Introduction:

A.       Teach Them About God’s Holiness – Ps.111.10

1.         God is utterly holy, and His law therefore demands Perfect Holiness (Lev.11:44-45)

2.         Because He is Holy, God Hates Sin (Ex.20:5)

3.         Sinners Cannot Stand Before Him (Ps.1:5)

B.       Show Them their Sin – Exodus 20:12

1.         Sin is a Violation of God’s Law (1Jn.3:4)

2.         Sin is what makes True Peace Impossible for Sinners (Is.57:20-21)

3.         All Have Sinned (Rom.3:23)

4.         Sin Makes the Sinner Worthy of Death (Ezek.18:4)

5.         Sinners can do nothing to Earn Salvation (Is.64:6)

6.         Sinners can do nothing to change their own sin nature (Jer.2:22)

7.         Sinners are therefore in a Helpless State (Heb.9:27)

C.       Instruct Them About Christ and what He has Done

1.         He is Eternally God (Jn1:1-3, 14)

2.         He is the Lord of All (Rev.17:14)

3.         He Became Man (Phil.2:5-8)

4.         He is Utterly Pure and Sinless (Heb.4:15)

5.         He Became A Sacrifice for our Sin (2Cor.5:21)

6.         He Shed His Own Bleed As An Atonement for our Sin (Eph.1:7)

7.         He Died on the Cross-To Provide the Way of Salvation (1Pet.2:24)

8.         He Rose From the Dead (Rom.1:4)

9.         His Righteousness is imputed to Those Who Trust in Him (1Cor.1:30)

10.     He Freely Justifies All Who Trust in Him (Rom.3:24)

D.       Tell Them What God Demands of Sinners – Acts 17:30

1.         Repentance (Ezek.18:32)

2.         Turn Your Hearts From All that Dishonors God (1Thess.1:9)

3.         Follow Jesus (Luke 9:23)

4.         Trust Him As Lord and Savior (Acts 16:31)

E.       Advise Them To Count the Cost Thoughtfully

1.         Take Up Your Cross (Mk.10:21)

2.         Be Prepared to follow Christ even to Death (Jn.12:24-25)

F.        Urge Them To Trust Christ Now – 2Cor.5:11

“Teaching My Children the Gospel”

A.       The Gospel Doctrines

1.       Teach them about God’s Holiness

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments (Psalms 111:10 NKJV)

1.      This is not speaking of a craven fear. 

2.      Rather, it is a devout, reverential fear of offending God’s holiness, based on a true understanding of God as One who is “of purer eyes than to behold evil and [One who] cannot look on wickedness” (Habakkuk 1:13)

God is utterly holy, and His law therefore demands Perfect Holiness.

`For I am the LORD your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves… You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. (Leviticus 11:44-45 NKJV)

But Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. (Joshua 24:19 NKJV)

"No one is holy like the LORD, For there is none besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God. (1 Samuel 2:2 NKJV)

"Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? (1 Samuel 6:20 NKJV)

The LORD is in His holy temple, The LORD'S throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.   The LORD tests the righteous, But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.   Upon the wicked He will rain coals; Fire and brimstone and a burning wind Shall be the portion of their cup.   For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright. (Psalms 11:4-7 NKJV)

Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: (Hebrews 12:14 NKJV)

Because He is Holy, God Hates Sin

You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, (Exodus 20:5 NKJV)

For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil dwell with You. (Psalms 5:4 NKJV)

God is a just judge, And God is angry with the wicked every day. (Psalms 7:11 NKJV)

Sinners Cannot Stand Before Him

Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. (Psalms 1:5 NKJV)

The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity. (Psalms 5:5 NKJV)

Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place?   He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully. (Psalms 24:3-4 NKJV)

2.       Show Them their Sin

"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you. (Exodus 20:12 NKJV)

When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." (Mark 2:17 NKJV)

1.      Be sure to teach Ronnie & Brittany from the youngest of age that misbehavior is not merely an offense against Mom & Dad; its also a sin against a holy God, who demands children obey their parents

2.      Help educate my children’s conscience that they view their own misbehavior as a sin for which they will eventually answer to God.

3.      Their sin is not merely misconduct against their parents.

4.      Instruct them tenderly and help them view their own fallenness from God’s perspective.

5.      They need to appreciate why they are drawn to sin, and ultimately they must sense their own need of redemption.

a)         Do not be afraid to teach them what God’s law demands.

