<<<< the WORD on-line >>>>

(Sermon Notes by John Mitchell)

OPENING

Tomorrow is Father's Day, and it is a fitting time to speak to each father that is here today. I don't get an opportunity very often, nor do I take it, to focus direction on fathers and so I want to do that this afternoon.

One little boy's definition of Father's Day went like this, "Well, it's just like Mother's Day only you don't spend so much". Someone said, "A father is someone who carries pictures where his money used to be."

Well, Father's day is, for those of us who are fathers a very special time. Being a father is to always be a high priority because of what the Word of God has to say. Unfortunately that high priority role of the father is being systematically attacked and destroyed in our modern culture.

This particular society in which we live has attacked the male role with such devastating force that I really do believe we have sentenced the next 3 or 4 generations to tragic experiences of disastrous proportions because it is very clear in God's Word...the sins of the fathers are visited upon the 3 and 4th generations. What that means is, where you have wicked men in leadership, where you have a decline in the father's role, it takes 3 or 4 generations to root out the evil that they produce. We are not looking at a situation where because of a sinning father 3 or 4 generations of children will pay the penalty. Not at all. EZEKIEL 18 forbids that in advocating individual responsibility. But what we are seeing is that because fathers lead a nation, a wicked generation of fathers will so impact that nation for 3 or 4 generations that it takes that long to root our their wicked effect. I believe that the legacy of THIS generation of fathers who lead our nation today, is tragedy upon tragedy upon tragedy in the following generations. And I wish to add the mothers in our nations leadership roles are doing the same.

In the plan of God, however, that is not the way it is supposed to be and certainly in the Church of God we should be following HIS plan. Whatever may be happening in the society around us, we should be ensuring a RIGHTEOUS GENERATION in the church. We are the heads of our families and have a responsibility, a DUTY as fathers to our children to do this.

Because God has ordained this, God by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit gave a manual for fathers to use on their children. A basic research book, that manual is the book of Proverbs.

SPS

Let's turn to the book of Proverbs now, and looking at the first 10 chapters of Proverbs in a very general sense, let us learn what God's plan is for ensuring a RIGHTOUS GENERATION in HIS church. This book is the lesson book on living from which fathers teach their sons. Verse 1 reveals it is Solomon writing down instruction...PRO(FOR)VERBS(ACTION). It is God's Practical Instructions for Successful Living!!

Today, due to the upside down society in which we live and function, the DOUBLE STANDARD applied to male and female, boys & girls, I want to show that our Responsibility, our DUTY, not just as fathers, but as PARENTS is to give instruction from the Word of God which applies to both sons and daughters. As parents go, so go nations...so go generations, so goes history!! And God has taken the BASIC PRINCIPLES of spiritual living and packaged them in the 31 chapters we call Proverbs (For Action).

BODY

PROVERBS 1:1 Now a proverb is very simple. It is a brief statement for the purpose of instruction...brief to the point that they might be REMEMBERED!!

And for our children to be a RIGHTEOUS GENERATION, then we parents must teach the truths that God mandates in this manual. The primary DUTY of parents is NOT to take out the trash, bring home the bacon, cook the meals, wash the clothes, or fix what's broken. The Primary Duty of parents is to teach holy living to their children--Son as well as Daughter, Daughter as well as Son!

Now, in this process of teaching there is one main lesson, and that is we are to teach our children WISDOM!! The whole book of Proverbs is a call to wisdom. And we as parents need to rethink God's Plan of teaching our children wisdom. And I would like for us to look at these first 10 chapters of Proverbs and just pick and choose several CRUCIAL lessons that faithful parents MUST teach their children!! If our children learn these lessons, they will be a blessing to you and they will be blessed by God in their lives. The sum of these is SPIRITUAL WISDOM!

LESSON 1

PROV.1:7&CHP.9:10 TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO FEAR GOD. Everything starts with fearing God. What do I mean fear? Well, it has on one hand a positive aspect, a reverential respect, a reverential awe. We have to teach our sons and daughters what God is Like!! We have to teach them the ATTRIBUTES of God. We have to teach them that God is POWERFUL, that God is HOLY, that God is OMNISCIENT(all knowing), the God is OMNIPRESENT(everywhere), We have to teach our children that God is IMMUTABLE, His nature does not change, that He is JUST, that God is KIND, He is LOVING, GRACIOUS, MERCIFUL, and that only HE orders by His providence all the circumstances of human history and the universe for HIS good. In a word--GOD IS SOVEREIGN. We must teach our children to reverence the GREATNESS OF GOD!!

