Ephesians chapter 6, all right? And the kids might be like, oh, no, he's going to get on us, but I'm not. We're good, babe? Ephesians chapter 6, look at verse number 1. If you're a Christian kid and grew up in a Christian home and your parents haven't made you memorize this verse, you're missing out. All right? Ephesians 6 verse 1, I think my children were still in the womb when I was trying to teach them how to memorize this one. All right, it's like I need some leverage here. All right, Ephesians 6 1 says, all right, parents might quote it faster than the kids. Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. And parents love to use that on their children. I'd like to turn that around and use that on some parents. Because if God is commanding children to obey, then that means those children are expected to be under authority. And authority is, definition, the legal power or right to command. The reason why you, mom, dad, are able to tell them to obey is because God has given you a position of authority that gives you the force and the rule and the government, if you will, to tell them to obey. And you got to remember, we've been saying this all along. It says, children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. The home is going to prepare you for life and for God. Right. So you learning to obey in the home, as much as you might not like it, you learning to obey in the home is preparing your heart to obey authorities in life. and also to ultimately obey God. So there's a big thing about authority. The question that I say to all of you who have that authority is, what kind of authority will you be when God puts you in that position of power? Now I know this message is primarily aimed at a parent, but I want everybody to listen up because this applies to you as a pastor, as a deacon, as a leader of a ministry, as an older Christian people look up to, as a big brother, as a big sister, as a teacher in a classroom, as a teacher in a Sunday school room, as an employer, as anybody who has any authority over anyone. the guys at the job, the people on your team in the sales force. If you've got authority over anybody, this lesson from the Word of God applies to you, but most directly, it applies to the parents. And I want to tell you what is the right kind of parent that God expects you to be, the right kind of authority. Again, if you have some other, you have a spouse under you, if you have grandkids under you, if you have anything under you, this message is for you. But directly, this message is for the parents. So let's have a word of prayer and then we'll jump into our Bible here. Father, we thank you for the Word of God, and thank you for the lessons you give us, and we pray, Lord, in the name of Jesus, that you might be glorified today, Lord. We pray for those needs, Father. We pray for this Lady Lily and Janelle. Lord, we pray that you give this woman strength and wisdom to navigate these scorpions. Lord, we pray, Lord, for Patti Buscemi. Lord, we think of John Koch, Lord. We pray, God, him and Carrie Ann, Lord, and I pray whatever happens, You show yourself strong enough, Lord, to save his wife and lead her, his wife, Lord, to salvation, Father, and an understanding of that. Lord, we pray for Terry's cousin, Joanne, Father. We pray you'd have mercy on her body. Pray, Lord, you'd keep whatever is there at bay until the surgeons can deal with it, Father. Lord, thank you for letting them spot it before it was maybe too, too far gone. Lord, we pray that you would use this to bring Joanne and Terry's family that's not saved To a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ Lord, and we think Lord of the men's meeting coming up tomorrow law we think Lord of the Lord's table coming up Lord, please help us save us from religion and help us Lord to look into your face and learn something tonight and And always Lord in Jesus name we pray amen all right, so I'm gonna ask you Yeah, I think something's going on out there. I'm gonna talk about three different types of rulers the abdicator, the abuser, and the Abraham. And the first two are bad. and the last one's the one you wanna be. And they're all different types of ways you can wield your authority. Most directly apparent, but indirectly it could be anybody. Somebody who's leading a ministry, somebody who's talking to a younger Christian, somebody that's got anything, bless you. So let's go to Genesis chapter 19. Let's look at our first bad example. Genesis chapter 19. Genesis chapter 19, look at verse number one. Genesis 19, verse one. You don't want to be the abdicator, okay? This is one you don't want to be. This is a bad example. You don't want to be the abdicator of authority. Now to abdicate, for those of you that are not up on your SAT words, to abdicate means to relinquish authority. or to renounce your power, like a king might abdicate his throne. He's got the throne, but he's gonna kinda step aside and give it up, and abdicate that given authority. And in the book of Genesis chapter 19, this man by the name of Lot, is the wrong kind of parent. He is the wrong kind of leader. He is the abdicator because you know what his problem is? He is all too willing to give his children to the world. Genesis 19 verse one, I'll show it to you. And there came two angels to Sodom at even, and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. And Lot, seeing them, rose up to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. And he said, behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and you shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, nay, but we will abide in the street all night. So these angels show up to Sodom, and Lot says, hey, come into my house. And they said, no, we'll stay outside. And look how Lot responds, verse three, and he pressed upon them greatly. He knew where he lived. He was like, he knew he lived on the bad side of town, and he said, you don't want to stay out here all night. And they turned in unto him, and entered into his house, and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house, meaning they surrounded the house round, both old and young, what a bunch of sickos, all the people from every quarter, this was some town, all right, and they called unto Lot and said unto him, where are the men, because angels look like men, by the way, they don't have wings, they look like 33-year-old men, where are the men which came in to thee this night? Bring them out unto us that we may know them. And that's not so they could play cards, okay? That's knowing them in a biblical sense. And Lot went out at the door, you can see him kind of like, get out the door, shut the door behind him so they don't barge in, and it says, shut the door after him and said, I pray you, brethren, wow. He identified