I meant to say I don't think
I did in the first message. That was a soft one. I wanted
that to be tender. I gotta tell you some things.
We'll be in Genesis 18. I wanted that to be the soft
and tender one. This one may be hard. But I ought not be afraid
to tell what the Lord said. I pray you give me that strength
to tell you plainly what he said. And if you get mad at me, you
just have to get mad. You ain't mad at me, I know that.
Daniel said that. He interpreted the dream, Nebuchadnezzar. And he was astonished for one
hour, and his thoughts troubled him. I thought, oh man, he only
had to do this for an hour. Isn't this all weak? And he said,
King, King told him, he said, don't let that bother you. Just
tell me what the Lord told you. He said, my Lord, the dream be
to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine
enemies. He said, oh, I wish there was somebody other than
you who cared for them. I've got to instruct you. I've
got to tell you these things. I must teach you these things. And if God applies it to your
heart, there's going to be great heaviness. If God will speak
to you, what I have to tell you, what He has, it's not me telling
you. If He speaks through me, what He has to say and He applies
it to your heart, it's going to sting. I know, I've already
went through it. I had to go through it first
before I could give it to you. It's going to hurt. But if He
wounds, He mends. If I wound, I can't do nothing
about it. You're wounded forever. If He wounds, He'll apply the
balm. He'll heal. And so that's all
right. And what I got to tell you, you will say, well, this
don't apply to me, or it's too late for me, or I'm not in that
situation. I don't have these concerns. Yes, you do. You hear
me. I'm confident God will bless
you. Here in Genesis 18 verse 16, The men rose up from thence.
These three visitors had come to Abram. Abraham stared and
laughed at them. He said, she's going to have
life in her. She said, I'm old. I ain't going to do that. And
he did. These men rose up from thence and looked towards Sodom.
And Abraham went with them to bring them on the way. He was
going to walk them to the end. And the Lord said, shall I hide
from Abraham that thing Which I do. We're going to look at
this soon. I wanted to cover it in June, but that wasn't possible.
The Lord's about to destroy Sodom. He's going to destroy Gomorrah.
He's going to burn them down. Abraham's going to plead for
them first. Lord, if that's 50. Oh, if that's 30. If that's 1.
And the Lord says, should we hide this thing? We're going
to do. What's that? Judgment. God's going to punish sin. Salvation. If one of His are there, He's
going to pull them out. Holiness, it's right for Him
to do so. How He did it is just right. Should we withhold that from
Abraham? Verse 18, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a
great and mighty nation, and the nations of the earth, that's
us, shall be blessed in him. He answers his own question.
Four, because I know Him. Because I know Him. I made Him.
Because I love Him. My love's in Him. For I know
Him that He will command His children and His household after
Him. And they shall keep the way of
the Lord to do justice and judgment that the Lord may bring upon
Abraham that which He has spoken of Him. Abraham's going to be
obedient. He's going to make his children
obedient. He's going to make his household Obedient. How is Abraham going to be obedient? How is he going to do these things?
How is he going to make his children and his house serve the Lord?
Because he has life in him. The Lord's living. He's born
again. There's an incorruptible seed in him. There's a new man
inside of Abraham. That's how it's going to be.
The Lord's going to make you. We're going to look at the practical
of this. This is necessary. Abraham commanded his children,
his household. This was the means you disagree with if you want.
This is the means the Lord used. So you and I have the gospel
today. How do I know Christ? I can stand
up and tell you about Christ. Because as it's recorded, there's
one believer on the face of the earth, and the Lord made him
faithful. He made his children mind him.
He made those of his household that lived on his property mind
him. He said, now we're going to serve the Lord. That's what
we're going to do. Because God made him faithful,
you and I are here today. Now you want to shake those means
off and throw them in the garbage if you want, but we need to be
taught these things. I need to be taught these things.
You need to be taught these things. That's in the home. That's here
in this local assembly. And then at the end, we'll see
the spiritual, how that's, this is what our Lord does. Abraham's
picture of Christ. He makes his children mind him. He saves them. He makes his household
mind him. They do what he says and how
he does it. He don't go in thundering and
ripping his children and whipping them and beating them and everything
else. He sets down with them. Now you may get a spanking, but
I'm gonna tell you why. I may be chasing you, but now you're
going to learn a lesson in this. He's tender, loving, and kind.
