This morning it's good to see
you. I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Hebrews. I'm going
to deviate this morning from our continued summary of the
book of Revelation, Hebrews chapter 12. I would like to read verse 6,
Hebrews chapter 12, verse 6. the day that you've made and
graciously allowed us to be here. We pray that you'd bless this
word, bless this message to our heart and our understanding and
to our prophet. And we pray, Lord, for the teaching
of your scriptures to your honor for Christ's sake. Amen. The last Monday I was watching the
news, and I don't take current events and preach messages based
on current events. There's no need for that. That's
not the dictates of of the way that we preach, but I was prompted
by a current event to preach the message that I want to preach
this morning. I believe that this message is
one that the Lord has truly impressed my heart. Now, if that's the
case, if I've been stirred by the Spirit of God to preach a
message, I can preach that message with some confidence and some
assurance that this is the message of the Lord. As I've said before,
Brother Henry Mahan made a statement one time that I thought, that's
so. He said, God's people are not
looking for a message. You can preach a doctrinally
sound message, but if that message is one that is not blessed by
God. It's words, just words. I truly desire that the Lord
would preach to us what He is pleased to. I realize that this
message is normally, the first message is normally the shorter,
and if this message goes into a little bit longer time, I'll
make up the difference. Make the second one shorter. But this morning I want to deal
with the subject that I think is so necessary. The current
event that I was talking about was last Monday I saw on the
news where they in the state of Massachusetts they're considering
legislation to to make spanking of children illegal, to ban that. My thought was this. First of
all, this is a biblical issue. This is a scriptural issue. And whenever something is done
that is in direct opposition to the Word of God, I've got
to say something about it. And I've mulled this thing over
in my mind. I woke up this morning, woke
up early, looked at the clock and thought, it's too early for
me to get up. I'm going to go back to bed.
And I laid there and I preached this message until finally the
clock went off. I pray that this message will
be a blessing to you, be a help to you. I realize this is one
of great controversy. But there is no controversy with
Almighty God. Now, this morning you may be
a parent. You may one of these days be
a parent. You may be a grandparent. But
I want you to understand something. I am a parent. raised children, now I have grandchildren. And this is a subject that is
so, so desperately possessing need to be taught on. God's people
truly want to know. I want to know what the Scripture's
got to say. It's on this subject of disciplining
children. Since it's dealt with in the
Holy Scriptures, Therefore, it must be dealt with from the pulpit. Don't ever be ashamed. One wise
preacher told me, don't ever be ashamed to deal with something
from the pulpit that the Scriptures deals with, no matter what it
is. It's dealt a lot of debate, caused
a lot of questions, generated a lot of perplexing thoughts. But you know what? God's people
want to know. I want to know. I'd like to make or set forth
the question that establishes the basis of the answer of this
question. And here it is. What does God
have to say about it? Now, you know, we can all sit
here have our opinions, got an opinion. Well, I think this,
I think this. But as I've said when we're dealing
with the book of Revelation, everybody's got an opinion. But
what does God have to say about it? And you know, based on what
the Lord has got to say about it, that ends it right there.
