All right, I invite your attention
this morning to the book of Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 22. And it was good to hear Joe's message
this morning again, because I did basically hear most of that yesterday,
but it was good. It was well worth it both times.
Proverbs chapter 22, are you there? All right, I'll read one
verse. This is probably familiar. I
would venture to say that most people in religion, at least
that which is called Christian religion, have heard this quoted
at least more than one time. Proverbs 22, verse 6, train up
a child in the way he should go. And when he is old, he will
not depart from it. Started once to entitle this
train up a child and that's certainly fine because that's what the
scripture says But my actual title is this because I want
you to know where I'm going right off the bat this morning Here's
my title God trains up his children That's where I want to go this
morning God trains up his children so that so that when they are
old, they will not depart from it. Now let me just say right
off the bat that this is not, this verse is not a guarantee
of a child's salvation and perseverance therein. It just is not. It does not say train up a child
in the way of the Lord. Now, I'm not saying that we ought
not seek to train up our children in the way of the Lord, but you
and I cannot guarantee anyone's salvation. Exactly. John is clear
in John 1, verses 11 through 13, that Jesus Christ came unto
His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received
Him, to them gave He power, that's the right or the authority, to
become the sons of God. But then it says, which were
born. not of flesh, not of the will
of man. Okay, I'm missing something. Not of flesh, not of blood, not
of the will of the flesh, and not of the will of man, but they
are born of God. I was taught years ago in religion,
you train your child upright, there's more of a chance to be
saved. Salvation ain't about chance. Salvation is an act of
God, and we just heard that clearly declared just a few moments ago. This statement, this statement
is, this is a statement defining the absolute results. Notice
it's absolute. Train up a child in the way he
should go. When he's old, he will not depart from it. We have to take all that God
says here, not just a certain part of it. This is a statement
defining the absolute results of pure child training technique. Child training is not a cookie
cutter thing. It is not a one size fits all. Granted there are certain things
that are common to all of us and we all need training in.
That youngster back there. He will not need to simply be
encouraged to do the right thing. There'll be times, David, when
you'll have to make him do the right thing as much as lies possible
within you. But that will not guarantee his
eternal soul. And there are times when that
child or any other child needs to be punished. They need to
realize that there are negative consequences to bad behavior. I'm afraid our society is plagued
with a lack of those things today. And we live in a me society. Why? Because we haven't trained
up our children the right way. But again, I say child training
is not a cookie cutter or a one size fits all. It is train up
a child in the way he should go. The difficulty for us is
we don't rarely, rarely do we ever know the way that our particular
child should go. Let me give you a couple of illustrations
of that. One, if I have a child that God has ordained to be a
certified septic system man, that's what God's ordained for
him. Put in septic systems. And I try to train that child
up as a dental surgeon. God's going to confound that.
Do you understand what I'm saying? You see that illustration of
what I'm talking about? If God's ordained that your child be a
ditch digger and you try to make him a doctor, it just ain't gonna
work. Train up a child in the way that he should go. When he's
old, he'll not depart from it. That's as practical as you can
get. But you and I can't guarantee it. Let me give you another illustration
though. If I have an Ishmael, can I train
him up as an Isaac? You understand what I'm asking
now? If I have a child that's an Ishmael, Can I train that
child up into being an Isaac? No, I cannot. We know Abraham
trained up Ishmael in the way of the Lord. But the Lord said,
my covenant's not gonna be with Ishmael. My covenants will be
with Isaac. Now I will bless your son Ishmael.
He made him a great nation, and we still see the effects of that
today. A powerful people, mighty people, but they're not the covenant
people of God. They're not the covenant people
of God. Abraham even said, oh, that Ishmael
might live before thee, and God said, no. No. So if you got an Ishmael, I don't
care how much you try to train them to be an Isaac, they ain't
gonna be an Isaac. It's just the way it is. Somebody
says, well, why does it have to be that way? Because God ordained
it that way. That's why it has to be that
way. But pastor, how do I know what technique? You don't. And I don't. We must trust God, the potter. Now, we must trust God, the potter. Listen, believer, let me give
you three things. Fathers, what does God tell us to do? Provoke
not your children to wrath, but raise them up in the what? The
nurture and the admonition of the Lord. And we are to do that
as fathers and leave the results to God. That's one, that's period,
that's as far as it stands. That one little verse, Joes,
all fathers gets when it comes to that passage in Ephesians
6. Paul didn't go on, okay, fathers,
here's exactly how you do for all your children. He said, no,
what? Don't provoke them to wrath. Bring them up in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord. Leave the results of it to God.
