Amen.
Right, so, Psalm 127, let's just look down at verse 1 again, Psalm 127 and verse 1 reads,
it's a song of degrees for Solomon, except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain
that build it.
Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
And we're starting a new Sunday evening series called Biblical Parenting, it's going to be
called Biblical Parenting and before any of the non-parents here start drifting off, there
could be quite a few people in the church, or maybe start making plans for their next
several Sunday evenings, you know, things they can think about and plot and plan while
they're here, this is a subject that affects all of us, so, anyone's wondering that, look,
this is a church, we're a church family, we're going to be here to help, guide, support,
give advice when asked for by each other, we're here to, you know, to be able to help
each other, we're here to ultimately help the children in this church grow up to be,
you know, an even stronger church and to be great members of this church or if they go
elsewhere hopefully to another good proper church and, look, this is an important subject,
okay, this is a massive part of life, this is hopefully going to be a practical sermon,
series and, look, as our church grows, we're going to have plenty of parents here, aren't
we, we're going to have lots of parents and it would be nice to have us all like-minded
to a degree, wouldn't it, it'd be nice to have everyone pretty much on the same page
and when I say that, look, you know, obviously when it comes to things which are clearly
in the Bible, we should all be following that, shouldn't we, when it comes to things which
are a matter of interpretation or a matter of opinion, no, everyone doesn't have to be
the same and, yes, I appreciate that, you know, we all have liberty to raise our children,
those of you that have children as we want but, look, we want to do it as God wants ultimately,
don't we, so that's the idea of this sermon series.
Now, we want people here as well to be able to give advice when asked, yeah, when asked,
let's remember that because it's a funny thing in the world especially when it comes to parenting
and things like that but pretty much most subjects, there's a lot of people that just
like giving advice, don't they, a lot of people like to give unsolicited advice, they
just love to give you advice on things that they don't often know much about and we've
had this over the years, myself and my wife, when it comes to parenting, you get advice
of people that don't even have children, you get advice from people on homeschooling, they
love that one, the homeschool advice of people that have never homeschooled and never done
a day's homeschooling but they love to give you advice on it, the advice on all these
different areas of life, you get it and parenting is a big one for that and people love to,
they love to really as well kind of take almost some ownership of your child, I don't know
if that's something that's been pushed with sort of, you know, this sort of state ownership
of your child but I'm sure many people who have been pregnant have had that before where
people think it's almost their right to come home, people are like, I want to start touching
your belly and stuff like that, weird stuff, okay, so we want to not do all of that stuff,
okay and we want to make sure that although we don't do that, we are able to give advice,
biblical advice and when we have new people come to this church that people here are able
to advise along the lines of what the Bible says at least and what we as a church here
believe, okay, so that's going to be helpful hopefully for the future because having strong
families is essential for the health of this church, isn't it? So in case anyone ever hear
any of the kids here ever think that they're a bit of a bit part, you're not, you're the
future of this church, okay, they are the future of this church and we want every child
here and every child that eventually is in this church to really understand that and
to be raised in the things of the Lord and to ultimately be able to take, really to carry
on the torch of this church as all of us get older and, you know, and less able with in
time to come. So, now in case you're sitting there and you're wondering or you're thinking
hold on brother Ian, what makes you some sort of expert? Because people, when it comes
to giving any sort of guidance on parenting, it generally will tread on some toes and people
do get a little bit upset about this and, you know, some say the worst thing you could
do is tell a mother off about their mothering so, you know, I'm going to be very careful
when I do this obviously but I don't think I am an expert. In fact, I know I'm far from
an expert but which is why this series is called biblical parenting, okay, biblical
parenting. It's not Ian Taverner's idea on parenting, it's biblical parenting because
my plan is to, yes, sometimes give my opinion but to show you what I believe the Word of
God says about parenting and Psalm 127 verse 1 says, except the Lord, the Lord build the
house they labour in vain that build it except the Lord keep the city the watchman waketh
but in vain. So, I will try to do my best to keep it as biblical as possible because
it's very easy, isn't it, when it comes to things like parenting, like anything else
like but with parenting to go off into the latest studies and the latest fads, isn't
it? You've probably been across these people that love to kind of tell you about the study
they've read like that suddenly disqualifies anything you might say and I'm sure some of
you who have been trying to raise your kids according to the Bible might have had this
from family and friends, you're like, well, a study says and I read this study and suddenly
they like to feel like they sound very intellectual now and they sound like an expert because
they read a lot of the time probably not even a study just the report probably just
a result of the study if they got that far, a lot of the time they'll misquote said result
as well and then sound very intellectual and that kind of cuts off any sort of argument,
yeah, but as we all know the results of most studies generally lean towards whoever was
funding the study. So, we don't want to go too far on studies, do we? We want to really
ideally rely on what the Word of God says where possible and the Word of God has a lot
to say about parenting I believe. So, we're going to have a look at that and verse one
said here, except the Lord build the house. So, it didn't say except the childless child
psychiatrist build it, didn't it? It didn't say unless that childless child psychiatrist
build the house you're going to be banging trouble. You better listen to some so-called
expert because they got taught by some other childless child psychiatrist somewhere else
about it and they read a long book or something else. No, except the Lord build the house
and we don't want to labour and wake in vain and just while we're on that subject, parenting
is a lot of labour and a lot of waking up. It is a lot of labour, a lot of waking up
and when you go into parenting it's something you've just got to accept from quite early
on because if you kind of went into it thinking, oh, it's going to be a piece of cake, a stolen
part because all those Facebook friends of mine they just look so happy and content and
it seems to just be, you know, these perfect photo opportunities in lovely picturesque
places and the kids all dressed in matching outfits and nothing else going on. That's
not really life, okay, and you have to appreciate as a parent, you know, before you become a
parent that there's going to be a lot of sleepless nights, there's going to be a lot of labour
and that's what parenting is. A lot of the time it is labour but it is obviously very
fulfilling as well and something we need to accept there. Now, the series is called Biblical
Parenting and tonight we're going to look at pregnancy, labour and postpartum. Pregnancy,
labour and postpartum because parenting starts from, well, from conception, doesn't it? Okay,
that's where it starts. So, we're going to look at that today. Before we do, let's go
to the Lord and a word of prayer. Father, I thank you, I thank you for your word, I
thank you for, you know, the many principles you give us in the Bible, the many teachings
you give us and, you know, something which is obviously a big part of everyone's life
and that is parenting and whether that's because we have parents or whether that's
because we are parents or whether that is because we are around parents. We all want
to learn more about this subject. I hope everyone here does. Please help everyone to just have
open ears here, to have an open mind as well and not just to be too, sort of, fixate on
what they've, you know, been taught elsewhere and just see what your word has to say about
these things. In Jesus' name I pray all of this. Amen. Okay, so, like I said, if all
of you women who are, kind of, maybe sitting here rolling your eyes already thinking, how
is this man going to tell me anything about pregnancy, labour and postpartum recovery?
