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Amen. Right, keep a finger here and turn to Exodus chapter 20, please. If you turn to Exodus chapter 20, but keep a finger in Proverbs 31. It's Mother's Day in the UK, so most of the nation will be celebrating their mums to some degree. And before any of you say it's pagan, little people, it's pagan, or it's consumerism, it's unbiblical. Well, I beg to differ. If you have a look at Exodus 20 and verse 12, Exodus 20 and verse 12, the famous Ten Commandments, and Exodus 20, 12 says, Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. So we're all commanded to honour our parents, and for many around the nation, Mother's Day might be the only day that they do that, sadly. Now, admittedly, in case anyone's going, well, you don't know the history, yes, it is merged with what was a Christian holiday called Mothering Sunday. So if anyone's ever wondered, is it Mothering Sunday, is it Mother's Day? Well, they kind of merged them together. It used to be known as Mothering Sunday in this nation, and it was kind of a so-called Christian holiday from pretty much C of E, probably Catholic as well. It's been going a long time. But you could say maybe the death rate in this nation would be a lower age if we didn't have Mothering Sunday or Mother's Day once a year, but it did say that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, right? So maybe it's doing some benefit. But what I do know is that we're commanded to honour, which is to respect, to reverence, and you could add financially, too, to that, our mums, yeah? And in a day and age where being a mum is often looked down upon, which it is, isn't it, I'm all up for celebrating the mums. So if anyone here's got a problem with that, well, tough, if you're listening for an hour on this anyway, and just put up with it. But the thing is that how people do it, how people celebrate their mums on Mother's Day or Mothering Sunday is usually the unbiblical part in this nation. It's often sort of boozy days out, crammed in like sardines in some overpriced restaurant, the boozy days in watching some sort of sinful junk on TV, boozy gifts. A lot of the time it's all about alcohol sales went right up in this nation over this period. And it is generally along those lines in this nation, sadly, or even for some maybe. I bet the old C of E church has a bigger attendance on a Sunday where they'll be visiting, you know, to take part in the morning Lord's Supper with a sip of some sort of booze served up by some sort of boozing vicar. So it generally tends to be sadly in this nation sent around booze, doesn't it? But is there anything wrong, aside from that, if you take out the booze, with showing a bit of extra appreciation on one day to your mum? I don't think so. Giving her a card, a gift, inviting her to church, whatever it might be. But what about those whose mums are a far cry from how they should be? So obviously I'm not talking to the kids, I'm talking to the adults. But the ungodly mums out there that would mock the virtuous woman, because there's a lot of those in this nation, aren't there? Well, we're still told to honour them, aren't we? We're still told to honour them, whether or not you believe they deserve it. But at least you have an incentive for doing so. So, you know, your days may be long upon the earth, right? So at least you have an incentive. But however, you know, you kids in this church here, you have mums that deserve more honour than most. And as well, you husbands, you have wives that deserve more honour than most, because if they're attending a church like this, they're already more of a biblical mum than most of the other women in this nation, OK? Just the fact that they attend this church, for starters, shows they're more of a biblical mum than everyone else. And the toll on my sermon today is the biblical mum versus the UK mum. The biblical mum versus the UK mum, I'd like to pray before we continue. Father, thank you for all the mums here. Thank you for all the, you know, just the fact that we do get a chance to think about them on a day like this, that we can just show that appreciation. Often, you know, we probably fail to do so. Help us to just, you know, show that love and appreciation to the mums in this church and others out there today, Lord, and help us to just really focus on that, help everyone here to pay attention to what your word's got to say today, Lord. Help us to just, I hope everyone takes this in the right spirit and, you know, hopefully gets to apply some of this to their lives as well, but also appreciates just, you know, how much, you know, your word can help guide us to be the people that we should want to be. In Jesus' name we pray all this. Amen. So, right, the average mum in this nation is nowadays so far removed from God's design for women and motherhood that it's got a bit ridiculous, hasn't it? Now, it's not like the men out there exactly raising the bar, so it's not that we've got suddenly all these upstanding godly men in this nation, it's the women that are failing, but I do believe that the devil has been noticeably particularly targeting the women of this world, the women in this nation at least. We see, you know, this is our nation, this is where we live, we see it around us, and he does seem to target what we know of as the weaker vessel, which is the weaker vessel, and they are targeted. A lot more of the kind of media brainwash sadly is targeted at women, yeah, the men get it just as bad in other ways, but there's a lot of that out there. The result being this sort of incompatible couples, which we see a lot of, and dysfunctional government and media brainwash children, and they're everywhere, aren't they? They're dysfunctional, the families are dysfunctional, and so much of that comes sadly from the attacks on the women, attacks on the women, attacks on the women, attacks on the kids as well, attacks on the men, but especially attacks on the women. Look, the mums at our church have somehow navigated so much to just be sitting here in the first place, bringing their children here and listening to this message already puts them up here, compared with sadly so many mums in this nation. And look, none of them are going to be the perfect virtuous women, so I think many times, you know, women can look at maybe Proverbs 31, listen to it, preach, and then just feel like they're failing. Well, look, the Proverbs 31 woman's up there, okay, but that's something that we should, as women, should be striving to be like, as young girls, should be striving to be like that. As parents, we should be encouraging the children, the young girls to be like that. And of course, look, it's