Strange Children
Category: Obedience to God’s Will
Key Passage: Hosea 5:1
Speaker: Paul Chisgar
Date: May 11, 2022
I’m sure that would be Tammy Bird, she knows. But how many minor prophets? Kelly Bird, I got it all mixed up. I’m linking you all together there now, you know, I’ll tell you for sure. Guilty by association, you know. I’ll tell you what. But how many minor books? Anybody know how many minor books there are? Twelve, good, good, good. And this is the first one of those, by the other they’re called minor prophets, not because of the importance or less important, just because of the shortness typically of the books.
The book of Hosea is very much just trying to get her mind. It’s been two weeks. I get her mind going this way. But who did he marry? What was her name? Gomer, right. Was she a good lady or a sinful lady? We’re all sinful, but you know what I’m saying there. Yeah, a sinful lady, a wife of Hortems, the Bible says. They had several together, several children. How many children do they have together? Three, half of a boy, if I remember right, a boy or girl and a boy. And then later on, I think it was years later because he had sent the, you remember Wednesday night we talked about how he sent the kids to try to talk right of it. So they had to have a little age on them. So probably years later, he buys her back. And anybody remember how much he paid? Yeah, half the price of a servant or fifteen pieces of silver is what brother, brother Patterson was going to say, a little barley and right, but just a sad thing. The value had just seemed like it dropped, half the price of a servant, and what a sad, sad thing. But it did buy her back.
And we were over in chapter five now. Chapter four through most of the book is really talking about the sins of Israel. The first four chapters or three chapters specifically is a lot about the family. And now four through thirteen are a lot just about the sins of Israel. That’s what we’re at right now. And remember this was primarily, not totally but primarily to the northern kingdom. Help me out. There’s the southern and the northern of Israel. The southern part is called what? Judah, good, and the northern is called Israel, right. And it’s primarily to the northern part, and it was right before captivity came as Syria marches in and destroys them. So it’s right before that. And it’s kind of important. It’s very sinful time at a time of prosperity. And man, they’re like, man, life is great. But Hosea is out there preaching, man, you better get right. Judgment’s coming. They wouldn’t listen. They wouldn’t listen. And just a little bit after this judgment did come. So that’s kind of where we’re at in this book here.
We’re just going to read verse number one to kind of get us going tonight, Hosea 5 and verse number one. Would you please stand as we read God’s word together, just a short respect. Hosea 5 and verse number one. And the Bible there says, “Hear ye this, O priest, and hearken ye house of Israel, and give ye ear, O house of the king, for judgment is toward you, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah and a net spread upon Tabor.”
Would you just pray with me that God would maybe give us a vision just of influencing the next generation? It’s just a little vision of that. And if you would, I believe the last time we’re on this book, we talked about the forgotten child, if I remember right, and we’re going to be pretty similar to that tonight. We’ll get there in just a moment, but we’ll get to wait for just a moment for that. Let’s pray, would you please?
Lord, I pray to you bless tonight. Father, I sure need your leadership. I wish I was better prepared. Thank you, Lord. You can take the week. And Lord, not the sharpest person of the world, but you can take the week and do mighty things with us. Lord, I pray you to do that tonight. Give us a vision, Lord, of us teaching and showing and planning in the younger generation, your truths. And, Lord, in some ways, what America used to be like. And Lord, help us to see that a little bit clearer tonight. And bless every folk, Lord, they may time another schedule to be here in your house. Bless them for it. And we’ll thank you, Lord, for what you do. It’s in Jesus’ name we ask these things. Amen.
I want to just look at the bottom part of that verse very quickly here. He says that bottom part, “Ye have been a snare on Mizpah and a net spread upon Tabor.” Now this net and old snare is almost like a hunting term. It’s like a trap typically for birds. Brother Phil used to have an outdoors store that he owned or ran, I’m not sure, years ago, and he’ll know all the different traps. A lot of those you can use for different types of animals, but it’s a trap, specifically for birds. And he’s saying, look, you’ve trapped Israel and you’ve snared them into living this sinful way. But I want you to notice this. One more thing on that thought. One more thing, if you would. I’m sorry. I’m kind of jumping around a bit. But Mizpah is in the south part of Israel, the northern part. It’s in the south part. And then Tabor is more up north. So it’s kind of like he’s saying from the south to the north. You’ve just trapped all Israel into falling into this idolatry. Okay. So he’s covered in all from one extreme to the extreme for the most part. I think a little bit is happening to say, hey, you trap the whole Israel, the whole northern kingdom into going into this sin.