Well, fortunately, I got my wife to write these sermon notes. So, wait a second, she
is the best thing that's ever, no, no, I'm joking, obviously, she, of course, I didn't
get my wife to write these notes. No, we're going to just cover some biblical principles
and this particular sermon subject is something that I plan to preach for a while. So, it
is something that I wanted to preach for a few reasons and we're going to talk about
that in a bit. So, we're going to start with pregnancy and we're going to look at some
good principles for pregnancy and you might be sitting there going, where have you gone
through the Bible for this? Because, look, and just a quick note on this as well, because
someone does something a certain way in the Bible, that doesn't mean that God wants us
to do it that way, right? So, you might look at something in the Bible and go, well, you
know, that person did this or didn't do that, so that must be God telling us to do it that
way. That's not true, is it? And when it comes to pregnancy itself, there aren't some many,
I don't believe, clear commands of do or don't do this, but there are some principles in
the Bible anyway that we're going to look at. I look down at Psalm 127 in verse one,
we're going to read it one more time and it's an important verse to get memorised, except
the Lord build the house, the Lord. They labour in vain that build it, except the Lord keep
the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early to sit
up late, to eat the bread of sorrows, for so he giveth his beloved sleep. So, we want
to do things God's way, right? Or it's empty, it's pointless, however hard we might work
at it, yeah? That's what it's saying here. Now, you could, for example, burn the candle
at both ends, studying child psychology and the best way of reasoning with a naughty three-year-old,
but if you don't chastise them the Lord's way, it's pretty much a waste of time, isn't
it? You're labouring in vain, studying how to sit down and explain to that child, you
know, in as nice a way as possible that sometimes you've just got to do things God's way, okay?
In fact, most of the time you've got to do things God's way when it's clear how to do
something, okay? Now, it's the same with pregnancy, you could research the best diet, the best
supplements, pregnancy exercises, all these things, but if you don't remember whose child
it is, it's a waste of time because whose child is it? It's God's. It's God's child.
Verse 3 says, lo, children are an heritage of the Lord, of the Lord, and the fruit of
the womb is his reward, okay? They're an heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is
his reward. They're the Lord's, they're his reward. Now, that's a good thing to remember
because we had a clown in here once that liked to say, you know, the womb, the fruit of the
womb is our reward type thing, you know, it's his reward is in for us, you know, you're
rewarded by it. No, no, that's not what the Bible says, the fruit of the womb is his reward,
okay? It's a reward to the Lord. Look, God loves children, right? God wants children
in this world, the fruit of the womb is his reward. Don't forget that, they're not your
reward. You haven't been rewarded with children, okay? Oh, well, it's because I'm so amazing,
that's why I've got a child. No, no, the fruit of the womb is his reward, okay? Just make
that clear because there are people that sadly, like I said, will try and push that and then
if they could explain to me, for example, why that sort of, you know, that person in
the gutters with 20 children by 20 different fathers who's just doing it to get extra benefits,
you know, on the social, on whatever social housing and everything else has got 20 children
and you could do that to me, but the fruit of the womb is his reward, they're something
that he rewards himself with, with children. Obviously, we're talking about especially
God's children here. Now, it starts in the beginning of pregnancy and what I mean by
that is that we're looking after them for God, okay? You're looking after them for God,
they're God's children, okay? So, what does that mean? Well, we know that life begins
at conception, don't we? Okay? Let's start with that. God calls them infants through
Job, doesn't he? In a baby, he calls them in Luke chapter one, he refers to pregnant
ladies as with child and that child is in heritage of the Lord, okay? So, let's make
that clear because I hope no one here has been affected by the wicked false doctrine
out there trying to encourage the murder of these babies. Now, as husbands and a lot of
this is going to be about husbands as well because parenting is a, well, not a two-man
job, it's a man and a woman job, okay? It's a two-person job. And as husbands, we should
be considering the fact if our wives are pregnant, they're not carrying a fetus, they're not
carrying a bundle of cells, they're not carrying something that's not really alive until, you
know, you decide it is till it looks a bit more baby-like as you'd like it to look. No,
they're carrying a precious child of God's. They're carrying a precious child of God's.
So, don't forget that, husbands. When your wives are pregnant, when you become husbands
in the future, some of the men that aren't maybe married, when your wife gets pregnant,
she's carrying a child of God's. She's carrying something very precious of God's, yeah? And
let's put it this way, let's give a few examples. That child, when that child was born, I'm
sure you wouldn't be going, oh, it's God's child, I'm going to put a bit of alcohol on
that child's dummy just to get him to shut up or just because, why not, you know? I don't
really care where that dummy's been, it's been rolling around in the gutter and everything
else. And in case anyone's thinking, yeah, they used to do that, though, didn't they?
Look, whether they did or didn't, okay, whatever they used to do in history doesn't mean it's
okay, okay? The old way is not always the best way because sometimes we can go too far
with that, can't we? Oh, well, in the old days, they did this, it must be okay. Yeah,
the old days, they did a lot of wicked stuff, okay? And they continue to do wicked stuff.
