Latest / CCC West Covina / The Godly Man, Part 3

Transcript

The Godly Man, Part 3 · CCC West Covina

0:00
The psalmist said in the 12th chapter, the first verse help
0:05
Lord the godly man ceases to be. That has been our theme the last
0:11
couple of weeks. It wasn't supposed to last this
0:15
long, but it has and I promise you I will finish it next week.
0:23
I promise. Unless the Lord comes again.
0:29
But the point is, is that every father in the room, every
0:34
grandfather in the room, every young man in the room needs to
0:37
understand that the last thing we would want to have happen,
0:44
it's for the psalmist to say, help Lord the godly man ceases
0:49
to be at 1432 W Puente Ave. So we're looking at what is a
0:59
godly man? How do you understand a God like
1:04
man? A man who truly has a heart for
1:08
the true and living God. A strong man, a man that truly
1:14
understands his walk with the Lord.
1:19
As fathers, we have an opportunity to impact the next
1:22
generation. I was thinking about that this
1:27
past week when I I heard these statistics that 25,000,000
1:33
children live without a biological father in the home.
1:42
That's just an America that kids in school grades one to 12, 40%
1:55
of them live without a biological father in the home.
2:03
Over 50% of all children that are born are born without a
2:13
father in the home. 85% of prisoners grew up without a
2:23
father in the home, and 90% of youth who run away from home and
2:39
become homeless come from a fatherless home.
2:47
Those statistics are an epidemic that runs through the United
2:52
States of America. So of all places that there
2:58
needs to be a a godly man, it's in the church, it's in your
3:03
home. Men that lead in a way that
3:08
understand that they have a huge impact on the life of their
3:13
children in the next generation. And I wonder if you you
3:20
understand that and recognize the impact of a father in his
3:29
home. It was John Wesley who said,
3:35
18th century preacher, give me 100 men who fear nothing but sin
3:48
and desire nothing but God, and I could care less whether they
3:54
are clergymen or laymen. Those men will shake Hell's
4:05
gates and bring God's Kingdom of heaven to earth.
4:13
Just 100 godly men. That's it.
4:17
If I could find 100 of them, it's like Paul and Silas in in
4:22
Acts chapter 17 when they went to Thessalonica.
4:26
We've been in the study of Thessalonica, and I promise
4:29
we'll get back to chapter 5 as soon as I'm done with this.
4:33
But the fact of the matter is that when Paul and Silas went to
4:36
Thessalonica, the testimony was this.
4:38
Those who have turned the world upside down have now come here
4:43
to our city. They, they had a reputation of,
4:48
of turning the world upside down.
4:50
I, I wonder what your reputation is like.
4:53
I, I wonder, I wonder what workplace you're turning upside
4:57
down. Better yet, I wonder what family
5:04
you're turning upside down. Has your family changed course?
5:10
Has your family been uprooted from its past ways to to follow
5:15
the true and living God? Where are the men that that turn
5:21
schools and and homes and and workplaces and teams upside down
5:27
because they're godly men who love the Lord, who fear nothing
5:31
but sin and desire nothing but God?
5:36
Where are those guys? I know we like to talk about
5:41
them. Oh yeah, we got a guy here.
5:42
We got a guy there. But I'm talking about a true
5:44
godly man that has revolutionized his environment,
5:49
his sphere of influence, to such a degree that everybody knows he
5:53
has turned it upside down. That godly man is the kind of
6:00
man who goes to God incessantly in prayer.
6:03
That was point #1 he knows that he must be a man on his knees.
6:09
That's why the psalmist said these words in Psalm 32.
6:15
Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to you in time when
6:19
you may be found. The godly man prays.
6:24
The godly man lives on his knees.
6:27
He knows what it means to commune with God, so he goes to
6:30
God incessantly in prayer #2HE obeys God instantly, without
6:36
reservation, without hesitation. Psalm 1/19/62 says that, O Lord,
6:47
I hasten and will not delay to obey your commandments So many
6:55
times. We, we're just not that way as,
6:58
as elders this past week, we, we had our, our elder meeting.