We might be a little long on the practical, but it's needed.
We're going to see Christ at the end of this. If we know the
love of God, if He's given us life, we want our immediate families
to know Him. That's the first thing. The Lord's
revealed Himself to me. I want my family to know. I want
my family to know. I'll forget it later, but the
Philippian jailer, I'll tell you now, the Lord saved him. What'd he do? At night, middle
of the night, honey, get up. Get the youngins in here. Now
preach to them what you preached to me. Lord saved me. I want him to save you. I love
you. Those that we love, we want our families, our immediate families
to know him. And those of our household, those
we work with, those that we interact with, those we care for, that
we associate. I have friends, you know that? I got a lot of
friends. I want them to know the Lord.
That's what I want. What's the elements of a house
in order? That's the title of this, a house in order. That'll
get some click. People like work. Now here it
is. What does it, I hate to give,
these self-help books don't help nothing because they don't know
what they're talking about. Here's three steps to whatever, that's all
over the internet at night. Five steps to do this, three
ways to do that. Well, you're probably missing
about 45 ways. I want to give you a few things. There are some
elements that are necessary for someone to have their house in
order, for them to honor God and glorify Christ in their home
and for the salvation of His elect. There are some things
that's needed. Turn over to Ephesians chapter 5. This is plain. Paul
knew what he was talking about. He understood these things. Ephesians 5. We're going to have a home, children
in a household that serve God, that keep the way of the Lord,
that do justice, that do judgment. There must be a heady, strong,
loving head that is obedient to the Word of God. Ephesians
5 verse 25. Husbands, that's you. Us men
in this room, we've been given a charge by God. He's given us
talents and we're responsible for it. He tells us how to do
it. Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the
church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse
it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present
it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or
any such thing. but that it should be holy and
without blemish, so ought men to love their wives as their
own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth
himself. For no man ever yet hateth his
own flesh, but nourish it and cherish it, even as the Lord
the church." That's unpopular in this day. I tell my boys,
you're going to be mocked. There's names are going to call
you. But if you're gonna marry a woman, you be the head of that
house. And that don't mean you go in with an iron fist and you
rule as some dictator, but in love as Christ loved the church
and gave himself for it. Well, you're gonna have to know
him first. You're gonna have to know him. That's my, I want
them to know that. Know him before you know somebody else. You have
to lead your home as Christ leads us. We have examples of this
throughout the scriptures. Do you know that? What's the
oldest one? The oldest book in the Bible?
Job. Job was an example of this, wasn't he? He led his home. Well,
that's not popular. It don't matter if it's popular.
I'm going to leave this home. His children. He raised them right.
They threw a birthday party and all of them got together. That
always impressed me. All his children went to one of them's
house to have a party. They were grown. They had their
own homes and they got along well. What did Job do? He went
and offered a sacrifice to God. where they might have sinned
against you. And they didn't beg for mercy. I beg for mercy for them. How
do you lead your home? Plead to God that he'll save
your family. Lord, please. Please do this. Please do this.
He led them, he trained his children, and he answered questions. You
know what the Lord gave us commandment to do for the Passover? Why do
you keep the Passover? Well, that makes us religious.
No! The Lord said, When your children say, why are we doing
this, daddy? You say, come here, son, let me tell you. Sit down.
Here's why we do it. Lord came through Egypt. We had
to kill a lamb and put the blood on a doorpost. And he said, when
I see the blood, I'll pass over. Now here's what that means, son.
We're going to die. And if Christ's blood's not shed
and applied to our hearts, the Lord's going to kill us. But
if he sees his son's blood, we're going to live eternally. That's
what that means, son. God told them to strut their
house. Noah, some people said, well, my children are grown.
It's too late. No, it ain't too late. Is there still some seats left
at the supper? Is there some seats left at the supper? If
there's life in them, there's hope. Noah did, didn't he? What about his boys? They had
wives. It was like a hundred years old.
