Ephesians chapter six with me. Ephesians chapter six. Now I
deal, you know this full well, that on Sunday nights, Wednesday
nights, we go a little more in-depth into some things. We do some
little more diligent and prepared studies. And I ask you, I ask you, to pray silently for
yourselves right now, that you'll be a diligent and attentive hearer
tonight. And put on your thinking caps.
Be prepared to study with me. This is vital. This is good.
I've tried it on. It fits. It works. It helps. I need it. If I need it, I know
you need it. I've found that to be so. Ephesians
6, let's read this very Very familiar portion of Scripture,
beginning with verse 10. Finally, my brethren, be strong
in the Lord. And in the... Let's go up to
verse 1. This is very appropriate, the
whole chapter. Let's read beginning with verse
1. I shouldn't overlook this at all. Children, obey your parents
in the Lord. But this is right. Honor thy father and mother.
This is the first commandment with promise. It's not just something you ought
to do. It's something God commands. And God is angry with and will
deal with children accordingly. Do you hear this? Children. Anna. Jennifer, Andrew, children. Honor your father and mother,
obey your parents in the Lord. This is right. It's not only
right, it's good. It's helpful. That it may be
well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. Fathers,
provoke not your children to wrath. Bring them up in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord. Maybe I better read that verse
4 again. Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring
them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Servants, be obedient,
that is, workers, employees, be obedient to them that are
your masters, your employees, according to the pledge, with
fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ. As if you work for Christ, you
do. All authority, all powers that
be are of God. Not would I service as men-pleasers,
but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the
heart, with good will doing service as to the Lord, not to men. Knowing
that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he
receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free." Now, just
take that right like it comes. employees do the same things
unto them, forbearing, threatening, knowing that your master also
is in heaven, neither is your respect of persons with him.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power
of his might. Put on the whole armor of God
that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. We don't wrestle. We wrestle
not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto
you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand
in the evil day. And having done to stand. Now, there's a very
real struggle going on with the forces of evil. That is, with Satan and his demons. Now, it's not between God and
the devil. God's not fighting the devil.
That'd put them on equal footing, wouldn't it? God's not fighting
the devil. But we are. Yes, we are. We are in a struggle, in a warfare. Perhaps the only reason God allows
it to continue is for his glory. Somehow he's going to get glory
out of it, his purpose, and perhaps to test his people by way of
trial of his people. But we're in a very real struggle
with evil, very real. Some of you may All of you should
know something about it. It's a very real struggle within
us. And we know full well, like Paul said, it's not against flesh
and blood. There's something more powerful at work in us.
Now the world, now listen, I put a lot of thought in this message.
The world thinks only in terms of, when they think about sin,
when they think about evil, the world only thinks in terms of
immorality. Right? Open. immorality, and
that's part of Satan's wildness. That's part of his craftiness
to get people to think like that. One of the most dangerous, listen
to this, one of the most dangerous and ruthless leaders this world
has ever known was a man named Nikita Khrushchev. Some of you
remember him, don't you? He was ruler in Russia for a
while back in the sixties, fifties and sixties, one of the most
ruthless and dangerous men who ever ruled upon this planet. He made this comment, an interesting
comment, years and years ago. He said, and this is when the
United States and Russia were arch enemies, you know what I'm
going to say, he said, the United States, he said, the United States
will fall without ever having to fire a shot. He said, we can
bring down the United States without ever having a fire shot.
That is, by subversive activity, by scheming, by conniving, by
perversion, by subverting the youth and so forth, he thought.
Subverting the thoughts and the minds of the people. That is,
if you scheme and connive and trick and get in and wow your
way in, trickery enough, you can bring them down. Turn themselves
against themselves. Isn't that right? Now this is the chief way in
which Satan works. He's the master of deception.
He's the great deceiver. He's much too wise to devote
all of his time in the honky tonks. He's much too subtle and
much too wise to spend all of his time in the red light district. That's just a small portion of
this world in immorality. Man, listen, all men, all men
and women by nature are basically moral people. They pride themselves,
don't we? We pride ourselves in morality,
in religion. So you're not going to fool too
many people with open, out-and-out sin and immorality. Satan clearly,
cleverly does his most deceptive work in the moral majority. And I'm not talking about that
organization that Falwell started over there. I'm talking about
the vast numbers of religious people that he claimed to have
in his group. Satan does most of his deceptive
work in that by subverting, by twisting, by perverting the mind
from the truth. Getting us to believe a lie. Right? Get men and women to believe
strongly enough a lie, they'll fight for a lie and oppose the
truth with all the gusto they've got. Satan's grand design is to frustrate
the truth of the gospel. He knows full well, he's wise,
crafty in his own wisdom. He knows full well what the power
of God is under salvation. He's not ignorant about that.
He knows it's the gospel. He's seen many of his followers
jerk from his grasp through the power of the gospel. He knows.
