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Encouragement and praise are essential, for Fathers but what's the difference? Praise focuses on what the child has accomplished. But Encouragement is not about accomplishment, or what the child has achieve. Listen, encouragement says, you are my child and I want to affirm you as my child. You don't have to do anything special, because I love you for who you are. Children need Fathers.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Biblical Talks.
Sermon of the Week.
The best thing we fathers cando for our sons and daughters is
to put our hands on them andbless them in the name of Jesus
Christ, our Lord.
There's no way to measure theimpact that your blessing can
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have on your children, that yourblessing can have on your
children Beloved.
We do a lot of encouragement toour children, but let me tell
you this that's the differencebetween encouraging your
children and praising them.
We praise our children a lot,but we don't always encourage
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them.
Praise focuses on what thechild has accomplished, but
encouragement is not related towhat people achieve.
It is tied to who they are.
Encouragement says I want toaffirm you as my child.
You don't have to do anythingspectacular.
I love you because of who youare, because of who you are.
(01:04):
Here's Pastor Roger Sceppo ashe talks about the aspects.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Of a wise father.
The Bible says that God gave usgrace In such a way that it
could only be described as beinglavished on us.
God drowned us in his grace.
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His grace was abundant.
He has grace, as the song says,for all.
God's grace cannot be tapped.
Normally, when we think ofsomebody giving us something,
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like their time or their effort,they only have so much and then
they can't give anymore.
Isn't it good to have a Godwhose resources are untapped?
He's got as much for you todayas he had yesterday, and he has
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as much for you tomorrow as hehas today.
His riches are unfathomable.
Praise God.
If you have your Bibles, pleaseturn with me to the book of
Proverbs, the first chapter ofthat book, the 10th verse of
that chapter, proverbs, chapter1.
(02:40):
We'll begin reading in the 10thverse and we'll continue to the
19th verse.
Let's stand for the reading ofGod's word.
The Bible says my son, ifsinners entice you, do not
(03:07):
consent.
If they say, come with us, letus lie in wait for blood.
Let us ambush the innocentwithout cause.
Let us swallow them alive likeSheol, even whole, as those who
go down to the pit.
We shall find all kinds ofprecious wealth.
(03:29):
We shall fill our houses withspoil.
Throw in your lot with us.
We shall all have one purse, myson, do not walk in the way
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with them.
Keep your feet from their path,for their feet run to evil and
they hasten to shed blood.
But indeed it is useless tospread the net in the eyes of
any bird.
But they lie in wait for theirown blood.
They ambush their own lives.
So are the ways of everyone whogains by violence.
(04:14):
It takes away the life of itspossessors.
Heavenly Father, we pray thismorning, as we turn to your Holy
Scripture, on this Father's Day, that you would remind us of
the importance of our fathers,for those of us who are fathers,
(04:38):
for those of us who are to befathers in the future.
Help us to take note of yourexpectations of us.
Give us desires to fulfillthose expectations in a way that
would honor and glorify you.
Teach us today.
We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
(04:59):
You may be seated.
When my father passed away onChristmas Day of 1997, there
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were a number of things that myfather bequeathed to me.
They were, of course, allsignificant and important.
One of them, however, wasparticularly challenging his
quadraphonic stereo.
(05:41):
Now, for those of you who aretoo young to know what
quadraphonic stood for.
This term was basically the1980s 1990s term for surround
sound.
He had purchased it a couple ofyears before he had passed and
he had not had an opportunity tounbox it and set it up yet.
When we moved to Atlanta thenext year, it was one of the
(06:03):
things that I eventually broughtdown to our home in Atlanta.
I unboxed it and put it in ourden with every intention of
using it.
But you know that what they sayabout the best laid plans of
mice and men.
Well, it would stay in the denfor a number of years,
(06:24):
unfunctional.
I won't tell you how long, buteventually Teresa came to me one
day and said Roger, either getit working or get it out of the
house.
Like only sweet Teresa couldsay, the gig was up for me.
(06:45):
In other words, now, those ofyou who know me know that
electronics are definitely in mywheelhouse.
But try as I might, month aftermonth, I just could not get it
functioning.
And you know what the problemwas.
There was no manual for thestereo, it had been missed, and,
(07:07):
try as I might, I just couldn'tget everything functioning the
way it should function and Ididn't want to call the company
to tell them I needed the manual.
But I eventually bit the bullet, called the company and
confessed my need for the manual.
Once I got the manual, I hadall I needed to put the stereo
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together.
It was still complicated, itwas still difficult, but the
manual made the difficultprocess possible.
I couldn't help but think ofthat incident in my life and the
reality of fatherhood on thisFather's Day.
I thought about how manyfathers there are who are
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attempting to be fathers withoutthe manual.
Because they don't refer to themanual, they end up trying to
cobble together fatherhood, tojury rig it, in hopes that it
will one day come out okay.
And that's for those who aregenuinely interested in
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fathering the children theyproduced.
What about all those fathers inour culture who have abandoned
their responsibility, have toldtheir children by their actions
that they don't rate enough tocare for them and their mother?
Instead, they have left theirchildren's mothers to fend for
(08:40):
themselves and their children tofend for themselves and their
children.
You see, fatherhood needs amanual and without it a father
will be left to his own devices,devices which are oftentimes
ineffective and inadequate foraccomplishing what fatherhood
demands.
So where does a father find themanual for fatherhood?
(09:05):
Well, the same place that themother finds the manual for
motherhood.
The Bible, the scriptures, arethe only trustworthy source for
the important informationnecessary to properly execute
parenting in a manner that hasGod's backing behind it.
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Now understand something theBible is not trying to guarantee
the outcome of your parenting.
It's trying to get you toparent in the way that God wants
you to parent.
Those are two different things.
You can parent the way Godwants you to parent, but the
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child must at some point make achoice to follow Christ.
Your job is to do what Godtells you to do.
So the scriptures provide thenecessary backing for us.
But I want to get even moreparticular with you this morning
.
While the Bible as a wholeserves as a manual on how a man
(10:18):
is to approach the realities offatherhood, the book of Proverbs
in particular was written as aparenting manual for both
fathers and mothers.
Proverbs was the divine sourceto which the fathers of Israel
would return to receive guidance, motivation and a blueprint of
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how they could approach the taskof being dad.
And a blueprint of how theycould approach the task of being
dad A couple of years ago forour Father's Day series, I began
looking at the aspects of awise father from the book of
Proverbs.
So far, we have looked at thefact that he is an advocate in
the home for wisdom.
One thing a father does is hegives wisdom to those who are in
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his house.
The second thing we saw lastyear was that not only is he an
advocate for wisdom in the house, but he also practices godly
reproof.
A father who doesn't disciplineis a father who is not being a
biblical father.
You must discipline yourchildren.
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This morning I would like tobegin with you a little
mini-series over the next fewFather's Days.
Lord willing, that will focusupon the concerns of a wise
father, the concerns of a wisefather, the concerns of a wise
father, the concerns.
Now, the source of thisparticular subject comes from my
meditations and thoughts onfatherhood in Proverbs and how
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the book highlighted or focusedon certain subjects that the
father should take theinitiative to engage his
children about, particularly hissons about it.
Now, some of these well, all ofthese are applicable to
daughters as well, but in thebook of Proverbs, the
illustration is given of afather speaking to his sons.
The concerns I want to focusupon are the negative influences
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listen to me now the negativeinfluences that the father
sought to equip his son toresist.
A father understands somethingHis children are growing up in a
world that has negativeinfluences that seek to impact
and draw their children in.
(12:43):
So how is a father to stand inthe gap For his children, how is
he to be a defense To the worldtrying to break into his house
and take control of his children?
There are some concerns.
There are some concerns that awise father has.
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Now, if you're not wise, skipit, but for those of us who are
wise, there are some concernsthat Proverbs highlights that we
should have.
This morning I want to beginthis little mini-series and
hopefully next year we'llcontinue it, lord willing.
This year we're going to look atthe attraction of gangs.
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The attraction of gangs.
I want to be clear this morningchurch.
The pull of the gang did notbegin in modern day Chicago.
God warned of the attraction ofthese types of human
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associations or affiliations toeven his people in the Old
Testament.
We think that organized groupsexecuting a smash and grab are
somehow new, but they werethings that the father in
Proverbs was concerned about.
Don't get tied into the folkswho were doing the smashing and
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the grabbing.
Don't lock in with them.
Don't allow them to pull you inand suck you in.
The pull of the gang is intenseand our children must be
particularly guided in how andwhy to avoid that pull.
And when you understand it,it's all over the Bible.
(14:34):
You know how the book of Psalmsbegins right In Psalm chapter 1,
verse 1.
How does it begin?
How blessed is the man who doesnot walk in the counsel of the
wicked, nor stand in the path ofsinners, nor sit in the seat of
scoffers.
Don't get hooked up with thegang.
Listen to God in Isaiah,chapter 3, verse 12, as he
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highlights a culture out ofcontrol.
How do you know a culture isout of control?
Listen to what he says inIsaiah 3, verse 12.
Oh, my people, their oppressorsare children and women rule
over them.
Oh, my people, those who guideyou, lead you astray and confuse
the direction of your paths.
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Did you see the first signthere of a broken culture?
The very first sign of a brokenculture is the adults are
oppressed by the children.
I've been in a car before and agang of folks start walking by,
lock my door.
Don't act like you don't knowwhat they're talking about here.
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You know what God is talkingabout.
You see it on the news all thetime.
When all the supposed protestsare taking place and the stores
are being looted, who's doingthe looting children?
When the carjackings are takingplace, who are the ones doing
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the jacking Children?
So much of the crime in ourcountry is taking place.
In our culture is perpetuatedby minors or people who have
just grown out of being a minor.
Many of them are tied in someway to gangs or gang-like groups
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.
But gangs are dangerous notjust to other people, which is
enough to say don't get involved, but gangs are dangerous to the
people in the gangs themselves.
What do you mean, pastor?
Turn to 2 Kings, chapter 2.
It's all in the Bible 2 Kings,chapter 2.
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In this chapter we have thetransition from Elijah to Elisha
, with the spirit of Elijahresting on Elisha in chapter 2,
verse 15.
As Elisha traveled up fromBethel, we have the following
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account Listen to verse 23 of2nd Kings, chapter 2.
Then he went up from there toBethel and as he was going up,
by the way, young lads came outfrom the city and mocked him and
said go up, you bald head.
Go up you bald head.
Now stop there for a second.
(17:33):
The parents of these youngpeople let them go out that day
to meet their friends, expectingthat they would come home.
Okay, when they said theywanted to go out and hang with
their buddies, they thought theywere going to hang out around
the house and then come back alittle bit later, safe and sound
.
But look at what happened tothese young people, verse 24.
When he, elisha, looked behindhim and saw them, he cursed them
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in the name of the Lord.
Then two female bears came outof the woods and tore up 42 lads
of their number.
Oh, this is a well-stocked gang, 42 people or more.
But this well-stocked gangcouldn't handle two sheep.
Bears Tore them up.
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Hanging with the gang is notjust dangerous for other people,
it's dangerous for the peoplein the gang.
