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Thank you very much. Thank you. I'm back and wondering, how is this relevant to me today to read through a list of names and a list of people and the sons that they had and how long they lived. And really it's actually pretty interesting when you start to break it down. There is application to be made. The Bible says that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for proof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect thoroughly furnished unto all good works. So that would include even a genealogy such as this. So never shy away from reading genealogies. Never shy away or skip over those things. I know it's tempting to just jump over them when you get into 1 Chronicles and other places to think, oh, you know what, I don't need to read a litany of names. Obviously it had much more significance in the day that it was written to the people that were living in that time. It carried a lot more weight, more practical weight. But there's a lot of gems in those things too. And if you start to recognize these names, there's a lot of things that we can still make application with. So let's just get into Genesis 5 tonight. It says in verse 1, this is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, the likeness of God made him him. Male and female created he them and blessed them and called their name Adam in the day when they were created. So again, I know we touched on this earlier a couple chapters ago, but the Bible makes it real clear here that they were made in the same day. There's teaching out there that maybe it was in a different day or Eve came later. And you can kind of see where they're coming from. But then when you get into Genesis 5, we have a real crystal clear verse like this. It's kind of hard to make that argument. Because it says there in verse 2, we'll just look at verse 2. Male and female created he them and blessed them and called their name Adam in the day when they were created. So it was the day they were created. So it's pretty cut and dry. Adam and Eve were made on the same day. Really don't want to rehash that, but you know, it's verse 2. Verse 3, it says, and Adam lived in 130 years and begat a son in his own likeness after his image and called his name Seth. So this is, of course, the third born. So you get kind of a time frame of when Cain and Abel were born. They were born before Adam was 130 years old. So relatively speaking, early on in his life, you know, when you're living 930 years, you're having children at around 100 years old as a young man. And you know, you've probably already noticed the fact that there's all these very long life spans that are being mentioned, hundreds of years, centuries long, 900 years, you know, and upwards. And a lot of times people wonder, like, why is it that they live so long? Like, how do they do that? A lot of people have all these theories about all the stuff that's out there, how it was the atmosphere, things like that. You know, the Bible doesn't really give us an explanation. But what we see is that, you know, as the Bible goes on and man goes further and further down into, you know, as sin just gets further and further into our genetics, our lifespan is shortened. Of course, eventually God caps man's lifespan at one point. So, you know, why they live this long is just because God hadn't determined that they should live any less, is my opinion. You say, well, what about the science behind it? Well, I don't know that there is any science behind it, honestly. None of us were there. We can't really prove any of that. So let's not start speculating about the way things might have been and why they lived that long. To me, they lived that long because God let them, because God just determined and said, hey, you guys are going to live this long, right? What's interesting, though, is that they all died. You know, we say, what's the application? No matter how long you live, eventually you're going to die. Every single one of us has a date with death. Let's close and have a word of prayer. Take that home. Right. And enjoy the rest of your week. But, you know, that's that's it's a sobering thought. But, you know, it is something that we ought to think about. The Bible says, Lord, make me to know mine end and the measure of my days, what it is that I may know how frail I am. You know, behold, thou has made man as the days as in hand bread, you know, and my ages as nothing before thee. Right. We shouldn't think that we have all the time in the world to do everything that we're going to do. We're going to have all the time in the world to serve God. You know, we don't have 900 years. We don't even have 100 in all likelihood. Right. It's very rare that we reach 100. You know, if by reason of strength, they'd be four score and 10. You know, maybe or three score and 10. Maybe you'll get to 70. Maybe you'll get to 80. You know, maybe we'll live into our 90s. You know, but that's that's kind of in God's hands. There's a lot of things that, you know, we have to take responsibility over as well if you want to live a long life. But again, you know, the point is this is that we're all mortal. I know we know that. Like, I'm sure no one's shocked by that right now. And I walk out like, I'm going to die. I had no idea. Right. You didn't get anything