(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

The part of the chapter that we're going to be in this morning is in Proverbs chapter 31 in verse 25 where the Bible reads, Strength and honor are her clothing, and she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up and call her blessed. Her husband also, and he praiseth her. And the title of my sermon this morning is, They Call Her Blessed. Now obviously today is Mother's Day so we want to talk about mothers, obviously, right? And we want to talk about what the Bible has to say about mothers. Now here in Proverbs chapter 31 we see a description of a woman who is a wife. She is a mother, but she's also a daughter. And this is a good chapter for any lady to study, to meditate upon, to look to as a template for what a woman, a mother, a daughter ought to be, okay? Now here we see that the Bible says that her children rise up and call her blessed. Now this doesn't happen by osmosis, okay? It doesn't happen by accident. In other words, it takes work to be someone who is blessed of the Lord, alright? Now obviously we could wake up every single day and say, well, I am blessed of the Lord. I have children, you know, the Lord has provided for our needs, you know, God is there, I'm saved. There's specific blessings, but there's specific blessings that come with the effort that a mother puts into her children, the effort that she puts into being a wife, a daughter, and all the roles that she has in her personal life. You know, you don't wake up one day and automatically just be blessed, okay? The Bible specifically tells us that there are requirements found within the Bible that position you to be blessed, alright? Now you see, every mother would like to wake up one day and just have her children honor her, alright? And call her blessed, and her husband to call her blessed. Now I'm gonna get into, obviously, we as children, we as the husbands, we have a responsibility to rise up and call her blessed anyways, okay? Whether you think that she deserves it or not. Now go to Exodus chapter number 20, if you would. Let me start off by saying that in spite of having or lacking these character traits, children have a responsibility from God to honor their mothers and fathers. And the reason I wanna say that is because we live in a society of bratty children. Not just the toddlers, not just the teenagers, but adults as well. People who've refused to honor and respect and adore and take care of their parents. Whereas the Bible tells us that that is our responsibility. You know, we have children today and teenagers who think they know more than their parents, okay? And they try to govern their parents and tell their parents what to do, and they think that they've been around the block far longer than their parents, but they haven't. Now specifically, let's talk about Christianity and being saved. Obviously if you have a son or a daughter who's been saved a lot longer than you for whatever reason, they might know a little more. But you know, the fact remains is that parents have a lot more experience than you. They have more wisdom than you. They've been in this world longer than you. And no child ought to think that they're better than their parents or that they know more than their parents, or that they could correct their parents. We live in a society where children think that they can correct their parents. That's wrong. Okay? You say, well, they're wrong. Well, you know what? They fed you. You know what? They provided for you. You know what? They wiped your butt when you were a little baby, so you ought to show some respect and honor your father and mother. Oh, but they're not saved. But you know what? They're still your mother and father. It doesn't say in Exodus chapter 20 verse 12, honor thy father and thy mother if they're saved. Okay? That doesn't say that. It says honor thy father and thy mother. But what do we have today? We have a bunch of bratty children who don't appreciate the parents that God has given to them. And by the way, yeah, partly that's the fault of the parents, simply for the fact that the parents' responsibility is to whip those children. The Bible talks about chastising their children. I'm thankful that my mom spanked me when I was little. And it's a good thing. I know I have cousins who are dead today because they weren't spanked when they were younger. And if it wasn't for my mom whooping me when I needed it, I could be dead as well. And we need to make sure that we appreciate mom and dad. Even if you say, well, you know, they don't agree with me on my doctrines, well, are you living under the roof? Okay then, just keep your mouth shut then and respect mom and dad. And you know what, if you want to be independent, then get married and go live your own life. But while you're living under the roof of your parents, you need to honor them. You need to respect them. And don't think you're better than them just because you know some more doctrine than they do. Okay? Look at Exodus 20 verse 12. We read it, but I'm going to read it again. It says, honor thy father and thy mother. By the way, Exodus 20 verse 12 is a good insurance policy for children. Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee. So he's saying, look, you should honor mom and dad because God says it, but he says, I'll prolong your days on the land if you do. Okay? And it doesn't say, it doesn't provide stipulations or conditions as to, so when should we honor our mom and dad? All the time. Look, I don't live under my mom's roof anymore, but you know what, I still honor my mom. Okay? And I do my best to honor my dad. Why? Because he demands me to do so. All right? Now, I live on my own. I have my wife and my children, and I have rules for my family, but I want to honor my mom and dad as best as I can. Why? Because that's a good insurance policy right there. Okay? Now go to Proverbs chapter number six. Proverbs chapter number six. Brother David, if you could hit that AC, please. Proverbs six and verse 20. You know, again, we have a society today of children that have just been handed everything, and again, I'm not excusing the fault of the parents, because obviously that's the fault of the parents, but there's a generation that is rising up that is cursing their mother and father. You know, they're not appreciating what God has given to them, and that's not how it ought to be. Look at Proverbs six, verse 20. My son, keep thy father's commandments, and forsake not the law of thy mother. So here it's saying that sons, and by the way, this refers to daughters as well, we ought to keep our dad's commandments and the law of their mother. What is the law? The rules. You know, when mom tells you to pick up your dirty socks, pick them up. Keep the law of thy mother. I'm a grown man. Then move out. Get married and move out then, if you don't want to do that, but while you're living under your mother's roof, obey the law of your mother, and not just that law, any kind of law that she provides for you at the house, okay? You say, well, you know, the laws that my mom and my dad give me, they're not biblical, but are they sinful? And if they're not sinful, guess what? Obey it. And in fact, the Bible tells us that the commandments that our parents give us, they're like the commandments of the Lord. So when you're disobeying your mom and dad, because you don't agree with what they say, you're disobeying God. And look, don't badmouth your mom and dad behind their back either. You know, oh, my mom and dad, my mom's a hag. You know, she's such a nag. You know, shame on you, you know, for doing that. By the