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Well, good morning everyone, welcome to Mountain Baptist Church. Take your song books and turn to song 407, figure since it's Father's Day we will sing, I think the only song that I could find with fathers in it. So we'll sing, even though it's kind of a Christmas song, we'll sing Faith Our Fathers, if you would stand. Faith of Our Fathers, song 407, here we go. Faith of our fathers living still, in spite of tungent fire and sword, oh how our hearts meet high with joy, when e'er we hear that glorious word, faith of our fathers holy faith, we will be true to thee till death, our fathers chained and present dark, were still in heart and conscience free, how sweet would be their children's fate, if they like them could die for thee. Faith of our fathers holy faith, we will be true to thee till death, faith of our fathers we still strive to win all nations on to thee, and through the truth that come from God, mankind shall then indeed be free, faith of our fathers holy faith, we will be true to thee till death, faith of our fathers we will love, both friend and foe, in all our strife, and preach thee to as love knows how, by kindly words and virtuous life, faith of our fathers holy faith, we will be true to thee till death. All right let's pray. Heavenly Father Lord again we just want to thank you Lord just for another beautiful day that we get to meet in your house and hear your word preached. I pray Lord now that you would just be with our pastor, fill him with your power and spirit, we love you for it's in Jesus' name we ask all but amen. All right you may be seated and take your Mountain Baptist songbooks, your Mountain Baptist Psalms hymns and spiritual songbooks, and turn to page number nine, our anthem for this month of June, we'll sing Psalm 139 on page number nine. O Lord that hate thee, do not I hate them, O Lord that hate thee, and them not I grieve with those that rise up against thee, do not I hate them, O Lord that hate thee, for they speak against thee wickedly, for they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain, and thine enemies take thy name in vain, do not I hate them, O Lord that hate thee, do not I hate them, O Lord that hate thee, and them not I grieve with those that rise up against thee, do not I hate them, O Lord that hate thee, I hate them with perfect hatred, I hate them with perfect hatred, I count them mine enemies, I count them mine enemies, do not I hate them, O Lord that hate thee, do not I hate them, O Lord that hate thee, not I grieve with those that rise up against thee, do not I hate them, O Lord that hate thee. Amen, well welcome back to church on this Sunday morning, happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there, beautiful Sunday morning, but there is an infirmary or like a sickness or infirmity that's going around, my house is an infirmary is what I meant to say with that, is meaning like all my kids are dealing with a sickness and everything, so and they don't know personal space when it comes to being sick, so you know it's like when they cuddle up against you you know on the couch and then they cough in your eyes you know it's like happy Father's Day, but it'll be a miracle if I don't get sick, but I know a lot have been dealing with sicknesses, all that, so to be in prayer I know that there's still families that are out, obviously my family's out, all that, so but just be in prayer there that all that kind of goes away here soon. As far as when it comes to Father's Day, we do have a gift for all the fathers, so right, how do we usually do that, we just pass them out? For David, you want to pass out? I have some more in here if we need, but all the fathers if you want to stand and then we'll get you a gift card there for Father's Day. I get the rest, that's how this works, so if you weren't here I'll say all those fathers that aren't here, sorry, and it's Duluth, right? Yeah, so that's how we roll here, so this is not sponsored by Duluth or anything like that, they're just a really good product, so all the haters out there, well just start your own church and then you can make, you can decide what gift card you want, so no, but happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there. As far as the church services today, everything is normal, so we'll have our afternoon service at 4 p.m., Lord willing, all that, we're gonna have our soul-winding time at 1 o'clock, so get here a little before 1 o'clock and get paired up and go out soul-winding. And then the regional soul-winding times, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, obviously if some people aren't feeling well, which we've had this past week and probably the week before that, obviously just get on the church group there as far as times, locations, all that. We do have soul-winding marathon that's coming up this Saturday, so that being said, regional times might be different depending on that, but apparently it's supposed to be 100 degrees out in Philadelphia this Saturday, so it's a dress warm and Did someone say they're bringing a turban? So whatever you got to do, I guess. Like this Middle Eastern guy is trying to come up to me with the gospel. So that's the 22nd, so that's this Saturday. If you have any questions about that, Brother Charles is leading that one up. Again, we're providing, we're gonna provide lodging and everything for you guys as you go out there so you don't have to drive out in in the morning on Saturday. So I know a lot of people are obviously staying the night on Friday, some are staying on Saturday night as well, so just get with Brother Charles there as far as that's concerned. We do have the prayer meetings on the list here, so the 23rd is the women's prayer meeting and the 28th is the men's prayer meeting. And then July 5th, which is a Friday, that'll be that evening, we're gonna do fireworks again. And so obviously we provide all of that, and then we'll provide food and everything. If you want to bring anything, you're more welcome to. You know, desserts, stuff like that. But as far as the main food and everything, we'll have that taken care of, so you don't have to bring anything. But it's gonna be out on our property, or we do it every year, so we'll put out the the address and everything out on the church group there. And most everybody's been out there, but not everybody. So that being said, that's coming up, that'll be here before you know it, a couple weeks, so I guess maybe three weeks. But on the back of your bulletin there, we have the chapter memory for the month, Psalm 32, Psalm 32. And then Proverbs 4-1 is a memory verse for the week. Hear ye children in the instruction of a father, and attend to no understanding. And then birthdays. Emma's birthday is this week, and so she's really sad because she couldn't be here to get sung to, but we'll obviously sing to her when she's back here. So she's gonna be the big five years old coming up this week here. We were actually supposed to have a birthday party this past Saturday, and it got canceled obviously because everybody's sick. And we were getting blizzard cakes from Dairy Queen, so Holly's like, well I'll go pick them up anyway, we'll just put them in the freezer. Oh well, guess what, they didn't have them. So you know, that's just the world we live in right now. They're just like, yeah we didn't get that order, didn't get it or anything like that. I'm like, cool, good thing we canceled the birthday party. So if anybody knows of a Dairy Queen that's actually competent, please let me know. So I have yet, except there was one in Morgantown and they closed. There was one that was owned by a family, it was in Westover, and I loved that place, and then they closed, and I'm like, I don't know what to do anymore. So anyway, that message is not brought to you by Dairy Queen, so we'll figure it out. The anniversary, we got the howls, right? Yeah, we sang happy anniversary to the howls, right? And then the pregnancy list there, Crystal McCloy on the pregnancy list due in August, so be in prayer for her and the McCloy family there. And then I think that's about all I have for announcements that I can think of. Offering boxes in the back there, if you want to get a tie, they're an offering. Mother baby rooms for the mothers and babies only. Who's reading this morning? Brother David. Brother David's gonna be reading Proverbs chapter 4 this morning after we do one more song. All right, take your songbooks and turn to song number five. Song number five, and your songbooks will sing When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, and we'll sing song number five. When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and poor contempt on all my pride. Forbidden, Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ my God. All the vain things that char me most, I sacrifice them to His blood. See from His head, His hands, His feet. Sorrow and love flow me gold down. Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown, were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all. All right, take your Bibles and turn to the book of Proverbs chapter number four. Proverbs chapter number four, and your Bibles, and we'll have Brother David read that for us. Proverbs chapter four, if you found your place, amen. And the Bible reads, hear ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to no understanding, for I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved, in the sight of my mother. He taught me also, and said unto me, let thine heart retain my words, keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom, get understanding, forget it not. Neither decline from the words in my mouth, forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee. Love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom, and with all thy getting, get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee. She shall bring thee to honor when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace, a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee. Here are my son, and receive my sayings, and the years of their life shall be many. I have taught thee in the way of wisdom, I have led thee in the right paths. When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straightened, and when thou wannest, thou shalt not stumble. Take fast hold of instruction, let her not go, keep her, for she is thy life. Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. Where they sleep not, except they have done missive, and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. Where they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence, but the path of the just is as a shining light, that signeth to mow and mow until the perfect day. The way of the wicked is as darkness, they know not what they stumble. My son, attend to my words, incline thy ear unto my sayings, let them not depart from thine eyes, keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep thy heart with all diligence, and for out of it are the issues of life. Put from thee, put away from thee a furrowed mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy fate, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand, nor to the left, remove thy foot from evil. Let's pray. Dear Lord, I thank you for this opportunity to come back to your house. Pray that you feel past with your spirit, and help us to learn something. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Amen, so you're there in Proverbs chapter 4, and I'm preaching a sermon entitled The Instruction of Your Father, and on Mother's Day I did a sermon on the law of your mother, and I'm gonna be, obviously it also talks about the law of your father in this passage as well, but I'm gonna be getting into, obviously it's Father's Day, and just the idea of the role of a father, but more looking at the idea of what the child is getting from the father, and instruction is something that's being brought up a lot in Proverbs as far as how the father instructs their children, and basically the way, you know, as far as mother and father, both are needed, doesn't mean that someone can't survive, or you know, can't turn out right if they don't have their parents, or they don't have both their parents, and stuff like that, but there is basically a combination of things when it comes to what the mother provides, and what the father provides, and I've heard it explained like this, that basically the mother is basically teaching and everything for, more so the child looking towards her, whereas the father is more so taking the child and pointing them out to the world, and saying basically, hey, what I'm teaching you, this is so that you can basically deal with the world, and so I think both are needed, but the idea here is that that is something, at least as a father myself, I think about is the fact that I'm constantly thinking about them being on their own, and are they gonna be able to survive, you know, that's kind of the thing that I think about, whether it's, you know, whether it be my sons as far as being able to provide, whether it's my daughters that they're taking care of, obviously once they get married, but they also know how to deal with the world, and know different things like that, right, this could be anything from, you know, when you're driving and telling them, and teaching them about the rules of the road, right, as far as your kids will always kind of ask you, like why are you stopping, why don't you go, it's like, well, we don't want to die, you know, and then you explain, you know, there's rules of the road, there's a stop sign, you know, obviously all these different things, but I know that before I started driving, I kind of already knew the rules of the road just from riding with my parents, and just kind of paying attention to what was going on, and understanding all that stuff before I even started going out there. Now some kids probably don't pay attention at all, and then when they go to drive, that's why they're just all over the place, right, and so this is something that obviously, you know, I think sometimes is a, sometimes it's just the type of person that you are, you know, every child is different, you have, you know, some of my children are very, you know, like Claire is very analytical, needs to know the why, and everything that's there, whereas Anna is more of just like, she doesn't care about the why, it's just a matter of like, I'm in the moment, this is what I'm doing, you know, and it's just kind of like two different personalities, and so that being said is that obviously this is going to depend on the child as well, as far as how you instruct them, or how easy it is to instruct one than the other, all of that, but notice what it says here in Proverbs 4 and verse 1, it says, Hear ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to no understanding, for I give you good doctrine, forsaking not my law. Okay, so basically it's a father to children, obviously this Solomon that's writing these Proverbs, but he's basically saying, you know, basically this is the instruction of a father, forsaking not my law, obviously this could be paralleled, or this is a lot, even in New Testament talks about how it speaketh unto you as unto children, meaning that obviously this could be paralleled with the Lord, right, you know, God the Father being our Heavenly Father, and all of that, but this obviously applies to physical fathers on this earth, and everything, notice what it says in verse 3, it says, For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. So Solomon's speaking here, talking about his father, and it says in verse 4, it says, He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words, keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom, get understanding, forget it not, neither decline from the words of my mouth, forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee. Love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principle thing, therefore get wisdom, and with all thy getting, get understanding. So notice that it says, He taught me also, in the fact that obviously his mother was teaching him as well, right, because his mother's brought up, and just as much as the mother, the law of the mother, and obviously what the mother's teaching there, is that the father is supposed to be also teaching, okay, so when it comes to, we obviously homeschool our children, but there are things that obviously I still need to teach my children, and just the idea of the instruction of a father, the idea of how children should be listening to the instruction of their fathers, and the fact that just that setup of instruction, look at, so Solomon's talking about his father, well who's Solomon's father? David, right, so go to 1st Chronicles chapter 22, 1st Chronicles chapter 22, and David is giving instruction unto Solomon, and 1st Chronicles 22 verse 11, 1st Chronicles 22 verse 11 says, Now my son, the Lord be with thee, and prosper thou, and build the house of the Lord thy God, as he hath said of thee. Only the Lord give thee wisdom and understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel, that thou mayest keep the law of the Lord thy God. Then shalt thou prosper, and if thou takest he to fulfill the statutes and judgments, which the Lord charged Moses with concerning Israel, be strong and of good courage, dread not nor be dismayed. So David gives Solomon this instruction that basically says, get wisdom, right, which is obviously what it says in Proverbs 4, right, get wisdom, and with all thy getting, get understanding, and is it a marvel that Solomon, what does he ask for when the Lord says, I'll give you whatever you want, whatever you ask for, what does he ask for? Knowledge, wisdom, understanding, right, he asks for that, because that was the instruction of his father saying, this is what you need, this is the principal thing, is wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and he took that instruction from his father, and that obviously, you know, propelled him into being the wisest king of Israel there ever was, and even so much that that he's brought up as a comparison where Jesus says, you've heard of Solomon, obviously in all his glory, obviously there's a greater than Solomon here, Jesus is obviously greater than Solomon, but I mean obviously he's using Solomon as the kind of the marker to look at as far as him being greater than him, so when it comes to instruction, David obviously gave Solomon great instruction, and obviously to get wisdom and knowledge, and go to Proverbs chapter 1, because Proverbs chapter 1 starts off with basically talking about a father to a son as far as instruction from the father, and there's different things that obviously the Bible talks about when it comes to the instruction of a father, now when I preached about the mothers, I was in Proverbs 31 where you have the mother of King Lemuel giving her instruction, right, if you remember what was that, to basically stay away from women, I'm just kidding, obviously the whole chapter is about the virtuous woman, right, but basically stay away from women that are bad, right, you don't want the evil woman, you want the virtuous woman, but also because that evil woman can take away, take away your power and all that, don't give your power on to women, specifically those type of women, but you want to find a virtuous woman, but also to not to not drink alcohol, not to be a drunkard, because you're not gonna, but also to to basically speak for the cause of those that can't speak for themselves, and to be just, and all of that, this instruction of the father, obviously you could say like all these things everybody's gonna say, right, it's not like, you know, while Holly's telling my kids not to be a drunkard, but I'm like well that's okay, don't worry about that, you know, like I'm not gonna instruct my kids not to be alcoholics, right, but at the same time we do see some different types of instruction that the father is giving, and all that, so I want, I'm gonna go through just a little bit of instruction of a father, but since, you know, I embarrassed my mom and brought up some things that, that I learned from her, I got to bring up some things that my dad taught me, so, so yeah, anyway, so, you know, you know, I try to be fair and embarrassment, but, but that being said, obviously minor anecdotal, you know, all of that, but, but I do want you to see here different things that are stated as far as just what the Bible says, a father to a son, or father to a child, right, Proverbs 1 8 says, my son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother, for