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All right, again, happy Mother's Day to all the mothers who are here. And today we're going to be giving a Mother's Day message. And so we're looking at Proverbs chapter 31. When we read Proverbs chapter 30, we look at verse number one, it says that the words of King Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him, what my son and what the son of my womb and what the son of my vows, the title of the sermon this morning is lessons from King Lemuel's mother. Now, when we think of Proverbs 31, we often just refer to the latter part of the chapter. We're talking about the virtuous woman and the qualities of a virtuous woman. And we'll get into a little bit of that, but we often don't focus on the fact that the entire chapter is actually written from a mother to her son. So not just the part about being a virtuous woman, not just the part about the qualities of a godly woman who fears the Lord, loves her husband, loves her children. The entire chapter is actually designated by the mom to her son as an instruction on things of life, particularly of course, how to find a wife. Now turn with me for what's Ephesians chapter number six, Ephesians chapter number six. I'm gonna read to you from Exodus chapter 20 verse 12, it says, honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Now it's pretty obvious that we're to honor our father and mothers as Christians, right? And this is obviously something that's not taught today, just in mainstream culture. You know, you see a lot of children who disrespect their parents. They don't love them, they don't honor them, they shame them really. And you know, whether they're young children or even teenagers, or how about just adults who just disregard their parents, don't respect them at all. And when they're older in their age, they just put them in some home, right? They don't desire to take care of them, they don't desire to provide for them, they just kind of disregard them and discard them as though they're nothing. You know, that's not the kind of attitude we ought to have for our parents. As Christians, we should want to honor our parents, love them and take care of them for the rest of their lives. Now, when we honor our parents, how do we do that? Well, number one is by providing for them financially, okay? And this is all introduction, but we need to be willing to care for our parents when they're in need in their older age, okay? Now this is primarily for the children here, okay? Whether you're an adult or not, I'm talking about the children of the parents, is that we need to make sure that we take responsibility for our parents when they're older in age and they're not able to take care of themselves. We should not just desire to just depart from them and have them out of our lives, out of our business. You know, when they get up in age and they're not able to take care of themselves, we should be apt to be able to do that for them, okay? We should honor them and take care of them, not put them in some home. Be willing to say, hey, do you need a place to live? I'll take care of you. If I have to work a second job, whatever needs to be done, I want to honor you because the fact of the matter is you gave me life. You know, you changed my diapers, okay? You gave me a home. You fed me. You loved me. You took care of me. You're my mother. You're my father. I want to honor you by taking care of you for the rest of my life, and the Bible even tells us to do that. In 1 Timothy, you don't have to turn to chapter 5 verse 3, it says, honor widows that are widows indeed, but if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to show piety at home and to requite their parents for that is good and acceptable before God. Now here it teaches that a woman who is a widow is to go home to her parents to be taken care of, but this is also showing that we should be able to take care of our own, okay? So if our mother or father, you know, they become disabled, they're not able-bodied to be able to work or for whatever reason may be, we need to take responsibility for that, okay? And we live in a society today where, you know, children, adults don't want any responsibility. They don't even want to take care of their own wives. They don't want to take care of their own children, let alone their parents, and that is a shameful thing to say about the culture of the day and age in which we live. We need to make sure that we're men, and I'm talking to the men primarily, to be men of responsibility to say, I'll take care of you no matter what, okay? If I have to work three jobs, if I have to suffer need, whatever it may be, I want to make sure that I honor you for the rest of my life. I'll take care of you. You don't have to worry about anything, okay? And you should provide that security for your parents even now. You know, when maybe they're working or maybe, you know, Dad's still around, he's taking care of Mom. You make sure you go to your mom and say, Mom, if anything ever happens, you know, if anything ever happens, you don't worry. You can come live with me. I'll take care of you. I'll pay your bills. I'll pay your groceries. I'll pay for your needs. You have nothing to worry about. That is an honorable thing to do, okay? But we also honor our parents by giving heed to their instructions, okay? You know, from the time that we're born up until the time that we get married, our parents are the primary source of instructions, right? They admonish us. They whoop us, okay? They, which is a form of instruction, amen? You know, they chastise us, but they also give us verbal instructions. And you may think to yourself, well, yeah, but my parents aren't Christians. You know, they're not new IFB, Independent Fundamental Baptists, they're not King James only. Yeah, but you know what? They're the God-ordained authority that God has placed in your life, and they have something called experience, something that you lack. And here's the problem today is that we have a lot of young people who think they know everything about life, even though they've only been here for like 17 years. They've only been here for 19 years. They've only been here