way, you reap what you sow, okay? But look what it says here. Verse 21 says, bind them continually upon thine heart and tie them about thy neck. When thou goest, it shall lead thee. When thou sleepest, it shall keep thee. When thou wakest, it shall talk with thee. For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life, to keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. You think your parents are there to provide rules for you just to make your life miserable? No, it's to prevent harm in your life. It's to help you. It's to benefit you. In fact, the people who have your best interest in mind are your parents, okay? Now, I understand there's exceptions where there's parents that are reprobates. There's parents that are not saved, and they hate God. But you know what? That's a very small minority, all right? And the majority of the people we're talking about, maybe our parents are, whether saved or not saved, you ought to obey them, because guess what? They have your best interest in mind. Now, go to Luke chapter 17. So I just wanted to hit on that for just a moment, because we're going to hit on some of these moms in the Bible. They were terrible moms. Look, moms, don't get mad at me when I'm going to show you this from the Bible, if this is you. This is what you do. You take it, and you change it. Now, children, when you hear this, don't elbow your mom either. Don't say, you know, that's not your job, okay? Your job is to obey mom, obey dad, and just recognize this. You're going to be a mom and a dad one day too, okay? And you do reap what you sow. So let's highlight the mothers in the Bible that God did not approve of, all right? And you say, well, I'm not a mom, but you know what? Someone's your mom, right? So maybe you can take this sermon and apply it to your relationship with your mother, all right? And maybe you're in here, you're like, man, I don't have a good relationship with my mom. Well, go mend that relationship with your mom then, okay? Luke 17, verse 30 says, even thus shall it be in the day when the son of man is revealed. In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away, and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot's wife. Now go to Genesis chapter 19. So God does not approve of, number one, a mother who loves the world, okay? It's interesting, verse 32 of Luke 17 says, remember Lot's wife, all right? Now Luke 17 specifically in reference to end times, what's gonna take place in the end times, but Lot's wife, who's also a mother, is used as an example of what not to do in those times. Look, if I was in the Bible, I would not be able to use it as an example of what not to do. I don't wanna be a byword in a proverb, I wanna be an example of someone what to do, right? For someone to do something that's right. Genesis 19, verse 20, it says here, behold now, by the way, this is when Lot and his family, the angels come to rescue Lot and his family from the judgment to come. They're gonna take them out of the city of Sodom and Gomorrah, or Sodom, excuse me, and why? Because God's gonna destroy it for the Sodomites that are in the land, all right? Verse 20 says, behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one. Oh, let me escape thither. Is it not a little one? And my soul shall live. And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken. Haste thee, escape thither, for I cannot do anything till thou become thither. Therefore, the name of the city was called Zoar. The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then the Lord reigned upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah, brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. Before we read on, prior to this, the angels instruct Lot and his family, hey, when God begins to rain down fire and brimstone upon the city, don't look back. Basic instructions, don't turn around, don't look back. Verse 25, and he overthrew those cities and all the plain and all the inhabitants of the city and that which grew upon the ground, but his wife looked back from behind him and she became a pillar of salt. I mean she straight disobeyed what the angels had said and she looked back and what happens, God punished her because of that. Now my personal opinion of why she did that is because she missed Sodom. I think, and obviously it was Lot's fault for even moving his family there and cultivating that desire within them to love the world and the things that are in the world, but the Bible specifically says that the wife of Lot disobeyed. She looked back. What are you looking back for? Just forget those things, but you know what? That's a perfect example of mothers who, whether they're saved or not, or specifically, sorry, if they're saved, they're constantly looking back to the world and you want to raise godly children. You expect your children to not be worldly, not to love the things of the world, but you know what? You got to lead by example. Okay? So you can't expect your children to do the things of God and love the Lord, but you don't. You can't say, well, you go to church, but I'm not going to church, but you go to church because I tell you to go to church. You know what? They should obey you because of that, but the fact remains is that people learn by example. And we can't expect our children to live for God when we're not living for God. Go to 1 John chapter 2. It seems that the maturity level of children or of adults gets, I mean, it goes later on and later on. Before it was just like people used to get married at 19. Now they don't want to get married until they're 30, 35. They don't stop playing video games until they're 40, right? But you know what it is is, you know, though they have children at 35 and 40, a lot of moms and dads are still immature. You know, they're still selfish. They want to consume things upon their own lust. They don't take care of their children. They're more concerned about making money and living a worldly lifestyle than to raise their children for the Lord. Shameful. Okay? Grow up is what we need to do. We need to make sure that we're not loving the world. And look, before you had children, you know, obviously it's your agenda, whatever it is that you want to do, but now you have lives that you've got to take care of. Now you have people that you've got to be an example to, and those children are going to look to you. What you do in moderation, your children will do in excess, fact. You say, well, you know, I only love the world just a little bit. I only like the things of this world just a little bit. Well, you know what? The more you love the world, that much, the more, twice as much, because they always do in excess what you think you do in moderation. Look at 1 John chapter 2 verse 15 says, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. You know, don't say that you love God, but you're still loving the world. That's a lie. It's a lie to say that you love the world, but you love God. It's impossible. You can have the love of God in you if you love the things of this world. You know, we as parents, we need to make sure that we're rejecting the things of this world as best as we possibly can. And I think everyone would agree here that the world is just not getting any better. It's getting worse. It's waxing words. It's more wicked. It's more vile. But you know what? That society that we say is wicked and vile, that's the society that our children are going to grow up in 10 years from now. And what if you die this year? What if you die in the next five years? Have you trained and conditioned your children to withstand the wickedness of this culture now? Think about