Right? Well, what about mothers, especially
young mothers, young women? Well, Paul gives that. And I
want to read it because I don't want to misquote that because
I know this is a Touchy subject for some. And that's all I need
to be accused of saying something wrong. First Timothy chapter,
at least it's not Romans nine. But we will get there in a moment.
First Timothy, I just cannot let some things go. First Timothy
chapter five, verse 14. I will therefore that the younger
women marry. Bear children. God the house. You see it? Guide the house. Give none occasion to the adversary
to speak reproachfully. Young women, do these things
and leave the results to God. You see it? Because our responsibility
as a father or a mother or whatever it might be is to simply obey
what God says no matter what the results are. no matter what
the results are. So when it comes to me looking
at Proverbs chapter 22 and verse six, I have to say this third
thing. We see instruction for fathers,
don't we, in the New Testament. We see instruction for mothers
in the New Testament. But I also know this, one, the
third thing that we as parents all must do is acknowledge two
things, our ignorance and our failures. Because when it comes
to the way I train to my children, I did not always train them the
right way. Most people think you're supposed
to now throw in an out. No, no, I did not always train
them the right way. There were probably times that
I didn't punish them when I should have. There probably were times
I punished them and I probably shouldn't have. It's just, I
mean, it's just the facts. And I'm so ignorant, I look back
now and I think, if only I could do it again, I'd still make other
mistakes even if I learned not to make the ones I did make.
Because I know I still make mistakes today. I make mistakes with my
wife, I make mistakes, everything. Everything. When it comes to
training up a child in the way that he should go, so that when
he's old he'll not depart from it, there's only one father that's
ever done that, absolutely. That's the father who's also
the potter. Amen. Amen. That's right. Hath not
God. Here we are, Romans 9 verse 21.
Hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lump to
make one vessel under honor and another vessel under dishonor?
I'm not going to talk about the vessels of dishonor. I don't
know a lot about those other than what's directly said there.
But I do know a little, even by experience and in light, especially
in light of God's word, about those vessels of mercy. those
vessels of honor. Think about it. Here's God Almighty,
the reason he knows how to bring up a child, one of his people
in the way that he should go, so that when he's old he'll not
depart from it, because he's the potter and determined what
your way should be. You see it? That's where you and I have total
inability. I'm not the potter. We're never
referred to as potters as parents. God is the only parent who is
the potter. And he has the right and the
ability to make that piece of clay into whatever he wants it
to be. Let us always remember that.
Train up a child in the way that he should go. That's sound advice. And when he is old, he will not
depart from it. He's the potter. Here is the
one and only trainer who has the right to determine my way.
Right? He don't just know my way, he
does. But he knows my way because he
ordained my way. He ordained your way. Therefore
he can be the perfect trainer, right? I know most of you probably
get exactly what I'm saying, but you know there are thousands,
no doubt thousands, who profess to be Christians, but I probably
just spoke Chinese to them when it comes to speaking spiritual
words. They have no idea what I'm talking about. No idea. Here are several thoughts in
light of our God. who is both our potter and our
father. Is he not said to be our father? Yes, sir. We're even told to
pray after this man, and one of the first things we're supposed
to say is, our father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy
name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done on earth just like it is in heaven. Why? Because he has both the right
and the might to carry it out. Exactly. So again, here are several
thoughts. In light of God, our potter,
and God, our father, who is potter over all, but he's not father
to all. That's right. Yes, he is potter
over all. Yes, sir. He's going to mold
all to his liking. but he is a father to some. I'm not here to argue that or
try to prove that this morning. That's just the way it is. I
know that's not what's taught in most so-called Christian assemblies
today, but that's just the way it is. He is both our potter
and our, our believers, his people, the elect. He is our potter and
our father, and he's potter over all, but he is only father to
some. Some people have the devil as
their father. And he's training them up. That's what our Lord
said. He said, you act just like your father, the devil. He was
a liar from the beginning, so are you. Isn't that what he said? That's what he said. So let's look at these things
in light of Proverbs 22, six again. Train up a child in the
way that he should go. Oh, if I had the right, if I
had the ability to be a potter, Joe, I could have done that perfectly.