They were plum grown. They were strapping men. And
he said, my sons, I'm going to serve God. I know Him. God saved
me. I found grace in His sight. I'm
going to build this big old thing that looks like a coffin. The
world's laughing at us and let them laugh on." Now you believe
me. I ain't lied to you your whole
life. I've told you the truth. Rain's going to come. What's
that, Daddy? I think it's water coming out of the sky. I don't
really know, but you get in that boat. What'd they do? Well, I'll leave
my mother and father. I'm grown now. That's haughty. They got in the ark. They got
in the ark. Abraham. Isaac knew how to worship,
didn't he? Come on, son. We're going to
go worship God. What's worship consist of? Sacrifice. Sacrifice. Something's got to die. And they
went to walking up there and they said, Daddy, we got the
wood. We got the fire. We got a knife on you. Where's
the lamb? How did Isaac know that? Abraham
taught him. He said, son, we're going to
go worship God. He led him. Is this just the old folks? New
Testament stuff? I want to tell you something.
They're both gone now to be with the Lord, and so it don't matter
if they mind me telling them or not. My dad built that church
down in Parkville in 1985, and he built a big brick church and
filled it full, put pews in it, put carpet in it, hired a professional
to come in and do the sound, have it all set up. Behind it,
he built a two-story parsonage, brick. There's a room there,
a house for that preacher to sit at, and he went to Henry
and said, You think I'd come at some cost?
You think he had to go out and sweat and labor some to do it?
You bet he did. I watched him. You know why he did that? I can
tell it now. He had an unbelieving wife. God saved him, and he had a wife
that didn't believe him. She said, I ain't moving nowhere.
He said, well, I'll build a church and we'll put God's name in it
and beg him to come down and preach for us. And he did. And
at first, I learned how to count by counting out payroll. I've
been around a business once or twice. Dad paid all the men that
worked for him half in check and half in cash. The IRS can't
get him now because the Lord's done took him home too. He said,
son, these men need some walking around money. They got hard times.
He taught me how to treat employees. And that's how I learned how
to count. And he told every one of them. He said, now you get
eight full hours of pay if you show up on Sunday. He said, my
wife, my children are going to go to church there because I
believe God. Now you just get in the car and go. That's what's
going to happen. and his household, those that he was in command
of, that he was responsible for, he said, I'm gonna put you on
a payroll. I'll give you eight full hours. You talk about putting
your money where your mouth is. I was five years old when I saw
it. That place was standing room only. Standing room only. Don come down and preached. I
think Bob Coffey was there. And Henry. You know, it didn't
take a month. There was about three guys there.
Two or three months, it was all gone. I said, Daddy, them guys
didn't come? He said, no, son. I said, but you was paying them.
Like they need money. They wouldn't come set for an
hour for eight hours of pay. I was five, six years old. He
said, son, natural man's at war with God. They hate him. We supposed to teach our children.
God gave me that example. We need to be taught these things.
And you know, I think how stubborn and how hard-headed and how evil
I was that the Lord had to go through all that trouble to give
me the parents I had just so he could save me. Oh, man. Hal was a husband
and father to command his house. I'll tell you what, it was his
household. Abraham had, what, 1,000 people? 318 military-age
males. That's when they went to war
with them kings. 318 fighting men. Now, they had
wives and they probably had some kids. Everything else, 1,000
people. And this is out of touch. People
don't like this. It's so, as long as you eat my
food, you live underneath my roof, you'll do what I say. You live here, we're gonna go
worship God. Now, I'm sorry, that's the truth, it needs said.
A husband's ahead of the house. It's your responsibility, like
it or not, it's your responsibility. And if you live under my roof,
and you eat my food and I provide for you, you live on my land,
you're going to worship God because I do. And that ain't going to
be out of bruteness. How does a husband and father and a leader,
a business owner, whatever, command his house? You take them by the
hand and you reason with them. Does that mean, well, we'll sit
down and make excuses? No, you explain it to them. This is why
we're going to do this. I have to sit my children down
often. They've sacrificed a lot for us to be here. My children
have sacrificed and they're grown. They're plenty big enough to
know it." And I sat him down. I said, I know you can't do this
now. I know you're not allowed to go here. I know you can't
wear this. I know you can't say that. I know you just have to
smile, grin and bear it sometimes. But here's why God saves the
people. And he's using me and us and
this whole congregation here to send his word forth. This
is why. And this is what we're going to do. Now that God says
to do it, we're going to do it. And then you do it in love. in love. It's not Brutus. No,
we're here. The Lord gave you to me. We're
going to honor God in this house. And that don't look like everybody
thinks it does. Well, Kevin Packer, he had a
beer with a hot dog. Don't get your halo so tight.