with these louses. I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man. Let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you and do ye to them as is good in your eyes. Only unto these men do nothing, for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof." I read verse 8, and I have a little girl, you have a little girl, a lot of you. The lot needs to be shot right there. He needs to be taken out to the back and just shot after saying something like that. These sick, twisted guys, and other than stand up, and say this is wrong, he pow-pows to them and he says, hey, here are my kids, do whatever you think is good in your eyes. That's unfortunately what a lot of Christians are like. Hey guys, take my kids, wicked world. However you think it should be, that's the way I want you to affect them. Isn't that the truth? It's a sad, sad truth. You say, why would Lot do that? What would make a man like Lot throw his little ones to the wolves of this world? I mean, verse number eight, should be burned into your heart. Look at that again. Bring them out and do ye to them as is good in your eyes? You're going to turn your innocent ones over to these monsters, these filthy, vile, wicked monsters, knowing that they're wicked, knowing that the angels couldn't stay out in the street all night. You're going to say, here, have them and raise them and do whatever you want to them, as is good in your eyes. That is the tragedy of so many Christian parents. They'll let the world raise their kids, and they will abdicate the blessed responsibility that God has given them. And if you look with me and go to Genesis 13, you know, Lot represents not a lost man, right? In 2 Peter 2.7, the Bible calls Lot, just Lot. Doesn't mean it's only Lot, it means it's justified Lot. Meaning that in Old Testament sense, Lot was justified. Now he wasn't saved like you and I are saved, but he pictures a saved man in the New Testament. Right, so put yourself in Lot's position. You live in a wicked world? You're justified before God? How do you respond to this situation? Now look at Genesis 13. Why would he do this? Genesis 13 verse 10. The Bible says, and Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, it looked like paradise. like the land of Egypt as the comest unto Zoar. Then Lot chose him, all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east, opposite direction that God moves, God always goes west, and he's going east, he's going against the way God moves. Lot journeyed east, remember Abraham was called from the east, and he went west, so there's a good tell there, and they separated themselves, the one from the other, and Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. So, the big problem I see in Lot is in his heart, he was longing for Sodom. He wasn't there yet in Genesis 13, but when he pitched his tent, he pitched it so the opening gave him a great view of that hellhole. Sodom something in his heart was enamored with that cesspool of sin Something in his heart wanted a drink of that stink. He just something about that you know the skyscrapers and the you know the people walking around scantily clothed and you know the the buildings and the neon lights and all that stuff he was just Drawn to it if you're a Christian that stuff should make you sick. I Every time I come over, like, 78 over there, when I'm going by the Holland Tunnel, and I see those skyscrapers rise up out of the big city, you know what? It makes my stomach turn, because I know what's going on in there. I'm becoming more and more of a country boy at heart, you know? All right? And Genesis chapter 13, verse 13, in Genesis 13, 13, there are 13 words. And it says, but the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. Lot was drawn to it. Lot was enamored by it. Lot was like, look at that. And God sticks the next verse in there. 13, 13 with 13 words in it. Those are a bunch of rebels. Those are a bunch of wicked, twisted individuals. You don't want to be anywhere near. Now go to Genesis 19, 1. Lot didn't just pitch his tent towards Sodom. See, it starts in the heart, right? Don't we always talk about guard your heart? Amen, have we ever said that before? Guard your heart. You know why? Because you start thinking about something in your heart and setting some affection in your heart. You know what happens next? Genesis 19, verse 1. You know where Lot is now? Lot's sitting in the gate of Sodom. Not just pitching his tent. He's not far away anymore. He's a big kahuna in the cesspool now. He's up there and he's judging people. He's sitting in the city gates. And when people got affairs and matters, they come to talk to Lot. He's one of the big dogs. He's one of them now. He actually called them brethren. That's how twisted he was. Lot made that hell hole his home. Why? Because what begins in the heart affects your home. That's a fact, Jack. What begins in the heart, that little bit of fascination, that little bit of wandering, that little bit of, Abram, you go this way, I'm going that way. I just want to go here and spend a little time looking at that. Mine eye affecteth my heart, the Bible says in Lamentations. And you set your affection on the wrong things, pretty soon you're putting your stakes in deep. And next thing you know, you're sitting in the gate of Sodom. And Lot, for me, represents the parent who's willing to sacrifice his children for the world. Why would he do that? Because something's wrong with his heart. You're too in love with Sodom, Lot. And if something starts going crazy in your life, whether it's your home or your walk, you know what the problem is? You're too in love with Sodom. You're too in love with those wicked sinners. God said, they're wicked sinners exceedingly. And I'm not even getting into the particular sin. I'm just giving you the gloss over. They were twisted and they were vile. And God said, forget about pitching your tent towards them. Get as far away from them as possible. Lots sitting in the gate and if you let your heart wander and let that stuff take root whether it's anger or lust or pride or greed as a parent Especially those things are gonna magnify themselves and affect your home like they affected lots home He's the abdicator. You know what the Bible says. I'm not gonna turn there. You know some of these verses 1st John 2 15 love Not the world, neither the things that are in the world. You say, bless God, we don't love the world. Everybody goes, amen. But you sure like some of the things. It doesn't just say don't love the system, it's the things. The things that we trade that pass through our hands and our hearts, that's what really enamors us. You don't fall in love with a system when you fall in love with the world. You fall in love with the cash in your pocket. You fall in love