Amen, if you would turn your Bibles back to the book of Proverbs.
We'll come back to Ephesians chapter 6, but go back to Proverbs chapter number 10.
And this morning I'm preaching on the subject of corporal punishment, corporal punishment.
And what the word corporal punishment means is bodily punishment.
It's talking about physically disciplining someone.
And so I'm talking about spanking your children this morning.
This is what the Bible commands.
Whether or not that is considered popular in 2023 America, whether that's on Vogue or
whether that's the current wisdom of this world, the Bible clearly teaches that we are
to spank our children.
This is not something that is optional, a possibility, one way of raising your children.
It is the way that God has prescribed for training our children.
It is God's way and the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.
The Bible is our final authority.
The Bible teaches us how we are to live our lives.
And in the book of Proverbs especially, we have a lot of life wisdom that's going to
help us every single day with all of the decisions that life throws at us.
And the book of Proverbs is an important book.
In fact, it's so important that often when publishers are printing the New Testament,
it'll be the New Testament and Psalms and Proverbs, right?
If they can just kind of tag on a couple of things from the Old Testament, it's going
to be Psalms and Proverbs, right?
These are powerful, important books.
In fact, some Christians even read a Proverbs every single day, right?
They will do the Proverb of the day.
So if it's the fifth of the month, they'll read Proverbs chapter 5.
If it's the 27th, they'll read Proverbs 27.
Is there anyone here who is on that Bible reading plan?
Yeah, several people.
And so it's pretty important stuff.
And when it comes to rearing your children, the book of Proverbs has quite a bit to say.
We're going to look elsewhere in the Bible, but we're going to start in Proverbs.
The Bible reads in Proverbs chapter 10 verse 13, in the lips of him that has understanding
wisdom is found, but a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding.
So right away, the Bible does not have any qualms about prescribing the rod to somebody's
back who lacks wisdom, who lacks understanding, who needs to be taught.
Look at Proverbs chapter 13, it's a couple of pages to the right in your Bible.
Proverbs chapter number 13 verse 24.
And you've often heard the statement, spare the rod, spoil the child.
I don't know if people are still saying that, but when I was a kid, everybody knew that.
Everybody said that.
Everybody understood that.
Now it's a great saying, but I got one that's even better for you.
What the Bible says is even better.
It says, he that spareth his rod, does it say he spoils his son?
No, it says he that spareth his rod, he did his son, but he that loveth him chasteneth
him betimes.
Why?
Because if we are going to do that, which is loving, that means we're going to do what
benefits the object of our love, right?
And that which is a detriment to the object of our feeling, that would be a hateful thing
to do, right?
Harming people is hateful.
Helping people, benefiting people, blessing people is loving.
And the Bible says that if you spare your rod, you are not doing your child a favor.
You're not benefiting them.
You're not blessing them.
You are harming them.
And it is the most hateful thing that you could do to spare the rod.
You hate your son.
The Bible says if you spare the rod.
But he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.
Some people would say, well, I just love my children too much to discipline them.
Well, who should we believe?
You or the Bible?
Let God be true but every man a liar.
The Bible says he that spareth his rod hateth his son.
The one who loves their son is going to chasten him betimes.
Now betimes is kind of an old word, and so it's not something that we use in our everyday
vernacular.
It's the type of thing that you might have to look up in the dictionary every once in
a while when you're reading the Bible, and it means early.
Now I didn't even have to look this word up in the dictionary because if you just read
the Bible, it kind of defines itself.
It talks about how Abraham rose up in the morning betimes.
Hmm, I wonder what that means, right?
It's saying that he got up early in the morning.
And so betimes means early.
So if you love your children, you will chasten them early.
You will chasten them before it becomes too late.
You will discipline them when they are young because once they are older and even an adult,
they might at that point just be too set in the wrong ways.
You got to train them up when they're young.
Look at chapter 22 verse 15.
The Bible said he that spareth his rod hateth his son, but he that loveth him chasteneth
him betimes.
To chasten is to discipline, to chastise.
So if you went to chapter 22 verse 15, and in verse 15 it says foolishness is bound in
the heart of a child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
Look, children are going to make mistakes.
Children are going to do dumb things.
They're going to say dumb things.
And we've all been there.
When we were children, we said and did a lot of dumb things too.
It's just part of life.
When we come into this world, we don't have knowledge.
We don't have wisdom.
We don't have understanding, right?
We have to grow up and learn.
Well, guess what?
As human beings, unfortunately, we end up having to learn a lot of things the hard way.
And so the Bible says that foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, but the rod
of correction will drive it far from him, right?
You know how they say pain is weakness leaving the body?
Spankings are foolishness leaving the body, all right?
There's a good little slogan for you.
Go if you would to chapter 23.
Chapter 23, the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
Now, I've heard some people say, well, you know, when the Bible talks about sparing the
rod, the rod of correction, and so forth, it's not talking about corporal punishment.
Some people would say, you know, it's like the shepherd's rod.
It's a gentle nudge.
You know, it's that hooked kind of a rod that you like pull a bad comedian off stage with,
you know, and it's just to kind of get them on the right path.
Well, let's see what the Bible says.
Verse 13 of Proverbs 23 says this, withhold not correction from the child, for if thou
beatest him with the rod.
Now, I know that some people think the King James Bible is a little hard to understand,
but I feel like this verse is pretty understandable that we're not talking about a gentle nudge.
We're not talking about pulling somebody off stage because they're drowning on stage.
We're talking about beating with the rod.
That's what the Bible actually says.
It says, withhold not correction from the child.
And by the way, if you withhold correction, the word withhold implies that it's something
good, right?
But withholding, you know, the stuff that gets withheld from your paycheck, you kind
of wish you could hang on to that stuff, don't you?
If something's being withheld, it's something good that you're missing out on, okay?
Well, the Bible says withhold not correction from the child because you're basically withholding
something from him that would be a benefit, that would be beneficial, that would be a
blessing.
Withhold not correction from the child, for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall
not die.
