, do you pray for your children, right? You should be praying for your sons. You should be praying for your daughters. Look, I've been praying for my daughter's spouses since they were born. I really have. You know why? Because I want to look at them someday and say, you know what? I've been praying for you for 18, 19, 20, 30, 40 years. What are your days? Right guy? 40 for you guys. I think that sounds better. Kinley's on board, but Kylen's not. I don't know. We'll see. Kylen's sneaky. She's a ninja. But anyways, I've been praying for you guys. I have ever since you were, even before you were born. When I found out that you were girls, the first thing I thought of was your boyfriend. I was like, man, some days, some dude's going to come around and want these girls and you know what? I don't, I don't like the thought of that, you know? But I'm praying that God will help me with that, but also that God will help them with that as well. And you know what, Kaden? I pray for you all sorts of stuff for that boy. It's not just the spouse, it's all sorts of stuff. That's a whole nother sermon. Hey, you, you started it this morning with a bulletin, so I'm getting you back, boy. But nonetheless, we need to pray for our children's zeal, right? We need to pray for them like David prayed for Solomon, that they would obey God, that they would be in this for the long haul, right? But you know what? Learn from David. Be a man after God's own heart first, and then pray for these things and see what happens. Watch the victory. You know, I think you'll be surprised. You know, we need to pray for their future spouses. We need to pray for the things that they're going to go forth in this world to do. I mean, if there was ever a time that was important, all times have been important. Today's day and age is very important, right? Now we need to pray for, you know, for protection when they're out in town, when they're in the streets. I mean, because you never know what's going to happen, you know? We're living in perilous times, the Bible says. So let's move on here. Go to Ephesians chapter six, Ephesians chapter six. So real quick, point number one, a faithful father gives charge to his family. I said point number two, a faithful father sets his children up for success. Point number three, a faithful father instills endurance in his children. And point number four, a faithful father prays for his children. Point number five, a faithful father does not provoke his children to wrath. If you're there in Ephesians six, look at verse number four. It says, and ye fathers provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Now why do you think he says that? Provoke not your children to wrath. Go back to chapter number four and we'll take a look. Go back to Ephesians chapter four. So I always thought this was interesting. You know, when I first started reading the Bible, I'm like, why does it say that? I didn't have kids at the time, you know, it was like, man, provoke not your children to wrath. You know, my dad, you know, I love my dad, right? But he would often provoke me to wrath. He would often, you know, set me things or be like, hey, you know, how's things going at school? And I'd be like, oh, you know, all right, anybody mess with anybody saying anything kind of off? Here's what you say. Tell them blank, blank, blank, you know, all this stuff. And that, that just provoked me to wrath. That caused me to be kind of a wrathful, rebellious kind of teenager was, this is how my dad was. You know, he just, he wasn't, wasn't a Christian by any, any sort of the means. And he definitely loved to provoke me to wrath. He thought it was funny. He loved how I would just get spun up about things and just get angry. You know what? And then I'm reading the Bible. I'm like, man, I hope I don't become like that to my children. And a little bit I am to you guys, right? I try to get you, especially Kylan, because when she gets angry, man, it's, it's funny. Kinley's always angry, but, and Kaden's another case. But anyways, Paul says, Hey, look, provoke, not your children to wrath. Why is that? Look, if you're there in Ephesians four, look at verse number 30, it says, and grieve, not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed until the day of redemption, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. Now it's not saying that it's a sin or you're in, in, in great disobedience. If you ever get angry, the Bible says, be angry and sin not right. There's a time and a place to be angry. There's a time and a place for wrath, and you know what? It's not to put on your children, but Paul, before he tells us in chapter six, Hey, don't provoke your children to wrath. He already told us in chapter four, Hey, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking, he said, be put away from you, right? So the expectation here is if you don't do this, if you allow anger and you allow wrath to abide in your heart and in your soul, it's going to provoke your children to wrath. That's the whole point. That's why he says, Hey, don't provoke your children to wrath. If you allow wrath and anger and clamor and all this bitterness to just fill you up, you know what? You're not going to be able to help, but provoke your children to wrath. That's what the Bible says. And that's when it dawned on me. Okay. That's why my dad was like that. It's because he wasn't a Christian. He didn't know the word of God. He wasn't saved. He was full of wrath himself. He was bitter about Vietnam. He was bitter about the government and all this other stuff. And you know what? I love this just stir me up. You know what? That's why Paul said, Hey, provoke, not your children to wrath. And you know what the remedy is, is to let those things go yourself, dad, you know, we