I die for thy deed, thou best rock of ages, I'm hiding in thee, I'm hiding in thee, I'm hiding in thee, thou best rock of ages,
I'm hiding in thee, I'm hiding in thee, I'm hiding in thee, thou best rock of ages, I'm hiding in thee, thou best rock of ages,
I'm hiding in thee, I'm hiding in thee, thou best rock of ages, I'm hiding in thee, thou best rock of ages,
I'm hiding in thee, I'm hiding in thee, thou best rock of ages, I'm hiding in thee, I'm hiding in thee,
thou best rock of ages, I'm hiding in thee, thou best rock of ages, I'm hiding in thee, thou best rock of ages,
I'm hiding in thee, I'm hiding in thee, thou best rock of ages, I'm hiding in thee, thou best rock of ages,
I'm hiding in thee, thou best rock of ages, I'm hiding in thee, thou best rock of ages, I'm hiding in thee, thou best rock of ages,
I'm hiding in thee, thou best rock of ages, I'm hiding in thee, thou best rock of ages, I'm hiding in thee,
thou best rock of ages, I'm hiding in thee.
Ms. Ray, Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for this morning. We thank you, O God, for this wonderful day. We thank you, Lord, that we can celebrate Father's Day, Lord, today.
And we ask, O God, that you would help us be attentive with your preaching, Lord, with the reading of your word.
And I pray that you would bless our singing, the reading of your word, Lord, and the preaching.
I pray that you would feel our singing with your Holy Spirit so that you can preach with boldness and clarity, Lord.
And I pray that you would give us also a good fellowship this afternoon and a good prayer for this whole evening.
I pray that you would also bless members which are coming today.
And I pray that you would help us and remove the injustices that we have in our minds and our hearts to give us for our sins, Lord,
so that we could come into you with all the Holy Spirit.
We're asking all these things, and Jesus came to you for you. Amen.
For the next song, let's turn to hymn number 137, the same song in times like this.
Hymn number 137 in times like this.
In times like this, on the first ready, sing.
In times like this, you need a signal, Lord.
In times like this, you need an anchor.
Be very sure, be very sure, your anchor holds.
And fix the solid rock.
Just rock his feet, sir.
Yes, he's the one.
He's rock his feet, sir.
The only one.
Be very sure, be very sure, your anchor holds.
And fix the solid rock.
In times like this, you need a Bible.
In times like this, open an icon.
Be very sure, be very sure, your anchor holds.
And fix the solid rock.
Just rock his feet, sir.
Yes, he's the one.
Just rock his feet, sir.
The only one.
Be very sure, be very sure, your anchor holds.
And fix the solid rock.
In times like this, I have a signal.
In times like this, I have an anchor.
I'm very sure, I'm very sure, my anchor holds.
And fix the solid rock.
Just rock his feet, sir.
Yes, he's the one.
Just rock his feet, sir.
The only one.
Be very sure, be very sure, your anchor holds.
And fix the solid rock.
All right, good morning, everybody.
Welcome to Verity Baptist Church Manila.
Happy Father's Day to all the fathers that are out there.
And just in the beginning, I want to announce,
we do have a gift for you if you're a father here today.
We've got these pins, and there's different ones here.
So you're going to be handed one by Brother Timothy and Brother Tito.
And we should have extra if you want to exchange later,
because some say tatai, some say papa, some say dad, some say father.
There's different colors and stuff like that.
And so it's a normal pin like this you write,
and then I can't remember the word my wife said to use on, like, your phone or whatever.
There's a fancy term.
And there's a button here.
It's got a knife inside if you get enough.
No, I'm just kidding.
Just kidding about that.
But they're going to hand one out to you right now if you're a dad,
and there's going to be extra on the back table.
So if you want to exchange for a different one after the service,
whatever's left over you can get.
But whatever they hand you now, you know, you've got to accept it.
Okay?
So if you're a dad, just raise your hand, and they'll go around and give you one.
And we should have plenty of extra, even some extra for next week or anyone coming later.
And so our verse of the week is 1 John 3, verse 1, where the Bible reads,
Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us,
that we should be called the sons of God.
Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.
And that's a great verse there.
We are a family-integrated church, meaning children and infants are welcome during the services.
We do have the mother-baby room back there for your convenience, as well as the ladies' restroom.
The men's restroom is up here in front.
Remember, no eating during the services.
Maintain a professional atmosphere.
And keep the children from running and making noise during the church service.
Then on the next page, we have our weekly service times listed.
First service is at 10 a.m.
Then we have a short break in our 1130 service.
If you notice on the Wednesday evening Bible study, it says 7 p.m.
So that was our original time for church.
We're changing it back to 7 p.m. because I think it's going to help out a lot of the men
that are part of the preaching and the song leading and everything like that.
It gives the guys an extra hour to get a chance to work.
And so 7 p.m. I think is going to be a better time than 6 p.m. for most of the people.
So Wednesday, starting this Wednesday, it's going to be back to 7 p.m. for service,
which means soul winning is at 5 p.m.
It's always going to be two hours before.
We do the same thing in Pampanga.
We have two hours before church is soul winning.
It's really the perfect time for soul winning.
And so 5 p.m. soul winning.
Saturday afternoon, 10 to 12.
Then a lunch break.
Then meeting 2 to 4.
Ask Brother Ehrman if you have more questions.
Obviously this time of year, the weather is a bit unpredictable.
And so you never know if it's going to rain on you or not.
So obviously the soul winning times can...
If it's like 5 p.m. and it's just pouring down the rain,
it's like you can probably assume we're not going to have the soul winning time.
We're not going to be able to or whatever.
But obviously we try to do soul winning.
We try not to cancel unless it's absolutely necessary.
And so Sunday afternoon we have our lunch fellowship, 1 to 2.15 p.m.
Soul winning is at 2.15 p.m. here today.
We're going to try to do a little bit of shortened soul winning
because we are going to be ordering food and just playing some games and fellowshipping here.
So I was debating about what to do for Father's Day.
And Father's Day is about dads and their children, right?
So if children are not allowed to go to the mall to play games with their dads,
it doesn't really make sense to have a Father's Day activity where the kids can't come, right?
And so the Mother's Day activity was here at church so the kids are around their moms.
But if the guys go to do bowling at the mall, then the kids can't come because of restrictions.
So it makes sense to do the Father's Day activity here.
We're headed by a dart board and we've got a board game family feud that we played yesterday and everything.
So we've got some various games we can play.
We're going to order food. We're going to have pizza and ice cream.
So we'll have a good time of fellowship.
We'll just do the activities here.
Soul winning will probably be a little bit shortened, maybe one hour of soul winning so we can have more time for fellowship.
And let's see, our praise report for 2021.
You can see our salvations for June, salvations for the year, also in Pampanga year to date,
and the Singapore Bible Study Fellowship.
One thing you can see added to the bulletin is the volunteering opportunities.
And so we might adjust this a little bit depending on how many people are able to help volunteer.
It's hard to get everything like this organized, but on Tuesday evening is the general time that there's cleaning before Wednesday.