tonight. You don't get anything tonight. You don't get anything tonight. You got that. You know that you're going to die. Right. But the point is this is that no matter how long you live, you're going to die. Right. And it's how you spend that time that matters. And we shouldn't think that we all have tomorrow. You know, we need to serve God today. Use the time that we do have on this earth to serve God. I mean, I think it'd be great to live 900 years. I'm the only one. I think it would be great to live hundreds and hundreds of years. I don't know, maybe the rest of you are just very pessimistic people. Maybe you got nothing to live for. I don't know. Think about all the things that you can learn. Think about all the things you can understand. Think about, I mean, you could just. But that's not to say that we can't become wise and learn things in the time that we do have. So, that's not really the thrust of the sermon at all tonight. But, you know, it's there. These guys all died. So will we. Right. But the other thing I want to point out is if you notice in this litany, of course, it talks about the son that was born unto a man. And then it talks about the fact that he begat sons and daughters. Right. In verse four, he begat sons and daughters. Verse seven, Seth begat sons and daughters. Verse ten, Enos begat sons and daughters. Canaan begat sons and daughters. And so on and so forth. I mean, that phrase just comes up repeatedly throughout this chapter. So what we see taking place in Genesis chapter five is this great population expansion. We go from just, you know, Adam, Eve, and Cain. Right. Because Abel was killed and Seth to this really large population. And we're only getting in chapter five from Adam's perspective. Right. His side of things. Because you have to remember Cain's already off doing his thing. Right. So we're only accounting for, you know, these people here, what's called the sons of God. Right. As we'll see here in a minute. Or next week, rather. But these guys are beginning sons and daughters to see this great population increase. And why is that? Why do we have this great population increase? Well, we're not going to get into the birds to bees tonight. Don't worry. But the point I'm making is this, is that the reason why we see this great population increase is because that's what God commanded them to do. God commanded them. Right. Go back. You're right there. Just go back. Let's review Genesis chapter one. Okay. Verse twenty-eight. God blessed them and God said unto them, be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. Right. And subdue it. Right. So that was a commandment that God gave. To be fruitful and multiply. That's not an option in God's eyes. That's not something that they were, if you feel like it. You know, if children, if it's the right time of life for you. You know, if you've accomplished everything else. If you've had success raising a dog. Right. Because that's what people do today. I've known people like that. Well, we haven't decided to have children yet because we're going to get a dog first. And see what that's like. And then these same people who get dogs later have children and they're like, yeah, it has no bearing whatsoever in having children. It's like, yeah, duh. You know, like, you really had to be told that? Well, we're going to see how well we handle a dog. I mean, I don't want to go on and on about it. Right. I mean, it's just, it's laughable. But, you know, the thing is, it's like, why, people, that's people's mentality, though. If it's convenient, I'll have kids. You know, if it's something I want to do. Right. But God commanded them. He said, be fruitful and multiply. Right. Multiply, have a multiplicity of children. You know, create multitudes. And we're going to get into the math here in a minute, a little bit. I don't know how deep we'll get into it. But that's what we see happening in this chapter, is a great multitude of people. And you have to really think about it, and if you use even just some very conservative numbers, this is a huge population increase that takes place, because they all beget sons and daughters, like, plural. Okay. So that's at least four children each. Right. Because the sons would have to be at least two, and daughters would have to be at least two. So that'd be four children apiece. Right. So they're having at least four. And good night these days. If you have more than three kids, people look at you cross-eyed. Like, oh, don't you know what a TV is? Don't you know what causes that? You know, all these stupid remarks. It's like, yeah, whatever. But, you know, these guys are actually obeying the command to be fruitful and multiply. And if you're still there in Genesis 128, notice how it phrases this. Right. Because it says there, God said unto them, be fruitful and multiply. Right. That's the command. But how does the verse start? And God blessed them. And God blessed them and said unto them, be fruitful and multiply. This is a blessing. God's blessing them by saying, have children. Right. Be fruitful, multiply. That's a blessing to say that to somebody. And you see that in Scripture. Be thou the mother of millions. Not just, not you alone. Right. But, you know, that's a blessing you see throughout Scripture. Where they say, have a bunch of kids. Have a great multitude of