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

The verse I wanted to focus on was verse 5 where the Bible read, Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them. For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. And the title of my sermon this evening is Sins of the Father, Sins of the Father. We see even in this passage, God's saying sometimes he's going to visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children. Now in God's perfect and holy law, no man was to be put to death for the sins of the father. As a father would commit a sin that was worthy of death like murder or adultery, you wouldn't just put his children to death for him. But the reality is that children will be affected by their parents' decisions. The sins of the father will affect the children, whatever decisions you make. And we need to take application full well of this, not just the father, but even the mother. We see the father as a special responsibility, a special role within marriage, within a family. He's the head of the house. Just as Christ is the head of the church, the husband, the man is supposed to be head over his house, over the wife, and over the children. And his sins will directly affect his children. Go if you would to Luke chapter 12, Luke chapter number 12. And the thing is, this is one of the things that really woke me up to wanting to read the Bible more, to really draw closer to God. When I realized that I'm going to be a father, when I realized that I was going to have a son, I said, hey, am I really serving God the way I want my children to serve God? Am I really living a life that's going to be great for my children? Because ultimately, every decision I make is going to directly affect the children that I have. Maybe I should figure out what the Bible really says. Maybe I should really figure out if I'm drawing close to God. Maybe I should figure out if the things I'm doing are right. Look at Luke chapter 12 verse 48. But he that knew not and did commit things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required. And do men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. So the Bible is saying, look, when someone something's given unto you, God expects you to do something well with it. And if God's given you a wife, if God's given you children, if God's given you all these things, he expects you to do right with them, to take care of them, to be a good steward of the things that God's given you. God is the one that open and closes the womb. So that means if he's blessed you with children, he's given it unto you. It's a gift. How are you going to respond to that gift? How are you going to respond to what God has blessed you with as a father? Go to first Samuel chapter number two. I have four fathers today that we need to learn from how their sins are going to directly affect the children in a very negative way. And the first one is being a weak father. Being a father, you should be a man and you should be strong and you should be one that's willing to take rule over your house. But unfortunately today, in the world that we live today, men are not being men. Men are weak. Men are effeminate. Men are sissy. Men do not want to stand for things that are right. Men are not strong in the Word of God. Now they might be, they think they're physically strong. They might go work out, but they're a sissy when it comes to God's commandments. They don't want to follow any of God's rules and they're weak when it comes to their children. And we're going to see an example of this in the Bible. First Samuel chapter number two. Look at verse 22. Now, Eli was very old and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? For I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. Nay, my sons, for it is no good report that I hear. Ye make the Lord's people to transgress. If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him. But if a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearken not unto the voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them. Now in the Bible we have a man named Eli who is a priest of the Lord, but he does not raise his children correctly. He's not a strong father figure. He does not discipline his children. He does specifically his sons here. And when his sons are doing wickedly, when his sons are doing wrong, he just kind of gives them a little verbal talking to. He just kind of tells them, Nay, my sons. He's just like, Hey, that's not good. That's not your best life now. That's not what you should be doing. And look, the sons don't even listen to his voice. Why? Because they haven't listened to his voice for a long period of time. But go forward to chapter three and look at verse 11. And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth, it shall tingle. In that day I'll perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house. When I begin, I will also make an end, for I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knoweth, because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering forever. And Samuel lay until the morning and opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and Samuel feared to show Eli the vision. So the Bible says, God tells us why Eli struggled with his children, because he did not restrain them. We see that he gave them some kind of a verbal, you know, talking to. He kind of told them what they were doing wrong. But he had the power to restrain them from their wickedness. And they were making themselves vile in the eyes of the Lord. And the dad said, well, I'll just tell them no. I'm not going to actually use any force. I'm not going to actually really discipline them. I'm not going to actually restrain my children from doing wickedly. I'll just kind of tell them nay. I'll just kind of tell them no. And we see so many parents today, they'll get up and they'll say, they'll tell their children, well, I don't really like that. Well, maybe you shouldn't be doing that. But they're not restraining them. They're not taking the keys out of their hands. They're not correcting them with the rod of correction. They're not really enforcing their rules. They're just kind of saying nay. And we see this is a weak type of father and it's not going to cut it. Your children will not hearken under your voice if you don't restrain them. And the Bible says foolishness is bound in the heart of the child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. And if men do not discipline their children, if they do not take rule over their family, their children will be very wicked. We don't need weak fathers today. We need very strong fathers with strong discipline in this world today. If you have a father that disciplines you with strength, you should be thankful. You should be glad that your father punished you strongly. You should be glad that your father took the authority in the house. And you should be glad that your father was not weak like Eli. Look at chapter 4. Look at 1 Samuel chapter 4 verse 18. And it came to pass when he made mention of the ark of God, that he, this being Eli, fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate and his neck break and he died. For he was an old man and heavy and he judged Israel 40 years. Now you say, why would someone not restrain their children? Why would someone be weak? Well we see a lot of times it's a reflection of their own personal character. And one of Eli's sins is that he was weak and restraining himself from food. We see that he was a very heavy man. And when someone can't take personal, you know, they can't take care of themselves, when they can't restrain themselves, how much less are they going to be able to restrain their children, be able to restrain those that they have the authority over? And when he is not able to restrain himself, we see, look, he can't restrain his children either, can he? Go back to chapter number 2. Well see this is one of the sins of this family is they could not restrain themselves from gorging on food, from just gorging on the fat of the offerings. Look at verse 2 chapter 2 verse 12, Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial, they knew not the Lord. And the priest's custom with the people was, that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a flesh-hook of three teeth in his hand. And he struck it into the pan, or cattle, or cauldron, or pot, all that the flesh-hook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh, unto all the Israelites that came thither. Also before they burnt the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest, for you will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw. And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth, then he would answer him, Nay, but thou shalt giveth me now, and if not, I will take it by force. Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord. For men abhorred the offering of the Lord. Now go if you would to Leviticus chapter number three, Leviticus chapter number three. The thing is, the offering of the Lord was very clear that they were supposed to burn all the fat of the offering. What does fat represent? It represents sin. And we see that there was to be no sin in the offering, the sin is burnt on the offering. We see the Lord Jesus Christ became sin, and we see that he went to hell for our sins. And the fat is a symbolic reference of the offering, but the priests were not to be eating the fat. Look at Leviticus chapter three verse 16, and the priest shall burn them upon the altar. It is the food of the offering made by fire for a sweet savor. All the fat is the Lord's, and it shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood. But what do we see? We see these sons of Belial, these two sons of Eli, they love to eat that fat, don't they? They love to gorge themselves just like their father did, and they were not restrained by their father. I see that their father probably struggles with himself, struggles with his own sin. He's struggling with restraining himself so he doesn't restrain his children, does he? And his children, what you do in moderation, your children will do in excess. Go if you would to Deuteronomy 21 now. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, flip over a couple chapters or books. Deuteronomy 21, we see the sin of gluttony. We see in Deuteronomy chapter 21 verse 18, if a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and that when they have chastened him will not hearken unto them, then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of the city, and unto the gate of his place. And they shall say unto the elders of the city, This is our son, is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey our voice. He is a glutton and a drunkard, and all the men of his city shall stone him with stones that he die. So shalt thou put evil away from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear. What is the sin of gluttony? It's a sin where you're not restraining. And a person that won't hearken to his parents, a person that just gorges themselves on food and alcohol is a wicked person. And according to the Old Testament law, this person was to be put to death. Now I actually know people personally in my life where they won't hearken to their parents. They won't hold down a job. They just gorge themselves on food, gaining excess of like hundreds and hundred plus pounds over a period of like six months, just getting drunk constantly. These people just need to be killed, according to the Bible. And you know what? If you would kill those people, a lot less people would probably indulge in those sins. A lot less people would decide that that's not a big deal. And you know, gluttony, according to the Bible, it's probably one of the lesser sins. But according to the Bible, it's a sin. And the Bible says in Proverbs 23 verse 1, When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee, and put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. Be not desirous of his dainties, for they are deceitful meat. Proverbs 23 verse 21 says, For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty, and drowsiness shall clothe a man with grass. The Bible is saying, look, when you can't do anything but just satisfy yourself, when you have no self-restraint, look, you're going to end up coming to poverty. And it's a wicked sin. And we see the sins of Eli. We see he was a heavy man. We see that his sons are just gorging themselves on the offering. Look, they become very wicked people. And the men abhor the offering of the Lord. They don't even like going to church. They don't even like seeing the pastor. And we see the pastors today, they gorge themselves on the offerings today, don't they? We see all the fancy suits and the fancy cars and the fancy houses. They're spiritually, you know, living off these offerings. They're gorging themselves. Oh, man, look at all the money that's coming in. We need to just, you know, live it up. We see the Kenneth Copelands of today bragging they have a billion dollars. A billion dollars? What in the world does a preacher need a billion dollars for? I mean, this is ridiculous. But we see the pastors today, they're spiritually gorging themselves. It's wicked. It's evil. You know why? Because their dads didn't restrain them. Because the sins of the father. It's very clear. Go to Proverbs chapter 13. Look, as fathers, we need to put rule and authority in the home. And a lot of times, people struggle with authority directly because of their father. Because the father didn't give them discipline. Because the father wasn't consistent. Because the father wasn't laying down the law. The Bible says in Proverbs 13 verse 24, He that spareth his rod hateth his son, but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. According to the Bible, if you love your children, if you don't want your children to be raised to be horrible, wicked people, you must punish them. And specifically, with the rod. With the rod of correction. You're supposed to spank your children, is what the Bible is saying in modern vernacular, right? In today's world today, they say, no, don't spank your children. That's mean. That's wicked. That's bad. Why would you hurt your child? Oh, man. Look, it's hurting your children not to spank them. Not to correct them with the rod. The guy that loves his child will correct him. And why would I even give my kids spanking? Because I just want to. Because I'm just some sadistic person up here that I just hate my kids and I just love beating them. No, of course not. Because I don't want them to be wicked. I don't want them to be some spoiled brat. When you go to Walmart and you see the kids kicking and screaming on the ground and everybody's looking at a kid like, oh, man, so glad that's not my kid. Look, that's we have a lot of adults today that are like that two year old. They're so selfish. They just can't respect authority. They just complain and cry and bellyache and moan. I mean, I had a family member who can't get a job, can't even keep down a job. I heard that basically any time a boss tells him that, you know, he's in trouble because he's just not going to work, that he's bullying him. He's bullying him? I mean, what do you expect the boss to do? The boss is trying to make money. The boss is trying to make a profit for the business. And when you don't show up, the customer is like, hey, how am I supposed to do, you know, get the food or get the service? Look, it's not being bullied when your boss gets onto you. And today's, you know, bosses, today's world, they're so weak. They're not like it used to be. I mean, back in the day, if you didn't show up one time, you could be fired like this and never