He knows. And so he's devoted most of his
power, his cunning, his trickery, his cleverness, his warfare to
this, fighting the gospel. Yes, sir. He does it. Fighting the Word
of God by adding to it, taking away from it, he'll even do it
by using it, won't he? That's what he did with Christ,
Stephen. He dared to bring the Word up
to Christ, the Son of God. He'll use the Scriptures, just
enough truths, yet it's all a lie. He blinds the minds of men by
withholding or twisting the truth, lest they should believe the
truth and be saved, the scripture said. Yet there's an impenetrable
armor that Paul talks about here, impenetrable armor that is provided
for the believer. to repel these darts, this opposition. OK? Now the two, now bear with
me. Turn back to Ephesians chapter
2. Ephesians chapter 2. There's two principal areas that
Satan works in. Two principal areas of these
evil workers. The title of this message is
The Rulers of Darkness. Ephesians chapter 2, read with
me verses 1 through 3. Ephesians 2, 1 through 3. It
says, "...you hath God quickened who were dead in trespasses and
sins." That is, in time past, you walked according to the course
of this world, according to the prints of the power of the air,
the spirit, the same one he talks about over there in chapter 6,
about being powers, rulers of the darkness, spiritual wickedness
in high places. That is the air, the spirit that
now worketh in the children of disobedience against any believer.
Look at verse 3. And it's among these evil workers
that we also had our conversation in times past in the, now look
at this, these two things. lust of our flesh and the fulfilling
of the desires of the flesh and of the mind. And we're by nature
children of wrath even as others. In other words, there's two spheres,
there's two areas that Satan works in. I don't want to go
over your head here now, stay with me. Two principal areas
that Satan is at work in, that is the flesh and the mind. The mind. We're going to get
out of now, out of the moral, that is, out of the open, out
of the flesh and into the intellect. Now this is enlightening. This
message will be enlightening to you. Immorality. Immorality is the expression
of the flesh. The flesh expresses wickedness. The flesh is what does that.
It's an expression of the flesh. The mind now. The mind corruption
of the mind comes in suppressing the truth in favor of error.
In order to corrupt the mind you it's suppressing the truth
in favor of error. Now listen. Satan attempts to pervert our
minds through darkness. Ignorance. Ignorance. You know the old saying, this
is a common saying, what you don't know won't hurt you. Right? We've heard that all our
lives. Yes, it will. It'll damn you. Christ said in
John 17, 3, that salvation is in knowing. Isn't it? This is
eternal life. This is salvation. This is everlasting
life that they might know. Know. Knowledge. A knowledge. What you don't know won't hurt
you. Oh, yes, it will. It'll damn your soul. If what you didn't
know wouldn't hurt you, then we'd be better off a heathen
in the jungle, wouldn't we? The Scripture says this in Ephesians
4. It says they have the understanding darkened, being illuminated or
being alienated from the life of God through ignorance. The
understanding is darkened And they're alienated from this life,
this eternal life of God, through ignorance, through not knowing.
Are you with me? We're talking about ignorance
now. We're talking about how Satan works in ignorance. Let me give
you an illustration. John Bunyan wrote a book called
Holy War. It was about the conquest of
Emmanuel to regain the town of Mansoul. An excellent book. Wonderful. God inspired. The devil, Diabolus, the devil
came in and through the ear gate and through the eye gate, he
cunningly and craftily got the people of the town of Mansoul
to open the gates to him. He talked to him real nice and
everything, did some pleasing things to their eye gate, and
they just opened the gates and let him in. And he went in into
the castle in the middle of the town and set up his residence.
That's the heart. And you know what the first thing
he did? Bunyan wisely wrote. The first thing Diabolus the
devil did was take a man called the Lord Mayor. The mayor of
the town, you know who that represented? The mayor of the town was the
understanding. And the first thing that the
devil did was take Mr. Mayor and put him in a dark room. Built a high wall all around
him he couldn't see, he couldn't understand. The scripture says,
Our understanding, my nature, has been darkened. By who? The
powers, the rulers of the darkness. Now stay with me. Darkness and ignorance begets
lusts. Do you know why men commit evil
and sin outwardly, openly? Because their mind and understanding
is darkened. Adam and Eve, do you know why
they rebelled against God openly? They lost their understanding.
Their minds were twisted and perverted by Satan, wasn't it?
The light they had was darkened by Satan, wasn't it? God didn't
say that. He cast a little doubt, cast
a shadow, a little doubt. On the word of God darkened what
understanding they did have therefore they sinned. Ignorance begets
lust turn with me to second Timothy chapter three. Second Timothy chapter three.
With the mind in ignorance the flesh is open to all manner of
evil lusts covetous greed blasphemy and all these sort of things.