But you wouldn't do that, I'd hope you wouldn't do that. So you would include with that, wouldn't
you, that drinking alcohol during pregnancy surely isn't a good thing to do, is it? I
think everyone knows that that's a poison, that that's going to poison your child, so
hopefully everyone here would agree and not start going down the route of, well, the world's
recently said that one glass of wine's okay, or the world, whatever. Look, we've obviously
preached about drunkenness here as well, and if you think, well, I'm within the limits,
I'm not a drunkard, but I like, I think a glass of wine as a pregnant lady is beneficial
to my child, nonsense. Rubbish, you wouldn't do it when that child's born, don't do it
when that child's in the womb, okay? So that's one principle we could get there. Another
one being the Lord's is maybe you wouldn't give that child when it's born a few puffs
on your cigarette, would you? Anyone here ever thought about, yeah, maybe that baby's
been born, just let them try a little cigarette now and again, they can have a little puff
on it, see how they feel. No one would do that. But why do pregnant women think it's
okay to smoke cigarettes with a baby in their womb? Okay, if there's ever a reason to give
up, surely the instincts of motherhood would be that, right? And yeah, you might find that
hard, it might be difficult, but that is essential, isn't it? That's got to be essential. So again,
another thing that you'd say there, I would say, look, if anyone here has a problem with
it, some people do, okay? Oh, well, you're a Christian, you smoke, yeah, yeah, some Christians
smoke, okay? Some Christians, it's quite hard to give up. If you're pregnant, I would say
if you're planning to get pregnant, you need to give up smoking, okay, long before you
do, because that's not the sort of thing you give to a little baby. That is a baby, or
is anyone wondering if it's a baby in your womb? Anyone wondering this? No, hopefully
not. Now here's another one. How about other known dangers then? How about other obvious
known dangers? How about other known toxins and poisons and other things? Would you be,
you know, would you get that baby and start, I don't know, soaring through the asbestos
with the baby next to you? Probably not. So why do people think that it's okay to do that
when they're in their womb? Look, you need to protect that child, and it's not our job
to start, we're not, look, we, when we, not just as dads, but as people in the show, not
for us to start questioning that with people, but this is for the mums there and for the
dads here to think about that sort of thing when you've got someone with a precious child,
this precious child in their womb, yeah? We want to keep, we want to protect that mother,
we want to protect that child, yeah? So, but here's another one with that in mind. If you're
a babysitter for someone important, say it was someone really important in your life,
I don't know, maybe it was your boss, it was your best friend, it was someone like that,
would you take their baby to listen to someone making mean songs about them? Would you go,
I'm just going to take your baby, I'm babysitting the baby, I'm just going to take them around
someone's house where they're going to play songs where they're just basically being rude,
disrespectful, nasty, coming out with, you know, support of your worst enemy. You wouldn't do that,
would you? So why do people think that's okay to do when they've got a baby in their womb,
God's child in their womb, and they decide that it's, it's, you know, okay to start listening to
all sorts of wicked music, rock music, pop music, all this, it's all, it's all God hating, isn't it?
Pretty much most of it. It's all encouraging stuff which God would never want to listen to,
would he? Yeah? And I'd say that's another thing. You wouldn't take that baby when that,
do you think that baby can't hear when it's in the womb? Anyone think their baby can't hear when
they're in the womb? The baby can hear when they're in the womb, right? You want to start them off on
a good track day, you don't want them to kind of associate certain music with maybe that time when
they were comfortable and content in the womb, yeah? So things like that are good things to
think about. Is it okay in the car? No. Is it okay to just have the radio on blasting all sorts of,
you know, just God hating or at the least just mocking just wicked sort of subjects and
everything else, even more so with a child. You've got, you've got a child, the fruit of the womb is
his reward, yeah? Children and heritage of the Lord. And I think that's a good principle to start
thinking about with everything you do, and that's a good way of protecting that child. Now turn to
Proverbs chapter 17, because you might be sitting here going, okay, I'm getting a bit bored of this, brother,
and where's the biblical, where's the biblical diet info? Where, all right, I want to know,
where's the magic herb? Where's the magic herb in the Bible which will make everything okay and make
everyone healthy? There's got to be a magic herb, isn't there? Go on, this is biblical pregnancy
stuff. We don't want to know about pop music and stuff like that, you know, that sounds like a bit
of, you know, you're getting a little bit strict there. Well, healthy babies need healthy mums, don't
they? Look at Proverbs 17 and verse 22. Proverbs 17, 22 says, a merry heart doeth good like a
medicine, but a broken spirit dryeth the bones. A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a
broken spirit dryeth the bones. So our job, husbands again, is try and keep our wives' hearts merry,
isn't it? Wouldn't you say? You want a healthy child? You want to have a healthy mum, yeah? A
healthy mum, how do we do that? We want to try and keep their hearts merry. A merry heart doeth good
like a medicine, but a broken spirit dryeth the bones. Because it's easy for that pregnancy spirit
to get broken, isn't it? Really easy, isn't it? I don't know, I can't think why. Why some lady,
you know, who's suddenly carrying, you know, this extra baby and all the extra things that go with
being pregnant might possibly now and again have a broken spirit from it, but they do, don't they?
Okay, that's life. It could be hard. It's hard work. Let alone the fact that they know they've
got, you know, what isn't always, you know, the most simple thing, giving birth to a child, so I
hear, that they've got that to come as well. Look, sometimes that spirit can get broken easily,
can't it? So we want to make sure as husbands, we're doing our best to keep them happy, keep them
positive, keep them content. Look, we can fail at that a lot, can't we? And that's something that we
need to keep in our mind. Remember, children, heritage of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is his
reward, yeah? That mum's carrying a baby there, which is a heritage of the Lord's. We want to keep
that mum as happy and as healthy as possible. And by the way, if you're just banging on and drumming
on at them about eating exactly what you tell them and everything else, they're probably going to end
up with not a very happy heart, right? They're not going to end up with that merry heart. They're
going to be more likely to be even more stressed out. And look, on that, you can eat the best diet,
okay? You can live the healthiest lifestyle out there, but if you're constantly stressed and
unhappy, it will affect your health and your baby's health. It goes without saying, doesn't it? Stress
is massive. Look, because there are people that get so obsessed with food and diet and the perfect
thing, but then they get so stressed about it that they end up more unhealthy than had they just tried
to be a little bit more relaxed and content in life, right? Okay, we want to make sure that those
mums in our lives are like that. Now, while we're talking about pregnancy health, if you could show
me a list of ingredients of any of the vaccinations offered to pregnant women, that'd be nice, and then
explain to me how any of those ingredients would make them or the baby healthier, that would be
good at all. But unless anyone could do that, show me the list of all the ingredients of those
vaccinations and show the health benefits of them, well, I would say, look, mums, remember whose baby
you're carrying. Dads, remember that as well, because look, just because someone says it's okay to start
injecting with all sorts, you don't even know what it is, that doesn't mean it's a good idea, is it?
