What a Holy Christian Does

Colossians 1:25-29

COL-234

This morning we look at the mind of Christ recorded in Colossians 1:25-29. Our subject is "The Ministry of the Church," segment number 49.

Christians of the church age whose pastor-teacher fulfills his divinely appointed calling a feeding the flock of God (the spiritual food of doctrine), will be able to mature spiritually. And they are the only Christians in Christendom who will ever be able to grow up in Christ. Those who are fed are the principles of doctrine. This is the primary purpose of the local church organization to make it possible for every believer to build a spiritual maturity structure in his soul.

The Bible describes such mature believers as walking with God. The concept that is referred to in John 8:42-43, where Jesus said, "If God were your Father (speaking to the religious leaders, and the people who were opposing him) would love me for, for I proceed forth and have come from God. For I have not even come on my own initiative, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear my word. You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the true, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies?"

Here, the apostle John puts very succinctly the fact that these people to whom he is speaking, who reject His word, are walking with their father, the devil. Instead, for us as Christians, we should be walking with our heavenly Father. We don't always do that, and when we don't, it is horror of horrors, we're walking with the father of the unsaved. We're walking with the world's father. Jesus said, "You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father? You want to walk with him."

The apostle Paul touched on the same idea of walking with God in Ephesians 5:15-17, "Therefore, be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil, So, then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is? Take care how you walk, walk in the will of the Lord."

The Bible also describes mature Christians as being the friend of God. The apostle Paul refers to this same idea in the Romans 8:6-8, where Paul says, "For the mind set on the flesh; that is on the old sin nature is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life in peace, because the mind said on the flesh is hostile toward God. (It's not his friend). For it does not subject itself to the law of God for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh (who operate on the sin nature) cannot please God. They are not the friends of God. They're instead the friends of the world."

And for this reason, the apostle John, in 1 John 2:15, says, "Do not love the world nor the things of the world. If anybody loves the world, the love of the Father is not in them. So the friend of the world is what a mature Christian becomes.

The third characteristic is to become a person after God's heart. Matthew 3:16-17: "And after being baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were open, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and coming upon him. And behold a voice, out of heaven saying, this is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased! What a wonderful thing for God to be able to say about someone! "You are my child, and I'm well pleased with you."

In John 8:29 we have this idea reiterated again. "And He who sent Me is with Me," Jesus says, "and He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him."

So, if you are a mature Christian, and you'll discover that these characteristics. You'll be a person who finds that you'll walk with God, and you'll have to make the choice: "I'll go with God, and I won't walk with the world." It is just that very definitive. If you are a mature believer, you will be a friend of God. You'll stand by that which is true, and that which the integrity of God. You'll stand by godliness. You won't compromise with the world. You won't laugh at its dirty jokes. You won't be a participant in its crude lifestyle. And third, you'll find that you're a favorite with God. When you're a mature Christian, you're going to have a very special place in the heart of God, and you'll discover him showing that to you in your life.

So, these relationships to God are very important, but they're all the result of something that is within your grasp. They're the result of learning the Word of God (the principles of doctrine) from your local pastor-teacher, through the expository preaching technique. And of your attitude of positive volition to what you have been taught. It doesn't do any good for you to have the instruction of the Word of God and say, "Oh, I don't know about that. My friends don't think that. The gang that I go around with, they would think I would be crazy to believe this." Have you ever been told that only people who are crazy believe what you believe spiritually? I have. Only people who are crazy. People who are not even thinkers would believe what you believe. But what I believe is what the Bible teaches, and what the Bible teaches, is what God thinks. So, that doesn't bother me.

A Spiritual Mature Christian

All of these relationships to God are the result of the spiritual nutrition which doctrine gives, which produces spiritual maturity in Christ. The primary characteristic of the mature Christian is the holy life: a life which then results in walking with God; friendship with God; and a lifestyle where you are in favor with God. That's what it means to be mature. It means to be holy. And remember that the word "holy" means "separation." This is the primary characteristic. The holiness of the spiritual mature Christian is expressed in separation from the evil lifestyle of Satan's world. Holiness is expressed in separation from the lust of the innate sin nature of the believer. Holiness is expressed as negative volition, separation from the evils of Satan, Saying no to the devil. And positive volition is separation to the will of God, saying "Yes" to the Lord.