7:02
We were talking about the fact that, you know, for 30 years at
7:05
Christ Community Church that there's something that never
7:08
changes, OK? It's that the word of God is our
7:11
authority. And so when we counsel people,
7:14
we only have one book. We don't have a plethora of
7:17
books. We got one and we have 1 Lord
7:21
who has given us that book. He speaks to us with one voice.
7:25
And so for 30 years we have given the same counsel to
7:30
everybody who comes to us. It doesn't change with one
7:35
person to another. It's the same counsel.
7:37
But we have noticed that over the years, there's one person or
7:41
one family who hears the council and says, yes, thank you, that's
7:46
what I need. We give the exact same counsel
7:49
to another family, to another individual, and they say, no, I
7:53
don't like that. I don't like you, I'm leaving.
7:57
And we're like, wait a minute. Same book, same verses, same
8:01
God, same words, same counsel. But one guy says thank you,
8:05
that's what I need. The other guy says, I'm out of
8:08
here. I don't like what you have to
8:10
say. Why is that?
8:14
It's not the book, it's not the counsel.
8:19
It's the heart of the person who is either willing to receive it
8:23
or unwilling to receive it. It's always the heart.
8:27
It's always the soil. That's what Matthew 13 is all
8:30
about. The parable of the sower and the
8:32
soil, right? The seed is the word of God.
8:37
It is sown. But for some, it falls on hard
8:42
hearts. For some it falls on worldly
8:45
hearts. For some it falls on selfish
8:48
hearts. And they're like, I don't want
8:49
to hear that. I don't want to do that.
8:51
And others have a very soft heart, a very spongy kind of
8:56
heart. They say, wow, that's exactly
8:57
what I need. Thank you so much, pastor,
9:00
because that's what I need to grow on.
9:02
That's what my family needs. You see, it's not the pastor.
9:06
It's not the book. It's the heart of the person who
9:09
is either willing to receive it or unwilling to receive it.
9:13
Never forget that it's always the way it is, that it will
9:17
always be that way. And the godly man hastens to
9:23
obey and never delay to obey the commands of God.
9:28
He wants to hear the word of God.
9:30
He wants to follow the word of God.
9:31
He longs to hear the word of God.
9:33
He says, Lord, tell me what I need to do, Correct my life, put
9:37
me on the right path and I might serve you.
9:40
He hastens because he obeys the word of God instantly.
9:46
That's the godly man. Are you that kind of man?
9:52
So he goes to God incessantly. He obeys God instantly.
9:58
He disciplines himself implicitly.
10:01
That is, there's something about the spiritual man that's
10:05
disciplined and you see it because the, the spiritualness,
10:10
the spiritual aspect of his life bulges with, with strength
10:15
because he, he loves the Lord. He disciplines himself under
10:18
prayer. He disciplines himself under the
10:20
study of God's word. He, he disciplines himself to
10:23
say no to sin. He disciplines himself to, to,
10:26
to share the gospel. He lives a life of, of spiritual
10:30
discipline of self surrender of self, denial of self submission
10:35
that he might obey the word of God.
10:37
It's he's a discipline man. Proverbs 1227 man's most
10:41
precious possession is his diligence.
10:44
That's your most precious possession.
10:47
It's your diligence, your discipline to be in the word of
10:51
God, to listen to the word of God, to follow the word of God,
10:54
to live for the Lord God. It's a discipline that takes
10:58
place and that's why Paul says the first Timothy 4 train
11:02
yourself under godliness and the word is good.
11:04
Not so even the word has a grunt in it good nod.
11:08
So you know why Because it's it's it's where we get our
11:11
English word gymnasium and we are to be spiritually in the gym
11:17
every single day. Bodily exercise profits a
11:20
little, but but godliness has profitable is profitable for all
11:24
things, not just in this life, but in the life to come.
11:28
The godly man is a discipline man.
11:32
He disciplines himself implicitly.
11:34
There's no doubt. There is no question.
11:37
There is nothing but absolute surety that when you see him, he
11:42
is absolutely in tune with the living God.
11:45
He is disciplined in his spiritual life.
11:49
That's the godly man. That's GODL is that he loves his
12:00
sin intensely. He hates it.
