Please turn in your Bibles to Luke 1. I want to preach a message on John the Baptist. I want to speak on one of my favorite men in the Bible. You might ask why. Because of his ruggedness. Because he was a real man. I read the Bible and I have no doubt that John the Baptist was a real man. Our children's heroes today are super sissies. They're effeminate. They have temper tantrums. They're what I call Walt Disney men. If you ever notice, whether it's on the ads on the radio or in the movies, Walt Disney, whatever, the man is a sissy and the woman is strong. Well, let me tell you something, John the Baptist was strong. Some of you women would be afraid you wouldn't like to be married to him because he was strong. He led the family. He was a he-man, the type that if my granddaughters grow up and say, Grandpa, I've fallen in love with a preacher. I hope that preacher's like John the Baptist. Just because the guy's a preacher doesn't make him that right? He was he was he was rugged He didn't dress too good, but he had character He ate some odd things, but he was courageous now Luke chapter 1 Starting with 50 verse 57 says now Elizabeth is Elizabeth's full time came that she should be delivered. And she brought forth a son. And her neighbors and her cousins heard how the Lord had showed great mercy upon her, and they rejoiced with her. And it came to pass that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they called him Zacharias after the name of his father. And his mother answered and said, Not so, but he shall be called John. And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. And they made signs to his father." If you remember, he couldn't speak at that time how he would have him called. And he asked for a writing table and he wrote saying, His name is John. And they marveled all. And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake and praised God. And fear came on all that dwelt round about them. And all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judea. And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be? And the hand of the Lord was with him. Now let's go back a few pages to chapter 7, starting with verse 24. And when the messengers of John were departed, he, speaking of Jesus, began to speak unto the people concerning John. What went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously appareled and live delicately are in the king's courts. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet, This is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. And I say unto you, among those that are born of woman, there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist. But he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. I want to give you some reasons that I have for Jesus calling him great. Now, excuse me, some of you might as well turn me off. Might as well walk out. I've learned in the years I've been pastor that whether it's with children or anything else, some listen and some don't. And some succeed and some make excuses. I'll tell you, there's something I've believed throughout my ministry, and I believe it more than ever today. The way you raise children, the way a child is brought up to be what God wants them to be, is just do it. I can't say it any other way. Just do it. Stay away from the neo-evangelical bookstores. I think you've got a problem if you go in them. Stay away from the so-called Christian radio stations listening to these guys. You've got a problem if you do. You see, that's why we have a local church. And that's why we've got a bookstore. You know why? Not to make money. Anybody will tell you we don't make money. in our bookstore. It is to keep you away from those neo-evangelical bookstores and that trash. You know how to rear a child for God? Do what the Bible says. It's not hard. I'm not saying it's not hard to practice it, but I'm saying it's not hard to figure it out. If your kids do not turn out right, they'll not turn out right to the extent that you do not follow God's word and God's preaching. That's it. Case closed. Quit making excuses. The problem is people come to churches like ours and they just choose what they want to hear and turn off what they don't want to hear and then complain. And you want God's blessing? Do what He says to do. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank You for Your Word and we thank You particularly how clear it is in teaching us how to rear our children. And now, Lord, I know that there's a percentage of people in here that will not do this. And the devil says, why do you preach And I tell the devil for the good people that will listen, to lift them up, to give them strength, and help them not to look at those that fail and think that it's chance. Help us to realize if our kids turn out, it's because we do what you tell us to do. If they don't, it's because we didn't. It's as simple as that. Help us to follow. Lord Holy Spirit please convict in your name we pray. Amen. There are only two men in the Bible that are labeled great out of 27 books in the New Testament and 39 in the old. Only two men have that title. The Bible didn't say great in the side of man either. Man calls everybody great. Ball players. Vomit. Singers. Wow. Actors. Puke. They call everybody great. I'm glad that the world doesn't think I'm great. But this is the Bible. And only two men in all the Bible