Now, there's two different ways that you could take this grammatically, right?
If thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
One way that you could take it is, if you beat him with the rod, he shall not die, but
if you don't beat him with the rod, then he will die, right?
Another way that you could take it grammatically is, well, you know, if you beat him with the
rod, hey, it's going to hurt, but it's not going to kill him to get a spanking, right?
So which one is it?
Let's look at the context.
I mean, both are true, of course, but look at the context.
Look at the next verse, thou shalt beat him with the rod and shall deliver his soul from
hell.
Sounds to me like if you don't beat him with the rod, he is going to die, and if you beat
him with the rod, he shall not die, which is why if you beat him with the rod, you'll
deliver his soul from hell because we're not just talking about physical death that is
at stake here because everyone's going to die physically unless we happen to be alive
and remain under the coming of our Lord, right?
People are going to die physically, but those who are saved, those who believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ have eternal life.
Jesus said, whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die, and so we have everlasting
life.
We shall not perish, and so when the Bible says here, thou shalt beat him with the rod
and deliver his soul from hell, we're talking about the fact that getting spanked is going
to make you more likely to get saved than the person who did not get spanked growing
up as a child, and that's why beating him with the rod will deliver his soul from hell.
Now it could also obviously save him from physical death because going out and living
a sinful life will shorten your life.
Who do you think lives longer?
People who are alcoholics or people who are not alcoholics?
People who are into drugs, people who are not into drugs?
People who are whores and whoremongers or people who are pure when they get married?
Who do you think lives a longer life, right?
People that are serving the Lord, honoring their father and mother?
In fact, before the sermon started, we read Ephesians chapter 6.
It said, honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise that
it may be well with thee and thou mayest live long on the earth, which means if you don't
honor your father and mother, you're not going to live as long on the earth, nor is
it going to be well with you while you live on this earth.
So it could deliver his soul from death.
It could also, in one sense, deliver him from premature death in the drunk driving accident,
the accidental drug overdose.
You know, I saw somebody post a meme of like, you know, when some derelict dies of a drug
overdose, people are just like, well, that's what you get for taking drugs.
But then when it's a celebrity that dies of a drug overdose, oh, they're taken too soon.
So much talent.
What a waste, you know?
Because, of course, all these Hollywood people and rock and roll types, right, they're often
taking a bunch of drugs.
And guess what?
They don't tend to live to be very old.
I mean, there are exceptions, but, you know, in general, you hear about a lot of them dying
young, don't you?
Because that kind of a lifestyle is shaving years off your life.
But far more important than living long on the earth is where you're going to spend eternity,
right?
And so having your soul delivered from hell is the most important thing, right?
Because even if you live to be, you know, even if Keith Richards or something does live
to be 100, he's going to burn in hell.
Well, how old is he now, 150?
You know, he's going to burn in hell.
Doesn't matter, right?
And if you die young but Christ is your savior, you know, to be absent from the body is to
be present with the Lord.
And so you have eternal life.
Only the body dies for the Christian.
Oh, death, where is thy sting?
Oh, grave, where is thy victory?
Now you say, well, how in the world could beating him with a rod deliver his soul from
hell?
Well, here's the thing.
When we grow up on this earth and have earthly parents, that teaches us about our Father
which is in heaven, right?
Because God is our Father.
And so our earthly Father is analogous.
And so we learn something about God by growing up and having parents, okay?
Now obviously our parents are never going to be perfect.
My parents aren't perfect.
Your parents aren't perfect.
I'm not a perfect parent.
No representation of God is ever going to be perfect except God himself, right?
There are all kinds of, you know, you could say David pictures Christ in this story.
But obviously David comes short of Christ, right?
Anybody who pictures Christ, anybody who pictures God is going to come short, right?
The high priest pictures Jesus.
Well, the high priest came short.
He's a sinner like we all are.
And so the point is though that we learn something about God through our parents.
Well, if you have parents that don't discipline you, if you have parents that do not spank
you, what is that going to tell you about God?
It's basically going to make you get the idea in your head that maybe God just doesn't have
any consequences for you either.
And maybe you're just going to think that you're just going to basically live your life
and do whatever and that you don't need salvation through Jesus Christ because there aren't
any consequences for your actions anyway.
Your parents never gave you any consequences.
Let me tell you something, I'd rather have a little bit of burning on my backside growing
up than to spend eternity burning in hell.
And you know what?
I'm thankful that when I was growing up, my parents disciplined me.
They spanked me.
My mom spanked me.
My dad spanked me.
They spanked me hard enough to where I got the picture that, hey, there's a punishment
for sin.
There's a punishment for disobeying.
And it caused me to respect my parents and it caused me, more importantly, to respect
God and to have a healthy fear of my parents and a healthy fear of God.
You say, well, how dare you mention fearing your parents?
The Bible literally says in Leviticus 19, 3, it says, ye shall fear every man, his mother
and his father.
That's straight out of the word of God, to fear our mother and father.
Now obviously, this isn't necessarily talking about just being terrified of them or something,
but it's talking about having a healthy fear that says, hey, my parents have the power
to punish me.
My parents have the power to withhold blessings from me.
God in heaven has the power to punish and to withhold goodness.
And so having that healthy respect and that fear for God starts when a little child has
a healthy fear and respect for their parents.
And look, just because we fear God, we also love him.
And hopefully, you kids also love your parents.
These two things are not mutually exclusive.
And so as a child, you are to obey your parents, love your parents, and the physical discipline
that they give you is helping you to understand the way the world works.
There are consequences for your actions.
And again, the Bible's clear.
Thou shalt beat him with the rod.
That kind of reminds me of another verse.
Are you there in Proverbs 23, 14?
You know what?
Doesn't this kind of remind you of the wording of the Ten Commandments?
Thou shalt not kill.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not bear false witness.
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not covet.
Thou shalt beat him with the rod.
That is a commandment.
That second person future is not, even though it's a future indicative grammatically, it's
used as a command.
Like, you will do this.
