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All right, we're going to get started this morning. Thanks for coming, everybody. We'll go to song number 20. Song number 20, When I See the Blood. Song number 20. When I see the blood, when I see the blood, when I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass, I will pass. Take this to save us, Jesus, let's save, as he has promised, so what will we do? Oh, save us, give him trust in his word, that he will pass, pass, I will pass. When I see the blood, when I see the blood, when I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. Church, let us come, we come, we'll be there. Who have we changed, who have we used? Oh, sinner, he's deep, let Jesus in. May purple prayers come pass over you. When I see the blood, when I see the blood, when I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. Oh, what a compassion, oh, what a love. Jesus said, my word, Jesus is true. All who believe are safe from the storm. Oh, he will pass, he will pass over you. When I see the blood, when I see the blood, when I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. All right, we're heading over to the Lord's Prayer. Lord, again, thank you for this day. It's time that we have to come together. I pray you'll be with us this morning, and your Holy Spirit will be with us. We would bless the preaching and the singing, and all will be done in your honor. We ask in Christ's name, amen. All right, let's go over to song number 167, in Jesus' name. It's song number 167. Song number 167. All hail the power of Jesus' name. Let angels prostrate one. Drink forth the royal diadem, and crown him Lord of all. Drink forth the royal diadem, and crown him Lord of all. He chose and seen of his true praise. He read some from the poor. Hail him who saves him by his grace, and crown him Lord of all. Hail him who saves him by his grace, and crown him Lord of all. Let every kindred, every tribe, God bless the rest of all. To him all majesty has cried, and crown him Lord of all. To him all majesty has cried, and crown him Lord of all. And with your mercy, with love, we at his feet be called. We'll join the everlasting song, and crown him Lord of all. We'll join the everlasting song, and crown him Lord of all. All right, this time we'll go through announcements. If you need a bulletin, go ahead and slip up your hand. We've got the soul winning times listed below that, as well as the salvation and baptisms, a few notes there regarding the church. Over on the right hand side, happy Mother's Day to all the mothers in attendance. And don't forget we have the annual Mother's Day tea party this Saturday. So that's coming up in just six days. You've got the times listed there. If you are planning on going to this, ladies, and have not yet signed up, please do so, so that we can get an idea of what we need to prepare for. Below that we also have the announcement about our first small town, quote unquote, soul winning trip to Sierra Vista on Saturday, May 21st. I'll have a detailed itinerary out soon. If you would like to participate, again, please sign up so that we can have an idea how many people to expect. On the back we have the weekly Bible memory passage. So that's for the children and young people to recite, word perfect to a non-relative in the church by next Sunday. And there's still a whole box of the fruit bars back there. I know you think you cleaned it out, but there's a whole other box waiting. So you get to work through those before you get to the chocolates again. And then also below that, an exciting announcement regarding the FWBC mega conference. So this is something that's going to be taking place in Tempe. Rather, I wish it was here, but it's going to be up in Tempe. What's going on here is Pastor Anderson is actually going on a road trip to help. He's going to go visit all the other new IFB churches. And he's going to be gone for all of these dates. So he's going to leave, you know, prior to that Sunday, I think. I'm not sure exactly when he's going to be gone, but these are all of the fill-in preachers. So while Pastor Jared Pazarski is here, Pastor Anderson will be at his church preaching. And then when Pastor Mia is here, Pastor Anderson will be at his church. And then it will culminate at the new IFB, the Red Hot Preaching Conference, rather is what I should say. So at the end of his road trip is when he gets to preach his Friday night at the Red Hot Preaching Conference. So in the meantime, we're going to have all these guest preachers up in Tempe. Obviously, well, the Sundays, you know, if you want to go up there on a Sunday, you know, go ahead. I'll be here. But on Wednesdays, I will be taking a trip up there. So if any of these Wednesday dates look good to you, you want to go take in one of these preachers, listen to the service. I normally go up on Wednesdays, but I'll just delay that until later in the afternoon, probably around 5. Which is about the latest we can really go to try to make it there by 7. So there will be a sign-up sheet, there will be a shuttle, basically is what I'm saying, on Wednesdays only. If you want to go, it's going to be a first come, first serve basis. I'll have sign-up sheets the week prior to each of these dates. We're just putting it in there to kind of let folks know what to expect. So hang on to that. That's not going to probably be in the bulletin every week. So if you want to know who's preaching when, you might want to hang on to this announcement. Put it on the fridge, tear it off, put it in the Bible, whatever. So that you can get an idea of who's preaching when. But there will be a shuttle on Wednesdays provided for that service. So take advantage of that. We've got a couple other upcoming events below that. The Mexico Monday is a week from tomorrow. We have the men's preaching night also at the end of the month. Donut Sunday, the first Sunday of every month. And then also the FWBC Tucson camp up on Mount Lemmon is right around the corner. And I'll have more information about that soon. But that will do it for announcements this morning. We'll go ahead and sing one more song. Before we get into the preaching, let's go over to song number 39. How Beautiful Heaven Must Be, song number 39. How beautiful heaven, it's big, the pure and the free. These truths, the trustworthy and given. How beautiful heaven must be, how beautiful heaven must be. Sweet home for happy and free. Where near the breast for the weary. How beautiful heaven must be. In heaven, no true thing for finding. No wish for a spare to be. God's light is forever shining. How beautiful heaven must be, how beautiful heaven must be. Sweet home for happy and free. Where near the breast for the weary. How beautiful heaven must be. New waters of life there are flowing. And all who drink may be free. Where jewels of splendor are glowing. How beautiful heaven must be, how beautiful heaven must be. Sweet home for happy and free. Where near the breast for the weary. How beautiful heaven must be. The angels so sweetly are singing. Up there the beautiful sea. Sing for to their gold hearts are ringing. How beautiful heaven must be. How beautiful heaven must be. Sweet home for happy and free. Where near the breast for the weary. How beautiful heaven must be. All right, this time we're going to pass it off. And as it goes around, you can follow along with Brother Gabriel as he reads from Exodus chapter number 20. That's Exodus chapter number 20 this morning. Exodus chapter 20. Verse 1, the Bible says, God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord of my God, which I brought thee out of the land of need, and of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods in the world. Thou shalt not make unto me any greater image, or the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, but is in the water under thee. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, or serve them, for I the Lord of my God is a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of his father and his public children, and to the third and fourth generation of them that hate him, and shall immerse him without saying, I love thee, and keep thy commandments. Thou shalt not take my name, the Lord thy God, and make it, for the Lord will not hold me guilty, since I have taken his name today. Remember the Sabbath, and the hope. Six days shalt thou later do all thy work. The seventh day is the Sabbath, the Lord thy God, and it I shall not do any more. Thou and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man's servant, and thy great servant, and thy cattle, and thy stranger, and thy neighbor, and thy Greeks, for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all thy in the midst, and the rest of the seven. Wherefore the Lord blesseth Saturday and Hallelujah. Honor thy father and thy mother, for the days may be long, on the land which the Lord thy God giveth. Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor, thou shalt not cover thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not cover thy neighbor's life, nor his man's servant, nor his name's servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's. And all the people saw the thunder and the light of the lightning, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain of smoke. And when the people saw it, they were moved, instead of far off. And they said unto Moses, speak now of this move here, and let not God speak of it. Thou is supposed to be God. And when they said unto the people, fear not, for God has come to prove to them, that a spear may be poured in the basements, and they said not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near, because of the thick darkness where God was. And when they said unto Moses, thou shalt not say unto the children of Israel, let them see, that I am not with thee from heaven, and shall not make with me God the silver, and that I shall make unto you God the gold, and the altar of the earth, and that I shall make unto you, and that I shall sacrifice thereon thy first offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thy oxen, in all places where I record my name. I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. And thou will make me an altar of stone, and thou shalt not build it a fume stone, for if thou lift up thy tool upon me, thou hast polluted it. And I shall not go up, by steps, into mine altar, and thy nakedness, and thou shalt not go up, from the fables of your breakfast. The Lord, in the name of his church, in the gracious word, Lord, we pray you must preach more in Jesus' holy name, amen. Amen. There in Exodus chapter number 20, I want to look at the verse there in verse 12, where it says, honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee. And of course, this being Mother's Day, this is always a good time to point out the fact that honoring your mother is God's law. You not calling your mother on Mother's Day, you not acknowledging your mother on Mother's Day, it's not only inconsiderate, it's not only rude, it's not only probably in poor taste, it's also something that maybe might even upset the Lord a little bit. If you're not willing to honor your mother even on Mother's Day, what day of the year are you going to do it on? I mean, good night, it's a day that's been set aside for people to acknowledge their mothers, and I would encourage us to do that, and we'll get into a little bit different aspect of the sermon this morning a little bit later, but I want to start out by just pointing out the fact that honoring your mother is God's law. And in God's law, in the word of God, that term honoring takes on a couple different meanings. Maybe we would think of that just to mean to respect your mother, just to obey your mother, just to listen to your mother, and of course those are all things that God's word commands us to do. It says children to obey your parents and Lord, for this is right. But really, I think the honoring here that he's referring to is the fact that you ought to care for your mother's earthly needs, especially in her old age. It says there, honor thy father and thy mother, that they days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. So the Bible's showing us that if we honor our father and our mother, our days are going to be long. And if you would, go over to 1 Timothy 5. This is something that we really don't think about as much today because of the fact that we're living in such an affluent society. We're living in such a country that is so well off financially that most people, if they aren't able to plan ahead and work and save for retirement and take advantage of all the different plans and things that are out there for people to retire on, they have a welfare system at the very least to at least see them through. They have things like social security. They have other networks. A lot of parents today aren't necessarily relying on their children to honor them in their old age. That is something that I'm doing. You say, why are you having so many children? Why are you? Well, part of that's because that's my retirement plan. I'm hoping that one of them turns out well enough that they'll still love me by the time they're an adult and by the time I'm old and cantankerous and everything else, they'll still want to put up with me to see me off into the sunset. But despite how I may or may not be in my old age, that is something that is commanded by scripture. That's what the Bible's teaching us here when it says to honor thy father and thy mother as it says in 1 Timothy 4 to requite their parents. Requite simply means to pay them back, to repay that which has been given to you. It says in verse 4 of 1 Timothy 5, if any widow had children or nephews, and nephews is just an old fashioned term for grandchildren, let them learn first to show piety at home and to requite their parents. And again, that requiting there is a repaying. It's a paying back of what your parents have done for you. And what did your parents do for you? What is it that your mother did for you that you need to repay? Well, the fact is that she took care of you. She cared for your earthly needs, probably well into your teen years, 18, some of us maybe a little bit longer, some of us maybe we were 30 before we finally figured out how to take care of ourselves. And hopefully that's not the case. But the point is this, is that when your mother is the one that's taking care of you, looking after all your physical needs when you're incapable of taking care of yourself, when you need help and guidance in your childhood, it should be a natural thing for you want to do the same thing for her when she's older and weaker and frailer and needs somebody to help her out with her physical needs. Be it