Deuteronomy 6:1-15

Speaker 1: All right, here we go. If you would, please turn in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter number six. This morning has been quite a morning. We didn't have Internet and. And we had issues. We had a power outage yesterday. A couple of power surges yesterday here at the church. We spent a week at camp. It's just a long day yesterday. I'm excited, though. I have an opportunity to preach to fathers today. And as I was thinking about the message and preparations, like, why not choose the guy that has six kids and one on the way? You know, I don't know if that's a qualification to talk to dads or not. But here's what I have learned. Time and time again when it comes to being a dad. As that is humbling. And it's it's not easy work. And this morning, I want to do my best to encourage dads today. I try to be a help and a challenge as well. What I like to do often when I'm around a dad who is an older dad and they have grown adult children who are serving the Lord, I like to ask them, What did you do? And it would it would astound you the simplicity of their answers and hope today, as we look at the text this morning that I'll reveal some of those answers of what to do and how simple it is. I do want to speak primarily to dads today, and I think there's application for each and every one of us. But if you have your place and Deuteronomy chapter number six, if you would please stand with me to give reverence to God's word. If you're able to, please stand. Deuteronomy Chapter Number six. This is a very classic portion of scripture. It contains very. Very important part of Jewish tradition, the shimmer, which is here in Israel, the Lord that God is one Lord. And as we look at it, let's begin our reading in verse number one. The Bible says this of chapter number six. Now these are the commandments and the statutes and the judgments which the Lord, your God commanded to teach you that you might do them in the land, whether you go to possess it, that thou might spear the Lord Thy God to keep all His statutes and His commandments, which I command thee, thou and Thy son and my son, son all the days of thy life. And that thy days may be prolonged. Here, here they're for Israel and deserve to do it. That you may that it may be well with they and they and that you may increase mightily as the Lord God of my fathers hath promised the in the land that flow with with milk and honey. Verse four Here. Oh, Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and thou shalt love the Lord Thy God with all they heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might. And these words, which I in this day shall be in line, art. And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children. And shall talk of them when they'll sit in thine house. And when they'll walk us, by the way, and when they'll lie us down. And when thou rises up. And thou shall bind them for a sign upon my hands. And they shall be as fretless between thine eyes, and thou shalt write them upon the post of thy house and all my gates, and it shall be when the Lord Thy God shall have brought the into the land, which you swear on to Thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give the great and goodly cities which thou bills bill? The Senate and House is full of all good things, which thou fill this snot and wells dig, which thou dig is not vineyards and olive trees, which thou plains is not when thou shall have eaten and be full be then beware Lest now forget the Lord which brought forth out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage. Thou shalt fear the Lord Thy God, and serve Him and shall swear by His name. You shall not go after other gods of the gods of the people which are round about you, for the Lord Thy God is a jealous God among you, lest the anger of the Lord Thy God be kindled against the and destroy the from off the face of the earth. Very grave words and sobering words here this morning. Let's pray and ask for God's help. Father, again, we come before you today and we are asking you to do above what we ask and think. Lord, to do things mightier than we possess the ability to do. And I pray, God, that you give me strength and courage. Lead me by your spirit as you have, as I've studied. Lord, I'm so humbled by the opportunity, Lord, to preach your word and to talk to fathers and young men. This day I pray God that you would definitely guide my speaking and the way that the message is going. I pray, Father, that you give us that you would meet with us excuse me, and that you would speak to our hearts and we would follow you and Jesus. And I pray a good said, I primarily want to speak to dads today and to young men, but still tune in. I'm going to read something for you. I bought this book a while ago, probably before I had children. And it's a book called Point Me. I don't know if you can see it. It's by Steve Farrar, and he's writing to young men and dads about being a good father. And there's a story in here. It's not something that he lived. But something of a friend. He that it's a story that his friend told him and he copied the words down. And I'm going to look around just for a minute. I do see some young kids, not too young, but there's some there's a statistic in here that I, I want to be careful about. And I don't want to just go over them and just say things. But I want you to use your imagination and and follow along as best you can as I read this as a way of introducing the message here this morning. It's 1966. You are only 18. You on the absolute prime of youth. You've got a driver's license, a girlfriend, and plenty of dreams. Your entire life is ahead of. But through a strange series of circumstances that you don't fully understand, suddenly your driver's license is useless. Your girlfriend's picture is in your wallet. Your dreams are on hold and you are in a country thousands of miles away from home. Welcome to Vietnam. On this particular