Okay, and we've obviously covered that at length, we'll talk about that again in a minute. Now, with that
in mind, there's another principle when dealing with the outside world, okay, and that's from Matthew
chapter 10 and verse 16. You don't have to turn there, it's quite a famous verse, which is, behold, I send you
forth as sheep in the midst of wolves, be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
Wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Yes, in an ideal world, yeah, every pregnant lady would have
a happy nine months long pregnancy, get a bit of help during birth and then be left alone,
barring emergencies, yeah, that would be great. But this isn't an ideal world, okay, it's not, and if you
ignore all appointments, scans and checks, and then you turn up to have your baby, they will mark you
down as a nutter, okay, they will have you down as a nutter, and they will have social services onto you
quicker than you can say, I'm pregnant, okay, they don't like that stuff, and you could say for maybe
good reason as well, but look, at the end of the day, yeah, we put our trust in God, we put our faith in God,
but look, labour's a big deal, okay, don't forget that, labour's a big deal, and just kind of, well, yeah, I'm
just not going to go anywhere near the hostel, look, they're going to, they're going to, they're going to,
alarm bells are going to be raised, red flags are going to be going off, they're going to be going,
what on earth, we never met you before, and then you're going to have a more of a problem, you're
going to have more stress for the mum, not only during that labour while they're panicking and
wanting to do all sorts and question and everything else, but obviously afterwards as well, so we need
to be wise about this sort of thing as well, we're not dealing with God's healthcare system,
okay, we're dealing with the world's healthcare system, so we need to be wise how we deal with that,
which leads me on to the next phase of parenting, so there's some principles about labour, and
what about the perfect diet, by the way, what about the, no, look, just look after it,
look after your wives, mums look after yourselves, yeah, and guys, just, you know, when it comes to
pregnancy, and I might be preaching to the choir here, it's pretty simple, isn't it, just be healthy,
be wise, be sensible, look after our wives, try and keep them stress-free, but let's look at labour,
because this is a bit where if it wasn't for those pesky doctors and midwives,
you probably wouldn't even notice that you're giving birth, right, is that what people try
and claim, if it wasn't for western medicine, you'd probably just give birth and not even realise,
because that's kind of how some people like to bill it a bit, right, okay, there is this whole
cliche, I remember my wife when she was training as a midwife, they used to say this one, they used
to say that in some countries they basically just give birth in a bush and crack on with their day,
yeah, this is what they used to try and tell them about not making it too stressful during,
which is very odd, because then kind of if you've ever been dealing with this sort of like with
hospital treatment during pregnancy, it's kind of the complete opposite, where they do their
utmost to stress you out, but maybe that's if you refuse vaccinations, they kind of go a bit
crazy, but regardless, there was this sort of lie, and it is a lie, look, now there might be,
there might be cultures where women are shamed into not making any noise and things like that,
but it's far from simple, okay, it's far from just a run-of-the-mill thing,
that is a load of old nonsense, childbearing and childbirth itself, as amazing as it is,
can also be very traumatic, and it does carry an element of risk, okay, it does, now I'm sorry,
look, I know we, you know, we have pregnant women here, and of course we don't want to
put you in fear, because look, turn to Genesis chapter three,
because look, in this day and age, it's very unlikely in our nation for something really
serious to happen to the mums themselves, so I don't want you to be worried about this,
but we should also have some respect for it as well, in Genesis three,
well you're turned to Genesis three, we, aside from Genesis three, we do see
midwives used in the bible, in case anyone's wondering, okay, so in the book of Exodus,
obviously at the beginning of the book of Exodus, we see that there are a couple of known midwives,
maybe they're head midwives or whatever it is, but we see midwives being used, you go, okay,
well that was under Egypt, wasn't it brother? Well they also mentioned before that, you see
the mention being involved in the delivery of Tamar's twins, fathered by Judah, okay,
there's a midwife there, and then even before that, when Rachel gives birth to Benjamin,
the last of the 12 tribes of Israel, we also see a midwife mentioning that as well, and that's
actually a very sad story, because Rachel ends up sadly passing away as well, now like I said,
that is quite rare nowadays, so I don't want you to be be there in fear, going what on earth is
this, but childbirth is a big deal, and we need to give it respect, okay, Genesis 3 16, just after
the fall, God said this, unto the women, he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy
conception, in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband,
he shall rule over thee, okay, so why the sorrow, which is sadness or grief?
Because apparently it can hurt a little, yeah, believe it or not, they're not just kind of being
dramatic, it does apparently hurt, Isaiah 26 17, that return there gives a comparison to childbirth,
where it says, like as a woman with child that draweth near the time of her delivery,
is in pain and quiet out in her pangs, so have we been in thy sight, oh Lord, okay, what's my point,
what's my point, why am I making a point of this, is it just to scare the women here, no,
it's because dads, we do need to appreciate what our wives go through, don't we, yeah, dads, future
fathers to be here, in fact, just church members in general, we need to appreciate what the women go
through, okay, they go through what is a hard time, they go through something which is bound
to probably have some anxiety in the build-up, isn't it, wouldn't you think, I know if I was
probably facing that, no, I'll probably get a bit of anxiety about that, I'm gonna probably
have some times of, you know, of worry and things like that, we need to understand that, don't we,
okay, oh well, it's perfectly natural, loads of women do it, yeah, loads of women have a lot of
pain, okay, that's the truth of it, isn't it, and sorry again to those of you who have this coming
on, look, I'm sure I'm not telling you anything new here, and that might include as well some
pretty intense moments during the birth, yeah, that does happen, it's not all just going to be
a sort of, well, just a quick stroll in the park, it can be intense, it can be, there can be times
of fear, times of doubt, and other things like that, we need to appreciate that, we need to be
a support, we need to be a help, we need to be a guide, we want our wives to be as stress-free as
possible, we want to appreciate what they do, turn to 1 Timothy 2, because biblical parenting
involves both of us, like I said, and we need to help our wives through what is an ordeal, okay,
1 Timothy chapter 2 says this from verse 8, 1 Timothy 2 8 says, I will therefore that men
pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting, okay, that's basically holy
men, if they're lifting up holy hands it's because they're holy, he will, his will is that men are
praying everywhere and they have holy, they're holy people basically, okay, he wants God's people
to be holy, the men to be holy, he said without wrath and doubting, in like manner also that women
adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shame facing this and sobriety, not with broidered hair,
or gold, or pearls, or costly array, but which becometh women professing godliness with good
works. Now just a point here, and I've mentioned this before, and you kind of feel like you need to
keep mentioning this, because people love to go off a verse and then go, right, see, you know, women
shouldn't have broidered hair, well that must mean they're not allowed to have anything other than
like hair straight down, oh right, no gold, no right, no jewellery, women, or you're wicked,
and nothing that's worth any money, well what's worth any money, well let's look at,
compare it to a third world country, right, anyone wearing anything which isn't like,
you know, charity shop rags, you're wicked, well, but did it say that, did it say that they don't
adorn themselves, adorning being what basically is their showing, their outward showing, what should
they be adorned by, well, good works, the point being is that you shouldn't be known by those
things, you should be known by your good works, okay, embroidered hair isn't by the way just plaits
and things like that, embroidered hair is like where they have things sewn into it and everything
else, yeah, it's all basically about decorating themselves and not just decorating