not just Proverbs 31 woman, none of the men here are going to be the next John the Baptist, but it is, you know, it is a good sort of goal to be like a sort of good godly man, isn't it? None of the kids are going to be the next King Josiah. However, they should be striving to be the best they can, yeah? Okay, so we don't want to look at this, and often people do, and then just, I don't want to, shut my ears now, because I'm not the virtuous woman. Well, no one is, okay, no one is. Now, by being in church, everyone's one step closer to that, though, and today I want to encourage everyone to appreciate the mums here, and to realize how bad it could be, okay, how bad it could be, because every single mum here has failings, and every single mum here has strengths as well as the weaknesses they have. But you know what, when I look out there, and when I look back at some of the mums I've known over the years, and some of the mums I even do now, the ones that, it could be a lot worse, okay? It could be a lot worse, whatever failings you think you might have, whatever failings some of the kids here, and some of the adults here might think their mums have. The title is the biblical mum versus the UK mum. Verse 10, back in Proverbs 31, if you go back to Proverbs 31, and verse 10 reads, who can find a virtuous woman for her price is far above rubies? So, first off, it doesn't sound like this woman is very common, does it? Virtuous here of being morally good. So it's not a stick to beat the women with, for starters, okay? And it's not, this isn't, oh, well, who, you know, it says who can find a virtuous woman, and then you start going, why aren't you more like this woman? How dare you not be so rare and have a price far above rubies? You wicked woman. No, that's not the idea here, is it, okay? But it is the biblical standard to strive towards, isn't it? Okay? And there's nothing wrong with striving towards that biblical standard. And sadly, our nation's women seem to be striving towards the other direction. Okay? And we want to make sure that we don't get pulled along with that, kind of, that mass following towards the opposite side, where the virtuous woman's over here and the rest of the nation's going that way, yeah? The heart of her husband, verse 11 says, the heart of her husband does safely trust in her so that he shall have no need of spoil. Now, the virtuous woman is a mother. This is a biblical mum versus a UK mum. And point number one is the biblical mum is married. The UK mum is more likely unmarried. Did you know that? The UK mum is more likely unmarried. Verse 11 said the heart of her husband does safely trust in her so that he shall have no need of spoil. Turn to 1 Corinthians 6, and while you turn now, I'm going to read you from Statista.com, which said that in 2021, there were approximately 304,120 live births to married mothers in England and Wales, compared with 320,000, I just said there were 304,120, compared with 320,710 that took place outside of marriage. And do you know what? That was the first time in this nation, and if you look at the graph, it's kind of going like this, and it's the first time it's now crossed over, and now there are more kids being born to unmarried mums than there are to married mums in this nation. You might think, that's not surprising. No, that's a big deal. That's a big deal. That's never been the case before in this nation. That was in 2021, and do you think that it's going to suddenly change again? Of course it's not. It's going to keep getting worse and worse and worse. You might go, well, what's the difference? Well, 1 Corinthians 6, 18 says, flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body, but he that comitteth fornication sinneth against his own body. It's fornication, and we're told to flee it, aren't we? That's the difference, OK? God hates it, it's wicked. Now, many people have had pasts and things have happened in their lives where maybe, sadly, they've been guilty of this, but, again, we're striving to be more godly in this church, aren't we? God wants children to be to a husband and wife, and that should then be for life, shouldn't it? OK, that should then be for life. The difference now, we're now seeing the majority being to unmarried families, and how often do those families then break up? Even more so, sadly. OK, which leads on to the next point. Verse 11 says, the heart of her husband doth safely trust in her so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. So the biblical mum versus the UK mum. Number one, the biblical mum is married. The UK mum is more likely unmarried. Number two, the biblical mum is trustworthy. The UK mum is untrustworthy. So look at verse 11 again. It says, the heart of her husband doth safely trust in her so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. And you turn to Mark chapter 10. Well, I read another stat for you. In the UK, ONS, which is the Office of National Statistics, showed women petitioned for 62% of divorce in England and Wales in 2019. That's nearly two-thirds of divorces were petitioned for by the women in this nation back in 2019. That's a lot more, right? Two-thirds, two-thirds by the women. But Mark 10 says, for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh, so they are no more twain but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. And by the way, that's mankind. That's not just only the men, in case you're wondering. Marriage is for life, isn't it? And sadly, it's the women in this nation which lead the way with divorce. Why is that? Again, so much influence, so much conditioning, so much pressure on them, so much brainwash. And I think that back in Proverbs 31, he can trust her and has no need of spoil or treasures because she's his, no matter the wealth as well, you could say. Because often it will be because there's not enough money, because of the money struggles, because of the stresses, because she's got to go to work anyway. What's a different life if they break up? What's the difference? In fact, she's going to be better off because she gets her weekends free, because she gets maybe a day a week where she can have a nice rest and put her feet up and not have to do anything. And many of the other advantages, it seems, of actually being a single mum and not staying in a marriage. Now, you could say she's not kicking off because he can't afford the high life. It said, sorry, back in verse 12, I think it was, it said, she'll do him good and not evil all the days of her life. In verse 11, sorry, the heart of her husband to safely trust her said he shall have no need of spoil. And I think often there are women out there that start getting angry and upset