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Alright, we're here in Exodus chapter 2 and this is the Mother's Day sermon and I'm going to try to get done by 12.15 so we have time to eat lunch and go soul winning and get everything done on time. And obviously this sermon is geared toward moms, but you know what, obviously any time the Word of God is open it applies to all of us. We can all learn, we can all be edified. I would certainly say as a father, most of these things you can apply to your life as well and learn from them. And we're going to be looking at the character of Pharaoh's daughter here today. Now that might seem like an odd character to preach a Mother's Day sermon on. Let me just say this, that in the past I've seen movies like the old Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston and there's other movies out there with the life of Moses. And I would say they make a lot of inaccuracies or they add a lot of stuff that's just not mentioned in Exodus. And generally Pharaoh's daughter is not really looked at very positively when you see movies and stories about them. Now when you're reading the book of Exodus, I don't really see anything bad about Pharaoh's daughter. She certainly depicts a very good mom in Exodus chapter 2, so we're going to learn three lessons from the life of Pharaoh's daughter and how she was a mom to Moses. And point number one is compassion. One of the big things you need as a mom is to have compassion on your kids, and it's something we see with Pharaoh's daughter toward Moses. Notice what it says in verse 1. And there went a man in the house of Levi and took to wife a daughter of Levi. And a woman conceived and bare a son, and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. And when she could not longer hide him, she took from an ark of bulrushes and dabbed it with pitch and put the child therein, and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink. Now the reason why they're hiding Moses is because there was a decree by the father of Pharaoh's daughter, the decree by Pharaoh, to kill all the newborn sons. And what takes place is when a child is born, at the beginning, they're not as loud. Even when they cry, it's not going to be heard. But at a certain point, the cries of kids get very loud, right? We hear our neighbor's kids cry all the time, you know, in other houses. I mean, it will go outside the house. So at the point of three months, they realize we're not going to get away with this. They're going to realize we're hiding a baby, right? And it says in verse number 4, And his sister stood afar off to wed what would be done to him. And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself with the river, and her maidens walked along by the riverside, and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. And when she had opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the babe wept. This is Moses. Moses is weeping, and she had compassion on him. We see that Pharaoh's daughter has compassion on Moses. Why does it say compassion? Moses is helpless. Moses is scared. Moses cannot survive on his own. I mean, he's just a baby, and even this great man that would one day be as a baby, he was helpless, completely dependent upon somebody else for survival. Go to 1 Kings chapter 8. First Kings chapter 8. When it comes to raising kids, one of the big things you need is compassion. You say, why do you need compassion? You know, if you're asking me that question, it's because you haven't raised children, right? Because your kids are going to disobey you. Your kids are going to do wrong. Your kids are going to frustrate you and make you mad. And when they make you mad, what you need to remember is compassion. That is a requirement to being a good mom, and also to being a good father, is having compassion upon your kids. 1 Kings chapter 8, verse 44. If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, 1 Kings chapter 8, verse 44. If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shalt pray unto the Lord toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name, then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. If they sin against thee, for there is no man that sinneth not. And it's referring to God's people sinning against God. And I love the part in parentheses, for there is no man that sinneth not, right? And when it comes to raising your kids, I mean, think of your kids in relation to you as a mom. I mean, if your kids sin against you, if they disobey, if they act makulit, because there is no baby that never acts makulit. The Bible says foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, and not just in my children, also in your children. Every child is going to act up sometimes. Every child is going to disobey mom and dad sometimes. There is no child that sins not. And thou be angry with them. And of course, this is a natural reaction from a parent. If their kids disobey, they get angry. And thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy so that they carry them away, captives, onto the land of the enemy, far and near. Yet if they shall bethink themselves, where basically they realize that they did wrong, and they're coming to you in an apology. They want to change and say, I've done wrong. They bethink themselves, in the land where they were carried captives, and repent and make supplication unto thee, in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely. We have committed wickedness. And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name. Then hear thou their prayer, and their supplication in heaven, by dwelling place, and maintain their cause. And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions where they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them. Now this is referring to God's people sinning against God, and God offering forgiveness and compassion when they come back and say, Hey, I'm sorry, I've done wrong. But realize, this is the way that we ought to be with our children. And your children are going to do you wrong. They are going to disobey. And when they come to you and say, Mom, I'm sorry, Dad, I'm sorry, forgive. Have compassion. Look, your kids are going to do wrong. That's just the way it is. But if they come back to you and say, Hey, I'm sorry, it's your obligation to forgive them and show compassion. Right? Turn in your Bible to Isaiah chapter 49, Isaiah 49, Isaiah 49. It's very easy for us to develop grudges or hold something against our kids when they've done us wrong. But the Bible says we need to forgive them. And of course, this is true outside of raising your kids. If anybody does you wrong and