housing, be it shelter, be it just living day to day. Now again, this is speaking specifically about widows, speaking about that if an elderly lady were to lose her husband or at any point really that it's her children's job to look after her. It says they'll let them learn first to show piety at home and to requite their parents for that is good and acceptable before God. You know, it's God is the one that we want to please. You know, when we want to just stick them in a home and pretend they don't, you know, and just pay them a visit once a month and just start counting down the clock until they're gone, you know, that is not acceptable before God. That's neither good or acceptable. You know, and it's a shame really because, you know, I know that my generation, this is something that's definitely, you know, not practiced as much. I'm sure it's out there. Don't get me wrong. But I think in previous generations, you know, my mother, you know, she was telling me about how her grandmother came to live with her. You know, my great, great grandmother would come and stay with them. And, you know, she had a lot of fond memories in her child. You know, there's a lot of things that are, you know, the elderly can pass on to us, especially if they're the type of person that 1 Timothy 5 describes, the type of widow that has brought up children, that has lodged strangers, that has washed the saint's feet, that has diligently followed every good work. You know, this is somebody who has a lot of experience, somebody who has a lot of knowledge to impart. You know, that's something, that should be something that's welcome into our home and would be an influence on ourselves and our children. So this is something that the Bible commands. It goes on and says in verse 8, but if any provide not for his own, referring to the widow, if any provide not for his own, especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. Now that's very strong language. Talk about a person who is refusing to care for an elderly parent, you know, a widow who is in need. Okay. And again, I understand that, you know, a lot of, you know, our older folks don't even need to take advantage of this. You know, they are well enough. And, you know, that's fine. There's nothing wrong with that. I'm not saying that this has to happen, but if it's needed, it needs to happen in order to be good and acceptable for God. It says in verse 16, if any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged, that it may relieve them that are widows in need. So the church is that, you know, that safety net. And again, I'm not going to go into all that, but if you read 1 Timothy 5, you see all the qualifications that a widow would have to meet in order to be taken in by the church. But again, this is being commanded because of the fact that, you know, a good mother has spent her youth caring for the needs of others. You know, a good mother is the one that has spent her youth, her strength, her life, looking after children, raising children, instructing children, and bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Go over to Titus chapter 2, Titus chapter 2. You know, and that's something that is commanded in Scripture. And look, if you have that this morning, if you have a mother who loves the Lord, who loves the Bible, who's trying to lead you and instruct you in the Word of God, who is trying to get you to live for the Lord, look, you have something that's become increasingly rare today. It is continuing to become more and more increasingly rare in the day and age that we're living in. Because the vast majority of women today do not want to fulfill God's ordained role for them. And by the way, it's not my ordained role for women, it's God's ordained role for women. As it says in Titus chapter 2 verse 3, The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to 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, chaste keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. This is God's role, that they would be, all of these things, keepers at home, obedient to their husbands, that they would love their children and love their husbands. And that they would give their strength, give their ability, give their youth, give their life to fulfilling God's role in loving children, loving husbands, and taking care of the home. And look, that's not a small task. I know we live in a society that wants to minimize that. I know we live in a country, in a world today, that wants to make that a very insignificant thing, but actually, it's what the Bible commands. And it's a very important work. It's what holds, if I dare say, the fabric of society together, is the family. And when the family begins to fall apart, society's right behind it. And what have we seen in our own country over the last hundred years, or whatever, just the last 50 years? Just a relentless, non-stop attack on the family. And what's the result? The fabric of society is just coming unraveled. People don't know what bathroom to go in anymore. They don't know what gender they are. It's insane. And look, it's Mother's Day. I don't want to get into all that. But again, I'm using that to emphasize the point that motherhood is an important job. And it's not easy. I could see how it would be much more attractive to a woman to go pursue a career, and make money, and be independent, and not have these kids, and not have to do all that work. I could see, humanly speaking, why they might feel that way. Not put their body through having to bear children and go through all of that. I could see, humanly speaking, but you know what? That's not what the scripture commands. That's why they have to be taught to do these things, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, to be keepers at home, obedient, to do all these things. They have to be taught. They have to learn that. They have to purpose and say, I want to fulfill God's role. And look, if you have a mother that has, is, or is trying to fulfill that role in your life, you ought to thank God for her. Because she's a rare breed. And they're getting fewer and farther between to find women like this today that are willing to give themselves and to care for the earthly needs of others. I mean, there's not, there's not a lot of glory in being a mother as far as the world's concerned. You know, I've never walked out the front door of my home and had paparazzi on the sidewalk hoping to get a glimpse of my wife brushing the children's teeth or changing a diaper or cooking a meal or cleaning house. They're not concerned with it. They'd rather fall around some floozy over in Hollywood and, you know, talk about what purse she bought or what, you know, what adultery she just committed or whatever wicked sin they've gotten. And that's what the world's interested in. If you would, go over to Ephesians chapter number five, Ephesians chapter number five. But the Bible commands that, you know, we honor our father and our mother. And by the way, that doesn't say regardless of how they may or may not be, we ought to honor our father and our mother. Because there is a correlation between us honoring our parents and God's blessing of us. It says in Deuteronomy chapter five where it reiterates the Ten Commandments again, I'll read to you in verse 16. It adds a little bit something here to this fifth commandment. It says, Honor thy father and