Verse 13 reads, For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knoweth, because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. I know the subject that has been given to me is rather general, but I want to, as it were, a little bit more particular and speak on this general subject but applying it to that which faces us as parents in these days. I was thinking coming to the meeting that really my wife should be here to speak on this subject. She has many years of experience as a teacher and a principal in our Christian school she had a number of years of experience in a state school before that and I suppose even more important she is the mother of six children and that I'm sure by way of experience has eclipsed all the years in schools of every description And I suppose you could even add to that she had to look after me and that might have eclipsed it all. But often times I am mentioned in connection with Christian education in Ulster and many, many times I've had to say that really although my name might appear as chairman of the education board, behind the scenes much of the work is done by my wife. Whatever credit is due, I'm sure it's due to her. Consequently, I would have liked to have had her here to speak to you from the Word of God on this subject. However, let me endeavor to turn your attention to this matter. It was Paul the Apostle who, in prophesying, indicated very clearly, not only to the people of his day, but to the people of all succeeding ages, that one of the great marks of apostasy is to be seen or will be seen amongst children. We often times forget that. As Christians we feel our children brought up in our homes and isolated to the best of our ability, from the spirit of the age will not therefore manifest any influence from the world or from the great apostasy that is taking place and yet God tells us that one of the marks of apostasy will be manifested among children. If you turn to Paul's second epistle to Timothy And the chapter 3, you're familiar with these words, I know. But I trust that the Lord will press them upon your heart in a new way. 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 1 reads, This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. These are the last days. The last days indeed is one of the titles of the great age that began with the apostles and even before that. So we are in the last days. And increasingly in the last days, perilous times shall come. It's an advancing, increasing manifestation. Perilous times. That word perilous is a very strong word indicating that they will be increasingly more terrible as the age progresses. What will be the marks, the characteristics of that age? Paul begins to tell us in the verse 2. Men shall be lovers of their own selves. It's an awful thing to love yourself. It's an awful thing to love yourself. When you begin to love yourself, then you begin to indulge yourself. And you begin to follow out every desire that self has. And it's a wicked thing to love yourself. As a consequence of loving self, naturally, covetousness begins to develop. Boasting begins to develop. It begins to develop all these things, making the human being more hateful than a devil. That's what happens when sin becomes rampant and the restraining grace of God is withdrawn. Blasphemous, loving self, we begin to oppose God, speak against God, disobedient to parents. And I want to underline that phrase, disobedient to parents. Right there, in the midst of the marks of apostasy, here is one that is particularly relevant to the subject that we are looking at today. Disobedience to parents. You can have apostasy in the home of a Christian. You can have this characteristic of apostasy in the home of a Christian. in the home of a Bible-believing Christian, in the home of a goodly, godly Christian. You can find good people, godly people, allowing the spirit of rebellion to show itself and advance within their home. Disobedience to parents. Now, Paul mentions this in connection with his history, if I might put it like that, of apostasy in Romans chapter 1. In Romans chapter 1 he is speaking of the past. Perhaps we can then say of 2 Timothy 3, he's speaking of the future. Apostasy in the past, Romans 1, apostasy of the future, 2 Timothy 3. And in both instances you will find he mentions the feature disobedience to parents. In verse 30, here he is describing a people that God gives up. Verse 28, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, and then he begins to describe the consequences of the apostasy that follows. And we read in the verse 30, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents. Here again we have this spirit of rebellion amongst children, one of the features of apostasy, one of the features of a departure from God. Now, such a feature is very common today, you know. It's common today. I think that meetings of this nature, in which a subject of this nature is discussed, is an indication that this is a prevalent subject. I honestly don't think you know that in generations past such a subject would have been one of any great interest. I believe that generations past parents didn't have the difficulty that they have today. They didn't find it necessary to consult one another and endeavour to encourage one another in the simple task of disciplining their children. They did not encounter the lies, the falsehoods that are encountered by this generation on the subject of disciplining their children. They did not encounter the disapproval that today one encounters when they seek to discipline their children. That was not, indeed, has not been a feature of former ages amongst the people of God, but it is today. And