12:04
You can't be a godly man who loves sin.
12:08
A godly man loathes his sin. He hates his sin, he hates evil.
12:14
Psalm 95 verse #10 You who love the Lord, Ezekiel says that you
12:19
when you, when I come again and, and, and, and you're born again,
12:23
and I and I redeem Israel, You will loathe yourselves because
12:27
of your sin. You will hate the fact that you
12:30
sinned against me. You will hate the fact that
12:32
you're a Sinner, and you will grasp onto me.
12:35
Why? Because a godly man loves his
12:38
sin intensely, doesn't love a sin.
12:44
He hates the sin and seeks to separate himself from that sin.
12:50
It doesn't mean that he doesn't sin because everybody sins, but
12:56
when he sins, he hates it and causes him to turn from it, to
13:04
flee the love of money. First Timothy 6 verse #10 Paul
13:10
says the Corinthians to flee idolatry, to flee immorality.
13:15
He's a running man. He's always running away from
13:18
sin and always running to the spiritual virtues that God has
13:24
for him, faith and peace and gentleness and godliness and
13:28
long-suffering and patience, because he wants to be God's
13:31
kind of man. Then he yields to the Holy
13:41
Spirit intently because he knows he can't do anything without the
13:47
Lord. He's a dependent man.
13:53
He's dependent not on another person, not on his wife.
13:58
He's dependent upon the Lord. So he yields to the Spirit
14:04
intently. He's controlled by the Spirit.
14:08
He walks in the Spirit. So he didn't fulfill the lust of
14:10
the flesh. He understands the ministry of
14:12
Jesus was all geared to the ministry of the Spirit in Jesus.
14:19
It was the Spirit of God that drove into the wilderness to be
14:22
tempted by the devil for 40 days.
14:24
He was always living in dependence upon the Spirit of
14:27
God in his life with a godly man recognizes that and wants to
14:31
live in dependence upon the Spirit of God every single day
14:34
of his life. He wants to submit himself to a
14:36
Savior and saturate himself with the Scriptures so that every
14:39
decision that he makes is under the direction of the Spirit of
14:42
the living God. That's the godly man.
14:47
That's all Review. See, why do you review so much?
14:52
I told you that weeks ago. Peter did it, Jesus did it, John
14:57
did it, Moses did it, everybody did it.
15:01
Why? Because we forget.
15:05
We forget. So here's the here's the one I'm
15:08
going to cover today. Only one, and that is the M
15:15
aspect in Godly man. He manages his home
15:20
impressively. He manages his home
15:26
impressively. Listen to Psalm 112.
15:32
Praise the Lord, how blessed is a man who fears the Lord, who
15:35
greatly delights in his commandments.
15:37
His descendants will be mighty on the earth.
15:40
The generation of the upright will be blessed.
15:42
Wealth and riches are in his house and his righteousness
15:45
endures forever. Verse 6 for he will never be
15:48
shaken. The righteous will be remembered
15:50
forever. He will not fear evil tidings.
15:54
His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
15:57
His heart is upheld. He will not fear.
16:00
And then over in Psalm 128, Psalm 128, how blessed is
16:07
everyone who fears the Lord who walks in his ways.
16:10
When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands, you will be
16:14
happy, and it will be well with you.
16:16
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine within your house,
16:20
your children like olive plants around your table.
16:23
Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.
16:28
See, the godly man has a certain kind of home.
16:31
He has a wife that that clings to him like, like a vine.
16:34
She, she, she just can't rid herself of that kind of man.
16:39
She wants to be stuck on that kind of man.
16:43
That's the godly man who fears the Lord.
16:46
And his children are, like all the plants around his table, a
16:50
symbol of blessing and abundance in Israel.
16:52
And so therefore there's an abundant life in the life of his
16:55
children because they live in submission to their parents,
16:58
especially through the father of the home.
17:01
He's a godly man. He manages his home
17:09
impressively, not because he's trying to impress anybody,
17:15
simply because very few men do it.
