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Alright, we're here in Genesis chapter 19 and the name of the sermon is Why Lot Failed as a Father. Why Lot failed as a father. And so obviously today is Father's Day and you know, Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there. Happy Father's Day to myself, you know. And so obviously I want to preach a sermon on Father's Day to give us kind of principles and lessons. And obviously Genesis chapter 19 is a pretty tough chapter. There's a lot of pretty bad stuff. There's also a lot of information we can learn if we pay attention to what's being said. And I don't think there's any question that Lot was a failure as a father. He was a failure as a father. You come to the end of the chapter and his daughters get him drunk and they sleep with him and he has children from them. The Moabites and the Ammonites come from those two lineages, you know, from his daughters. And so you have to understand, hey, every word of God is pure. It's in the Bible for a reason and the Bible is discreet. It doesn't go into great detail, but it does give us this information and we need to learn from this. There's no question Lot was a failure. He comes to the end of his life, not even the end of his life, but he comes to the end of this chapter and they're getting him drunk. And this is his daughters that he raised. Why was Lot a failure as a father? Well, go back to Genesis 13, Genesis 13, and I'm going to give you four reasons here today why Lot was a failure. Four reasons why Lot was a failure, because I don't know about you, but as a father or any mothers in this room, you know, we take the word of God by faith that God promises that if you train up your children correctly, they will serve God. They will love God. But that's something we take by faith because my kids are only two and a half years old and five months old, okay? They're not 20 years old. They're not 18 years old, okay? But I do believe the promise of God's word that if we do what the Bible says, they will love God when they grow up. And we as parents, we take that by faith because a lot of us have young children and we don't see the end of the matter, okay? But the Bible says if we do what's right, they're going to turn out right. But if you're a father like Lot, this is going to be how your kids are. Lot was a failure as a father. Why? One, because Lot made decisions based on the material to gratify the flesh for money, for possessions. Notice what it says in Genesis 13 verse 8, And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen. For we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right. Or if thou art apart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. So in Genesis chapter 13, Abraham and Lot, they have to separate from one another. And the reason why is because they were rich. And back then your wealth was not in a bank account. It was not in cash. Your wealth was cows, horses, possessions, things that actually took up space. And because of that, look, there's just too much of them. There wasn't enough room for all of them. They had to separate. So it's important to understand here in the story, Lot is rich. He's not poor. He's rich. And that's why they separate. Verse 10, And Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan that it was well watered everywhere. So in verse 10, as they're separating, Lot wants to go to this area because it's well watered. That basically means it's a ground where you can produce a lot of prutas and gulai. It's going to be a great farmland that you can have. Go to Psalm 107, Psalm 107, right in the middle of your Bible is the book of Psalms, Psalm 107. So Lot decides, you know what, I want to go here to the plain of Jordan by Sodom and Gomorrah. And the reason why is because it's well watered. It's going to be an area where I can make a lot of money. Now here's the thing, Lot didn't need the money. He wasn't poor. He was rich. It's important to understand because God does tell us we need to provide for our families. But Lot was not poor. He was rich. He didn't have to make decisions based on wealth. This would be like somebody who's got a house that's 120 square meters. They've got a car, they've got a nice job, but they say, you know what, I want my house to be 300 square meters. I want a second car. And it's like, you don't need this lot. You're doing okay. Now I'm not saying it's wrong to have money, but what I'm trying to help you understand is Lot was not poor. He did not have to move to an area to become rich. He already was rich. He already had too much possessions and they had to separate. He already had a lot of money. Psalm 107 verse 33. What it said in Genesis was that it was well watered in the land. But notice Psalm 107 verse 33. Psalm 107 verse 33. He turneth rivers into a wilderness and the water springs into dry ground, a fruitful land into barrenness for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. See the Bible says he turns rivers into a wilderness and he turns water springs into dry ground. If you have dry ground, you're not going to be able to produce offspring out of that ground. Fruits and vegetables and grains. The ground cannot be a dry ground. That's why the Egyptians became so rich because of the Nile River. That's why they worshiped that river because that river made Egypt the most powerful empire in the world. And the Bible says he can turn what is a good ground into a dry ground, a fruitful land into barrenness. Now during this time period, a lot of people including Lot, their money was by being a farmer, by being a mukbu-bukid. And so you want a farmland, a bukid, where you can produce a lot of fruit. And what the Bible says though in Psalm 107 is he can turn what's a very fruitful ground into something that's a dry ground. And so realize when you apply this to our lives, God can turn your situation and your job that's a pretty dry ground and you don't make a lot of money into a fruitful ground. He can also turn a fruitful ground into a dry ground like it is with Job. Now turn back in your Bible to Genesis 19, Genesis 19. But with Lot, Lot was rich, okay? Lot did not need to go to an area that was well watered because he already had everything that he needed, okay? So Genesis 13 verse 10, and Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord. So mentions the garden of the Lord, I think that's meant to represent like the Garden of Eden. We're basically in the Garden of Eden, plants just kind of grew on their own. You didn't have to do much work, it was very easy to grow the ground, okay? They just kind of came up out of the ground. Well here what it's saying is this ground was very good even as the garden of the Lord. So it's an area where you're producing fruits and vegetables, you're going to make a lot of money in this area because the ground is good. Notice what it says at the end of that verse, like the land of Egypt as thou comest on to Zor. So Egypt had a very fertile ground that produced fruit and the reason why is because of the Nile River. That's why they became rich, they had everything that they needed. And so Lot says, you know what, I want to go to this area because it's like the land of Egypt. Now was Egypt a rich area? Yes. Was it a godly area? No. And what Lot's saying is, you know what, I'm going to choose money and possessions and wealth in an ungodly area. Now realize he didn't need the money. Look if you already have lots of money, why are you making your decisions based on money? And the thing is this, Lot made his choices based on the material possessions, okay. Now notice what it says in verse 11. Then Lot chose them all the plain of Jordan and Lot journeyed east and they separated themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent toward Sodom. So Lot is right by Sodom and he pitches his tent toward Sodom. Verse 13, but the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. Now turn to 1 Kings 11, 1 Kings 11 in your Old Testament, 1 Kings 11, you say why is this important? Well because why was Lot even in Sodom and Gomorrah to begin with? Look I mean Lot had all the money he needed, he didn't need to live in a wicked area. Now I believe you can serve God, you know, no matter where you live, but at the same time a good modern day application is if you go somewhere where there is no good church, there's no good church whatsoever, and you know you're going to serve God in that area. It's like well