God has an encouraging word for you and me today through the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton on a response to daughters and sons. Yes, today's message is a Christian response to daughters and sons.
We'll be headed to 1 Timothy in just a moment, but as we study God's Word, we want you to know that we're here to connect with you on our website. It's www.tewonline.org, and right now there is such excitement about this end times information from Dr. Don Wilton. You know, when you hear somebody say the end is near, sometimes that's just fear-mongering. Sometimes it's a description of what we might be in as the last days.
Is this the end? It's the message you'll find online at www.tewonline.org, along with a book, The King is Coming. I'll give you more details later, but you'll find it all at www.tewonline.org. And now, Dr. Don Wilton. I want to speak to you just for a few minutes and listen to this subject, a Christian response to daughters and sons. I just want that to soak in a minute, a Christian response to daughters and sons. We're going to begin.
I want to lay the foundation here very briefly. 1 Timothy chapter 6. Here's the scene. This is the apostle Paul. This is dad. This is mom. This is granddad, grandmother, speaking to son, to daughter, to young person. This is those who are no longer young, speaking to those who are still young. This is one man who has traveled the road.
And he is charging the young man who is about to begin to earnestly travel the road. This is the coach talking to his player. This is you, mom. This is you, dad. This is what he says in verse 11. But you, son, daughter, and let's keep it in context, you, Timothy, man of God, flee from all of this. And pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. We just witnessed in the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Jesus Christ, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you, daughter, son, to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time, God the blessed and only ruler, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him, be honor and might forever and forever.
Amen. Paul, in this context, told the young man five things. Number one, flee from. By that way, that word flee means to turn around and to run away from it. Go in the opposite direction from what?
Well, it's all right there. Flee from those who teach false doctrine. You do not hold to sound instruction. Don't mess with them. Flee from controversy, quarrels about words. My daughter, my son, that lead to envy, strife, malicious talk, flee from it.
Evil suspicion, constant friction. Flee from loving money, loving money, not having money, not making money, not wanting money. Flee from loving money because it leads to all kinds of evil.
What did he say to the young man? Flee from. Number two, pursue after. Pursue after.
Flee from, pursue after. Number three, fight for. Here's the third thing he says, fight for. Look at verse 12, fight the good fight of faith. It's a marvelous expression.
I think what Paul understood when he spoke to this young man is that this life is a tough life. I'm one of the many who, I'm so privileged to participate in many a couple as they fall in love and are married. One always wishes that you could talk to them and say just how wonderful life is all the time. You all going to just, you're going to spend your whole life sitting in a corner smooching one another.
Holding hands. Doesn't work like that. Sorry. Just wait until you turn 45. Life is not just smooth. There are many challenges in life. Fight the good fight. Number four, I love number four, hold tight. Look at what he says in the second part of verse 12.
Take hold of the eternal life which you were called when you made good your confession. We had some 16 young people follow Jesus as we've just seen through the waters of baptism. Wonderful. Man, these, I'm telling you folks, our young people are, they are a fantastic group of young people. They are so inspiring.
When I got in my motor car last Sunday night and had to leave them, yes, I wouldn't have changed what I did for anything. But I cannot tell you how sad I was that I was unable to just be so blessed by being with these young people. They're so incredible. And God says to them, hold tight. You don't hold tight. They're going to get you.
They're after you. The devil is as a roaring lion. And the spiritual dropout rate in America is alarming. And number five, keep always, keep always. He says in verse 14, I charge you, keep this command without spot or blame. That word there speaks to that word perseverance, doesn't it? So there it is, five things that he, Paul, tells Timothy as Timothy begins this journey, as life opens up for him, this vast, magnificent world.
When he gets on his plane, when he gets into his motor car, when he sets out, Paul looks at him and says to him, my son, flee from, pursue after, fight for, hold tight, keep always. Well, let's bring this together. Can I just be dad for a minute? Granddad, friend, what is a Christian response? We just read it. How does that look in our lives? Can I tell us all something that we already know?