How You Feel

A spiritually mature Christian does not operate that way. He is objective in his thinking; objective about himself; and, he basis what he thinks on the basis of the Word of God: the doctrinal principles. The spiritually immature Christian is subjectively oriented in his life, and he equates his feelings, and his rationalization for what he does as the will of God.

The Subjective Christian

So where are we? Violating the ninth commandment of false witness to ourselves. Lying to ourselves about what we are. The spiritually immature Christian is subjective, and he easily lies to himself. The subjective Christian goes far afield from the Word of God and the will of God. And he emotionally defends his desires and his opinions to do his own thing in life. Such a believer very quickly finds that the carnal life is very comfortable. And he leaves the Holy Spirit to be grieved; to be quenched; and, to be ignored by him.

Now this is the reality of the Christian life. The Christian life is not a lot of cute stories that the preacher tells you, a lot of cute analogies, a lot of funny one-liners; a lot of people cheering, and having a wonderful fun time. The business of walking with God is a serious business of imitating Jesus Christ.

So, ultimately, the question is: would the Lord Jesus do this? Would Jesus do what I'm doing? Would the Lord Jesus make my choice? Would the Lord Jesus give my excuse that I'm giving, for not doing what I should? Would the Lord Jesus be thinking what I'm thinking? Would He be going to where I'm going? Will the Lord Jesus be treating this person the way I'm treating this person right now? Will the Lord Jesus be engaged in the enterprises in which I am engaged?

It all falls down to be Christlike. That's the bottom line. So, it is not all that complicated, if you know anything about the Word of God. But I can assure you, on the basis of the Word of God, and on personal experience, that life in the will of God our Father, is the best of all the ways to go. It's the only way to go. Many Christians do not choose to so live because it is out of step with world society around them, and that society is attractive to them. So, they compromise their character in Christ. Christians often want the approval; they want the acceptance; they want the praise; and, they want the rewards of the world of Satan more than fellowship with their heavenly Father. That is devastating. If you want to be approved by the world, Jesus says, you're going to have a tough time, because they don't like me. And if you are true to me, they won't like you either. To be accepted by the world; to be praised by the world; and, to be rewarded by the world. What do you have if you have it? Christians who seek to imitate the rich and famous of the world because they find them glamorous instead of revolting.

I listened to the program on TV: the 100 most famous women of the 20th century. Now I thought. "That's what I would like to see." The 100 most famous women of the 20th century. So I faithfully watched all 100, and they were all the lowlife of the human race. I thought, "Isn't that interesting? You would think that they would at least put somebody up there that was some godly woman, even if they didn't like her. They just didn't show us all of them. But the ones that they featured were the nothing but lowlife. You'd have a pity for anybody who was married to one of them. And yet, these are the women who are supposedly the opinion-makers (the pacesetters), and they were. And young women patterned their lives after them, and all they did was degraded themselves. They were the adulteresses; They were the foul mouth; they were the people who stood for every cause against God; They were the haters of God; and they were the lovers of Satan. And I kept sitting there, waiting, to at least get one good woman. For those that they showed, they were all the world system. And I thought, "Well, they're right. The women who have made the impact upon this world are Satan's women, not the women of God."

The most important, the finest, the highest quality women wouldn't be in the public eye. Those are the women that are not there among the rich and the famous. That's not their category. Those quality women are women that these people know nothing about. It's just like if you want to see the really qualified people to hold political office, don't look for those who hold it. Look for those who won't hold it. Look for those who won't seek it. Those are the people who'd make the best presidents; the best congressmen; the best senators; and, the best representatives. They're the people who have nothing to do with it. And if somebody in the pattern of God comes into the political realm, for example, and seeks to have a position of a power and authority voice, they don't get voted in office. They get bypassed. Satan is very careful about whom he allows to run his world.

So, to imitate the rich and the famous, that is what the subjective people do. The Christians whose eyes each day are on the world below instead of on the Lord above, are spiritually impure. And they're wasting their lifespan for potential rewards in heaven.