they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck. My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, come with us, let us lay weight for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause, let us swallow them up alive as the grave, and whole as those that go down into the pit, we shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil, cast in thy lot among us, let us all have one purse, my son, walk not thou in the way with them, refrain thy foot from their path, for their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood, surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird, and they lay weight for their own blood, and lurk privily for their own lives, so are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain, which taketh away the life of the owners thereof, and it gives this whole list of like basically not being enticed to consent with, basically being enticed with sinners to consent with them, and it gives this whole list of what, what ends up happening when you do that, but what was the end game? What was the reason? Being greedy of gain, right? Being covetous and wanting to have riches, and if you remember when Solomon, Solomon asked for wisdom, he could ask for a long life and riches, right? Because he asked for wisdom, he got both those, right? He got everything, and you can see that he's, he's stating here not to be covetous, and obviously Solomon writes a whole book called Ecclesiastes about the vanity of the things of this life, meaning that the temporal riches, and basically he says that I kept back nothing from my soul, but everything was vanity and vexation spirit, basically he, he basically tasted everything, saw everything, like and, and he realizes that in the end all of that's vain, and he's telling his son to basically not be greedy of gain, not be about riches, all of that, okay? And so you can see just in Proverbs 1, what you're dealing with there, and obviously Proverbs is filled with this. Proverbs also gives a warning to not only, well basically it just gives the idea of that, that we need to hear our father's instruction. Notice what it says in Proverbs 13 and verse 1, Proverbs 13 and verse 1, a wise son heareth his father's instruction, but a scorn here is not reviewed. And what you have to understand is that a lot of times instruction of a father is not exactly, is not affirmation, okay? What is affirmation? Meaning like you're basically just affirming what they're already doing, right? Instruction usually is telling them no, don't do that, do this, which means that you're rebuking them to a certain extent. Obviously instruction is not as strong of a rebuke, right? You're just basically saying hey, that's not the way to do it, this is the way to do it, and you're instructing them on which way to go. Proverbs 15 5 gives you the converse of that. Proverbs 15 5 says, a fool despiseth his father's instruction, but he that regardeth reproof is prudent. So you kind of get the flip side of it, as far as those that, a wise son will hear the instruction, a foolish son will despise the instruction. And the instruction is being likened unto rebuke or reproof, and this is something that as children you need to listen to the instruction of your fathers, you need to hear that, and when it says hear obviously it doesn't mean just hear it, like well I heard you say it, right? Because obviously here is implying that you understand what they're saying, right? That you're not just putting a deaf ear to it, because meaning like if you were to say well you know you kind of have a deaf ear to it, it's being like you heard it, but you didn't regard it, okay? And so we need to regard that that type of instruction, as far as wisdom, knowledge, all this stuff, and obviously what you have to understand children is that your parents know more than you. Just facts about life, and you may, and listen there could be cases where maybe you know more about the Bible than your parents, but they still know more about life than you. Just because they've been living longer, and they've seen more things than you've seen, and whether they're good or bad, they've seen certain situations, they've seen certain things happen, and so when they say hey that's not good to do, they know for maybe experience that that's not good to do, or they've already learned from their mistakes or whatever, or they saw someone else destroy their lives with certain things, to where you're just you're looking at it as far as like, it's like the difference between reading a book and actually experiencing it, right? Like think about going to school, going to college, and learning a whole bunch of stuff about a subject, and then actually practicing it, because there is a big difference between that, you know, the experience that comes with it, okay? And you know, the real world application, right? The theoretical, and this is something that when I went through college, and I was in engineering, there's a lot of theoretical stuff, and then you get into real world, you're like no one's ever gonna do that. It's like yeah, in theory, that can be done that way, but no one will ever do it that way, right? So you know, then you're thinking to yourself, why do they even teach me this? You know, why am I even going down this rabbit trail? But without the experience, you could live in this theoretical world, where nothing's in reality, as far as this is how things are done in the real world, okay? And so, and there's a lot of people that have book smarts, but they don't have common sense, or street smarts, I guess is the way you would say it. Meaning that you just have, there's people that just know how to deal with situations, because they've been around, okay? And then there's people that, you know, they have a lot of intelligence, but they don't know from experience, okay? And one thing that your parents have is experience, just for the fact that they've been in life longer than you, okay? So, and that's something, that's a hard pill to swallow sometimes, but it is, it's the facts of life. And when it comes to a father, obviously, you know, a part of being a father is, when it comes to instruction, is discipline, okay? So meaning this is that there's instruction that has rebuke, and reproof, and all of that, you know, as far as just what you're saying, but then that ultimately can come down to physical punishment. Meaning this is that, go to Proverbs 3 and verse 11. Proverbs 3 and verse 11. And obviously this is talking about the Lord, but this applies obviously to physical fathers as well. When you look at Hebrews chapter 12, it's very clear. It's obviously showing you the physical to represent the spiritual and all that, or vice-versa. And verse 11 here says, And what it comes down to is that if your, if your father is disciplining you physically, that means he actually delights in you. That means he actually loves you, right? Because the Lord loveth him he chaseneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. And you say, well that doesn't make sense, you know, why would that mean that that your father doesn't love you if he doesn't discipline you? Because, well one, he doesn't care enough to go through, listen, we don't, parents, we don't like spanking. We don't like that. We'd rather you do what you're supposed to do, and we can just go through life without it, right? No one, no one's just like, I can't wait for my kid to act up so I can spank them. I mean, if that's you, then you need to, you have problems, okay? You know, you need to, you need to go get that checked out about your masochism, you know? But no parent is just like, I want my kid to act up so I can spank them. No, what we'd rather is that they don't act up so we don't have to spank. We don't like that. No one likes spanking and all of that, but you know what, it has to be done because the Bible teaches that. And, you know, the old, the old phrase out there, spare the rod and spoil the child. But here's the problem, is that it doesn't say spoil the child. Go to Proverbs 13 and verse 24. Proverbs 13 and verse 24. This isn't a sermon on spanking, but, you know, obviously spanking is biblical. In Proverbs 13 verse 24, it says, He that spareth his rod hateth his son, but he that loveth him chaseth him betimes. Meaning early, okay? Meaning that obviously the earlier you deal with it, it should taper off as you go, right? Should, okay? Obviously there's exceptions to the rule as far as like how often you end up having to spank your children or like when they get older, you know, how much does that taper off and all that stuff. Obviously if they're teenagers or they're like basically about to be an adult and you're still having to spank them, like something messed up there, right? Because at that point you're getting into where they're almost an adult. And so, that being said, is that the Bible talks about the fact of hating your son if you don't, if you, if you spare the rod. And obviously the opposite is if you don't spare the rod, you love your child, okay? And the world is, you know, and I'd say the world is actually coming around on this. When I say people that are against spanking, it's more of the the high-end elite media like morons, right? The people out there that are just kind of like, and a lot of them don't even have kids, right? And so when someone, when someone speaks about like raising children and they don't have kids, okay? And I'm not against people that don't have kids. All I'm saying is that one, you can obviously look to the Bible and the Bible is very clear, spanking is biblical, right? But if you're gonna go outside the Bible, I don't want to hear your opinion unless you actually have kids, okay? Because it doesn't mean anything to me. And you have these people that are, it's like, they're not even married, you know? They're not married, they don't have kids, and then they're like, let me tell you how to raise your children, right? And it's like this whole idea, it's like, well, we're not gonna spank, we're just gonna, we're just gonna politely tell them, don't do that anymore. And yeah, you have a polite conversation with a two-year-old or a three-year-old and tell me how that goes when they're losing their mind in the grocery store or whatever is happening there. But I know one thing they respond to is