get a job again. You're supposed to say, yes, sir, do it on time, every time, dress right, getting everything not dialed in. But now today, you can show up late, you can call in sick lots of times, and then they're afraid of firing you because of, you know, a lawsuit or because of discrimination or because of all these things. Look, to get fired from a job today, you have to be a pretty terrible employer. I mean, employee, you have to be pretty much just lazy and lackadaisical. Now, obviously, sometimes companies, they fluctuate, they have different reasons for layoffs. But I'm saying if you're just fired for being a bad employee, you're going to be really bad into the society that we live today. Even if you're just kind of righteous, if you kind of work hard, you can usually succeed and get promoted very easily in the workforce that we live in today. Go if you would a few chapters forward. Proverbs chapter 22, verse 15, foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. Look, if you have children, you realize that they don't need any help doing wrong. They don't need any help lying, stealing, getting into stuff they shouldn't. Look, it's just obvious. It's just manifest that foolishness is bound in the heart of the child. And we need to use the rod of correction to get it out of them. And if you don't, guess what? The foolishness is still bound on their heart. It's still tied down on their heart. That's why you need to do it early and often so that you can get all that foolishness out. Go over one more chapter, look at Proverbs 23. This is a command from God. Proverbs 23, verse 13, withhold not correction from the child, for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod and shall deliver his soul from hell. There's a lot of people that are going to go to hell today because the father did not correct the child, because the father did not punish the child. There's so much foolishness in his heart. He thinks that God's a joke. He thinks that hell is a joke because his dad would never discipline him. And we see today, there's a direct correlation to a father disciplining his children and the Bible and God's word and how God operates. God is a loving father. God is going to chasten and scourge every son in whom he receiveth. And if you don't have your father instilling this in you, it's going to be very difficult for you to respect authority. It's going to be very difficult for you to understand the relationship between God the father. Now, obviously, not everybody's raised with a great home, not everybody's raised with a great father. We have a father in heaven, if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have the spirit of adoption, we can always learn and grow. But if you are a father, we should not just take our children for granted. We should raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. I'm not saying that you should be this strict drill sergeant, just have them all lined up and they can't smile and they're not allowed to laugh and no talking. Look, there's a time to have your children in order. There's a time to have your children be respectful. But they're kids at the end of the day. And we need to raise them with nurture and admonition. But if you really love them, if you really want to have the admonishment, you need to also beat them with the rod. That's a command of the Bible. That's not a suggestion. That's not just a good idea. It's a commandment. Go if you would to first Chronicles chapter number three now. First Chronicles chapter number three. So the first father we see is a weak father. Eli is very weak. Why? He's weak in his own life because he doesn't self-restrain himself from food. He's gorging. He's heavy. You don't get heavy on accident. You don't just become, you know, 400 pounds just because of genetics. Now look, I'm not saying we all need to be Hollywood celebrities and we need to be real thin and, you know, the lies of Hollywood. But if you're just severely overweight, look, it's gotten me. It's a sin. It's what the Bible says. Look at first Chronicles chapter number three. We're going to see our second dad. This dad, he really just really struggles with sin. First Chronicles chapter three verse one. Now these were the sons of David, which were born unto him in Hebron. The first born Amnon of Ahinoam, the Jezrelites. The second Daniel of Ababagil, the Carmelites. The third Absalom, the son of Medica, the daughter of Talmai, king of Jesher. The fourth Adonijah, the son of Agath. The fifth Shevetiah of Abital, the sixth Ethereum by Aglia, his wife. These six are born unto him in Hebron and there he reigned seven years and six months in Jerusalem. He reigned 30 and three years. So we see a lot of different children were born to a different mother every single time. And the person we're talking about is who? The sons of David. So we see David had some sin in his life, didn't he? I mean, he just keeps marrying another wife and another wife and another wife and another. I mean, he just keeps listening wife after wife after wife after wife. Look, that's a sin. It's a sin to just keep multiplying wives unto you. The Bible even warns, go to Deuteronomy chapter 17. You say prove that that's a sin because I think, you know, it's okay to have multiple wives. I think in the Old Testament it was okay. Some people say, well, I know it's wrong today, but in the Old Testament it was okay for the king to just multiply a bunch of wives unto him, have all these concubines. No, it was a sin. And the Bible even says it's a sin because, look, the sin is a transgression of the law. It's when the law makes a clear commandment and you violate that. The Bible even says in 2 Samuel 5, David took him more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem after he was come from Hebron. So we just listen to the wives from Hebron. It says he had even more after he went into Jerusalem. Look at Deuteronomy chapter 17 verse 15. Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall choose, one from among thy brethren, shalt thou set king over thee. Thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother, but he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses, for as much as the Lord has said unto you, ye shall henceforth return no more that way. Neither shall he multiply wives to himself that his heart turn not away. Neither shall he greatly multiply him to himself, silver and gold. So according to the Bible it says, look, when you set a king over yourself, you're not to multiply horses. Not only that, you're not supposed to return to Egypt, but even more, you're not supposed to multiply wives. And we see David, what does he do? He keeps multiplying wives, keeps adding another wife and adding another wife and adding another wife. And look what the father does in moderation. The son will do in excess. Let's go if we would to 1 Kings chapter number 10. So who's another son of King David? Solomon. He's not even from any of the women we listed. He's from Bathshewa. In the Bible says in 1 Kings chapter number 10 verse 23, so King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom and all the earth sought to Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. So Solomon was a great king. And look, David is classified in the Bible as a man after God's own heart. We're not talking about somebody just unsaved. We're not talking about some wicked person. But even a saved dad can have some really big sins in his life. He can get back sin. He can have a pretty big sin problem. And we need to take heed under the sins in our life. Why? Because they're going to affect their children. Hey, whatever you do in moderation, your kid might do in excess. Are you okay with that? Is that something you want your kid to be indulging in? Is that something your kid wants to be exposed to? Let's look at 1 Kings chapter 11 verse 1, but, so first at the end of chapter 10, he's giving all these great things about Solomon, but then it starts in chapter 11, but it says King Solomon loved many strange women together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zigonians, and Hittites of the nations concerning which the Lord 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 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines and his wives turned away his heart for it came to pass when Solomon was old that his wives turned away his heart after their gods and his heart was not perfect with the Lord as God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milkum, the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord and went not fully after the Lord as did David his father. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab and the hill that is before Jerusalem and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. So you see Solomon does a lot of wicked things at the end of his life because he multiplied all his wives. He starts offering, you know, incense unto other gods. I mean he's raising up altars unto false gods and even Bible says that he would sacrifice his own children to these false gods. Solomon is literally murdering his own children to false gods because of these strange women. What would have happened if David had not multiplied wives? What if David had decided, you know, I'm a one woman man. You know what? I'm not going to multiply all these wives. I'm just going to stay with the one wife that I have. What would have happened? Maybe Solomon wouldn't have died in so much more than his father. And then he's serving other gods. Now he's burning his children in the fire. Look how much wickedness continues to spread and gets worse and worse and worse. Why? Because of the sins of the father. Because David indulged in women. Now we see Solomon, he's going headlong into women. Well, if my dad can multiply wives, let's see how many I can get. And man, did he get a lot. 700 wives? You think about that practically. I mean, that's marrying a different lady every year for two years straight. Good night. Who wants that? I mean, think about the anniversaries. You think he's getting all the anniversaries right on that? And then on top of that, he has a bunch of concubines. I mean, this guy is the epitome of chasing after women. And we see it's the downfall of Solomon. We see Solomon does not end well because of this. Go to Genesis chapter 20, we'll see another example of this. So you see, not only do we have weak fathers, but you could have a strong father. I believe David was probably a strong father, right? He's probably wanting to observe the commandments of the Lord. But we see because he's letting iniquity stay in his heart, it's still going to affect his children. And just because you love the Lord, just because you go out soul winning, just because you go to church, doesn't mean that you don't have sin in your heart, doesn't mean you don't have some wickedness and you need to get purged out so that your sons will not be affected by the sins of the father. You need to check yourself. You need to take this whole Bible and decide, hey, is what I'm doing something that my kid is going to go, you know, wholeheartedly after? Is the sins that I have, do I have them in check? Am I looking at what God's word said? Am I letting him purge me of all iniquity, of all wickedness? Look at Genesis chapter 20 verse one. I'll prove it again that the son goes, you know, does the same thing the father does. And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur and Sojourn and Gerar. And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, she is my sister. And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, behold, thou are but a dead man for the woman which thou hast taken, for she is a man's wife. So we see Abraham, he's kind of sojourning and he's afraid because his wife is so beautiful that the men will literally kill him just to take his wife. So he just says, well, she's just my sister, you know? So then the king's like immediately taking her into his court or whatever, taking into his house or whatever. And then God warns this guy saying, look, if you touch her, you're dead. Because this guy, this woman is married. And we see that God rebukes him and Abimelech rebukes Abraham and says, like, why did you lie to me? He's like, well, I was afraid. And then God ends up letting them go and gives them a blessing. But look at verse 11, we'll see the explanation. And Abraham said, because I thought surely the fear of God is not in this place and they will slay me for my wife's sake. And yet indeed, she is my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother. And she became my wife. So now even in this sin, Abraham is trying to justify it, isn't he? He's saying, well, I just didn't think there was any fear of God here. You know, I just was really afraid. So he's justifying his wickedness, the wickedness of adultery. Can you imagine the sin of adultery, letting your wife be with another man just so you don't die? We see this as such a wicked sin, but we see, guess what? This idea gets planted into his son, doesn't it? Go to Genesis chapter 26, Genesis chapter number 26. You say, well, I did this a long time ago, but nobody knows or, you know, it's not that big a deal. Yeah, but you can plant thoughts in your children's head when you tell them this wicked story of what wickedness you did or people will find out and tell stories about you later that you didn't want to be told. Look at Genesis chapter 26 verse 6, and Isaac dwelt in Gerar, and the men of the place asked him of his wife, and he said, She is my sister. For he feared to say, She is my wife, lest said he, The men of the place should kill me for Rebekah, because she was fair to look upon. And it came to pass, when it had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of the window and saw, and behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife. And Abimelech called Isaac and said, Behold of Asherdi, she is thy wife. And I'll say to thou, She is my sister. And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her. Now what does this look like practically, okay? Because we see, you know, maybe Abraham wasn't even telling the story in light. He's just saying, Look, this is a mistake I made. But whenever Isaac is in this situation where he fears like there's some kind of death, he doesn't know what else to do. So he's like, Well, my dad didn't got away with it. So maybe I should. What does this look like? Well, maybe a dad gets depressed, and he decides instead of seeking, you know, helping the Lord, seeking a church, he's just going to go to the bar and get drunk. And oh, well, he worked out for him, didn't it? So maybe, you know, when I'm depressed, maybe when I'm feeling down, I'll just go to the bar like my dad did. But is that going to always work out? Is that always going to be the resolution that you want for your children? Look, what sins do you struggle with? Do you really want your sons and your daughters to have the same struggles that you do? Look, we need to fix it. We need to address the sins in our life. Maybe your dad drinks in moderation, but the kids are going to drink in excess. You know, I've heard some people say, Well, you know, I was my parents didn't ever drink and it caused me to drink. That's a stupid thing. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. They say, I want to give my kids, you know, alcohol in moderation, so they'll learn to have responsibility about it. That's stupid. That's wicked. Look, I don't want to have my kids dabble in any sin ever. I don't want them to ever taste it. Look, it tastes like piss. It's disgusting. Look, your children look at your dad and say, Well, dad doesn't read his Bible. I never see dad opening the Bible. Maybe I don't have to. Maybe I don't need to read my Bible. You know, dad's always bad talking church when we leave. He's always bad talking to pastor. He's always bad talking all the members. He's always bad talking this guy. Maybe I should talk bad about them to my friends, too. Maybe we should isolate somebody in the church and, you know, gossip about them and speak evil of them. Your kids pick up on all of that, and they're going to have those bad habits. You know why the meanest kid in the school is mean? Probably because his parents are mean at home. Probably because his mom is sitting there gossiping about a bunch of women, and then her daughter goes to junior high and gossips about a bunch of other girls. Look, monkey see, monkey do. It's very obvious. When the dad complains about his boss at work all the time, and then guess what? The kid gets his first job, and his boss says, Hey, why didn't you show up to work? You're supposed to work. You know what he's going to do? He's going to complain whenever he gets in trouble at work, isn't he? Look, the sins of the father are going to carry down to the children. When the children see, well, my dad's always late to work. My dad's always lazy on the job. My dad doesn't really care. Why do I need to work hard? Why do I need to show up on time? Is it really that important? Is it really that big a deal? Look, your children will pick up on every single thing that you do. That's why we need to be a good example. Oh, my dad smokes pot. Oh, my dad does this, and then guess what the son does? He's caught in the bathroom smoking pot with his friends, isn't he? Or he's caught going off with his friends and doing wickedly. Why? Look, it's just reality that the sins of the father a lot of times carry down to the son. It doesn't have to be the case. It's not always the case. It's just the exception proves the rule. We even see temper tantrums. Maybe you always throw these fits. You always have these outrageous fits. You yell at your wife. Your children will pick up on these habits, whether they like it or not. And when they're in a pressured situation, they're going to a lot of times just revolt to whatever their dad did. A lot of people can't control their temper. Why? Because that's all they saw their dad do. When their dad was in an argument, guess what? He just blew his top and yelled and screamed. So then when you get in that same situation, guess what you're going to do? If you don't show positive convict resolution to your children, how are they going to know how to have positive conflict resolution? Go to Genesis chapter number 34. When your children see you take shortcuts, they will too. And you know why so many people exit the church? It's because they see their parents being hypocrites. They see their parents not having true faith, lying and just going through the motions. And their kids say, well, I don't want to do that. I don't want to be like my parents. And they reject church. They reject all kinds of things that are good. Why? Because their parents are hypocrites. Look at Genesis chapter 34. Look at my third point. So now that we have weak fathers, we could have a backslidden father. We could have the father that's letting iniquity stay in his life, and he doesn't realize that that iniquity is going to affect his children. I mean, I just showed you two clear examples in the Bible where what the father was doing, the son just goes and does the same thing, doesn't he? Why, the Bible's not written to us on accident. These stories aren't written to us on accident. He's teaching us an example of what the father's going to do is going to affect the children. But what happens when dad's just not around? I mean, you could have a weak father. You could have a father that has a lot of sin. You could even just have not a father, right? I mean, the father's just not there. What happens when that happens? Look at Genesis 34 verse 1. And Dinah, the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. And when Shechem, the son of Hamor, the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her and lay with her and defiled her. So is the father around? No, the daughter's just off doing whatever she wants, gallivanting on the city, just going off to see the daughters of the land. And when the dad's not around, young men are going to come and sweep up that daughter, aren't they? You really think that would have happened if, you know, her father was standing right next to her? You really think Jacob's going to let this guy just take his daughter off into some room and defile her? That's not going to happen in a million years, right? But what happens when the dad's away? What happens when the dad's not around? You really think that I'm just going to let my daughter just go off and just hang out with whoever, whenever? Not a chance. She's not leaving me or my wife's sight. I mean, I don't want that. Why? Because I don't want her to get defiled. You want to know why women get defiled? Because dad is not around. Because mom is not around. That's when they get defiled. Not in the presence of their father, that's wicked. I wrote up an article on fatherlessness. In the US Census Bureau, it says that 23.6% of US children live without a father. They live in a father-absent home. So we're saying almost one-fourth of all children in the United States don't even have a father, let alone, you know, a father on the weekends or just a father sometimes. We're just saying at all. There is no father present. You want to know why there's so much whoredom? There's so much fornication? Well, there's at least 25% of women that just don't even have a father at home. So guess what? There's no one to enforce the rules. These, you know, these Haymores, these Shechem, the son of Haymores can just come in and just take advantage of all these women. I looked up another statistic that said an estimated 24.7 million children live absent from their biological father. That's 33%. Look, they don't even live with the guy that, you know, sired the child. The guy that sired the child 33% of the time isn't even going to dwell with his own child. Wicked. If you even look at this from a demographic perspective, it says that 57.6% of black children do not live with their biological father, 57.6%. It's more likely that a black child does not have their father at home than they do. How is that God's will? How is that what the Bible teaches? It says 31.2% of Hispanic children and 20.7% of white children. Look, I don't even like that 20% figure. I mean, it should be zero, but let alone 57.6%. That's why there's so many problems. That's why there's so much wickedness. Why? Because when the father's not there, how can he even discipline the child? He's not even the weak father or the backslidden father. He's a non-existent father. There was another statistic in 2011. Children living in female-headed homes with no spouse present had a poverty rate of 47.6%. Go to 1 Timothy chapter number 5, if you would, 1 Timothy chapter number 5. This is over four times the rate for children living in married couple families. So it's saying you're four times more likely to be in just abject poverty if you don't have a father present. If you're living in this type of situation, look, these people are living in extreme poverty. And the Bible says blessed are the poor in spirit, but look, poverty in and of itself is not a blessing. It's not something to, you know, to strive for. Oh, I just really want to be poor. I just, I just really want to work so hard that I can have no money. Now, look, there's nothing wrong with giving all your money away or not chasing after money or living a life that, you know, doesn't necessarily strive for money. We're not supposed to strive to want to be rich, but look, we should be able to work hard. And as a father, you