for 20 years. And all of a sudden, they're just an expert in life more than their parents, right? That's stupid. That's shameful. We need to make sure that we glean wisdom from the experiences of our mother and father. Now look, obviously, if your mom or dad, they're reprobate, that's a different story, okay? We're talking about people who are not reprobates, okay? We're talking about people who are just your parents. They've lived life. They understand experience. They have wisdom, and they have your best interest in mind, okay? Now look at Ephesians chapter six, verse one, it says, Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. Hey, you want life insurance? Obey your parents. That's good life insurance right there. Now why is it saying that? Well, because of the fact that when we give heed to someone's instructions who's been around for a long time, you know, we benefit. We don't have to live on this earth for that many years to gain that experience. We get it firsthand from our parents, from the mistakes or the successes that they've had in the past. So we take their experiences from their success and their failures, and we're able to apply that to our lives now as young people, and therefore we live long on the earth. You know, it's important that we give heed to the instructions of our parents, and primarily I'm referring to our moms because it's Mother's Day. I'm going to read to you something here. We don't typically do this, but I thought this is a good little, I guess it's considered like a poem. It's called a mother's opinion, okay? And this is like the mindset of children from when they're four years old up until they're up there in age, okay? This is typically how we think of our moms, all right? At four years of age, my mom can do anything, right? They're just like, my mom, mommy can do anything. Eight years of age, my mom knows a lot. Twelve years of age, my mom doesn't know that much. Fourteen years of age, yeah, my mom doesn't know that either. Sixteen years of age, yeah, my mom's hopeless. She's so old-fashioned. She doesn't even know how to use the internet. She doesn't know how to text, doesn't know how to email. She's hopeless. Eighteen years of age. Who, mom? She's way out of date. She doesn't know what she's talking about. Twenty-five years of age. Well, you know, I think she might know a little bit about that. Thirty-five years of age. You know, before we decide, we should ask mom's opinion. Forty-five years of age. I wonder what mom would have thought about that. Sixty-five years of age. I wish mom was still here so we can talk about that. You know, and this goes to show us that we need to make sure that we don't take our moms for granted. You know? And that is like the sequence of thoughts that typically we have. It's just like, oh mom doesn't know anything, and she doesn't know anything, and she's this and that. But then once you get to the age that your mom's at, then you realize, you know what? Mom didn't know what she was talking about. Maybe she didn't read the Bible through cover to cover, but she's lived life and there's certain things that she understood at her age that I need to make sure that I apply to my life. Don't get to 65 and say, man, I wish mom was still here so I can get her opinion on that. You know, obey your mom now. The law of thy mother. Go to Proverbs, or excuse me, go to Deuteronomy chapter six. Here's the thing is God gives us commandments, right? You read through the entire Bible, the entire Bible's filled with commandments. And someone has once said that the Bible stands for basic instructions before leaving earth. And that's true. There's a lot of instructions, there's a lot of commandments, statutes, and precepts that we can find guidelines that God gives us through his word to basically help us to be successful, help him to love him, help us to be obedient unto him. But sometimes the commandments in the Bible are very general, right? They're just guidelines. So what does he do? He uses parents to fill in the gaps, okay? Because sometimes the commandments of God are general, obviously there's some specific ones, but sometimes they're general. And what we do, what God does, is that he gives us parents, both mom and dad, to fill in the gaps, to tell us to do specifically what to do. You know, take out the trash, comb your hair, brush your teeth, don't do this, don't do that. And you know what? Don't have this attitude. It's like, well, that's not in the Bible. Yeah, but that's mom and dad. And guess what? Mom and dad's commandments are like God's commandments to you. You know? Yeah, but I read through the Bible. Yeah, but you know what? If you're living under mom and dad's roof, those commandments are like God's commandments. God uses parents to fill in the gaps, to give you character, to help you be successful in life. Parents are the God-given authority for children. Now look at Deuteronomy 6, verse 4, it says, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul with all thy might. And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart, 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 thou, 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 posts of thy house and on thy gates. Look, this is obviously an instruction from a Christian parent or a God-fearing parent to their children, right? And if you have parents who are Christians, you should be doing like spiritual backflips. Because sometimes, you know, there's people out there that don't have that. There's people who get saved later on in life, their parents are not saved, they're not Christians, they're not in church. And you know what, those of you who do have parents who are saved, who do have parents who are in church, who are faithful, who are reading the Bible, thank God for them. That is a goodly heritage, the lines are falling upon you in pleasant places. Hey, if your parents are sitting next to you in church today, thank God for that. Don't take that for granted. You say, what about me? I don't have my parents in church. Well then, why don't you make it your goal to get married and have children and sit next to them in church? Be the parents who can fulfill Deuteronomy