day, you would give anything not to be here. We're going out on patrol. You've been on patrol before, but today is different. And that's why there's a knot in your gut. An icy fear in your heart. Today is different because the patrol leader has appointed you to be point man. In essence, you're the leader. Everyone else will fall in behind you. As you move out, you encounter the enemy. You realize that the survival of those seven men stepping cautiously behind you will depend upon just one thing. Your ability to lead. Your judgment may determine whether they live or die. The responsibility hangs over your head, like the suffocating humidity that hangs heavy in the air. Your senses have never been so alive. Your adrenaline so surging. You can almost hear it rushing through your veins. You know, the enemy is near, maybe just hundreds of yards away. Intelligence report, heavy enemy activity in this area late last night. Your job is to confirm or deny that activity. For all you know, they're watching you right now. Perhaps they can see you, but you don't have a clue where they are. As you gingerly make your way through the rainforest, you've got one eye out for concealed wires in your path and another scanning for trees for snipers. Entire patrols have been lost because the point man failed to anticipate an ambush. Men have been killed or horribly maimed, all because a point lacked skill and wisdom. He never saw it coming. The violent shock and utter surprise of gunfire momentarily paralyzes you despite your instant reaction training. Before you can respond a bullet, tear through your flesh and explodes the bone in your leg. A thousand thoughts instantly flood your mind. Am I going to die? Where are those shots coming from? Is there more than one? Will I lose my leg? Where is the patrol leader? One glance to your left tells you that the family of the patrol leader is now fatherless. In the chaos of attack. And in spite of your wounds, the radioman makes his way to you. He knows and you know that you are the most experienced man in panic situations like this. The book goes out the window. Like it or not, you are the leader. As a medic evaluates your wound, you're trying to determine what to do next. Just what is the situation? What are we up against? Where are they? Some good news in the midst of confusion brings a ray of hope. The bullet went through cleanly and the bleeding has stopped. You're luckier than most guys on point. Usually they're dead before they hit the ground. You're still alive and in control of your thinking. Two other men beside the patrol leader were hit. One is dead and the other bleeding profusely. You get on the radio and report your situation and position your request to chopper for the hemorrhaging private before you can finish your request. The hidden enemy unleashes all his firepower on your position. You're surrounded. In your gut. You know, the odds are against you. You're outnumbered, outgunned, and not in the greatest position. To what? A counterattack. You got two men dead, one dying, and four wondering if they will make it to lunch. The worst case scenario has happened, and it's worse than you ever imagined. Now it's the time your leadership will make the difference. What you say and do will determine whether your men live or die. As automatic weapons blaze around you. You must accurately assess the situation there. Turn the next critical steps and formulate a flawless planned. It's leadership, pure and simple. If your plan works, you may get out alive with half your men. If it doesn't, they'll be lucky to find your dog tags. I realize there might be some men in here who don't have to imagine this situation, who have lived it. But for most of us in this room, I think the picture that is painted is very vivid. Now there's something that changes in the story and the author does make a transition. And he says this. Let's make a critical change in the scenario. You're still in Vietnam, on patrol on the same steamy rainforest. But something about this patrol is different. You're still the point, man. But this time you're not leading a group of men. You're leading your family. You look over your shoulder to see your wife and your children followed, following behind you. Your little girl is trying to choke back the tears. Your little boy is trying to act brave. Your wife is holding the baby and trying to keep him quiet on this patrol. You don't want to engage the enemy. You want to avoid him. What would you be feeling under such circumstances? The survival of each member of your family and its survival as a whole well would completely depend upon dependability to lead through the maze of possible ambushes, unseen booby traps, invisible snipers, and all the extraordinary hazards of combat. Would you be motivated? Would your senses and adrenaline be working overtime? Of course they would. You would know in your gut that the survival of your family was up to you. It's all on your shoulders because you are the leader. Gentlemen, this is no imaginary situation. It's reality. You're a husband, father. Then you are in a war. You have been declared. War has been declared upon the family and on your family and mine. Leading the families of the chaos of American culture is like leading a small patrol through enemy occupied territory. And the casualties in this war are as real as the names etched on the Vietnam Memorial. If you do not believe such war rages in our country, take another look at the casualty list. Bear in mind, this book is read in 2000 and revised in 2003 and wrote in 1990. It says One out of two marriages end in divorce. The median age for divorce is 34 for men and 30 for women. In 1960, one out of every ten households was maintained by a woman with no husband. One out of ten. In 1996, two out of every five households was maintained by a woman with no husband present. Tonight, enough teenagers to fill the Rose Bowl, court bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, and the average Super Bowl will practice prostitution, support drug addictions. 