with the social standing you got. You fall in love with the way you like being accepted at work. You fall in love with the girlfriend or the boyfriend or whatever it is. You fall in love with, and there's nothing wrong with that, please don't get, but you fall in love with the, The things that happen, right? The cars and the money and the popularity, the things. Colossians 3.2, set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Hey, I'm glad you have a nice car. Praise God. I'm glad you have a nice house. Praise God. But don't let your heart get drawn to that stuff. Don't let your heart get set on that stuff. Lot messed up big time, man. You're going to see how it messed him up. For where your treasure is, Luke chapter 12, there will your heart be also. And Lot just... got enamored with Sodom, man, and pretty soon, not just his home, because home is where your heart is, not just his physical home, but his heart was in Sodom. I'm gonna show you how his kids pay the price. Look at verse eight again. You see verse eight again? I want you to burn it into your mind, because when your heart is not right with God, your children will pay the price. You'll make it out, like Lot did, but your children will be irreparably scarred. And I'll look right in the camera and say that to you. If you've got a child, grandchild, nephew, whatever, you better make sure your heart is right with God, not just for God's glory, but for the sake of those people that are watching you, because you could destroy them if you abdicate the responsibility God gave you. Am I being forceful? Yes. That's how seriously I take it, and you and I should take it. Right? Genesis 19.7, I pray you brethren, do not so wickedly. Lot would rather offend his children than filthy sodomites. It's sick. It's just flat out sick. God puts it in the Bible so you can see it. So one day when you're being a moron, I could point you to this, or you could point me to this and say, remember Lot? And you go, oh yeah, he was an idiot. Yeah, I don't want to be that idiot. Right? But when you're going through it, you don't realize you're being the idiot. But Lot's being an idiot right now, a spiritual idiot. You know, who cares what people think? People get like, what will everyone think if I raise my kids for God? What will everyone say if I take a stand like that? Who cares? Right? You're going to stand in front of God in about five minutes. You're going to stand in front of Jesus Christ in about five seconds. He's going to be here very soon. And when that happens, what grandma said, what the people at work said, what everybody else said, isn't going to matter. What God said, you're going to wish to God, you would cleave to it more closely. Lots too much of a wimp to take any kind of stand against the world. He's a wimp. I don't say he's got big biceps or strong legs, but just have a backbone that you can say, no, no, guys. You want the people in my house? You're going to have to kill me first. That should have been Lot's response. He should have gotten out his home safety thing, maybe his good shotgun, kind of like blown somebody away. He should have gone out there and said, hey, brethren, say hello to my little friend. That's what he should have said, instead of like, here's my innocent ones. All right, now look at verse number one. He sat in the gate. You know, I think he was too much of a wimp. I think Lot loved his position, his prestige more than his progeny. Isn't that amazing? He liked sitting in the gate. Oh, Lot, what do you think we should do? Oh, let me tell you something. Let me tell you what you should do. He liked that people came to him. He liked the level of social status he'd achieved. He liked that people looked up to him, that people respected him. I've got to ask myself, Pat, are you too preoccupied with your stuff to be the parent God wants you to be? Oh, you like those promotions. You like the softball team. You like all these things where people look up to you and esteem you. But what about the children God has given you? That's a big thing. I said this the first time we started this lesson. I don't know if you got a chance to hear it, but this is a question I ask my wife all the time. I ask it rhetorically. Why even have children? I just don't get it. Why bring these souls into the world if you're not going to raise them right? How different are you than a zebra at the zoo? Great. You can procreate. Fantastic. Congratulations. Everything works. The plumbing is intact. Fantastic. That doesn't mean anything. Are you going to raise them for God? Or are you just a bunch of rabbits? You've got to kind of take this stuff seriously. I'm preaching to myself too. Why even have children if you refuse to be the authority they need you to be? Amen? And I'll say this to the folks at home too, because I've got parents here, I've got parents there, I've got Christians everywhere. God said you train your children, not their tablet. Right? Now sometimes you've got to give, I do sometimes the tablet's got to come out, I get it. But that shouldn't be their primary, that shouldn't be their best friend. Okay? God said you develop their inward life, not the internet. The internet, you know, When we were kids, we'd have to search for filth. It's right here now. It's a door to all kinds of filth. And you can get it by just going like this or even talking at it. You gotta be very careful with those suckers. My kids have phones too, but I don't like them walking around with them. They know I don't like them having them on their persons. They need them for some things, but hey, keep those things away. I know people that have had kids flash some stuff on those things and their hearts were never the same after that. I've had to counsel them because they were shown something that they should never have seen. Right. God said, you develop the inward life. And here's another one. You teach them how to live at home, not their teachers at school. Well, I'm not saying you pull them out of school. Right. That is a personal decision. Public school, homeschool, Christian school means nothing. It's immaterial. The mechanism doesn't mean anything. You have got to be the one that teaches them how to live. That includes school. Hey, I'm a school teacher. You know what most school teachers are trying to do? Make it to the weekend. Because that's their job, right? They're trying, most teachers are doing the best they can. They want to be a decent example, but at the end of the day, when the bell rings, they go home. And if your kid's all screwed up, it's really no skin off their nose, right? You are the one that teaches them what's right, what's wrong, how to live, how not to live. And you know what else? That goes for Sunday school, too. If any, I love every Sunday school