But I want you to notice this. Look at this. I want you to see the order. It’s very important, not just what the Bible says, but the order he says it. So look at this verse again, would you please. “Hear ye this.” What’s the first people? Oh, priest. Right. Then the next. Then “hearken ye house of Israel,” the nation, the people, if you will. By the way, the priest would be the Christians, the spiritual leaders. It would be that. Of course, if you’re a born-again Christian, you’re a priest through Christ, Revelation 1 tells us, and you’re born into the priesthood. But we’re to be a spiritual leader. So it talks to the priest first and the nation. And look at the third thing here. And “give ye ear, O house of the king.” Now you’d think it’d be the opposite of that. But God doesn’t go that way. God, he first of all, talks to the priest or the Christian or the leaders first. That’s interesting. And he says, now, wait, let me talk to you first, and then however you go, if you will, it kind of follows suit the whole nation. And then often God gives us the kind of king we deserve.
That’s a little bit of a, we complain so much about our president right now, and I understand that. I do the same. I don’t even think the guy won his way in there. I think he cheated his way in it. That’s what I believe. But God often gives us what we deserve. And that’s a little bit of indictment on us as a country, excuse me. But let me say this, even before the country, he talks really to the Christians and Christian leaders. Old priest, the nation, and then the king or the leaders, political leaders of that. But Christians, we’re supposed to be in the lead. We’re not supposed to be the tail that the world is wagging, we’re supposed to be the head. I heard someone say it like this, we’re not supposed to be just a thermometer, we’re supposed to be the thermostat.
Look over, if you will, in 1 Timothy chapter number three. And you’ll know this verse. It’s a wonderful verse about the church. And a lot of principles can be pulled from this verse right here. Look at this, 1 Timothy 3. And would you look at verse number 15 there? First Timothy 3 and verse number 15, if you would, please? Once you’re there, would you say, amen? First Timothy 3:15, the Bible there says, “But if I tarry it long, that thou mayst know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God,” is what I want you to see, “the pillar and ground of the truth.” I understand when I say it with my southern accent, when I say pillar, you’re thinking about something to lay your head on, you know. I understand, I know. But he’s not talking about that. He says the pillar and ground, like we’ve got these pillars here. And the pillar and ground are foundation of the truth. The truth’s to be on top of that. He’s saying, look, the church is to be the organization, the God’s hand in the world, showing the world what the truth is.
The world is not necessarily going to do the truth, but we ought to see the truth because us Christians are holding it up with the pillar of the church, pillar and ground the truth. Why, how do we do that for the most part by living it? It used to be a day in America where I’m not saying the world they didn’t do right, but they knew what right was because the church did right. They had a guy across the street or down the street there that went to church and they knew the guy didn’t drink, he didn’t smoke, he didn’t cuss, he went to church, he was a clean-cut man, he honored God, he was honest about paying his bills, and they knew that’s what the truth is because a guy down the street lived it before them. That’s the way it’s supposed to work. They don’t get too discouraged about the world, the world, it’s going to be the world. They’re going to do those things. They’re going to smoke and drinking, cursing, all the rest of that. They’re the world. But we’re not supposed to just follow the wire. We’re supposed to be set apart. We’re to be the ones holding the truth up. They know what the truth is because the church is living it. See, here’s a problem when the church changes. The world don’t even know what the truth is. And they’re like, they have no idea.
Let me give an illustration here. If I can have a, I tell you what, Brother Alan, would you help me out? And Brother Adam, we’re going to get you up here too. Brother Dumpur says he’s been working too hard today already. I’ll pray for it. Amen, they need it. They need it. Brother Adam, would you stand over here a little bit? We’re going to let you be, you’re going to represent. Let’s go right here. We’re going to let you represent the Lord. Okay. That’s a pretty eye on right there. Amen. You’ll do a good job. You’ll do a good job. All right, we’re going to say here. I’m trying to remember this illustration. I think a lot of you’ve heard it. Brother Adam, since you don’t have a tie on you, let this thing in tonight. We’re going to let you represent the world tonight. Nah, I know you forgot. So let’s say this. Let’s say, of course, the church never measures up to the Lord. Brother Adam, you come right here. But we’re not supposed to be in the world either. Okay? And we’re going to be separate from the world, closer to the Lord for sure.
And this is what I’ve heard so often, and I think there’s a lot of truth to it. But over the years, often the church will take a step that way, further into sin. Brother Adam, would you take a step that way, just a little step? And often the church goes like that. And would you take another step there? And one more step, would you please? Now, we’re still not the same distance from each other. But I’m standing where the world you should stand. And that’s so often what happens, what’s happened in a world, in America. I think there’s a lot of truth to that, but let me say a little bit. Would you go back to the original place there? This is often what I think happens, honestly. Instead of the world moving first, I think the church moves and then when you step down. And the church moves and then the world moves. And the church moves. You see, in that verse, he lists the priest first, then the nation, and then the king. The order. Sad thing is we’re still standing where the world used to stand, maybe a little bit worse. But I think so often it’s the church that moves first. And that’s a sad thing for us. Very, very sad. Thank you, Brother Adam, you make a good world. Brother Allen, you make a good Lord. Both of you did a great job. Both of you did a great job. Thank you. I appreciate that. But the order is so important. So important.