children. Right. Go over to Psalm 127. I know we know the verses, but we're going to look at them. Because this is something we have to keep in mind in, you know, the 21st century America. Because, you know, the day that we're living in, it'd be easy to lose sight of this. Because so many people are just going to tell you not to have a great multitude of children. They're going to say, you know, don't have any kids or have very few children. Right. Or time those children. And we can be influenced by the world in our thinking of this. And this can happen even in Baptist churches. The last place you'd expect it to be, this philosophy creeps in. Where they're against having a lot of children. Where they're against having a big family. It was a Baptist preacher who told me once, never have more kids than you can afford. You know, but if I had, if I adopt that philosophy, I probably would never had any kids. Because I could barely afford to take care of myself. Well, that's not true, you know. But, you know, when you have a kid, you go, how am I going to afford this? But somehow you do. And then you have another one, you say, I don't know how I'm going to afford this. But somehow you do. And then you have another one, you're like, I really don't know how I'm going to afford this. I guess I should have listened to that Baptist preacher and stopped at one, stopped at two. You know, because he told me not to have more kids than I can afford. Well, it turns out, you know, I can afford all five. But that's not, I didn't start out that way. I didn't start out rolling, I'm not rolling a dough. Okay, let's just be perfectly honest. I know it's kind of a joke that's out there amongst some of you people. The deacon money, or whatever, deacon dollars. I haven't seen it, I don't know what you're talking about. I have a very modest income, okay. I got dozens of dollars, right, dozens. Okay, it goes straight to my wife and my daughters. Alright, I got dozens of dollars, it goes to my wife and my daughters. I'm spitting bars up here. That's plagiarism, I didn't come up with that, it's not original to me. But, you know, I'm not rolling a dough, and I wasn't, you know, I'm making more money than when I had one kid. But I wasn't, you know, I didn't get married going, well I have enough money to have five children. So that's what we're going to do, we're going to have five kids, because that's how much money I got. Why I sound like Bill Clinton right now, I don't know. Right? You know, over time, I was able to make more money and I could afford more kids. You know, I say, are you done? Well that's up to God. It's up to the Lord. You know, people, relatives ask me, well how many more kids are you going to have? You still trying? Yup. I'm not doing anything to prevent it, I'm not doing anything to stop it. Still trying to have, you know, if we have more kids, we'll have more kids. Because having children is a blessing. Isn't that what God said? That God blessed them and said unto them, be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth, subdue it. God blessed them when he said that. Right? Look at Psalm 127 verse 3. Lo children are in heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his burden. It's his loathsome disease that you have to just bear. It says it's his reward. It says reward. How does God reward us? Children. That's how you should look at your children. My child is a reward. This is an heritage of God. This is a blessing from God. But that's not how people look at it today. Even in Baptist churches. You know, there's very few churches that are going to encourage people to have as many children as possible. Right? You know, there's a lot of Baptist churches out there that have adopted the philosophy of having very few children. Because, let me just clue you in on the way a lot of other Baptist churches operate. This. They see which way the wind's blowing, and that's the way they go. That's how they operate. Oh, people are getting all sensitive about preaching against some sin. You know, a lot of people are worried about saying things that might offend certain minorities of people. Well, we're just not going to use those words. We're not going to talk about that. Even when the Bible talks about it. That's how a lot of Baptist preachers approach leading their church and preaching to their people. It's sad. Because they're robbing people in the pew of a blessing. Because, you know, I didn't know all this. I hadn't been taught all this. I hadn't developed the character to learn these things on my own at that point in my life. To go, well, wait a minute. The Bible says having children is a blessing. When I was told, you know, only have as many as you can afford. What if I had, you know, adopted that philosophy? What if I had stuck with that? You know, not only would I have less children, but I'd have less of a blessing. Right? When I go home from a day's work, etc. around the table at dinner, and ask each of my kids what they did and what they learned that day, you know, it would be a shorter conversation because there would be less children there. You know, but now, you know, I get to hear more from my kids. And they do, you know, I get to enjoy my children even more. You know, and I'm grateful for all the children I have because I have some of them are getting older now, right? And