And the Tuesday evening cleaning is usually a little bit more in depth because on Sunday we kind of destroy this place.
So before Wednesday on Tuesday we have cleaning here.
So if you want to meet here at the building around 6 p.m., and so there will be people here cleaning if you're able to do that.
And then we also have a volunteering opportunity for Saturdays at 5.30.
So basically right after soul winning, and the time could be adjusted a little bit depending on how long it takes and everything.
And so here's the thing, if we end up having lots of people that show up for the cleaning time,
then maybe we could have an alternating schedule or maybe it will just go a lot quicker and everything like that.
Obviously, you know, if you live a long ways away, right,
if you live in Beekle and you attend our church, I'm not expecting you to show up on Tuesday night for the cleaning time or whatever.
But if you're able to, that would be a great opportunity and we'll try to get it more organized as we go.
We might divide it into more times or whatever.
But 6 p.m., because we have had people cleaning, you know, we've always had people volunteering for cleaning,
but it's often the same people that are doing a lot of volunteering.
So we want to try to make it easier on those people and everything.
So that's a big volunteering opportunity.
It's one that goes unnoticed, but it's one of the most important ones,
because we'd start noticing a major difference if nobody ever cleaned here, right.
And so another thing you can do if you're not able to volunteer,
one thing you can do, though, is try to keep this place as neat as possible.
And so if you spill food or drink on the ground, then clean it up, right.
Or before we go on Sunday, you know, if everyone would spend maybe just a little bit of time,
five minutes just picking up a few things.
We could try to make it a lot easier on the people that are going to be doing the cleaning.
So let's try to do our part to keep this as clean as possible and not make it more difficult.
I mean, the other day I was walking and somebody rode by on a bike and he just threw trash on the ground outside.
And look, I'm not an environmentalist, but that stuff ticks me off.
It's like, what is wrong with you?
It's just like there's a reason why it's dirty outside because people are just trashing it.
Well, we don't want to have that mentality in the house.
You shouldn't have that mentality out of the house of God, much less inside the house of God.
So let's try to keep this place as neat as possible.
So that is a volunteering opportunity.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Birthdays and anniversaries for June are listed below.
On the next page, our Bible memorization challenge.
And so we are starting the book of 1 John today.
Challenge A is going to be to memorize the entire book of 1 John.
You don't have to quote it all perfectly at one time.
You have to quote each individual chapter perfectly.
Challenge B is to memorize 1 John chapter 1 by the time we're done with this book.
So if you're going to stay on pace, it's finishing chapter 1 if you're doing challenge A.
Finishing the first two verses if you're doing challenge B.
And so upcoming activities, we have men's choir.
So we did decide on doing men's choir, both services.
And so we kind of went back and forth on that.
The one change, though, we're not doing parts for the choir.
Okay?
So it's going to be a little bit easier.
We're not going to do any parts.
We're just going to do it without parts for the choir.
So we'll do it for the first service.
And I think we'll have more people join us for the second service.
So no parts in the choir.
It's going to make it a little bit easier.
And let's see, we do have game night after soul winning.
Upcoming activities in July.
We do have a prayer meeting on July 18th.
And then on July 20th will be our next soul winning marathon that's not on Saturday.
Because it is a public holiday.
It's some Muslim holiday.
Anybody used to be a Muslim here?
No, I'm just kidding.
Some Muslim holiday.
We'll have a soul winning marathon that's on a Tuesday.
Current and upcoming series.
1 John, we're going to be starting here.
1 Peter is what I'm preaching through on Tuesdays.
I know the sound is not perfect.
We're thinking about making some adjustments.
But if you want to tune in, that's going to be on Tuesdays at 6 p.m.
is when we have church there.
Starting next week we have a series, How to Spot a Psychopath.
So we're going to be taking a break from false philosophies.
And we're going to be covering that.
And we'll go back to false philosophies later.
Information on our group chat there below.
And then on the back there is a place for sermon notes for both of the sermons here today.
So I believe that's it for announcements.
And so before we take the offering, we're going to have the men's choir come up here right now.
And perform for us here this morning.
Whoops.
Okay.
See, the reason why we do not have in life is not because God's not available.
It's because we don't make time for Him.
Verse 3.
See, the other reason why we do not have in life is we might ask, but we're asking for the wrong thing.
I realize God is still listening to you when you try to pray to Him.
He always makes time for you.
As dads, we need to make time for our kids.
The sad thing is with God, most of His children don't want to make time for God.
But, you know, it's the reverse in this world.
Because every child wants to spend time with their parents.
Isn't that true?
When you have young children, they always want to spend time for you.
And, look, I get it.
You're not always free.
My son always, he says, Dad, can we throw a ball?
It's like, you know, man, I'll have to do it later, son.
I've got to work, right?
Obviously we have to work.
We've got to do things.
But you know what?
At the same time, when you come to the end of the day, you should try to make time for your kids.
Try to spend time with your kids.
Not just always be so busy that you can't put anything aside.
Right?
Sometimes that's inconvenient.
Just a couple days ago, you know, I wasn't eating breakfast that day for whatever reason.
And my son came upstairs because, you know, my wife and my kids were eating.
And my son said, Dad, let's come down and eat breakfast.
I was like, do you want me to come downstairs?
He's like, yes, Dad.
He's like, all right, I'll come downstairs.
I think that was yesterday.
I was like, man, I've got to get ready for the sermons and everything.
But it's like, no.
One thing that's more important is making time for my children.
Because that's something the Bible actually commands.
Right?
If we're just fathers, we need to make time.
And, look, you know, that might mean you might need to get off of Facebook
and social media for 30 minutes or an hour a day or however long you spend.
That might mean you need to de-plug from everything that's going on online
or all over the world and all the news and everything like that.
You know, what's more important than watching the news is spending time with your family.
It's okay not to know what's going on in the news.
Look, I can tell you what the news is going to be tomorrow, worldwide.
Here it is.
There's a new strand of the coronavirus.
That's number one.
Number two, many countries might blow up Israel.
That's number two.
And politicians and governments around the world are corrupt,
and many have been arrested for stealing money.
That's what's going on tomorrow.
Okay?
It's the same thing all the time.
And if I forgot anything, then, you know, you can fill in the blanks.
Right?
That's reality, though.
The news doesn't change.
But, you know, what does change is your kids.
And, you know what?
When they're young, they want to spend time with you.
But, you know what?
As they get older, if you don't make time for them,
they're going to start to rebel against you.
They're going to resent you.
And they're also going to resent the God that you say you love
because you're not a good representation of the God that you say you love.
It says in Ephesians 6, verse 4,
And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath,
but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Now, the admonition is basically speaking towards discipline.
We'll talk about that later on in the sermon.
Nurture is like, you know, the old discussion, nature versus nurture.
Right?
You always hear about these things and they'll ask the question,
Is this nature, which means biological or genetics?
Right?
Or, nurture, meaning your environment that you were brought up in.
And the Bible says that when we bring up our children,
we need to bring them up in the nurture of the Lord.
And what that's indicating is you care for your children and you spend time for them.