Now let’s go on to the next verse, if you would please. We’re going to just try to go through a couple of verses fairly quick here. We’re going to try to get down to this thing about strange children. That would be the title for tonight. Strange children. Let’s just go real quickly. We’re doing a little bit of a Bible study on Wednesday night. Y’all with me tonight? Don’t lose me as we just go through some verses here a little bit. Verse number two, if you would here. And he says, “And the revolters or the apostates or the backslidden are just going against God.” And the revolters are profound to make slaughter, though I have been a rebuquer of them all. There’s a little debate about, is Hosea, the one that rebuker of them all, the Lord? I think it’s the Lord, I think he’s using Hosea, but he rebuked him, but they just still, they just were determined to go that way, and slaughtering a lot of people in the process. Verse number three, verse number three, “I know Ephraim and Israel is not hid from me, for now, O Ephraim, thou committest hordom, and Israel is defiled.” This first part, he said, I know if you’re miserable, he said, look, I know you. I know what I’m talking about. If you will, don’t act like you got it all together as well. I know what I’m talking about here. It’s that fault. I know what’s going on with you. You’re my people, the Lord is speaking to them, and you’re committing hordom and Israel’s just defiled.
Now verse number four, verse number four. “They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God, for the spirit of hordoms is in the midst of them; they have not known the Lord.” Now, so interesting, he uses this little word, “frame.” They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God. I looked up the first time the word frame was used in your King James Bible. It has to do when they were trying to pronounce a word and they could not frame. I was speaking to our brother tonight about Spanish. I should really know more Spanish. I’ve been around it so much in my life. My tongue, it just won’t frame right to roll those R’s. I try. And I wish you could. Brother Fontaine is amazing. He learned it. Brother Anthony is good about learning it. And others, you’re better at it than me. I usually tell them I can’t pronounce English right after I get done preaching. You’ll believe me that I can, you know. True to that. But the first time it’s used in the Bible, it’s about them framing their mouth to speak, say a word a certain way. And just that term, they won’t frame themselves to turn from their sin. Sometimes we want it where, Lord, if you make it where I don’t want to do that sin anymore. Well, it may be the Lord wants you to frame yourself. Oh, you see, if I’m living a sinful life, usually what does that do? Creates the appetite for more.
And God doesn’t always just take it all the way, boom. Sometimes you have to work at it yourself. Now, God’s going to help you, he’s going to give you the grace and strength to win. You’ll never put a temptation on you that can’t handle, 1st Corinthians 10 and 13, but there’s times that you’re going to say, hey, I’m just not going to use that language anymore. And you’re going to have to work at that. And you’ve got to say, I’m not going to do it. And I’m going to fight sin until blood Hebrews talks about. I’m just determining. You say I have a desire for that? Yes, I have a desire for that, but I’m not. Can I be honest with it? There’s some worldly wrong music. I like my flesh likes it. I’ll listen to it and I make myself where I’m not going to listen to it. And he’s talking about framing. They just won’t say, I know I’m not doing that anymore, and shame on them. And there’s sometimes you just got to say, look, I’m just not going to go that way anymore.
Now, I notice this also about this verse, would you? Would you go back to their verse number four? “They will not frame their doings to turn to their God.” Notice their doings to turn to their God. “For the spirit of hordoms is in the midst of them.” It’s always amazing to me how strong and powerful a spirit or an attitude is. It’s always just a spirit is so strong, an attitude, an atmosphere. It’s amazing to me not all that, but how quickly it can spread. Yes, attitudes are spirits. I think yes, it has to do with demons and the spirit realm and angels. Yes, I believe it has, but it’s amazing. I’ve been in meetings where I always think of a man used to come. He was a little slow, and I don’t mean that mean. I won’t give his whole name, but his name was Matthew’s first name. The last name won’t say, but he was a little, little slow years ago, but he had the best spirit about him. We used to let him sing in the choir. Now, he could not pronounce words very clearly and he couldn’t sing real good, but man, he had such a spirit about him. And our choir leader at the time, I think I remember who that was, but he wanted him up there just because I’ve been in a room and it seemed like when that guy walked in the room, it just the spirit of the room changed him. I’ve also been in rooms or meetings when someone walks in that has a bad attitude. And sometimes they don’t even say a word. It’s just the spirit. And it’s amazing to be hot just to see that happen.