You will not murder.
You will not commit adultery, right?
Thou shalt not covet.
Well, here it's saying, thou shalt beat him with the rod and shalt deliver his soul from
hell.
That's demanding us to discipline our children.
Now, the word beat, obviously, in our modern vernacular, the word beat has a negative connotation.
You know, if we heard the word beat today, we would think of, I don't know, somebody
having like a lead pipe or something or a baseball bat or whatever, right?
That's not what we're talking about.
Obviously, we're talking about a spanking, right?
We're talking about applying the rod of correction to the seat of learning, all right?
We're talking about, you know, using a paddle or the belt or whatever and administering
a spanking.
And the goal is obviously not to injure or to harm the child, but just to inflict pain,
right?
Now, it's so funny.
When you spank a child and they say, oh, it hurts, well, apparently I did something right
if the spanking hurts because if a spanking didn't hurt, well, then it wouldn't be a spanking,
would it?
The fact that spankings hurt is self-evident because the very condition of pain is built
into what a spanking even is.
If we understand what a spanking is, then we understand that there's pain involved.
This is not a pat on the behind, okay?
It is a punishment.
It's supposed to hurt.
But again, the goal is not to injure, right?
We don't want to injure our children.
We just want to chasten them, want to discipline them.
Now, look, obviously, the younger the child, it's not going to take as much of a spanking
to get their attention, right?
So you don't need to spank a toddler as hard as you would spank a teenager, okay, right?
Obviously, you need to use wisdom and prudence and scale this thing appropriately.
Obviously, a little one or two-year-old, just a slap on the hand will, you know, it's heartbreaking
to them, okay?
So obviously, you have to use a little bit of your own judgment, your own wisdom, but
you don't want to injure your children.
You're just trying to get them to understand that they need to behave a certain way and
that there is a consequence for not behaving that way.
But again, when I see the word beat, though, to me, that sounds like it's an actual proper
spanking.
You know, I mean, it doesn't say give it a little tap, a pat, thou shalt pat him.
You know, give him a little nudge in the right direction.
I mean, if it says the word beat, obviously, we don't want to take that overboard.
Obviously, we don't want to misunderstand that with like a modern sense of the word
beat, but we want to spank our children in a way where, how about this, where they don't
want to break that rule again because they don't want to get another spanking, right?
And so with a little toddler, this is going to be a lot more minor.
As they get older, you're going to have to spank them harder, okay?
Now you say, Pastor Anderson, spanking a teenager, what in the world?
So if you would, well, let's keep going here.
We'll talk about that.
Look at chapter 26, verse 3, 26, verse 3, we're just, I mean, there's a lot of scriptures
that we're seeing here, Proverbs 26, verse 3.
It says in Proverbs 26, 3, a whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for
the fool's back.
These are tools to direct those who need directing, those who need guidance, those who need direction.
The rod is for the fool's back.
Look at chapter 29, verse 15, chapter 29, verse 15 says, the rod and reproof give wisdom,
but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.
If you just let your kids just do whatever they want, leave them, they are going to bring
you to shame.
Now look, you children out there, when you go out and disobey your parents and do stupid
things, you know, you're embarrassing and humiliating your parents.
You're also, of course, humiliating yourself, but you're embarrassing and humiliating your
parents when you act a fool, and that's why the Bible says the child left to himself brings
his mother to shame, embarrasses her, humiliates her with their behavior, right?
I mean, think about this.
What if you went out into the grocery store and you got your child with you, and you've
got a little child with you, and in the middle of the store, they start screaming, they think
they'll throw themselves on the ground, and they start screaming, I hate you, mommy.
Now, that'd be pretty embarrassing.
That'd be pretty humiliating, wouldn't it?
But you know what?
I've seen that take place.
I've been in a grocery store.
I've seen children hitting their parents and even saying that they hated them, you know.
I never would have said to my parents growing up, I hate you.
Like I would have thought that it would just be like a death sentence, instant death sentence,
you know.
But I, you know, I mean, obviously it wouldn't have been, but it would have been, it would
have felt like it there for a minute.
I mean, can you even imagine?
But we have a generation today literally telling their parents that they hate them, and they're
taught because they don't get the candy at the store.
And let me tell you, you know, people say, well, it's never okay to hit a child.
Let me tell you something, if you don't hit them, they're going to hit you.
But the bottom line is we're spanking our children for their benefit because we love
them, because we don't want them to grow up and be criminals.
And let me tell you something, the kids who are allowed to do whatever they want and don't
get a spanking and don't get punished, they're miserable.
Is that kid throwing himself on the ground a happy child?
Throwing himself on the ground, throwing a temper fit, hitting his mom, telling his mom
that he hates him.
That kid is miserable, he's upset every day.
Children who are actually disciplined are much happier, smilier children, okay?
Because living a life of sin doesn't bring joy.
Teaching your children to do right is because you want them to live a happy life.
You want them to live a blessed, joyful life.
Most importantly, you want them to go to heaven.
Because let me tell you something, life is going to spank you much harder than your parents
have ever spanked you.
I've had some hard spankings in my life, but they weren't from my parents.
You know what I'm saying?
Because as you go through life, God has a way of chastening and chastising you that
is more severe than anything your parents would ever do.
But a lot of times when kids get to be teenagers, suddenly they think that they're above being
corrected and that they are too old to be disciplined.
What verse are you in?
We're in chapter 29.
The child left to himself, bringing his mother to shame.
Well, a lot of times teenagers will think like, oh, I'm already past this.
I don't need this.
I don't need to be disciplined anymore.
And what's funny is that sometimes people will freak out if you talk about spanking
a teenager and like somehow that that's abusive or something.
So is it abusive to spank a two-year-old?
No.
A one-year-old?
No.
A three-year-old?
No.
A four-year-old?
No.
Right?
I mean, that's what the Bible commands us to do.
And by the way, spanking your kids is totally legal in case some lesbian tries to tell you
that it isn't.
It's totally legal, right?
That's America.