You'll give us a headache, too. I know what that means. That
means when it comes down to brass tacks, we're going to serve God. Because we know him. Because
he first knew us. That's what we're going to do.
And it's patient and it's tender as kind, but it's done and it's
done in love. That's what it's done. How could
I ask my wife to leave this place? Somebody asked, we was looking
at a big, beautiful mountain one time, and I was moving, and
I said, I gotta move, because the Lord's gonna move me somewhere
else, it's time to go. The fellow looked at the big
old beautiful mountain range and said, how could I ask my
wife to leave this place? I said, like this, honey, we're
not our own, we're bought with the price, not getting caught.
The Lord's moving us, it's time to go. Just like that. Come on
now, it's time to go. We've had some great examples.
There's also some anti-types. Turn over 1 Samuel 2. 1 Samuel chapter 2. Here's a man. We ought not judge. That's what
I was thinking. We'd look at Song of Solomon. Me and Kimberly read
that, and I said, honey, your hair is as beautiful as a flock
of mountain goats. Does that make sense? I better not say that. I might
get in trouble, huh? Don't matter what's said, it matters who said
it. The Lord came and said, Kevin, you are as beautiful as sasquatch. I said, well, sasquatch must
be beautiful. Thank you, Lord. What a compliment. Matters who
says it, don't it? Isn't that true? In this day,
too, you tell somebody they look nice, it's harassment if you
don't want to hear it. And it's flirting if you do want to hear
it. Depends on who says it, don't it? Well, here's one of God's servants.
And people say, well, run him out of town. Let me tell you
something. Eli was a believer. He was God's prophet. He was
used of God. He's the one that raised Samuel.
But he was a horrible example of a father. He did a bang up job as a father.
1 Samuel 2 verse 22. Now Eli was very old. Real old. Eli was very old and heard all
that his sons did unto 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 not a good report that I hear." You make the Lord's people to
transgress. He didn't do anything. Now boys,
boys, this ain't the time to reason. This is God's house. This is the gospel. Anything
else, well, bend over backwards and kiss your heels. Do anything
you can to get along with people and everybody. And don't be a
fence. Don't bring a reproach on the gospel, but the gospel's
been reproached on. This is the Lord's house. Knock it off. And
he said, now, sons, boys, come on now. You're going to make
daddy sad. What's wrong with you? And he
coddled them, and he used kid gloves, and he didn't speak to
them like men. They were going, and God said, He's going to punish
you. He said, I'm going to take this from your house. I'm going to destroy
them. I'm going to wipe them off the face of the earth. Now, chapter
3, verse 11. And the Lord said to Samuel,
Behold, I will do a thing in Israel in which both the ears
of everyone that heareth it shall tingle. Oh, did you hear what
happened? The Lord promised it, didn't
He? And that day I will perform against Eli all the things which
I have spoken concerning his house. Is that what he gave charge
over? He's charged over his children,
his household, isn't he? Concerning his house, when I begin, I will
also make an end." I'm going to finish it. "'For I have told
him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which
he knoweth.'" He knows about it. "'Because his sons made themselves
vile.'" They did a bad thing. "'And he restrained them not.'"
I've dwelt on that a long time. He was old. Very old is what
it says, isn't it? Well, what's this old, weak,
partly blind man of God going to do? He's strapping young men
doing this. Something. Something. Drive them out. Kick them out
of the house. Use a bullwhip. Whatever means.
Hire somebody else to do it. Whatever means is within his
power to do so. He should stand for the gospel
and the Word of God. That's serving the Lord, isn't it? That's serving
Him. He's tender. He brought men.