17:19
That's why it says of the elder in First Timothy chapter 3 these
17:26
words. He must be one who manages his
17:29
own household well, keeping his children under control with all
17:33
dignity. But if a man does not know how
17:36
to manage his own household, how shall he be able to care for the
17:42
Church of God? If you can't manage your home,
17:47
you can't manage the church. If you can't lead your wife, you
17:53
can't lead in the church. If you can't lead your children,
17:57
you can't lead in the church. Why?
18:01
Because the church is like a family.
18:03
And if you can't do it in the small circle of your own home,
18:08
how do you expect to do it in a bigger circle of the church?
18:13
That's why the elders must be able to manage your own home
18:18
well, impressively so. Incredibly important.
18:28
So I'm going to give you the way to do that.
18:32
You're going to be so glad you came.
18:36
Unless your heart is hard, then you're going to be upset with me
18:38
because you did come. But if your heart is soft,
18:41
you're going to be so glad you came.
18:45
How do I manage my home? Impressively.
18:50
Well, The GODOY must come first. OK, the first points of our
18:55
outline and then you begin to to manage your own home
18:58
Impressively. But but it begins with vision.
19:02
Vision Proverbs 2918. Without a vision the people are
19:09
unrestrained. And the word for vision, the
19:11
Hebrew is is revelation. So without a revelation, the
19:18
people themselves are out of control.
19:20
They are unrestrained. In other words, in order for you
19:25
to manage your home well, you must have a vision for your
19:27
home. And the vision comes from the
19:29
revelation of the living God. And therefore the vision is
19:34
based on what God has already said in His Word about how your
19:37
home should be and how you should lead in your home.
19:42
Because if not without that vision, without that revelation,
19:46
then the people are unrestrained or out of control.
19:49
Is your are your children out of control?
19:52
Is your wife out of control? That's because they're not given
19:57
the proper revelation based on the proper vision, based on the
20:02
revelation of God's Word to give them a clear path by which our
20:06
family is going. If you don't have a clear path
20:11
as the father, as the godly man, how do you expect your children
20:14
and your wife to have a clear path as to which way they're
20:17
supposed to be going? And it only comes because of the
20:21
revelation of the living God. So it begins with vision.
20:24
Proverbs 29 verse #18 From vision, then comes direction.
20:34
Direction, because without the revelation of God, you have no
20:39
path to follow. But now, because of the vision
20:42
you have based on the revelation of God, now you have a direction
20:46
by which you are to journey. And the psalmist says in Psalm
20:52
32 verse #8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way that
20:55
you should go. I will counsel you with my eye
20:58
upon you. Do not be as a horse or as the
21:02
mule which have no understanding, whose trappings
21:06
include bit and bridle to hold them in check, otherwise they
21:11
will not come near to you. In other words, listen, I'm
21:14
going to instruct you clearly. I'm going to guide you
21:17
perfectly, but do not be like a horse and do not be like a mule.
21:23
Don't be stubborn because I'm going to direct you in the right
21:26
way. That's why the Bible says trust
21:29
in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own
21:32
understanding in all your ways, acknowledging Him.
21:34
He will direct your paths. He will make your paths smooth,
21:38
but if your paths are not smooth, that's because you're
21:41
leaning on your own understanding.
21:44
You got to trust in the Lord with all your heart, and He will
21:47
make your paths smooth. But it begins with vision.
21:50
The vision comes from the revelation of God's holy Word.
21:53
And that vision then leads to direction.
21:55
So I know, OK, this is where we need to go now.
21:59
This is how we're going to get there.
22:03
And then from direction comes instruction.
22:10
Instruction, In other words, let me tell you what the Bible says
22:16
about where we're going. Let me tell you what the Bible
22:21
says about where we are going. So the Bible says in Proverbs 24
22:28
verse #3 by wisdom the house is built.
22:33
By understanding it is established, and by knowledge
22:38
all the rooms are filled with precious and pleasant riches.
22:43
So wisdom applies the truth of God with conviction.
22:57
Understanding verifies the truth of God through demonstration,
23:06
and knowledge clarifies the truth of God through
23:11
instruction. So your your house is built by
23:16
wisdom, understanding, and knowledge.