One thing that the tragedy of the Oklahoma City tornado taught us – a couple of things. It taught us what the grace of God was in protecting Patty Daley and her family, right there and Moore Oklahoma, the heart of the tornado, and the devastation hits around them but her street escapes damage. But it also, the Tornado>, as you seen, in those pictures in the paper, those leveled houses – shows you what I've been quoting to you from 1 Peter. When Peter says, "Everything you own, and every institution you've built; all of the fame you acquire; and, everything that you go for in life, it's all going to be reduced back to its basic elements. And there you saw it, before your eyes. And those poor people looked upon their lives, and there it was; a rubble.

Now, what do they have of wealth? Every Christian in that city, who experienced that devastation, has everything they ever sent to heaven in terms of treasures, because of their Christian service, of their time; their talent; and, their money. No tornado is going to take that from them. It is there. It is secure. And it is on their account forever. No matter even if they themselves should fall away from great faithfulness to the Lord. That is secure. And that's what they're going to enjoy for all eternity, along with their salvation.

Now, Christians who begin a walk and a progress towards spiritual maturity can also forfeit their place of blessing, by reverting to carnality, resulting in reversion, and they go back down to spiritual babyhood. The reason Christians were once enthusiastic, for example, for a church ministry which is oriented to doctrine, and to its expository preaching technique, suddenly desert what they have learned, and suddenly desert the association with that kind of a ministry, is because they go to what society calls the contemporary churches. Churches like to advertise themselves as contemporary. Contemporary churches have certain marks. They don't have song books. You have to look overhead on the projector here on the screen. The words are up there. And it's really kind of hotshot to be up there leading those songs with that screen behind you. We have a big time thing. They didn't have the screen up this morning. So, I went back there, and it's always kind of a sense of power, and this screen slowly came down. I've always wanted to do that just before the service, so people could just say, "Wooooo."

That is contemporary. Now if you happen to walk in there, they have a sign out there, be sure to bring your glasses, because we don't give songbooks. You can't even sing with them. So, this is way long-distance. I've stood there and couldn't even sing with them (which was probably better). But this contemporary business – what's contemporary. The Word of God – absolutely up to date. There is nothing outmoded about doctrine. That's where it's at.

However, when people do not want to continue with a ministry that's focused on the Word of God, it isn't because that church has changed. It isn't because the pastor-teacher has changed. I listened to the editing of a tape (from our associate now – that's helping us on editing tapes). The first one, to see how it came out. It was a terrific time. What a super professional job! And it's something that was preached several years ago. And the thing I found interesting was how timely it is today. It is the Word of God. It was up to date, and the material couldn't have been more pertinent than right now, but that's the way with the Word of God. And I thought, "You know, I just got through saying this last week to the congregation. We just made this point not recently. And I thought: We haven't changed." This showed the immutability of the conduct of the Berean ministry, and its orientation to the Word of God. And it was kind of encouraging to me that the instruction is not deviating to try to be upbeat and contemporary.

Sometimes people who haven't seen me for a while meet me – they haven't seen me for years, and they said, "Gee, you look the same. You haven't changed." Whether that's true, or not or their memories are faulty, is beside the point. But what I find more interesting is I can say, "I haven't changed in the instruction of the Word of God. I haven't changed in the focus to tell people that: "If you want to make it in life and be something in eternity, then get with the doctrine principles of the Word of God, and let those be the guides of your life. Then you're going to amount to something, in time, and in eternity? Will you be famous with the world? Probably not. Will they love you? No. But God will. And remember that those who are favored by God are prospered. He blesses them, and He cares for them. He walks with them because they walk with Him.

So, people change, but the immutability of the Berean ministry, the Word of God, I think is significant. We have the same exposition, and the same emphasis upon doctrine principles. Why do people depart? Well, they change because they're drawn into personal ambitions in the world, and they feel uncomfortable in being separated from the world. They depart because they're out of temporal fellowship, so they're not filled by the Holy Spirit. They're not filled by the Holy Spirit, and they're not guided by the Word of God. They leave because the pressures that come upon them because we have certain standards that we consider that are honorable for youth; for the care and the rearing of children; and, wise conduct. Now you can do what you want, but we know what the Word of God says, and we're old enough to have been experienced to know that there are certain things that are wise conduct (lifestyle) for youth, and others which are not. And kids have a lot of pressure on their parents, so they depart, so they can be in the contemporary scene.