that they're not as rich as the media brainwash and make you think that everyone should be and everyone can be and everything else, and suddenly they're who knows what, whether it's divorce or something else. And you could argue as well, when it's a biblical mum, or not even argue, if she is a biblical woman, he's not worrying about her running off with a charming neighbour. He's not worrying about his wife running off with whoever it is that comes and, you know, flashes a bit of cash and a nice car or a bit of charm or a bit of smooth talk or anything else. His heart to safely trust in her. Look at verse 13, it says, She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hand. We're looking at the biblical mum versus UK mum. Number one, the biblical mum is married and the UK mum is more like the unmarried. Number two, the biblical mum is trustworthy, the UK mum is untrustworthy. Number three, the biblical mum is a willing wife, the UK mum resents her life. Look at verse 13 again. She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. She worketh willingly with her hands. Turn to Genesis 2. No stats this time. But there's a lot of mums out there that resent their roles as mums, that resent at least the traditional role, aren't there? OK, they are everywhere. They're a tenner penny in this world. They're brainwashed into feeling that it's somehow degrading being a mum. Is there anything degrading about being a mum? There is nothing at all degrading about being a mum. In fact, there is something degrading about leaving your kids and going off to go and seek your selfish career and everything else. There's nothing degrading about being a mum. Yet so many women in this world are constantly being influenced by that, like Kant's being promoted that somehow it's degrading being a mum, that going into some horrible workplace is glamorous, that somehow wearing a trouser suit and going to some sort of, you know, career sort of workplace is somehow the glamorous life and how much better off they are and how much above other women they are, it's absolute nonsense, it's brainwashed, it's foolishness, OK? Genesis 2.18 says, and the Lord God said, Genesis 2.18, It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him and help meet for him. OK, she's not a piece of meat. Notice it's got two Es, not an A. Many people like to talk about the help meat, the help meat, like she's a bit of meat. No, it's a help suitable, OK? The biblical mum's purpose is to help her husband. She's a help that's suitable for him, OK? Women do help us in many ways, don't they? Because many of us men here know that if we were on our own and didn't have the wives in our lives, things would be a bit different, wouldn't they? That house would be slightly different. That dietary regime would be a little bit different. A lot of things would be different, wouldn't they? Yeah, and in many ways, they help us sometimes to not be so hard-line with things as well. Sometimes they help us, they give us kind of the more sensitive side of things and maybe help us to think things through and many other ways. Many other ways that women help us, she's a help that's meat, she's suitable for us. And the biblical mum, if she's a biblical mum, she does it willingly. And there's a big difference, isn't there, between those that do things willingly and those that don't? She seeketh wool and flax and worketh willingly with her hands, OK? She's willing to do it. The world's mum out there sadly isn't. So often they just seem to just hate any form of chore, any form of sort of what we would traditionally call the female-type jobs. Verse 14 says... So the biblical mum versus the UK mum. Number one, the biblical mum is married. Sorry, number one, the biblical mum is married, the UK mum is more likely unmarried. Number two, the biblical mum is trustworthy, the UK mum is untrustworthy. Number three, the biblical mum is a willing wife, the UK mum resents her life. And number four, the biblical mum rises early, the UK mum drinks until late. The biblical mum rises early, the UK mum drinks until late. Verse 15 said... She rises all so while it is yet night, which means early, early in the morning. It giveth meat to her household and a portion to her neighbours. Turn to Proverbs 20. A new study by the Canadian Institute for Mental Health Policy Research has found that British mums are among the most likely in the world to drink alcohol during pregnancy, harming their baby as a result. Britain came seventh, seventh out of 195 countries for the proportion of children with fetal alcohol syndrome. It's known as FAS. Researchers looked at 24 global studies and found that 32 in every 1,000 Britons have FAS, compared with a global average of 8 in 1,000. That means four times more children in the UK suffer alcohol-related birth defects than the global average. That's horrendous, isn't it? Absolutely horrendous. And then there was another stat I saw that said that data from the UK and abroad shows that drinking increases after one year postpartum, and that around 16% of mums, listen to this, report drinking daily. 16% report, 16% admit to drinking daily. How many do you think the reality is? How many do you think drink six days a week and didn't report that they drink daily? How many drink five days a week? 16% of mums report drinking daily in the UK. Basically, the UK mum is likely to be some wine-guzzling alcoholic. Because wine's OK, isn't it? Oh, it's a glass of wine because it shows that they're a bit classy. Because they only suck for wine. It's OK, isn't it? Or they're guzzling some cheap, nasty plonk, yeah? And that's the truth out there, isn't it? Because that's what most of them are drinking. Some nasty wine. Oh, no, no, it's all right, it's a sparkly wine. It's rosé. It's just junk, it's just fizzy alcohol. And it's filth. And, sadly, that's the majority of women. So, anyone out there who's sitting there going, right, Mum, she can be really mean, and she fails at some of these other points, at least she's not a wine-guzzling alcoholic. Or at least she's not if she's in this church. Or if she is, she probably won't be in this church much longer, OK? OK, at least she's not. And I'll tell you what, the difference out there is, look, the majority, it seems, or at least I would say, I would say, yeah, the vast majority of women in this nation drink alcohol very regularly. You want some alcoholic, Mum? I don't want an alcoholic, Mum. Proverbs 20, verse 1, says... Something tells me the virtuous woman isn't deceived by this junk, yeah? No matter how many stupid adverts make out like you're relaxing when you're drinking a glass of wine, it's so relaxing. Really relax you after your hard