all have reasons to be angry, right? But when you don't drop it, when you don't let it go, it will pass on to your children. So point number four is a faithful father does not provoke his children to wrath. So let's move on here. Go to James chapter one, James chapter one. So I said point number one is a faithful father gives charge to his family. Point number two, a faithful father sets his children up for success. Point number three, a faithful father instills endurance in his children. And point number four, a faithful father prays for his children. Point number five, a faithful father does not provoke his children to wrath. Let's move on here. Point number six, a faithful father leads by example. A faithful father leads by example. Kayden, did you turn my ring around? All right, I'm just kidding. All right, James chapter one, look at verse number 19. This is often quoted to us out soul ending, we don't have time to get into all that. But verse number 19 says, wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. Again, like I already said, there's a time and a place for these things, right? That's what the Bible is teaching us here. But look at verse number 20. The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. So it's not a contradiction. What it's saying is that when you're full of wrath and you can't let it go, that is what does not work, the righteousness of God. Now look at verse 21. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness and receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save your souls. I like that word there, the engrafted word. What does that mean? Well, the word engraft means to join or to fast by grafting. It's a horticulture thing, right? When you, I don't know how to explain it very well, but, oh, I did write it down here. Okay. So I wrote down the definition of grafting just to kind of help put that into perspective. Grafting is a horticulture technique whereby tissues of plants are joined so as to continue their growth together, right? So when they do this stuff with plants and they join these things together, right? They become part of one another. It's kind of like when you get married, man, right? These two become one flesh. You know, you feed off of each other, you become like one another. Hopefully that's the thing. It's basically transplanting living tissue. So when in horticulture, when they join these plants together, right, they become living together. That's what the Bible says the word of God does. It's the engrafted word. So when you put these things into your heart and into your mind, it becomes alive, right? When you copy these things down and you put them on your gates and on your fence post, guess what? It becomes alive because God's word doesn't just get copied. It gets engrafted. It's alive, right? When I take these words and I write them down in here, you know what? That's this is a living document. That's what it's saying. And when you put them into your hearts and your minds, guess what? It becomes alive into your heart and into your soul and it produces work. It produces good things. That's what the book of James is about, about being a doer, not just a forgetful hearer. Look at verse number 22. He says, but be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving your own self. So what he's saying here is, hey, if you're just listening to this stuff, if you're just reading it just to read it and you're not doing it, guess what? You're wrong. You're more ate up than a soup sandwich. It's not saying you're not saved. He's just saying, hey, you're wrong. Get right. Get right with God. Look at verse 23. For if any be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass. See back then they didn't have selfies. They couldn't take pictures of themselves all day long and talk about how good looking there are and be like, hey, look, you know, look at my picture here. So back then it was rare that they would see their reflection, right? And when they would walk away, it's, he's saying basically you would forget what manner of man you are. You know what? You come to church and if this is the only Bible you hear, you know, you, something may prick you. Something may stick with you. But you know what? Once you walk out of here, guess what? You're going to forget all about it because you don't have the engrafted word in your heart. Your heart's not in it. You've got one foot in church, one foot in the world and your head buried in the sand. And you know what God said? You know what Jesus Christ said? He said, you're a puke. That's what he said. That's what he told the lay of the sands that lukewarm Christians are pukes. I will spew thee out of my mouth. That's what he said here. This isn't talking about losing your salvation. It's talking about losing your, your, your race, about losing the things of God. That's what he's teaching us here. Look at verse 24 for he beholdeth himself and go with his way and straight way forgetteth what manner of man he was, but who so looketh into the perfect law of Liberty and continue with there in he being not a forgetful here, but a doer of the work. This man shall be blessed in his deed. Listen fathers. God, do you want to be blessed in your deed? Then follow this advice. Get your hearts right and start doing what you hear. Start doing what you read. Quit playing games. Get both of your feet out of the world and get right with God. And like I said, the human beings got soy milk down there and it's free today. So if this is bothering you, you can get comfort later on. All right. Turn to Proverbs chapter 23. While you're turning there, I'm gonna read for you Proverbs chapter 20 verse seven, which says, the just man walketh in his integrity. His children are blessed after him. Do you want to know what