But my problem is, even if I were a potter, I'm a fallen potter. I'm a fall, even if I, but I
don't, I don't even have the ability to be a potter. I had
very little ability as a father. I had no ability, Mac, as a potter. Whatever ability I had, all too
often, I transformed something for my own benefit. What I thought
was the right way. No, God says train up a child
in the way that he should go. Not how you thought it ought
to go. In the way that he should go. And there, and there only,
when he's old, he'll not depart from it. Two things in particular. One thing this lets me know,
this verse lets me know, train up a child in the way that he
should go. This lets me know that no child knows his or her
own way. And we're talking about the people
of God now. I'm talking about the elect. And we're talking about those
vessels that God makes them to honor. The vessels of mercy that
he afford, or vessels he afford prepared for this mercy. No child
knows his or her own way. You cannot train yourself up. I know sometimes we think we
can, but we don't know the way. We don't know the way. This tells
us our complete, absolute, total inability. If a child must be
trained up, it doesn't say train your child to train himself,
does it? The child must be trained up.
in the way that he should go so that then and then only when
he's old he will not depart from it. No child knows his or her
own way. We don't even know God's way
by nature. You're right. That's right. Joe's adequately
already preached that too. We don't know God's way by nature.
We don't understand. We don't seek after God. We don't
seek his honor. We don't seek his glory. We don't
seek his will. We want our honor, our glory,
our will. By nature, we're totally bent
toward that. We'll even take the things of
God and twist them toward our own designs. You're right. That's
exactly right. You remember what they did with
that brazen serpent? Oh, yeah. That was a glorious thing for
those people who looked and lived, was it not? Yes, sir. They turned
that thing into an idol later. Yes, they did. You remember that?
And then not only that, when God Almighty was giving his commandments
to Moses, up there, Joe, writing on those two tables of stone
with God's own finger. And he's writing them things
out. Those people were already partying naked around the golden
calf at the foot of the mountain. That's me by nature. That's me by nature. And I remember
what Chris Cunningham said. He said, you know, remember Moses
came down, he seen what was going on. You remember what he did
with those tablets, don't you? He crushed them, throw them down
and broke them. And I can imagine this is what
Cunningham said. I can, the people said, Moses,
you said God wrote something up there while he was up there
in that mountain. Remember he crushed them. They didn't get to read
them. That's right. They said, well, he, he, he wrote something
on those tables of stone. What did he write? Oh, Oh, the first one is you will
love God with everything you are. They're already down there
partying around a daggone golden calf, naked. Oh, aren't you glad God is not only
your father, he's your potter. Isn't it good to have a father
who is also an absolutely perfect potter? Amen. That's good. Mason, your father wasn't like
that. Your natural father, he didn't have that. My father,
I love him, but he don't have that ability. I didn't have that
ability of my children. Sometimes it's hard to even say
I was a father. let alone a potter. Oh, but he is our gracious, nevertheless. I like that. He is our gracious,
merciful, loving father who also is our potter. Our, think about
it, our God reigns, R-E-I-G-N-S. Our God reigns over us all. Now, he reigns over all. Right? R-E-I-G-N-S. He reigns over all.
But he reigns over us all, too. Believers, his people. Our God
reigns over us all. R-E-I-G-N-S. But his reigns,
R-E-I-N-S, are held in his sovereign hands at his sovereign will for
each of us individually. Is it not? And most people, well,
he reigns, and they think about the reigns, and they, well, God
just holds back on everybody, on everything. No, he didn't.
Some of us, when we were children, before we were converted, we
were moral children. We tried to respect our parents.
Now, I'm saying we. I'm not trying to, I'm saying
we, you all. But some of us, God evidently gave a whole lot
looser reigns. Did he not? Some of it, we chomped at the
bit, at every, but God would pull it here when he wanted to.
Pull it there when he wanted to. Or he'd pull it this way
when he wanted to. Why? Because our father is also
our potter. And he reigns, R-E-I-G-N-S, over
us all. But his reigns, R-E-I-N-S, are
in his sovereign hands. And he lets you go a little,
or he can pull you back. He can turn you to the left,
or he can turn you to the right. And when people say, well, God
don't make anybody do anything, they're lying on God. That's
not just a misstep or a misstatement. They're lying on God. He's the
potter. He's the potter. We, like wild
asses, coat, snuff, and kick. But he still holds the reins. but his reigns are individual
for each one. He knows the way that we should
go, what our way was. He trained us up in the way that
we should go so that when we were old, look at the two different words
as an infant, but then as a mature person, when I'm mature, I'm
not depart from it. He was training us up even before
our conversion. Yes, sir. That's right. Paul said in Galatians 1 verse
15, about God, he separated me from my mother's womb. Now that
was not an excuse for his Pharisees. That was not an excuse for his
rebellion and self-righteousness, but it is a statement of fact
concerning God. He was in sovereign control of
Saul of Tarsus, even when he was nothing but Saul of Tarsus. he could have snuffed that man's
life out in a heartbeat. But yet he'd give him, he killed
Herod, God killed Herod! Right? But yet the reigns that
he had over this man solved Tarsus. He'd let him go here, David,
right, or let him go there. Even give him loose enough reigns
that he was putting some of his own brothers and sisters in Christ.