thy mother as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee, that thy days may be prolonged, like it says in Exodus, that thy days may be long upon the land, that thy days may be prolonged and that it may go well with thee. Obviously, if we're going to fulfill this command of honoring our father and our mother and taking care of them, you know, we're going to have to be able to provide for their needs. God's going to bless us for it. Because God's going to say, well, you're going to have to stick around in order to see them through to the end. You know, I'm going to have to give you the health. I'm going to have to prosper you. I'm going to have to take care of you as you take care of your parents as I've commanded you. So that's why, I mean, think about it, just logically, it has to work that way. God will bless us. Our days will be prolonged. It will go well with us in the land that the Lord thy God giveth us if, what? If we honor them. If we honor them. So we are commanded to honor our mothers this morning. Not just our fathers, but our mothers as well. God commands the husband to honor his wife. You know, and I'm preaching this morning because, you know, my wife reminded me of the sermon I preached last year and she didn't do it in a way, it just jarred my memory when she mentioned it. She said, you know, this is what you preached last year and she just thought, she told me how, what she thought of the sermon and she liked it. And, but I thought, well, that, last year I preached at the mothers. You know, and sometimes you gotta do that. So I better not do that again this year. I mean, maybe that's why there's not as many mothers as I was hoping would be here this morning. I mean, normally Mother's Day is a high day in a church. But maybe all the mothers said, well, I remember that sermon you preached last year. I'm not gonna go get my face ripped on Mother's Day. But, you know, it's too bad you're not here because I'm actually preaching for the mothers. I'm ripping everybody else's face this morning. I'm gonna get out for the kids and I'm gonna get out for the husbands here for a minute. Because here's the thing, you know, if, if a mother, you know, is a mother, she has children, you know, in all likelihood, you know, she has a husband. Ideally, right? It says in Ephesians 5 verse 22, wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. You said, wait a minute, I thought you were gonna get after us this morning. I'm moving on past that verse, but it's there. It says, for the husband is the head of the wife, Christ is the head of the church, and he is the savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands and everything. Husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. You know, we as husbands should love our wives and honor them. It says in verse 26, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with washing by the water of the word, that he might present to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. Verse 28, so men ought to love their wives. Well, how ought, you know, to what degree should I love my wife as their own bodies? He that loveth his wife loveth himself. Why? Because they're one flesh. But notice he's saying there that he ought to love their wives as their own bodies. And you get the idea again that this is speaking specifically to the fact that we as husbands ought to provide physically for our wives. We need to provide their physical needs. Look, if they're going to fulfill Titus chapter number two and be that discreet, obedient housewife keeper at home, you know, that means they can't go out and make the living. That means the husband has to do that. And that is God's role for the husband. To go out and earn a living and provide physically for his wife. So that she can fulfill the role that she needs to fulfill in raising children and taking care of the home. You need to provide for their physical needs. You need to provide for their physical protection. Say, how am I going to honor my wife? How am I going to honor my mother? You know, honor your mother, we'll get into here in a minute. But husbands, you know, while I'm kicking this dog, you know, the husbands ought to go ahead and determine that they're going to provide physically for their wives. And I'm, you know, I'm going to park it there for a minute because we have today men that seem to think it's better to send the wife out in the workplace so they can stay at home and be a stay-at-home dad. It's unbiblical, friend. It's backwards. Well, she makes more money. Cut the cable. Get rid of the smartphone. Don't take the vacation. Go down to one car. Cut corners. And fulfill God's role for yourselves. Because there's more to life than just money. Well, you know, if she goes, she makes all the money. Get two jobs. Get a second one. Get educated. Take some night classes. I don't know, but fulfill God's role. Do whatever you got to do. Well, I don't know, just nobody can. You know what? You could if you wanted to. Look, here's what I've learned. People do what they want. People do what they want. People find a way to do what they want. Anyway, I've got to move on beyond that. It says in, go over to Proverbs chapter 1. Proverbs chapter 1. And stay in Proverbs. We're going to look at several Proverbs this morning. It says in 1 Peter chapter 3, well, let me finish up here with the husbands. Colossians chapter 3, it says in verse 19, Husband loves your wives, and be not bitter against them. Be not bitter against them. We as husbands should never just think it's a drag that we can't have all the toys and do all the things that we want to do because we have this drain on our finances called the wife and children. You're failing to see the forest for the trees at that point, my friend. Children are a blessing. The fruit of the womb is the Lord's reward. You know, children are something that are to be desired. We should never, and of course there's work, of course it's a burden, but it's a burden that's worth bearing. I mean, I get way more joy out of my children than I do angst. You know, the drain, whatever you want to call it, they are the burden that they are financially. Look, it's worth the trade-off. It's worth the trade-off. So be not bitter against them. You know, just because they're trying to fulfill God's role and it requires you to have to pull up your bootstraps and get your hands dirty. It says in 1 Peter 3, ye husbands dwell with them according knowledge, giving honor unto the wife. And what's that honor talking about again? Like in 1 Timothy 5, honor widows that are widows indeed. It goes on talking about how they're to be taken to the church and physically cared for. That same chapter talks about, let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially that labor in the word of doctrine. And then it talks about, for the scripture saith, thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn, and the laborer is worthy of his reward. It's talking about taking care of their physical needs. That's what it means to honor somebody in the Bible. It's not just respect. Yeah, that could be part of it, but the primary meaning, I believe, is talking about honoring them, taking care of them, providing for their needs on this earth. And the Bible says that we are to give honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel, and to care for her earthly