That just absolutely, that establishes. Hebrews, I read the first verse,
I want to now read Verses 6 to 8, Hebrews 12, 6 to 8, For whom
the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom
he receiveth. If you endure chastening, God
dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father
chasteneth not? But if you be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers, That is, all of God's people are protectors. Then are you bastards and not
sons. Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. That is, he trains up and educates
by discipline. Chasteneth. And scourgeth. Spanks. That's what the word
means. Flog or spank. If you endure, if you persevere,
chastening, God deals with you like a son. Now, though all men
go through trials and tribulations in this world, the believer is
made to be sensitive and made to be aware of God's dealing
with him. correction, I realize, is part
of the chastening. What I'm saying is that God deals
with us as sons. He chastens. Whom the Lord loves,
He chastens. And someone would say, well,
how is this chastening done? Well, you know, immediately we
start thinking of the trials and tribulations of like sickness,
monetary, But let me tell you where the
chastening for a believer, where it takes place. David said in
Psalm 51, verse 4, "...against thee, and thee only, have I sinned
and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified
when thou speakest, and clear or pure when thou judgest." You
know, a believer, we've been going through the book of Romans,
and we know that there's two natures. There's an old nature
and a new nature. And I'll tell you the chastening
that a believer feels when he sees in him, that is, in his
flesh, that there dwells no good thing. Do you know where that
chastening is? I'll point here because it's
hard, but mind yourself. against thee and thee only have
I sinned." There's a child that is chastened. You know, the outward
correction of the spanking, the rod. But let me tell you something,
a child that has respect for their parent, you know what they
say? I've hurt you. I've hurt you. I've disappointed you. I'm so
sorry. I am so sorry. I mean, that rebellion
within a child that just raises itself, to have a child broken,
there's the hurt. That sting of that rod, I mean,
is moment. But I tell you to remember, I'm
so sorry. I have sinned against thee. the chastening hand of God's
Spirit that teaches me inwardly the ways of God that are evidenced
by my acts of disobedience. His chastening is needful for
me. I need that. I know this. I know that there is a nature
in me, as we looked at last week, Sin takes every opportunity to
exercise itself in my members. I see it. Lord willing, depending on how
far we get into the next message, there's something that I wanted
to mention, I just thought of in that message, and I'll bring
it up now, just to show you how quickly I'm just, my nature,
my own nature just reacts, and I'm held captive. I can't get
away from it. Worry. Try to talk to yourself
out of worry. Tell yourself, I'm just not going
to worry about that anymore. You just sit there and you think
about it, you know. And then you say to yourself, you know,
this is not pleasing to the Lord. It's disrespectful to Him and
it's still there. You grieve. You think how easily our old
nature just reacts itself. The chastening hand of the Lord. God Almighty is weaning His people
from this world. Chastening. We see it the older
we get, the more we realize As Paul says, there is in me, that
is in my flesh, there dwells no good thing. God Almighty scourges,
disciplines, chastens those that He loves. So when a parent finds
it necessary to spank a child, it's because he loves that child. He loves him. Proverbs 13.24
says, "...he that spareth his rod," that is, refuses or withholds. "...he that spareth the rod,"
now listen to this, "...hateth his son. And he that loveth him
chasteneth him betimes," or quickly. I got to thinking about that.
He that spareth the rod hates his son." Now, you know, that's
an amazing thing because you'll hear times that parents will
say, well, I don't want to spank my child because I love my child
so much. I love them so much. I don't
want the child to resent me. I don't want the child to look
at me and be afraid of me. I don't want to teach the child
that the only way to get something is to be using violence. I'm afraid if I spank the child,
then what that's going to say is that's going to tell that
child, then if you want something, you've got to spank you, you've
got to hit to get them. That's our thinking. That's our
reasoning. And our ways are not God's ways. I looked at the word, hateth.
He that spareth refuses to spank his child. Hates him. He hates him. That word hate
means an untrustworthy foe. And this is the sense. I'll just
leave you alone. I'll just leave you alone. I
don't want to deal with you. I don't want to fool with you. I'm going
to leave you alone." He hates you. He hates you. So here
we see that a parent that will not spank... Now, just get out
of your mind the thoughts, I don't want to spank a child because
I don't want him to resent me. I don't want to teach him that
that you only get something by violence. I don't want him to
resent me and to think that I'm just going to deal. If you withhold
necessary discipline from a child, the Scripture says you are an
untrustworthy foe to that child. Get out of your mind whatever
you think is right. What does God have to say about
it? and everything else is wrong. Let God be true. Let God be true. I'm a liar. My thinking is not
God's thinking. It's right. It's right. A parent
that refuses to spank their child, whom the Lord loves, He spanks. He disciplines. They say, how
does God do that? God knows how to deal with His
children. And thankfully, he's told us how to deal with ours. I'm not wise enough, Gary, to
know. I'm not wise enough to know. But God is. Children, listen
to me. When your parents spank you because
of disobedience, because of unruliness, because of a lack of control,
they're doing the best thing that they've ever done for you.
best thing they've ever done for you. I'm telling you, a parent
that thanks their child when that child needs it, loves that
child. I'm not going to let you get
out of hand. I'm not. I'm not going to let you run
rampant. I'm not going to let you do that which is bound in
your heart. This parent that does not discipline
their child is abandoning that child to their own evil thoughts. God Almighty has set forth that
discipline, the disciplining of a child, the scriptural disciplining
of a child is right. It's right. I'm not talking about
abuse. People say, well, I just don't
want to abuse my child. There's a big difference. That's
what I heard. They said, well, on this thing,
we want to abandon this because we want to cut down on abuse.