the old wooden spoon, okay? And that's just facts of life. And you know what, if you want to see the proof in the pudding in that, as far as, well, you know, what if people stop spanking? Would everybody be, well, listen, we're in a generation where spanking is foreboding or, you know, by and large, people are just like, I'm not gonna spank, I'm gonna be my child's friend. Listen, I am my children's father first, okay? I'm not against being the friend, okay? Obviously, I want to have a good relationship with my children, but I am their father. And in the end, the buck stops at me. And if I say something needs to be done, it's going to be done that way, as long as they're under my house. And when it comes to discipline, you know, that is something that a father imposes, as well. And obviously, the mother, the mothers do that, as well, because if I'm off at work all day, it doesn't have to all just be building up until I get home, okay? But that being said, is that the fathers need to be in that, as well. And that gets into instruction. What you have to understand is that disciplining children and raising children is not just spanking, okay? That's a part of it, but you don't just beat your kids into submission and then nothing else, right? Spanking is a part of that, but listen, spanking will cause to get their attention in a lot of cases to where you instruct them to be like, hey, this is why you got spanked, don't do that again, right? That leads into the instruction. And obviously, it's funny because people are like, oh, your kids are going to hate you. It's interesting because my kids, quite the opposite. You would think that they would like hate me because of that, but it's actually quite the opposite. Actually, what you end up having when you spank properly, and obviously, you lovingly, you're not like doing it out of hatred or anger, you know, like you're not abusing your kids, right? They know inherently that you're doing that because you care about them and that you love them. And what you have to understand, too, is that a part of that is just attention, okay? When you let them run roughshod, fathers, if you let your kids run roughshod and you don't spank them, that sends a signal to them that you don't care. Even though they're doing what they want to do, when you don't discipline, then they're in their mind like, well, you know, dad just doesn't care what I do. And at the moment, that seems fine for them, right? But it does something psychologically there to where they're thinking, well, he just doesn't give a rip whether I'm doing good or bad. And you'll see this with a lot of kids that don't get spanked, that they wish they had a father that did. And it's weird. It's kind of strange in your mind. I've actually heard kids saying, I wish, I wish. They would actually say to, and I've been on bus routes, different things, we don't do a bus route here, but who's done bus routes back in the day? You know, like basically just going on bus routes and a lot of times you're picking up kids that are in really bad situations at home and just different situations like that, right? And I've actually seen kids saying, I wish you were my dad and I wish, like I remember one of my old pastors, the kid actually said, I wish you were my dad and I wish you would spank me. Because obviously he would see that he spanks his children and all that stuff. And you're just like this mind-blowing, like what kid wants to be spanked? But what you have to understand is that these kids were going to a home where they're completely neglected, where their parents didn't give a rip where they were at, didn't give a rip about their safety, didn't give a rip about their education, didn't give a rip about anything, and basically they just wanted attention. And the more they'd act up, they didn't care. And what that told them is that their parents actually don't love them, right? And that is, whereas you think, you know, when it comes to being a father you think, well my kids are gonna hate me if I spank them. No, not the case. They're not gonna like it. No one likes, no one likes the spanking, okay? But listen, just as much as we take that to the Lord as well, if the Lord chastens us, it's not because he hates us, it's because he loves us. And that's why we shouldn't, we shouldn't despise the chastening of the Lord, we shouldn't be angry because he hates the Lord, we should actually, that shows us he loves us. We have that father-child relationship with God and that shows us that love that he has for us, that he's giving us that attention, that he actually cares what we're doing, whether good or bad, okay? And so that's something to think about when it comes to instruction of a father. Obviously, sometimes it gets into the physical discipline. God also rewards those that keep the commandments and the instruction of their father, even if it's not something that is like a verse in the Bible. So when you think about, you know, obviously there's commandments in the Bible, there's things that we need to follow in the Bible. But if you're in your house, there may be commandments that your parents give you, that your father gives you, that's not a chapter and verse. And what you're not to do, child or, you know, children that are in the house, is say, show me chapter and verse or I'm not doing it, okay? Listen, unless they're telling you to do something immorally wrong, like to steal or to lie or to murder, okay, then you do what they tell you to do. It doesn't matter if there's not a verse in there. Let me give you an example that's a story. Go to Jeremiah chapter 35. Jeremiah 35 is a story about a father that instructs their children, his children, to do certain things that aren't, it's not like God's telling them to do this, but basically puts kind of a rule or a standard in his house and his children obey it. And God uses this as an example, like basically, all these sons are obeying their physical father, but you won't listen to me, right? Basically this whole thing is basically saying, you won't listen to God who's your father, right? You know, basically God the Father. You won't listen to him, but you'll listen to the physical father and he uses this as a great example of how we should look to God and how we should regard his commandments. But in the story, we have John Adab, okay? John Adab has, you know, obviously children and all this stuff and basically in verse 1 here it says, the word of the Lord which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiachim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, go into the house of the regabites and speak unto them and bring them into the house of the Lord into one of the chambers and give them wine to drink. Now, this is an alcoholic wine and that's a sermon for another day, okay? And you're like, well it says wine, it's alcoholic. Look not on the wine when it is red. Case closed. That means wine, obviously you can look on the wine when it's not red, when it doesn't move itself to the right. So obviously God is not giving them alcoholic wine. Just as much as when Jesus turned the water into wine, it was not alcoholic, okay? But that's another sermon for another day. The idea here though is that wine can be talking about grape juice, it could be talking about alcoholic wine, or it could even be talking about vinegar, okay? Which is another fermentation process after it's alcoholic. Like I said, another sermon for another day. But that being said, is that God is basically saying, give them wine to drink. But the problem is, is that when the prophet is coming to them and telling them basically to drink this wine, it says in verse 5 there, it says drink ye wine. But in verse 6 here it says, but they said, we will drink no wine, for John and dad, the son of Recab, our father, commanded us, saying ye shall drink no wine, neither ye nor your sons forever. So basically John and dad basically said, you're not to, think about it, it's kind of like a Nazarite, part of the Nazarite vow is that they're not to have any grapes, dried grapes, you know, wine, strong drink, like vinegar of wine, you know, anything like that. Basically anything that's made of a grape, they are not to have. That's a Nazarite vow. So basically John and dad's putting that on his family saying, just don't drink it at all. And you know, basically nothing. Okay, and it says here in verse 7, it goes even further than that, so not only does he tell them not to drink wine, it says, neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any, but all your days ye shall dwell in tents, that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers. Okay, so not only did he say basically, he basically saying, live as if you're kind of like a nomad, right, where you're just basically living in a tent, you don't have any physical, permanent structures, you're not like making these vineyards to where you're, basically he's putting these roles on his family, and that's a whole other story for another day as far as what the cause of those rules are for. I mean think about the fact that living like a stranger, because that puts in your mental mind that we're pilgrims and strangers in this land, and basically the idea of not buying but renting, right, it's kind of like I'm just passing through and not locking yourself into any physical possessions, and that's kind of the rule he's put on his family. And in verse 8 there says, thus have we obeyed the voice of John and Dad, the son of Rekab our father, and all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we are wives, or our sons, or our daughters, nor to build houses for us to dwell in, neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed. But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that John and Dad our father commanded us. So this is obviously a great example that God's going to give, is saying that they listen to their father, they obey their father, and why won't you listen to me, right? Because it says in verse 13, it says, thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, go and tell the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, will you not receive instruction to hearken to my words, saith the Lord? The words of John and Dad, the son of Rekab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed. For unto this day they