They're hanging out at the temple. They went to church like good
little boys. Yeah, whatever. Because he restrained them not. He restrained them not. What's
the requirements of these things? A house in well order. First,
a firm, consistent, loving head. But that firm, consistent, loving
head can't do everything by himself, can he? He's gonna need some
help. Help fit. Help meet, isn't he? Turn back
to Ephesians chapter 5. I should have told you to leave
a mark there. Ephesians 5, we'll be coming back forth to it. Ephesians 5, verse 22. Wives, submit yourselves unto
your own husbands as unto the Lord. Not to every husband, to
your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the
head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and
He's the Savior of the body. Is that hard to understand? Women,
submit yourselves to your own husbands as unto the Lord. Who put Him there? The Lord did.
Submit to Him. It ain't hard. It ain't hard,
just do it. You girls, when you grow up and
it's time to get married, If it's a man you cannot submit
to and do what he says, don't marry him. Don't marry him. Find a man that's a believer
and a child of God that knows Christ and has been loved by
him, and if that's the case, you can submit to him. But if
you don't respect him enough to do what he says, don't do
it. Don't marry him. Man's to be
the head, but sometimes they're just a headache. Sometimes they
don't believe. What's a woman to do? husband
don't believe. What if she's divorced? What
if somebody is a widow? What are they to do? Do they
throw their hands up and say, well, it's just fatal. It's fatalistic. The Lord just had to do something
if he wants to. If you know the word, the Lord, you know his
word, you see his will and act on the authority God's put in
your hand, you're without excuse. You're without excuse to leave your children in your
household. And now what happened? Timothy had a grandmother and
a mother, didn't he? Timothy. He was the bishop. That was his
office. He was the pastor at Ephesus.
We got that book of Ephesians. Mighty book. You know how many
people was there? They estimated about 25 or 30. He had a grandmother, Lois, and
his mother, Eunice. Paul wrote to him, he said, When
I call to remember the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which
dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois and thy mother Eunice, I
am persuaded it is in you also. He said, I know your family,
Timothy. Your grandmother, she believed, and she taught your
mama. She said, Now come on now, we're going to worship the Lord.
Here's what this means. You've got questions, I'll answer them.
I'll tell you. The Lord's taught me, I'll teach you. And they
taught Timothy. Were they widows? I've heard
some people say that. That wasn't the case. We read in Acts 16,
it said, They came to Derbe and Lystra, and behold, a certain
disciple was there named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which
was a Jewess, and believed, but his father was a Greek. Timothy
was an unbelieving man. He was a Greek. How do we know?
Timothy wasn't circumcised. Well, did they have to go along
to get along? I guess they did some, but she taught him. She didn't
lie to him about who God was. And then Paul spends a whole
15th chapter of Acts Condemn and circumcision. You do not
have to be circumcised to be saved. And then he bumps into
Timothy and says, God's going to use you, I can tell. Now come
out back, I'm going to circumcise you. You've got something to learn,
don't you? I may have to do some stuff to travel to preach here
soon. I could never do that. Well, God didn't equip you to
travel and preach, did He? You've got to love Him. A submissive
wife that trains her children up. and respectful, honoring,
obedient children. Back in Ephesians 6. Ephesians
6. Verse 1 says, Children, obey
your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother,
which is the first commandment with promise. With promise. What was the promise? that it
may be well with thee and thou mayest live long on the earth. What's that mean? You've got
a loving mommy and daddy that loves you. And we say eat right, brush
your teeth, make your bed. When you go to work, go to work
on time. Show up in the right place, right time, right uniform.
Get there early. Work hard as unto the Lord. Do it. And your
life's going to be easier. There'll be a promise with it.
It may be well with thee and thou mayest live long on the
earth. Now, how's dad accountable? I
gotta say that too. There's some disobedient, rebellious
children, nobody likes them and other children don't like them.