needs. You know, and it's important because, you know, wives and mothers, they give of themselves physically. And anyone who has a wife or a mother that's doing it right knows what I'm talking about. You know, there are days, weeks, where it's a, every day can be a physical struggle. A physical struggle. You know, when you have the children that are young and needy, keeping you up, you can't get a solid eight hours if you wanted to. You know, it can become a physical drain. And the kids don't stop needing. It's not like you feed a kid once and they're done. You know, just change one diaper and then they figure it out. It's meal after meal. The house just keeps, you clean it, and this place can just never stay clean, right? Isn't that the cry? Can't it just stay clean for five minutes? No, it can't. It can't. Because, you know, that's motherhood. And that's your mother, providing for your physical needs, cleaning up after you, doing the laundry, folding the laundry, so it can be done again and again and again and again and again and again. So I don't think that it's a really big ask when the Bible says that we ought to in turn honor them, whether in their old age or we as husbands, you know, in their youth, to take care of them, to provide for their physical needs as they are sacrificing of their own selves physically. Not, I mean, I don't even, I mean, I just talked about housework. I don't even touch on birth. Just bearing children. You know, going through the jaws of death. And I'm not being melodramatic here, folks. You know, that's another thing that we just kind of take for granted today. You know, the fact that we have such a, you know, a high success rate in childbirth of both the mother and the child due to the fact that we live in a country where we have, we've been educated, we learn about these things, we can prepare for it if something goes wrong, we have hospitals and ambulances. You know, it wasn't always that case. In a lot of places, it's still not. Where, you know, a death, I mean, excuse me, birth is always a, you know, always a risk. But, you know, it used to be a lot more of a higher risk. So that's what your mother did for you. Maybe you can find a minute. It says in Proverbs, if you're there, chapter 1, verse 8, he says, my son, hear the instruction of thy father. That was all introduction, by the way. And forsake not the law of thy mother. That's what I want to preach about tonight, this morning, is the law of thy mother, your mother's law. Because not only do mothers give of themselves physically, and you say, well, that's enough, they don't need it anymore, but they also are there to instruct you on how to live your life and how to live for the Lord and how to, you know, even not just spiritual matters, just practically speaking, how to avoid the pitfalls of life, how to grow into a mature, responsible adult. That's what mothers do. That's another part of their responsibility. You think about the homeschooling mothers, that education is falling on their shoulders to make sure that you don't end up, you know, an ignoramus, that you don't end up some uneducated, you know, illiterate moron, that you still know how to go out and function in the world. That's also a part of their job. And get it, you know, the fathers, we play a role in this, too, but it's Mother's Day, so I dare not even begin to, you know, speak of the fathers. Because it does say in verse 8, my son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother, for they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck. It's saying that the instruction of thy father and the law of thy mother is like an ornament of grace unto your head. You know, it's setting you up for life. It's going to give, I mean, if you saw somebody with a crown, an ornament of grace, you know, you would probably think, well, what's so important about this person? You'd probably think of them a little bit higher, wouldn't you? You would just look at that and say, well, they're distinguished in some way. You know, if somebody walked in in full military dress with a bunch of medals, you would probably be a little bit more inclined to call that person sir, or show some respect other than the guy who walked in with his pants halfway down his legs and his hat turned around backwards. You know, but that's what your parents do. That's what your mother does when they teach you and instruct you these things. You know, physical needs aside, you know, putting themselves in harm's way just to bring you into the world and then taking care of you until you're capable of taking care of yourself. You know, put all that aside for a minute. On top of that, then they put an ornament of grace on your head through instruction, through their law. And what's their law? What's their father's commandment? What's your mother's law? What's the word of God? That's what it is. It's the same thing. But it shall be an ornament of grace on the head and chains about thy neck. You know, that's your spiritual bling, right? That's what all the kids are in today, right? They want that big gold chain around their neck. You know, they want the custom Nikes, right? They want whatever it is they're into, I don't care anymore. You know, but they want all that bling, that glitz. You know, your parents are trying to put some spiritual bling on you. They're trying to, here, let me put that. You want that new, you know, flat, brimmed designer cap that nobody else has. You know, why don't you get the ornament of grace upon your head? Why don't you let them put that on your head? You know, everybody around you might not see it, you know, right away. You might not, no one's going to walk up and go, what are those? But when they see you living your life differently, when they see you not having the, they're going to say, wow, there's something different. Say, what is it? Oh, it's this ornament of grace my mother gave me. It's this, it's this chain about my neck. And it's not a chain like, like you're a slave or something. It's talking about like a chain, like I believe, like a chain of gold. Like an ornament. So we benefit from honoring our mothers, don't we? Not only just in the physical world, but when we actually honor them and respect them and what they have to instruct us and teach us in. Because a good mother, of course, is concerned with the well-being of her children. Go over to Proverbs chapter 6, Proverbs chapter 6. You know, it just, it just follows suit. It's just natural that, you know, a godly mother, a good mother, she's going to care for your well-being not just your physical well-being, but your spiritual well-being. How you're going to fend for yourself and the world. They're trying to instruct you. They're trying to give you a law to live by. And God is telling us to not forsake the law of thy mother. It says in verse 20, keep, my son, keep thy father's commandment and forsake not the law of thy mother. There it is again. Bind them continually upon thine heart and tie them about thy neck. He's saying to bind it continually upon your heart. Continually. Meaning learn what they're teaching you, learn this law, learn this commandment, and keep it with you all the days of your life. Don't ever let it go. And tie it about your neck. Think about how people would tie things around their fingers to remind them of things. Tie it around your neck. You're