drink none, but obey their father's commandment, notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking, but ye hearken not unto me. And you say, well, you know, does God think that that's a good thing, you know, or does God reward that as far as John and Dad is concerned? I'll say this, he's definitely not against it, but notice what it says here in verse 18. Verse 18, it says, and Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rekabites, thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, because you have obeyed the commandment of John and Dad your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according to all that he hath commanded you, therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, John and Dad, the son of Rekab, shall not want a man to stand before me forever. So it is rewarded, and listen, what he commands them to do, it's not like the Bible saying don't ever build a house, you can never have wine at all, it just says don't have wine when it's red, don't have wine when it's fermented, you know, but obviously wine is good when you're talking about grape juice, or even vinegar, right? It's just that fermented alcoholic state that you're not supposed to have it, right? But John and Dad's basically like just nothing at all, okay? And listen, this gets into the standards of different homes, right, because some people are gonna have certain standards in their home that are gonna differ than others. What we don't want to do is teach for doctrines commandments of men, right? So if I say, you know, to my family like, hey, we're not going to have this in our home, and whatever it may be, we're not gonna watch this, and we're not gonna eat this, or whatever the case may be, that's my commandment in the home, guess what? My family needs to obey what I'm saying, but that's only my family, right? That doesn't mean you have to, okay? Obviously if it's a commandment in the Bible, we all need to obey it, but there are certain commandments and standards that the father sets in the home, and you know what God does? He regards that, and not only that, but he rewards the family that actually keeps that commandment, because why? Because they honored their father, that's why, and he's making this as an example saying, they've honored their father, they listen to their father, why would you listen to me? Because how much more should we listen to God, the father of lights, right? The father of spirits, how much more should we should we obey him if we obeyed our fathers, and obviously Hebrews 12 gets into this as far as discipline and all that, okay? So there's commandments that, for example, when I grew up, there were certain things that, you know, that my father set in the house, and all that stuff, and you know, I'm sure it's different in other houses. I'm sure the things that I set up in my home is probably different than, some of it's different in the way I grew up, some of it's the same, and you know, I'm sure if we took a poll of just what every father has set up in their family as far as what their family is allowed to do, what they're not to do, all that, it's gonna differ to a certain extent, okay? I'm sure we would all agree on certain things, because it's just the biblical aspect of that, right? But at the same time, God regards that in each home, the father is giving that instruction, he's giving that those commandments, and all of that. So when it comes to, you know, just some anecdotal type of instructions, okay? When it comes to, you know, me when I grew up, when, you know, as far as just lessons I've learned and all that stuff from my father, and all that, and this isn't all-inclusive or anything like that. And obviously some of these have overlap, right? Because it's not like, my dad only taught this, my mom didn't, right? Or my mom taught this, my dad didn't, right? It's not necessarily that case, but there's certain things that where there was kind of like, you could feel a little more from the father, or the other one you could feel a little more from the mother, right? But they're probably usually around, you know, they both agree on it, right? Because it's not like I'm, the whole thing that I'm looking at is really like, well my mom said though the opposite, okay? But the one thing if I were to think about like growing up, you know, with my father is stability, okay? And this is something that a father in the home brings to the house, is stability, okay? And I preach the whole sermon about stability, you know, about basically safety and protection and all that stuff. I'm not necessarily focusing on that right now, although, you know, my dad, you know, we grew up with guns and all that stuff, so I, you know, I never really felt like, if something really happened, like, hey, we can we can deal with it, right? But, or my dad would deal with it or whatever. But go to 1st Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 58. I'm more so talking about work, okay? Going to work, working a job. When I say stability, in a lot of cases, what I'm saying is that consistency, okay? My dad would go to work at a certain time in the morning, he'd come back at a certain time in the day, and it was pretty darn consistent, okay? And there's consistencies that you can see and your children are noticing that, okay? And the thing that I think about this is basically being kind of steadfast and unmovable in your work, and notice what it says in verse 58, so 1st Corinthians chapter 15 verse 58, it says, Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Basically, in the work that we do, go to Colossians chapter 3, Colossians chapter 3, and I'm talking about physical labor in this life, and you're like, well that's vain, well listen, money answers all things, and as soon as you know how to get through life without making money, let me know, okay? But also the Bible says that if any provide not for his own, especially for those of his own household, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel, okay? So as a man, we are to provide for our home, for our house, but when it comes to this, I think as a father, we need to be very consistent with work. Now that doesn't mean that if you have a job that's all over the place as far as hours, that you're not consistent, okay? That's not what I'm saying, okay? I'm just saying that this is an example, was just the fact that it was just, that's what dad did, went to work, and this is something that I think about as far as, for example, like, I don't know if I ever really remember my dad, like, taking a day off for being sick. I'm sure it happened, okay? Now maybe that's because he wanted to get away from us, right? And he's just like, you know, I'm sick, I'm going to work, you know? But listen, I know where he works, so I know that it wasn't exactly vacation time when he went to work, so. Because I know my dad didn't exactly love necessarily, you know, the atmosphere, I guess, of work, okay? But that being said, we, you know, I always tell Holly, I'm like, yeah, I got to stay late, you know, my boss is a real taskmaster, which is kind of now funny because I'm the boss, so like, I can't really, it's like self-inflicted, you know? But that being said, go to Colossians chapter 3 and verse 22, it says, servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men's pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God, and whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not into men, knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ. And this is something that I believe children will see and just realize, hey, you know, dad goes to work, he's bringing home money, and my kids, you know, my kids are just like, are you gonna be home? Can you stay home? Can you just stay home from work? It's like, well, I got to pay the bills, you know, so I can't just cut, I can't just stay home, and you know, and obviously, you know, kids aren't really thinking of like what it takes to survive, right? As far as like how much money it takes, and how much you got to work, and all these different things, and, but, but I do believe that they're noticing like, hey, I'm going to work every day of the week, and I come back at a certain time, and all of that, and knowing that consistency that, that dad goes to work, he pays the bills, and all that, and I kind of explained that to him as far as, you know, why I'm going to work, got to pay for the house, got to pay for food, got to pay for all these different things, and that consistency gives that stability, and your children will see that. They'll see that, hey, you know, he's not just all over the place, and all this stuff when it comes to life, that he's got a regimen, and some regiments may be different than others. I get it, obviously, but this type of stability of just being stable with work, and working hard, and all this stuff is something that I noticed from my, my dad when it came to, when I went to go work, for example, when I started working, I'm just like, well, that's what my dad did, you know, go to work, come back, go to work, come back. It's not like I'm just like, ah, you know, what was me? You know, this, this, this, this whole thing of being at work all day, it's just like, that's what you do. It was just like, that's what my dad did, that's what I do, because some people get this like nine-to-five thing, it's like, I don't want to work a nine-to-five job, I don't want to do this or that, I want to, you know, be able to have all this freedom and everything when it comes to that, and I get that, I'm not saying I'm against if you can do that with your job, and have more freedom to roam around and do all that stuff, but I never had that like problem with that, because that's what my dad did, I'm doing it, it's not out of the ordinary, it's just like that's what you do, and, but when it comes to work, I never, I rarely ever take off for being sick, I mean I have to have a fever to where like I can't get up, Holly always knows that I'm really bad if I don't go to work, like when she sees that I'm not at work, she's concerned, like what's going on, because if I don't have a fever, and I feel like garbage, I'm going to work, and I'm gonna hate it, because I feel like garbage, but I'm going to work, because if I'm taking off time, I'm gonna enjoy my time, that's the way I look at it, like