All because one doesn't know the truth. Now listen, Christ
said if you know the truth, it'll set you free. Free from what? Free from sin. Free from bondage to Satan's
self. Free from judgment, condemnation. Christ said this in John seventeen
is prayer. He said, sanctify them, listen
to this. He said, Father, sanctify them. Wash them, clean them up, purify
them through your truth, through your word. He said, your word
is truth. Sanctify them, clean them. Sanctification
has something to do with the word of God, doesn't it? Being
washed with water by the pure word. Sanctification has something
to do with the truth. Salvation is in knowing God and
Jesus Christ. Darkness, damnation, lies in
ignorance, not knowing. And it lies in lust as well.
Now look at this. I know this is a strange portion
of Scripture to you, but it'll make sense in a minute. 2 Timothy, beginning in verse
1. Now remember this? We read this, we looked at this
a couple of Sundays ago. This know also that in last days
perilous times shall come. Men shall be lovers of their
own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient
to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers,
false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that
are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than
lovers of God, having a form of godliness. A form of religion
with absolutely no power thereof from such turn away. A form of godliness. In other
words, Satan is at work in religion. And he'll bring a religious pretense. He'll bring a show of religion.
He'll bring a show of emotion. Make people send strong delusions. Great and powerful workings,
great stirring emotional messages and displays of healing, if you
will, whatever. Signs, great signs and wonders,
and if it were possible, it would have seen the very light. Satan
comes in these things through ceremony, through ritual, but
you know what's not there? The truth is not expounded. The Scriptures, Rick, the Scriptures
are not expositorily gone through, are they? Verse by verse. The
truth, line upon line, precept upon line. The truth sets people
free. But Satan, being the bondman
that he is, the ruler of darkness, wants people in darkness, you
see? People thereby Look at verse six. Now of this sort, that is
these fellows who have this form of godliness, they look the part.
They can act it too, can't they? Oh, they can look a whole lot
better than I ever thought of. Some of them can talk a whole
lot better than I ever thought of. But of this sort are they
which creep, creeps creep into houses, and lead captive silly
women laden with sins, led away with divers' lusts, ever learning,
but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." People by these fellows because
there's no groundwork of the truth. There's no steady consistent
preaching of the truth Suppository preaching laying the groundwork
line upon line precept upon precept so forth. There's a great display
of religion a Form of religion no power of the gospel, but thereby
people are easily led captive to all manner of wickedness all
manner, including the lust of the flesh. And these fellas,
that's the reason I believe every one of them are womanizers. I
really do. You can look at them, you can
tell, you can spot them, you can smell them. They've got their
groupies, I guarantee you. We've seen a couple of them fall,
haven't we? A couple of them have only been
found out, just a couple of them. The rest of them are in on it
too, guarantee you. They look the part. They're womanizers. They're covetous. I'm talking
they're in it for the money. You know that. You know that.
They're in it for the money and they, that's how they rule the
people. They promise the people wealth. They make the people covetous.
Lead captive with lust and so forth. So ignorance, ignorance
begets lust and sin, outwoken sin. Yes, it does. Ignorance
of the gospel, ignorance of Christ, the truth, which will set you
free. Secondly, ignorance tends to sleep. Spiritual insensitivity. Spiritual insensitivity. People in this generation are
pacified. They're being pacified with a
religious sugar tit. You ladies ever give your children,
some of you older ladies may have, give your children what's
called a sugar tit? They put a wad of sugar in a washcloth
or something and let the child sit there and suck on it, you
know? Oh my, their eyes turn inside out, all that sugar, you
know? And they just get in a stupor. They do. Well, people of this
world have been fed a religious sugar tit. Instead of good, healthy,
sound doctrine—Paul called it sound doctrine—that is, knowledge-enriched
food, cheap food, good old-fashioned green beans that are good for
you. You may not like the taste, but it's good for you, isn't
it? Thereby these people are made sluggish, their mind is
void of judgment and understanding. That is, it's not working properly. If you don't feed your children
healthy food, their minds, they say that breakfast is the most
important meal of the day. Okay, Mary? Why? You're feeding the mind,
not only the body, you're feeding the mind. The mind is a muscle,
it needs work too. People aren't working their minds
through the knowledge of the gospel truth, truth shed abroad,
truth taught, thereby their minds aren't functioning properly.
Their discernment, they have not. Discernment is increased
by knowledge. All right, thirdly, I want you
to turn to 2 Corinthians 4 now with me, 2 Corinthians 4. Ignorance
shuts out the means of recovery. If Satan can keep a man ignorant,
he'll shut out the means of his recovery. Keep him in darkness.
Keep the understanding in darkness, like Mr. Lord Mayor, and the
people will be blinded. They won't know. They won't know. God uses means. God uses the
gospel to enlighten our minds, our hearts. The gospel, the glory
of God in the face of Christ Jesus. And like I said a moment
ago, Satan's grand design is to stop the preaching of that
gospel. He might preach close to it.
