You. Congressman John McEwen recently in Washington asked a question to his audience. Here's the question. What do these pathologies have in common? So I want to ask you the same question. Here they are. 70% of all juvenile delinquents have something in common with 72% of all juvenile murderers, which in turn have something in common with 60% of all rapists and 70% of all school dropouts 60% of all suicides, 70% of all teen pregnancies, 71% of all chemical abusers, 80% of all prison inmates, that's four out of every prisoners has this in common, and 90% of all homeless persons. What do these groups have in common? The answer is there is no father in the home. Now, I want you to tune me in really close because what we're going to talk about is so critical. In fact, the scripture says that there will come a curse upon the earth, and I happen to believe the curse is here. Here's the scripture. It's the last verse in the entire Old Testament. And it predicted that when Jesus got here, the spirit of Elijah would rest upon him, and look at what would happen. He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children. And look at this. And the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. Now, I want you to notice the sequence here. Turning the hearts of the fathers to the children first, then the hearts of the children towards the fathers. The children can never turn their hearts towards a father whose heart is turned away. The desperate need of the moment is the turning of the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children towards the fathers. Right now, the hearts of the fathers are turned, pointed elsewhere, some of them to jobs and materialism, sports and entertainment, and worse than that towards alcohol and sexual recreation. Now, there's a problem because men are doing very heartless things. But what is the cause of that? Look at this scripture. Whoredom and wine take away the heart. Whoredom and and drug addictions and alcohol cause men to do heartless things. Heartless things like desert their spouse, desert their children, turn their back on the whole family, take up with somebody else. What kind of heartlessness does that take? I tell you, it is severe. And the predicament that is around the world today, and especially growing in leaps and bounds here in America, and we are facing a catastrophic situation in America. There are national implications of this, but at the core issue, is that the hearts of fathers are turned away from the children and that needs to change. No fathers in the home. Now, that's why I want to spend a few moments on this subject of what are the consequences when there is no father. Grab paper, pencil, something to write with and write on and don't miss these points. Every one of them is critical Because as we go through them, I want you to count the cost with me of what happens when fathers are gone. So let's look at scriptures now. Number one, if there's no father, there is no accurate voice. There's no voice. The scripture instructs children in this way. Look at the text here. Hearken, that means listen to your father, the father that begat you. He is to be in the life of a child, speaking, speaking, speaking. Instead, literally millions of children are living an existence with a painful silence. No father speaking. So when there's no father, there's no voice. When there's no father, there's no counsel. Check the scripture. My son, keep thy father's commandment. But if Father's not there, then these commandments aren't there. Now, these commandments, don't let the word commandments scare you, because when God talks about a commandment, what it is is a success tip. You follow this tip, this commandment, and you'll be successful. In fact, in ancient times, children were instructed to, look at this scripture, bind them continually upon your heart and tie them about your neck. So keep those commandments before you. So they tied them on a little chain and some little writing instrument, and they could pull them up at any time of the day, see what father had told them to do, because those instructions from a father are so critical. They are the counsel that every child needs. Tie them around your neck and keep them in your heart. But if there's no father, there's no counsel. Can you imagine children having to be raised without counsel? Then if there's no father, there's no leadership, because this same instructions, the scripture says, when they go, look at this, it shall lead you. It will show you how to conduct yourself in the affairs of life. Those instructions shall lead you, but if there's no father, that leadership does not exist. And then if there's no father, there is no security. Look at this. When you sleep, it will keep you. children go to sleep or should go to sleep with the instructions and the presence of their father and it gives them rest while they sleep. Psychological, mental, emotional, confidence, relaxation. When you sleep, it will keep you. And when you wake, these same instructions will talk to you. See, if there's no father, this security is missing. Not only is security missing, but the companionship. Look it. These things should be talking to you. No father, no companionship. And then when there's no father, there's no correction. How tragic is this? We all need course correction. When an airplane gets off course because of blowing wind or whatever, we need to make a course correction to stay on the track. People are like that. We can get off track rather easily. You can't run a good race on a wrong track. Fathers are designed to give course correction to their children, and it is an evidence that they love them. Take a look at the scripture. It says, for whom the Lord loves, he corrects. Love is connected to correction. Notice this comparison with the Lord, even as a father the son in whom he delights. God wants to correct people, even as a father does a son, that he cares about. But if there's no father, there's no correction. And then, if there's no father, there is no self-acceptance. No genuine self-acceptance. This same verse, take a look at it. For whom the Lord loveth, he corrects, even as a father, a son. Now look at this. In whom he delights, Can you imagine the devastation that children face when they have no father to delight in them? Nobody to be happy that they are even in existence. Nobody to rejoice when they do something right. A father delights in a son or his daughter. But if there's no father, there's nobody to delight in them. And guess what? Self-image goes down. But when a father delights in his son, son is brightened up by that and exuberated and becomes enthusiastic about life and believes in himself because dad delights in me. It puts a smile on his face instead of a frown. But if there's no father, children are learning to reject themselves because their father has rejected them. And these conflicts can last an entire lifetime. And isn't that the problem today? Most adults are simply trying to deal in their adult years the conflicts they got when they're children, but they haven't overcome them. They can last a lifetime. But no father, no genuine self-acceptance. And then if there's no father, there's no instruction. My son, hear the instruction of your father. So if the father is not there, the instruction is missing. And so we have uninstructed children. Now what's the problem with that? The problem is that they will get instruction from peers, people their own age group who don't know any better, don't know any more than them. And perhaps even those peers have no father. And so we are left with this group that turns into a wild mob, undisciplined, uninstructed, don't know where they're going. and life becomes simply going down one cul-de-sac dead-end street after another, turning back and pursuing another, because there was no father to instruct them. And then when there's no father, there's no chance, not even a chance for wisdom. Now, wisdom is important. Scripture says that wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom. And with all your wisdom, as we'll see in a moment, get understanding. But wisdom comes from a number of sources and the primary source of wisdom is to be the father. Look at this, a wise son hears his father's instruction. This wisdom comes to the son because he listens to his father. But if there's no father, there is no chance for wisdom. And then if there's no father, there's no understanding. Hear ye children the instruction of a father, look at this, and attend to know understanding. This comes from a father. To explain to a son and daughter, son or daughter, or sons and daughters, how and why things work the way they work. To explain the laws of cause and effect, to give them understanding of how life even works. And so children without a father don't have much of a chance of getting understanding. And then if there's no father, there is no learned life secrets. Now, I want you to check this manuscript with me, this ancient document that has been forever proven to be true, and see what it says. I will open my mouth. in a parable, and I will utter the dark sayings of old." Now this phrase, the dark sayings of old, refers to secrets that get passed on. They're called dark sayings because they aren't on the surface known by very many people. So it's about secrets. Now watch this, because where do these dark secrets come from? These parables, these sayings of old. Here it is, which we have heard and known and our fathers have told us. That's where your child gets to learn the secrets of life. But if there's no father, there's no life secrets. And then if there's no father, there's no transmitted knowledge. As you can tell, we have talked here about wisdom and understanding and knowledge. These are three big things. Now God made a rule. I want you to see it. He appointed a law in Israel, look at this, which he commanded our fathers. Now here's the command that God gave fathers, that they should make these dark saying secrets known to the children, make them known to the children. Fathers are the transmitters. Because without a father, a child has to start from zero. to learn everything about life instead of building on all of his father's wisdom and experience. And then I want you to see that if there's no father, there's no compassion. Like as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities them that fear him. 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