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

🎵Music🎵 Good morning everyone. Welcome to Verity Baptist Church Manila again. And please take your seats now and grab your hymnals. And open to Psalm 112. Happy Father's Day. Inaudible Open your hymnals to Psalm 112. Oh Happy Day. Sorry, 212. Psalm 212. 212 on your hymnals. Oh Happy Day. Inaudible 🎵Music🎵 Oh Happy Day. Ready on the first. Oh Happy Day. That makes my joy. Only my Savior and my God. 🎵Music🎵 Oh Happy Father's Day. Inaudible 🎵Music🎵 Happy Day. Happy Day. When Jesus washed his sins away. He taught me how to watch Him pray. And live with joy. Sing every day. Happy Day. Happy Day. When Jesus washed my sins away. Sing it out on the third. This time the great transaction's gone. I am my Lord and He is mine. Through the end I follow on. Sharp to confess the voice divine. Happy Day. Happy Day. When Jesus washed my sins away. He taught me how to watch Him pray. And live with joy. Sing every day. Happy Day. Happy Day. When Jesus washed my sins away. Now rest my lovely, divided heart. Make solace, bliss, and duress. Forever from my lurking heart. With him I'll bear even to death. Happy Day. Happy Day. When Jesus washed my sins away. He taught me how to watch Him pray. And live with joy. Sing every day. Happy Day. Happy Day. When Jesus washed my sins away. Let's pray. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. All right, good morning everybody. Welcome to Verity Baptist Search and Happy Father's Day to all the fathers that are here. As I mentioned during the first set of announcements, my kids made me this special tie. I'm not normally the type of preacher to wear something colorful, you know, when I'm preaching, but I really appreciate this tie. They did a great job. So anyways, firstly, let's count up salvations. Were there any salvations I'm not aware about from the back section? Any salvations to report? Anybody? All right, how about this section? Any salvations? Anybody? Five? Anybody else? All right. One. How about this section? Anybody? One. Anybody else? We're at seven. Anybody else I missed? All right. Great job everybody. Soul winning is a little bit different today. As I said, our goal is to start at 1.30 as opposed to 1.45, so 15 minutes earlier. The ladies will still be sent out on a gypsy to go soul winning in the Marikina area. For the guys that are planning to go bowling, we're going to be going soul winning near the bowling location. So we're going to be driving cars over there. Right after there we're going to go bowling. Today we have Father's Day obviously. We do have our choir performing here in a second after the set of announcements. And the bowling event is roughly going to start around 3 p.m. Next week is our monthly prayer meeting. And then we do have a place in the back for notes for the sermons here today. So I believe that's it for announcements. We will have Brother Raffi and the choir perform here now. Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi. Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi, Father Raffi. Amen. For a scripture reading, please open your Bibles to the book of Joshua. Joshua chapter 24. We will only be reading verse 1 down to verse 15. Joshua chapter 24 verse 1 down to verse 15. Please say amen if you're there. Amen. Joshua chapter 24 verse 1. And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to seek Him and called for the elders of Israel and for their heads and for their judges and for their officers. And they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your father swelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nachor, and they served other gods. And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood. I led him throughout all the land of the Canaan and multiplied his seed and gave him Isaac. And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau, and I gave unto Esau Mount Seir to possess him. But Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them. And afterward I brought you out. And I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and he came into the sea. And the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red Sea. And when they cried unto the Lord, He put darkness between you and the Egyptians and brought the sea upon them and covered them. And your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt, and dwelt in the wilderness a long season. And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan, and they fought with you. And I gave them into your hand that you might possess their land, and I destroyed them from before you. Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and said and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. But I would not hearken unto Balaam, therefore he blessed you still. So I delivered you out of his hand. And you went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho. And the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Girgashites, the Hivites and the Jebusites. And I delivered them into your hand. And I sent the hornet before you, who strafed them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites, but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow. And I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you built not, and you dwell in them, of the vineyards and olive yards which you planted not, do you eat. Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt, and serve you the Lord. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Bless the rooting of God's word, let us pray. Lord God in heaven, we thank the Lord for this day that's given to us. I pray, Lord, to please bless the Lord for this day. Give us good weather for our soul winning and our fellowship later on. I pray, Lord, to please bless the preaching of your word. In your name we pray. Amen. Alright, we're here in Joshua chapter 24, and verse 15 is going to be kind of our text verse, and the Bible says in Joshua 24 verse 15, And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And this is definitely one of the most famous verses when it comes to just about any type of Christian. You know, you go soul winning sometimes, and there's Joshua 24 verse 15 on their house, and that really doesn't indicate whether they love God or serve God or not, but it's a great verse though, right? I mean, I love this verse. I think it's an awesome verse, and you know what? The name of the sermon is Joshua the Father, Joshua the Father, because this is a Father's Day themed sermon. Now, the Bible doesn't really give us much insight on the personal life of Joshua, but based on this verse when he's saying that my house is going to serve God, I do believe that he's a married man who has a family. Now, I do want to read you something though, which this is what the Jews say about Joshua, and after I get done reading this, I don't see how anyone could say that we should get advice on what the Old Testament says from the Jews, because they have no idea at all. And here's what it says. It says Joshua married Rahab. Rahab married Salmon, right? Isn't that what we saw a couple weeks ago, you know, in the lineage in Matthew chapter 1? But they're saying, and this is in the commentary of the Talmud, which I guess is called the Midrash, and it says that, you know, Rahab was a prostitute, which is obviously true, but then at the age of 50, at the age of 50, the spies