I feel that it is today because that which Paul speaks of in 2 Timothy is is expanding around us. It's increasing in its power and influence around us. We are dwelling more and more in the midst of a generation that is developing in its rebellion and in its apostasy toward God. And it's creeping in. and as much as our children are influenced by the world here is how they are influenced they're difficult to handle they're difficult to handle they imbibe a spirit of rebellion I tell you they imbibe that spirit from the most supposedly most innocent programs on television from the most innocent books that are produced they will imbibe this spirit of self-assertiveness. Indeed it has even reached the stage where you will find that self-assertiveness being taught as a virtue in Christian circles. That children must be taught to assert themselves, to develop their personalities and so forth and so on. And it's, listen, listen, it's contrary to the Word of God, I do believe, in essence, in essence, it's contrary to the Word of God, and I believe it to be a manifestation, never will I call it a sanitized manifestation of the spirit of rebellion that is here spoken of. And where you find difficulty then, experienced by parents, it is but a reminder that we are living in an age of apostasy, one of the features of which is a spurt of rebellion manifested amongst children toward their parents. And if you are finding difficulty, if you are just about holding the lid on the situation, then recognize, here is why. Here is why. And a little thought will enable you, I'm sure, to trace the difficulty to its root, its fountainhead, its origin, that awful spirit of apostasy that is abroad today. Now it is a common, a common difficulty, it is a common sin, disobedience to parents, and because it's common we're inclined to think it of no great consequence you know when we see our own children manifesting this spirit of disobedience and rising up and saying no when they ought to be saying yes when we see that well we say to ourselves well I see it in this family I see it now I see it everywhere I see it in our church I see it in our Sunday school class I see it everywhere it's just a feature of today It's a common thing, therefore I need not get concerned about it. It's funny that, you know, because as cancer becomes more common, we get more concerned. Why should we feel less concerned when we see disobedience amongst children becoming more common? It's the old story of finding some sucker in a crowd. To find yourself in danger all on your own is a terrible thing, but if you're in danger amongst a lot of other people, somehow or other the danger seems to lessen. It's an illusion. And it's a falsehood. And because today there seems to be a prevalence of this disobedience to parents, that makes it more serious, not less. That makes it more serious. And we ought to take that in hand. I want to come to this portion in 1 Samuel, and first and foremost deal with the matter of the seriousness of the sin of undisciplined children, of disobedience to parents, of rebellion within the family. I want you to know, and I want my heart, my own heart to be impressed afresh, with the fact that this is a serious matter. Now we have in the portion before us a number of indications of the seriousness of this matter. First and foremost, Samuel here is beginning his prophetic ministry. He lived in a time, you know, of great disorder and political unrest, as it were, and social unrest in the land of Canaan. The Philistines were strong. They were a constant threat. There was not the establishment of the kingdom or the tribes in the land that was in keeping with God's will and purpose. There were many problems facing the people of God. There was not the religious, spiritual order that there ought to be amongst the people of God. There were many, many disorders amongst the people of God. Things were in a bad shape, but the first thing God gave him to deal with was Eli's failure as a parent. It was the first thing God told him to speak about. It was the first message God took up. You know, it's good to get God's order of priority on matters. It's good to remember how God sees things, because we oftentimes see things as being very important, but God doesn't see them as important. On the other hand, we see things as unimportant, but God counts important. And God counted this matter of disobedience in the house of Eli of such importance that he makes it the first subject that Samuel has to deal with. First subject that Samuel has to deal with. Now I think that there is a lesson there for us. above all the national issues that faced the nation, above all the political, the social, all other spiritual issues that faced Israel. God says, Samuel, start with this. Start with this. Disorder in the home, but destroy the work of God. Disorder in the home, will destroy the church. Do you hear me? It will destroy the church. That's where disorder begins. That's where apostasy begins. You read in the book of Judges that there arose a generation that knew not the Lord. Whose fault was that? It was the fault of those who were charged with teaching that generation the knowledge of the Lord. And the teaching began with the children. The teaching began with the children. So rule in our school, you know, that if a child hasn't been taught by its parents to behave by the time it comes to our school, and that becomes clear, then they take that child away. It's not our job to teach a child obedience. It's mother and father's job to teach a child obedience. I remember in early times, you know, in earlier times in our school, our school began in 1979, I often heard mothers, even