And there’s power there in that attitude or spirit. I’m talking about many, many times without words. And it’s saying the nation of Israel has this spirit of boredom, this attitude, this atmosphere that’s just taken over. And they’re not willing to make themselves do right because of this spirit, this attitude they have in it. Friend, can I just say our attitude is so, our spirit is so very, very crucial. He that hath no rule of his own spirit is like a city that is broken out without walls. Satan can march in there and take that person any time he wants. I mean, there’s no protection. He can get inside a family, inside of marriage, through that teenager through that man or that lady or whatever why because you just march right in there and get that spirit and that’s so important and he’s saying hey Israel you’re you won’t do right because he got this spirit so in it he says the spirit of hordoms by the way the spirit of the world is always trying to jump on you.
By the way, that’s one reason why we must be so careful, the movies we don’t watch or we watch, a good, good clean, because there’s a spirit about all that. Music and the spirit realm is so closely associated. It’s just, there’s a, there’s a, when he says, when Ephesians, be not jerking around, but be filled with the spirit, what’s to that? Speaking to yourselves in Psalms and hymns. Amen. When the evil spirit from the, from the Lord but loud on soil, get some good musician, that spirit filled, not even words, but music, and it would drive away the evil spirit. There’s association in scripture of that. Satan was very gifted with music. I think it was a song leader of heaven, and he didn’t wear a tie there either. I’m teasing for Brother Adam. I’m sorry, brother. Brother Adam, like, man alive, you know. But the spirit of hordoms. And you’ve got to watch your spirit, guard and battle it, and the devil is always after ours. And nobody’s perfect at it, by the way. Man, I’ve fell about a million times and confess that thing, get right, and the Holy Spirit can start working again and give you a renewed, a refreshed spirit.
So important. Look over it in Isaiah, if you would please. Isaiah 57. I believe it’s 15. I want to just see this. Wasn’t planning to look at it, but I think it may be a help just on our spirit. All of us, myself, I get a bad spirit sometimes. And what do you do when that spirit comes on you? Is the devil trying to do that? I guarantee you he is, friend. I guarantee you. It could be a rebellious spirit. It could just be down in the dump spirit. It could be a pity party spirit. It could be out of the world spirit. It could be just a hurt, wound, all these spirits, devil’s trying to pull on you. What do you do when those spirits come? It’s a great, great verse, great secret, a little secret in this verse right here. Isaiah 57. What’s looking at verse number 15? Isaiah 57:15 in the Bibles. Are you there tonight, amen? Look at that verse number 15. “For thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity whose name is holy.” By the way, I like to show that to Jehovah Witness sometimes. You know, his name is jealous, his name is holy, so on and so on. But anyway, “I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit.” Watch this. “To revive the spirit of the humble.” Man, I need my spirit revived so many times. And to revive the heart of the contract ones.
Man, when I get that poochie lip disease, and man, I’m just, nobody knows how bad I got it and all the rest of that. We’re all there from time to time, you know, sucking your thumb in the corner, you know, and go eat some worms and die and that spirit comes on you, you know. What do you do? It’s so good for us, for me, just to humble myself. I’m so sorry, Lord, I’m not right. Forgive me a wrong spirit. There’s no reason for me to have the mullah grubs. If I got what I deserve, I’d be in hell. Forgive me, Lord. Just humble yourself. Now, what is it? He says he revives. This is what I need so many times. To revive the spirit of the humble. Nothing is humbling as just confessing. Now, Lord, I’m far from right. And I have to humble down. Lord, I’m not right. And that’s when his spirit revives my spirit. So important. Our spirits are so very, very important.
Now would you go back over to Hosea, please? Hosea chapter number five again. We’re just scrolling through this, trying to get down a little bit, a couple of verses. We’re in verse number four. “They will not frame their doings to turn to their God, for the spirit of hordoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known the Lord.” That’s a sad statement. They don’t really know the Lord. That’s so sad. Can I say America is getting to a sad state where not all, but there’s so many. And I’m concerned about the younger generations that just really don’t know the Lord. They have no clue. And then they sometimes or so often they know of a counterfeit Christianity. We were in the restaurant, my wife and I, a couple days ago, I don’t know, and music was playing, and it just sounded like rock and roll music. And then I could, my wife and I both, we could hear a couple words and I thought, wow, that’s got Christian words to it. And it was Christian rock. And I thought so many of these people in this restaurant, they have no idea about the Lord. And then once they do, they think that is true biblical Christianity. And they had some songs, some, and they had one a little bit more tame, but then they went back to just the hard, you know, but they had no clue what biblical Christianity is. And we’re reaching that point where they’re really, really don’t know. Many are calling this a post-Christian generation. Praise Lord, we’re in the Bible belt. A little bit better. But even here, and it’s sad, they just really so often now, and they don’t know the Lord.
