All right, well, let's open a word of prayer and get ourselves started. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this new day, a chance to worship you, study your word, to fellowship with one another. And we just ask for safety with the weather and the ice. And we thank you for your son. And we are just thankful again for yesterday as we remember the life of Brian, just continue to comfort the Renard family. And it really was a special time. And I just wanna thank you for Good News Bible Church and the encouragement that they were to not only to us as a family, but also as a great witness to those that were coming. And so we just thank you for this. May you be glorified in Christ's name we pray, amen. All right, we are in Proverbs chapter three, and I believe we left off on page 118, the insidiousness of pride. Not exactly the best place to start, but nevertheless a very good place to start. And I have some examples from scriptures. It's kind of fast when you step back. If you compare like the Bible to other so-called religious texts, The Bible holds nothing back on the simpleness, the fallenness of man. And you got every example in there. And one particular area that you have more than plenty of number of verses is on this idea of pride. And here I've got a few listed there. Exodus 15.9, the pride of Pharaoh. The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil. My desire shall be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword. My hand shall destroy them. Did you notice the personal pronoun I or my, first person? So this is them, this is the heart of the Egyptians and Pharaoh. Proverbs 26, 12, do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. And it shows you the blindness that can come with pride. And that is a very good reminder. Isaiah 5, 21, woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight. That's that silo mentality. Romans 11, 25, for I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. Now that blindness is a spiritual blindness, but again, it's still part of this pride. We don't need the Messiah. We don't believe Jesus is the Messiah. Look at the deacon, the role of the deacon, 1 Timothy 3, 6. Not a novice, less being puffed up with pride, he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Of course, then the devil, and then you have Isaiah and Ezekiel, two passages. How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer. And that was his original name. which meant light, the illuminated one. Son of the morning, how you are cut down to the ground. You who weaken the nations. For you had said in your heart, now look at the I wills. I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north. I will, by the way, it gives us a little hint of heaven. There's geography here, right? There's clearly a location of a temple. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the most high, yet you shall be brought down to Sheol to the lowest depths of the pit. And that's always how it works. In this life, you either humble yourself now before the Lord and later you'll be exalted, or you exalt yourself now and later you will be humbled. Unfortunately, the later is the permanent position. Here's the devil again, Ezekiel 28, 12. Son of man, take up lamentation for the king of Tyre. Now, the picture here is that you have world leaders and sometimes these world leaders are behind them is Satan, and that's what's going on here. So God is speaking through the King of Tyr to the devil himself. Thus says the Lord God, you were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden. That's how we know it wasn't the King of Tyr. The Garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering. The sardis, the topaz, the diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. This, I'm telling you, Satan was a majestic Creature that God created you could see why he was called Lucifer because all those diamonds would be refracted in the light and glory of God it would have been something to behold The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created You were the anointed cherub who covers. I established you. You were on the holy mountain of God. So there's a mountain in heaven. You walked back and forth in the midst of the fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created. So his failure is not God's imperfection. He was perfect. Till iniquity was found in you. And by the abundance of your trading, you became filled with violence within and you sinned. Therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God, and I destroyed you a covering cherub. Remember that in the ark or in the temple we have that box right with Moses rod and Aaron's bud and the Ten Commandments and then there's that covering cherub and then God in the temple and spirit would Hover above that in the Holy of Holies. So that's a pattern of what we see in heaven So Satan was right there before he fell in the Holy of Holies. It's pretty pretty amazing From the midst of the fire stones, your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground. I laid you before kings that they might gaze at you. You defiled your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities, by the iniquity of your trading. Therefore, I brought fire from your midst. It devoured you, and I turned you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all who saw you. All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you. You have become a whore, and you shall be no more forever. There's that, again, the consequences of pride. Even Hannah's prayer, if you look at the very beginning, she talks about how the humble will be exalted and the exalted will be humbled. And that is the book of Samuel that you'll