the result is of following God, of following his statutes and his commandments? It's having your deeds blessed by God. It's very simple to understand, but it's not always easy to do, right? You've got to make up your mind and your heart to do these things and then God says he will reward you. Your children will be blessed after you. You say, well, I've already made a mistake. I've already let it go. It's too late. I've been, I've been a sinner too long. I've been out of God's will for half my life. You know what? It doesn't matter. Get your heart right and God will overturn these things before your eyes. So chapter 23 Proverbs 23 verse 24 it says, the father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. Thy father and thy mother shall be glad and she that bear thee shall rejoice. That should speak volumes. That should be your motivation. You understand what I'm trying to, what the Bible is trying to tell us here? The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice. Look, do you want to live your life having your soul vexed all the time? If you do ignore this advice, ignore this council here and you'll have it. But if you want to turn that around, all you have to do is just abide by these things and you know what? Your children will cause you joy because God said, you know what? He's, he's got his heart, right? He's going to serve me. And you know what? I'm going to make sure that I protect them. I'm going to make sure that they do right. I'm going to make sure and bless them. And you know what, dad, then you're going to have real joy. You might not have a lot of money. You might not have a lot of possessions, but you know what? God said he's going to bless your children and that, that my friend is what counts. That's what's going to set you up for success. So let's move on here. Go to Proverbs chapter 13. Last point, point number seven, a faithful father disciplines his children. A faithful father disciplines his children. You know, this is something also that's frowned upon greatly in our society. I was talking to this guy at work, this was a few years ago and he's not a Christian by any means, but he's got enough wisdom to understand his kids need to get spanked sometimes. And his kids were doing something at Walmart, you know, and he gave him a quick swat on the button. This lady stopped him. She says, I'm calling CPS on you right now. And I was like, wow, that's, and where I live up in Washington, it's a very liberal place and people, people will do stuff like that. She goes, I'm calling CPS on you right now. And of course his mouth, you know, he mouths off to her pretty bad and you know, she calls the police on him, but he didn't get his children taken away, but they did show up to Walmart and they did take him and put him in the back of the car. And I was thinking to myself like, man, you know, just because he wanted to discipline his children. You see, I was like, wow, you know, we really are living in perilous times, you know, where somebody who's not even in your own family would call the authorities because you decided to spank your child. It's not like he punched him with a closed fist. This guy wouldn't do something like that. He's not saved, but he's not a monster. You know, he's just an old school guy who just realized, hey, my child messed up. I need to deal with this right now. He's like, I'm not going to wait till we get home. I'm not going to just take you out into the car. I'm going to spank your butt right here so that you learn. You know, when I was in the military and it's different today and I'm not advocating the military, but when you messed up, boy, they would punish you right away. I mean, and it was bad. You know, they would make you do all sorts of stuff. They would never wait. They weren't like, oh, well, let's talk about it later. We don't want to hurt his feelings. You know, we'll pull them into the office. We'll give them counseling and all this. No, they were like, look, get on your face right now. You know? And it was just bad. It was just, it was just, just horrible. You know what? Discipline needs to happen immediately, right when they mess up, you know? And I'll tell you from experience, you know, my kids are getting older. I don't have to always, you know, be spanking them and discipline them because we started right away about the time they, about the time that we knew that they understood what when we were saying, don't do that. That's when we started giving them a little spanking, you know, like, hey, we'll smack that hand. Kayden, let go of that lollipop. It's not, it's not time right now. Let go of those chicken strips, you know, Kenley, let go of the jelly beans. Kylin, let go of the chocolate. No chocolates for you guys, you know, and even though they couldn't talk, but we knew like when they were like, okay, I see what's going on here. You know, that's when we decided, you know, we're going to bring the discipline in right now. Right? And look, they're, they're healthy. They're still here. They do a great job. They do a lot of work for this church. They do a lot of work for God and they love God. You know what? That didn't turn their hearts away from God. Right? Well, you know, we're not abusing them. We're trying to set them up for success. We're trying to get them to follow God. The Bible says the reason for this is that foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. You want to know what's going to turn your child's heart towards you, towards, towards God. It's the rod of correction. That doesn't mean you have to swat them with a rod for every little single thing they do. Right? I mean, think about it. Punishments for different things that are, that are broken in his law, right? It's not always the same punishment. You know, you