You're putting your own lifeinto question here.
No, no, church Gangs are notjust dangerous to others,
they're also dangerous to thosewho are part of them.
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It's no wonder.
It's no wonder.
It's no wonder the father saidin Proverbs, chapter 1, verses
10 through 19,.
Let me read it for you again,my son listen to the father's
concern.
If sin is enticed, you do notconsent.
If they say come with us, letus lie in wait for blood, let us
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ambush the innocent withoutcause, let us swallow them alive
like Sheol, even whole as thosewho go down to the pit.
We shall find all kinds ofprecious wealth.
We shall fill our houses withspoil.
Throw in your lot with us.
We shall have, we shall allhave one purse, my son, my son.
(19:28):
Do not walk in the way with us.
We shall have, we shall allhave one purse, my son, my son.
Do not walk in the way withthem.
Keep your feet from their path,for their feet, for their feet,
for their feet run to evil andthey hasten to shed blood.
Indeed, it is useless to spreadthe net in the eyes of a bird,
but they lie in wait for theirown blood.
They ambush their own lives.
So are the ways of everyone whogains by violence.
(19:54):
It takes away the life of itspossessors.
As the godly father takes up theissue of the attraction of
gangs with his son, we see threepoints here this morning.
I want to draw your attention.
He alerts them to the truthabout these gangs in verse 10,
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and then in verses 11 through 14, he exposes those things that
are the most attractive aboutthe gangs the promises the gang
offers to those who adhere tothem.
And then, finally, in verse 15through 19, the father exhorts
his son to resist the draw.
Resist the draw, Hold yourselfback from the enticement.
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Let's look first at verse 10.
He opens with these words myson, if sinners entice, you, do
not consent.
Here we see the truth aboutthese gangs.
The individuals of whom thefather was concerned and wanted
his son to be alerted to wereultimately just a group of
sinners.
A group of sinners the Hebrewterm here referred to the person
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who missed the mark.
Their behavior missed theintent of the Lord God,
particularly his law.
The father had no doubt taughthis son the biblical worldview,
including sinners and saints.
But now the son has reached apoint in his life when the
father wants his son to know heylook, sinners are coming for
you.
It's no longer an abstract.
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These are sinners, these aresaints.
I want you to know something,son the sinners are looking to
get you, they're coming afteryou.
And this father wanted his olderchildren to be aware of the
fact that sinners were not justgunning for adults.
No, so many young people thinkthat religion and Christianity
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that's for my parents.
That's for older people.
Let me tell you something thedevil wants you while you're
young, because if he gets youwhile you're young, in all
likelihood you'll never get outof his grasp when you're old.
Don't be so foolish, youngpeople, as to think somehow
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Satan only wants to get your momand dad.
No, he wants you, he's comingfor you and he's not going to be
satisfied until he has you inhis control.
A good dad makes this thingpersonal.
They're coming for you.
Son, makes this thing personal.
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They're coming for you, son.
Sin and its temptation was notsomething that the son would
only have to worry about when hegrew up, or the daughter when
she grew up.
Oh, no, no, no, no, not at all.
The father wanted his childrento be aware of the fact that
sinners would be aiming for themas well.
They would seek to entice them.
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Our text says this is a ratherinteresting Hebrew word.
This word entice here literallymeant to be open.
In an intellectual sense, itspoke of an openness of mind to
external influences.
Listen to that An openness ofmind to external influences.
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These are influences that cometo us from the outside, that try
to impact us.
Although it could be usedpositively and talk about the
idea of persuade.
Oftentimes this was a negativeword and it meant to lure or to
deceive.
Don't allow sinners to deceiveyou, to lure you, to hook you on
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the line, to get you to beginoperating by that which is not
real, that which is not real.
Parents, it's not just abouttelling our children what to do
and not to do.
It's letting them know aboutthe deceptiveness of even people
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who claim to be their friends.
Sometimes, if your friend isnot pointing you to Jesus, then
he's pointing you to the devilyou got to understand what's
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going on out there.
The father knew that hischildren would be open game for
those who were intent on livingoutside the will and way of God.
The parent listen the parentwho assumes safety rather than
assumes danger will always becaught off guard.
I have to confess, sometimes,as a parent, I was caught off
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guard.
I'll be honest.
I just didn't know.
You mean, there are four andfive of you doing that.
If you assume safety, you'regoing to be caught off guard.
You should assume danger.
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The father lets his son knowthat they're coming for him and
they're coming for her and headmonishes them do not consent
when they come, when they cometo deceive you, when they come
to entice you, don't consent,don't say yes, don't acquiesce.
The concept of consentbasically means to accept
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something, but there aredifferent reasons for accepting
things.
Some things can be acceptedbecause those things are
pleasing or desired by theperson accepting them.
However, some things can beaccepted due to the coercive
power of someone or something.
Here the idea in this contextis something outside of the
individual, drawing them in,coercing them in a certain
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direction.
Man, our friends are such astrong pull.
I went to public school.
I was a public school kid.
The things that were going onin the 1970s were horrific.
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What's going on now puts thatto shame the amount of pressure
from people you hang with atschool that attempt to draw you
into their sphere of wickedness.
Parenting y'all is a full-timejob.
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Earning y'all is a full-timejob.
The father warns his sons thatdon't consent.
Know what they're going to doto you before it happens.
Know they're coming for youtrying to draw you in, and make
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sure that you don't consent whenthey come.
What you're doing after class?
Everybody's going.
Fill in the blank.
What you're going to do whenthey do that?
Everybody on that collegecampus isn't Christian.
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Every Monday in that highschool isn't Christian.
Everybody in that Christianschool isn't Christian.
When they want to see if you'regoing to run with them, what's
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your response going to be?
The father says hey look, don'tconsent.
They're coming, that's aguarantee.
But that doesn't mean you'vegot to follow.
They're coming, but thatdoesn't mean you have to
acquiesce.
Know what you're dealing with.
Hmm, a father concerned withrearing children not drawn into
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gangs must paint a very realpicture of their attempts to
pull them into their orbit.
But just warning them won't begood enough.
These general directions nowbecome very specific in verses
11-14, as the father seeks tohelp them to understand the
enticement, understand theenticement.
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In these next four verses, thefather will focus on the promise
, the promise that gangs holdout to their participants.
How do they entice people?
How does one entice people?
You entice somebody by paintinga positive scenario that would
be attractive to the person thatyou're aiming to get.
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No-transcript Power, wealth,companionship, all the stuff we
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want.
The gang says we got it for you.
First, verses 11 through 12, thepromise of power.
Listen to this If they say comealong with us.
Let's lie in wait for someone'sblood, let us waylay some
harmless soul, let us swallowthem alive like the grave and
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whole, like those who go down tothe pit.
Listen to what they're saying.
Listen to what they're saying.
The father had talked aboutenticing and now he expresses
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what type of things the son canexpect to hear from those who
are already engaged with thegangs.
First off, the gang lets it beknown that they will exert their
power over the harmless soul,over the harmless soul.
This is the person who has nodefense for themselves, the
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innocent.
Our text says the innocent.
Our text says the innocent, theharmless person.
It was not the guilty or thosewho were blameworthy that they
would go after, but simplypeople in the neighborhood over
which they could exert theirforce.
They weren't going gang againstgang.
They were going to deal withpeople that they could overpower
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Innocent people minding theirown business.
That's the people they weregoing to take out.
The idea of laying in wait hereour text says hiding, ready to
ambush people.
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One version talks aboutwaylaying, hiding themselves,
disguising themselves in orderto jump on these people.
What's the purpose behind this?
What are they waylaying?
What are they wailing?
What are they ambushing?
Notice they're ambushing peopleso that they can get their
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blood, their blood.
This is expressed in the nextstatement, when they're promised
that they're going to swallowpeople alive in the shield Whole
he says whole as those who godown to the pit.
The only time that this tookplace was when God opened up the
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ground and swallowed wholeKorah and all those who
disobeyed God.
With Korah, god just opened upthe earth.
I mean, can you imagine?
You just watch it.
Korah says you know, we knowGod too.
We should be able to offersacrifice.
God said okay, bring your stufftomorrow and come over here.
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So they brought out their pans.
They put the little fire in thepan they're going to offer to
God.
And the choice was betweenMoses and Aaron or between Korah
and his followers.
God had chosen Moses, but Korahdidn't like it.
God said, okay, everybody, moveaway from Korah.
That's when you know troublegetting ready to happen.
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And when they moved away, godopened up the earth and
swallowed Korah, all of hisfollowers, the women, the
children, the tents, and theyclosed up the earth.
And what the Bible said?
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All the Israelites werescrambling to get away.
Yeah, can you imagine standingon the edge of that?
Oh, no, no, no, I'm going inthe other direction.
But listen to what these gangssay.
We're going to do that.
We're going to do that.
We're going to swallow peoplewhole.
You haven't seen us operatingyet.
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These people are prideful abouttheir power.
They're going to control peopleand they're going to enforce
their will on others.
Hmm, these young men seeking togain the son's participation
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promise him that he will be aforce to be reckoned with.
Society won't be able todisregard you anymore because
you're young.
They'll fear you and know thatyou hold real power.
Listen to what the gangs areoffering them.
Every young man wantssignificance and importance, and
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the gangs offer him just thatvery thing.
The father warns his son thathis significance and his
importance is not found inignoring God's will, but
embracing God's will.
Don't be trapped by the groupof young people wanting to
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exercise their power andauthority in unbiblical ways,
using it against the text, saysthe innocent.
That wasn't all that they'repromising.
Look at verse 13.
We shall find all kinds ofprecious wealth.
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We shall fill our houses withspoil.
Promise them, promise wealth.
They promise reward of allkinds of precious wealth.
They promised reward of allkinds of precious wealth.
The statement seems general atfirst.
They will happen upon orthey'll discover they'll find
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wealth.
The idea of wealth herebasically meant substance or
fill.
Don't think of currency so muchas that which held significance
in that culture.
This is manifested by the factthat they would fill their
houses with these things.
The idea of spoil is the ideaof things.
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They're going to take otherpeople's things and make them
their own, even if they've gotto kill them for it.
They see what they want.
They take it, and who are youto stop them?
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Consider for a moment thismorning the gang's perversion of
reality.
These people are so perverted,man.
They're so mixed up.
Just look at how pervertedtheir reality is.
Turn to Proverbs 24, verses 3-4.
Proverbs 24, verses 3-4.
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Proverbs 24, verses 3-4.
Listen to what it says.
They talking about fillingtheir houses with wealth through
blood, money through blood,through taking what belongs to
other people.
Listen to what Proverbs says.
Proverbs 24, verses 3-4.
By wisdom a house is built.
You hear that man.
(37:27):
These gangs are mixed up andmessed up.
By wisdom a house is built andthrough understanding it is
established.
Listen to this.
Through knowledge, its roomsare filled with rare and
beautiful treasures.
The word rare here is the sameword, translated wealth, or
sorry, that's translatedprecious.
(37:48):
Back in Proverbs 1, verse 13.
Same word.
The gang does not presentreality as it truly is.
