Thank you.
And to God be the glory, great things He hath done,
so lovely the world that He gave us His Son,
to yield in His life an atonement for sin,
and open the life gate that all may know Him.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear His voice.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice.
Hold on to the Father through Jesus the Son,
and give Him the glory, great things He hath done,
so perfect redemption the purchase of God,
to every believer the promise of God,
the vilest offender who truly believes,
that moment from Jesus our pardon recedes.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear His voice.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice.
Hold on to the Father through Jesus the Son,
and give Him the glory, great things He hath done,
great things He hath taught us, great things He hath done,
and great are rejoicing through Jesus the Son,
but purer and higher and greater will be,
our wonder, our transport when Jesus we see.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear His voice.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice.
Hold on to the Father through Jesus the Son,
and give Him the glory, great things He hath done.
Amen.
So Father, thank you very much for this day, Lord.
Thank you for Faith Ward Baptist Church.
Please bless the conference and all the people who are traveling this way.
Lord, thank you for all the birthdays this month,
and please bless the whole service.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Amen.
Back to hit number 33.
Number 33, Christ the Lord is risen today.
Hit number 33.
Lift it up on that first.
Christ the Lord is risen today.
Hallelujah.
Sons of men and angels sing.
Hallelujah.
Raise your joys and triumphs high.
Hallelujah.
Sing, ye heavens and earth, we fly.
Hallelujah.
Let again our glorious King.
Hallelujah.
Where, O death, is now by sea.
Hallelujah.
Let it once be all the same.
Hallelujah.
Where thy victorious reign.
Hallelujah.
Thus redeeming work is done.
Hallelujah.
On the fight the battle won.
Hallelujah.
Death in vain forbids him rise.
Hallelujah.
Christ has opened paradise.
Hallelujah.
Where Christ has led.
Hallelujah.
All we are exalted in.
Hallelujah.
Made like him, like him we rise.
Hallelujah.
Christ the cross, the grave, the skies.
Hallelujah.
All right, this time we will go through our announcements together. If you don't have a bulletin, slip up your hand nice and high. We'll get to you with one.
On the inside we have our service time. Sunday mornings at 10.30 is our preaching service.
Sunday nights at 6. Wednesday nights at 7.
We would normally have our Bible study, but this is going to be the conference
kickoff on Wednesday night. So if you go to the back of the bulletin, you see
that we have the basic schedule for the missions conference.
So this is coming up this week. There's a lot going on.
If you can make everything, great, but obviously I understand
people have their schedules and so forth. So just make whatever you can.
There's no commitment to come to all or
nothing each day. You can just show up for whatever you're able to show up for.
Everything's a la carte, but hopefully you'll be able to participate
in some of these things. But this Wednesday
through Sunday we're going to have the missions conference. So we're excited about that.
There should be a lot of visitors coming in from out of town. So if you think it's packed
this morning, what do you see next Sunday morning? But we're going to have extra chairs.
We have more space that we can use and we will be organized
to prepare for that to make sure we have seats for everybody. So it's
going to be great. We're excited and that schedule is there on the back.
And then back on the inside of the bulletin, on the left side there
we have our soul winning times listed, salvation, baptisms,
the birthdays and anniversaries are listed. And then at the bottom of the page there
the group photo for the yearbook is going to be taken two weeks
from today after the service. We'll just step out of the parking lot and we'll have an
area roped off and we'll take a nice group photo for the yearbook.
And that is two weeks from today. That's about it for announcements. Let's go ahead and sing our next song.
Come lead us.
I'll go where you want me to go.
If you don't have an answer, please raise your hand. We'll sing it on that verse together.
I'll go where you want me to go. Sing it out together on that verse.
It may not be a mountain
high or low
high.
It may not be
at a battle strike
by portal of need of peace.
But if I still
small voice who wants to pass
I do not know.
I'll go where you want me to go.
I'll go where you want
me to go dear Lord.
Or mountain or plain or sea.
I'll say what you want me to say
dear Lord.
I'll be what you want me to be.
For as today there are
few words to place peace or have
peace be. There may be
now the paths of sin.
Some wonder who I should see.
Oh Savior and Thou will
be my guide. The dark and
love in the way.
My voice shall bear the message
sweet. I'll say what you
want me to say.
I'll go where you want me to go dear Lord.
Or mountain or plain or sea.
I'll say what you want me
to say dear Lord.
I'll be what you want me to be.
There sure is somewhere
a holy place in earth
that's been so wild.
Where I may play with my short
faith for Jesus the crucified.
So trust my
own will to do my care. I know
what I'll love this be.
I'll do my will while my sin's
here. I'll be what you
want me to be.
I'll go where you want me to go dear Lord.
Or mountain or plain or sea.
I'll say what you want me
to say dear Lord.
I'll be what you want me
to be.
Thanks everyone. This song goes down to hymn number 150.
Hymn number 150. My faith has found the resting place.
Hymn number 150.
My faith has found the resting place.
Not in device nor free. Hymn number 150. Lift it up now.
My faith has found the resting place.
Not in device nor free.
I trust the ever living one.
His foot for me shall bleed.
I need no other argument.
I need no other plea.
It is enough that Jesus
died and that he died for me.
Enough for me that Jesus
saves. This ends my fear and doubt.
A sinful soul I come to him.
He will never cast me out.
I need no other argument.
I need no other plea.
It is enough that Jesus died
and that he died for me.
My heart is beating on the word.
The written word of God.
Salvation by my Savior's name.
Salvation through his blood.
I need no other argument.
I need no other plea.