Look, if you never spend any time for your children,
you're not bringing them up in the nurture of the Lord.
And the Bible says that will provoke your children to wrath.
As they get older, they're going to rebel against you.
And the sad thing is they will rebel against God
because you say you love God and yet you're not making time for them.
Look, this is a tough reality for a lot of people,
especially the people that listen to online preaching.
They must realize something, that if all of their time is spent coming home
and just listening to online preaching and not making time for their kids,
it will cause that entire family to resent God
because they're seeing that the online preaching is taking them away from them.
Do you understand what I'm saying?
This is why so many pastors, kids, and it's been going on for,
I mean, in the Bible you see it, even with Samuel,
where basically many kids grow up and they rebel because, you know what,
the parents never make time for their kids.
And then other things are more important
and what happens is the children grow up
and they rebel as a result of that.
Look, we must make time for our kids
and if we do not, it will provoke them to wrath.
That's what the Bible says.
Go to Ephesians chapter 5.
Ephesians 5.
You say, Brother Stuckey, what's the secret?
Because I got to work a lot of hours, I'm busy, I'm tired, I'm exhausted.
One thing you can do is quit wasting the free time you do have
because usually we wake up and we have some free time or dead time or whatever
and oftentimes the easy thing is to wake up
and just waste that time on social media or things that don't matter.
You know what you could do is just wake up and be productive
right at the beginning of the day.
Get your Bible reading in, spend your personal time with God
and don't just sit around for an hour and a half saying, I got to relax,
but use that time wisely for things you need to get done
and then when you get off work, guess what?
You have time to spend with your family.
But see, if you waste all of the free time that you have during the day,
a couple of problems.
One, there's only 24 hours in a day and you just wasted a few hours
and the other thing is if you want God to bless you with free time,
He's probably going to do that if He can trust you with the time He's given you.
I mean, it's the same thing with money.
If God gives you money and He can't trust you with that,
He's probably not giving you more.
Same thing with your time.
And you know what?
If God can trust you with the time that He's given you,
He's probably going to give you more time to use
because He knows that He can actually trust you with that.
And look, I've seen that in my life before
when there were times where I was really worried
and somehow everything just worked out.
It's like you're driving and the light is always a green light
when you go up to it, right?
It's like, man, there's so much time I spared today.
No problems, no flat tires, no headaches.
But what I find in my life is when I'm wasting a lot of time,
all of a sudden I have all of these problems in my life
that are taking up my time
and it could just be that God's like, you know what?
You need to start using your time.
You know what?
You need to start using your time more wisely.
It says in Ephesians 5 verse 16,
redeeming the time because the days are evil.
Now, when we talk about the days being evil,
I would say the best or direct application
is like in Ecclesiastes 12 where it talks about as you age,
the days become evil, the Bible says.
But even just on a daily basis, redeem the time.
Don't waste your time on things that do not matter.
And look, there are plenty of things in this life
that will take up your time,
but they really do not matter at all.
And a large part of it is social media
and that's a major problem in our world today.
Because in the Bible, it talks about working 72 hours.
Six days a week for 12 hours.
Look, if you work 72 hours, it keeps you pretty busy.
Right?
That's a large percentage of the day,
but yet God expects you to be able to do that
and you'll teach and train and spend time with your kids.
So what are we doing the other 32 hours
or however many hours we work during the week?
We're wasting it on Facebook.
We're wasting it on YouTube.
We're wasting it on sports.
We're wasting it on entertainment.
We're wasting it on things that really just don't matter.
And I'm not saying all of those things are inherently wrong.
I'm not saying it's a sin to be on Facebook,
but unfortunately, for most of us,
it's a nonproductive part of our day
where we waste time and we'd be better off
just not even having it because we can't control ourselves.
The Bible says redeem the time.
And if we learn to do that as dads, you know what?
We're probably going to have time to spend time with our kids.
Now turn in your Bible to Deuteronomy 17.
Deuteronomy 17.
So point number one,
one example that God gives us as our Father,
which is a great application to us,
is that God makes time for us.
Of course, God is available 24-7,
and we're not going to be available 24-7,
but at the same time, we need to be able to make time for our kids.
The reality is, though, as fathers and as moms,
when you have kids, you are forced,
when you want to do something else,
to have to spend time with your kids.
What I mean is your kids get sick in the middle of the night,
and you would love to sleep at 2 in the morning.
You'd love to sleep at 3 in the morning,
but sometimes that might not even be possible
if your kids have a cold or whatever,
and they're struggling to breathe in the middle of the night.
And it might feel like a burden, like,
oh, I'm so tired, but that's actually the responsibility
that God has given you.
One thing is making time for your kids.
Another thing is teaching your children.
Teaching your children.
So, of course, spend time with your kids,
and part of that is just throwing a ball with them,
playing with them, doing whatever they want to do.
But part of it is we should be actually teaching our children.
Look, when your child comes out of the womb,
they don't come out of the womb speaking ten languages,
knowing how to do calculus.
Right?
They come out knowing basically nothing.
Now, of course, many things just come naturally to them,
like they're going to learn to walk and do things like that,
but many things they have absolutely no idea about.
At a young age, they will touch fans,
they'll touch electrical sockets,
they'll do things that are dangerous to them,
and they don't even know.
They're unaware of that.
It's our job as dad and mom to actually teach our kids,
and it says in Deuteronomy 17,
let me show you how God teaches us.
Deuteronomy 17 verse 18.
Deuteronomy 17 verse 18,
which is before the priests, the Levites.
And so it talks about if you're a king,
you are not only supposed to read the word of God,
you're supposed to write the word of God.
You're supposed to actually write out Genesis chapter 1,
Genesis 2, and all of the law, all of God's work.
Now, I don't know if you've ever written out chapters of the Bible,
but I've actually tried this,
and I had a goal to do one chapter a day
and finish the whole Bible,
and then I realized this takes a lot of time
to write every single word out by hand.
It takes a lot of time.
But that is what they were supposed to do as kings.
They were supposed to write a copy of the law,
not read a copy of the law.
They were supposed to write it,
because when you're writing it,
it's going to cause you to meditate on it.
You spend more time.
It's the same thing with Bible memorization.
You can read 1 John, and you'll learn some things,
but if you memorize it, you're going to be like,
oh, wow, because you're meditating on it.
And so one requirement for the kings
that were under the nation of Israel,
they were supposed to write a copy of God's law.
I don't know how many actually did that.
Probably not a lot.
But honestly, if just every day you wrote out one chapter
your entire life and just started over,
you'd probably never fall into major sins
because you're constantly just meditating on the word of God.
Part of being a king,
your responsibility was to know God's word
and to write out a copy of the law.
Then it says in verse 19,
and it shall be with him.
So you're supposed to write out a copy,
and you're supposed to bring it with him,
bring it with you, okay?
And it shall be with him,
and he shall read therein all the days of his life.
So you write out a copy,
and then you bring it with you,
and then you read it every single day.
Now I'll be honest.
This would have been hard for me
because I write stuff,
and I can't even read what I wrote sometimes.
I'm like, I got a math degree, right?