see as a major theme. Of course, Proverbs 16, 18, pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. then 2nd Corinthians 11 3 remind us of the past by Paul but I fear lest somehow is the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ Wow there's so much more the Bible can say on pride but I have this checklist from Neil T. Anderson on Discipleship Counseling, and it's a long list. I'm not going to go through it, but I have it there for you to review. But it's really a good list to kind of go through because Pride touches each of us a little bit different. Because each of us have certain things in our life that can make us Think prideful thoughts. Certain situations can create a prideful situation, and you have to guard against that. And so it's always just a good reminder to do a check-in every week. Lord, how am I doing on the area of pride? Because that is, especially for our Christian witness, nothing more ruins our witness when we become prideful. And even our passage today is going to talk about being humble. So, question. In what tangible, practical ways can you put off pride and put on humility? So, I know no one in this room has ever had to face pride. So, I know this will be a stretch of a question to ask. But how have you kind of tried to defeat pride in your life? What are some things that maybe you've done that's worked really well? And sometimes the answer is the most obvious. Prayer. That is where it all begins, right? Lord, guard my thoughts, guard my heart, guard my attitude, right? What else? I'm going to make you suffer for this one for a little bit. I'm not going to just give the answer. I would say realizing who God is Yep, your position. What about your relationships with your spouse or your family, your kids? Has pride ever gotten in the way of those relationships? How have you dealt with it? Someone has to confront it, right? So when you're confronted for being prideful, how do you respond? What are ways that we can, after that encounter with pride, when we invite pride into the room, what do we do? Apologize. Apologize. That's a step of humility. Exactly. Recognize it exactly. Repent. Yes, turn from it. Whatever led to it, you got to put that off. What about being proactive? What are ways that we can be proactive to avoid pride? Never talk. If only that were possible, Vance. Believe it or not, I've seen that in the world. Some are like that. They just won't say anything. They just avoid the whole conversation. But is that really resolving it, right? It's important to tame the tongue, James will tell you that, but you still got to deal with the issue. Laura? Yep. So how do we do that? Because there is a balance in which God has gifted each of us. He's asked us to do things excellent unto him. Paul certainly commends believers for the things that they do well. So where's that fine line between doing the best and appreciating that this was a work well done, but not making that prideful? Where's the switch? That is definitely the key, right? So you go into motive. Yes, intention and motive would be the same thing. I intend to do this so that I am the one who gets glorified versus who should really get glorified, right? So that's another angle there. I think playing off what Stephanie was saying is when you do good work, you say, OK, this is really the Lord's. You probably noticed this, but something that I guard against is like if someone says something nice about a sermon, it's very easy as a pastor, all pastors have this, oh, yeah, I'm so good. No, no, no, no, right? You go back and you think through it. Okay, it's God's word, not my wisdom, right? So when you do something good, it's his giftedness to you through you. Second, he provided the opportunity, right? Third, who should ultimately get the credit? Right? Remember that situation where the leader in Israel, I forgot which one, I think it was one of the Herods, and he's speaking, and everyone's like, oh, he speaks with the voice of God. Remember that? And he wouldn't give God glory, and the worms got him, right? So a good way to avoid pride is to always say, you know what, I don't want the glory, I want God to have the glory. And that's just a good habit. Dennis, I mean, Derek. Right. Even though you provided the opportunity, but he provided all the resources and to use you. And this is, this is that fine line. God uses us to accomplish his work and he rewards us for it. But we have to make sure that in that process, we don't suddenly become more enamored with ourselves than the Lord. And that's the fine line that we walk every day. And the best way is just to continue to go back and say, Lord, you get all the glory. Thank you for using me. It's a privilege to be used. And that's the idea. Exactly. You never lose sight of your position, right? And this is a challenge of any position, high to low, is we can suddenly think that what we do is the most important thing. And we gotta realize God is working all things. So pride is a messy, ugly thing, and it can both, it can really hinder the ministry and it can hinder your walk. Any other thoughts, questions? So we've all got pride figured out in our life. We're never gonna have to be prideful again. All right, Philippians 2.5, this is the antidote. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. Now, this is fascinating. This is Christ, who is God, who has every right to be exalted as God, but he comes to earth and humbles himself. But he made himself with no reputation. And here's, Dennis, what you said, taking the form of a bondservant, coming in the likeness of men, being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. God incarnate is the model for us. We humble ourselves, we serve for God's glory. That's it. And it is pretty amazing when you stop and think what Christ did. He didn't have to, he chose to. And what was his motivation? Love, love for the father, right? And love for the lost. And so if you have those mindsets, and you have a servant attitude, and you have love in your heart, you will have a pretty good way of defeating pride at the door before it ever comes in the home and starts to get comfortable. Any other thoughts? It's really an amazing truth, and all of our lives are touched by it, directly or indirectly. Either we're given it or we're taken it away. I have this story here. The Turtle and Two Geese. In the northern reaches of Canada, a story is told of a turtle and two geese that developed a deep friendship. As the nights became shorter and cooler, the geese started talking about flying south for the winter. One evening, as the three animals huddled together, the geese wondered openly about their friend, the turtle. We're sure going to miss you, said one goose, since you can't walk south for the winter. What are you going to do? I have an idea, said the turtle. Why don't you find a sturdy stick that the two of you can hold in your mouths, and I will hold on to the stick in the middle with my powerful teeth. Then when you fly south for the winter, I will fly with you. Do you think you're strong enough to hold on for that long?" asked the goose. Sure, I'm very strong, said the turtle. Several weeks later, somewhere over Montana, a farmer looked up and spied the most incredible thing he'd ever seen. He rushed into his house to tell his wife, and when she ran outside, he saw two geese flying overhead with a stick in their mouth and a turtle hanging between them. She cried out, what an incredible idea! Who thought of that? Knowing it was his idea, the turtle could not resist saying, I did! And down went the turtle. Sometimes it comes that way, doesn't it? Right? So, funny story. OK, so let's now switch topics here. Let's go into the next section. And again, the key verse is Proverbs 3, 5, and 6. All right. So we talked about the five key proverbial principles. And the one we're going to do now is 9 and 10, the financial priority and generosity. Okay. And I'm repeating myself here. So let's go forward. There we go. Okay. I have a little mousetrap here with a hundred dollar euro in there. Proverbs 3, 9 and 10. Let me start off with a little bit of humor here. Okay. Banks are open. Now I know you're scared, Ramon. Obviously, we're all a little yellow. I don't know if you can tell, but they're bananas. Okay. So Proverbs 3, 9 kicks off with this. Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the firstfruits of all your increase. So your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine. Now remember, Old Testament context, Old Covenant, they had an obligation to tithe. And the reason they tithed was because they had to pay for the Levites who had no land and had no way to provide for themselves. You'll see later in Israel's history that the Levites dispersed because there was no money and so they had to go get jobs and things like that. So I want to make sure we have that context. Now, some key words in this passage that are very helpful. The word honor means to distinguish, show significance, and priority glorify. Now, that principle doesn't go away. We still give the Lord the first and the best. Possessions is our material wealth. It's the things he gives us to steward. The first fruits, in the case of an agricultural culture, would be literally the first fruits. And think about that. That's a step of faith. I just got this fruit. I don't know what's going to happen with the weather and the rest. I give this up. I might starve. Let me hoard. And so God does it through an agricultural environment. He's testing them. He's giving them opportunity to show faith. Increase, harvest what was produced, and new wine, grape juice, beginning to ferment, not significantly alcoholic by the way, and so forth. Okay, so those are some of the key verses and just some verses on new wine. Harlotry, wine, and new wine enslave the heart. So all of them do have some alcoholic content. Others mocking said they are full of new wine, which is not a strong intoxicating drink. In other words, they're kind of, what's the expression? I forget, it's been so many years. But, you know, lightweight, right? When you talked about in drinking people, oh, he's a lightweight. New wine is like a beer versus like a wine cooler or hard liquor. Okay. All right, so proverbial principle, money talks. God's request for a portion of your possessions is a protection, and maybe you've never looked at this, against greed and covetedness, as well as to cultivate gratitude and generosity. I don't know if you ever looked at giving and stewarding your money that way, but that's part of its design. When you say, okay, Lord, this is yours, there's a little less greed now, there is a priority of Him over you, there's a little less covetousness, and then there's a gratitude and generosity. It should result in proper stewardship with the capacity to share and help others. And this is really the idea is that there's a portion that you have that you do set aside so that you are able to help others. And if everyone did that, everyone would be helped. Unfortunately, what's happened in our country is we've lost some of that. We've given it to the government. And so now we've been taken out of that role, not completely. The church still does a lot, Salvation Army and a whole bunch of other places. Old Testament examples, initial principles. Let me pull that up. Numbers 1821, behold, I've given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return, notice