no one likes to see their children grow up. I guess I'm the only one. I don't know. Maybe not. Right? But obviously it happens, but it's like at least I can console myself in the fact that although my little girls are growing up, I've still got some more coming up. Right? I've still got little girls. They're all little. Okay? In my eyes. They'll always be my little girls. But, you know, they grow up. At least I have more kids to, you know, dote on. Right? But the only reason I have them is because I adopted this philosophy right here because I listened to what God said and not what some guy behind a pulpit said. Some guy who only decided to have two children, right? And look, I get it. Sometimes people can only have so many children. Circumstances, health, some people have no children. But I'm saying there's people out there that have a philosophy and, you know, go to certain ends to not have those children, to make sure that they limit themselves. They could have had more children if they wanted to. I'm glad I didn't listen to those people. I'm glad I had the kids I had. And I'm going on the record right now. I'm not preventing children. You know? You guys are going, well, it's been a while. You know, when's Miss Shelley going to be on that list? Right? Well, this is the way of life, you know? We're getting to our 40s. It's just the way life goes. You say, what's going on there? That's it. Okay? So everything I'm about to preach tonight is not coming from a place of hypocrisy. Okay? Because what I'm about to say next is controversial. Okay? But we're there in Psalm, do we even read Psalm 127? Yeah. Oh, yeah, we read verse 3. You know, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Look at verse 4. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, soar the children of the youth. The children of the youth. Having children in your youth. You know, that was another bit of bad advice I got when I first got married. You know, don't have children right away. Get to know your wife. Spend time together. Just getting to know one another. It's stupid. It's dumb. Like, well, what do you think dating was about? What do you think all that courting, what was that about? Like, I got to know her when I was dating her. Like, we went into it saying, we're going to have kids. Look at verse 5. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them. Full of what? Full of children. Happy is he. Does it say he has an easy time of it or it's not hard? You know, there's nothing to it. No, it is hard. It's difficult. But, you know, anything worth doing is, you know, typically hard. Things that require great effort have great reward. You know, it's a very satisfying thing to be able to provide for a family of five. Seven, really. Happy is the man. You know, it's a happy thing. They shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with his enemies in the gate. So, let me just come out and say it. Now, go over to Genesis chapter number 38. Is that, you know, having children is a blessing. It's not just a commandment. It's not just a blessing, but it is also a commandment. Right? That's what we've learned so far. God blessed them and said unto them, be fruitful and multiply. Genesis chapter 5, these guys are just begetting sons and daughters. They're like, no problem. We'll follow up on that. You know, we'll take that one to the bank. We will have many children. Okay? That's a blessing. It's a command. So, then that would mean that preventing that is a sin. Look, if God commands you to do something and you don't do it, it's a sin. Right? Him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin. You know, we know that having children is good because the Bible says it is. It's the fruit. The fruit of the womb is his reward. Happy is the man that hath his quiver of fruit. God blessed them and said, be fruitful and multiply. So, we know it's good because the Bible says so. Even if you don't think so in your head, the fact is that having children is good. It's a blessing. You know, you might look at it from the outside and go, ugh, I don't know about that. You know, and I get it. Like, you might see that spoiled brat at the grocery store or wherever who's never been given any kind of discipline. He's just given whatever they want and go, I don't want to be a parent. Well, it doesn't have to be like that. You don't have to do it like that. The Bible's got the answer for that, too. But even if you disagree and think it's not good, you're wrong because the Bible says it is. Right? So, if we know it's good and then we don't do it, it's a sin. Him that knoweth to do good and doeth not, it is sin. Right? Contraception is a sin. Okay? Contraception is a sin. Preventing conception, preventing childbirth, it's a sin. Okay? You say, well, what kind? All of them. All of them. What about this device? Sin. What about birth control? Sin. Well, it prevents pregnancy. No, it eliminates children is what it does. It's a, you know, it actually, it's an abort efficient is what it is. That's what they call it. Okay? Look it up. I'm not going to get into all that tonight. But it is a sin. Look at Genesis 38 verse 7. You will say, well, is there any, is there any passage in the Bible that talks about birth control? Well, here's a method that one guy used and got killed for it. Right? And