they come and say, I'm sorry, forgive. But especially as you're raising your kids, if they have done you wrong, forgive. Have compassion. Right? You know, my daughter, Krista Bell, she is very good at saying she's sorry when she messes up. She does her fair share of messing up. And she's very good when she says she's sorry. And she will often say this. She's like, Mom, or she'll say, Dad, I'm so sorry, I'll never do this again. Now, inside my head, I'm thinking, you're going to do this again. But she's sincere. She's saying she's sorry. She feels bad about it. She realizes she got in trouble. When your kids come to you and say, I've done wrong, I'm sorry, forgive me, forgive. Forgive. I mean, of course, I don't remember to when I was three years old and four years old and five years old. But I'm sure there are many, many, many times when I was driving my parents crazy. And I'm sure in the back of their heads they're just frustrated. They get upset. But, you know, my parents were very forgiving. They're very compassionate. Now, I got a lot more spankings than my sister because my sister read books all day and I was into sports. So I'd be in the living room bouncing a basketball back and forth. And it's like, no playing with the basketball in the living room. So then I'm kicking a soccer ball in the living room. No kicking a soccer ball. Then I'm throwing a football and catching it. I mean, this is like a daily basis, right? But they're very compassionate to me even though I disobeyed, even though I did wrong. That's how we need to be as parents. Isaiah 49, verse 15. Can a woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. And the Bible's talking about a mom that's got a young child that is still nursing, whether it be six months, a year and a half, or whatever. And it's like a mom should be willing to have compassion on the son of her womb or the daughter of her womb. Her child that has done her wrong but is saying, I'm sorry, I've done wrong, have compassion. And look, this is something we can see from Pharaoh's daughter because she sees Moses. Moses is helpless. Moses cannot save himself. He can't do anything on his own. And she has compassion on the inside of her. And that is the way that you ought to be as a mom. Go to Lamentations, chapter 3. Lamentations, chapter 3. Lamentations, chapter 3. Lamentations, chapter 3. Lamentations, chapter 3, verse 22. Lamentations, chapter 3, verse 22. In this very famous passage of scripture, we get our song, Great is Thy Faithfulness, from these verses here in Lamentations, chapter 3. Verse 22. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. We are not consumed because God is merciful. God is longsuffering with us. Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is Thy faithfulness. I mean, these are some of my favorite verses in the Bible because there's times that you do wrong and you go to bed maybe with a guilty conscience. You say you're sorry, but you wake up and you still feel horrible because you haven't been doing what God said. And here's the thing. You can come to God in the morning and pray to Him and say, God, I messed up. I did wrong. Please forgive me. And if you're sincere in your heart, He will forgive you like that. His compassions fail not. Now, of course, there might be repercussions depending on what you've done, but His compassions fail not. They are new every morning. So there's a reason why God gave us a 24-hour day, a new day. The sun rises, the sun sets, because sometimes you just need a new day to start over. Sometimes you've messed up and it's kind of like you just cannot reset yourself during the day, and you really need just that break where you sleep it off. You say, God, I messed up. I feel horrible. Please help me to do better today. Go in your Bible to 1 Corinthians 13. 1 Corinthians 13. Now, when it comes to having compassion, one way or one reason that you should have compassion on your kids is when your kids do wrong and they say they're sorry. They come back to you, they've messed up, and you need to remember that you also were makkulit as a kid. You also did a lot of things wrong. Your parents were also long-suffering with you and you need to be reminded of that. But there's also another way that we need to have compassion and really with Pharaoh's daughter, she's not having compassion on Moses because he did anything wrong. I mean, he's a baby that's crying. The baby's doing nothing wrong. The baby's scared, right? She's having compassion on Moses because Moses is incapable. He is helpless. And one way we need to have compassion as parents is when our kids are helpless. And you say, what do you mean? Here's what I mean. If you were to say, you know, pastor, I want you to jump and touch the ceiling, that is not possible for me, right? I can't jump and touch the ceiling. I can't jump and touch the ceiling. Now, maybe there's a pro-basketball player in here. Maybe they could. I cannot do that. I could jump and jump and jump. It would be impossible. And so if somebody were to get mad at me for not doing something that I cannot do, that would be ridiculous, right? But here's the reality. As parents, we often get mad at our kids for things they are not capable of doing. You're tired. You're frustrated. You just throw the clothes at your kids. A two-year-old might not be able to do that. A three-year-old might not be able to do that. I mean, wouldn't it be foolish to get mad at them for something they're not capable of doing? I mean, a child is helpless. See, Pharaoh's daughter has compassion on Moses because she sees Moses. Moses can't dress himself. Moses can't eat. Moses can't do anything. Moses can't walk. And when we raise kids, we have to realize our kids literally start at ground level zero. They don't know how to talk. They don't know how to walk. They don't know how to feed themselves. They don't know how to read. They don't know how to change their diapers. They don't know how to tuck themselves in at night. I mean, there's certain things they're just not capable of, and I'm just admitting my faults one to another. Sometimes I get so frustrated with my kids when it's stuff they're not even capable of doing or something extremely hard for a young child to do. And I'm just frustrated. I'm tired, and I don't want to deal with it. It's like, ah, just do this. And it's kind of like, well, they're four years old. They're not going to be able to do that. And see, oftentimes as parents, you know, I think we're very guilty of this where we expect our kids to be able to do something, but here's the thing. My children are not in their 30s like me, so they don't think like someone in their 30s. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13, verse 11, when I was a child, I spake as a child. I understood as a child. I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things. See, the Bible says that when you're young, you think like a child thinks, meaning children think differently than adults. Or at least adults should think differently than when they were children. Children speak differently than adults. The things that children are interested in, they talk about, very different than adults. Children understand like children. Their brains are not fully at the capacity to understand something that a grown adult can understand. It's not even possible. They think like a child. As adults, we think and speak and understand differently than children, right? Well, we need to be reminded of this though when we're raising our kids because you cannot expect your child that is five years old or six years old to understand everything like you would as a grown adult. And many times we expect this as parents, we expect them to get something where it's like, they're not going to understand it because they're a young child and they literally need to learn everything. My son, Zeph, I believe is very sharp. He knows a lot of things. He learns a lot from the sermons, but sometimes he asks me questions and it kind of puts me back because I'm thinking, oh, we haven't taught you that yet. Right? Because as a six-year-old, there's still a lot of stuff that you're learning. Right? And so one way that we ought to have compassion upon our kids is when they're helpless, when they're not capable. I'll give you an example. When a person gets saved, they become a child of God. Right? And so they are a newborn spiritual child. Right? If somebody gets saved today and they come to church next week, do you expect them to have a perfect understanding of the post-Trib rapture and that the soul of Jesus went to hell and all the mysteries found throughout the entire Bible and that people need a soul winner to get saved and all these things? No! Because they just got saved. You wouldn't expect a newborn spiritual child it's like, you're saved and you're dressed like that. They just got saved a couple of days ago. They have no idea what clothing standards are according to the Bible or hair length or anything like that. It would be foolish for us to expect them to fully understand everything for five, ten, fifteen, twenty years they're going to be able to understand. They're not going to get it. And so we need to have compassion upon our kids as well and realize, hey, you know what? They're young. They don't understand everything. There's a lot of things they just don't know. They have an experience. They just don't understand it. Go in your Bible to Exodus chapter 2. Exodus 2. See, a lot of times things seem very simple to us. For example, you know, one of the common things when you're raising kids is you ask them to clean, right? Because kids make a mess and it's time to clean up. Right? Well, here's the thing. Sometimes they're cleaning things up and they've got containers they've got to put things in. They don't know how to open the container. And the thing is, you're just looking at this mess like, just clean it! And it seems very simple, but then sometimes it's like, well, you know what? The thing is, we do things you know, all the time and it becomes second nature to us. But if something's new to someone they don't understand it. I mean, if you were to show me some new container that had kind of like a complicated system, I'd be like, I don't know how to open this. But after you've done it several times it's very easy. Well, sometimes, and I'm just using an example from my life, you expect, you know, there's a container, there's all these things on the floor, put it in the container, but they don't know how to open it. And here's the thing, it honestly would be foolish of me to get mad at my kids when they're just not capable of doing it. Because I didn't take the time, or my wife didn't take the time to just show our kids, hey, this is how you do it. And the thing is, this sounds very easy to do, we'll just take the time. But as parents, you're tired, you're frustrated, you're stressed, and you just hope they can figure it out on their own. But we've got to realize, we've got to be compassionate because sometimes our kids just don't know. They haven't learned. They haven't been taught. I mean, things seem so basic. I mean, things with our son Zeph, you know, Zeph is very sharp, but, you know, as he's learning, there's certain things where it's kind of like when you first start writing, it's very hard for children to hold the pencil and write. And it seems very easy. Just write straight lines, write a Z. It seems easy because we've written a million times. But that is actually not easy at all for a young child. They really struggle with holding a pen or a pencil because you just learn it by nature. Once you start doing it, it just becomes second nature. It's kind of inside your head. You don't even think about it. I could close my eyes and write my signature and not even really think about it. But of course, if somebody's new at that, they're not going to be able to do that. So we need to have compassion like Pharaoh's daughter showed compassion on Moses. Pharaoh's daughter also shows courage because at the end of the day, it is her father that said, hey, you know what, all the male babies are going to be put to death. And I don't think that she really had to worry about being put to death, but who knows in terms of there goes your inheritance that's going to go to the other people or whatever, other daughters or sons or whatever. And so she has courage because she stands up against what her father says because what her father says is something very wicked. Now let me say this. Children, you do not have the right to disobey your parents unless they're asking you to do wrong. Pharaoh's daughter does correctly because she's being asked to do something wrong. I mean, she's sparing the life of an innocent child. So she disobeys, and of course there's nothing wrong with that. But I would say to you kids, it's like if your parents ask you to do something, clean this room, fix this, do whatever, just do what your parents say. Obey father and mother. Right? Point number one, compassion point two, courage. Verse number six, And when she had opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the babe wept, the Hebrew's children. Now, I believe she realizes this is one of the Hebrew's children because Hebrews look different than Egyptians with their skin