this, not just a handout, for the work which they perform, the work of the tabernacle, the meeting. Deuteronomy 1422, it's a little bit long, but I'll read a portion of it. You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. That's the idea. So this is all part of the Old Covenant. And then it says in verse 28, at the end of every third year, you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates. And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates may come and eat and be satisfied that the Lord your God may bless you and all the work of your hands. So there's this setting aside for the general. Our tax system is kind of doing that, right? We give a portion to the government, and then through the government programs, they give out. Does that get abused? Yes. That is the principle. Malachi 3.8, speaking to Israel, having abandoned their tithing, will a man rob God? You have robbed me. But you say, in what way have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed me. Even this whole nation. Bring all your tithes into that storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Now remember, we just read the other passage, the food in the house was for who? The poor, the widows, the Levites. So if there's no food in the storehouse, where do they get their food? Then he goes on, and try me now in this, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out such blessings, this is a literal passage, I will literally bring the rain and everything necessary for your crops to grow. Okay, and I will rebuke the devourer for your sake, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground. So there's been some punishment along the way. And all the nations, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field, says the Lord of hosts. And all the nations will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land, says the Lord of hosts. Again, Old Covenant. The Old Testament tithe was obligatory under the Mosaic law. Now, what about New Testament insights? I'm going to hold off on this. Regular interval. On the first day of the week, let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come. So, Paul is saying, ideally, the first week. Now, is this a law? No. Some may do one every two weeks when they get paid, or once a month, whatever. The idea, though, is that there's a regular interval. That's the principle. Needful, 1 John 3 17, whoever has the good world's goods and sees his brother in need and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? So we're giving to meet needs. Responsible, 1 Timothy 5 8, but if anyone does not provide for his own and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. Confidential, this is interesting, but when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. that your charitable deed may be in secret and your father who sees in secret will himself reward you openly. Remember the Pharisees going up with all their garb and dress and look what they're donating and so forth? This idea is confidential, sacrificial. Second Corinthians 8.2, there's a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. So the picture here is that they really are poor and yet they still gave. Now there's wisdom in that too. Proportional, 2 Corinthians 8, 3, for I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing. worshipful, theological, and not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and then to us by the will of God. You see that? Your giving is first to the Lord and then it extends to others. The gospel, of course, is impacted, Philippians 4.15. You yourselves also know, Philippians, that the first preaching of the gospel after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone. For even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs. Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek the profit which increases to your account. But I have received everything in full and have abundance, and I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. You can see that Old Testament imagery there. And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. And of course, 1 Corinthians 9 and 1 Timothy 5 talk about, there, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel and let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor and not muzzle the ox. Rewardable, 2 Corinthians 9, 6, but this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountfully also reap bountfully. And then last one, purposeful and cheerful. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or out of necessity, you might wanna even say out of duty, for God loves a cheerful giver. Now, it's not intended to be an exhaustive list, but hopefully you're seeing the New Testament is totally different than the Old Testament. In the end, both are giving, but do you see the different motivations? There's no legalism. There's all this freedom that we have and that each person makes that choice before the Lord, and they do what they can. And it's such a beautiful thing, and for some give more, some give less, but where's your heart in all of this? That's what the Lord's asking. There are some warnings. There is one who scatters yet increases more, and there is one who withholds more than is right. but it leads to poverty. The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself." And we see that. The world calls it karma, but we don't believe in karma. Proverbs 23, 5, will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings, and they fly away like an eagle toward heaven. Ecclesiastes 5.10, he who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver. This is the insatiable appetite of greed. Nor he who loves abundance with increase. This also is vanity. When goods increase, they increase who eat them. So what profits have the owners except to see them with their eyes? This is a challenge, right? You grow and you gain more salary and you're like, oh, we have more so we can spend more. rather than taking that surplus and saving it or something like that. So there's a lot of wisdom in the scriptures. Here's some things I thought I'd share and some notable heists. The great mining robbery. 