[0:00] Well, if you take your Bibles and turn with me to Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 18, in just a moment we'll read that passage of Scripture together. The Bible says in Proverbs 22, 6, train up a child in the way that he should go, and when he's old he'll not depart from it.
[0:18] And so I've been praying about this and how we train our children. And so I want to take you to what I think might be the most important training step we ever take.
[0:30] The most important training step we ever take. We want to train them so that when they're old they will go the right way. We want to train them so that when we're not watching them and we're not disciplining them, they will do the right thing.
[0:45] Now we were promised in the Gospels, the book of John principally, we were promised that when Jesus left he would not leave us comfortless.
[0:56] We were promised that he would send someone alongside of us to work with us and help us. We were actually taught that he would be with us in a way that Jesus couldn't be.
[1:10] Everything that God does when he deals with humans is to limit himself because he's limitless. And so when he became a man, he strongly limited himself.
[1:23] He can be anywhere, everywhere, all at the same time. But he chose to take a human body and deal with the limitations we deal with just because he's God.
[1:35] And he can if he wants to. And then he died and he was buried and he rose again and he went to heaven. But he didn't leave us comfortless. You'll remember that on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit of God came in great power.
[1:49] Remember, we now know biblically that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We know that he dwells in us. And I want to teach my children to do right.
[2:02] And I know the world might give you the idea that if you talk to them long enough and well enough, they'll hear your voice in their head.
[2:13] When I was taking flying lessons, I think I probably told you this, but I'm so old I don't remember. So I was taking flying lessons. My instructor, you know, you got this headset on and he's talking all the time.
[2:25] And he talks very softly, but you can crank him up. I'm deaf, so I just cranked him up. And he would say to me, all right, do this and do that and do this and do that. He was constantly talking.
[2:36] One day he told me, when I'm out of this airplane, you will always hear me. For the rest of your life, you will hear me in your ears. Well, I thought, I'm not sure I like that idea.
[2:49] But I was flying by myself. And all I could keep thinking was, this is what Larry would be saying right now. And so I had Mike Staley, our dear, beloved missionary to the United States military, and his wife and his daughter.
[3:05] And I had them in the airplane. And we were landing in Toccoa, Georgia. And so on the way in, I just started talking. And I just repeated everything Larry would say to me. So I said, all right, line her up.
[3:15] Line her up. Yep, get her right. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Get back. Get back. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Yep, right there. Fly to get there. Fly to get there. All right. Whoa, whoa, whoa. That's a little too fast. A little too fast. Whoa, that wasn't good because the wind caught a wing. And threw me up.
[3:26] And then I started to slow down. I said, watch it, watch it. Watch it. Whoa, whoa, whoa. And then I landed. It was a beautiful landing. We got out of the plane and Mike said, it might be wise if you not do that again. He said, you have me scared to death.
[3:40] But I mean, Larry was in the plane with me, but Larry wasn't in the plane. I won far better than that for you. Holy Spirit of God. My kids need to know him.
[3:52] They need to be saved. And we've talked about that. But they need to follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit. I'm going to give you some verses on that tonight. In Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 18, you know the verse as well as I do.
[4:05] But sometimes we Baptists become so Presbyterian that we don't know he really is a person. And he really does live. And he really does exist. And he is really at work in our lives every day of our lives.
[4:19] Somehow, the Pentecostals made the Holy Spirit the most important person of the Trinity. And the Independent Baptist made him the least important person in the Trinity. But God kind of made them like God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.
[4:32] They're all important. All of them got a job to do. So in Ephesians 5.18, the Bible says, be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. And really, it's a kind of an indirect understanding.
[4:46] There's this contradiction of terms. Helps me understand what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit. It says, be not drunk with wine. And so a Pentecostal might read that and say, so be drunk with the Spirit.
[4:58] And they may do some drunk acting stuff. But I think the real meaning of it is pretty simple. Alcohol can control you. So don't let it. Don't let alcohol control you, but do let somebody else control you.