that. You see, we have a Hezekiah mentality where it's just like, well, peace in my day, but what about the next generation to come? You should live with the mentality in mind that you're living and you're conditioning your children to withstand this wicked culture, to love the word of God, love souls, because one day you're not going to be around. You don't want your children to go to the world. You don't want your children to do something that's wicked and be involved in wicked sin. You want to make sure that you leave a legacy of faith within the lives of your children. Don't be like Lot, Lot's wife, excuse me, and Lot, but don't be like Lot's wife where you're constantly looking back. You go to church, you like the sermon, but you go home and you live a worldly life. You're looking back when you go home. You're watching the worldly movies. You're involved on Facebook and worldly things, and I'm not saying Facebook is bad, but I'm talking about the things that are found within Facebook. Whatever it may be. And you know what? Your children watch you. Your children are smart. They like repeat everything you say. My son is getting to the point where it's like every single word that I say, he just repeats perfectly. You know, I was talking to my wife and I wasn't mad at her, but I was just like, she said something. I was like, what? And my son like in the next room was like, what? He repeats everything. You know why? Because he's, he's going to be my image. He's going to be what I am. So knowing that, it's like, I got to make sure that I walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. We got to make sure that we're, we're, we're not selfishly living like a Hezekiah, okay? Not looking back to the world. Go to Ruth chapter number one. So don't be worldly. It ought to be that our children can, can look at the mothers in our lives and say, mom is a godly woman. Mom loves the Lord. I see mom reading her Bible. I see mom listening to the Bible. I see mom praying. I know that I have a godly mother in my life. Ruth chapter number one. So don't be a worldly mother. God doesn't approve of that. But also let me say this. God doesn't approve of bitter moms either, okay? Now here's a big one right here, okay? Look at Luke, excuse me, Ruth chapter one and verse 19. This is talking about Naomi and again, we're not excusing the husbands because obviously the husbands, they're the reason they're in that mess, right? The reason Lott's wife even looked back is because she was inside them where Lott brought her. And the same thing with Naomi. Ruth chapter one verse 19 says, when she saw that she was steadfastly minded to go with her, then she asked, excuse me, she left speaking unto her. So they too went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass when they were come to Bethlehem that all the city was moved about them and they said, is this Naomi? And she said unto them, call me not Naomi, call me Mara, for the almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. Now what's the story here? Well Naomi's husband takes them to this country to soldier in there. What happens? He dies, the children die, the children marry women who are part of that land and they're just kind of left there, okay, to kind of fend for themselves. So Naomi comes back to her own kinsmen, but of course this is years later. She comes back, she says she left full, but she comes back empty. She leaves full and because of the circumstances that take place in her life, obviously there's a lot of evil that happened there. She lost her husband, she lost her children, she has nothing. She says, don't call me Naomi, call me Mara. What does Mara mean? Bitter. You know what happened Naomi? She's just a bitter woman. Now does she have a reason to be bitter? Yes, of course. The loss of her husband, loss of her children. She has like nothing going for her. But you know what? She's making that known to everyone though. She says don't even call me Naomi, I want to be called bitter. I mean that's like bitter right there, okay. Now go to Hebrews chapter number 12. Look, everyone needs to come to this realization that bad things are going to happen in life, always. Don't live in candy land thinking that nothing bad will ever happen if you become a Christian. It's going to happen. Especially if you live a life that is pleasing unto the Lord, even worse things might happen to you. Persecutions might happen to you, okay. Bad things always happen. But look, you need to make sure that when bad things happen, you respond correctly. Because if you don't, you either, you have one of two options. You can become better or you can become bitter. And there's nothing worse than a bitter person, okay. Why is that? Look at Hebrews chapter 12 verse 14. Fall in peace with all men in holiness without which no man shall see the Lord, looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled. You see, a root of bitterness is when you're just, you haven't forgiven someone, okay, that has done something wrong to you. And what happens when you don't forgive someone, you have a root of bitterness, and what happens, it springs up and it actually defiles everyone else around you. And guess what? That includes your children. That includes your husband. Because who wants to come home to a bitter wife? You say, well, you know, I'm wondering why my husband never wants to come home. It could be because you're just bitter. Hard truth, but it's fact, okay. It stems from not forgiving. You see, the Bible says, be kind once to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. And we ought to recognize that we need to forgive anybody who wrongs us. Why? Because not only will it cause bitterness within us, but it will cause bitterness within our children as well. You ever meet someone who's like maybe a mom or a dad and they just have a rotten attitude, and then you meet their children and it's like they have the same exact characteristics and attitude as they do? It's like, man, what's up with this family? Well, it's the parents' fault. They didn't forgive, okay. And we need to make sure that we have this attitude of, you know what, we need to forgive and be better and not just be bitter. So how does bitterness look like? Well, you can't smile, you know, or when you have a conversation with someone, it always reverts back to the negative things that happen in your day. It always reverts to the negative things that happen in your life. You can't speak kindly about anybody in your family or that person that you are bitter towards. You know, no one wants to be around that, let's be honest. You know, we like to be around people who are delightful, people who are constantly positive even in the midst of trials. You know, you don't, and look, we don't want to be around people who are constantly focusing on the negative things that have happened in their life. Now, has negative things happened in our lives? Yes, all of our lives, okay. But the fact remains is that we need to make sure that we don't have a root of bitterness in us like Ruth, or excuse me, like Naomi, okay. Now go with me if you went to 1 Peter chapter number 3. So this, I'm giving examples right now of what not to be. We'll get to the good stuff later, okay. Right now, we're highlighting some of the mothers in the Bible that were just not good examples. 