They hold out to the young manthat they can attain what is
worth having in this life bywicked means.
That's mixed up.
That's mixed up.
That's mixed up.
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They say you can have what thisworld offers you if you take my
means to get it.
That's mixed up.
Rather than providing forthemselves, as God intended,
what do gangs do?
They abuse other people.
They exploit other people'slabor rather than working and
benefiting from their own labor.
Energies that should have beenspent, based on the word of God
(38:35):
in providing for themselves,they use to plot the demise of
others.
Rather than developing skillsand using those skills to
provide for their needs, theyrob others of the fruit of their
skills and the fruit of theirlabors.
You're working like a dog,sacrificing and doing what
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you're supposed to do.
What does the gang do?
They come and take your stuff.
That's whack, that's crazy.
Here you are laboring, doingwhat God wants you to do,
working for the benefit of yourfamily, and it's your stuff they
steal.
You sacrificed, built the store, went to sleep late, woke up
(39:34):
early, labored till your handswere bleeding, and they break
into your shop and steal yourstuff.
That's what the gangs do.
Rather than using their timeand effort and skills to care
for themselves, as the Biblesays, they try to get off your
(39:56):
stuff.
God had told his people in thelaw that he was the one who
provided for them a means bywhich they might gain wealth,
but this required following abiblically normative pathway.
Listen to God's statement tothe second generation after the
exodus from Egypt in Deuteronomy8, 18.
(40:18):
God says but remember the Lord,your God, for it is he who
gives you the ability to producewealth.
Remember the Lord, your God,for it is he who gives you the
ability to produce wealth and soconfirms his covenant, which he
swore to your forefathers, asit is today.
But what do sinners do, thosewho miss the mark of God's law?
They don't abide by God's way.
Rather than living according tothe dictates of humanity, the
(40:40):
order of society and, mostimportantly, the will and word
of the Lord, gangs repudiatethose things and endanger and
destroy the lives of otherpeople.
The father tells the son don'tlisten to that stuff.
The promise of power, thepromise of power, the promise of
(41:08):
wealth, money and the kudegra,the promise of companionship
verse 14.
Listen to what they tell theson, listen, listen, listen.
Throw in your lot with us.
(41:29):
We shall all have one purse.
Listen to them.
Here is the climactic promisethe gang holds out to the young
person a connection, a family ofsorts.
The call to throw in your lotis the terminology used by those
(41:51):
describing the casting of lots,or the idea of chance, or the
idea of destiny.
The gang beckons the son toidentify with them, to link
their destiny with them.
We're going somewhere, we'regonna be somebody.
You come with us.
Link your destiny to wherewe're going.
(42:15):
Go with us, run with us.
The gang beckons the son toconnect with them and then they
say we'll all have one purse.
We'll all have one purse.
(42:38):
Don't think of a woman's purse.
That's not the point this time.
I trust Fellowship Compensate.
We trust each other so much inthis gang that we're not hiding
(42:59):
our money.
All of us have a common purseand we're all living from the
same thing, living the same way.
The gang promises the son thatthey will help him.
All of us have a common purposeand we all living from the same
thing, living the same way.
The gang promises the son thatthey will help him to see where
he fits in in life.
Isn't that what we all want toknow, right?
(43:20):
We all want to know what weought to be, where we ought to
fit, what we can expect in ourlife.
The gang tells the son thatthey have the answer and it is
found in connecting with them.
If the son would just plug inwith them, they would find their
place in life.
(43:43):
I was at the place that this sonis at in my life.
All of us were trying to figureout where we fit in, what we
were supposed to do, who we weresupposed to be, and the gangs
come along at that prime timeand say, hey, look, we got
something for you.
Tie your destiny to us, link inwith us.
(44:08):
We're going to set you on theright pathway.
We'll have one purse.
This tells the son that hisfuture needs will be cared for
in the gang.
Don't worry about it.
Look, we got one purse, you'regood to go.
We're going to take care of you, no matter what part you play,
(44:30):
as long as you're with us, aslong as you're connected to us,
you're taken care of.
The gang promises a level offuture security.
They promise the world, butit's something else that they're
going to actually produce.
You're taking care, but whatthe son doesn't know, that the
father's informing him in, isthis You're being led straight
(44:56):
to destruction.
I know your friends arepromising you the world, but
what they're going to give youis death.
Look as the father transitionsnow in verses 15 through 19, to
(45:18):
encourage his son, his children,to resist the draw, resist the
pull, resist the pull.
To resist the draw, resist thepull, resist the pull.
You know the world tells usthat fathers are an unnecessary
aspect of a healthy family.
As I was watching a newsprogram a few months ago, they
(45:41):
were showing an old interviewwhere a group of single mothers
were being interviewed regardingfamily and their children,
particularly surrounding theidea of fatherhood.
In fact, some of them werepregnant at the time of the
interview.
Many of the young women sittingin that circle voiced the idea
that they did not need a fatherin their child's life because
(46:03):
they were able to raise them andgive them all that.
They did not need a father intheir child's life because they
were able to raise them and givethem all that they needed.
While I have no doubt that manya single mother has done an
incredible job of raising theirkids, there's one thing I can
say with great confidence that'snot the design or intent of God
that I do know.
Just as children need a mother,so they need a father.
(46:34):
Not a feminized male.
I mean an actual father whosmells like a man, looks like a
man, acts like a man and ismanly.
What I mean is somebody who wasborn a man Sad, we got to say
(46:56):
in our culture today.
I'm not talking about somebodywho chooses to be a man because
they're not a man, they're awoman.
I'm talking about somebody whois a man.
And let me just say somethingon the side here.
Let me just make a side note.
(47:17):
The idea of toxic masculinitywas created by misdirected and
ignorant feminists.
If you don't understand what awoman is to be, how in the world
can you tell me what a man'ssupposed to be?
Can you figure out what you'resupposed to be doing?
(47:39):
First, church you've heard meteaching this in the past.
But don't let people trick youinto believing that male
headship, which is biblical, isno different than male
domination or male superiority,which is unbiblical.
(48:00):
Real men please check in here.
Real, real men lead their homes, not belittle, dominate or
discount their wives.
That's not a real man, amen.
A real man respects his wife,puts her on a pedestal, serves
(48:30):
for her benefit, loves her asChrist loves the church.
He's a loving leader.
But our children need real men,not feminized men.
One of the ways in which themale influence is felt the most,
(48:53):
or at least should be felt themost, is in the area of
exhortation and admonition.
Here the father directs hischildren on how to avoid these
enticements to power, wealth andcompanionship.
Listen to our passage here,verses 15 through 19.
My son, do not walk in the waywith them.
Keep your feet from their paths, for their feet run to evil and
(49:17):
they hasten to shed blood.
Indeed, it is useless to spreadthe net in the eyes of any bird
, but they lie in wait for theirown blood.
They ambush their own lives.
So are the ways of everyone whogains by bonds.
It takes away the life of itspossessors.
(49:37):
First the father tells his sonwhat he should do.
Then he tells him why he shoulddo it.
What should he do?
Verse 15.
In essence, this is much likethe general exhortation that
opened up this section in verse10.
He said he must not walk in theway with them.
Then he repeats himself andsays you must keep your feet
(50:01):
from their path.
He's basically describing whatit means to not consent from
verse 10.
In verse 10, he said don'tconsent.
What does he mean by don'tconsent?
He means don't walk in the way,keep your feet from their path.
The gang is on a certainpathway, a pathway of their own
(50:29):
choosing.
The son is exhorted here not toget on that pathway with them.
The son has a choice to make andit ultimately cannot be made
for him as much protection asour parents afforded us
throughout our childhood.
Eventually, there's going tocome a time when the child would
(50:52):
have to choose theirassociations for themselves.
We went through that.
There came a time when mom anddad couldn't protect you anymore
and you had to choose who youwere going to run with, whose
(51:12):
voices you were going to listento.
Oh, your dad.
Your dad is crazy man.
Let's ignore that.
Do what we tell you to do.
Don't even worry, your mom hasno sense.
People don't do that anymore.
We don't live that way anymore.
This is 2023.
(51:37):
And they attempt to draw you into their mindset and their
thinking mindset and theirthinking.
At some point, you'll no longerbe able to be sheltered and
(51:57):
safeguarded by your parents.
Choices and not only will youhave to make choices yourself.
Here's the downer You're goingto have to live with the
(52:19):
consequences of your choice.
See, there was a time when momand dad could bail you out, but
they're not going to be able tobail you out anymore.
Those decisions that you made,the ideas that you got in your
mind, the people you listened tothose consequences you're not
going to have to live, I'm sorryto say.
(52:40):
Your mom and dad are trying tokeep you from having to scramble
, because some of us have made alife of scrambling, right,
let's be honest, mom and dad.
Right, some of us have had toscramble Because we made choices
.
We made decisions we ought nothave made.
We should have followed throughon what was right, but we
(53:02):
listened to the voices.
They weren't good voices.
And now we've had to scramble.
We've become experts at it.
We're trying to save you fromthat.
Don't listen, that's up to you.
I'll see you in 20 yearsScrambling, trying to make the
(53:27):
pieces fit together.
Listen, listen.
The father says Take note,don't get on the pathway with
them.
They're on this pathway.
Don't jump on the pathway,don't go the way they're going.
The father's approach here isto provide for his child a
(53:47):
series of important reasons whyhis choice should be to reject
the call or the draw of thegroup.
Let me just say this Don't raiseyour hand.
It doesn't have to be a gangthat's toting guns and knives.
(54:11):
Sometimes it's just a group ofpeople at school, right?
How many of us have followedthe group at school and done
something that was just ignorant?
It was stupid to do it.
Why did we do it?
Because everybody else wasdoing it, and then we're the
ones to pay for it.
(54:32):
No, I didn't see them.
I saw you.
No, no, no, I saw you do thatand you're the one that gets in
trouble.
When are you going to learn tostand on your own for Jesus
Christ, rather than going withthe group, rather than going
(54:54):
with the guy?
Oh, you don't know Jesus Christ.
That's the problem.
I forgot, sorry.
You have to turn from your sin,repent from your sin and
embrace Jesus Christ.
When you become a Christian,you will then have the strength
to say no, no, guarantee you'regoing to say no, but you have
the strength to say no.
(55:16):
So what does the Father say here?
What's the why?
Verses 16-19.
The Father builds a case.
Father builds a case.
He builds a case that theconsequences of the gang will be
the destruction of those whoare in the gang in the first
place.
Interestingly, just as the gangpossesses a common purse, so
(55:40):
the gang is bound for a commonoutcome.
So the gang is bound for acommon outcome.
Like every pathway, there is aconclusion to the pathway that
the gang is on.
The first aspect of the reasongiven is a summary statement.
Verse 15 says For their feetrun the evil and they hasten to
(56:02):
shed blood.
Now the gang had said we'regoing to lay in wait for blood.
They looked at it as theirstrength.
We're going to gang up on theinnocent.
We're going to take over peoplewho think they can't.
(56:22):
We're going to express ourpower over other people.
So they were looking at theirwaiting for blood as a strength.
The father says that's weakness, the very thing they're
counting on their power to do.