[5:13] And that's the Holy Spirit of God. Now, if I'm raising kids, I know this. Because, you know, when they're little, when they're little, a lot of our parents, you old people, got all grown-up kids.
[5:24] And so you're like, I don't need none of this, Austin. Maybe it'll help you with just the Spirit stuff. Maybe. I doubt it, but maybe. Because you know as much as I do. But it helps me, so maybe it could help you. But those little kids, you can just about control anything they do, except when they poop and pee.
[5:41] You're pretty much in control. If they move from one room to another, you move them. And if they don't do what you want them to do, it's pretty easy. I mean, they're basically wards of a prison, and you're the jailer.
[5:52] And sometimes you even put them in a bed. It looks like a jail. And then you put bumpers around it so they don't get hurt by the jail bars. But you won't be able to be around them all the time.
[6:05] And it won't be long until they're out on their own doing their own thing. And you can say, well, I trained them right. There's only one person going to go with them. I have scripture, if I get around to it tonight, to show you, you know, he's always watching.
[6:16] He always knows what people are doing. But he's not just watching. If they're born again, he's there in the middle of it. And when they masturbate, he's there.
[6:33] And when they look at porn or fornicate or commit adultery or get drunk, he's not up in heaven looking, sadly.
[6:48] He's living there. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Most of us are too decent to get drunk at church.
[7:00] We are too decent to get drunk at church. We're too decent to fornicate at church. I mean, the very thought that someone would bring a person here and have sex on this platform that we use as our altar would turn all of our stomachs.
[7:16] But the Holy Spirit is going home with you tonight. Be not drunk with wine. We're in his excess. But be filled with the Holy Spirit. I think the parallel passage is Colossians chapter 3 and verse 16.
[7:32] To be filled with the Spirit will mean that you're going to have to be filled with the Word of God. I don't want to sound braggadocious, proud, or arrogant when I say I love the Bible.
[7:50] Because I hope and think we'd all think that. But at the same time, I'm afraid you don't talk to your family about it. I'm afraid for any reason we'll skip church.
[8:01] For any reason we'll push the Bible to the side. And for any reason we won't focus on this. But if I want to raise my kids right, I want to train them upright, they need to know how to listen to the Holy Spirit of God.
[8:12] The way they listen to the Holy Spirit of God, Colossians 3.16 says, Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.
[8:28] Now, I'm no Greek scholar, so can I just say something about English? Richly sounds like a bunch. Richly. So let me give you the root word for richly. Rich.
[8:40] You know what rich means? A bunch. What's a rich person got that a poor person doesn't have? A bunch. A money. Can we get an amen right there?
[8:51] This is deep. You need a lot of scholarly study to figure this out. The Word of God ought to dwell in them richly. The Word of God ought to dwell in us richly, the Bible says.
[9:05] And it says, Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another. It ought to be that we come to church and we have Bible discussions, and we're just so full of Bible that when we bump together, we want to talk about Bible.
[9:22] I love the Bible, and you love the Bible. Let me just tell you, well, I read this. It's good stuff. I did too. And this is good stuff. And by the way, the Bible says we ought not do that. The other guy, show me where I'm wrong.
[9:36] Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Sing with grace in your hearts the Lord. So I'm full of the Bible.
[9:47] I'm singing the Bible. I'm thinking the Bible. It's in my heart. It's in my mind. So I want to talk about how to teach our children to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit of God. That's what I want to talk to you about. How to have our children be sensitive to the Word of God.
[9:59] You do understand they need to be saved. That's the given. We're moving on. We already know that. Secondly, they need to understand that little things are going to happen inside of them that they're not going to understand.
[10:16] That doesn't happen in lost people. See, the Holy Spirit of God is going to be in them. And I think I'm proving this to even the Bible.
[10:27] And they're going to be wanting to do something. And you're going to say it's their conscience. And I'm going to tell you that a born-again believer, something overrides his conscience. It's called a person. That's the Holy Spirit of God. And that kid goes to cheat on that test.
