SPEAKER_00 0:02

Again, we are very thankful to be with y'all this morning, and it is Mother's Day, and happy Mother's Day to all of our mothers that are in the church. And we who had wonderful mothers, we're so very thankful for that. And and today, y'all know it's probably my habit that on Mother's Day, as probably many other pastors do, they somehow or another end up in Proverbs 31. But I want to do something a little different today. We are going to be in Proverbs 31, but this is a if this uh message had a title, it would be a Mother's Day Sermon for the Whole Family. A Mother's Day Sermon for the Whole Family. A subtitle would be Our Call to Teach and to Listen. Our Call to Teach and to Listen. I want to start this morning. Again, we are going to end up in Proverbs 31, and I hope that you will see something that I had not ever seen or really thought about before in that pastor scripture. But we want to start this morning in Deuteronomy chapter 6. Deuteronomy chapter 6. So today, while we are going to be talking about mothers quite a bit, we're also going to be talking about fathers and sons and daughters and husbands and wives. Have I missed any categories? Maybe nieces and nephews. But in Deuteronomy chapter 6, I want to just read a few verses of scripture, and we're going to move pretty quickly through some of this and then get to our main focus. But in Proverbs chapter 6, I want to begin. Well, we'll just begin in verse 1. Proverbs chapter 6 and verse 1. Now these are the commandments, the statutes and the judgments which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that he might do them in the land whether ye go to possess it. That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God to keep all his statutes and his commandments which I command thee. Now, in verse two, I want you to see and please keep in mind that in these different sections of Scripture that we're going to be looking at, that there's always an element of that you and I are to fear and obey God, and then you'll see the things that follow after that. And that's not a that's not to be a fearful thing for you and me in the sense of like dread and fear, which God is an almighty God, but in the sense of God's people, it's a sense that we need to honor our father and honor our mother. It's the idea that we need to honor the word of the Lord. We want to, you know, if you had good and godly parents, you want to keep that good name, you want to follow after that good name. So here the idea is verse 2 that thou mightest fear the Lord thy God to keep his command to keep his statutes and his commandments, which I commanded thee, thou, in other words, he's addressing the fathers, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life. So he's calling God's people to obey, that uh and that they uh that thy days may be prolonged. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it, that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers has promised thee in the land that floweth with milk and honey. Here, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might, and these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart, verse seven. And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up, and thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes, and thou shalt write them upon the post of thy house and on thy gates. So why don't we read that? In the Bible, the Lord speaks of the commandment that not only do you and I have to obey the Lord, but I want to take that a step further. You know, in that command, he says that uh in verse 2 that thou mightest fear the Lord thy God and keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee this day, thou and thy son, and thy son's son, all the day of thy life. Now, why do I tell you that? Everybody in this church house is a mother, a father, a son, or a daughter. Every one of us here. Parents in the Bible, mothers and fathers, are called to teach their children. Amen. How are our children going to know the commandment? Now, you and I cannot teach our children to quote unquote know God. That is a sovereign operation of the Holy Spirit whereby he writes his laws in our hearts and our minds, and he transforms us from a dead alien sinner to a born-again person. We cannot give our children eternal life. We can't do that. However, you and I are called to teach our children the word of God. Well, that teaching applies to fathers and to mothers, but as I'm sitting here and as we have even more young people today, young people, one day you will be a father or a mother. One day your job will be to actually teach and instruct your children in the Bible, in the word of God. Well, how can you do that if you don't know it? How can you do that if we don't apply ourselves to the Word of God? And by the way, fathers and mothers, how can we teach our children to observe all the commandments that the Lord has called us to do if we don't know them ourselves? And so I mentioned that this was a Mother's Day message for the whole family. So even in these first scriptures, you can see that number one, fathers, you know, when he talks about he's addressing men here actually, that you you teach the God's word to your son and your son's son, your children, your grandchildren. It is my job as a father to actually teach actively, proactively, purposefully, intentionally. It is my obligation, according to the Bible, to actually teach my children the word of God. You mean, Brother Josh, that I'm supposed to take them to church? Well, yes, you are supposed