If you're a math person,
it's like you take no concern for writing,
and I look at stuff.
I'm like, what in the world did I write?
But they're supposed to read therein
all the days of their life.
You say, why?
What's the purpose?
What's the real purpose of reading God's word?
Does it really matter when you already know doctrine?
Well, what does it say?
It says that he may learn to fear the Lord as God.
By reading God's word every day,
it will cause you to fear God.
You say, why?
Well, you do see God killing people
for sins in the Bible, right?
You see that God is not just a loving God
as everybody tells you.
I mean, God is love, right?
Yeah, he's also holy.
He's also just.
He's also righteous.
And when you understand that,
it causes you to fear God, right?
And it says that he may learn to fear the Lord as God
to keep all the words of this law
in these statutes to do them,
that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren.
So basically, heart being lifted up is being arrogant.
By reading God's word, it will cause you to be humble,
the Bible says.
If you don't read God's word,
you could become arrogant, the Bible says.
And that he turn not aside from the commandment
to the right hand or to the left,
to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom.
He and his children in the midst of Israel.
So look, if you see somebody straying away
from the things of God,
you can pretty much guarantee
that they're not spending personal time with God.
I can pretty much guarantee you
that the year that David,
after he committed adultery with Bathsheba,
he probably didn't spend a whole lot of time with God.
He probably didn't actually read therein
all the days of his life.
You say, why?
He would have felt guilty by reading the Bible.
I'm pretty sure Solomon,
when he started marrying all these women,
kind of stopped doing his Bible reading after a time.
I get it.
He started off, I'll seek wine and wisdom,
but how long is that going to last for?
Eventually you're just going to seek wine, my friend.
If you're going down the road of wine and wisdom,
the wisdom is just going to die out.
The Bible says that if you're reading God's word,
it will cause you to be humble,
it will cause you to obey,
and it will cause you to fear God.
And when you fear God,
that's going to cause you to obey.
Now turn in your Bible to Proverbs 1.
Proverbs 1.
Look, I understand,
church is the pillar and ground of the truth,
but honestly,
how much can you really learn in one church service?
Let's be realistic.
How much are you going to learn
in three church services a week?
You're only going to learn a limited amount.
I mean, the Bible's incredibly deep.
I mean, to be expound on everything in the word of God,
I mean, I use a lot of verses and sermons.
I'm not just up here telling you,
you know, Meramin Quainto or whatever.
But at the same time,
I can only teach you so much.
You have to actually read it for yourself.
And if you would actually read it for yourself,
you'd be like, wow.
Okay.
And it would impact you.
I always tell people,
I use a Bible reading plan.
Right?
I mean, and I always recommend people
to use a Bible reading plan
because it forces you to stay on target
whether you were behind or not.
Like today, it's like I have to finish Jeremiah
before the end of the day.
Marlin's on my schedule.
He knows what I'm talking about.
It's like, man,
this section's hard
because I'm a math guy,
so 52 chapters,
they've got to be 13, 13, 13, 13.
But 13 chapters in Jeremiah is long.
Now, thankfully, Jeremiah's entertaining,
but it's like, man,
I didn't finish the 13 chapters this morning.
I can only read so much in the car
before I start, you know,
getting dizzy or whatever.
Right?
But see, using a Bible reading plan,
it forces you to keep up to it.
It forces you to read the word of God.
But if you just wake up and say,
man, I'll just read something
good luck with that.
I mean, why do you think
you read the Bible so much in January?
Because you had a Bible reading plan.
Now, part of it might be
because you wanted your name on the plaque,
and look, I'm not mad at you
if that's the reason.
It's like that's better
than not reading it.
Right?
But part of it was that we told you,
hey, day one, read this.
Day two, read this.
And if you're honest,
you came to the end of your day
sometimes, and you're like,
oh, man, I got three chapters left.
And instead of getting on Facebook,
instead of getting on YouTube,
you know what you did?
You say, how do you know that,
Brother Stuckey?
Because I'm the same way.
It's not like I'm up here
as just like this perfect person
that never struggles with stuff.
It's like, no, it's smart
to force yourself to stay on schedule.
It's the same reason
why we have church at a set time.
If we just said,
we're going to have church
sometime on Sunday every week,
and, you know, it would never happen.
You have set times for soul winning,
set times for church,
and that is how you end up being successful.
People that are successful in life,
it's not because they're
these super powerful people.
They just have a schedule,
and they follow it.
And if you just follow it,
then you're going to be successful.
It says in Proverbs 1, verse 8,
what's the application to us as fathers?
Proverbs 1, verse 8.
My son, hear the instruction
of thy father,
and forsake not the law of thy mother.
Now, listen,
Now, instruction is teaching, right?
An instructor or a teacher.
And the Bible says,
hear the instruction of thy father.
But wouldn't it be sad
if the child's answer was,
what instruction from my father?
My dad never taught me anything.
It's like everything I know
I learned on YouTube.
I learned at school
or from friends or whatever.
That's why I know Santa Claus is real,
because my friends told me, right?
It's like, hear the instruction
of thy father, the Bible says.
Go to Proverbs 13.
Proverbs 13.
I'm not trying to be repetitive,
because I'm only going to show you
in Proverbs,
but this comes up
over and over again,
just instructing your kids,
instructing your kids.
Part of instructing your kids
means you have to actually
spend time with them, right?
You can't instruct them
if you're not spending time.
Proverbs 13, verse 1.
A wise son heareth
his father's instruction.
Go to Proverbs 13,
Proverbs 15.
Verse 5.
Proverbs 15, verse 5.
A fool despiseth
his father's instruction.
Go to Proverbs 19.
Proverbs 19.
I mean, do you see how this
appears over and over?
And I'm only giving you
some of the verses.
I'll give you one last one.
It says in Proverbs 19,
verses 26 and 26,
it says in Proverbs 19,
verses 26 and 26,
He that wasteth his father
and chaseth away his mother
is a son that causeth shame
and bringeth reproach.
Cease, my son,
to hear the instruction
that causeth to err
from the words of knowledge.
So if you break this down,
what he's saying is this.
It talks about a child
that does not hear
the instruction of mom and dad,
but hears the instruction
from something that would
cause them to err.
Do you understand
what I'm saying?
Someone who is a child
who is a child
Do you understand
what I'm saying?
Someone who says,
I'm not going to listen
to mom and dad,
I'm going to listen
to the television.
I'm going to listen
to my buddies
that are not Christians.
I'm going to listen
to some other source.
I'm going to listen
to whatever the famous rapper
is today.
Eminem, Jay-Z, you can tell
that was a long time ago, right?
Whoever's famous out there,
Justin Bieber, Katy Perry,
I'm going to listen
to what they say, right?
And see, I want you
to realize this.
If you do not instruct
your children,
somebody else will for you.
That's a fact.
If you don't teach
your kids anything,
they're going to get instruction
from some source,
and it's probably going to be
good.
Especially if your method is
just give them a cell phone
when they're eight years old
and say, well, I trust you.
Well, good luck with that.
What are they going
to be learning from?
What are they going to be
looking on on the internet?