1.36 billion Democratic Republic of Congo purchasing of mining rights. They stole the property. The Great Train Robbery, 3.4 million in 1963, all 17 but 2 were captured. The UK Royal Main Train Theft. Ferdinand Marcos, President of the Philippines, he stole about 5 to 10 billion dollars. Bernie Madoff, more famous in the news, 65 billion dollar pyramid scheme. And then you have Malachi robbing God, 3 through 12. Some interesting things. What's that? Oh yeah, that would be definitely another one. Yeah. If your pockets look a little thin, just look to Uncle Sam. All right. What ways can you improve on your stewardship that will result in more generosity toward God and others? Over the years, I've counseled people who've had credit card debt, and some have fallen into that health and wealth prosperity thinking, right? Where if I give God this, then he'll give back more. And that kind of thinking, you gotta be very careful. God is not obligated that if you give 10%, he'll bring back 100%. It's a general principle, but it's not a promise. And you have to make sure that you're not giving to get, because as soon as you do that, you've totally taken away the whole idea of being a fearful, I mean, being a loving giver, cheerful giver. Yes, Dennis. That would be unbiblical. Because even though that's what Malachi is saying, that was different. It was under the old covenant. And God was saying, you haven't been faithful. I will show you my faithfulness. Get obedient. Repent. It was never, OK, God's supplying, and now we're going to test him more. That's not the idea. And we don't test God. That's a very ungodly thing to do. You don't want to mess with that. Michael. Matthew 4, 10, do not put the Lord That's the verse, exactly. So giving is an opportunity to show generosity and to then watch how God might use that. And that part is not an obligation. That part is saying, I want to see you, God, do something amazing. And so there's a whole different attitude and heart. We just have to guard ourselves with those things. OK. Um, let's see where we're at. I think we're on verse 11. Is that right? Yeah. Uh, so I think I shared this one already. What path are you on? So let's go now to Proverbs 11 through 20 and Let me pull up that outline. There we go. Okay, so in this passage where I read the scriptures, there's two primary paths for finding and acquiring wisdom. There's the chastening. That's the painful path. That's when you learn after you did something wrong. And then there's chasing. That's the passionate path. That's where you're seeking wisdom to avoid making the mistake. All right, let's read through this. Proverbs 311, my son. Do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor detest His correction. For whom the Lord loves, He corrects, just as the Father, the Son, and whom He delights. Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding. For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, and her gain than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies, and all the things you may desire cannot compare with her. Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and honor. Her ways are the ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who retain her. The Lord, by wisdom, founded the earth. By understanding, established the heavens. By his knowledge, the depths were broken up, and the clouds dropped down the dew." It's a really amazing passage, isn't it? All right. Let's talk about chastening, the painful path. A little cartoon there. And it starts off in verse 11. So notice, it's already a mistake has been made. You find yourself being chastened by the Lord. This kind of correction is primarily for sin. However, trials and unjust suffering is another means to grow you and give you wisdom, but that has nothing to do with your sin. You must separate those. Very important in suffering, you always go back to the question, all right, why am I suffering? Examine, did I sin? Have I somehow disobeyed the Lord or been unloving to God and others? If you can examine that objectively and you go, oh, I conclude, no, I didn't sin here. Then you're in the room, you're in that category of maybe unjust suffering or just a trial. We live in a fallen world. There may be the sin of others that's spilling over. That can happen, right? A bad leader can lead to bad decisions, which leads to bad consequences for the people. 1 Peter 1.3, well, we've actually gone through that, but that's the picture of unjust suffering, which we're continuing today in our message. Some of the key words from this passage, despise, don't refuse, don't reject, don't spurn, don't scorn, don't have feelings of great displeasure. This is what's in your mind. So when the Lord starts chasing you, the ease of the thought you gotta guard against. You have to say, okay, Lord, this is good for me. Think you may have another, right? Chastening, these are words of correction, reprimand, punishment. Detest, fear, dread, feel disgust. You see all the feelings that can come when the Lord starts to try to make you holy, try to make you more like Christ, when he's trying to remove the sin of your life. Correction, tokahat, strong disapproval, reprimand, punishment. And then you have correct, yakah. There's a similar sounding