I'm not using my vacation, my PTO on sick, what in the world, got to do it for fun stuff, and I'm not against obviously taking sick days, but that's just something that I noticed from my dad, I don't remember him just like staying home sick all the time, or just being like, well I just didn't feel like going to work today, like that doesn't even register in my mind, I just like, I don't feel like going to work today, I'm calling off, like to me that doesn't even register, I'm just like who does that, like I can understand if you're sick, but even if I'm not feeling well, I'm still going, and I'm probably still going to the gym too, but the thing is, is that there's that stability and consistency that's built in there, when it comes to the father, and just the lessons that I've learned from my dad, just what I saw, right, and you didn't really have to teach that, it's not like you said, hey son, you go to work, you come home, the next day you go to work, you come home, you don't just leave, you don't just don't go, but you don't feel like it, I'm sure I had maybe some conversation in the past, where you just like suck it up buttercup, or something like that, to where it was like, I, well you know what, I still remember, there's one time, that where I was mowing the grass, and it started, it was like almost done, mowing the grass, my dad probably don't even remember this, but I remember this, okay, that I was mowing the grass, and it was like almost done, but it started raining, and so I just like, you know, turned off the blade, started driving back to the garage, and my dad's like, go finish it, I'm like, but it's raining, he's like, it doesn't matter, go finish it, right, and I don't remember what he said exactly, he didn't, he didn't like scold me necessarily, but just like go finish it, okay, and I'm out there, and so at first I'm kind of like angry, because I'm like it's raining out here, he's making me do this in the rain, and then it just registered, I'm like, yeah why wouldn't I finish this, like am I gonna melt in the rain, and by the time I got done with it, I'm just like yeah, why wouldn't I finish that, and you know what that taught me is to just kind of like, not everything's just gonna be comfortable, not everything, sometimes you need to get the job done, and it doesn't matter if it's raining on you when you're doing it, and so you know what, when I, when I was mowing my grass, you know, like I think it was a couple years ago, it started raining on me halfway through, I'm just like, I'm finishing this beast, I'm not just gonna like put it up, and be like, well the grass is half done, and there's certain things like that, that you know, a father will just kind of, it's kind of like a tough love, like get it done, and part of it was just like, I'm sure my dad's just like, the grass needs done, it's gonna rain, and I don't want the grass half cut, but in the end, it taught me a valuable lesson to say, hey, you know what, get it done, it doesn't matter if it's not the right, you know, like Goldilocks conditions, that you want it to be when you're mowing the grass, okay, and by the way, we had a flat lawn, okay, so it's not like it was dangerous, okay, it's just like yeah, you know what, it's raining on this hillside that you got to do, have fun son, it was a flat lawn just like this one square I was doing, you know, so it wasn't like, you know, my dad's definitely not one to put us in dangerous situations, actually, he's usually the one that's like, it's like three o'clock in the afternoon, he's like getting dark son, come inside, it's like three o'clock in July, doesn't get dark until 930, you know, so anyway, go to Luke chapter 12, Luke chapter 12, verse 15, so being a hard worker, being consistent with work, that's something I learned from my dad, and I'll say this, it's not that you can't, let's say your dad wasn't like that, okay, it's not that you can't learn that, it's just that you tend to do what your parents do, okay, you tend, listen, the mannerisms, I cough like my dad, maybe that's just genetics, but there's just certain things, I sound like my dad now, because I have kids, I'm like, stop rocking on that, stop leaning on that, stop pushing on that, you know, it's just like my dad, it's just like, I'm living, you're vicariously living through me again, as you know, having children and all that stuff, but anyway, so I don't know where I was going with that, that's probably just it, okay, Luke 12, I can't, you know, I'm like looking, I'm trying to get to the next point, I'm going, I'm going off on tangents here, in verse 15, the next thing I wanted to say is that what my dad taught me is not to be covetous, okay, not to be covetous, not to be into material things, is Luke 12 verse 15, it says, and he said unto them, take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisted not in the abundance of the things which he possesses, and you know, I didn't grow up rich, but I didn't grow up poor either, at least I wouldn't say that I did, okay, meaning that we didn't have the most stuff that other kids had, but we also had more things than other people had, right, I'd say we were like in the middle somewhere, and I think that was good thing, right, because I, but that being said is that, you know, when we got older, we would get like dirt bikes and four-wheelers and stuff like that, and you know, we'd ride around, that's like the, what we used to do in the summer before I ever worked a job, you know, like when I was a teenager and stuff like that, we just ride around all day long, and trail ride and all that stuff, but anyway, all I'd say is that anytime we ever got something like that, my dad would always make us say what was more important, and it was always one word, Jesus, like to put in perspective, I'm just like, it was very simple, but it was just one of those things where it was like, hey, you're getting this, I know you're excited about that, but know that this is not what life's about, and just that idea of not being into the material things, about all the material things, that hey, there's something more important in life, God is more important than this dirt bike, or this four-wheeler, or whatever the case may be, and you know, that's just something that was just kind of like this, you're just basically forced to recognize that, anytime we ever got something big like that, okay, and you know, that's something that I was just taught. Now, you're forced not to be covetous if you just don't have a lot of money, right, I mean, that's just the facts of life, if you don't have the, you know, like wherewithal to just basically give your kids everything that's out there, I mean, you kind of just learn that, which is why, you know, I, you know, when it comes to with my children, there's a line where there's a lot of times I'm like, I want to give them this, I want to give them this, but I have to, a lot of times, I have to pull back on that, because of how they act. Whenever my kids are not being grateful for what they have, or they're fighting over everything that they have, or they have too much stuff, you know what I do, I pull back on it. There's been many times, I've been in a store, I'm like, I'd like to get that, I think they'd have a fun time with that, that'd be fun, and I say, no, I'm not gonna get them that, because I don't want my kids to be spoiled brats. So even if I have the wherewithal to give them a lot more stuff, a lot of times, sometimes I'll hold back on it just because of that issue, okay, and, you know, it gets into the fact that I don't want my kids to be covetous, spoiled brats, and that they're just not grateful for what they have, and what you find in a lot of cases, and parents, you could probably testify to this, that sometimes the less your children have, the more they appreciate what they do have, and the more fun they end up having, because when you have way too much stuff, it's too overwhelming, and they don't even know what to play with. When you condense it down to just a few things, they'll have way more fun with those few things. Listen, my kids were playing with scraps of wood yesterday, because I was building this chicken pen, and, I mean, that was more fun to them than anything, and they were mad, then they were fighting over it, that was my piece of wood, so then my brother had to, like, write their names on it. Like, this is Emma's, this is Anna, you know, like, we have to name the pieces of scrap wood now, but that being said, is that, listen, kids can have fun with things just like that, and when it comes to being covetous, you know, that's something, as fathers, we need to, we can control that probably more than anybody. Does that make sense? Because if we're, as a parent, if we're the fathers, and we're the ones, we're the breadwinners, we're obviously the leaders of the home, we have the say of what's bought and what's not, and all of that, right? And there are cases where, there are cases where I don't have the wherewithal to basically maybe get them what I want to get them, but then there's, there's a lot of cases where I'm like, I have, you know, I can get that, I can get this, but I actually hold back on that because of, I don't want my kids to be spoiled brats, I don't want them to be covetous, I don't want them, I think about this too, I think about my kids growing up and having, you know, they're gonna get out in the real world, then like I said, this kind of goes back into, you know, as fathers, we're trying to prepare our kids for the real world, I don't want my kids to have this plush and and cushy life, to where when they get out into the world, they just like, you know, basically it's like a nightmare for them, like they're out there and then they can't have the nice things that we had, they don't have this or that, you know, that my daughters get married to somebody, but then they don't make as much money as their dad did, so therefore they can't have those nice things and all that, what I want to teach my kids is that be content with what you have, and listen, I want my kids to be content with, you know, living in a shack with their, you know, with their spouse and raising their family and then to be content with that, so there's a line as fathers where we're basically, we want to give our kids everything, right, but