All right, turn in your Bible,
everyone, young and old, to Acts sixteen. Acts chapter sixteen. And I do pray the Lord will bless
this tonight. Bless me studying it. Acts 16, let's read the first
three verses. Now, you remember this from Wednesday
night, I'm sure, but we'll read it again, and I think you'll
see why I was impressed to bring another message from this text. As you know, Paul was on a missionary
journey. He 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. Speaking of Timothy, it says
he was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra
and Iconium. Him would Paul have to go forth
with him. The providential meeting of this
man named Paul and this young man named Timothy was the beginning
of a very long and close relationship, a very special relationship,
Paul and Timothy. You see their names together.
By this time, Paul was around fifty years old, and Timothy,
we believe, was in his early thirties. men, young men, were
not recognized as men until they hit thirty in Jewish society. So he was probably at least thirty
years old, his early thirties. There was a generation between
them, but they were fast friends. And this was to be such a close
relationship between these two men that Paul later on wrote
to the Philippians a letter, and he said this about Timothy.
He said, I have no man so dear unto me, so like-minded. He's like a son with his father.
He hath served me in the gospel. I have no man so dear to me,
so like-minded. Paul saw what was evidently the
hand of God upon this young man. And he desired that this young
man would accompany him wherever he went on all his travels and
preaching the gospel. And this is what Timothy did
for a long time. For a long time they traveled
together until the Lord began to bless Timothy to be able to
preach. And Timothy himself became quite
a leader throughout the church and eventually became the pastor
of the beloved church at Ephesus. large church, and it all started
with this meeting here. So much pains to show us God's
providence in bringing this meeting about, and I'm going to do it
again tonight. It said there in verse 1 again, Behold, Paul
came to Lystra, and behold, think about it, a certain disciple
was there named Timotheus, a certain disciple named Timotheus. Now
my purpose for this message, if you're taking notes, my purpose
for this message and my desire for this church is three things
here. Number one, I want to glorify
God in the salvation. Glorify God in the salvation
and the raising up of this young man named Timothy. Show us God's
glory in doing this work in this young man's heart. Number two,
I want to encourage parents. to raise your children up in
the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And number three, I
want to encourage young people. I want to try to encourage you,
especially young men, young men. I want to encourage young people,
young men especially, to have an interest in the things of
God. And I know that only God the Holy Spirit can truly do
that, but maybe he'll use me. Would you like that, parents?
Would it be all right if he used me to create an interest? Well,
I hope he does. I have a burden for your children.
Number one, I said I want to glorify God in the salvation
of this young man named Timothy, to show you how God raised this
young man up. This is marvelous, the providence
of God in bringing this young man to hear the gospel. Wednesday
night we studied this. Paul came through Lystra, this
town, the first time. Came through there and preached
the gospel. Preached the gospel, and it was a rare message. It
was a rare one, and it still is a rare message. A very peculiar
message, and it's one that is shocking the first time somebody
hears it. It always is. It's shocking.
The truth is shocking, especially if it's been silent for so long.
And Paul came through and preached this message. It was a shocking
message. It was an unusual message, this
gospel message. Barnard used to say, Preach for
a verdict. Preach for a verdict. He said,
If you really preach, really preach the truth, the gospel.
He said, Every time you preach, men and women and even young
people ought to either get mad, be sad, or glad. There ought to be a reaction.
There ought to be a reaction. No reaction, there's either no
sheep there, or not yet anyway, or the message was very unclear,
the man didn't make the message clear, or he didn't ring the
bell. The bell wasn't rung. There's
no reaction. And when you preach the Word
of God and in all its plainness, when you talk about God as He
is, holy, sovereign God. When you talk about man as he
is, and young people as they are before God, vile and condemned
before God, and when you talk about Christ as he is and his
work and so forth, as the sovereign, particular, successful Redeemer,
and the Holy Spirit as the sovereign, successful, invincible gatherer
of his people, if you do that, there will be a reaction. There
will be a reaction. You preach the gospel, you preach
the word of God, and all I endeavored to do this morning and endeavored
to do tonight, and all its plainness get real blunt, get real plain,
get real bold, real clear. Paul said we use plainness of
speech. Why? We want everybody to understand
exactly what we're saying. And if you do that, it will get
a reaction some way or another. And some people may call me,
I think one lady that visited here one time said I was, what
was the word she used? I forget. She didn't mean it
as a compliment. What she meant was a very forthright,
very plain, very bold. They said Paul was rude in speech.