chapter 6, to teach that unto your children. Instead of just focusing on all the failures of your parents, and my mom didn't do this, and my dad didn't do that, my mom fed me with a slingshot, or whatever, I was treated wrong or whatever. You know, stop complaining, worry about your past, and why don't you go ahead and focus on being the right kind of parent in the future. Be the right kind of dad, be the right kind of mom, raise the right type of children, and you know what, don't criticize your parents to your children. Amen? I don't say, oh mom and dad used to do this, and just always putting a cloud over the reputation of your parents, you know, if they weren't perfect parents, then just focus on those things that you did appreciate. And seek to accentuate the good characteristics of your parents. Don't talk bad about them, oh yeah, but you don't know my parents. But do I need to? Why don't you just tell me the good of your parents? Why don't you sow good seeds today so that your children tomorrow will say good things about you? Right? Because you do reap what you sow. Okay? Go to Proverbs chapter number one, this is all introduction here. Look, the instruction and the lessons that our parents give us are good for us. And here's the thing, most people don't appreciate it until their parents are gone. They don't realize how important they are until the parents are gone. Then you begin to realize, then you actually get some smarts, you know, you get some wisdom, and you begin to realize, wow, I was actually dumb back then. I was actually pretty dumb back then, you know, trying to buck my mom's authority, trying to buck my dad's authority, I should have just listened to her. You know, give heed now and obey your parents today. Look at Proverbs one verse eight, it says, my son, hear the instruction of thy father and forsake not the law of thy mother, for this shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head and chains about thy neck. Now to a teenager, that's exactly what it feels like. Chains about the neck, right? You just can't do anything, you can't go anywhere, you can't watch anything, but you know what? Chains are also there to protect you from that which can destroy you. That which can harm you. And it would be good for you that you still wear those chains even in your adulthood. They're there not to make your life miserable, they're there to save you from heartache, is what they're there for, okay? Go to Proverbs chapter six. And again, your parents don't have to be saved in order to teach you something good. Look, I grew up in a single parent household with my mom, okay? And my brother, my older brother who's 13 years older than me, was kind of played the role of my father in the sense of just being like the example of the man in the house. But you know what? My mom was not saved, she did not go to church, she never taught me the Bible, but you know what she did do? She whooped me. And that was good for me. And look, I didn't appreciate it back then, obviously, no one appreciates chastisement at the moment, right? But you know, looking back, I'm like, my mom actually saved me from a lot of heartache. She instilled without even knowing it, the fear of God in my life is what she did, okay? By spanking me. And I know spanking is not popular today and you have modern day culture that says, oh, you're going to traumatize them. I'm not traumatized. I'm fine. You know, in fact, I love my mom so much the more now because she did that when she was younger. So put that in your statistics. Why don't you use me as a statistic there? You know, oh, you're going to traumatize them. No, that's foolishness, that's garbage. And obviously, there's a type of chastisement that is not biblical. It's considered abuse, you know, or you just smack them across the mouth or something like that. You know, that's not right. There's a type of chastisement in the Bible that's correct to do, right? It's in the lower back parts is where the chastisement is supposed to come. Now, I didn't receive that type of chastisement, but look, still, I'm still not traumatized. So I was to show you, you know, it's not as bad as people make it out to be. But here's the thing is she chastised me and life's experience gave her wisdom to rescue me from a lot of heartache because I have cousins who are dead. I have cousins who are reprobates. I have family members who are in jail. I have family who's just their, the children has just gone to the devil, you know. And why is that? Well, because their parents weren't as strict. You know, I can think back at the times that I wanted to spend the night, I wanted to go out late at night, and my mom got those chains about my neck and said, you're not going. No. Even to the point where she moved us, just so we wouldn't be around bad influences. Oh, that doesn't sound fun. Yeah, but guess what? I'm not part of 18th Street. I'm not part of MS-13. I'm not doing life in prison. I'm not a reprobate. So guess what? Thank God for that. You know, back then I didn't understand, but today I do. And I thank God for my mom who had those rules without even having the Bible. It's common sense. You know, she wouldn't let me spend a night at just like anybody's house either. She wouldn't let me spend a night at anybody's house, period. You know, and she didn't need the Bible to teach me that. She just knew that there's wicked people out there, and she didn't call them wicked. She just knew there were bad people out there. And you know what? Her child has only one life to live. She wants to make sure that she did it right, and you know what? She did a good job, in my opinion, without my dad being president. She did a really good job without even having the Bible. You know why? Because there's a certain wisdom that God gives parents for their children, even in spite of the Bible. Don't have this attitude that just because you know the Bible and your parents don't, you're somehow better than them. Or that you somehow supersede their ability to have parenting skills. No, make sure you honor them and give heed to their instructions. Look, I've seen unsafe parents who actually raise their children better than safe parents. It's