good luck with that because I need church personally. I need a church to motivate me to go soul winning, to motivate me to serve God and to live for God. But you know Lot just goes to an area where he gets rich and you know he just kind of figures I'll end up living for God. Well you know that doesn't end up working for Lot and what we see with Lot is he makes decisions based on the material, based on money, based on possessions. Notice 1 Kings 11 verse 1. And it says in 1 Kings 11 verse 1, but King Solomon loved many strange women together with the daughter of Pharaoh. Now I believe the daughter of Pharaoh was the first wife of Solomon, which is what the Song of Solomon is referring to, Solomon and the daughter of Pharaoh, his first wife. Even of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites, of the nations concerning which the Lord had said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go into them, neither shall they come in unto you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods. Solomon clave unto these in love, and he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned away his heart. So here you have Solomon in the book of 1 Kings and this was a man who was a godly king. He was a good king for a time period and then he ends up going after possessions, going after what he desires. The whole book of Ecclesiastes is about that. Whatever his eyes desire, he goes after. He goes after them and he ends up, it turns his heart away. Now ask yourself this question, was Solomon a good father? I would say no. I mean did his son Rehoboam live for God? Nope. Rehoboam wasn't a godly person and you say why? Well because Solomon wasn't a good father. Now Solomon was a good Christian for a lot of his life, he did a lot of great things, but he wasn't a very good father. Did you know you can be a good Christian and a bad father? Did you know you can be a great soul winner and do a terrible job raising your kids? Did you know you can read the Bible for two hours every day and then raise a bunch of kids that hate God when they grow up because you never spend time with them? See you can be someone who accomplishes things for God and yet you're not a good father. And so realize with Solomon, Solomon did a lot of good things, but he wasn't a good father. Now who was the father of Solomon? David. Was David a godly Christian? Did he do a lot of great things? Absolutely. There's no question about that. Was David a good father? No. David was not a good father. What's the result? Well, his son, he sort of lives for God. I mean, he has that heritage of the true God that he believes in, but he does the same thing as his dad did. Okay. Now part of David's problem and part of Solomon's problem is here's the thing. David was not a very good father. And another reason why, which applies a lot is because David was a lousy husband. And look, you cannot be a good father if you're a bad husband and you cannot be a great husband if you're a bad father. You say, why? Because souls are intertwined. Part of your job as a husband is to raise those children with your wife. And if you do a bad job as a father, then you're not a very good husband. Okay. These things are intertwined. And by the way, I'm not preaching towards or against the moms here today or the women in this room, but the same thing applies for women as well. You're not going to be a good mom if you're a bad wife and you're not going to be a good wife if you're a bad mom. Why? Because those job responsibilities are together. They come together. You must do both of those things. Okay. Turn back to Genesis 19, Genesis 19. So point number one was that Lot made decisions based on the material. Point number two, why did Lot fail as a father? Because he failed as a husband. If you fail as a husband, you're going to fail as a father. If you fail as a father, you're going to fail as a husband. Okay. I would encourage you. I would ask you this question. Find me somebody in the Bible that was a really great husband and a really bad father. Find me someone who's a really great father and a really bad husband. You don't see that in the Bible. Now you see people that are married to ungodly people, but they still do a good job of being the wife for the husband and raising the kids. Okay. It's not their fault necessarily that their spouse is ungodly, but they still did a good job in their role. But you will not find someone in the Bible who's a really great father and a really terrible husband. You don't see that. These roles are intertwined. Now you will find people that are great Christians that are bad fathers. You will find people that are great Christians that are bad husbands, but you will not find someone who's a great father and a terrible husband. These roles are intertwined in our lives. Okay. Now what this teaches us and what we need to realize is this, that just because your kids are in a good church, that does not mean they're going to grow up and love reading God's word and to love going soul winning and to love serving God. You have to put in that effort. And that's one of the big mistakes that the independent fundamental Baptist world has had for 50 years, because you can look at a lot of famous preachers out there from 30 years ago and man, they're preaching all over the country, all over the world. They go and preach at a special event. Everybody worships the ground. They walk on like, man, this guy's the greatest preacher. And then their son grows up and he's a reprobate or their daughter grows up and they're a reprobate that hates God. You can accomplish a lot of big things for God and be a miserable father, but I'll tell you what I would rather accomplish a little bit less and have my kids love me and love God when they grow up. I don't want to be a failure as a father, but the reality is that you can be at a great church and your kids can grow up and hate God and you can be at a great church and be a miserable husband or wife or mother. There's no guarantee that your kids are going to serve God just because they're hearing this preaching, because if they have parents that don't care about them and don't spend time with them and just only care about their own things, you know what? Those kids are probably going to grow up and you know what? If they have a father that doesn't really love them, do you really think that they're going to love this father? You are the first example as a father of the heavenly father. My son is too young to get saved right now. Now he will go to heaven if he tragically died because he doesn't comprehend these things. Young children go to heaven if they die, but I want you to realize right now my son is getting an example for me of what God is supposed to be like. You're the first example of a father in their lives and look, if you don't teach and train and spend time with your kids, it's going to be hard for them to love the God above if their own father doesn't really love them. That's the reality. Lot failed as a husband and that's the reason why he failed as a father. You say, show that to me in the Bible. Notice Genesis 19 verse 3. Genesis 19 verse 3. Notice what it says in Genesis 19 verse 3. And he pressed upon them greatly and they turned in unto him and entered into his house and he made them a feast and did bake unleavened bread and they did eat. Now if you remember from the Mother's Day sermon, I talked about the story and I want you to notice Lot's wife is nowhere to be found. There's no real indication that they even see each other every day. I mean, there's no real indication that they have any sort of a relationship other than the fact that his wife gave birth to those kids that belonged to them. There's really no indication that they're close at all. She's nowhere to be found in this story. Nowhere whatsoever. Verse 14, and Lot went out and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters and said, up get you out of this place for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law. So what we saw in verse 3 is his wife's nowhere to be around. And realize this. If you were really rich, I believe everybody in this room, like if you were really rich, you know what? The wives would just take care of the kids. If you had all the money in the world and you didn't need any money. If you were just really incredibly rich, you had the nicest house. I mean, lots of money for your whole life. You didn't have to worry about it. You know what? The