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

. . Not have I gotten, but what I received, Grace hath bestowed it, since I have believed. Boasting, excluded, pride I abase, I'm only a sinner saved by grace, Only a sinner saved by grace, Only a sinner saved by grace. This is my story, to God be the glory, I'm only a sinner saved by grace. Once I was foolish and sin ruled my heart, Causing my footsteps from God to depart. Jesus had found me happy, my case, And I am a sinner saved by grace, Only a sinner saved by grace, Only a sinner saved by grace. This is my story, to God be the glory, I'm only a sinner saved by grace. Tears unavailing, no merit had I, Mercy has saved me, or else I must die. Sin had alarmed me, fearing God's face, But now I'm a sinner saved by grace, Only a sinner saved by grace, Only a sinner saved by grace. This is my story, to God be the glory, I'm only a sinner saved by grace. Suffer a sinner whose heart overflows, Loving his Savior to tell what he knows. Once more to tell it, would I embrace, I'm only a sinner saved by grace, Only a sinner saved by grace, Only a sinner saved by grace. This is my story, to God be the glory, I'm only a sinner saved by grace. Alright, let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we just want to thank you, God, for another day to meet in your house and hear your word preached. I pray, Lord, that you would receive all the honor and glory out of everything that's said and done. I pray, Lord, for the soul wanting to follow the service, God, that you would lead us and guide us to the people that want to hear your gospel. I pray, Lord, that you would just fill our paths with your power and spirit. In Jesus' name we ask all of this. Amen. Alright, you may be seated. And turn just one page over to song 208. Song 208 will sing Grace Greater Than Our Sin, song 208. Marvelous grace of our loving Lord Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt Yonder on Calvary's mount outpoured There where the blood of the Lamb was spilled Grace, grace, God's grace Grace that will pardon and cleanse within Grace, grace, God's grace Grace that is greater than all our sin Sin and despair like the sea waves cold Threaten the soul with infinite loss Grace that is greater, yes, grace untold Points to the refuge, the mighty cross Grace, grace, God's grace Grace that will pardon and cleanse within Grace, grace, God's grace Grace that is greater than all our sin Dark is the stain that we cannot hide What can avail to wash it away Look, there is flowing a crimson tide Whiter than snow you may be today Grace, grace, God's grace Grace that will pardon and cleanse within Grace, grace, God's grace That is greater than all our sin Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace Freely bestowed on all who believe You that are longing to see His face Will you this moment His grace receive Grace, grace, God's grace Grace that will pardon and cleanse within Grace, grace, God's grace Grace that is greater than all our sin Amen. Welcome to Mountain Baptist Church on this Sunday morning. A little rainy today, that's for sure, but a little warmer, so you got to take the good with the bad on that. But welcome everybody. We have just some regular church announcements here. We have the offering box in the back there by brother Eric. We have the mother baby room right behind the Blackwells. The Blackwells, my dad there, that's just for mothers and babies. So we want to try to keep obviously the men out of there, but just women and children. But as far as the playrooms, we want to keep all the children over here in these rooms and not in the mother baby room. So that's for the small children so we don't run them over and all that. But obviously if you're a parent and you have to take your older children in there, that's not a problem. If you have a smaller child that you're taking into the mother baby room, it is what it is. But service times are normal today. We have our soul winning time at 1 p.m. So we'll get teamed up for that. And then we have an upcoming women's prayer meeting. So as you can tell, the sign fell down behind me. So at the men's prayer meeting, I decided, hey, let's move that up a little bit so it doesn't look ridiculous. And I only had two more of those Velcro ones, which are the heavy duty ones, and I tried to use the little ones, the little 3M things, and it didn't work. So we need to restable the backing to that frame and get some actual ones that stick better. So that's why that's not there. We're not changing the name of the church or anything like that. But anyway, and then our chapter for the month, I know today is the last day of February, so obviously you can still be working on 2 Timothy chapter 4, but we're going to do Psalm 19. So Psalm 19 is a pretty short psalm, but it's a good psalm. So we're going to do that. I may do some of these before we get into doing another book to where we just do some, like Isaiah 53, just different things where it's like there's a chapter that's a good chapter to have memorized, maybe in the Old Testament, Psalms, you know, stuff like that. So we may do some of that before we jump into another book. And then as far as birthdays, we have Lydia's birthday that's coming up. Is that Tuesday? Right, so we'll definitely sing Happy Birthday to Miss Lydia. How old are you going to be, Lydia? Four! Four? Don't grow up that fast. Four. That's crazy. And Anna's going to be four this year as well. But speaking of which, I just want to thank everybody for the baby sprinkling. Is that what they call that? Is that a baby shower? To me it's still a baby shower. But Holly was, you know, this was the sprinkling. I'm like, sprinkling? Are we like Presbyterian? Like, what's going on here? This is not being a Baptist church. No, I'm just kidding. We don't shower people either. We dunk people. No, I'm just kidding. But obviously it's a shower of blessing, you know. We had the song. The Bible actually talks about that. But I just want to thank everybody that came to that and all the things that you gave us, especially the dinosaur stuff. That was, you know, keen to my heart. That and Ninja Turtles, you know, those are up there as far as that goes. But anyway, definitely be in prayer for my wife. She's really pregnant right now. Emma has a fever. She had a fever for the past couple of days. So she's at home watching Emma and Anna. But be in prayer for my wife because obviously she's 35 weeks. She'll be 36 weeks on Friday. And so they're pretty much saying that she's probably not going to make it to her due date, which is April 2nd, which doesn't surprise me at all because we never made it to the due date with any of our children. So I figured it'd be in March. But obviously we want to at least try to make it to 36 weeks, you know, if all possible. So just be in prayer for that, that everything, you know, goes well with the delivery, the baby, all that fun stuff. So we're excited, obviously. So not that it's just because it's a boy, but, you know, obviously that's going to be different. So it's weird. When Holly brought all that stuff home from the sprinkle, there's like all this blue stuff. I'm like, this is weird. This is like anathema in our house right now, you know, like everything's pink. Everything's pink and, you know, princess and all this stuff. And then there's like dinosaurs, blue stuff. I'm like, that's what I'm talking about, you know. Anyway, but so I think I forgot. So the first verse of the week is Galatians 3.11. But that no man is justified by the law on the side of God. It is evident for the just shall live by faith. And so it's a good verse to have. You know, there's a lot of verses, you know, like that, like in Romans. But Galatians is definitely a good one there. That we're not justified by the law. The just shall live by faith and all that. So that's our memory verse for this week. And trying to think. And obviously on the pregnancy list there. We have Miss Joyce and Miss Tabby on there as well. So be in prayer for them. They're not like at the point of giving birth yet. But, you know, so, you know, but we definitely want to pray, you know, because especially at that very beginning stage and just the sicknesses and all that stuff that goes along with that. So just be in prayer for the women there. And then the anniversaries, we're not up to that yet. So we have the Crandalls coming up. And then we have a couple more birthdays in March. And we may have another birthday to put on there. You know, Lord willing, you know, with baby James. So, but yeah, everything else I think is pretty much the way business as usual on the list here. We're finally coming to the end of February. And then getting into March. Hopefully it gets a little warmer and all that stuff. But so anyway, Brother Dave is going to come sing one more song. We'll sing Happy Birthday to Miss Lydia. And who's reading this morning? Did anyone pick? Anyone want to do it? It's Psalm 127. So it's like five verses. So I can do it. But Brother Dave, do you want to do it? Okay. So Psalm 127. We'll be reading that after we sing one more song. After we sing Happy Birthday, sing one more song. Brother Dave, you can handle that. You know what to do. All right. Take your song books and turn to song 218. Song 218. We'll sing Hallelujah to Zumba. Before we do that, we need to sing Happy Birthday to Lydia. And it was on Tuesday? Tuesday. Well, that's awesome. Four? Growing up quick. All right. We'll sing Happy Birthday to Lydia. You're standing. Okay. That's good. I'd like to see. All right. Here we go. Ready? Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, God bless you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday. All right. Song 218. Hallelujah to Zumba. Tis the promise of love for salvation to give unto him who on Jesus his son will believe. Hallelujah, it is done. I believe on the son. I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one. Hallelujah, it is done. I believe on the son. I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one. Though the pathway be lonely and dangerous too, surely Jesus is able to carry me through. Hallelujah, it is done. I believe on the son. I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one. Hallelujah, it is done. I believe on the son. I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one. Many loved ones have I and yon heavenly throng. They are saved now in glory and this is their song. Hallelujah, it is done. I believe on the son. I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one. Hallelujah, it is done. I believe on the son. I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one. There's a part in that chorus for you and for me. And the theme of our praise is forever will be. Hallelujah, it is done. I believe on the son. I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one. Hallelujah, it is done. I believe on the son. I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one. All right, take your Bibles and turn to Psalm 127. We'll have brother Jason read that for us. All right, Psalm 127. Psalm 127. Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows, for so he giveth his beloved sleep. Lo, children are in heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them. They shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for your word, Lord. Thank you for this time that we have to come and hear your word preached, Lord. I just pray that you would be with Pastor Robinson as he delivers the message this morning. I pray you bless the preaching and help us all to learn from it and be edified. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. So you're there in Psalm 127. It's a shorter Psalm, but it's a good one. Good one to have memorized too. It's only five verses. But I want to preach on children and how children are a blessing. And so obviously this is on my mind recently with a colleague coming to term here with our fourth child. And in our world today, children are looked at as being a burden and almost a curse. When you think of the abortion that's going around these days and just how people are just constantly wanting an excuse to terminate a pregnancy, they're obviously not looking at it as a blessing. Now a lot of cases, the people that are getting pregnant aren't even married. And so it's out of wedlock and obviously that's not right and all that. But that doesn't mean that two wrongs make a right and that you commit fornication. Therefore you should murder your child. But I believe that children are a blessing. I believe the Bible teaches that children are a blessing. And I just want to preach on this. And our church is full of children. And actually I was counting up how many children we have. And depending on how you put Ms. Taylor and Ms. Emily, so I put them as adults. I put them as adults. And we come out to, as far as our normal crowd, as far as everybody that comes to church, we have about 57 people and 30 are adults. And 27 are children. Now if you take Ms. Emily and Ms. Taylor and say, well, they're living under their parents, then that flips as far as you have 29 as far as children and you would have more children. Now once all the babies come, then we'll be even, you know, as far as that goes. And I know that, you know, Laura and the Jones family, I know they're planning on coming. They have like five children. So we'll be above 50% when it comes to children. So our church is filled with children, okay. And I want to say this is that that's a blessing. And listen, most churches aren't like that, okay. Most churches are not filled with young families that have a bunch of kids, okay. And because, you know, today, first of all, churches are dying off, meaning that there's a lot of churches that are just basically, it's just older people there and literally dying off, like just people, you know, are getting older and there's not a new generation that's coming up. And children, you know, is a blessing. If you ever went into one of those churches with children, you could just see the older people just light up. They're just like, you know, we need children in our church, you know. And here it's kind of like, you know, after churches, it becomes like a playground, you know. Like it's just crazy, you know, and all that. But listen, I'm not saying that having children is easy. I'm not saying it isn't like a burden in the fact of, you know, obviously it takes a lot of work. But ultimately it's a blessing. Now let's look at this psalm because this is a short psalm but there's a lot in here. It says, Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Now there's a lot of truth to this because you think of the house of God, right. That the church of the living God, you know, the house of God which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth, and the fact that the church is built by God. Jesus said, upon this rock, I will build my church, right. And the idea is that Jesus, you know, God is building the church and that's not our job to build the church. And we'll labor in vain if you try to do that. Meaning if we're going to be like, oh, we're going to bring in a rock band, we're going to do this, we're going to... All our effort is just to get people to come in the church. We're laboring in vain, okay. What we're supposed to be doing is winning people to Christ, you know, begetting children, if you will, to the Lord. And that will build the church. Not necessarily because they come in, but God will send people and maybe some of those will come in. But that's not our job to build the church, it's God's job. And here's the thing, when you're looking at this passage, I believe it's more so talking about your house. Meaning that individually you have a family and you each have your own house. You know, you think of the wife as, you know, as to guide the house. And that's, you know, her main job is to take care of the house. But the house isn't just a building, right? Just as much as the church is not this building, the house is talking about the children, you know, and obviously taking care of the husband as far as the, you know, all the stuff that goes with being a wife and all that. But, notice it says, except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows, for so he giveth his beloved sleep. So he's basically stating here that, you know, when it comes to being, you know, someone that's watchful or protecting, you know, the city. So we're talking about a house, we're talking about a city. And the idea of protecting the house is that, except the Lord do it, you're doing it in vain. Meaning that you can't do this on your own, okay? You know, you're trusting the arm of flesh when it comes to this. You need to be trusting in the Lord. And he's basically saying, you're going to wake up in vain, you're going to stay up in vain, you're going to eat the bread of sorrows if you don't have the Lord that's really watching and keeping the house. And it seems like it's out of place when you start going into the next verse, right? It seems like you're almost getting into a different thought, but I don't believe it's a different thought. I believe what it's stating here is that, you know what, if you're trying to keep your house, trying to protect your house, most children are actually a blessing. And children are actually going to help in this, okay? Notice what it says, it says, lo children are in heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward. So first of all, it's a reward, okay, to have children. And some people, you know, can't have children, some people have trouble having children. And so this could be a touchy subject when you're talking about children. You know, when a bunch of people are having children, but then they can't have children, they want children. There's plenty of people that want children, but, you know, there's some people that the Lord just does not bless with children. And I believe there's reasoning behind that and all that. And I don't believe it's just like, well, that person's sinful and that's why they're not having children. You know what I mean? You should never go up to somebody that doesn't have children or isn't having more children and just be like, are you guys not right with God? You know, like, are you, like, using contraceptives? You know, like, that should never be a conversation that is coming between people and the church, okay? I will preach on the fact that children are a blessing, we need to be fruitful and multiply. That's the way God plans it, but let that be where it lays, okay? If someone asks your opinion about something, that's different, but we should never just go around and ask that because you don't know what's going on behind the scenes. You don't know if they've been trying, having miscarriages, all these different things that could be going on and you're going to look like a fool and you're going to cause a whole bunch of heartache by bringing it up or then they're going to think people are thinking we're in sin even though we're, like, struggling and going through really hard times, okay? Now, what it says here, it says, Notice this in verse 4, going back to the idea of watching and keeping the city, keeping the house, it says, Notice why, okay? And I believe this goes back to the beginning of the psalm there. They shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate, okay? So, the idea here is that your children are going to be a blessing to you because you're raising them right, you're raising them to serve the Lord, and ultimately you're raising up soldiers for Christ. You're raising up, you know, godly women that are going to be godly mothers, Lord willing, and then you have godly men that are going to be, you know, godly leaders in this world. And today, in the day that we live in, we need more children, not less, when it comes to Christians. We need Christians to be the ones that step up. You know, if Hellywood and all these wicked people don't want to have children, you know what I say? Good, okay? Because, you know, I feel bad for children that are born to these wicked people and they have to grow up with wickedness and then end up becoming reprobate like a lot of these people are anyway. But as Christians, you know, the Bible says that we need to be fruitful and multiply, and go to, notice the attitude of a couple women in the Bible when it comes to having children. Go to Genesis chapter 30, Genesis chapter 30. Genesis chapter 30 and verse 1. Because the attitude today is, and listen, you'll run into people that love children and think it's great, but the question I keep getting asked, you know, when they say, you know, my wife's pregnant and they're like, well, is it your first? You know, what? I'm like, it's the fourth. They're like, are you done? Like, that's the question that's always, or it's like, do you know what causes that? You know, it's like, no, we're still trying to figure that one out. But it's always that kind of question of, you know, is that all you're going to have? You know, are you done? You know, like, you know, I think you've already gone too far. You know, like, it's like, and I know, I know that the thinking that a lot of people have, because obviously children are a lot of work. And they're not looking at it like, I don't like your children. Like, there's one you should not have had. You know, they're not literally saying that. You know what I mean? But they're mostly looking at, like, how much are you willing to take on? Like, are you, you know, is it going to be, you know, how much, how crazy are you? You know what I mean? So, you know, you get these questions that are coming on, but here's the thing. In a lot of women's minds, that's not the thinking, okay? Society