Let’s keep going. We’ve got to hurry along real quickly. Verse number five, verse number five. “And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face; therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity, and Judah also shall fall with him.” Now, Judah’s a little bit later on. There’s a little bit of separation there. Israel gets taken in captivity first, and later on Judah does, but Judah follows suit with Israel later on. But that pride, the pride of Israel, let’s testify. Oh, when I get proud, I’m not going to grow. I’m not going to get things right with God. Pride, what a sad, sad thing. My pride is just not going to grow. And we’re doomed for a failure when we get there. Verse number six, let’s just keep going tonight. Verse number six. We’re trying to get down in verse number seven a little bit tonight. Verse number six, “They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord, but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them.” Now, they’re bringing their flocks and the herds. I think he’s there speaking up for sacrifices. They’re bringing them alone so they have something to sacrifice. But they’re not willing to change and turn, and yet they got this outward system, this outward show of Christianity. They’re bringing their flocks and their herds to offer sacrifices. Now, God says that hypocritical Christianity, I see right through that. And it’s a sad thing when God, God Almighty has withdrawn himself. That’s a sad statement. Well, if I just get going my own way, my own way, and I’m proud in that, I don’t listen to God. I keep going there long enough. Now, he’ll never leave you no for sake if you’re born again Christian, but as far as his spirit working with you and his presence, he says, I withdraw myself. You quenched me, you grieved me. That’s a sad statement. And God was this way with Israel here. He just withdrawn himself. You can try all your outward show of religion. Mother, you realize religion is mentioned five times the Bible. Four of them are neutral at best, probably negative. Only one of them is positive: pure religion. Be so careful. Worship often in the Bible is spoken of in negative connotation. And they just have this form of religion worship, but God said, no, I’m not playing those games. And he withdrew himself.
Let’s get the next verse. This is where I’m going to go to here. Verse number seven for just a little bit tonight. Verse number seven. “They have dealt treacherously.” And God said, well, it’s just, this is treacherous. This is such a sad thing. This is so awful right here. “They have dealt treacherously against the Lord.” Y’all there in verse number seven, you’re there? Look at this. “For they have begotten strange children.” Now shall a month devour them with their portions. A little bit of a debate about that month there. Does that mean it was in a month that Syrians was marching in? Some say that. There’s an argument about the dates. Some says, well, a month is because by the end of the month their debts were due and they couldn’t pay them. No matter what exactly, it has to do with, hey, judgment’s coming real quick here. You better get right. That’s the fault there. But that phrase there, right there in the middle of this verse has just spoke to my heart today as I was studied. “For they have begotten.” They’ve birthed and raised children that are strange children. Strange. What does that mean? Foreign, if you will, often many people will explain it like that. It’s like they don’t know God. They’re foreign to God. They don’t know what God’s all about. They were not brought up in the nurture and admonition of Lord. So these, they’ve begotten strange children to God. They’re just, there’s such a great distance between them and God. They’re foreign to God and them to God.
A friend is such a sad statement that I’ve mentioned a little bit already, but we’re getting close to that in our day and time. We’re so many of the next generation, they just have no clue. I was so blessed, so very blessed to grow up in the home that I did. My dad got saved a little before I was born, and mom a year so before that, man, I was born into a home. I mean, I just thought, I mean, it’s kind of like you grow up that way, you think everybody lives that way, but I just thought, you know, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, you just go to church. That’s just the way it is. If I were to question my dad about going to church, he’ll have to fumped me in the head. I’ll never forget. I’ve told this story before, but it’s been a long time. One Sunday night, the neighbor’s older gentleman, but his grandsons were there. We wanted to play with them boys. We had a good time playing with those boys. And so he said, we’re going to get out of church tonight. We knew, man, mom and dad, we’re going to church, you know. This is a bad story. I didn’t think it all through before I started telling him. But I’m just telling you what happened here. The grandpa, he always had not snuff, but Copenhagen. It’s kind of like snuff, you dip. You don’t know what I talk about. It’s pretty strong stuff. Now, I’ve never dipped that stuff a day of my life, but I did eat some of that that day. Because I thought for sure if I eat that stuff, I’ll get sick, and then I don’t have to go to church. Make sense to y’all out there? Come on, man. Yeah, yeah. Brother Josh on board there. So the grandson stole some of that, one of those cans, and we didn’t dip it. We ate the stuff. Plainting on getting sick. You know, man, church is coming. Pretty soon we got to leave. We weren’t getting sick, you know. So I’ll never forget. Me and my brother, my brother, I got a younger brother too. My young brother was here Sunday. Me and Steve, I don’t know who went first. We picked each other up. And when we just, you know, on our shoulder, we spun each other around, just thinking, all right, this will make us sick. Man, we spun and spun. I got dizzy, but we never got, we never got sick. This is how bad. We said, all right, all right. We can’t make ourselves sick. And you know, you tell Mom and Dad, I’m sick. Well, boy, you’ll be all right. You’d be sick at church. You’re going to church, boy, yeah. That’s Dad, you know.