true. They're actually more strict. They actually have better standards. They're far more strict. They just have wisdom and common sense more than Christian parents, believe it or not. It's a sad statement because you should actually become a better parent obviously because now you have the Bible if you're saved, right? But sometimes that's not the case. Look at Proverbs chapter six, verse number 20 says, my son, keep thy father's commandment and forsake not the law of thy mother. Bind them continually upon thine heart and tie them about thy neck. So in Proverbs chapter one, we see that the law of the mom, the mother is the ornament of grace into thy head and chains about thy neck. Proverbs six is instructing basically almost the same thing, only it's telling us as children, we are to bind them. We are to put these things around our neck, right? So Proverbs one is like the little child where the parent puts the chain, right? Proverbs chapter six is referring to the adult who has enough common sense to say, you know what? I'm going to put this chain about my neck. I'm going to bind this upon my heart. That's a wise person, right? Look what it says, verse 22, when thou goest it shall lead thee, when thou sleepest it shall keep thee, and when thou wakest it shall talk with thee. It kind of reminds me of those leashes that they have for kids. You guys ever seen that? I'm not for that by the way, okay? It's like a spiritual leash that you place on yourself, but obviously the leash is attached to the word of God. Because it says there that verse 21, bind them continually upon thine heart. So hide those sayings, those commandments of your parents in your heart. These ought to be core values that you have in your heart for the rest of your life, okay? You know, there's certain things that my mom taught me, you know, just of life that I carry with me to this very day. Not things that I learned from the Bible, just things of practical living of life. Why? Because she filled in the gaps as I grew up, okay? So mothers help fill in the blanks. They fill in the gaps there. They give clarity where life can be a little obscure. Now who's this sermon for? Well, obviously it's for the son to give heed to these instructions. It's for the mom to give heed to these type of admonishments to say, hey mom, you should be like Lemuel's mom. Use that example to teach your children. And it's for the young lady as well. Why? Because you should be like this mom one day, amen? Now what are some lessons from Lemuel's mother? Well, go back to Proverbs chapter 31. Now here's the thing, like this is not going to be like a very emotional sermon, you know, just like, oh moms, you know. Hey, I'm all for that, but this is not necessarily that type of sermon, okay? Where you're going to, the poem was to cause you to cry, okay? That's what that was for, right? You guys are like, I didn't get that poem, you know what I mean? This is basically to observe the commandments of Lemuel's mother and see how she was filling in the blanks and the gaps for her son, okay? Now why is that? Look at Proverbs 31 and verse number one, it says, the words of King Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him, 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. So what's the first lesson that King Lemuel's mother teaches her son? Don't let women be your weakness. Hey, that's good instruction right there. Don't let women be your weakness. Go to Deuteronomy 17, she says, give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings. Now look, one of the things that mothers fear, and even fathers at times, is who their children are going to marry. It's like, man, I hope my son finds a good wife, because there's a lot of bad people out there. I hope they find a good wife, I hope she's not wicked, I hope she just doesn't destroy her life, destroy his life, right? That's something that mothers worry about, okay? Dads, on the other hand, they're kind of like, just let him live his life and just do whatever, you know, and you know, kind of thing. Mothers are more like, I'm kind of concerned with who he's going to marry. And that's basically what Lemuel's mother is saying, she's like, hey, make sure you're not driven about with women, you know? Don't give your strength unto women. Don't determine what you do, who you are, based upon women. Nor thy ways which destroyeth kings. Why does she say that? Why does she say that this way destroys kings? Well, look at Deuteronomy 17 verse 14. It says, When thou art come unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shall possess it, and shall dwell therein, and shall say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me, thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall choose, one from among thy brethren, shalt thou set a king over thee. Thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother. But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses. For as much as the Lord hath said unto you, ye shall henceforth return no more that way. Neither shall thou multiply wives to himself. Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away. Neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. So what was the commandment to the king? Hey, don't get a bunch of girlfriends, concubines, wives, don't multiply them. And here's the thing, what do we see in the Old Testament? That's exactly what took place. The godliest man of the Bible, the wisest man of the Bible, and the strongest man of the Bible, all got taken down by what? By a woman. King David, you got Solomon, and you got Samson. Now Samson wasn't a king, but he was a judge, he was a spiritual leader. All of them got taken down by women. So is it any surprise that King Lemuel's mother says, hey, give not thy strength unto women, nor to the ways which destroyeth kings, because he's a king, Lemuel's a king. He's saying, look, take the example of David, he fell because of women. Take the example of Solomon, where women drove his heart away. Take the example of Samson, who was destroyed by a woman. This is a good admonishment and instruction for all men from a mother to their son. Hey son, give not thy way unto women. Make sure your strength