day with the kids. You need to just kick back and guzzle a load of wine. The wise biblical Mum isn't poisoning herself at night, she's getting up early to make food for the household. She's getting up and getting on with her day, not lying in bed with a hangover. Verse 15 said... So we're looking at the biblical Mum versus the UK Mum. Number one, the biblical Mum is married, the UK Mum is more likely unmarried. Number two, the biblical Mum is trustworthy, the UK Mum is untrustworthy. Number three, the biblical Mum is a willing wife, the UK Mum resents her life. Number four, the biblical Mum rises early, the UK Mum drinks until late. And number five, the biblical Mum is a homemaker, the UK Mum is a career seeker, in general. The UK Mum is a homemaker, the UK Mum is a career seeker. And if you think, wait a second, I know lots of UK Mums out there that are just happy with, you know, a little part-time job, whatever else. Look, they're still seeking the work. They still want any excuse to basically get in some form of workplace. Verse 15 says this... ..and giveth meat to her household and a portion to her neighbours. So, turn to Titus chapter two. The UK Mum is more likely to be dropping her kids at the preschool club, isn't she, than preparing food for them in the morning. She's more likely to be dropping them off nice and early so she can get some extra work in, you know, kind of carry on with that, get on the next ladder up in her career. She's more likely to be out seeking her own selfish goals, and that's the truth of it, OK, than worrying about her family's ease. Oh, no, no, it's so that we can have more money in life. Yeah, don't lie, it's such a lie, isn't it? It's easier, that's what it ultimately is. It's much easier to go to work and drop your kids off in some form of childcare than it is to actually parent your kids. That's the reality of it, than it is to actually be a wife, be a help, meet for your husband. It's much easier to go and go, well, I'm tired, I'm working as well. Yeah, it's easier. But I tell you what, that sadly is what we see out there. Titus 2, Paul's giving instructions for the older women to teach the younger, and it says that they may teach the younger women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. The biblical mum keeps her home, otherwise it's not getting kept. And, look, you know, people love to try and find ways... Look, sometimes there are situations where mums need to go to work. There are loads, but there are exceptions to the rule. OK, what's God's design? To be discreet, chaste keepers at home. Good, obedient to their own husbands. The word of God be not blasphemed. Now, with the early mornings and late nights, there will be some seasons when she can be enterprising, even run a home business, OK? That is possible. But she's not out submitting to other men, to other ladies' husbands, is she? I don't see any biblical command to be doing that. To be out there basically submitting to someone else's husband, rather than being obedient to her own husband. And so many women, it seems, and amongst UK mums, I mean, again, that's a vast majority, are much happier to be submitting to someone else's husband in the workplace than they are to submitting to their own husband at home. It's bizarre, isn't it? You're happy to submit to some guy that will sack you like that if he needs to, happy to submit to some guy that will have all these other rules and little micromanages of your life, which you're unlikely to get at home from your biblical husband, yet they won't submit to their own husband at home. The guy that loves them, the guy that provides for them, the guy that doesn't micromanage every aspect of their life, and if you are guys, you need to stop that. Oh, you're not doing that, OK? But most employers will, won't they? Most employers will tell you what to wear, they'll tell you what time to come in, what time you can leave, they'll tell you a hundred other things as well, exactly how to do this, exactly how to do that, and, yeah, mums have been brainwashing and thinking, that's OK. That's OK to submit to someone else's husband, but I'll tell you what, that's a recipe for disaster. It says here, to be discreet, chase keepers at home obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Now, verse 16 then says, she considerth the field and by the field. Look, she's in the workplace. Well, she's not, is she? With the fruit of her hand, she planted the vineyard. She's working from home. She's finding something enterprising to do. She's finding the vineyard herself. She's not going and getting employed by the local vineyard boss. She girdeth her loins with strength and strengtheneth her arms. She perceiveth that a merchandise is good. Her candle goeth not out by night. She layeth her hands to the spindle and her hands hold the distaff. The biblical mum versus the UK mum. Number one, the biblical mum is married, the UK mum is more likely unmarried. Number two, the biblical mum is trustworthy, the UK mum is untrustworthy. Number three, the biblical mum is a willing wife, the UK mum resents her life. Number four, the biblical mum rises early, the UK mum drinks until late. Number five, the biblical mum is a homemaker, the UK mum is a career seeker. And number six, the biblical mum is hardworking, the UK mum is hard relaxing. Okay, that's the truth I see out there. The biblical mum is hardworking, the UK mum is hard relaxing. Look at verse 16 again, it said, she considerth the field and by the field. With the fruit of her hand, she planted the vineyard. She girdeth her loins with strength and strengtheneth her arms. She perceiveth that a merchandise is good. Her candle goeth not out by night. She leatheth her hands with spindle and her hands hold the disk staff. The non or part-time working UK school mum, the ones that aren't in their careers, or at least maybe only working part-time rather than some full-time job, is often, I used to see when we used to do the school run many years ago, interactive ware outside the school gates, loitering, chatting in our active ware before going to go and have a walk on the treadmill at the gym. I used to work in gyms and then come in there and have a little walk on the treadmill, chatting to their active ware friend before going and sitting in the sorda. Or maybe should do a bit of pumping and a bit of sculpting and a bit of toning, yeah? Real hard work that, you know, in the mirror. All this stuff, you know, the mirror, I mean, the mirror is the most popular bit of equipment in the gym, usually. They're just there looking at this, looking at that, you know, horrendous what they wear as well to gyms as well. Sculpting and toning whilst