It is enough that Jesus died
and that he died for me.
My great physician heals the sick.
He came to save.
For me his precious blood he shed.
For me his life he gave.
I need no other argument.
I need no other plea.
It is enough that Jesus died
and that he died for me.
Alright, this time we will quickly pass our offering plates around. As the plates go around,
let's turn our Bibles to Ephesians chapter 6.
Ephesians chapter 6. And as we always do, we'll read the entire chapter
beginning in verse number 1. Ephesians chapter 6.
Starting in verse number 1, follow along silently with brother Nick as he reads.
Ephesians chapter number 6.
Ephesians chapter 6.
Children, obey your parents and the Lord
for this is right. 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. And ye fathers
provoke not your children to wrath but bring them up in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord. Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters
according to the flesh with fear and trembling in singleness of your heart
as unto Christ. Not with eye service as men-pleasers
but as the servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart.
With good will doing service as to the Lord and not to men.
Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive
of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And ye masters,
do the same things unto them forbearing threatening, knowing that your master also
is in heaven, neither is there respect of persons with him.
Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.
Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
For we wrestle, not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take
unto you the whole armor of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day
and having done all to stand, stand therefore having your loins girt about
with truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness and your feet shod
with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield
of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked
and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word
of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit
and watching there unto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints
and for me. That utterance may be given unto me that I may open my mouth
boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador
in bonds that therein I may speak boldly as I ought
to speak. For that ye may also know my affairs and how I do
Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall
make known to you all things whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose
that ye might know our affairs and that ye might comfort your hearts.
Peace be to the brethren and love with faith from God the Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all them that love our Lord
Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.
Dear Lord, we thank you so much for another day. We thank you for our church.
We ask that you bless the service. Bless Pastor Anderson and help him to preach boldly your word
that we all may hear. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.
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 en 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 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 hath 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 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
hateth 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 feelings, 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. Go if you would 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? Withholding,
you know, the stuff that gets withheld from your paycheck,
you kind of wish you could hang onto 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? Well, 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?
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
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 being, 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 the 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 are 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 burn-in on my backside
growing up than to spend eternity burning in hell.
And you know what? I am 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
is clear. Thou shalt beat him with the rod. That kind of reminds me of another verse.
Are you there in Proverbs 23, 14, right? 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
shall deliver his soul from hell. God is commanding us
to discipline our children. Now, the word beat, obviously
in our modern vernacular, the word beat has a negative connotation.
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 chase in them.
We 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?
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, ooh, 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.
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. 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 to, 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 got a little child with you, and in the middle of the store, they
start screaming, they 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
so, 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, smiley-er
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 are 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 we'll even freak out,
people will freak out if you talk about spanking a teenager.
And somehow 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?
It'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.
That's why 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 anti-depressants 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?
Discipline your kids like the Bible told you to. Don't let somebody
intimidate you. Some libtard. Some, you know, whatever.
Try to tell you how to raise your kids. You know, 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
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 cutoff that says, well it's only for little kids.
No, any child who's living in my home is eligible for a spanking.
Okay? 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
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, your 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. 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
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 1. He that being often reproved
hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be
destroyed and that without remedy. See, here's the
nice thing about spankings 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. But a couple minutes later
it's like it never even happened.
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
on this spanking. No, there's no fixing it.
You'd much rather have your parents spank you
which is just a temporary thing, than 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 can 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. Dad,
uh, he 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, because they can start pecking
anywhere. The whole body, you know, the first bird who
shows up, the whole body's 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's coming
and they're like, ahhh, like seconds before. 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
sinner and the simple will beware, and reprove one that hath understanding
and he will understand knowledge. Right?
Correct 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 chasteth 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.
It means it's so much easier just to let you do whatever.
Just send you out the door, drop you off somewhere, send you out, 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
spareth 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. They've wanted 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, a lot of, 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 scripture up a lot and they'll try
to say, Oh, you know, the by God told them 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. Yeah, 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 and 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 passage. I mean, 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.
Here'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 and fear.
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 is 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, 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.
I wasn't malicious, but I was just kind of 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.
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 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 this 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 B, siding with what the Bible says. But anyway,
but I'm saying, you know, at least if you have kids, you'll know that what I'm saying is
correct anyway. Okay. This is what kids will do.
You'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. 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. Try to distract
them or whatever. 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. Here's
an Arnold Palmer over here. Here's a glass of Coca-Cola.
Hey, don't you, why don't we see if we can 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 them. 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? Do 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 a house. It's just a family.
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
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, 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 gotta hurry. But the Bible says in Hebrews 12
5, you've forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children. Verse 5,
The 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 ye endure chastening,
God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the father chasteneth
not? But if ye 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? And 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 ye 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 going on. You guys didn't have
a pool or what? You know, you're out fighting, 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. Spank 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.
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. Like I'd get yelled
at for 45 minutes and then a spanking. It was like, okay, 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, right, the hands hanging down.
You're walking around like a rangatang because you got a spanking.
You know.
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 and don't get bitter because they didn't
disappoint you perfectly. Okay. You know, I mean,
sometimes I've had my kids tell me like,
I spanked them wrong. You missed.
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, let me have
some repentance here. And it's, 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 calf sometimes and it hurt way worse, especially
fresh out of the pool.
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, 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 some day 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're like
you basically, you know, you play 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.
Okay, 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.
Amen. Let's take our psalm books, please. Go to hymn number three.
Hymn number three, Jesus paid it all. Hymn number three.
Hymn number three. Sing it out together now.
Hymn number three.
Amen. Excellent singing this morning.
Amen.