We also, as parents, must teach our children to fear God's DISPLEASURE...to fear God's RIGHT to punish, God's right to CHASTEN, God's right to JUDGE. And in that awe of reverencing God's Holy Character, there is a healthy sense of apprehension because I know as GOD, He has the right to punish sin, including mine! If we want to do our sons and daughters the greatest favor we as parents could ever do, teach them the character of GOD. Teach them what God is like, on the positive side, all of HIS attributes!!
PROV. 3:5-6-The point being, if I am completely focused on God, He will guard my life. He's going to straighten my path. The word TRUST in the Hebrew originally meant to lie helplessly face down. It is an evidence of the total control by God of your life. Teach our children to trust this way. Teach them NOT TO lean on their own understanding. The Hebrew word for lean does not mean to incline, it means to support yourself. Teach them to support themselves by God's wisdom. The word acknowledge means to be aware of, to know, to have fellowship with. And if our children live with that kind of trust and leaning and acknowledging, God is going to direct their steps. TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO FEAR GOD!!

LESSON 2

PROV.3:3-TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO GUARD THEIR MIND. In scripture, the heart has reference to your mind, the seat of thought and emotion and will. Mercy here means love, loyalty, faith-fullness, kindness. Truth here means accuracy, reliability and dependability. Take these 2 and bind them around your neck, chisel them into the stone of your mind as it were.

PROV.4:23-With the assault on the mind today with every foul means of media, the job you have as parents to guard your children’s minds is a huge task. Out of your mind comes your conduct, so it is with your children. TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO GUARD THEIR MIND!!

LESSON 3

PROV.1:8/2:1/3:1/4:1/4:10/11/20-TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO OBEY YOU. We parents are reinforcing the 1st Commandment with promise which is what?" That their days may be long on the earth". TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO OBEY YOU!!

LESSON 4

PROV.1:10-19-TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO CAREFULLY SELECT THEIR FRIENDS. Parents, get on the offensive!! Your have the responsibility to teach your children HOW to choose their friends!! What did the Apostle Paul say? Bad company corrupts...WHAT...good morals. Our children cannot rise above their acquaintances. Rarely does a child have the ability to rise above the group in which they function. They can catch a cold, but they can't catch good morals, they have to be taught. You therefore have to teach them to learn to select friends and not let friends select them. We don't here live in the inner city of New York, East LA, or Pennsylvania. We are pretty conservative around here. But let me tell you, there is tremendous peer pressure coming on our children to conform to the ways of conduct that is the standard of the people around them. You must teach them not to be intimidated into wrong alliances. TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO CAREFULLY SELECT THEIR FRIENDS!!

LESSON 5
PROV.4:20 & 24-TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO WATCH THEIR WORDS. Teach your children to be careful how they speak!! And please remove the phrase "OH MY GOD" from them, if it takes washing their mouth out with soap till the soap bar is 3/4ths dissolved. God's name is not that trivial! PROV.5:2 & 6:12-Stay away from friends who continually spout off gossip, hate, maliciousness, foolishness. PROV.10:11/13/14-Look at the contrasts!! VERSE 19-Teach your children not to always talk. A person who restrains his lips is wise. That is a major matter of wisdom. The mouths of fools pour out endless chatter, crooked speech, foolishness, violence, strife (girls and boys too with their endless problems with he/she said this/that about me and end up hating each other). TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO WATCH THEIR WORDS!!

LESSON 6
PROV.6:6-11-TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO PURSUE WORK. Teach your children how to work by your word and example. The 1st thing you want to teach your children is how to work without a boss around. An ant does that. Your children will stand there and work if you stand over them with a whip. But the issue is...will they if you won't? Because they're going to have to in life. And they also need to be taught how to plan ahead. Get your children up and out of bed. Make them do their work around the house. You will make yourself poor if you don't know how to work. CHPT.10:4 This is not how you want to be viewed. TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO PURSUE WORK!!