Ur, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord. This is verse 7. And the Lord slew him. And Judah said to Onan, go in unto thy brother's wife and marry her and raise up seed to thy brother. And Onan knew that seed should not be his. And it came to pass when he went in unto his brother's wife that he spilled it on the ground lest that he should give seed to his brother. And the thing which he did. Now, what's the thing that he did? Birth control. He spilled it on the ground. He was not going to raise up seed. That was the explicit. What was his motivation? So that she would not get pregnant. He was controlling birth. Right? That was the thing that he did which displeased the Lord. And God was like, well, you know, I mean, I get it. You know, it's, it's hard raising kids, you know, especially in this society, you know, where it's just not set up. And, you know, everyone wants, you know, God, God wasn't, didn't make any excuses. And the Bible says, wherefore the Lord, he slew him. Which means he killed him. Killed him for it. For what? For practicing birth control. Now, that's a very explicit story that shows us how God feels about it. You know, if, if the reasoning that I was using just a moment ago wasn't enough, here's a story about it. Okay? So that's one thing we can get out of this chapter. Why are all these people begetting sons and daughters? Because God told them to. And as a result, they're being blessed. Right? Maybe that's why they live so long. I don't know. Maybe God blessed them with long life because they were obedient. No, it was the atmosphere. It was the oxygen content. Who knows? Right? But Adam did live a very long, long life. And really, when you, if, and we did the math. We did this as a family. I did this on my own. And you add all this up. Adam, when you go through here, Adam lived long enough to see Lamech. Okay? I've heard some people say he saw Noah. That's, but the math doesn't add up because he lived on 130 years and he died. Right? And when you add it up, and it's really easy to add it up. Right? You just go, you know, Adam lived in 130 years. And he had a son, Seth. Right? Seth lived 105 years. And they get Enos. Enos lived 90 years. You just add those up. And you have a timeframe. Right? And when you get all the way down to Lamech, it gets to, I think it's like 1,000 and, I don't know if, I can't remember. It's like, but it's over 1,000. Right? When you get to Noah, it's 1,556. I think it's 1,056 years. Yeah. To Lamech. A millennium goes by. Okay? That's how many, that, you know, in these, you know, 32 chapters, 1,000 years go by. Like that. Right? So, and these guys are all living alongside each other. You know, they're dying at certain points. Right? But Adam lived long enough to see Lamech who beget Noah. Okay? That's how long Adam lived. 930 years. So, that's like, I think it's like the eighth generation. I'm not going to, you know, that's his great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandson. Right? Maybe it was the ninth. I forgot it. I counted, but I forgot. Point being, I mean, I'm hoping to just see grandkids, you know, and maybe grandchildren, depending on how it goes. Right? We'll see. But man, imagine getting to see all those kids. I mean, that's a family gathering. Right? Come on, we're all going over to great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandpa's house. All few hundred thousand of us. All million, almost a million of us. Okay? Because let's think about this. Alright? And does somebody have, I know somebody has, break out a calculator for me. Let's just be a little interactive. Okay? And yeah, maybe more than one. I see a couple out. We don't need everybody doing it. But just to kind of confirm the numbers. Okay? Let's try to figure out what the world population might have been by the time Noah was born. Right? And this has relevance in chapter six. Okay? So we have, we'll say, well, how can we even begin to get an idea? Obviously, we cannot know exactly how many people were born, just no way of knowing. Okay? They can't, you can't even go back to, you know, the beginning of, you can't even go back to like 400 B.C., 500 B.C., or A.D. rather, and get a real close estimate. It's very hard to do. Okay? Consensus, you know, were not things they had back then, obviously. Right? But let's just say, let's just use this as a rule. Okay? We know that it's sons and daughters. That's plural. That's four. Okay? And we know Adam and Eve had three children that were named. We know they had more. Right? But let's just say that each person had five children. Right? Because I mean in 900 years, how many kids do you think you could have? You think you could have five? You could have one child every 200 years in some cases. Right? Or, you know, roughly in Adam's case. Right? Because he died at 930. Right? I get it. I'm not going to split hairs here. Split hairs. Split hairs here. Right? Let's just say, I think that's a fair, who would agree that that's a very fair, very conservative estimate to say that they had at least each five children. Okay? In, in, in lives that lasted for centuries. Okay? So just keep that in mind going forward because the number's actually quite a bit bigger how many people were born. Okay? So let's figure this out. So first of all, you have Seth. Right? Seth had five kids. So take