tone. So I think right when she sees this child, she says, this is not an Egyptian child, this is a Hebrew. Okay? Go back to Exodus chapter 1. Exodus 1. There's actually quite a big debate historically about the skin tone of people in ancient Egypt, and I feel like the most general consensus is they were very diversely spread, so there'd be parts of Egypt where people had very dark complexion, parts where they had very light complexion. This is why when you see ancient pictures of Egypt, what you're going to see is they look very different from one another. They have very different skin tones depending on what part of the country, probably because people kind of spread out in different parts of ancient Egypt and their skin tone, they just look differently. But obviously when Pharaoh's daughter sees Moses, she sees the Hebrew's children. So obviously his skin tone was very different than what she would have expected from the Egyptians. Exodus 1 verse 15. And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shipra and the name of the other Puah, and he said, when you do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women and see them upon the stools, if it be a son, then ye shall kill him, but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. But the midwives feared God and did not as the king of Egypt save the men children alive. And so Pharaoh commands that the midwives put the male babies to death right after they're born. And the midwives disobey. God blesses them. He builds them a house. And what he's asking them to do would be called infanticide where you were to kill an infant or more technically before the age of one month it's called neonaticide to murder a baby right after they're born in that first month. And they disobey what Pharaoh says. Now this might seem extreme to you, but honestly neonaticide is actually common in a lot of parts of the world and specifically in two countries, China and India. You say, why is this so common in those countries? Because they're both very wicked countries. It's a large person. Now part of it is because in India because of the dowry system being upon the woman's family instead of the man's family there's a change there. And of course in China they used to have the one child policy and that was abolished like 15 years ago. They changed it to the two child policy and now it's the three child policy I believe. So they keep upping it because it's not fixing the problem. But here's the thing, especially in ancient China in China today as well there's this attitude of basically the sons taking care of their parents. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Kids should take care of their parents. Well the idea would be if we have a daughter and we're only allowed one child, she's not going to be able to financially take care of us. But what takes place is that the son will take care of his own family from my understanding not really his wife's family as much. So if you're going to have a child you want to have a male child because financially you could be in trouble. And so those are some of the reasons why in India and China it's very common. But millions upon millions of babies have been killed in those two countries. Even though they're the two biggest countries in population, I think the statistics were like 90 some percent of neonaticide was committed in those countries, India and China. You say, well I mean India is a spiritual country. What do you mean they're wicked? Yeah, I mean when it's the wrong religion that makes them wicked. And India is a very very wicked country by any metric you want to look at in terms of sin. But this is the commandment from Pharaoh, I mean kill all the male babies. Now go to Proverbs 13. Proverbs 13. So Pharaoh's daughter shows courage. Now what are some areas we need courage as parents in 2024 here in the Philippines? One area you need courage as a mom is to spank your children. Spank your children. Notice what it says in Proverbs 13 verse 24. Spareth his rod, hateth his son, but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. I mean if you're going to say that, well you know I have kids and I never spank my kids ever. According to the Bible you hate your kids. You say, well why would the Bible say you hate your kids? You know why? It's a lot easier to yell at your kids than actually do what's right and admonish them and then hug them and explain to them what they did wrong. It's a lot easier to yell at them. I'm sure every one of us as parents has done wrong before. We yelled at our kids instead of actually doing things properly. But the Bible says, hey you know what? If you spare the rod, a physical object used to spank your children, it's because you hate your children. You hate your son. If you actually love your kids, you know what you're going to find? You actually do discipline your kids. You actually spank your children. Go in your Bible to Proverbs 19. You say, pastor why does it take courage? Because people criticize you if you say you spank your kids. They'll look down on you in the Philippines in 2024. I mean in fact, in 2023, legislation to ban corporal punishment against children has been proposed in the Philippines. In 2023, under the 19th Congress, House Bills 8306 and House Bill 1269 were filed to penalize individuals practicing corporal punishment. Practicing spanking. Practicing the old fashioned method of using the rod on the child. So it takes courage because if you're in public today and your kids do wrong, you say, hey, you better say you're sorry. You're going to get a spanking. People are going to look at you and criticize you. I would never spank my kid. And then they say that and then their five year old smacks him in the face. Well, I'm glad that you would never spank your child. Unfortunately, your child is kind of spanking you. But here's the thing. It doesn't matter what man says. It doesn't matter the peer pressure. What does the Bible say? The Bible says to spank your kids. You say, well, when do you spank? You spank when your kids disobey. When they understand and disobey. And look, you can agree with me or not. You can like it or lump it. I don't really care. My kids all understood before the age of 12 months the word no. You say, well, when did you start spanking? Before the age of 12 months. You know why? I don't want to have to spank my kids when they're 12 years old. You spank them when they're young and guess what? They learn obedience. They learn to do right. We spank our son Zeph very rarely now. I'm not saying he never does wrong, but it's very rare when he really, in our mind, really deserves a spanking. You