to take them to church, but when do you talk about the Bible at your house? Now, please don't misunderstand me. Please don't misunderstand me. And by the way, that's what's so beautiful about this, is when we get to Proverbs chapter 31, you're going to see that parents and even people like mothers, they instruct their children just as much, maybe even more so, by the life that they live in addition to what they actually teach. In other words, parents are called to teach their children by their example. How do the parents spend money? How do the parents vote? How do the parents uh speak to one another? Uh what do the parents spend money on? You know, where are the parents' interests? In other words, do they make it a point to take their children to church Sunday after Sunday after Sunday? Do they make it a point to, Dad, I didn't understand what the preacher was preaching on, or I heard something on the radio and I didn't understand it. Can you explain it to me? So therefore, a father or mother actually purposely and intentionally takes time out to teach and instruct their children in the way of the Lord. Now, well, brother Josh, the things that you are saying seem to be a lot. They seem to be like a parent, one of his main tasks and duties is to teach and instruct their children. Yes and amen. That is one of our intentional uh things that you and I are called to do. It's actually one of our primary callings as a parent. Yes, as a father, I am supposed to go and work and earn money and put food on the table to provide for my family. But that's a given. The Bible assumes that I'm already doing that. The Bible assumes that I am going to provide money and feed my children and house my children and clothe my children and give them a protected environment. The Bible assumes that. But the Bible also calls me as a father to actively, intentionally instruct my children in the word of the Lord to teach them the Bible myself. I heard a pastor talk about recently I was listening to a sermon on manhood, and he was talking about, he uh he made the comment, and again, uh, this was not a printed Baptist, he was a Reformed Baptist preacher, and he was talking about men in the church and the way that the American church is set up. He said if you go back a hundred years or so, the way that our churches are set up today, that's not the way that the church was set up. In other words, the idea of, and again, please don't misunderstand me this morning. I'm not here this morning to bash other faith and orders or anything like that, but I do want to talk to this in a biblical sense that if you go back a hundred years or two hundred years, you won't find Sunday schools. Well, why is that? And you find it, you don't find it, it's because it was parents understood it was their primary obligation to instruct their children in the word of the Lord. Now, I had a this minister was talking about, he said, look, he said, if I was called into a new church, that they called me to be their pastor, and I got up and you know they had already established my qualifications, that I was preaching the Bible and so on and so forth. And then I began to teach on the Bible. And then I began to explain to people that look, I think that we should do away with Sunday schools and children's church, and I think we should do away with this group and that group. He said, they would run me out of the church because I would want to, I would be radically changing the church. He said, but what if I were to just instruct you that we as Christians are supposed to actively be teaching our children? That you need to, fathers, that you need to study the word of God yourself independently, away from church, and you need to read the Bible, and you need to daily be in the word, and you need to be teaching your children the Bible. And mothers, you need to be reading the word, and you need to be instructing your children in the Bible. That is actually what the Bible assumes and teaches that the default position of Christian mothers and fathers is. But that kind of strikes us today as so strange that, well, Josh, you mean that we we're not supposed to do this thing or supposed to do that thing? Again, I'm not trying to bash that. I'm just telling you, according to the Bible, one thing that you and I personally need to be doing, irregardless of what church you're going to, you and I need to be teaching our children in the Lord. We're actually called to do that. Oh, Brother Josh, you haven't talked about Mother's Day yet. No, I haven't. We're going to get there pretty quick. The Bible assumes that as Christians, that you and I are purposely and intentionally teaching our children. So, Father, are you able to teach your wife? Father, are you able to teach your children the Word of God to instruct them in what the Bible says about the godly living and our requirements of men? And mothers, do y'all know how to instruct even your sons and your daughters about what the Bible says that we're supposed to do? What about grandfathers and grandmothers and uncles and aunts? Look if look with me, if you will, at Exodus chapter 20. Exodus chapter 20. You will be familiar that in Exodus chapter 20 that this is the Ten Commandments, uh, where it's found in the Old Testament. Exodus chapter 20. And so there are Ten Commandments. The uh there is over 600, and I think there's 613 individual commandments in the Old Testament, but the Ten Commandments pertain to God's moral law sovereignly given down to Moses. And so in Exodus chapter 20, we find the