were called great by God. And one was Jesus. And of course, He was deity. He was God in human flesh. If we saw Him in the bow of that ship telling the storm to be still and the storm listened to Him, we'd say, He's great, wouldn't we? If we saw Him feeding 5,000 men with a little pack of lunch, we'd say, Man, that's great! Or we could go down raising Lazarus from the dead, or Him being raised from the dead and ascending up into heaven, we'd say, He is great! It's easy to see why Jesus would be called great. He was more than man. He said, He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father. And there's only one other man in all Scripture whom God called great, and he had no divine blood. He had the same burdens that we have. The same hang-ups, the same temptations, the same feelings, face the same problems as we do. He was a man of like passions as us. If he lived in Porter County, everyone would look at him, and I'm not saying his clothing, but they'd say, he talks like us, he walks like us. Luke 7, verse 28, Jesus said, Among those that are born of woman there is not one greater prophet than John the Baptist. And in Luke 1, verse 15, we read, For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord. and shall drink neither wine nor strong a drink, and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother's womb. He shall be great." And Jesus didn't say things lightly either. That meant He was greater than Abraham, the father of the Jews, the friend of God. That meant He was greater than Moses, who led the children of Israel in mass out of Egypt. That meant He was greater than Elijah and Elisha and their miracles. That meant He was greater than David and Solomon. Jesus said He was the greatest of prophets. And because of that, we should ask why. Why was He so great? I know it wasn't because of his dress. As I've already mentioned, he dressed in camel's hair and wore a leather girdle, and that camel's hair wasn't woven into a coat like we think of. If he were to come to one of a typical pastor's fellowship, they'd give him a wide berth. I guarantee you. There's a saying, clothes makes a man. If that's true, he was a failure. He wasn't great because of his garments or his popularity. He called the political leaders of his day a generation of vipers. You don't win friends and influence people with that kind of talk. Bill Hybels wouldn't like it. Why was John great? Well, one, because he was a man of strong convictions. He would not bend. He would not bow. If you know the Bible, you know that's a fact. In Matthew 14, he preached to King Herod and pointed out his adultery. He knew what God said. We know in Proverbs 6.32 it says, Whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding, and he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. A wound and dishonor shall he get, and his reproach shall not be wiped away." If there's any message that needs to be preached in America today and in our churches today, it's stick with your wife. Stick with your own husband. But John the Baptist got his head cut off. Because he looked at the king and said, You're an adulterer. You're a sinner. That is not the way people are taught to preach today. Except in the Bible. He was a man of conviction. And just in passing, he was a man that puts spiritual things first. The Bible says in Luke 180, he grew and waxed strong in the spirit. He put the Bible before breakfast. He put prayer before fixing his hair. Man, I'll tell you what, deliver me from these guys who look in the mirror and spray their hair. You say, preacher, don't you spray your hair? No, my wife does. What about the hair blower? No, my wife does. I don't. If I were a college student, found out a guy that was interested in me, looked in the mirror too much, that'd be the end of him. Deliver me. I mean that. We need men. He put first things first. And third, John the Baptist, and this is what I'm going to preach on tonight, was great because he had godly parents. Again, in Luke 1, verse 66, and he asked for a writing table and wrote saying his name is John. They looked at the prophecy. They looked at John's birth in old age. And asked what manner of child shall this. Be they marveled. What kind of child is this going to be? I'll tell you now listen, I'll tell you the secret. He's going to be the kind of child his parents make him. That is why. People get mad at the principal. That is why people get mad at the youth pastor. That's why they get mad at nice old me. I remember when I was much younger and participated in sports. The average guy didn't give his all. And then he lost. And then he pointed his finger at other people. That's a weak man. That's a weak man. If there's anything I believed from the day Sharon and I were married and before that time is what Debbie and Jeff and Becky would be is what Sharon and I made them. Are they all that they should be? No. But what they are is what we made them. Now, they're older now. They're in their 30s. Jeff is getting really old. Sorry, Annette, but he is. He's getting really old. And they develop things as they grow older. But they are what we made them. Are you listening to me? His parents produced what God wanted. His parents put into him what God wanted. Everything that John the Baptist was, his parents produced in him. He hated sin because they hated sin. And we could go on. He was willing