say, why? Because when he was young, he got the rod. For me, I just use the hand. My wife will have an object or whatever, like a wooden spoon, where it's like she pulls it out, and it's like, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'll never do it again. Please forgive me. I'm a hug. I said sorry. Right? Here's the thing. You know what? We need that admonishment in order to learn right and wrong. Proverbs 19, verse 18, Chasing thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying. Let not thy soul spare for his crying, because your kids are going to cry. They're going to fight against it and say, no, I'm sorry. I'm never going to do it again. Please, please, please. If you've already determined that you're going to spank your kids, and you told them you're going to spank it, and then you let them cry their way out of it, guess what? You're teaching them all they have to do is cry their way out of it, and they're not going to get a spanking. Good luck! I hope your kids will turn out right. I'm just saying that if you don't discipline your kids, when I look at the Bible with an open mind, and I don't care what the world says, you know what the Bible teaches me? I should spank my kids when they do wrong. Why does it say chasing thy son while there is hope? Because you know what? You have the heart of your kids when they're one year old, two years old, three years old, four years old, five years old. But you know what? If you don't chase them when you actually have their heart, and they're willing to learn, guess what? Good luck when they're 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 years old. I mean, honestly, if you don't do any spanking ever with your kids until I will never spank them until they're three years old. They are going to be a very rebellious three-year-old. By the age of three, you've got a lot of work on your hands. I'm just being honest. With our kids, once we hit three, once you get past the terrible twos, it's kind of like, all right, now it's like a lot easier. Okay? We did the work. We can start resting. They just don't act up as much. You say, why? Because they learn via the punishment. And don't we also learn this way in life? If there's a punishment, it stops you from doing it. Look, you have to understand, punishment is a deterrent for crime. Right. Now, I'm not saying this should be the punishment, but here's the thing. Let's say the punishment for robbing a Sorry Sorry store or a 7-Eleven. Let's say the punishment was the death penalty. Nobody would ever do it. Now, I'm not saying that should be the punishment, because that's not God's system. I'm using a point. If it's a strong punishment, you're like, I'm not going to do that. It's not worth the risk. I mean, I like Cobra energy drink, but stealing a drink for 25 pesos is not worth it. Right? It's not worth death. You're not going to do it because of the fear of the punishment. And guess what? That fear of the punishment helps kids to be correct. Go in your Bible to Proverbs 29. Proverbs 29. Proverbs 29. Now, obviously, you know, every father and mother are different. From my experience, what I've seen, though, moms really struggle with spanking their kids sometimes. It seems like it's a much bigger struggle for moms than fathers. I remember when, you know, a lot of people told this, you know, relatives on both sides of her family, and, you know, they said, well, you know, you didn't have any problem spanking your son, Zeph. Like, they told this to me, but when your daughter's born, it's like, and she looks at you and smiles, you won't spank her. Honestly, I didn't struggle. You say, why is it you didn't struggle? Because I know what the Bible says. I never, look, I never have wanted to spank my kids. I don't like spanking my kids. It's not fun, but I'm like, this is what the Bible says. I've got to do what the Bible says. I've got to do right because otherwise they're going to turn out bad. And I would just say, you know, as moms, it's like, you must put in the time and effort to do this, especially because as moms, you are around your kids more than your husband, probably. And here's the thing, if a child does wrong to you as the mom, it is unfair to expect your husband to be the one to discipline that child. Are you trying to get the child to hate your husband and love you? I mean, what's the purpose of that? And I'm very thankful. My wife and I are very much on board with this. Both of us, we spank our children when they do wrong and we explain to them and, you know, tell them what they did. And we certainly notice a huge difference with our kids that when you spank them, it helps them turn out right. And I'll be honest, you know, we know a lot of other relatives that have kids and it's just like, you know, I don't want to try to compare my kids to their kids because everybody just does their best and every situation is different. But I see a huge difference from kids that do not get the rod versus kids that do get the rod. It's not even close. I mean, if your kids get a discipline, guess what? It causes them to do right. Now, of course, there's nurture and admonition. You need the balance. But I'm just saying it's like if you don't provide admonition, your kids are going to grow up and be spoiled brats and be rebellious. It's a fact. Well, I can't believe you'd say that. Well, I mean, you wouldn't be sensitive if your kids were turning out right. And it doesn't change what the Bible says. Proverbs 29, verse 15, the rod of reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself, bringing his mother to shame. When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases, but the righteous shall see their fault. Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest. He shall give delight onto thy soul. The Bible says your children can give you rest. They can give you delight. You can look at your kids, and instead of being bitter and mad, you can look at your kids. They'll put a smile upon your face. Why? Because they're doing right. They're trying to make you happy. They're good kids. This does not come by accident, though. It takes time and effort. Go in your Bible to 2 Corinthians, chapter 6. 