Next PageWhat Went Wrong???
Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Many Christians do not believe this verse, or they reason it away with their own wicked thinking and philosophy!! God said it and that settles it!! He cannot lie. Unfortunately, what happens is that Christians raise their children to have no commitment to God, no conviction against sin, no personal holiness, no personal time with God, and no fear of God.
God’s Word is the “instruction manual” for our lives. Proverbs 4:11-15 tell us, “I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths. When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble. Take fast hold of instruction (the Sound Doctrine from God’s Word); let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life. Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.” This teaches us the importance of holding on to Sound Doctrine. “…Take fast hold of instruction, let her not go (grasp instruction and don’t let go): keep her; for she is thy life.” Proverbs 4:21-27 tell us to let them not depart from thine eyes but to keep them in the midst of thine heart.
You say, “I have done this, yet I’m divorced, I’ve been immoral, I’m depressed, I’m cold to the things of God, my children don’t love the Lord and are not saved, etc. Well, let us use the problem of your children not serving God. Answer these questions to see whose fault it is – yours or yours!!!! Do you have children that have turned from the Lord? Did you keep them in the Bible? Did you have them memorize it? Did you keep them from being pumped full of ungodly philosophy by keeping them from the television? Did you pray with them before they went to bed? Did you show them the Bible as you corrected them so that they knew that they had disobeyed God? Did you read, study, search, live, love, and apply God’s Word to your life in front of them? Did you not allow anything in your life to become an idol to show them how to put God first???
If you have answered “no” to any of these, you need repentance! Ask God to forgive you and then apologize to them for provoking them to anger by expecting them to love the Lord, yet not living right yourself and for not bringing them up in “the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Ephesians 6:4 tells us, “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” God’s Word is full of verses that teach you how to bring up a child, yet you run to James “worldly-reasoning and justification” Dobson, who has mixed philosophy, religion, moral values, and “good ideas,” into a vain, carnally minded prescription of apostasy and anti-holiness trash. What does God have to say about those who explain away the truth and water down God’s Word with their wicked philosophies? II Corinthians 11:13-15 says, “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end (we shall see it in the end as we behold their worldly lifestyle) shall be according to their works.”
God’s Word contains all the answers!! The problem is that they do not possess a copy of God’s Word!! Their “Bible” is a watered-down, slimy, saltless pile of dung that has lost its savor, its sting, its holiness, and its Truth, the Lord Jesus Christ, who loves us so much that He gives us commands that will help us stay on the straight and narrow way and fulfill our duties as a husband, father, preacher, etc. This Sound Doctrine is for our good, because it is to our benefit spiritually to remain close to the Lord. We are to use it to run our lives. It will keep you talking properly, keep your eyes from wandering, keep your feet on the straight and narrow way, and help establish godly habits in your life. We are commanded not to falter, but to remove our foot from evil. How?????? Sound Doctrine should not only be learned but also lived and applied - the Sound Doctrine from God’s Word that becomes a guideline for us to live, breath, survive, and grow, not cold, hard rules, but out of love, joyously keeping the rules and commandments of God. I John 5:3 explains this, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.”
I Timothy 4:15 commands, “Meditate (to observe with intentness, to plan by revolving in the mind, to design mentally, to exercise in devotional thought or contemplation) upon these things; give thyself wholly (completely) to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.” Is this what you do with God’s Word? Shame on you! Did you even read it today? Do you live every moment by the teachings of the Bible? How can you with the little “bless me” sermonettes to which you have been listening?
At this point, the liberals reading this will begin to pull Scriptures out of context to say that we have “Christian liberties,” that “we are not under the law,” and that “we are free in Christ.” To sin against God are we free????? Do not confuse works for salvation with works because you are saved. We are saved from sin by faith alone without works. Does this give us a license to sin? Paul asked in Romans 6:1, 2 say, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” After giving fifteen charges or indictments against every human born (Romans 3:10 -18), Paul continued in Romans 3:19 -31 by explaining the law and its purpose!!!! Let us look at it if you dare, liberal!
“Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth (saved and unsaved) may be stopped (they cannot give excuses), and all the world may become guilty (by realizing His righteousness, which humanly cannot be kept) before God. Therefore by the deeds (keeping) of the law there shall no flesh be justified (saved) in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin (what God considers sin)… Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law (the thinking of God, not to be saved, but to obey God after we are saved).” The entire purpose of the Old Testament law was so that we might know the righteousness of God and that it might point to the coming Savior!! Since we know from the “law” how God feels about a subject, have become new creatures in Christ, have repented of our sins, now know right, love Jesus, and desire to please Him, shouldn’t we obey Him(not to be saved, but because we are saved)?!!!! James 4:17 says this, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”