What they meant was he wasn't too polite. He spoke very plainly,
and it shocked some of these staid and dignified people, especially
the Pharisees. Christ's preaching shocked the
Pharisees, didn't it? Well, there will be a reaction. I was in a Bible conference not
too long ago, and a young I, myself, and other preacher where
it was there, and this other preacher preached twice, and
talking to another man about his message later on, and I said,
I'm not critiquing the man's message at all, but I'd tell
him this to his face. I'd say, you could preach that
message anywhere. You could go down to the Catholic organization,
you could go down to the Methodists, you could go down to Southern
Baptists, you could go anywhere and preach that and not get an argument. young preacher I was talking
to said was bragging on he said he said some good things he said
he preached some good thing I said that doesn't say anybody can
say some good things. Anybody say some good thing I
said God wouldn't glorified cry that men and women weren't pointed
to Christ Christ wasn't exalted. He rarely mentioned Jesus Christ
name. Oh brother Scott Richman used to say that's a crime. A
message like that is a crime. A man ought to be put in jail. The consequences are far greater,
aren't they? A man's soul is at stake. Well, Paul came through and preached
that message. He preached the gospel very clearly,
very plainly, and there was a reaction. There was a reaction. The Jews
came down and they said to all the people, Did you hear what
he was saying? So the Jews came down and stirred up the people
and said, He's saying that God doesn't need you. He's saying
that God doesn't love everybody. He's saying that Christ didn't
die for everybody. They didn't say that, but that's
what they'd say now. He's saying that Gentiles are
going to be saved, not just Jews. Why, He's saying that we're worms
and God doesn't need us. We're sinners before God. Did
you know? And the people said, He is? And they got mad and they stoned
Paul, killed him. That's the kind of reaction I'm
talking about when you preach the gospel in no uncertain terms. Paul preached it, it got him
killed, didn't it, Terry? Christ preached it, got him killed,
didn't it? Didn't it? They had all the prophets preached
it, they got them killed, didn't they? The apostles got them killed. Except John, and it got him banished
to the Isle of Patmos. That's the reaction I'm talking
about. But there was another reaction there, in that little
city. One little cripple fella, I told
you about him, didn't I? He reacted. Like I heard when
it said in the Scriptures when the Lord preached it, some believed,
some didn't. Thank God some do believe, don't
they? Many are called. Whenever the Gospels preach,
that's the call, isn't it? Not the factual call, but it's
that general call. Every man hears it, don't they?
And many, many are called, but few are chosen. But those few
that are chosen, they'll hear it. Their ears will prick up.
Why? Who makes them to differ? That
wind that blows where it lists them. Maybe that wind will blow
on one of our young people or not. Blowing around here. He's
present. Whenever the Holy Spirit, whenever
the Gospels preach, the Holy Spirit of God is present and
he lands on somebody. Every time the Gospels preach,
there'll be somebody over here who's just listless and and sleepy
and not interested, I'll be somebody over here on the edge of their
seat, their ears open, a big smile on their face, maybe tears
in their eyes. What's that? How come they drink
more coffee than this person? Huh? Oh, it's the Spirit of God
that blows where it lifts it. Huh? There's nothing I desire more
than that Spirit right now to blow on one of your little hearts.
or this little heart, mine right now. God had a young man in that
congregation of people when Paul preached, had that little crippled
fella, and then over in the corner there was another fella, young
man. Paul didn't know him yet, he
was going to. He preached the gospel, they
stoned him, killed him, dragged him out of the city, and he rose
up, and you remember the story, it went on, all right. A little
while later, Paul came back through town, he said, I just feel impressed.
to go back to least run preaching and his buddies is his companions
barbers that don't go there. Paul is told you the first time
he said no, I feel led to I've got to I don't know why, but
I just the Lord is is impressing me to go there and preach. I
don't know why maybe he's got some more sheep there. He does
go back there. Paul everything will be all right.
Paul came back to Lystra and priest the same gospel this time. He went unharmed That same fellow
was there. Oh, the crippled fellow was there.
Well, he wasn't crippled anymore, was he? I guarantee he was on
the front row in a minute, and whatever Paul said, he jumped
up. Yeah! Maybe. There was another fellow,
a young fellow named Timotheus. He sat in on it this time, too.
And the Lord, as Paul began to preach through the Old Testament,
That's all they had in the Old Testament, wasn't it? He began
to preach it. He could have preached on the
Genesis, on the woman's seed, couldn't he? He could have preached
on the brazen serpent. He could have preached on the
ark, Noah's ark. And he could have said to those
young people, you've heard that story of Noah's ark, haven't
you? All you Jewish children have. Let me tell you what that
ark means and preach Christ to them. And there was a young boy
sitting over there. I've heard that, a young man,
he said, I've heard that all my life. I didn't know that was
talking about Christ. And Paul went on, all right,
went on, eventually got back down to Antioch. And this young
man, though, the Lord began to say to his heart through those
scriptures, through those messages he heard, the Lord began to say
to that young man's heart, that's the Christ. Jesus is the Christ. He began to prick that young
man's heart, say to him, the Redeemer has come, the Redeemer
for sinners. And you're a sinner, Timothy.
Timotheus, you're a sinner, aren't you? Oh, what a sinner I am.