recording of these. And in the past, they've divided the Ten Commandments actually into the first four commandments and then the last six commandments, and that's referred to as the two tables of the law. Why is that? The first four commandments pertain to man's relationship with God directly. And the last six commandments relate to man's relationship with man. And so the first four commandments, uh, thou shalt have no other God before me, thou shalt not make it to thee any graven image, thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. These are the first four commandments of the ten commandments that are found in Exodus chapter 20. Well, when you come down to uh Exodus chapter 20, uh after you read, uh Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, the last uh of the four of the commandments relating to God, verse 9, six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath day of the Lord. In it thou shalt not do any work, uh thou nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates, stop. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day, wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath and hallowed it. Now, the Lord commanded these first four commandments, the first table of the law that relate to God, and then he said here in verse 10, but that seventh day is the Sabbath, and in it thou shalt do no work, thou nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant. Why don't we point all that out? Who is the one teaching the children to do this? It's mother and father. Who is the one who, the head of the household, the father and the mother, is telling their manservant or their maidservant, today we're not working. It's the parents. Well, why are they doing that? Because they themselves are followers of the one true and living God, and therefore they're running their family in that manner, and they're instructing their own home that we're not going to do work on that day. So therefore, they're teaching their family what to do and what not to do. Well, so then you come down to verse 12 of Exodus chapter 20. Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. That's the fifth commandment. Honor thy father and thy mother. And that idea of honoring is literally the idea of honoring, that you uh promote them, that you praise them for what they've done. And again, I understand that you know there are situations in the world which uh there are not God-honoring fathers and mothers, and some people didn't have fathers and mothers. They were orphans and whatnot. But the Bible is telling us this. What I want you to see is this that there is a progression here in the Bible that God gives to families, that the mothers and the fathers are supposed to be instructing the children and the household in the word of the Lord. And therefore, the children are to do what? They are to honor their mothers and fathers because their mothers and fathers are trying to teach them God's word. And therefore, the children should be obedient to the parents to do what the parents have told them to do if they're honoring the Lord. Now, turn, if you will, to Ephesians chapter 6. We're going to move through this pretty quick. And I promise you we're going to get to Proverbs 31. Because there's a twist. In Ephesians chapter 6, we begin reading in verse 1. Ephesians chapter 6. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise. And we just told us that if you honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the earth. So if you have, and again, we're I'm I'm assuming that this is the ideal situation where mother and father are honoring the Lord, and the Lord is saying, Look, you children, if you honor your mother and father, and if you're obedient to their commandment, if you listen to what they have to tell you, it's going to go well with you. In other words, you're going to be a blessed person because they're older than you, they're wiser than you, they're attempting to follow the Lord again, however imperfectly that may be. But we're learning from them, and we're also, as children, learning from their mistakes, even without having to make those mistakes ourselves. When dad comes to me and says, you know, son, when I was young, you know, I used to be a drunkard and I used to do this and I used to do that, and I'm ashamed of those things, and I'm I'm so sorry to even have to tell you that. And again, by the way, a lot of times young people, fathers and mothers, are very hesitant about telling their young people their faults and their failures. And fathers and mothers, sometimes we're very uh we don't want to do that because we don't want to air our dirty laundry. And you don't have to give your children all the sordid details of that, but I would encourage you to be very open and honest. And fathers and mothers, I would encourage you to be vulnerable and open with your children, say, look, I messed up. I did the wrong thing. Son, look, when I was your age, I went out and I ran with my friends, and I did this and I did that. You know what? And I heaped upon myself a terrible amount of pain and hardship, and I set myself back, and so on and so forth. Please don't go do that. Learn from me. Fathers and mothers are supposed to teach their children. Well, Brother Josh, I thought we were supposed to teach them the word. We are. So when a follower says, look, when I went out here and I did this sinful behavior, and again, I'm not going to give you the gory details of it, and I was terribly wrong for doing so, and son, please know with a surety that