He might preach so far away from it, it doesn't even smack of
a gospel. But his grand design is to keep men from hearing the
gospel because it enlightens, it illumines. the heart and the
mind and the soul. You can put a man to sleep by
fattening him up. You can puff him up about himself
and put him to sleep, and he won't hear or see any need for
mercy. Puff him up, make him feel good about himself, he won't
need mercy, will he, Terry? He won't come with a rope around
his neck, will he? He'll come up expecting something. Hey,
God, give me what's coming. I'll claim it. a man up, fatten
him up, make him feel good about himself, he won't hear the gospel.
You can put a man to sleep by filling his time up with activity.
They do this in religion, fill a man up with activity. Don't
let him have time to say anything about the gospel. Sure don't
let... Didn't you tell me a man said
this to you one day, you wanted to give him a tape, and he said,
I ain't got time for that, I'm going to do a Bible study. Well,
you can listen to it on the way. He didn't want to. He didn't
want to listen to it. Too busy. Too busy. I ain't got
time for the truth. Look at this 2 Corinthians 4.
He says, if our gospel be hid, verse 3, it's hid to them that
are lost, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds
of them which believe not, lest they, the light of the glorious
gospel of Christ, his image of God, should shine unto them. The God of this world has blinded
their minds. See that? Blinded the minds. Somebody said this, a man asleep,
a man asleep through ignorance, blinded through ignorance, is
a man who's like a spiritual diabetic. He's been overfed sugar
in such a way that he's in a spiritual coma. And he won't listen to
sound doctrine. He'll shut out the gospel. He'll
shut out his only hope. The gospel, folks, we know this,
the gospel is Christ. Christ is the gospel. The gospel
is Christ. The man who knows and understands
the gospel has the gospel revealed to his heart, the gospel we preached
this morning. That man knows and believes Christ. The man who has the gospel revealed
in him, not just to the mind, but to the heart and The man
who knows Christ knows the gospel he has an understanding he has
a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and the gospel. There's
simultaneous. Now. But Satan hides that gospel. He hides that gospel and it said
there in that verse four it said that he has blinded the minds
of them which believe not, blinded the mind." Now, there's a twofold
blindness. Man is naturally blind. The natural
man cannot see, cannot understand. The natural man, the fleshly
man, is blind. He doesn't understand the things
of God. That's blindness number one. And the second blindness
is the blindness of Satan. Satan prejudices, blinds the
mind against the gospel, lest they hear it and be saved. and
be delivered from that darkness. So the rulers of the darkness,
Satan being the grand and principal monarch of this, the rulers of
darkness, they work in the realm of the flesh and the mind. You
got that? You with me now? I'm going to
apply this, everything I've said, we're going to apply it practically
to our everyday lives. Satan's grand design is to darken
our understanding, to leave us in ignorance. Do you know how
we keep from sinning against God? What does David say in Psalm
119? Huh? Apply my heart to understanding.
Isn't it? Put your word in me. Over and
over he said this. Incline my heart to your word,
to your truth. Put your precepts, your understanding,
your testimony, your word in my heart that I might not sin
against thee. Didn't it? The heart, the word
of God, the truth of God, the precepts of God written upon
the tables of the heart, the mind, and understanding is what
keeps us walking with God. Now, here are our responsibilities. This brings to my mind some responsibilities. Now listen, first of all, to
parents. Parents. We have some responsibilities. We have some children entrusted
to our care, don't we? But they're not, as I said once
before, they're not for our own enjoyment. We do enjoy them. God graciously and mercifully
and kindly gives us some children, and we love them. We enjoy them.
They're a real blessing, aren't they? They sure are. But not
just so we can enjoy them, but these children are living souls. They're not even yours, really,
Terry. Those aren't your children, really.
God's the author of life. He's the giver of life, isn't
He? The Lord gave. There He is, right? You're borrowing them. You're
renting them a while. Now, He's entrusted these children. I couldn't say anything more
important to these parents. He's entrusted these children
to your care. A soul, an eternal soul, he's
entrusted to your care. Turn with me to Isaiah 54. Isaiah
54. God has given us these living
souls under our care. Why? We read it back there in
Ephesians 6. that we bring them up in the
nurture and admonition of the Lord." Wasn't that the plain
commandment of God in his word back there in Ephesians 6? Bring
your children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. All
right? What a blessing children are,
aren't they? They're a blessing. Blessed is the man who has a
quiver full of them. What a blessing. Nancy, what would you have done
without any of those three? Oh, it would be a gaping hole
if you didn't have one of them, wouldn't it? Oh, you can't imagine
it. What a blessing. But they're not just to fill
a void. They're just to play with. Their souls are at stake. Their
souls are at stake. And in a great measure, in a
great measure, Rick, You and I, young fathers and very young
daughters, in a great measure, they're left in our spiritual
care. In our spiritual care. Look at
Isaiah 54, look at verse 13. Now, the Lord speaks of promises
to his people in a spiritual sense. He talks about the success
of the gospel. This Isaiah 54, 13, Christ, he
quotes this in John 6, 45. But this has a bifold meaning,
as all the scriptures do. Verse 13 has principally a spiritual
meaning. He says, All thy children shall
be taught of the Lord. All thy children shall be taught
of the Lord." I know that's true, all of God's children. But I
tell you what, the commandment comes down. Terry Kinsley, you
a believer? You say you believe Christ, don't
you? All your children better be taught of the Lord. That's
God's commandment. Mary? They better be. Now, there's
our responsibility. Here is the promise. All of our
children should be taught of the Lord. That's our responsibility.