is not determined by a woman. Make sure you have some discernment. And this is important right here, okay? Have discernment. Have wisdom. Look, beauty is important, don't get me wrong. But spirituality is that much more important though. You know, who they are as a person is that much more important. Now obviously the beauty attracts, amen? The beauty attracts us. But you know what, there's something called age. Does anybody know what that is? You know what happens with age? It deteriorates beauty. Both for males and females. Oh, you're mean, it's the truth. I mean, I'm not lying. Everyone knows that's true. And you know what, as the years go by, beauty fades and guess what's most important? Is the personality, is the love, is the person you're with. But sometimes, you know what happens is people marry just for looks. And what happens when they marry for looks? They ended up, the honeymoon is over, years have gone by and they're just like, I can't stand this person. Yeah, because reality just kicked in. Now look, again, beauty is important. I believe my wife is beautiful. And one of the reasons why I married my wife aside from her spirituality was because of her beauty. Of course, she's gorgeous in my eyes. But you know what, when we're 60, 70 and 80, we're probably not gonna look the same, okay? And what's gonna count then is our personality, is our spirituality, it's that which is most important, our souls. So he's saying here, hey, give not thy strength unto women. Don't let your decisions be determined by women, okay? Very important, go back to Proverbs chapter six. That's good instruction right there from a mom to a son. And look, before I was a Christian, I knew a lot of guys who gave their strength unto women. As soon as they broke up with their girlfriend, it was just tears and just like, their life was over, depression. What is that? That's a man who gave his strength unto women, okay? You're like, man, that was me. I kind of remember that actually. Yeah, I mean, that's what it is, right? When you give your strength unto women, you put everything, you put all your chips in one bag kind of thing. You say, well, how am I supposed to determine my strength? By the Lord. You know, by the word of God? You determine, you make sure that you're strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Look at Proverbs six, verse 20. We read this, but look what it goes on to say. Go to verse 20. It says, my son, keep thy father's commandment and forsake not the law of thy mother. Bind them continually upon thine heart and tie them about thy neck. When thou goest, it shall lead thee. When thou sleepest, it shall keep thee. When thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. For the commandment is a lamp and the law is light and reproofs of instruction are the way of life. Whoopings are a way of life, amen. Why? To keep thee from the evil woman. Whoa. He's like, so the instructions are my mother, what were they for? To keep thee from the evil woman. And by the way, it's not referring to like her, okay? Like, just, you know, don't marry someone like me. We should want to marry people, someone like our moms. To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of the strange woman. Lest not after her beauty in thine heart, neither let her take thee with her eyelids. For by means of a whorish woman, a man is brought to a piece of bread and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life. So why does the mom chastise the children? To protect them, to give them wisdom, discernment. So they don't ruin their lives, why? Because the adulteress will hunt for the precious life. Whose life is that? The life of your son. Your son's life is precious, amen? And God uses a mom to kind of instill wisdom through chastisement, through proofs of life, through instruction to protect your son, to protect you from wicked women. Verse 27 says, can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Can one go upon hot coals and his feet not be burned? So he that goeth into his neighbor's wife, whosoever toucheth her, shall not be innocent. So what does this show us? This shows us that a chastisement of a mom shows us that actions have consequences. It shows us that actions have consequences because when we disobeyed our moms, Hispanic moms, you know, I'm Hispanic, grab a chancla or whatever's in sight, okay? And they'd use that to chastise us, right? Why? To teach us that actions have consequences. So when you're older and you're tempted to partake in adultery, to partake in fornication, you won't, why? Because you understand that actions have consequences. Mama didn't raise no fool. Actions have consequences. I know that I can suffer the penalty for this action because I remember suffering penalties when I was younger. And you may not say that, but you basically know that. That's instilled within you, okay? So the first thing that a Lebuell's mom says, okay, you gotta be careful with those women out there. There's women out there that wanna destroy your life, they wanna ruin your life, and give heed unto the instruction of your mother. Pay attention to those instructions. Pay attention to those admonishments. She's not trying to ruin your life. Now look, once you're married, that relationship of instructing you about your wife should end at that point, okay? So no phone calls and no getting involved in your son's business or your daughter's business. That should end right then and there, okay? But hey, you have 20 plus years or whatever to give as much of your opinion as you want, to mold the convictions of your children. But after that, it should end, right? Now go with me if you would to, go back to Proverbs 31. So notice she doesn't say, make sure you honor me for the rest of your life. Make sure you don't forget mom and dad. No, she says, don't give your strength unto women. King. And obviously King Lemuel is in a position of leadership. He's leading a nation. So the temptation is probably there so much the more. And they have the examples of prior kings who fell because of that. And that's the first thing that she says. He goes, look, this can destroy kings. It can destroy a lot of people. This will destroy your