What kind of a communist hellhole do you think this is?
This is America.
It's legal in Arizona.
And as far as I know, it's legal in every other state as well.
OK?
We have the God-given right to spank our children.
If it were illegal, I would do it anyway because we ought to obey God rather than men.
I don't want my kids to go to hell.
But it is legal.
Praise God.
Thank God we live in America.
Oh, I just wish I could be in Europe.
Oh.
Oh, Denmark.
Oh, it's so wonderful.
I want to live in that feminist, atheistic crap hole.
I want to live in America where I can raise my children in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord, where I can have freedom.
Oh, the 35-hour work week.
At what cost?
I don't want to sacrifice my freedom to have universal health care at a 35-hour work week
and I get all my antidepressants for free because I'm so depressed about my feminist
battle-axed wife who beats me up every night.
But I'm not going to spank my children because that's illegal.
Oh, Europe.
Oh, Scandinavia.
Oh, Sweden.
America!
One word debunks that garbage.
But you know what?
It's totally legal to spank your kids, so why don't you just chill out and just discipline
your kids like the Bible told you to?
Don't let somebody intimidate you, some libtard, some whatever, try to tell you how to raise
your kids.
God gave those kids to you.
It's your responsibility.
You need to look to the Bible and pray to God and ask Him how to raise your children
and do it according to the Word of God, do it according to the Bible, okay?
But then it's so funny, it's not abusive to spank your 8, 9, 10, 11, 12-year-old.
Why would it then suddenly become abusive to spank your 13, 14, 15, 16, 17-year-old?
You know, it seems like they're even more able to take it.
Am I missing something here?
Because I don't get it.
I don't understand.
I'm at a loss here.
It seems like, if anything, they're more open to receive that.
Now look, obviously you should be spanking your kids hopefully less and less as they
get older because hopefully they're going to start getting smart enough to avoid getting
spanked.
And so if you're still spanking your teenager as much as you're spanking them when they're
2, 3, 4 years old, well then, you know, something's not working.
Obviously as they get older, obviously as they become a teenager, hopefully they're
going to start using their brain and just avoiding spankings by doing right, understanding
what the rules are, understanding what's expected.
You know, you'd expect the 14-year-old is not going to throw themselves on the floor
and start screaming, you know, I want, you know, a Red Bull right now or something, you
know.
So the point is that children need discipline and the Bible doesn't give some kind of a
cut off that says, well, it's only for little kids.
No, any child who's living in my home is eligible for a spanking, OK?
And I mean, the Bible talks about corporal punishment even for adults in the scripture,
even in a criminal sense, like even criminals in the Bible will sometimes receive corporal
punishment in the Bible because instead of being sent to prison, they would just receive
corporal punishment.
This is like a while back, I always forget the country, Singapore, where they caned the
young people who were doing graffiti, right, and they're young adults, right?
They're 17, 18, 19, 20-year-old punks doing graffiti, you know, why can't we have that
in America, right?
Cane the young people for doing graffiti.
And I'd rather be caned than go to jail anyway, any day of the week.
I'd rather receive corporal punishment.
And by the way, when I was a teenager, I'd rather receive corporal punishment than getting
grounded.
You know, as a teenager, the last thing you want is to get grounded.
Corporal punishment is preferable and corporal punishment is more biblical.
And by the way, while I'm on that point, let me just say this.
I don't think that you should ever use church activities and church events withholding those
things should not be a punishment that you hand out, like, oh, you know, you're not going
soul winning because you didn't do your homework because you, you know, broke this rule or
whatever.
You're not going soul winning.
What kind of a punishment is that?
You know, why would we want to withhold our children from doing something good, right?
Or, you know, you're not going to the church roller skating.
That shouldn't be a punishment, right?
Because that's something that the church is providing.
We're doing it together.
Want to have a nice social life with our fellow church members.
You know, why don't you do the punishment that God prescribed, give a spanking and,
you know, you're a teenager.
It's not like, that's it, you know, you're not going to any of the missions conference
and that's it.
No, no, no, no, no.
Spank that teenager and send them roller skating and send them to the missions conference.
Look at Proverbs 17.
Because sometimes teenagers will say this, well, you know, I'm not a little kid.
Spankings don't work on me.
When I get a spanking from my parents at this age, it just makes me mad.
You know, now that I'm 14, 15, 16, 17, I'm not a little kid anymore.
If I get a spanking, it just makes me mad.
Well, let's see what the Bible says about that.
The Bible says in Proverbs 17 verse 10, it says, a reproof enterth more into a wise man
than a hundred stripes into a fool.
You know, the Bible talks about people where spankings don't get through, doesn't it?
It talks about people where spankings don't get through.
They could get a hundred stripes and it does not enter into them.
And what does the Bible call that person?
It calls them a fool.
And so if you're going to sit there and say, well, spankings don't spankings don't work
on me.
I don't respond to spankings.
You know what you're basically saying?
I'm being a fool right now.
I'm not allowing the stripes to enter into me.
I'm not allowing the discipline to have the desired effect.
And if you just stubbornly take that spanking and say, well, you know what?
I'm still right.
I'm still going to do what I want.
I'm still not going to follow the rules.
I'm going to keep on doing what I want to do.
Well, then you know what?
That's just being a fool to not let that teach you.
The wise man gets the correction, gets the spanking and says, you know what?
I screwed up.
I'm getting a spanking.
I'm going to fix this going forward.
I'm not going to make this mistake again.
I'm going to learn from my error.
Spanking is a deterrent, right?
So ideally as you're learning, the older you get, you're getting less and less spankings
and it should be rare that a teenager needs a spanking.
But if a teenager needs a spanking every day, then give them one every day until they figure
it out.
And you know what?
That doesn't, you know what that says is that they're being a fool because they should be
smart enough at that age to figure out how to navigate this thing called living in a
family without enraging their parents or disobeying their parents or defying their parents or
rebelling against their parents.
And folks, you say, well, I'm offended by this sermon.
Look, this is the word of God that I'm preaching.