He didn't know they were. Some of his fellow elect, having
them held into prison. And he said, before I was murderous,
I was injurious, I was a blasphemer. But I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
I obtained mercy nevertheless. I like that. What did God say to Jeremiah?
I formed you in the belly. Isn't that what it said? I ordained
you a prophet even when you came out of the womb. That's just not a couple special
cases. That's the way God is over all His people. But when
it pleased God, Paul says, who separated me from my mother's
womb and then what? Called me by His grace. This
is so even in our conversion. God is truly training up His
children in the way that each individual should go so that
when they are old, they will not depart from it. I would encourage you fathers,
and not mothers, and I'm not talking about just toward the
youngest, even when they get old, you're still their mother
and their father. Engage them in training as best
as you can. But you cannot bring forth absolute
results like this. You just can't do it. Religion
then wants to give us an out. Well, but it don't really. It
says so that when they are old, he will not depart from it. God's
the only one that's ever done that that way. And God always
does it that way. It's so even in our conversion.
What did he say to Jeremiah as well? I've loved you with an
everlasting love. The reigns, R-E-I-N-S, of God's
love let Jeremiah go exactly where God Almighty had ordained
for Jeremiah to go. up into his conversion, but even
in his conversion and after, I've loved you with an everlasting
love, therefore, with loving kindness have I drawn thee. There does come a time in each
one of our lives where God finally, he does put on the reins. He
bows us to his son. Think about it. In this light,
in this light, train up a child in the way that he should go,
and when he's old, he will not depart from it. Our conversions
involved all kinds of various experiences, didn't they? Some
of us had some experiences that others didn't have. Who do you
think was in charge of all that? Who do you think that was molding
all that? Our father, who is our potter. Our conversions involved
various experiences, but the same gospel still conquered every
one of us. You see what I'm saying? There
are things that are different, but there are some things that
are always the same. Now you can apply that to your
responsibility as a father and a mother, but remember, you can't
carry it out absolutely. You've got to trust God. And
you leave the results, the finality of whatever, you leave that to
God. But our conversions, again, I say, involve various experiences. Some of us were raised up under
the gospel from the get-go. Some of us were found in the
midst of false religion, even false Christianity. Yet God still,
by his power, the power of his spirit, and by the work of his
gospel, all conquered us by that self-saved message. To where
now, here we are, standing and sitting together, worshiping
and rejoicing in that gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our circumstances, even now,
they vary, don't they? It's not, is God raising us up
in some kind of cookie cutter? Ah, look at it, have you ever
thought, boy. I wish I was like so-and-so.
I wish I was a little more like so-and-so. I wish I understood
a little more like so-and-so. I wish I was a little more faithful
than so-and-so. They may not be as faithful as you think they
are. Let me just put it that way.
But if you're one of God's, you're faithful in exactly what God's
ordained for you to be faithful in. And our circumstances vary, but
the same truth still governs every one of us. Does it not?
And there are some of us that God still, on occasion, gives
us some loose rein, R-E-I-N, don't He? And others, Mason,
just seem like God's always got the reins back tight. The problem
is, we really don't know where God's got the reins. That's in
His sovereign hands. But whatever you've went through
up to this point, God Almighty, your Father, is your potter.
He's your controller. He's your maker. He's your benefactor. He means and does do everything
for your good. When he gives you that little
bit of loose rain. It's not an excuse, but it's a fact. When
he gives you that loose rain, that's for your benefit. He gonna
teach you something. He give Job. Job had some of
his worst troubles after his troubles started with the physical
things. Then he began to complain when
his three miserable comforters came along, didn't he? Before
he was what? The Lord gave, the Lord taketh
away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And then when his three
miserable friends come along and start accusing him, what's
he do? Starts defending himself. So that in the end, he said,
Lord, I've heard of you with the hearing of my ear. And that's
vital. You're gonna hear. Even Job had to hear. I've heard
of you with the hearing of my ear, but now mine eye seeth thee. I've experienced this. This is
real to me. And if God pulls them reins back
tight on you, that's for your good. That's for your good. And why do I know that? It ain't
because I've explained everything. It ain't because I can go and
tell you about every circumstance you ever went through or are
going through right now, and here's how this is to your good.