reason why ladies work in today's world is because it's necessary to make money. But if you were rich, think about that. If you were rich, you know what? The moms would stay home with their kids. Now here's the thing. In today's world, that's not really the world we live in. It's a difficult situation. And for a lot of people in this room, that's not possible. But I'm just saying, if you were rich, because look, a mom's going to do a much better job taking care of those kids than a father. You say why? Because it's born into those moms. It's not born into the fathers the same way it's born into the moms. That's a role that God has given them. Now as fathers, we have to be there and spend time with them. But here's the truth of the matter. When my son, he's been kind of sick the last couple days, he's feeling a little bit better now, but he's a little bit sick. Here's the thing. My son doesn't want me to hold him. You say why? Because my son knows I'm just going to try to wrestle him or tickle him or do whatever. I'm not going to comfort him. You say why? That's not really what fathers do. They play with their kids, right? It's just like when my son needs comfort, you know what? He's going to go to his mom. It's not going to go to me. Because it's inborn into moms. That's what God has given ladies. And here's what I want you to realize. In verse three, if they're rich, why is Lot's wife not at home? Okay, where is she? Verse 14, look, this is after God's pronounced judgment on this area. And guess what? When you see her helping Lot go out to try to win their family members of the Lord and bring them out of Sodom and Gomorrah, why? She has no interest in spiritual things. No interest whatsoever. Verse 26, but his wife looked back from behind him and she became a pillar of salt. And so Lot's wife becomes a pillar of salt, which is the picture on the front of the bulletin. Lot's wife becomes a pillar of salt because she's worldly. She wants to live in Sodom and Gomorrah, which was a very wicked area because she does not love God. See, the Bible says in the book of Luke, remember Lot's wife. Okay, now she does not serve as a good example. She serves as a bad example, but we are supposed to remember from her story. But when you see the story, there's no real indication then Lot and her have much of a relationship whatsoever. What do you see? Well, Lot failed as a husband and he also failed as a father. And you're not going to be successful as a father if you fail as a husband, because those roles are intertwined together. Okay, turn in your Bible. Actually go to Genesis 19 at the beginning of the chapter, Genesis 19, verse one, and say, why is this important? The reason why this is important is because we have a lot of people at our church that are newly married or newly going to be having kids and things like that. I mean, our church has changed a lot since it started. It started and there were no kids at our church. We had my son, we had brother Emmon's kids, sister Monica's son, but that was about it. I think that was, you know, brother Chris's daughter. Other than that, I mean, I don't know if I'm forgetting one. I mean, pretty much we just had a few kids and a lot of them were really young. And so all of us pretty much were pretty new at being parents, even us that did have kids. And since that time, we've had a lot of new kids born. I mean, look, we got lots of kids here, right? We have new kids coming, newly people getting married and things such as that. So it's kind of changed the culture here, which I think is a good thing. But the reason why this is important is because especially in your first couple years of marriage, what you're going to learn is marriage is hard. You're like, man, I heard this preach, but it's harder than I thought. And it's like, some of you are at that stage where it's just like, you're still learning that lesson. And it's like, guess what? Every single person in this room who's married has been through that stage. There's no temptation taking you, but such as is common demand. Every single person that's married, that's been married for a while, they're going to tell you, yeah, you know, especially those first couple of years, it's going to be difficult. It's going to be hard. And you know, when you're having problems in your marriage, you might develop this attitude. Well, you know what? Forget about it. I won't work on my marriage. I'll just make sure I'm a good mom or a good father, and I'll take on that responsibility. You cannot be a good mom if you're a bad wife. You cannot be a good father if you're a bad husband. You're not going to be successful at raising your kids when mom and dad don't really love each other and don't spend time with each other. If you want to be successful raising your kids, you need to make sure that marriage is strong, which means you need to work on it. Why? Because it's not going to be easy. And look, there's no temptation taking you, but such as is common demand. Every single person who's married has been down that road. No, it's not easy. And look, having kids. Hey, I love having kids. I wouldn't trade it for the world, but it's not easy. You certainly get a lot less sleep. You certainly don't have as much free time and things like that. None of us that are parents would trade being parents for anything in the world. But we would be honest with you if you ask us and said, you know what? It's a lot of work. It's a lot easier when you don't have kids. It's a lot easier not being married because you have all the time in the world. You can do whatever you want. We wouldn't trade it for the world. But you know what? If you want to be successful, it takes work. It's going to be hard, okay? And so you have to realize this, that one reason why Lot failed is not just because he was into the material and into wealth and possessions, but he failed as a father simply because he failed as a husband. He was a bad husband. They had a bad relationship. And if mom and dad don't have a good relationship, what's going to happen? They're not going to do a good job raising the kids. That's just the way it works. It's going to be that way whether you're saved or not, okay? Just because mom and dad are saved does not mean those kids are going to grow up and love God, okay? Genesis 19, what's number three? Number three is this. Lot didn't really love his kids very much at all. Lot did not really love his children much at all. Notice what it says in Genesis 19 verse one, and there came two angels to Sodom at even, and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom, and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground, and he said, Behold now my lords, turn in I pray you into your servant's house and tarry all night and wash your feet, and you shall rise up early and go in your ways. And they said, Nay, but we will abide in the street all night. Now notice what Lot says to these angels. He says, You know what? I want you to come in the house and leave very early in the morning. Why does he say that? Because he knows Sodom and Gomorrah is filled with a bunch of homos, and what we see in this story is that they want to molest these angels. So he's like, I want you to leave very early because it's basically it's very delicado. Okay? It's going to be very dangerous for you in this town is what he's basically saying. Verse three, and he pressed upon them greatly, and they turned in on to him and entered into his house, and he made them a feast and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. But before they laid down the men of the Sodom, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round both old and young, all the people from every quarter. So basically they surround this house with Lot and the angels. Okay? Verse five, and they called on the Lot and said unto him, Where are the men which came into thee this night? Bring them out unto us that we may know them. Now the Bible is discreet when he's saying we want to know these men. He's not saying, Hey, I want to my name's Matt. What's your name? Nice to meet you. I just want to get to know you. How are you doing? Great to have you Verity Baptist Church Manila here today. No, that's not what it's saying. Okay? He's saying that's a word used throughout the Bible is saying they want to molest the angels. They want to molest the men. That's what he's saying. We want to know these men. They're surrounding the house. New men coming