1 Peter chapter 3, here's a good one, God does not approve of mothers who undermine their husband's authority, amen. Thank you, men. Thank you, 10 men over here, say amen, who don't undermine their husband's authority. What does that mean? You know, the Bible tells us that there's an order in the house, okay. And this may not be popular with you, and if you don't like it, then go ahead, just plug your ears, tune out, don't listen, come back in about 10 minutes, we'll be talking about other stuff, okay. But the Bible says, according to the Bible, and by the way, you look back 50 years prior to this, it was like that in the United States all over, where the man is in charge, amen. The man is in charge, you say, are you trying to say the women are inferior? No, we're not saying women are inferior, we're saying that God has an order to things. And in God's order, the man is in charge inside of the house, okay. He's in charge of the wife, he's in charge of the children, et cetera. But what do we have today? We have this culture of feminism that teaches that a wife can undermine the authority of her husband. Right. That's wicked. Amen. And you know, they want to undermine the authority of their husband because they think they have a better way of doing it, right. They think their husband is stupid, they don't have wisdom, they make bad decisions, they don't know what they're doing. But you know what, by tearing down your husband in that manner, you're going to suffer the consequences of your so-called wisdom. It always happens that way. Better to just follow your husband, do as he tells you to do, and trust God. Amen. Why? Because the Bible says you ought to obey your husband as unto the Lord. So guess what, when you disobey your husband, you know what you're doing? You're disobeying God, right. Now look at 1 Peter chapter 1 verse, excuse me, 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 1 says, likewise ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, that if any obey not in the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives, while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Now I say to be in subjection, but you know what we see today, is wives just doing their own thing, you know, pinning their children against their dads, okay, that's wicked. You know, when the dad tells the child to do something, and then you go behind dad's back and you say, you don't have to do that, go do something else, you do what you want, mommy's got your back, that's wicked. You know what, you may think you're gaining your child's favor by doing that, but it's going to bite you in the long run. Because eventually, guess what, when he doesn't get his way with you, he's going to turn on you too. He's going to look to someone else as well, okay. If you don't agree with the decisions of your husband, this is what you do. Let me explain what you can do. Do as dad tells you to do. And then behind closed doors, go discuss it with your husband. But don't undermine the authority of your husband in front of your children, okay, don't ever do that. Why? The authority structure in the house is vital that you keep intact for the sake of your children. So don't become just rebellious, spoiled little brats when they grow up, okay, who think they can pin mom and dad against one another. You know, it should be said that children in their homes say, you know what, mom and dad are in unity. And what mom says goes, and what dad says goes, but even if it's just dad saying it, it always goes with dad, okay. And look, do you, put it this way, this is a good way to think about it, okay. You say, oh, I don't agree with that, I think I should still do that, okay. What about when your son grows up and he gets married? Would you want the wife of your son to do to him what you do to your husband? See, it's a whole new ballgame when you think about it that way. Do you want your daughter-in-law undermining the authority of your son, you know, to get her way? To disrespect, you know, your son? Of course not, you wouldn't. That's a good way to think about it, because that's exactly what you're doing when you undermine the authority of your husband. Now go to Genesis chapter 27, I know these are kind of hard truths, but it's all right, we'll get into the cream and the cherries and the strawberries of the sermon later. Genesis 27 and verse number 1, look, we're going to see an example of this in the Bible. Genesis 27 and verse number 1, the Bible says, And it came to pass that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son. And he said unto him, Behold, here am I. And he said, Behold, now I am old, I know not the day of my death. Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison, and make me savory meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat, and that my soul may bless thee before I die. And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son, and Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying, Bring me venison, and make me savory meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the Lord before my death. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice, according to that which I command thee. Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats, and I will make them savory meat for thy father, such as he loveth. And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death. You see, Rebekah here is being very deceitful. She's trying to get the blessing for her favorite son, and she says, Look, obey me. But you know what? That caused a lot of drama, even hereafter. So even though Rebekah thought she was being wise, she's being sneaky, which she was, you know what? It didn't work out for good. It caused a lot of conflict and drama within the family because of it, okay? Why is it? Because she's undermining the authority of her husband. She thought she knew more than her husband. She thought she had a better idea than her husband, okay? When you talk to anybody who thinks that, eventually they come to the conclusion, I should have just done it the way my husband told me to do it. It would have been better off that way, okay? My wife says that all the time, all right? She always tells me, I should have just done it your way, you know? Amen. Okay? And look, you say, Well, what if you get it wrong? Then guess what? She's still protected. You know why? Because she did what God told her to do, all right? And look, husbands, if we're wrong on something, we make a bad decision, you know, don't try to cover it up and act like you didn't do a bad decision. Just admit it. You're the boss anyways. I do that all the time. When I make a bad decision, I'm like, I call my wife, Ermana, by the way. Ermana means sister. That's the thing we got, okay? And I tell her, I say, Ermana, I was wrong. I was like, I'm sorry, I should have done it your way, okay, and you're right. But hey, you know, what's done is done, I guess, you know? I mean, what good will it do for us to just be like, Well, I still think this is right, you know what I mean? Ephesians 5. You need to submit, you know? No. You know what? My wife has wisdom. My wife has prudence. A prudent wife is of the Lord. She has good ideas, great prudence, great wisdom. I'd be a fool not to probe her and ask her for her opinion, all right? But you know, sometimes I think I have a better way of doing it, all right? And most of the time, it is a better way of doing it. But when it's not, I just hold myself and I say, Hey, you're right, I was wrong. Maybe next time we'll do it differently and just move on from there. But that doesn't change the order. She's not going to undermine my authority. She's going to do it the way I tell her to do it because she understands that if not, even if it is a better way of doing it, she kind of has basically God's judgment on her life. And in fact, there's been times, okay, where she doesn't do it the way I tell her to do it and she