to die for his convictions because they were willing to die. for their convictions. What manner of child will he be exactly? Now, I know some of you don't want to hear this, but exactly what you make them. That's why I can't believe, I cannot believe how some people live. That's why you'll hear me say I love some of these kids here more than you do. You say, oh no, I'm not talking about your heart going pitter patter. I'm talking about believing God's Word and wanting what's best for your children. Isn't that enough for you to live clean? Isn't that enough to keep trash out of your life? If you love your children, it is. Nothing more. Nothing less. Lucky parents don't have good children. But parents that believe and follow the word of God. Are you going to be perfect? No. Are you going to raise perfect kids? No. They'll have your faults, too. Your children are what you make them. and praise God. You can be poor. Some of you are poor and you say, well, I'm not a preacher. I don't have a good job or I don't have a good education that has nothing to do with it. Praise God. It has nothing to do with it. You can gladly ask that question. What manner of child will will my son or daughter be? Zacharias and Elizabeth were poor, but they produced a godly boy. Don't worry about money. I believe with all my heart that you have a better chance of raising your kids for God, feeding them hot dogs and beans than caviar. Now let me say that again. You have a better chance being poor. Not a lesser chance. Your joys, let me tell you, that mean something, have nothing to do with money. You may think it has to do with money, but it doesn't. School teachers ask what manner of child. Well, my students be you have something to do with it, you can help. Sunday school teachers, you should ask you shouldn't be just going through the motions, what manner of child, how can I help these kids? Pastor, youth pastor, principal, We should ask, but it's mostly parents, isn't it? All we do is help. Now, what did John's parents have that made him what he was? First of all, they had walking righteousness. Not talking righteousness. Not lips. You're listening? Not the mouth. In chapter one, Speaking of Elizabeth and Zechariah, we read in v. 6, "...and they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinance of the Lord blameless." Wow! Wow! In lifestyle, in demeanor, in convictions, they walked with God blameless. Wow. That humbles me. But that ought to be our goal. Remember, too, they lived in the Roman world. They lived in the time of Caesar Augustus. They lived during the time of Caesar Tiberius. That was the most wicked time in the history of the world. Believe me, it was. The most filthy, wicked empire the world has ever known was the Roman Empire. Now, we have trash, and the trash is more available to us on the television and on the computer and this type of thing, but that Roman world was wicked. And Zacharias and Elizabeth reared a godly boy in the shadow of the most wicked empire in history. That should encourage us. That's what I mean by easy. The way, the path is easy to find. It's workable. But we have to work it. You don't have an excuse. They also lived in the midst of hypocrisy. They lived in the day of the wicked Pharisees and Sadducees. That was their religious leadership. You hear me? There were no independent fundamental Baptist churches. They were dishonest. They were cold. They were liars. They killed Jesus. And they raised a great boy in the middle because they had walking righteousness. Now you say, what do you mean by that? Walking in all the commandments. As you read the Bible, I believe you can go to Deuteronomy and other areas and see what this means. It means they're teaching. Their child or your children always teaching them, not just going to a good church, not just sending them to a good Christian school. And I want to say something. I think that you'll answer to God. Now you say you're preaching at me. If the shoe fits, my mother used to say, wear it. If there's a good Christian school and you don't send your child to it, your kids won't be what they should be, and you'll answer. I believe that. But it isn't the school that's going to do it alone. It's you. It's you. And it's you that are supposed to be teaching your kids. Again, not just school. Not just the youth group. Not just a good church. But you are teaching them. You are having devotions. People say, I don't know how to have devotions. Look at your kids' problems and give them the answer to the problem. Man, you're showing them. You're raising them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Elizabeth and Zacharias could say, what you see in me, follow. And that's the way you'll raise kids. Because they'll follow you anyway. You can say what you want. They will follow you. You say, how will they know it? Wow. I don't want to go into it, but I've seen little tiny kids follow their father in pornography and thievery. Little tiny kids! The Father knew nothing about it. They will follow you. If you teach your kids not to commit adultery, don't allow it in your living room. On television. You can argue all you want. I remember my mother, she always had a television. She always had it running. And I'd go over to her house. And I'll tell you what she said every time. Roger, they never swore like that on that show before. Roger, they never