I mean, I'm proving everything with scripture.
Go to Proverbs 29.
The Bible is telling you to spank your children.
It's telling you that it's a fool that doesn't, that doesn't, this doesn't work.
You say spankings don't work.
You know what?
They do work.
The Bible says the rod of correction will drive them far from them.
And if someone says, well, they don't work on me, then they might as well just wear a
sign that says I'm an idiot because that's what the Bible says about people who don't
receive punishment.
Look at Proverbs 29 verse one.
He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed and that
without remedy.
See here's the thing.
Here's the nice thing about spanking is that they don't do any permanent damage whatsoever.
I mean, a spanking hurts the moment you're getting it, but then it's over.
You know, you might walk away kind of for a few minutes kind of, oh, you know, but couple
minutes later, it's like it never even happened.
Okay.
But guess what?
When God disciplines you or even worse yet, when God suddenly destroys you, there's no
remedy.
There's no fixing it.
It's not like, hey, let me just put a little Arnica, you know, on this spanking.
No, no, there's no fixing it.
You'd much rather have your parents spank you, which is just a temporary thing, then
to go through life, not getting disciplined, and then you become an adult and God punishes
you in a way that is irreparable.
And I'm not just talking about going to hell because even if you're saved, once you're
saved, you can never go to hell, first of all, because once you're saved, you're always
saved.
Once you believe on Christ, you're a child of God, and there's nothing that could ever
separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
He'll never leave us or forsake us.
Once you're saved, you're saved forever.
But there can still be chastening and chastisement that comes from God in this life that you
can't recover from, where your body is permanently damaged, where you pick up a disease, where
you get in an accident, where something terrible happens, where you lose your job or something
that you can never get back.
And then you're going to wish that you would listen to your parents and listen to the Word
of God.
The Bible says in Proverbs chapter 30, just one page over to the right, it says in chapter
30 verse 17, the eye that mocketh at his father and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens
of the valley shall pick it out and the young eagles shall eat it.
What's the Bible saying here?
The Bible's saying that if you mock at your father, your dad's a joke to you, you don't
take his word seriously, and you just despise to obey your mother, meaning you don't think
it's important, you disregard her, I'm not going to obey her, you despise to obey your
mother, the eye that does that, the Bible says, because why is it the eye that mocketh?
It's not even the mouth that mocketh.
Because sometimes teenagers, they might not necessarily talk back, but they will just
mock with their eyes.
You know what this is called?
Rolling your eyes.
Giving a dirty look, rolling your eyes.
That's the eye that mocks at his father, uh, dad, uh, can you believe, mom, dad, uh, you
know.
Even if they don't even say anything.
Even just the eye that mocketh at his father.
Why?
Because it's the heart that matters.
The eye that mocketh at his father.
The ravens of the valley shall pick it out, okay?
You know, basically this is what this is.
This is you dead in a field, right?
Now look, I know we're all going to physically die someday unless the Lord returns in our
lifetime, but I'm assuming that when I die, I am going to be put in a casket and buried
in the earth and people are going to say nice things about me.
I don't expect to die in an open field and have the ravens of the valley, you know, going
like, you know, I suggest, you know, the eye as a good place to start because it's soft,
it's juicy, it's tasty, you know, you know, cause they could start pecking anywhere.
The whole body, you know, the first bird who shows up, the whole body is there.
The eye is an excellent choice, sir, you know, and you say, well, that's pretty morbid.
Yeah, but that's what the Bible, the Bible says, like, look, take this seriously.
If you don't want to be dead in a field somewhere, listen to your parents, obey your parents.
Let's go to Deuteronomy, let's go back in our Bible to Deuteronomy chapter number eight
and while you're turning there I'm going to read for you some other verses because there's
a lot in Proverbs.
We didn't even read everything in Proverbs.
Like for example, the Bible says in Proverbs 19, 18, chasing thy son while there is hope.
Remember he said chasing him betimes, chasing him early, chasing thy son while there is
hope and let not thy soul spare for his crying.
You know, and a lot of times when you go to spank your children, they'll start crying
before the paddle even makes contact, right?
Like if you slow down that tape for an instant replay, it's like the paddle is coming and
they're like, like seconds, it's like that can't be a response to the spanking because
you were already doing it before contact was even made.
Kids will sometimes cry to try to get out of a spanking because they're trying to tug
on your heartstrings.
What does the Bible say?
Let not thy soul spare for his crying.
Just because they're crying doesn't mean that they don't need to get a spanking according
to the Bible.
Proverbs 19, 25, smite a scorner and the simple will beware and reprove one that hath understanding
and he will understand knowledge, right?
Let thy son and he shall give thee rest, yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.
But then the Bible also says in Proverbs chapter 3 verse 11, you're in Deuteronomy 8, I'll
get there in a moment, but in Proverbs 3, 11 it says, my son, despise not thou the chastening
of the Lord, neither be weary of his correction for whom the Lord loveth he correcteth even
as a father, the son in whom he delighteth, right?
So again, he that spareth his rod hateth his son, but he that loveth him chasteneth
him betimes.
The Bible says that the father corrects the son in whom he delights.
So the fact that your parents spank you, it means that they love you.
It means that they delight in you.
It means they care about you because it would be so much easier just to let you do whatever.
Just send you out the door, drop you off somewhere, send you out and just let you do whatever
because they don't really care what happens, it's like whatever.
The fact that they're supervising you shows that they take an interest in your life because
they love you and care about you.
They want what's best for you.
The fact that they correct you is a sign that they delighted you.
Look at Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 5, thus shalt thou also consider in thine heart that
as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee.
Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God to walk in his ways and
to fear him, for the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land.
Look, your parents discipline you because they love you, so therefore obey their rules.
Why?
Because they're bringing you into a good land.
They are trying to bring you into success and prosperity and they're trying to help
you.
Now if you would go to Deuteronomy 21, famous passage in Deuteronomy 21.
This is of course the Old Testament law of God.