So when I say sick, I’m saying we needed to regurgitate some stuff. You know what I’m saying? We need to bring it up. You know, I mean. So we’re doing all of spinning each other out. We ate the Copenhagen. We never would get sick. We even went to this extreme. We got some noodles out of the kitchen. And we put it in a bowl. And we chopped them up and then we put some, you know, I can’t remember if it was ketchup. We put all the stuff that looked like, you know, supper after you ate supper. You know what I’m talking about. Well, man, we just pour that out and tell mom and dad, hey, man, I threw up. I’m sick, you know. Man, dad’ll catch us. Dad’ll know. He’ll kill us. So, you know what? I went to church that night. Now, I’m about halfway through service. Oh, man, my eyes started turning green. And my mouth started water and, praise the Lord. I kept it all down. Amen. But, I mean, I was at church that night. After all that, I did not get out of church. I was still there. That’s just the way I thought it was. You just go to church, and it was so good for me. It was forming patterns in my life. I was learning what God wanted. I never had a doubt when we eat, we’re going to pray before you eat. I mean, that’s just the way we grew up. And I’m so blessed in having that. I grew up most all in my life in a Christian school. It’s just, and I’m thankful for these things. I mean, I grew up singing, “Jesus loves me, this I know for the Bible tells me so,” you know. Praise you the Lord, hallelujah on one side and, you know, yelling contests. It’s just way I grew up singing those songs, you know. B.I.B.L.E. Yes, that’s a book for me. All those you know them. I just, I just, it’s just the way I grew up. And I was learning from all these things. I grew up tithing. I didn’t have a choice of the matter. For a while, I got 50 cents for my allowance. Just for a while, maybe a year or so, we got allowance. For most part, we didn’t get allowance. You just do it because you’re supposed to do it, you know. But for a year or so, we got allowance. And, okay, maybe a month. I don’t know how long it was. I was a little boy. But I remember we got 50 cents, two quarters. Man, I’m rich, you know. How can you tithe off of two quarters, you know? Well, one quarter went in the offering plate. I mean, you’re going to tithe, you got it. And that’s just what it was. And I’m saying I grew up, and it’s no credit to me. It’s credit to my parents, but I’m so thankful. It’s just the way I thought, because I grew up that way, the Bible is the authority. If the Bible says something, that’s it. That’s just the way we grow up. I mean, if I knew the Bible well enough, maybe I could pull a verse out and say, we don’t have to go to church all the time. Look at this first right. If I could have did that, I wouldn’t have been able to do it, but if I could have did that, that’s all right. That’s what the Bible says. I mean, this is just the way I grew up. And I’m so thankful for it. We just grew up working in a church somewhere. We’re going to be, mom and dad would be driving a bus, and mom would be working that bus route. We would be on the back seat of the bus. And mom and dad said, keep those kids back in the back, sitting down and behaving. And I’m thinking, the kids don’t listen to me. They’re bigger than I am, mom and dad. What am I going to do about it? But I’m thankful I grew up of all that. It was a way of life. And I knew what true Christianity was all about. No credit to me.
But I’m saying, if you don’t grow up like that, you raise strange children to the Lord. They just don’t know what it’s all about. And if we’re not careful, we’ll have a generation of young folk that are just, they’re strange children to the Lord. They have no idea. Now, there’s still hope by the grace of God, but there’s just no idea about it all. That’s why good, godly families are so important. So vital.
Look over to Ephesians 6. I want you to see, when I mention that, nurture and admonition of Lord, don’t you just see what that verse is. It’s Ephesians 6. And look in verse number 4, Ephesians 6, verse number 4. Notice what he says there. I want you to notice who he’s talking to about bringing them up with the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Ephesians 6, verse number 4, if you would please there. Ephesians 6, verse number 4, if you’re there, would you say amen? Good deal. Verse number 4, “And ye fathers,” it doesn’t. Now, the church should assist the home, but it doesn’t even say right there, you church. Now the church is part of it, but you fathers, and yes, the father is supposed to be the head of the wife, and so all that’s included, but specifically he’s to, “and ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up of the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Families are so key, so key. Good, godly families are so key. And the responsibility of bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord is placed on dad and mom. So they don’t grow up with strange children.
There’s just a couple of things. Church is so important. Children going to church is just vital. A lot of you will remember better than I. I’m not trying to say you’re older than me, but you may be, you know, I don’t know. But some of you will know better than me, but how I’m going to remember back of the day in America, Sunday, you couldn’t get gas. Sunday, you couldn’t get bread. I mean, if you need to get gas for Sunday, you better get it Saturday night because Sunday everything’s closed down. Anybody remember those days? And I do somewhat. I think a lot of you know better than I. But here’s the thing. These children ride these buses to our church. They have no idea. The vast majority of young people in our day, they have no idea that America was a Christian godly nation. Man, Sunday, everything’s closed. Gas stations. I want to say Montgomery Ward is one of the first one to open up for a little bit on Sunday, just from like one, for a couple of hours, and they lost money at first. And then Sears followed suit, and they lost money at first because Christians were so upset about it. Years later, they changed laws about it. But that’s what used to be, and everybody just Sundays is the day to go to church.