five. Right? And then he had Enos. So you, they had, then he has five. Right? So both, let's say those five kids that Seth had each had five children. Five times five is? 25. Okay. Alright. Good. Alright. That's where my math ends too. Okay? I'll just be perfect. From here on out, I also would get the calculator. Alright. But I do know that much. Okay? Five times five is 25. Right? So that's one generation from, from Seth to Enos. Right? So now we got to go another generation from Seth to Canaan. So every one of those 25 children all had five children. Conservative estimate. So 25 times five. You see where I'm going with this? Okay? Then what is that? 125. I should have known that. That's embarrassing. Then from Canaan, or excuse me, from, is it from Canaan? Yeah. Right? Seth to Canaan is 25. Canaan to Enos. Right? Is 125. Enos, we're going to, no, it was Canaan, Enos, we're going to go to Mahalel. Mahalel. Right? So times 25. What's, what are we at now? Ooh, you see how this works? This builds up fast, right? So from Mahalel, we're going to go to Jared. So times five. Right? Each of those kids. And remember, all these people are, are still living. Like these, these people that are being born, they're not living 100 years and then dying. What are you knowing? What? Oh, you're just, you're just dumbfounded. You're in shock. You're about to fall over. What's the number? 15,000 people. Right? Now let's go from Jared, right, to Enoch. So multiply that by five. Right? What do you got? 78,125. We're not done yet, folks. And then from Enoch to Methuselah, who was the longest recorded living man in the Bible. 969 years. Right? Times five. So what is that? 390,625. 390,625. And then we're going to go to, from Methuselah, or I said Enoch, right? No, we're going from, from Enoch to Methuselah. I lost track. Enoch to Methuselah, so times 25, thank you. Right? And then from Methuselah to Lamech, times 25. And then, so that, let's just stop there, because then no was born, right? Well no, we would have to multiply it again. Just multiply it again. Hit five again. What's the number? 1.2 billion. 1.2 billion? Are you sure? Gabriel, what do you got over there? What did you come up with? Okay. Well, I did this, and we didn't end up in billions. But I understand, you know, I wasn't being very clear. I should have wrote my notes a little bit better. I wanted to try this night as an experiment, you know, just kind of shoot from the hip on this one. Sometimes you fail in experiments. But it's a big number, right? It's huge. When we did it, I think it was like nine, it was just shy of a million, right? But then you also have to factor in the fact that everybody that was born has also continued to live that long, right? So you got to add those numbers. You got to add the 25, you got to add the 125, you got to add the 3,000, so on and so forth. You got to keep adding that to the total. So it's over a million people. It's over a million people easy. And that's if we just said, oh, over, you know, when it comes, if we just said people are living for centuries, only had five kids, it's a million people. And this is only Adam's line. This is the generations of the sons of Adam. This doesn't even account for what's going on with Cain, right? So the earth is being filled with millions of people. Millions of people are being born, I believe, okay? You know, so that's, you know, that's, and that's relevant when you get into chapter six. It's a very relevant fact, right? And it answers a lot of questions. People are like, well, where did they get their wives? Wait a generation, wait 100 years, wait 200 years, and there's going to be thousands of people. And it's just, it's just, you say, oh, they're inbreeding. You could marry your second, third, fourth, fifth cousin by that point. Like there's just, you wouldn't even know, right? They're just so far removed. There's so many people. It's very plausible, you know. But here's the thing. This, this just shows us that this is what happens when people are fruit, are fruitful and multiply. You have a great population increase. Compare that to 2024 America. We were just looking at some facts before the, before the service. You know, I just Googled it, right, good old, we got the, the modern day oracle right here at our fingertips so we can ask it anything and get an answer. You know, what, what's the, who wants to venture a guess at the current birth rate in America? 1.64 per woman. That's below the level of replacement. As I understand it, right, 1.64 only replaces one parent. Am I understanding that right? Right? Because, you know, don't you have to have at least two children replace the parents? I mean, I know we're in this weird gender-bending society today, but I still think that one plus one makes two. And I'm pretty sure it still takes two to tango, if you know what I mean, okay? So when we're having one, and that's a 25 percent or so decrease in the birth rate since 2017, which wasn't that long ago, it just, it just dropped off. And then there's like articles like trying to explain it, well it's the price, it's, it's the cost, there's no low-cost housing available, that's the problem. That's why people aren't having kids. Oh, it's the price of homes that has something to do with it. You know, I guess maybe that factors into some people's thinking. Didn't