They're going to get
instruction from an ungodly
source almost guaranteed.
It's very unlikely
they're going to get it
from a good source.
You say, why?
Because young kids,
they're just not ready
for life.
They need a mom and dad
to instruct them
as they go through those years
because foolishness is bound
in the heart of a child.
Every single child is foolish.
That's what the Bible teaches.
And the reality is,
if kids were ready
to be on their own at 10,
then they would be,
but they're not.
They need mom and dad
until they become older.
And in today's world,
that time just keeps
going up and up
before kids are ready
to be out on their own, right?
They need instruction
from mom and dad.
You say, why?
Well, there's a couple reasons.
One, as mom and dad,
you probably care
about your kids
more than anybody else
in this world.
Isn't that true?
When you give advice
to your children,
it's because you love them
and you want to give them
good advice to help them, right?
When I give advice
to my son and my daughter,
I do it because I love them
and I want to help them,
but do you realize
that other people
that give them instruction
don't necessarily care
about your kids.
They're not necessarily
trying to help your kids.
I mean, the public school system
tries to brainwash people
to act a certain way,
but not because they actually
care about those children,
but because they want them
to be like this.
They don't actually care
about those children,
but you as mom and dad,
you care about your children,
so when you're instructing them,
it's because you love them,
but if you don't instruct them,
somebody else will,
and they're probably not going
to give the best instruction,
right?
Turn in your Bible to Proverbs 22.
Proverbs 22. Proverbs 22.
One thing we need to do as dads
is spend time with our kids.
Another thing is
we need to teach our kids,
and that is part of spending time.
If you don't spend time,
you're not going to be able
to teach them,
but teaching your children.
Another thing is
training your children.
Now, training and teaching
could be very similar,
but at the same time,
in training,
the way I'm applying it
and kind of the direct application
I see is the admonition,
is the discipline, okay?
Notice what it says
in Proverbs 22, verse 6.
Train up a child
in the way he should go,
and when he is old,
he will not depart from it.
The Bible gives us
an encouraging promise as parents
that if we train up our children
in the right way,
as they get older,
they're not going
to depart from it.
Look, if you're a Christian,
your kids should be Christians.
You're the one teaching them.
You're the one instructing them.
You're the one showing them
the Word of God,
and you know what?
In general,
you're going to want your kids
to be similar to you
or just try to help them
in the right areas of life,
and you know what?
You're the one teaching them,
and when they get older,
they're probably going to be
pretty similar to mom and dad,
because here's the thing.
When kids are young,
they want to be
just like mom and dad,
which is one reason
why us as parents,
we need to set a good example
for our kids.
For example, you know,
my parents,
I've never seen smoke a cigarette
ever in their lives.
Now, my dad said when he was younger,
when he was like a teen or whatever,
I think he tried it once or twice,
and he's like, you know,
coughed, but I have never smoked
a cigarette in my entire life.
You say, why is that?
Because I've never seen
my parents smoke.
Because I had a granddad
who died before he was
50 years old from,
you know, he had heart attacks,
but a large part of it
was just smoking cigarettes,
right?
But I never saw my parents smoke,
so I didn't smoke.
I didn't see my parents drink,
so I didn't drink.
I mean, if you set an example,
your kids are going to
probably follow that example.
And so we teach them.
We also train them,
which is involved in admonition.
You say, why, brother Stuckey,
are you referring to this
admonition or discipline?
Well, notice what it says
in verse 8.
Proverbs 22, verse 8.
He that soweth iniquity
shall reap vanity,
and the rod of his anger
shall fail.
So it says,
the rod of his anger shall fail.
Now, what is the rod
referring to?
Well, throughout the
book of Proverbs,
what is the rod referring to?
Right?
It's referring to spanking.
I mean, spare the rod,
spoil the child is the phrase,
right?
Spare the rod,
spoil the child.
Look, the rod is
referring to spanking.
And what the Bible says here,
and this is very important,
because many people want to
attack spanking in today's world.
They want to say,
well, spanking is not the way
to kill your kids.
Well, I don't know what
they're talking about,
because I got spanked
all the time,
and it worked for me.
Right.
And the Bible talks
about spanking.
People say, well, you know,
you should only spank,
you know, like once every
five years for something
really major.
It's like, well,
good luck with that.
Just always give them candy
when they act up.
It's like, all right,
you're going to be making
a lot of trips to the
dentist's office, right?
It's like, no,
you don't reward them.
You don't reward them
for something they did
wrong with candy.
It's like, they act up,
they throw a fit,
here's some candy.
I mean, does this
make any sense?
You know why
people do that?
It's a lot easier.
You don't want to spend
the time to correct
the actual problem.
Right.
And what I've heard said
before, which is true,
you know, deal with
problems privately so you
don't have to deal with
them publicly as much.
And that's true.
Don't let them get away
with it at home,
and you know what?
Those problems will start
to vanish away.
You won't have to deal
with it publicly as much.
But one key here in verse 8
is this.
The rod of his anger
shall fail.
It's referring to
spanking and anger,
and if you spank and anger,
you're going to fail.
You're wasting your time then.
Look, I'm all for spanking,
but we need to do it
in the right way.
If your version of spanking
is just beat him really hard
and shove him on the ground
and act like you hate him,
guess what?
It's going to fail.
Do you understand
what I'm saying?
The rod of his anger
shall fail.
So look, when we spank
our children,
it must be in the right way.
You say,
what's the right way?
The right way is
you spank them,
and then you hug them,
and you say you love them
and explain why
they got the spanking.
And you know
what you're doing?
You're spending time
teaching and training
all at the same time.
And you know what's
amazing to me when you
first start spanking
or what shocked me?
When you spank
your children,
it's amazing how
right afterwards
they feel bad
and then they tell you
they love you
and then they want to
basically restore
the relationship.
They realize
they did wrong.
You say,
brother,
is it because
my child is so bad?
No,
foolishness is bound
in the heart of a child.
Every child does wrong.
Every child is going to
embarrass mom and dad
from time to time.
Every child embarrasses
mom and dad
from time to time.
And as mom and dad,
it's your job to teach them
and to train them.
But the key is
when you spank,
it's your job to make sure
because what you're going
to do is have a child
that obeys you
because they're afraid of you
but they're still
going to resent God.
They're still not going
to love you
when they get older.
But if you spank
in love,
then it's not going to fail.
So look,
if you want to train up
your child in the right way,
well, you do need
to discipline
when they act up,
but don't do it in anger.
Get control of yourself.
And it could be
if you're too emotional,
you might need to wait
a little while
and calm down
because you need to
make sure that
you hug them afterwards
and say that you love them
and you're not holding
a grudge against
a two-year-old
for like five hours.
It's like,
because look,
that two-year-old
forgets about it
in five minutes.
And it's like sometimes
I talk to my son,
I was like,
you know,
son, I just spanked you
a couple minutes ago
and he's laughing about it
like no big deal.
It's like,
what in the world?
Right?
So look,
we believe in spanking
around here,
but don't do it in anger
because you will fail
if you do that.
Okay.
Now go to Proverbs 3.