Oh, I need a Savior. Well, one has come. His name
is Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth. He's the Redeemer, and he saved
sinners. He came to seek to say that which
was lost. Now he's seated at the right
hand of the majesty on high, and all that come to God by him,
he'll receive them and save them and accept them. If you call
on that name, Timothy started calling. Got in his closet by
himself, got his Bible and read it. Didn't have a Bible, but
if he'd had one, he'd have read it. Maybe he did. Maybe he did. Evidently he did have something,
didn't he? His mother taught him There was some form of scriptures
in his family. Well, he read them and heard
them. He heard things. And God did this. You see, God's
the one that did this through the preaching of the gospel.
That's the reason, Terry, that's what we're supposed to do. That's
what I'm supposed to do when I stand up here, buddy, is not
entertain your children. Right? You don't want me entertaining
your children. You want me taking them on hayrides
all the time and being their buddy, or you want me to be a
preacher of the gospel to them. What do you want me to do? Preach
the gospel to them? It'll reap greater benefits,
won't it? We'll take you on a hayride.
We'll take you on a hayride if need be. But the preaching of
the word is what God uses. Preaching of the word. And God
did this, and in the midst of a hostile, unbelieving world,
this one young man believed. Now I'm sure he this young man
named Timothy had a probably had a job. He had young friends
that he'd grown up with and cronies you know on the call cronies. I never looked that word up kind
of has a connotation of. Of. Mean that's done the cronies. He had cronies he had old friends
that he'd grown up with old friends and all old school mates. He
probably had a job. He lived in the world that was,
temptations were probably just as strong in some ways as they
are now. Like any other young man, he
was brought up, you know, and subject to these temptations
and all. But he believed. He believed Christ and he followed
Christ in the midst of his evil generation. They did. And months and months passed
by, OK? Months and months passed by,
maybe a year, and Paul came back through this town. Paul preached
the first time, and then they stoned him, and he went out,
and he came back and said, I feel led to go back, and he came back
and preached again. And then he went back to Antioch,
and then as they were talking about taking another trip, John
said, where are we going to go? He said, let's go back. to Leestra. I don't know why, but I believe
God got some people there. Let's go back to Derby and Leestra
and Iconium and these other places where we see how they do. See
how they do. Well, Paul is just one little
crippled fellow. Maybe not. Maybe there's more.
And behold, a certain disciple was there. The next time he came,
do you notice that he said, was there. Now, Terry, this young
man's a disciple. The Lord had saved this young
man. He was a disciple of the Lord
Jesus Christ. A disciple was there. A believer, a follower, a lover
of the Lord Jesus Christ. All right? God gets the glory
for all that, doesn't he? Do you see God's marvelous providence
in bringing this about? Bringing Paul there with the
gospel in the first place? bringing him back from the dead,
even to preach it again to him, this young man here, bringing
him back again to preach it. And this time take this young
man with him. So God gets all the glory for this man's salvation.
Secondly, I told you I wanted to encourage you parents. I want
to encourage you parents to raise your children in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord. Look at verse 1 again there,
Acts 16. says, Behold, a certain disciple
was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman." I like
those certain ... Nancy Park, you're a certain
woman. A certain woman. I like that. I just like that, the sound of
that. A son of a certain ... a certain man, the son of a certain
woman. God certainly knows you. God
certainly does. Christ certainly saved you. The
son of a certain woman says she was a Jewess and a believer. She was a believer, but this
young man's father was a Greek. That implies, and the fact that
he's not mentioned by name, or you don't hear any talk about
him training his child, the fact that Timothy was uncircumcised
tells me that he was probably an unsaved man. Is that what
you get from that? Probably. We'd probably be right
in surmising that, that this Timothy's father was unsaved,
but his mother was a saved one, was a disciple. Now look over
at 2 Timothy chapter 1, all right? 2 Timothy chapter 1, and we'll
dwell there the rest of the time. Second Timothy one. All of you,
if you have a Bible, young people, all of you, got a Bible? Second
Timothy, chapter one. I'll give you time to look it
up. Years later, it said back there in verse three,
it said Paul would have this young man go with him. He saw
the hand of God on this young man, a special young man, and
he He said, son, would you like to go and accompany me on my
trips and preaching the gospel? Would you like to go? I'd like
to have you. I'd like to do you some good.
Timothy said, well, I believe I would. Mom? He's probably living
at home still. Mom, can I go? Sure, son. Go. The Lord be with you. So
they went. They went. Years later, after miles and
miles of travel together, days and nights of close fellowship,
Paul and Timothy, around the Gulf. Paul writes to young Timothy
after they had parted. Paul was somewhere and Timothy
was somewhere, and they had parted and were in jail. And he writes
to young Timothy, and he says this in verse 1. Paul, an apostle
of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, according to the promise
of life which is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy. My dearly beloved son. Paul was unmarried. Paul didn't
have any children. This young boy was like a son
to him. He may have been watering the
page, Nancy, as he's writing this. Oh, my dearly beloved son. grace, mercy, and peace from
God the Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. Oh, I thank God, whom
I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without
ceasing I have remembrance of thee. in my prayers night and
day. Oh, Timothy, my son, my son. David didn't say it any more
with any more heart about Absalom than Paul did this about Timothy.