2 Corinthians, chapter 6. Now, let me give you my opinion, and obviously my kids are young, 6 years old, 4 years old, and about to turn 2 years old next Sunday. But let me explain to you that when a person turns 18 years old, and they rob a store, they don't just get a spanking upon their butt. I used this story yesterday. I've used it before. Someone I knew in college, my friend's friend, my friend who got me saved, his brother, I should say, his brother was really big. He was this tall, very strong. He was second in the state in wrestling, very muscular. One time, his mom spanked him when he was 12 years old. She spanked him, and he's like, ooh, a little to the left. Ooh, a little to the right. Ooh, that hit the spot. And he's basically joking, and the mom started laughing. She's like, you just wait until your father gets home. Right? But here's what I want you to understand. Honestly, a spanking doesn't affect a 12-year-old. It doesn't. It affects a 3-year-old. A lot of children do not understand long-term consequences. Because they think as a child. Older people do. And the spanking, look, if somebody robs a story, you know what they would love to have? Just a spanking upon the butt. It does nothing. Here's the reality. If you have to provide major corporal punishment to your kids when they're that age, you messed up. I can't believe you'd say that. Because the Bible says they'll give you rest if you do it correctly. And the thing is, if you're giving the nurture and admonition at a young age, guess what takes place? It's going to be less and less as time goes on. That's the way that God intended it. That's the way it should be. I'm just saying for me personally, I know that with my parents, they stopped spanking me when I was, I don't know, maybe 10 or 11 years old, but quite honestly, it's just like, number one, I didn't really disobey my parents much because I was afraid, I had respect, and my parents were very loving, they were great parents, but also because it doesn't really affect a 10 year old. You know what really hurt me when I was like 10 or 11? I remember I talked back to my dad one time, and my dad was my soccer coach for a rec league, and my dad suspended me for a week. And then my friends were saying like, why aren't you playing? I was allowed to be on the sidelines. I was like, I talked back to my dad. And then of course, to them they're thinking, that's it? Because their parents aren't strict. And they talk back to their parents all the time. But not with my parents. And it's like, you know what that taught me? I'm not going to talk back to my parents anymore. I'm just trying to say, when you think about this logically, number one, when you reach the age of adulthood, they will not give you a very minor little spank on the butt if you do wrong. You're going to have a major long-term consequence. Logically, as your kids get older, if you're dealing with problems, you should really start switching to something that's a long-term punishment, because that's the way the world will be like to them. But the good news is that if you do a good job, you're going to be spanking your kids less and less. I say these things not to state that I know for sure my kids are going to turn out right, because I cannot say that. My kids are young. I haven't run that race. But I am saying that is the way that it will work if you do it correctly. So one area you need to have courage is with spanking. Why? Because people look down on you for spanking your kids. It takes time. It takes effort. Another thing is with separation in standards, because when you look at the trash that's on the TV and computers today, you really have to be strict with your kids to avoid all that garbage. And the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 6, verse 17, The Bible says to be separate. We teach the doctrine of separation. And look, in today's world, the world is filled full of garbage in their entertainment, movies, TV shows, and music. And yeah, you know, we as parents, we ought to be very strict with our kids. Now, of course, every parent is going to draw the line but if you just let your kids watch whatever they want without any supervision, well, good luck. Because what's going to take place is your boys, when they reach a young age, are going to be addicted to pornography. That's what's going to take place. I mean, if you're just, as an adult, if you're just on YouTube or Google or whatever, there's so much trash that pops up. And if you just let your kids do whatever and just let the television raise your kids, here's the problem with that. The television wasn't created by God. It's not like this is God's system. You know what? Hollywood is a system of God to teach morals. That's not the way it works. And if you let the movies and the TV shows train your kids, guess what? They're going to have the philosophies of the world. Just common sense is what's going to take place. Turn to Exodus 2. Exodus 2. Why is it that it takes courage? Because all of your relatives will criticize you for having standards for your kids. Because your kids will complain, well, you know, so and so lets their kids do this. And yeah, as a parent, I hear that sometimes for my kids, like, well, you know what? They're not your father. They're not your mother. You ought to be thankful you have a mom and a dad and actually spend time with you and actually teach you right and wrong. When I was a kid, I was not allowed to watch MTV. Every other kid, that was the big music television, that was the big channel. You say, why? Because MTV is filled full of trash. And my parents knew the music of the world is trash. I wasn't allowed to watch the movies other kids watch. I wasn't allowed to watch the other TV shows. You say, wow, man, being really strict, it really messes you up. Really? Because last I checked, I've never smoked a cigarette. I'm drunk like everybody else that goes to college. Seems like it worked out for me. You say, why? Because of the fact if you provide nurture and admonition, your kids will turn out right. That's what the Bible says. You train your children the way they should go. When they are old, they will not depart from it. And of course, this is something as parents, we've got to take by faith because we don't see the end finished product. As a parent, though, if you're not lying to yourself, you can see whether things are going well or poorly. And if you're seeing things go very poorly, and your explanation is, oh, they're just tired. So every single week, your kids are just tired. That is why they're the kids that are always acting up and other kids aren't. No, you're just making excuses, and you're going to ruin the lives of your kids. That's a fact. Exodus 2. And one other way, with courage, and everyone in the room have made the decision that when their kids are of age, they're going to have their kids homeschooled. They say, I'm not going to let my kids in the public school, and I understand not everyone's in that situation, but of course, in today's world, I'm afraid of something horrible happening to my kids if they