LESSON 7
PROV.3:9-10-TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO MANAGE THEIR MONEY.
If you are generous with God, He will be generous with you. Teach them that they are to honor God with their first-fruits from the top, to tithe, regardless of how little or how much they earn in their lifetimes. (I.E.-Owner of the Caterpillar Co. & Henry Ford). Teach them how to give. If you are a mediocre giver, if you are a "come see, come saw" part time giver, that is what your children will be in their relationship with God. And as you have yourself forfeited the blessings God wanted to give you, so will they!! And you sentence them to a lifetime of the kind of thing that you've had--less than what God had for you, and them. TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO MANAGE THEIR MONEY!!

ONE FINAL LESSON
PROV.3:27-30-TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO LOVE THEIR NEIGHBOR.
If you have the money, give it! If you have the goods, give them to the person in need. Generosity to the poor, meeting the needs of people around you when you have the means to do it is a part of honoring God. You are to be generous in showing love to your neighbor. Don't say-come back tomorrow-if they have need, you give the need. If you have it with you don't send them away and have them come back. Another thing, don't devise harm against your neighbor when they live in security beside you. Get along with people in your neighborhood. Live with them in peace, meet their needs if necessary. VERSE 35-Says you shall inherit honor!!
TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO LOVE THEIR NEIGHBOR!!

CONCLUSION
Well, such is the RESPONSIBILITY & DUTY of parents. I want to close with this: If we fail, parents, to teach our children to fear God, the devil will teach them to hate God. If you fail to teach them to guard their minds, the devil will gladly teach them to have an open mind. If you fail to teach your children to obey you as parents, the devil will teach them to rebel and break your heart. If you fail to teach them to carefully choose their friends, the devil will gladly choose them for them. If you fail to teach your children to watch their words, the devil will fill their mouths with filth. If you fail to teach them to pursue work, the devil will make their laziness a tool of hell. If you fail to teach them to manage their money, the devil will teach them to waste in on the junk of life. And if you fail to teach your children to love their neighbor, the devil will be only too happy to teach them to love only themselves.

AS PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS, & GREAT GRANDPARENTS, WE HAVE A GREAT RESPONSIBILITY TO THIS GENERATION AND TO THE NEXT!