came and she hid them, and so they say that happens when she's 50 years old. This is what the Talmud and the Jewish writings teach, and it says that Joshua and Rahab had eight children together. Explain to me how a 50-year-old woman ends up having eight kids after that point. They weren't living longer during this time period, okay? It's like they were living, Moses said, 70 to 80 years. I mean, I know it's possible for a 50-year-old woman to have a child, but eight children after that point? I mean, it's just like, that's ridiculous, but you know, people will tell you, I mean, it's like, wow, we should listen to what the Jews say about the Old Testament, because they talk about it and everything, and that's the oral tradition. It's been passed down. Well, Joshua married Rahab. She was 50, and they had eight kids together. That doesn't even make logical sense, right? And so, look, it's just like, you know, we don't need to go outside the Bible to figure out what the Bible teaches, okay? But I do believe that Joshua was a father, because you look at this verse. He says, as for me and my house. Now, point number one is this. As for me. As for me. As fathers, it starts with you. You got to take the attitude, as for me, I am going to serve God. Now, go to 2 Kings chapter 10. 2 Kings chapter 10. And this sermon is going to be a bit shorter, because we're trying to get down a little bit early today, or at least I plan for this sermon to be a bit shorter. We'll see if it happens. But 2 Kings chapter 10, and notice what it says in verse 15. And when he was departed thence, he lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rahab, coming to meet him. And he saluted him and said to him, Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If it be, give me thine hand. And he gave him his hand, and he took him up to him into the chariot. And he said, Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord. So they made him ride in his chariot. When it comes to having zeal and loving God, it starts with you individually. If you want to inspire others, you have to say, As for me first. Start with yourself. Look, when you have kids, they want to be just like their mom and their dad. That's the way it works. Look, my sons want to be just like me. Zeph wants to be just like me. And look, if you're excited about something, your kids are probably going to get excited about the same thing. If you're really excited about sports all the time, guess what your kids are going to get excited about? They're going to get excited about sports. If you're really excited about music, you know what your kids are going to get excited about? They're going to get excited about music. If you're really excited about movies, what are your kids going to get excited about? They're going to be excited about movies. Right now, here's the thing. I mean, you can teach your kids instruments. There's nothing wrong with that. That can be a good thing. Playing sports, there's nothing wrong with that. But the question is, What sort of excitement are you passing on to your kids? What do you talk about individually? Because what you love and what you care about is going to be passed down to your kids whether you want it to or not. People that smoke cigarettes, their kids almost always end up smoking cigarettes. You say, Why? Because that's what they saw their mom and dad do. I've never smoked a cigarette and probably the number one reason is because I've never seen my parents ever smoke. I've never seen my parents drink. I don't drink. I've never seen my parents. I've never heard either of my parents say a curse word ever. Not a single time in my life. You say, Brother Stuckey, why is it that we'll never hear you say a curse word? Because my parents didn't curse. Literally, when I grew up, if I said something bad, my mouth was washed out with soap. That's literally what took place to me. You learn pretty soon not to say anything bad when that's what happens. But what I'm saying is the excitement is going to pass down to your kids. So what kind of excitement are you passing on to your kids? Your kids are probably going to want to be just like mom and just like dad. Go to Matthew chapter 4. Matthew 4. I mean, look, if you tell your kids every single day, hey, I want you to read the Bible every day. And they hear at church, read the Bible every day. Read therein all the days of thy life. But they never see you reading the Bible. They're not going to grow up and read the Bible. But if they see mom and dad early in the morning, first thing, they're just taking 30 minutes to read the Bible, 20 minutes or however long to read the Bible, taking time to spend time in prayer and memorizing the Bible. You know what the kids are going to do? They're going to do the same thing mom and dad do. Why? Because they saw mom and dad doing it. Look, when you talk to people that read the Bible a lot, when you ask them what motivated you, what they usually say from my experience is I saw my mom and dad read the Bible when I was a kid. So I always saw my dad reading the Bible in the morning, so I just started doing the same thing, right? Your kids are going to get the same traits that you have, so what are you passing down? It starts with yourself, as for me. It says in Matthew 4, verse 18, And Jesus walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And he said unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Look, Jesus, and you know what this verse literally says, is that if you're following God, you will be a soul winner. A fisher of men means to get people saved, right? And he's saying if you follow me, you're going to be a soul winner. But here's the thing, Jesus was a soul winner. It's not like he's sending them out to go soul winning, but he never goes himself. Isn't that what a lot of Baptist pastors do? It's like, so sinned are you, but I would never go, right? That's the reality with a lot of Baptist pastors. They have soul winning time, and they send people out, but they're never going to go themselves. And it doesn't make any sense, because it's like, well, follow me, Jesus is saying, hey, I'm going to give you the example. I'm going to show you how it's done. And what takes place? Well, people follow that example. And as a parent, you set the example if you want your kids to follow that example. Look, if you live a worldly and a sinful life, your kids are going to do the same. And look, simply going to this church does not mean your kids are going to turn out right. I think a lot of people get that assumption, well, I'm in a good church. I'm not raising them in a Catholic church or a non-denom church. This is a Baptist fundamental church. They're going to love God and love fundamentalism. Well, not if they don't see mom and dad doing it. If they see you getting excited about soul winning and reading the Bible, then they will too. But if you're not, don't expect your kids to, because they're probably not. All right, go to John chapter 13. John 13. John 13. John chapter 13. I would say that when you're a parent, this is probably, at least for me, I'd say it's the big thing that really kind of motivates you to serve God is you're really worried about your kids not turning out right. It's like when they're very young, remember when Zeph was just a couple of years old, he starts paying very close attention to what I'm watching, like if I'm on the computer or whatever. And it's like, well, I've got to make sure that everything I'm watching is something I want to pass down to my kids. Because your kids will start paying attention to what you're doing. They're going to do the same thing they see mom and dad doing. They're going to follow the example. That can be a very good thing, or it can be a very bad thing. Because if you're setting a bad example, your kids are going to just do the same thing they see mom and dad doing. It's just the way it works in life. John 13 verse 14. If I then your Lord and Master have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you. And Jesus says, I'm giving you an example. I will do it first and give you the example, and then therefore you can follow in that example. Go in your Bible to 1 Timothy 4. 