if you do that thing, it's going to be terrible because I experienced the terrible. You are teaching your children the word of God, literally by your example. But make it a point to do just that. To teach them. Don't let this minister that I mentioned, he was talking about the fact that we as parents, we send again, please don't misunderstand me. All of my children went to public school. We have friends that homeschool, we have friends that send their children to private school, we have friends that send their children to public school, all of my children went to public school. Even if you send your child to another school, it is still your obligation as mother and father to teach your children. Because if you 100% send your children off to be taught of other people, especially in a public school setting, do we wonder why our nation is going the way that it is and doesn't understand God when our children are being instructed in Caesar's schools, in the government schools? And again, you understand I, as a pretty badist pastor, sent my children to public school. But my wife and I attempted to supplement our children's education and to sculpt and shape and intentionally frame their worldview in a godly context. We wanted to directly impact the lives of our children. We did not want the culture to shape our children in its own image. We wanted to attempt as best we could to mold and shape the minds and lives and intentions of our children in the image of God as best we could, whether it was through our own faults and failures and us asking for forgiveness or us intensely teaching the Word of God. God help us to do that better and to do it more than we did. Attempt to do that. And the Bible calls us to do that very thing. But my point is, if we just send our kids off to be taught of somebody else and we do not intentionally teach them, then we wonder why they turn out the way they do. Why do you act like Caesar because you've been taught like by Caesar? Parents. Fathers, you have no greater calling than to make it your life's mission to purposely shape the beliefs of your children. Live before them. Mothers, live before your children the word of God. Teach them the word of God. Intentionally shape their lives. And when you and I mess up, confess to your children. Tell them I messed up, I did wrong. Daddy was wrong. Daddy shouldn't have done that. And I will do my best to never do that again. I'm simply pointing out that the Bible calls upon us as parents to purposely instruct our children. Ephesians 6. Children, obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and thy mother, which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long upon the earth. And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We are supposed to be teaching our children. Turn, if you will, to Proverbs chapter 1. We're almost to Proverbs 31. Almost. So the book of Proverbs was written by King Solomon. Now, King Solomon was the son of King David. He was the son of Queen Bathsheba. Solomon was conceived from David and Bathsheba. So King David was his father, and Queen Bathsheba was his mother. And Solomon is, according to the scriptures, the wisest man that has ever lived, except for the Lord Jesus Christ. And he wrote Proverbs, most likely when he was middle-aged. He wrote the book of Ecclesiastes when he was in his old age. But he wrote the book of Proverbs when he was a middle-aged man, per se. And he wrote the book of Proverbs to his son. So the book of Proverbs is a father, by the way, the king of a nation, attempting to catechize or train his own son in the word of God. So when you read the word of God, when you read the book of Proverbs, the book of Proverbs is actually a father who is sitting down and who is pinning these words to his own son, saying, son, I want to teach you how to be a man. I want to teach you how to honor the Lord. And I also, son, want to teach you some of the pitfalls that I've fallen into. Well, because uh in case you don't know, when you get over reading in the book of Proverbs, uh, you will be noted to uh uh be wary of that evil woman and wine and drunkenness and uh sloth and vanity and all he goes, he covers the gamut. In the book of Proverbs, it is very comprehensive. The book of Proverbs is a father who is intentionally trying to teach his son the word of God. Amen. And you and I, as fathers and mothers, are called to do exactly the same thing. With intentionality, not by default, well, I take them to church. Good. You should, every single Sunday, forever. But not only that, you and your wife should teach them the word of God by the way you live and by the way you act and by the way you spend your money, and also you should intentionally teach them the actual word of God also, and purposely try to shape their worldview because the world around them is trying to corrupt their worldview forever. My daughter told me one time, my youngest daughter, who's now 20 in college, that sometimes we would go and meet my dear wife and go out to eat on an occasion, and we would I would come by and pick up my daughter from the house, and we would have to drive to Law or Hattiesburg or something like that. And Ivy might uh very innocently ask me a question that then turned into a 30-minute sermon and uh guilty, and my wife is a little better than my daughter is to say you gotta get out of preaching mode. You gotta get out of preaching mode, and I'd get loud. You gotta you gotta turn the volume down. We would literally be in the truck driving to Hattiesburg, and my