And here’s the thing for a godly home, they’re trying to raise those children so there won’t be strange children to the Lord. Well, mom and dad’s trying to teach them, hey, this, you pay your bills, you’re honest, you never tell a lie, you dress right, you’re appropriate. They’re teaching them all these things and you don’t smoke, drink, curse, and all the rest of that. And then they go to church and the preacher says the same thing. And those children are that, wow. So maybe this is the way it’s supposed to be. By the way, that’s why it’s so important. Don’t go home and have a preacher for lunch because you’re hurting your kids. You’re killing your kids because kids are not going to listen to the preacher. The preacher, he can help you so much. That’s the way it works, and that’s God’s plan. It’s so important for young people to be in church. So vital.
By the way, it’s good for a young boy to see other good godly men. Their dad’s the primary one, but then they see other good godly men in the church. That young girl, she sees mom that’s primary, but then she sees other godly ladies. By the way, church, you’re role modeling big time to the younger generation. So important. By the way, we’re not a huge church. We’re down in a bit tonight and all that, but can I just say this, the majority of great preachers that you know about, you hear about their name, they grew up in small churches like this. You check it out. And you don’t know who you’re role modeling what a godly lady, godly man is too. Who your role modeling that too. So vital.
Let me just slow it a little bit since we’re starting the school. And I’m for homeschooling. I’m not against that because we’re starting a Christian school doesn’t mean they don’t believe in that. Praise Lord for it. And that mom, that dad’s got that choice to make it. Both are great choices. But let me just say something. But that’s why we’re starting a Christian school. Try to assist homes that want to go that way. And they need, they need, by the way, you get a, you get a home, that’s primary, that’s first, the church, and then he get a Christian school. And many of them called it like a three-legged stool. They got a little bit of structure there, a little bit of strength here. But it’s so important. I mentioned already, but for the most part, most of all my days, I went to Christian school, and I’m blessed there. I grew up learning, and you can learn the same from homeschool, but I grew up learning a biblical role of you.
I mean, from a very young age, I learned that history is really his story. You’ve heard that. And you learn these things from a childhood. Christian school ought to, and homeschooling too, but it ought to teach patriotism. Sad how we’re getting away from that in our day and time. I promote every other country in the world. This is a little thing. I’m going to nitpick for just a second. Even on my laptop, you know, it brings up all these pictures of all these beautiful seniors. And it’s never America. I’m like, I believe we have one of those beautiful countries in all the world. And, you know, I like to see America. Everyone smile on there, you know. Y’all, bear with me while I nitpick there for a second. The patriotism. I still remember my Christian books that I was learning from, World War II, remember in the book I had, and it talked about, right before World War II, we really went into a little bit of isolation. We just came out of World War I and the 30s and all that, and we were practically a little bit of isolation, and we were practically a little bit of isolation, and we don’t want to get involved, and not fully, but somewhat. Finally, World War II got closer, and we were trying to, you know, send arms and weapons over there, but we didn’t want to get too involved. And then Pearl Harbor, probably one chapter of my book was on Pearl Harbor, and then the next chapter, I never forget, you flip over the next page and the next chapter, and this was the title. I still remember the title, “The Sleeping Giant was Woken.” Talking about after Pearl Harbor, the Giant of America woke up and said, or got to do something about this thing that does something for a bored of instill patriotism and the giant woke up.
But now many are teaching us to apologize for America. What America stood for. What a shame. It’s right for young people to grow up. Well, they get some patriotism, and they have the opportunity. There’s a bad crowd anywhere you go in the world. I thought in the Bible cause everybody to be super spiritual giants, but there’s a bad crowd everywhere you go. But you have much better chance of how to write crowd in a Christian school. I was very thankful that I could play sports and all these things and not perfect, but a much better opportunity. Other kids with their parents tried to raise them for the Lord.
Then let me say this. They got to hurry along. The pastor is getting on too many soap boxes tonight, like song leaders not wearing ties and things like that now, you know. Brother Adam, I love you. I’m joking with you and I think you know that I am. But it’s so important for churches to have children’s ministries. That’s so important. The bus ministry. We want to do the best we can to get those parents into church, but praise the Lord, those kids at least they could have Christianity taught and modeled to them at least an hour or two, two and a three hours on a Sunday, at least that. Many of them, they’re going to be strange children to the Lord.