to town. We want to know these men. You say, Why are they allowed to do this? Because they make the rules in Sodom and Gomorrah. It was a wicked location. It didn't really have any rules. So you have wicked people do whatever they want. Verse six and a lot went out at the door under them and shut the door after him and said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly lot saying this is a wicked thing that you want to do. So he closes the door behind him, and he goes out to talk to all these sodomites, okay? All these homosexuals. Verse eight. Notice what he says in verse eight. And look, this verse is one of the most baffling, shocking, like what in the world versus in the Bible. What kind of a father would do this? He says, Behold, now I have two daughters which have not known man. Now remember, no is a word to basically say physically, intimately, sexually, and he's saying that his daughters are virgins. Now we're going off his word. I personally don't think his daughters were virgins. He might have believed that, but I seriously doubt based on how they raise their kids that his daughters were virgins. I think his daughters. We don't know how old they are in this story, though, either, though, but it's very possible that is we know that they're old enough to have children because at the end of the chapter, they have children. But quite honestly, women can have children at the age of as a young teen, like 13 years old or whatever. I'm not really sure. But I doubt his daughters were virgins based on how they raised their kids and the society they lived in. But he says these daughters are virgins, basically, they're maids, but he says, My daughters are virgins. And he says, Let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you and do ye to them as is good in your eyes. Only on to these men do nothing for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. What Lot says in this story is don't molest these angels, these men that have come into the house. He says, You know what? I'll give you my daughters to molest. Do whatever you want to them. I mean, he says they have not known man. So he's telling these sodomites, he's homeless. It's like, Hey, you know what? They're fresh picking. It's just like they haven't been with anybody. Just go ahead and do what you. I mean, what kind of a father? What kind of a mother? I mean, when you read that, I mean, you can read over this if you're not paying attention. But when you read and stop at that verse, like what in the world Lot? Like why in the world would you say, Hey, do whatever you want to my daughters. You can molest them. You can rape them. That's what he's saying. It's like what in the world? And look, here's the reality as a parent. If you were really in a situation, because of Lot's choices to be in Sodom and Gomorrah to begin with, that's what gets him down this road. And he puts himself in a rock and a hard place based on his decisions. But here's the thing. If you're a loving parent and you have no option, do you know what a loving parent would have said? Do whatever you want to me. Don't you dare touch my daughters. I mean, isn't that true? If you really love your kids, you say, you know what? Hey, I put myself in this situation. I can't do anything about it. Close the door, lock it, throw away the key or whatever. Hey, do what you want you to me, but you're not touching my daughters at all. What kind of a parent would say, do whatever you want to my daughters? Someone that cares about himself a lot more than his daughters, especially with a girl, like a baby girl. I mean, my daughter's five months, but I'm like, I cannot imagine ever that she would say, here's my daughters of some disgusting wolf and say, just molest my daughters. Like, what is wrong with you Lot? Lot didn't love his children. I mean, that's why he failed as a father. And look, you know what, if you really just don't love your children that much, you're going to fail as a father. You're going to fail as a mother. You say, why? Because of the fact, you know what? Your kids are going to make a lot of mistakes growing up. And if you don't really love your children, you know what's going to happen? You're going to take the easy way out and say, hey, just watch the TV and you don't want to have anything to do with them. Why? Because you know what? Your kids make a lot of mistakes. Okay. And I'm sure that continues up until, you know, they're whatever teenagers when they're adults. We all make mistakes, right? Kids at a young age, they know nothing. They make a lot of mistakes. They do the wrong things over and over again. They get mad. They get grouchy. You have to spank them. You have to teach them. You have to discipline them. You have to spend time with them. Sometimes you have to hold them for hours. They're feeling sick. Well, if they're feeling sick, neither mom or dad is sleeping at all that night. And you're going to hold them throughout the night or you go out and get medicine at midnight or whatever. And it's like every single father and mother has been down there. And you know, when that takes place, look, both father and mother, husband and wife, they're both frustrated. They're both irritable. Neither one's in a good mood. Okay. And it's like, but you know what? That's what you have to do if you're going to raise your kids. But here's the thing. If you don't really love your kids that much, then you can just say, you know, whatever, I don't really care. But you know what's going to happen? Those kids are going to grow up and not love you. Those kids are going to grow up and not love God because you know what? It's hard to be a father. It's hard to be a mother. And if you do not have the right love for your kids, you're going to fail at it because they will test your patience. They will do things that are wrong. And look, kids, babies are babies. They don't even, I mean, the only thing babies know is to cry out for help. You've got to figure out what they mean by that. You've got to figure out what language they're speaking. Is he or she saying, is he saying he's hungry or he's a little bit hot or he's a little bit cold? He wants to be hell. Like, what is my son trying to say? Look, babies at a young age, infants, all they know is to cry out when they need something. And you don't always know what it is. And it can be a lot of hard work and you know, they can frustrate you. But you know what? That's that's how babies were. And remember this. That's how you were when you were a baby. Your mom and your dad stayed up throughout the night when you were being makulit, okay? Your mom and your dad, they had to spank you when you're just trying to cause problems. When they told you the same thing, 20, 30, 40, 50 times. And if they had given up on you, would you have gotten saved and been part of a soul winning church? Probably not. Now, I don't think any one of us can say that our parents were perfect because nobody's perfect and I'm not going to be perfect as a parent. But I would say that pretty much everyone could probably say, you know what, my parents tried their best and they love me and they cared about me. And the proof is in the pudding. You're here now and a large part is because your parents didn't fail. They worked hard to raise you. And look, I'm sure it wasn't easy for any one of them, okay? But they loved you. Lot didn't love his children. And I really don't understand this because, you know, for my wife and I, we prayed for a couple years after we got married to have a child. We prayed and prayed and we were so happy to have our son and everything. And look, the truth is, yeah, you know what, my son does many things wrong even now. I mean, they make mistakes and they test your patience. And yeah, there's moments where you're like, man, I just wish I had some freedom. But that's what you signed up for when you got married and had kids. And it's not only something that you should love them, but it's your job. And the Bible says children are a blessing. The heritage of the Lord, you should be happy to have them. And here's the reality. I've seen people on the other side that are not 25 years old or 35 years old, but they're 55 years old. And they ask this question, why don't my kids love me? Why does my son not love me? Why does my daughter not love me? And here's the thing about this. People like to make excuses for the choices they make. But I can give them the answer to that question because