Proverbs 3.
Proverbs chapter 3.
Proverbs 3.
And it says in Proverbs 3,
it's going to link
our Heavenly Father with us
and our children with us.
Notice what it says
in Proverbs 3 verse 11.
Proverbs 3 verse 11.
My son despised not
the chasing of the Lord,
neither be weary
of his correction.
The Bible's saying,
you know what,
we should be happy
that God actually punishes us
and disciplines us.
Because if God let us
get away with anything we did,
we would just get worse
and worse and worse and worse.
Right?
Then it says in verse 12,
for whom the Lord loveth,
He correcteth,
even as the Father,
the Son in whom He delighteth.
And the Bible says
that God corrects us
not because He hates us,
but because He loves us.
And look,
the Bible says that
if you love your children,
you know what you're going to do.
You will discipline them
in love, not in anger.
Why?
Because you want to
correct the problem.
Now, you got to do it
in the right way,
but the indication is
that if you love your children,
you will spank them.
You say,
why does it say that?
Well, because the easy thing
to do would be
to yell at your child.
Your child does something wrong,
just scream at them.
And you know what?
That fixes the problem
for a couple minutes.
And if it doesn't,
just give them the candy.
Right?
That's what people do.
That's going to end up
destroying your life, though.
You're better off
correcting the problem,
and it's going to save you
in the long run.
Okay?
Turn your Bible to Proverbs 19.
Proverbs 19.
Say, brother Stuckey,
I love my children
too much to spank them.
Well, the Bible says
he that spareth his rod
hated his son.
So I don't know
what Bible you're reading,
but my Bible says
that if you spare the rod,
you don't spank your children.
You actually hate your child.
That's what the Bible says.
See, the Bible says
that if you love your children,
you will discipline them.
Now, look,
there would be a problem.
And see, when you make
statements like this,
people try to take you
out of context,
say you're just a mean parent.
Well, I talked about spending
time with your kids.
Right?
There would be a problem
if all you did was spank
and never spend time.
Yeah, that's a problem.
But if you're spending
time with them,
and guess what?
Then you're also spanking them.
It's going to be effective.
What I'm saying is
I don't advocate
just love, love, love
with your children,
and I don't just advocate
discipline, discipline, discipline.
You need both.
And if you do those,
that's just like God is with us.
Right?
Where do we turn?
Proverbs 19, verse 18.
You say,
Brother Stuckey,
I just love my child too much.
Well, here's what the Bible says
in Proverbs 19, verse 18.
Chasing thy son,
while there is hope.
The Bible says,
discipline them
while there is hope.
You say, why?
Because a three-year-old
will listen to you.
A 13-year-old might not.
I mean, if you start spanking
once they become a teenager,
it's probably too late.
Right?
And it's kind of a sad reality
because sometimes people
come from different backgrounds,
and then they join
a church like this,
and they always try
the method of just
candy and doing good things
and everything like that
to their kids
and never any discipline.
And then all of a sudden
their child's a teenager,
and they start to try
to apply this,
but it's kind of hard
to do your first spanking
when the child's 13 years old.
Do you see how that would be
pretty weird for a 13-year-old?
See, I'm lucky because, man,
I got spanked early in life.
Like, I'm sure
when I was one year old,
you know, the spanking started.
Right?
And it becomes normal.
And so the reality is,
there is a time
where you can impose
your children,
but there's also a time
when it's too late.
By the time your child is 13,
they might start harkening
on to their friends and buddies
and stuff like that
at school or whatever.
It might be too late
to have a major impact.
You want to have an impact
when they're young.
The early years
are the most important years.
Those are the most important years
to impact those children
at a very, very young age.
And look, one thing
that is not a substitute
for mom and dad
is a good church.
That is not a substitute.
Some people have this idea,
well, my kids are in a church
like this.
They're going to grow up
and love God.
Well, only if mom and dad
spend time with those kids.
Only if mom and dad
read the Bible to those kids.
Only if mom and dad
are a good example.
Look, if you're not a good example
to your kids,
it doesn't matter
if they go to this church
or that church
or the Catholic church.
They're probably going to grow up
and not love God.
Now, hopefully, they'll get
saved, but they're not going to
grow up and love God
unless they have a mom and dad
that are doing a good job
of raising those kids.
Chasing thy son
while there is hope,
and let not thy soul
spare for his crying.
You say, brother Sucky,
why does it say,
let not thy soul
spare for his crying?
Because many kids
try to get out of spankings
by crying before it happens.
And look, I don't know
if it's like this for everyone,
but it's certainly more true
with my daughter than my son.
My daughter, it's just like,
I haven't even done anything,
and she knows she's in trouble.
I'm like, Christabelle.
She starts crying.
It's like, no, it's like,
if she did something
where she needs a spanking,
then she did something,
she needs a spanking.
And what the Bible's saying
is don't just let them
fool you with their emotions
all the time
because sometimes there's
a time for spanking them.
Now, look, of course,
the spanking needs
to be under control,
and we're not talking about
a one-minute punishment.
It's like a couple
smacks or whatever.
You use a spoon or whatever,
and then you just explain,
but it's teaching them,
you know what?
Hey, that's not acceptable,
and you know what?
You hug them.
You say you love them,
and that's how you do it.
Okay?
Now, go to Hebrews 12.
Hebrews 12.
Now, I'll confess my faults
one to another.
I'm not going to stand up here
and say I've never spanked
my children in anger
because the Bible actually says
all parents do.
All parents do.
The Bible actually says
all parents do
from time to time.
We'll see that here
in a second,
but I'll just say that
I can say as a testimony
that if you spank your kids
in anger, you know,
you're going to regret it,
and it doesn't have
the impact that you want.
I mean, I remember one time
my son got a spanking,
and the truth was
I was tired and frustrated
and everything like that,
and my son, you know,
he was holding a glass of milk,
and he accidentally dropped it.
Now, he doesn't deserve
a spanking for accidentally
dropping milk, right?
But the reality is
sometimes you're tired
and frustrated,
and sometimes as parents
you make mistakes.
You're here saying,
I would never do that.
Well, we'll see one day
when you have kids,
and you're tired and frustrated
because you will make
mistakes sometimes, right?
And I felt bad about it
because, you know,
he got a spanking,
and, you know,
he literally,
he woke up the next day,
and he still was feeling
terrible about, like,
dropping the milk,
and that wasn't what
my goal was.
I had just lost my temper
and everything like that.
But it's just like
the rot of your anger
is going to fail.
It's going to cause your
children to be afraid of you,
and they're not going to
think that you love them,
and, you know,
you're really not showing love
if you're just always
losing your temper
and just pounding them
and just being
really mad at them.
It's going to fail.
You have to love your children,
and you know what?
If you don't love your children,
the rot of your anger
is going to fail.
Hebrews 12,
notice what it says
in verse 5.
And he had forgotten
the exhortation
which speaketh
unto you as unto children.
My son despised
not to chasing the Lord,
nor faint when thou
were rebuked of him.
Verse 6,
For whom the Lord loveth,
he chasteneth,
and scourgeth every son
whom he receiveth.