has twisted minds to think, hey, you know, us four, no more. You know, the idea of just we don't want any more and all that. A lot of times women want to have children, and it's not, and it's the husbands that don't, okay? That's just what I've heard, okay? I can't speak from experience, you know? But usually it's the women that want to have more. Husbands don't because it costs a lot of money, and, you know, it takes a lot of time, and it takes a lot of patience. It takes a lot, you know, to have children, and it's usually the husband that's like, hey, let's shut this down. Let's cut this off. You know, we've had enough. You know, we have enough children, and usually it's like we got a boy, we got a girl. That's good. All right. We got both genders, and there's only two, by the way. Then we're good to go, you know? And the thing is, notice what Rachel says here in Genesis chapter 30 and verse 1. Genesis chapter 30 and verse 1. It says, when Rachel saw that she bared Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister and said unto Jacob, give me children or else I die. Now, notice that attitude, okay? How bad Rachel wanted to have children. She basically says, give me children or else I just want to die, okay? And listen, if you think that women don't have that desire today, you're crazy. You're crazy to think that women don't have this desire to have children, and you know what? Men, you know, you need to just, you know, and I don't believe anybody in our church is like this, but if there's a husband out there, and their wife wants to have more children or have children, and the husband's just like, no, I don't want any, that husband needs to get off his pedestal of selfishness, and you know what? Do what God says should be done. And listen, you know, this is a desire that most women have, okay? And notice what Jacob says here, because Jacob's just kind of angry about it because he can't, you know, imagine that, you know, and listen, this is a great example, first of all, why you don't have multiple wives, but second of all, why, you know, when people are having trouble having children, there is some conflict, and there is a lot of, like, because it's really no one's fault, you know? It's not like anybody can control what's going on when it comes to having children, but there's still, it doesn't mean that you're not going to be at each other's throats. It doesn't mean that there's not going to be turmoil and sadness, depression, like all this stuff. Notice what Jacob says in verse 2. It says, And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel and said, Am I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? Okay? So you have Rachel's like, give me children or I want to die, and then Jacob's getting angry. He's like, can I, I'm not God. I can't, you know, make that happen, you know? Like, I can't, I'm not the one that's, like, allowing conception to happen. And so you can see this whole thing that's going on, and obviously Jacob wants to have children, and he loves Rachel. There's no doubt, you know, the Bible's very clear that he loved Rachel, okay? Above Leah, okay? And that whole story is, you know, crazy as it is, but go to 1 Samuel chapter 1, 1 Samuel chapter 1. I'll show you another woman in the Bible that, kind of the same situation, you know, that there was two wives and one was having children and the other one wasn't. And the thing is, is that God opens and closes the womb, okay? So when you get that idea, because you say, well, how many more are you going to have? This might be it. I mean, I hope I have more, okay? But God's the one that opens and closes the womb. You know, I could look at Holly's biological clock and be like, well, according to her age, and how long you usually have children, and the, you know, the years between, you know, you end up having children and all that, it's usually about two years apart, right? And I could say, well, we could have seven or eight, right? You know, on a biological clock. But it could be that God's just like, all right, that's it. And here's the thing, you don't know when that biological clock would start and stop. Meaning this, you say, well, I'm going to wait until this age to have children. What if the only time that you could have had children was when you were younger, okay? So this is something that you don't want to just wait and think, okay, I can just do this whenever, okay? You don't know that. And there's people that tried to have children for like ten years, and then they finally had children. You know, it's just like they tried, tried, tried, tried, tried, and then they had children, okay? I think of, I think it's 20 years that Isaac went before he had Jacob and Esau. I think that's right. I think he was 60 when they had him, and he was 40 when they got married, okay? And that's a long time, okay? It's a long time to be like wanting to have children, and you waited 20 years. Think of Abraham. Now, that's a special case, okay? Abraham was 100, and Sarah was 90. So if you ever want to say, hey, we waited a long time to have children, think of them. Now, 1 Samuel chapter 1, we're dealing with Hannah here. And it says in verse 9, it says, So Hannah rose up early, 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 wilt indeed look unto, I'm sorry, 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 the razor come upon his head. So notice the affliction, right? She's talking about the affliction of thine handmaid. It talks about the bitterness of soul. And you know what? This goes on today, okay? Especially if you're in a church where we have a lot of kids, you know, where people are having kids, and there can be bitterness, you know? And all I can say with that is just have patience, you know, because God's the one that opens and closes the womb. You never know what's going on with that. But we don't want to have bitterness, but you can understand where she's coming from, right? I mean, I can understand where you're in a church where people are having children all over the place, and then you want to have children, and then you're struggling, or whatever the case may be, that there's just affliction, you know, that you want to have children. And the thing is, you know why that is in all these cases? Because children are a blessing, because it's not a curse to have children. And go to Proverbs 14 and verse 4. Proverbs 14 and verse 4. You say, where is this sermon coming from? Well, first of all, I'm about to have a child, but I had a dream one time where, you know, it was me and Holly, we were married, but we didn't have any kids. And this was when I already had three kids, right? And in the dream, I was just really sad. I was like, where are my kids at, you know? And I was actually just looking through, you ever just look through your pictures from like back in the day? I was looking through like my honeymoon pictures, maybe because it's really like awesome weather today, and throughout the week, and so I didn't want to think about the Dominican Republic and being in Punta Cana, and like this paradise, right? But I was looking through these pictures of when I was on my honeymoon, and it was a great time, you know? And it was a fun time, you know, it was great weather, all this stuff. Just married, you know, so obviously, you know, we're just having fun being together and all this stuff. But then I was thinking to myself, it's really sad to think like Clara wasn't here, Anna wasn't here, Emma wasn't here. And like it's weird because when you have children, it's like it's impossible to really think about them not being here, right? Like there's no going back to thinking about them not being here. And it really shows you that eternal soul that's there, you know? When they're born, it's just not, they're in existence, and there's no way that that could ever be changed. And, you know, it's just kind of one of those things where you have children, and it's hard, and it's day in, day out, that you're with your children, and you're doing all this. But it's interesting how, you know what, you take one day where you're away from your children, at least me, you know, like there'll be a day where I'll come home late, and Emma went to bed, or my children went to bed, and I didn't get to see them all day, right? You know, I had to work over, I had to do something, so I couldn't get home to see my children. And it'll be like a whole day goes by where you don't see them, and there's like, I'm like, I want to see my children. You know, and it's weird, it's like it's one day, really, you can't handle one day? And whenever I've gone like on trips, you know, where I've gone like out to preach somewhere, I went somewhere, and I'm gone for like three days, it's hard. And you think, well, wouldn't you just feel that liberation? Yeah, for a little bit, you know, you feel that liberation, you're just like, man, I don't have to like worry about, I can eat food, and they're not all eating my food, you know? It's like little baby birds with their mouths open every time I have a snack, you know? And, but you miss that type of stuff, and you miss, you know, your children, and you know what, they are a blessing. Notice what it says in Proverbs chapter 14, verse 4, it says, Where no oxen are, the crib is clean, but much increase is by the strength of the ox. Okay, and this comes to, you know, you think of the church building, and we obviously want to take care of the church building, so I'm not saying to just let it rip apart, you know, but you know what, it gets messy, you know, things happen, you know, we haven't had any holes in the wall yet, but at the same time, like that type of stuff, I'd rather have that any day of the week than have a church that has no children. Okay, and you know, the idea of having to deal with rowdy kids, or just dealing with this or that, and that whole thing, listen, it's worth it in the end. It's worth it to have those children that are going to be messy, and listen, your house is going to be messy when you have kids. It's just the way it is, okay, you clean it, the next second, it's worse than it was when you cleaned it the first time, right? And the thing is, there will be days, and it's going to come a day where it's going to be spic and span, because they're not there anymore. And you got to, I know it's hard when you're in it to just be like, I love this, you know, or I, you know, enjoy it, but you really do need to enjoy it because it's not always going to be there, okay? And listen, there's much increase by the strength of the ox, and this goes into the idea of having arrows in the hand of a mighty man, right? It takes a lot of work, you know, to have these children and all that, but ultimately, they're going to be a blessing to you. If you raise them upright, and they'll answer, they'll speak to the enemies in the gate, you