You're not going to cut down on abuse. I'm going to tell you
something. You make all the laws you want
to. It's against the law to kill somebody. They want to kill them,
they'll kill them. I'm talking about parents that
truly struggle, wanting to know, what do I do? What do I do? How do I handle this? It's out
of control. What do I do? I'm telling you,
God's dealt with it. It's set forth. This is the truth.
And I know it's a touchy issue. I know it is. But I'm going to
tell you something. I'd a whole lot rather know what
God's got to say about it and be up front and say, this is
what the Lord... This is how God deals with His
children. This is how He deals with us. Is there anything wrong? With us dealing with our children
the way that God deals with us? No. This is right. This is the right way. It's the
grand expression of love toward that child when the chastening
hand is administered in love. I love you. Did I really enjoy
spanking my children? No. I'm going to be honest with
you. It grieved me. It grieved me.
I think, oh, why, why don't you just listen twice? Didn't I tell
you? Didn't I say, you know, okay,
go on in. I'll be there in a second. Boy, that sound just always had
a sound to it. My dad would pop it. But you know what, next go around,
I thought it through the next time. I thought, you know what,
I lost on that last round. I bet I'll lose on this one too.
And I did. Why'd he do that? He loved me.
He loved me. Another thing that is right disciplining
of children in a scriptural way, biblical way, is worship. I've
made that statement before, but it's worship. This is worship. Children, when your parents discipline
you, they are worshiping God because they're obedient. That's the heart of worship,
obedience. It's right. It's right. Right. God Almighty does not
leave His children to the inward dictates of their old nature.
He doesn't. They're there. They're there.
But he doesn't leave them to them. Whom the Lord loves, he chastens. So first of all,
spanking is right because God Almighty has ordained it. It's
right. This is the way. What can I do? Spank them. Secondly, spanking. is needful. It's right. Secondly,
it's needful. Proverbs 22, 15. Foolishness
is bound in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction shall
drive it far from him. Foolishness. Despising wisdom. Despising wisdom. Foolishness
is bound in the heart of a child. The foolishness and corruption
of sin is woven in our own nature. Now, you know that. That foolishness
that's contrary to the way and to the Word and to the heart
of Almighty God. But God has graciously, wisely
chosen to keep His people in subjection by His means, chastisement. As I said a moment ago, He doesn't
allow them, His people, to run around. I'll just use terms that
we can understand, using them in relationship to children.
He doesn't allow them to run around unchecked, unruly, unruly. He doesn't. If you go somewhere,
I know we've all done this. been somewhere in a family gathering,
just a large group of people and children that are left unchecked. They're just running around rampant,
just here, there, everywhere, you know, hollering, screaming,
you know. Parents are trying to talk. They
just don't, they can't even hear. You know, kids are just, you
know, throwing things out of control, out of control. You leave that organization or
that party or that family gathering, and let me tell you, let me tell
you the first thing that comes up. Let me tell you the first
things talked about. Oh boy, I'll tell you what, they're
going to have to get that child under control. I'm telling you,
I couldn't even think. I couldn't. Now, am I right or
wrong? I'm right. I'm right. You know why? Because
I said it. I may not be right for you, but
I'm right for me. I can tell you that. God Almighty does not
allow His people to run rampant in society unchecked. There is nothing that is sweeter
than to be around people, I'm just honest with you, God's people
that have been taught and settled and chastened. They've learned
some things. They've settled. God has settled
them down. And to settle them down, they're
not running rampant. They're not out of control. One of my daughters one time,
I think I told some of you this one time, I had one of my daughters,
and this was my rule. If I'm talking to an adult, if I'm talking, don't come up
and interrupt me. Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad! Go in that room and I'll be there
in just a second. I told you. I told you. Don't do that. God Almighty does not allow His
children to run unchecked, ruling the whole atmosphere. No. No. God's people are taught,
foolishness is bound in the heart of a child. God's sheep, they
truly see the good of God's discipline, and they rejoice in what the
Lord has done for them. Let me tell you, let me just
use myself as an example. I need, I need for God to keep
me in subjection. I need it. I need it. Listen. I don't want to be out of control.
