(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Alright we're in Genesis chapter 18 and verse number 16 where the Bible reads here and the man rose up from thence and looked towards Sodom and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way and the Lord said shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him. Verse 19 for I know him that he will command his children and his household after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he had spoken of him. And the time of my sermon this morning is Abraham's reputation. Abraham's reputation and the reason I want to preach this obviously is because it's Father's Day and it's a day that really we want to I want to take to just talk about Abraham's example. You think of men in the Bible who are really good fathers obviously there's not many but there are a few you think of Joseph right though Joseph was not Jesus's father he did play the role of the stepdad there and the Bible says that he was a just man he was a he was a righteous man and the Bible highlights him as being thus you think of Zacharias who's John the Baptist's dad okay I mean to be the dad of John the Baptist means you're pretty successful raising a son. John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus Christ he was zealous for the things of God he was a great preacher but you know what I guarantee you he could attribute that not only to his mother who was godly but also to his father okay you think of of course that the greatest father of all is God the father amen who know is not Jesus Christ we're talking about God the father separated from Jesus Christ okay you say why is God the father so great because he gave his son Jesus he was he did the most sacrificial thing for us as mankind to send his son Jesus Christ to die for us. That fathers are important in the Bible and the thing is is that today in this day and age you know fathers are dads are pretty much looked down upon you know they're made fun of in Hollywood they're downplayed or they're they people make them seem as though they're not important you know you have the feminazis out there who are trying to downgrade what the position of a father and what and what God has called a father to be and then and the feminazis are out there trying to degrade and humiliate the dads. You say well how do they try to do that well number one by downplaying their authority in the home okay and let me say this this isn't the sermon this morning but let me just remind you that the dad is supposed to be in charge in the home and if you don't like that then you've been influenced by Hollywood feminazis for far too long because this Hollywood that tries to teach you know you do your own thing you be independent you just run the home 50-50 everything should run just that way no that's not the way things that should be run okay the Bible teaches that the father is the head of the home there's not two heads in the home you ever seen someone who has two heads it's abnormal it's not natural not to say that doesn't happen we've seen I mean in this day and age we've seen a lot of people with abnormalities you know people Siamese twins right two heads well you look at someone like this like that's abnormal but you know what Christians have thought that that's normal spiritually they're okay with having two heads the mom's in charge and so is the dad it's like a 50-50 no that's not how it works according to the Bible the father the husband is the head of the home that doesn't mean he's just like the head it means he's in charge that doesn't mean he's supposed to be perfect it just means he's in charge that doesn't mean he won't make mistakes it just means he's in charge okay and let's go ahead and chase that rabbit just a little more okay because this is important because look it's the Simpsons you know who's the dad in the Simpsons Homer what is he he's just an idiot right some stupid idiot who just likes to drink and eat and and can't think for himself and he's just an idiot but you know what that is the representation of what people think dads are today they're trying to dumb down fathers and downgrade the position of a father no a dad is very much important okay in fact it's vital to the child worrying to the bringing up of a child in a home to have a dad in the home if you don't believe me look at the prisons they're filled with a bunch of gang members and reprobates who didn't have a dad in the home okay it's important and don't ever think well you know I'm a dad but you know I blew it no if you're a father take responsibility okay and obviously you know every person every dad has a responsibility they make mistakes but you know what we need to own up to this and say you know what I want to be the dad that God wants me to be I need to be in charge I need to make sure that I'm walking with God that I love the Lord that I'm ruling my home well not a 50-50 thing okay we need to get out of this mentality that we're splitting up the home 50-50 it's not 50-50 you guys understand that this is biblical and look if this rubs you the wrong way you need to turn off the television you need to stop talking to your aunt and uncles okay and stop talking to the family members who think they know better than you just because they're older and look older people yes do know better but if what they know is not attached to this book or contradicts what this book says they know nothing according to God okay we need to make sure that we as biblical Christians keep the order in its place look ladies need to help out with that as well you need to follow your husband yeah but I just know more Bible than he does you know that's not even your place to make that type of a judgment and if you happen to know more than your husband cuz you've been saved longer than him or you've read the Bible more than him side note hey husbands you need to catch up and pass her up but aside from that if that's the case you know why don't you encourage him to be the man of God by reverencing him by doing the r-word respecting him but you know what we have today is feminazi Christian women who love to just disrespect their husband and put them down for not being as the spiritual giant that they want them to be that's wicked okay we need to make sure that the home has order and look ladies you may love the Lord and you may think you're doing God a service by correcting your husband but you're not and you know what you're doing you're giving your children a bad example is what you're doing because when your children see that the mom is disrespecting the father that he's downplaying the father that he's just she's just putting them down guess what they're gonna grow up to do the same exact thing we need to make sure that we're an example to our children and that we uplift the office of a dad okay it's very much important look look I last week I preached a sermon called gamers in light of the Bible man I pissed so many people off with that sermon and the majority you know who they are guys in the 30s and 40s and not grown up you know they're still playing video games and they're offended because I talked about how they like to play game God of War and and what's the other one a Call of Duty you know and in Minecraft and they get all mad because of that you know why because they haven't grown up right but partially it's because the mom and dad didn't make them grow up you know moms and dads need to make sure that they're doing their part in raising their children to be mature adults who are