know, and all this with the increase of the ox, and think about it, you know, our church obviously has been growing each year, and we've been kind of adding families as years go on, but it's also just been growing because we've been having children, right? Like, every year we've been having children, like families have been having children, so even if you, and I'm not saying that we want to do this, but I'm just saying, even if you just said, okay, no more people are going to join our church as far as outside people, which obviously is not the case, right, because obviously anybody is welcome that, you know, wants to come to our church, and that's a, you know, loves the Lord, wants to serve the Lord with us, and wants to have good unity in a Bible-believing church, you know, obviously we're not closing them out, but let's say it just stopped right now, and we all just kept having children, right? And then those children start having children, and then those children start having children, and obviously we all die off because we're going to get old at that point. Got to get morbid in there at some point, right? No, but honestly, the idea though is that you're multiplying just for the fact that, hey, we're raising children, we're raising them to serve the Lord, and it grows just from that, okay? So you have the soul-winning and visitors, you have the people that God will just lead to come to the church, then you'll have the fact that, hey, we're just growing in the fact because we're having children, and we're having multiple children. Go to Mark Chapter 10, Mark Chapter 10. Mark Chapter 10, obviously children are not convenient when it comes to anything that you're doing, okay? Children are a liability, okay? Especially when they're younger, okay? Now when they start getting older and they can start helping around the house and doing chores and stuff like that, we haven't got to that point yet. I mean, we're getting closer to that, but I mean, it's pretty much still just liability, right? I mean, we need to do everything for them. But there's certain things that, you know, Clara will do, you know, wants to do on her own, and that stuff helps, you know, as she starts getting older and they start getting older. But in the end, it is, you know, it's work, it's not convenient, and the disciples knew that about children, and this is one of the big reasons, okay? Not the only reason, but this is one of the big reasons why we are a family-integrated church, okay? Meaning that we have the kids in the service, and we don't have separate services just for kids, but they're here with our families, they're here for the main church, the preaching time, is Mark chapter 10, verse 13. Mark chapter 10, verse 13, it says, And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them, and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up into his arms, and put his hands upon them, and blessed them. Okay, so the disciples, you know, they were thinking, no, we don't need to bring children, we just want the adults that are going to be able to hear it, right? Because that's the logic, okay? The logic between why you have a nursery or children's church, is the idea that they're just not going to receive what you're going to be giving the adults. And you're selling kids short, first of all. Because kids understand a lot more than you think. And they can understand a lot of these deep things, but here's the thing, even if they don't understand all the deep things, they're still going to pick up a lot of it, okay? And especially if you promise them candy at the end of it, you know, they'll take notes. No, I'm just kidding. You've got to bribe them, no. But the idea, though, is that Jesus says, suffer them to come unto me. So when you say suffer, obviously that's implying just basically to allow, right? But it's also implying that, hey, this isn't an easy allowance, right? Meaning that it's going to be harder, right? Meaning that he's saying, allow them to come to me, but you're suffering them because it's not convenient, it's not easy, right? And a lot of churches, they're like, well, we don't want to have children in the church service because there's going to be disruptions. Or it's not going to be quiet as a mouse. Listen, I don't have you under hypnosis right now, that if a child started just wailing right now, I'm just like, you just broke everything, I can't concentrate, this whole sermon's ruined. This is not a Pentecostal, emotionalistic type of preaching, okay? This is just straight up doctrine, truth, hard preaching, and I don't care if a kid is wailing, it's not going to change what the truth is, and it's not going to distract me to that point. Now, obviously if your kid's just wailing to the point of distraction where no one can hear what's going on, then obviously that's what the baby rooms are for, and that's why you'd want to take them out. Or even, not today, but you could take them outside if it's nice outside, you know, stuff like that. To where, obviously you're trying to keep it to where people can hear and, you know, it's not super distracting. But in the end, you know what, it's not, I personally, it doesn't bother me at all, okay? And we've been, this is three and a half years in, passing the church and being family integrated, and there's never been a time where it's like distracted me. Actually, when kids fall asleep and fall off their chairs, or different things like that have happened, it's not, I'm not mad, I'm just like, I feel bad, you know, and I'm just like, so those kind of things will get distracted. But you know what, there's probably adults that have fallen out of their chairs. Listen, Eutychus fell out of the third loft for falling asleep, right? And so that's not something that's uncommon, but I'll say this, I can't raise you from the dead, so good thing we don't have a loft. But go to Luke chapter 18, Luke chapter 18, because people say, well, okay, children, but not babies, okay? Listen, I want everybody to be in a church service. Sucklings, infants, babies, right? And obviously, you know, when you have a little baby, you're probably going to be in the mother-baby room a lot, you know, and just dealing with that, so it's not like I don't understand that. You know, I'm not saying don't use the mother-baby rooms, okay? That's what they're there for, but at the same time, notice what it says in Luke 18, verse 15. It says, and they brought unto him also infants. Now, we're not just talking about toddlers running around. Infant would imply, like, they can't walk, right? They're basically just have to be held, okay? And it says in verse, that same verse there, it says that he would touch them, but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them, but Jesus called them unto him and said, suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God. Notice that in one passage, you see little children, young children, but then it gets even further than that and says, infants. Okay? We're talking babies. So, why would I forbid the children to come into the regular church service, okay? And listen, if churches have those other services, I'm not here to say, like, they're wicked or anything like that, but I'll say this. If you're going to come down on our church for having a church integrated church, you have no backing, okay? This is more biblical, what we're doing, okay? I believe this is to the T what Jesus would want, okay? And, you know, and I'll say this, too. You want to know why a lot of kids get out of church when they get older? Because they've been in some junior church where it's shallow preaching and a bunch of fun kiddie songs. It's like a carnival in a lot of cases. And then they get old enough to get out of junior church, they get into the normal service, and they're just like, this isn't as fun, this isn't, like, what I remember. And then be really surprised when they go to some circus church of some, like, non-denom, like, mega church where it is literally a circus. And everyone backflips and playing Guitar Hero on the stage. I mean, that stuff happens. It's crazy, okay? In West Virginia, that has happened, okay? Not that I was there for it, but I've heard of it, okay? I know people that have been there, and that's what was going on. Go to Proverbs chapter 22, Proverbs chapter 22 and verse 6. Proverbs chapter 22 and verse 6. So, obviously, I want you to know that, listen, at our church, we believe children are a blessing. I also believe that in your life, you know, and obviously some people can't have children, and some people, you know, are not in that position to have children, but as a married couple that can have children, this is the best investment you could ever make in your life. You know, forget the stock market, forget Bitcoin, forget all this other garbage, forget GameStop, you know, did they finally cave on that? Did they finally, like, everybody sell their stock or whatever? Anyway, forget all that investment stuff because all that stuff is going to be burned up, okay? But your children, that's an eternal investment. You say, well, how is it eternal? It's just for your life. No, because if you get them saved, that's an eternal investment. That's what it says in verse 6 here. It says, train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. And this goes right back into the idea of they shall not be ashamed. Why? Because whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed, okay? So, the first scripture says whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate, okay? You train up your child. You get them saved. You train them up in the way that they should go. You know, listen, they will be a blessing to you. They'll be a blessing to the Lord, and they will not depart from it. And listen, I know that everybody has, you know, their free will, okay? I'm not saying that someone gets saved, they will hold out faithful until the end and they won't mess up. Listen, I do believe that in the part here, obviously, if you train them up and get them saved, they can't depart from it, okay? You know, they will not because they can't, right? There's certain things that a Christian cannot do. They cannot blaspheme the Holy Ghost, they cannot take the mark of the beast, they cannot do certain things, right? But I also do believe that if you train them up right, and you train them up with integrity, they'll stick to their guns, okay? They may falter here or there, but you know what? If you train them up right and train them up to hate drugs, to hate, you know, all these different things that are out in the world, and let them see for what it is, okay? Because when you train up a child, you know, it's not that you put them in a cage where they don't see anything. But listen, when I take, you know, my daughters out soul winning and they see the alcoholic come to the door and they smell that