themselves with good works, yeah, okay, let the woman learn in silence with all subjection,
but I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence,
so if anyone wonders, if anyone's ever sat here and goes, why do we only ever hear men are menning
in church, because the Bible says that, because the Bible says let women learn in silence, okay,
it's not because we're just these horrible, whatever they were, what do they even call them
nowadays, I don't know, is it misogynistic, have I got the word, misogynistic, yeah, it's horrible,
misogynistic, no, we're just Bible believers, right, the Bible makes it pretty clear there,
let the woman learn in silence is all subjection, okay, so it's not really a very hard principle,
that's just what the Bible says, that's why, you know, women ain't men in your head, yeah,
and nothing wrong with that, okay, and we could go, we'll all go into that another service,
okay, but I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence,
for Adam was first formed then Eve, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived
was in the transgression, notwithstanding she, notice this, notwithstanding she shall be
saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety,
I've always wondered about this verse, I don't know about you, I've always wondered why the she
and then the they, because it, for the last three verses, about four, from, from, in fact,
five, from verse 11 it says let the woman, and it's talking about singular, learn in silence
all subjection, but I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man,
for Adam was first formed then Eve, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman, singular, being
deceived was in the transgression, notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they
continue faith, now I don't think it's now just talk about women as a plural here, I don't believe
that, I don't see that when you're reading that going, oh no, now it's gone from woman, woman,
woman, she, blah, blah, blah, it would just be if she continues in faith and charity, wouldn't it,
so who's the they, who's the they, well perhaps the they is referring to the men in verse eight,
you ever wondered that, look at verse eight, I will therefore that men pray everywhere,
lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting,
if they continue in faith, well that's without the doubting, that's men praying everywhere,
charity and holiness with sobriety, well holiness without the doubting, without the,
the wrath, charity you could say as well, sobriety, well we should be, we should be sober,
whether that's sober from sort of mind-altering things, things are just being sensible and
calm and, and, and you know, and whatever, whatever the word would be there in life,
well what's she being saved from, what's she being saved from, so I believe that Paul is saying that
despite being the one deceived, the woman could be protected in childbearing by the men's faith,
charity, holiness and sobriety, that's what I believe, now you could say it's a combination
of the men and the women, nothing wrong with that either, look go for that as well, but I believe
that's what it's saying there, I believe that woman can be saved by, because it comes down to
the man and obviously this is a given that she should be married and I know look some people have
especially pre-faith as well have done things that, that they shouldn't and been in situations
they shouldn't, that we've all, we've all sadly lived a life before but here we're talking about
the ideal here, here we're talking about how God would want it and here it says she shall be saved
in childbearing if they continue faith in charity and holiness with sobriety, having just said that
the men should be lifted up holy hands without wrath and doubting, so maybe we have more of a,
more of a kind of a say or more of an influence on our women's childbearing based on how we behave,
now I don't think it's necessarily some you know well if you do this and suddenly everything will
go well, maybe it's because look if we're going to be leading our women we need to be holy,
we need to not be doubting, we need to be praying everywhere, we need to be not full of wrath don't
we men, you're leading your women into something as, as what can be you know a high pressure
situation like giving birth, you want to make sure that you're stepping up to the plate, you want to
make sure that you're leading them well, you want to make sure that you're on hand to be able to deal
with you know who knows, who knows what's around the corner especially sadly a lot of the time from
from our medical professionals because they feel like they need to dabble and interfere in
everything else when they don't necessarily need to do so, you need to be, make sure you're on hand
men, I believe that's maybe what it's talking about there because look whichever way you want
to look at it, us men need to protect our wives, our children and our future unborn children don't we,
yeah, I think whichever way you want to look at that even if you think well the they's maybe just
talking about women plural, maybe the they's talking about the husbands and wives, maybe it's
got nothing to do with actual childbirth itself, it's just saying that you know they'll be okay you
know and have lots, whatever it is, it doesn't really matter we still need to protect our children don't
we, we need to protect them and we need to step up and to do that we need to be holy, we need to
continue in faith and charity, we need to have holiness and we need to be sober, sober okay, we
need to be smart, we need to be sensible, we need to we need to be making the right decisions for
our wives and this doesn't stop at the delivery of the child okay because this is often when it
when it intensifies, so biblical parenting, today we've looked briefly at pregnancy and labour so far
now let's look at postpartum and if you're wondering what on earth is postpartum brother
then well this is basically from straight after childbirth off up to several weeks on okay,
turn to Leviticus chapter 12 because the baby's been born so that heritage of the Lord is
hopefully healthy and well the camera phone is coming out the phone calls are about to start
you know you're starting to to to send the messages about the the name the what the age the
weight or whatever it is you know how long ago it was born but and thankfully with that there
is a truth that Jesus gave in John 16 21 that even after the trauma of childbirth we are able
to celebrate aren't we John 16 21 says a woman when she is in travail have sorrow because our
hour has come but as soon as she is delivered of the child she remembereth no more the anguish for
joy that a man is born into the world okay it's all it's a joyful occasion isn't it it's a great
it's a miracle it is a miracle it's amazing okay what wow what an event it is and after all that
even more amazing but what's this suddenly there's some psycho nowadays with a mask over their mouth
going towards your baby with some huge needle some absolute lunatic thinking that it's okay
now with this poor little precious newborn heritage of the Lord to just start jabbing
some needle into them with who knows what cocktails within it it's just it's a risky time
right look that happened oh yeah but i put down on my notes i put down on my notes no vaccination
you think that stops them you think that's that look like any excuse that's the time when they
went around with you i remember the birth of my first child where when little Ella was born
it was a bit scary she was born what they say blue you know she didn't breathe for a bit they
press the buzzer they got her up onto the you know emergency resuscitation table all these
doctors from everywhere all start charging in it's what's going on you know we're thinking i'm
thinking is she alive you know we're it's a scary time right she starts crying great literally
within a second she's been born about 10 20 seconds previously now it's time to have a row
with me about the vitamin k jab i mean because that's the time to have a row with the father
because i've got to get the quick quick get it in them you know and they're all queuing up you
can imagine it's probably like cues of doctors outside with different sort of injections and
needles and instruments of torture let us out let us out you're foaming at the mouth and i'm having
to row with like these pediatricians and and literally straight after she's born look this
is when you you men you need to step up at this point right we need to be ready for that you need
to be ready to deal with that obviously again you need to deal with that wisely don't you
if you just kind of sit there going no vaccines are bad isn't it yeah that doctor you usually
isn't going to turn around and go oh no fair enough you know they they made it in four because
they want to make sure you've made an informed decision okay at this point look they'll leave
you alone if they decide you made an informed now this doctor obviously pushed it a bit far and
i thought i had made an informed decision i in fact i spent about nine months reading researching
talking just anything i could it was something that i really thought about at the time and