daughter and I would be in a passionate debate or whatever, and my wife would call in and point, Josh, why are you yelling? Why are you hollering if she overheard if we called her? Brothers and sisters, I know that I don't do perfectly at this, but I want to influence the way that my children think. I want to communicate to them the word of God, and I will be, well, the Lord would help me to confess my sins and my failings, but also tell them, please do not do this, or please do this. The book of Proverbs is King Solomon's attempt to train and actively teach his son. Let's read. Proverbs chapter 1, verse 1. Very quickly. And y'all can hold me to this today. I'm gonna try to let y'all out early today. I'm looking at y'all now. Y'all can hold me to. I'm looking at my watch, okay? Proverbs chapter 1, verse 1. The Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, King of Israel, to know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding, to receive the instructions of wisdom, justice, and judgment and equity, to give subtlety to the simple, the young man knowledge and discretion, a wise man will hear and will increase learning, and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels, to understand a proverb and the interpretation, the words of the wise and their dark saying. Verse 7. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. I want to point something out to you. We just read in Exodus chapter 20, and we pointed out that was the Ten Commandments, and there's two tables of the law. The first table of the law is man relating to God, the second table of the law is man relating to man. Well, uh, thou shalt have no other gods before me, thou shalt not take unto thee any graven image, thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. When it says, Thou shalt have no other gods before me, the first table of the law is telling us to fear and to honor God. And so here, when King Solomon begins to train his son in the word, the first thing that he actively starts teaching him is the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Son, I want you to start with the Ten Commandments. Son, I want you to start with fearing the Lord first. Son, I want you to start with honoring the Lord first. Son, I want you to make it a primary focus of yours to honor the first table of the law. See that? Fear God first, obey God first. And then after that, honor thy father and thy mother. That second table of the law, honor of the men, respect other men. Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not covet, thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor, thou shalt uh not covet thy neighbor's house, so on and so forth. He says in verse 8, My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother. Son, we are, and but do you understand who is King David, who was a murderer and an adulterer, and the lady that he pressured to commit adultery with him was Bathsheba, and this Bathsheba is Solomon's mother, and King David, the actual murderer and adulterer, is this man's father, you understand, right? You follow me? And here the and so here is Solomon the son who is now instructing his son in the way of the Lord. But wait a minute, his daddy didn't always get it right. Follow me. By the way, ladies, I told you we're gonna get to Proverbs 31 real quick, but sometimes when I read Proverbs 31, I think to myself, I'm not even that good of a man. Amen. When you read Proverbs 31 and all the wonderful things about that godly lady, you're we're ladies, I know, and men were like, wow, who is this lady that does all these things right? That gets everything right. By the way, it's not an actual person. Y'all stay with me. He so Solomon says, My son, hear the instruction of thy father and forsake not the law of thy mother, for they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy neck and chains about thy neck. Proverbs 31. Last passage of scripture. Y'all turn with me there. This is where we're gonna end today. I promise you it gets better. So, Proverbs written by King Solomon in his middle age, Proverbs chapter 31, verse 1. The words of King Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him, then it goes into what my son, or Josh. I thought King Solomon wrote this. He did. Who is King Lemuel? Uh, the name Lemuel means one that is for God or one that is devoted to God. Most likely the name Lemuel was an affectionate name given to King Solomon by his mother. Does your mother always call you by your quote-unquote government name? No. Bubba. Or who, you know, you may have a pet name from your parents or from your friends or something like that. Well, most likely, Lemuel was the affectionate name of King Solomon given to him by his mother, and his mother was saying, My son, you are devoted to God. Well, what was the request of his son in middle age? Because we know that King Solomon didn't, we know that King Solomon went off the rails in his later life when he had all those wives and all those concubines. And by the way, the man who wrote the book of Proverbs didn't even get the Proverbs himself perfect, you understand. So, what I want you to understand, sons and daughters and mothers and fathers, is this that the Bible here is not trying to give us a pass on living a perfect life because none of us are going to live a perfect life. There's only been one man that has done that, that's the Lord Jesus Christ. But what he's trying to do here is King Solomon, the son of a of his king, a father who was at one time in his life a disgraced man who dishonored