alcohol and I say, hey, that's what alcohol does to you. Then when they're in the store and they see alcohol, they're just, what do they think of? They don't think of the beautiful people on the, you know, the commercial where they're all just having a good time and all this stuff. They think of the big fat guy that came to the door that smells like, you know, feces or something like that, just smells awful. They see the trash on the porch. They see the disgusting atmosphere that that person's in. And then they look at that and be like, that is what alcohol does. That is what drugs do, right? And imagine, you know, how that will relate, okay? Because a lot of times, you know, people will train up their children and say, you know, drugs are bad, but they don't see it for what it is, okay? And they have to, and sometimes they'll get into drugs and they'll have to find out the hard way by doing it themselves. And that's not the way you want them to learn, okay? So I'm not saying, like, don't teach them about that there's bad stuff out there, but they should see it for what it is, okay? And I'm not saying to take them down to some, like, place where people are cracked out of their mind, okay? I'm not saying that at all. I'm just saying soul winning, soul winning, I believe, will be enough that will show them a peek into what, you know, people live like. And it'll also show them to be thankful for what they have at home. Because when they see the living conditions that people have and, you know, and a lot of these cases has to do with drugs or just laziness and just different things like that, then when they come home, they're going to be a lot more thankful for what the things they have and the parents that they have and the church that they go to and all that, okay? Now, go to John chapter 16. John chapter 16, because it's a joy to have children. Now, listen, the whole pregnancy and delivery process, I didn't say that was going to be joyful, okay? I know some, it's different, you know, it's not only just different for different women, but sometimes it's just different on what child, you know, the child, okay? And Holly's had different types of pregnancies. This one's been, you know, better than the other ones, but it's been worse now at the end, okay? Meaning it's been really uncomfortable and baby James is already, like, weighing more than our children when they were born. So, you know, just different things like that that are just playing. Obviously, it's a boy compared to a girl, and not to get into that whole sermon on the hormonal differences, but Leviticus actually teaches on that as far as the difference between having a girl and having a boy, but also just the fact that, you know what, in most all cases, and just from the garden, when they fell from, when Adam fell and they were kicked out of the Garden of Eden and the curse that was put on women wasn't childbearing, okay? So the idea of bearing a child, that's not the joyful part, that's not, you know, the part that women are just looking forward to, okay? Actually, it's the thing that I thank God I'm a man for, okay, because I don't have to give birth, okay? Now, in John 16 and verse 20, it says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice, and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. Okay, so he's obviously talking about the fact that he's going to the cross, and he's going to die, but that joy, that sorrow is only going to last for a little bit, okay? And then there's going to be joy after that, and he likens it unto a woman giving birth, and notice what it says in verse 21. A woman, when she is in travail, hath sorrow, because her hours come. So it's not saying like she's just loving this, right? No, it's painful, you know, it's not something that's enjoyable. It says, because her hours come, but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy than a man is born into the world. And ye now therefore have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. It's very interesting how this works, and women, listen, you would know this way more than I would, you know, those that have had children, that you go through this labor process, and the fact that, you know, it could be excruciating pain, just everything that you're going through that, you have this child, and you forget about all the pain. I mean, you almost have to to have another child, right? Because, I mean, that pain, and just that whole anguish that you're going through, to think, I want to do this again. But the joy, you know, exceeds the pain. And when it comes to having children, listen, the joy of having children will exceed all the heartache, all the, you know, the burden, all the inconveniences. Listen, that will exceed. The joy will exceed, obviously if you're training up in the Lord. Obviously if you have children, and then you just let them go to the devil, then they're going to bring you shame and sorrow, okay? So, this isn't a sermon to say, like, just have children and it'll just work out, guys. No, you need to have children, you need to have them in church, you need to have them reading their Bible, you need to get them saved, you need to train them up in the way that they should go, and they'll be a blessing to you. They'll be arrows, as arrows in the hand of a mighty man, and they will be like the ox that bringeth much increase, and they will be, you know, it'll be a blessing in the end. But here's the thing, this is for, you know, someone to have their own children. But listen, adoption is not a bad option too, okay? I know when Holly and I, when we got married, we didn't know, you know, you don't know if you're going to be able to have children. Obviously we wanted to, but we also talked about, you know, if we can't have children, we want to adopt, okay? And even if you have children, and let's say, you know, let's say God, you know, doesn't want us to have any more children naturally, who's to say that we wouldn't adopt some children, you know what I mean? And I want to get into this because, go to Galatians chapter 4, because adoption is not bad. And listen, I know there's men in the church that have children that they've pretty much adopted, you know, because of marriage or different things like that. And listen, I believe that that's just as legit a child, your child, and you're their parent, as much as anything else, okay? And I believe the Bible teaches that, okay? Because it teaches about us being adopted into God's family, okay? Go to Galatians chapter 4 and verse 4, it says, Notice how it links this, because obviously Jesus is the Son of God. He is God. He's a part of the Godhead, you know, He's the triune, you know, God, right? The Father, Son, Holy Ghost. When we get saved, we become children of God. The idea is that we become His children, we're born again, you know, and all that. And notice that we're adopted, right, because we didn't come forth from God, okay? He didn't beget us. Jesus is the only begotten Son of God. That means only, okay? But we were begotten of God into the family, okay? We were adopted into the family because we were of the earth, but then we were adopted spiritually into the family. But notice that He doesn't just call us like illegitimate children. He says, you're a son, and you're not only a son, but you're an heir. The Bible talks about, go to Romans chapter 8, Romans chapter 8 and verse 14. This meaning, this is what I mean by this. If we were to adopt children, I would look at them as legitimate children just as much as my own blood children, okay? Like if we were to adopt a daughter or son, I would say, that's my son. That's my daughter. You know, just as much as, you know, the ones that came forth from my loins, okay? And I believe that's the way God views it. And so, go to Romans chapter 8 and verse 14, it says, They are the sons of God, for ye have not received the spirit of bondage to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba Father. The Spirit itself bareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, and if children, then heirs. Heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with Him, and that we may be also glorified together. So it's basically saying, hey, we're heirs of God because we are children of God. We are the sons and daughters of God if we put our faith in Christ, but you can also be joint heirs with Christ if you suffer with Him. Meaning that you can even get to where you're being blessed, you know, on that level of being heirs, right? No one's going to be as, you know, like, you know, we're going to try to be like Jesus, right? But no one's ever going to come to that level, right? We're all just striving to be like Christ and to try to attain unto the resurrection of the dead, be conformable unto His death. You know, we're trying to attain to that. No one's ever going to reach that level. But at the same time, just for being a son, just for being a daughter of God, you are an heir of God, okay? That means you're legitimate, okay? You're not, it's not like Ishmael, okay, where Ishmael was born to Abraham, but he was kind of like, he didn't, he's not going to, it says that the son of, I'm going to misquote it. It's in Galatians chapter 4, but it basically talks about cast out, you know, I'm going to misquote, I've got to find that because that's going to bother me if I don't get that right. Galatians 4, nevertheless, what's that the scripture casts out the bond woman and her son, for the son of the bond woman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman, okay? So when you think of like Abraham with Ishmael and Isaac, right, Ishmael was not considered an heir, okay? We're considered heirs, and Ishmael came forth from Abraham, right? He was literally of the loins of Abraham, and the idea with this is that God, the father, considers us sons. We are his children, okay? And we're adopted, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't, he still looks at us like we are his children, okay? And it's not like this inferior type of thing. Now obviously we're inferior to God, okay, the son, but at the same time, you know, he looks at us as his children. Go to Hebrew chapter 2, and Jesus, he calls us brethren, okay? So if you were to adopt a child, listen, that child would be your son or daughter, and to your natural born children, that's their sibling, okay? And that's the healthy way of, you know, like adopting children, okay? Because you don't want to have this schism where it's just like, you just, they call you by your first name, and, you know, your children don't regard them as being siblings. Like, that's more like foster care, you know, where it's just like you're just having them for a little while and all this other stuff, and they're not really your children. And Hebrew chapter 2 and verse 11, it says, So Jesus is saying here, I'm not ashamed to call