wanted to make sure i was right about you know because i didn't know many other people that
made that decision but look regardless you need to make sure that you that you can show just calmly
no we've looked into this no we're confident no you're not going to change my mind either
and if you're there kind of your knees are knocking you go well um well i think it's bad
look and you make the decision it's up to you i'm not going to stand behind this pulpit and say you
must do this you must do that but i would say that psalm 139 and verse 14 says i will praise
thee for i am fearfully and wonderfully made marvelous although works and that my soul knoweth
right well so i believe that we're fearfully and wonderfully made and i don't believe that god just
forgot about the vitamin k jab at birth he he just oh man if only i kind of made a way of just
getting that baby a bit higher in vitamin k i don't believe that does anyone believe that
i don't believe that okay now look just just just just in case anyone sitting there going oh this
guy just you know he must just hate all medicine look there's some great there's some great
medicine there's some great people out there listen great experts out there there's people
that know a lot more than i do about a lot of things when it comes to the body when it comes
to health when it comes to healing when it comes to fixing people up after situation when it comes
to babies but but i do know what the word of god says and i do know that i trust our god and that
i trust god that that when he made us that we didn't need upgrades from the doctor gods
okay we didn't need that upgrade at birth okay and i i still believe that okay so
the problem with this is that if you refuse if you refuse it's not just right well i've dealt
with the debates now i've dealt with the cues of psychopaths with different you know ways of
getting in getting to my child i'm going to be all right now because what they do now and we've had
this many times is they start to make excuses as to why you need to stay overnight this is if you're
in hospital if you haven't been asked a lot of the time they'll try and get you along the hospital
anyway so now it's right how can we and it oh well and they'll lie outright oh could be signs of an
infection or could be something you know okay what what are the signs and you kind of and it's hard
because look you've got a little precious baby there right and you want to you want to make
sure you make the right decision you don't want to do anything foolhardy but on the other hand
you've got to respect the fact that look these people panic when you don't get a vitamin k
injection okay they panic when you don't do exactly what they say to do okay and now i don't
know do they still is it i don't think it's mad oh they don't claim it's mandatory is it the bcg
at birth as well that a lot a lot get i think it's um but anyway regardless there are many
different depending on where you come from as well it seems a bit of a strange thing even if
you've lived here for a long time if you're from a different country originally then they try and
push different vaccinations at birth as well well when you refuse that stuff they start to panic and
then they want you overnight and start observing and start coming up with other things and then a
lot of time your baby becomes a pin cushion and a lot of the time sadly now they're coming up with
all these different reasons why you need to be there and why you need to be on preemptive
antibiotics on your baby just in case because it takes too long to get the results of of you know
of the of the blood tests to see if there are infection markers so we'd better get on the
antibiotics straight away anyone think that's a good idea to put a baby on antibiotics the moment
they're born no but then you're told but it'll be too late if there is an infection it will be
too late so look you need to be on the ball with that look there's not a one right way or wrong way
with that but you need to be on the ball to be able to discuss this to be able to talk about this
look it's an important thing you're going into a place to look there are some well-meaning people
there okay and look and and there have been many babies that have had their lives saved like i
said there are many moms that aren't aren't you know thankfully dying in childbirth because the
rates used to be a lot higher and thanks to thanks to to you know a lot of medical professionals okay
who know a lot more than i do about many things but when it comes to injecting our babies with
things for no reason i'm against that okay no i don't have to have a letters after my name to say
that you just have to read the bible okay it's pretty clear isn't it so like i said you've got
to be on you on the ball for that and that's dad's dad's especially at this point but mum's as well
because here's another thing you dads are in there going right we don't want this we don't want that
no we don't want this we don't want that and the mum's just sitting there going whatever he says
whatever he says now now guess what dad's being looked at as an abuser yeah he's one of those
abusive husbands that poor wife we need to get dad out of there okay let's find a way of getting dad
out and then we can talk to mum on her own and she's just gone through a trauma hasn't she she's
just gone through a high stress moment now they want to try and get on her own and get her to agree
and they start to try and scare sadly this is what happens okay so again mum's you need to be on board
as well it's oh right dad does the research he'll just tell me i'm going to try yeah look ultimately
yeah you you should submit to what your what your husband says there but it should be something that
you both understand and agreed on and and and are able to to to give the same reasons as a husband
otherwise you're just going to open a can of worms a can of worms which can take many years to shut
yeah okay so maybe you've had a home birth or you make it out of the hospital okay now it's time to
get the family members around isn't it okay i made it out of there in one piece the baby got out of
there we fended them off you know it was like a kung fu movie i mean kicking vaccines out of
people's hands and we got we got down there we broke out okay so it could feel like that okay
you broke out of there you got home now get them all round it's party time isn't it yeah family
comes around friends you know next door neighbour bring the dogs bring the cats you know just just
everyone around let's just all have a big old party at home well
let's have a look at Leviticus chapter 12 so you turn in Leviticus chapter 12 now before we look at
it let's just make it clear we're not under any obligation to follow this okay you don't have to
follow this and there are some reasons why some people might think for their own maybe mental
health or insanity maybe they they they won't they don't feel that they should do that okay
and obviously families are smaller nowadays maybe for some they can't they can't imagine doing this
and look you've got to make that call between you between you with that but i believe that
leviticus chapter 12 gives us some great principles okay and obviously the sermon series is biblical
parenting so let's see some biblical principles from leviticus chapter 12 when it comes to post-partum
recovery and the lord spake unto moses saying leviticus 12 and verse 1 speak unto the children
of israel saying if a woman have conceived seed and born a man child then she shall be unclean
seven days according to the days of the separation of her infirmity shall she be unclean and in the
eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised and she shall then continue in the
blood of her purifying three and thirty days she shall touch no hallowed thing nor come into the
sanctuary until the days of her purifying be fulfilled so what's this all about okay this
woman's just had a little boy clearly here unclean means that she's basically quarantined from the
outside world okay she's basically to stay within our home here okay after a week of that and let's
forget the circumcision bit because clearly that doesn't stand anymore okay after a week of that
she's then to stay away from the sanctuary now here it's referring i believe to the tabernacle
of the congregation the sanctuaries used to refer to a few different things in the bible
but here ultimately it's talking about going to the congregation going to what eventually was
a temple at this point it's not because it's a tabernacle okay for another 33 days okay so you
can see there's a bit of time here so we've got seven days basically quarantine then you've got
33 days where she's not basically to go to to like a gathering place of people and everything else
right why why oh is this that mean oh god again just being mean to women well she's just had a
baby yeah she needs rest she needs recovery the baby could do without a ton of germs and bacteria
as well yeah because look when when a baby's just been born some newborn i don't believe that's a
good time to just start having all sorts coming around and holding the baby as lovely as it looks
on on social media with all the different photos and as you know and as pleased as they might feel