should most certainly not strive for poverty because guess what? You got other mouths to feed. You got to feed your wife. You got to feed your children. And look at 1 Timothy chapter 5 verse 8, but if any provide not for his own and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith and is worse than an infidel. This doesn't sound like a guy that should just be lax days ago on the job. This guy better be providing. This guy better be working hard. This guy better be putting the bacon on the table. Look, it's important for men to work hard. And if you work hard, you're not going to be poor, period. I mean, if you go out and you work really hard and you're diligent on the job and you do a good job, you're not going to be poor. Now you have to define poor, okay, and in America, poor is like having under $30,000 a year. Look, even like at McDonald's, I mean, if you just worked at McDonald's for a few years, you could probably make more than that. So we're saying, look, according to the Bible, it says, if you don't provide though, you're worse than an unbeliever. That's pretty strong language, isn't it? But we see today so many people, they don't provide for their family. They're not even there. The dad doesn't want to take care of the kids. The dad just sires these children and they just lives of his own selfish ambitions. A study of 1,397 infants in Florida evaluated how the lack of father involvement impacts infant mortality even. It says in the first 28 days of life, babies are four times higher to die of infant mortality than with a father that's involved. It says paternal absence is also found to increase black to white infant mortality almost fourfold. So it's saying, if a father's present in the home in the first 28 days of a child's life, or if it's not there, it's four times more likely to just die, to just have what's called like SIDS or something like that, where it just means that the child dies of an unexpected cause or unexpected reason. We don't even know why. But we see the father is instrumental in every aspect of the child's life. Obviously, the mother is the one who really does all the work. Let's be honest. I mean, she feeds them. She gives birth to them. But the father's involvement is just as important. Another study I saw is it says 18-year-old adolescent women seeking psychological services found that the adolescents from father-absent homes were 3.5 times more likely to experience pregnancy than were adolescents from father-present homes. Go to Proverbs chapter 7. It says, moreover, the rate of pregnancy among adolescents from the father-absent homes was 17.4% compared to a 4% rate in the general adolescent population. So it's saying young women are 3.5 times more likely to be pregnant if they do not have a father-present in the home. And the Bible made that clear with Dinah, right? I mean, we see Dinah is just going out to see the daughters of the land. She's getting defiled right away. We see Shechem just comes right in, sweeps her off of his feet. Look at Proverbs chapter 7 verse 7. And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths a young man void of understanding, passing through the street near her corner, and he went the way to her house in the twilight in the evening, in the black and dark night. And behold, there met him a woman with an ire of a harlot and subtle of heart. She is loud and stubborn. Her feet abide not in her house. Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth and waiteth every corner. So she caught him and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, I have peace offerings with me. This day have I paid my vows. Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee. I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Let us take our fill of love into the morning. Let us solace ourselves with loves. For the good man is not at home. He is gone on a long journey. You say, why? This woman has a lot of spare time on her hands. I mean, she's doing all these tapestries, all these things. Look, and she's dressed in the attire of a harlot. You know what? A dad is not wanting his daughter walking out like a hoochie mama, but what happens when he's not there? What happens when the good man is not in the house and is on a long journey? Now she's open for business. Now the whore's making her hire. Now she's attracting all these young men and bringing them in. Why? Because the good man's not home. We need more dads in the home today. We need to emphasize fatherhood. It's a great responsibility. It's a privilege. It's not something to be taken lightly. And when men take it light, when men aren't in the home, there's going to be wickedness abounding. The daughters are going to be taken advantage of. The daughters are going to become whores. Why? Because they need that attention. They need that affection. They need that man to come in, so they're just begging for it. But the dad's not there to give it, is he? The good man's gone. And what happens when the good man's gone? All hell breaks loose. You know, in a study of 1,000 1600 Latina students, it found that lower perceived father support is a pre-dictator of suicidal ideation and behavior, saying that children without a father present are way more likely to commit suicide even. There's nothing positive about not having a father in the home. And look, today's world is constantly trying to draw fathers out of the home. They're trying to break down the natural family unit. They're trying to do all kinds of wicked things. And you know, there's this perceived thing. They say, well, you know, we see all these young black men going to jail. We see there's this racial divide, and we see all these people that are black, they're going to jail at enormous rates, at higher rates than other races. And it's because of racism. It's because cops just don't like black people. This is a lie. This is, you know, confusion. They're trying to change the target. The reality is it's not the fathers in the home. The father's just not there. The father's laden with sin. The father is weak. If these things were present, we wouldn't have these type of rates. I looked up some statistics about jail. It says that of US federal prisons that 64% of white people is the population, and 39% of the prisons are white people. So they're saying 65% of the population is white, but only 39% of the inmates are white. So it's kind of, it's not in direct proportion. We see in Hispanics, 16% of the population, 19% of the population are in jail. That might be made up by all the illegals, but it's about even. But then we see with the blacks, it's 13% of the population. So only 13% of the population in the United States is black, but 40% of the people in prison are black. I mean, that's three times more likely that they would be in prison. And you say, well, why is it? Why is it? Is it because that there's a difference in race? I don't even believe in races. The Bible said he's made of one blood, all nations of men to dwell upon the face of the earth. Look, there's nothing that divides me from a person that's black. Look, the thing that I should draw unity on is believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Are we brothers and sisters in Christ? That's great. I don't care what your skin color is. Why should you? Just as much as I care how tall you are, or what your hair color is, or what your hobbies are, or how big your ears are, how big your nose is, look, physical characteristics do not matter to me one bit. But why do we see so much segregation here? Why do we see so much disproportion here? It's because the fathers are not in the home. And I'm going to prove that. I looked even in Houston, the top five largest zip codes that have people in this situation. I was the single parent households, okay? The top five zip codes in the Houston area where they're