them brethren, and he's going to prove that by a verse that he's going to quote off. It says in verse 12, Okay? So you think of God the Father's children, right, because we've been adopted into the family, and he's saying, I'm not ashamed to call them brethren. Why? Because I will, it says in verse 12 there, And so, when it comes to adoption, I believe that that's a biblical thing. I believe that's something that's not wrong to do. And, you know what, if, and here's the thing, the problem with adoption nowadays is it's so expensive, and you've got to go through all these hoops to try to adopt children, and, you know, but I've seen people though where it's like family members and they've had to adopt them because, you know, whoever's taking care of them is not fit to take care of their children, whether it's drugs, whether it's whatever, right? And I've seen that happen. It's very commonplace in West Virginia, to be honest with you, as far as like grandparents adopting children, and obviously that's a little different because they're already technically like parents in the lineage, right? But at the same time, I've seen uncles, aunts, and, you know, different things in that same thing. And all that to say is that, you know what, if it happened, I'd be all for it, okay? And, but all that to say is that, you know, don't put adoption out of the list if you're having trouble having children. I think that's a viable option. I am not for IVF. Is it IVF? Am I saying that right? It's been so long since I've even talked about that. Is where basically they put, they basically in a laboratory will cause conception, or not cause conception, but they'll take the egg and the seed and then they'll basically implant it, but there's a lot that goes on with that, meaning like there's abortions that are technically going on, because I believe life begins at conception, not implantation, okay? I believe at conception is when life begins, and so technically if you had conception and then it didn't implant, then that's technically a life that, you know, was miscarried, unfortunately. But that's the case where they just throw, they basically throw a bunch to the wall and let it stick, and then a lot of it doesn't stick, and basically you're just having a lot of miscarriages and just different things that go on there. And I know people have had that, and listen, if you were a child born out of that, listen, you're just as legit their child and don't think anything of that, you know, as far as like, ah, I wasn't like naturally born or something like that. Listen, no, that's not what I'm saying, but what I'm saying is that the bad part about that is all the unintended consequences that come with it, all the miscarriages, all the, you know, because obviously none of those parents want that to happen. They're not saying, yes, I want all these miscarriages to happen so I can have this one child. No, but that in turn is what ends up happening, okay? And anyway, I'm not an expert on IVF, but at the same time, I don't like it, and I don't support it. So obviously we should have naturally born children, and I think adoption is a viable option to have children, okay? And I think that they're just legit your children once you adopt them and you're their parent and all that. So, but go to 2 John chapter 1, because the thing that you got to think about too is that obviously it's joy just to have children, right? To hold a baby, you know, to have, you know, these cute little babies that you're carrying around and all this other stuff. I mean, I think women enjoy that a lot, but you know what? You know, as a man, as a father, you still enjoy that a lot, okay? And even though my children are a liability at the moment, you know, as far as like they're not really helping out at all, you know, it's like we're having to pretty much do a lot of it or most everything. I look forward to this right here where I can watch my children walk in truth and the joy that comes with that, okay? Go to 2 John and verse 4 there. It says, Go to 3 John, verse 3. 3 John, verse 3, it says, Rejoice greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. Now, I believe personally he's talking about like, well, in 2 John he's talking about someone else's children walking in truth. But then, you know, I believe maybe John 1 guy is to the Lord, right? And the idea is that he's saying, I've heard that you're walking in truth and, you know, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. So when you win someone to Christ, to see them get baptized and to go out and win people to Christ, that's a great joy. I think about my younger brother. When I won my younger brother to the Lord, he gets baptized and he starts winning people to Christ. Like, that's a great joy, you know, to see that happen. And all I have to say is that, you know, that's a great joy. But, you know what, this also applies to our physical children, okay? Our physical children and the fact that as they grow up, you know, that they want to serve the Lord, they want to love the Lord. If there's anything that I want for my children is that they love the Lord. They get saved and love the Lord. I don't care what they do with their lives, as long as they love the Lord, okay? As long as they are, you know, wanting to do the things of Christ and all that, then that's going to bring me great joy. And I look forward to that. But, you know what, I already see that to a certain extent, okay? You know, I know Clara is here with me this morning and, you know, Emma's sick at home and all that. But there's certain things that Clara does, you know, because we'll talk about Jesus and, you know, I believe Clara might actually have already gotten saved, meaning that she's prayed and she talks about it, says you can't lose your salvation and it's an eternal life and all that. And she brings it up. But there's certain things that just bring me joy. Like, we were doing Valentine's for Valentine's Day and she did Valentine's for, like, all the kids in the church. Because we basically told her, like, if you're going to do a Valentine's for one, you got to do it for all. Okay, so that's what Holly told her. So she's doing all these Valentine's and she said, I want to do one for Jesus. And so it was just, like, this cute little thing where it was basically saying she loves Jesus and all this. And she's like, but it was certain things, like, she put Jesus and then she put God because she said Jesus is God. Okay, and, you know, obviously we talked about the Trinity, but her and Anna will go back and forth because they'll say Jesus and Clara will be like, he's God. She's like, I know he's God, you know, but I'm just saying Jesus, you know, like, and they'll kind of go back and forth between that. But we were going somewhere, I forget where we were going, but Clara was in the car with me. And I was talking to a neighbor about something and we had knocked some of our neighborhood. But we hadn't knocked a lot of it. It's not exactly a poor neighborhood, let's put it that way. And our one neighbor, we talked to his wife for a little bit, but he wasn't home. And so I hadn't got a chance to talk to him about the gospel. I think I may have tried to bring it up, like, once before. And I was talking to him about something else for just a little bit. We had to go in and eat. And then we went somewhere and Clara was talking about, she always asks, she's like, does that person believe on Jesus? You know, like, it'll be like anything, from a Disney princess to whatever, right? As far as whether they're saved, whether they're going to be in heaven, whether they, you know, because she understands that concept that not everybody does, and that's why we go out soul winning. And she said, does Brent believe on Jesus, you know? And I'm like, I'm not sure, you know, I haven't got a chance to bring up that conversation. And she says, she says, well, you should talk to him. And I'm like, fuck, I'm getting conviction from a five-year-old, right? But it's true, you know, I'm like, man, I do need to find the time to talk. But you know how it is when you're out there with kids, you're trying to watch your kids, and it's really hard to have, like, a deep conversation. But anyway, all I have to say is that just those little things at someone that's that age, like, I, you know, obviously I'm looking forward to when they get older and, you know, Lord willing, they win someone to Christ or, you know, or, you know, even just in baptism and just different things that will, you know, Lord willing, happen in the future. And, you know, those type of things, you've got to look forward to. You've got to see that light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to that. And anyway, all I have to say is that it will pay off in the end. And I'm trying to think if I want to, I might just skip some of this stuff on here, okay? Just because for sake of time here. It goes to 2 Corinthians chapter 12, 2 Corinthians chapter 12. Because, like I said, children are a blessing, but they're also an investment. Meaning this is that at the very beginning it's just all work, okay? It's work and there's definitely some, like, blessings that happen, you know, when you're raising your children and all this stuff. But honestly, a lot of the blessings may not come until they're even out of your house or they're older and all this stuff. But first of all, we need to have the mindset that we're laying out for our children. And that means our time, okay? Because you can lay out money. You can give children money all day long, but what they really need is your time. They need you to teach them and to be there with them while they're growing up. And in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 14, notice what Paul is saying in verse 14. It says, Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be burdensome to you, for I seek not yours, but you. For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you, though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. And he's basically stating here that I'm not going to be burdensome unto you, but I'll let you be burdensome unto me. And the reason why is because it's like a father to a child, right, or a parent to a child. And that's what he's stating there is that the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children, meaning that it's the parents that really need to take the burden to raise children. Okay, and not the other way around. And so when it comes to laying up, we need to be laying up for our children. And I preached a sermon on this, but I want to hit on this again. Go to 2 Samuel chapter 19, that you want to be a Barzillai, you don't want to be a Hezekiah when it comes to this. And the idea is that the next generation should be extremely important to you. Okay, now we should have this as a Christian that we hate our