teacher, I thank God for them. But if anybody thinks I'm banking on that 45 minutes a week to be the primary Bible instruction that my kids get, you're smoking crack. I've been teaching my kids since they've been in the womb. I'm not counting on a Sunday school teacher. If you never open the Bible to share anything with your kids all week, and Eli Terry and the other teachers that do this stuff are the primary source of Bible training, they're gonna have a hard time because it ain't gonna work. They can only be a supplement and a buttress and a compliment maybe to what's going on in the home at the best. But you got to kind of roll up your sleeves and do that teaching with your lip and your life. Amen? You got to step up. But you know what happens? Look at verse 30. I'm going to read 19 to 30. I'm going to read chapter 19, verse 30, because I feel like I can go off like a rocket ship right now. 19, look, it's 30 to 38. I want to read it and not make too many comments on it. because it speaks for itself. Because if you throw your children to the wolves of the world, damn chickens from Sodom come home to roost. Don't think you'll get away with it. And in 1930, Lot makes it out. He escapes Sodom. His wife doesn't, but he makes it. And Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountain and his two daughters with him, for he feared to dwell in Zoar. And he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. And the firstborn said unto the younger, our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him. that we may preserve seed of our father. And they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and lay with her father, and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose, and it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, behold, I lay yesterday night with my father, let us make him drink wine this night also, and go thou in and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. And they made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger arose and lay with him, and he perceived not when she lay down, knowing she rose. Thus were both the daughters of Lot with children by their father." Wow. Can you take that in? I'm not gonna comment on it. Just take that in? Think of the perversion Lot's failure wrought in these little girls' lives. What did they see in Sodom? What had they been exposed to in Sodom? What did Lot not have the guts and the spiritual backbone to shelter them from? He never should have brought them there and made a family there to begin with, but then he didn't have the guts once God put that life in his hands to say, you know what, I gotta step up and shut the door, because let me tell you something, Christians, they're banging on the door. The sodomites are banging on the door. They're not content to have legal this and legal that. They want into your house and they want to drag you out and make you roll around with them in the filth. They will not be content until there's no door shut. They could have all the rights and privileges that everybody has. They're not content. That's another message for another day. They're banging on the door, and you and I need to keep those doors shut and keep our children protected and keep them sheltered from the filth. Are they sheltered? Yes. Do they need to see that stuff? No. But Lot didn't have the guts. He abdicated his responsibility, and who knows what these little girls saw growing up. And now they knew to do that? Where'd they come up with that? The perversion. And look at 37 and 38. And the firstborn bear a son? and called his name Moab, the same as the father of the Moabites unto this day. And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benami, the same as the father of the children of Ammon unto this day. Not just the perversion, think of the problems Lot's forsaking reaped in their future. They gave birth to the Moabites and the Ammonites, two people groups that were the enemies of Israel unto this day. Because of his failure, to take his responsibility seriously. So I would counsel you, don't be the abdicator. You can find a lot of problems when you do. Go to Judges chapter 11. Let me tell you somebody else that you should not be. Judges 11. You do not want to be the abuser of authority. Now Lot wanted nothing to do with it. He just gave up. This other gentleman by the name of Jephthah, He went too far with it. He took advantage of it. He abused his authority that God had given him as a father. An abuser is somebody who mistreats or uses with bad motives or purposes. He's an offender. Now look at Judges chapter 11. Jephthah and the children of Israel are being oppressed by the Ammonites. Speak of the devils, right? The Ammonites, the ones that Lot's daughters, one of them gave birth to that people group that came. Right, the Ammonites are oppressing the children of Israel and Jephthah rises up as a judge to deliver them. And in verse number 30, we pick it up in Judges 11. And it says, In Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, then it shall be that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them, and the Lord delivered them into his hands, amen. And he smote them from Arare, even till thou come to Minneth, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel. And Jephthah came to Mizpah unto his house, and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances, and she was his only child. Beside her he had neither son nor daughter, And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter, thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me, for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back. Jephthah is another wrong kind of parent, too proud to admit he was wrong. See, Lot was too weak to stand up to the world, and Jephthah is just too proud to admit he was wrong. He makes this vow, right? Oh God, whoever comes into my house, I'm gonna sacrifice them to the Lord. And his daughter walks in and he says, oh no, I can't go back on my word. I've gotta sacrifice my daughter. Alas, woe is me. Why did Jephthah vow that? Why would he do that? What would make a man of faith destroy the life of his child? You know, in Hebrews chapter 11, verse number 32, Jephthah is listed in God's hall of faith. He's recorded as a good guy. He's listed in the same sentence with Gideon, good guy. Barak, good guy. Samson, eh, men's amends, right? But he's listed in the hall of faith. David, Samuel, right? So God says he did some mighty things for God. In fact, look at verse number one of the chapter, 11.1. It says, now, Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor. The Lord strengthened him. He was strong, amen? He was a good guy. He was trying to do right. Look at verse 29. Same chapter, 29. 