functional members of society not functional members of Minecraft or any other video game for that manner okay so that was a rabbit we chase but it's important to talk about that because we need to make sure we keep God's order and look if your household is out of order in regards to this you need to fix it and don't wait till tomorrow fix it immediately you see because tomorrow never comes you know this sermon is gonna inspire you to convict you to do all these things but if you don't do make a decision immediately it's just gonna fade away you're not gonna do anything about it and guess what tomorrow is still gonna be 50-50 you know dad you need to take charge and go home and say look we've done it wrong and that's my fault you know take response we say that's my fault for allowing it to be this way but you know from now on we're gonna change that okay we're gonna take the and look don't try to build a house in one day you know just we're just gonna make like 50 changes all at once you know how do you build a house one brick at a time you say we're gonna change some things this is the first thing we're gonna do X Y & Z you know you got to wean yourself into that role okay but it's important so the reason I want to priest this message is because you know dads are important you know and and fathers are very vital to the home to the ruling of the home and we see how important it is in this story here because in Genesis chapter 18 what do we see Genesis 18 we obviously see Jesus Christ speaking to Abraham okay he has his two angels why are they there though they're there to commune with with Abraham obviously they're there to speak to him and to commune with him but the main reason why they're there is because they're gonna destroy Sodom and Gomorrah Sodom and Gomorrah are cities that are filled with homos okay that's where we get the term Sodomite from from the city of Sodom and they came to destroy those cities well you see there in verse number 19 excuse me verse 17 the Lord said shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do what is he talking about the thing what he's gonna do is destroy Sodom okay he's like should I tell him what I'm gonna do I'm just gonna blow this whole entire city up with fire and brimstone and I like what he says he's like you know he basically says yeah I'm gonna tell him verse 19 goes for I know him that he will command his children after his household after him you know I don't know exactly what he meant by that I'm thinking maybe he's saying you know he's not gonna be surprised by it it's not gonna offend him is he's not gonna be like God why no he's gonna be like okay well this is according to the Lord's will let me see if there's any righteous people in that city so they can be delivered but he said this he says for I know him that he will command his children after him and his household after him he was I'm gonna tell him the secret thing that I'm going to do because I know how he's gonna raise his children he said this they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment which is exactly what God was going to do right that the Lord may bring up Abraham that which he has spoken of him see God had confidence in Abraham he's I'm gonna reveal to him what I'm gonna do because I know Abraham he loves me he loves my commandments therefore I'm going to reveal to him the secret that secret thing which I'm going to do now this is important go to Psalms chapter 25 hold your place there in Genesis 18 Psalms 25 memory teeth from Deuteronomy 29 29 says the secret thing things belong unto the Lord our God but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever that we may do all the words of this law you see there's Christians out there that they're saved but guess what they're not gonna learn any Bible whether it's because they're in some watered-down Church or just simply for the fact that they're not living for the Lord and God's not gonna reveal anything new to them I'm not saying there's new doctrines out there but you know there's new things that you haven't heard about and you know what God will not reveal things to you if you don't if you're not fearing him if you're not walking with it if you're not just obeying the light that he's already given to you in fact look what the Bible says in Psalms 25 and verse 14 it says the secret of the Lord don't you guys love secrets I love secrets you know one of the favorite phrases in life is like can you keep a secret I got a secret can I tell you the secret it's just like whoa what is it and then tomorrow's on Facebook verse 14 says the secret of the Lord is with who with them that fear him and he will show them his covenant you see God wants to reveal his secrets to those who fear him Abraham feared you know and you wonder like man how come I'm just not growing in knowledge how come I don't understand certain things well and maybe that you don't fear God you know it may be that you're not reading the Bible enough and maybe you're just too worldly of a Christian to get some things from God you know cuz God you know God's not gonna cast his pearl before swine either he's not gonna waste his valuable knowledge of silver and precious gold the wisdom that he has in his word with just anybody he's gonna give it to the people who want it those who love the Lord who hate evil those who love the Word of God the secret things belonging to the Lord you but you know what God is willing to reveal them unto us okay go to first Corinthians chapter number two first Corinthians chapter number two yeah I don't know about you but I mean I want to know the secrets okay I want to know what God has planned I want to know what the Bible says regarding specific things let's see here the Bible says in verse number eight verse nine but as it is written first Corinthians chapter two verse number nine but as it is written I have not seen nor ear heard neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love him look what it says verse 11 for what man excuse me verse 10 but God has revealed them unto us by his spear for the spirit search with all things yea the deep things of God one of the most irritating irritating things in life is to speak clear biblical truths to another Christian who's saved and they just don't get it you know the deep things of God even though it's in plain sight that the Bible says something specific and they're just like they don't get it but you know why they don't get it because they don't want to get it they've rejected the truth look don't make no mistake about it they're Christians who are saved who are rejecting the truth but you know what they're gonna produce they're gonna produce children are gonna reject the truth we're gonna look at an example of that today there's Christians who yet they're saved but you know what because they're not growing they don't fear God they're as worldly as the day is long they're gonna produce children who are rejecting the truth as well and you know what the Bible calls them reprobates I've met I've known of Christians who are saved but they produce wicked children evil wicked children who hate God obviously they have a personal responsibility but you know what who the responsibility fell on first is the parents because they wanted their children to do as they said and not do as they do you know what that that equals up to that that makes them hypocrites look children aren't dumb they're smart they see right through everything and they can look at you and listen to what you're saying but