in a single parent family. So zip code 77002, it says that there was 37% white people and 40% black people in the zip code, and then 19% Hispanic. So we see 40% of the people in this zip code are black, and it's the number one most single parent area at 82%, 82% of the homes in this zip code have a single parent. That is a lot. And it's saying 40% of those are black. And zip code 77051, it says that 75.3% of this zip codes are in a single parent family of the people in this zip code, and 90.61% are black. Do you think these are just coincidences? It says in 77032, 75.3% of this zip codes also has a single parent family. It says 41% is black, and the other 45% is Hispanic. So if we go to zip code 77021, 75.3 again, we see that 75% are black. And zip code 77033, 75.3% is in a single parent family again, 75% black again. And then if you just combine it, so you just combine all the five zip codes, we're talking about 200,000 people in the Houston area, and the largest zip codes where they have a single parent family, 76% of these households have a single parent, 67% are black. Now look, it's not because they're black that they're just wicked. It's not because they're black that they're just evil. It's not that their skin color has nothing to do with it. It's the fact that the father is not in the house. It doesn't matter what skin color you are, if the father's not present, there's going to be sin, there's going to be wickedness, there's going to be all kinds of things abounding. And when these young men are constantly going to jail, why don't we ask a better question than, oh, it's because they're black. Oh, it's because the cops don't like them because they're black. Look, the cops don't like Hispanics either, and they're not having the same statistics. Why? Because there's more fathers in those homes. That's why. Because the father is the biggest indicator here. Why? Because the sins of the father will affect the children. And we should stop, you know, dancing around the truth and address the real problem. We need men to go back into the houses, to raise their children, to work hard to provide for their children, to get the sin out of their life and not be a weak father, disciplining their children. That's the problem. That's the reality. Go if you would to January chapter number six. Look, the Bible says a wise son heareth his father's instruction, but a scorner heareth not rebuke. But here's my question. If the father's not present, how is the son going to hear that instruction? How can a son be wise when his father's not present to hear the instruction of his father? Look, the father needs to be present to give the instruction unto the children. And lastly, we see sometimes, not only are they not present, not only are they just weak, not only are they back sudden, sometimes there's destructive fathers. There's fathers that are literally going to destroy their family. Daniel chapter six, verse number four, then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find none occasion nor fault. For as much as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men, we shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. So in Daniel chapter six, we see that Daniel has risen to power. He's over all the presidents. He's favored of King Darius. And the Bible makes it clear that these men were jealous, or they were envious of Daniel's position. They were envious of how good a worker he was. And they said, there's no way that we can trip this guy up on his work ethic. Hey, good idea. If you're a righteous guy, you have a really good work ethic. They say we can't get him on the fact that he doesn't show up late because he's always on time. He's always doing his job right. He's always being pleasing on the boss. He's working the long hours. We can't, there's no way we can get him in trouble for his work ethic. Why? Because that's a Christian work ethic. That's a godly work ethic. You know what? They're like, we're gonna have to find it against the fact that he loves the Lord. We're gonna have to try and get his, you know, him in trouble with the law of his God. Look at chapter 20, or verse 22. So we see these men. They finally make some stupid law saying that nobody can make a petition to God or anything outside of King Darius. Darius makes the seal. Daniel makes the petition three times a day. The men catch him and they bring him to King Darius. Darius doesn't even want to throw Daniel in the lion's den, but he ends up doing it because that's the law that he made. Look at verse 22, my God has sent his angel and has shut the lion's mouth that they have not hurt me. For as much as before him innocency was found in me, and also before the old king, have I done no hurt? Then was the king exceeding glad for him and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den and no manner of hurt was found upon him because he believed in his God. So we see Daniel was delivered. Daniel was rescued from the mouths of the lions, but you know, it doesn't end up that well for these guys that were envious of Daniel. Look at verse 24, and the king commanded and they brought those men which had accused Daniel and they had cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives and the lions have mastery of them and break all their bones in pieces or ever that came at the bottom of the den. We see the sins of the father directly affecting the children. These men, I don't know if they realized they were gambling their whole family. I don't know if they realized they were gambling the lives of their children, but their error, them going against the Lord caused them to destroy their whole family, destroy their own children. And look, when a man decides to get drunk and drink himself drunk and drive his whole family across the town, he's gambling his whole family. He's not just gambling his life. He's not just gambling, you know, things about himself when he goes out and commits wicked sin and goes to jail. Look now he's gambled his whole family. Now with the father not in the home, we already read the statistics. Look bad stuff happens when dad's not home. Look men need to realize that every decision you make can directly affect your children too. And you cannot destroy yourself only, you can destroy even your own children. Go to Joshua chapter number seven, you say, yeah, but these guys are wicked. They hated the Lord, right? I mean, they're not part of anything that's godly. We even see Pharaoh. He resists God so much, it costs him his son, doesn't he? He loses his firstborn because he's so obstinate and we see so many men today, they're willing to sacrifice their own family for their own selfish ambitions. What about another guy named Achan? Joshua chapter number seven, verse one, but the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdai, the son of Zerah of the tribe of Judah took of the accursed thing and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel. So we see that this guy named Achan, they were commanded when they would destroy the town of Jericho, not to take anything. They weren't supposed to take any of the goods, but Achan took in the accursed thing and it was cursed because the Lord had said that they shouldn't take it. The Lord saying, this is not for you, this is not something that you should be taking. Look at verse 21, we'll get an explanation. This is Achan speaking, when I saw among the spoils of goodly Babylonian garment and 200 shekels of silver and a wedge of gold of 50 shekels weight, then I coveted them and took them and behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent and the silver under it. So Joshua sent messengers and they ran into the tent and behold, it was hid in his tent and the silver under it. So we see that he took the goods, didn't he? He saw them, he coveted, he took them, but did he realize the