29, then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah. Wow, he was moved by the Spirit of God. I mean, the Lord enabled him. That's a blessing. Verse number 33, it says, the children of Amnon were subdued before the children of Israel. He delivered Israel from her enemies. The Lord used him. So Jephthah is not a bad guy, for the most part. But in verse number 31 and verse number 30, Jephthah makes a rash and unbiblical vow to the Lord. God never asked for that. God never said he had to do that. God delivered them. He didn't say you had to do anything like that, especially of your own children. Can you follow me now? Follow this thought here. In going beyond the bounds of God's word, Jephthah abused his authority. He went too far with his authority. He was too unbreakable. He was too resolute. He was too dictatorial. You know what that is in government? That's an impeachable offense. We've learned about that, haven't we, in the last couple of years? How you can impeach somebody. The first, one of the biggest things the founders said you could impeach a president for is an abuse of power. And right here, old man Jephthah is abusing his power. He's abusing it. Look at verse 34. He says, actually look at verse 35. Alas my daughter, thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me, for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back. Why not? Why couldn't he go back? Why couldn't he say, well, man, well, Lord, I was wrong. I don't want to sacrifice my daughter. You gave me this child. I'm not supposed to do that. Lord, I'll find a ram or a sheep somewhere. Why couldn't he go back? Why couldn't he change his mind? Why couldn't he admit he was wrong? You know why? Because he was proud. See verse 35, he sounds so pious in 35. I've opened my mouth unto the Lord. This is my ministry, right? I have to do what God has told me to do. He gets a British accent when he does it, right? Even though he sounds really pious, it was really just pride. That sounds real slippery, and in Christian circles it slips in a lot. It's amazing how the devil can slip in and that pride can masquerade as ministry and pious talk and the high road. No, Jephthah, you're wrong, bro. Step back, Bubba Jack. You went too far. You pushed your authority too far. You're wrong. Your little girl is so good that she's willing to go along with it. You're abusing your authority, Jephthah. but he didn't see it because he was blinded by pride. You know why? I think a little bit, I'm gonna speculate, look at verse one. I'm gonna speculate a little bit about old man Jephthah here. You know, Jephthah was illegitimate. He was illegitimate, he was the son of a harlot. Judges 11.1. Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor and he was the son of a harlot. And Gilead begat Jephthah. And Gilead's wife bare him sons, and his wife's sons grew up, and they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house, for out the son of a strange woman. You know, Jephthah was a lot like us, the sinner. Conceived in sin, and rejected. That's kind of like Jephthah was. He was conceived in sin, and he was rejected. And then you know what else he was? If you look at verses four to 10, I'm not gonna read all of them, but in verses four to 10, Jephthah rises to leadership. He's conceived in sin, like you and I are. David said, behold, I was shaped in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. That's a picture of the sinner being born in that lost state. Hey, don't get too pious on me. That's you, by the way. You were born in a lost state, and that first birth that you came into this world in was rejected. Like Jephthah was rejected. But you know what they do for Jephthah? Jephthah gets elevated. He gets risen to leadership. People start giving him responsibility. They start entrusting him with some things. And in verse number 11, look what happens. Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and captain over them. And Jephthah uttered all his words before the Lord in Mizpah. Jephthah rises to leadership like the Lord blesses you, doesn't he? You're conceived in sin. You're a reject as far as God's in concern. And what does God do? He saves you. You know what he does? He gives you some responsibility. He gives you some exaltation. It gives you something to do for Him, amen? Some people start looking up to you, like children, like younger Christians, like all these different people that are underneath you now, and they're looking at you. Isn't that a blessing? God elevates you to a place where you can have an impact on other people, and they make Jephthah the head. They make him the deliverer. That's amazing. But you know what I think happens? I think Jephthah gets a little too full of himself and starts to forget where he came from. You forgot you were just that sinner. You forgot you were that son of a harlot. You started thinking you are who you think you are, Jephthah. You think you're something hot. Oh, verse 29, oh, the Spirit of God moved in your life. Okay. So you're going to vow this vow unto the Lord. How many children pay the price because of a proud parent who thinks he's so pious, he's so high on the horse, he's so right and everybody else is wrong, or it's his ministry. That's sick stuff, man. How many children pay the price with parents who profess to be serving God by sacrificing their children in the process, abusing their authority over them in the process? Can I say this to folks? I'll say this to myself too, because when I point a finger, three are pointing back at me. If ministry, and I put that in air quotes, because I still don't know what that is, if ministry is your excuse for this kind of abuse, you've been blinded by your pride. And you feel like you could step all over the people that God's entrusted to you, because it doesn't get you the limelight at church, and they don't give testimonies on Sunday mornings about how great that spanking was. Guess what? You have been blinded by pride. just like Satan. Satan had God right next to him. He had this wonderful ministry committed to him, but you know what? He wanted something more and something greater, and he was blinded by pride. Well, guess what? You have people in your midst, whether they're children, coworkers, people under your authority that you make an impact on, but what do you want? You want the limelight. You want the pulpit. You want the esteem. You want the light. You want people to say how spiritual you are. That's Jephthah. Jephthah forgot who he was, and now he's like, well, I said so, and I made a vow unto the Lord. It's my ministry unto God. He's abusing his power, and he's a jerk. Go to Romans chapter 12. Flip there with me. I'll give you a couple of verses. Romans chapter 12. Can I give you a little more? This is like Bible study preaching. I don't know. It's a little of