you know what if your life doesn't match up to what you're saying they're gonna think you're a hypocrite and eventually they'll get out of they'll get out of church they won't even be saved I guarantee you okay within the last year I've heard of so many people that I've known from independent fundamental Baptist churches who have lost their children and now their children Instagram straight just blatant homos I mean that just goes to show that they weren't saved in the first place you would think that the parents would have enough love for their children to give them the gospel on a continual basis to make sure that their children are saved but you know what they're more concerned with the outward appearance of just bringing them to church making it look like they're just a Christian family but at the end of the day what happened their children weren't even saved now they're sodomites how wicked and sad is that okay but it starts with the parents okay Proverbs 3 3 32 says for the forward is abomination to the Lord but his secret is with the righteous go with go to Psalms chapter 4 please Psalm chapter 4 the Bible says in verse 3 of Psalm chapter 4 but I know that the Lord has set apart him that is godly for himself the Lord will hear when I call unto him you see the Bible teaches us that God is not a respecter of people but he does favor some over the other you say how is that based upon their actions he doesn't just look at someone and say oh because you know they're they're born of this nationality or they're they're in this country or they're this church they're gonna receive my favor no it's based upon the individual decisions that the person makes and the Bible says there that he set apart the godly for himself okay look I don't know about you but I want to be set apart I want God to be able to look down on me and I'm a he a family and say I want to set them apart for myself I want to use them for my glory for my purpose in this life and I believe that Abraham was that was just like that I mean for Jesus to say that about Abraham you know I know him you know I know how he is I know his Bible reading I know his prayer life I know his walk with God I know his heart I know that he's gonna keep the commandments and I know he's gonna teach his children the commandments I want God to say that about me I want my reputation before God to be able to say something like that to say I know that you're not perfect but you're gonna teach your children the commandments that's important he's not gonna he's not I don't want him to say you know I know he's gonna teach his child to be a rich person one day to make all kinds of money to be famous one day to be a doctor or dentist and there's nothing necessarily inherently wrong about those things but you know what you ought to aspire that your children first and foremost love the Lord and keep the commandments of God too many too many parents have this vision for their children that it's not founded in the Bible and I'm not saying they can't be a success in the secular realm but what I'm saying is this when that secular success or that vision that you have for your children supersedes the success found in God's Word then that's bad that's wicked because God expects you to raise your children in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord the Bible says look that means if your children grow up and they're broke they're broke they're not famous but they know their Bible they're winning souls to the Lord they're a functioning member of society of a local church they're living a holy life they get married they have children in its proper order guess what in God's eyes that person is a success oh but how much does he have in his bank account you know what it's better to be rich in faith okay and look money destroys people you know and look if you come from a different country you know often those who come from a different country who come to this country they want their children to be financially successful because they want their children to have that which they didn't have you know when they're growing up but you know what that that is an improper motive because you need to understand the money destroys people okay it'll destroy them better to help them to be rich in faith than to be rich with finances all right now if you're sitting here thinking well you know it's already too late for me I'm already rich you know all right well you know then you need to get your perspective right and don't put your plate don't don't place your faith in money okay and look maybe you're sitting here today and you're thinking well you know my mom and dad they're not even in church okay then how are you gonna raise your children you know what I'm not even married yet I mean they're in your loins though right they will come one day that's not inappropriate that's biblical you know out of that alone shall come forth Kings right and here's the thing you need to make sure that you're planning for that that you're planning to become the father that God wants you to be okay now's the time to plan that now when you now when you already get married now when you're already having you know your second or third child or fourth child no the time is now you know you need to behave as a father now I remember when I say behave as a father it's not like go correct some other person's child okay hey brother Bruce you need to speak your child and this is the way you're supposed to don't give me advice on how to speak my child don't give me advice how to raise my son or my daughter no I'm saying you need to prepare mentally spiritually in maturity that's big okay that means you got to put your Xbox away sell it smash it you know do whatever you got to do get rid of it go pick up a book to read okay the Bible says for I know him that you will command his children in his household after what does it say after him well go to Genesis chapter 1 Genesis chapter 1 for I know him that he will command his children and his household after him Genesis 1 verse 11 this is a phrase that we commonly see in the book of Genesis and God said in verse number 11 let the earth bring forth grass the herb yielding seed in the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind whose seed is in itself upon the earth and it was so what is the same it's gonna bring forth after itself it's gonna produce what it is is what it's saying and what is God telling Abraham he goes I know he will command his children in his household after him what does that mean he's gonna produce what he is now let me ask you this if you have children those of you who don't yet if you have children would you be content with your child being exactly the way you are that's an eye-opener I'm talking about your strengths and your weaknesses if you're not content with that if that scares you a little bit then guess what you need to change you know and by the way no one in this room should be like oh yeah heck yeah I love him for him to be just like me who wouldn't want to be like me you know I think everyone's kids should be like me at that point then you got a lot to work on you know and obviously this should be a matter of like whoa man yeah that's that makes us think of our weaknesses on it but you know what that should do that should cause you to want to change those weaknesses for the sake of why because you're gonna produce what you are okay I remember people used to say this you get what you are not what you want you get what you are not what you want I want