23:20
Therefore, if that's the case, there must be implemented in
23:23
your home some kind of instruction from the Scriptures
23:27
that moves your family in the right direction.
23:30
Because you know what the Bible says, you have a vision based on
23:33
the revelation of God. Therefore you know which
23:36
direction you are to go. And as you know that direction,
23:39
now you give the instruction on what the Bible says because you
23:43
want to manage your household impressively.
23:45
And the only way to do that is to keep it in line with what
23:48
God's Word actually does say. It's not about the Father's
23:52
opinion. It's about the Father's belief
23:56
in the authority of the Word of God to guide and direct his
24:01
family. So incredibly and important.
24:07
So once there's vision, there comes direction, then comes
24:12
instruction, then comes imitation.
24:17
I'm going to show you how to do it.
24:20
Instruction says I'm going to tell you how to do it.
24:23
And now imitation says I'm going to show you how to do it.
24:29
Why? Because you want your children
24:30
to imitate you. Paul said follow me as I follow
24:33
Christ. So you need to tell your
24:35
children follow me as I follow Christ.
24:37
Tell your wife, follow me as I follow Christ.
24:41
I'm going to imitate Christ to you.
24:43
I'm going to imitate his word to you.
24:47
Paul in Silas in First Thessalonians chapter 1, the
24:52
Church of Thessalonica became mimics of Paul and Silas.
24:55
They became imitators of Paul and Silas.
24:57
They followed their example. They set the tone.
25:04
And imitation is so important. Is it not sure it is your
25:12
children. Listen, watch your children.
25:17
How do your children speak? What's the tone of your
25:21
children's voice? Where did they learn that from?
25:26
Yeah, you. The words they say, the tones
25:30
they use, the attitudes they they portray.
25:34
Look at your own life. Examine your own life.
25:36
Because somewhere, somehow that that attitude is being conveyed
25:40
to them, that tone that you speak to them with or you speak
25:44
to your wife with. Now they're using that tone with
25:47
you because they heard it with you and your wife.
25:50
They're imitators of of mom and dad.
25:54
And so you want to provide the kind of imitation that makes it
25:57
so that they can follow the Lord and honor the Lord.
26:01
Manage your household impressively.
26:04
Begin vision. It's based on the revelation of
26:06
God. That vision leads to the
26:09
direction in which your family must go.
26:12
That direction leads to the the instruction of the truth of the
26:16
living God in their lives, in the imitation of that truth
26:21
before their lives #5 I have a lot of them.
26:28
So hold on this one. Inspiration, inspiration.
26:36
Listen as a godly man, you inspire, you infuse
26:41
encouragement, you move your family that there must be some
26:47
kind of inspiration, some kind of motivation that stems from
26:52
the godly man. You're inspiring others to move
26:56
on toward godliness. Could you imagine coming to
26:59
church every Sunday and me saying, so glad you guys are
27:03
here, take your Bible and let's turn to 1st Thessalonians 5.
27:11
That's because the elders want me to preach on 1st
27:14
Thessalonians chapter 5. So let's open it together.
27:18
You wouldn't come back. I wouldn't even come back.
27:24
But there's got to be some kind of inspiration as the father, as
27:29
the husband, you're inspiring your children to move on toward
27:33
maturity. You're inspiring your wife to
27:36
move on toward maturity. There it's inspiration, it's
27:39
motivation. Jeremiah would say, thy words
27:43
are found. Then I did eat them and eat with
27:44
the joy and the rejoicing of my heart.
27:46
Song was that I was glad when they said to me, let's go to the
27:49
House of the Lord. I was glad.
27:53
Your children will be glad to come to church if you are glad
27:55
to come to church. If you're excited about church,
27:59
your children will be excited about church, but if you're not,
28:04
they won't be. If you're excited about church,
28:08
your wife's going to be excited about church because she sees it
28:12
in you. She sees what moves you.
28:14
You're inspiring her. You're moving her, you're
28:16
motivating her. You're moving on to our maturity
28:19
in Christ. You wanted to hear the same
28:21
voice, be in the same place, be with the same people that you
28:25
were there, and she wants to come and be right by your side.