What is a Christian's response? Why do we as a church celebrate young people? Why do we pour into them? Why do we give so much? Why do we give our money? Why do we build buildings? Why do we embark on projects?
Why do we sponsor young people to go on camps? Why do we persistently, why do you do that in your home? Why do you love so much? A Christian response.
I've got eight here, write them down quickly. Here's a Christian response. Number one, bless them. Just bless your daughters and sons. That word's a beautiful word. Bless them comes from, Lord, I just bless my son, my daughter. I just bless them. That word's wonderful. That's how a Christian responds to daughters and sons, bless them.
As I'm just telling you, the blessings that come back are overwhelming. You can make a million dollars, run the biggest company, drive the best motorcar, travel the world, but your family, they'll bless you. Bless them.
Number two, love them. Love your daughters and sons. Just love them. Love is a doing word. Ask God, tell your kids you love them, man. Don't be a dad who never says, I love you. Say it until you're tired of it. Every time you send them a text, tell them you love them. It's not just a word.
It's a Christian response. I love you, my son. I just love you. I love you, my daughter. I want our young people here to know that I love them. I want you to know that we love you.
Number three, nurture them. It's a Christian response. This is what Christians do. Please forgive the interruption. We'll be back with the rest of today's message from Dr. Don Wilton, a Christian response to daughters and sons, but he wants you to know we're here for you. We're connecting 24-7 at 866-899-WORD.
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That's 866-899-9673. Back to today's message with Dr. Don Wilton. Number three, nurture them. It's a Christian response. This is what Christians do with daughters and sons. Nurture them. The word nurture means literally to care and encourage their growth, to care for and to encourage growth in them. Be a nurturer of sons and daughters. No matter how young, no matter how old they are, nurture them. Don't stop nurturing them because they've left your home. You don't have to interfere with them. You don't have to get between your son and his wife or between your daughter and her husband. You don't have to interfere, but you can carry on nurturing. You can continue to bless. You can continue to love them. Nurture them.
Number four, Christian response. Protect them. Protect them. That means defend your daughters and sons. Protect them.
A couple of weeks ago in one of our services, I used an illustration. I said, you got young children? It's your duty to protect them. Defend them. Be careful where you send them. And I used the illustration of sleepovers.
Just an illustration. Little kids love to go and sleep over. You don't just send your kids off to sleep over anywhere. You better know who those people are, what they stand for, who lives in that house with them, because it's your job to protect your kids.
You don't just say, go and have a lovely time and I'll pick you up tomorrow. That's not protecting your kids. Protect your children. Defend them. Sometimes they are defenseless.
They don't have a microphone. Protect them. As a mother hen would protect her chicks. You know better. You're a Christian man. You understand the world and you see it. You listen to it. You've been impacted by it.
You yourself have made mistakes that you wish you'd never made. You don't want them to go and repeat that. Protect them. Number five, guide them. Guide them.
The word guide them means carries with it two ideas. First of all, lead them yourself. Guide your daughters and sons. What is your current home look like right now in terms of leadership? How are you guiding them?
How are you teaching them? How do you talk to your wife in front of your children? What about that temper that you've got? Do you run your mouth off all the time in your home? Are you one of these people that are just always criticizing, breaking down others in front of everybody? That's not leading your children. That's not guiding them. Sometimes in your home you need to close the door to have a conversation.
You just don't let it all rip in front of your kids. And what are you watching? What are you doing? What are you eating?
What are you drinking? Christian response, guide them. Number six, listen to them. Just listen to them.
The sounds that come out of our daughters and sons are so beautiful. But listen to them. Pay attention. Put your jolly computer down. Stop being so besotted over your Facebook. Stop going to a restaurant with your kids and sitting there with your stupid cell phone in front of your face doing this and not saying one word to the rest of the family. And some people can wait. And if your child walks in when you're around, get down on your knees and stop your conversation with other people and put your arms around them.