Here's the promise that comes in teaching us. Great shall be
the peace of our children. There's a proverb that says,
raise them up, train a child up in the way that it should
go, and it shall not depart from them. Do you believe that? Perhaps the reason we haven't
seen the complete fulfillment of that in somebody is because
they didn't raise a child up in the truth and the fear and
the admonition of the Lord. You reckon? We can't lay the
blame at God's door. He said it. He said it. Taught of the Lord and great
peace. There's a promise and there's a responsibility. Now
we care for the well, the physical well-being of those children.
Deborah, you wouldn't dream of letting those two children go
without a meal, a square meal. You care for the well-being.
How much more? They're eternal souls. Huh? What of their minds? What was I talking about a while
ago? What did we spend the whole thirty minutes here on talking
about? The rulers of the darkness corrupting the mind. The mind. That's where they're at work.
The mind controls the sinful actions. We showed that. We proved
that. Look at the psalm. You don't
have to turn. Psalm 119 says this. Wherewithal
shall a young man cleanse his way? How are our young children
going to be brought up morally and upright and so forth? Psalm
119 verse 9 says this, Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his
way by taking heed thereto according to thy word. I believe that, Nancy. I believe
that. We know that speaking of Christ.
But hey, you can't separate Christ from the written Word either,
can you? Oh, no. You learn Christ by reading the
Word, teaching the engrafted Word. Look at Deuteronomy 6 with
me. Deuteronomy 6. I'm telling you, this is a vital
message. This is vital. I heard a man deal with these
things, and my soul. It's vital. Deuteronomy 6. You see, the seed of the Word
planted in the mind of a child by a parent, the seed of the
word planted in the mind of a child by a parent, it's able, the scripture
says, it's able, it's able to make them wise unto what? Salvation. Ever thought about that? The speed of God's Word planted
in the mind of a child, and it's generally planted there and instilled
there by the parents, it's able, it's able to make them wise unto
what do we want more than anything? Salvation. Andrew may grow up to be President
of the United States, but if he doesn't know Christ, he's
a loser, isn't he? The word is able. Deuteronomy 6, look at this.
Oh, I tell you, you're talking about a powerful portion of Scripture. Deuteronomy 6, look at verse
3 with me. Here therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it, this is
God talking, the Lord who never changes, that it may be well
with thee, and that you may increase mightily as the Lord God of thy
fathers hath promised thee in the land that floweth with milk
and honey. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and
thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and
with all thy soul, with all thy might. And these words which
I command thee this day shall be in thine heart, and thou shalt
teach them diligently, carefully unto thy children." Talk of them when you're sitting
in your house, when you're walking by the way, when you're lying
down, when you're rising up. Teach them to thy children. Teach them the Word, the gospel. You know that's the greatest
act of love you can do for that boy? The greatest act of love
you can do for your child. is to instruct them in the gospel,
to pray for them, their souls. And therefore, what is the greatest
act of child abuse? Withholding. Withholding. You talk about warping
a child, you talk about incest and all this, or child molestation
and child beating children and all, you think that warps a child?
You turn him loose on the powers of darkness of this world through
ignorance of his mind? He's a goner. His soul is going
to hell. Now, his body and his mind, his conscience may be warped
a little bit by these things that happened to him in childhood,
but nothing like the destruction of his soul. Children, listen
to this, children have no choice where they're born. They have
no choice, do they? And they have no choice what
is being taught them. It's, therefore, it's being unrighteous
with God. God who commands us to teach
our children, we're being unrighteous to God if we do not do what He
commands us, that is, teach our children. We're being unrighteous
to our children. We're being child neglecters. We're being abusers. Folks, I'm
telling you the truth. These children are helpless.
They're helpless. And Satan's work, his kingdom,
is advanced. The darkness of this world is
advanced. It's greatened. It's increased
through our ignorant and untaught children. We're adding to those
little devils out there. Literally. We're exhorted. The Scripture
says, now listen to this. Oh, listen to this, please. Parents,
listen to this. We're exhorted to cast down imaginations
and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge
of God. And bring into captivity, bring
every thought into captivity to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
listen to me. The home, the home is the first
church. Rebecca, the home, your home
is the first church your child's going to be brought into. The home is the first school
your child's ever going to learn a thing from. The home is the
first thing of government that child is ever going to be exposed
to. Long before the child is turning loose on these God-hating
secular preachers, you know. For five or six years, we've
got them. What are we doing with them? Long before those children are
turned loose out there, most of their patterns, their habits,
and their thoughts are formed. They call them the formative
years, don't they, ladies? Yes, they do. Now, boy, you want to
look at a scripture that'll just chill your bones. Turn with me
to Hosea chapter 4. Hosea chapter 4. Now, I'm preaching
to me. I'm preaching to me. Look at
Hosea. Daniel, Hosea, Hosea chapter
4. People, you got a child under
your roof? It's never too late to start. Instead of getting too old. Oh
no. Oh, no. You've got a child under
your roof and under your care. It's still your responsibility. It's never too late to start.