about it look god didn't just do this for a laugh yeah he's had seven days so the first seven days
and that's also a good time to be bonding with your child isn't it that's a good time to be at
home to not be having to do things to not be out and about and i better go and get the shopping in
and do this and that and then those 33 days afterwards are a good period of time to to not
be around groups for many reasons for the social aspects of that for the fact that that emotionally
after baby it's it's a hard time for many women to recover from the from all those different hormones
from as we know what they've got post-age depression look it's just after having a baby
okay there are very few women that don't get some some degree of that okay it's just normal
now and one of the reasons i wanted to preach this sermon as well is because we had some real clown
behavior in our church okay we had some wicked behavior in our church because it was wicked it
was very clever how it was done where we had someone who who oh they just bounced back really
quickly isn't it and mate what a great christian person who turns up at church literally a couple
of days after having a baby and starts getting the hoover out okay that is moronic it's it's so
dangerous as well okay dangerous for her for for look i don't you don't have to be a doctor to
understand the risks that come with that right and it wasn't because they were just so strong
and just such an example to all the other women it's because they were trying to push it on other
women it's because they were trying to make other women feel rubbish trying to make other women feel
like they were somehow not as not as strong and not as much of a godly woman because they didn't
want to be at church straight after having a baby that's normal okay it's normal to need to recover
it's normal to take time out okay and coming to church and trying to basically put it on
and publicly do the hoovering it's just ridiculous okay it's absolutely ridiculous and who i mean who
knows god only knows really what she really felt like inside and when she went home after that
because look look no one is look there's no superwoman who's just like yeah well they're just
so much so much stronger than everyone else they could just push hoovers and turn up at church with
with tanks it's ridiculous okay and i really don't want women to at this church to feel influenced by
that and feel like they have to somehow be back at church straight no no you've just been through
a trauma you've been through an ordeal take your time yeah and husbands we have to be sympathetic
to that all of us husbands here and the whole church because it's not just it's not just
the the husband's responsibility with that because what will then happen is you'll get mum comes back
after having a baby so when are you going out soul winning are you going out soul winning soon
and when you're going out somebody it's like she's just had a baby like that look walking pounding
the streets it's not easy at the best of times that like oh you'll also get it with pregnant
women as well and people like oh not going not going out so what are you at least like look
just just have some we all need to have consideration for what a woman goes through
right okay and postpartum god expects them to be out away from the congregation for basically 40
days that's a long time isn't 40 days that's all sort of wicked wouldn't she wouldn't she want to
be in the congregation would she want to be around in the church family three days after having a
baby no no she probably wouldn't yeah maybe look maybe she's going to have something i would like
to see my brothers and sisters and stuff they can go and visit yeah they can cut if they if they
you know if they care enough they'll probably pop around and see after the first week maybe
right and hopefully not if they're ill and sick and got illnesses and everything else
but there there was this sort of put this and it wasn't even that subtle but it's trying to
basically make women feel small make them feel like they somehow weren't as womanly or whatever
look look after pregnancy after after labor it's perfectly normal to need to recover now
okay these are great principles look at verse five but if she bear a maid child then she
shall be unclean two weeks okay that's two weeks of basically quarantining staying at home and
obviously that's what i found you know shut up in the room where they kind of put food through a
gap in the door or something i'll turn it into like a prison door and you can like feed them
food through it no but this is obviously just being away from other people right unclean two
weeks as in her separation and she shall continue the blood of her purifying three score and six
days okay so that's the further 66 days oh again it's got he's got a problem with women isn't it
she's had a little girl she doesn't deserve to be right no stop why longer because it takes longer
for the hormones to settle because you speak to women who have had little boys and little girls
and they'll tell you that having a girl just takes longer to recover it takes longer for the
hormones to settle it takes longer for them to get back takes longer for it all to just just even out
again okay because that's a big part of it as well it's not just and it takes longer to physically
recover as well it's not just the physical recovery okay it's also just the mental recovery
as well and we have to be sympathetic the whole church needs to be sympathetic to that yeah
now some people with that in mind some people would go stir crazy at home this isn't a rule
that we have in our church is to make this clear okay there are some people be like i couldn't
spend that long away from church i want to be at church that's my social you know my social
setting that's why i'm gonna i need to be around other mums like look if they what if they need to
do that then again that's fine as well yeah you make that call you make that decision husbands
and wives yeah between you you know try and do what's sensible because obviously mental health
is important as well some people might be like actually need a bit longer out and if they need
longer out so be it yeah okay and obviously you need to gauge that right if it starts to get to
the point where clearly they just don't want to be in church that's a problem but look there's
a good principles here there's a long time until you start getting to that point when you just had
a baby right okay and they're clear biblical principles aren't they however many women want to
you know turn up the next day with the baby and you know show how strong they are to try and
belittle other women that don't it doesn't matter okay what does the bible say now with that in mind
when you do if you did decide okay yeah i i want to come back maybe you maybe you've had that time
maybe you haven't maybe look you decide no that's not for me i'm all right actually i feel good i
feel recovered i feel emotionally better as well i feel like i look that doesn't happen there's no
rule like i said maybe you've come back to church now and you're like okay i'm back at church okay
please don't start rearranging furniture hoovering and doing other things to show that you're you
know look how strong you are compared with science okay and that's why when we do the cleaning rotors
and stuff here you know my wife just just made a rule obviously with with my say-so of just look
women have had babies fairly recently we just kept them off it okay and and even like some
because we also had women that wanted to make a point of doing things you know so
for their own safety for just look just have some time out right okay because look there's no
no medals for any of that but when you feel ready when you feel like no look i'm doing all right
now with that now think about this as well fathers think about this kids as well kids especially here
because look for some men for some dads look it's like oh right fine yeah yeah my wife's recovering
right now i'm just going to add you know all the chores that she did and all the anything that was
slightly manual or physical i just add it to my day that for a lot of men that isn't actually
physically possible okay there's not enough time in the day okay kids you need to step up
okay again it's a serious thing having a baby's a big deal it's a big it's a massive life event
and the whole family needs to step up don't they sometimes friends need to step up as well
sometimes they're those that look maybe they don't look maybe they've just had the first baby or
maybe they've had the second maybe there aren't the older kids that can help maybe they're all
yeah maybe they've just had three babies all at the same time right or something like that and
and look there aren't right well you know now we've got older kids we've got and sometimes
look friends at church need to be able to say look do you want us to come around and help and do this
or help and do that and obviously after that time that they're ready to have people they might say
no they might not want to see anyone for a while maybe they do yeah we need to all be aware of that