God's going to turn that badboy around on them and their
power is actually their weakness.
(56:44):
Their strength was, in allreality, the beginning of their
demise.
The father refers to them asevil.
They run the evil.
The word evil here translatesthe Hebrew term that had a wide
(57:06):
range of meanings.
It could be used to describeanything From physical death To
an abnormality of the body ormoral injury to the spirit or to
a relationship.
The father is using this termTo describe, to convey the idea
of a moral injury Sin.
Listen.
Sin inflicted what God definedas an injury or injuries of
(57:31):
moral magnitude upon another.
But the injurious nature of theact was also directed against
God as well.
God is injured by your sin.
You know, sometimes you'd betalking to a young person, your
(57:51):
son or daughter, and they lookat sinful behavior.
Well, that doesn't impactanybody, it impacts God.
It impacts God.
Don't rule him out.
You remember that when Jesustaught his disciples to pray, he
(58:13):
told them to ask forforgiveness.
But listen to what he says inMatthew 6, verse 12.
He says forgive us our debts,as we also have forgiven our
debtors, our debts before God.
When you sin, it's not justrelationships on earth that are
(58:35):
impacted.
God is impacted.
When you sin, you owe a debt toGod.
An unsaved person owes a debtto God.
An unsaved person owes a debtto God, a debt that they cannot
pay for on their own, which iswhy the lake of fire was created
(58:55):
.
That's the place that sinnersdebts are paid off.
The problem is, you have to payit off forever.
It's an eternal payment.
Thank God, jesus paid it all.
All to him I owe.
(59:16):
Sin had left a crimson stain,but guess what he did?
He washed it white as snow.
You better jump on board of theJesus train If you don't know
Jesus today.
You better become a Christiantoday, because you don't know
what your life holds tomorrow.
And your life, your decisions,your thoughts, your attitudes,
(59:42):
your actions are accumulating adebt, not to people, but to God
himself, and one day you'regoing to have to pay for your
debt.
You're going to pay for it.
And what we don't want you todo is pay for it forever in hell
(01:00:02):
.
We don't want that.
We don't want that.
We don't want that.
Avoid that at all costs.
Run to Jesus, he'll forgive youOf your debt.
The worst thing you have doneTo hurt another person, jesus
(01:00:29):
can forgive.
The worst thing you've done toyourself.
Guess what Jesus can forgiveyou of that too.
Notice, back in our text, thefather painted a picture of the
(01:00:52):
energy and enthusiasm which thegangs approach their actions.
You see, church, the gang isneither trapped in their
behavior nor deceived into theirbehavior.
They've made a conscious choiceto pursue this way of life and
they're pursuing itenthusiastically.
The father says uses the wordrun here in the first half of
this verse.
This referred to the physicalact of running, but could also
(01:01:15):
specify the idea of doing soquickly and thus the attitude
with which something isapproached.
They're approaching this, thisenerget.
This is reinforced by theconcept of hasten.
They hasten to do this.
The father then gave somefurther instruction that at
(01:01:39):
first, on the surface, seems alittle strange.
Notice he says indeed, it isuseless to spread the net in the
eyes of any bird.
What in the world is?
I mean, we're talking aboutgangs.
What are you talking aboutbirds?
For all of a sudden, what's hedoing here?
A hunter who's seeking his preydisguises the trap from the
(01:02:08):
animal.
When you're fishing, you don'tjust drop a hook in the water.
You tie a worm on that hookBecause you want to entice the
fish to bite.
Look what it says in verse 17,as he removes the image and just
(01:02:30):
tells you the straight up truthVerse 17.
They lie in wait for their ownblood.
They ambush their own lives.
There, it is there.
It is there it is.
They thought they were going toget over on other people.
Guess what?
(01:02:51):
Eventually, they're going topay the price for what they did.
God says I got you, I see you,I see what you're doing.
And guess what?
Your time's coming.
Your time's coming Because Godis laying a trap.
He's using them to trapthemselves.
(01:03:15):
He's using them to set theirown trap.
They're baiting their own hookand then they're going to bite
the hook.
A wise son should take note ofthis.
The gang thought that they wereexerting power over others, but
(01:03:37):
in all actuality they werebaiting themselves.
All the gang's clever tricksand traps they were actually
sending for themselves and notfor other people.
There are so many biblicalconcepts here that are just
proven by this text.
In 1 Corinthians 15, verse 33,it says Do not be deceived.
(01:04:01):
Bad company corrupts goodmorals.
Now, of course, in 1Corinthians 15, the emphasis is
theological error.
But whether it's theological orpractical, it's all the same.
You will become like the peopleyou run with.
That's what the Bible says.
Run with those type of people.
(01:04:22):
Guess what?
You're going to be fine.
You're going to wake up and saywhy am I living this way?
Because of who you're hangingwith.
It doesn't take a rocketscientist.
This is why it's so incrediblyimportant to choose your
associates carefully.
The people you connect withyou're going to look like.
(01:04:46):
You're going to be that sameway Father's concerned for his
children.
But there's another principlehere.
In Proverbs 14, 12, it saysthere's a way that seems right
to a man.
Guess what the end of that wayis?
(01:05:08):
Straight up, death.
Nobody gets on the deathpathway knowingly.
You think it's leading to life.
You're thinking that thispathway that's real living.
Mom and dad are just tired oldfolks.
(01:05:30):
I want to live and you thinkyou're on the living pathway.
But guess what?
That pathway that you're on isdriving you straight to death,
and it shouldn't be a surprise,because Proverbs 21, 22 says all
a man's way seems right to him,but the Lord weighs the heart.
(01:05:50):
You can get over on mom and dad, but you know who you can't get
over on.
You can't get over on God, andGod's got a balance.
He's weighing it.
And God's got a balance, he'sweighing it.
(01:06:10):
You best do business with God.
A faithful father warns hischildren of the importance of
doing business with God.
The father is trying to warnhis son about death.
Now, at first I was thinking isthis eternal death?
(01:06:31):
He's warning him about no, no,no, no, no Physical death.
But aren't we all going to dieat some point?
Well, yeah, but the father isconcerned about untimely death.
All of us are going to die,absolutely.
We may die doing good things.
The father is concerned aboutuntimely death, death directly
(01:07:00):
attributed to your bad choices,son.
That's what the dad's concernedabout.
We can't stop death, but we canstop unwise decisions,
decisions the father says inverse 19, that take the life of
(01:07:24):
its possessors.
So are the ways of everyone whogains by violence, who gains by
violence.
It takes away the life of itspossessors.
Interestingly, the father hasmade one more point here that I
(01:07:45):
want to highlight before I close.
It's a sub-point, it's subtle,but it's powerful.
You see, we all know that gangsare marked by violence.
We know that.
We know that gangs takeadvantage of those in the
community who are weak andcannot defend themselves.
(01:08:06):
We understand that.
We know that gangs offer acamaraderie between people.
Yes, we know that.
But church, this is not RobinHood that we're talking about
here.
You know Robin Hood and hismerry men who stole from the
(01:08:27):
corrupt rich and gave to thepoor.
There's no such altruism herein a gang.
You know what drives the gangRaw greed.
This statement here by thefather is interesting because
the phrase gains by violence isa phrase that the father doubles
(01:08:54):
up the idea of gaining byinadequate or by wrong means.
And so the father has putemphasis at the end of verse 18
on the idea of acting out ofgreed.
It's to gain by illicit gain,it's to gain motivated by greed.
(01:09:19):
He doubles up his point.
He doubles up his point,driving home the idea that what
drives the gang is self andselfishness.
They're not out for your bestinterests, oh, they're out for
the one person, but they'regoing to stab you in the back as
(01:09:40):
soon as you get a choice.
When the cops finally come,they're going to turn state's
evidence on you, right?
Some of us have been in thattype of situation.
Us and our friends didsomething we shouldn't do and we
thought our homies was ourhomies.
(01:10:01):
What we found out was man, theylet you go quick.
I don't know why she did that.
I don't know why, but we best.
I don't know how he did that.
You know what.
You ought to punish him.
They drop you quick.
Why?
Because they're out for self.
(01:10:22):
There's no altruism here.
Because they're out for self.
There's no altruism here.
I'm reminded of what I heard acouple of years ago as an
explanation of the smash andgrabs, shoplifting and stealing
that was going on during theprotests a few summers ago.
(01:10:44):
And stealing that was going onduring the protests a few
summers ago, people actuallyclaimed that the stealing was a
form of listen to this economicjustice, economic justice.
Young people, ancestors ofslaves who were stealing as a
(01:11:06):
form of reparation for theirancestors being enslaved.
So stealing that big screentelevision was because of
slavery they use in biblicalterms, justice, economic justice
, biblical terms, justice,economic justice.
(01:11:28):
When society allows and evenjustifies the stealing of
private property and thendefines it as justice.
The culture has definitelydisintegrated and words no
longer mean anything.
Proverbs doesn't label it asjustice.
Proverbs labels it as greed.
(01:11:49):
The father says these gangs areoperating strictly out of the
greed idea and a lot of that.
Final point, I just want to makeone last consideration this
morning in your hearing.
Last consideration this morningin your hearing.
Jesus warned humanity that itwas very possible to gain the
(01:12:15):
whole world, but to lose yoursoul.
I would have you consider thismorning the danger that Jesus
spoke of.
Do you realize that the gangholds out promise of wealth and
(01:12:36):
profit and for a time the gangmay come to possess those things
.
However, what will be theultimate outcome of their
gaining?
They'll lose their soul.
Don't lose yours along with it.
(01:13:00):
Heavenly Father, we give youthanks today for the clarity of
your word.
We thank you for the warningthat we have received.
We pray, lord God, for us asfathers.
Today, this is Father's Day.
Help us to do a good job ofwarning our children, not
(01:13:23):
allowing them, lord God, just tosimply go into these poor
relationships without a call tostop.
Lord God, let us, as fathers,step up to the plate, do what
we're supposed to do in ourhouseholds.
I pray for those of us who aremaybe we're out of the direct
(01:13:46):
fathering, but we havegrandchildren.
We can be influential in theirlives.
Calling them, lord God, to becareful of these deceptive
relationships.
I pray, heavenly Father, forthe young people here today,
that they would realize thatthey're as much a target of
(01:14:12):
Satan as their parents are.
He's after them big time.
I pray, heavenly Father, youwould help them to see their
need to turn their lives over toChrist, to repent and believe
on Jesus.
(01:14:32):
I pray, lord God, that youwould accomplish these things
for your glory's sake.
I pray.
Speaker 3 (01:14:55):
In Jesus' name, amen.
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Thank you for listening toBiblical Talks.
Welcome to Biblical Talks.
Sermon of the Week.
The best thing we fathers cando for our sons and daughters is
to put our hands on them andbless them in the name of Jesus
Christ, our Lord.
There's no way to measure theimpact that your blessing can
(00:22):
have on your children, that yourblessing can have on your
children Beloved.
We do a lot of encouragement toour children, but let me tell
you this that's the differencebetween encouraging your
children and praising them.
We praise our children a lot,but we don't always encourage
(00:43):
them.