to produce the next pastor Anderson you know I want to produce yeah but you get you get what you are not what you want so if you want to produce a godly young man or young lady guess what you got to be a godly young man or young lady that's the way it works everything brings forth after its kind this is not just true for vegetation and animals it's true for us spiritually as well and look if you don't have children one day you will but look if you don't have children this is also true spiritually speaking as far as be getting someone to the gospel the Bible says in 1st Corinthians 4 15 for though ye have 10,000 instructors in Christ yet have you not many fathers for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel wherefore I beseech you be followers of me the Bible teaches us that when we lead people to the Lord when we get them saved we're like a spiritual father unto them okay and look and if they're gonna succeed in their Christian life if they're gonna succeed at any rate in the Christian life guess what they need to have a good example to follow someone who's consistent someone who's godly someone who places in high priority the things of God why because you will produce what you are not an exact not necessarily what you want now this is important because you know this this sermon obviously is meant to teach us to be an example to our children okay and look when you observe yourself and you examine yourself you want you're gonna want to change certain things okay you're gonna want to be an example now what I mean by specific things you have to change well don't always look at the overall picture necessarily because if you look at the overall picture of your life you could say well you know I think I'm doing pretty well I'm in church King James only I love so many I love people but why don't you dig deep a little deeper to see the specific flaws you know how consistent are you in church you see this is a huge thing when it comes to being an example this word called consistency diligence okay very important to be consistent in the Christian life what does that mean that means you do something constantly in other words you don't hit and miss and look is that I thought this is a Father's Day sermon you know look this is part of being a dad you know what you don't want your children to grow up thinking that church is like whatever you want them to love church you don't want them to question should we go to church today but you know what if children grow up questioning whether they should go to church today it's because mom and dad did the same thing they questioned should we even go to church today I'm not talking about for legitimate reasons like you're dying or something like you're bleeding you're like should I go to church that you can go to the hospital okay I'm not talking about that don't twist my words I'm talking about it's because you're just being lazy or your hair hurts some foolish excuse where it's just like should we go to church today well you know what your kids are gonna have that same character that you have okay and if they but you know what at the same token if they see dad when dad's like you know what I don't feel good but you know we're gonna go to church because that's what we do it's not a question what if we're gonna go to church or not it's we're gonna go to church look dads you need to make sure that going to church is not like pulling teeth for your family don't ask your family if they want to go to church you get that you don't ask you say hey do you feel like going to church today do you feel like going to church today that's not the way it works right not even with your wife you go to your family and say get ready we're going to church oh but I got we're going to church do whatever you got to do but we're going to church case closed I'm not saying be a jerk about it okay but what I'm saying is this as the head of the home you need to establish the fact hey church is important we're going end of discussion okay there's no compromise here do you feel like going are you okay okay you don't have to go you know look the inmates don't run the asylum right the inmates are not supposed to run the asylum the head is and he establishes the spiritual temperature of that home by dictating hey this is what we're going to do this is what I'm not taking a consensus of this is we're gonna do we're not taking a vote if we're going to church it's get ready we're going to church okay oh but you know I got in a fight with so-and-so last week and I don't want to see them get ready guess you're gonna guess you're gonna have an opportunity to squash it this week because we're going and look not just for your sake obviously you benefit from from coming to church but look for the children's sake because guess what you're gonna die one day you're going off the scene you're not gonna be here Lord willing you will outlive your children and guess what when you outlive your children you can't dictate anything else all you can leave behind is the legacy of consistency of loving the Lord and keeping his commandments you know you think of the rec the children of recub right he's long gone but you know what they were still keeping his commandments even after that generations after that it's just like because our father recub commanded us to do this we're not gonna do it you know we're not gonna drink wine which is the commandment that he gave him he said we're not gonna drink wine and guess what he left them a great example and they were still following even generations afterwards so this is the way you can still command your children to do something even long after you're gone you leave a great consistent godly example pull teeth right now pay now play later okay so that when your children grow up you know and they get married they live their own lives they're not wondering man should I even go to should I even go to a Baptist Church it it happens it's more like no we're always gonna go to a Baptist Church we're always gonna be King James only and we're always gonna go to church Sundays and midweek service all for the Lord no questions asked even if a job comes up which by the way we need to talk about that amen if a job comes up guess what you still need to be in church I accredit my success in the Christian life and I've seen the success of other people who are Christians who have come before me that I attribute their success and my success to being in church Sunday morning Sunday night and yay midweek service as well it's necessary don't downplay well I just a midweek service I'll just turn on YouTube you're lazy and your next generation is gonna be a YouTube Church Christianity where they won't even go to church they'll just watch it on YouTube no forsake not the assembling of ourselves not the assembling of the of the YouTube bites it's of ourselves but you need to be consistent in all areas I say church because that's one of the most important things and often I see families that they just they struggle with this thing of just coming to church okay you need to be in church at all times and I understand there's seasons when it's difficult where something comes up I get that but for the most part guess what your life should match consistency in the Christian life in regards to church and everything else that's godly in this life it's important because we're not just thinking about us we don't have this hezekiah mentality we're just like as long as it's all good in my generation you know forget the next generation