factor into mine. I moved out here into a one-bedroom apartment and had my second child in it. And then we, then we really, you know, we sprang, you know, and we got high on the hog and got the two-bedroom apartment. And had two more kids. Am I on, am I on track here? Right? We can't even remember. And raised those kids in a two-bedroom apartment. It can be done, folks, it can be done. What are you willing to live without? Oh, it's just so, it's just so expensive, right? It's just so expensive with my, you know, I mean I got the $1200 phone and I got the designer clothes and we eat out every Friday night and we got the cable bill, we got the internet bill, we got to take the vacation and we each got to have a car and la-da-da-da. We got to have all these nice things. And because of that, we can't afford to have children. You know, it is, I mean it is expensive, but it's not the most expensive thing in the world. And if people are willing to scrimp and save and sacrifice, you could do it. I did it. And contrary to, you know, semi-popular opinion, I am not made of money. I'm not rolling in the dough over here. I'm not Scrooge McDuck, you know, doing the backstroke in my silo full of gold coins. Okay? No one gets that reference. Maybe a few of you. Ducktales. Okay? But it can be done. Right? That's one, that's one lame excuse they offer up. Right? Do you think these guys in Genesis Chapter 5 are having 1.68 children? Look if everybody did that, you know, thankfully some of these African countries are still having kids. Right? So that the human race doesn't just disappear from the face of the earth. Because here in the good old US of A, that's where we're treading. Because South Korea is the worst where it's like below one. It's below one. What's going to happen to all the people when they get older? Where are all the kids to take care of them? Gone. Right? 1.68. Oh, and then another excuse was like, well, you know, if there were more flexible jobs for women, that, you know, with more maternity leave, and it's like, well, you know, there's another solution that I've preached about recently. Also not popular, right, amongst the feminazis. To just stay home with your kids, right? You know, and they think they're liberated, but they've been duped. You want to know what women's lib is about? You want to know what feminism is about, getting women in the workplace? It wasn't about empowering women. How do you empower a woman when you make her work like a man? So act like a man. That's being a woman. Okay? Right? You know, don't do the one thing that women can do and are great at, having children keeping house and being a homemaker. You know, don't do that. Go be like a man, and it gets liberated. Go girl. Right? You want to know what it's really about? The love of money is the root of all evil. It's a bunch of greedy fat cats going, how can we tax the other half of the population? Get them in the workforce. That's what it's about at the end of the day. I can't believe how many times that verse is just, I mean, it should shock me, and the Bible is so clear about it. The root of all evil. All. Why do people do that? Why are people so wicked? What are they doing that for? The love of money is the root of all evil. The love of money. The love of money. The love of money. You know, that's the, just follow the money. That's why. You know? 1.68. That's where we're at in the United States. And you know why, you know why part of the reason that is? Is because pastors, preachers are getting up behind the pulpit, and they don't have the guts to preach it. And honestly, it doesn't take much guts to preach this. I mean, I don't know, maybe I just got used to it. The Bible says you should have a lot of kids. Uh, women should stay home and raise children. That's most, that's most pastors today. That's how they feel. A bunch of spineless cowards that can't even get up and preach that. That's easy. That's, you know, you call that hard preaching, that's a softball. But that is hard preaching today. Right? It's like, good night. Get a spine and preach it. How else do you explain 1.68 children? How else do you explain in a country that's not even replacing itself? Why are you having so many kids? To make up for you. So you're 1.6th child has someone to play with. That's why. Right? So all you liberated women has someone to teach. Or boss around, I guess. I don't know. At work. You know, the Bible says we should have a lot of kids. Well, you know, the Bible says having children is a blessing. You know, having children, let's look at verse 29. Now I've got to wrap up, okay? Verse 28, and Lamech lived in 180 in two years and begat a son. And he called his name Noah, saying, this same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed. What exactly he means by that, if he's prophesying about the flood, I'm not exactly sure. But I know this much. He says this son shall comfort us, right? Because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed. You know, having children are a comfort. And you say, how are they a comfort? They give meaning to life. They give meaning to life, right? Concerning the ground which the Lord hath cursed. Look, if all life was was work hard and die, I wouldn't want to live 900 years either. I'd be like some of you. I just want to hurry up and get it over