life. And look, this is a good instruction just for men. Hey, choose wisely. Choose wisely. Don't just jump into something without praying about it and considering it. Choose wisely. And look, young people just need more wisdom today. They're just like great matter. They just don't think about certain things. Great matter. Choose wisely, consider it. Get some advice. Cause it could be, I've heard horror stories of people who get married and it's just like, it's just all downhill from there. Choose wisely. Don't just make hasty decisions. And you know what? It would be good if you asked mom and dad what they think about it. Right? Well, mom and dad just kind of give me the decision. Yeah, but it'll still be good for you to ask them for their opinion. Then why? Because they've been around longer than you. Yeah, but they're not Bible-wielding Christians. Yeah, but they've still been around longer than you. There's something about experience, right? Now, you're in Proverbs 31. So what's the second admonishment that she gives? Don't let wine, so don't let women be your weakness. Don't let wine make you a loser. Look at verse four, it says, it is not for kings O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink, lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink and forget his poverty and remember his misery no more. What is she telling? Don't be a drunkard, Lemuel. Amen. Don't get involved in alcohol. You stay away from that poison. If you don't, you'll be a loser. Right. Don't be a loser, Lemuel. Don't drink strong drink. Stay away from alcohol. Don't do it. It'll destroy your life. You'll have cirrhosis of the liver. You'll be ugly and fat. Hey, this is true. Hey, look, tell that to your kids. Don't scare them from alcohol, from ever touching the stuff. Poison. Boys, it'll make you like a girl. Amen, Dr. Rita? She's nodding her head vigorously. It'll make you effeminate. Okay. Look, this was important to the mom if that was the second thing she said. She says alcohol will make you a loser. Why is that? Because alcohol will make you a drunk. You won't have a job. You can't provide for your family. You won't be coherent. You can't love a woman. You can't love your children. You'll be a loser. Why is she saying that? Because she wants her son to be successful in life. Every mother and father want their children to be successful. But you know one element in this world that can destroy that and just completely tear that away from them is alcohol, drugs, marijuana, weed. Hey, that's a good one to throw in there as well, amen? Don't be a pothead. Some couch potato, marijuana smoking, pothead loser. Frying your brain cells, not doing anything with your life. Why don't you pick up a book and read it? Why don't you go get a job? Why don't you work? Stop being a loser. This is the admonishment of the mom here. She's like, look, you're a king. Wine is not for kings. And look, this is good for us to speak unto our children and say, hey, you're a child of the king, amen? You're a child of the king, son. Don't touch wine, that's for people who are miserable and losers, who are ready to die. You're a king, you're a child of God Almighty, okay? We're kings and priests unto the Lord, amen? It says, give strong drink unto them that are ready to perish, not you, you're ready to live. Wine unto those that be of heavy hearts, not you, you have a merry heart. Let him drink and forget his poverty, not you, because you're rich in faith. And remember his misery no more. Hey, you're not miserable. You're living life, you have your whole life ahead of you. You still have an opportunity to be successful. You're gonna do great things for God. You're gonna be a great husband, a great father. Stay away from alcohol. Go with me, if you would, to 1 Peter chapter five. I'm sorry, go to Proverbs 23. Go to Proverbs 23, I'll read to you from 1 Peter five. It says, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil's a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. By the way, parents, don't be lenient in this area either. Oh, you know, it's fine, you can casually drink and do social drinking. No, that's wicked. You make sure, look, what you do in moderation, your children will do in excess. What you do in moderation, a little sip of the wine, a little Merlot, I don't know what else is there, wine cooler, I don't know, you know, a little of that, your children are gonna go beyond that. They will go beyond that, and they'll turn into alcoholics. They'll destroy their lives. I've known parents who are heartbroken because their children are just alcohol abusers, they're drunkards, they've destroyed their lives. Proverbs 23 verse 27 says, for a whore is a deep ditch, and a strange woman is a narrow pit. She also lieth in weight, as for a prey, and creaseth the transgressors among men. Who hath woe, who hath sorrow, who hath contentions, who hath babbling, who hath wounds without cause, who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine, they that go to seek mixed wine, look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright, at the last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder. Thine eyes shall behold strange women. See how these go hand in hand? So it's not like he's jumping from another thaw up into a drink, and these go hand in hand. By the way, if you don't wanna give your strength unto women, stay away from alcohol. Right? There's a lot we can say about that. Look at verse 33, thine eyes shall behold strange women, thine heart shall utter perverse things. Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down the mist of the sea or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick, they have beaten me, and I felt it not. When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again. I know some of the heartaches of parents that they carry is maybe their son gets involved in drugs or alcohol, and they just destroy their lives, and they're just like, it's a vicious cycle of abuse. Of drugs and alcohol. But you know what? That can be taken care of right now. If you begin to instill in your children that this is a wicked act, stay away from it, it's poison. Look, I'm gonna tell you a story about my son. I drink soda, all right? Dr. Rita, plug your ears. And my wife doesn't let my kids drink any kind of soda, okay? Which I'm fine with that. And they drink water, but my son sees me drink soda, right? But she teaches my son, obviously, this is like a double standard, obviously, right? So he sees me drinking soda, and then my wife would tell me, Bruce, soda's icky. It's icky. So he has it ingrained in his mind that soda's icky. He's just like, oh, that's gross. That's something only dad drinks, you know? But one day, he slipped some soda. I don't know if I left a cup out or something or we went to In-N-Out or something like that. And he drank it, but my wife wasn't there to see him do it. But she walked in on him doing it. And he was just like, and she's like, Bruce, no! Soda's icky, and he just put it down, and he's like, soda's icky. And he goes, but it's good. He's like, soda's icky, but it's good. He's just basically telling mom, like, sorry, I disobeyed you, but you know what, it's actually good. That's bad. I say that just to wake you guys up, okay? But look, when it comes to alcohol, that's what it kind of starts with, doesn't it? Just toleration, right? And look, don't tell your kids, do as I say, not as I do. That's true to a certain extent, but you also gotta lead by example. I've known this in my personal life where uncles and dads and aunts and whoever, they themselves drink alcohol, but they don't want their kids to touch that stuff. You know, like, don't do this. It's just like, well, you're doing it, right? And there's a big difference between coke and alcohol, okay? Alcohol obviously is a substance that can really destroy your life, okay? I've had family members who have died of cirrhosis of the liver. It's completely yellow, okay? It's a miserable death. And that's something that we need to protect our children from as they grow older, you know, to say, hey, make sure you stay away from that stuff. That stuff is wicked. It'll destroy your life. It'll make you like a girl. It'll just scare them half to death to stay away from that stuff, okay? She's encouraging him to live with a purpose, in other words, all right? Now, go back to Proverbs 31. Hey, these are good instructions, amen? They're practical instructions that King Lemuel's mother's giving to her son so he can be successful in life. She says, hey, don't give your strength unto women. Hey, stay away from alcohol. That'll destroy your life. What's the third thing she says? Look at verse eight. Open thy mouth for the dumb and the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy. What is the instruction? Don't let indifference be your attitude. Don't let indifference be your attitude. In other words, don't just be a bystander, son. Hey, do something with your life. Protect those who are in need. Stand up for rights. Live for something that's purposeful. Hey, live for God, amen? Live for the things of the Bible. Have purpose with your life. Have compassion on those who are needy. For us as Christians, we would say, hey, be a good soul winner. Win people to Christ. Seek to get people saved. Have brotherly kindness and charity. Be a good Christian, son. Open thy mouth for the dumb and the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth and judge righteously, she says. That's a good instruction. And she's not saying, hey, don't judge anybody. You make sure you keep your opinions to yourself. No, he says, make sure you judge righteously. Know the difference between good and evil. Know the difference between that which is wicked and that which is righteous. Make sure you judge righteously. Why is that? Because as men, men, we're supposed to be able to judge good judgment, righteous judgment, to have discernment. Why? Because we're leaders. We don't basically pass on the judgment to our wives and say, can you just make this decision for me? I don't know what to do here. No, you're the leader. You're the leader of your home. You make the decision. God's given you the responsibility. You make sure you have discernment. And this is what King Lemuel's mom wants for her son. Said, hey, judge righteously. Plead the cause of the poor and needy. What does that mean? Don't just do anything or don't just do nothing when wickedness is taking place. You stand up for right. And look, in the day and age in which we live, these are the kind of kids we need today. There's a lot of wickedness taking place in our world with the sodomites, with reprobates, with just wicked people, with Hollywood. And you know what we need? We need a generation to rise up to judge righteously, to plead the cause of those who can't defend themselves. You know, we don't need children who know how to judge righteously, left, right, up, down on their joystick, Xbox. I don't even know if that move still exists. How good they are with video games. Pleading the cause of the poor on the screen. No, in real life. To be able to judge righteously, to plead the cause of the poor and needy, to be a person who's not indifferent towards evil in this world. You know, there's a generation that has risen up today that can care less of the evils of this world. They don't care that babies are being killed, millions and billions of babies are being killed every year. They don't care that what the culture is doing and the music, they don't care about any of those things. But you know why? It's because the parents don't care. And the parents didn't instill that into their children. Raise your children to be mighty men and women for God. Not to love pleasure, but to love righteousness. To make a difference. And raise them like that from very young. Instill within them the thought of, you're gonna do something big for God. You're gonna make a big difference. God is gonna use you to do something great, to win a lot of people to Christ, to make a big difference in this world. Instill that within them. Now, don't let indifference be your attitude. Be compassionate towards others. Go back to, or you're in Proverbs 31. Here's the last lesson. And it kinda goes with the first lesson. But obviously this is very much important because of the fact that she spends the remainder of the chapter talking