everything. Romans chapter 12, verse one. and I hope I'm gonna be nice. I got a lot of existing parents here. But I hope to God that the future parents and the young parents are paying attention. Because when the boat's leaking, that's when you don't want to figure out how to patch it. You better shore it up now before you're staring at that baby in a crib and wondering what do I do now when you take them home for the first time. You better get your stuff now. So don't make this a Netflix night if you are. This ain't the Netflix night. I wouldn't teach on this either if I didn't think it was needful. Romans 12 verse one, I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. And everybody grabs the flag and we start waving the handkerchiefs. Yeah, we're not gonna be like the world in the verse three. For I say through the grace given unto me, because it's all of grace, To every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God had dealt to every man the measure of faith." He's saying, hey Jephthah, you're pretty good. You delivered them from the Ammonites, but your farts still smell. I gotta be that crude to cut through all the nonsense, but your warts still are ugly, your pimples are still gross, your breath is still stinky, right? Don't think of yourself, hey, you're saved, beloved, you're washed in the blood, you're the aristocracy of Christ, you're jointed with Christ, you're seated in heavenly places with Christ, but don't think of yourself more highly than you ought to think. Don't think it's anything but God dealing the measure of fate to you that made you where you are. God exalted Jephthah, and Jephthah forgot who he was. He thought he maybe did it on his own. And now he's swinging his spiritual belt buckle around like he's Captain Jack or something like that. And I have no idea what that meant or who Captain Jack is, I've done allusion. I don't know how sentences are going to end. I start them sometimes, and I get nervous how they're going to end. Go back to judges now. Let me show you something. Let me show you the tragedy. Judges 11, I'm glad you could laugh. Judges 11. I'm going like this and I'm thinking this is not an allusion to Pirates of the Caribbean, all right? Have a little parley. No, nothing like that. Look at the tragedy here. 1136. And this is a sweet girl, it sounds like, too. And she said unto him, my father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth. I think in 2022, if somebody heard that and a Christian only like, psh, I'm calling child services. No way, Jose, I'm out of here, right? Do to me according to that which proceeded out of thy mouth, for as much as the Lord hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon, and she said unto her father, let this thing be done for me. let me alone two months that I may go up and down upon the mountains and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows. And he said, go. Wow, what a gracious jerk. And he sent her away for two months and she went with her companions and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. And it came to pass at the end of two months that she returned to our father who did with her according to his vow, which he had vowed and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel that the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah, the Gileadite, four days in a year." That's a tragedy, man. A life destroyed. All of this heartache and tragedy could have been undone if Jeremiah weren't so proud. You're not God, Jeremiah. The only one who's infallible is God. You could still misspeak, I still misspeak, we all still misspeak. All Jephthah had to do was say, whoops, I gotta back the truck up. I was in the wrong spirit there, that was too much. Honey, that's okay, we're not doing that. And I think the Lord would have blessed her, she would have gotten married, the future they would have had, the life they would have had, but it was all destroyed because Jephthah was too proud. I have spoken, the man of God has spoken. Yeah, right. You know two very powerful words that can save your family? I'm sorry. Those are very powerful words. Jephthah could have said, I'm sorry, but his foolish pride destroyed his daughter. Now there's controversy about 39. Did he actually kill her? Did he just put her away as a virgin for the rest of her life? People debate that back and forth. Whether he sacrificed her like he said he was or whether he put her away and sacrificed her symbolically is immaterial. Her daddy destroyed her. Her daddy destroyed her life and the future she could have had. And I shudder to think how many little ones from Christian families have been abused this way. Not with a hot poker, not because they were locked in a closet, but just this verbal, mental, spiritual abuse that you took the authority God had and you used it like a sledgehammer instead of like a gracious sovereign. And what did Jesus say? If you offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better that a millstone were hanged around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. I think that has a lot to do with our little ones too. I know the doctrinal implication, but hey, I don't want to be an offense to one of my little ones because I think I'm so right and I couldn't be wrong. that I hurt them, you know, I'm gonna embarrass him and shame myself. The other day, my words were too severe with my Stephen over there. I was so motivated by pride, he probably forgot, maybe he didn't forget, you know, pretend like you forgot, great, right? But it really tore me up. The Lord really zinged me, really got me bad. So I couldn't take the words back. But I could say I'm sorry, and I did. And I'm not saying I'm a model Christian. I mean, I had to do it because I'm not a model Christian. But you know what? I'm sorry. Lord, by your grace, I'd like to do better. That's one route you could take. Jephthah could have been like, honey, I'm sorry. I want to take care of you. I'm going back on what I said. Or I could just be a jerk like Jephthah and continue to abuse my authority over him. Right? Parents, you got to make mistakes. There's a time when you got to like not dip the colors and maintain authority. I get that. But if you've gone beyond the bounds of what God told you to do with those children and you're being too legalistic or too strict or too harsh or too whatever, and you're vowing something that God didn't tell you to vow, step back and you could take it back. God's not going to smite you. It's actually grace that you could do that. What, are you going to be a stubborn fool? I can't go back on what I said. You're a fool. You're going to lose your children because you're a legalistic fool. I could sound self-righteous. I could have said to Stephen, well, I'm the pastor. I'm