1 Timothy chapter 4. 1 Timothy chapter 4. The Bible says, be ye holy, for I am holy. We serve a holy God, and God sets the example of what being holy is. You can't really say, I mean it wouldn't make sense, be ye holy even though I'm not holy. Right? And look, as a parent, if you say, hey, you know what, I want you to read the Bible and love God and love soul and all of these things. But I hate reading the Bible. It's like I make every excuse to miss church. I never spend time in prayer. Why would you think your kids are going to turn out any different? They're going to turn out like you are. You say, Brother Stuckey, are you trying to scare me into obedience? Yes! I'm trying to scare you into screwing up the life of your kids. And look, this is the sort of preaching that I need because I want to make sure that my kids love God. I tell my kids the number one thing I want for them when they are grown up is to love God and serve God. Now, of course, I want my kids to be successful in their careers and in all areas of life, but you know what, if they love God, you know what, that is by far the most important thing. I mean, if they were the richest person in the world and they didn't love God at all, it would be a grief and a shame to me and my wife as parents. Where did we go wrong? We obviously spent way too much time in education and not enough time in education of the Word of God if that were to take place. Because the number one thing is that your kids grow up and they love God. 1 Timothy 4, verse 11, These things command and teach. Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers in word and conversation, in charity and spirit, in faith and purity, till I come give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Now, the Bible says here, let no man despise thy youth. I think a lot of times people kind of preach this in a bit of an incomplete way when you really look at the verses. It's not saying, well, simply because you're young, don't let anybody look down on you because you're young. Now, I understand that people will look down on you if you're young. They say, well, I've been saved for 25 years. Who are you to tell me anything? But really the context is don't allow people the opportunity to despise your youth because they want to. They want to look down. They are going to criticize you. Well, how do you basically live a life where they can't? Well, when in your word, in your conversation, which is your lifestyle, in your charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity, I mean, if you live in a godly and righteous way, they can't find anything to really criticize you about. So basically live your life in a way where they cannot find anything to criticize you. What it's saying is you are an example. Hey, you know what? Yes, I preach very boldly on what I believe, but also in your attitude you got a good attitude. You got grace. You got character. But then it says in verse 13, till I come give attendance to reading. One of the big things about the example is, you know what? That you're reading. That you're reading the Bible. Right now it seems very basic, especially in a Christian church, but it's like literally people have told me at their old churches like nobody ever reads the Bible. Anyway, it's known by statistics the majority of saved people have never read their Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Now if you've been saved for a short time, then I get that. But if you've been saved for ten years and you've never read your Bible cover to cover, you are a baby Christian. And you're not in any position to teach anybody the Word of God because you don't know much. All you'd be doing is repeating what you've heard somebody else say. And as Christians, one of the first things is this. Hey, you know what? Give attendance to reading. Make sure I'm reading the Bible on a daily basis. And here's the thing. If you're not in a church that motivates you to do that, it's kind of hard to self-motivate yourself. I know a lot of people have told me they started going to this church and they started reading the Bible pretty zealously. Whereas before, you go to a lot of churches and most people don't really know the Bible that well. And so you're not that motivated because you already feel like you know a lot. What takes place is you start coming to this church and you start realizing, well, everybody knows how to explain eternal security. Everybody knows these stories. And it's like, I've got to up my game a little bit because everybody's reading the Bible. Turn in your Bible to 1 Peter chapter 2. I mean, if your kids see that the first thing you do in the morning is Facebook and social media, you know what they're going to learn from you, even if you don't tell them to get on social media first thing? The first thing they're going to do is get on social media. I'm more interested in what the world has to say than what the Bible has to say. They're going to learn that from you. And look, all of us, we've got a temptation in our flesh to be lazy in the morning and just, well, I'll just read the Bible later. Well, you're going to pass that down to your kids. Is that what you want to pass down to your sons and daughters? Or do you want them to just put aside all distractions first thing in the morning and just wake up and read the Bible? I'm going to kind of probably misquote this verse. I'm just kind of doing it from memory. But Elisha in the Bible, not Elijah, but Elisha, he wakes up. There's this big host surrounding them, and his servant's really scared. Elisha's not scared at all. Now, why is it Elisha's not scared at all? Because here's the thing. Everybody wakes up, and it's just like you've got a choice, walk in the Spirit or walk in the flesh. When I read that, I assume he's already spent time with God. It's like, well, there's this big enemy around. It's like, well, safety's over the Lord. I have nothing to fear. Whereas the servant wakes up, and he just looks. He's like, man, what are we going to do? And look, you wake up in today's world, and you get on just basic news. I mean, you can spend every day of your life scared by the stuff popping up. You know, growing up in the U.S., it's like, what country are we at war with right now, right? It's like every single day. It's like there's always something. This disease, this, that. They're going to scare you. It's like, but wait a minute. If you just wake up and read the Bible and get in the Spirit first thing, you're not going to find yourself afraid. You're