Oh, Timothy, my son, my son. Verse four, he says, I greatly
desire to see you. I want to see you, Timothy. Being mindful of your tears.
They had a tearful departure. the last time. Paul knew. Paul
was a prophet. The Lord let him in on some prophecies,
some secrets concerning his future and other things. And Paul was
fearful and maybe realized that he might not see Timothy again.
And Timothy thought the same thing, and they wept. Like the
church at Ephesus, when Paul was bidding them farewell, they
wept bitter tears. Not going to see you again. mindful
of thy tears." And he says, I prayed night and day that I might see
you again, that I might be filled with joy. He said, I've been
sad. I've missed you, Timothy. I've missed you. He says, I recall,
I call to remembrance. Every time I think about you,
Timothy, I call to remembrance. The unfeigned faith is in you. true and sincere and heartfelt
faith, desire for the things of God, love for the gospel,
unfeigned faith. Wouldn't you like that to be
said about you? What about your son? What about your daughter? Unfeigned faith, true saving
faith. When I call to remembrance, unfeigned
faith that is in thee, love for the gospel, heartfelt for Christ,
a belief in Christ, a desire to follow him. I call it a remembrance. Paul said, I remember many times
we had together. Paul and Timothy probably spent
many hours around the campfire. They traveled by foot nearly
everywhere they went, and they probably spent many hours around
the little campfire traveling somewhere to preach, and they'd
sit around that campfire at night What do you reckon they'd talk
about? Well, Paul would do most of the
talking, and Timothy sure would listen, wouldn't he? But they
talked about the things of God. Paul recalled that, talking about
the gospel, sitting around the fire with Timothy. Paul rejoiced
in this young man's zeal. Evidently, he had zeal and enthusiasm
for the gospel. God Almighty give some young
person in here that. There's nothing like youthful
zeal and enthusiasm for the things of God. Nothing like it. I recall
times growing up when the Lord was revealing the gospel to me
and some other young men. Countless hours spent together
traveling somewhere either to hear our pastor preach or to
hear somebody else preach. Wherever there was preaching
going on, we wanted to go hear it. And we talked about the gospel
all the way, and we talked about the gospel all the way back.
And countless times we visited one another's homes, young men
and women, and the subject seemed to always get around to the gospel,
the things of God. Many hours spent, sweet fellowship
around the gospel. There's nothing like it. There's
nothing like it. Good to God He'd create that.
Revive us, O Lord, in the midst of our year. Look at where this
fire was kindled in young Timothy. Look at it there in 2 Timothy
1. It says in verse 5, it says, When I called to remembrance
the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy
grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice. That's how you pronounce
that. And he says, I'm persuaded it's
in you too. It dwelt first in grandmother
Lois and mother Eunice. And I know what the world does.
It talks about mothers and all that, and I'm not bragging on
mothers. You know that. Most of the time I make fun of
all that, don't I? Huh? Don't I? Go out of my way
to make fun of what they say about dear old mama, you know.
But this is a clear passage, isn't it, concerning the role
that mothers and grandmothers can play in salvation of their
children. Doesn't it, Bible? Whenever young
Timothy went to meet or went to visit Grandma Lois's, whenever
he went up to Grandma Lois's house, young Timothy, he heard
her talking about the Lord. Maybe she'd sit there and, like
I said, we hear this so much and it sickens us and we make
fun of it and all, but it's so. It's so. He could have heard
her washing dishes, singing psalms, singing praises to God, or telling
him about Christ, instructing him from the scriptures. Timothy
stood down. Let me tell you something. Whenever a little something would
happen around the house, she'd say, that reminds me of a scripture,
Timothy, that I read. Somewhere over in Isaiah, where
it says this. Timothy, that's a type, that's
a picture. Did you know who that's talking
about? Timothy, do you know who gave you that? God gave you that. Do you know who you ought to
be thanking, Timothy? When he went to Grandma Lois's house,
he heard Grandma Lois talking about the Lord. Yeah, he did. Look over 2 Timothy 3, verse
15. It says that, doesn't it? It
says, you continue, verse 14, continuing the things you've
heard. Things that you have learned and are assured of and knowing
of whom thou hast learned them from a child, verse 15. From
a child you have known the holy scriptures which are able to
make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ
Jesus. It's not Grandma Lois praying
you through, but it's what Grandma Lois is talking about. Rather,
it's who Grandma Lois is talking about. Timothy? Son, seek the
Lord. You need to know the Lord, Timothy.