you don't want to give them everything at the same time, okay, and I believe my parents, you know, they drew that, they had that line there where, you know, they gave us a lot and more than what we, you know, what a lot of people had, you know, but there was that line of, you know, basically being blessed and being spoiled, okay, and, you know, I still remember when, you know, I got a dirt bike or something like that and I remember a neighbor guy, you know, like was like basically, he was jealous is what it was, you know, because my parents got me something like that and basically called us spoiled, right, and I, you know, at the same time, like I can understand there are people that are spoiled, but I also knew what it took for my parents to get that, right, and that being said, you had to have the mentality of like being appreciative of what you have, knowing that it's that not everybody has that and all of that and that's that's a hard line to draw and that's that's something that as fathers we really need to make sure our children are appreciative of what they have and as soon as my kids aren't appreciative of what they have, I pull back on it and it's not because I don't want them to have, you know, nice things or a lot of stuff, it's the fact that I want them to be decent human beings, you know, I want them to be, you know, grow up and be, you know, not covetous, not greedy of gain, not someone that's just all about money and material and all these different things, not entitled to it, right, and that is something as fathers we need to teach. Go to Matthew chapter 4, Matthew chapter 4, one thing that my dad taught me was handy, just type of like handy type of skills around the house, you know, fixing things and in the Bible you can kind of see that with with Zebedee and his children because obviously they kind of picked up, I'm sure that James and John learned how to be fishermen from their father, I mean they were working with their father, basically probably taking over the family business and it says in verse 20 here, it says in straight, I'm sorry, in verse 21, and going on from thence he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother in a ship with Zebedee their father mending their nets and he called them and they immediately left the ship and their father and followed him. So you kind of have this idea that the father is probably leading everybody, right, he has servants as well as his sons that are working for him, but you can understand that obviously I'm sure Zebedee is the one that taught them how to fish, taught them how to mend those nets to begin with, right, and this is something as a father I think we need to teach our kids how to fix things, and if you don't know how to fix things there's YouTube, figure it out, okay, as an adult, but I mean everything from changing oil to changing a tire to fixing, you know, a door frame to, you know, things like that to where it's just like you don't just call up somebody to fix it, you fix it yourself, and I mean changing, I mean, but now my dad was more in the electronic realm, that's what he did for, you know, working at the hospital, working on electronic equipment and all that stuff, so that actually worked out very well back in the 90s when you had Nintendos and like and all these different things, and anything broke, it's like take it to dad, he's like out there with a soldering, you know, thing, soldering like wires together where it came apart and all this stuff, and so, but that being said is that there's things like that that my dad taught me, some of it stuck, some of it I'm still like, okay, what do I do with this, I have like a multimeter, you know, thing to check voltage and all this stuff, and like which one, what setting do I set this on to, how do I do this before I kill myself, you know, or we're putting in a ceiling fan, I'm like which wire goes with what, you know, and so there's things like that that some things I maybe didn't retain as much, but it's something that I, you know, as a father am trying to do. Now I'll say this, you probably ever heard the old meme, if you will, of, you know, basically I could take any type of criticism because I used to hold the flashlight for my dad, and anybody's held the flashlight for their dad knows exactly what I'm talking about, right, just like, it's like where are you pointing that thing, are you looking at the same thing I'm looking at, right, you know, and, you know, some of, you know, like one of my daughters I'll have a flash, I always get Clara because Clara is like, you know, she's kind of honed in, Anna, she's like, what's going on over here, I'm like, over here, so so that being said is that there's things like that that, you know, just handy work, things like that, just life skills that you're gonna need as a father. Listen, I don't know how many things I've glued and put together of my what my kids have broken, okay, now when it comes to all the power wheels that are broken, because it's electronic, I always send it over to Papaw's workshop, and he's, it's like, one of them's broken, he's like, oh we'll get Papaw to get it, you know, and, and all that, and sometimes I can mess with it or whatever, my dad's over there putting relays into these things and everything else when it comes to trying to fix this stuff, but you know what, I, my, my kids know that like, hey, actually maybe to a fault they're like, dad will fix that, dad knows how to fix that, and sometimes it's like, yeah, that's, I'm not gonna be able to fix that, some things are just past being fixed, and it's just, it's just junk, it's not gonna be fixed, right, but James is one that just, like, he's like a little mini me, he's got a little, he's got a little drill, he's got a little, like a, you know, battery, you know, like a play drill or whatever, and he's got a little tool belt with like, all his like, screwdrivers and everything else on there, and anytime I'm ever working on something in the house, he's right there, and you know, as a father, it's one of those things where I have to, because I'm, I'm busy, and I only have so much time, and I'm just trying to get things done, that part of me is just like, son, get out of the way, I gotta fix this, and all that, but then another part of me is like, no, you know, I want him to want to be there, and see what's going on, now obviously he's three, so he's not gonna really understand everything that I'm doing, but the fact that he wants to be there, I'm like, son, just a few more years, and I'll have you mowing the grass, I'll have you doing all kinds of stuff, don't worry, you know, I, you know, the next lesson will be slavery, that's what we're gonna be talking about, we're gonna be talking about your indentured servitude to your father, as far as everything I need you to do, okay, but you're just not there yet, okay, but it's obviously adorable to see that, but that's what I want my, I want my children to be able to fix things, I want them to be able to handle how to figure out how to fix it, right, one of the biggest skills is just figuring out, what do I even need to do, right, you know, but that's something that my dad did on a daily basis at work, is troubleshooting to figure out what the problem even is, right, which may be why I became an engineer, because what do engineers do? We're problem solvers, right, which in, in math class was my, I hated the problem solving, I hated like the word problems, because you had to like figure out what you're even solving for, and then that's what I end up doing the rest of my life, so, but it is a skill to be able to one, figure out what the problem is, and then how to fix that problem, okay, and that's something that my dad taught me, and you know, when it came to what my dad taught me, that I didn't really, I didn't really, I guess realize, or not realize, but I didn't really know the brunt of it until I had children, was how much my dad cared for us, okay, now my dad would always say that, okay, but my dad, you know, when it came to like, if someone, wherever you want, trying to hurt us, or something like that, you know, my dad would literally kill anybody that would try to hurt us. The things that he said about certain people, I won't repeat behind the pulpit, but he probably knows, you know, about our one neighbor, but you know, one thing that my dad, you know, when it came to like a certain neighbor that he hated, okay, and you know, I got saved, and I'm like, we shouldn't hate them, you know, all this other stuff, this before I understood the reprobate doctrine, okay, we shouldn't hate them, you know, like, you know, like, aren't you a little rough on him, and then, and then you realize when you're a kid, you didn't realize what happened, you know, our neighbor would basically, we were learning how to ride on our bikes without training wheels, and he's putting up rusty stakes, as far as like that are this far off the ground, that are putting up this like wired fence, because he doesn't want us riding, like accidentally riding into his, his part of the property, and you know, my dad told him to take it down, because hey, that's dangerous, my kids riding their bikes there, they can fall into that, and he refused to do it, and there's certain people out there that are just evil people, and you know, as you know, newly saved, reading through the Bible, and everything else, I'm just like, my god, you know, we should have, and then when you get older, you're like, yes, that guy can go rot in hell, which that guy is in hell right now actually, so he died a long time ago, but, but that being said, is that I'll say this, either the person wasn't saved, even if they weren't a reprobate, okay, you know, when it comes, obviously I want everybody to get saved, but if you're trying to hurt my family, I don't care if you're saved, I don't care if you're lost, I don't care if you're reprobate, I will destroy you, I will destroy anybody that's trying to hurt my children, and that's something, listen, I'm sure everybody would agree with that, even if you don't have children, right, but when you have children, like that realization, that you would not only die for them, but you would destroy anybody that tried to hurt them, even if they were wrong, right, even if they were in the wrong, and they did