Praise focuses on what thechild has accomplished, but
encouragement is not related towhat people achieve.
It is tied to who they are.
Encouragement says I want toaffirm you as my child.
You don't have to do anythingspectacular.
I love you because of who youare, because of who you are.
(01:04):
Here's Pastor Roger Sceppo ashe talks about the aspects.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Of a wise father.
The Bible says that God gave usgrace In such a way that it
could only be described as beinglavished on us.
God drowned us in his grace.
(01:33):
His grace was abundant.
He has grace, as the song says,for all.
God's grace cannot be tapped.
Normally, when we think ofsomebody giving us something,
(01:57):
like their time or their effort,they only have so much and then
they can't give anymore.
Isn't it good to have a Godwhose resources are untapped?
He's got as much for you todayas he had yesterday, and he has
(02:18):
as much for you tomorrow as hehas today.
His riches are unfathomable.
Praise God.
If you have your Bibles, pleaseturn with me to the book of
Proverbs, the first chapter ofthat book, the 10th verse of
that chapter, proverbs, chapter1.
(02:40):
We'll begin reading in the 10thverse and we'll continue to the
19th verse.
Let's stand for the reading ofGod's word.
The Bible says my son, ifsinners entice you, do not
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consent.
If they say, come with us, letus lie in wait for blood.
Let us ambush the innocentwithout cause.
Let us swallow them alive likeSheol, even whole, as those who
go down to the pit.
We shall find all kinds ofprecious wealth.
(03:29):
We shall fill our houses withspoil.
Throw in your lot with us.
We shall all have one purse, myson, do not walk in the way
(03:49):
with them.
Keep your feet from their path,for their feet run to evil and
they hasten to shed blood.
But indeed it is useless tospread the net in the eyes of
any bird.
But they lie in wait for theirown blood.
They ambush their own lives.
So are the ways of everyone whogains by violence.
(04:14):
It takes away the life of itspossessors.
Heavenly Father, we pray thismorning, as we turn to your Holy
Scripture, on this Father's Day, that you would remind us of
the importance of our fathers,for those of us who are fathers,
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for those of us who are to befathers in the future.
Help us to take note of yourexpectations of us.
Give us desires to fulfillthose expectations in a way that
would honor and glorify you.
Teach us today.
We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
(04:59):
You may be seated.
When my father passed away onChristmas Day of 1997, there
(05:21):
were a number of things that myfather bequeathed to me.
They were, of course, allsignificant and important.
One of them, however, wasparticularly challenging his
quadraphonic stereo.
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Now, for those of you who aretoo young to know what
quadraphonic stood for.
This term was basically the1980s 1990s term for surround
sound.
He had purchased it a couple ofyears before he had passed and
he had not had an opportunity tounbox it and set it up yet.
When we moved to Atlanta thenext year, it was one of the
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things that I eventually broughtdown to our home in Atlanta.
I unboxed it and put it in ourden with every intention of
using it.
But you know that what they sayabout the best laid plans of
mice and men.
Well, it would stay in the denfor a number of years,
(06:24):
unfunctional.
I won't tell you how long, buteventually Teresa came to me one
day and said Roger, either getit working or get it out of the
house.
Like only sweet Teresa couldsay, the gig was up for me.
(06:45):
In other words, now, those ofyou who know me know that
electronics are definitely in mywheelhouse.
But try as I might, month aftermonth, I just could not get it
functioning.
And you know what the problemwas.
There was no manual for thestereo, it had been missed, and,
(07:07):
try as I might, I just couldn'tget everything functioning the
way it should function and Ididn't want to call the company
to tell them I needed the manual.
But I eventually bit the bullet, called the company and
confessed my need for the manual.
Once I got the manual, I hadall I needed to put the stereo
(07:32):
together.
It was still complicated, itwas still difficult, but the
manual made the difficultprocess possible.
I couldn't help but think ofthat incident in my life and the
reality of fatherhood on thisFather's Day.
I thought about how manyfathers there are who are
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attempting to be fathers withoutthe manual.
Because they don't refer to themanual, they end up trying to
cobble together fatherhood, tojury rig it, in hopes that it
will one day come out okay.
And that's for those who aregenuinely interested in
(08:17):
fathering the children theyproduced.
What about all those fathers inour culture who have abandoned
their responsibility, have toldtheir children by their actions
that they don't rate enough tocare for them and their mother?
Instead, they have left theirchildren's mothers to fend for
(08:40):
themselves and their children tofend for themselves and their
children.
You see, fatherhood needs amanual and without it a father
will be left to his own devices,devices which are oftentimes
ineffective and inadequate foraccomplishing what fatherhood
demands.
So where does a father find themanual for fatherhood?
(09:05):
Well, the same place that themother finds the manual for
motherhood.
The Bible, the scriptures, arethe only trustworthy source for
the important informationnecessary to properly execute
parenting in a manner that hasGod's backing behind it.
(09:26):
Now understand something theBible is not trying to guarantee
the outcome of your parenting.
It's trying to get you toparent in the way that God wants
you to parent.
Those are two different things.
You can parent the way Godwants you to parent, but the
(09:49):
child must at some point make achoice to follow Christ.
Your job is to do what Godtells you to do.
So the scriptures provide thenecessary backing for us.
But I want to get even moreparticular with you this morning
.
While the Bible as a wholeserves as a manual on how a man
(10:18):
is to approach the realities offatherhood, the book of Proverbs
in particular was written as aparenting manual for both
fathers and mothers.
Proverbs was the divine sourceto which the fathers of Israel
would return to receive guidance, motivation and a blueprint of
(10:41):
how they could approach the taskof being dad.
And a blueprint of how theycould approach the task of being
dad A couple of years ago forour Father's Day series, I began
looking at the aspects of awise father from the book of
Proverbs.
So far, we have looked at thefact that he is an advocate in
the home for wisdom.
One thing a father does is hegives wisdom to those who are in
(11:10):
his house.
The second thing we saw lastyear was that not only is he an
advocate for wisdom in the house, but he also practices godly
reproof.
A father who doesn't disciplineis a father who is not being a
biblical father.
You must discipline yourchildren.
(11:31):
This morning I would like tobegin with you a little
mini-series over the next fewFather's Days.
Lord willing, that will focusupon the concerns of a wise
father, the concerns of a wisefather, the concerns of a wise
father, the concerns.
Now, the source of thisparticular subject comes from my
meditations and thoughts onfatherhood in Proverbs and how
(11:55):
the book highlighted or focusedon certain subjects that the
father should take theinitiative to engage his
children about, particularly hissons about it.
Now, some of these well, all ofthese are applicable to
daughters as well, but in thebook of Proverbs, the
illustration is given of afather speaking to his sons.
The concerns I want to focusupon are the negative influences
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listen to me now the negativeinfluences that the father
sought to equip his son toresist.
A father understands somethingHis children are growing up in a
world that has negativeinfluences that seek to impact
and draw their children in.
(12:43):
So how is a father to stand inthe gap For his children, how is
he to be a defense To the worldtrying to break into his house
and take control of his children?
There are some concerns.
There are some concerns that awise father has.
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Now, if you're not wise, skipit, but for those of us who are
wise, there are some concernsthat Proverbs highlights that we
should have.
This morning I want to beginthis little mini-series and
hopefully next year we'llcontinue it, lord willing.
This year we're going to look atthe attraction of gangs.
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The attraction of gangs.
I want to be clear this morningchurch.
The pull of the gang did notbegin in modern day Chicago.
God warned of the attraction ofthese types of human
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associations or affiliations toeven his people in the Old
Testament.
We think that organized groupsexecuting a smash and grab are
somehow new, but they werethings that the father in
Proverbs was concerned about.
Don't get tied into the folkswho were doing the smashing and
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the grabbing.
Don't lock in with them.
Don't allow them to pull you inand suck you in.
The pull of the gang is intenseand our children must be
particularly guided in how andwhy to avoid that pull.
And when you understand it,it's all over the Bible.
(14:34):
You know how the book of Psalmsbegins right In Psalm chapter 1,
verse 1.
How does it begin?
How blessed is the man who doesnot walk in the counsel of the
wicked, nor stand in the path ofsinners, nor sit in the seat of
scoffers.
Don't get hooked up with thegang.
Listen to God in Isaiah,chapter 3, verse 12, as he
(14:59):
highlights a culture out ofcontrol.
How do you know a culture isout of control?
Listen to what he says inIsaiah 3, verse 12.
Oh, my people, their oppressorsare children and women rule
over them.
Oh, my people, those who guideyou, lead you astray and confuse
the direction of your paths.
(15:20):
Did you see the first signthere of a broken culture?
The very first sign of a brokenculture is the adults are
oppressed by the children.
I've been in a car before and agang of folks start walking by,
lock my door.
Don't act like you don't knowwhat they're talking about here.
(15:46):
You know what God is talkingabout.
You see it on the news all thetime.
When all the supposed protestsare taking place and the stores
are being looted, who's doingthe looting children?
When the carjackings are takingplace, who are the ones doing
(16:07):
the jacking Children?
So much of the crime in ourcountry is taking place.
In our culture is perpetuatedby minors or people who have
just grown out of being a minor.
Many of them are tied in someway to gangs or gang-like groups
(16:28):
.
But gangs are dangerous notjust to other people, which is
enough to say don't get involved, but gangs are dangerous to the
people in the gangs themselves.
What do you mean, pastor?
Turn to 2 Kings, chapter 2.
It's all in the Bible 2 Kings,chapter 2.
(16:49):
In this chapter we have thetransition from Elijah to Elisha
, with the spirit of Elijahresting on Elisha in chapter 2,
verse 15.
As Elisha traveled up fromBethel, we have the following
(17:10):
account Listen to verse 23 of2nd Kings, chapter 2.
Then he went up from there toBethel and as he was going up,
by the way, young lads came outfrom the city and mocked him and
said go up, you bald head.
Go up you bald head.
Now stop there for a second.
(17:33):
The parents of these youngpeople let them go out that day
to meet their friends, expectingthat they would come home.
Okay, when they said theywanted to go out and hang with
their buddies, they thought theywere going to hang out around
the house and then come back alittle bit later, safe and sound
.
But look at what happened tothese young people, verse 24.
When he, elisha, looked behindhim and saw them, he cursed them
(17:59):
in the name of the Lord.
Then two female bears came outof the woods and tore up 42 lads
of their number.
Oh, this is a well-stocked gang, 42 people or more.
But this well-stocked gangcouldn't handle two sheep.
Bears Tore them up.
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Hanging with the gang is notjust dangerous for other people,
it's dangerous for the peoplein the gang.
You're putting your own lifeinto question here.
No, no, church Gangs are notjust dangerous to others,
they're also dangerous to thosewho are part of them.
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It's no wonder.
It's no wonder.
It's no wonder the father saidin Proverbs, chapter 1, verses
10 through 19,.
Let me read it for you again,my son listen to the father's
concern.
If sin is enticed, you do notconsent.
If they say come with us, letus lie in wait for blood, let us
(19:06):
ambush the innocent withoutcause, let us swallow them alive
like Sheol, even whole as thosewho go down to the pit.