1 million teenage girls will get pregnant out of wedlock this year. 500,000 of those girls will abort their babies. Of all the 14 year old girls alive, 40% will become pregnant by their 19th birthday. 60% of all church involved teenagers are sexually active. 66% of all American high school seniors have been have used illegal drugs. Every 78 seconds, a teenager in America attempts suicide. Tell me there's not a war going on and our families and our homes and our nation and it's against Christian families. Do we believe that? Amen. We believe that. And today, I hope I hope to encourage moms and dads, especially dads, that it doesn't have to in that way. And you can avoid the casualty list as a as a father leading their family. All their leading your family the way that God intends you. To lead them. As we look here at our text, I want to draw your attention back to our text here this morning in Deuteronomy chapter number six, saying where we are before we can pretty much go any further. I'll try to not move too much because I've been a camera guy back there and it's hard to follow people. When we come to Deuteronomy, the book of Dromi means second law. It doesn't mean that it's a different law than the law that was given on Mount Sinai. It means it's going to be a rehearsing of the law. So Moses is going to tell another group of Israelites what God intends for them to do in the Promised Land. And so before we get there with a realize that at one point in Israel's history, Moses went up to Mount Sinai and received the Ten Commandments, and he gave the Ten Commandments to the people, and he rehearsed them and they said, you know, before you go into the land of promise, these are the things that you need to do. This is the life that you need to live. These are the statute that God will bless you by. And so that's what he gave them. Well, not too long after. I know there's more to the story than just this. Not too long after they arrive in a place called Kadish Barnea and Moses chooses one of every tribe, 12 men in total to go out and spy out the land. If you don't like the word spy, they could scout out the land and ten men come back and say, You know what? This land is great and there's a lot of good things in it. But the inhabitants of land, they're too strong and we're too weak. They have these fortified cities that we will not be able to overcome. Two of those men, Caleb and Joshua, said, Yes, we can go into the land and we will overcome the enemies that are at odds at our disposal. In a sense, God will lead us in and God will give us the victory. However, we know according to Scripture that those ten men and their evil report persuaded the whole nation, except for just a few men. And instead of going into the land that God promised them, they decided to make a captain other than Moses, other than Aaron, to take them back to Egypt. Well, there are consequences for their faithlessness. Let me say this most of the time, the reason why we sin, it's a matter of faith. And faithlessness has consequences and their consequences. Was this to wander in the wilderness for 40 years until they were utterly consumed and that their children that they were worried about that would be a prey to the nations around them. Those 20 years old and younger. If 20 years old or younger, 19 years and younger. Those would be the ones who would. Yes. Have to wonder for 40 years. But yes, they would get to go into the promised land. And as we come to Deuteronomy, that's who Moses is talking to, those who may have heard the law recited on Mt. Sinai, but were pretty young at the time, and they had had children in the promised land within those 40 years. And so there might be a group of people and for sure there was a group of people that had yet to hear what God desires for them to do. And that's why I get to do the run. And if we can go through just the first few verses real quick together, if you call your attention back to verse number one, the Bible says this. Now, these are the commandments and the statues and the judgments. What's the Lord your God commanded to teach you that you might do them in the land whether you go to possess it? If you're a dad here, just raise your hand. When you tell your children, you put your hand up. When you tell your children to do something, what do you want them to do? What you what you told them to do. If I tell my kids, go clean your room, please. Or maybe take out the please go play in your room. And I'm not wanting them to go walk around and say, you know, my mom and dad, especially my dad, he likes clean rooms. And he told me to do that today. I'm so thankful my dad told me to do special things like that and he cares about me and my cleanliness. And I hope everyone has a dad who tells them to clean their room. You know, they could be that way, but that's not my intention when I tell them to do something. I'm kind of being a little snarky because that's how Christians are sometimes when they're talking about God, gods, this gods that they never really obey him. But the idea is this. I'll try to be less snarky. It's Father's Day. And I don't know any dad jokes to lighten the mood. Father Sam does. He's got plenty of. But essentially we want our kids to do it and to do it when we tell them to do it and to do it the right attitude in which we tell them to do it. That's the whole point of giving them commands, why we want them to do certain things, because we want them to be a mature adult one day and live a good life and make wise decisions and, you know, keep themselves safe and pure and set apart. And we want them to follow the commands that we give them. The same thing with God. God's giving his children the children of Israel. He wants them to follow him because it's good for them to observe his commands. But there's a progression that goes on. I want you to look