The children of Israel in the book of Deuteronomy are right on the cusp of entering the promised
land, right?
They've wandered in the wilderness for 40 years and Moses is giving them these last
instructions throughout the entire book of Deuteronomy, been studying it on Wednesday
nights.
It says in verse 8 of Deuteronomy 21, if a man have a stubborn and rebellious son which
will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother and that when they've
chastened him will not hearken unto them.
Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him and bring him out to the elders
of the city and under the gate of his place and they shall say unto the elders of the
city, this our son is stubborn and rebellious.
He will not obey our voice.
He is a glutton and a drunkard and all the men of his city shall stone him with stones
that he die.
So shall thou put away evil from among you and all Israel shall hear and fear.
Now look, this verse gets a lot of flack.
This is something that atheists would love to bring up.
Of course, they never quote it properly.
They're always twisting it and misunderstanding it.
But who's ever had an atheist bring this up or you've heard atheists bring this up and
talk about this, you know, okay, less people than I thought.
I guess you guys aren't hanging around with a bunch of atheists.
Very good.
But anyway, the point is this is something that comes up a lot.
You know, people will bring this, this scripture up a lot and they'll try to say, oh, you know,
you know, the Bible, God told them to, you know, to stone a disobedient child.
That's not what this says.
This doesn't say stone a disobedient child because every child is disobedient.
Every child disobeys.
Every child gets in trouble.
Every child is going to make a lot of mistakes.
Some bigger mistakes than others, but everybody is going to mess up as a child repeatedly.
The only perfect child was the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so here's what's going on here.
This is talking about someone who is just incorrigible.
Their parents have tried to discipline them and raise.
And obviously if they're a glutton and a drunkard, you know, I doubt that they're just
a little child.
It's not that, it's not that meme with the baby with the pint of beer or whatever, you
know, the little Irish baby with the beer mug or whatever.
Obviously we're talking about someone who's a lot older, right?
We're talking about someone who's older and they're rebellious.
And look, it's not that God just wants them just constantly bringing bad kids and saying,
look, we've tried, we've disciplined.
He will not listen.
He will not obey.
He's a drunk.
He's a glutton.
He's worthless.
Stone them with stones.
You know, the whole point is that this happens like once or twice.
And then what happens?
All Israel shall hear in fear.
Now look, instead of disregarding what the Bible says, instead of standing in judgment
of what the Bible says and going, hmm, I don't know if the God of the universe was right
when he said this.
It's the word of God.
Who are you to decide whether you like Deuteronomy 21, 18 through 21?
And people would say, well, why would you even bring up this verse, Pastor?
You know, this is a verse that we don't like to talk about.
Folks, because I'm not even going to decide what I'm going to bring up on Sunday morning
or not.
I'm just going to bring up the whole Bible.
If I'm studying the Bible and there's a verse that's relevant, it needs to come into the
discussion.
I'm not like, you know, should I bring this verse in?
Because this could bother people.
Oh, I'm so sorry, am I bothering you?
No, because here's the thing, if it's in the Bible, all scripture is given by inspiration
of God and is profitable for doctrine.
Preach the word.
Not preach the parts of the word that we like.
And by the way, I like all of it.
So let's say the Bible said preach the part you like, I'd still preach all of it, because
I like all of it anyway.
I haven't found a part that I don't like yet.
What's the point?
Instead of standing in judgment of it, instead of trying to explain it away, instead of getting
all worried, why don't you instead try to figure out what's God trying to get across
here?
Let's think about the points being made here.
Here's a point that's being made.
He that being often reproved, hardened at his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed in that
without remedy.
Is that compatible with this scripture?
How about the fact that God does not take lightly children who refuse to obey their
parents?
And that God is pretty serious about this thing of children obeying their parents.
How about the fact that children who don't obey their parents end up being drunks and
gluttons?
How about that?
I mean, this is a really rich passage.
You could do a whole sermon on this, nay, you could do an entire series on this.
Everything to learn from this.
Am I making this stuff up?
I feel like these are lessons right there on the surface right here.
How about this?
If you're stubborn and rebellious, you might end up dying young.
There's a great lesson.
How about this?
If you're stubborn, rebellious, wicked, and don't listen to anything your parents tell
you, they might get so frustrated with you where they're just like ready to take you
down to city hall and be like, condemn my son to death, please.
How about this?
When there's an actual punishment that happens like this, everybody else is going to hear
in fear.
Well, let me tell you this.
If you're smart right now, you won't need this to happen in America in 2023.
You would just read this verse in fear.
Not that this is going to happen to you because obviously this would never happen in the New
Testament.
Obviously it's not going to happen in America.
Obviously this is not something that's literally going to happen to you, but you know what
though when you read this, it should tell you God can do this.
God can do anything.
I mean, God holds our breath in his hand and so God does have the power to mess you up
anytime he wants to and he will do it and he has done it throughout the word of God
and he will do it again.
Go if you would to Hebrews chapter 12.
I'm almost done.
Hebrews chapter 12.
Hebrews chapter number 12.
What's the sermon about?
It's called corporal punishment.
I'm talking about when we raise our children, we need to discipline them and spanking is
the discipline that God prescribes.
That should be the punishment.
Now some people think this is like some rare thing, just rarely every once in a while you're
going to spank your children.
Look, when your children are young, they might need to be spanked a lot and it's going to
be different with every kid.
Sometimes you'll have that bratty kid that gets as many spankings as the rest of them
combined.
In my family, I was probably that kid.
My parents talked about how when my older brother and sister were the only two kids
they had because there's kind of a gap between my elder siblings and me.
My sister, she's nine years older than me.
My brother is six years older than me.
There's like a six year gap and then there's me and my younger sister's two years younger
than me.
So it's like two sets of two, right?
And my parents used to say, I would hear them tell people this, you know, we used to think
when we had Clint and Ronnie, we just thought parenting was so easy.
And they said, we just thought, man, these people with bratty kids, what a bunch of idiots.
Like it's, you know, what are they like, why don't they just raise their kids the way
the Bible said, you know, it's just so easy.