We shall find all kinds ofprecious wealth.
We shall fill our houses withspoil.
Throw in your lot with us.
We shall have, we shall allhave one purse, my son, my son.
(19:28):
Do not walk in the way with us.
We shall have, we shall allhave one purse, my son, my son.
Do not walk in the way withthem.
Keep your feet from their path,for their feet, for their feet,
for their feet run to evil andthey hasten to shed blood.
Indeed, it is useless to spreadthe net in the eyes of a bird,
but they lie in wait for theirown blood.
They ambush their own lives.
So are the ways of everyone whogains by violence.
(19:54):
It takes away the life of itspossessors.
As the godly father takes up theissue of the attraction of
gangs with his son, we see threepoints here this morning.
I want to draw your attention.
He alerts them to the truthabout these gangs in verse 10,
(20:17):
and then in verses 11 through 14, he exposes those things that
are the most attractive aboutthe gangs the promises the gang
offers to those who adhere tothem.
And then, finally, in verse 15through 19, the father exhorts
his son to resist the draw.
Resist the draw, Hold yourselfback from the enticement.
(20:41):
Let's look first at verse 10.
He opens with these words myson, if sinners entice, you, do
not consent.
Here we see the truth aboutthese gangs.
The individuals of whom thefather was concerned and wanted
his son to be alerted to wereultimately just a group of
sinners.
A group of sinners the Hebrewterm here referred to the person
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who missed the mark.
Their behavior missed theintent of the Lord God,
particularly his law.
The father had no doubt taughthis son the biblical worldview,
including sinners and saints.
But now the son has reached apoint in his life when the
father wants his son to know heylook, sinners are coming for
you.
It's no longer an abstract.
(21:29):
These are sinners, these aresaints.
I want you to know something,son the sinners are looking to
get you, they're coming afteryou.
And this father wanted his olderchildren to be aware of the
fact that sinners were not justgunning for adults.
No, so many young people thinkthat religion and Christianity
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that's for my parents.
That's for older people.
Let me tell you something thedevil wants you while you're
young, because if he gets youwhile you're young, in all
likelihood you'll never get outof his grasp when you're old.
Don't be so foolish, youngpeople, as to think somehow
(22:23):
Satan only wants to get your momand dad.
No, he wants you, he's comingfor you and he's not going to be
satisfied until he has you inhis control.
A good dad makes this thingpersonal.
They're coming for you.
Son, makes this thing personal.
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They're coming for you, son.
Sin and its temptation was notsomething that the son would
only have to worry about when hegrew up, or the daughter when
she grew up.
Oh, no, no, no, no, not at all.
The father wanted his childrento be aware of the fact that
sinners would be aiming for themas well.
They would seek to entice them.
(23:07):
Our text says this is a ratherinteresting Hebrew word.
This word entice here literallymeant to be open.
In an intellectual sense, itspoke of an openness of mind to
external influences.
Listen to that An openness ofmind to external influences.
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These are influences that cometo us from the outside, that try
to impact us.
Although it could be usedpositively and talk about the
idea of persuade.
Oftentimes this was a negativeword and it meant to lure or to
deceive.
Don't allow sinners to deceiveyou, to lure you, to hook you on
(23:55):
the line, to get you to beginoperating by that which is not
real, that which is not real.
Parents, it's not just abouttelling our children what to do
and not to do.
It's letting them know aboutthe deceptiveness of even people
(24:20):
who claim to be their friends.
Sometimes, if your friend isnot pointing you to Jesus, then
he's pointing you to the devilyou got to understand what's
(24:42):
going on out there.
The father knew that hischildren would be open game for
those who were intent on livingoutside the will and way of God.
The parent listen the parentwho assumes safety rather than
assumes danger will always becaught off guard.
I have to confess, sometimes,as a parent, I was caught off
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guard.
I'll be honest.
I just didn't know.
You mean, there are four andfive of you doing that.
If you assume safety, you'regoing to be caught off guard.
You should assume danger.
(25:28):
The father lets his son knowthat they're coming for him and
they're coming for her and headmonishes them do not consent
when they come, when they cometo deceive you, when they come
to entice you, don't consent,don't say yes, don't acquiesce.
The concept of consentbasically means to accept
(25:51):
something, but there aredifferent reasons for accepting
things.
Some things can be acceptedbecause those things are
pleasing or desired by theperson accepting them.
However, some things can beaccepted due to the coercive
power of someone or something.
Here the idea in this contextis something outside of the
individual, drawing them in,coercing them in a certain
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direction.
Man, our friends are such astrong pull.
I went to public school.
I was a public school kid.
The things that were going onin the 1970s were horrific.
(26:39):
What's going on now puts thatto shame the amount of pressure
from people you hang with atschool that attempt to draw you
into their sphere of wickedness.
Parenting y'all is a full-timejob.
(27:01):
Earning y'all is a full-timejob.
The father warns his sons thatdon't consent.
Know what they're going to doto you before it happens.
Know they're coming for youtrying to draw you in, and make
(27:21):
sure that you don't consent whenthey come.
What you're doing after class?
Everybody's going.
Fill in the blank.
What you're going to do whenthey do that?
Everybody on that collegecampus isn't Christian.
(27:45):
Every Monday in that highschool isn't Christian.
Everybody in that Christianschool isn't Christian.
When they want to see if you'regoing to run with them, what's
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your response going to be?
The father says hey look, don'tconsent.
They're coming, that's aguarantee.
But that doesn't mean you'vegot to follow.
They're coming, but thatdoesn't mean you have to
acquiesce.
Know what you're dealing with.
Hmm, a father concerned withrearing children not drawn into
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gangs must paint a very realpicture of their attempts to
pull them into their orbit.
But just warning them won't begood enough.
These general directions nowbecome very specific in verses
11-14, as the father seeks tohelp them to understand the
enticement, understand theenticement.
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In these next four verses, thefather will focus on the promise
, the promise that gangs holdout to their participants.
How do they entice people?
How does one entice people?
You entice somebody by paintinga positive scenario that would
be attractive to the person thatyou're aiming to get.
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No-transcript Power, wealth,companionship, all the stuff we
(29:53):
want.
The gang says we got it for you.
First, verses 11 through 12, thepromise of power.
Listen to this If they say comealong with us.
Let's lie in wait for someone'sblood, let us waylay some
harmless soul, let us swallowthem alive like the grave and
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whole, like those who go down tothe pit.
Listen to what they're saying.
Listen to what they're saying.
The father had talked aboutenticing and now he expresses
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what type of things the son canexpect to hear from those who
are already engaged with thegangs.
First off, the gang lets it beknown that they will exert their
power over the harmless soul,over the harmless soul.
This is the person who has nodefense for themselves, the
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innocent.
Our text says the innocent.
Our text says the innocent, theharmless person.
It was not the guilty or thosewho were blameworthy that they
would go after, but simplypeople in the neighborhood over
which they could exert theirforce.
They weren't going gang againstgang.
They were going to deal withpeople that they could overpower
(31:30):
Innocent people minding theirown business.
That's the people they weregoing to take out.
The idea of laying in wait hereour text says hiding, ready to
ambush people.
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One version talks aboutwaylaying, hiding themselves,
disguising themselves in orderto jump on these people.
What's the purpose behind this?
What are they waylaying?
What are they wailing?
What are they ambushing?
Notice they're ambushing peopleso that they can get their
(32:11):
blood, their blood.
This is expressed in the nextstatement, when they're promised
that they're going to swallowpeople alive in the shield Whole
he says whole as those who godown to the pit.
The only time that this tookplace was when God opened up the
(32:35):
ground and swallowed wholeKorah and all those who
disobeyed God.
With Korah, god just opened upthe earth.
I mean, can you imagine?
You just watch it.
Korah says you know, we knowGod too.
We should be able to offersacrifice.
God said okay, bring your stufftomorrow and come over here.
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So they brought out their pans.
They put the little fire in thepan they're going to offer to
God.
And the choice was betweenMoses and Aaron or between Korah
and his followers.
God had chosen Moses, but Korahdidn't like it.
God said, okay, everybody, moveaway from Korah.
That's when you know troublegetting ready to happen.
(33:17):
And when they moved away, godopened up the earth and
swallowed Korah, all of hisfollowers, the women, the
children, the tents, and theyclosed up the earth.
And what the Bible said?
(33:38):
All the Israelites werescrambling to get away.
Yeah, can you imagine standingon the edge of that?
Oh, no, no, no, I'm going inthe other direction.
But listen to what these gangssay.
We're going to do that.
We're going to do that.
We're going to swallow peoplewhole.
You haven't seen us operatingyet.
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These people are prideful abouttheir power.
They're going to control peopleand they're going to enforce
their will on others.
Hmm, these young men seeking togain the son's participation
(34:25):
promise him that he will be aforce to be reckoned with.
Society won't be able todisregard you anymore because
you're young.
They'll fear you and know thatyou hold real power.
Listen to what the gangs areoffering them.
Every young man wantssignificance and importance, and
(34:47):
the gangs offer him just thatvery thing.
The father warns his son thathis significance and his
importance is not found inignoring God's will, but
embracing God's will.
Don't be trapped by the groupof young people wanting to
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exercise their power andauthority in unbiblical ways,
using it against the text, saysthe innocent.
That wasn't all that they'repromising.
Look at verse 13.
We shall find all kinds ofprecious wealth.
(35:30):
We shall fill our houses withspoil.
Promise them, promise wealth.
They promise reward of allkinds of precious wealth.
They promised reward of allkinds of precious wealth.
The statement seems general atfirst.
They will happen upon orthey'll discover they'll find
(35:53):
wealth.
The idea of wealth herebasically meant substance or
fill.
Don't think of currency so muchas that which held significance
in that culture.
This is manifested by the factthat they would fill their
houses with these things.
The idea of spoil is the ideaof things.
(36:14):
They're going to take otherpeople's things and make them
their own, even if they've gotto kill them for it.
They see what they want.
They take it, and who are youto stop them?
(36:41):
Consider for a moment thismorning the gang's perversion of
reality.
These people are so perverted,man.
They're so mixed up.
Just look at how pervertedtheir reality is.
Turn to Proverbs 24, verses 3-4.
Proverbs 24, verses 3-4.
(37:05):
Proverbs 24, verses 3-4.
Listen to what it says.
They talking about fillingtheir houses with wealth through
blood, money through blood,through taking what belongs to
other people.
Listen to what Proverbs says.
Proverbs 24, verses 3-4.
By wisdom a house is built.
You hear that man.
(37:27):
These gangs are mixed up andmessed up.
By wisdom a house is built andthrough understanding it is
established.
Listen to this.
Through knowledge, its roomsare filled with rare and
beautiful treasures.
The word rare here is the sameword, translated wealth, or
sorry, that's translatedprecious.
(37:48):
Back in Proverbs 1, verse 13.
Same word.
The gang does not presentreality as it truly is.
They hold out to the young manthat they can attain what is
worth having in this life bywicked means.
That's mixed up.
That's mixed up.
That's mixed up.
(38:09):
They say you can have what thisworld offers you if you take my
means to get it.