chatting to the other mums. Where, and if it's not that, then you've got the working mum who maybe doesn't have as much time for the gym unless she can get her kids in the kind of afterschool clubs and everything else. But she's often buying ready-made meals, takeaways, paying someone else to raise their kids to clean their home. Yeah? Oh, well, I've got to go to work so then I've got to pay a cleaner. Then I've got to pay the childcare and everything else because I need to be at work. I mean, when you work it all out, it's probably not really worth it. But Proverbs chapter 12 and verse 27 says, The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting, but the substance of a diligent man is pressured. And there's something more satisfying and precious about the result of hard work, isn't there? Yeah, you reap the rewards when you put hard work into things. The biblical mum puts the hard work in and eventually reaps the rewards, doesn't she? When you put the work in, sometimes it can be tough. Sometimes you can be banging your head thinking, this isn't easy, this isn't how it's meant to be, is it? Well, yeah, look, when you put the hard work in, yeah, when you dig deep the foundation, then you reap the rewards afterwards. And sadly, so many of these UK mums out there, where they're more likely to be hanging around in the gym than doing some hard work at home, or where they're more likely to be just getting everything on the quick, on the easy, the ready-made food, the quick shove it in the oven stuff and everything else, and they end up with an unhealthy family. The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting, but the substance of a diligent man is precious. If you put diligence into what you do, look, the substance is precious, you get the rewards of it. Verse, back to Proverbs 31 and verse 20 says this, Proverbs 31, 20, she stretcheth out her hand to the poor, yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. We'll look at the biblical mum versus the UK mum. We've got the biblical mum is married, the biblical mum is trustworthy, the biblical mum is a willing wife, the biblical mum rises early, the biblical mum is a homemaker, the biblical mum is hardworking. And number seven, the biblical mum is kind to others, the UK mum virtue signals to others. The biblical mum is kind to others, the UK mum virtue signals to others. Look at verse 20 again. She stretcheth out her hand to the poor, yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. So there aren't so many genuinely poor in this nation, let's be honest. We have a very lucrative benefit system in this nation. We have a lot of help for people that are considered poor, but there are those that are needy in many ways though, aren't there? They're needy in different ways. And unfortunately the UK mum seems to feel the need to advertise their kindness. Anyone ever notice this when I used to be on social media more many years ago? Oh, it's just nonstop. Everything I ever used to see was just people telling you how kind they were. How they help this person find the excuse to tell you how charitable they are, how great they are, how kind they are. Well, you'll turn to Matthew six. Matthew six. Did I tell you to turn to Matthew six? Turn to Matthew six then. Says this, take heed, Matthew six one, Matthew six one, take heed that ye do not your arms before men to be seen of them, otherwise ye have no reward of your father which is in heaven. Therefore, when thou doest thine arms, do not sound a trumpet before the hypocrites during the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. So when the biblical mum does her arms or charitable things, her kindness to others, it's not to be seen of men. It's not to be seen of men. It's because she's hopefully, you know, at least pricked inside her to be kind to people. She hopefully will understand and will being a biblical woman, being someone that reads the word of God, will feel at least obliged to do kindness to people. It's not to be seen of men. Okay, so that was number seven. When the biblical mum is kind to others, the UK mum virtually signals to others. And look, that virtually signaling is everywhere, isn't it? Oh man, it's painful. Okay, look at verse 21. She is not afraid of the snow for her household, back in Proverbs 31, for all her household are clothed with scarlet. And obviously the kindness extends to her family. Verse 22, she maketh herself coverings of tapestry. Her clothing is silk and purple. Her husband is known in the gates when he sitteth among the elders of the land. She maketh fine linen and selleth it, and delivereth girdles unto the merchant. 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 a law of kindness. So the biblical mum versus the UK mum. You wanna hear them again? Nah, come on, let's do the last few though. Number five was the biblical mum is a homemaker. UK mum is a career seeker. The biblical mum is hard work. The UK mum is hard relaxing. The biblical mum is kind to others. The UK mum virtue signals to others. And number eight, the biblical mum knows God's word. The UK mum rejects his words. Look at verse 25 again. It says, 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 a law of kindness. She knows that the hard work will pay off. It said here that she shall rejoice in time to come. She trusts the promises of God. She trusts that when you do things God's way, when the child's not left to themselves, when you use a rod and reproof, when you do all those things, when you're there for your kids, when you do all the things that God tells you to do for your kids, she knows that eventually it will come good. Sometimes it could be hard. Sometimes the biblical way of parenting can be tough, can't it? It could be a struggle. It can have some hard times. You can have some battles, some struggles and everything else, but eventually you trust the word of God, don't you? You trust that it will pay off, and it does pay off. She shall rejoice in time to come. Verse 26 said she openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is a law of kindness. And where does wisdom come from? The word of God. Wisdom comes from the word of God. Turn to Proverbs chapter two. If she's opening her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is a law of kindness, I'm guessing that she knows the word of God, doesn't she? And the UK mum not only rejects the wisdom from God's word, but instead will spout worldly nonsense instead, won't they? Absolute nonsense. A drivel coming out of these people's mouths. The just stupid so-called philosophical views of life. The, you know, well, you know, judge not. You know, they'll come out with just complete nonsense, won't