And then they're like, then we had Steve, you know, and then, you know, and I mean,
I wasn't malicious, but I was just kind of a, you know, a bratty child, a wild child,
you know, the kind of kid where you turn your back.
Next thing you know, I'm undoing the toilet paper roll or squeezing toothpaste or giving
my sister a haircut, you know, that was a big one when I, you know, I came to my mom
and told her, me and Lisa are playing barber.
And my sister had this beautiful long hair and I just, yeah, I ruined it.
You know, obviously some kids are going to need a lot fewer spankings.
There are, there are some children that only rarely need a spanking because they just,
when you just, you just tell them, you just tell them, don't do that and they just don't
do it.
Right.
But then there are the kids and look, when you have a little, and by the way, if you
don't have kids, don't even think about contradicting anything I'm saying in the sermon because
this is how much you know about raising kids.
Okay.
So the only people who are allowed to even have an opinion about this are people who
are either a siding with what the Bible says or be siding with what the Bible says.
But anyway, but I'm saying, you know, if at least if you have kids, you'll know that what
I'm saying is, is correct anyway.
Okay.
This is what kids will do.
They'll tell a kid, don't touch that.
And they'll literally, when they're about one or two years old, they will literally
look at you and just go, who knows what I'm talking about?
Yeah.
They're just basically like, what are you going to do about it, dad?
And then you're like, let me show you what I'm going to do about it.
And you give them a spanking.
And, but, but see the one who just keeps saying, don't do it, don't do it.
And they're just like, and then it's like, oh, here, let's go do a puzzle.
You know, try to distract them or whatever, you know, is that what God's going to do when
you grow up?
And God's like, don't get drunk.
And then he's just like, here, let me distract you.
You know, here's a, here's an Arnold Palmer over here.
You know, here's a glass of Coca-Cola.
Hey, don't you, why don't we see if we could choose a better beverage for you?
No, he's just going to, he's going to just punish you.
And so it's better to deal with things when they're at that little age where it's just,
hey, don't touch the outlet or whatever.
You know, and then you just spank up and then it's dealt with and then hopefully, you know,
it's better to deal with it then than when they're 15, 16, 17 and obviously 15, 16 and
17 have their own challenges, but hopefully you've at least laid a foundation of who's
in charge and who's the buzz.
And you know what?
I know something about this.
I have 12 children and a lot of times people think like, oh man, you have 12 children.
So crazy.
And then Hollywood makes these movies about people who have 12 children and everybody's
swinging from the chandeliers.
Do you really think that that's what's going on in my house?
You think my house is some kind of a Disney movie about having 12 children?
Because it isn't.
Because no one would do that, right?
We would have not had 12 children if that's what it were actually like.
You know, if you walked into our house, it's just, it's just a house.
It's just a family.
It's just every, it just, it's just normal.
Everything's cool.
Obviously there's, you know, 12 people there.
It's going to be a little louder or whatever, but I mean, it's not, it's not pandemonium.
It's not a circus.
It's not crazy.
Why?
Because we've disciplined our children and we don't run.
And by the way, we are, I don't think that we're strict parents.
I wouldn't say that we're really strict.
We're not like running this militaristic kind of disciplined house.
I feel like we're kind of laid back if anything as parents, but we're doing what the Bible
says.
We give a lot of freedom, but we also have rules that don't budge and we have discipline
in place.
And so guess what?
Things go smoothly at our house for the most part in comparison to what people might imagine.
Okay.
If you chasten your son, he'll give you rest.
The Bible says he'll give delight to your soul.
Okay.
Are you there in Hebrews 12?
I got to hurry, but the Bible says in Hebrews 12 five, you've forgotten the exhortation
which speaketh unto you as unto children.
Verse five, my son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord nor faint when thou art rebuked
of him, for whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
If you endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons, for what son is he whom
the father chasteneth not?
But if he be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and
not sons.
You know, that sounds to me like not getting disciplined is the scarier thing than getting
disciplined.
Right?
I mean, imagine growing up in a house and your dad never punishes you.
He never spanks you.
And then you ask your dad, dad, are you really even my dad or am I a bastard?
But that's what the Bible is using as an illustration.
Like dad, do you care that little about your son?
Like he's not even your son?
Like he's just a bastard?
Like he's just the product of fornication or adultery or something?
Is that why you don't care?
We're supposed to care.
We're supposed to love our children.
Well, look, the Bible says, whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth.
He scourges every son whom he receiveth.
The Bible says, if you be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards
and not sons.
The Bible is saying, look, if you go through life and you're just living a sinful life
and nothing bad happens, it just means you're not saved.
Because every saved Christian, if they go out and live a sinful life, they end up getting
disciplined.
Now unsaved people, they could get away with a lot.
And they may go through their whole lives prospering, but guess what?
They're going to hell one day, so they didn't really get away with anything, did they?
But when it comes to saved Christians, we will never go to hell.
We will never be punished in the next world.
We're only going to be punished in this life.
And that's why God chastens every son whom he receiveth.
Why does he do it?
Let's keep reading.
Furthermore, we've had fathers of our flesh which corrected us.
We had earthly parents who disciplined us.
And we gave them reverence.
What does reverence mean?
Respect.
We gave respect to our parents because they corrected us.
If your parents let you do whatever you want, if your parents don't spank you, you're not
going to respect them.
I respect my parents.
To this day, I have lots of love and respect for my parents, and I am thankful for every
single spanking I ever got.
You think I'm ever bitter about some spanking I got as a kid?
Like well, but yeah, but that one time with the sailboat rod, you know, right when I got
out of the pool and I was in wet swim trunks, you know, those spankings hit different when
you're in wet swim trunks.
Those spankings hit different.
Who knows what I'm talking about?
All the kids who got the real spankings growing up.
You guys didn't have a pool or what?
You know, Steve's out fighting with Lisa in the pool, all right, getting a spanking
on the wet swim trunks.
You think I'm just like, oh, you know, that was, oh.