own life, meaning that, you know, we're not regarding our life as some like precious thing that is all about us. Okay, listen, when it comes to the things of Christ, it should be all about Jesus, first of all, as far as what we accomplish, what we do, and it shouldn't be about a one-man show or just us personally in general, right. It should be that collectively as a church, we are doing great things for God. And one week, a member in the church has got to see some great things done. Another week, another member. One week, maybe the pastor got to see some great things done for God. And maybe one day, one week, we're all just seeing stuff that's being, you know, done for God that's great. And I see that with soul winning where it's kind of like some of us will go out and just say nothing. And then the other group will come back and be like, just slay them out there and just like, we just won a ton of people to Christ. Then, you know, we had one week where it was like everybody came back and like every group got someone saved. And that was a great day of rejoicing because you're just like, everybody's coming back and be like, yes, you know, like we all got to see someone saved. And, but that being said is that we need to be thinking about the next generation, not just about us. We need to think about other people, you know, and esteem others better than ourselves. And we need to do that with our children. In 2 Samuel chapter 19, this is where David the king is coming back after Absalom was killed. In verse 32, it says, Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even four score years old. And he had provided the king of sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim, for he was a very great man. And the king said unto Barzillai, Come thou hither with me, and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem. So he's basically saying, for all that you did for me when I was like basically on the run, you know, you fed me, you brought me food, all this stuff. And he's like, come with me, and basically I'm going to bless you. You're going to come back to Jerusalem, and I will feed you there. And basically, David just wants to be a blessing to this guy. Now this guy, it says he's a very aged man. He's four score years old. That means he's 80 years old. Okay. So, and notice Barzillai's response to this. Okay. Because it's not all about him. In verse 34 it says, And Barzillai said unto the king, How long have I to live, that I should go up with you, go up with the king unto Jerusalem? I am this day four score years old, and can I discern between good and evil? Can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? Wherefore, then, should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king? So he's basically saying, you know, why do this to me? You know, I'm basically like, I've lived my life. You know, there's just no, why put all this blessing on me? I can't even enjoy it anyway. And it says in verse 36, Thy servant will go a little way over Jordan with the king, and why should the king recompense it with me with such a reward? Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may die in mine own country, and be buried by the grave of my father, of my mother. But, behold thy servant, Kim Ham, let him go over with my lord the king, and do to him what shall seem good unto thee. So he's saying, basically, don't do it to me, do it to this guy. He's younger, he can enjoy it, and he's basically just passing off a blessing that he deserved. Okay, he worked for it, he deserved it, in a time where everybody was against the king, he stood by the king and brought him food. And you can definitely correlate this to Jesus, right, because Jesus has obviously gone away, he's going to return, and everybody's scorning him and all this stuff. But, you know, not Barzillai. Barzillai is going out of his way to feed him, and to feed the people around him. And he earned that reward, but he says, don't give it to me, give it to this guy over here. So he's just passing off the blessing that he earned, and I think about this with our children, the fact that, hey, you know what, we may have earned a lot of rewards, but let's just give it to our children, let them use it, let them enjoy it, and you know what, it comes to the world that we live in today, and it is getting dark in our world when it comes to the wickedness and all the stuff that's being peddled by the people that are supposed to be leading our country. And, you know what, you could just sit back and be like, well, by the time we die, it'll probably be fine, which I don't know about that. You know, it's going down so fast, but you may just say, I'm just going to ride it out until I die, and let my kids take it. Let my kids have to deal with it. But, you know what, that shouldn't be our attitude on that. We should say, you know what, let's take it now. Let's fight now so our kids don't have to fight so hard after we're gone. Let us live this austere, you know, like hard life of persecution and tribulation now that maybe it will be less for our children later on. And that's not what Hezekiah's attitude was. Go to 2 Kings chapter 20, and Hezekiah was a good man, you know, he was a good king. So I'm not saying like Hezekiah was like some wicked king, okay, but his mindset, which probably helps you understand why Manasseh was such a wicked king. So when his son took his place, it was like night and day because his fathering skills weren't that great. And you'll find this a lot with good men that don't father their children right. That second generation is just not as good as the first generation. And, you know what, if you invest in your children, listen, I want my children to do greater things than I ever did and ever could do. And I want that for everybody in this church. I want it to be said that everybody's children are better than their parents one day. They love the Lord more, they do more, they know more, I want it to be said. You know, because you have an advantage. You have an advantage that you're in a church that has good doctrine, has soul winning, has great parents that are leading you in the right direction. Don't take that for granted because most people didn't have that growing up as far as being in a fundamental Baptist church, is out soul winning every single week and just hearing these truths that are being brought forth. And nothing special about me, it's just the Bible, but, you know, there's just not a church that's preaching that all the time for most kids. Actually, most kids aren't even in church today because their parents are too lazy to take them. But notice what it says in 2 Kings chapter 20 verse 16, it says, Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the Lord, which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not good if peace and truth be in my days? Notice that attitude, it's like, well it's not going to be in my day, it's going to be great in my day, so isn't that good? No, it's because of your sin that that's going to happen, okay, that that's the punishment that they're all going to be taken away, everything's going to be taken out of here, and the stuff with the sons and daughters and all that. The idea here is that his attitude is that, well it's just good in my day, you know, it's not that bad right now. You know, we still have rights today in America, so why should we worry about it? You know, let our kids deal with that, it's not going to be in my day. You know what, the last generation said that too, and the last generation said that too, and the last generation said that too, and it keeps going down this path, but you know what, why don't we be a generation that says, you know what, we're going to take the load. We're going to take what the other generation wouldn't take. Because listen, if the last generation of preachers would have been preaching hard on the sodomites, would have been preaching hard on sin in general when it comes to adultery, when it comes to abortion, when it comes to any of this stuff, if they would have been preaching hard about this and not letting up, it would have not got where it's at today. And if other people in that generation would have gone to church, listen, you're seeing this today, that when I was in college, you'd run into people that say, yeah, I went to church when I was a kid, and you know, now I don't go to church. That was my generation. The generation that we see now is that I never went to church. See how that went down? See, my parents took me to church, okay, and a lot of my kids' parents took them to church. Then, when that generation grew up, because there was definitely some faults in the parenting on keeping them in church and getting them saved and doing things like that, to that next generation, they're like, well, I used to go to church, I grew up in church, but you know what, I don't really go anymore. So now that generation that doesn't go to church anymore are having kids. So is it a marvel that when you run into their kids, none of them go to church? See that progression, how it goes down? And we need to be the generation that says, you know what, no more. We're going to be the church that goes to church. The church that goes to church. We're going to be the generation... Amen. That didn't make sense. We're going to be the generation that goes to church. We're going to be the generation that reads our Bible. We're going to be the generation that raises our children to say, this is where we want to be. This is normal. This is everything. This is what we do. It shouldn't even be a matter, are we going to go to church today? It's just a matter of, as long as everybody's not throwing up or have a fever or something like that, we're going to be a church. We're going to be there. And listen, the blessings will come from that. And you may not get it in this life, but you know what, this life is just temporal anyway. Anything that you get in this life is just temporary. So when you think of raising your children, the eternal value that comes with that, you may not see until way later. You may not see until you're in heaven, until that judgment seat of Christ, to see what you did with your children and how that affected everything else after that. Go to 1 Timothy chapter 5, and this is the last thing I'll show you here. 1 Timothy chapter 5, because if anything else, your kids should be in insurance policy that when you get old and can't move around, they'll take care of you. I'm kind of joking, but I'm kind of not at the same time. Meaning this is that, you know what, people that are championing not having kids, you know, you think about a lot of these people that are in movies and, you know, like the Hollywood, the elites and all this stuff, they just love touting that, you know what, I didn't have kids and I couldn't accomplish what I've accomplished unless