a way of being able to help but husbands we need to we need to be trying look within reason
yeah obviously if your wife is adamant no i don't want this i want that we don't have to
then really upset my stress amount as well but we need to be taking lead with that don't we
taking lead with protecting our wives postpartum as well it's not just when that baby's in their
womb okay and and look that responsibility to get our wives to have the right balance
is especially important if you want to have more children okay because look we're talking
about affecting their health in the future as well here right okay it's especially important
look at verse three back in psalm 127 you go back to psalm 127 and verse three which says
lo children are in heritage of the lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward
as arrows are in the hand of a mighty man so are children of the youth
happy is a man that hath his quiver full of them they shall not be ashamed but they shall speak
with the enemies in the gate they're like arrows in the hand of some warrior children of the youth
multiple children make us happy men don't they yeah i don't think there's many dads with multiple
children i just i just wish i'd had a few less you know if only i didn't have that one oh maybe some
do we don't want to get right now right and a team of children i've always thought about this
as it was being the men but i think a team of children gives those children confidence i think
that's what it's talking about here they shall not be ashamed but they shall speak to the enemies in
the gate having talked about the man happy is the man have his quiver full of him they should not be
ashamed but maybe the they maybe the they here is talking about the children right because the more
children there are the more in the family it becomes a bit of a team and a bit of a squad
probably ups their confidence and everything else as well but that's not going to happen if
you're forcing your wives out so winning a week after having a baby is it you think that they're
going to be able to bear you lots of children if your wives are you're so unspiritual i can't
believe you're not so winning you know it's it's already been a week well get up and get on with it
look we don't have to do that do we guys yeah and again as a church we want lots of children here
right yeah we want to be we want to make sure we're not doing the same not trying to put undue
pressure on on mums here that that you know you better get out so when are you going so
i'm going so you've been so winning yet since you had your look and i don't think anyone here would
do that but that sort of stuff went on before uh um uh you guys are winning well you guys you know
to to mums who literally just come back to church you know a few weeks after having babies even a
couple of months after whatever okay let them get their feet let them find their feet get their
rhythm let them get back and you want them to want to go out and preach your gospel and they need to
be ready and feel feel emotionally and physically able to do that right okay and men we have
obviously a responsibility that we're going to protect them from that as well and ultimately it's
dangerous it's dangerous anyway dangerous for the mums they're dangerous obviously future as well
and and look if you want your wives to show off their alleged recovery skills postpartum after
three days well that's up to you if you want to start boasting about that and how strong you
you know they are and everything else that is your decision you can do that but personally
i would just say it's foolhardy now turn to isaiah chapter 40 isaiah chapter 40
okay because like i said we want to as a church we want to encourage us as well we don't want to
be asking their husbands for example every week when are they back when are they back when are
they back yeah because look we're we're all easily influenced aren't we people look people get
influenced yeah they'll start oh sister so-and-so and brother so-and-so keeps asking me when are
you going to come back when you're gonna you're gonna come back soon you know it's like look she
just needs time sometimes okay postpartum they a lot of the time they just need time
now with that time it doesn't mean they have to be less spiritual obviously they need to be reading
their bibles yeah and as spiritual leaders we want to be encouraging that they should be praying you
should be also teaching your wives as well you should be also doing some sort of bible study
and everything else at home yeah all of that still needs to be happening but you don't need
to be forcing them back into the congregation right okay so you turn to isiah chapter 40 yeah
look at verses um verses 10 to 11 isiah 14 verse 10 says behold the lord god will come with
strong hand and his arm shall rule for him behold his reward is with him and his work for him so
he's talking about the lord here we want to all be more like the lord don't we want to be more
christ-like and here look he's strong yeah he comes with a strong hand and god is strong isn't
he his his and his arm shall rule for him yeah this is talking about the lord coming to rule
with a strong arm and everything else here but then look at verse 11 he shall feed his flock
like a shepherd he shall gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom and shall gently
lead those that are with young yeah he's gonna gather the lambs with his arm he shall carry them
in his bosom and wait a second what sort of a what a sort of a pushover is this what a sort of
a softy no he's strong isn't he verse 10 just said said the lord will come with strong hand his arm
shall rule for him but but part of being a strong leader dad's father's dad's to be here part of that
is gathering the lambs with our arms carrying them in our bosoms and gently leading those that are
with young a great great little part of the verse is it to gently lead those that with young that's
something that we have to constantly remember don't we because we as men look some of us yeah
we can pound the streets on the soul-winning marathon we don't even feel it maybe especially
some of you younger guys yeah you might be able to to go soul-winning multiple times a week
turn up to different soul-winning times to just you know church church three to thrive every
week of the year everything else but sometimes look those with young they need a bit more gentle
leading don't they yeah sometimes they need a bit bit of they they need a gentle hand yeah and look
we all get that wrong i've got that wrong many times i'm sure many guys here got that wrong many
times as well okay but it's something that we need to remind ourselves to do because it's easy
to just think that they can just keep up with us that they can keep up with exactly how we do
but we're not spending nine months of however many years with children inside us yeah we're not having
to go through all of that all the hormone changes we're not having to do half of that and we need
to remember that sometimes don't we guys yeah that's the lord jesus christ that's someone who
we're all aspiring to be like right be more christlike that's what that's what everyone
else tells us we should be more christ like but this is what the real christ like is yeah
that's gently needing those with young okay so that's the first and look it's not just that the
men here obviously the women have responsibilities with that too don't they and and women here look
you need to obviously be be wise be careful you want to bear more children be sensible with it as
well and it's not they're not just the only reasons for and not for that obviously you also just want
to be want to be you know the best mums you can be as well and that that's by being healthy and
well and everything else be sensible please don't be like like we have had before the types of women
that start trying to compete and and get competitive and it's all about how i appear
compared to this one and so i could be the best whatever at church that's a really manly trait
hopefully we don't we'll never have women like that here again and if we do hopefully we'll be
able to guide them out of that encourage them out of that but and look that because ultimately
that's not biblical parenting is it is it and this this sermon is about biblical parenting and
hopefully hopefully that's been edified hopefully that's helped a bit and we'll be looking at the
next stage next week on that let's go to the lord and the word of prayer father thank you thank you
for for the mums here lord thank you for for you know the mums mums eventually that will be here
as well and lord help us all here to be sympathetic to those help us to be you know to be a support to
be a help to them not just in pregnancy and and obviously in labor as well but but also postpartum
as well and to appreciate you know how long it can take to recover from from something like
childbirth lord help us to all be considerate compassionate with it with the mums here and help
us all to just be a strong church family help help us all to do things according to to how
you'd want them done not according to the world we'll get so much wrong lord help us to do all
these things in jesus christ holy name amen