Or there's the pressure of the feisty wife who can't have her way in the operation some way, or the arrogant husband who seeks praise and has lusts that he struggles with, so they depart to someplace where they can have a place in the sun. There are those who are deceived by false doctrine. And this is one of the real sad ones.

A few years ago we had a couple that came to our church. They came out of the contemporary scene, and all of a sudden, the Word of God became alive. They were a terrific couple. They were learning, and they were a huge contribution. What a joy it was to have them. And then, all of a sudden, they evaporated. One day the husband came by, and he said, "I want you to listen to these tapes." And they were pure occultism. And I'm horrified. What has happened to you? And he's all botched up, and he brings me these tapes, because he found some real true hotshot doctrinal teacher, who's led him astray, and he didn't have enough orientation to spot the false teacher.

Some people want a church ministry that's fun; programs; and, social opportunities, so they leave. Some people say, "Gee, there's not enough women around here for me to marry." Well, you only need one. But you can't find that. "So, there's not enough men around here," and so they want to go someplace where they have a broader feel. That is a bad mistake. I guarantee you that if you're running a gas station in the middle of Saudi Arabia, and you're away from everybody, and you're right woman – it's time for her to come into your life, She's going to pull up in her open air roadster to your filling station right there in the middle of the South Arabia. And she's going to blink her eyes at you and say, "Fill her up. Will you friend?" And immediately, she has filled your heart, and the joy bells go off, and the right woman is there. God brings the contact. Have no fear.

If you go rummaging around through the human race to find the person that you should marry, you're going to pick up a dog. Just leave it with God. Other people just plain want to do what is evil in the sight of God. I want to be happy. Where on earth did Christians ever get the idea, that in the devil's world, with all the sin, and the consequences of sin, their destiny is to be happy? Yes, and I've had women look at me and say, "I want this divorce from my husband because I just want to be happy." Oh, what about your children?" Well, yeah. "What about your vow to God?" Well, yeah. "What about the people who look up to you?" Well, yeah. But I want to be happy." Nothing else counts. How does that happen? Because Berean church changed? Because the instructor changed? No, they changed. And when they changed, Satan had them. People will do these things so they're free to do what their sin natures want to do.

So, you can understand that I appreciate a letter which humbled me, and I don't read this to you to praise myself, though it is kindly disposed in that direction, but it is kindly exposed in that direction. It shows what a true pastor-teacher needs to hang in there with his mission. Not let the world system, and not let all the glorified successful church operations bowl him over, and intimidate him, over against the Word of God.

"Dear Dr. Danish." she indicates that she and her husband, she says, are very aware of the privilege and honor we have of attending Berean Sunday after Sunday. I wanted to take this time to let you know, in case for some odd reason you don't, that you are greatly loved, and appreciated by many. You have worked so hard for so many years, and I know it must, be not just hiring, but worrisome – having such dedication to so many stupid sheep. But all those sheep will be applauding and giving glory to God, one day at the Judgment Seat of Christ, when you receive your rewards. Just wanted to say, may God continue to bless you, and give you encouragement. And a huge thank you for faithfully cramming knowledge into our heads week-after-week, and year-after-year.

"Something we'll be able to take into eternity with us: "Agape." Spiritually mature Christians will always give their first loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ, and not to Satan in his world. They will be loyal storing their material treasures in heaven, not in a bank on earth. They'll be loyally putting the interests of God ahead of their own interests, in serving the Lord. They'll be loyally obeying the moral code of Scripture which reflects the holiness of God. They'll be loyally living lives to fulfill the divinely appointed mission for their life each day. They'll be loyally loving God as their friend, above as their all friends. They will loyally view the world of Satan, as their enemy of God, and therefore, as their enemy. They will be loyally avoiding learning evil, but they'll learn what is good." They just won't read the magazines that teach them about evil. They won't go to the movies (which are about all of them) that teach you evil. They will not be listening to people who want to talk about evil. But they will want to be in there learning the principles of good, and put that into their experience."

What Does a Holy Christian Do?

Psalms 1:1-6, "How blessed is the man who does not walk in the council of the wicked, nor stand in the path of the sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers. But in his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his meditates day and night. And he'll be like a tree, firmly planted, by streams of water, which yield its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not whither, and in whatever he does, he prospers.

The wicked are they are not so, but they're like the chaff, which the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, and the way of the wicked will perish."