no we ought to be thinking about the next generation and and you can't say you're thinking about it if you're not making the changes necessary to make a difference in that next generation because the way you flesh out how important you think the next generation is is based upon your actions today okay Abraham did that and look Isaac we could look at Isaac his life he wasn't necessarily the most perfect guy either he had his dad's you know flaws my son he's getting to the point where I see a lot of my flaws in him now he's loud he's obnoxious I'm just kidding he does certain things it's just like that's that's being him you know I fear sometimes later on I'm like man how did he learn that you know or where did he get that from he got him for me you know just certain things that he says now certainly now some of the things he gets from like the really bad stuff he gets from mom I'm just kidding I'm kidding but you see it they grow up and then they start saying certain things you know and doing certain things it's just like oh man that's that's me and him but you know what that's because he's with me 24-7 so he he only has me to learn from it's a it's a great thing but it's also a scary thing if you know if you think about it well Isaac was the same way he had a lot of a lot of his father's failures you see him lying you see him being a coward just like his dad at times but you know what you also see him being a success as well you think about when when his future wife was coming what was he doing he was in the field doing what meditating the Bible says that's a great attribute that's obviously though we didn't see Abraham in the Bible doing that I guarantee you he did it meditated upon the Word of God because things are rather caught than taught I guarantee you saw his dad meditating on God's Word and guess what he was doing when when when his future wife was coming meditating on the Word of God obviously he placed a great importance on God's Word he was meditating but not only that when he married his wife and she could not bear children what did she do or what did he do he entreated the Lord for her you know what that shows he was a man of prayer he was a man of faith because his dad was the father of faith so you know what he did when he couldn't have children he went to the Lord in prayer and asked God to open up her womb that's not something you just learn on your own that's something you get from your parents I asked my wife like a while ago you know because my wife she reads her Bible she's always read her Bible as long as I've known her she's always read her Bible and I asked her I said you know did your mom and dad tell you to read your Bible and she's like no they've never told us to do that I'm like really he goes yeah I just she said I just know that every day when I'd get up in the morning I'd always see my parents reading their Bible she goes my dad was always reading his Bible my mom was always reading the Bible and they never had to tell us to read the Bible they just did it why because things are rather caught on top so it's it's like you know and I'm not against if you tell your children hey read your Bible that's not bad but you know what obviously the example has a greater effect because that inspired her and her brothers and sisters to read the Bible as well and all of her brothers and sisters from what I know from what I've seen and the amount of time that I've known them they all read the Bible without even having been told to read the Bible I'm talking about from the from the oldest to the youngest they all read the Bible but you know what is due to an example okay and look you want your children to read the Bible let them see read the Bible let them see you spend time in the Bible you know my son now has this thing where he comes into my office right before he goes to sleep and he goes Bible Bible Bible because we read the Proverbs right before we go to bed he goes Bible Bible you know he'll tell me like 50 times but hey I'm thankful for that we need to make sure that we're an example to our children because we're gonna instill those desires within them okay let me see here now go to Genesis chapter 26 look I'm not just trying to offend the dads or anything like that I think dads are great we need more dads too okay and look I'm backing you up dad okay if wife is not under authority or she's giving you a hard time I'm for the dad now I'll always be for the dad hey I love the ladies in our church and I love the children in our church but guess what I got dad's back I don't think that's fair I mean sorry this isn't fair Baptist Church I'm backing up dad why because he is essential to the success of your family unit and the success of the units of our family in our church they're essential they're vital they're important I'm backing that up oh but you don't understand he did this and that yeah I don't understand but I guess so I guess because he made a couple of mistakes we just got to cross out Ephesians 5 and all the other verses in the Bible then right no we don't okay look at Genesis 26 and verse 18 says and Isaac digged again the wells of water which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham and he called their names after the names by which his father had called him and Isaac's servants digged in the valley and found there a well of spring and water and the herdman of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdman saying the water is ours and he called the name of the well Essek because they strove with him and they digged another well and strove for that also and he called the name of it Sitna so we see here that Isaac dug up the wells that his father Abraham had dug in times past what does that show what is that a picture of I believe it's almost like a picture of the son is fighting the same battles that his dad fought and here's this is important because one thing that I want for the next generation of my family I want my son to fight the same battles that dad fought when he was alive not to rear bag not to stop fighting no I want him to fight even more the battles the war against the sodomites the war for the right doctrine the war for sound biblical teaching I want my son to continue to dig those wells and strive with those herdmen those who try to try to stop the wells and put dirt upon the wells I want Isaac my son to go there dig up those wells and fight those fights as well as I did if not even more you know one of one of the greatest fears that we should have and it's not necessarily a fear that should paralyze us is that our children would would stop fighting after us you know we spent so much time fighting against heresy and against all these reprobates and false teachers and doctors and lukewarm churches and all these things and all of a sudden the next generation just takes it for granted and they just don't fight anything that's not what we want we want to make sure that Isaac carries that baton and he digs up those wells he fights against the herdman he makes sure that he's keeping the legacy that his dad left behind and look you say well you didn't keep the legacy the generation prior to you left behind yeah but the generation prior to me was wrong I'm talking about biblical stuff I'm talking about stuff we can find in the Bible that's biblical that's what I'm talking about okay fight the good fight of faith I want my son to still have that fight in him okay but how do we do that we need to make sure that what we are what fighting as well that's why