Never. No. You ask God. You go to God with
a broken heart, heart full of repentance. Lord, I haven't brought
these children up the way I should. Lord, God, forgive me. Lord,
have mercy on them in spite of me. But, Lord, give me the strength. Give me the courage. Give me
the grace right now to start instructing my children. Is this overly pious religion
or what? Or am I giving some good advice
here? Am I giving scriptural advice? Sure I am. This is solemn. I've got a responsibility as
pastor of this church to your children. We ain't got a Sunday school
here. We've got a Bible class. It is a school in a way, but
it ain't in the common sense of the word Sunday school, you
know. We're teaching these children. That lady right there, after
she comes up and Deborah comes up, I don't know, I've been so
blessed with her rehearsing her lesson to those children. Stephen,
you and Jennifer, you are getting You're getting some instructions
that's able to save your eternal soul. You listen to me. Jennifer. Andrew. Hannah. God Almighty. God Almighty, impress
your mind. What's going on here? And here's a solemn and frightening
warning to us parents, Hosea chapter four. I'm going to get
to all of us here in a minute. I realize some of your parents,
your children are gone. Some do not have children. I
know that. But, you know, we've all got to carry these children.
Yeah, we do. Every one of us here can instruct
these children of this church. They're our children. Jerry,
they're our children. My daughter's your daughter.
Yes, she is. I appreciate your help. Isaiah
4, listen to this. I tell you, this chilled my heart
when I read this. It says, verse 6, "...my people
are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because thou hast rejected knowledge,
I will reject thee." You won't be a priest to me, a Kenyan priest,
a believer, a Christian. See, it now has forgotten the
law of God, but here's the bad part. And I'll forget your children." That's bad enough, God leave
us alone. We deserve it. But to put on
our children because of us? Oh, yeah. Exodus 20, chapter
5 says he'll visit the iniquities of the fathers on the children.
I know the children are responsible for their sins, but we, in part,
are a great deal responsible. Yes, ma'am. We, in part, can
bear a great deal of the blame because they've basically learned
from us. Yes. It ought to make us weep
now. I know some of you older parents
that weren't raised in the gospel, that's not really your fault,
but we do take the blame. Ask God to be merciful in spite
of us. But those who still have children,
oh, my soul. Listen to this. They basically
learn from us. They imitate us. Are we rebellious
to authority? So will they be. Are we unchrist-like in the home?
So will they be outside of the home. Is our home void of love and
grace? So will they be. You can count
on it. They learn from us. But I'm not able to teach my
children, you say. You're not? Now wait a minute.
Wait a minute now. We can do a whole lot more than
we think. Are you able to read the Bible? I don't think anybody in this
congregation is illiterate. Sure we can. Are you able to pray
for your children? Oh, my. Are you able to tell
him what you know? I mean, in your vain babbling
sort of way, are you able to tell him what you know? Sure
you are. Rehearse the gospel with him. You can put them under
the means of instruction. You got a child under your roof.
He ought to be under this roof. She. As her trench soaks, you see
what I'm saying? Do you see how awesome this responsibility is
of parents? Mary, you're going to bring a child into this world.
If you don't raise it up in the fear and admonition of the Lord,
it'd be better off never being born. That's right. So there's a tremendous responsibility.
Now, secondly, I've got to hurry. My, my, time has flown. Maybe
I ought to take this up another time. But secondly, there's a
responsibility of ministers of the gospel. It's the reason I bring these
things up. It's a fearful thing. I'm accountable. I'm accountable
for all that's said. Hosea, you think he liked saying
that? You think he liked repeating that verse? I'm accountable for
all that's said and not said. Paul said, I've not shunned to
declare the whole truth unto you. I've kept back nothing profitable.
Is this profitable, Ed? Is this profitable? Sure it is.
Sure it is. It's more dangerous to be an
average pulpit than it is to be a heathen in a jungle. Why? These people are lying. They're
withholding the truth. Now listen, the first and principal
place the church is enabled to stand against the devil, the
wiles of the devil, the darkness of this world, the ignorance
that prevails, is faithfulness in the pulpit. That's what I
want to be more than anything. At the expense of our comfort,
at the expense of our ease and ease in Zion, you know, I don't
want there to be peace, peace. I don't want to say peace, peace
when there is no peace. You know what? Faithfulness in the pulpit
to educate, catechize. We don't like that word, do we?