[10:40] And when they get ready to cheat on that test, they don't even understand why they feel so bad about it. But he's like, I don't want you doing that. Because they need to know that. They need to understand, why are you feeling that?
[10:51] You need to sit down and talk to them. You need to sit down and talk to them about it. Look at what the Bible says, if you would, in John 16, 13. John 16, 13.
[11:04] Howbeit, when he, that's the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit, is come, he will guide you into all truth.
[11:15] For he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak. And he will show you things to come. And you need to underline in your Bible the word spirit of truth.
[11:29] That's him. Because all he speaks is truth. And I'm not trying to be rude when I say this. But the only real truth that we know we have is found right here. You know, people always challenge me all the time about, do I believe the Bible?
[11:43] I'm like, Lord, help me. I live in the book. I memorize the book. I dream it. I preach it more in one language. I love it. But so if you want to know what truth is, this is truth.
[11:55] And science isn't. Now, don't get me wrong. Science is good. Science is real good. I'm glad they figured out what ampicillin was. Amen. I'm glad they figured out how to cure polio. But if you want truth, the Spirit of truth, this is his language.
[12:08] This is what he says. This is how he says it. And I need to get the book in them. So I need some family devotions. I need to sit them down and say, we're just slowly, not being rough on you, not trying to shove a bunch of Bible down their throat.
[12:22] But week after, line upon line, precept on precept, little bit by little bit, I want to fill my kids with Bible. Every decision made. He will guide you into all truth.
[12:36] You should underline that. He will guide you into all truth. That's an amazing thought. Jesus said, when I leave here, this invisible person is going to come and indwell you and overpower you and work in God and the truth.
[12:49] And he's going to move you and direct you and guide you. He's going to take you by the hand and say, come on, I can take you to truth. There is a person who lives in you who wants you to understand this Bible and who will guide you and take you there and show you the Bible.
[13:05] My children ought to know that. They ought to know that I'm looking for the Holy Spirit to guide me. They ought to know that I'm teaching them that. They ought to know that their mama's doing that. He will guide us into all truth.
[13:18] John chapter 14 and verse 26. John chapter 14 and verse 26. He'll make us remember. I went backwards on purpose.
[13:31] Because he's going to guide you into all truth. But first he says, he's going to make you remember, look at John 14, 26. The comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things.
[13:46] He's going to guide you into all truth. We were, I meet with the young ladies of the training center. If you come by my office, usually, which you're always welcome to come to my office.
[13:57] I have an open door policy with a closed door. It's always closed because I can't stand all the rackets you guys are making. They make enough racket in the office. But so on Thursday afternoons about four o'clock, I meet with all the training center girls that want to come.
[14:11] It's not a class. So today we read 1 John. We read the whole thing. We wrote down what it said about how to know you saved. They picked it out. They just read it. And they wrote it down.
[14:21] You know, in no words. And so we were just going through the Bible. And, you know, here's a wonderful thing. He'll teach you. Now, when he teaches you, it's not mystical, spooky, or any of that.
[14:39] You know, you don't lay down in bed and put your Bible under your pillow and hope he teaches you during the night. You open your Bible on a desk or in your lap in a chair, and you start reading your Bible. And you come to church, and you listen to preaching, and you meet with other people, and you discuss what's going on in the Bible.
[14:55] You're admonishing one another and exhorting one another and discussing it like we read in Colossians chapter 3. So you're always talking about the Bible, and you're always checking the Bible. And so you're a real strong Bible reader, and he teaches you.
[15:10] I have a confession to make. I never went to Bible college. Well, I got a Southern Baptist degree in the most stinking, God-awful, liberal mess you ever heard of. They called Jesus a bastard.
[15:22] That's why I'm an independent Baptist. They mocked the Bible on a regular basis. And Greg has to put up with a lot of junk where he goes, and it's a picnic compared to where I went.