Most adult Christian parents and grandparents will love you for the way you love your children. Listen to them. Sometimes they just want to talk. And I know you come home and you've had a hard day at work.
You've got monumental pressures. And that son or daughters come back from the ninth grade or the fifth grade or the first grade or kindergarten, doesn't matter. Just listen to them. Let them talk to you. They will share a world with you. In so doing, they'll share their heart with you. And when they share their heart with you, you'll be able to just walk in and give them a jolly good old wonderful hug and embrace because you are their daddy.
You their mother. Number seven, celebrate them. Every step that our young people take is in and of itself a graduation.
Have you ever thought that? They graduate every day from something. Celebrate with them. Celebration is not based upon their magnificence or whether they're on the A team or the B team.
Who cares? You're celebrating the uniqueness of them. That son, that daughter that God gave to you. And number eight, pray for them. Pray for them in front of them. Pray for them behind them, above them, under them. Pray for them without them. Tell them you pray for them. When you call on the phone, from time to time, pray for them. When you send a text, send a prayer to them. You'll get a few, oh, come on, dads. Oh, mom.
That's fine. Prayer works. They'll get over a lot of things, I promise you.
They're not going to run you out of town because you prayed for them. Oh, you know, there's a whole list of things we have, aren't there? But boy, we love our daughters and our sons. You know, God has so richly blessed us with the heritage of our tomorrow. And they're all around us. And this we will do.
Because if what we look at today is the strength of our tomorrow, wow. Our young people are fine. And evidently I know a bunch of parents around here who seem to be doing it right. Well done, people. Well done, dad. Well done, mom. Well done, grandpa, grandma.
Well done. But don't stop now, because the best is yet to be. And you know, this week we'll have a few more born. You know, 20 years from today, I might be a little older. But that little girl will be 20. That little boy will be 20.
20? Listen, when I was 20, I was ready to charge hell with a water pistol. You catch my drift? Let's arm and prepare our people, our young people, to grow up, to become men and women who know Jesus, know what they believe, and who are willing to stand strong in this world. Would you bow your heads with me for just a minute? As I'm going to invite you to respond this morning, Lord Jesus, as our musicians come this morning. I pray, O God, that there is somebody within the sound of this voice of one man who does not hear the voice of one man, but has heard the voice of God, our Heavenly Father. And I pray that today they would come forward, they would respond, they would find somebody today and take hold of this great eternal life in Christ. I pray this prayer in Jesus' name.
Amen. Perhaps moments ago you were praying along with Dr. Wilton to give your life to Jesus Christ or rededicate your life. Or perhaps now you have questions, and we'd love to help answer those questions and pray for you right now at 866-899-WORD.
We also have wonderful resources Dr. Don wants you to have for free. If you just gave your life to Jesus Christ or rededicated your life, call us at 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673, or you can meet us online as well at www.tewonline.org. While you're there, be sure to sign up for the daily encouraging word devotional from Dr. Don right there on our website at www.tewonline.org. A wonderful insight to God's Word in your email box every day, or if you'd rather have a physical copy, we'll send that to you free as well.
All the ways to sign up are on our website at www.tewonline.org. Know that it is our joy to spend these moments together sharing the love of Christ each and every week, and we do so seeing people give their lives to Christ every single day because of our partnership. This program is sponsored by The Encouraging Word and many friends like you who are prayerfully and financially supporting this ministry.
Discover more online at our website www.tewonline.org. Okay, just before you go today, I just want you to know how much I love you. You mean so much to me, and I just want you to know that with all of the things that we've talked about, and the way in which God is speaking to your heart right now, we are The Encouraging Word, and we are available to you 24-7, morning, noon, night, or day. You can call a friend, one of my friends right now, and they will encourage you, pray with you, listen to you. Isn't it great to have people around us who really care about us? You are not alone. God bless you and be encouraged.