your pastor. I'm the parent. I said so. Yeah, but what if what you said is wrong? Isn't it infuriating when you watch these politicians double down on their mistakes? It's infuriating. Could you just say, wow, we had no idea what we were doing. Sorry we ruined your life for two years. Sorry, we like to kind of take some stuff back. No, they double down. They kind of give you, take a little more of it. And that infuriates people, you know what? And it makes you want to run away. And when a parent just doubles down on their stupidity, you know what's going to make that kid? Just count the days till they get the keys. And then they'll be gone. Because they know you're a tyrant. I could, you know what I could do if I can't say I'm sorry? I'll send that soul into a barren wasteland like Jephthah did his daughter. Fruitless. Go to Obadiah. First one to find Obadiah wins nothing, but just, you got to Obadiah first. Find Obadiah. There's only one chapter. Obadiah. I'm gonna drink some Bing cherry. Oh yeah. Obadiah three. You're probably gonna get there before I do. Who's got it, raise your hand. Oh, I don't know if Kim or Stephen's hand went up first. All right, Obadiah 3 says this. He's speaking to Edom, but just take it personally, because a great principle here. The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee. O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high, that saith in his heart, who shall bring me down to the ground. Before you puff your chest and pound your Bible, Christian, you better watch your pride, because pride will always make you think you're right when you're probably wrong. That's what pride is. Pride deceives you. So be careful that you don't end up like Jephthah. Now let's finish in Genesis chapter 18. Let's go to Genesis. We'll just bounce around Genesis a little bit, and I'll give you the good news here, the good example. Genesis 18. You don't wanna be the abdicator, and you don't wanna be the abuser. You wanna be the Abraham with your authority. You say, that's not a word. I made it up, because it starts with A, right? I had abdicator, abuser, and the Abraham. Genesis 18, verse 16, Abraham, God's getting ready to whack Sodom, and God says this, Genesis 18, 16. And the men rose up from thence and looked towards Sodom, and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way. And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? Why was Abraham gonna be such a great guy for God? 19, God says, For I know him. that he will command his children after him. And they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him." God knew Abraham would be the right kind of parent. He would use the right use of authority. What did he do? Look at verse 19 very carefully. Two things in verse 19. Number one, he would command. Abraham would not be an abdicator like Lot. He would command his children. He would assume the authority God gave him and do something with his children and not throw them toward the world like Lot, who just submitted his authority to the world. And number two, he would command his children after him. He would set the example. Abraham would not be an abuser like Jephthah, who would say one thing and do another. He would say, no, what I'm doing, I want you to follow. I'm saying it with my lips and my life. This is how we walk with God. That's why Abraham was such a great example, because both Lot and Jephthah, their profession didn't line up with their practices. You look at Genesis 19, can you turn a page over? Let's talk about Lot for a quick second again. Lot professed to follow Jehovah, but he was a joke. and his family knew he was a joke. In Genesis 19.14, they're getting the word that he's gonna burn Sodom and Gomorrah down, so Lot does what you would have done. He finds all of his closest family members, he says, we gotta get out of here, God's gonna judge us. In 19.14, and Lot went out and spake unto his sons-in-law, which married his daughters, I guess they weren't virgins, and said, up, get you out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law, You see that? Lot's profession didn't match his... Oh, you're going to talk Bible now? You want to open the Bible now, Lot? I saw you. I saw you from Monday to Saturday. Now on Sunday, you're going to front and try to act like spiritual Joe? Oh, kids see right through that. And Jephthah professed to be pious. He professed to be this spiritual giant. but he had none of the character of the God he professed to be vowing to. I mean, what kind of hypocrite wants to save his nation and sacrifice his daughter? That seemed weird to you? A lot of Christians are like that. I want to go save the world in bongo bongo land, but the person across the kitchen table, you're chopped liver. I'm not going to preach to you. I'm not going to give you the Bible. I'm not going to pray for you. But when that missionary comes, oh man, Pakistan. You know, I want you to get excited about Pakistan, but don't get more excited about people that you've never seen than people that you see every day. It doesn't make sense to me. Never made sense to me. And hey, what's wrong with Christians who want to save the world and sacrifice their own family? I never got that. I hope I never get that. I hope I never get so spiritual and ministry minded that I let my children and my wife just go to the wolves. Because that's a little out of order. It's a little out of order. Look at 1819 again. Almost done. Almost done. 1819 again. See that verse again? Abraham was special because Abraham's lips and his life were in harmony. He commanded his children, there's his lips, after him, there's his life. They were together like God. Because like the great shepherd, Abraham led his home by example. He didn't drive them. He didn't say, all right, honey, I'm going to sacrifice you now because I vowed you to the Lord. No. He said, this is how we walk. This is how we live. And he commanded his children after him. Hey, moms and dads, don't think that you can talk the talk if you're not going to walk the walk. Ain't going to work. No way. More is caught than taught all the time. There is nothing, think about how God deals with you, there is nothing God asks of you that he doesn't hold himself to first. He's the great shepherd. He leads in the way of righteousness, right? The Bible says of God in Ephesians that he worketh all things after the counsel of his own will, right? God's will is doing one thing, and he is even doing what he does according to his own will. Now go to Genesis 17. Let me show you just an illustration. I got just two stops left here. Genesis, they're all right here in the neighborhood. Genesis 17, 11. Here's a great example. God tells Abraham, or Abram at this point, all the guys are gonna squirm. And he shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man, child, and your generations. He that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised, and thy covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. Wow, that's a pretty tall order. Because Abraham was fully grown. So was Ishmael. He says, you gotta circumcise all of them. Do you know what Abraham does? He says, all right, Ishmael, you're up. Nope, that's not what he does. Right? Well, you sharpened the sword for a dead, the knife for a dead. Oh, you'll see in a minute. No skin off my nose. Look at 24. Look at 24. Look what happens at 24. And Abraham was 90 years old and nine when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. Ishmael his son was 13 years old when he was circumcised in the flesh before his foreskin in the self same day was Abraham circumcised and Ishmael his son and Then all the men of his house, etc, etc Abraham did God's will first and then commanded his children after him notice it says he did it first and then his son he did it first and there was a tall order and but he did it. He said, son, I did it, now it's your turn. He commanded his children after him. And whatever God wants you to be, he wants you to be more gracious, you gotta be more gracious first. You want your kids to be more merciful, you gotta be more merciful first. You wanna be a better witness, your kids to be more soul-minded and think about people that are lost on their basketball teams and on their school classes, you want them to think that way, you've gotta set that pace first, like Abraham did. Don't tell your children to love God's word if you never read the Bible. Don't preach to your children about their anger if you scream at them all the time. And don't talk about God's mercy if you never show any compassion. Command your children after them. And you wanna see this last thing in verse 15 of chapter 17? You wanna see this? This is the last thing I wanna say about Abraham. I think he's such a great example. 17, 15. And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt call her name Sarai, but Sarai shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarai shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her. Yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations, kings of people shall be of her. Then Abraham fell upon his face and laughed. and said in his heart, shall a child be born unto him that is 100 years old, and shall Sarah that is 90 years old bear? And Abraham said unto God, oh, that Ishmael might live before thee. Now think about this. You know what I see in Abraham right there? Goodwill. Goodwill. You see the goodwill Abraham has toward his household? He just had a great promise, and he thinks about Ishmael. Oh, that Ishmael might live before you, God. Could you have some mercy on him? Could you do something with him? Not, okay, this is your plan, God. This is my ministry. Kick him to the curb. Let's get a new one. No. See, that's the goodwill that Abraham has towards his household. The concern, the care, the compassion. Even though Ishmael was the offspring of one of his missteps, he probably never should have had Ishmael. He should have never taken Hagar. But he did, and he was there. You know what? He was concerned about him. He prayed for him. Abraham had good will towards him, even though it maybe wasn't the best situation. And if the Lord gives you authority in your family, whether it's a great situation or not great situation, you got to yield that authority with good will. Your children have to know that you have good will towards them. Your spouses have to know that you have good will towards each other or else nobody's going to trust each other. and nobody's gonna listen. Goodwill is just that benevolence, that kindness, that concern that just bleeds out of everything you do. Hey, a gun is a very powerful object, but it's just an object, all right? A gun is only as dangerous as the hand that wields it. And the authority God gives you is powerful, but the impact is based on the hand that wields it. If you don't wield it with goodwill, you will hurt somebody. If somebody has a gun, right, have a firearm, guess what? You need to wield it responsibly, carefully, knowledgably, safely, tenderly, cautiously, or else you're gonna hurt somebody. Right, don't show up at my house and be like, oh, look at this nine millimeter. All right, guys, start waving around. I'm gonna get out of here with that thing, man. You need to talk to Mike Killeen, get some gun safety lessons, right? And if goodwill doesn't guide how you use your authority, you will be the wrong kind of parent all the time. But if you have goodwill, your marriage will be blessed, your family will be blessed, your ministry will be blessed, your life will be blessed, just like Abraham. You'll be fruitful if you got that goodwill. And like Abraham, the Lord will bless you if you're the right kind of parent. Because your children need authority. They need it, we'll talk about that another time. They need authority, but they also need the right kind of parent yielding that authority, right? Because, now you probably heard this in Spider-Man, but it's a lot older than Spider-Man. It's an adage from, I think, the fourth century. With great power comes great responsibility. Long before Uncle Ben said that, right? Other philosophers said that, and it's true. With great power, like being a parent, like shaping a life that is going to live for eternity. That soul is going to live for eternity. Wow. You know God never abandons or abuses his authority over you? He never checks out and says, I'm off the throne. Be back in 15 minutes on lunch. And He never grinds your face into the dirt and says, you no good, low, dirty, rotten, blah, blah, blah. He never shames you and never abandons you. God's the perfect ruler. And guess what, Mom and Dad? You represent God to your children. You're the first God they learn about. You're a representation, a picture of God to them. What kind of authority are you showing? Don't abdicate like Lot. That's far too lax. and don't abuse like Jephthah, that's far too legalistic. You gotta ask the Spirit of God, Lord, help me strike that balance like Abraham. Help me have that goodwill so that my family can be blessed too. Amen? Let's bow our heads. Thank you for being here tonight. Thank you for your kind attention. Lord, I thank you for this illustrations from your word, Lord, the good and the bad. I pray, Lord, you'd help your people to take these things to heart, help us to tuck these things away in our minds and our souls, and whatever responsibility you've given us, Father, help us to wield the right kind of authority. And I pray your families would be stronger, Lord, your marriages, your church, and you get the glory. In Jesus' name, amen.