So if God loves you,
he's going to discipline you.
If he endure chastening,
God dealeth with you
as with sons.
For what son is he
whom the Father chasteneth not?
Now, look,
it's interesting
at the end of verse 7,
what son is he
whom the Father chasteneth not?
I can tell this was written
2,000 years ago.
Because in today's world,
there are many sons
who never get disciplined
by their parents.
Isn't that true?
I mean,
the assumption was,
you know,
hey, if you've got
a mom and a dad,
they're going to discipline you.
I mean,
isn't that just common sense?
It's not common sense
in today's world.
Because you've got
all these medical doctors,
Spock or whatever,
psychologists, psychiatrists
that say,
oh, you're going to have
psychological effects
on your children
if you spank them.
Well, it used to be
common assumption,
what son is he
whom his father chasteneth not?
And now in today's world,
well, there's lots of fathers
that don't discipline
their kids.
I mean, look,
I would assume,
pretty much everyone
who's an adult in this room
when you were a kid,
your parents spanked you.
And yet,
even some of the parents
that spank their kids,
and I hope not in this room,
but this is the way
in the world,
they talk about how,
well, you really shouldn't
spank your kids.
It's like,
what in the world?
Do you not remember
when you spanked me?
Right?
And it's just like
they're being brainwashed
by the TV.
They're being lied to.
Now, look,
spanking isn't the proper way.
There's a certain part
of the body.
You don't do it in anger,
but it is what the Bible teaches.
And if you do that,
it will cause your kids
to be obedient.
Right?
Verse 8,
But if ye be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers,
then are ye bastards
and not sons.
So, look,
if you are a child of God,
you're going to be spanked,
the Bible says.
And if you're not,
people that are not
children of God,
the Bible says they're bastards,
which means basically
a fatherless child
because God is not their father,
is what the Bible's saying.
By the way,
it's not a cuss word
if it's used in its proper sense
because that's what the Bible says.
I just read the verse.
Okay?
Verse 9,
Furthermore,
we have had fathers of our flesh
which corrected us,
and we gave them reverence.
Shall we not much rather
be in subjection
unto the father of spirits
and live?
Now, for you that said earlier,
Brother Stuckey,
I would never spank my kids
in anger.
Well, notice verse 10.
For they verily for a few days
chastened us
after their own pleasure.
And see,
what the Bible's indicating
is the truth is
sometimes the parents
spank their children
and it's for their own pleasure,
the Bible says.
You say,
What does that mean?
Well, when the kid is acting up
and they're embarrassing the dad,
they're embarrassing the mom,
it's like,
Yeah, they do deserve
a spanking for that.
And part of it is
you're just glad
that they're actually
being obedient now
because it's embarrassing you
or making you mad.
So look,
all of us,
we don't necessarily
properly spank all the time.
We make mistakes.
Obviously,
it's not easy
being a mom and a dad,
but spanking,
training,
this is part
of raising your kids
and being a good dad.
You say,
Why?
Because that's what God
does to us.
Look,
if you go out
and get drunk today,
you're not going to
lose your salvation,
but you're going
to be disciplined.
God's not going
to disown you,
but he is certainly
going to punish you.
You're going to reap
what you sow,
the Bible says.
And look,
if you go out there
and commit all these sins
and get punished,
it's because you're a bastard
and not a child of God,
the Bible says.
Because if you are
a child of God,
you've got a heavenly Father
that's going to discipline you.
You say,
Brother Stuckey,
why is it that it seems like
some people that are just
getting away with stuff
in this world,
you think of the vice-pongates
out there
or people that are
these high-level politicians
with all this money,
people that are murderers.
It seems like
they get away with stuff.
Well,
if they're not saved,
they're not going to
spend forever in hell.
But here's the thing.
If I acted up at Wal-Mart
as a kid,
Wal-Mart's the Robinsons
in the U.S.,
then my dad would take me
outside and spank me.
But you know what?
He wouldn't take you outside
and spank you.
You know why?
You're not his child.
Now, my dad did it to me.
I still remember times
when I got taken outside.
I got one time at church,
I was acting up or whatever
and got taken outside
and I got spanked.
That's what it's like
growing up at a Protestant church.
It's very boring.
It's tough to pay attention.
But I remember
my dad spanking me.
I remember a specific time
where my dad spanked me.
And guess what?
I never acted up in church again
because I was embarrassed
and everything like that
and he spanked really hard
and everything.
But what I'm trying to tell you
is this is the way
that God treats us.
So look, if you're saying
that I'm just too loving
and too nice
to spank my children,
then you're saying
that God is evil
because God does discipline us
when we act up.
So don't sit here and say,
well, I'll never discipline
my children because
it is in the Bible, okay?
One thing is spending time
with your children
and turn to Luke 15.
Another thing is
teaching your children.
Another thing is
training your children.
So time, teaching, training.
And number four is timeless.
And what I mean by timeless
is that when you become
a child of God, it's forever.
It's a timeless relationship
that will never change.
When you got saved,
you became a son
or a daughter of God
and that is a timeless
relationship of God
being your father.
It will never change.
We ought to take that standard
in our personal lives
with our own children
that even if they make us mad,
they are still our children.
And look, they will still
be your children.
It doesn't matter what you do.
They are still your children.
My son will be Zephth
no matter what happens.
He is still my son.
But you know what?
It shouldn't just be
something in theory,
but you should actually apply it.
And a loving parent
is going to love their children.
This is why nobody
loses their salvation
because where's children?
A loving parent,
when their child acts up,
they discipline them,
but they don't put them
inside of an oven
and turn up the heat
because that's their child.
They love them.
I mean, it doesn't make sense
to say that God's our father,
but he's going to send you
to hell one day if you act up.
Well, that's a very nice father.
He will discipline us
to correct us,
but that relationship
is timeless.
It never changes.
One example is with
a prodigal son in Luke 15.
Notice what it says,
Luke 15 verse 12.
Look, of course I'm speaking
to the fathers here today,
but of course you can apply
these things to moms as well.
Right?
That's why the Word of God
is always impactful on everybody
who hears this sermon
because whether you're a mom
or a dad or whomever,
there are things that you can
learn from the preaching
of God's Word.
And here's the thing.
Whether you're a mom or a dad,
one thing you are
is a child of God
if you believed on Jesus Christ,
and that relationship
is timeless.
And you know what?
That's probably the best aspect
of being saved
is that you never have to worry
about what if I screw up?
You will always be God's child.
It says in Luke 15 verse 12,
And the younger of them
said to his father,
Father, give me the portion
of goods that fall to me,
and he divided unto them
as living.
And not many days after,
the younger son gathered
altogether and took his journey
into a far country,
and there wasted his substance
with riotous living.
So this is a story
that Jesus tells,
but this man has two sons,
and he gives the inheritance
to those sons.
He gives it to the one son here
who basically wastes
his inheritance
with riotous living,
and riotous living would imply
drinking and probably fornication.
I picture a kid that's a teenager,
maybe 15 or 16.
It doesn't directly tell us,
but look, the reality is,
kids at a young age,
it's not good for them
to be handed,
here's a million pesos.