And I got nothing against the child that does that, but it
ain't nobody's fault but mama and daddy. They got a no-account
mama and a no-account daddy is what it is. Making children,
you got children, you make them mind you the first time, there's
absolutely no excuse for a person God or at least semi-honors His
Word to raise disobedient little heathens. Now you make them mine. The Lord gave us that command. If He's given you them talents,
He's given you that authority over them and He tells you to
do it. Turn over to Proverbs 13. It says in Ephesians 6, Your
fathers provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up and
nurture in admonition of the Lord. Proverbs 13. Proverbs 13, verse 24. He that spareth his rod, hateth
his son. We just say that so flippantly.
Well, you spare the rod, spoil the child. The wisest man that
ever walked this earth, born of Adam, says this. The Lord
spoke through him. He that spareth his rod, hateth his son. But he that loveth him, chasten
him to time. Wolves gave us that. That's why
they're just too precious for me to spank. I just love them
too much. You love yourself too much. That's
what it is. And you don't believe God. And
you don't want to honor Him. He that spareth his rod, hateth
his son. Proverbs 19, verse 18. Proverbs 19, 18. chasin' thy son while there is
hope." When's there hope? When they're alive. When they're
alive. When somebody's bad, sick, and
they say, pray for so-and-so, and I say, well, if they're not
the Lord's, they're an unbeliever. I say, I hope the Lord does heal
them. I hope the Lord gives them life, and then give them eternal
life. The Lord may bring them back from this disease or whatever
else and save them. And if it's a believer, I say,
well, if I was in their shoes, Comfort them, let them see Christ
in this, but I'm gonna be jealous here in a minute, they're gonna
be in glory. They'll be without sin, they'll be without a Redeemer.
That's precious, isn't it? While there's still hope. Chasing
thy son while there's still hope, and letting not thy soul spare
for his crime, without it just hurt his feelings. Oh well, their
soul is at stake. If the Lord's taught you the
value of your own soul, you find value in other people's souls. Proverbs 22, verse 6. Let's turn
and look at that. Let's read it along and look
at it and the Lord may apply it to us. Proverbs 22, verse
6. Train up a child in the way he
should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. You tell a child the gospel,
that doesn't ensure that they're going to grow up to be believers.
It doesn't. But how you train them to address it will. Y'all
listen real careful to me. You see my children sitting here?
They started out sitting with us. And we'd tap them and tap
them and tap them. Now you sit still. We trained them not to
sleep whenever they heard God's word preached. Not to talk when
others are talking. We taught them to look people
in the eye, say hello when someone said hello to them. Be courteous. And this is the Lord's house.
Now you're going to sit up, you're going to pay attention, you ain't
going to squirm, you're going to listen. From a young age. And you'd be
surprised how young they can do it. And then we made them
sit in front of us. And we got big enough. And if
they got two taps on the shoulder, you're going to have a bad evening,
ain't you? We're going to have a talk after. I ain't going to
spare that rod. I'm going to spank it. They sat
in front of us so we could watch them and keep an eye on them. And then, partly showing off
maybe, but to train them as they should go, they sat behind us.
If I had to turn around, you better watch out. My wife sits
over there. My children sit here. Why? I
want to train them up as they shall go. What if I ain't here?
What if she ain't here? I want them to attend the Lord's
house by themselves. Go hear His Word preached. I believe Him. That's why I do
it. And so you can see it. It's an example for you. We have
to be examples for others, ain't we? I believe him. And they're
well-behaved children. I'm thankful for them. I'm thankful
for you. You do well. Proverbs 22, 15. Foolishness is bound in the heart
of a child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
They're just a fool. I can't do nothing with them.
Yeah, you can. Proverbs 23, verse 15. I'm sorry. Proverbs 23, 13. I got them out
of order. Proverbs 23, 13. We hold not
correction from thy child, for if thou beatest him with the
rod, he shall not die. Well, it might hurt him. That'd
be all right. That'd be all right. Verse 14. Thou shalt beat him
with the rod and shalt deliver his soul from hell. That's what's
at stake. 29, Proverbs 29, 15. The rod
and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself, but
his mother to shame. Verse 17. Correct thy son, and
he shall give thee rest. Yea, give delight unto thy soul. What's the Lord promising? That's
His promise, isn't it? Do it. Do it, and He'll give
delight to your soul. Not just to your head, but to
your soul. Try Him. Try Him. See if He's lying to
you. He ain't. He ain't. Start early, be firm,
be consistent, and be truthful according to God's Word. This may go by, they just had
to get over it. At an early age, Santa Claus
come up, told our children, there's no Santa Claus. That's me and
mommy. Now, you have some gifts tomorrow morning, how we structure
our Christmases, but there ain't no such thing as Santa Claus.