Yeah, Terry, that's what he heard up at her house, right? Am I
making this up? No. That's what happened. And when she heard the gospel,
Lois, Grandma Lois, I don't know where she heard the gospel. Maybe she went down to Pentecost
when Peter preached. Could have. She had to hear it
from somebody standing. There weren't many preaching
it then, were there? She could have traveled down and heard
that there... You know, a lot of people went to Pentecost when
it happened, didn't they? Could be Grandma Lois one day
said, Let's get a revival going on down at Jerusalem. Let's go, Gertrude, a neighbor,
or Eunice. We're going down there. Oh, Ma,
there's something better to... We're going. And they went down
there, and Peter preached that message at Pentecost. The Lord
saved Lois. She had to hear that gospel,
didn't she? Did she have to hear the gospel? The gospel. She heard it. The Lord saved
her. The gospel. She believed. And it says there
in chapter 1, it says, and it was in your mother Eunice, too. They may have been dead, but
his father, I believe, was apparently an unbeliever. Now, if that's so, listen up. This is very relevant, isn't
it? I don't need to tell you, you
men, I don't need to tell you that the father should be the
spiritual leader of the home. The Father should be the example
of faith and practice in the home, right? Right, Ed? The Father
is the spiritual leader in the home, right? That's that providing. That's one of the things you
must provide for your own. You're worse than an infidel,
right? Above all else, right, Brother Ed? Above all else, you
can provide a good home and good food and all that and sire children. Even an animal can do that. But
the provision they need more than anything, training them
up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, isn't it? That's
the provision our children need, and the Father is to be the leader
in that role. But if he's not, if he's not, then you mothers
and grandmothers, you mothers and grandmothers must bring up
your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. You
must. If somebody doesn't say something about the Lord to your
children, you better. You love their souls at all,
right? You better. If your husband's not going to
do it, you better. Granddad's not going to do it,
you better. You better if you love their
souls. If you believe that they must believe the gospel to be
that they must know the Lord to be saved. If you really believe
that, not just in your head, but you know it in your heart,
say something to them. Say something to them. Teach
them. I don't care if they're thirty-five
years old, Barbara, forty years old. Every time you're around
them, say something to them. Right? Look at Ephesians 6. I've quoted it about four times
now. Now let's look at it. Ephesians
6. See what this means here. It
says, You fathers, look at it. Ephesians 6, verse 4. You fathers,
provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the
nurture and admonition of the Lord. Oh, you young people, you
got it? Hannah, you got that? Hannah, Hannah, Hannah, Hannah?
Got it? Louie? Jennifer? Got it? All right.
I want you to see this. It's the Word of God to you,
to me. I'm a father, and this is to you, too. Ephesians 6,
verse 4 says, You fathers, bring them up in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord. What does that mean? What do
you do when you nurture something? Nurture of the Lord. What do
you do when you nurture something? Huh? Provide for it. You plant plants. You plant a
little garden and they come up a little tender plant. What do
you do when you nurture them? Huh? You go out there and you take
care of them. You tend to them, don't you? Huh? You feed them. You
water them. Fertilize them. Weed them. So forth. Endeavor.
When you nurture your children into the Lord or to the Lord,
nurture them unto the Lord, you endeavor to kindle an interest
in them. The endeavor to nourish them, feed them with the things
of God. A word here, an example there. A word in season. A thought
here, a thought there. Whenever opportunity arises,
you say something to them. Right? That's the nurture. Fathers?
Dan? Terry? Father? Ed? Charles? Right? Nurture. Tend to them. They're still yours,
right? They're still yours. In the admonition
of the Lord, what's the admonition of the Lord? Reproof? Rebuke? Look up there, all of you young
people especially, look at verse 1. It says, Children, obey your
parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and
mother. Parents? Parents instruct them earn their respect, first of
all, and then command it. Why? Because God says so, and
God says if they're not, they're in danger. Their souls are in
danger. Earn their respect, by example,
then command it. Honor thy father and mother. Who said that? Dad? No, God said
it. This is the first commandment
with promise, verse 3, that it may be well with you, young people,
this is to you, that you mayest live long on the earth. OK? That's the admonition of the
Lord, is it not? Command it. One of the signs
of latter times. Here in 1 Timothy 3, or 2 Timothy
3. is that children will be disobedient
to parents, right? As long as you have their ear,
command this to them. It's the word of the Lord. Earn
it first, right? It's the best way to get respect
is to earn it. But sometimes, no matter what you do, you can't
earn it from your children. You can't earn their respect,
so command it. God commands it. You command
it. Demand it. Insist upon it. do everything within your power,
God-given power, to make sure that it happens. Otherwise, they
are a wild ass's colt, headed for hell. Right? Right? Parents, right? This is the admonition of the
Lord. Paul Mayhead didn't say this. God Almighty says, the
first commandment was promised, to be well with you. That's your
daddy, whatever he says, go. Don't ever look at him with a
proud look. Don't ever backtalk him. You have God to answer to,
not just your dad. You have God to answer to. I'm not picking on you, Luke.