when I was visiting, fathers too, but chiefly mothers, if a child was misbehaving a little, and wouldn't sit down when it was supposed to sit down. It was just not doing what it was told. I remember hearing one mother in particular, this comes to mind, and you'll see why. She said, now, wait till Mrs. Foster gets you. So when the child was out of the room, I put the woman right. I said, it's not Mrs. Foster's job to raise your children. And if you don't have your child taught to behave before it comes to us, we'll not have it. Now they were in membership in my church, but that doesn't make any difference. Being a member of a free Presbyterian church doesn't give you the right to disobey God. It doesn't give you the right to disobey God. And as far as I'm concerned, I'm not required to keep on good terms with those who disobey God. And if they need the truth told to them in a simple, plain fashion, well then that's the way they have to get it. No, the generation that arose that knew not the Lord was a generation whose fathers and mothers failed to teach them the knowledge of the Lord. That's where the apostasy began. It's a serious matter then. Disorder in the womb. It's a serious matter. Not teaching our children to obey us. and to respect and regard the authority in the home that has been ordained of God. This is a serious sin. It's serious also because the whole matter of the disobedience of Eli's sons affected the whole nation of Israel. The whole nation of Israel. One family. One family affected the whole nation of Israel. In the chapter 2 and the Verse 24, here is Eli speaking and he's speaking to his sons, they're men of course, and he says, Nay my sons, for it is no good report that I hear ye make the Lord's people to transgress. Here is Eli acknowledging that he sees his son's transgression and his son's wickedness causing the whole nation to sin. causing the whole nation to sin. Now it's a serious matter I tell you. It's a serious matter. One disobedient child will teach their disobedience to others. Something we have learned in our school. We brought in a rule shortly after we started that no child could start our school. All our rules are made to be broken and if I feel that proper and before the Lord, there should be exceptions made. Well, we make exceptions. I don't want to think that we're sort of hidebound or cast in iron, but as a general rule, we say no child can come to our school if it has spent more than three years in the state school. Why? Because I'll tell you this, in most instances irrespective of what sort of a home and how good are the parents that child comes from after three years in the state school it has learned something of rebellion it has begun to despise authority begun to despise the teacher and what the teacher says and we have seen it the child comes and it sits there and it's very appearance sitting at the desk indicates I'm not a bit interested in what you have to say and there's a curl on its lip to show derision and when it sees another child hastening to obey it'll soon pass on to that child its impression what are you rushing about you don't have to do that what odds about what they say and soon that child will take it up And when our forefathers spoke about one bad apple in a barrel, they knew what they were talking about. You see, back then our parents knew that their children could become bad apples. Today we don't believe that. Today we look on them all as bright and rosy and red and polished. And if there's badness, it's not in our little apple. It's in somebody else's. Not our little apple. And we have seen that. We have seen that being manifested in youngsters. And there have been times when we felt it necessary to act against it. Other times we have found it sufficient to take the child aside and speak plainly to the child and draw its attention to the fact that it is manifesting a rebellious spirit contrary to all that it has been taught. all that it knows of God in the Scriptures. And we're thankful that in most instances that has been all that is necessary. And they then, seeing other children submit to the rule of the teacher's authority, gladly do so themselves and become much happier children. And the curl disappears from the lip and they The countenance softens, and the eyes soften, and they become children again. This is a generation that has lost its childhood, you know. I've often stood in the streets of our towns at a time when the high schools were getting out, and there they are, physically, twelve, eleven, thirteen, fifteen. with regards attitude, that which is written on their countenance, they're old and hard. Little girls with hard faces, young fellows with hard faces, minds filled with sin, filled with knowledge that they can't quite understand, a knowledge long beyond their years. Oh, children who are not disciplined lose their childhood. They lose their childhood, those sweet and precious years when they are sheltered from the wickedness of the world as they grew up and grew up without the pressures of the world upon them, deforming them, misinforming them, corrupting them. This is a vital matter then. because of the fact that disobedience in the home of Eli affected the whole nation. It's important. Oh, let us find that resting upon our hearts. You will notice that God had spoken to Eli before about this matter. That's how important it was. God had taken this matter up before with Eli. Verse 27 of chapter 2 says, There came a man of God unto Eli. God sent another prophet to Eli. We don't have his name, we don't know who he is, but he came with that message. You know, ministers do have to deal with this subject. It's not welcome, but