penalty for his error? Did he realize what kind of sin the punishment could lead to? Look at verse 24, and Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan, the son of Zerah and the silver and the garment and the wedge of gold and his sons and his daughters and his oxen and his asses and his sheep and his tent and all that he had and they brought them under the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, why hast thou troubled us? The Lord shall trouble thee this day and all Israel stoned him with stones and burned them with fire. After they had stoned them with stones and they raised over him a great heap of stones in this day, so the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called the valley of Achor unto this day. Look, Achan did not realize his sin was going to cost him his family, but it cost him all that he had. So as a father, you need to realize the decisions you make can affect all that you have. Your wife, your children, your goods. Is that sin really worth it? Is that garment really worth it? Is that beer really worth it? Is that sin and iniquity in your life really worth it? Are you willing to gamble your whole family? Are you willing to gamble your wife? The Bible says in Joel chapter three, and they have cast lots for my people and have given a boy for a harlot and sold a girl for wine that they might drink. Sometimes people can be so wicked that they would give their children up for it. They would offer their children, but are we going to mess with that type of sin? What's the accursed thing? The accursed thing is when you know God said no. God said, don't even touch it. Just like alcohol in Proverbs 23, it says, look, not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. He's talking about alcohol. He's talking about something that's accursed, something that's wicked. And when a man of God decides, well, I can dabble with it. I can go get it in private. Because wasn't Achan doing this in private? He says, look, I took it and I hid it. Nobody really saw what's going on, but God saw. God knew what happened. And guess what? It cost him his entire family. Are you really willing to gamble your whole family? Is it really even worth it? Look, as men, we need to lead our families. We need to go out before and behind them. We need to be the spiritual leader of our home, guiding our children, teaching our children, and showing ourselves a man. You know what's being a man? It's taking responsibility for your actions. It's deciding, hey, I'm going to follow God's commandments when it's not fun, when it's not cool. You know, all the guys at work are going to make fun of me because I don't drink. You know what? I don't care because I love my kids, because I love my wife, because I know the wicked thing. I know the accursed thing, and I don't care what they say. I'm going to be the protector and guider of my family. I'm going to be a man. You know what's not a man? To just go ahead and partake with them, to succumb to the peer pressure, to succumb to the wicked thing, to just go along with the flow. And then guess what? You're going to be destroyed with that flow. Go to Galatians chapter number six. We'll finish there. The Bible says in Proverbs 23, hearken unto the father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old. First Timothy chapter number three says, let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children in their own house as well. You know, when you read the pastoral epistles, you'll say, well, I never want to be a pastor. Yeah, but it's saying this is the example that every man should be. Every man should be a ruler of his own house. Every man should be loving his family and be taking care of his family and leading and guiding them. First Timothy four, it says, these things command and teach. Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers in word and conversation and charity and spirit and faith and purity. Look, the man should be the example, not the follower, not letting his wife lead them around. No, he needs to be the spiritual guide of the house. The leader. The Bible says the woman's supposed to ask her husband at home if she has a question. Not the other way around. Not the man just being led alone, led by his wife. Look, the guy needs to be the one in charge. We need to be, his father's not weak. We need to be strong on God's word. We need to get the iniquity out of our lives and we need to be present and at all costs, do not self-destruct because guess what? It will affect the rest of your family. Some people taking their own lives, what a selfish thing that you could do that. No matter what's going on in your life, realize that God's given you blessing. God's given you responsibility. God's given you people to be under you as a father. You need to take that responsibility as a man and own up to it. You know, there's some people, they spend their whole life as these like trolls. You'll see these guys that go on like YouTube accounts, like especially if Pastor Anderson and they watch every video and they're constantly commenting against Pastor Anderson and constantly commenting every video, just trolling them. And I know specifically that some of them are fathers, that they have a whole family, they have children. Look, what kind of respect does your children have for you when all you do is just troll YouTube channels? It's like, oh, my dad, you know what he does in his spare time? He just trolls a bunch of YouTube channels. What a loser. How pathetic are you? Your children can't have any respect for you. Look, and the sins of the father are going to affect the children. I don't even know what kind of sin is going to happen from that. But as a man, you need to realize every action you do, your children are watching. Whether you think so or not, whether I know what you're doing at home, your children know what you're doing at home. And they're going to be a reflection of what you do in the home. Look at Galatians chapter six, verse seven. Be not deceived. God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. But he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. Look, if you're a good example, if you love your children, if you train them up in the admonition and nurture of the Lord, if you train up a child in the way he should go, when he is old, he will not depart from it, is what the Bible says. Look, we have a lot of promises from God that when you do the right thing, when you are a good example, when you show your children unfeigned faith towards the Lord, when you show them true love for souls, look, they're going to turn out good. They're going to turn out right. When you use the rod of correction and you get the foolishness off of his heart and you show them God's word and you get them saved and you raise them right, they're going to turn out right. You know what? You need to be aware of the sins of the Father. You need to be aware of the iniquities in your own heart so you can try and purge them, speak towards the Lord, not just for yourself, but for your wife, for your children. We need to realize that God can visit the iniquities of the fathers under the children, especially of them that hate him. Let's close in prayer. Thank you, Father, so much for your word. Thank you so much for your perfect example, the love that you have towards us. I pray that we would just take seriously the jobs that you've given us, the responsibilities, the authorities that you've given us, and as all the fathers that would hear this sermon, they would realize that their job is important, that God has given them a great blessing to have children, and that we should take it seriously, the things that you've given us, and not just the fathers, but even the mothers, that they would also take their job just as seriously. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.