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WHAT FATHERS CAN TEACH THEIR CHILDREN #2

August 15, 1999 PM

Sermon Outline

Prov 4:1 and 1 Thes 2:11,12

INTRO: Much that I hear and read about growing delinquency problems focuses attention on the role of the father in families. Many children who become troubled, problem children either have no father living in the home or have a father who rarely has involvement with their children. The Bible - from cover to cover - places the father in a critical role of instructing, training his children. The absence of this instructing and training can have a devastating effect in a childs life! Teach them:

I. THAT LIFE IS NOT ALWAYS FAIR

A. Thats not fair is a frequent statement

1. children do have a great sense of fair/unfair

2. they see inequities, inconsistencies vividly

3. and I know they are hurt, disappointed by unfair situations which touch them

B. Ps 73:2-14 this just isnt fair!

1. Acts 7:57-60 his crime? - preaching the gospel

2. what is important is our helping our children deal wisely, godly with unfair things

3. Rom 8:28 can we help them understand this?

II. THAT CONVICTION CAN BRING YOU INTO UNFUN SITUATIONS

A. So many people have beliefs of convenience

1. indeed, so many religions permit this!

2. so, everything is geared to pleasure - to taking all unpleasantness out of life (situation ethics)

3. our children see this ... and wonder about their being different!

B. 1 Pet 4:12-14 Reproached for the name of Christ!

1. reviled for their Christian conviction

2. we must teach our children that Christian conviction cannot be compromised

3. and we must support and encourage them when the unfun times come because of conviction

III. THAT REFUSING TO COMPROMISE CAN CHANGE SITUATIONS

A. Have we fallen pray to whats the use in trying?

1. fact: good people of strong conviction do make things better

2. Acts 2:47a here is a historical notice of it

3. are we part of the just go along mentality?

B. True, conviction may not change things

1. what then? do we then compromise

2. no - if the conviction we hold is soundly based in scripture and/or wisdom, nothing changes for us simply because surroundings do not agree

3. so, we need also to teach our children how to be mature and graceful if they must go forward in adverse circumstances (Acts 20:24 unmoved)

IV. THAT RIGHT AND WRONG ARE IMPORTANT DISTINCTIONS

A. Such distinctions are often blurred now

1. we are a desensitized society

2. there is a lot of my right may not be your right, etc. such that any absolutes are pass

3. Isa 5:20

B. No discernment, no moral or spiritual compass

1. without such distinctions life lived on animal level is the result

2. without such distinctions one cannot please God

3. so, Heb 5:12 we must teach our children how to discern - how to use, apply the word of God

CLOSE: There is more to come, dads, but let me ask this. Are you conscious of the need to teach these things?

Cecil A. Hutson

15 August 1999

God's Plan of Salvation

You must hear the gospel and then understand and recognize that you are lost without Jesus Christ no matter who you are and no matter what your background is. The Bible tells us that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) Before you can be saved, you must understand that you are lost and that the only way to be saved is by obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:8) Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6) "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17)

You must believe and have faith in God because "without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (Hebrews 11:6) But neither belief alone nor faith alone is sufficient to save. (James 2:19; James 2:24; Matthew 7:21)

You must repent of your sins. (Acts 3:19) But repentance alone is not enough. The so-called "Sinner's Prayer" that you hear so much about today from denominational preachers does not appear anywhere in the Bible. Indeed, nowhere in the Bible was anyone ever told to pray the "Sinner's Prayer" to be saved. By contrast, there are numerous examples showing that prayer alone does not save. Saul, for example, prayed following his meeting with Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:11), but Saul was still in his sins when Ananias met him three days later (Acts 22:16). Cornelius prayed to God always, and yet there was something else he needed to do to be saved (Acts 10:2, 6, 33, 48). If prayer alone did not save Saul or Cornelius, prayer alone will not save you. You must obey the gospel. (2 Thess. 1:8)

You must confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (Romans 10:9-10) Note that you do NOT need to make Jesus "Lord of your life." Why? Because Jesus is already Lord of your life whether or not you have obeyed his gospel. Indeed, we obey him, not to make him Lord, but because he already is Lord. (Acts 2:36) Also, no one in the Bible was ever told to just "accept Jesus as your personal savior." We must confess that Jesus is the Son of God, but, as with faith and repentance, confession alone does not save. (Matthew 7:21)

Having believed, repented, and confessed that Jesus is the Son of God, you must be baptized for the remission of your sins. (Acts 2:38) It is at this point (and not before) that your sins are forgiven. (Acts 22:16) It is impossible to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ without teaching the absolute necessity of baptism for salvation. (Acts 8:35-36; Romans 6:3-4; 1 Peter 3:21) Anyone who responds to the question in Acts 2:37 with an answer that contradicts Acts 2:38 is NOT proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Once you are saved, God adds you to his church and writes your name in the Book of Life. (Acts 2:47; Philippians 4:3) To continue in God's grace, you must continue to serve God faithfully until death. Unless they remain faithful, those who are in God's grace will fall from grace, and those whose names are in the Book of Life will have their names blotted out of that book. (Revelation 2:10; Revelation 3:5; Galatians 5:4)