about this. Hey, don't let a good mate pass you by. Proverbs 31 verse 10 says, who can find a virtuous woman for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband does 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. You know what she's saying? Make sure you find yourself a virtuous woman. Make sure you find a woman that will treat you good, that you can trust, that you know you can trust, you can safely trust in her. You have no need of spoil. She'll do you good all the days of your life and not evil. Find yourself a good woman, son. And to that, amen. Look, that's the desire of all moms, right? For their sons is like, man, to find a good woman. You said, where can I find a good woman? Here's a good place, church. He said, well, how can I apply this? I'm not the guy. Well, if you're the girl, become the virtuous woman. Amen. Be the virtuous woman that a male who is being trained such as Lemuel would seek after, right? Don't be the one pursuing, be the one that you're just ready to be pursued after, right? By someone such as King Lemuel. Cause he's saying there, she's saying, look, look for virtuous woman. Don't let her pass you by. Make sure, don't try to go on to the world to find a wife. Look guys, let me step into place of King Lemuel's mom. Don't look for a wife out in the world who does not regard the Bible, does not regard God, right? Does not go to church. That's not a good place to find a wife. That's not a good place to find a spouse. You say, well, we found each other there. Yeah, but you know you're in church now. So that's different, right? You're in church now. And I don't think you would, I don't think you would argue with me that that's what you would want for your children is for them to find a spouse in church, okay? This is a good admonishment. Don't let a good mate pass you by. Now, how can you train your children to basically get married? Well, first of all, the mom needs to exemplify, right? What she would want her son to marry. That's not weird, it's just fact. The mom should exemplify and have the standard and the example that she would want her son to look for when he's looking for a spouse. You say, what if my mom's not an example? Then here's the thing, then God gave you Proverbs chapter 31, right? Now, look, that's not to say, because here's the thing, don't take this, you can take this to the extreme. It's like, well, the woman I'm looking for has to have every single quality that I see in Proverbs chapter 31. Well, hold on a second, are you like, how about yourself, though? You want like a Sarah, but you're not even in Abraham. Right? So don't worry, girls, I got your back too, okay? You know, like, oh, man, brother, let me hear you say the standard. Hold on a second, let me pop the bubble of the guys then. Make sure you're like Abraham. Hey, how about just being faithful to church? Now, how about actually just fulfilling your responsibilities as a son? How about having character? You ever heard that word before? Character, discipline, learning how to work, right? How to be honest, these are important qualities as well. I'm talking to the male who has those things. I'm talking to like a king Lemuel here who already has those things in place, right? And she's telling them this because this is important. You know, finding a mate for your child is a very, it can be scary, you know? Because whoever they're with, they're gonna be with for the rest of their lives, okay? And it really, their spouse can often determine the course of life for them. You know, that's why it requires a lot of prayer. It requires a lot of training. And this is exactly what King Lemuel's mother did. She's teaching them, hey, go for the virtuous woman. And even at the end of the chapter, she's like, hey, beauty is vain. Beauty is deceitful, it's vain. You know, the one who fears the Lord, she shall be praised, you know? That's King Lemuel's mother talking to him about the virtuous woman. He's like, look, I know that you're gonna be attracted to beauty, but here's the thing. It's vain is deceitful. The one who fears the Lord, that's the one you should go for, okay? And I'm not saying you can't be, you know, the looks are nothing, okay? Looks are, obviously, you're supposed to be attracted to your spouse, all right? But what he's saying here is in matters of priority, it's like someone who fears the Lord is that which is important the most. Amen. So what's the sermon today? It's simply this, you know, mothers. Happy Mother's Day, man. We have King Lemuel's mother as an example of her heart for her son. And really, it's great because it's the Word of God. So it should be the heart that mothers have today for their son, that you would seek not only to teach the commandments of God from the Word of God, but also to fill in the gaps as well. Fill in the obscure areas of life that maybe the Word of God is not clear on, but God has put you there in order to teach your children and instruct them in regards to those gaps. And what are some of the main things that she talked about? Hey, stay away from strange woman. Don't give your strength to women. Don't be a drunk. Make sure you're successful. Be sober, right? Have compassion. Don't be indifferent towards the things of this world. And ultimately, don't let a good mate pass you by. Make sure you marry right. Marry right. Find a good spouse. These are the instructions from King Lemuel's mother to her son. And let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your Word. We're thankful for King Lemuel's mother, who is unnamed, obviously. We don't know exactly who she is, but she obviously had wisdom and had a heart for her son. I pray, God, that you'd help the mothers here to also have that same heart. And fathers as well, we should have that same desire. It's in the Bible. We should desire that our children will marry godly people and that we would teach them and warn them about the things that can destroy their lives. I pray, God, that you bless all the mothers here and thank you so much for them. We wouldn't be the men we are today without them. And I pray, God, that you bless all there is. In Jesus' name, amen. I pray, God, that you bless all there is.