have no supervision in a public school system. But it's also the brainwashing that occurs in the public fool system. It's just a fact. If you take your kids away from the main public school and do either a Christian school or homeschooling or some sort of private school or whatever, guess what? Your relatives will criticize you. It's like, well, all of us have our kids in the public school, and it takes courage to not care about what other people think and just do what's right. And you have to realize that, you know what, as a father or as a mother, God gave you those kids. God did not give those kids to your brothers or sisters or your parents or your aunts and uncles. No, God gave them to you. It doesn't matter what your other relatives think about how you raise your kids. It matters how you decide to raise your kids. As a husband and as a wife, you make that decision as one flesh and don't care what other people are doing. Because if you raise your kids like the world's raising, your kids are going to turn out bad. It just is what it is. By the way, you know, I'm preaching towards the ladies. I mean, the ladies can't say amen if they agree with the sermon. You guys, you need to back me up. It's like, well, I'm afraid. I mean, if I'm the only one saying amen, my wife's going to know. I like that point or whatever, right? Number one, you need to have compassion upon your kids. Number two, you need courage. Honestly, there's a lot of ways to learn things. But you need to realize those kids are given to you and do what's correct regardless of what people think. But number three, you need to show care toward your kids. Exodus 2, verse 7. Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse a child for thee? Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go, and the maid went and called the child's mother. Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Take this child away and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. The women took the child and nursed it. She called her son, and she called his name Moses, and she said, Because I drew him out of the water. And so Pharaoh's daughter is not biologically the mother of Moses, but the Bible refers to Moses being her son because if you raise a child as your own, then you are the mom or the dad to that child, according to the Bible. There's many verses that teach that. But when you're raising your kids, what are you doing? You're showing care because it takes time. It takes effort. Pharaoh's daughter... Go to 1 Timothy 5. Pharaoh's daughter... I think every indication is she's a pretty good woman. There's one verse in the Bible that we're not going to turn to for the sake of time where it says, Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. It doesn't say Pharaoh's daughter was wicked or anything. It's just the fact that Pharaoh's daughter is with Egypt. Now, I think if you think through the book of Exodus, because if you remember, later on in the book of Exodus, Moses knows who Aaron is. Correct? Obviously, he's already met Aaron past when he was a baby. And I think the most common sense way to look at this is that because Moses goes back to his parents to be nursed, and then Pharaoh's daughter is going to raise a child, I think Pharaoh's daughter allowed Moses, the actual parents of Moses, to have a relationship with him. Obviously, Moses had to get saved at some point. Somebody gave him the gospel. He already knows who Aaron is. And so obviously, he knew who his family was. So I don't think Pharaoh's daughter just kept him completely away from his physical family. I think they got to see him from time to time. I think that makes the most sense. But I'm just saying there's nothing that would indicate Pharaoh's daughter was wicked. Now, I understand. I wish the Ten Commandments a long time ago, too, with Charlton Heston. And they make Pharaoh's daughter out to be like a bad woman or whatever. Says she had compassion. She didn't have to take care of the child. She raised the child. She cares for the child. I don't see anything that would say she's a bad woman. Regardless, she shows care to raise the child. And notice what it says in 1 Timothy 5, verse 14. I will, therefore, that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion the adversary to speak reproachfully. The number one thing that you can have a goal as as a young woman is to be a godly mom. And here's the thing. The Bible says to guide the house. You think of a housewife or a keeper at home, a homekeeper, whatever. And I think that we've done a disservice to this idea when we try to bring this down to cooking and cleaning. Well, you've got to guide the house. Cook and clean. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in one of our most famous verses on salvation, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and all thy house. The word house is not referring to the floor or the lamp or the light bulbs only. But it also includes the people inside of the house. Correct? When it's coming to guiding the house, is cooking important? Sure. Is cleaning important? Sure. You know what that is? It's a very small percentage of what's actually important inside that house. You know what matters inside your house? The kids. That's what matters. You say, well, I've done my job as a mom because it's clean and I cook the food and you spend no time with your kids and don't train them and know you didn't do it because the number one part about guiding the house is guiding your children. And as a husband, don't have this, look, if there's a day where you know what, you're busy, your wife's busy, she doesn't have time, everything's a mess, you know what, cook your own food and don't worry about it. Care that your wife spends time and does what she needs to with the kids. I mean, if your kids are really sick and they need attention of your wife, don't expect your wife to do the cooking. You should have learned how to crack an egg and cook when you were young also, okay? It's like, well, that's a woman's job. Well, I'm sorry, but I learned how to cook. I mean, I was home schooled, starting middle school, but I learned in middle school, okay? It's just like, look, as a guy, just eat whatever. If you can open up a can, just eat whatever's inside. Eat the corn, canned corn or whatever, right? You know how to use a microwave, right? We need to realize, and look, this is true for moms, but as husbands, we need to realize that the most important part of your wife taking care of the home are the kids inside of the house. By far the most important thing. And as moms, don't think you've done your job just because you did the