Text Size Larger / Text Size Smaller
A PARENTS DUTY
(Sermon Notes by John Mitchell) OPENING Tomorrow is Father's Day, and it is a fitting time to speak to each father that is here today. I don't get an opportunity very often, nor do I take it, to focus direction on fathers and so I want to do that this afternoon. One little boy's definition of Father's Day went like this, "Well, it's just like Mother's Day only you don't spend so much". Someone said, "A father is someone who carries pictures where his money used to be." Well, Father's day is, for those of us who are fathers a very special time. Being a father is to always be a high priority because of what the Word of God has to say. Unfortunately that high priority role of the father is being systematically attacked and destroyed in our modern culture. This particular society in which we live has attacked the male role with such devastating force that I really do believe we have sentenced the next 3 or 4 generations to tragic experiences of disastrous proportions because it is very clear in God's Word...the sins of the fathers are visited upon the 3 and 4th generations. What that means is, where you have wicked men in leadership, where you have a decline in the father's role, it takes 3 or 4 generations to root out the evil that they produce. We are not looking at a situation where because of a sinning father 3 or 4 generations of children will pay the penalty. Not at all. EZEKIEL 18 forbids that in advocating individual responsibility. But what we are seeing is that because fathers lead a nation, a wicked generation of fathers will so impact that nation for 3 or 4 generations that it takes that long to root our their wicked effect. I believe that the legacy of THIS generation of fathers who lead our nation today, is tragedy upon tragedy upon tragedy in the following generations. And I wish to add the mothers in our nations leadership roles are doing the same. In the plan of God, however, that is not the way it is supposed to be and certainly in the Church of God we should be following HIS plan. Whatever may be happening in the society around us, we should be ensuring a RIGHTEOUS GENERATION in the church. We are the heads of our families and have a responsibility, a DUTY as fathers to our children to do this. Because God has ordained this, God by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit gave a manual for fathers to use on their children. A basic research book, that manual is the book of Proverbs. SPS Let's turn to the book of Proverbs now, and looking at the first 10 chapters of Proverbs in a very general sense, let us learn what God's plan is for ensuring a RIGHTOUS GENERATION in HIS church. This book is the lesson book on living from which fathers teach their sons. Verse 1 reveals it is Solomon writing down instruction...PRO(FOR)VERBS(ACTION). It is God's Practical Instructions for Successful Living!! Today, due to the upside down society in which we live and function, the DOUBLE STANDARD applied to male and female, boys & girls, I want to show that our Responsibility, our DUTY, not just as fathers, but as PARENTS is to give instruction from the Word of God which applies to both sons and daughters. As parents go, so go nations...so go generations, so goes history!! And God has taken the BASIC PRINCIPLES of spiritual living and packaged them in the 31 chapters we call Proverbs (For Action). BODY PROVERBS 1:1 Now a proverb is very simple. It is a brief statement for the purpose of instruction...brief to the point that they might be REMEMBERED!! And for our children to be a RIGHTEOUS GENERATION, then we parents must teach the truths that God mandates in this manual. The primary DUTY of parents is NOT to take out the trash, bring home the bacon, cook the meals, wash the clothes, or fix what's broken. The Primary Duty of parents is to teach holy living to their children--Son as well as Daughter, Daughter as well as Son! Now, in this process of teaching there is one main lesson, and that is we are to teach our children WISDOM!! The whole book of Proverbs is a call to wisdom. And we as parents need to rethink God's Plan of teaching our children wisdom. And I would like for us to look at these first 10 chapters of Proverbs and just pick and choose several CRUCIAL lessons that faithful parents MUST teach their children!! If our children learn these lessons, they will be a blessing to you and they will be blessed by God in their lives. The sum of these is SPIRITUAL WISDOM! LESSON 1 PROV.1:7&CHP.9:10 TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO FEAR GOD. Everything starts with fearing God. What do I mean fear? Well, it has on one hand a positive aspect, a reverential respect, a reverential awe. We have to teach our sons and daughters what God is Like!! We have to teach them the ATTRIBUTES of God. We have to teach them that God is POWERFUL, that God is HOLY, that God is OMNISCIENT(all knowing), the God is OMNIPRESENT(everywhere), We have to teach our children that God is IMMUTABLE, His nature does not change, that He is JUST, that God is KIND, He is LOVING, GRACIOUS, MERCIFUL, and that only HE orders by His providence all the circumstances of human history and the universe for HIS good. In a word--GOD IS SOVEREIGN. We must teach our children to reverence the GREATNESS OF GOD!! We also, as parents, must teach our children to fear God's DISPLEASURE...to fear God's RIGHT to punish, God's right to CHASTEN, God's right to JUDGE. And in that awe of reverencing God's Holy Character, there is a healthy sense of apprehension because I know as GOD, He has the right to punish sin, including mine! If we want to do our sons and daughters the greatest favor we as parents could ever do, teach them the character of GOD. Teach them what God is like, on the positive side, all of HIS attributes!! PROV. 3:5-6-The point being, if I am completely focused on God, He will guard my life. He's going to straighten my path. The word TRUST in the Hebrew originally meant to lie helplessly face down. It is an evidence of the total control by God of your life. Teach our children to trust this way. Teach them NOT TO lean on their own understanding. The Hebrew word for lean does not mean to incline, it means to support yourself. Teach them to support themselves by God's wisdom. The word acknowledge means to be aware of, to know, to have fellowship with. And if our children live with that kind of trust and leaning and