the Lord with murder and adultery, but at the same time, that same man did repent, and he was conceived literally of the woman that he quote unquote cheated with and later married, so he was legitimate. My point is that his parents weren't perfect. Mine and your parents aren't perfect. Me and my wife are not perfect. Sons and daughters, you will not be perfect as a one-day parent. Doesn't matter that none of us are perfect. What matters is the Lord calls us to teach our children. Amen. And sometimes we can teach them with our mistakes, and sometimes we can teach them with our successes, but irregardless, we need to teach them the word of God. And when our son says, Well, Daddy, you know, you used to drink. Yes, son, I did. Or whatever it was. And the Lord helped me to walk in victory over that. Proverbs 31. So here is King Solomon the son explaining to his son what his mother taught him. She said, What my son, and what the son of my womb, and what the son of my vows, give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings. It is not for kings, Olimuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink. So she just warned her son about loose women and about drunkenness. Y'all tell me, did y'all think that would have been a problem for kings of old that had everything at their disposal, that they could have had any woman they wanted, and they could have drank all that they wanted to drink? Yeah, absolutely. And you know what King Solomon's mom says? Don't do that. You're a king, you're not supposed to do that. Brother Josh, I thought historically that all these ancient kings of old they could do whatever they wanted to. Well, they had the power to do whatever they wanted to, but here is the king's mom telling him, trying to shape his worldview, saying, son, don't act stupid like other kings. See that? So if the king's mom can tell her son, don't be stupid and act like other kings do, oh, them boys they just go out there and sow their wives' oats. They shouldn't. Fathers, you need to get your son by the ear, and you need to go get him to work with you, and you need to walk with him, and you need to be his, you need to be his primary discipler, and his primary mentor, and his primary leader, and you need to show him how to live and be a man. And when you and I, as fathers, don't do that, then we have failed. And you know what? If we've already failed, then it's time for us to repent and change and start right now as a as an uncle, as a grandfather, as an older father. It's never too late to repent and change. But my point is, the Bible tells us as parents, we are to teach our children. Here is the mother of the king trying to shape him and make him different than other kings. She goes on to tell him, Lest thou drink and forget the law and pervert the judgment of the afflicted. Solomon, if you become a drunkard, then somebody becomes in front of you that is needy and needs your judgment and needs you to rightly rule on that, then you can't do it because your judgment is clouded by alcohol. Shame on you. That's what his mom told him. Give strong drink to them that are ready to perish and wine unto those that are of heavy hearts. She's literally saying, King Solomon, you need to be compassionate. That poor man out there who's about to die, you need to be compassionate to him and give him help, give him aid, give him medicine, give him something to ease his pain. You need to think about those people because most of the time kings couldn't give a flip about those who are out there suffering because he's up here in the palace in his high tower, and everything's great and fine for him, but here his subjects are suffering and they're dying, and he's not doing anything about it. And he's she's saying, Don't be that man. You be a different man. He says, verse 9, open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. He's saying, You be the defender for those people who can't speak for themselves or defend themselves. You're the leader. You're called to honor God that way. You're the king, you're the protector. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and the needy. Well, Brother Josh, you hadn't talked about women yet. We've got about two minutes before you end early. Yep. Let's talk about moms. King Solomon writing to his son is telling his son the lessons that he learned in the life of his mother. Did Bathsheba his mother do all the things in Proverbs 31 perfectly? No. Did his father, King David, do all things perfectly? Absolutely not. Did King Solomon himself obey all the words of Proverbs perfectly? No. Later on, he actually got his ox caught off in a ditch and had multiple hundreds of wives and concubines and didn't listen to that very first admonition that give not thy strength unto women, nor to the ways that which destroyeth kings, that's that was one of his very downfalls in his older wife. He didn't listen to her instruction. And he was the wisest man that ever lived, except for Jesus Christ. The point is, brothers and sisters, you and I are not going to do this perfectly, but we are to do it intentionally and with love, and we are called to do it. Let's close. So when King Solomon looks at the idea of the perfect woman and the things that he gleaned that his mom did at times that he saw in her example, he saw in her teaching, this is what he learned. This is what he saw. She will do the heart, uh, who can find a virtuous woman, a woman of strength, for her price is far above rubies. 