in there. Disciplines, punishes. and then delights, accepts, enjoys, and loves. This is the perspective we need to have when God comes into our life, directly or indirectly. Sometimes he uses the body of Christ to correct, and we can't spurn that. We've gotta hear behind that. So often at work, at different workplaces, there is what people said, and then there's the heart of what was behind what was said. Let's be honest, not everyone can say things eloquently in the perfect way every single time. And that's where you got to really balance what people say and try to think best, right? And something I've learned in life over the years is that when someone truly is trying to be mean to me, it's obvious. It will be obvious. It's the gray area where someone may say something inadvertently and it's hurtful, but a lot of times it's unintentional. And then we just jump to the conclusion, no, that was intentional. And that's the balance we have to have. We've got to be very cautious. And I have seen this at work. When you do this, I'm telling you, when you don't respond to what everyone else sees as maybe intentional or maybe offensive, and you don't respond, they never think you're an idiot. They think, whoa, that's some serious self-control. I would have never responded in kind like that. And now they have this higher respect for you. Unfortunately, I haven't done that enough in my life. I'm learning that lesson later in life. But there is something about restraining yourself, thinking the best, working through to make sure you understand. And I'm telling you, if you take the time to understand others who may have said things unintentionally harmful to you, If you take the time to work through that, you'll get to know them better, they'll get to know you better, and that probably won't happen again. And that can be a great way to form even a better friendship. So, I offer that. The proverbial principle, spare the rod, spoil the child, right? We've heard that expression. That's the problem today. There's a lot of parenting today that thinks, no, we don't spank. We just let them go to their room and think about it. Let me tell you, that won't work. My parents sent me many days to the room. Didn't do anything to me. I went and played in my room. But when my mom and dad chastened me physically, I noticed a change in my behavior. God will discipline his children for sin. The range of meaning and terms reveals that chastening can range from a tender correction to a terrible consequence. However, you must not miss the motive of God in all of that, love. He cares about you, and so he wants to do these things. OK. By the way, this expression, spare the rod, spoil the child, comes from the satirical poem in 1663 by Samuel Butler that corrupts the expression. However, before Butler in the late 1300s, William Langland conveyed the original idea, who spareth the spryne, spilleth his children. That old English is hard to read. which he referenced from Proverbs 13, 24. There's the 13, 24. He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly. So the next time someone says, yeah, I don't believe in spanking my kids. Say, you know, let me share with you a little wisdom from the book of Proverbs. Now this will upset them because you're basically saying you don't love your kids. And that's not a true statement, but that's the practical outworking. Proverbs 22, 15, foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child. The rod of correction will drive it far from him. That's a great passage to share. How are you going to get rid of the foolishness in this child's heart that's bound up? Proverbs 19, 18, chasing your son while there is hope. And do not set your heart on his destruction. That's very important. There's limits to which you punish. Three stages of parenting, I've showed this before, there's the control stage, a little toddler running around, doesn't know anything, don't let them go in the street. Correcting, they now have a general sense of right and wrong. The first time a child swears or lies or does something, you want to correct that. And then there comes a point when you can't control them, you can't correct them, all you can do is be a counsel and hope that you've earned the right to speak in their life. Old Testament example, wilderness. Deuteronomy 8.5. You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord chastens you. Eliphaz, or Eliphaz, I can't say his name. Behold, happy is the man who God corrects. Therefore, do not despise the chastening of the Almighty. Solomon, he who spares the rod hates his son. We read that one. Solomon again in 2 Samuel 7.12. When your days are fulfilled, and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seat after you. This is to David, who will come from your body and I will establish his kingdom. So this is about Solomon. He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father and he'll be my son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him. David, he has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. That is the truth for every sinner who is saved. Jeremiah 10 24 Oh Lord correct me, but with justice not in your anger Lest you bring me to nothing interesting invitation there by Jeremiah on the heart All right me go a little bit further here. I think I got a little bit ahead of myself here's a quote from Andrew Murray He will not keep back even the most painful chastisement if he can but thereby guide his beloved child to come home and abide in the beloved Son. This is a really important insight and it's a prayer that you might want to make now and then for your loved ones who aren't saved, right Lord? If it means pain and suffering in their life, but will