had that kind of stuff. Oh yes, they did. And she just sat there and listened to it and watched it. But when her preacher son was there, then it jolted her. and videos. Some of you don't have a television, but you live on videos. If you don't believe in immorality, don't let it in your home. Don't let those kids look at it in any way, shape, or form. If you don't want your kids to fight, don't you fuss. I'm not saying you'll never have a fight, but never in front of them. Never should they have any hint of it. When you tend to a good church and send them to a Christian school when they get home and they have a different set of standards, you're doing more harm than good. Whether it's dress standards, music standards, entertainment. the way your attitude towards the church. When a parent allows the local church to be secondary to relatives and visiting and jobs and houses. When your kids get married, they'll be secondary to them also. But I'll tell you something I've learned. If they take it a step farther, they'll laugh up their sleeves at you. And they will drink. And they will dance if that's what they want. And they will laugh at you. I'm not going to be your pastor that much longer. Now you listen to me, when parents don't lift the pastor up, when by their decisions they act as though the pastor doesn't know any more than they do spiritually, I guarantee you, you've lost the battle. You've lost the righteousness. You can make them come, but you're wasting your time. And you don't have to say it with your mouth. The preacher holds the book. Again, I've learned some things throughout the years. Whether I'm your pastor or not your pastor, the preacher holds the book. And without him, you will fail. Oh, people. Oh, the family. That's the important thing. Not the church. Tell that to God. Find that in the Bible. Now, I'm telling you, the way you're going to raise your kids is by you being godly parents and leading them in the home, first of all. But you can't do it without a godly pastor. You can't do it. I challenge you to try. That's why it's so important. That's why I always say, if I weren't a pastor, I would research and find the finest church. Pastor Whitaker disagrees with me, but we disagree on several things. I would find the finest church on earth! And I'd move there and find a job. But the point I'm trying to make and I hope you see the balance. Children are not good because they attend Fairhaven Baptist Church. But children are good because you follow the preaching of Fairhaven Baptist Church. Which is the Bible. We're talking about walking righteousness and not having a double standard. You want the formula? That's what I mean by it's easy. It's easy. You don't have to be smart. You want the formula for John the Baptist? Zacharias plus Elizabeth equal John the Baptist. Just do it. You say, I pray. You better pray. Say, I'm depending on the grace and mercy of God. Boy, I praise God for that. But you won't have right kids unless you do it. That's it. I heard of a mother coming home. True story. I read it. She was shopping. And a boy waited for her with a .22 rifle. She walked through the door and he killed her. And the psychiatrist said, after talking to the boy, it was because he'd been raised in Sunday school, raised to be, they called, moral. I don't know what the situation was. And he had found in her bedroom, pornographic pictures of her. And he couldn't take it. That's a psychiatrist saying. And he killed her. Now your results may not be as vivid, but they'll be as sure. They'll be as sure. You must have walking righteousness. Second, you must not be swayed by public opinion. And public even means fellow church members. I have never seen anything so positive. People hang together and that's good. That's good. Some people say, I don't like a large church because I like an intimate group. Well, you can have an intimate group, OK? You have more to choose from, OK? But I tell you something. Birds of a feather flock together. And you'll get talking, and you talk to somebody, and they say, I don't think you should spank. I think you should take their food away. Find that in the Bible. I took my kids' toys away, especially Jeff's. Boy, what a bullhead he was. Can you imagine the good Pastor Jeff stealing candy and eating it? Spank him. Didn't seem to do anything. Took what I thought was his favorite toys away and spanked him again. As long as my kids lived in my home, I spanked them and I believe that was my responsibility under God. Chapter 1, verse 13, But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. His name is to be John. And now verse 57, Now Elizabeth's full time came that she should be delivered and she brought forth a son. And her neighbors and her cousins heard how the Lord had showed great mercy upon her and they rejoiced with her. And it came to pass that on the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child and they called him Zacharias after the name of his father. And his mother answered and said, Not so. But he shall be called John now. Let me stop and say something the reason she had a talk is he was deaf That's the only time you women speak for the family. That's not a joke 61 And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. And they made signs to his father. How would he have him called? And he asked for a writing table