We trust you.
I knew somebody in high school
that had a rich uncle.
Their uncle died.
They basically inherited like,
I don't know,
two and a half million pesos,
or like two and a half
to five million pesos
and that's a lot of money
in the U.S. also,
and they wasted it in two years.
It's like,
how do you waste that much money?
It's like,
you could have bought a house.
It's like,
what are you doing?
And they wasted all of that money
in a couple years
because a 15-year-old doesn't know
what they're doing
with five million pesos, right?
And so we see that from this story,
and look,
it's good for you at a young age
to work, you know,
by the sweat of your brow
to make it in life.
That's good for you.
It's good that at your first job,
you don't start off
with the highest salary
because if you did,
it would probably destroy your life, okay?
It says in verse number 14,
And when he had spent all there arose
a mighty famine in that land,
and he began to be in one.
And he went and joined himself
to a citizen of that country,
and he sent him into his fields
to feed swine.
And he would fain have filled his belly
with the husk that the swine did eat,
and no man gave unto him.
So he's so poor,
he says,
I'm going to eat the slop
like the pigs eat.
Verse 17,
And when he came to himself,
basically means,
I'm acting like a madman,
I'm acting value.
And then he's like,
Oh, what am I doing?
I'm about to eat the food
that the pigs are eating.
So he comes to himself.
He said,
How many hired servants of my fathers
have bread enough in despair,
and I perish with hunger?
I will rise and go to my father
and will say unto my father,
Father, I have sinned against heaven
and before thee,
and am no more worthy
to be called thy son.
Take me as one of thy hired servants.
So he humbles himself and says,
I'm going to beg mom and dad,
forgive me.
I'm not even worthy
to be called your son.
And then notice what it says in verse 20.
And he arose and came to his father,
but when he was yet a great way off,
his father saw him and had compassion
and ran and fell on his neck
and kissed him.
So when I'm picturing this story,
the father has many servants.
He's got a lot of money, right?
He gives an inheritance
to his children.
He has a lot of money.
I kind of picture having a big house
and maybe it's because I grew up
in the mountain state in the US,
but I kind of picture mountains
and everything.
And he sees his son
just basically, you know,
starting to walk up the mountain
coming home.
And I just kind of imagine a dad
that if I was this dad,
I would probably after work every day
just kind of look
and just meditate outside
and just kind of look
and hope and pray.
You know, I hope my son's
going to come back
because this father obviously knows
his son is not living a very good life.
And I imagine he would always look
for a son to return
and then all of a sudden
what do we see?
When he was a great way off,
his father saw him
and had compassion and ran.
This son's going to beg his parents
just forgive me
and then the father just runs out to him.
He doesn't even need to think about it.
You say, why?
Because the love of a mom and a dad
is forever for those children.
And it's the same way that God is with us.
And look, God might discipline us.
There's going to be a punishment
if we do wrong.
But you know what?
The reality is,
we're still God's children.
What's funny is,
people try to use this story
and they'll say,
well, see, you can lose your salvation
because the son had to return home.
He was still his son
before he returned home.
I mean, it's just like,
I don't, I mean,
unsaved people.
It's like I want to get inside their brain
for a little while
just to like,
what in the world?
It's like he was still his son
before he returned home.
Nothing ever changed.
And the thing is,
when you read this story,
if you want to try to apply,
and look, I don't apply this to salvation
because I don't believe
that's the main purpose of the story.
But if you want to try to apply it to salvation,
the father always looked at that son
as his son also.
Right?
I mean, so if you're trying to apply it
to salvation, it's like,
all right, another great passage
for eternal security, right?
It wouldn't be the main proof I'd use,
but it would teach eternal security.
Okay?
Because it's a timeless relationship
of father and son.
And it says in verse 21,
And the son said unto him,
Father, I have sinned against heaven
and in thy sight,
and am no more worthy
to be called thy son.
Now, when it says in verse 24,
For this my son was dead
and is alive again,
he was lost and is found.
They'll say,
Well, see, he was lost and he got found.
He was still his son.
Okay?
Be very careful about using a story
or a parable or something like that
and taking a word or a phrase
and say,
Well, here's my doctrine.
You know why I believe
in eternal security?
He that believeth on the son hath,
present tense,
hath or has everlasting life.
It's everlasting.
There's a clear,
I mean, there's hundreds
of clear verses that say that.
That's why we believe
in eternal security.
But look, in this story,
we do see that he was always
the son of his father.
Look, the relationship
of father-son or mom-son
or father-daughter,
mother-daughter,
it's forever.
And I'll tell you this,
God is always ready
to accept us back.
And if there's one thing
we can learn from this story,
that's it.
God is willing to accept us back
no matter how bad
we screw up our lives.
Look, Jonah was inside
of a whale's belly.
I mean, he had backslidden
pretty hard.
And you know what?
God accepted him back.
Now, of course,
there's repercussions
when you sin against God.
But you know what?
God is always willing
to accept you back.
And if you're saved,
you cannot lose that salvation
and God is always ready
to accept you back.
And look,
you might not be able
to do the same thing
you used to.
Obviously, if there's a pastor
that sins,
he could disqualify himself,
but he can still serve God.
And no matter what you do
in your life,
you might disqualify yourself
from certain ministries,
but you can still serve God
as a child of God
and win people to the Lord
and do something great for God.
Why?
It's a timeless relationship
that never stops.
So point number one,
on Father's Day,
as dads, let us remember
to spend time with our children.
Point number one,
you need to make time
for your children
because God always
makes time for us.
Point two,
we need to teach our children.
Look, our kids literally
don't know anything
when they're born.
It's our job as mom and dad
to teach them.
And if we don't teach them,
somebody else will.
Somebody else will instruct them
with their wisdom.
If we don't impart our wisdom
as Bible-believing Christians,
somebody else will instruct them
with their actions,
some unbeliever is going to impart
their worldly wisdom to them.
Point number three is training,
admonition, spanking.
And point number four,
it is a timeless relationship
of father-son.
Now the reality is,
none of us are perfect dads.
God is obviously a perfect father
and we're not going to be perfect,
but we should try to model
our Heavenly Father
as much as is possible
because He's given us an example
how we should be as dads.
Let's close in a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father,
thank you for allowing us
to be here today
and I ask you to help us
to apply this to our lives.
Everybody in this room,
including moms also,
but especially us as dads
on Father's Day,
help us to remember
to be good dads
and to work hard to provide
for our families
but still spend time
and teach our kids
and train them.
And help us remember
it's a timeless relationship
that even if they do mess up,
God, we should be willing
to forgive them
and help them out in life, God.
And let us apply this
to our lives.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
or me no sickness can enter no people the door not be seen heard sorrows and
cares are forgotten no tender is there to annoy no party
there is nothing to hurt or destroy
in that bright city early white city
I have a mansion a heart and a crown
Now I am watching, waiting and longing for the white city that's soon coming down on the turf.
No heartaches are known in the city, no tears ever moisten the eye.
There's no disappointment in heaven, no envy and strife in the sky.