[15:33] I learned this. What I know about the Bible, he taught me. Now, he taught me by preachers, and he taught me by Sunday school teachers, and he taught me by people that took an interest in me, and he taught me by spending time alone in my Bible, and he taught me by me getting rebuked.
[15:54] But he taught me, he'll teach you. I need my kids to know that. I don't know everything, son. I don't have all the answers, but you know somebody that has all the answers.
[16:04] So get in the book, and get on your face, and ask God, because one day I won't even be here to help you, but he will never leave you, nor forsake you.
[16:16] He will teach you all things. I didn't make this up. I'm reading it out of the Word of God. And then he said, I'll bring into remembrance. I put this here on purpose, because how do you bring into remembrance what you had never learned to begin with?
[16:29] And some people, you know, we read today, that if you're one of us, and you leave us, and you never come back, you never were one of us. And I told them that didn't mean they went over and joined a different church.
[16:43] But if somebody who said they were a Christian was always around, and said they loved Jesus, and then one day they walk out, and you probably got a family member, and your family member walked out, and they don't love God, they don't love Jesus, they flat out say they don't.
[16:54] They won't go to church, but you keep saying, well, they made a profession when they were four, John would kind of indicate they're not saved. There's a whole bunch of John that would say they weren't saved. They were walking in darkness.
[17:07] They're not obeying the commandments. And they're not loving the brothers. Just to be blunt honest, first John would pretty well say, they're going to go to hell when they die. And you've got family members trusting that, and you won't witness to them because you trust that.
[17:20] You've got to read the book. Teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance. Whatsoever I've said to you, I don't know how many times in my life I've been somewhere doing something, and I'm in the process of doing it, and it's like a verse pops into my head, and I'm like, I'm not thinking about that verse.
[17:39] It doesn't fit well with what I'm doing right now. And I can almost hear him say, I know. Dingbat. That's why I'm bringing it to your remembrance. You ought to remember what I got to say here, because what you're doing is not what I said.
[17:53] I don't appreciate it. I'll be honest with you. I often don't appreciate him. I mean, he interrupts me. He makes me uncomfortable.
[18:06] Does he do that to you? We've got to teach our kids that. Because you can tell your child all you want. Well, you shouldn't fornicate. One of our missionaries right now is dealing with a couple, and they've been fornicating.
[18:20] He told me today, he said, they've been messing around. I said, son, they ain't messing around. That's called fornicating. He said, I told them they ain't doing what they're supposed to. I said, tell them they're sinning like devils. I said, quit being nice.
[18:31] Be meaner than the devil to them. And he said, I am being mean. I said, be meaner. He said, they want to get baptized. I said, they can't keep their zipper up.
[18:42] They don't. But you know what? It's amazing. You can get saved. You want to do what you used to do. Different stuff comes into your mind.
[18:55] Isaiah chapter 30, verse 21, if you would. As you fill your heart up and as he lives in you, and I know you could argue context here with me.
[19:09] But this is an example, an illustration in the Old Testament of what he does in the New Testament. In Isaiah chapter 31, 30 and verse 21, it says, in thine ears shall hear a word behind thee saying, this is the way.
[19:23] Walk in it. And when you turn to the Bible, which I think you do.
[19:37] I really believe you do. They went from, in just 50 days, in just 40 days, in just 10 days, just 10 days really.
[19:48] They were alone. For 10 days, they were kind of alone. For three and a half years approximately, Jesus said, let's go here. Let's get in the boat.
[19:59] Let's put the net on this side. Push out a little bit. I want to preach. Pass out this bread right here. Just do this right here. And just do this right here. And he walked around with them telling them what to do.
[20:12] Am I right or wrong about that? There was only about 12 guys, maybe 50 guys or 75 guys. It wasn't a bunch. It wasn't a bunch because the fact is, when Jesus wanted to be alone, he usually had 12, 15 with him.
[20:24] And when he ran, the whole crowd chased him. They were always there, and he told them what to do. Then he died. Before he died, he said, now when I die, I'll be buried.