acknowledging, God is going to direct their steps. TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO FEAR GOD!! LESSON 2 PROV.3:3-TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO GUARD THEIR MIND. In scripture, the heart has reference to your mind, the seat of thought and emotion and will. Mercy here means love, loyalty, faith-fullness, kindness. Truth here means accuracy, reliability and dependability. Take these 2 and bind them around your neck, chisel them into the stone of your mind as it were. PROV.4:23-With the assault on the mind today with every foul means of media, the job you have as parents to guard your children’s minds is a huge task. Out of your mind comes your conduct, so it is with your children. TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO GUARD THEIR MIND!! LESSON 3 PROV.1:8/2:1/3:1/4:1/4:10/11/20-TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO OBEY YOU. We parents are reinforcing the 1st Commandment with promise which is what?" That their days may be long on the earth". TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO OBEY YOU!! LESSON 4 PROV.1:10-19-TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO CAREFULLY SELECT THEIR FRIENDS. Parents, get on the offensive!! Your have the responsibility to teach your children HOW to choose their friends!! What did the Apostle Paul say? Bad company corrupts...WHAT...good morals. Our children cannot rise above their acquaintances. Rarely does a child have the ability to rise above the group in which they function. They can catch a cold, but they can't catch good morals, they have to be taught. You therefore have to teach them to learn to select friends and not let friends select them. We don't here live in the inner city of New York, East LA, or Pennsylvania. We are pretty conservative around here. But let me tell you, there is tremendous peer pressure coming on our children to conform to the ways of conduct that is the standard of the people around them. You must teach them not to be intimidated into wrong alliances. TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO CAREFULLY SELECT THEIR FRIENDS!! LESSON 5 PROV.4:20 & 24-TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO WATCH THEIR WORDS. Teach your children to be careful how they speak!! And please remove the phrase "OH MY GOD" from them, if it takes washing their mouth out with soap till the soap bar is 3/4ths dissolved. God's name is not that trivial! PROV.5:2 & 6:12-Stay away from friends who continually spout off gossip, hate, maliciousness, foolishness. PROV.10:11/13/14-Look at the contrasts!! VERSE 19-Teach your children not to always talk. A person who restrains his lips is wise. That is a major matter of wisdom. The mouths of fools pour out endless chatter, crooked speech, foolishness, violence, strife (girls and boys too with their endless problems with he/she said this/that about me and end up hating each other). TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO WATCH THEIR WORDS!! LESSON 6 PROV.6:6-11-TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO PURSUE WORK. Teach your children how to work by your word and example. The 1st thing you want to teach your children is how to work without a boss around. An ant does that. Your children will stand there and work if you stand over them with a whip. But the issue is...will they if you won't? Because they're going to have to in life. And they also need to be taught how to plan ahead. Get your children up and out of bed. Make them do their work around the house. You will make yourself poor if you don't know how to work. CHPT.10:4 This is not how you want to be viewed. TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO PURSUE WORK!! LESSON 7 PROV.3:9-10-TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO MANAGE THEIR MONEY. If you are generous with God, He will be generous with you. Teach them that they are to honor God with their first-fruits from the top, to tithe, regardless of how little or how much they earn in their lifetimes. (I.E.-Owner of the Caterpillar Co. & Henry Ford). Teach them how to give. If you are a mediocre giver, if you are a "come see, come saw" part time giver, that is what your children will be in their relationship with God. And as you have yourself forfeited the blessings God wanted to give you, so will they!! And you sentence them to a lifetime of the kind of thing that you've had--less than what God had for you, and them. TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO MANAGE THEIR MONEY!! ONE FINAL LESSON PROV.3:27-30-TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO LOVE THEIR NEIGHBOR. If you have the money, give it! If you have the goods, give them to the person in need. Generosity to the poor, meeting the needs of people around you when you have the means to do it is a part of honoring God. You are to be generous in showing love to your neighbor. Don't say-come back tomorrow-if they have need, you give the need. If you have it with you don't send them away and have them come back. Another thing, don't devise harm against your neighbor when they live in security beside you. Get along with people in your neighborhood. Live with them in peace, meet their needs if necessary. VERSE 35-Says you shall inherit honor!! TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO LOVE THEIR NEIGHBOR!! CONCLUSION Well, such is the RESPONSIBILITY & DUTY of parents. I want to close with this: If we fail, parents, to teach our children to fear God, the devil will teach them to hate God. If you fail to teach them to guard their minds, the devil will gladly teach them to have an open mind. If you fail to teach your children to obey you as parents, the devil will teach them to rebel and break your heart. If you fail to teach them to carefully choose their friends, the devil will gladly choose them for them. If you fail to teach your children to watch their words, the devil will fill their mouths with filth. If you fail to teach them to pursue work, the devil will make their laziness a tool of hell. If you fail to teach them to manage their money, the devil will teach them to waste in on the junk of life. And if you fail to teach your children to love their neighbor, the devil will be only too happy to teach them to love only themselves. AS PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS, & GREAT GRANDPARENTS, WE HAVE A GREAT RESPONSIBILITY TO THIS GENERATION AND TO THE NEXT!

A PARENTS DUTY