You know what it means? Catechize means teach, instruct. It means to feed the people by
every available means. He said over in Jeremiah 3, verses
14 and 15, he said the work of a pastor. He said, I'll give
them pastors and they'll do what? They'll be good visitors. They'll
drink tea every evening with the widows. No. They'll be good
hospital visitors. Come visit you when you're sick.
No. They'll marry me and bury me.
At one place, a guy, somebody said this to me. He said, talking
about not having a pastor, what are we going to do? Who's going
to bury us? When a pastor didn't want to
come up and be a pastor. Who's going to bury us? What
difference does that make? As long as your body gets in
the ground. This is the concept of a good pastor. He marries
good, he buries good, and he's a good visitor. Good personality,
good speech, he's friendly, he looks good and so forth. Read
the article in the Bulletin. But the Scriptures say, what
sayeth the Scripture? Jeremiah 3 says, this is a good
pastor. He'll fill my people with knowledge
and understanding the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. A minister,
like a parent, He may contribute to the rulers of darkness by
not fulfilling his responsibilities. God help us. The function of
a minister is to teach. Now here's, here's the last,
here's my last point and I'll quit. The church. The church. Now this is all up shit. That
was to me, the first part was to the parents, the second part's
to me. Now the church, everybody in general. The church. It said, and I'm not going to
have you turn, but over in Ephesians 4 he talks about every joint
supplying. until we come to the measure
of the fullness of the stature of Christ, every joint supplying,
the effectual working of every part. Do you remember this scripture?
All of us working together, building up one another and so forth.
The church is to battle and wrestle against ignorance. ignorance. These are not requests. These are not just good advice. These are commandments. He said
you grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. He said you desire the sincere,
he didn't say you ought to desire the word, you ought to desire,
he said do it. Desire the sincere milk of the
word that you may want, grow thereby. We stay a baby, what's
going to happen? We're going to be carried about
to and fro with every wind of doctrine by the slight and cunning
craftiness of men whereby they light the darkness of the world. Ignorance. You see how all this
goes together? He said, grow in grace in the
knowledge of Christ. He said, desire the sincere milk
of the word. That's how you're going to grow
in grace and in the knowledge of Christ, the word. It's more than
good and good advice. This is a commandment. This is
our very help, our very strength in time of need. We're to become
students in the school of Christ. He said, take my yoke. Rick, you didn't say that you
ought to be. You ought to learn of me. It's a good thing. They
didn't say, they said, take my yoke upon you and learn of me. Get in the school. Be a disciple
of Christ. Let me say this with all the
compassion I can muster, though. Get in the school. Be a student.
Deborah and I over there, we're taking, I'm taking right now,
a computer class. Now, Deborah, some of the things
she's talking about, sometimes they go over our head, don't
And it'd be very tempting to just kind of, well, I'll be glad
when this is over. Very tempting. But you know why
I'm in that class? I want to learn how to operate
a computer. I paid good money. I want to operate a computer
so I can do this bulletin to the best of my ability, and to
the shortest of my ability, the quickest. And I'm in there and
I ain't going to fall to sleep. I'm not going to do it by God's
grace. I'm not going to do it. We're to become students committed
to taking up with the things of the gospel, grow in grace
and knowledge of the gospel. We're to place ourselves under
the constant ministry of the gospel. We're to be, now listen,
we're to be wakeful hearers, attentive studious I don't go
for this. I don't go for this. Well, I
just don't know much. Now, wait a minute. How long
have we been sitting under the gospel? How long are we supposed to have
been reading our Bibles? I just don't know much, you know. I
don't know much. Don't get into that headache. Wait a minute
now. Some of us got some college under
our belt. Some of us a whole lot smarter
than we let on. were to be studious, to be students,
diligent, attentive, hearers, careful hearers. Be careful. Didn't you say, take care how
you hear or what you hear? Like I said, I'm in that class,
Debra, you're in that class because you want to learn how to operate
a computer, don't you? I'm in this building because I want
to know Christ. I'm reading this book. We're
going through these. We're not going through the motions
here. I hope we're not. Are we? Are you here? Why are
you here, Nancy? Are you here to learn Christ?
That you might know with Paul and know him? Students, let me
ask you this. This is so true. Y'all got anything
planned? Why is it we have trouble? Now,
we've been talking about rulers of the darkness keeping us in
ignorance, and thereby all manner of lust and all these things
coming upon us. Why is it we have trouble staying awake under
the sound of life? You want to give me a good reason
for that? We can stay engrossed in the
most ridiculous sitcom on TV there ever was. I mean, nonsense. Foolishness. We can stay utterly
engrossed, can't we? You want to tell me why when
the word of life is being preached, when we're going through the
Scripture, Isaiah 53, the passion of our Lord? I saw somebody sleep
this morning. You want to tell me why that is? Because somebody's at work. There's somebody at work. The
fact that we can sit and read a car magazine, a car, nuts and
bolts, rust, and be just consumed with
it, know it, and not be able to quote two verses of Scripture.