it's important the Bible tells us to be clad with zeal as a cloak we need to make sure that we have a fighting spirit call it a mean spirit call it an angry spirit call whatever kind of spirit you want it's a Holy Spirit and it's a spirit that desires to fight to keep things right you cannot have a neutral disposition in this fight you can't be like well I'll let everyone else fight I'll just sit back and watch okay well Isaac's gonna sit back and watch when you're gone too the only difference is the fights gonna get worse and that fight is gonna devour your generation to come but you know what if we're fighting and we're exemplifying that battle to our children guess what they'll be raised up to also want to fight as well we need to keep that don't keep don't have a neutral position on things make sure that you're instilling that fight in your wife and in your children as well it's important look the Bible tells us that in the millennial reign we'll take our flesh hooks our pruning hooks and we'll excuse me our swords and we'll beat them into pruning hooks in other words it's like no more fighting now it's like time to work enjoy the millennial reign our ten cities that were taken from the Jews and all these things we get to enjoy those things but guess what that's not the time we're in right now right now we need to beat our pruning hooks into swords and spears now's the time to fight okay and now is the time to instill that into our next generation so we see Isaac also digging up the same walls that his dad had now go to first Samuel chapter number three I think hey Abraham was a great example I mean they call him the father of faith that's a great title to have you know and we can obviously see that Isaac had faith as well we can see that by his prayer life but the fact that he meditated by the fact that he fought the fights the the wars that his dad fought in times past now let's look at Abraham's contrasts because Abraham though he had his weaknesses for the most part he was a godly man who instilled godliness into his children he had a great reputation before God we see that but now he's a dad who's not like that okay this dad his name his name is Eli Eli is a prophet of the Lord as well Eli I believe was a godly man but you know what Eli was a bad example and we see the extreme byproduct of his bad example because look we I've run into dads who are Christians who are bad examples you know and by the grace of God sometimes their children make it for the Lord for whatever reason maybe their children have godly examples in the church or you know something happened you know it's not by osmosis something happened in that child's life where they were given a great example or maybe that dad had something a good attribute that they assimilated to their own personal lives but that's very far few and in between for the most part bad fruit produces bad fruit well this is the case with Eli okay look at verse one it says in the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli and the word of the Lord was precious in those days there was no open vision and it came to pass at that time when Eli was laid down in his place and his eyes began to wax them that he could not see now let me just share something with you in verse one it says that the word of the Lord was precious and there was no what open vision so God wasn't giving any visions to anybody well if you remember who's who are the people that he gives the visions to the prophets but what did it say about Eli it said that he was laid down in his place and his eyes began to wax them that he could not see now this is physically speaking but I don't think it's accidental that it comes after verse one so not only was Eli getting old physically and his eyes were waxing them and he could not see spiritually he could not see what's the case there as he grew older guess what you see it he began to depart from the Lord he wasn't getting anything from God he wasn't getting anything new from God and we could apply that to the old IFB as well Eli and the old IFB their eyes are waxing them they don't have any open vision they're not seeing anything they're living in past victories is what they're doing okay they're not getting anything fresh from the Bible but you know what this is true with Eli Eli though there was no open vision yeah because Eli is not the one saying anything and I don't think God was keeping any truth from anybody there wasn't anybody godly enough to give the truth to that's the point right there okay look at verse number three excuse me and there the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was and Samuel was laid down to sleep that the Lord called Samuel does it say he called Eli no he called Samuel and he answered here am I and he ran into Eli and said here am I for thou callest me and he said I called I called not lie down again and he went and lay down and the Lord called yet against Samuel and Samuel rose and went to Eli and said here am I for thou didst call me and he answered I called not my son lie down again you see that take place a couple times look down at verse 16 it says then Eli called Samuel and said Samuel my son and he answered here am I and he said what is the thing that the Lord had said unto thee man that's sad Eli's coming to Sam is like hey so what did God tell you Samuel did he talk to you what he say that's sad this is Eli Samuel should be coming to Eli and saying Eli what has God said but instead what is it it's Eli with the dimmed eyes who can't see anything who doesn't have an open vision coming to Samuel the little boy and say hey what did God say that's how bad it's gotten with Eli verse 17 he said what is the thing that the Lord has said unto thee I pray thee hide it not from me why cuz God hid it from him God do so to thee and more also if thou hide anything from me of all the things that he said unto thee and Samuel told him every whit and hid nothing from him and he said it is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good he said what was the secret thing that God had told Samuel how he was gonna judge Eli and his sons I mean that's scary it's like I wonder if Samuel would have been like so did you really want to know this it's basically about you and your children and how God's gonna judge you guys I mean that's very sad when Eli can't even receive from God the judgment that's gonna come upon him and his children and his reaction let him do what seemeth good what seemeth him good it's like okay well whatever you know sounds good if that's what he wants and so be it it's not like oh man I'm repenting I need to get right I need to get back into the Word of God no he's like let him see whatever seems good to him I guess that's that's what's good your kids are gonna die you're gonna die he's like well I mean it shows you what lack spirit he has doesn't it what a dad you know if God ever came to me and obviously this will never happen and said hey I'm judging the house of Mejia your little son Bruce and Kyler are gonna die you know what I do I'd be in sackcloth and ashes asking God for his mercy to have compassion upon me I repent I'll get it right whatever I'll be fasting for 40 days I'll do anything to get it right but you'll see why Eli in just a little bit didn't want to fast why because he was a glutton that's why he was a carnal wicked glutton he was saved but this is how he ended his life Eli was not a father of faith the way Abraham was okay he was a father of carnality is what he was now look at