it has to be dealt with. It has to be spoken upon with the plainest of language, and you can see it here in this man's message. We'll not take time to read it, but look at it. See what he had to say to Eli. And God says in our text For I have told him." God had an ongoing controversy with Eli about the way his children were behaving. God had spoken to Eli many times on this matter. It's important, my friend. It's important how we raise our children. And if you don't raise them right, God will have a controversy with you. God will have something to say to you. about this matter. Don't shrug it off as saying, oh, it's old-fashioned, it's old hat. God has something to say and will come down and say it. He will come down and say it, as He did here through the means ordained, that of a prophet. Quickly notice also, it's serious because God acted most severely against Eli. God brought judgment upon the house of Eli, that as you read it, dear Christian, I hope you tremble and pray God never visits any of your loved ones with... Look at what he says, verse 11 of chapter 3. Behold, I will do a thing in Israel at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. God says, when I'm finished with Eli, everybody who hears about it, their ears will tingle. It will be such a horrendous report that people will fear. People will fear. It's no light matter, this matter of disobedience. It's no light matter. Naturally enough, the sin of Eli becomes a more serious sin because of the high position that he held and the high position that his children held it becomes even more serious because of that and the judgment we must bear in mind is related to the high position occupied by Eli and by his children but nevertheless this judgment this anger that sprang up in the heart of God This father who failed to properly discipline his children lets us know that it's a most serious matter. In chapter 2, verse 27, we read of the prophet coming and in the verse 27 the Lord says, Did I plainly appear unto the house of thy father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house? And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? And did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel? Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering? which I have commanded in my habitation, and honorest thy sons before me, to make yourselves fact with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people." You honor your sons before me, says God. And I am angry. And there followed upon the house of Eli a most dreadful judgment. These things indicate to us how vital is this matter of how we discipline, how we teach our children, how we order our household. Now let me show you secondly the nature of the sin itself. What is it? What is it that God was dealing with Eli about? Well let me say first of all what Eli's sin was not. Let's dismiss what it was not, what he was not guilty of. Let's start with that. First and foremost, Eli was not a bad example to his children. Let me say that. Eli was a good man and a godly man. I have no hesitation in saying that he was a good man and a godly man. He loved the Lord. And there was nothing in his character that set his children a bad example. He prayed. He served the Lord. He worshipped the Lord. He was honest and upright and righteous in his dealings with other men. And none of his children saw in him that which caused them to go astray. You can be a good example. You can be a good Christian and still raise bad children. You can be a godly person, you can be a faithful attender at the house of God, a faithful attender at the place of prayer, a faithful witness before God in prayer, and still raise disobedient children. Eli did it. And that's not his sin then. It wasn't that he was a bad example. It was not even a matter that Eli failed to speak or to chide with his sons. It's not that he ignored their sin. because we have it in chapter 2 and the verse 22. Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto Israel, and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. Nay, my sons, for it is no good report that I hear. Ye make the Lord's people to transgress. He chided with them. He disapproved of what they did. He spoke to them. He spoke to them. Wherein then was his sin? What was it he did wrong? Why was God judging Eli so powerfully? Well, our text tells us, verse 13, For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knoweth, because his sons made themselves thine, and he restrained them not." He restrained them not. I want you to underline that word, restrained. You see, God not only wants you to be a good example to your children in everything. God not only wants you to speak to them about their sins and chide with them, God wants you to stop them. That's what God wants. He wants you to restrain them. That's what He wants. You say, how can I do that? Well, listen, if God wants you to do something, there's one thing you can be sure of. He has placed at your disposal the means to do it. It is possible. It is possible. But we'll come to that in a moment or two. It's important for us just to notice here, first and foremost, that that which God contended with Eli about was the fact that he did not restrain his sons. Oh, that's a common thing, my friends. That's a common thing. I see it all the time. You see it all the time. I hope you don't do it all the time, in which you tell your children not to do something, and when they do it, you tell them again, and you say you shouldn't really do that. We unconsciously imbibe the garbage that's produced by lunatics on television. in which they expound all sorts of views as to how you should address disobedience amongst