28:30
Inspiration. Listen to what the psalmist said
28:35
in Psalm 119. He said this make me walk in the
28:43
path of your commandments, for I delight in it.
28:48
Verse 24 someone, your testimonies also are my delight.
28:51
They are my counselors. Verse 47, I shall delight in
28:55
your commandments, which I love. And then he says over in verse
28:58
#70 their heart is covered with fat, but I delight in your law.
29:03
Verse 77 Excuse me, for your law is my delight.
29:07
If you if your law had not been my delight, verse 92, then I
29:12
would have perished in my affliction.
29:16
Listen, Dad, if God's word is your delight, then God's word
29:23
becomes your children's delight. It it translates so easily over
29:32
to your children. But inspiration is important to
29:37
any leader, right? Are you inspiring your wife
29:44
toward Christ likeness? Are you inspiring your children
29:47
to walk with Christ? Are they moving in that
29:50
direction? You want to manage your home
29:54
impressively. It will be seen in the lives of
29:59
your children and your wife more so than anything else.
30:07
The strength of any man's ministry is not in the number of
30:12
people that attend his church, his Bible study or study school
30:16
class. It's whether or not his wife and
30:20
children are following his leadership.
30:23
That's what makes the godly man the godly man That's it.
30:29
Because there are a lot of men who preach.
30:31
You have a lot of people coming to church on Sunday, but they're
30:34
not godly men. Are their wives inspired to
30:40
follow the Lord and serve the Lord and honor the Lord, their
30:43
children following in their footsteps?
30:50
Next comes evaluation. Want to manage your own home?
30:54
Well, evaluate it. How are we doing?
31:00
How are we moving? Are we growing?
31:02
Are we stagnant? Are we excited?
31:05
Are we bored? What do we like?
31:08
What we don't like? That's why Paul says the 1st
31:11
Thessalonians 521 examine everything.
31:14
Everything. Put it under the microscope and
31:18
from evaluation then comes correction.
31:23
Once you evaluate it, correct it because nobody does it perfect.
31:29
So once you evaluate it, you can correct it by putting on the
31:31
right path. James says in James chapter one
31:34
that that the man of God is blessed.
31:36
He looks into the perfect law of liberty.
31:38
He sees the blemish. He doesn't turn away and keep
31:42
the blemish on his face. No, he removes the blemish
31:45
because he saw that it was there.
31:47
He removes it because he knows it's a hindrance.
31:49
This man is blessed in what he does.
31:54
Same is true for the godly man as he evaluates his family, his
31:59
children, his relationship to his wife.
32:04
There needs to be correction. He corrects it, puts it on the
32:07
right path. Then comes, I'll put all the
32:15
three, three of these together, protection, provision and
32:17
purification. Because as a shepherd you're a
32:21
protector. As a shepherd, you're a
32:23
provider. You want what's best for your
32:27
children. You're going to say to them, I
32:29
take care of you. I'll watch out for you.
32:32
I'm concerned about your purity and your holiness.
32:35
That's why I say no to this and yes to that.
32:38
I'm concerned about your, your, your, your alone time.
32:41
So I say yes to this and no to that.
32:43
I'm concerned about your purity. I'm concerned about how you are
32:46
protected. More so than anything else, you
32:49
need to know that. So protection, provision, and
32:52
purification. And as a husband, you want to
32:54
sanctify your wife, Ephesians after 5, right?
32:57
You want to set her apart unto godliness.
32:59
You want to purify your wife. And therefore it becomes a major
33:05
aspect in managing your home impressively.
33:13
Let me give you just two more recognition.
33:23
It's a recognition that God is sovereign, your rules over all,
33:27
and God's in charge and you are not, and that all things will
33:31
work together for good to those who love God and are called
33:33
according to His purpose. You need to recognize that as a
33:38
godly man, want to manage your home impressively?
33:43
Recognize that you're a steward of God's family, a steward of,
33:48
of God's woman who's your wife, a steward of God's children who
33:52
are, who are given to you as a gift and you're a household
33:55
manager of them. They're they're, they're God's
33:58
children. So you want to, you want to
34:01
manage them properly and therefore you recognize that
34:06
within God's sovereign plan he gave you specifically your wife
34:11
and not somebody else's wife. He gave you your children, not
34:15
somebody else's children in a sovereign plan.