Now look, I promise you, I promise you that there were times that I probably got spanked
unjustly in my entire childhood, right?
Hundreds of spankings, yay, thousands, who knows, you know?
Hundreds of spankings.
I'm sure there was probably a time when I got spanked unjustly, spanked for something
I didn't do or something, right?
It happens.
Who cares?
You think I'm bitter about that?
I'm thankful for every spanking.
I'm thankful for the just spanking and the unjust spanking because all of it at least
showed that my parents were trying, my parents cared, my parents loved me, my parents taught
me, and I grew up knowing who God was and how the world works.
Guess what?
You're not going to believe this.
When you're an adult, everything in life isn't going to be fair either.
You're not going to believe this, but someday your boss is going to punish you at work for
something that you didn't do, for something that wasn't your fault.
Who here is a grown man that would say, I've been punished at work for something I didn't
do all day long?
Hopefully my employees aren't raising their hands, but it's like, does your boss cuss
you out?
No, it's not true, folks.
It never happened.
It's a fiction.
We made this one up.
So, the bottom line is that we reverence our parents, we love our parents, we are thankful
that they love us because they corrected us.
We had fathers of our flesh, which corrected us.
Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the father of spirits and live?
For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure.
They chastened us how they saw fit.
And they did it so that we wouldn't destroy their lives because they don't want to live
in that comedy where all the kids put their footprints on the ceiling.
They want to have a house that's decent and in order.
Why did my parents spank me?
Number one, because of what the Bible said and they honored the Lord.
Number two, because they love me.
Number three, so that I wouldn't be such a pain in the butt.
That's why they spanked me.
They chastened us after their own pleasure.
But he, for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
It's good for us.
Verse 11, no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous.
I was never glad that I got a spanking aid as a kid, never.
I was never like, man, I'm glad my parents spanked me for this.
I'm glad that they nipped this in the bud.
Before I get out of control, I'm glad that they're solving this with me now.
I never thought that way.
And I never walked away from a spanking like, you know what, I needed that.
Never.
Not even once did I say like, you know, I'm glad I needed that.
The closest feeling I ever had to that was that sometimes I would be glad that I got
a spanking because it usually would mean like less lecturing, less getting out.
Like, I'd get yelled at for 45 minutes and then a spanking.
It was like, OK, closure.
You know, finally.
But I never wanted the spanking itself.
No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous.
Nobody likes getting a spanking.
Nevertheless, afterward, it yielded the peaceable fruit of righteousness
unto them which are exercised thereby.
Wherefore, lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees.
Don't be like, ugh, right, the hands hanging down.
You're walking around like orangutan because you got a spanking.
He says, lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees
and make straight paths for your feet lest that which is lame
be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed.
Parents, spank your children.
Children, receive the correction.
Love and be thankful to and respect your parents.
Don't get bitter because they didn't discipline you perfectly, OK?
You know, I mean, sometimes I've had my kids tell me, like,
that I spanked them wrong.
You missed, you know.
And, you know, you were aiming for my butt
and you got a little into the thigh there.
And I'm just, and this is what, if one of my children
tells me that I accidentally, you know, made an error or missed or something,
I always tell them, come over and let me do it right.
I want to make this right.
Like, oh, I didn't spank you correctly?
Here, let me spank you correctly.
Let me have some repentance here.
And usually they don't see that as a solution.
And look, obviously, I think that, you know,
the best place to spank your children, the primary place
to spank your children, is on the padded area
that God has provided to receive that spanking, you know.
But here's the thing, you know, there were, look,
my parents spanked me on the back of my calves sometimes,
and it hurt way worse, especially fresh out of the pool.
Oh, baby.
So what?
Get over it.
You know, I'm not bitter about that.
I love my parents.
I'm thankful.
I'm not going to pick apart their parenting.
You know, it's so easy to sit back and be like, well, you know,
my parents made some mistakes, you know.
It's like, it's so easy to judge other people.
But you know what, they had their life.
They had their challenges.
They're doing the best that they could.
They're learning, and we're all learning,
and we're all going through life trying
to do the best that we can.
We love our kids.
We're trying to raise them the best that we can.
We are trying to do right, but none of us
is ever going to be a perfect parent, right?
No spanking is ever going to be perfect.
I mean, think about it.
Nothing is ever going to be perfect, but you know what?
You should be thankful if you're a Christian kid
that you have parents that discipline you and love you.
And quit being a whiner.
Quit being bitter.
Quit talking about some spanking from three years ago.
Get over it.
Only talk about it if it's going to be positive.
Like, hey, I'm thankful that my parents just now
I'm smart enough to realize I'm glad they discipline me.
That's the only appropriate way to bring it up.
And you kids, you better learn to obey your parents,
because someday when you're 18 years old and you just think,
oh, I'm 18 now, and so I'm going to go out and do
what I want, I don't have to listen to dad anymore,
there's another dad waiting for you.
You know what?
You basically, you played to the end of the game.
You think you just defeated the final boss?
Oh, no.
Oh, no, that boss was nothing.
Then the real final boss comes.
OK, well, God is the final boss.
And if you think your dad is difficult,
well, the father in heaven, if you are going to mock him,
guess what?
God's not mocked.
If your eye mocks at your father on this earth,
and then you start mocking at him, and then you're, oh,
I'm 18.
I can do what I want now.
You go out and party, well, you're
going to reap the whirlwind, buddy.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord,
and I thank you for just the clear scriptures and proverbs,
Lord, because we've got a bunch of weirdos today
who don't even have kids, who can't even
reproduce because they're sodomites and lesbians.
They're telling us how to raise our children.
And a bunch of weirdos are corrupting our culture.
Lord, God, help us to stick to the clear teaching
of scripture and to bring up our children in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord.
Lord, help us all.
You know we're doing our best, Lord.
Help us to have wisdom in raising our kids.
And Lord, I pray that the children would obey, respect,
honor, and love their parents.
And in Jesus' name, we pray.
Amen.