first Samuel chapter 2 now this is the greatest this is the most saddest thing I've ever seen in the Bible is the fact that Eli raised up reprobates if you don't know what a reprobate is we'll come back tonight I'm preaching a sermon on reprobates called reprobate pride month because I got to preach our sermon on reprobates before the end of June I was like man I got a schedule I got to figure out when I got to preach on it hey man well tonight's the night a reprobate is someone who's rejected of God okay we often refer to sodomites as being reprobates which they are but a reprobate is someone who has been rejected of God and they basically go down this spiral downward spiral of morality and I'm just hating God and they these people cannot be saved it's impossible for them to be saved if you don't understand why come back tonight and I'm gonna explain it but they're haters of God now look at first Samuel chapter 2 verse 12 says now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial now is Belial a person in the Bible no Belial is the devil but isn't it ironic it says now the sons of Eli they were sons of Belial what was he saying though they're sons of Eli physically they're sons of Belial spiritually now who's Belial? Belial is a false god in the Old Testament but Belial is simply translated as being the devil he's Satan so what the Bible's calling the sons of Eli is calling them sons of the devil sons of Satan now the Bible says in John 1 12 but as many as received him to them give you power to become the sons of God even until then to believe on his name so the Bible tells us that if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ you become a son of God okay a son of God so the Bible's telling us here in retrospect that what a son of Belial is someone who's rejected God they're the sons of the devil according to the Bible and look what it says they knew not the Lord how would you like for God to call your children sons of the devil that's sad they knew not the Lord now I don't think Eli was a reprobate and I believe he was saved but the fact is is that this principle lies true in his life what you do in moderation your children will do in excess I'm giving you a lot of cliches today but these are good cliches that'll help you to understand these biblical truths just remember this what you do in moderation which is something that you do a little bit consistently your children will do in excess that's how it always works and that's how it was with Eli go to first Samuel chapter number four because remember everything brings forth that they're its kind and more of it look at first Samuel chapter 4 verse 13 and when he came low Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching for his heart trembled for the ark of God and when the man came into the city and told it all the city cried out and when Eli heard the noise of the crying he said what meaneth the noise of this tumult and the man came in hastily and told Eli now Eli was 98 years old and his eyes were dim that he could not see and the man the man said unto Eli I am he that came out of the army and I fled today out of the army and he said what is there done my son and the messenger answered and said Israel is fled before the Philistines they're basically they're losing the war and there has been also a great slaughter among the people and thy two sons also Hophni and Phineas which are the sons of the devil are dead and the ark of God is taken so the judgment that God had proclaimed upon Eli's house is taking place Hophni and Phineas are dead okay look at verse 18 and it came to pass when he had made mention of the ark of God that he fell from off the seat backward by the seat of the gate and his neck break and he died I mean what a dishonorable way to die how many have ever fallen out of your chair backwards I have you know sometimes you lean your chair backwards and you test it a little bit to see how far you can go even to balance yourself there have been times I was just like whoop my legs go back and it's just embarrassing was what it is you don't die though now why did he die let's keep reading and his neck break and he died for he was an old man and heavy and he had judged Israel 40 years man that's a that was his tombstone he was old man and heavy so what does it show about Eli it shows that he was a glutton because for him to fall backwards and to break his neck means the weight of his body was so heavy that when he fell backwards he was able to break his neck and die he said what does it have to do with with him raising his children go to first Samuel chapter 2 verse number 12 you know if I would want to die like you know the Philistines come and I'm like the word of the Lord and they're just like killing me or whatever it's spear me thrust me through and I'm just like preaching at them and later he just falls back he breaks his neck and dies and then it just says and he had judged Israel 40 years man that's sad now look at first Samuel chapter 2 verse 12 now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial they knew not the Lord and the priest's custom was the priest's custom with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice the priest's servants came while the flesh was in seething with the flesh shook of three teeth in his hand and he struck it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot all that the flesh should brought up the priest took for himself so they did in Shiloh until all the Israelites that came thither so basically the priest's job when they would do the sacrifices his his portion or the way they would pay him is they were able to basically to get the meat they were able to eat out of the sacrifice that's what God ordained for them to do so that was that that is what Hophni and Phinehas were supposed to do that's how they get paid is they would eat from the sacrifices verse 15 also before they burnt the fat the priest's servant came and said to the man that sacrificed give flesh to rose for the priest for he will not have sodden flesh of thee but raw so basically they came and said let me get some of that meat and don't even cook it i'll just eat it raw oh man verse 16 and if any man said unto him let them not fail to burn the fat presently then take as much as thy soul desireth then he would answer him nay but thou shall give it me now and if not i will take it by force so he says hey whoa just let me cook it a little bit you know you know when we're going out there i'm going to eat these burgers today let let mark cook them thoroughly don't say give it to me now yay i'll eat it raw that's what they're doing they're going to the me they're saying no and he goes and he said this if you don't give it to me now i'll take it by force what a godly priest all right what does that show it shows that he's a glutton now where do they learn that from from nanny why because at the latter end of his life what did the bible say about him that he was heavy well he didn't get that way by eating vegetables and a vegan diet okay verse 17 wherefore the sin of the young man was very great before the lord for men abhorred they hated the offering of the lord so he caused people they caused people to hate the offering of the lord because of their gluttonous bad example okay now a common phrase like i mentioned that you'll see about eli is that his eyes were dim and they were so dim that the bible tells us that he could even see the fact that his kids were just involved in his wicked sin and he wasn't restraining them