at the progression. It says this. He says that you might do them in the land where they go to possess it. So if you follow the what the commands that God tells you to do, Israelites. Verse two That's all my a sphere, the Lord thy God is this when you obey God, guess what? You fear him. You know, the Bible tells us to honor our moms and dads, right? That's what the Bible tells us to obey our parents in law for. This is right. When we do that, when we obey them, we are showing reverence to them. So whenever God said, hey, when you follow my commands, my judgment, my statutes, you're worshiping me. You're fearing me. You're respecting me. It is. And it goes on for there. It says, Whenever you fear the Lord, then after you do God's commands and you fear, then that's what's going to happen. To keep all his commands and statutes and which I command, you do what God wants you to do. You reverence him. You fear him. And guess what you're going to know? What do you want you to do then? Especially if you've already started to follow him, you'll start to catch on. Yes. This is what God wants me to do and I'm going to start to memorize those things. I'm going to know them. I love it. My kids can read my mind. I look at them. I know my face, like, okay, dad's upset. I must have not done something that I should have done or I'm in trouble. I like it when they. And so in a sense, whenever God's people start to obey him, they remind Sam and they'll start to treasure the things that he has for them to do. He says this, which I commonly vow. And my son and my son, son all the days of my life that the days that they days may be prolonged. This is just a convinced version of the next few verses. He's saying, Listen, when you do what I say, you'll reverence me and then you'll start to treasure the things that I say. And guess when you start to treasure the things that I say, your sons will start to do the things that I say, those sorts of reverence me, and they'll start to treasure the things that I say. And it's going to be a progression when these things go from one to the next, from generation to generation. He says this You're your life is going to be great in the land of promise. You're going to remain it. You're going to be in the land of blessing. A provision of protection of my guidance. You're going to be safe. You're going to have rest. It's going to be great. But you've got to start obeying me. So that's the idea here. The gods trying to get them to realize I'm not just telling you these things to give you something to do. I'm telling you these things that it is going to be life for you. It's going to keep you safe. It's going to direct your steps. And so that's pretty much the condensed version of the next verses. As we consider the next verses, I want us to realize that it's extremely important. For the children of Israel to do the things that God wants them to do here, to follow the commandments that He's given them. Put a ribbon in Deuteronomy chapter number six, if you would, please, and turn to Deuteronomy chapter 32. So we're still in the same chapter. And even though it might take you a couple of days or weeks or Deuteronomy, this was all done relatively quickly. Um, when he spoke to the people. And I want you to see here that God knew there there tenancy. Um, I knew the type of people he was speaking to because he knows our hearts. Looking Deuteronomy 32 verses 46 and 47. Deuteronomy 32, 46 and 47. If you do not highlight this, I encourage you to put a star by. Come back and read it later. It says this and he said unto them. Set your hearts onto all the words which I testify among you this day. Which ye shall command to your children to observe, to do it. It's very much what he's saying here in our text to observe, to do all the words of this law. For it is not a vain thing for you. It's not empty. It's not pointless. Because it is your life. And through this thing, following and obeying God's laws and through this thing, you shall prolong your days in the land whether you go over Jordan to possess it. I remember the words of Peter when he talked about Jesus now has the words of life. And here are the commandments of God was in Israel. If you want to remain the land, if you want my blessing, you got to do it. You got to do the things that I've asked you to do. You've got to follow my statutes, my judgment. It's a good thing for you to follow them. They want to experience the promise of God's blessings, provision and protection. They need to do what I want them to do. So here in verse number three, we're going to kind of look at the how to's. Well, how do I follow what has already been said? What's a very practical way to apply this to my life? I love how Deuteronomy is. It's very clear. Moses uses a lot of clarity at the second rehearsing of the law. He says this Here, here. Therefore, Israel is urged to do it. That it may be well within that, though May has increased mightily as a Lord God I father's hath promising the land that flow with with milk and honey. So God wanted them to increase mightily. God wanted to bless them. God wanted them to have these great good things. And verse number four is the shimmer. It says here, Oh, Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. The idea behind this is not saying that that God is not what we know him to be as the the Trinity, God, God, the Father, God, the Sun, God, the Holy Spirit. But the idea is God is God alone. There's only one Lord, and that's the Lord. And so that was fundamental to their belief, because the inhabitants of the land had many gods that they worshiped. And so God want to make it clear, is that your God is God alone? There's no other gods. It says this. And Thou shalt love the Lord God. With all my heart, with all my soul, with all thy might. How many you've heard that before other than today? I mean, we've read the New Testament. Jesus, as you know, about the great commands. And this is one of them talking