could testify to this. And even though it was a good idea that she had, it feels like God just kind of destroys that plan, you know? Just to kind of teach her. I'm going to be honest with you, right? I'm not lying. She'll tell you. And she'll tell me, she goes, I think God didn't allow this to work because I thought I had a better idea or something, you know? And it's not a matter of God choosing, favoring us, men, as the leaders. He's basically saying there's an order to things, okay? And you need to make sure that you keep that order and that you don't undermine the authority. Don't undermine them to your children. You make sure you raise your children to respect your husband. Very important, amen? Don't teach them to disrespect your husband. Teach them to reverence and respect your husband. One thing that I appreciate that my wife does, you know, my son's in a different room and I call him and for whatever reason he doesn't come, she'll get on him. She's like, Daddy's calling you. You need to go right now. And she'll spank him if he doesn't obey. Why? Because she wants to make sure that she's raising my son to obey the voice of his father. Okay? Very important. I don't agree with that. Then don't agree with it. Proverbs 17, 23 says, a wicked man taketh the gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment. You know, we ought not to be parents with the desire to pervert the ways of judgment. Following God's order and God's blessing is in that. Go to Matthew 14. All right, this is not a plug-in for me, okay? This is just what the Bible says here. God doesn't approve of mothers that criticize a preacher, okay? Now if you criticize me, don't worry. I'm not going to get offended. I got thick skin. I can care less, all right? But the Bible does teach that, you know? And look, if you don't agree with something that I say, I'm fine with that. I don't care. You know, that doesn't bother me. But here's the thing. When you begin to express that to your children, then it begins to become a problem. Now I'm not the Baptist police. I'm not going to go check if that's what you do in your house. That's cultish. You do whatever you want at your house. You're the king of your house. You're the mom of your house. Dad, you're the ruler of your home. You do what you want at your home, okay? But it wouldn't be wise to do that, okay? To undermine that. Because here's the thing. Any sane mother or father wants their children to be in church, you know? They have a desire for their children to grow up in church, to live a godly life, to marry a godly person, have children, and be successful. Be a functioning member of society. Be someone that they can be proud of when they grow up, okay? To make their heart glad. Any parent would want something like that, right? But here's the thing. That won't happen if you're always criticizing the preacher when you go home. Because you know what you're going to do? You're going to raise your child to hate church. They're going to be like, man, I hate church. You know, I remember my mom always used to criticize the pastor there. And then, so they're hearing the authority of God's word being preached on a weekly basis, but then they hear you criticize what was being preached when you go home. You know, if you don't agree with it, they don't agree with it, but make sure you don't instill that type of attitude in the hearts of your children, okay? Matthew 14 verse 1 says, at that time Herod the Tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus and said unto his servants, this is John the Baptist. He is risen from the dead and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him. For Herod had laid hold on John and bound him and put him in prison for Herodias sake, his brother Philip's wife. For John said unto him, it is not lawful for thee to have her. And when you would have put him to death, he feared the multitude because they counted him as a prophet. But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod. And he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask. And she being before instructed of her mother said, give me here John the Baptist head in a charger. So what's going on here? Well Herodias, the mother here is involved in an adulterous relationship with Herod, okay? John the Baptist, who's the preacher rebukes Herod for it. And obviously it's a public thing that he did because everyone knew when he rebuked them. When he rebukes them, the daughter of Herodias comes and dances before King Herod and it pleases him and he says, you can have anything you want, what do you want? And her being instructed by the mom, basically what the mom did was this, go kill John the Baptist because he rebuked me, you know? And they chop off his head because of it. Why? Because she was instructed of her mother who hated John the Baptist, okay? I think that's a good example of someone who does not like preachers, you know what I mean? It's like, cut that guy's head off. You know, and you may not cut my head off physically, but you may do it by criticizing me when you go home, okay? Not a good idea to do with your children because here, here's the thing, ten years from now, what are you going to produce in your children with ten years of criticism of the church, ten years of criticism of the pastor? It's not going to work out well. The Bible says, despise not prophesying. Go to 1 Kings chapter 18, 1 Kings chapter 18. Now, does anybody have a child named Jezebel in here? Okay, good. I was going to use this anyways. Don't name your children Jezebel. Don't name your daughters Jezebel. Jezebel is a horrible example of a wife, a horrible example of a mother, and just a Jezebel. I mean, just the name Jezebel defines so many negative things. You know, when you see a hoary-dressed woman out in the street, she's like, man, that girl's a Jezebel. When you see a woman who's being cantankerous, that lady's being a Jezebel. I mean, it has negative connotations to it. Okay? And God uses her name very frequently in the Bible to express fornication and all kinds of wickedness. But this is a real person. This lady named Jezebel is a real person. 1 Kings chapter 18 verse 1, it says, And it came to pass after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go show thyself unto Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth. And Elijah went to show himself unto Ahab, and there was a sore famine in Samaria. And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly. For it was so when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord that Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifty in a cave and fed them with bread and water. So we see here that Jezebel, who's the queen, the wife of Ahab, who's the king, Ahab didn't do it. She took out the prophets out of the land. Okay? And he was like, I want them all dead. Obadiah came and tried to save as many as he could. Go to 1 Kings chapter 19 and verse number 1, And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, by the way Elijah is the man of God, he's the preacher, okay, saying, So let the gods do to me and more also if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time. And when he saw that, he arose and went for his life and came to Beersheba, which belonged to Judah, and left his servant there. Man, so she threatened him. She said, Look, I'm going to do more to you than unto them. God do so more so to me if I don't allow your life to be as one of their lives. She's basically saying, I'm going to kill you. Okay? Not Ahab. By the way, what's up with Ahab? Control your wife, Ahab. She's over here killing all the prophets and like, you