result in their salvation, let it be, Lord. That's a hard prayer to pray, especially for a loved one, maybe even a child. Here's something else that was said. It's an unspeakable mercy that the Father comes from His chastisement, makes the world around us all dark and unattractive, leads us to feel more deeply our sinfulness, and for a time lose our joy in what was becoming so dangerous. He does it in the hope that when we have found our rest in Christ in time of trouble, we shall learn to choose abiding in Him as our only portion. And when the affliction is removed, having so grown more firmly into him, then in prosperity he shall still be our only joy. So much as he set his heart on this, that though he is indeed no pleasure in afflicting us, he will not keep back, here it is, even the most painful chastisement if he can but thereby guide his beloved child to come home and abide in the beloved son. I'm just curious, how many of you have had the Lord bring trials in your life before your salvation. He'd do that to me, he'd really afflict me and chase me for my sin. That's the heart of God. And again, if he does that to save us, then he's gonna be willing to do that to sanctify us. Some good truths there, tough. Looking back, what would you change in your parenting approach? I'm not expecting answers on this one. but I know I would do some things differently, you know, and you don't have the wisdom that you maybe sometimes need, which is maybe why God wanted us to have the grandparents with the parents together, because you need the wisdom of the older with the younger. We have all the energy as the young, but we don't have any of the wisdom. The older, they don't have the energy, but they have the wisdom. Jesus, Revelation 3, 19, speaking to one of the churches, As many as I love, I rebuke and chase, and therefore be zealous and repent. Do you believe suffering is purposeful and beneficial? And of course, we've been through 1 Peter, and yeah, that is the heart of God, that sometimes suffering is purposeful and beneficial. Listen to some of the psalmists here. Psalm 119, 67, before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word. Psalm 103.13, as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear him. Malachi 3.17, they shall be mine, says the Lord God, on the day that I'll make them my jewels, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. And Hebrews 5.8, though he was a son, speaking of Christ, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered. Think about that. God who knows all things, but Christ comes as a man, And he learns. He experiences. That's the ideas he's experiencing. He's gaining literal experience into being a man and suffering as a man, which makes him the great high priest. It's a great truth. We got just a couple more minutes. Let me just wrap up with this. Chastening for sin, admonitions of others. These are the way we can gain wisdom. Chasing, we chase the word of God, we yield to the spirit, so we chase him. We chase godly disciplines, we endure unjust suffering, and we let persecution not, we don't allow persecution to bring disobedience in our life. So under persecution we obey, that's the idea. Bottom line, the old expression, no pain, no gain. But on the humorous side, agony. Not all pain is gain. And that is true sometimes, right? We can sometimes feel bad. What is this doing? In God's realm, yes, all pain that he brings is gain. Derek? One of the things going through boot camp in the Marines for that first time is pain is weakness in the body. Well, there you go. So bring us more pain. So we're going to pause here, and we will pick up. Yes, question. Yeah, sometimes you have to trust the Lord that he has to maybe intervene and allow her. Suffering has a purpose, right? It will bring some to salvation. Because God's breaking the will and breaking the pride. Well, the truth is it's both. You're going to the first cause, and because she's not saved, she lacks that spiritual insight that you have. So you can affirm her in that truth, you're right, I did work for it. But the Lord gave me the gifts, gave me the opportunity, he knows I'm gonna steward. And that's how you can balance, because remember, you're meeting them where they're at, and they're blind to the spiritual truth. So whenever they say something true, an unbeliever, affirm it. Even though there is more to the picture than meets the eye, but that's where she's at right now. Yeah, and that's the right spirit, Derek, and all those things. And then, of course, pray, seek wisdom, don't do anything rash, you know, but be thoughtful and prayerful. You can't save everyone, can you? But that's the right heart. But you can, in that moment, pray for that individual that he might run and encounter or come back. What's your daughter's name? Bobby Jo. Bobby Jo. Let's close in prayer for Bobby Jo and you. Heavenly Father, we all have, many of us have loved ones that aren't saved, and we so desperately desire, as do you, Father, for them to turn, repent, trust your son in faith. And so I just pray even now, Lord, that you would open up Bobby Joe's heart. to receive Christ, that you might give her the memory, the recall of all the things that Derek has shared over the years, and that she might finally humble herself of her pride and repent and believe. I ask that you give wisdom to Derek to navigate clearly a difficult relationship. and just give him the tenderness, the gentleness, the reverence to do it respectfully and lovingly, and let him be Christ-like to her. So we just pray for this, and I also pray for all of us who have unsaved family members. Use us in that way, Lord, to bring the gospel to them. In Christ's name we pray.