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. She seeketh wool and flax and worketh willingly with her hand. She's a hard worker, she is like the merchant ships, and bringeth her food from afar. She's a planter. She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maiden. She is diligent, she is hard working, she considereth the field and buyeth it with the fruit of her hands. She planteth avenge, she is wise, and she is a steward of God's money. She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arm. She is not a weakling. She perceiveth that her merchandise is good, and her candle goeth not out by night. She layeth her hands to the spindle to hold the distaff. She stretcheth out her hands to the poor, yet she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. She is compassionate, she is kind. She thinks about others. She is not afraid of the snow for her household. She's not afear of the coming calamity where all the government's just going sideways, and I don't know what to do. No Christian woman, no Christian man, just follow God. Just diligently serve him. Don't worry about that. She is not afraid of the snow for her household, for her household are clothed with scarlet. She maketh herself coverings of tapestry. Her clothing is silk and purple. You know, she's not just eating, she's eating well. She's not just taking care of her family, she's taking care of her family well. Her husband is known in the gates when he sitteth among the elders of the land. They're a pair. Her husband is a reputable and godly man, and she is a reputable and godly woman. She maketh fine linen linens and selleth it, and delivereth girdles unto the merchants. Strength and honor are her clothing, and she shall, and she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed, her husband also, and he praiseth her. Did you know? This passage of scripture talking about mothers and the scripture is just as much so about the family. In other words, the husband is to look at the wife, is to be treating her with respect and godliness, and be providing her with protection and provision and giving her the ability to be able to have a godly household. And then the wife is taking that provision, and she is being a godly steward of it, and she is teaching her children, and he is teaching their children. And they are ruling their house well and making wise and godering decisions, and they are instructing their children, and they are helping the poor, and they're doing all these things. Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all. That's the strength of character. Favor is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. In other words, you can look on Facebook and Instagram and YouTube and see, quote-unquote, beautiful model women who are terrible human beings. And then you have mothers in Israel and in this church, and young ladies who are daughters that don't look anything like that that's on TV. And you are some of the greatest women that have ever lived. Amen. The Mother's Day message is not just about mothers. You and I are all mothers, our fathers, our sons, our daughters. And we are all called to teach, and we're all called to listen the word of God and be instructed by it. Even the young people who are listening to this poem about this most godly woman. Brother Josh, I just don't meet up to the standard of that. Well, I don't meet up to that standard either, even as a godly man, but you and I are both trying. Amen. This is King Solomon, who had a dad that got his life off in a ditch one time, that later he would get his life off in a ditch, attempting to train his son in godly wisdom, to not repeat the same states that he did, and also to recognize and see, son, don't chase after those ungodly women that he himself fell on that trap. Instead, I want you to look for this woman. And when you see this woman, I want you to marry her, and then I want you to praise her and love her and raise a family for her, and then her children call her blessed, and you call her blessed. And you be thankful to the Lord that he that findeth a wife findeth a good thing. And young people. Well, Brother Josh, what can I learn out of a Mother's Day message? Young men. You learn that you're supposed to be like King Solomon and listen to godly teaching. And one day you're going to be a dad, and you learn to train your young man how to live and act and do right. And young ladies, you learn what a godly mother is supposed to look like and act like. Because I assure you that your adversary, the devil, like a roaring lion, is constantly going about. Well, I would just love to pluck just one of his children from him. Or maybe two. Or maybe three. Or I'd just love to tear their marriage apart. Or I'd just love to get that man to get hooked on alcohol and just totally forget about his family. See, that's what Satan wants to do. And dear Christians, it's mine and your job to fight all the days of our life. Because we're in a fight. And so this wise king was writing about his wise mother and what she taught him. To God be the glory. Brothers, sisters, we love y'all very much. I'm so very thankful for my godly mother, and I know you are for yours. May they be honored and praised for what they've done in our lives. And you know what? Even if you didn't have a godly father and mother, you go and be one one day. You go and be one one day. And change that heritage of your family. To God be the glory. I'm gonna ask for the Don if you would come up and help us close in a word of song. The church doors are always open if you desire tonight, remember.