know, it reminds you of like churches who are run by the pastor's wife, and the pastor's wife is the one doing all the organization and, you know, she's the one who's basically taking care of the church and he's just kind of like, Well, you know, you know, he's just kind of, What's up, Ahab? Rule your wife, man. But what is Jezebel doing? She's just doing whatever she wants. You know, she hates the preachers. She hates the prophets. She's having them killed. You know, Ahab should have just gone right with God and made friends with Elijah. And, you know, had God's blessing on his life. But what? What is Jezebel doing? I'm going to kill you, Elijah. I'm going to make your life like one of their lives. And God do so more to me and more also if I don't. You know, she's putting a curse on her life. She's saying, May God curse me if I don't kill you, if I don't take your life away. What a wicked woman. You know? But you know what? This is a woman who hates, hates the preacher. Okay? Now, we don't have any Jezebels here. Okay? But this is preventative. This is preventative to say, look, don't hate the preacher. Hate what I say if you want. Okay? But you don't want to pass that on to your children. Now go to 1 Kings chapter 22. What is the byproduct of that? 1 Kings 22 verse 49 says, Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab unto Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with thy servants in the ships, but Jehoshaphat would not. And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and Jehoram his son reigned in his stead. Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria, the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned two years over Israel. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked not in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, excuse me, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin. For he served Baal, and worshiped him, and provoked to anger the Lord God of Israel according to all that his father had done. Now I want you to notice something interesting. Because if you ever read 1 and 2 Kings, you will often see the phrase, he walked in the way of David his father, or he walked on in the way of his fathers. But this says, in the way of his father, and his mother, referring to Ahab, and who? Jezebel. And what did he do? He did evil in the sight of the Lord. You see, you may think it's just a little criticism, but you could end up raising some evil little kids. To the point where the next generation won't even get saved. It's sad. Because you could raise, if you criticize the church and the preacher long enough, when the child grows up, he's not going to get saved, he doesn't want nothing to do with the Lord. And you know what he's going to do? He's going to serve Baal. He's going to worship other gods. He's going to not be saved, he's going to hate God, and it's going to be a sad outcome because of that. Go to First Samuel chapter number one. First Samuel chapter number one. Alright, so now we're done with that, okay? Now you can exhale, now you can relax. Now we're going to talk about the mothers in the Bible that God did approve of, alright? And I think this will talk more so about the ladies in our church, amen? I don't think that first half was for the ladies in our church, but just in case. First Samuel chapter one. So first and foremost, what are the mothers that God does approve of? Well you know, God approves of mothers who pray for their children. You know, don't undermine prayer. Prayer works. Especially the prayers of a mother for her children. You know, there's a natural affection that a mom has for their children. Moms are willing to suffer long, they're willing to suffer need, they're willing to go through a lot for the sake of their children, okay? And they're willing to give nights and nights of prayer for their children. Look at First Samuel chapter one verse nine. It says here, So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the Lord, and she was in bitterness of soul and prayed unto the Lord and wept sore. And she vowed a vow and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou would indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but will give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. Skip down to verse 17. Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace. And the God of Israel grant thee that petition that thou hast asked of him. And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. And they rose up in the morning early and worshiped before the Lord and returned and came to their house to Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. Wherefore it came to pass when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived that she bear a son and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord. Now in this example, we see Hannah praying for a child. But you know what? I can almost guarantee you 100% that even after she had the child, she continued to pray for him. Because if she was willing to go through these lengths to pray for a child, I'm sure she's going to continue to pray for him even long after he's alive and grown up with his children, having a family, etc. Now this is a great example that Hannah provided for us. And ladies need to be ladies of prayer. Pray for your husband, but pray for your children. So what do I pray for them about? Pray for their salvation, first and foremost, that God would prepare their hearts to receive the gospel, to understand the gospel, but just pray for them that they would be protected from evil, that they would grow in wisdom and knowledge of the word of God. Don't pray for them to become rich. That's the worst thing you can pray for your children. You see, especially in Hispanic culture, there's this mentality that because they didn't have a law in their old country, they want their children to have everything when they come here. And at face value, it seems like a legitimate desire and a legitimate agenda and whatnot and a dream, but you know what? They end up destroying their children because of it. Because money does not make anyone better. Makes them selfish. Makes them wicked. And the Bible says once you have money, you have access to a lot of bad stuff. But they have stuff. But you know what? They're miserable inside. You mean anybody who has a lot of things, who has a lot of possessions and expensive cars and houses and toys, yeah, they may seem happy, but I guarantee you, they're miserable. Why? Because there's debt involved, there's payments you got to make, and nothing could ever really fill the heart of a person. That's why the Bible teaches us to be content. Nothing wrong with things. Okay? We're not Amish here. All right? Amish is like, we don't even want to have light bulbs. We all got to dress the same kind of thing, you know? No, there's nothing wrong with things. But it's when things have you, right? And when all you want is things, because here's the thing. When you get that thing that you wanted, you know what you realize? You want something else. Something else is better. Okay? So it's not worth it. What we need to do as parents is cultivate contentment within the lives of our children. You know, I like to use my wife as an example, because I believe she's a godly example. And she grew up in a Christian home, she grew up in a pastor's home. Now her family, my mother-in-law, not my father-in-law, they had eight children, okay? And you know, when you have a lot of children, there's not necessarily a lot of money to go around, right? So for like Christmas, my wife told me this, she would say, it was the most exciting thing for me at Christmas, we would all go to the 98 cent store. And buy 98 cent toys, and it was like the best. You know, stickers for the girls, see, everyone's looking at me like, what? Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. You see, right now it's like, no, I want an Xbox. I want PlayStation. I want iPhone X or X, whatever that's called. I want the iPad. I want this. You know what? Let's go back to the days when they were just content with stickers. By the way, when I grew up, we played outside. There's this thing called outside. You know? And there's this game that's super cheap and it's super fun. It's called tag. But nowadays, what do you have? You have computers and games, and what are the computer games on? Someone tell me. Call of Duty. What? Call of Duty. Just say it. I'm not getting better. Call of Duty. Board games aren't bad. But you need to go outside. You know, go outside, go play tag, scrape your knees, go bleed, break your arms. Go do things that children do. You know? And this is a whole other sermon in and of itself. But parents, take the electronics away from your kids. Why does your five-year-old have an iPhone? Why? You know? Now Generation Z, that's my son's generation, they say they're the most technologically advanced children. My son already knows how to swipe the iPad. Now thankfully, when he's swiping the iPad, he's turning on his dad to go listen to preaching. He'll say, mom, papa, preach. And the other day, he had the iPad, and he's like, what is he watching? And you look at him, he's like, Pastor Anderson's like ripping face. And he's just like, amen. But you know what? I want to condition my children, go play outside. Now, I understand. We can't just send them outside anymore by themselves, because there's so many wicked people out there. We need to make sure we supervise them, et cetera. What I'm saying is this. I don't even know where this is in the sermon, but create contentment. Oh, contentment. Talk about contentment. Instead of exercising the muscles of their thumbs, have them go run. That's why, back in the day, we didn't have kids that stayed up till like 12 or 1. You know why? They're too tired. They're playing hide and go seek, tag, football, sports. And they'd come home sweaty, they'd eat, they wouldn't shower, let's be honest, and they go to bed. We need to bring that generation back to the kids. I don't even know where that's part of the sermon, but it's good. We need to pray for our kids to be godly. We need to pray for our kids to have contentment in their lives. That's where I was going with it. Don't pray for them to be rich. Now we want to pray that they have character, and they know how to work, they can sustain a family, and that's what they desire to do. Don't cultivate a desire for the world. Now go to Ephesians chapter number 6. Pray for them. Pray for their future husband. Pray for their future wife. I hope to God that my son gets to marry a godly woman one day. I know that you say, man, that's years from now. Yeah, but years go by fast. They go by fast. I mean, in four months, it's going to be a year since we started this church. If anybody was just wondering, I was like, what in the world? Especially as I get older, it's like, what in the world? I thought, didn't we just celebrate Christmas? I was like, we want to do Christmas again? For kids, it's like Christmas can't come fast enough. For parents, it's like they come every couple of months. Christmas is every four months. I'm exaggerating, but you know what I mean. I'm saying that just time flies. Now what does God approve? God approves of mothers who raise their children for the Lord. Ephesians 6 verse 1 says, children, obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest live long on the earth. And ye fathers, provoke now your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. See, God commands us to raise our children for the Lord. Not so they can become famous doctors. Now if your child is a doctor, praise the Lord. But we shouldn't, sometimes parents, they want to live vicariously to their children too. Let's be honest. The failures that the parents had, they want to instill that success within their children so they can be rich and have the things that they didn't have. But you know what, that's not a proper goal for your children. A proper goal for your children is to just live a simple life, a life that's pleasing unto the Lord, debt free. They have one wife that they stay with for the rest of their lives. That's successful. I try to provide that for my mom and my dad. I'm not rich. I'm not like someone famous. But you know what, I got myself a wife who's Godly. I got children. You know, I'm a functioning member of society. I'm in church. I'm doing those things that are pleasing unto the Lord. And I can guarantee you that that makes my mom's heart glad. I guarantee you that makes my father's heart glad. Okay? Rather than making money and doing all kinds of things that maybe they might worry about later on in the future, no, I'd rather just live a simple life, provide for my family, have tons of kids, loads and boatloads of kids, okay? And moms, don't discourage your children from having a lot of kids. You'll love them that much the more once you see them, okay? It's great. Okay? But raise them for the Lord. Raise them for the Lord. Go to 2 Timothy chapter 1. I'm going to breeze through some of these. By the way, this takes you knowing the Lord through His word, through prayer. You know, don't make your children read the Bible, but you don't read the Bible. Make sure you're reading the word of God, okay? Read the word of God. Be the one who knows the word of God. Because, look, it's one thing to, you could ask my wife, I'm 99.9% sure that all my brother-in-laws and my brother-in-laws and sister-in-laws, they all read the Bible. They all read it every single day. But if you were to ask my wife, did your parents, I asked her, I said, did your parents tell you to read the Bible? She said, no. I just saw them doing it. You know, because things are rather caught than taught. I'm not saying it's bad to tell your child to read the Bible, but you know what? Children are more apt to do it if they see their parents doing it. Okay, let me give you an example of this. So part of my job description is I edit. You know, I do documentaries and stuff with Pastor Anderson, and, you know, so I'm always at the computer, and I'm like, you know, I got the mouse, and I got the headphones on. My son will come, and he'll say, Holtz, pick up, sit. So he wants to sit. He wants to put the headphones in, and he starts doing this. You know? And then there's like a picture of a keyboard, and he just likes to... I didn't teach him that. He just sees me doing it all the time. Okay? Now, we want to make sure that we're the correct examples for our children, because you could, telling them one thing is one thing, but actually exemplifying that life is another, it's far more effective. Okay? Now, what else does God approve of? He approves of mothers who teach their children the Word of God, as I was mentioning. Second Timothy chapter one, verse one says, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, according to the promise of life, which is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my dearly beloved son, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father, and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing, I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see thee being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy. When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that was in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and in thy mother Eunice, and I am persuaded that in thee also... So we see that Timothy was a third generation Christian. It dwelt in Lois first as grandma, and then in Eunice. So obviously, these people were very intentional about teaching their children the Word of God. You say, how do you know that? 2 Timothy 3 and verse 14, it says, but continue thou, 2 Timothy 3, 15, excuse me, 14. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and has been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. So he says, look, you need to remember who you learned these from, or who did you learn these things from? Of course, from the Apostle Paul, but more specifically, because he said from a child thou hast known the scriptures. Well, who's that from? That's from mom and dad. Teaching Timothy the Bible, okay? So I don't know a lot of Bible, then learn the Bible. Look, you don't have to be some Calvinist scholar, they don't know anything anyways. What you need to do is just know more than your child does. That's it. That's the same thing with homeschooling too. I don't know, I just don't think we're capable of homeschooling. You just need to know a little bit more than your child does, okay? Learn what you have to teach your child, and guess what? Here's the amazing thing. You actually learn when you actually teach someone what you learn. You actually learn more that way, okay? So teach them the Bible. Deuteronomy 6, 4 says, verse 7, excuse me, it says, And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes, and thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. Look, you want to make sure you have an atmosphere in your home that's Biblically based. You know, it's a Bible-based home. Have preaching going on, have music going on, or reading the Bible, okay? Read the book of Proverbs to your children. Talk about the things of the Lord while you're in your house. Don't talk about the things of the world. Don't talk about carnal things. Talk about spiritual things, okay? My son can say Jesus now, but he says, Jeezy. That's how he says it. We try to teach him Biblical words, Bible, why? Because I want him to be conditioned to understand, hey, this is a Christian home, okay? Part of that is just putting some Christian music on, putting preaching on, just making the home and atmosphere for Biblical things that are taking place. Go to Luke chapter 1. Here's the last thing, because I'm out of time. So, obviously, God approves of mothers who submit themselves to the will of God, and we're not going to spend too much time on that. Talk about Mary and the famous verse where she says, you know, according to thy will, she tells the Lord. Not quoting it verbatim, but when they're telling her that she's going to conceive Jesus, physical Jesus, obviously, she submits herself to that. But lastly, I want to say this, God approves of mothers who cultivate a love for souls in the heart of their children, okay? You want your children to be successful, teach them how to be soul winners. That's an awesome thing to teach your children to do, okay? Bring them soul winning with you. Take them soul winning. Let them see you lead people to the Lord. That's important. Look, you know, I'd be thrilled to death if my son becomes a pastor one day, but if he's not, that's not a big deal. What it is a big deal to me is that he becomes a soul winner, that he wins people to Christ, okay? Because obviously, pastoring is not all there is to life, but you know what? One integral part of the Christian life is soul winning, leading people to Christ, seeing people saved. And you want to make sure you develop a heart for souls in the lives of your children, okay? Look at Luke chapter 1 verse 13, but the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shall call his name John. And thou shall have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth, for he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink, and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. He shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. So obviously we know that John the Baptist was the forerunner for Christ, but you know what the Bible says in John chapter 1? There was a man sent from God whose name was John. The same came for a witness that all men through him might believe. You know, he was used as a mighty soul winner for the Lord. And you see throughout the Bible that people knew the baptism of John. That's referring to the gospel that he was preaching to the people. People knew who John the Baptist was, and what was he? He was a soul winner. He was a great preacher of the Lord. And we ought to have a desire to raise our children to be that, to love the Lord. And this is the way you do it. Make soul winning enjoyable for your children. Don't make it a drudgery. We're going soul winning right now. You know, go soul winning, and then this is what you do. Go take them out for ice cream afterwards. So they can have good memories when they're out soul winning, when they're children. Like I remember, I used to go with mom and dad. We go lead people to the Lord, and dad would say, all right, it's time to go eat some ice cream. It's like, yeah, ice cream. This is great. You know, you want to develop good memories with your children in this regard. Oh, that's our responsibility. This is what we ought to do. Yeah, you're right. But you know what? You want to make sure that your kids don't hate soul winning. You want to make sure that your kids don't despise the things of the Lord. Okay. And look, if you want to have that strictness about yourself, have at it. You know, be wise about it. Be wise. Okay. Because you want to make sure that you're very sensitive in regards to your children, how they grew up, and their perspective of the things of God. Okay. You want to make sure they enjoy. My son enjoys being in church. He enjoys being with the guys. You know, he's always messing with the guys and taking their keys and, you know, playing with Mark. He knows the people in the church already. Mark? Mark? Even when we're at home, he asks for Mark and Marcos. You know? He likes being at the church. We ought to desire for our children to like to be at church, not for it to be a drudgery. Make memories when you come to church, okay, with your children. And this goes for everyone. Make memories with your wife and your husband here at the church. Make sure it's enjoyable. Why? Because we want to make sure that when we're passing off the scene, when we die, that our children are still continuing in that path. Okay. Well, how do you do that? It takes you, with the amount of years that you have in this world, to cultivate that desire and that delight within the hearts of your children. Okay. So we saw some examples here, bad examples of mothers in the Bible, but we also see good examples. We ought to strive to stay away from the bad and strive to emulate that which is good. Amen? Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for this day. Thank you for the godly mothers in the Bible who the mothers in our church can learn from. And I'm thankful for the godly mothers in our church and mothers who do love the Lord and mothers who do love souls. They love their children. They want to do that which is right on the side of the Lord. I pray that we have more mothers to come within the next couple of years. And may you bless those in this church, the mothers in this church, and the wombs of the mothers in this church as well to continue to have more children. And thank you so much for our moms. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.