not going to forget about it when it's tied about your neck. Verse 22, when thou goest, it shall lead thee. When thou sleepest, it shall keep thee. And when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. You know, mothers ought to be instructing their children in things that are going to last them for the rest of their life. They ought to be teaching them things that are going to guide them when they walk, that's going to guard them when they sleep, that's going to speak to them when they wake. Children are going to grow up and in their adult years think, well my mother taught me this, and my mother taught me this, and my mother taught me this. And look, moms can teach that all they want. But if the children don't say, I'm going to bind that on my heart, I'm going to wear it as a chain about my neck, it's all for naught. And a lot of times, unfortunately, children, they say, I don't want that chain. I don't want this on my heart. I'm going to do things my way. Because the way often that parents instruct us is through correction, isn't it? It's not all just head rubs and back pads. There's some padding going on in the posterior anatomy, but it's not an affectionate kind. Of course, I'm referring to a spanking. To keep something in Proverbs, go to 2 Timothy chapter 1. It says there where we were in Proverbs chapter 6, it says in verse 23, For the commandment is the lamp, and the law is light, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life. Your mother's law, your father's commandment, often is going to come in the reproof of instruction. Because, I don't know about you, but I've noticed something about children, is that they're real good about doing the wrong thing. I never had to teach my kids, now this is how you lie. This is how you disobey. This is how you mistreat your siblings. This is how you talk back. This is how you have a poor attitude. I never had to teach my kids any of that. They just knew how to do it. Because we're all sinners. You get that. So that being the case, what I do find a lot of is that there's a lot of instructing through what? The reproof. You did wrong, you did wrong, you did wrong. Here's how you do right, here's how you do right, here's how you do right. And there's a lot of reproofs. That's how instruction often comes. And that's why a lot of people grow up and say, I don't want this chain, I don't want to bind that on my heart, because I don't like being told I'm wrong. And I know better. Yeah, well, you know, give it a decade. And you'll find out you don't know better. And then you'll start to go, oh, they're right. You know, I hope my wife doesn't mind, but, you know, my wife is number, you think I have a large family, she's number seven of eleven. She was the seventh born in a family of eleven. And often I'll hear my wife, you know, talking to her mother and say, mom, now I get it. And her mom goes, yeah, I know. And she'll just laugh. Oh, I'm doing this. She's like, oh, yeah, I know. I remember what that was like. But, you see, before we get there, often it's hard for us to understand why is mom this way? Why is mom teaching me this? Why does mom want me to do that? It's because they know and you don't. That's what the reproofs of instruction are. It's the reproofs of instruction. We like instruction, we just don't like reproof. But you know what? That's where the law is. That's where the light is. That's where the lamp is. That's what's going to guide you through life. Is the reproofs that you receive saying, don't do wrong. Don't do this. Do right. You know, and what we learn as children is going to benefit as adults. See, kids today, they often think that, oh, mom's just, she's just that way because she's trying to preserve her sanity. You know, that is part of the reason. But a good mother who's looking out for the well-being of her children is trying to set that child up for life. For the real world. For that big, bad, nasty, cold world that doesn't care about your feelings. That doesn't care about your needs. It's just a big machine that's just going to either run you over or not. And our mothers, our parents are trying to instruct us through the reproofs of instruction. And set us up so that we can succeed as adults. Look there in 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 3. It says, I thank God whom I serve for my forefathers with pure conscience that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee and my prayers night and day. Of course, this is Paul speaking to Timothy. And he says in verse 5, when I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee. He's saying, look, when I think about you and my prayers, you know, I thank God night and day. When I call to remembrance the unfaith faith that is in thee. You know, and that's a big compliment to Timothy, isn't it? You have the apostle Paul saying, you know what, you've got a real faith, Timothy, and it brings joy to my heart. I thank God when I think about you, when I pray for you, and I say thank God for Timothy. And it's unfeigned faith I thank him for it. I mean, isn't it a great thing to have someone like the apostle Paul praising you before God? You know, it's a blessing to have somebody praising you before the throne of God. And I'm sure Timothy read that and it just warmed his heart. Wow, Paul? Really? But notice where it all started. When I call to remembrance the unfaith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, in thy mother Eunice, and I am persuaded that in thee also. He's saying, look, that unfeigned faith that you have, you didn't get it all on your own. You know, the praise that you're receiving of me, that attaboy I'm giving you right now, it's not just because you didn't just stumble into that. You were set up for that, Timothy. You have a heritage that came down from your grandmother into your mother. Look at chapter 3, verse 14. He said, continue in those things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of. Look, someone has taught you these things, you've been assured of these things by somebody else, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. You didn't get this way on your own, Timothy. And look, Timothy is a good man. He's a man of God. But you know what? Paul's reminding him here, you didn't get here all on your own. And he said in verse 15, and that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures. Look, what your mother is trying to do, the law of your mother isn't just there to drag you down. It's there to set you up for life. So honor your mother. Honor her. Respect her. Obey her. As the Bible says, children obey your parents. From here, I don't care to here. All the way up, all the way through. Obey your parents. Honor them. You know, and if when you're grown, there comes a time they have need of you, you should be there. Thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, go back to Proverbs chapter 15, Proverbs chapter 15. You see, Timothy here, as a man of God, thanking God for him, but you know what? That's really a credit to his mother and his grandmother. You know, I won't take the time to remind us of Acts 16, where Paul finds Timothy, and it says that he was a certain disciple there in Derbe and Lystra, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman. It's interesting that that detail is included. Like we needed to know that. Oh, Timothy had a mother. Shocker. You know, last I checked, that's genetic. You know, if your mother didn't have children, neither will you. He was the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess and believed, but his father was a Greek, which was well reported by the brethren. He had a good reputation. Him would Paul have to go with him. When Paul was looking for a new companion to travel, he said, I'll take Timothy, because he's got a good reputation, because he was the son of a certain woman, who taught him the word of God from his youth. So, you know, we're preaching about the law of your mother. Don't forsake the law of your mother. Don't blow your mom off like she doesn't know what she's talking about. You know, honor your mother. Listen to what she has to say. Forsaking the law of your mother has negative consequences. You say, whatever, you're just tuning me out right now. You just think you know better. You think you got it all figured out. You don't need to listen to mom. You don't need to listen to dad. You'll find out. Look at Proverbs chapter 15 verse 20. It says, A wise son maketh a glad father, but a foolish man, man. It's talking about a grown man. It doesn't say a foolish child. It says a foolish man despiseth his mother. A wise son maketh a glad father, but a foolish man despiseth his mother. Look, you despise your mother, you're going to grow up to be a fool. You ignore your mother's instruction. You forsake the law of your mother. And all likelihood, you're going to grow up to be a fool. Look, I've known people who just said, well, I'm just going to figure it all out on my own. I'm not going to listen to anything anybody has to tell me in their youth. And you know what? They went through a long, hard path to finally figure out, oh, they were right after all. Why don't you just take everyone else's advice now? Instead of trying to figure it out on your own, trying to find out the hard way, just believe what the Bible says, that if you despise your mother, you're going to be a foolish man. That there's going to be negative consequences when we don't do what our parents have instructed us to do and taught us. Go over to Proverbs chapter 19. Proverbs chapter number 19. Look at verse 26. It says, he that wasteth his father, wasteth his father, and chases away his mother, is cool. Is independent. No, it says he's a son that causes shame and bringeth reproach. He causes shame and bringeth reproach. He's not somebody that they're proud of. You know, and that's talking about before, man, that's talking about, you know, you're shaming, you're ashamed of your parents. Yeah, that's my kid. When the county calls, will you accept a collect call from Pima County Sheriff? I don't know how it goes. Never gotten that call. This is a collect call from the county jail. You accept it from your son, your daughter. Oh, oh, I'm so glad you called. I was wondering where you were. Can you make it for lunch? No, I'm kind of tied up. No, it's, oh, what do you want? Oh, bail you out? Oh, sure. I'd love to do that. Drive you to probation meetings. Oh, God, just what a thrill. It'd be the longest ride of your life. Right? But, you know, this is what happens when we chase away our mother and say, I don't need her law. I don't need dad's construction. Shame and reproach. You know, if that wasn't enough, it makes God mad, too, because remember, we started out in Exodus. We started out in Deuteronomy, where we went over and read where it says, honor thy father and thy mother. It's a commandment from God. It angers God, too, when we chase them away, when we forsake them. Look at Proverbs chapter 30. Actually, just go to Proverbs chapter 20. I'll wrap it up. Let you take mom out. Right? Proverbs chapter 30, it says in verse 17, the eye that mocketh at his father. And it's interesting. I love this verse because, you know, we kind of just read over words, but it says the eye. Does it say the tongue? Does it say the mouth? It says the eye. And sometimes it's just written all over our face, isn't it? Don't give me that attitude. I didn't say anything. All over your face. The rolling eye. You don't say anything, but you say it when you do this. Go clean your room. All right. Yes, mom. Yes, dad. Dinner's ready. It's like, oh, whoa, you're moving fast now. It's the eye that mocketh. It's the eye that mocks at his father. And despises to obey his mother. The ravens of the valley shall pick it out. I love the poetry of the Bible. He's going to have a hard life. You disobey your parents, you know, that's not going to be God's best for you. No, the ravens of the valley are going to pick that same eye out of your skull. You know, it's talking about you're going to be dead. Young eagles shall eat it. You know, you're just going to be some statistic. You're going to get mixed up with the wrong people. They're going to find you out in the desert. Some bird on your forehead having a meal. Because, you know, you mocked your father. You despised your mother. You didn't want to listen to their law. You forsook the law of your mother. Who's trying to tell you, I don't like those people you're hanging out with. I don't think you should be hanging around so and so. They're a bad influence. I don't like what they're into. Go to Proverbs chapter 20. Proverbs chapter number 20. Look, don't forsake the law of your mother this morning. It has negative consequences. You know, maybe you won't end up a buffet out in the desert for all the ravens and the fowls of the air. But there's a lot of other things that could happen too. There's a lot of hardship and heartache that, you know, you could go ahead and put yourself through if you just want to forsake, you know, what your mother, what your father are trying to teach you and instruct you. And not to mention, as we're closing in this final point, one of these last points, the fact that it angers God. Notice Proverbs 20 verse 20. It says, Who so curseth, his father or his mother? So this is like the next level, right? I mean, there's mocking with the eye. There's forsaking it. You know, there's just, I'm just not going to do it. And then there's actually where you're cursing your father or your mother. Where now you're vindictive. Where now it's, you're proactively, you know, going after them in a way. He who so curseth his father, his mother, his lamp, and notice, pay attention to the words it uses, shall be put out in darkness, in obscure darkness. Does it say his lamp's going to go out, just naturally of its own accord? It's just going to fade out and go and the flames going to die. No, it says it's going to be put out. God's going to see you cursing your father or mother and just go, okay. Now let's see you find your way home. Now let's see you manage your, you walk your way through this dark world. Through the spiritual darkness that's in the world when God just takes that little flame that you have and just snuffs it out. And that's what it says. His lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness. You know, when we forsake the law of our mother, it's like we're out in that dark, dark night in the middle of nowhere in some woods. And we have this flashlight and we just, I don't need that. Whack! Right into a tree. Should have held onto that lamp, dummy. Yeah, but it was my mom's lamp. It's pink. It's not the lamp I wanted. Well, you know what, it's a whole lot better than just stumbling around through life. Look, don't forsake the law of your mother. She's trying to instruct you, teach you how to live. Not just so she can be a downer, but because she actually cares about you. She loves you. She's trying to set you up for life so that you succeed. And so you don't end up, you know, in the wrong company. You don't end up, you know, with the ravens picking away at you. Spiritually. Learn, you know, so learn to obey your mother. Do what they say, honor them. Don't forsake their law. And, you know, there's probably some people in here that already, you know, I assume everybody already does that. Hopefully. But, you know, that's kind of a low bar in my book. To where we just say, okay, I'll do what my mom and dad say. Well good, good on you. You know, that's the way it ought to be. But that's not anything that, you know, you shouldn't get a cookie for that. You know, not only obey your mother, not only forsake the law of your mother, but you know what, you should learn to bless your mother too. Bless her. You know, bless your mother. Look at Proverbs chapter 30. Showed you how to stay there. It says in verse 11. It warns us about the certain generation that, you know, and I believe it's cyclical that every now and then just from generation to generation when society gets to be a certain way, when you'll see a certain type of generation rise up. And it says in verse 11, there is a generation that cursed their father and doth not bless their mother. You know, we might be there, I don't know. You know, but it seems like it's cyclical. You know, in societies and things like that, eventually you have a generation of people that grow up. They don't, they curse their father. They do not bless their mother. Now it's interesting that cursing your father and not blessing your mother are mentioned in the same breath as being almost the same thing. There is a generation, verse 12, that is pure in their own eyes, yet is not washed from their filthiness. There is a generation of how lofty are their eyes. It's talking about how proud they are, full of pride. I don't need my parent, I don't need my mother's law, I don't need to listen to them. Their eyelids are lifted up. There is a generation who wears teeth that has swords and their jaw teeth as knives to devour the poor from off the face of the earth and the needy from among men. Now we read verse 14 and say, wow, what a wicked group of people. But where does it start? It starts at verse 11 with someone who's just not blessing their mother. You see somebody who treats their mother poorly, their own mother poorly. That's a red flag. That's good advice to any young lady that might be looking for a husband. I should rephrase that, don't look for a husband, look for a nice young single guy. He's looking to get married. See how he treats his mother. Pay attention to it. Does he bless her? Does he mock her? Does he ridicule her? Is he critical of her? Does he talk bad about her? The way he treats his mother is pretty indicative of the way he's going to treat his wife. Who's going to be the mother of his children. So bless your mother. Just don't, okay, I'll do what I'm told. You should do that just out of duty, but you know what? What you'll learn as you get older, as you do that, as you begin to realize that your mother's law is there for your own benefit, that she's sacrificed of her own self, that she's sacrificed of her own resources to bring you up and to teach you and to instruct you. What you'll learn eventually, hopefully, if you're wise, is to bless her for it. And to say thank you for the reproofs of instruction. Thank you for this ornament of grace. Thank you for this chain about my neck. Thank you, mother, for your law. For teaching me instruction and not just leaving me to the wolves. You know, we think on Mother's Day, you know, we brainstorm, hopefully we think, well Mother's Day is coming, what am I going to do for mom? What am I going to get her? You know, we're at, you know, Hallmark last minute trying to find the card or wherever you get your cards, I don't know. You're ordering 1-800 flowers, you know, the Friday prior, edible arrangements. You're thinking about where you're going to take your look. And those are all good things to do on Mother's Day. You know, take one day out of the year at the minimum to acknowledge your mother. But you know, the best gift you could ever give to your mother is heeding her law and putting into practice what it is she's trying to instill in you. Because that's a gift that's going to keep on giving to her day after day after day after year after year after year after decade after decade. When you take this law that she's trying to give you and wear it upon my neck and let it guide you through life, I mean, that's the greatest gift anyone could give their mother. To not waste her, to not chase her away. But to actually, you know, do what it is that she's trying to get you to do. Because again, she's not doing it for herself. Mothers are very selfless people. She's doing it for your good. She's doing it because she wants you to live a good life. She's trying to give you her law. You know, and it's not her own, it's the Lord's that she's trying to give you ultimately. So if we have a mother who's trying to instruct us and is trying to teach us God's law and how to live life, you know, yes, obey it. Don't forsake your brother's law. But even more than that, bless her for it. Because again, they are becoming more and more rare, such women. Let's go ahead and close in a word of prayer. Dear Lord, again, thank you for mothers. Lord, thank you for godly mothers who love you. And Lord, I thank you for the instruction that they give. And Lord, I pray to help us to take heed to it, that we allow it to guide us in life. And Lord, that we would always honor our mothers and our wives. And Lord, that we would requite them, Lord, as best we know how, Lord. And not just in their physical needs, Lord, in their elder years, Lord, but also just day to day, Lord, by taking heed to their law, their instruction that they've given us. We just pray you bless us as we go now, in Jesus' name, Amen. Alright, we'll go ahead and sing one more song before we go this morning. We're going to sing song 66. Song number 66. Here's our spirit, vanity and pride. Every now and then, my Lord, is crucified. Knowing I was to be, he got me from Calvary. Mercy there was great, and grace was free. Our heart and land was multiplied to be. There were burdens over liberty at Calvary. I was wordless, my seed I learned. Then I trembled at the long heights' turn. Then my guilty soul in glory turned to Calvary. Mercy there was great, and grace was free. Our heart and land was multiplied to be. There were burdens over liberty at Calvary. Oh, the love that through salvation's plan. Oh, the grace that brought it down to man. Oh, the life of the God of his hand at Calvary. Mercy there was great, and grace was free. Our heart and land was multiplied to be. There were burdens over liberty at Calvary. Now I feel the joys of everything. Now I'm gladly open as my feet. Now my eyes are slowly only seeing. Of Calvary. Mercy there was great, and grace was free. Our heart and land was multiplied to be. There were burdens over liberty at Calvary. All right, thanks for coming, everybody. The ark is supposed to speak. Hi. Thank you.