Our shuttle bus, the white bus out of the short one, we just got the interior refinished, and the man did a great job. You ought to go in there, look at it. You should have seen it at first if you haven’t, because that’s from what it was to now, it’s, whew, it’s amazing, you know. But the guy that did it for us, Ray, Adam and LeVern, he gave us a great deal, and he’s been good to us over the years. And he really took that project on personally. And I went and picked the bus up, and he had worked late the night before, worked on that bus and everything, and I was a little bit curious. I had no, Ray, and I know his family, I won’t go into it, but some of his family comes to church here, but I never really got to witness to Ray, and I began to witness to Ray Saturday afternoon, the bus, we had it on Sunday, and Ray said, man, I’m saved. He said, because I grew up riding the bus to church. I don’t go to church like I wish you did. He told me he would come last Sunday, and God’s working on him. But at least he’s not strange. I told a stranger to the Lord. He said, man, I grew up riding one of those buses with all the screaming and yelling, getting things for coming together. I grew up with all that. He just tells him like it is, kind of a guy, mechanical, but he’s not stranger to the Lord. Now, he’s not where I wish he was, but he’s not a stranger because of some church way back somewhere.
That’s why Sunday school is so important. That’s why vacation Bible school coming up in June is so important. That’s why junior church and primary church is so important. Yes, home is first. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. But church is part of the formula. And it’s so vital that we have these outreaches to children so they’re not growing up strangers. I think, Brother Glenn, I think I’m right. Brother Green correct me if I’m not right, if I’m wrong. But didn’t you get saved in a vacation Bible school? I thought he did. And yes, he’d been told other ways, but that’s where he gave his heart to the Lord. He can’t say. And these saints are so, these Bible stories. And sometimes you think as any of them listening out there, you know, Ms. Amos over there got her eyes. Yeah, well, yep, that’s true. But you’d be amazed how those stories are getting deep in there sometimes. And sometimes those kids, you think they’re not listening at all, and they’re still, it’s getting in there. And it’s so important that they’re not growing up strange children, foreign to God. They’re getting some. It’s so vital. It’s so important. I’m amazed that even people in our church and people all talk to, and some not doing everything I wish, but at least they said, well, I’ve been saved and I know right from because I went to church as a young person. So important.
So that’s strange children. So important. I thought about Trey. We’re going to be dumb. I thought about Trey, not Sunday night, but the Sunday night before, I believe it was, and going off to the Jewish missions in New York. Last time he did that, he led, I think, 30 people Lord. And he’s going to get back in Bible college. And I know Trey’s family fairly well. And I love his mom. I love his mom. His dad, real dad, I’ve never met. He’s never around. And I can be wise what I say, don’t say, I know his stepfather and all that. But they’ve never came to church. Maybe his mom came one time when Trey preached years ago. And Trey, if you would, would be a little bit of estranged children. Now, he’s heard something about the Lord, but it’s so vital that Trey got in church. Gave his heart to the Lord. And he learned about the Lord. And I promise you this, men, you know, Trey, his dad, hopefully Trey’s not watching this one, but Trey was hoping his dad would show up as high school graduation. His dad didn’t, and I took pictures with Trey when he graduated high school. And I say that, but I’m saying, I say that to say this, Trey watches you men. And he has learned what a godly man is by you. And it’s vital, vital. There’s an old-fashioned Baptist church. Many as we can get that’s standing for the old King James Bible, for the truth, old-time religion, for walking with God, praying, living and doing the right, and going to church, all those things, they need that. So many of them are going to grow up. And if you’re not careful, they’re going to be strange children to the Lord. And God’s amassed treacherous. You’ve dealt treacherously. If you’re children, they’re strange children.
Would you bow your heads and close your eyes quickly tonight? We won’t belong. Maybe you’re there tonight and you say, man, I want to do my best to see that my kids, we don’t have a whole lot in that category. I’m going to say this. Or maybe even my grandkids, and I know you’re limited to all of us as grandparents. I’m in that category now too. If nothing else, pray, maybe more, do all we can. But I’m going to do my best to see that my kids, my grandkids, maybe other relatives you have the influence with, but they grow up not being strange children to the Lord. And I’m going to pray and work and do all I can to see that. And parents, man, doing all you can for sure. But I’m going to pray and work and do all I can to that end that they don’t grow up strange children to the Lord. God spoke to my heart about that, about my children and grandchildren. That’s you, not just let you hit in the preacher. That’s me. That’s me. I’m going to pray and work and do all I can. God bless you. That’s vital. That’s vital. That’s vital.
Thank you so much for being in church on a Wednesday night. That’s just, just key. And we’re thrilled to every person’s here, glad to have in the House of God. Honor to have our guest and appreciate it as faithfulness to the Lord, serving the Lord up in East Chicago. That’s awesome. That’s wonderful, praise of all for 11 years pasturing you. And amen.
Original File: Strange Children - Pastor Paul Chisgar - Wednesday PM 05112022