your children. And I see it practiced amongst free Presbyterians. I've seen it practiced amongst free Presbyterians here in the United States. The child is throwing a fit of anger and rage. and mummy is speaking nice and calm and saying no no this should not be so this is not what you do mummy is speaking listen to mummy that's wrong you are not addressing the sin you're following the teaching of some nignog who is in rebellion against God's truth who has come up with a fancy notion that seems to be so nice and right and proper. But it's not what God says. There is involved in proper discipline, not only the example, not only the speaking, but the restraining. That's intervention. That's intervention. You've got to intervene at times. And you've got to stop You've got to stop the rebellion. You've got to stop the disobedience. You've got to stop the sin. Look at what it says, and not, I might add, to the honor of David in 1 Kings 1. Now here we're speaking of one of the sons of David. By and large, David's family were a bunch of rascals. Nobody needs to pay more attention to their family than those who have many duties. David had many duties that took him away from home many times. and the consequences of that. It need not have been so, because no matter what God gives you to do and where God's will takes you, it does not mean you cannot carry out the other duties that are yours. But David did neglect his family And you know the wickedness that many of his sons involved in. Here's what it says about one of his sons, Adonijah, verse 6, And his father did not displease him at any time in saying, What hast thou, or why hast thou done so? He never displeased him. He never countered his wishes and his will. Whatever he wanted, he got. And he died, it would appear, a reprobate. I have often said this. I've often said this. I've gone on then to try and apologize for sounding like an authority because it's an obnoxious thing to set yourself up as an authority, and I'm no authority. No authority whatsoever. I'm only telling you what I have discovered out of the Bible and discovered it to be so. So let me dismiss that with those words. I've often said to parents, if you can't teach your child to obey you, you'll never teach them to obey God. If they have not learned to teach the one that's placed over them, I don't believe there's much chance of them ever learning to obey God. If they have learned to disobey God in defying the ones God has set over them, then they're well on the way to utterly defying God. And there is a close relationship. There is a close relationship. And here was a youngster. He never obeyed his father because his father always gave in to him. And he died a reprobate. He died in rebellion against God's King, his father David. And I think the spiritual, the eternal consequences of what David did as a father there, the feelings of David, a father there, are clear. Adonijah died and went to hell. Why? Because his father spoiled him. Father spoils them. You spoil your child. Isn't it an interesting word, that? Isn't it an interesting word that we use to describe our pampering our children? We spoil them. What is it to spoil something? It's to mar. It's to destroy. Perhaps if we'd done away with the word spoil and put in the word dad, it might come home to us what it is we're doing. when we pamper and spoil our children. We direct them to hell. We encourage them down the road to hell when we spoil our children. Look up that word. Take a concordance and search the Bible out. I haven't done it. It's only occurring to me now. But do it. I'm sure you'll find some interesting things in connection with the word spoil in the Bible. And just bear it in mind that that's what a pampering of a child does. Eli's sin was not restraining his sons. God wants us to stop our children disobeying us. He wants us to stop our children disobeying us. By not stopping them and acting as he did, Eli honored his sons above the Lord. Chapter 2, verse 29, God makes that clear. You honored your sons above me, he says. How so? Why, when God says, deal with your sons, chasten your sons, restrain your sons, Eli disobeyed God. And he said, I don't like doing that to my little boys. I don't like beating my little boys. It seems so brutal. I think there's a better way. I talk nicely to them. I'll reason with them. They'll see sense in what I'm saying." And so he dishonored God. And he honored his sons above God. That was what his sin involved. Oh dear Christian parent, please see that. Please see that. When you give in to the pleas of your child when you are about to execute some chastening and they plead with you just remember this there is another one pleading with you and he is saying carry out the chastening the child is saying don't carry out the chastening who is it you listen to? whose voice do you heed? Who is it you honor, the child or the Lord? Eli honored his children. I'm not the Lord. In so doing he kicked against the privileges that God had blessed him with. Verse 29, Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice? He permitted his children to indulge themselves, and when they grew up and became priests, they abused the office they held, and in so doing, they kicked against the sacrifice of God. And Eli allowed it to continue. Eli allowed it to continue. And God says, I'm going to judge you for that. I'm going to judge you for that. When I see parents with disobedient children, I see parents who kick at Calvary, who kick at heaven, who kick at pardon for sin, who count as nothing what Jesus Christ by His blood has purchased for us. They must count it as nothing otherwise they would not allow their children to so