about how we should love God. It's not a passive love. It is a it is a very intentional love to love God with all passion. He is first and what we should be passionate about. We're to love God with all of our soul and our entire being. All that we can give Him belongs the Lord. We still love to go with all our mind. Everything we do should direct our love to God. God wants us to love them. Holy so, fathers, I want to encourage you this. This is the first thing you need to realize. If we're going to lead our families the way that God intends to lead our families, God needs to be number one in your life. Don't worry about if God is number one in your wife's life or your kid's life. Worry first and foremost. Is God number one in your life? Does he have preeminence? Is he the one and he is the one that you're you're wanting to please more than anyone else. See number one. He says this. And these words, what I command thee this day shall be in that heart. When we love God with all our heart. All our soul with all our might. You know what's naturally going to take place? We're going to know his work. I spent of it. I spent this last week camp and our juniors and our teams had to memorize verses the week before VBS. All our kids who were here at VBS had memorize verses. They had to know God's word. And that's so important that they have God's word in their heart. You say, Why can't I just use my my smart phone and just look up a word and find it real quick? I'm just going to tell you this. That is not carry the same amount of love. Then just saying, I know it. I know what God's word says. I know it by heart. Not say it. Memorize the whole thing. The idea is this is that we need to have it in our heart is to be a treasure to us. We love God with all our heart, with our soul, our might. We will know the Word of God. We will memorize it. It will be a treasure to us. And once it's a treasure to us, we're going to teach them says and also teach them diligently unto thy children. And thou shall talk of them when they'll see this night house and when they'll walk us, by the way. And when all lies down. When thou rises up. This is not telling you a game plan or a schedule. This this passage right here, this verse is figurative. The Pharisees took this to be literally that when you woke up, you would say this. When you started walking, you say the shimmer. When you sat down and you said a shimmer when you went to sleep, you'd say the shimmer. And they thought, you know, this is a spiritual checklist. I did it. I'm spiritual. I'm a godly man. I follow this schedule. No, it's not talking about that. It's not it's not a schedule to follow. It's basically saying this. When you're doing life. When you're living life with your children. You're teaching the word of God. You're showing them God's precepts, God's law, God's judgment, God's way, God's will, you're doing your best to point them to the Lord. And it says this later on. It says in verse number eight, more, more figurative language, and thou shall bind them for a sign upon thine hand. They shall be as fruitless between thine eyes, and thou shall write them upon the post of my house and all that gates the same thing that the Pharisees did. They would have these boxes on their their arms, their foreheads, and they would they would be a it would be a show of religious action. So it would be a show of of their their faith. And they made God's word of none effect in their life. So it's not necessarily telling you to write God's word on your body or on your house. It's telling you this. Everything you do should point to the fact that God is everywhere you go and everything you do in your work, whether you come home and if friends come over, the friends of your kids know. Yep, this is the Christian home. Yeah. They don't watch, you know, things that other people watch. This is they don't listen to the things that other people listen to. No, this is the Christian home that I'm probably going to be asked spiritual things that my friends house. Why? Because God's word is evidently taught in the home it is before children on a daily basis. When I was preparing this, I'm not here to point my back on a pat, my back on my wife. No, I'm not trying to pat. My wife's back. When I was preparing, I was just I was so thankful. My tired pregnant wife after a week long a vibes and camp is they're teaching my children memory versus. So, man, wouldn't you just want to relax? Probably. I'm so thankful for that. I don't have to tell her. No. Go. Go tell them in reverse. No, they were simply just memorizing the word of God. Why? Because it's a daily thing. It's not weird. It's not strange to pray with your family. It's not strange to memorize verses. It's not strange to direct your children to follow the Lord. It's not strange. It's something that God intends for every father. To pass on from generation to generation. It's a multiple daily occurrence. Is the duty of the father to pass down the worship, knowledge and love of God to his sons and daughters. Then, in turn, they would pass it down to their sons and daughters and so forth. This tradition was fundamentally important to the lives of the children. Visual fathers could not drop the ball or else problems would come. Let's look here. In verse number ten, we see the consequences. This as it shall be when the Lord Thy God shall have brought them to the land. Whether you swear to thy Father, Saban, to Isaac, to Jacob, to give the great and goodly cities which shall build the snot houses full of all the things which I'll feel is not in wells dig which I'll dig. It's not vineyards and olive trees which I'll plant. It's not when thou shall have eaten and be for. See, the problem was. Is. There was going to be a group of people who was not going to be a part of driving out the inhabitants of the land. So the men were to go forth into battle and drive out the inhabitants of the land. And so they had to. Be holy. You set up