And then I want to read again Ephesians 5-17, which expresses the concept of what a holy believer is like. "Therefore, be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time (because the days are evil). So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

The Will of the Lord for an Unholy Believer

Principle number one: the will of the Lord for a holy believer is this. He does not violate God's moral laws. He does what is right morally on the basis of the standards of God and not the standards of his society or of the people of his peer group that are associated with him. He does not break the moral laws of God. If you do, don't call yourself a holy person, and certainly don't call yourself mature. You're a person who is immature' and thus immature people are always self-destructive. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 here's the principle, "Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?" I must preface this by telling you that this is being spoken to Christians. Christians, what are you going to do out in the millennium?

Well, some of you are going to get one of the thrones with a realm of authority that you'll rule over on this earth. Some of you will have ruling authority on the thrones. It's going to be the real political people, the best people, the people of God's choosing. And there are other things in the kingdom of God of authority to be exercised. Some Christians are not going to have a throne of authority or a realm of authority to exercise. Why? Because they do certain things that they should not as holy people. Do you not know (you Christians) that the unrighteous Christian (do not you be deceived) of whom are you you speaking? "Neither fornicators nor idolaters, nor adult, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor idolaters, nor drunkard, nor revilers nor swindlers shall inherit the kingdom of God?" Christians can do those things? Oh, you betcha. They got the sin nature. This is all sin nature stuff. Christians have a control, if they're in temporal fellowship. Then they don't do these things. Otherwise they will. And when it happens, they will not inherit a place in the millennial kingdom of significance.

Ephesians 5:11, "And such, where some of you." Now Paul says, this is the way it used to be before you were saved. But you were washed with the blood of Christ. You were washed, but you were sanctified. You were set apart. Sanctified means to be holy. But you were justified. You were given absolute righteousness to your credit in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of God. Now that's a magnificent thing. Your sins have been forgiven you. You have been justified. You have been given the absolute righteousness of Jesus Christ. You have been set apart to a holy life. And all of this because of the Spirit of God that enables you to do this. This is a doable thing.

Principle number one, the mature holy Christian does not violate God's moral laws.

Principle number two: the holy mature Christian does not violate his marriage vows. Hebrews 13:4 says, "Let marriage be held in honor among all and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for fornicators and adulterers, God will judge."

Then, in 1 Corinthians 6:18: "Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body." A Christian who is holy is not one who violates the covenant that he made before God and man at the marriage ceremony. He does not break his marriage vows." And that vow says that a new union is formed, you leave everyone else behind, and you raise your hand in your heart, and you swear before God, "I will not break this union for as long as I'm alive. I will not divorce. I will not desert. I'll be true to the marriage vows.

Scripture says, "If you do, you are inviting big trouble from God." You may find yourself in heaven before your time. The holy Christian is the mature Christian in marriage. And I've appreciated all of your kind remarks about the series we've been running on Sunday nights. And as one man said, "It is so simple, and yet it is so practical, you'll find that again tonight. It will carry you through. It is not the wisdom of man, it's the wisdom of God.

Principle number three: "A Christian who's holy does not do the world's activities, instead of God's business. He does not say, "I want to get this thing in life, and just as soon as I get it, Lord, I'm going to work for you. Right now I need to do this, because I have this ambition I want to fulfill. But if I fulfil this ambition, I don't have time to do your work. I don't have time to be engaged in your Christian service, where I am qualified and qualified and competent to serve. But as soon as I get that thing I want, well then I'll be there." No, no.

Matthew 6:33 says, "Don't do that. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things that you want will be added to you."

Then in 2 Timothy, 2:3-4, "Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier." A soldier's business is to be an active combat situation. Therefore, he prepares himself for that, and he does not entangle himself with other jobs, and other things, and other enterprises, and ambitions, that undermine his ability to do soldiering. And soldiering takes a very special skill; it takes a very special orientation; and, it takes a very special preparation of mind and heart. As General George Patton said, "Battles are won, not with armaments and tactics, but with the condition of the souls of the soldiers. And the soldier in active service does not entangle himself with that which diverts him from being able to do the job of soldiering." "So, therefore, we who are in the Lord's army are not to be so engaged in the things of the world that we lose our orientation of what we're supposed to be doing. And it take the edge off of our ability, our skill at soldiering. That's the problem. The American military has been greatly diminished in our day, because they have been used as policemen and peace keepers, all kinds of things that are completely inimical to being a soldier. It's all against doing those things, and all of a sudden you don't know how to be a soldier. It's a whole different skill and the cutting edge is removed by doing other things.