1.      Sinners cannot be justified by the works of the law (Gal.2:16)

2.      The law reveals our sin (Romans 3:20; 7:7) & shows the real nature of sin for what it is (7:7).

3.      The law is a tutor to lead us to Christ (Galatians 3:24)

4.      It is the chief means God uses to make sinners see their helplessness.

5.      The law & its righteous demands marked the starting point of the apostle Paul’s systematic gospel presentation (Rom.1:16-3:20)

6.      The laws moral standards give us the necessary foundation for understanding what sin is.

Sin is a Violation of God’s Law

Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. (1 John 3:4 NKJV)

All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death. (1 John 5:17 NKJV)

What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet."   But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead.   I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.   And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.   For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.   Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.   Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. (Romans 7:7-13 NKJV)

So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the LORD, because he did not keep the word of the LORD, and also because he consulted a medium for guidance. (1 Chronicles 10:13 NKJV)

Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:20 NKJV)

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. (James 2:8-9 NKJV)

Sin is what makes True Peace Impossible for Sinners

But the wicked are like the troubled sea, When it cannot rest, Whose waters cast up mire and dirt.   "There is no peace," Says my God, "for the wicked." (Isaiah 57:20-21 NKJV)

Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction.   Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors.   As a dream when one awakes, So, Lord, when You awake, You shall despise their image. (Psalms 73:18-20 NKJV)

For they do not sleep unless they have done evil; And their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall.   For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence. (Proverbs 4:16-17 NKJV)

All Have Sinned

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23 NKJV)

As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one;   There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.   They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one." (Romans 3:10-12 NKJV)

For there is not a just man on earth who does good And does not sin. (Ecclesiastes 7:20 NKJV)

But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. (Galatians 3:22 NKJV)

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.   If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.   If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. (1 John 1:8-10 NKJV)

Sin Makes the Sinner Worthy of Death

"Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father As well as the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die. (Ezekiel 18:4 NKJV)

Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. (James 1:15 NKJV)

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 NKJV)

If he has exacted usury Or taken increase--Shall he then live? He shall not live! If he has done any of these abominations, He shall surely die; His blood shall be upon him. (Ezekiel 18:13 NKJV)

Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall the children be put to death for their fathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin. (Deuteronomy 24:16 NKJV)

But every one shall die for his own iniquity (Jeremiah 31:30 NKJV)

Sinners can do nothing to Earn Salvation

But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6 NKJV)

Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:20 NKJV)

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. (Galatians 2:16 NKJV)

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV)

I will declare your righteousness And your works, For they will not profit you. (Isaiah 57:12 NKJV)

Sinners can do nothing to change their own sin nature

For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, Yet your iniquity is marked before Me," says the Lord GOD. (Jeremiah 2:22 NKJV)

Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one! (Job 14:4 NKJV)

What is man, that he could be pure? And he who is born of a woman, that he could be righteous? (Job 15:14 NKJV)

How then can man be righteous before God? Or how can he be pure who is born of a woman? (Job 25:4 NKJV)

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. (Psalms 51:5 NKJV)

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. (Ephesians 2:1-3 NKJV)

Sinners are therefore in a Helpless State

And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, (Hebrews 9:27 NKJV)

For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known.   "Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops. (Luke 12:2-3 NKJV)

God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel. (Romans 2:16 NKJV)

The cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." (Revelation 21:8 NKJV)

3.       Instruct Them About Christ and what He has Done

He is Eternally God

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.   He was in the beginning with God.   All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. (John 1:1-3 NKJV)

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; (Colossians 2:9)

He is the Lord of All

These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful." (Revelation 17:14 NKJV)

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11 NKJV)

The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ----He is Lord of all---- (Acts 10:36 NKJV)

He Became Man

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.   And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:5-8 NKJV)

He is Utterly Pure and Sinless

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15 NKJV)

Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness----by whose stripes you were healed. (1 Peter 2:23-24 NKJV)

And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. (1 John 3:5 NKJV)

He Became A Sacrifice for our Sin

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV)

He “gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. (Titus 2:14 NKJV)

Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.   But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.   All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:4-6 NKJV)

And they made His grave with the wicked--But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth.   Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.   He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.   Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:9-12 NKJV)

For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, (Romans 8:3 NKJV)