live and turn their backs on these things. They must count it as nothing. If I allow my child to play on a railway line, I must count as nothing the danger of them being run over. If I allow them to play with dangerous electrical applicants, or appliances rather, where their life is threatened, and I allow them to play with these things, I must count as nothing the threat that faces them. And I must kick at that knowledge and kick it aside, despise it, throw it away. God says that's what you've done with the spiritual privileges that you enjoy. You've kicked them aside and counted them as nothing and despised the warnings of what will follow your sins. Now that's what disobedience amongst our children indicates regarding our attitude to the privileges of the gospel. We despise them. We don't care whether our children enter into them or not, whether our children enjoy them or not. It's not a matter of great importance. What is more important is keeping our children happy, is giving in to our children and pleasing That's more important. Don't you see this? I'm putting it in as stark a fashion as I can, but don't you see that that is what is involved? And this is why it is a most serious matter, a most serious matter indeed. Now, I want to take up one point that I mentioned and then set aside again, and that is, God wishes us to stop our children sinning, doing wrong. He wants us to intervene. Now is that possible? I said that if God required of Eli that he do so, that if God counted it a sin and a failing on the part of Eli that he do so, then it must have been possible for Eli to do so. And it is possible to stop your children disobeying. It is possible. You know, it's wonderful. If folk get an old dog to lie down and roll over, bring the neighbours all in, wouldn't you see this? And finally they get the dog to do it and everybody's amazed. Why is it so startling if then that the highest of God's creatures should be required of God to do what they're told? Why should it be thought such a difficult thing to accomplish? We can teach birds to talk. We can teach animals to do all sorts of useful things. Nations even employ animals in all sorts of intricate military exploits. Why should it be thought difficult for the highest of God's creatures just to do what they're told? I mean all the other creatures do it. They all do it. remember the story, I don't advocate this as a method of discipline, but I remember the story of, told of me, I can't remember where it was, I read it, Reader's Digest or something of that nature, about a wolf pack observed over a long period of time by someone interested in their behaviour. And they observed them so closely they even had names upon all the various members of the wolf pack and they talked about some little wolf cubs and they had them all named and they were describing their behavior and there was one little character and he was a rebel and he just sort of went further than everybody else strayed a little further just was a little bit more errant in its ways and it described how that they all used to come around the old wolf pack leader and jump, you know, up on him and grab at his ears and pull at his tail and bite and snarl and play at attacking him and he would put up with it for a while and then he'd curl the lip and give a bit of a growl that clearly said, that's enough for today. And as soon as he did that, they all went away. Cowed. Except our little friend. And he would not take heed. And even when the growling became louder and louder, he still didn't heed. So sound. And that was the end of the wee wolf cub. And although there was no spiritual lessons to be learned as far as the observer could see, they did write in, however, this little thought, that it's obvious there is no place in a wolf pack for a rebel. You either abide by the laws or you're done away with. Now that's a wolf pack. Is there no way we have less finals, should I say, of dealing with disobedient children? Although, since our jaws are not quite those of a wolf, I dare say a bite now and then would do a bit of harm. Is there no way? Well, I tell you, God has ordained a way. Listen to me. God has ordained a way whereby you can restrain your children. A very simple way. A very simple way. And you know it. You know it only too well. The book of Proverbs sets it before us, stating, as it does so, the many benefits, telling us the reasons why this method needs to be employed. Chapter 13 of Proverbs, we have a verse that sets down a broad basis on this matter. Verse 24, He that spareth his rod hateth his son, but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes." It's from this verse, I'm sure, the old saying sprang, spare the rod and spoil the child. I'm sure it comes from that. Oh, how the Bible infiltrated the thinking of nations and generations past. In this age of apostasy, of course, such a saying, spare the rod and spoil the child, is anathema. In fact, it's enough to land you in court. But that's what God says here. If you spare the rod, you hate your child. You act toward your child from a position of hatred. Now that might astound you. You might protest and say, but I don't hate my child. Well, my dear friend, if you love your child and spare the rod, you are acting as one who hates the child. That's the long and the short of it. You are so misguided that you act as one who hates your child when you spare the rod. But if you love your child, you will chasten him betimes. And it says a rod. A rod, one of the most plentifully supplied implements in all the world. You don't need slippers or going down and buying these fancy paddles. God says go out to the hedge and cut a rod. Cut a rod. That's