So, you want to be in the world? Okay, put those activities ahead of God's work, fine. Just remember, you're not going to get what you want in the long run, and if you get it, it's going to turn ashes in your mouth.

Principle number four, the mature holy Christian is occupied with Christ and is loyal to him and to his will. Romans 12:1-2, "I urge you, therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies, yourself, your physical body, a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed (do not be patterned to this world), but be transformed (changed on the inside), by the renewing of your mind (by its transformation with doctrine) to God's mind and to God's thinking, that you may prove what the will of God is that which is good, acceptable, and perfect. To be occupied with Christ, and to be loyal to him." If you're not loyal to him, there's only one other person you can be loyal to, and that's Satan. Do you want to do that?

Principle number five, the mature godly Christian does not neglect his children for others to rear. He lives with his kids. Part of soldiering is living with your children, and rearing them. And the older they get, the more they need your presence, and the more they need your guidance. Until a Jewish boy was 20 years of age, his father was his priest, and that boy's business, everything was his father's business. We had this crazy notion that parents shouldn't be involved in their teenager's business, and know what their teenagers are about, and what they have in their room, and what they're involved in, in their lives when they're out of their presence. But that's the world. That's the devil's way of bringing youth down. And you do not, as a good soldier, of Jesus Christ as a parent, let the enemy get into your camp, because you stand there as a ninny, and haven't secured the perimeters, your security system, of your family.

Ephesians 6:4, "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." Do not be doing those things that are violating before your children the Word of God, the principles of God, the ways of God, and then expect them not to resent when they see you doing the same thing, and you want to impose it on them.

In Titus 2:4-5, speaking of the younger women, the mothers, "That they may encourage young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, that the Word of God may not be dishonor."

Now, if people who attend some of the wedding ceremonies I perform, were here tonight, they're going to be hyperventilating and seething just like they do during my marriage ceremony. When I read those Scriptures about what a wife is to be to her husband, and a husband to his wife, they're going to hear all that tonight. And boy, how people hate it. He does not neglect his children. These poor homeless mothers who are away from their children.

One of the things in about one more week (two weeks maybe) I will no longer be driving the Academy School bus up to that daycare center every morning to pick up one little girl, and being grieved in my heart to see those women coming in with their little bundles of nuisances, and their little toddlers coming along, still trying to wake up, in order to open the door and shove them in, so they can go all dolled up and off to their cultured, refined, sophisticated careers. And I sit there and look at these gals, and they think that they have got something really special in life. But the really special thing they just handed off to some stranger like my nephew in-law reports high school dropouts that they've hired to be able to watch their children. You would think that even a person with half a brain tied behind his back could figure that one out. But the Word of God is very clear. If you're a godly Christian, if you're a mature Christian, you take care of your own children, and you rear them. Yeah but there are all these things we can't have in life if I don't work. Fine: don't have them. Your parents didn't have them when they started probably.

What you need, and what you do have is a child who's on loan to you from God. Do you understand that? On loan? And the time is going to come, and that kid is going to grow up and say, "Now it's time for me to step out." And there won't be any changing then. He does not occupying himself with the things of the world to the neglect of children: leaving your children to others to rear. What you need is a good church. You need a good school. You need that reinforcement. But ultimately, what children are is what you make them at home.

Well, we have not begun to fight, as some famous naval hero of American history said. That's just the introduction of specifics that say, "This is the honorable person. This is the man and woman of God who walks in holiness; who walks with God; who's the friend of God; and who's in favor, after the very heart of God." And these are very clear, and every Christian says, "Yes, that's the way it's going to be with me." If it isn't, don't call yourself a grown-up Christian. Just call yourself another one of the religious groups, the nice jumping church groups, that when you walk out, you'll say, "Boy, I don't know how different I am than when I walked in." I guarantee you're not going to walk out this morning without having a lot of ideas in your mind, that are very clear to you as to that which is the mind of God, and which is the mind of Satan.

Dr. John E. Danish, 1995

Back to the Colossians index