That's mixed up.
Rather than providing forthemselves, as God intended,
what do gangs do?
They abuse other people.
They exploit other people'slabor rather than working and
benefiting from their own labor.
Energies that should have beenspent, based on the word of God
(38:35):
in providing for themselves,they use to plot the demise of
others.
Rather than developing skillsand using those skills to
provide for their needs, theyrob others of the fruit of their
skills and the fruit of theirlabors.
You're working like a dog,sacrificing and doing what
(38:58):
you're supposed to do.
What does the gang do?
They come and take your stuff.
That's whack, that's crazy.
Here you are laboring, doingwhat God wants you to do,
working for the benefit of yourfamily, and it's your stuff they
steal.
You sacrificed, built the store, went to sleep late, woke up
(39:34):
early, labored till your handswere bleeding, and they break
into your shop and steal yourstuff.
That's what the gangs do.
Rather than using their timeand effort and skills to care
for themselves, as the Biblesays, they try to get off your
(39:56):
stuff.
God had told his people in thelaw that he was the one who
provided for them a means bywhich they might gain wealth,
but this required following abiblically normative pathway.
Listen to God's statement tothe second generation after the
exodus from Egypt in Deuteronomy8, 18.
(40:18):
God says but remember the Lord,your God, for it is he who
gives you the ability to producewealth.
Remember the Lord, your God,for it is he who gives you the
ability to produce wealth and soconfirms his covenant, which he
swore to your forefathers, asit is today.
But what do sinners do, thosewho miss the mark of God's law?
They don't abide by God's way.
Rather than living according tothe dictates of humanity, the
(40:40):
order of society and, mostimportantly, the will and word
of the Lord, gangs repudiatethose things and endanger and
destroy the lives of otherpeople.
The father tells the son don'tlisten to that stuff.
The promise of power, thepromise of power, the promise of
(41:08):
wealth, money and the kudegra,the promise of companionship
verse 14.
Listen to what they tell theson, listen, listen, listen.
Throw in your lot with us.
(41:29):
We shall all have one purse.
Listen to them.
Here is the climactic promisethe gang holds out to the young
person a connection, a family ofsorts.
The call to throw in your lotis the terminology used by those
(41:51):
describing the casting of lots,or the idea of chance, or the
idea of destiny.
The gang beckons the son toidentify with them, to link
their destiny with them.
We're going somewhere, we'regonna be somebody.
You come with us.
Link your destiny to wherewe're going.
(42:15):
Go with us, run with us.
The gang beckons the son toconnect with them and then they
say we'll all have one purse.
We'll all have one purse.
(42:38):
Don't think of a woman's purse.
That's not the point this time.
I trust Fellowship Compensate.
We trust each other so much inthis gang that we're not hiding
(42:59):
our money.
All of us have a common purseand we're all living from the
same thing, living the same way.
The gang promises the son thatthey will help him.
All of us have a common purposeand we all living from the same
thing, living the same way.
The gang promises the son thatthey will help him to see where
he fits in in life.
Isn't that what we all want toknow, right?
(43:20):
We all want to know what weought to be, where we ought to
fit, what we can expect in ourlife.
The gang tells the son thatthey have the answer and it is
found in connecting with them.
If the son would just plug inwith them, they would find their
place in life.
(43:43):
I was at the place that this sonis at in my life.
All of us were trying to figureout where we fit in, what we
were supposed to do, who we weresupposed to be, and the gangs
come along at that prime timeand say, hey, look, we got
something for you.
Tie your destiny to us, link inwith us.
(44:08):
We're going to set you on theright pathway.
We'll have one purse.
This tells the son that hisfuture needs will be cared for
in the gang.
Don't worry about it.
Look, we got one purse, you'regood to go.
We're going to take care of you, no matter what part you play,
(44:30):
as long as you're with us, aslong as you're connected to us,
you're taken care of.
The gang promises a level offuture security.
They promise the world, butit's something else that they're
going to actually produce.
You're taking care, but whatthe son doesn't know, that the
father's informing him in, isthis You're being led straight
(44:56):
to destruction.
I know your friends arepromising you the world, but
what they're going to give youis death.
Look as the father transitionsnow in verses 15 through 19, to
(45:18):
encourage his son, his children,to resist the draw, resist the
pull, resist the pull.
To resist the draw, resist thepull, resist the pull.
You know the world tells usthat fathers are an unnecessary
aspect of a healthy family.
As I was watching a newsprogram a few months ago, they
(45:41):
were showing an old interviewwhere a group of single mothers
were being interviewed regardingfamily and their children,
particularly surrounding theidea of fatherhood.
In fact, some of them werepregnant at the time of the
interview.
Many of the young women sittingin that circle voiced the idea
that they did not need a fatherin their child's life because
(46:03):
they were able to raise them andgive them all that.
They did not need a father intheir child's life because they
were able to raise them and givethem all that they needed.
While I have no doubt that manya single mother has done an
incredible job of raising theirkids, there's one thing I can
say with great confidence that'snot the design or intent of God
that I do know.
Just as children need a mother,so they need a father.
(46:34):
Not a feminized male.
I mean an actual father whosmells like a man, looks like a
man, acts like a man and ismanly.
What I mean is somebody who wasborn a man Sad, we got to say
(46:56):
in our culture today.
I'm not talking about somebodywho chooses to be a man because
they're not a man, they're awoman.
I'm talking about somebody whois a man.
And let me just say somethingon the side here.
Let me just make a side note.
(47:17):
The idea of toxic masculinitywas created by misdirected and
ignorant feminists.
If you don't understand what awoman is to be, how in the world
can you tell me what a man'ssupposed to be?
Can you figure out what you'resupposed to be doing?
(47:39):
First, church you've heard meteaching this in the past.
But don't let people trick youinto believing that male
headship, which is biblical, isno different than male
domination or male superiority,which is unbiblical.
(48:00):
Real men please check in here.
Real, real men lead their homes, not belittle, dominate or
discount their wives.
That's not a real man, amen.
A real man respects his wife,puts her on a pedestal, serves
(48:30):
for her benefit, loves her asChrist loves the church.
He's a loving leader.
But our children need real men,not feminized men.
One of the ways in which themale influence is felt the most,
(48:53):
or at least should be felt themost, is in the area of
exhortation and admonition.
Here the father directs hischildren on how to avoid these
enticements to power, wealth andcompanionship.
Listen to our passage here,verses 15 through 19.
My son, do not walk in the waywith them.
Keep your feet from their paths, for their feet run to evil and
(49:17):
they hasten to shed blood.
Indeed, it is useless to spreadthe net in the eyes of any bird
, but they lie in wait for theirown blood.
They ambush their own lives.
So are the ways of everyone whogains by bonds.
It takes away the life of itspossessors.
(49:37):
First the father tells his sonwhat he should do.
Then he tells him why he shoulddo it.
What should he do?
Verse 15.
In essence, this is much likethe general exhortation that
opened up this section in verse10.
He said he must not walk in theway with them.
Then he repeats himself andsays you must keep your feet
(50:01):
from their path.
He's basically describing whatit means to not consent from
verse 10.
In verse 10, he said don'tconsent.
What does he mean by don'tconsent?
He means don't walk in the way,keep your feet from their path.
The gang is on a certainpathway, a pathway of their own
(50:29):
choosing.
The son is exhorted here not toget on that pathway with them.
The son has a choice to make andit ultimately cannot be made
for him as much protection asour parents afforded us
throughout our childhood.
Eventually, there's going tocome a time when the child would
(50:52):
have to choose theirassociations for themselves.
We went through that.
There came a time when mom anddad couldn't protect you anymore
and you had to choose who youwere going to run with, whose
(51:12):
voices you were going to listento.
Oh, your dad.
Your dad is crazy man.
Let's ignore that.
Do what we tell you to do.
Don't even worry, your mom hasno sense.
People don't do that anymore.
We don't live that way anymore.
This is 2023.
(51:37):
And they attempt to draw you into their mindset and their
thinking mindset and theirthinking.
At some point, you'll no longerbe able to be sheltered and
(51:57):
safeguarded by your parents.
Choices and not only will youhave to make choices yourself.
Here's the downer You're goingto have to live with the
(52:19):
consequences of your choice.
See, there was a time when momand dad could bail you out, but
they're not going to be able tobail you out anymore.
Those decisions that you made,the ideas that you got in your
mind, the people you listened tothose consequences you're not
going to have to live, I'm sorryto say.
(52:40):
Your mom and dad are trying tokeep you from having to scramble
, because some of us have made alife of scrambling, right,
let's be honest, mom and dad.
Right, some of us have had toscramble Because we made choices
.
We made decisions we ought nothave made.
We should have followed throughon what was right, but we
(53:02):
listened to the voices.
They weren't good voices.
And now we've had to scramble.
We've become experts at it.
We're trying to save you fromthat.
Don't listen, that's up to you.
I'll see you in 20 yearsScrambling, trying to make the
(53:27):
pieces fit together.
Listen, listen.
The father says Take note,don't get on the pathway with
them.
They're on this pathway.
Don't jump on the pathway,don't go the way they're going.
The father's approach here isto provide for his child a
(53:47):
series of important reasons whyhis choice should be to reject
the call or the draw of thegroup.
Let me just say this Don't raiseyour hand.
It doesn't have to be a gangthat's toting guns and knives.
(54:11):
Sometimes it's just a group ofpeople at school, right?
How many of us have followedthe group at school and done
something that was just ignorant?
It was stupid to do it.
Why did we do it?
Because everybody else wasdoing it, and then we're the
ones to pay for it.
(54:32):
No, I didn't see them.
I saw you.
No, no, no, I saw you do thatand you're the one that gets in
trouble.
When are you going to learn tostand on your own for Jesus
Christ, rather than going withthe group, rather than going
(54:54):
with the guy?
Oh, you don't know Jesus Christ.
That's the problem.
I forgot, sorry.
You have to turn from your sin,repent from your sin and
embrace Jesus Christ.
When you become a Christian,you will then have the strength
to say no, no, guarantee you'regoing to say no, but you have
the strength to say no.
(55:16):
So what does the Father say here?
What's the why?
Verses 16-19.
The Father builds a case.
Father builds a case.
He builds a case that theconsequences of the gang will be
the destruction of those whoare in the gang in the first
place.
Interestingly, just as the gangpossesses a common purse, so
(55:40):
the gang is bound for a commonoutcome.
So the gang is bound for acommon outcome.
Like every pathway, there is aconclusion to the pathway that
the gang is on.
The first aspect of the reasongiven is a summary statement.
Verse 15 says For their feetrun the evil and they hasten to
(56:02):
shed blood.
Now the gang had said we'regoing to lay in wait for blood.
They looked at it as theirstrength.
We're going to gang up on theinnocent.
We're going to take over peoplewho think they can't.
(56:22):
We're going to express ourpower over other people.
So they were looking at theirwaiting for blood as a strength.
The father says that's weakness, the very thing they're
counting on their power to do.
God's going to turn that badboy around on them and their
power is actually their weakness.
(56:44):
Their strength was, in allreality, the beginning of their
demise.