heart and they had to follow God. But there was going to be a group that was kind of left behind that whenever all the inhabitants were driven out and there was rest, there would be moms and sons and daughters who would be in a land where it was all provided for. They had a house. B These great, goodly cities they had to build, there be vineyards that they could just, you know, take fruit off of. I mean, there would be all this prepared land for them and there would be a tendency to get complacent and preoccupied. I'd even say this for the for the fathers who went forth into battle, the young men who went forth into battle. They weren't they didn't inherit a land that was like nothing. It was already built up. And so there wasn't going to be this. You know, now we got to start from nothing and build up. Now, there would there would possibly be a time to get lazy and to to allow things to get between them and the Lord. A land where they wouldn't have to depend on God for their daily supply like manna every day except for the Sabbath day and quell every day except for the Sabbath. They wouldn't have a pillar of fire leading them at night or a cloud leading them during the day that they wouldn't have the the tabernacle being built up and taken down to go from one place to the next that there wouldn't be any any like Red Sea crossing or Jordan crossing or these mighty wonderful lines of God. There would be a tendency to have rest. And how are they going to fear the Lord if they're not seeing all these amazing things around them, reminding them how good God is? And he's his father's. Who loved God. Followed God treasure. God's word. And taught their children to do the same. And his father's to stand up and say, All right, you know how we got here. The Lord is good. He helped us drive out all the inhabitants, and he's told us in his word that we need to follow these laws, the statutes. We need to live this way. And there's a warning. If we don't live this way, there's going to be consequences for sin and faithlessness. And we've already experienced this in your grandparents experience. That's. They needed someone to pass down the warship the praise, the honoring, the fearing, and the word of God from generation to generation. They need fathers, godly fathers who love God with their entire being and would teach their children to love God the same way He does. Let's continue reading and says then beware less self. Forget the Lord which party? Fourth of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage. Thou shall fear the Lord by God and serve Him and shall swear by His name. You shall not go through other gods. The gods of the people which are round about you for the Lord. That God is a jealous God among you, less the anger of the Lord Thy God be kindled against the end. Destroy the firm off the face of the earth. It's hard to read that a loving God would allow this to happen. Yes, he would. He's got to judge said. You reap what you sow. And so God would judge their their transgressions, their their the lack of godly fathers leading their children. These fathers desperately needed to know and love God entirely as the sole and highest desire of their lives and their teach their children to do the same so that God alone would be worshiped. No idols. I don't want to be praised. No idols, praise, nothing between them and God. But the blessing of God's living provision and protection remain in their lives from generation to generation. I camp. I just finished my reading in Deuteronomy. I'm going. I started. I came here when I started. But now through Deuteronomy, I just started Joshua. And this verse came to mind. Go ahead and leave your place to do only chapter six and go to Deuteronomy 31. I just want to show you. How easy it is. To be complacent. As a as a dad. And as a father. And I'm not up here saying I haven't been complacent or that I haven't allowed things to get between me and my relationship. That's every time that I've done that, it's it's affected my family for negative. It's been it's not been good. I'm thankful my wife has taken up the mantle at times. Deuteronomy 31 Look at verse number 21. It says this. Because God knew their hearts. He said. This is the kind of past where many evils and troubles are befallen them. That this song, it was song that he taught Moses to teach the children of Israel. Basically a song that would testify against them if they forgot the Lord. It'd be a reminder. It says this. This song shall testify against him as a witness, for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed, for I know their imagination, which they go about. Now, if you have a highlight or highlight this or a pen. It says, I know their imagination, which they go about even now. They haven't even gotten to the land yet. I mean, this is Moses still rehearsing. The law says even now. Before I brought this into the land, which I swear, even now it's a problem. Even now, there are some men who are hearing the Word of God being rehearsed to them and the commandments in the judgment. Even though they went through the wilderness and saw their moms and dads left and consumed the walls, and there's even now there are there are men who are not listening and doing anything about what I'm telling them to do. So even now. I like here. I'm a lead music here. And I forgot to say I'm not the pastor. If you're new here and the assistant pastor and I lead the music or pastors out of town, he'll be coming back this coming week. So come back and hear him preach if you're not satisfied. So. But as a music, I love Christian music and I like what he says. There'd be a song that they would be to remind them of of the things God has done and the consequences if they didn't follow. I just want to say this. It's important that you get your kids listening to the music. You say why? It's another way to teach them about God. Only let me start a song for you and see if you can remember it. A, b, c.