[20:35] I will rise again. I'll live forever. I'll be seated at the right hand of my Father. But I won't leave you alone. I'll send you somebody. Like me. I'll send you somebody like me.
[20:48] A comforter of the same type that I am. So I don't know how you honestly believe that he doesn't deal with you. Like Jesus would. I'm often getting ready to preach.
[21:03] I was tonight. This is not what I was going to do. I had this plant. I popped this thing out on Monday. And I'm just messing around. And I was like, hey, bud, I really want you to talk about this.
[21:16] And you could say, that's spooky and that's weird. I don't care what you call it. But I just said, oh, you want me to turn that way? Okay. Oh, you don't want me to do that?
[21:28] Okay. He guides us.
[21:41] He speaks to us. I don't know how many times I've had him tell me, quit looking that way. You're looking at that person. You got that girl in your eyes. You ever done that?
[21:52] I'm sure you all haven't. I just see a girl. I shouldn't look at her. I mean, I'm 60. I don't do it much now. But 40 years ago, I did quite a bit of it. I didn't mean to.
[22:02] I'd be looking at a girl and then my heart would say, stop. Quit. And I'd be like, but your kid needs to know that.
[22:15] Their friends would tell them, oh, you don't need to feel guilty about it. And I would tell them they're not feeling guilty. They're feeling him. Guilt's what a lost guy feels.
[22:27] What we feel is Holy Spirit conviction and leadership and direction. Offering plate gets coming by. And Holy Spirit says, I don't ever see you putting anything in.
[22:39] He wouldn't talk about that with Jesus. You see, if Jesus were here, would he say, I know that you don't give. I think I can show you the scripture he would.
[22:51] I think he'd even be standing back here watching him give. He just walked back in the back and said, bring on him, my friends. I'm watching. I'm watching. He's like, I don't know. I'm watching him. There come a little widow.
[23:06] She dropped in two miles. She goes, whoa. You know the story. I'll have to tell you the story. So don't tell me he wouldn't talk about that. Sometimes Betty gets on my nerves. I'm tired.
[23:19] I've been dealing with missionaries fighting. I've been dealing with church people who won't do what I ask them to when it's reasonable. I've been dealing with family junk, and Betty doesn't do a thing wrong. She really doesn't.
[23:30] I mean, most times she's about as close to perfect as she can get, but it don't matter. When I'm in a bad mood, she could walk in with apple cobbler and ice cream on top of it, and I'd be like, what do you bring that in here for?
[23:43] Because you like it. Who said? Okay, give it here. None of y'all are like that. But I'll say that, and I'll hear him go, yep.
[23:55] That's how Christ loved the church. We got to bring that up for her. You don't ever, they need to be taught this. Your children need to be taught this.
[24:07] Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 30. I just feel for my Calvinist brothers in here right now. But you can grieve the Holy Spirit.
[24:25] Walking here side by side. I found Mexicans, man, to be so touchy. You know, I had my American culture and they had theirs, and I'd make a comment that in my culture was perfectly okay, but in their culture it was atrocious what I said and what I did.
[24:43] And I offended them. And I'd have to beg for forgiveness. And I'd think to myself, well, any American would have been okay with that. And then the Holy Spirit would say, they ain't Americans, dang bat.
[24:57] I'd be like, good point. That's the way the Holy Spirit is. Any human understands you doing what you're doing. But he doesn't. Because he doesn't have our sensitivities.
[25:09] The Holy Spirit says, the Holy Spirit says, don't do that. And when you say, take a leap. And he says, I'm not taking a leap.
[25:23] About the third or fourth time you say it, you offend him. You can laugh at this. I don't care what you think about me tonight. I mean, I've had one of those days here. The last two days have been pretty rough for me.
[25:35] Just junk going on in my life. And I'll just be honest with you. I don't care what you think. You can upset him. It says, grieve him. Let me explain grieve him. Make him upset.