The father refers to them asevil.
They run the evil.
The word evil here translatesthe Hebrew term that had a wide
(57:06):
range of meanings.
It could be used to describeanything From physical death To
an abnormality of the body ormoral injury to the spirit or to
a relationship.
The father is using this termTo describe, to convey the idea
of a moral injury Sin.
Listen.
Sin inflicted what God definedas an injury or injuries of
(57:31):
moral magnitude upon another.
But the injurious nature of theact was also directed against
God as well.
God is injured by your sin.
You know, sometimes you'd betalking to a young person, your
(57:51):
son or daughter, and they lookat sinful behavior.
Well, that doesn't impactanybody, it impacts God.
It impacts God.
Don't rule him out.
You remember that when Jesustaught his disciples to pray, he
(58:13):
told them to ask forforgiveness.
But listen to what he says inMatthew 6, verse 12.
He says forgive us our debts,as we also have forgiven our
debtors, our debts before God.
When you sin, it's not justrelationships on earth that are
(58:35):
impacted.
God is impacted.
When you sin, you owe a debt toGod.
An unsaved person owes a debtto God.
An unsaved person owes a debtto God, a debt that they cannot
pay for on their own, which iswhy the lake of fire was created
(58:55):
.
That's the place that sinnersdebts are paid off.
The problem is, you have to payit off forever.
It's an eternal payment.
Thank God, jesus paid it all.
All to him I owe.
(59:16):
Sin had left a crimson stain,but guess what he did?
He washed it white as snow.
You better jump on board of theJesus train If you don't know
Jesus today.
You better become a Christiantoday, because you don't know
what your life holds tomorrow.
And your life, your decisions,your thoughts, your attitudes,
(59:42):
your actions are accumulating adebt, not to people, but to God
himself, and one day you'regoing to have to pay for your
debt.
You're going to pay for it.
And what we don't want you todo is pay for it forever in hell
(01:00:02):
.
We don't want that.
We don't want that.
We don't want that.
Avoid that at all costs.
Run to Jesus, he'll forgive youOf your debt.
The worst thing you have doneTo hurt another person, jesus
(01:00:29):
can forgive.
The worst thing you've done toyourself.
Guess what Jesus can forgiveyou of that too.
Notice, back in our text, thefather painted a picture of the
(01:00:52):
energy and enthusiasm which thegangs approach their actions.
You see, church, the gang isneither trapped in their
behavior nor deceived into theirbehavior.
They've made a conscious choiceto pursue this way of life and
they're pursuing itenthusiastically.
The father says uses the wordrun here in the first half of
this verse.
This referred to the physicalact of running, but could also
(01:01:15):
specify the idea of doing soquickly and thus the attitude
with which something isapproached.
They're approaching this, thisenerget.
This is reinforced by theconcept of hasten.
They hasten to do this.
The father then gave somefurther instruction that at
(01:01:39):
first, on the surface, seems alittle strange.
Notice he says indeed, it isuseless to spread the net in the
eyes of any bird.
What in the world is?
I mean, we're talking aboutgangs.
What are you talking aboutbirds?
For all of a sudden, what's hedoing here?
A hunter who's seeking his preydisguises the trap from the
(01:02:08):
animal.
When you're fishing, you don'tjust drop a hook in the water.
You tie a worm on that hookBecause you want to entice the
fish to bite.
Look what it says in verse 17,as he removes the image and just
(01:02:30):
tells you the straight up truthVerse 17.
They lie in wait for their ownblood.
They ambush their own lives.
There, it is there.
It is there it is.
They thought they were going toget over on other people.
Guess what?
(01:02:51):
Eventually, they're going topay the price for what they did.
God says I got you, I see you,I see what you're doing.
And guess what?
Your time's coming.
Your time's coming Because Godis laying a trap.
He's using them to trapthemselves.
(01:03:15):
He's using them to set theirown trap.
They're baiting their own hookand then they're going to bite
the hook.
A wise son should take note ofthis.
The gang thought that they wereexerting power over others, but
(01:03:37):
in all actuality they werebaiting themselves.
All the gang's clever tricksand traps they were actually
sending for themselves and notfor other people.
There are so many biblicalconcepts here that are just
proven by this text.
In 1 Corinthians 15, verse 33,it says Do not be deceived.
(01:04:01):
Bad company corrupts goodmorals.
Now, of course, in 1Corinthians 15, the emphasis is
theological error.
But whether it's theological orpractical, it's all the same.
You will become like the peopleyou run with.
That's what the Bible says.
Run with those type of people.
(01:04:22):
Guess what?
You're going to be fine.
You're going to wake up and saywhy am I living this way?
Because of who you're hangingwith.
It doesn't take a rocketscientist.
This is why it's so incrediblyimportant to choose your
associates carefully.
The people you connect withyou're going to look like.
(01:04:46):
You're going to be that sameway Father's concerned for his
children.
But there's another principlehere.
In Proverbs 14, 12, it saysthere's a way that seems right
to a man.
Guess what the end of that wayis?
(01:05:08):
Straight up, death.
Nobody gets on the deathpathway knowingly.
You think it's leading to life.
You're thinking that thispathway that's real living.
Mom and dad are just tired oldfolks.
(01:05:30):
I want to live and you thinkyou're on the living pathway.
But guess what?
That pathway that you're on isdriving you straight to death,
and it shouldn't be a surprise,because Proverbs 21, 22 says all
a man's way seems right to him,but the Lord weighs the heart.
(01:05:50):
You can get over on mom and dad, but you know who you can't get
over on.
You can't get over on God, andGod's got a balance.
He's weighing it.
And God's got a balance, he'sweighing it.
(01:06:10):
You best do business with God.
A faithful father warns hischildren of the importance of
doing business with God.
The father is trying to warnhis son about death.
Now, at first I was thinking isthis eternal death?
(01:06:31):
He's warning him about no, no,no, no, no Physical death.
But aren't we all going to dieat some point?
Well, yeah, but the father isconcerned about untimely death.
All of us are going to die,absolutely.
We may die doing good things.
The father is concerned aboutuntimely death, death directly
(01:07:00):
attributed to your bad choices,son.
That's what the dad's concernedabout.
We can't stop death, but we canstop unwise decisions,
decisions the father says inverse 19, that take the life of
(01:07:24):
its possessors.
So are the ways of everyone whogains by violence, who gains by
violence.
It takes away the life of itspossessors.
Interestingly, the father hasmade one more point here that I
(01:07:45):
want to highlight before I close.
It's a sub-point, it's subtle,but it's powerful.
You see, we all know that gangsare marked by violence.
We know that.
We know that gangs takeadvantage of those in the
community who are weak andcannot defend themselves.
(01:08:06):
We understand that.
We know that gangs offer acamaraderie between people.
Yes, we know that.
But church, this is not RobinHood that we're talking about
here.
You know Robin Hood and hismerry men who stole from the
(01:08:27):
corrupt rich and gave to thepoor.
There's no such altruism herein a gang.
You know what drives the gangRaw greed.
This statement here by thefather is interesting because
the phrase gains by violence isa phrase that the father doubles
(01:08:54):
up the idea of gaining byinadequate or by wrong means.
And so the father has putemphasis at the end of verse 18
on the idea of acting out ofgreed.
It's to gain by illicit gain,it's to gain motivated by greed.
(01:09:19):
He doubles up his point.
He doubles up his point,driving home the idea that what
drives the gang is self andselfishness.
They're not out for your bestinterests, oh, they're out for
the one person, but they'regoing to stab you in the back as
(01:09:40):
soon as you get a choice.
When the cops finally come,they're going to turn state's
evidence on you, right?
Some of us have been in thattype of situation.
Us and our friends didsomething we shouldn't do and we
thought our homies was ourhomies.
(01:10:01):
What we found out was man, theylet you go quick.
I don't know why she did that.
I don't know why, but we best.
I don't know how he did that.
You know what.
You ought to punish him.
They drop you quick.
Why?
Because they're out for self.
(01:10:22):
There's no altruism here.
Because they're out for self.
There's no altruism here.
I'm reminded of what I heard acouple of years ago as an
explanation of the smash andgrabs, shoplifting and stealing
that was going on during theprotests a few summers ago.
(01:10:44):
And stealing that was going onduring the protests a few
summers ago, people actuallyclaimed that the stealing was a
form of listen to this economicjustice, economic justice.
Young people, ancestors ofslaves who were stealing as a
(01:11:06):
form of reparation for theirancestors being enslaved.
So stealing that big screentelevision was because of
slavery they use in biblicalterms, justice, economic justice
, biblical terms, justice,economic justice.
(01:11:28):
When society allows and evenjustifies the stealing of
private property and thendefines it as justice.
The culture has definitelydisintegrated and words no
longer mean anything.
Proverbs doesn't label it asjustice.
Proverbs labels it as greed.
(01:11:49):
The father says these gangs areoperating strictly out of the
greed idea and a lot of that.
Final point, I just want to makeone last consideration this
morning in your hearing.
Last consideration this morningin your hearing.
Jesus warned humanity that itwas very possible to gain the
(01:12:15):
whole world, but to lose yoursoul.
I would have you consider thismorning the danger that Jesus
spoke of.
Do you realize that the gangholds out promise of wealth and
(01:12:36):
profit and for a time the gangmay come to possess those things
.
However, what will be theultimate outcome of their
gaining?
They'll lose their soul.
Don't lose yours along with it.
(01:13:00):
Heavenly Father, we give youthanks today for the clarity of
your word.
We thank you for the warningthat we have received.
We pray, lord God, for us asfathers.
Today, this is Father's Day.
Help us to do a good job ofwarning our children, not
(01:13:23):
allowing them, lord God, just tosimply go into these poor
relationships without a call tostop.
Lord God, let us, as fathers,step up to the plate, do what
we're supposed to do in ourhouseholds.
I pray for those of us who aremaybe we're out of the direct
(01:13:46):
fathering, but we havegrandchildren.
We can be influential in theirlives.
Calling them, lord God, to becareful of these deceptive
relationships.
I pray, heavenly Father, forthe young people here today,
that they would realize thatthey're as much a target of
(01:14:12):
Satan as their parents are.
He's after them big time.
I pray, heavenly Father, youwould help them to see their
need to turn their lives over toChrist, to repent and believe
on Jesus.
(01:14:32):
I pray, lord God, that youwould accomplish these things
for your glory's sake.
I pray.
Speaker 3 (01:14:55):
In Jesus' name, amen.
Hello, my name is MichelleTolliver and Biblical Talk's
book offer for the month of Juneis Amen.
Its extent reaches down to theflight of electrons, up to the
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Its nature is wise, just andgood, and its goal is the
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redeemed people in a new world.
Drawing on a lifetime oftheological reflection, biblical
study and practical ministry,pastor and author John Piper
leads us on a stunning tour ofthe sightings of God's
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over all creation and allhistory.
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Piper invites us to experiencethe profound effects of knowing
the God of all pervasiveprovidence, the intensifying of
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For any amount of donation toBiblical Talks, we will send you
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the book.
Please go to biblicaltalkscomand click the Donate here tab.
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