going to be like Elisha that's not worried about the obstacles because he's right with God. The Bible says in 1 Peter 2, verse 21, For even hereunto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps. Now, I only picked out a few verses that talk about us leading as an example. What I'm saying is it starts with you individually. And as a father, you are the head of your home. It's not an equal 50-50% share with the wife as being the head of the home. Now look, you're not better than your wife. You're not better than your kids, but you have authority over them, right? You are the head. And as a father, it's like it's up to you to set the example. Think about this. In sports, if you've got a coach, and you know what? He coaches the team, and they lose the basketball game by 25 points. What is a good basketball coach going to say in the news? I did not prepare the team. Right? He takes responsibilities. I mean, you hear somebody say, well, you know what? It was their fault. Well, even if that might be true, it's just like you kind of look at the leader and say, why aren't you taking responsibility? And look, as a father, if your kids grow up and they don't love God, you ought to look at the mirror and say, you know what? What did I do wrong? Not, well, what did my wife do wrong? No, no, look at yourself, because you're the leader. You're the one that's meant to set that example and be the father and be the leader of that home. And look, you know what? It's a big responsibility, being the leader of the home. That is our job as fathers. It starts with, as for me, and you ought to take that attitude. I will set the example. I will do anything in my power that my family loves God. As for me, go back to Joshua 24. Joshua 24. I don't think these were idle words by Joshua. I think that he meant it. He's saying, hey, you can do whatever you want. You want to worship false gods? Go for it. As for me, I'm going to serve the Lord. It's not a question in my mind, what am I going to do? It's like, oh man, we got the golden calf or we got God Almighty. Which one are we going to choose? He's like, it's not a tough choice for me. As for me, I'm going to serve the Lord. Now here's the thing. This is something that you can preach and every Christian, no matter what the denomination, whether they're saved or not, is going to say, that's right, I'm going to serve God. But what does that actually mean? Well, it means standing up for truth. And in the world we live in today, it's kind of like, you know what? It's like the LGBT is kind of the front and center issue. And it's like, you say anything publicly about the LGBT, it's like you're the biggest enemy. That's the world we live in. So are you going to back down or are you going to basically stand up for what the Bible says? Or how about somebody comes to you and they criticize you for what you believe or the church you attend? Well, what are you going to do? Are you going to stand up for what you believe or are you going to back down? A co-worker makes fun of you and says, well, all religions believe basically the same. Are you just going to kind of sit there and say nothing or are you going to say, well, you're welcome to your opinion, but I believe Jesus is the only way to heaven? Now obviously you've got to be wise in a work setting because it's very easy to get fired in 2023 if you speak your mind. So you've got to be respectful and wise about these things. But my question is, are you actually standing up for what you believe? Or is it you just listen to our God is an awesome God like 50 times? Man, I'm really serving God. Our God is an awesome God. It's like that's not standing up for the things of God. You know what? When they were worshipping the Golden Calf, I'm sure they were saying our God is an awesome God too because it's a religious service. You listen to that song, man. The Hindus and Muslims all coming out. It's great. Let's just jam out together. Our God is an awesome God. It doesn't matter whether his name is Allah or Buddha or Shiva or Jesus or whatever. It's like if you're going to believe the things of God in 2023 and not back down, it's going to cause you to have enemies even if you're not really aggressive about it. I mean, you get saved. For most of you, you probably grew up Catholic. And when you got saved, it's like the biggest abomination ever to your Catholic family. Right? It's like, you know, they would be fine with you getting drunk all the time, but you becoming a Christian, it's like this is horrible. What did we go wrong? His parents. He's not worshipping Mary anymore. Right? It starts with you individually as for me. Joshua 24 verse 15 says at the end of the verse, As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. When it comes to being a father, this is not a solo mission where you say, You know what? I'm going to serve God, but you know what? Whatever my family does, it's up to them. No, it's as for me and my house. I'm going to get everybody on board with the things of God. Go to 1 Peter chapter 3. 1 Peter 3. 1 Peter 3. Now look, obviously we all have free will. We understand that. And your wife, just like you have free will as a husband, your wife has free will, and your kids have free will. But at the same time, there's a promise that if you train up your children in the way they should go when they're old, they're not going to depart from it. So if you train up your children in the right way, I do believe that they're going to grow up and they're going to love God. It doesn't mean they're going to be perfect. They might grow up and become Solomon. I mean, eventually, you know, everyone has free will. They can end up doing whatever they want. But the bottom line is that you can set an example and you can pass it on to your family. And it says in 1 Peter 3 verse 6, Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, and whose daughters he are, as long as you do well and are not afraid with any amazement. Likewise, he husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge. Dwell with your wives according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered. The Bible says that we as husbands and, you know, as wives, as families, we ought to be heirs together, husbands and wives, of the grace of life. And what that means is you're not just serving God on your own, but you get your whole family on board. Right now, one mistake I think a lot of Baptist pastors have made in the past, and you have famous IFB pastors from like 30 years ago, 40 years ago, it's like their families grow up and they hate God. I mean, literally, a lot of IFB pastors raise kids that end up becoming reprobates and people that don't love God, and you say, well, what took place? And you know what? Here's the thing. I'm not doubting the love of God that those pastors had 30, 40 years ago for God, but something went wrong, right? And you know what? I knew of a famous IFB pastor in West Virginia, and you know what? He had a similar situation with his family, but if you were to go to his website back in the day and look at his schedule, every single night of the week, he was out of town preaching at some other church. And everywhere he went, and this is the way it works, right? If you are a sought-after speaker, it's like everywhere you go, people are going to say, man, it's so great to see you. And it's kind of like you're like a celebrity, and your wife and your kids, it's like, wow, they're just kind of secondary. And literally, for a lot of famous IFB pastors, it's like they're home two or three times a week. And it's just like, well, it's interesting because when I grew up, my dad had the opportunity to make good money in a different career field, and he didn't take it because he'd be gone from the family. He said, I'm not going to take six months to be away from the family and come back. There's always that opportunity that's out there. But I look back to my dad and say, you know what? We can go with less, and I can be around my family because I love my family. And I'll tell you what, it doesn't change if you're in the spiritual field. It's like, well, now that I'm a pastor, I just forsake my family. I mean, doesn't it start with loving your family and being a good husband and father to your family to prove you're worthy of being a pastor? And then many pastors, they forsake their family. You see the example in the Bible of Samuel where it talks about how he went in circuit everywhere being a judge. What takes place? His kids grow up, and they don't love God. That's just the way it works. If you're not around, and just think about this logically. If you are someone that's zealous for God, and you read the Bible, and you are a popular preacher, and you're preaching everywhere, always gone from your family, what's going to take place? Your wife and kids are going to start to resent God because God is kind of taking you away from them. And He's not literally taking you away. It's just you're choosing to do that because you're choosing to put other people in front of your own family. So it starts with you, but whether you're a preacher, whatever your job is, it's like you need to make sure your wife is on board and you're heirs together. You're going to church together. You're reading the Bible together. You're doing these things together. It's your job individually, but then make sure your wife is on board. It's not just a solo mission to serve God. You want your whole family on board. Go to Ephesians 5. Ephesians 5. Now, I have a bit of trouble understanding this because, quite honestly, I would rather spend time with my kids than preach at a church. I already preach enough as it is Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday. That's absolutely plenty for me, but I'd rather play games with my kids, to be honest. I enjoy preaching. I really do. But honestly, I just put my kids up very valuable in my life. I like spending time with them. It's fun. I'm not trying to be a celebrity in this world or whatever. By all means, there's nothing wrong with preaching at churches, but a lot of pastors from the past, you'd see they'd just be gone from their family throughout the week. If you're never around your family, don't be surprised. It doesn't matter what you preach in church. If you don't set an example at home, your kids aren't going to love God. That's just the way it works. It starts with you individually, but it's not a solo mission because you need to get your wife and family on board. Ephesians 5, verse 25. The analogy of husbands to wives is compared with Christ in the church. ...not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. The Bible says that the comparison of husbands and wives is like Christ to the church. And as Christ helps the church, that it should be holy and without blemish, you as the husband should cause your wife to be closer to God than further away from God. If you marry your wife, she should love God more as a result of you being married and your heirs together of the grace of life. Not just you individually, but that she also loves God as well. The Bible says in verse 28, it says, ...sought men to love their wives as their own bodies. And kind of the idea is that basically, you don't just focus on the things that you want. Because naturally, everybody wants to focus on what they want. Right? I mean, we all have hobbies we like and things we enjoyed growing up. But the Bible's saying is, instead of just spending all your time on yourself, what about your wife? What about your kids? Look, there's just a difference once you get married. You know what I did when I was single, back in college, and even when I was working? I worked out for a couple hours a day. Now, I still love working out, but I don't have time to do that anymore. You say, why? Because I shouldn't love my own body as much as my family. Right? Whatever your hobby is, it's like you can't just spend all your time on that and forsake your family. I mean, if you're married, you're meant to love your wife as Christ loved the church. Now, obviously, no husband is going to love their wife as much as Christ loves the church. So you wives, be a little bit understanding of that. We're not a perfect example. Okay? Just like Christ. But you know what? If all your time is spent on your hobbies and what you want, and you never spend time with your family, and you come home from work, and you come home and it's all about what you want, you come home from work, you spend a couple hours at the gym, then you're just on Facebook, or just listening to online preaching for a couple hours. You're married, you go to work, you come home, and you just listen to New IFB preaching all the time. Yeah, good job. You're going to cause your wife to hate the New IFB because you're not spending any time with her. Right? I mean, if you're married, then it's like you need to spend time with your family. You're heirs together of the grace of life, not just individually serving God. Turn to your Bible to 1 Timothy 3. 1 Timothy 3. 1 Timothy 3. Look, all of us as husbands and as fathers, you know what? Sometimes you're tired, you just want to relax or whatever. You know, I come home and my kids always want to play games with me. Yeah, of course, sometimes you just want to relax. You know, you want to do something else or whatever, and obviously there's a balance. There's things we have to get done in our life, but it's like if you just always put your kids on the back burner when all they want to do is spend time with you and all your wife wants to do is spend time with you, you're going to cause them to resent God. You're going to cause them to resent the Bible. You're going to cause them to resent you. You're not going to have a happy marriage. You're going to be miserable, and you're not going to be much of a father. I mean, Samuel was a great man of God, but I couldn't say that he was a great father because he wasn't. Right? Now, I mean, he loved God. He was a great man of God, but obviously he failed. You know, I remember last Father's Day, I preached on Philip the Evangelist, right? And ever since that sermon, I really thought about it because when I was younger and I was single, my favorite Bible character was Paul the Apostle. And I thought about this recently, you know, when I was quizzed back there, my wife and I, it's like, well, what's your favorite of this? Paul the Apostle is not my favorite Bible character. Philip the Evangelist is my favorite Bible character. And the reason being because I'm not single anymore. It's a different situation. When I look at characters, I want to model my life after. Philip is like the greatest character in Acts 8 and he's gone from the Bible. Why? Because he was raising his kids with his wife and he raised up several daughters that were soul owners and loved God. Right? It's like that's actually the person I want to model myself after more so than Paul the Apostle because I'm not a single guy. And I would say as fathers, I mean, you can have whatever character you like. I would just say, look at characters like Philip the Evangelist. Do what Joshua says and say, hey, that's the example I want to do. Because they made sacrifices in order to get their whole family on board with God. Right? It says in 1 Timothy 3, verse 4, One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity. For if a man not know how to rule his own house, how shall they take care of the church of God? Before you become a pastor, it starts with your own home. It starts with you loving God and your wife loving God and your kids loving God also. I find it interesting, we live in a world where people that become presidents of countries, you know, Donald Trump is the example I would always think of in the U.S., completely failed as a husband, completely failed in romantic relationships. He can't rule his own house and you're going to rule an entire country? I'm not saying the alternative is better. By no means am I a Joe Biden person. But I'm just saying, it's just like you would think one of the very basic qualifications to be the president. Have you been successful with a wife and two kids? It's like, well, nope. Well, then you probably shouldn't be the president of a country. Right? But it starts with you and then your wife and then your children in subjection also. Now, look, at a young age, it starts with getting your kids to be in subjection. That's where the discipline comes in. That's where the correction comes in. Now, look, no child likes to receive correction. Sometimes I tell my kids, no, and what's the reaction? Sometimes they start crying. Right? Sometimes they're upset and they're emotional about it and I tell them, hey, I don't hate you. I love you. I'm trying to help you. It's my job as your father. But it's like it's your job to get your kids in subjection and then eventually to get them to love God. Right? Go to Proverbs chapter 23. Proverbs 23. Proverbs 23. And the Bible says in Proverbs 23, foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child. Well, not my little Johnny. And no offense to him is Johnny, okay? It's not my little Johnny. He would never do anything bad. I just think to that little Johnny, Johnny, yes, papa, stupid thing that's in every kid's thing, right? But it's not my kid. I mean, no, foolishness is bound in the heart of every child. I've heard people say this before. Well, my kid never did this and I'm just thinking. I mean, you either have a really bad memory from when your kids were young or you just are lying. It's like, oh, my kid would have never drawn on the wall or whatever. Every kid has done that, right? It's just like, no, foolishness is bound in the heart of every child, of a child, but every child, foolishness is bound in their heart. I mean, kids do foolish things. Kids will fight over the silliest things ever, right? You give your one child a green Easter egg or a green little plastic egg and they're upset because they wanted the blue one. Or what's funny is when both the eggs look identical, they're both blue, but I wanted that one. What can you say? You say foolishness is bound in the heart of a child. That's just the way that kids are, right? Bible says in Proverbs 23 verse 12, Apply thine heart unto instruction in thine ears to the words of knowledge. Withhold not correction from the child, for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Now, when the Bible says beat him with the rod, what it's referring to is a specific physical object, which I can say I don't use a physical object. I just use my hand, but I would just say my wife has a spanking stick and sometimes just seeing the stick, it's like, I'm sorry, Mom. I'm sorry, Dad, right? So you never even have to spank because they're afraid of that stick, right? But the Bible says beating with the rod, yeah, the Bible says you can spank a child on a certain part of their body that causes no injury. And it says, if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. What does that mean? It means your kids don't die when you spank them. It means get over it. You can spank your kids and not be afraid of, oh, man, I think it's wrong. They're not going to die. And if you spank them in a specific spot, it causes no injury. The worst case scenario is it's red for like 20 minutes, right? It doesn't cause any injury at all. They're not going to die. And it says this in verse number 14, thou shalt beat him with the rod and shalt deliver his soul from hell. You know, what does that mean? It means spanking your kids will help your kids get saved. That's what it means. You say, Brother Stuckey, how would spanking your kids help your kids get saved? Well, we believe that God is a loving God that also sends people to hell for all eternity. We believe that God is a loving God that in this life, to those that are saved, He will discipline and punish. Look, as a father, you are basically serving as an example of God the Father. Now, you're not going to be a perfect example by any means, so don't misunderstand me. But you are a loving father that also disciplines and corrects your kids. Are you serving as a good example? Because if you never discipline your kids at all, you know what you're teaching your kids subtly? Well, there's no authority that's going to punish me. It's like, I don't believe in a God that's going to send people to hell. That is what you're literally teaching without using words because of the fact you're not punishing your kids. Here's the thing. If you never discipline your kids, your kids are not going to respect authority, and they're going to grow up and get thrown in prison for being rebellious or doing drugs or whatever, and guess what? They're going to have a lot of rules over them for the rest of their lives. Is that what you want for your kids? Right? I mean, spanking your kids, no, it takes time. It's not fun, but you know what? Honestly, it's not the end of the world. And I'll tell you what. When you look at people that are respectful and they grow up, usually they were spanked as a kid. Look, I was spanked a lot as a kid. I wasn't really spanked past the age of like, I don't know. I'd have to ask my parents, but probably past the age of six or seven. You know why? You start to obey because of the fact, well, if I don't, I'm going to get punished. The Bible says, Withhold not correction. It's good for them. Verse 15, My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine. Now go to Judges 2 in your Bible. Judges 2. Now, one thing that can be a tendency is if you're a parent and you might realize this, that yes, I am supposed to discipline and spank my kids. And look, I would say everybody in this room, if you're honest with yourself, you know that's true. You know that's what the Bible teaches. It's not a gray area issue. Whether you do it or not, you know it's true, right? It's difficult, so sometimes you don't do it, but you know that you're supposed to. But what can take place is you see other parents don't discipline their kids. And you're like, well, I don't want them to be more loving than me, so I'm not going to discipline my kids. Look, don't screw up the life of your kids just because other people are screwing up the lives of their kids. It doesn't matter if other kids don't get spanked for the same thing. It's like, you know what, they don't live by the same rules that you do. I remember, because I was homeschooled starting in middle school, but I remember in elementary school, I remember this very vividly. It's like there's a PG-13 movie, and your parents had to sign approval for you to watch the PG-13 movie. And every single parent signed it, except my mom and my dad. And I'm just like, I mean, I didn't even care about the movie. I just said, you're going to embarrass me. It's like every parent said they could watch the movie. And my parents said, well, I don't care what every other parent did. You're not watching the movie. Right? Now, here's the thing. At the time, I was really upset, but you know what I'm thinking now? Praise God. My parents that were strict and weren't just doing what everybody else was doing. They were doing what they believed was correct. And I hope that I can be just as good of a dad as my father was, because my dad did a great job being a father, spending time, providing discipline, caring, loving, all of those things. Right? And what I would say is this. Just because other parents aren't doing what they're supposed to do or they choose other things, it doesn't mean that you follow the example of them. Yeah, I get it. The majority of parents in this world don't spank their kids. I am well aware of that. Do you want your kids to be like every other kid out there, though? Is that what you want? It doesn't matter whether the world's doing it. It doesn't even matter if other Christians are doing it. It doesn't matter what other people in church are doing. What should you do? What does the Bible say? Right? And here's the thing. If you choose not to do what the Bible says, because you want to be just as loving as other parents, it's like you're not going to raise kids that love God. You're going to raise kids that are rebellious. And you might think that I preach on spanking a lot, and maybe I do when I preach sermons about being a parent, but that's actually a large part of being a parent. And what I would say is I always say is spank them when they're young. Deal with the problems at home when they're young. And you know what you're going to find as they get older? You don't have problems like other people have. In public, they're going to act a lot better. Now, they're not going to be perfect because foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, and obviously kids get tired, just like we get tired sometimes, and you get grumpy. You get cranky. But it's going to be a lot better than if you just let them do whatever they want with no discipline whatsoever. Point number one is as for me. Point two is in my house. And I would say this, that when you look at characters in the Bible in time periods, I believe that during the days of Joshua, God's people love God probably more than any other time in human history. I mean, that's what you really see because during the days of Moses, they're pretty rebellious. During the days of Joshua, though, they're pretty good. Now, once you get to the book of Judges, which we're going to look at, it's like they'll be good for 10 years, then bad for 50, good for 10, bad for 50. But during the days of Joshua, they actually really love God. I mean, it speaks to the leadership that Joshua had. It does speak to the leadership that Moses set as an example, but during the days of Joshua, they're very obedient. But notice what takes place after Joshua. Let's see the result. Judges 2, verse 6. And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land. And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord that he did for Israel. And Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died being 110 years old. So what took place during the days of Joshua and during the days of the elders that outlived Joshua is they saw the great works of the Lord. I don't think this necessarily means they saw the parting of the Red Sea, though. Now, many of them did, but here's the thing. The elders that outlived Joshua, there's going to be a lot of people that probably didn't experience that, but they also still love God. Because I want you to realize we look at stories in the Bible, and there are some of the most exciting stories, and you're like, man, I would love to see the parting of the Red Sea. I would love to see Elijah versus the false prophets of Baal. I mean, I would love to see that. I'd love to see a video of it, to see what took place. It'd be very exciting. But you know what? You can still show your kids the great works of the Lord in 2023. Obviously, you can read those stories to them, but you know what? When you go soul winning and somebody gets saved, it's like a miracle every single time it happens. I mean, for someone to believe something false for 20 years, and then it's like, well, in 15 minutes, I can show you how to get to heaven. Literally, people change their mind about what they believe their entire life, and 15 minutes later, for all eternity, they're going to believe what the Bible teaches. I mean, that's like a miracle. I mean, it's amazing. We get to experience it all the time as we go soul winning. It's like seeing a miracle all the time. And when your kids experience that, and they see the excitement of the Lord, they can get on board with the things of God. You know what they're going to realize? They're going to realize the things of God are more exciting than what the world has to offer. I remember going way back to our first missions trip in April of 2018. So, over five years ago at this point, man, time flies. But I remember during that time period, there was a bunch of young teens at the time, that some of them were from Sacramento, and brother JR at the time, brother JR, brother James, brother Garrett, and brother Moses. I remember the four of them, if you were there for the missions trip, and they would just leave early and be gone all day just soul winning, soul winning, so excited. And what they're seeing is, this is far more exciting than anything the world has to offer. I mean, it was encouraging all of us that were there as adults, like, man, that's exciting. I'm tired. I'm too old to do this for as long as them. They're just so excited to love anything else that the world has to offer. What you're experiencing is the great works of the Lord. Now, here's the thing, though. If you love God and serve God, but never get your kids to experience it also, though, how are they going to get excited about the things of God? Because they're not experiencing it, right? The Bible says in verse 9, verse 9, And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the mount of Ephraim, out of the hill Geash. And also, all that generation were gathered onto their fathers, and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. And so a generation grows up, and, of course, Judges is the book where people really backslide and get out of the will of God. You say, what's the problem? Well, a generation rises up, and they know not the Lord. Now, in Baptist church is what takes place is kids will go to, like, junior church or children's church or whatever, and instead of hearing a real sermon, and instead of singing the old-fashioned hymns, it's just these goofy songs that have no meaning, and they just give them candy and play games, and what takes place? You raise a generation that knows not the Lord. Look, I want my kids at a young age to know the things of God. Right? You know, kids grow up, and they don't have any strong convictions because they're not hearing it preached. I'm amazed. My son, Zeph, five years old, and oftentimes, he'll tell me things. I'm like, did you learn that from my sermon? Like, where did you learn that? Right? And he hears things from the preaching that he remembers. I mean, literally, you could quiz my son, Zeph, and he could answer a whole lot better than a lot of people at Baptist churches. Right? You can ask him. I mean, like, literally, he hears the word repent, and he's like, Dad, that's wrong. Right? He's like, that's wrong. Right? That's what the Bible teaches. Right? And so, here's the thing. If your kids are hearing the real preaching, but also you're taking them out so wanting to experience these things, or teaching them the Bible, they're going to know the works of the Lord, and they're going to get excited about the things of God also. Just trying to outsource raising your kids to others is going to cause you to fail. And you might think, well, you know what? I grow my kids in this church. They go home, and they just, you know, they watch Superbook and these children's programs. They're going to love God. That's actually not what's going to take place. Now, I personally like Superbook, so that's not a criticism there. I'm just saying your kids aren't going to love God just because they watched Superbook. They're going to love God when you teach them the stories of the Bible. And by the way, I mean, you show those programs, I think they're fine, but you also have to pause and say, well, this is actually wrong. Okay? Right? But what I'm saying is this. You need to get your kids to experience it also. Not just, well, my kids are kind of on the back burner because I'm serving God. Well, then your kids aren't going to love God. That's just what's going to take place. Why would your kids turn out any differently if you're raising your kids just like everybody else is raising their kids? Why would they be different? But see, if you raise them differently, you're going to have a different result. A generation rises up that knows not the Lord, and what takes place? Verse 11, And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served Balaam. And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt and followed other gods of the gods of the people that were round about them and bowed themselves onto them and provoked the Lord to anger. And they forsook the Lord and served Baal and Ashtaroth. Look, Joshua 24, verse 15 is an awesome verse. But here's the thing. Don't just print that verse or buy something to put on the front of your house or make that your profile picture in Facebook. I'm not against making that your profile picture, right? We have that verse inside of our home. But actually live by that verse. And as the fathers say, as for me, okay, I'm going to do my part. In my house, I'm going to make sure they get on board. And look, this is a sermon for fathers, but wives, even though you're not the head of your family, you have a large part in getting your kids to love God also. And in fact, as wives, you probably spend more time with your kids than your husband does. And so when you're around your kids, get them on board with loving God. Get them to memorize the Bible. Get them to read the Bible. Get them to hear the stories about the Bible. Make sure you don't just say, well, I'll just let my husband come home and spank my kids. It's like, what are you doing? You want your kids to think your husband's so evil, but you're so nice? I mean, what are you doing? The reason why moms should spank their kids more than fathers is because they're around their kids more. If the kid rebels against the mom, guess who's supposed to spank the kid? The mom. If the kid rebels against the dad, the dad spanks the kids. Don't just outsource that, though, and say, well, you know what? This is a sermon on Father's Day. You're going to rip the fathers. Well, rip the moms here for a second. It's like, make sure you discipline your kids also. Don't just outsource that to your husband. Expect them to work full time and then come home and then do all the discipline. And it's like, you're going to cause the kids to be more rebellious because you're not doing your part. Right? Because the bottom line is being heirs together, what you really need is husbands and wives on board together in raising those kids. And if you have that, a generation will rise up that does know the Lord and does love God. But if you don't have that, more often than not, 99% of the time, a generation is going to rise up. Your kids are going to rise up. They're not going to love God. They're not going to love soul winning. They're not going to love the old fashioned hymns and the old preaching. They're going to be looking for just a run of the mill, lame Baptist church or non-denom church or whatever, because you never taught them these things as a kid. Right? As fathers, take the example and say, hey, if my kids fail, if my wife fails, then I fail because I'm the leader of that home. Let's go to the 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, whether we're fathers in this room or husbands or moms and wives in this room, or even just if people are not married in this room, but will one day be married, God, I ask you to help us to use Joshua 24, verse 15, not just as a cool verse to quote, but actually live by it, God. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. For our last song, song number 213. Song number 213. There is glory in my soul. There is glory in my soul. There is glory in my soul. Since I lost my sins. Ready on the first. Since I lost my sins, can you have my Savior? There is glory in my soul. Since my faith I sought can you make God's favor? There is glory in my soul. My soul, there is glory, there is glory, glory, there is glory in my soul Every day, brother, come, can I conquer all my foes? There is glory, glory, there is glory in my soul There is glory in my soul, once again Since you blessed my heart, give me sight for my despair There is glory in my soul, sit so touch and kill me There is glory in my soul, there is glory, glory, there is glory in my soul Every day, brother, come, can I conquer all my foes? There is glory, glory, there is glory in my soul There is glory in my soul, I've learned Since with God, I've locked down His feet, locked in His hands There is glory in my soul, rather grows each way in His hand There is glory in my soul, there is glory, glory, there is glory in my soul Every day, brother, come, can I conquer all my foes? There is glory, glory, there is glory in my soul There is glory in my soul, on the last Since I entered, gave it up, I went to heaven There is glory in my soul Since the day my life here, the Lord has given There is glory in my soul There is glory, glory, there is glory in my soul Every day, brother, come, can I conquer all my foes? There is glory, glory, there is glory in my soul There is glory in my soul Brother, are you getting closer to the break? Amen. We're dismissed.