I had an abortion or I didn't have kids or whatever the case may be, and now they're too old to even have kids. They have all these nice things, they have these nice cars, but you know what, they're miserable people. And in the end, when they die, no one's going to care. Right. Okay, you may have some fans that care or whatever, but they're not going to visit them in the nursing home. You know, I think a lot of the actors that are really old now, you know, that were back in the day actors and actresses, no one remembers them. This generation doesn't remember a lot of them, okay. And you know what, your children may be who takes care of you when you're older and you can't handle it. In 1 Timothy 5, verse 3, it says, Honor widows that are widows indeed, but if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to show piety at home and to requite their parents, for this is good and acceptable before God. Notice this. Now, nephews, this is an old way of saying grandchildren, actually. I don't know if you knew that. Look up the word nephew, and it's actually an archaic definition for it that means grandchildren, okay. So when it's saying children or nephews, it's actually talking about or your grandkids, okay. So it's basically talking about this woman that had children and then those children had children, but the husband dies, okay. So she's a widow, and the husband was taking care of her. And what it's stating here is that, listen, if there's a widow, we don't want to charge the church. The church shouldn't be paying to keep this widow and feed her and keep her house and all this stuff if she's got children to take care of her. And this really should just show you that having children, then having grandchildren, that all of that will be a blessing in the end, okay. Notice what it says, keep reading there, it says in verse 5, Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. So it's basically talking about a widow that's the widow of a church, meaning that if we had someone in a church that didn't have any family, okay, that was a woman that didn't have any family and needed help, listen, as much as we can, obviously our church is smaller, we will try to take care of that woman. But that woman is also like basically on staff at the church, meaning like she's doing work, okay, she's not just like a widow by name, okay. But a widow indeed, it talks about, notice what it says in verse, and this is in the whole sermon on widows, but it's just kind of showing you, it says she's desolate, trusted in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. Later on it talks about how she washes the saint's feet, she does all this stuff, okay. So basically there's like things that that widow is doing in the church, okay. The widow is basically doing stuff and helping around in the church, and the church is paying this woman to basically live and all this other stuff, okay. But it's basically stating that if you have children and if you have grandchildren, then you should, they should be the ones taking care of you. But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth, talking about someone that's supposed to be a widow of the church, but she's living in pleasure, like not doing what she should be doing, she's actually, you know, I won't get into that, but basically it's just basically saying she's not doing what she should be doing. Verse 7 it says, and these things give and charge that they may be blameless, but if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel, okay. So it's basically teaching here that you need to take care of your family, okay. Now there's cases where, okay, your family member needs medical attention and you just can't, like you can't provide that at your house, right. I'm not saying like this has to be in your house or whatever, but listen, we're not going to just leave them out on the street and just let them die, okay, and not visit them and not see them. And I know this past year has been really hard, you know, because of, you know, COVID and you can't visit and you can't see, and that's probably the most heartbreaking thing of it all when you deal with nursing homes, but a lot of people in nursing homes don't have any visitors, okay, because there's people in the nursing home that didn't have any kids, or their kids don't care about them anymore. And even in the same family you'll have kids that care about those people and then kids that don't care about them, and that's a sad thing, okay. But you know what, in the end you train up your children the way that they should go when they are old, you know, when they are grown, they will not depart from it. And look at verse 16 there, it says, If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged that it may relieve them that are widows indeed. So it's basically saying we don't want to just take in every widow that's in the church, okay. If a widow has family that can take care of them, then that's who should be doing it, not the church. That's the whole point of what's being said here. And then if you're younger, meaning if you're under 60 and you've only been the husband of one wife, you've only been the wife of one husband, right, you've only been married once, you should just remarry, bear children, guide the house, right. That's the concept that's going on there. But if you're above 60 and you don't have anybody to take care of you, then yeah, the church will take care of you. And the idea though is that the family will take care of their own, okay. And you know what, my parents made an investment to have, you know, children. And in the end, if my parents need me or if they need anyone of my brothers, I'm sure would say this, okay. But we will be there. We will take care of them. We will, you know, if they lost everything, you know, they lost their house, they lost, you know, everything that they ever built up in their life for funds, we will take care of them. We will not bring it to the church. We will take care of them. We will house them. We will clothe them. We will give them food. We'll do everything, okay. But you know what, that was an investment. And you know what, my parents may never cash in on that investment, you know, because, you know, they're doing fine. But what I'm saying is that in the end, if something did happen, they have children that will take care of them, okay. And the same thing I'm sure with your children would probably be the case that, you know what, and the more children you have, the better chances you have that one of them is going to like you, okay. One of them is going to like you enough to be like, you know what, I'm going to take care of them. I'm going to take care of my parents when they're older. I'm joking a little bit there. But you know what, to be honest, and the sad truth is, you know what, there are kids that are just worthless sometimes and, you know, that turn out to be, you know, bad and don't love their parents and don't actually care when they're older. They care more about themselves. They care about everything that they're doing and don't care about their parents at all. But listen, that honor thy father and thy mother, that applies till the end, okay. Like I'm still supposed to honor my father and my mother. And ultimately, if my parents need me to help them, they will be there. Now, my dad will probably be laughing because he'd be like, no, it's the other way around, son. Because it's always been that way. My dad's like, I will take care of you. I will take care of you. You know, like even when we go to a shooting match, he's like, I got you, son. I'm like, dad, I'm 36. You know, but you know what, I still get ammo off of him because, you know, we got to keep him busy. He's retired. He's got to be, you know, making some bullets for us there and make some shells and keep him busy. No, I'm just kidding. But I'm not because I still take his ammo when we go ski shooting. But all I have to say is that, you know, that should be the dichotomy, though. It should be that we don't, hopefully we don't need each other to take care of each other when we're older, okay. But ultimately, I know my parents will be there. If I needed them, they would be there, right. And if my kids needed them, they would be there. And the same thing would apply the other way around, though, okay. But that's an investment. That's you giving up part of your life to do that. And I don't think you'll ever regret that, okay. Especially if you raise your children right, okay. If you raise your children poorly and they turn out to be bad apples, then, I mean, then it's probably worse for you, I don't know. But the thing is that, no, the Bible says we should train them up in the way that they should go. And children are a blessing. And you know what, our church believes that. You know how I know they believe that? Because we have a lot of children in our church. Because our church is, you know, depending on how you look at it, we have more children than we have adults in this church, okay. And soon it will probably be that no matter how you look at it. Just because, you know, there's no doubt that there's more children than adults. And I love it that way. I want, you know, and you say, well, what if we have a whole bunch of, like, older people that start coming to church? Well, praise the Lord, you know. I'm not here to be like, we got to keep that ratio, you know. We're going to go find some more children to bring into the church. It's like, no, obviously. But I think that's a great testimony to our church is that, hey, we have a lot of children. We have to the point where there's more children. And I don't know how many churches could say that, that you actually have more children than you have adults, besides a junior church, okay, of some other church. But children are a blessing. And I'm blessed to have three children already and one on the way. And I know others are pregnant and others want to have children, you know, you have children. Just notice that they are a blessing. They're not a curse. And, you know, the world wants to feed us that lie. But in the end, you know what? The Bible's right. Let's end with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for today. Thank you for your word and just pray to be with us throughout the rest of the day and just with the soul winning. But Lord, just pray for safe travels. Pray for people to get saved. And Lord, just thank you for the children that you've given us. And Lord, even if you didn't give us any more, Lord, we just praise you and thank you for what you did give us. But we do pray that you would give us more children and help us to raise them to you and to love you. And Lord, we love you and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. So Brother Dave will come and sing one more song and that will be dismissed. All right. Song 206 in your song books.