and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marveled. Simple, but clear. The community thought his name should be Zacharias, but they obeyed God. His name was John. Listen. They not only obeyed Him in naming the boy, but in lifestyle. God give us parents who do not care about worldly fashions. And please listen to me, girls and mothers. The most fashionable girls in this church will not get the best boys. That's a fact. You mothers want your girls to be fashionable. We know we're fundamentalists and we're not going to be immodest, but we want to have them as close as we can. We don't want them to look weird. I say it again, the most fashionable girls in this church will get the most worldly boy. Say, are you talking about your daughter's dress? Yes. You can dress nice and neat and be sharp without following the world. And we've had some success in this. But you know back six months ago or so where we were just railing on this idea of tight clothing. Clothing up to the Adam's apple and down to the ankle, but tight and sensual and worldly. And fathers allowed this. It's up to you, Father. Mothers ought to do it. My wife did it. But it's up to the Father ultimately. Show them. It makes a difference. And that's not only for the for the for the girls. I remember a guy. Man, he dressed so. Pretty. I used to preach at him like this. I got his name right here. Pretty. And he became a gigolo. You say, not my boy. Yeah, your boy. If you don't raise him right. Who told you we have to be fashionable? Why do you have to dress like the world? And what about music? I still see at times, I see young people with earphones. That is stupid. You say they only listen to... You are stupid. You don't know what they listen to. You say, oh, yeah, they they show me it's only your preaching tapes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Come on, parents. Some of you parents listen, you say, I'd never listen to rock music, but I listen to crunchy music. Most of them are Christians. Like Johnny, whatever his name was, the guy that dressed in black. And Jack and I watched his life story one time. I want to say Johnny Carson, you know who I mean. Cash, yes, gotcha. Yeah. He's a good Christian, wasn't he? Because He's saying, amazing grace. Man, I see pictures of these groups and they look like somebody beat them with an ugly stick. I mean, they're beasts, they're mongrels, they're mangy dogs. And what they look like is what they are inside. And if you listen to them, it will come out. Don't tell me it's okay. And it'll come out in your kids also. And what about dating trends? For years, the vast majority of our people, they've had good dating standards. But every once in a while, I hear or see parents say, yeah, I give my 17, 19 year old daughter a car. She needs it. I'll say what I said just two or three or four weeks ago. My girls have never worked a secular job. And by God's grace, they never will. Because I don't want them, and I don't rule them now, but their husbands are the same way. They don't want them painted by the world. I believe that's one of the big things wrong in fundamental circles today. Most preachers wives work in the world. I say again, most preachers wives don't tell me it won't rub off. What I'm saying is, and I know I'm repeating myself, my girls mowed grass. And they made plenty of money. You listening? They mowed grass. That meant I controlled them. Totally. That meant they didn't need a car. You say, you don't know, things have changed. I don't care if things have changed. That's what's wrong with the world. You give your young people a car? Jeff had a car, and I knew where he went and when he came back. I'm not saying he would never cheat on me, but I'll tell you he'd have a hard time with it. You're a fool. You're a fool if you let your kids out running around. Well, the idea is give them some rope, trust them. I don't trust me. For good reason. I don't trust you. Why should I trust some 19 or 20 year old? They're still children. They have endemic natures. It'll take them too far. Don't you understand? I hope you understand what I'm saying. I say this to couples when they first get married. Before they get married. Now, you take a couple. I can't see one out there right now. Ah, James McDonald, who talks too much during the song service. James McDonald. If he were alone, With this oopsie-whoopsie, and they touched hands, his hair would straighten out for the first time in his life. Now, that's a fact, isn't it? Now, Joe, yeah, I'm going to say your name. You're sitting there. You don't have any hair to straighten out. This is a fact and you know it if you're a fundamental Baptist who's been raised like we raise our kids. If he some way got alone and he just stole a little peck, wow, he couldn't breathe. You hearing me? That's why we don't leave him alone! That's why we do everything in our power! Everything! to keep them from being alone. That's why people think we're squirrely. But what about discipline? The world has us intimidated. Scared with talk about child abuse. Afraid to correct the Bible way. We forget our mandate from God Almighty. God Almighty says the rod of reproach giveth wisdom. Not the spoon. Now, you can use the spoon on a six-month-year-old. I lose track of what they're like at age maybe a year old. But it says the rod. Chasten thy son while there is hope. And you like this one, kids? The