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"), (Galatians 3:13 NKJV)

And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. (Ephesians 5:2 NKJV)

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, (1 Peter 3:18 NKJV)

My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.   And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. (1 John 2:1-2 NKJV)

He Shed His Own Bleed As An Atonement for our Sin

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace (Ephesians 1:7 NKJV)

To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, (Revelation 1:5 NKJV)

He Died on the Cross-To Provide the Way of Salvation

Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness----by whose stripes you were healed. (1 Peter 2:24 NKJV)

For it pleased the Father… by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. (Colossians 1:20 NKJV)

He Rose From the Dead

Christ was “declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4 NKJV)

Who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification. (Romans 4:25 NKJV)

For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, (1 Corinthians 15:3-4 NKJV)

His Righteousness is imputed to Those Who Trust in Him

But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God----and righteousness and sanctification and redemption---- (1 Corinthians 1:30 NKJV)

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV)

But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: (Romans 4:5-6 NKJV)

Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; (Philippians 3:8-9 NKJV)

He Freely Justifies All Who Trust in Him

Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, (Romans 3:24 NKJV)

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:1-2 NKJV)

Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. (Romans 5:9 NKJV)

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. (Galatians 2:16 NKJV)

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. (John 5:24 NKJV)

4.       Tell Them What God Demands of Sinners

Repent    

"Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, (Acts 17:30 NKJV)

"For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies," says the Lord GOD. "Therefore turn and live!" (Ezekiel 18:32 NKJV)

"Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, (Acts 3:19 NKJV)

Turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. (Acts 26:20 NKJV)

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?   "Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, (Matthew 3:7-8 NKJV)

From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 4:17 NKJV)

Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. (Luke 5:31 NKJV)

Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,   "and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. (Luke 24:46-47 NKJV)

Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me… preach to it the message that I tell you" (Jonah 1:2; 3:2 NKJV)

So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. (Jonah 3:5 NKJV)

The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. (Matthew 12:41 NKJV)

For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering.   The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart--These, O God, You will not despise. (Psalms 51:16-17 NKJV)

But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, `Son, go, work today in my vineyard.'   "He answered and said, `I will not,' but afterward he regretted it and went.   "Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, `I go, sir,' but he did not go.   "Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said to Him, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.   "For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him. (Matthew 21:28-32 NKJV)

"I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. (Luke 13:3 NKJV)

Turn Your Hearts From All that Dishonors God

For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, (1 Thessalonians 1:9 NKJV)

Therefore say to the house of Israel, `Thus says the Lord GOD: "Repent, turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations. (Ezekiel 14:6 NKJV)

Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways," says the Lord GOD. "Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. (Ezekiel 18:30 NKJV)

Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. (Isaiah 55:7 NKJV)

Follow Jesus

Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. (Luke 9:23 NKJV)

No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:62 NKJV)

If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor. (John 12:26 NKJV)

You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. (John 15:14 NKJV)

Trust Him As Lord and Savior

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." (Acts 16:31 NKJV)

If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.   For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9-10 NKJV)

5.       Advise Them To Count the Cost Thoughtfully

Take Up Your Cross

Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me." (Mark 10:21 NKJV)

When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.   "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it.   "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?   "Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mark 8:34-37 NKJV)

1.      Never down play the hard demands of Christ

2.      Don’t portray the Christian life as a life of ease, free from difficulties and dilemmas.

3.      Keep reminding your kids that the true price of following Christ always involves sacrifice, and the prelude to glory is suffering.

4.      The cross reveals how heinous our sin is—showing the intensity of God’s wrath against sin.

5.      It reveals the love of God in paying such a high price for redemption.

6.      It also serves as a fitting metaphor for the cost of following Christ.

Be Prepared to follow Christ even to Death

Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.   "He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. (John 12:24-25 NKJV)

If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.   "And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.   "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it ----   "lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,   "saying, `This man began to build and was not able to finish.'   "Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?   "Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.   "So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. (Luke 14:26-33 NKJV)

Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.   "For I have come to `set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law';   "and `a man's enemies will be those of his own household.'   "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.   "And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. (Matthew 10:34-38 NKJV)

6.       Urge Them To Trust Christ Now

Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences. (2 Corinthians 5:11 NKJV)

Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.   Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:18-20 NKJV)

Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.   Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. (Isaiah 55:6-7 NKJV)