cleaning. No, no, no, the kids are the most important part. It is your job to teach the kids. It's your job to teach them the Bible and to teach them everything, brushing their teeth, clothes, whatever, learning how to read, just all of those things. That's your responsibility, and teach them to be godly. Go in your Bible to Titus chapter 2. We'll close up in Titus 2. Titus 2. And I did not make it by 1215. I'm going to be a little bit over. A reminder, right after the last song, ladies, I mean, moms, come up here. Picture without the kids, and then picture with the kids, moms, right? We are going to be more short on time here today. And Titus chapter 2. Notice what the Bible says in Titus 2, verse 3. The age of women likewise that the being behavior is become of holiness, not false accusers, not given of much wine, teachers of good things, that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chase keepers at home, good obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blaspheme. You say, well, why would I have to learn how to love my husband? You're not married yet, are you? Right? Us guys, let me just help you out with how men work. We can lose our temper. Right? Guys are not always the most lovable guys. We don't get our sleep. We're in a bad mood. It's just the way it is. The Bible says, hey, teach young women to love their husbands, to love their children. Well, why would I need to love my children? Isn't there that automatic love that I have? Yeah, when they're born, there's that automatic attachment, but when it's three in the morning, and your child is crying, yeah, you need to learn how to love your children. You say, why? Because throughout the Bible, love is never just a feeling. For God so loved the world that He gave. There's always action associated with love. Now, a feeling is part of love. Don't misunderstand me. But there's always action associated with it. And yeah, you know what? It takes something to learn for young people to realize, hey, I need to learn to love my husband and love my children. No, it doesn't just come automatic. And so guess what? When a husband and a wife get married, they are both in the learning process. Let me help you out. Nobody when they first get married is going to be a great husband or a great wife. No, you have to actually learn. You have to be willing to say, hey, I'm going to learn and get better at this because you know what? It seems very easy, and it really seems easy until you do it. And I'll tell you what. Raising kids, it's not easy. I mean, because your kids are going to mess up. They're going to do wrong. They're going to make you mad. They're going to need you. I mean, your kids get sick, and they're not sleeping through the night. Guess what? Mom's not sleeping through the night either. And so it takes effort and learning and compassion and courage and care to raise your kids and to love them properly. And the Bible said in verse 5, to be a keeper at home. Once again, being a keeper at home, it's like I don't see anything in these verses that mention the floors or the lamps. What I see in these verses, I see the husband and the children mentioned in verse 4 and 5. So when I think of being a keeper at home, you know what the number one thing about keeping the home? Taking care of the family. And look, let me just say this. As guys, because this is kind of a popular joke that goes out there. Look, as guys, it's not funny when we make being a mom a joke about cooking and cleaning, as if that's what being a mom is. It's not a funny joke. You say, why? Because the kids are far more important. And don't try to bring down the role as if it's, aye, aye, you're cooking clean, as if it's, no, actually, taking care of your kids, you can't put a value upon that. I'll tell you what. If you make the decision, if you're a one working family, you know what? You're going to be sacrificing money in your family. But here's the thing. I don't want my kids to be up to just rolling the dice and hoping it ends on an even number. It's like, no, you know what? I want to put in the best effort possible. And look, even if it only increased it from a 20% to a 25% chance of turning out right, that 5% would be worth all the money in the world. But here's the thing. I don't think it's 20 to 25. I think it's, if you don't put in the time with your kids, it's very low. And if you do put in your time with your kids, it's very high. They're going to turn out correctly. And look, I preached this sermon about compassion and courage and care. And of course, I'm mainly preaching to moms. And this is not meant to preach to you to say you're a horrible mom or anything like that. Whenever the word of God comes out, there does need to be a little bit like, hey, let's do better. But yeah, it's a difficult job. I'm not sitting here saying that it's easy, and I'm not saying I can fully relate to it because I'm not a mom. Men are wired differently than women. And I understand there are frustrations that are involved. It's not easy. It's not easy being a father. It's not easy being a husband. It's not easy being a wife or a mom. There's no reason to compare the different roles. God made us differently. But yeah, it is a very difficult job. But I'll tell you what. There's no job that is more valuable. It's like, you know, as a lady, you know what, to be a godly mom that raises kids that grow up and love the Lord, you can look back on what you accomplished and say, you know what, all the sleepless nights, all the frustration, all the hobbies I had to give up, all the dreams I had to give up, it was all worth it. We didn't look at the verse, but right after it talks about spanking your kids, it's like where there is no vision, the people perish. Instead of having a vision for all your dreams in your life, why not have a vision for how you want your kids to turn out? And it's worth every single effort that you put in to raise your kids to the best of your ability. Let's close with a prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and ask you to help us to apply this sermon to our lives. You know, specifically the moms that are in this room, God, we ask you to help all the moms in this room to love their kids and to put in the time and effort. And we ask you to help them do a great job and not to lose their patience and not to get discouraged. Obviously it's very difficult, God, but help all the parents in this room put in their best effort, God. And we ask you to help the kids in our church to grow up and to be soul winners and get saved and be soul winners and to love you and serve you, God. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.