blueness of the wound cleanseth the inward parts. I went to jail for these verses. And some of you won't even practice them. And by the way, you can bruise your child in Indiana. We found that out when we went to court. You can't. And we're not talking about taking a baseball bat. We're not talking about purposely really what you'd say hurt the kids. We're talking about spanking them. We're talking about stinging them. It's still in the Bible. Let them call you what they want. But you be honest and true to God and he'll take care of the rest. Again, I say, just do it. You've got to be consistent. But man, you've got to be the head of the home. And you've got to make the decision. And you've got to do it. I think it's time that like Elizabeth and Zacharias and John the Baptist, we make up our minds that we're not going to be swayed by public opinion. If we are, we're going to get kids like theirs. And one more thing quickly. Put the calling of God before secular vocations. In chapter 1, verse 76, it says, "...and thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the highest. For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways." Now, we know He was very special. But what it's saying is here's going to be a preacher. And that is special. I hear less and less of parents saying, I want my children to grow up and serve God. I want him to be a preacher. I want him to be a missionary or I want her to be a preacher's wife, a missionary's wife, a Christian school teacher. That's not as glamorous as it once was. It was a time when we had a really call we had to work at keeping people that weren't called because everybody it was glamorous. But it's not as glamorous anymore. There's real problems in fundamentalism. And now there's been an emphasis for a need of Christian lawyers and doctors and business people. Now, I thank God we have them in our congregation, and I don't mean to belittle you. And I in the flesh have always said, man, we need deacons. I don't want every one of our good kids to go into full-time Christian service, but We need preachers and missionaries. And we shouldn't say our kids are called. My kids will tell you. I tell them now, all I want you to be is right with God. If you're not called, your husband's not called, I'll love you just as much. But in secret, we pray, God, take our kids and use them in your service. And until you know otherwise, you ought to raise your children as though they're going to be a pastor of some great church or a pastor's wife or a missionary. Gypsy Smith said, if we are going to beat the devil, we're going to have to beat him to death with a high chair. And man, I believe that more than ever. I believe in soul winning. You know that. And I believe in the bus ministry and in the old folks' homes and the jolly sixties and the retarded. I believe in all that. But if we're going to beat the devil, we're going to beat him with our kids. Grab a hold of that. That's the most important ministry we have, is to rear our children for God. Why not give your child to God as a baby and think of all that he or she will need to be a John the Baptist and make that prominent in your life. You may be poor. You may be divorced. You know, in our church, you can't be a deacon or a Sunday school teacher or lead in those ways and be divorced. But you can raise good children. And that's more important than being a deacon. Now listen to me. Listen to me. We've got our people that have grown up sprinkled around the nation and even the world And we've got a good number sitting here as young adults that have grown up in this church saying, I'm called of God. And we've got a bigger number of younger ones that I believe will make it. But I want to say again, if we're going to touch the world, we're going to touch the world with these kids. That's our greatest chance. And I happen to believe that we could touch the world with our church. Yes, with our college, I see the college boys. Oh, the longer I we have the college, the more thankful I thank God every day for the privilege of having a college in the privilege of training. That's number two. Training young people. Molding young people. But even more than the college is our kids. Think about it. You say, I'm not educated. You don't have to be. Sharon and I came to the conclusion Be nothing better. And I mean this. I have been through battles. I said to my wife, I could pastor this church for many more years if it wasn't for the emotional strain. I have been through battles. The job of a pastor is a battle. Dr. Kenderdine has no idea of what it's going to be. But we made up our minds all long time ago. If our kids grew up and made it, and you know I don't think that they are perfect by any stretch, but if our kids grew up and made it, and the church went to the dogs, We could die smiling. That's why we put the emphasis on it. And put the emphasis on it in our preaching. Let's produce John the Baptist. Let's be excited about it. Yeah, some of you believe in having a lot of kids. Just make sure you raise them all for God. A lot of kids I've seen so often have so many kids you don't even know what they're doing. You raise them for the devil. More important, let's raise our children for God. Let's have walking righteousness. Let's not be swayed by the world. Let's be determined to raise John the Baptist and Mrs. John the Baptist.