you did not show love for your children when they were growing up. Every child naturally loves their parents. I mean, isn't that true? When your child is young, they love you more than anybody. I mean, before the service, because my son, in case you don't know, my son, he might look like he's five years old. He's only two and a half. He's a big kid. And so we were kind of joking around before the service. Some of the guys were trying to pick up my son. What does my son do? He cries. Why? He wants me to hold him. Why? Because your son and daughter naturally loves the parents more than anybody else. See, when you see kids that end up loving their teachers or their coaches more than their parents, it's because their coaches are putting in more effort and their teachers are putting more effort than the parents. Kids will love their parents if they put in the effort. And when you see kids that grow up and they're 20 years old now and they have no time for their parents, it's because the parents had no time for them when they were young. Because you know what my son wants to do when he's five years old? I'm sure he will. He wants to go out and shoot basketball with his dad. He wants to go out and throw a baseball or kick a soccer ball or whatever. He wants to just spend time or just walk in the park with his parents. That's what he wants to do when he's young. But if I'm always too busy to spend time with my son and my daughter, eventually what will happen is, you know what? They're just going to start loving us less. And then one day it's like, man, they don't really even care about me. But it's not rocket science why that happens. It's because the parents didn't spend time with their kids. Why did a lot fail as a father? Well, he failed as a husband. Okay, go to verse number 12. Genesis 19, verse 12. And look, I'm not lying to you when I say it. I mean, I'm not going to lie to you. It's difficult. I'm not saying I'm a perfect father. I'm not saying I'm a perfect husband. I make mistakes all the time. And that's just part of life. You make mistakes and you get back up and you do better the next time. You mess up and you say, I'm sorry. Okay. And then you forgive, you forget, you move on. Okay. That's part of being a husband or a wife or mom or dad. And every single one of us has made mistakes. We had to say we were sorry. But you know what, if you just say, you know what, I'm just going to give up. Because in life, the reality is that the only way to fail in life is to quit. That's the reality. You only fail if you quit. I have not made every perfect decision at this church since it started. I haven't just made the right choices for sermons preached or decisions. But you know, I'm not a failure and this church is not a failure because I never quit and this church has never quit. But you know, if this church had been around for six months and I decided, you know what, this is harder than I expected. We're just going to move back to the US and forget about it. That would make me a failure. You only fail if you quit. And in life as a husband or a wife or a father or mother, look, failure does not mean, hey, we got a divorce. Because in this country, you can't get a divorce even if you wanted to. Failure though is when you decide, I'm no longer going to try to be a good husband. I'm no longer going to try because you're quitting. Even if legally you're still married, you're still failing because you're quitting. And the only way to fail in life is to quit. And look, Lot obviously at some point in his life, I hope he loved them when they were born, but he certainly doesn't love them in Genesis 19. Because no person who loves their kids would say, hey, here's my kids, do whatever you want. I mean, for all he knows, his kids are going to be murdered. And you would think a father would care about the virginity, the sanctity of his daughters. But he says, you know what, do whatever you want with them. I don't even care. He doesn't care if they get pregnant or whatever, just do whatever you want. What kind of a dad would do that? A dad that does not love his children. Now, I don't think it started that way, but when you choose to focus on the things of the world, if you love the world so much, your love for the things of God will be less and less. And if you love all of your hobbies so much, your love for your kids is going to go down. Because the way it works is when you spend time with something and spend time on something, you love it more. That's the way it works. When you spend a lot of time on something, you end up loving it more because you've invested your heart into it and your heart will follow your actions, the Bible teaches. Okay, Genesis 19, verse 12. And the men said unto Lot, hast thou here any besides son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters? And whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place. Now, I want you to understand this because this is kind of confusing, but in verse 12, basically the angels are saying, do you have anything else? Do you have any sons-in-law, sons, daughters? And whatsoever that hast in the city, bring them out of this place. Now, there are two daughters in this house, okay? He has daughters that are in the house. These are not the daughters you're going to see later on. Okay, verse 13, for we will destroy this place because the cry of them is wax and great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it. And Lot went out and spake unto his sons-in-law, which married his daughters. Now, remember, he said that his daughters are virgins, and whether he is lying or whether or not it's true or whether or not he thinks that, but they're not, these are different daughters though that he's referring to. And said, up get you out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city, but he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law. So he had his daughters that are living with him, and he goes to their houses to try to get his sons-in-law and those families to decide to leave Sodom and Gomorrah with him, okay? So he has a few daughters, two daughters that go with him, but the rest of his family chooses not to go. Verse 15, and when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot saying, arise, take thy wife in thy two daughters which are here. Okay, but there are other daughters that he has, lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And so I want you to realize that in these last several verses I read, his sons-in-law basically have no respect for Lot whatsoever. Is that not true? I mean, he says, you know, this place is gonna be destroyed tonight, and his sons-in-law are like, yeah, whatever. Now you would think that he would have at least a little bit of leverage with his sons-in-law, but since he didn't really love his kids, I really doubt he loved his in-laws much. I mean, if you don't love your daughters, are you gonna love your sons-in-law if you don't even love your own daughters? And so look, you know, they're probably not used to seeing Lot. It's like, Lot, what are you doing here? We haven't seen you in six months. Last time we saw you was at the bar when we were getting drunk together. And it's just like, he hasn't seen them in a long time probably, and then his sons-in-law wouldn't have nothing to do with Lot. They say, we don't believe that. They say, it sounds like you're mocking us. They say, this is ridiculous. They don't take heed to what he says. Why? Because of the fact Lot wasn't close to any of his kids or sons-in-law. Now look, I realize that obviously when you get married, you know, some people have good relationships with their in-laws and some don't, okay? But I would say in general that at least, like for me at least, and my wife, you know, I get along with my in-laws. My wife gets along with her in-laws. And I think when you get married, you know what? You should try your best to try to get along with your in-laws. I think that's a wise thing, okay? Obviously your father and husband and wife leave mom and dad and they cleave under themselves, but you should try to get along with your in-laws. But I want you to realize here, Lot doesn't seem to have any relationship with any of them. Why? Because Lot's whole life was about himself. And then he doesn't have any relationship with his kids. Go to verse number 16, verse 16. So the first point we have is this, that Lot made decisions based on the material, based on what pleased his flesh. Point number two, Lot failed as a father because he failed as a husband. Point three, Lot failed as a father because he didn't love his children, or at least did not love them properly. Point number four, Lot fails as a father because he did not pass knowledge on to his children. He did not pass knowledge onto his children. Notice what it says in verse 16. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand and upon the hand of his wife and upon the hand of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful unto him. And they brought him forth and set him without the city. So they're going without the city. They're leaving Sodom and Gomorrah because it's gonna be destroyed, right? I mean, it's very obvious from this. The angels tell them, Sodom and Gomorrah is gonna be destroyed. We read this, we're well aware of this, okay? It's very obvious in the story. Verse 17, and it came to pass when they had brought them forth abroad that he said, escape for thy life, look not behind thee, neither stay thou on all the plain, escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. And so here they're told not to look back, you're gonna be consumed, you're gonna be destroyed. Now go to Hosea chapter four real quickly. Hosea chapter four real quickly. See, here's what you need to understand about the story of Genesis 19 that we read this story and we know what's going on. Sodom and Gomorrah is about to be destroyed. But when you read carefully, his wife and his kids have no clue what's happening. They have absolutely no idea why Sodom and Gomorrah is being destroyed whatsoever. Okay, and I'll show that to you in a second. The only one who knows what's going on is Lot. And so they're basically being dragged out of the city. They have no idea why, okay? Because Lot didn't teach them. He didn't pass on any knowledge to them. I'll show that to you in a minute, but look at Hosea four verse six. Say, is knowledge important? You better believe knowledge is important. Hosea chapter four verse six. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee. That thou shalt be no priest to me, seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. The Bible says God's people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. And you know, there's a lot of people in churches that are trying to live for God. They want to live for God. The problem is they don't know what they're doing. They literally have no idea what that means. A lot of people think living for God means putting on a Christian rock song and listening to it. They think they're living for God by listening to a CCM song. They have no idea what the Bible teaches. They've never read the Bible, and they've got a pastor or a pastor that's not teaching them. They know nothing about the Bible. And many people are destroyed and destroying their lives, not because they're bad people or they want to do wrong, but they simply don't have knowledge. They have not been taught or they have not read for themselves, and they have no idea. In most Baptist churches, every single week, you've got this nice little touchy little, you know, just as I am playing on at the end, or as you're all on the altar, and you've got all these people coming down and they feel like they're getting right with God before this altar, even though this is not an altar, whole nother sermon, and they feel like they're getting right with God, and they feel real spiritual. They're really serving God. And the reason why they're doing this is because they have no knowledge about what the Bible says, because the Bible speaks against all of that, and their Baptist church is teaching them to do this. And they walk into church feeling spiritual. They walk out feeling spiritual. They're never told they're wrong. They're never taught the rules of the Bible. And they come down to the altar when they feel like they've messed up, and they get right at the altar, and they feel like they're really spiritual. That's nowhere in the Bible. And people do this because they lack knowledge. And the result is they never make real changes in their life because they always feel like they're spiritual. Look, if you feel like you're really close to God, you're not gonna make any changes. See, Brother Stuckey, man, my old church, I always left feelings like I was like the greatest Christian in the world. Like I was really right with God. I leave this church and I'm like, man, I gotta read the Bible. I gotta pray. I gotta quit listening to this music. I gotta quit watching this. It's like, yeah, I'm trying to help you make changes in your life. Let me tell you something. This kind of preaching is what makes changes. Because I did not, when I got saved, I didn't just magically become like this. When I got saved, I was just like anybody when they first get saved. I was listening to the wrong music, watching the wrong things, and this kind of preaching is what changed me. Because some people that love God, they hear what the Bible says and they say, you know what, I wanna do what's right. But you cannot do what's right if you have no knowledge. Knowledge is vital in our lives. And I turn back to Genesis 19. Genesis 19. Look, that's a good feeling when you leave church and you say, man, I need to make some changes in my life. If you never feel guilty for the sins you're committing, there's a problem there. Look, I mean, if you've never read the Bible or you read the Bible like once every couple weeks and you never feel bad about it and you're never motivated to read the Bible, there's a problem with the preaching that's going on in that church. It's a good thing. If you don't read the Bible, you know what, it's good that you leave here feeling guilty about not reading the Bible. If you never pray, it's good that you leave here feeling like, man, I need to start praying. If you don't love God and you're committing wicked sins, it's good that you leave here feeling like, man, I need to make changes. And yet for most of us, at most churches you've been to, you left feeling like you're a pretty good Christian because they weren't teaching you what the Bible said. That's the reality. Because they want to pat you on your back and you say you're doing a great job because they want your money. They're willing to lie to you because they want your money. I'm not gonna lie to you. It's like we've had plenty of people that came to this church and that, you know what, they didn't want to hear that they needed to change their music or whatever and they left and it's like, that's fine. You know, it's like, hopefully they'll come back. You know, I'm not mad at them or anything like that. But look, we're gonna preach what the Bible says and it's your choice, it's my choice, it's all of our choices. Are we gonna decide to do what the Bible says or not? Because I could preach a Father's Day sermon and make all the fathers in this room feel like they're the greatest fathers ever. I could just encourage you, say you're doing such a great job and I'm gonna teach you how to fail as a father. I'm gonna teach you what not to do. Why? I don't want you to fail as a father. Those other churches, look, the, what? CCF or victory or whatever, look, they're gonna pat you on the back and make you feel like you're the greatest person in the world because they want your money and Father's Day, you're gonna get a sermon and feel like, man, I'm the greatest father in the world. But you know what, here's the thing, none of us are the greatest fathers in the world and you need to learn what to make changes in your life, okay? Genesis 19, Genesis 19. I mean, there's a verse in the Bible, I think it's in 1 John where it says, perfect love casteth out fear. Perfect love casteth out fear. So according to the Bible, because isn't our goal to have perfect love? Wouldn't that be, I mean, a complete love where you really love your kids as much as possible, you love your wife or husband as much as possible, wouldn't that be the goal? But see, according to the Bible, perfect love casteth out fear. So look, if you're ever afraid, you don't have perfect love. And look, all of us get afraid from time to time, okay? So look, all of us need this preaching to make changes in our lives. Genesis 19, verse 30. I'll show you that Lot's family just doesn't know what's going on because notice what it says in verse 30. And Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountain and his daughters with him for he feared to