I don't. I really don't. I don't want
to be disrespectful toward him. I don't want to be disrespectful
toward you. How would you feel if you saw me as your pastor
out doing things, disrespectful things, bringing a reproach,
number one, on our Lord, number two, on this church? That's our
pastor. I just, I don't want to do that.
You see what I'm saying? I mean, I can look at it as an
adult and say, well, I don't want to do that. Why do we allow
our children to do it? Don't. Don't. I love them too
much. No, you don't. I don't want to
hurt them. You will if you're not faithful
to this Word. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4,
17, "...for our light affliction, which is but for a moment." worketh
for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." It
hurts me when I see how I've been disrespectful, how I've
thought disrespectfully or done something disrespectfully. If
I thought that I'd done something to you out of control, didn't
care, didn't have any heart for it, hurt you, I hurt you, lied
on you, did something to you, And it didn't bother me. Ooh,
something's wrong. Something's wrong. God's people.
I realize some are called upon to suffer in a greater capacity
than others. We feel the trial. We feel the pain of God's dealings
with us, providential dealings. But you know, a believer knows
that this trial is but for a moment. I needed that. I needed that. I said, Lord, don't leave me
to myself. I know foolishness bound in the heart of a child,
that foolishness never leaves. It never leaves. Flesh is flesh. Whether I'm one, six, eight,
foolishness is there. But the rod of correction drives
it, keeps it in subjection, drives it far from Him. worketh in us,
accomplishes us, fashions us into what Almighty God has ordained.
God's people, I'm telling you, you look at aged, taught, settled
believers. For a believer, they're a pleasure
to be around. Pleasure, joy. When God sends
affliction and teaches us in our heart Yet He does all things
well. We rejoice in the effects of
these slight afflictions, but they work a great weight of glory. Thirdly, discipline is profitable. Number one, it's right. Number
two, it's needful. But number three, it works. It works profitably. Psalm 119
and 71, it's good for me that I've been afflicted, that I might
learn thy statutes. As I said a moment ago, I want
to be corralled. There's a nature in me that's
going to do one thing. It's going to rebel against God.
That's all it's ever going to do. Flesh is flesh. That which
is flesh is flesh. Paul says, I see in me, that
is in my flesh, there dwells no good thing. But there's a
new heart, there's a new mind that desires honor and respect
and loves God. Discipline is profitable. David,
in that Scripture 119, agrees, as all believers do, that the
affliction of God has been excellent. It's been valuable. It's been
right. It's right. Children left unchecked. Listen to me. Number one, your
parents love you, as I said before. But number two, I'm telling you
the truth. You'll go out into society and
you think that somehow you're getting back at your parents
right now. But let me tell you something. When you get into
society, you're going to find out that society is not going
to tolerate you. They're not going to tolerate
you. You try to go get a job and act disrespectfully toward
a boss. You're gone. You get into school
and think that you're disrespectful and you're getting away with
it. in school, they're not going to tolerate you. You'll be on
the outside. Your parent is doing the best
thing they've ever done for you. Almighty God does not leave His
kids to themselves. It's profitable. Believers are
great gainers for the chastening hand of Almighty God. Great gainers. It's good that I've been afflicted.
You've dealt well with me. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All things concerning God's hand
of affliction, they're not pleasant to our flesh,
but I'll tell you this, they are good because David says that
I might learn of your statutes, that I might learn of your ways,
your truths, There's nothing like experience. Boy, I'll tell
you, there's some things that I've heard with my ear, and there's
some things that I know by faith. But I'll tell you those things
that I've learned by experience. Almighty God has taught His people
some things by experience, and they're profitable. Faith. Faith looks to Christ. Faith is the evidence of things
that are hoped for. I know this. There's an eternal
weight of glory that Almighty God has promised. I believe that.
And while I'm going through this world, I'm experiencing some
things that's establishing what my faith or who my faith looks
to. It's good. It's good to spank
children that are disobedient. Not for mistakes. Children make
mistakes. As I've said before, spilled
milk is a mistake, but if you do it on purpose and I catch
you, that ain't a mistake now. You did that on purpose. It's
good for her. It's good for her. As the Lord
loves His own, we as parents love our own, and we administer
discipline, spankings. Don't tell them that you're going
to do something and then not do it. Don't go and put them
in a corner. Why? Because the Lord didn't
say put them in a corner. Spank them. Give them a spanking. If you tell them something, if
you tell them, if you do that again, I'm going to spank you. Do it. Do it. Mothers, if you're in a shopping
mall, if you're at the grocery store and they throw a tantrum,
you know, don't start screaming and hollering. You're out of
control. They've already pushed you over the limit. If you can't
bring them to the back, right then, if you tell them, when
you get home, I'm going to deal with you. For that child's good,
please do it. Don't tell them you're going
to do something and not do it. Do you think Almighty God would
promise His children He's going to do something and then not
do it? Be faithful to your Word. Teach them. What I'm telling
you is right. And I'm doing this for your good.