they? Like, well, it's up to them. Whatever they do, whatever they do in private is their business and that sort of nonsense. You know, well, it's not for me to judge and all the other just stuff you get. And where does it all come from? Really, because all our views, all our opinions in life come from somewhere. And people like to think, because they like to act like, well, you're being brainwashed at church. You're being brainwashed by the Bible. I'm just this free thinker. No, you're being brainwashed by the TV. You're being brainwashed by the media. You're being brainwashed by your stupid girlfriends. You're being brainwashed by all these different areas and then thinking that somehow you're free thinking. Oh, what a surprise. You think and talk and act like everyone else. Like the rest of this wicked world that seems to be going to hell in a handbasket. Oh, but you're so free thinking. You're so unique. You're so individual. Oh, I'm just a strong-minded woman. No, you're not. You're a brainwashed woman that thinks that somehow you're strong because you repeat what everyone else says. Proverbs 2 and verse six says, "'For the Lord giveth wisdom out of his mouth, cometh knowledge and understanding." That's where wisdom comes from. That's where knowledge comes from. And anyone spouting all this worldly junk, which is contrary to the word of God, is not spouting wisdom and knowledge. And where are they getting it from? Either they're wicked flesh, which is part of it, or usually from some external influence. Some external influence is brainwashing them to think that they somehow know better than the word of God. The biblical mum, though, is wise with her parenting, with her counsel, with her decisions. Why? Because it comes from God's word. Because, and if there are women here, if the women in our church are at least trying to live by God's word, they're already up here compared with the average UK mum. And we should appreciate that, shouldn't we? Go back to Proverbs 31 and verse 27 says this. Proverbs 31 and 27 says, "'She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.'" Okay, let's look at the last couple again. Number seven was the biblical mum is kind to others, UK mum virtue signals to others. Number eight is the biblical mum knows God's word. The UK mum rejects his words. And number nine, the biblical mum does what's best. The UK mum does what's easiest. The UK mum does what's easiest. Look at verse 27 again. "'She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.'" So the UK mum sadly will swerve discipline. She'll choose the easy option. She'll choose things like emotional blackmail. Anyone been around parents like this? Look how you've made me feel. You've made mummy all upset now. Little whatever, you know? Oh, mummy's getting really upset now. Mummy's going to cry. Like that is, that's outrageous, isn't it? But how many parents out there, how many mums do you see do that stuff, yeah? The emotional blackmail, the bribery. I won't give you another bag of Haribo. You know, you won't get to play for the 10th hour on your iPad if you carry on doing that or whatever else. It's bribery, it's emotional blackmail. Or basically, I won't spoil you as much. You won't get to go to wherever, which they shouldn't be going to in the first place because they're little brats. You won't get to have, you know, the 10th gift today if you don't do as you're told. Is any of that biblical? Completely unbiblical. What's biblical? Well, you turn to Proverbs 29. Proverbs 29 and verse 15 says, The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. Look, what the world does is so the opposite. And again, so many of the kids here will grow up thinking that, oh, they're so hard done by because they get a smack bottom sometimes. Oh, it's just terrible. Because the world will make you think that somehow it's abuse. Oh, you know, how terrible. You've had a thrashing when you were absolutely wicked. That, oh, how could you cut? But is that the reality? And do you know what? The kids I know, and I'm not just saying this, the ones that grew up getting chastised, getting properly punished, getting disciplined properly, have grown up to have great relationships with their parents. They love their parents. They appreciate their parents for it. The ones that didn't, the ones with the most liberal parents that let them go get away with everything, where when you're younger thinking, well, if only my parents would let me just smoke in my bedroom at 11 years old. If only my parents, you know, like crazy stuff. You see these kids. If only my parents just let me wander the streets at 12 and 13 years old and do what I want and go where I want. If only my parents would buy me alcohol at whatever years old. And you look at these kids and they hate their parents. They absolutely hate them. They despise them. They constantly talk about my parents. I talk to old friends now and again, and it's like, that's all they ever want to talk about is how wicked their parents were. But when you were young, you were thinking, oh, they seem like cool parents. Wow, what liberal, relaxed parents. They hate them. They resent them. They resent them. And kids, you know, kids here, if you're getting chastised properly, you're going to grow up and you're going to appreciate that as you get older. I appreciate the fact that I got chastised. Okay, I needed chastisement when I was young. I got chastisement and I appreciate that. Yeah, at least my parents could be bothered to punish me. Okay, and that's the reality of it. The biblical mum does what's best. UK mum does what's easiest. And the roderer of proof give wisdom. And we want wise children, don't we? Isn't that the goal? Kids, don't you want to be wise when you're older? I'm sure all of you want to grow up and be wise, don't you? I'd hope you do. Okay, because wisdom's a good thing. Being simple isn't a good thing, okay? Life's a bit difficult when you're simple. All right, wisdom's good. And look, if you're getting the roderer of proof, you're going to get given wisdom. Now, sometimes it's going to hurt your backside sometimes. Oh, you're going to think, you know, that stung a bit. But you know what, you need that. You need that. I don't understand how, like, some of the behaviour that everyone and all of us here could have done when we were kids as one did do, and that kids here will do. Yeah, they're not suddenly perfect children because they go to an independent Baptist church, funnily enough, in case anyone's wondering. Yeah, they're not going to say, well, you've got the Bible, you must be 100%. No, they're still kids, all right? Foolishness is bound in their hearts, yeah? Okay, I don't