I just called your name, OK? I say the same thing to any of
these young people. I don't backtalk my dad. I'm
38 years old. Right? That's the admonition
of the Lord. Now, parents, if you don't do
it, I'm doing it for you, OK, right now. I'm doing it for you.
Want me to do it for you? I'll do it for you. And this is what Eunice did.
In spite of no help from her unbelieving husband, this worthless,
no-good husband of hers, in spite of no help from him, she did
it anyway. She taught young Timothy. Let
me tell you this, too. You mothers do not let your sons,
especially, run over you. They'll do it every time. Don't
let your sons intimidate you, mothers. You command their respect
as well as the father's. And you sons, you honor your
mothers just as well as your fathers. You hear me? God says
this. I recall my aunt, my father's
sister. She had three boys, and boy,
were they boys. Man, there never lived three
boys, any more boy than these three boys. Whew! Man, they were
terrors right out of the womb. They came out like that. Three boys. Well, this little
woman, my dad's sister, she's still alive in the late sixties,
pushing And she was about four foot ten inches tall. Still is.
Maybe four or eight by now. And those boys feared her. They feared her. She'd say, I'm serious. I saw this growing
up. When they were 18, 19, scrapping
six-foot, 200-pound boys, when they said, when she said, Steve,
what mama? What is it? What? No, no, what
is mama? I'm serious. How did she command
that? How? She wouldn't tolerate anything
else. It's either her or them. One boss? Somebody's going to
come out alive! Huh? Me or you? That's what it's
going to take, I believe, sometime. Me or you? There's only one boss
around here, only one where it goes. Sometimes it takes drastic measures.
Am I telling you the truth? I'm telling you what's good.
Huh? Take that teenage girl and wear
her out if you have to. She's not too old. It'll embarrass
her. She needs a good embarrassment.
Take that teenage boy out and whoop the far out of him. Rub
his nose in the dirt until he finds out you're still dad. And
you can whoop his little bony, you know what? I'm telling you, it might do
wonders. Don't shake your head at me unless
you've tried it, huh?" Well, I told you young people
wasn't going to pick on you, didn't I? I just did. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. But I'm grieving over our young
people. I lose sleep over our young people,
especially our teenagers. You mom and dad think you lose
sleep over them? I do too. There's nothing to
grieve my heart any more than to see you grieving over them
and to see them grow up and spit in God's face and spit on your
religion and go the way of the world and end up in hell. Nothing
would grieve my heart any more. I love every one of them, every
one of them. Love them like my own children,
I really do. So you just say in that preacher, no, I am not. The last thing I want to do is
I want to encourage you young people, particularly young men. Now, listen to me, it's on up,
whatever. John, how old are you now? Thirty-nine? Thirty-what? Six? Might as well
be thirty-nine. You're still a young man. Stan. Stan. You over there. Sam. Sam. Young man, Kevin. Young man. I don't want to embarrass anybody.
I don't want to embarrass. At the risk of embarrassing somebody
in here, though, I'm going to do it anyway. I'm going to do
it anyway. I would that one of you young
men would take and interest would take a real interest and
an active part in the things of this church. The preaching of the gospel,
the care of the grounds, the care of the building, the care
of the ministry. There's nothing I'd like more.
There's nothing that would tickle my heart any better. Then for
one of you men, one of you young men, to say to me sometime, can
I go with you down there to Winston-Salem? I hear you're going down to preach.
I'd like to go. Can I accompany you? Can I go along with you?
Oh, can you? I'll drive a long way to get
you. Can you? That's what Paul did, didn't
he, young Timothy? I'm going preaching. You want
to go with me? Yeah, I sure would like to. I'd like to go. One of you young men to seek
out the fellowship with me. You don't have to do it with
me. One of the other men of the church. But I'd like to have
a little selfish disrespect. Seek out my fellowship. Nobody
wants to be friends with a preacher. Huh? A preacher? I'm a wimpy preacher. Well, it doesn't tickle my heart
any more. Nothing would please me any more
than the Lord. I tell you what would really please me is the
Lord raise up a preacher from one of our young people. Oh,
man, make a preacher out of Stephen Kinsley. Oh, man, that would thrill my
heart to no end. Wouldn't it, you? Stephen Kinsley,
my God Almighty, save your soul and put you right up there to
proclaim his glory, buddy. I'd sit right there, buddy, and
shout to the top of my lungs. Preach it, brother! Kevin? How about you? Let me read you a letter, a couple
of letters. I received these letters from
this boy and this girl, a brother and sister. I received this one
a long time ago. This is from, this boy was about
twelve years old when he wrote it to me. Twelve years old. Twelve years old. Who's twelve
in here? Anybody twelve? Becca's age. That's a tender
age. That's a young age, twelve years
old. I remember somebody else in the scriptures twelve years
old, don't you? Who was in the temple all the time, asking questions,
and being asked questions. Twelve, that's a good age though,
Becca, that's a good age. You're in the right place to
ask questions. I'll ask you questions. Here's
this young man, he writes me and asks me questions. I'm writing
with one question in mind. My family and I were listening
to a tape by a certain preacher. I was wondering, and I've read
this to you, but I'll read it again. Before God's elect are
called, are they under the wrath of God? There's not a theologian on earth
that has asked that. I know God's sheep were ordained
before the foundation of the world, so because of that, does
that make them subject to the wrath of God until the time in
their life when they're called? I'd really like to know this
answer. How long do you reckon I put off writing him?" I sat out immediately, buddy.