Speaker 2: D.

Speaker 1: How many of you have you ever sung that in the last 20 years? Okay. Some of you haven't seen that song in 20 years. And guess what? You still know it. Now tell me how important songs are and your teaching your children godly songs. I remember I, I got out of church. I wasn't st I was 19. I want a Bible college. I remember sitting there in service and I'm listening to hymns. I don't have no even remember hearing sung. I'm like, I know this song. My parents brought me to church from zero to age 12, and then I got out of church and I'm just like, how another song? It's like somewhere in my life, whether it was in a wanna when I was a kid or whether I was in junior church or whether I was in a church service. I remember hearing that song and I sung that at home. It's amazing when you teach our kids godly music and teach them songs that help them throughout their day to deal with the Forgive My speech, the junk that they have to deal with in school and in the world around them so they can be a reminder of God's goodness and God's grace in their life. So that's that's me stepping off of my soapbox here and getting right back to it. So like I said, even before they went into the land, there were still some fathers whose heart was far from God. Reminds me, um. Reminds me of a man in the book of Joshua. And, you know, we're not going to turn. And there a man named. I mean, the story of Aiken. Akin was a I don't know if Akin was married, doesn't really mention his wife, but he had kids. And Joshua at that time, Moses had died in the wilderness and Joshua was leading the people into Jericho, and they were to march round the walls of Jericho seven times. And on seventh day, all the walls fell down flat and they were able to go in to that city and have a flawless victory. And it was amazing the power of the mind of God that they got to experience. But there was one man who had heard these words rehearsed to him, and probably one of the ones that God was mentioning. Even now there are some that have their imaginations. They're just going to do what they're going to do. They're going to have their own way and they can. When he was there in Jericho, he took of a Babylonian garment, 2000 shekels of silver and a wedge of gold, and he wasn't supposed to take it, he says. George says, Beware of the curse things. Do not take anything from the city, utterly burn it other they destroy it where they can. He took these items and he hid them. Bible says that he even dissembled them. He put them apart and he hid them underneath this tent. God knew it and Israel was judged according to it, and he was found out for a sin. And guess what happened? He lost his life and the life of his children. They were all stoned. It was God's judgment upon the sin of idolatry and the sin of disobedience. And before you were too hard on Aiken, I want you to consider Aiken is a as far as you know, we don't know if there's a wife in the picture or not. There might be. I can't help but think again. Probably thinking, you know what's going on in a place I've never been. And it'd be probably good to have some type of wealth. And success that we can pass down from generation to generation. And I know I'm kind of reading into it. And so we don't know exactly what Akin was thinking, but I can think of a dad who's thinking, I need to think about my family and their survival and this land. And yes, it was faithlessness and yes, he was. So we look in that same manner. How can you how can you shame a guy who's thinking about his family and trying to help them out? You say, like, how can you share? I'm just gonna say it this way as. As careful as I can. The reason why we can say it was wrong is only because the Bible said so is because when you put something between you and your relationship with God, it's not good for anything. It affects everyone in your home and family. It's important for for us as dads not to put anything before our relationship with the Lord. I'm. Don't stone you up here, please. I know we're talking about. But even before your relationship with your wife. Your wife is not your God. Now before your children. Your children aren't your God. Your job is not your God. Your wealth is not your God. God gets to take care of those things. And so if we want to really say we're going to take care of our family and do the best that we can, God's got to be number one. We've got to love him with all our heart. Our sole author might say with me, with all our heart, our soul and our mind, we're to love God with everything that we have. And keeping him number one. God knew what they did and judged him for it. Dance. I hope I hope this has been an encouragement. I'm not trying to point the finger at anyone. I'm pointing the finger up here at me as I. I, too, have a tendency to put what I want before my my family, at times before my relationship, my wife before, before my relationship with the Lord. And I get things out of perspective. Even guys in ministry, even our pastor does that. There's no one exit from this. So I'm not saying you're terrible if you do this. I'm saying this is we need to take some inventory and say. How am I leading my family? What direction are we taking? I hope this is an encouragement to I want to challenge you to continue to worship the Lord and love him entirely. There's nothing new about this message. It's a simple text. It's something that you probably