Somebody is doing their job. They're working on us, and they
have succeeded, haven't they? Paul said in Ephesians 6, having
done all to stand, didn't he? Against the wiles of the devil,
didn't he? Is this profitable? Now listen, I'm going to give
you some help here. We need to be retentive hearers,
retentive. We're to watch, listen, learn,
be attentive. Why? Because we profess to want
to know Christ. We're to be retentive here. That
means we're retained. We all complain of not being
able to retain what we hear. I've heard everybody in here
say that. I can't retain what I hear. Why? I'll tell you why. Just as soon as my voice quits,
what you going to talk about? I said, that's the way it is.
Oh, let me say it. People, I want to be as compassionate
as I can, but I want to be as truthful and I want to be as
helpful as I can. The Scripture says, don't let
the cares of this world pluck away that seed. It's got to take
root. Now, how do you do that? How
do you be retentive here? Here's some help. After this
is over with, discuss it. It helps. I'm telling you, it
helps. Some Wednesday night, I wouldn't
take anything for Wednesday night. It's my favorite, favorite time. Some of us meet down front. We
have another service. Don't we, Barbara? I get such a blessing
out of that lady. She wants to talk about the message
every time, for a long time. And it helps, doesn't it, to
go over it, to repeat it. It helps discuss it. The disciples
talked about rehearsing these things. I heard tell of a preacher
who went over to preach in Ireland years ago, and after the message
was over, they all sat around and they all asked him questions. And the preacher, the pastor
of the church, called upon different men. How'd you like to have this
happen to you? Boy, you'd listen a little carefully.
He called upon the deacons and all, said, Now, Brother Henry,
get up and discuss Brother Mahan's first point. They did that. And the man said, you know, he
said, I heard my message completely repreached again. You ain't going
to forget about that, are you? What was that? Repeat that again,
would you? It'd be a good thing. Yes, it
would. Discuss this thing afterward.
They're not like the carriers of this world. I mean, after
all, they are important. I understand. What you going
to wear to school tomorrow? That is important. I realize that.
It's vital. What are you having for dinner
today? I realize that that's important stuff. Go out in the
draft in about 15 minutes. But I tell you, we need to discuss
it. I don't want to turn this place into a morbid funeral home,
but there's some real joy in going back over these things.
Discuss it. Here's another thing. Follow
along very carefully. When I tell you to turn to these
scriptures, I'm not doing it just so we can fill up 45 minutes. Sometimes I spend upwards of
30 minutes looking for... Well, I used to. I got a computer
now. I'll confess, I got me a computer
now. A man down in Crossfield gave
me a program with a complete Bible and concordance on it,
and I just ping, ping, ping, and there's the scripture. And I'm thankful for that. That's
the reason I'm going to class. Learn how to use that thing.
But used to and sometimes still. Spend upwards of twenty, thirty
minutes looking for one verse of scripture that I think will
be helpful and write her down and say, now turn with me to
this. Do you turn? Yeah, most of you do. I believe
you do. But that's what I'm saying. I'm
saying I'm not, I didn't just write that down. Well, this would
be, they'd be impressed with this, or this will fill up time.
After all, we've got 45 minutes, and I've got to make something
relevant. I'll jot this one down. We'll turn over here. I used
to do that when I was first preaching out of nervousness, you know.
I didn't want them looking at me, so I had them turn into a
lot of scriptures. Keep their heads down, you know. Keep from
seeing me sweating. Never let them see you sweat,
you know. But I don't do that now. God is helping me. I turn
every turn because I think it'll help. It helped me. I look over
there and say, wow, look at this. Boy, they'll like this. Wednesday
night, we look at about 148 million. You don't know where to stop.
Look at this. Look at this. Look at that. They got to look
at that. I had a gut thrill of it. Surely
they will. Discuss it. Follow along carefully.
Thirdly, take notes. And I see some of you doing this.
You're doing it right now. Take notes. Now, I would advise
you this, though. Don't take them word for word.
Don't take them too carefully. You can't listen. You can't get
in the spirit of the message. Understand what I'm saying? Don't
look down too much, and you're not entering into the whole thing
of preaching. But do take notes. It helps. And go back over. Ah,
boy. I quit. Ask God, lastly, and
most importantly, ask God for the grace to keep you. Now, I quoted this scripture
a while ago. It's found in Ephesians 4. Ask God for the grace to keep
you from walking in the vanity of your mind, that is, the useless,
vain, and childish pursuits. Ask God to keep you from walking
in the vanity of your natural mind and to keep, this is what
Paul says, to keep your understanding from being darkened and thereby
being alienated from the life, the fullness, that they might
know the fullness of God. To keep you from being alienated
from the life, the joy, the peace, the comfort, the health, the
hope, the strength, the nourishment, that's found right here and up
here. Ask God for the grace to keep
you from being darkened through ignorance that is in you.