I'm going to put this up. God has been gracious to us.
We've found a church that preaches the gospel, unrefined and not
watered down. Twelve years old! It's called
such-and-such. It's a real blessing. I hope
we can come to your church sometime in the future. Hope to see you
soon, your brother in Christ. Here's his sister. One year later,
his sister, she must be about twelve or thirteen here today.
Here's his sister. These folks, these parents are
doing something right, aren't they? I know it's God's grace
we give him all the glory, but God uses means, doesn't he? This
is what Paul's just been writing about. Lois and Eunice. I've read this to you before.
You young people didn't hear this. Twelve, thirteen years
old. Are you thirteen, Jennifer? Here's
what this young lady writes me. I just wanted to write and say
hello and send you some of my artwork. She likes to do art. She sent it to me. I hope you
all are well. We're doing fine here. We're happy to see Mr. and Mrs. Barry,
Wendy and Kevin. They visit us on a few occasions.
We always enjoy their company and their fellowship. I want
to thank you again for sending us your bulletins. I continue
to read and profit from them by the grace of God. God has
truly blessed me, led me away from the sinful ways of this
world. I do realize, however, that apart
from God's grace and mercy, if I were left alone, I would be
like most other people in this world today. Apart from Christ,
I am as wretched as the worst of men and would be condemned,
but in Christ, his blood, his righteousness, I am justified,
made clean and holy. I am so thankful for this, so
thankful I can hardly put it into words. I was wondering if you could
respond to this question. I know in the Bible it talks
about male leadership, but is it a woman's place to preach?
Evidently, she wants to tell somebody about what the Lord
has done for her. I wrote her back and said, Honey, you tell
anybody that comes across your path. You just can't stand up
behind the pulpit and do it. Since you're a man of his word,
I'd like to hear your views on this. I've thought of it at times,
but I don't know the right decision. Tell Mindy and Hannah, I'm sorry
for not writing so long. There's no excuse. Please come
see us. We enjoy your company so very
much. There's always such good fellowship in Christ. There's
nothing to please my heart any more than waiting on people like
me that are not there. Now, I know it's tough out there.
Nineteen ninety-four is tough. I guarantee, Dan, it's not tougher
than nineteen sixty-four, is it? Huh? Or seventy-four? What about that? That was a very
bad year. Huh? Stan? Whew! Well, I'll tell you where I was
at seventy-four. I was literally, literally in
the gutter. actually in the gutter. I know it's tough out there. I know there's much opposition,
persecution, ridicule, as well as temptation, youthful desires. I know what you're going through,
especially you young teenagers. I know what's running through
your body. I was that old, believe it or not. I was that young. At one time, I know what you're
feeling. I know the temptations you're
struggling with. I know. Your parents know. Believe
it or not, that old guy was once young and had those youthful
feelings and all. Don't you ever call him old guy.
Don't you ever call your father old man. That's what this disrespectful
generation calls her, the old lady, the old man. Don't you
ever. You call him father. You call him daddy. He's earned
your respect. You give it to him. But I know
there's temptations out there, and your parents know that. They
felt them. That's all the more reason for
this church to be praying for our children. Let's not stand against the Lord
and cease to pray for our children. If we don't pray for one another, the Lord will save our children
from this untoward generation, right? It's getting bad out there,
people. It's getting worse and worse.
The things that their little eyes are seeing now was unheard
of ten years ago, right? The things that are being accepted
now was unheard of ten years, and it still ought to be unheard
of. The things that us parents were even insensitive to ten
years ago were absolutely unheard of, vile, and still vile. Right? Pray for them. Lord is getting further and further
from God. That's what tells me Christ is
coming back soon, because this thing is getting worse and worse.
And pray to God that he would grant them to remember their
Creator in the days of their youth. Let's read on there in
2 Timothy, and I'll quit with it. All right? Read on. It says 2 Timothy 1. Young people,
look at it. Look at it now. I'm about finished. I'm the one doing all the talking.
This is tougher on me than it is you. I guarantee you. I'm
the one standing. You're sitting. Right? I've been standing for about
four hours today. I got over here at seven o'clock
this morning. I'm tired of this place. I'm
tired of this place. I'm just being honest with you.