People said, why in the world would you tell them children
that? Let them enjoy that experience. And I said, if I lie to them
about a man they can't see, why in the world would they believe
me when I tell them about a man they can't see? No, it's just
so. It's just so. God gave me five
talents. We read about these parables
of talents, right? God gave me five talents. That woman right
there and them four children. Kimberly and these four children.
By the Lord's power, by Him making me willing to forsake myself
and my thoughts, and He makes me command my household. He does
that as a picture in the home me holding the reins of this
local assembly here as a fixture here to show us the spiritual
man. Turn back to Ephesians 5. Ephesians 5, verse 32. Paul gave us instruction. Husbands,
love your wives. Wives, submit to your husbands.
Children, obey your parents. Ephesians 5, 32. This is a great
mystery. But I speak concerning Christ
and the church. Can we just stop at the practical?
No, Paul's telling us that we need to hear this. We need to. This is the means, just like
Abraham, this is the means the Lord may be pleased to use to
save our loved one. But, it's a great mystery, but
I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, there's
a spiritual meaning here. Nevertheless, let every one of
you in particular so love his wife as himself, and wives see
that they reverence the husband. We don't say, oh, well, this
is spiritual things. I'm gonna go home and do what I want. No,
no, no. All the preaching I can do doesn't
mean diddly if it's not acted upon in my home. You can go to
church until you're blue in the face and say, well, I'm at the
right church. I'm listening to the right man. These things are
all accurate. If it don't translate at home, it don't mean nothing.
Somebody believe or I don't know, I don't live with them. It matters
in the home. And that's where us parents fail
the most, being an example to our children. Be an example. Help me be an example of a man
that believes God in this generation. Why? All this is a picture of
Christ and his church. That's it. Do I look good in
public and I can sit in a high house and have titles? Hello,
I'm pastor. My oven broke, I told you that
earlier. And Pastor Beals wanted to show
me which way to diagnose that thermistor. He told everybody
that. Oh, buddy, just go by Beal. Spiritual meaning. Ephesians
5.32, this is a great mission by the Spirit of Christ concerning
the church. The consistent loving head that obeys God's Word, God's
command and seeks His will is Christ. He's our head. He's the
head of our church according to the Word of the Lord and He
serves Him. And guess what? His children
serve the Lord and everybody in his household serves the Lord.
Do you know that? We'll look at this another time.
I told you this before. There in Joshua 24, Joshua said
to all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel. And then
at the end of that, it says, Now therefore fear the Lord,
serve him in sincerity and truth, and put away... This is still
the Lord speaking. Put away the gods of your fathers that served
on the other side of the flood, on the other side of Jordan,
in Egypt, and serve ye the Lord, if it seems evil to you to serve
the Lord. All these things I've been telling
you, if that seems evil to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you'll
serve. You pick whatever false idol you want. I don't care.
Whether the God of your fathers which served on the other side
of the flood or the God of the Amorites in whose land you dwell
now. You can do an old-fashioned God or a new age one idol, whatever
you want. This seems evil for you to serve
the Lord. He says, but as for me and my house, we will serve
the Lord. And the people answered. Ooh,
somebody different's talking now. That was the Lord speaking. Modern religions, A horrible
sin. You choose this day whom you'll
serve. That's the Lord speaking on behalf
of His children and His household. He said, as for me and mine,
we're serving the Lord. He said, in my home, as for me
and you all, we're going to serve the Lord. We're going to do it.
In this church, as for me and you all, my children, we're going
to serve the Lord. We're going to do it His way.
We're going to obey His Word. Why? Because Christ our Father,
our Head, The Everlasting Father, our husbandman, he stood up and
said, as for me and my house, we're serving the Lord. And he
served him. He served him. What about that submissive wife?