with, apparently. But you know what? Having children gives you meaning. Children having a legacy, it gives you meaning. It gives you comfort. It's comforting to know that when I'm dead and gone, something of myself will carry on on this earth. Someone will remember me. Somebody will think fondly of me, hopefully. You know, obviously if I'm, you know, a terrible person, they're probably not going to have nice things to say. But that's a nice thought, isn't it? There's a point to this. You know, and enjoying them along the way. All the things that kids do and say, all the fun that they have, I mean, it's a comfort to us. While we toil and work and labor and live this life and all of its ups and downs. I mean, kids, change your attitude. You know, I don't know how many times I've come home from work kind of grumpy and angry. And then, you know, because everybody in the workplace, they don't care about you. I mean, it's not like they, I mean, who claims I don't care about them? You know, like I see enough of them. Eight hour day, it's like, I don't, you know, I can't wait to get away from you people, right? But here's the thing, when I go to work, when I walk in the door, no one goes, you're here. Welcome back to work. We're so glad to see you. Oh, can I, let me tell you everything I did last night when I went home from work. You know, they don't do that. They never hold up a drawing and go, see what I colored? You know, or dad, check out the toy. You know, they don't, or not dad, you know, Corbin, come check out all the things I made, right? But isn't it, you know, that's exactly what happens when I come home from work though. I'm the most, I feel famous. I have like an entourage. I have paparazzi, right? I get fan mail. I walk into my office and there's just like, there's just a slew of cards. Daddy, your best daddy in the world. Daddy, I love you. You know, all these, you know, precious endearing things and I've got a folder like this big full of, you can't pull that stuff away. How are you gonna throw that away? You burn it. No, I'm just kidding. Right? Eventually when you tack it up at the graduation or the wedding or whatever, embarrass them with it or something like that, remind them. It says right here, you were gonna marry me. Remember that? The kids do that. They don't know anything about it. Who are you gonna marry? I'm gonna marry daddy, right? Some of them have gotten over that. But that happens every time I come home. And it's like, you know what? This is worth it. You know, go ahead and tax me. Go ahead and do everything else. And you can put up with everything. You can put up with the ground that the Lord hath cursed. Because I'm comforted by the children that I have. And isn't it funny? Some of the most miserable people you know are either people that don't have, and look, I'm not saying people that don't have kids are miserable people, okay? Don't misquote me. You can have lots of kids and be miserable too, all right? I know that. But it just seems like a lot of people, maybe miserable is too strong of a word, but a lot of people are discontent or dissatisfied or just feel like life is kind of bland or doesn't have meaning. You know what I mean? It's the people that don't have kids. You know? And I know that might offend people, but that's what happens. It's offensive when you're living in a country where people have 1.68 children. You know? It's unfortunate. Children give us legacy. They give us meaning. They give us comfort. I'll just quote to you from Proverbs 17. Children's children are the crown of old men, and the glory of children are their fathers. The crown of an old man is his grandchildren. That's what the Bible says, right? The children's children, that's grandchildren, are the crown of old men. Like a king, right? You're stately, right? That's a reward. You know, I'm an old man. It's not going to be how much money I have in the bank, how many hobbies I got to have over the years, you know, how many different countries I got to visit or whatever. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that or those things, but, you know, you go down to the retirement home and talk to the old men and the old women there, you know, what they're probably either regret the money or proud of the most is their children and grandchildren or the lack thereof. You know, that's what the Bible says. When God said, be fruitful and multiply, He truly was blessing us when He said that. Let's go ahead and close in a word of prayer. Dear Lord, again, thank you for the blessing of children, and Lord, thank you for the life that we have to live, Lord, however many years we have. Lord, I pray to help us to embrace that blessing and I pray to help us to embrace it, and Lord, to live it for you, Lord, that all that we do would bring glory and honor to you, Lord, that you'd help us live a life of meaning, Lord, through service to you and that we would leave behind a spiritual heritage for our children. We ask these things in Christ's name. Amen. All right, we'll go ahead and sing one more song before we are dismissed tonight. The first book, the songbook, is song number 167. We'll shop our evening service by singing song number 167. All hail the power of Jesus' name. That's song number 167. The voice is on the first. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Peace.