I can't do that. Here's how we know it. Because
the book says, for we know that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. And this even started before you loved him
and before he called you. Because it's for whom he did
foreknow, he did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his son. Now you have no right to know that it is for your good
until He calls you and you love Him. That's right. But once He
calls you and you love Him, then you know, He's been doing this
as my benefactor from eternity. Amen. That's it. From eternity. Yeah, forever. Think of it, conversions, all
kinds of different experiences, but the same gospel conquered
us. All kinds of varying circumstances. But the same truth still governs
us. Our knowledge and our obedience varies in degree, does it not?
And Christ said that's the way it's going to be. That seed that
falls on good ground, it always springs up and has fruit. but
some have more fruit than others, right? Some 30 fold, some whatever,
some 40, some 60, right? Whose business is that? The one
that controls the seed, the one who controls the ground, the
one who controls the plant, the one who controls the bud, the
one who controls the fruit, right? He's not only our father, yes
he is, and thank God for that, but he's also our potter. And
if he's molding me, Joe, as a vessel of honor, bless God, a vessel
of honor, I am. Not because of me, but because
of his work. It glorifies God to save sinners.
Right? Therefore, somebody's got to
be a sinner. That's just the way it is. It's
not an excuse. It's not justification. It's
just the facts. Again, I say our knowledge, our
obedience varies in degree. Some of us seem like we just
sputter along. Others just seem like, boy, we just chug wide
open, four-wheel drive up and down, you know? But I'll tell
you, yes, it's the same spirit that leads each and every one
of us. It's the same spirit that originally, by sovereign fiat,
breathed that spiritual life into us. And then, now you may
have heard the gospel before that, but that gospel was doing
nothing to you before that. When God Almighty breathed that
spiritual life into you, then all of a sudden that gospel laid
hold of you. The spirit of God opened your heart and your understanding
and your mind, and that word began to mean everything to you. Truly, we can say about God,
he is training up his children in the way that they should go
so that when they are old, they will not depart from it. We persevere
because we are preserved. Preservation precedes perseverance. Training precedes perseverance. And God's the trainer. If you're
not really one of God's, eventually you'll leave it. If I'm the one that's trained
you up into believing these things, eventually you'll get tired of
it and leave it. But if God's the one that's trained you up
in this, you'll hang around to the end. That's right. Oh yeah, you'll stumble. Mac,
you'll fall flat on your face. But God Almighty will still uphold
you. He won't let you go away. He may let you fall, but he won't
let you fall away. And that's a big difference.
That's a big difference. Train up a child in the way that
he should go. And when he's old, he will not
depart from it. Thank God for him, for him. Thank God for him. God has, God is, and God will
train us up in the way that we should go. Don't look at somebody else and
say, well, why aren't they going through this? Because the potter
said so. And it's easy. It's easy to be
a little envious. It's easy to become a little
angry. Why is God making this happen to me? Because He's your
potter. But remember, He's also your
Father. He loves you. He's doing this for your good.
And once we awaken His glory, All of this trouble and problem
won't mean anything anymore. But it all will have had its
purpose. Will it not? God has, God is, and God will
train us up in the way that we should go so that when we are
old, we will not depart from it, not if we're His child. Now,
if you can go away from it, then you're called a bastard. And
not a son. Because we train up children
for our own purposes. That's what Paul says there in
Hebrews, doesn't he? But he does it for our good. Right? He does it for our good. Children,
trust your father. When he pulls the reins back
tight on you, thank him for it. when he lets you go a little
bit. When you feel shame, misery,
thank him for him. Thank him for what he's doing
with you, for his training of you. Because he does it all for
our good. Rest in him all his children. Rest in him. Those times when
you just, I don't understand this. He didn't tell us He would
reveal to us how it's all so. He says for us to believe Him
that it is so. Right? One of these days we'll
probably understand some more of it. Mason, I don't know if
we'll ever really understand all of it, but that don't matter.
We'll be with Christ. What does it matter then? We'll
be done with this. What does it matter then? Huh? That's the whole way. He doesn't
say, I'm going to reveal how all this is so. Just believe
me that it is. I'm working all things together
for your good. If you love me, if you're one
that I've called, God is training you up in the way you should
go. So that when you are old, you
will not Isn't that glorious? You will not depart from it. Lord, teach us these things. Truly, we need training. We need
your training. God, help us as parents. Forgive
us of our sins and our faults and our half-heartednesses. But
oh, God, help us to trust in you fully. In Christ's name I
ask, amen. Thank you, Joe.