look at the bible says now you don't have to turn there go to go if you would to john chapter 12 i'm gonna read to you from second peter chapter one and verse number eight says for if these things be in you and abound they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our lord jesus christ but he that lacketh these things is blind and cannot see a far off and has forgotten that he was purged from his old sins you see eli was blind spiritually and one thing you don't want for your personal life is to be blind spiritually to the point where yeah you're saved but you're not seeing anything fresh you're living in past victories look it should never be that we'd say yeah i remember back in the day how we did x y and z you know what praise god for the victories of the past but let's look to the future but in order for you to have victories in the future you need to be growing you need to be doing things for god don't share the same old soul-winning testimony we need to have new ones amen he was blind spiritually but you know what even though he was saved and he was blind even though he was saved he was blind spiritually he imparted that blindness to his children how did that look like look at john 12 verse 39 it says therefore they could not believe because that aziah said again he had blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts that they should not see with their eyes nor understand with their heart and be converted and i should heal them what does that talk about it's talking about reprobates right because these people who reject the lord god blinds them right you know and i'm sick of seeing church leaders church leaders who are christians producing a bunch of faggots you know and the fact is is that it's like it just goes to show that you didn't love your children to begin with the fact that they're reprobates true you know my concern for my children at this moment obviously is to provide for them physically but i want them to be saved my heart would be shattered i'd be devastated if i found out that one of my children dies and goes to hell that even though i'm saved my wife is saved i would be devastated i don't even think i can keep pastoring if i found out one of my children died and went to hell it would i don't know i fall into depression or something i don't know just to know that my children died and went to hell and that doesn't bother you the fact eli that doesn't bother you the fact eli that doesn't bother you that hoffney and phineas are reprobates that they're there they've sealed their faith that they're going to hell it's wicked but we find that today a bunch of pastor eli's out there you know who are producing hoffney and phineas you know eli baptist church eli baptist christian school producing a bunch of reprobates and they don't bunch of reprobates and they don't even care how wicked is that now as soon as they're reprobates you know they're done obviously they hate the lord and therefore we ought to hate them but the fact remains is this they could have prevented that right eli could have prevented it you know we ought to have a genuine love and desire to see our children get saved you know and then i'm still fearing us to hear these stories to know man potentially my children can become reprobates everyone has the potential obviously if we reject if they reject the lord but we want to make sure that we prevent that as much as possible okay by getting them saved look eli obviously because he was overweight we can see that he couldn't restrain himself right we'll go to first samuel chapter three eli couldn't restrain himself and look i'm not saying if you're overweight that you're not right with god i'm giving you the example of eli and how his character was imparted unto his children look at first samuel chapter 12 verse uh three verse 12 it says in that day i will perform against eli all things which i have spoken concerning his house when i begin i will also make an end for i have told him that i would judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knoweth because his sons made themselves vile and look what it says and he restrained them not man so he's saying look god was coming to eli say hey your kids are vile and eli was just like well you know just let them do whatever they want he restrained them not and if you look at even the lives of eli i mean they're they were sleeping with the women at the temple wicked but you know what he just let them do whatever they wanted that's not the example look i'm giving you a really extreme example of what being a bad example is which is eli but i do it for the sake of scaring you so you won't be that okay and don't think just because you're in an independent fundamental baptist church you're a faithful word baptist church you have a king james bible your post trip your replacement you got all the doctrines right that that's not you you know what if you don't take care of your home if you don't rule your home and teach your children your wife if you don't lead your family the things of god you can be an eli one day as well this doesn't happen by accident happens on purpose and you're raising godly children doesn't happen by osmosis it has to happen on purpose one of the glaring weaknesses of the old ifb is you have a bunch of successful pastors with a bunch of wicked children evil wicked children and well you say well i know some i know some pastors they don't have wicked children too but i see wicked children i see lukewarm worldly liberal fun fun center loving rock and roll chuck and cheese chucky cheese and put anything else label you want under their kind of children as well but you know why that happens it's the parents fault okay now obviously when the children grow up they have their own decision they have to make that decision to be that way or not but at the end of the day you know the first step of that was the parent who didn't restrain them didn't teach them the ways of the lord i want to be like abraham don't you where the bible says of abraham hey you know i know him how he's going to raise his children i know he's going to do it right i know he's going to teach him the commandments of the lord therefore i'm going to reveal my secrets unto him he's not looking for someone perfect he's looking for someone who's willing to command his children just like it says in deuteronomy chapter number six you ought to have a desire to do that and look if you're not married you know get ready for that stop stop acting like a little kid stop being immature now's the time to grow up and get serious about the things of god to raise a family right to raise some children to get some more souls in heaven amen let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer father we thank you so much for the example of abraham yea even the example of eli because through his example we see his failures and his shortcomings and we have things we can see things that we need to avoid in our personal lives with our children and god help us to love our children and our families far greater than anything else of course not more than you but may we love them more than anything else more than anything any prestige or any title any recognition that we we may receive of someone else our children are far more important than that and i pray god that you'd help us to do so and help us to be fathers of faith thank you so much for the dads in our church and i pray god that you'd continue to help us to grow in that position in that role in jesus name we pray amen