John the Baptist says, he that hath the bride is the bridegroom,
but the friend of the bridegroom which standeth and heareth him
rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. And this
my joy therefore I feel. The Lord's church is his bride. And will she be productive? There shall nothing cast her
young nor barren in thy land. The number of thy days I will
fulfill. Lord said you're going to bear children and they won't
be cast in the field. Says the wife shall be as fruitful
vine by the sides of thine house. Thy children like olive plants
round about thy table. What's he saying? His word won't
return to him void. His word won't return to him
void. And children are heritage of the Lord. The fruit of the
womb is his reward. has arrows in the hand of a mighty man,
so our children... I was telling a friend of mine about Miss Shelby. That's just heavy on my heart. She's a widow now, and she's
got the same bills you and I have, but she don't have income. She
don't have a job. And I was telling an old friend
of mine, and he said, well, ain't she got some children? That's what
my mind says. I said, boy, she's got lots,
lots. She gave her life. She devoted
her life, sick, tired, didn't feel like doing it, it didn't
matter, and she served that man she was given to, obeyed him,
and she's got children all over this nation, don't she? Well,
she's tended to me often, hasn't she? That'll be good motivation
for us. It won't return void. So shall
my word be that goeth out of my mouth. It shall not return
to me void. It shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall
prosper in a thing whereunto I sent it. Wow, so we could succor. We could comfort those that the
Lord saves. The message is the same. Come,
supper's ready. Isn't it? That's what his church
does. Is it correct? Well, I'm going
to have to go down there and sort some things out. They wouldn't
get away with that. No, that ain't the job. Except for whom
the Lord chasteneth. Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth.
And he scourges every son whom he receiveth. The Lord's gonna
chasten his people. The Lord's gonna teach his people.
Whom the Lord loveth, he correcteth. Even as a father of son, whom
he delighteth. He delights in his children. He'll correct his
children. We're the bride. We're here to nurture. We're
here to guide. Here to feed them. Here to feed
them. How does a wife correct her child? Daddy said so. Now
what'd your daddy say? What'd your daddy say? How do
I correct you? What's the Lord say? What saith
the Lord? How should we do these things?
It's good for children to serve the Lord. That's what Hannah
prayed. She had Samuel and said, Lord, he's yours. Take him and
use him. And Samuel ministered to Eli. He served. Eli took out the trash.
He picked up cups. He did whatever he had to do.
And he did not yet know the Lord. And the Lord called him. Let the Word of Christ dwell
in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with
grace in your hearts to the Lord. That's what the bride does to
her children. And whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all
in the name of the Lord Jesus, given thanks to God and the Father
by Him. I don't want to keep you too
long. What's the goals of a well-governed
family? Whether that's in my home. What's the goal of this
well-governed family? And what's the goal of his? eternal,
well-governed family, that the glory of God may be established,
that Christ may be exalted in our homes. What's our goal? The salvation of our children.
I pray my children and your children are saved. I normally pray for
your children before I pray for mine. Do you know that? Guess what? He governs his children. God's glorified and none of his
children will be lost. That's the local body, that's
in our homes, and that's the same for that body of Christ
that's eternal. This is a great mystery, isn't it? Great mystery. But I speak of Christ and His
church. That's what it's for, isn't it? Now, knowing Him, knowing
Him that loved us, that was patient to us. God didn't come down and
just smite me where I live. He was long-suffering, kind,
and tender. Now, how do I treat them children? How do I treat
my wife? How do I treat you? I hope I
make it so. That's pretty good. Father, thank
you for this hour. Lord, teach us, we're your children.
Lord, make us good, obedient children. You've given us your
name. Allow us to walk worthy of such
things. Lord, it's our reasonable service
to serve you and to give ourselves to your word. Lord, what a great
supper you've provided. What a salvation you've given
us, Lord, undeserving. disobedient children, disobedient
servants are profitable. You've made us profitable. Lord,
we believe and help our unbelief, increase our faith and trust
in you and trust in your word. Allow us to see you work. I see you work in the hearts
of your people, Lord. Grow us and save those. Save that last one. We can all
be at home. Bodies shall be united. Thank you for this, forgive us
for what we are. Now that we ask, amen.