understand, like, if you're just withdrawing things that they're getting sport with, that's not biblical. And some things just need, they need a slap button, right? Okay, that's life. And you know what, when they get one and they understand and it gives them a sting, then they think, okay, I don't want to do that again. And by the way, it's completely legal in this country for those of you who are thinking, you're going to get taken down for this, Brother Ian. No, it's fine, okay? It's still legal because it would be absolute madness not to be, and fortunately there is still at least some semblance of sanity left here. Or at least they feel like they probably get too much pressure, at least if they didn't. Is it illegal in Wales now to smack a button? Wow, what about Scotland? I think Scotland it might be illegal as well. Bunch of wicked, unbelievable, isn't it? But here it still is, okay? Look, that's measured punishment. That would be madness. And look, the Bible says to do it, yeah? The Bible says that we should punish our children. It should be measured, yeah? It's not that no one should be beating the hell out of their kids. But you know what? They need to smack a button sometimes, don't they? The biblical mum does what's best. And with that as well, in Proverbs 29, 15, it says, a rod and a roof give wisdom, but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. The biblical mum knows and cares where their children are. Don't they? The biblical mum knows. A child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame, okay? And again, look, I grew up around these mums and I see them still now and half of them don't even know where the kids are. They don't know what they're doing, where they're at. Leave them doing all sorts on their own, don't know what they're up to. That will bring their mother to shame, okay? That was number nine. The biblical mum does what's best. The UK mum does what's easiest. And look at verse 28 back in Proverbs 31. It says, her children arise up and call her blessed. Her husband also and he praises her. Let's look at the last couple again. Number eight was the biblical mum knows God's word. The UK mum rejects his words. Number nine, the biblical mum does what's best. The UK mum does what's easiest. And number 10, the biblical mum wants more children. The UK mum wants less children. The biblical mum wants more children. The UK mum wants less children. Look at verse 28 again. Her children, plural, arise up and call her blessed. Her husband also and he praises her. Turn to Proverbs chapter 23, because what's the reality in this nation? Now, birth control and baby murder is rampant with the UK mum, isn't it? Birth control and of which the most popular forms of contraceptive pill is baby murder so often as well with its backup mechanism of basically murdering the fertilized egg. However, as well as that, there is just open, just going and getting your baby murdered as well. And that's not just, you're thinking, oh, this is just single mums, isn't it? This is the ones from fornication or this is not those that seem to at least have a family. No, it's getting more and more prevalent amongst those who use it as a form of birth control. And whether it's because of the career, the vanity, the money, the booze, a lot of them it's because they've got some morality still in. They've got some conscience. They're thinking, but I'm going to have to stop boozing if I have this baby. So it's better if I go and murder this baby. And that stuff goes on and a lot more common than you probably think as well, okay? It's unbelievable. But it's also because without putting the work in, let's be honest, so many of these kids are nightmares when they grow old. So they're seeing their friends' kids. They're seeing all the kids who are just literally just out of control. And there are a lot of kids who are out of control, breaking their parents' hearts on a daily basis, acting like just little entitled little scumbags all over the place because they've cut out the chastisement, because they've gone so far away from God's word that you can't really blame them in some, I'm not talking about the murder part, but you can't really blame them thinking, I don't know if I want more kids. Do I really want kids? Because look at the state of all the kids. Look at the state of my own kids. So often. Proverbs 23 says this in verse 24. The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. Thy father and thy mother shall be glad and she that bear thee shall rejoice. The biblical mum rejoices at a wise child. If she's doing things biblically, do you think that the so-called virtuous woman, do you think her kids grew up to be terror ways? Of course they didn't. Of course they didn't. If she does things properly, the biblical mum rejoices. And as Proverbs 31 28 says, they call her blessed. That's a nice thing, isn't it? To know that you're going to be called blessed. Her husband praises her as well. Yeah, if you're doing things as the Bible wants you to do things, your husband will praise you, your kids will call you blessed. And again, look, for many around this nation, I don't know, it seems like, like I said, this day is needed just for a day when they actually say something nice to their mums. Because so many of them seem to resent their parents, they don't want to be anywhere near them. Look at verse 29 back in Proverbs 31. It says here, many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excelest them all. Favour is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates. So the biblical mum isn't just getting a Wetherspoons bargain lunch once a year. She's being praised year round when the fruits become apparent, yeah? Okay, that's what should happen. And of course, look, this is a high bar to aspire towards. Okay, but for all of you children and all of us husbands out here, we need to appreciate the women in this church that are at least attempting this. Look, they're all gonna fail, okay? They're all gonna fail in certain areas. We all fail, don't we? Hopefully you don't hold your wife to a higher standard than you hold yourself. Hopefully kids, you don't hold your parents to a higher standard than you hold yourself. We all fail, we all fail in many areas, but we should at least be attempting it, shouldn't we? The women here and the mums here, just being in this church in the first place, being in a Bible-preaching, soul-winning church, listening to this message tells me that you're at least attempting part of this. You at least wanna be wiser. You at least want to try and be what God wants you to be. We need to appreciate that because what's the alternative? The alternative is majority unmarried, sadly, majority