[25:47] He's sad. I've done it to Betty a million times. I've hurt her feelings. Grieve not. He sealed you the day of redemption.
[25:58] You ought to always be thinking about what he feels like. My children ought to think. Is he like that? You don't say, well, what do independent Baptists think? Who cares what they think? Well, what would the pastors think?
[26:08] Who cares what they think? God lives in me. What's he think? Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 19. You know, we can disobey to the point that we get past hearing his voice.
[26:25] This is just one of those crazy verses. But here it is. Ephesians 4, 19. And who being past feeling. Have given themselves over unto lasciviousness.
[26:35] To work all uncleanness. With greediness. I hauled hay all the time as a boy. Teenager.
[26:48] Till I went to college and married my wife. I'd pick up 75 pound bales and throw them up in the air. That's what you did every day. It wasn't a show of strength. That's just what young men did back then. They didn't want any money.
[26:58] I made a buck 50 an hour when the guys were good and a buck when they weren't. I always wore gloves. Always. You know, my daddy never wore gloves. He had hands that were tougher than gloves.
[27:12] I mean, he didn't feel it. I've seen him stick something in his hand. It didn't even bleed. It was sticking like a ball glove or something. I mean, if you said something about his hand, he could just go stick it.
[27:26] He had calluses on top of his calluses. That's how some of our hearts get. Huh? Huh? Now, here's another verse.
[27:37] I challenge you to study them. Quench not the spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5, 19. Let's not tell him no. Here's what's amazing about him. He wants to work.
[27:49] He is working. You preachers and you young guys learning how to preach, he's the best friend you have. He's, if you're going to preach, that's the only way you'll ever preach and have anything happen. And nobody will get saved without him doing it and no message you'll ever preach will get in.
[28:04] Heard a famous old preacher say one time, I can talk to ears, but only the spirit can get to the spirit. It's the Holy Spirit of God. We need him. And yet we quench him.
[28:16] Quench. What's that? I don't know. But when I was a boy, we had coal-oil lanterns. You don't know what that is. It's like a kerosene lantern because you ain't got lights in the house and you got this globe on it.
[28:29] And you got to keep it clean or the light doesn't get out. But when you roll it down real low, it'll still smolder and black junk will come out. So you always wet your fingers and you touch the whole little ribbon and put it out.
[28:40] You do that with a candle. You quench it. You want to make sure there's no more fire. And that's what we do with the Holy Spirit. He starts saying, you haven't been reading your Bible.
[28:52] You haven't been praying. I need to teach my kids this. I think I sound like tonight I've preached to adults and I didn't mean to. Here's what I'd like to say to you. How are your kids going to know what to do when you're not there?
[29:05] They need to know God. They need to know how God speaks to them. They need to be ready to listen to God. They don't need to be saying, Mama says I can't do this. I know that at three years old, they better say that.
[29:18] They're not saved. At five years old, they better say that. They need to say that when they're eight years old. They need to say it when they're 20. That's fine. But the truth is, your kids are leaving home.
[29:31] And they're going to do what they pretty will please. You can teach them all you want to teach them. They don't have to do anything. It's like a liberating thing.
[29:44] We were on our way down. My dad and I, we were driving my Corvair. I said Corvair, not Corvette. Corvair was a piece of trash car that they made back then. It's one of those cars now that whenever they talk about the worst cars ever made, I had one.
[29:59] I was driving it. And we were going to get married the very next day. And we were coming down interstate. Back then, speed limits were like 75, 80.
[30:10] So I was running about 90. And my daddy said, slow her down, son. I said, okay. I never changed a thing. Freedom, buddy.
[30:21] I mean, what's he going to do? What's he going to do? In 24 hours, I'm a married man, bless God. Well, one thing I'll get your kids to do right, if you're honest, you better pray the Holy Spirit goes with them.
[30:34] In them. Speaking to them. Guiding them. Now, you've been quenching him. Have you been grieving him? Can't teach your kids how to do what you don't do. Amen. Amen.
[30:44] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.