dwell in Zoar and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. Notice verse 31. We know what's going on. We know the Sodom and Gomorrah is gonna be destroyed, but notice verse 31. And the firstborn, his oldest daughter, said unto the younger, our father is old and there is not a man in the earth to come in onto us after the manner of all the earth. Notice what she said. There is not a man in the earth. You know what his daughter's saying? Everybody in the world was destroyed except for me, my sister, and our father. That's what they believe. They believe every single person living on the planet was killed except for them. There's not a man, it says, in the earth. Not there's not a man in Zoar. There's not a man in the earth, okay? They believe every single person in the world has been destroyed except for those three people. It's like, do you not realize why God's killing people? He's killing the people that are really wicked. Not everybody's a really wicked, evil person. Lot didn't even teach them that. I mean, Lot talks to the angels and they say, you know what, you gotta leave this place. I'm gonna destroy it because it's so wicked. And Lot never even bothers to tell his children. It's like they're dragging their daughters. They have no clue why they're leaving. They think everybody in the world's being destroyed, but they're just so righteous that God's sparing them. They have no idea. They don't think there's a man left on the earth. It's like, Lot, didn't you even teach your daughters anything? I mean, the angels told you this. Why wouldn't you tell your daughters? Why wouldn't you tell your family what's taking place? But you know what, Lot, he didn't teach his children anything. And one way you fail as a father is when you don't pass on knowledge to your kids. Notice what it says in verse 32. Come let us make our father drink wine and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. They need to preserve seed in their minds because they don't think there's any other guy left for them to be with. And they made their father drink wine that night and the firstborn went in and lay with her father and he perceived not when she laid down nor when she arose. So basically, they get their dad drunk. Now, the first question you have to ask is, where did that alcohol come from? Because I don't believe there were liquor stores back then, or at least not anymore, not in that area. It's like, where did that wine come from, Lot? I don't know whether Lot brought it out or maybe his wife brought it out when she got turned to a pillar of salt, Lot goes in there, quickly grabs the alcohol, we gotta take this. Or maybe the daughters took it out. But look, they brought that alcohol out of Sodom and Gomorrah. It's like, man, you just got destroyed for being wicked. It's like, wouldn't you think you'd learn your lesson but it's like, no, we gotta have those booze. I mean, where else are we gonna get booze? So they bring that alcohol with them. Because look, it takes time to make wine. So they get their dad drunk with alcohol and notice what it said at the end of verse 33, and he perceived not when she lay down nor when she arose. Now, I'm not particularly preaching about alcohol specifically, but let me say this, that according to the Bible, you can get so drunk that you don't even know what is taking place to you. And I'll tell you what, this happens many times in college where people will get other people drunk to molest them. Guys raping girls, guys raping guys, this takes place where they get them drunk. I mean, you remember in the U.S., Bill Cosby got in big trouble because he was giving all these women drugs and then he was molesting them. And it's like, this happens all the time. And according to the Bible, this can happen and you don't even know what takes place. I know people from college. Someone who was one of my best friends when I was a kid, in college, I remember hearing, we weren't really friends anymore, but I remember hearing that he had gotten drunk at a party and he woke up and there was a guy in bed with him and he didn't remember any of that. But according to the Bible, that is what alcohol can do to you, where you don't even perceive, you don't even know what's taking place because you're so drunk, okay? You're so poisoned with alcohol. That's what you see at the end of verse 33. So basically his daughter sleeps with him. Lot has no clue. I mean, it was probably a couple months later and Lot's daughter says, you know, I'm pregnant. And Lot's like, you know, with what guy? There's no guy around. He's like, oh, you're the father. It's like, what? He has no idea that he just got his daughter pregnant because he's too drunk to realize it. It's like, man, that'd be a shock a couple months down the road, wouldn't it? It's like, man, and he has no idea about it. Verse 34, and it came to pass in the morrow that the firstborn said unto the younger, behold, I lay yesterday night with my father. Let us make him drink wine this night also and go thou in and lie with him that we may preserve seed of our father. And so the younger gets him drunk and she also has a child and he has no idea what happens because that is what alcohol does to you. I don't think there's any question that Lot failed as a father. You come to the end of this chapter and his daughters are getting him drunk. And this is where the Moabites and the Ammonites come from in the Bible, these very wicked areas. They come from this story. This is where it takes place. There's no question Lot failed as a father, okay? Now, what's the importance of passing down knowledge? What does that mean to us? Because Lot doesn't tell his daughters what's going on or his family what's going on. His daughters literally think they're the only people left on the planet. But what does that mean to us today? Here's what that means. It means that when your son or your daughter is two years old and they make mistakes, it's a lot easier to just fix the problem yourself rather than teaching them how to fix the problem. What am I talking about? I'm talking about kids like to play and they cause a mess. Isn't that true? And you know what's quicker when my son causes a mess? It's quicker for me to clean it up than him. It's a lot quicker for me to clean that up than to teach my son, hey, and show him how to put it in the trash can. But you know why you have to teach your kids? Because if you never teach them that knowledge, they're never gonna know. And they're gonna grow up and they're gonna think nothing's their responsibility. They trash it out. I mean, they throw trash on the ground outside. They don't realize that they're supposed to pick it up. So you have to teach your kids everything. When kids are born, they don't know anything. They don't know how to do anything. And so you as a parent, you have to teach them. And here's the thing, it is a lot easier to just do it yourself. Look, if I chose, I mean, take some of these things. Take salvation, okay? Hopefully if you're a parent, you're gonna get your kid saved. Hopefully us that have young kids in this room, hopefully you knowing the gospel that you will preach the gospel to your son or your daughter night after night after night after night to make sure they get it. Hopefully you teach them about salvation. Hopefully you don't just say, well, you know what? They'll just come to church. Brother Stuckey talks about salvation. They're just gonna get saved one of these days. Hopefully you put in that effort to get your kids saved. Otherwise they might not get saved. Hopefully you teach your kids the Word of God. Now look, kids are gonna learn a lot from sermons. But did you realize that you're around your kids a lot more than I am? Did you realize that you can teach your kids more about the Bible than I can? Why? You're around them all the time. And look, this goes to fathers. It also goes to moms. Like if you were here, the recent wedding, we talked about the moon being with the stars, which represents the mom or the wife around the stars because moms are around the kids more than husbands. And so moms, guess what? You need to know God's Word so you can teach the stars. You can teach your children. You need to learn God's Word. And you know what? They're actually gonna learn more from the moms than even the dads because the moms are around the kids even more often. Or they should learn more from them. Look, you need to teach your kids about