read over and over again. Probably heard it preached on. In our social class, we're going through a book called Total Money Makeover. Dave Ramsey talks about this, about changing your wealth and changing your financial future, he says. So it's not a matter of knowing what to do. Most people know what to do. They know how to save. They know how to have a budget. They know those things. I know it's going to take they know the sacrifices they need to make. The problem is, they're just not willing to do it. Uh, I think someone posted this, but I've said this before. I've heard this at a at a causal high school graduation. If if you're not changing it, you're choosing it. That's a true statement here. We're not changing the direction of our passions. And what we're doing in our family, then we're choosing it. I'm confident today. Um. That we need this. We know what to do. We just. We just need help doing it. Young man, this is something you should be prepared for one day. You're going to war, Willy. You're gonna lead a family. And I sent up here. I didn't have the greatest dad example. That. That's terrible. I don't like that. I I'm so thankful for the men in our church who are leading their boys to serve the Lord. So thank for that. It's such a cool testimony to me. I don't have that. And it's important for you to know that you're one day going to take. I mean, you might spend 20 years in school or longer. But you may spend most of your life leading your family. Young ladies. This is the type of young man you should be waiting to marry. A young man that loves God of heart, soul with all his might. Doesn't matter. Kind of matters how he looks. But. But more than anything else in the heart. The service, the Lord. Heart that puts God first wives. Pray for. Pray for your husband. They have the solemn duty to lead your family. Pray for them. You don't have a husband. Pray for the men in our church to leave their families the way that God wants them to be led. Older men with grown children continue to be the example to follow. Teaching us and mentoring us to follow and love the Lord. I don't know when you get too old to lead and to help your children. Don't. Don't put it on them to call and talk to you. Call and talk to them. Use the leadership and influence that God has given you to continue to be an influence on your grown children. Don't give up on them. I know you want. Going back to our story, I want to read one more thing today. We talked about 1966 being in Vietnam. I want to read this last. Last statement in closing. Gentlemen, I know that you love your families. You love your wife. You love your children. You would be willing to die for them. In most wars. That's what men are asked to do. They go off to war because they're willing to die for their families. But in this war, it's different. In this war, the spiritual war. Jesus Christ is looking for men who will. Live for their families. That's what you have to do. In the spiritual war on the family. It's the father who leads the best. Men here today. Fathers. When you live your family life, keeping God first in your home. Would you take that mantle that is placed upon your shoulders and teach your children how to love God? How to serve God. How to fear God. Would you show it by mentioning it by an example? Men who are doing that job already continue doing it. Don't give up. Trust in God's ability and strength to give you the words to say in that moment of difficulty. Of indecision. I don't know what to do. Trust the Lord. Depend on him. He'll guide you. Who leads you? You have adult children. Don't give up. You still have great influence dads. Over your boys. Over your daughter's. If you never have experienced a loving father. And Father's Day is a difficult day for you. Remember, you have a Heavenly Father that will lead you and guide you wherever you go. They'll direct your steps. You trust and rely on him is the perfect example. So Father's Day, I know you die for your family, but the question is, are you going to continue to live for him? Every how bout bout and every I close. I wonder if there's a father today that God spoke to and say, you know, I just want to come up and pray for my family today. Could be. There is a situation that you're like, I don't really know how to address this. Maybe you do see a pattern that you just don't really know how to handle. Maybe it's something that you need to. Get back into order. So I don't know how I'm going to. Be a leader when I have a man for so long. Listen, love the Lord God, follow your heart. God will give you the influence over your family when you choose Him above all. He'll help you. He will help you as you leave. He wants to help you. He's given you that responsibility. Brother Ernie sings as I pray. Father Lord, thank you for this day that you've given us. I pray for our men here today, young men for our wives and daughters. I pray God that we would pray for each other, for our fathers, that you would give them the strength and ability to help them lead. I pray, God, that there's a husband here today, a young man. A young man or a boy or that's here says, Lord, help me to be the godly father that you would want me to be, that they would be willing to come forward and ask for your grace and help. Each day of their life or that you help them to respond. Love you and thank you and just I pray. AMOS

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