have to be wise and that's another sermon in and of itself. The point is we have to be willing to discipline them. The Bible says don't spare for their crime, right? You're there in Proverbs chapter 13, look at verse 24, he says, he that spareth his rod hateth his son, but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. You love your children, right? Start at betimes. The word betimes means early, right? Don't wait, don't put it off. You know, do these things right away. As soon as they understand that they're doing wrong, you need to discipline them. You need to take that thing away, maybe spank them on the head, whatever it is, you know, pull out that rod of correction. And why? Because the Bible says that foolishness is bound in the heart of a child. And guess what, dad? It's your job to ensure that that rod of correction gets applied to them because that's what's going to cause them to leave foolishness when they get older. And when you drive that foolishness out of them, guess what? That's when they're going to serve God. That's when they're going to realize, okay, it's not just about me. You know, it's about other people. It's about God. It's not about being selfish. Go to Proverbs chapter 23, Proverbs chapter 23, we're almost done. Proverbs chapter 23 verse 13 says, withhold not correction from the child. For if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shall beat him with the rod and shall deliver his soul from hell. You know what? I'm going to tell you how many people that we go out and we talk to in this community and you can tell they've never had a spanking, they've never been told no in their lives. Like God's not going to tell me if I'm going to heaven, God's not going to tell me anything. I don't even care. You know, how did they get that way? It's probably because their mom and their dad withheld the rod of correction. And you know what? What did we just read? That other verse. It says, if you withhold correction from your child, you withhold discipline, you're going to wind up hating them, right? That's why the Bible says that, you know, if you spare the rod, you hate your child. It's because he's going to, he or she is going to grow up to become, or to basically become a shame unto you. That's what the Bible says. It's going to cause shame and reproach. What did we just read here? Read it again. Verse 13, withhold not correction from the child for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Look, we spanked our kids and like I've already said, they're still here, still standing here. You know, if they mess up today, I'll spank them. I don't care. You know what? But guess what? They're going to die. God gave them a plenty of padding on the backside to handle correction, you know what? And that's what God's saying here. Hey, this is wisdom. This is wisdom from God, you know, or you could go listen to Dr. Phil or Dr. Oz or Dr. Whoever, Dr. Who, you know, it doesn't take your pick. Go listen to Oprah, go listen to Fox News, go listen to CNN, go listen to these Hollywood stars and how they raised their sons of Belial. Yeah, they're all queers. You know what? They did not get the foolishness out of their child while they were younger. Verse 14, thou shall beat him with the rod and shall deliver his soul from hell. You ever heard the term beating the hell out of somebody? This is where it came from, right? It came from this verse here. All those little things that we hear every day in our lives, man, you can always trace them back to some verse in the Bible. So just real quick, I had a lot of points. I just want to read them one more time. Point number one, a faithful father gives charge to his family, right? A faithful father gives charge, not options. Point number two, a faithful father sets his children up for success, right? By how? By instilling maturity, by making sure they grow up. They don't stay a babe their whole lives. Point number three, a faithful father instills endurance in his children. It doesn't do any good, dad, if you don't have the maturity, if you don't have the endurance in your own heart, if you're not willing to ensure that that gets passed on to your children. Point number four, a faithful father prays for his children. Look dad, have you prayed for your child this week? If not, that's okay, you're wrong, admit it and get right and start today. Start right now. Point number five, a faithful father does not provoke his children to wrath and that is because he understands there is a time and a place for wrath and it is not all the time, right? Point number six, a faithful father leads by example, right? It doesn't do any good to say these things and not do them yourselves. The best way is to set the tone, set that standard and that expectation yourself and making sure that it gets passed on to your children. And point number seven was a faithful father disciplines his children, right? A faithful father is not afraid to say no. A faithful father is not afraid to drive foolishness far from the heart of his child. You want to keep your father, listen dads, if you want to keep your children's hearts, you're going to do it by driving that foolishness that's bound in their hearts as far away from them as you possibly can. And with God on your side, you can get it out. Trust me, I promise you that. Don't forget, free gift for all the dads, so during the last song if you want to pass that guy out. All right, let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Lord, thank you so much for your word. I thank you for all these people that came to church today, Lord. I pray that you would help us to apply these things to our lives. I pray you bless the soul winning today, Lord, and the evening service. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.