knowledge from the Bible. Look, you need to teach your kids how to go soul winning. So how do you do that? It's called, whenever this lockdown ends and your kids are allowed to go out with you, you take your kids out soul winning with you. And here's the thing. They might not know how to do much, but they're gonna slowly start to learn. When we moved into our building we're at, Zeph just goes to every door, just starts knocking on it. Now, he doesn't know how to preach the gospel, but he knows the first step is you just knock on that door. And it's like, Zeph, stop that. It's like, you're slowly teaching the kids at a young age. And my son's not gonna be able probably when he's six or seven or eight to preach the gospel. He can learn a lot rather than just jumping into the deep end of the pool. It's like, why don't you get them to learn those basic things now? And you know what? They're gonna learn a lot more than you realize at a young age. Because look, I started going soul winning when I was 19. I don't want my son to wait till he's 19. I hope that when he's 12 years old and he says, dad, I got this kid saved, the playground or whatever, I'm gonna know, yeah, my son knows what he's doing. I bet he got saved because my son goes through the gospel. You need to teach your kids how to win the loss. Not even just stuff with the Bible though, just basic knowledge about life. Look, the things you learn in life they take a lot of time to learn. But did you realize that if you teach your kids those things, you can save them a lot of time. Some of the things we know was from trial and error and years of practice, you can teach that stuff to your kids in a lot less time. And one reason why people fail as parents is because instead of teaching their kids and training them and letting them learn, it's a lot easier to just do it yourself. I mean, it's a lot easier for a mom to just cook the meal by herself, right? But what if you never teach your daughter or your son how to do that? Are they gonna know how to do that? I mean, my son, he's there when we're cutting the vegetables and stuff, he doesn't really know what he's doing, but he's trying to help. And here's the thing about it, that's how they learn. That's how you learned. And if we never allow our kids to learn, then you know what, we're gonna fail as parents. Because your kids are gonna grow up and be 18 years old and be dumb, know nothing, be Bobo, have no knowledge of the Bible, and then they're gonna be out in the real world and they're gonna be the ones who are gonna be raising other kids, they need to know what they're doing. Which means we need to teach our kids at a young age. And look, my philosophy is this, that as a parent, the skills I have, I should be able to pass on to my kids, especially my son, okay? I should be able to pass all of these skills off to my kids. Now, I don't have all skills. There's plenty of things I'm not good at. There are things I am good at. And those things, I'm gonna make it a point to teach and train my son so he can learn those things. And hopefully the things I'm not good at that I can't really pass on, like I'm not good with working with my hands. It's not something I did when I was a kid, so I never really learned it. But hopefully my son will be able to learn that in another way. But the stuff I do know, my son, it's like I can teach him a lot about math and things like that at a young age, because it's something I know how to do, something I'm good at, okay? We as parents, we will fail if we do not teach our kids knowledge. So why did Lot fail as a father? Because I don't really think that you can fail much worse than Lot. I mean, you have daughters that are left without a mom now. You have daughters that get pregnant by you and they have kids from you. It's like you can't really fail much more as a father. Lot failed number one because he moved to Sodom and Gomorrah because all he cared about was money and wealth and the material. All he cared about was gratifying his flesh. And you in this room, you will fail as a parent if all you care about is just things that make you happy, gratifying your own flesh. Number two, Lot failed as a father because he failed as a husband. You cannot and you will not be a successful father if you fail as a husband. Number three, he failed because he didn't really love his kids properly. And you can see that in the story because he basically just offers his daughters a pack of wolves and says, do whatever you want. No parent's gonna do that if they love their kids. And number four, he didn't pass on knowledge to his kids. His daughters don't even realize that Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed because it was wicked. I guess they just think that God just thought the three of them were so righteous that he's gonna, it's just like they were modern day Noahs. They were just, I mean, just the grace of the Lord was upon Lot. He was so godly, but in reality, before the days of the internet and cell phones, Lot probably looked like the most righteous guy in Sodom and Gomorrah, right? I mean, he was probably the godliest person in Sodom and Gomorrah because it was a really wicked area. So his daughters might've thought this is the way the whole world is and God's destroying everyone. Our father's the only one who's actually, you know, a good person or whatever, I don't know. But Lot did not pass on knowledge to his kids. I don't wanna fail as a father. The last thing I would want in my life is that when my son is 20 years old, and let's say he gets married when he's 20, he never wants to spend any time with me. He never wants to talk to me. He doesn't care about me. He doesn't really love me. And you know what, if we do our job as parents, the great promise in the Bible, you don't have to, it's not rocket science. It's not a calculus exam. If you put in effort, then your kids will love you. If you put in effort, you're gonna do a good job as a parent. It's not super complicated. It's like, I mean, the Bible says in Ephesians 6 and 4, nurture and admonition, two things. Spend time with them, care about them, that's nurture, and then provide correction, admonition when necessary. And it's like, if you just make it a point, but you know what, here's the thing, it's not easy to do though. It's a lot easier to just basically get off work and say, you know what, I've been working all day. It's my wife's responsibility to hold the kids. I don't need to spend any time with my kids, you know, because they're good to go. It's like, no, you know what, and I'll tell you what, if you're a wise person, you're not just gonna invest your time into soul winning and reading God's word, but you're actually gonna invest your time in just spending time with your kids. And here's the great thing about spending time with your kids, something I've learned because look, my son, you know, people get him gifts sometimes like relatives, and they get him like a really expensive gift and he never uses it. He doesn't care about it. But then you give him like a piece of paper that's just like, you know, smashed together and he'll spend hours just throwing that paper against the wall and everything. And here's the thing about this, it's not really what you're doing with your kids. To your kids, it just matters that you're doing something with them. It could be anything. They just want you to spend time with them. Let's close in word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here in this room and I ask you to help us to apply this to our lives. We have many young families and many people with kids here and many people that love the Lord God and they serve you, they read your word. And you know, raising kids, you know, being a parent, being a husband, being a wife, being a mom, it's not easy. It's very difficult. It's something that a lot of people are going to this new stage in life and help us all though to have a burden, not just to try to love you, but to also love our children and help us to realize that part of loving you though is to love our children and to be a good husband, to be a good wife, be a good mom, be a good dad. Help us all in this room. Help us to be good fathers, that even though we might make mistakes from time to time, we're just trying to do our best. Help us just to be good parents in this room and help us as families to serve God and not just as individuals. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen.