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Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All righty, everybody. Thank you so much for coming. Please take your seat. We're going to go ahead and get started. The first song today is number 45 when I can read my title clear. Please take your seats. It's number 45. Once again, number 45. When I can read my title clear Two mansions in the sky I'll bid farewell to every view And wipe my weeping eyes And wipe my weeping eyes And wipe my weeping eyes And wipe my weeping eyes I'll bid farewell to every view And wipe my weeping eyes Should earth against my soul engage And fiery darts be hurled Then I can smile at Satan's rage And face a frowning world And face a frowning world Then I can smile at Satan's rage And face a frowning world And face a frowning world Then I can smile at Satan's rage And face a frowning world When cares like a wild deluge And storms of sorrow fall May I not safely reach my home My God, my enmity May I not safely reach my home My God, my enmity May I not safely reach my home My God, my enmity There shall I bid my weary soul In seas of heavenly rest And not a wave of trouble roll Across my peaceful rest Across my peaceful rest Across my peaceful rest And not a wave of trouble roll Across my peaceful rest Across my peaceful rest Father in Heaven, we thank you for your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. We thank you for the opportunity to let us be in church and lift up our voices to you in praise. We ask you to bless Pastor Anderson, his family, his congregation, and every aspect of his sermon this morning. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. One page backward, number 44. We'll work till Jesus comes. Number 44. We'll work till Jesus comes. We'll work till Jesus comes. We'll work till Jesus comes. And we'll be gathered home To Jesus Christ I fled for As he made me cease to roam For supper on his breast Will he conduct me whole We'll work till Jesus comes We'll work till Jesus comes We'll work till Jesus Comes and we'll be gathered home I saw that once my Savior Lived your side no more I said shall roam Within a great pest Drilling time and reach My heavenly home We'll work till Jesus comes We'll work till Jesus Comes we'll work till Jesus Comes we'll be gathered home All right. Amen. Let's go through our announcements now together. If you don't have a bulletin slip up your hand and we'll get to you with one. On the inside we have our service time. Sunday mornings at 10.30 is our preaching service. Sunday nights at 6. Wednesday nights at 7 is our Bible study. This week will be in 2 Chronicles chapter 21. So many times listed there below as well as salvations and baptisms. Across the page all ladies and teen girls are invited to a maternity shower in honor of Eileen Urban. This is next Sunday. So that's September 29th. 2 to 4 p.m. right here. A catered lunch will be served. Nurslings only preferred meaning if you can leave the kids with your husband. That's great. Otherwise if you have to bring them, bring them. The only kids you bring are just nursing type kids. And then please and we're assuming you're not one of those attachment parents that you know takes that to an extreme age. But anyway Please RSVP to Mrs. Jenny at Kenosha would you stand? So that everyone can see you. Okay. And here's the thing. If you don't know Eileen do not be shy. Every lady and teenage girl is invited to attend and so a lot of people are probably going to show up who might not know her. It's a good way to get to know her. And so don't ever be shy about showing up at these things. Whether or not you've RSVP'd. But it's better if you can RSVP to Mrs. Jenny at Kenosha. And then below that we're taking the portraits for our annual yearbook. The sign up for that is over here to my right. There are opportunities before the service and after the service. But we prefer that families with young children get the photos taken before the service. Everybody else afterward. This year's background color is tan. On the back we've got the note about the Navajo reservation soul winning trip over the last couple days. We had 31 soul winners go up there and 26 saved on the res. So praise the Lord for that successful trip. Below that there's a small town soul winning trip coming up on Saturday. Looks like this is one that Alex Larson is organizing. And so you can see brother Alex. Would you stand up brother Alex Larson? So that you can see brother Alex for details about that on Saturday September 28th down in Coolidge Arizona. And then below that keep praying for the ladies in our church that are expecting. And then below that other upcoming events. We've got the doughnuts in the first week in October. We've got the annual chili cook off on October 31st. As always missions conference is a big one November 6th through 10th. And then the Jamaica missions trip. And that's going to be December 1st through 7th. If you need any details on that you can see brother Raymond Cooper or brother Daniel Reiter. Daniel would you stand so that people, I'm just, most people know who these people are but it's always good to just point people out in case people are new. And so you can see brother Daniel Reiter. See brother Raymond Cooper for details. On the Jamaica trip. That is about it for announcements. Let's go ahead and sing our next song. Come lead us. Alright 282 is next. Why not now? 282 282 While we pray and while we weep while our fathers follow you home, will you not another come? Why not now? Why not now? Why not come to Jesus now? Why not now? Why not now? Why not come to Jesus now? You have wandered far away do not risk another day do not turn from God like but today to his grace Why not now? Why not now? Why not come to Jesus now? Why not now? Why not now? Why not come to Jesus now? why not now? why not come to Jesus now? why not now? Why not come to Jesus now? Why not now? Why not now? Now To rise and hard and tame Justin in from day to day He will keep you all the way Why not now? Why not now? Why not come to Jesus now why not now? and can it be that I should gain number 24 and your hymnal? Number 24, and can it be that I should gain number 24 and your hymnal? and your hymnal? Number 24, and can it be that I should gain number 24, and can it be that I should gain number 24, and can it be that I should gain number 24, and can it be that I should gain number 24, and can it be that I should gain number 24, and can it be that I should gain number 24, and can it be that I should gain And the miner should die for me. He left his father's throne above, so free he so may limit his race. Empty and self of all but love, and bled for Adam's helpless race. Tis mercy, all humans and free, for oh, my God, it found out me. Amazing love, how can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me? All my imprints and spirit lay, fast bound in sin and nature's night. Thine eye diffused but quickly grayed, I wove the dungeon flame with life. My chains fell off, my heart was free, I most went forth and followed thee. Amazing love, how can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me? All right, at this time we'll pass our offering plates around. As the plates are going around, let's turn our Bibles to Deuteronomy 25. Deuteronomy chapter number 25, as we always do, we'll read the entire chapter, beginning in verse number 1. Follow along silently with Brother Corbin Brock as he reads, Deuteronomy 25, beginning in verse number 1. Deuteronomy chapter 25. If there be a controversy between men and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them, then they shall justify the righteous and condemn the wicked. And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault by a certain number. Forty stripes he may give him and not exceed, lest if he should exceed and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee. Thou shall not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn. If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger. Her husband's brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband's brother unto her. And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel. And if the man like not to take his brother's wife, then let his brother's wife go up to the gate unto the elders, and say, My husband's brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel. He will not perform the duty of my husband's brother. Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak unto him. And if he stand to it, and say, I like not to take her, then shall his brother's wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother's house. And his name shall be called in Israel the house of him that hath his shoe loosed. When men strive together, one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets, then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eyes shall not pity her. Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small. Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small. But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure, shalt thou have, that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the Lord thy God. Remember that Amalek, remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when we were come forth out of Egypt, how he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when I was faint and weary and feared not God. Therefore it shall be, when the Lord thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven, thou shalt not forget it. Dear Lord, thank you very much for this day, Lord. Thank you for Faithford Baptist Church. Please bless the sermon to all of us, Lord. I pray that we can really apply it to our lives and reverence the word of God and the King James Bible, Lord. Please fill Pastor Anderson with your Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Man, the title of my sermon this morning is Corporal Punishment in the Bible. Corporal punishment in the Bible. Now the word corporal means bodily punishment, like from the Latin corpus, and so I'm talking about physically disciplining someone is biblical. Now, I've been accused of abusing my kids for biblically disciplining them. Some of it has been, you know, embellishment and exaggeration. Some of it's just outright lies not even based on a kernel of truth. But, you know, one of the things that I've learned from this is just how biblically ignorant so many people are on this subject. This is something that needs to be taught in our day. We need to see what the Bible says. I don't know if they're biblically ignorant, or maybe people just don't care what the Bible says, but the Bible is very clear on this subject. And look, people have tried to use CPS as a weapon against me repeatedly over the years. CPS has been to my house many times, come in my living room, sat and talked to each of my kids, observed my family, observed my kids. And you know what? They were just impressed by what a happy and nice family that I have. And they just really liked our house, okay? Our kids are actually enjoying a great childhood. They're having a fun childhood, doing all kinds of fun stuff, going on fun trips, doing all kinds of outdoor activities and things like that, and whatever. But here's the thing, you know, that's the government, right? The CPS, and they have their views. But as a Christian, in addition, as a Christian, if you're going to be accusing people of abuse, you better have a Bible verse to back that up. And when it comes to biblical truth, your opinions and your feelings and your preferences don't matter. Only what the Bible says matters. Let's go to Proverbs chapter 13. We've got a lot to cover this morning. This is not a small subject, and so we've got a lot to cover. Let's get right into it. Proverbs chapter 13 verse 24, the Bible reads, He that spareth his rod hateth his son, but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. Now we've always said, spare the rod, spoil the child, but what the Bible is actually saying is, he that spareth his rod hateth his son. And you'll hear people say things like, Oh, well, you know, I just love him too much to spank my child. But the Bible says the exact opposite. If you love your children, you're going to discipline them. And the Bible says he that spares the rod hates his son, but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. Now this word betimes is a little bit of an archaic word, but it means early. If you study the way it's used throughout the Bible, it's often used about people getting up early in the morning, rising up betimes. And so what the Bible is saying here, that if you love your son, you'll chasten him betimes, meaning early, meaning you won't wait until it gets to you late. You'll start when they're very young to discipline them. Look if you would at Proverbs chapter 19 verse 18. We'll find something very similar in chapter 19 verse 18. Chasten thy son while there is hope. Right? Before it's too late. While there's hope and let not thy soul spare for his crying. Meaning that, oh, because he's crying and whining and complaining about it. Oh, you know, I just love him too much. No, he that spareth his rod, hateth his son, let not your soul spare for his crying. Okay, the Bible says you got to chasten your son. The Bible says in Revelation chapter 3, you don't have to turn there. You turn to Proverbs 3. You're already in Proverbs. I'm not going to send you that far away. But Revelation 3 19 says, as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten, be zealous, therefore, and repent. So the loving parent is actually the one that disciplines and doesn't spare because of their crying. Okay, Proverbs chapter three, verse 11 says this. My son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, neither be weary of his correction for whom the Lord loveth. Even as a father, the son in whom he delighteth. So again, it's loving your children, delighting in your children. That actually motivates you to discipline them right now. This is quoted in the New Testament. We've got the Old Testament version here of whom the Lord loveth. He correct it even as a father of the son in whom he delighteth. Here's the New Testament version of this. Hebrews chapter 12, verse five. You've forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children. Now he's going to quote from Proverbs. My son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him, for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourges every son whom he receiveth. He scourgeth every son of me receiveth. Now, I looked up scourge in the dictionary. And here's what the word scourge means. As a verb, to scourge, he scourges every son of me receiveth. To whip with a scourge or a lash. As a noun, it means a whip or lash, especially for the infliction of punishment. Then I looked up the word lash. As a verb, to strike or beat, as with a whip or something similar, slender and flexible. I'm trying to think of something similar, slender and flexible. I can't really think of anything. But, hmm, I'll have to dwell on that. And again, facts don't care about your feelings. This is what the Bible says. I didn't write the Bible. I didn't write the dictionary. Okay, that's what the Bible says. He scourges every son of me receiveth. If you endure chastening, he goes on to say, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if you be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons. Furthermore, watch this. Don't miss this. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh, talking about our physical fathers. We've had fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the father of spirits and live? For they verily, our human physical fathers, they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure. But he for our profit that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now what does this mean when it says that our physical fathers chastened us, quote, after their own pleasure? What does that mean? Well, this doesn't mean pleasure like eating an ice cream cone or going on a roller coaster or something like that. It's basically from the word please, to please someone or to please something or to be pleased. What it's saying is, they chastened us as it pleased them. They chastened us as they pleased or another way of saying this, how they saw fit. They chastened us according to their pleasure, after their pleasure, as it pleased them or as they saw fit. And it says, they chastened us and we gave them reverence. Okay? That's what the Bible actually says, how they saw fit. See, the Bible says, correct thy son, this is in Proverbs, correct thy son and he shall give thee rest, yea he shall give delight unto thy soul. You see, kids that are in a home where they're receiving corporal punishment, they're actually a pleasure to be around. Because they're not these bratty little monsters who don't get disciplined. See, if you're in a home and you've got a bunch of kids running around that are actually disciplined, that are actually being disciplined by their parents, they're actually smiling, happy, playing and fun to be around. Whereas, you get these sullen, bratty little kids throwing themselves on the ground, throwing a fit, they're not being disciplined. Okay? And so they act like little brats and monsters. And then that's why people sit there and say like, oh man, you have 12 kids, you have 5 kids, 10 kids, 7 kids, you know, I can't even handle the 1 or 2. It's like I couldn't handle more than 1 or 2 of your kids either. Okay? Because they're monsters. But if you actually discipline your kids, your kids are actually fun to be around. Like I enjoy every single day living in a house filled with kids. I love it. I absolutely love it. It's fun. There's never a dull moment. There's no loneliness. For sure. I mean, you're never bored or lonely or, you know, there's all kinds of fun. And, you know, kids are a pleasure and a joy to be around when they're actually raised right, when they're actually disciplined. And so, you know, to sit there and say like, well, you know, I just love my son too much. No, you don't because the Bible says if you spare your rod, you hate your son. And I think that there's kind of a double meaning there. He that spares his rod hated the son. I think number one, you spare your rod and you hate your son because if you loved him, you'd do what's best for him. Not what's best for you or what you feel like. You do what's best for him. That's what love is, is doing what's best for people. Love is sometimes giving people what they need, not what they want. Okay? Like, oh, I love you. Here's ice cream for breakfast. Go play ball in the street. That's not love, according to the Bible. But then also you're not going to want to have kids around that are acting horrible because they're not being kept under control and disciplined. And so the Bible also says, I'm just going to give you a few more verses on this point, Proverbs 22, 15. It says foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction will drive it far from him. Right? This is something that needs to happen. Go, if you would, to Proverbs 23. This is a key verse. Proverbs chapter 23. And we'll look at verse 13. And notice, we're not even just looking at one, two, three, four verses. I mean, there's a lot of scripture. It's a big subject. What's the title of the sermon? Corporal punishment in the Bible. Point number one, corporal punishment of children. Folks, there's a mountain of scripture on this. We're looking at verse after verse. And these are not ambiguous or unclear verses. They're very clear in what they're saying. Look what the Bible says in Proverbs 23, verse 13. It says withhold not correction from the child. For if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod and shall deliver his soul from hell. Now, here's the thing about this. One of the biggest mistakes that people make when they're interpreting the Bible is that they often think that things can only be interpreted one way. That it's like an either or type of thing. When in reality, the Bible and especially the Old Testament. The Old Testament is filled with scriptures that do like a play on words. And there's a little bit of the New Testament as well. But the Old Testament is packed with this. Okay. It's a literary device used throughout the Old Testament where there'll be like a double meaning or a play on words. So it's not like, well, does it mean this or does it mean this? Often it means both. That's the beauty of it, especially when you're in poetic books. Poetic books like Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes. There's a lot of wordplay going on because it's poetry. And so there's often a double meaning. So it's not like, well, does it mean this or does it mean this? The answer is yes. The Bible is really deep. It has multiple meanings that are equally valid. And this is one of those wordplays like that because it says withhold not correction from the child. For if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. There's two meanings here. Okay. Meaning number one is, hey, look, don't withhold correction because you, oh, no, I feel bad or whatever. He's like, look, if you beat him with the rod, he's not going to die. You know what I'm saying? You're not going to kill him. It's not going to kill you to get his spanking. It's not going to kill you to be disciplined. That's what the Bible is saying on the one hand. Look, if you beat him with the rod, he's not going to die. Okay. But then there's also another double meaning saying like if you beat him with the rod, he shall not die. Meaning like if you don't beat him with the rod, he will die. Why? Because a life of sin will typically cause you to die young. Also, there's the idea, and here's a third meaning, and it's not, is it A? Is it B? It's D. It's all of the above. On the one hand, hey, look, man, if you beat him with the rod, he's not going to die. On the other hand, if you beat him with the rod, he's not going to die. And then on the third hand, it's like if you beat him with the rod, he's not going to die, which is like the second death, like go to hell. And that's why he then follows it up with that. He says thou shalt beat him with the rod and shalt deliver his soul from hell. Right? That's another level of death, isn't it? Because there's physical death, but then there's the second death. Then there's spiritual death. Then there's after you die, being punished in hell. The Bible says if you beat him with the rod, you'll deliver his soul from hell. And again, why is that? It's simply because of the fact that if you don't discipline your kids, if you don't beat him with the rod, you know what? They're going to think that there's no punishment, that there's no consequences, not just in your home, but in the universe. They're going to think that God is not one who punishes. Why? Because here's the thing, parents are like a God-like figure in their children's lives, which is why when the Ten Commandments are given, you have the two tablets, you have five commandments about God, five commandments about your neighbor. And that's why the whole law is summed up in love God, love your neighbor. Right? Well, in the love God section, you've got no other gods before me, no graven images. Don't take the name of the Lord, your God in vain. Remember the Sabbath, keep it holy, honor your father and mother. And then over here, when it comes to the neighbor, you've got thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet. Okay. But the thing is your father in heaven. Why, why do we talk about our father, which art in heaven? You know why we're saying that is because of the fact that God is like a father. All throughout the Bible, this comparison is made where God is like our father. Right? And when we get saved, when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, God is our father. And just as our physical earthly father is always going to be our physical father, God's always going to be our father once we're saved. And if we break our father's rules on this earth, we're going to get disciplined. And if we break God's rules, we're going to get disciplined. But if we're a child of God, we're always going to be a child of God. You can't lose your salvation because the Bible says as many as received Jesus to them gave you power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. And so the idea here is that you as a parent, in a sense, you're teaching your kids about God, not only through reading the Bible to them, taking them to church. And obviously those are all things that you should do, talking to them about the actual word of God. But you're also showing an example of a picture of what the heavenly father is like because you're the earthly father. So if you're just this parent that just has an anything goes attitude, then they're going to think that God has an anything goes attitude. If you don't actually bring them a serious punishment, they're going to think that God doesn't bring any serious punishment. And I believe that that's why he says here, thou shall beat him with the rod and shall deliver his soul from hell. You know, because the child who grows up being disciplined is more likely to get saved than the child who grows up without being disciplined. Now, at the end of the day, salvation is a personal decision that's made by the individual. But guess what? If you grow up in a Hindu home or if you grow up in a Baptist home, you're way more likely to get saved in that Baptist home than in that Hindu home. Just astronomically higher chance of you getting saved being raised in a Christian home in America than being raised in a Buddhist home, you know, in Japan or something. Okay. It's just that's just the way it is. But everybody at the end of the day has their own chance and everybody makes their own decision. This is what the Bible teaches. Now, look, the Bible says beat him with the rod and thou shall deliver his soul from hell. Can corporal punishment go too far? Of course. Can, you know, are there parents out there that are bad parents? Absolutely. Okay. Have I ever seen someone discipline their children in a way that I personally didn't agree with? Of course. Absolutely. Right. But guess what? At the end of the day, those aren't my kids. And I am not allowed to just pass judgment on other people's parenting and just say, well, you know, they need to do it the way I do it or whatever. You know, I can teach the Bible. I can give people advice. But at the end of the day, those are their kids that God gave to them. And we live in the society where everybody just wants to pass judgment on everything else and everyone else and everybody's got an opinion about everything. You know, some things just aren't your problem and aren't your business. And look, there are parents out there that are great parents. There are parents out there that are bad parents. There are parents out there that don't spank their kids enough. There are parents out there that spank their kids too much. But at the end of the day, you're not the boss. At the end of the day, that's their home. That's their decision. That's their family. You don't know all the facts. And even if you did, you're not in a biblical position to judge that and rule that. Now if you would go to 1 Kings chapter 3. 1 Kings chapter number 3. And to me, I've always felt like this is obvious, this part that I'm about to say right now. I've always felt like this is obvious. But then everybody in my life just keeps proving to me that this isn't obvious apparently. And people who are Christians and people who supposedly know the Bible, they don't seem to get this concept. So it's one of those things that just has to be hammered over and over again. And here's the thing. Just because you think that someone's a bad parent, maybe they even are a bad parent, but just because you think that someone's a bad parent, guess what? That doesn't mean that they should have their children taken away from them. Because they're a bad parent. Okay? The only people who would deserve to have their children taken away from them are murderers, rapists, child molesters, right? Kidnappers, like these kind of things. And here's the thing about those kind of people that fall into that category. The Bible says they should be put to death. So there's no issue of taking their kids from them. Because they're dead. Does everybody understand what I'm saying? And look, it's the same reason why I've said I don't believe in background checks. You know, because somebody got busted for pot 25 years ago back when it was illegal. It's not even illegal anymore. But they got busted for it 25 years ago and then for the rest of their life they just have this criminal record. Or they, you know, shoplifted or stole something or whatever. And then they just have this criminal record 30 years later. That is not biblical and that isn't right. You commit a crime, you get punished, you get forgiven, done. Okay? Criminal records are stupid and shouldn't exist. Well yeah, but you know, you gotta know about these pedophiles. The pedophiles should be dead. And if they're dead, we don't need a background check. They can't hurt anybody. I don't mind being buried next to them. Because they can't do anything. They can't touch me. There's a big, there's a wall of dirt between us. And I'm dead. Because the only place that they belong is the cemetery. So we don't need a background check to make sure I don't get buried next to them or something. Bury me next to them. I don't care. We're both dead. It doesn't matter. But this is the kind of stupidity of the background check that basically this idea of not executing the Bible's judgment on these people. And then saying, oh, well we gotta have criminal records for everybody. Even people who stole or had a drug violation or whatever. You know what? Let people live that down. You know, if someone stole and they've been punished, then we want them to be able to now live an honest life and make an honest living, not struggle to get employment because of something like that from their past. It's not biblical. So the point is that the type of people that should have their children taken away are people that are like child molesters, murderers, rapists, kidnappers. Those kind of people are put to death according to the Bible. Okay? But let me show you an example and let me just give you the context here in 1 Kings chapter 3. The parent in question here, the mother in question is a literal prostitute. She's not a whorish woman. She's just a whore. She's a literal prostitute. That is what she is. And the Bible says in verse 27, then the king answered and said, give her the living child and in no wise slay it, she is the mother thereof. Why are we giving her the child? Because she's the mother thereof. And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged and they feared the king for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to do judgment. Now look, she is a literal prostitute who is bringing a parade of strange men into her home. This is a horrible parent. I'm sorry, but if you're a prostitute and you're bringing a parade of strange men, because she even talks about how on the night in question that the deed happened, she said there was no man with us in the house, meaning like there were no customers present. She is bringing literal strange men into the house. She's a horrible parent. She's a sinful, ungodly person and if you want to talk about a bad environment to grow up in, I mean can you imagine a bad environment to grow up in where you're growing up and your mom's a prostitute and there's just a parade of like weird, creepy guys coming through. Because news flash, the kind of guys that are using prostitutes are probably not necessarily the most morally upstanding righteous people. And think about how some of them, just based on just the actual numbers or statistics, some of them are going to be some really skeevy guys. Gave her the child. She's the mother thereof. Oh man, this guy's got the wisdom of God. Not the wisdom of this world that would just say, no, we got to take it away. Take it away. It's her kid. It doesn't, nobody's, I don't think anybody would argue this is a good parent. Well, she doesn't deserve to have that kid. Really? Because that's not what the Bible says anywhere. So why don't you just take your opinion and just go shove it where the sun don't shine. How about that? And why don't we just go by what the Bible says? Amen. Here's another verse on corporal punishment of children. I've got a bunch of verse on this, but if you would turn to Proverbs chapter 20 verse 30. The Bible says in 2nd Samuel 7 14, 2nd Samuel 7 14 says, I will be his father and he shall be my son. If he committed iniquity, I will chase in him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children of men. Now look, we have seen specifically in the Bible this come up, the rod and the scourge, the rod and the scourge, the rod and stripes. We've seen it over and over again. This is what the, let me read it again. I will chase in him. I'll be his father. He should be my son. If he committed iniquity, I will chase him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children of men. There it is. Uh, both of them are mentioned. Look if you would at, because I had some, I had some, there's this weird guy who showed up from Florida, you know, and this, you know, Florida man showed up and he started like, he was just super weird. And before I even got to church, brother Segura warned me, he's like, there's this guy and he was here on Wednesday night and you were out of town preaching somewhere else or maybe I was sick or whatever. I wasn't there for whatever reason on Wednesday night and a pastor, uh, Bruce Mihio was preaching for me and he said, this guy was here and he was super weird and he's, he came soul winning the last couple of days. He was super weird. So everybody who met him said he's crazy and I think this guy might even be violent or something, you know. So brother Segura gets me real ready for this conversation and I'm just like, okay. So I show up on Sunday morning, the guy comes over, I'm talking to the guy and I was, I was trying to be cool with the guy and I started out being just real nice and normal with the guy. But like the guy was just flattering me big time. But then he literally had like a list of all these like grievances with me. Like I've never even met this guy. But just from, he's just like some young guy in his early twenties that's just listening online and he just, he keeps flattering me. But then he's literally like referring to a list of his grievances and going back and forth between flattery and criticism and just in his grievances. And one of his grievances was that he said, you know, that I had one time, you know, said something about spanking kids with a belt and that's not biblical because the Bible said the rod has to be the rod. But again, bro's missing the fact that it says he scourges every Sunday. You don't scourge with a rod. Any questions? You know what I mean? It's like, it's not that complicated folks. But again, and first of all, you know, getting beaten with a rod sounds pretty serious in the first place. You know what I'm saying? And look, I just want to be, and look, look what the Bible says here in Proverbs 2030, the blueness of a wound cleanses the way evil. So do stripes the inward parts of the belly. That's what the Bible says. Okay. Now here's the thing about that is that when you have a wound, when you are bruised in some way, what the Bible is saying is the blueness of the wound cleanses the way evil. Because your body is basically sending blood to that region, right? The blood is the life of the flesh and your blood is there and it's actually cleansing the area of infection, right? The blueness of the wound cleanses the way evil. I'm not claiming to be a medical expert or a scientist or something like that, but we've got a doctor here that can straighten me out if I'm wrong. But the point is though that, you know, in your blood are components of your immune system that are going to chase away evil, cleanse away evil, right? You know, the white blood cells, right? Just to keep it real basic. You know, and obviously our body is actually much more complicated. That has multiple different immune systems that are working in tandem. One that kicks in right away. That's just kind of a generic immune system. Another one that's more specific for the exact illness or the exact enemy that it's fighting. But our bodies are fearfully and wonderfully made and they have all of these amazing ways to combat foreign substances in our body, whether they be, you know, just dirt, bacteria, germs, viruses, whatever, right? Our bodies fight against that stuff. And so the Bible is saying the blueness of the wound cleanses the way evil, you know, this is a parable that physically speaking the blood in your body comes to that area and actually is helping the healing process. That's what's going on with a bruise. Okay. And in the same way, stripes do that for the innermost parts of the belly and when the Bible says innermost parts of the belly, it's talking about like your heart, your soul, right? So what it's saying is that it is cleansing for the soul to be physically disciplined. It's actually cleansing the heart. It's cleansing the soul. It's giving you character. It's making you a better person. Does everybody understand? I don't think this is complicated. The blueness of a wound cleanses the way evil, so do stripes, the inward parts of the belly. Now here's the thing. Here's the thing about a stripe. Okay. You know, and again, I don't want to insult anybody's intelligence up here, but I feel like I got to be real clear just to make sure that this doesn't go over anybody's head. Okay. Here's the thing about a stripe. Okay. Everybody know what a stripe is? Okay. Here's what a stripe is. You know, if you have stripe pajamas, okay, here's what it means. There's one color and there's a different color and there's another color and there's a different color. Okay. Or you have a background. Okay. I don't have a stripe tie or anything, but you know, uh, you have a background that's one color and then the stripes are a different color. Does everybody understand? So, and I'm not trying to insult your intelligence. I just, I just want to leave no stone unturned. You know, and so let's say you're wearing a striped shirt and it's a white shirt with blue stripes. Everybody got it? So the background's white. You got lines. Those are called stripes. Okay. So does everybody understand what stripes are? Any questions? Okay. So here's what the Bible says. So do stripes, the innermost parts of the belly, the inward parts of the belly. So does anybody have a clue what a stripe here could be referring to? Could it be, I don't know, just throwing this out there, you know, could it be that the rod or the scourge, uh, somehow leaves a mark and that this could be thought of as a stripe? Whoa. Mind absolutely blown. And look, just to be clear, just to be clear, I discipline my children moderately. I do not practice any kind of an extreme corporal punishment. I discipline them moderately. Okay. But you know what? If you think that someone is spanking their kids too hard or whatever, that's your opinion. But don't pretend that it's in the Bible because it's not. Hey, shut up. I don't care. What does the Bible say? Go take that Arizona statute and shove it where the sun don't shine because I'm not here speaking as some kind of a legal consultant. I'm up here preaching the word of God as a man of God. And if you don't like it, then go somewhere else. But don't pretend that your crap is in the Bible. And again, I just want to be real clear. I do not discipline my children in some kind of a severe or harsh way. I discipline my children moderately. Okay. I have a balanced approach. I am a loving parent. I discipline them moderately. I don't go overboard. And I'm not, you know, let me put it this way. You know, I'm not beating my kids bloody. There's no blood involved at all. Ever. Okay. I have never spanked my children and blood, not even a drop of blood was shed in any spanking and no dolphins were harmed either. But I'm saying that this crap is not coming from the Bible. Okay. I'm not saying this to defend my parenting because my parenting doesn't need defending because guess what? I discipline my children moderately. But I'm saying even if someone did spank them in a way or whip them in a way where you said that's too much, that's your opinion. And you know what? It's my opinion that children shouldn't be raised by a prostitute. But yet, if a prostitute is raising her kids, you know what I would say? Give her the child she's the mother thereof. It's her kid. I mean, look, the Bible is over here using words like bead and scourge and talk about stripes. See, you're just wrong. Plain and simple. You know what I mean? And look, this isn't a gray area. It's clear. Nothing could be clearer. And so, you know, again, if you don't care what the Bible says, then I don't even, you know, I don't even know what to tell you at that point. And of course, I'm preaching the sermon at Faith Forward Baptist Church where people do care what the Bible says. And so everybody here is here because they actually care what the Bible says. You know, and again, you know, my discipline, my wife's discipline of our children is moderate. It just is. And, you know, people can lie and slander me all they want. But you know what? I live there. I've lived there for the last 24 years and it is. You know, that's just what it is. All right. Now you say, oh, man, this is a rough sermon. Well, it's about to get worse. Okay, so, so number one, point number one is corporal punishment of children. Point number two, corporal punishment of adults. Okay, now let's go to Deuteronomy chapter 25. This is where we started the sermon. And while you're turning there, I'm going to give you a bunch of verses from Proverbs. Okay, Deuteronomy 25. But I'm going to give you a bunch of verses from Proverbs that technically, like a lot of these verses could go either way. Like you could apply these verses to either children or to adults. They could probably go either way. But in my opinion, these probably tend more to be talking about adults in the context. Okay, but I'm going to read these for you while you're turning to Deuteronomy 25. The Bible says in Proverbs 19, 29, judgments are prepared for scorners and stripes for the backs of fools. Again, you could say, oh, that's talking about kids, but you could also just say it's talking about adults even. Proverbs 19, 25, smite a scorner and the simple will beware and reprove one that hath understanding and he will understand knowledge. Proverbs 17, 10, a reprove entereth more into a wise man than a hundred stripes into a fool. Right? So basically a smart person, a wise man, you just tell them no, and that actually resonates with them more. You just verbally explain to them. And that does more than a hundred stripes in a fool. Like a fool gets whipped a hundred times and still doesn't get it. Whereas a wise man, you just tell him one time and he gets it. Does everybody see that? A reprove entereth more into a wise man than a hundred stripes into a fool. Proverbs 26, three, a whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool's back. And again, you could say that these could go both ways, but these seem to be talking about adults. But I'm going to get to some stuff that's for sure talking about adults in a moment. Proverbs chapter 10 verse 13, in the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found, but a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding. Okay? So look at Deuteronomy chapter 25 verse number 1. The Bible reads, if there be a controversy between men and they come unto judgment that the judges may judge them, then they shall justify the righteous and condemn the wicked, and it shall be if the wicked man... So we're not talking about a child here. We're talking about an adult man who has done something bad. He's committed some crime or whatever. There's a controversy between men. He's ripping people off or whatever. He's doing something bad. He's either ripping people off. He's slandering, defaming, whatever. Okay? And by the way, there is a biblical example of this even being used for defamation. And it says that it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down and to be beaten before his face according to his fault by a certain number. So what he's saying is, like, the punishment should fit the crime. So if it's a small crime, it's few stripes. If it's a big crime, it's many stripes. Okay? Does everybody understand? That basically the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down and to be beaten before his face according to his fault by a certain number. Like sentencing to five stripes or ten stripes or fifteen, right? A certain number based on the crime. Forty stripes he may give him and not exceed, lest if he should exceed and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee. So he's saying, look, there's a limit here, right? It's not just we want to go overboard or something. He's saying there's a limit here that you would never, no matter what they did, beat someone for more than forty stripes. And this is talking about an adult. This is talking about a man who has, you know, committed whatever infraction. Does everybody understand? But there's a limit of, you know, you don't, and look, like in Islam, the Quran and they'll talk about beating somebody with sixty stripes, eighty stripes. This is not biblical, right? The Bible puts this limit of forty. And this is why famously in the New Testament people are beaten with forty stripes save one and this is the Jewish mentality of always saying like, oh, we don't even want to come close to breaking God's law so we're going to move the goal post even further away. And so they switched it from forty to thirty-nine just in case they lose count or something. They don't accidentally, you know, or you could just count right and do forty. Okay. But the Bible is saying here that corporal punishment is biblical even for an adult. Okay. Go through Leviticus chapter nineteen. And while you're turning to Leviticus nineteen, this was not in my notes but it just popped into my mind and I hope I can find the verse because it just kind of popped in my mind. Maybe somebody can help me. The part how like if he knew his Lord's will and he did not, he gets beaten with many stripes but if he did not know and he didn't do it, he gets beaten with few stripes. I know it's kind of in the context of Christ's second coming. Luke twelve forty-eight. Thank you. So I wonder while you're turning to Leviticus nineteen, I'm going to read this for you. And this is Jesus talking. Okay. And Jesus says, and see a lot of people say, well, that's Old Testament. First of all, the law of the Lord's perfect, number one. But number two, all of these things are reiterated in the New Testament. We literally looked at Hebrews and it said, whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourges every son whom he receiveth, quoting the Old Testament proverb stuff about spanking your kids. And by the way, the Bible doesn't even use the word spank, use the word beat, whip, scourge, you know, again. But Luke twelve forty-eight. In fact, I'm going to back up to verse forty-seven. It says, and that servant. Okay. Now, this is a parable about a guy who's running a household and in the household, he's got servants working for him in the house. These are like indentured servants. Some people would call them slaves, but, you know, I think it's better to think of them as indentured servants because the word slave has this kind of baggage of like, you know, bringing over Africans in America. And we, you know, obviously we have a negative history with that. And so we don't want to, you know, have that in our minds here when we're just reading the word of God about something that happened thousands of years ago. But in these households and the householder, the guy who's running the household represents God in the parable. And his servants represent the servants of God. But in the literal story, it's a dude who's running a farm or a plantation or a vineyard or whatever, and he's got his family and he's got his servants and that makes up his household. Everybody understand? And that the servant, which knew his Lord's will and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not and did commit things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few stripes, for unto whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required. And to whom men have committed much of him, they will ask the more. So the Bible does not only limit corporal punishment to parents spanking their children or disciplining their children. It actually is specifically explicitly in both Old and New Testaments talking about physically disciplining adults. Now, look, I'm not saying to discipline your employees, OK, and you're obviously, hey, we're living in America. We don't have indentured servitude. There is no such thing as indentured servitude in our society. OK, that's not an issue. That's not a thing. OK, so I'm not saying that you would actually carry that out in that way. I'm just I'm just pointing out to you, though, that the Bible does teach this and that if we were in a society where indentured servitude were a thing, then this would come into play. Now, what is and I don't want to go off on a big thing because I'm running out of time. But we need to just briefly touch on this is to understand what indentured servitude is. OK, basically, people are in a position where they can't pay off a debt or they've damaged someone's property and they can't take care of it. So they have to work it off. And I think one of the best ways that I like to illustrate this is to say that, you know, you go to the restaurant. And I know this never happened in real life ever in the history of man, but we've all like seen stories about it where you you can't pay for the meal. So you have to go in the back and wash dishes for a few hours to take care of your bill. Who's ever seen or heard of that particular trope in fiction? Who's ever known someone that it actually happened to in real life? OK, Eileen. Awesome. You're the first person in any sermon who has ever backed me up on this actually happening. Now I know it's real because I believe you. So the point is like like here's the thing. Let's say that some guy steals your money because the Bible says that the thief has to pay back five fold or four fold. Let's say somebody steals your stuff and owes you quadruple and they're just like, I don't have it. Now, our society locks them in a cage, but the Bible never teaches anywhere that people should be put in prison for any reason. There's no prison in the Bible. It's just it's just a matter of you get whipped or you pay a fine. And here's the thing. If you if you steal some expensive horse or something and then you have to pay back four fold, you don't have four horses. You don't have any money. Well, then what do you have to do? You have to work it off through indentured servitude. Does everybody understand? It's just a different system. It's a better system than the prison industrial complex. And so the point is that if you let's say you have some indentured servant, then he just shows up and he's just not doing any work. And he's just eating your food like, OK, I'm indentured to you. OK, here's where you're going to be staying. Here's here's your food. Here's where you're gonna be working. And he's just not working. Then you've got to whip his butt. You've got to get the rod and flog him. You've got to get the scourge and whip. Does everybody see what I'm saying? Because otherwise he could just show up and be a pain and not get anything done. So the Bible in the Old Testament and the New Testament is teaching this concept and is explaining this concept that, look, you know, people who have these indentured servants are going to be whipping them even though they're adults. But again, the Bible doesn't care about your feelings. OK, the Bible cares about truth and facts, not your modern little American 2024 prejudices and opinions and biases. OK. This is what the Bible says. And so Leviticus 19, 20, you're there. And that's Jesus talking, by the way, in case that matters to you. It doesn't matter to me because I think the whole Bible is inspired by God. Jesus, Paul, Moses, they're all, you know, speaking God's word. But Leviticus 19, verse 20. And by the way, Leviticus 19 is the same chapter that gave us favorites, you know, classic hits such as, no pun intended, classic hits such as Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself. It's from Leviticus 19. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself is a quote from Leviticus 19. But he says in verse 20, whosoever lieth carnally with a woman that is a bondmaid betrothed to an husband and not at all redeemed nor freedom given her. Watch this. Underline it. She shall be scourged. Oh, no. Says they shall not be put to death because she was not free. So here's a punishment because see, here's the thing. A lot of people have this attitude where they don't understand the fact that the Bible uses a masculine pronoun often to just refer to both genders. Like, for example, the Bible will say, as many as received Jesus to them gave you power to become the sons of God. It doesn't mean that women are left out. Obviously, if you're a girl or a woman, you're a daughter of God. But see, the Bible will use pronouns like he or him, or it'll use statements like son or men or something like that. And it's just referring to people. It's sort of like in Spanish, if everybody's a woman, you use a feminine pronoun, nosotras. But if it's five women and one man, it's nosotros. If it's any kind of a mixed group, because the masculine pronoun can go either way, whereas the feminine pronoun is specifically feminine. Does everybody understand what I'm saying? So a lot of times people will look at something where the Bible says, chasin' thy son, and they'll be like, didn't say daughter. It's like, come on, man. You've got to be able to realize that the Bible doesn't have to just be like, you know, everything it says, ladies and gentlemen, you know, son and daughter, humankind. You know, it's not going to sit there and just spell out son or daughter, father or mother, you know, but sister or brother. Like, it's not always going to spell that out. It's just going to say like, hey, train up a child in the way he should go. And when he's old, he'll not the proper, that's a gender neutral term, withhold not correction from the child. Right? But then other places, he might say, chasin' thy son while there's hope. Does everybody understand what I'm saying? Thou shall beat him with the rod and deliver his soul from hell. It doesn't mean we're only talking about males. So when the Bible says, oh, this man commits a crime, he lies down, he gets scourged, it's not saying that it has to be male. It's just talking about people, mankind, right? Not humankind, it's just mankind. And so the Bible says here, whosoever lieth carnally with a woman that is a bondmaid, so again, we're talking about like a female indentured servant, bondmaid, betrothed to an husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her, she shall be scourged. Okay? They shall not be put to death because she was not free. And so, here's the thing, nowhere in the Bible is it saying that, well, adults can't be punished. Only children. And nowhere is it saying that only men can be punished and not women. Because women can be punished in the exact same way that's what the Bible says. I mean, people have their, well, no, no, no, never a woman. Well, you just made that up right now. Because that's not in the Bible. Go to Exodus chapter 21. Exodus chapter 21. And you say, Pastor Anderson, you know, what are all the verses that say to be kind and to be gentle and to be loving and to be tenderhearted? But here's the thing, again, that's your misconception that being loving means you don't discipline. And again, you just made that up because Jesus said, as many as I love, I rebuke and chase it. Be zealous therefore and repent. The Bible said that if you spare your rod, you hate your son. He that loveth him chases him betimes. So again, we don't need a false dichotomy that says love versus discipline. Kindness versus discipline. Gentleness versus discipline. Tenderheartedness versus discipline. Forgiveness versus discipline. How about we have both? And the Bible says in Exodus chapter 21, verse 26, and if a man smite the eye of his servant. And look here, God actually does spell it out, even though he shouldn't even have to, because we should be smart enough to know that these things cut both ways. Just like if the Bible says, you know, that a man shouldn't covet his neighbor's wife, shouldn't we just kind of also assume that a woman shouldn't covet her neighbor's husband? Or do we need God to just say everything twice? Does everybody understand what I'm saying? But sometimes God literally does say things twice just to make sure people don't pull that or misunderstand that. And so it says, if a man smite the eye of his servant or the eye of his maid. So we're talking about, again, a female servant dead at parish. He shall let him go free for his eye's sake. And if he smite out his man servant's tooth or his maid servant's tooth. And notice how the him covers both. He shall let him go free, but the him could be referring to what? The servant or the maid servant. Everybody see how that works? He shall let him go free for his tooth's sake. So I could have named the sermon literally, The Tooth Shall Make You Free. OK, because, you know, you let him go free for the tooth's sake that is knocked out. But the point is here that, yeah, again, things can go overboard. There are limitations. God's not just given people a carte blanche to just discipline and go crazy because of the fact that he says, hey, 40 stripes is the max that anyone would ever receive for any reason. Right. And hey, we're not talking about knocking out someone's tooth or knocking out an eye or something. Of course things can go overboard, but here's what's not overboard, a rod. Here's what's not overboard, scourge. Here's what's not overboard, stripes. It's knocking out a tooth. It's putting out an eye. And obviously, folks, we shouldn't be coming anywhere close to anything like that, obviously. This is like an upper limit of like the law getting involved and saying like, hey, this is, whoa, this is serious. This is assault. So, look, if someone in the household and here's the thing, back then, this would even include an indentured servant. Right. If someone needs to be disciplined, it shouldn't be done in a violent way, in a harmful or violent way. It shouldn't be done in a vicious or harsh way. It should be done moderately. OK. But again, rod, scourge and stripes are all prescribed by the Bible as legitimate punishments. And again, I'm not saying that you would have to do any of that because here's the thing, typically in our house, and look, I'll just be real candid right now. Typically in our house, OK, if I discipline one of my children, it is with basically one of those like paint stir sticks from Home Depot. You know what I'm talking about? But there's the bigger one and the smaller one. It's the bigger one, folks. But who knows what I'm talking about? It's about this long. It's about, what, an inch wide and it's very thin, maybe like I'd say half a centimeter thick. Sorry, I'll speak American next time. Quarter inch thick or whatever. I don't know. But it's just, it's like a thin little wooden paddle. And typically, if my kids get a spanking from me, the most common number of swats that they're going to get is like three swats or five swats. I got a little rhythm and everything. But it's just, you know what I mean? It's just like, because obviously when you've been doing this for 20 some years, you got a system. You know what I mean? And it's like, you know, there's the triple swat, there's the quintuple swat. Those are just pretty standard. That's like 99% of spankings. So we're not getting anywhere close to 40 swats or anything like that. You know, it's typically a little three swats, it's five swats. But you know what? Here's the thing. When I spank my kids, I want to make sure that they feel it and that it hurts. Because that's the whole point. You know, it's funny when you have a little kid tell you like, that hurt, and you're like, I'm glad it worked. Because it's like, you know, they're like, ah, that hurt. I'm just like, well, if it didn't hurt, I'm doing something wrong. Because that's literally what a spanking is. It's not just a little pat on the behind. It's supposed to hurt. And so look, obviously, I'm practicing moderate discipline. But you know what? I'm making sure that the punishment fits the crime. If they do something really bad, they're going to get a really bad spanking. If they do something minor, they're going to get a minor spanking. But either way, it's not about injuring them. It's not about assaulting them or being vicious or violent. And what kind of stuff would that look like? Knocking out a tooth, knocking out an eye, right? Beating them more than 40 times or something. You know, and you do hear about crazy people just whipping their kids for an hour straight or something. Just, you know, just hundreds of swats. I mean, that's obviously madness. But here's the thing. You actually have a Bible verse to back up what you're saying. And I don't know, like, I feel like I keep hammering this over the last few weeks and I keep saying this over and over again. But it's like it just it bears repeating. Chapter and verse, please. Are we people of the book or what? You know what I mean? Like, like sometimes I'm just like, am I the only one around here that that that that bases what they believe on? What sola scriptura? Only scripture, right? Scripture alone. The word of God alone. But no, no, no. Everybody's got their ideas, don't they? One last scripture. Look at Deuteronomy 21 and I'll be done. Deuteronomy 21 and I'll be done. And look, of course, you know, obviously this is not our only job as parents. We're to bring up our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We're to teach them, train them, nurture them, love them, spend time with them, talk to them about the word of God. Obviously there's gentleness, there's kindness, there's love, there's affection, there's nurture. Those are all wonderful, important things that I preach about all the time, that I practice all the time. But you know what? This is another component. And if you have the one without the other, you are not following the word of God. OK, if it's all discipline, no love and affection, you're not following the Bible. If it's all love and affection, no discipline, you're not following the Bible. OK, you need to rule your house is what the Bible says. Rule it. Be in charge. And by the way, when the man of the house is gone, the woman rules the house. She rules the home when he's gone. And she is to guide the house. She's the one to take care of business because dad, frankly, is typically out making a living. Deuteronomy 21 is where I had you turn, right? Look at verse 18. The Bible says, If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and that when they have chastened him will not hearken unto them, then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city and unto the gate of his place. And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey our voice. He's a glutton and a drunkard. Now, again, because of the fact that he's being described as a glutton and a drunkard, we're not talking about a six-year-old. We're not talking about a twelve-year-old. We're not talking about a fifteen-year-old, right? We're talking about an adult, right? We're talking about someone who has grown up, and they've been disciplined, and they've been taught, and their parents have chastised them. They weren't failing to discipline. They did discipline. They did chastise. And they said, Look, our son is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey our voice. He is a glutton and a drunkard. And they bring him to the elders of the city. They're basically taking him to court and, you know, prosecuting him as an incorrigible child here. And I'm sorry, I really shouldn't even use the word, uh, child, because it doesn't say child, and I think it's crystal clear that we're talking about an adult since we're talking about him being a glutton and a drunk and so forth. Obviously, we're talking about an adult son. There's no child in the equation here. Because a lot of people would twist this and say, Oh, the Bible teaches you to stone your rebellious children. This is talking about an adult who has failed to receive the discipline that came from their home, and it says, All the men of his city shall stone him with stones that he die, so shalt thou put evil away from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear. You know, and they probably didn't have to do this very much, because you do it once or twice, and then everybody hears and fears. And people start to get their crap together at that point, okay? And so, here's the thing. At the end of the day, you know, there are two kinds of people in this world, okay? There are people who are meditating in the law of the Lord day and night. There are Christians who, they read their Bible every day, and they read a substantial portion of the Bible every day. And they are reading it not to just have their own beliefs and opinions, uh, affirmed, but rather they're reading it to gain truth and to gain knowledge. And so their mind is being bathed in the Word of God, and then they're going to church and hearing the Word of God. Maybe they're even listening to preaching online and hearing even more of the Word of God. And so through preaching and the Bible and, uh, and just, uh, meditating on these things, you know, they have a biblical worldview. And it, and it kind of just cuts through every area of their life, the home, business, church, you know, even politics, whatever. It's just, they just have a biblical worldview. Then there are people whose brain is just being saturated with worldliness. TV, movies, worldly music, and whatever, and that's what they spend their time listening to, and they're not saturating the Bible. So they neglect the Bible. They either read it not at all on a Monday or Tuesday, not at all, or maybe they spend just a couple minutes. But then it's two hours of TV, two hours of worldly music, two hours of a movie, two hours of magazines, two hours of scrolling social media, two hours of talk radio, two hours of worldly podcasts. And here's the thing about the, obviously, look, we're going to be in this world and we're going to hear worldly stuff. We're going to get exposed to the world, but you know what? You got to make sure that what is primarily driving your worldview is scripture. And the only way that that's ever going to happen is if you are spending a substantial amount of time in the word of God. And if you're just spending a ton of time in this world and just a tiny amount of time in the word of God, and then you're just like, I don't know why Pastor Anderson preaches so crazy. The reason why we're having trouble communicating here is because I read my Bible for hours every day. So if I'm spending several hours in the Bible every day, you're spending several seconds in the Bible every day. That's why we're having a disconnect here. And I know we're our church is filled with people who read the Bible. That's why they come to a church like this, because they're reading the Bible and then they're hearing the word of God and they're just like, this checks out. Yeah, makes sense. Funny, I was just reading that last week. If you read the Bible a lot, you're just, it's just like, yup, yup, yup, yup, uh-huh, yup. But if it's just like, oh, well, I mean, we all, I mean, ah, ah, ah, come on, because that's just your, that's just the world talking. You know, and look, people, again, it's easy to just say, he's, we all know that's wrong, he's crazy, he's wrong, he, you know, it's so easy to just throw that around. But how about we have the conversation right here in the Bible. And you know what, and here's the wrong way to use scripture, is to just take a vague verse in the Bible and then just apply it however you want. Well, the Bible says here, be good, and then you start telling everybody what they have to do because you said it's good. Well, over here it says, don't sin. Here it says, don't do wickedness, and I say, what you're doing is wickedness. It's like, no, no, no, the Bible actually tells us what's right and wrong. It doesn't just give us vague platitudes about being good and not being bad, you know. So what's funny is, and I'll give you a perfect example. People will point to the Bible where it says, let no corrupt communication come out of your mouth, and then they'll just make that mean whatever they want it to mean. So that, you know, that means you can't say the word doo-doo, caca, bastard, piss, or hell. But you just made that up right now, right? Like, you can't just take this vague thing, or they'll take something like, love your children. Well, that means, and then it's just all their parenting advice that's not found in the Bible. Well, the Bible says, love your wives, so it's all their marriage advice that's not in the Bible. Well, the Bible does say to honor your wife, so that means, and then it's just, she has all this power, and she's running the house, and, you know, happy wife, happy life, and the old ball and chain, and let me ask my wife's permission, and all this crap, okay? Because, again, we can't base what we believe on vague verses being just applied at your caprice, okay? You want to know what the Bible says about corporal punishment? Look up all the verses. That's what, we didn't look up all of them this morning, because we don't have time. But we looked up the most of them, and I think we all got a pretty clear picture of how the Bible does business. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord. I pray that everyone who's here would let your word sink down into their ears, Lord, and that they would not lean upon their own understanding, but, Lord, I pray that we would all have a biblical world view, and there are so many lies and deceptions out there, Lord, help us all to renew our minds daily in your perfect word, and in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. One more song this morning. Number 154. Blessed be the tie that binds. 154. 154. Blessed be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love. The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above. Before our fathers' throne, before our ardent prayers, our fears, our hopes, our aims, our wants, our comforts and our cares, we share our mutual woes, our mutual burdens there, and often for each other flows the sympathizing tears. When we asunder part, it gives us inward faith, but we shall still be joined at heart and hope to meet again. Amen.