untrustworthy, majority resentful about doing any sort of wifely jobs, majority alcoholic, majority, and when you say, oh, are they really, well, I consider an alcoholic someone that has to drink, okay? Wait a second, that's a lot of people, isn't it? Because, yeah, they might not be physically getting withdrawals, but it seems that they mentally are, doesn't it? I call that a drunken, I call that an alcoholic. Majority career chasing to some degree, and if it's not career chasing, it's something else they're chasing, which isn't being a godly mum, which isn't being the best mum they can be. Majority lazy. Look, there's a lot of lazy women out there. That's the reality. Now, here's the thing on that, just quickly, a side point, is that we also wanna gently lead as men. So just, you know, I don't want people to come away from this sermon and go, all right, love, you're not doing enough, yeah? Let's get the side business going, okay? You need, where's, why are you not considering a field and buying it, okay? Because, look, we need to gently lead as well, okay? And there are seasons in life as well, and as well, a lot of women here, a lot of mums here have come from this world, okay? And you can't just click your fingers and go, right, now it's time to literally work, you know, sort of 16 hours of the day. You know, you need to get up while it's still night, and you need to go to bed when it's, you know, when it's night as well. Look, that's not gonna be a very easy just shift, okay? And that's something that, you know, might never come, but at least will maybe come with time, yeah? However, we should at least be aspiring towards that, and not the opposite, where you literally have a nation full of just bone-eyed or lazy women. Women who think that they've somehow done a real shift because they've gone and kind of sat in some office for 40 hours a week or wherever else it is, you know, had their, you know, had their, their kind of, their little time of playing man and playing, you know, playing the breadwinner comes home and does very little else, puts on a quick, easy cook meal if the husband hasn't put his pinny on and done it, you know, kind of got the cleaner in as well, because they can't even lift their, lift a finger and do that, and then told the kids to sit on their iPads until bedtime, and then in the morning drop them off down at the, down at the preschool club. There's a lot of lazy women out there. Virtue signaling, okay? Praise God that we don't have a lot of virtue signallers here, they really wind me up, I can't stand that stuff. People always think they're so clever with it as well. I just hate people like that, think that they're just so clever that if they just drop this in, and they just steer the conversation that way, if they just angle that, I just happened to mention this kind thing they do that you're not going to realise that that's what they're doing. You just see the cogs turding with these people and their eyes are looking here and thinking, how can I, how can I just add into the conversation that I did something really nice? It's just pathetic, isn't it? Virt, they're everywhere, virtues, they're unashamed virtue singers. I mean, we had a mass campaign for virtue signaling with that ridiculous vaccine badge, whatever they called it, in social media. What was it, what did they call it? I've had my COVID shot or something. It was like, I am a moron. I'm great because I'm a moron. And then it was like, right, and then you can imagine like half of like social media were like, oh man, I haven't put mine, I'm a moron. I'm going to have to put that up or everyone's going to think I'm not as kind as an ex-moron. And then we just, just all over the place, all these idiots. And that was big. And that was one of the angles they went with. They kind of went with different angles with that, didn't they? One was virtue signaling. One was sort of, you know, the health of your elderly loved ones. Another one was, you know, whatever. Anyway, okay, so we've got the virtue signalers. God rejecting. Okay, look, praise God that we have a load of mums here that aren't rejecting God. A load of mums here not only haven't rejected salvation, but also don't reject the words of God because they come to church. They turn up at church and listen to the, they turn up when God says turn up at church. Praise God that we've got a load of mums here that aren't just rejecting the clear words of God. Praise God that we've got a load of mums here that don't just go for the easy option because that's what's going on out there. Easy option parenting, easy option with everything. Everything is, life just seems to be an advertisement or at least life seems to be navigating advertisements for the easy option in everything you do. And praise God that we've got some mums here that understand the blessing of children, that understand the blessing of kids that don't just want to kind of have their one child and leave it at that, yeah, for whatever many reasons. And you know what? Even if we had a load of mums like that, do you know what? We'd still have to celebrate Mother's Day because we're told to still give him some honour and nothing wrong with doing that, right? So even if we had that, we'd still have to celebrate him and then like find some awkward ways of praising them on the day. But we don't, we've got all these great mums here all doing their best to all tick some of these boxes some way or another. Praise God for that. Let's celebrate them today. Let's think about them today. Let's do that men by eating lots of cake and really, really, really celebrate the mums here by eating all that nice cake. Is that like Oreo chunks on the top of it? Wow. I'm going to do some celebrating, okay? Because I really want to appreciate the mums. So we're going to be doing that in a minute. On that, let's go to the Lord in the word of prayer. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for the mums here. Thank you for, you know, all these great women here that just trying to be, you know, godly women as you want them to be. Lord, thank you for all those, all the women in this church. Lord, please help us to appreciate them more. Help us to appreciate that none of us are perfect, that we all have failings, but for us to all just have our hearts in the right place to all want to be more like you want us to be, to strive to be like that, not just take the easy option in life. Lord, help us to just strive to be more godly in all areas of our life. Help us to have a great day today. Help us to get out and get people saved this afternoon. So I'm willing you to return for this evening's service. In Jesus' name, progress. Amen.