Don't promise Him and then not do it. I realize that men may
dispute this Word and say, well, He's just old-fashioned. I'm
as old-fashioned as this book. Now, you show me one thing that
I have not gotten from this Word. It's right because God says it's
right. It's needful because God Almighty
says that foolishness is there. The rod of correction will drive
it from them, but it's profitable. There's nothing that is more
pleasant than to be around children or adults. I mean, unruly adults
is not fun to be around. I don't like to be around unruly
adults. I don't like to be around unruly children either, and you
don't either. Nobody here does. Nobody. Work, school, church,
nobody. Be grounded. Settle. Subjection. Keep for order. Don't allow the
child to manipulate you. Proverbs 19, 18, Chasten thy
son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his
crying. They start screaming and hollering. Settle down. Settle down. You
may cry, but you will cry softly. You think I'm kidding. I'm not
kidding. You may cry. When a child, if you spank a
child and they're screaming at you, and you know whether or
not they're hurting or they're rebellious, you know it. I'm
telling you, a child that screams in anger, hollers, you talk to
that child and they tell you, say, shut up. No. If that child screams at you
in rebellion, crying when they're done or when you're done with
them, spank them again, you will cry in subjection. You may say that in your heart,
but I'm serious. How many times have I seen children
manipulate their parents, screaming at them, putting the parents
in a position as being the one that needs to be corrected. Almighty God does not abuse His
children, and a good spanking is not abuse to your child. I
don't care what the courts say. I don't care what anybody says.
It's not abuse. Breaking their arm is abuse.
It's against the law to abuse your children. Don't slap them. Don't slap them in the face.
There's a behind that was made that works very well. The Scripture
says in Proverbs 23, 13, "...withhold not correction from the child,
for if thou beatest or punish him with the rod, he shall not
die." He may think he's going to, but he's not going to. Don't
withhold. Don't withhold that which is
for their good, for their profit. Order in the home, order in the
school, order at work, order at this church, order in society,
order, order. It's profitable. For that child
and for that parent, Proverbs 29, 15, the rod and reproof give
wisdom, but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. Children, listen. disobedience
before your parents that brings shame to your parents. Shame
on you. Shame on you. Shame on you. And believe me, you will suffer
for it. You will. Correct thy son, and
he shall give thee rest. Yea, he shall give delight unto
thy soul. Last verse, Ephesians 6, 4, And
ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring
them up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. Parents, believing parents especially,
they want to know what's right. I want to do the right thing.
I do. I did. I did. And I'm telling you, The
only thing I'm saying to you is this, how does God deal with
His children? If this is the way that God deals
with His children, whom the Lord loves, He chastens them, He teaches
them, instructs them, and scourges them, spanks them. If this is
the way God deals with His children, do we think that we've got a
better way? Do we think that we're, you know, We can reason. You know, I never could reason
with my kids till after I spanked them. And then they saw my reason,
saw my understanding. Why did I do it? I loved them.
I loved them. I didn't want them out of control.
I didn't want an unruly house. I didn't want these kids out
in society. I didn't want others looking at them and saying, they're
out of control. I didn't want that. It's right. Because God says it's right.
It's needful. I know me. Most of you didn't
know me when I was growing up. I knew me a little bit. And believe
me, I needed it. I needed it. But I'm telling
you, it's needful. But it's so profitable. It's
so profitable. Isn't it wonderful to be in a
place where there's settleness? It's contentment. It's content. It's peaceful. Peaceful. Parents,
do your kids the best, best thing you could ever do for them. Don't
let them be out of control. Spank them. Spank them. Children,
realize this. Your parents don't hate you.
They love you. If you want to know if they hate
you, let them just leave you alone. The Scripture says they
hate you. They're just leaving you to your
own evil thoughts, and that's not good. I pray the Lord bless
this message to you. Amen.