34:18
And you know that all things will work together for good to
34:21
those who love God and are called according to his purpose.
34:24
And the last word is appreciation, a life of
34:28
thankfulness to God for what He's done.
34:34
So godly man does Isaiah chapter 43 verse #21 my people who I'm,
34:40
I have formed for myself. They will declare my praise.
34:47
And so you praise God, You thank him because you want to honor
34:52
him. Having said that, Psalmist says
35:01
in Psalm 78, these words, Listen, O my people, to my
35:07
instruction. Incline your ear to the words of
35:11
my mouth. Are you listening?
35:15
Turn your ears toward the words of my mouth.
35:20
Make sure you are listening to everything I'm going to tell
35:23
you. I will open my mouth in a
35:27
parable. I will utter dark Sagans of old,
35:29
which we have heard and known and our fathers have told us.
35:32
We will not conceal them from our their children, but tell to
35:36
the generation to come the praises of the Lord and his
35:40
strength and his wondrous works that He has done.
35:45
We're not going to conceal this from our children.
35:47
No, we're going to tell our children.
35:49
We're going to make sure our children understand the wondrous
35:51
works of God. We're going to make sure our
35:53
children understand who God is. We're going to inform them about
35:55
everything that God has done so that they are without excuse.
36:00
We're going to do that, for he established the testimony in
36:05
Jacob verse 5, and appointed a law in Israel which he
36:09
commanded. Our fathers, our fathers, they
36:15
should teach them to their children.
36:17
So you have Genesis, generation number one.
36:19
Our fathers, teach them to their children, generation #2 that the
36:25
generation to come might know even the children yet to be
36:28
born. Generation chapter 3 that they
36:31
may arise and tell them to their children.
36:34
Generation chapter 4 So you have 4 generations.
36:40
So our fathers have told us that we might tell our children that
36:46
they might be able to one day tell the children not yet even
36:49
born. So that when they hear about the
36:54
Lord of God is one of his works, they will tell them to their
36:56
children who are a long way down the road.
36:59
That's the vision based on the revelation of God.
37:05
That's direction under what you should be doing.
37:10
It's the instruction of the truth of God in his wondrous
37:13
works and praise that should inspire you.
37:17
Say, man, look what God has done.
37:19
This is so great so many times as fathers, we're we're like a
37:24
bump on a log. We, we just, we just, we're
37:27
immovable. There's no, there's no joy,
37:32
there's no, there's no passion, there's no motivation there,
37:35
there's no inspiration. That's that's the way we should
37:38
be. So he says this.
37:42
What are you going to tell them that they should not put their
37:49
that they should put their confidence in God and not forget
37:53
the works of God but keep his commandments?
38:00
It's not a whole manual on what to do.
38:05
It's just this way that don't put your confidence in anybody
38:08
else but God and make sure you keep his commandments.
38:12
How hard is that? Don't trust anyone else but God
38:19
and keep his commandments. God just narrows it down to bare
38:26
bones, makes it so simple. That's it.
38:31
That's all you got to do. Verse 8 And not be like their
38:41
fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a
38:47
generation that did not prepare its heart and whose spirit was
38:52
not faithful to God. Not like their fathers, who, by
38:59
the way, heard the same words from the same voice, from the
39:05
same God, from the same prophet, but they didn't like what they
39:12
heard. They were stubborn and
39:15
rebellious. They turned away.
39:20
Don't be like that. And that soft, supple, spongy
39:25
kind of heart that soaks it in and says, yes, I hear your
39:30
voice, Lord. I hear what you're saying, Lord.
39:32
Yes, that's what I want to do, Lord.
39:37
It gives nostration. The sons of Ephraim, Joseph's
39:44
second son. The sons of Ephraim were Archers
39:48
equipped with bows, yet they turned back in the day of
39:53
battle. Really, they were the largest
40:00
leading tribe in Israel, in the northern Kingdom, and they were
40:09
Archers. They were special at what they
40:13
did, unlike anybody else. But in the day of battle, they
40:17
turned back. Turned back.