something wrong, or something like that, and the person's like coming at them, or whatever, you would completely annihilate them, because it gets into the idea of the love of a father to their children, and you think about the love of God the Father to the son, right, the Bible says in John 3, 35, the father loved the son and have given all things into his hand, and the love that the father has for the son, but then you think about the love of the father to give his only begotten son, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believed on him should not perish, but have everlasting life, and I want you to think about how much as a father you love your children, now would you, if you knew that your child had to die to save the world, would you allow it, and then that's how much God the Father loves the world, okay, and I'll just say this, I don't love the world that much, I don't, that's a fault, you know, obviously we need to be like God, right, we need to have that, but obviously Jesus dying on the cross was the only way for salvation, obviously my child dying for the world wouldn't do anything, right, does that make sense, so obviously that's kind of a hypothetical that doesn't exist, okay, but the idea that if it were to be the case, I'd be like no, and but that being said is that like I said, my dad loves us, probably to a fault, but I inherited that, so and be that as it may, and you may say well, you know, you need to have more love for other people around you, it's like sorry, I'll let the world burn to save my children, and that's just, that's just, you know, that's, I obviously saw that for my father, but you know, that's something that my kids know as well, and the last thing is, go to Proverbs chapter 17 verse 6, and last thing, last verse I'll show you here, listen, as fathers we're obviously kind of the harder parent, my kids fear me more than their mother, and my wife is often asked them, you know, why, why are you so different around when dad's home, right, when daddy's home, like you pay attention more, you don't act like pure psychos, like all these different things, right, and the one thing that they say, well his voice is scarier than yours, this is what they said, so there's obviously, there's obviously a little more fear of God, I think, with the, with the father that's there, but also my kids tend to, they tend to take what I say with more gravity than maybe what they do with their mother, okay, for whatever reason, and so fathers, your instruction to your children is very vital, more than you know, and the thing is that though the children are kind of stuck at the hip to the mom, they are listening to you, what you say is like, that is gospel truths to them, so be careful what you say, right, but also what you're not, it's not necessarily what you're saying, but what you're doing, and what they see you do speaks volumes as well, okay, because listen, you can put a front up at church as far as what kind of Christian you are, you can't do that at home, you can't do that all the time, so if you want your kids to love the Lord and serve the Lord after they leave the home, they need to see that you do that on a consistent basis, listen, I'm not perfect, meaning like, it's not like, I'm the pastor, so I'm just at home just reading my Bible all day long and that's all I ever do, listen, I'm up late watching Reels on Instagram as well, laughing, rolling on the floor at stupid things, okay, but you know what, every once in a while you have to have some amusement, okay, I'm not saying it's wrong, I'm just saying that it's not like I'm just constantly just walking in the Spirit and just like getting it, but I'll say this, I'm doing it a lot of times though, I'm either working, doing something at home, I'm reading, I'm doing something like that, or I'm trying to play with them, I'm trying to do something with them, right, and so that being said is that I want my children, you know, my dad, I hope my dad knows that I love him as much as he loved his dad, and one thing that my dad would always talk about is my grandpa, and just like the reverence and the, I guess, the glory he held him to, I wish I knew him longer, right, I was six years old when he passed away, so I didn't, I remember him vaguely, but that being said is that I hold that to him and I want my kids to hold that to me, and this verse kind of rings out here, it's Proverbs 17 verse 6, it says, Proverbs 17 verse 6, it says, children's children are the crown of old men, so basically the crown of old men, or you know, my dad's reward for not killing me is that he's got grandchildren, so you know, that's the crown of old men there, it says the glory of children are their fathers, and what that is is really kind of like this, this ultimate, you know, kind of role model that you're looking up to, you're, you could say maybe like a hero is what you would say in modern vernacular, like, you know, your dad is your hero, but it's really that you're striving to be like him, right, and as a parent I'm striving to be like my dad on how he raised me, how he raised our brothers, and listen, the proof is in the pudding, because you can look at my parents and say, well, you know, they did this, or they did that, not that you know what they did or didn't do, but you can say, like, hey, you know, well, they should have done it this way, they should have done it this way, well, let me ask you a question, look at my brothers, and look at me, and I'm not saying I'm perfect, but then tell me that they messed up, okay, because the proof is in the pudding, because you can have this theoretical, like, oh well, I'm not gonna let my kids do any of this stuff, I'm not gonna let them watch this, I'm not gonna let them listen to this, I'm not gonna let them go there, but you know what happens in a lot of those cases? When you cut them off from society like that, they end up going crazy when they get out of the house, and they end up not loving the Lord, not doing anything for the Lord, all of that, okay? Obviously you have parents that let their kids do everything, and they let them roughshod, and then they end up being, you know, horrible, and living, you know, horrible lives, and all that stuff, right? As a pastor, obviously, I have the Word of God, and I obviously have standards in my home, but I'm constantly looking back like, well, my parents let us do this, and from experience, you know, it didn't destroy me, it didn't cause me to be this, like, it didn't cause me to go down this path over here, and do all these other things, and so the proof's in the pudding, and know this, fathers, we're all in this together, and we're all figuring this out, okay? None of us have arrived when it comes to how we're raising our children, so when it comes to other parents, and what they're doing with their kids, I am not here to just be, like, putting my nose up at them, okay? And be like, well, I'm doing this, or I'm doing that, we're all figuring it out. I obviously carry Bible principles when it comes to that, but the instruction of the Father is very vital in the home. When it comes to just physical instruction of what you're telling them, when it comes to the disciplinary, like, physical discipline that needs to be taking place, when it needs to be taking place, but I'll say this, on top of all of that, what they see you do, how do you carry yourself, how do people perceive you? I don't know about you, but when I grew up, people respected my dad, okay? You went to work, if I ever went to his office, you know, they would respect him. They would respect him out in public, all that, that's something that I wanted. How does your, how did your dad carry himself? How did he deal with certain situations? How did he, you know, how did he, you know, deal with maybe really sad situations, or how did he deal with really happy situations, you know? There's certain things like that, you're like, I want to be like him. Now, obviously, I'm a man, right, so I'm a son looking at a father, I'm sure that the daughter could be said with a mother there, but, listen, my daughters look to me as if, like, I'm the strongest man in the world, and that I would basically move the world if I had to, and I'm sure my son's, you know, James probably looks at me to that extent there. Anyway, I'm going long, but when it comes to, you know, instruction of the fathers, you know, this is very important as fathers. We need to know of just how crucial that is, and I'm speaking anecdotally because I know, you know, how my parents raised me, and the things I remember, the things that I try to emulate. So let's go with the word of prayer. The Heavenly Father, we thank you today. Thank you for your word. Thank you for all the fathers out there. Thank you for my dad, and Lord, just thank you for all these passages, Lord, to see how we as fathers should raise our children, and Lord, help us to raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Ultimately, we want our children to get saved at a very young age. We want them to love you and serve you. We just want the best for our children. We want them to have a prosperous, successful life. We don't want them to have to deal with any pain or anything like that, Lord. We just pray that you'd help us to teach our children rightly, and we love you in prayerless in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. Brother Dave, we'll come and sing one more song, and then we'll be dismissed. All right, take your songbooks and turn to song number four. Song number four in your songbooks. We'll sing the way of the cross leads home. If you would stand, we'll sing song number four. The way of the cross leads home. It is sweet to know as we onward go the way of the cross leads home. I must needs go on in the blood-sprinkled way, the path that the Savior trod. If I ever climb to the heights sublime where the soul is at home with God. The way of the cross leads home. The way of the cross leads home. It is sweet to know as I onward go the way of the cross leads home. Then I bid farewell to the way of the world to walk in and nevermore. For my Lord says come and I seek my home where He waits at the open door. The way of the cross leads home. The way of the cross leads home. It is sweet to know as I onward go the way of the cross leads home. You are dismissed.