why he gave us hedges. That's why he made so many bushes produce rods. If only we would use what God tells us we'd save ourselves a lot of money and put a lot of people out of business. Look at chapter 22 and the verse 15. I mean I'm talking really, I'm talking From my own childhood, you see, the nearest thing I can remember to some of these paddles that they produce now for beating children were little wooden paddles that my mother used to work butter with. And she could see the reason to spend a bit of money on a wooden implement to work butter But spend a bit of money on something to beat his rear end with? I'm sure the hedge is full of them. And that's what God says. The rod. The rod. Now please don't think I'm awfully cruel and awful brutal. Don't think that. Because I'm reading the Bible here. I'm just quoting the Bible. And if you think me brutal, then God is brutal. and what God is, I wish to be. But I don't think he's brutal, nor is anyone that follows out the instructions given in his Word. Chapter 22, the verse 15. You know these verses. I'm sure they're underlined in your Bible. Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. Now, I know that this is an awful comment on your little boy and your little girl. You never thought this, you? You didn't. You never thought this, but God says it. Foolishness is bound up in their heart. Foolishness. It's tied up in there. Their little heart is a bundle of sin. And there's only one thing that can put a distance between their folly and their behavior, and that is the rod of correction. It shall drive it Drive it far from him. Drive it far from him. I've seen parents shout at their child, oh it'll drive it a little bit away. So as soon as they turn their back, they're back to the folly again. But you use the rod. You use the rod. And it'll drive it far from them. It'll drive it far from them. Let me go a little further. Another verse. Chapter 23 this time. Chapter 23 of Proverbs. The verse 13. Withhold not correction from the child, for if thou beatest him with a rod, he shall not die. Now this was written for mothers. You know how delicate all our children are. I mean, others can be rough and take with rough handling, but our little children Now they're not just cut out for that. I don't know if you're familiar with the term DELF in this country, are you? See your education is growing every day. It's the word that refers to the more common form of crockery. You know? It's what you put out on the table when I come. When Dr. Kearns comes, you put out to China. Well, my old grandmother used to say whenever anybody would get a bit highfalutin' about their children, she used to say, oh aye, my children are Delph and yours are China. And there are, I suppose and is all there is, this idea that if we use punishment on our child, it'll harm them. It'll harm them. That's what we're reading here, and God is reassuring you. He says very clearly here that if you use the rod, you not die, you not die. I've often said that's why we're built the way we are, with a large cushion strategically placed to absorb a lot of punishment. The next verse says, thou shalt beat him with the rod and shalt deliver his soul from hell. I think that is one of the most vital verses on the subject of parental control of children in all the Bible. It links, it links disciplining of a child with delivering them from hell. Now God has linked it so. And parent, you need to take it in turn. You who think it vital to bring your child along to the Sunday school. You believe it vital to bring your child along to the house of God and hear the sermon. You believe it vital that you sit down and read the Bible with them and teach the Bible. But do you do this? I question if there's a plainer promise in the book of God regarding how we raise our children than this? Is it anywhere said, is it anywhere said that if you teach your child the Bible thou shalt deliver his soul from hell? Oh certainly it's taught, but do you have it put in such graphic terms as you have this? This verse makes disciplining of a child a vital matter in the great delivering of our children from eternal damnation. Let us not forget that. Disciplining our children is not a fashionable thing. It's not something that is sprung up among fundamentalists. It's not something that has to do with Christian appearance or anything like that, nothing to do with testimony. Disciplining of children is a vital part of seeing our children saved from sin and from damnation. Look again, chapter 29, verse 15. I don't know what time it is. It's time I was quite long, isn't it? I took Mr. Kearns' advice. Well, I better come to a conclusion. Verse 15, the rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. Reproof, chastening, the rod, that's how it's done. That's where Eli feels. He spoke to his children, he presented them with a good example, but he did not take those boys aside and take the rob and give them a good hiding. And had he done that, had he done that, things would have been different in his family, things would have been different in Israel. I believe before God that that is a vital process in the disciplining of our children. Don't tell me you know a better way whereby the rod doesn't have to be used. You are wiser than God if that's the case, because I read in my Bible that every one of God's children He chastens with the rod. Hebrews chapter 12. In fact, as I thought about that, and here we'll close, quickly here we'll close, and we'll apply it to some of the psychology that does the rounds today, quickly. Hebrews chapter 12, the verse 5. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children. My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastening, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons." Listen to me. If God never chastened you, you would begin to doubt yourself. you would begin to doubt that God has an interest in you, and you would be right. You would be right, and in fact it would require you to more than doubt it, you would need to be sure of it. If God doesn't discipline you, chasten you, the word scourge here is a strong word, if God doesn't scourge you, you're not His. Do you know why we have so many psychological problems amongst children today? All this whole hocus-pocus about not being loved and not being wanted and all the rest of it. Do you know where it springs from? No discipline. No discipline. I have thrashed every one of my children, six of them. I've taken the rod to every one of them. I've heard people tuk-tuk. I've only had to do it three or four or five times with them. Some of the girls I didn't have to do that. The boys, usually they need a little more. They need a little more. And I've heard people tuk-tuk. And I want to tell you this. I prefer to have the affection of my children today that I have than to have avoided the tut-tuts. What do I care about tut-tuts from others? I want to do what God tells me to do and I have seen it work. Now that's not to say that my children are by any means perfect. That's not to say that. My children needed to be saved, just like other children. My children still need to seek the Lord and be corrected. They're just children, though four of them at least are now adults. But you know, I have seen it work, at least to some measure. I'm so conscious that you have to try and not sound as if you're boasting. And yet, am I boasting when I say, The Lord said, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, I did it, and it worked. Am I boasting? Well, I'm not boasting when I say I followed simply. I just followed simply what God says about the law, and I found it to work. And why shouldn't it work? God says it. And there is a great need today for us to get back to simple Bible teaching. Go home. If you have any books on child rearing, throw them all away. Throw them all. I don't care who wrote them. Throw them all away. And just get into the Bible. And ten minutes reading in the Bible will show you all you need to know about raising children. And just go back and read and study and follow. Think of God as a Father. See how he raises his children. See how he deals with them. See how he disciplines them. See how he restrains them. You know that many of God's children are set on sin, but he restrains them. Remember what he did to the Corinthians who were set on sin? Do you remember? He killed them. He stopped them. He said, some of you are sick. and some sleep. The Lord will not allow his children to sin. He'll intervene. Of course, our parental authority is limited. Our intervention is limited. But let us take what God tells us by way of intervening in the lives of our children to stop them doing wrong. Let us take it to its full length, and let us apply the rod when it is necessary. You don't have to beat your child every day. You won't have to beat your child year in and year out. I found some of my boys were, well, they were just boys and they were stubborn and rebellious as little ones. I remember one in particular. He had his own way of rebellion. When you take the rod, man, it squeals. And he would plead such pleadings that it would melt the stone. But it didn't melt Diah's heart. And I would use a robin. And I remember on one occasion, son, you're just rebelling against me by all your shouting. You're just continuing your rebellion. You're just continuing your disobedience by your shouting. And you're crying. And I want to tell you, you've got to submit to this. I only had to do it once. I'm glad I only had to do it once. I don't know whether I could have done it twice. But I said to him, you've got to submit to this. You've done wrong. And he bit his lip, and he held back for a while, and I believe it was the means of him crossing a line and learning something. Oh, it's not easy. It's not easy disciplining your children. It's not easy dealing with sin, but then it never was. There was an easy matter dealing with sin, cross the Son of God, the eternal sufferings of Calvary to deal with sin, to deliver us from sin. Self-discipline's hard. We've got to crucify the flesh. It's not easy to discipline your children, but it's sweet in the fruits that it produces. It's sweet in the fruit that it produces. You'll enjoy your children. Oh, how many, their children are a plague to them. Their children are a nuisance. That's meant to deal with the actual judgment that came upon the house of Eli. Read it carefully for yourself what God says. And one of the things is this God says, I'm going to cut off your children early. They're going to die young. And any that don't die young, they're going to be a nuisance and a curse and a plague to you. It must be an awful thing, you know, to look on a child and wish they had never been born. That's not intended of God. Our children are to be enjoyed. They're to be enjoyed. We're to delight in them. And there will be delightsful plants by our tables if we discipline them. All of you have houseplants. You know, if you didn't trim them every so often, what would it not be like in your house? What an ugly thing it would turn into. It would sprawl out all over the place. Dying. Corrupting. Filling the room with a stench. But you keep it trimmed. And it's a pleasant thing. So it is with our children. Everything in nature tells us how it is. Cries out with instruction. May the Lord bless His Word to our hearts.