40:22
Verse 10 They did not keep the covenant of God and refused to
40:26
walk in His law. They forgot his deeds and his
40:30
miracles that He had shown them. Oh they were prepared.
40:38
They were prepared when it came to their physicality.
40:44
They were prepared when it came to their their knowledge and
40:47
education. Prepared when it came to their.
40:49
Expertise. But in the day of battle, when
40:53
push came to shove, they had no confidence in God.
40:57
Why? Because they weren't walking
40:58
with God. And let me tell you something.
41:00
I don't care how smart you are, how creative you are, how
41:03
intelligent you are, how physical you are, without God
41:07
you can't accomplish anything. It must be totally upon the
41:12
truth of the living God following Him and.
41:15
Serving him and loving. Him, that's why you take your
41:18
children, you sit them down and you teach them the truth of the
41:22
word of God that they in turn would teach them to their
41:25
children, that they in turn will teach them to the children yet
41:27
to be born and then the children way beyond that.
41:30
There's a generation of people who need to know the truth, and
41:33
it begins with us right now, today, this very hour, saying
41:37
today's the day I'm going to manage my home impressively.
41:43
It's all going to be. Based on the vision.
41:45
Because without that vision of the revelation of what God says,
41:48
my home's going to be chaotic. My wife's going to be doing
41:52
this, my kids are going to be over there, and I got to bring
41:54
them all together. It's based on the.
41:58
Revelation. Of the living God, and that
42:01
revelation is. Going to give me the.
42:02
Direction I need to make sure I fulfill God's plan for my wife
42:06
and for my children and then. I'm going to instruct them in
42:11
the. Ways of God teach them the truth
42:13
of God, and then I'm. Going to say as I.
42:17
Teach you follow me, follow me. There are a lot of men today who
42:22
are really good teachers, but you don't want to imitate them
42:27
because their character is so bad.
42:31
If your wife. 'S not following you.
42:34
Your children are following you the very first.
42:37
Question you must always. Ask is what am I doing that's
42:42
hindering them from following me?
42:46
What is it about? My life.
42:48
That does not inspire. And motivate.
42:50
My wife and my children to follow.
42:53
My God, are you a? Hindrance to that?
42:59
Are you blocked? To that.
43:02
God is sovereign. God rules over all.
43:04
God's in charge, but you always got to ask the self evaluation
43:09
question first. So my prayer for me.
43:15
For you, for our church. Is the godly man would not cease
43:21
to. Be among us that we would
43:24
strive. To be the kind of.
43:25
Men, God wants us to be for the glory of His Kingdom, that
43:31
people would say those who went to that church have turned.
43:38
Our school. Upside down those.
43:42
Who went to that church? Have turned their families
43:46
upside down, those. Who?
43:50
Who went to that? Church have turned their
43:53
workplace completely upside down.
43:58
Not because of. Anything.
44:01
That they do or are, but simply because of God working in and
44:06
through them for the glory of His Kingdom.
44:10
Let me pray with you, Father. Thank you for today.
44:17
Thank you for our children. Who've been with us this last
44:21
month, They've been so good. Thank you, Lord.
44:26
That they have been here. To worship with their parents.
44:32
Thank you, Father, for his chance to.
44:35
To look into the word of God, to be challenged.
44:38
I know I'm challenged. I know I'm held in into account.
44:45
And I realized, Lord, that. There are many faults in my own
44:48
life that I need to deal. With personally.
44:52
That I might be able to lead my wife and my children and even.
44:57
Though my children are grown. And out of the house except for
45:01
one I still have. To provide a a model.
45:05
Of imitation they can follow, still have to instruct.
45:13
Still have to be able to. To evaluate, correct, inspire,
45:22
pray Father. That all of us as men would.
45:23
Recognize the great responsibility before us.
45:28
It's not impossible. It's not an impossible.
45:31
Mission it's a very possible. Mission because you gave it to
45:35
us. Go before us, Lord, Use us
45:41
mightily for your glory and for your Kingdom, until you come
45:47
again, as you most surely will. Jesus name Amen.