I'm just being honest with you. I'm tired of this place. I want
to go home and watch the Master's golf tournament on the tape that
I've taped. I'm just being honest with you. Let's quit faking it. I love this place, and I thoroughly
enjoyed myself today, and I'm enjoying myself right now, but
I'm tired. And you're sitting there in a
nice padded pew. It's not too bad, is it? If it is, we'll get
you a pillar. Here's a pillar. Nobody would
use it. Who needs this? It's about ten
minutes more. There you go. A pillar. Pass it on if you don't
need it. All right? Look at verse six. He says, I put you in remembrance,
young Timothy, that thou would stir up the gift of God which
is in thee by the putting on of my hands. If I saw the workings
of God's Spirit upon one of our young people, you better believe
that nobody in here would be more encouraging than them. Oh,
you're talking about how I'd love to stir that up. If I saw
that little spark, that little fire, oh, I'd love to stir that
up. Love to. Just love to. Read on. Verse
7 and 8. God has not given us a spirit
of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Don't
be ashamed. Look at verse 8. Young people
look at this. Don't be ashamed, therefore,
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me. Christ said, if you
be ashamed of me now, I'm going to be ashamed of you then. Don't
be ashamed of the testimony, the gospel, worshiping God. It's uncool to go to church in
it. Now, let's just be honest. It's kind of cool. What are you? It's not cool. God sends all cool people to
a hot place. They cease to be cool eventually.
You know what coolness is? Yeah, that's cool, man. Those
little girls staying with us, it's cool. It's cool. I know. I used to use the same term,
cool. We used to use, believe it or not, groovy. Groovy. That's hip. Hip? Hey, far out! Isn't that silly? Cool, though. Cool's the word
today. That's cool. You know what coolness is? Pride. That's all it means to be cool.
That fella, he's cool. He don't give up, you know what,
for nothing. He's cool. No, he's not. He's
proud. And the Scripture says, pride
goeth before destruction. God says he hates that number
one, pride. Why? Because everything we have,
he gave it to us. So what have we got to be proud
of? You see these athletes that we make idols out of? Huh? Who
made him to differ from a man sitting in a wheelchair? Huh? God Almighty. Michael Jordan's
got more to answer for than most people. If he doesn't give God
Almighty the glory, if he doesn't start worshiping God, if he doesn't
come to know Christ, he's going straight to hell, as cool as
he is. Right? And all the rest of these idols,
all the rest of these sports figures. Let me tell you this,
too. Let me just be real bold. I don't think you can be one
of these major athletes and be a believer at all, because every
major sporting event is held on Sunday. I don't see them worshiping God.
I've seen a few. I've seen a couple here and there
that profess to worship God. But think about it. Every major
sporting event is held on Sunday. Where are they worshiping? Huh?
When do they have time to worship? They don't. They don't. Christian
in the name only. Well, coolness is pride, and
God hates it. Don't be cool. It ain't cool
to be cool. Not before God. I mean, can I
use that in your own vernacular? Huh? Don't you be cool. Or you'll be a fool. You'll be
meek and lowly. Scripture says God looks upon
the one who's poor and of a contrite spirit and trembles at my word. Not cool. God's going to spit on the cool.
Yeah, he is. Now, this never has been cool. It never has been cool to be
a believer or worship God, never has been. Talking to young people
in your language, never has been. Don't you think that I'm bothered by what people think about me?
Huh? Catherine, Hannah, Jacob, don't
you think it bothers me what people think about me? a preacher. The ridicule that, you know,
preachers, everybody, you know, change their behavior when they
get around you. The minute they find out you're a preacher, you
know, oh, well. I was in the, I was in the building
supply down here and I came in to get something and The owner
was on this side of the counter. Another man had his back to me,
and I walked in. That man was cussing up the store. Damn that,
this is another gig. Yeah, I'm down there cussing
up the store. And the owner was going, as if I've never heard them before,
as if I've never said it. Butcher, don't you think it bothers
me, huh? go in the post office and the
same fellow, I told him time and again, don't call me that!
My name's Paul, or whatever. Don't call me that! He called
me that again. That's a poor, pitiful preacher,
a wimpy preacher. Don't you think it bothers me,
huh? There have been preachers that went, don't you know that? And I want to tell them so bad,
I'm more a man than you are. Let me tell you something. The
only man who ever lived, the only real man who ever walked
this planet, Jesus Christ? Somebody going to call him a
wimp, meek, harmless, undefiled, turn the other cheek, slandered,
ridiculed, persecuted, spit on, didn't fight back? He's not being laughed at now,
is he? And these same ones are going
to stand before him. I know it's not cool. I know it's not cool. But it's salvation. And if that's what it means to
be uncool, would to God that he would make you uncool? And he says in verse 8, Be a
partaker of the afflictions of the gospel. Take up your cross
and follow Christ. You'll not be the loser.