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So please keep your Bibles open there in Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3. There's only one thought that I want to take from that entire chapter, okay? Colossians chapter 3 verse 20. And before you read it, we continue in our series on the family. And it's a long series. I wasn't expecting to have so many things when I prepared this series. But of course, when it comes to families, there's a lot of relationships, a lot of responsibilities for fathers, for mothers, husbands and wives, children, you know, disciplining and educating your kids. I mean, there's so many things. You know, even in my series of a family, I'm not going to cover every single point. But today, you know, I've focused a lot on the adults, haven't I? I've focused a lot on the fathers and the mothers and the parents. This sermon, kids, it's for you. All right? So children, you pay attention. This sermon was prepared for you in mind, okay? And fathers, mothers, or if you're, you know, you're not married or still pay attention because there's still going to be many truths that you'll be able to apply maybe in the future, or maybe even for now. I mean, there's a lot of things that, you know, we may have missed as children. And we need to understand these things in order to be successful adults. You see, if you don't have a good childhood, you're not raised and educated and trained properly, it has lasting effects into your adulthood. And maybe you'll be able to look back at some of the mistakes you've made as an adult. We've all made mistakes, maybe some more than others, and look back and say, well, man, if I just had the training, if I just had this knowledge as a child, I wouldn't have made those mistakes. Now, it's easy to have self-pity, but here's what you do. You've made those mistakes, you've confessed them to the Lord, you need to make sure the next generation that you're bringing into the world learns from the things that you've done wrong. You teach them so they don't make the same mistakes as you. But look at Colossians chapter three, verse 20. The Bible says, children, and that's what I'm preaching to tonight, right? Children, obey your parents in all things, whoa, all things, yeah, all things, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. You see, the Bible is a big book. The Bible has a lot of rules and commandments and ways of living for the Lord, lots of instruction for men, lots of instruction for ladies. But for children, you get one key doctrine, you get one key teaching, you get one key commandment for you while you're under your parents' roof, and that is, children, obey your parents in the Lord. Man, if you can keep that commandment, the Bible tells us, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. You want to please the Lord? You want the Lord to look down and smile upon you, to have mercy and shine His glory upon your life? All you need to do to please the Lord is to be obedient to your parents. Say, oh, wow, wow, that's all I have to do. Yeah, but I remember being a kid, I remember that it was hard sometimes, I remember sometimes I would disobey my parents, I know sometimes I would break the rules, and I'm sure you as children have done the same many, many times. And when that happens, you know, if your parents are following what the Bible says, then they've disciplined you, they've probably taken out the rod or something and corrected you for the errors that you have made. But all of us are seeking at least to please the Lord in our lives, aren't we? We're all seeking at least to have that. You know, and children, all you need to do is obey mum and dad. It said that in all things, in all things, you say, but what about my dad? Yes, in all things, but when my mum, yes, in all things, the Bible says, right? Please go to Ephesians chapter six now, Ephesians chapter six, verse one, Ephesians chapter six, verse one, just back the previous book, Ephesians chapter six, verse one. This isn't the only time the Bible says this for us, it says in Ephesians six, one, Obey your parents in the Lord, there it is again. You know, children, sometimes you need to hear things twice. I know with my children, I tell them one thing, and then they forget. You know, I think it was just this week, I said to one of my kids, can you make me a coffee? He came back with a tea, or was it the other way around? Right, sometimes kids need to learn things twice. You know, sometimes adults need to learn things twice. My wife reckons I have to hear things twice. Brother David, don't you have to hear things twice? Usually wives know, yeah, my husband needs to hear things twice, because he didn't hear it the first time. The reason God gives us the instruction twice, kids, is because he knows you need to hear it more than once, okay? We need to learn things many times, more than once, but what does it say here? Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right, for this is right. If you want to live a righteous life, you want to know the difference between right and wrong, the first step for you to learn and be able to discern between good and evil, right and wrong, is for you to just obey mum and dad. You start there, you start on a good path. Okay, you start there, you start well. You do that which is right. Look at verse number two. It says, honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment we've promised, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. Wow. The Bible tells us, if you want to have a good life, a happy life, a successful life, one that you can look back in your old age and say, praise God for the life he's given me, you want to have a life that is well with you, the first commandment you need to obey children is to obey your mother and father. Not only will it be well with you in life in the future, but it says there, and thou mayest live long on the earth. You want a long life guaranteed? You obey mum and dad. Obey mum and dad. You say, what does that have to do with obeying mum and dad? Here's the thing. Mums and dads have obviously concerns for the children. They'll give them instruction. With my little children, I don't allow them into the kitchen. Say, why? Because there's sharp objects. Why? Because there's a hot stove, because there's hot water. If I don't issue commandments, if I don't teach them what's right, hey, don't go in there, they could very well wander in there and destroy themselves, hurt themselves, maybe even end their lives early. And so the promise of a long life children is that you begin obeying mum and dad. They're looking after your wellbeing. They want you to be protected. They don't want you to be harmed. They're gonna help you live that long life, and the instructions you receive from them, you're going to be able to carry with you for the rest of your life. Now, please go to Proverbs chapter 23. Proverbs chapter 23. And we're going to spend most of our time in the book of Proverbs tonight. So let's go to Proverbs 23 and verse 22. Proverbs 23 verse 22. And the book of Proverbs is the book of wisdom. You wanna gain great knowledge, great wisdom, great nuggets of truth, the book of Proverbs is for you. There's a lot of information jam packed into these passages, into these verses. But it says here in Proverbs 23 verse 22, harken unto thy father. Harken means to listen, pay attention, right? Harken, it comes from the word here. Harken unto thy father that beget thee and despise not thy mother when she is old. You know why it says there? Because mothers, as children grow up, you start to think your mother's an ag. Mum, leave me alone, I already know this. She'll say, make sure you put on your jumper. It's hot, it's cold outside. Make sure you, whatever, make sure you've done this, make sure, Mum, I know that. Hey, don't despise your mother. She loves you, she has your wellbeing in her heart. The Bible says don't despise thy mother when she is old. Not just your mother, it says harken to thy father. Listen to what they have to say. They've lived longer than you, okay? They have more experience than you. They know this world better than you know this world. And I remember growing up as a child, as a teenager, and I'm like, you got to a point where it's like, Mum and Dad, you're from another generation, you don't understand us. But now I'm the older generation, now I have children. And I realise, no, it's all the same. There's nothing new under the sun. The same temptations, the same sins, the same fears, the same dangers, they're out there, the same as they were in the previous generations. And this is what your parents are trying to do, they're trying to prepare you for this world. And unfortunately, children, for your sakes, you know, this world is getting worse. This world is getting worse all the time. I'm concerned for my children because, you know, yes, I'm passing down knowledge, but they're entering a world that's different to the world that I was in. At least the world that I was in had some ideas of what was right and wrong, all right? Today, they just call what's wrong right. They call what's evil good. I mean, it's all upside down today. And so children, you need to take heed to the instructions of your parents. Let's keep going, verse number 23. We're in Proverbs 23, 23. Proverbs 23, verse 23. The Bible says, buy the truth and sell it not. Also, wisdom and instruction and understanding, all right? I mean, all these things, I don't wanna go into all those things right now, but look, how important is it to have the truth? The Bible says, buy it if you have to. Now, your parents are trying to give it to you for free. Your church pastor is trying to give you your truth for free. But if you can't even get that for free, the Bible says, go and buy it. Go gain some knowledge. It's going to help you in your life. Verse 24, the father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice. And he that begateth a wise child shall have joy of him. Children, do you want your fathers to be happy with you? Do you want your parents to rejoice and say, my child, my son, my daughter, they give me joy. Well, what do you have to do? It says here that you need to be righteous, the father of the righteous. You need to learn what is right and do that which is right. You need to have the word of God, the Bible, and walk according to his ways. You need to pick up this book, not just go to church, not just listen to preaching, not just listen to mom and dad. You've got to pick up this book and read it for yourself and allow the Lord God to direct you and give you the wisdom, instruction, and knowledge that comes from his word. And look at verse number 25. Thy father and thy mother shall be glad and she that bear thee shall rejoice. So not just dads happy, moms will rejoice when they have a wise child, when they have a child that knows the difference between good and evil, when they have a child that's obedient to their parents. Children, I don't know if you realize that, how important it is for you to obey mom and dad. You obey them, you give them joy. When you disobey them, you give them sorrow, wrath, anger sometimes, right? All of the above. No, you don't want to be that person, right? You want to be the one that learns from your mistakes. You want to be the child that walks in righteous ways. Now, in saying all of this, the Bible did say, you know, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. And it also said to obey your parents in all things, right, all things. Now, the question that I get asked sometimes is, well, do I always obey my parents every single time? Well, as a rule of thumb, the Bible just said that obey your parents in all things, as a rule of thumb, okay? Is there ever a time where you should disobey your parents? There should be, sometimes, okay? The Bible tells us in Acts chapter five, verse 29, we ought to obey God rather than man. We ought to obey God rather than man. And this goes to everybody, not just children. You know, employees, when your employer tells you to do something wrong, when they tell you to lie, when they tell you to do something wicked, when they tell you to do something dishonest, you're going to be tempted and say, man, I need this job. You're gonna be tempted to do that which is wrong. But no, you'd rather, you need to obey God rather than man. And you say to that employer, look, I'm a Christian, I can't do that, I can't lie. I have to do which is right, okay? I have to obey Jesus Christ and not you, okay? There are times when you do not need to obey the authorities in your lives. Wives, you need to obey God rather than your husbands. Now again, wives are instructed to obey their husbands. But if your husbands are telling you to do something sinful, something wrong, something wicked, you say, no, I'm going to obey God first. And then if you're in line with God, I'll always obey you, husband. But he has to be in line with God. Church members, church members. And I know this sometimes happens in third world countries where the pastor, instead of the pastor being a brother in the Lord, they see the pastor as this, oh man, this great and mighty man of God that can never be wrong. This man that requires all respect and all obedience. No, that's not even true. If your pastor is not in line with God, if your pastor is not in line with the Bible, you obey God rather than man, all right? Even with your pastors, all right? And I'm your pastor, all right? So obviously if I'm teaching something wrong, if I'm telling you to do something wicked, don't listen to me. I'm wrong if I'm doing that, okay? So yes, even children, children, when your parents tell you to do something sinful, you know it's wrong. It's time to obey God rather than man. And in saying all of this, it's actually a very difficult task for children to do that. It's easier for us as adults to do that, okay? Because we've grown up, we've got a mind of our own, but children, they're still growing. They're still developing. They may have great fear and say, I'm just gonna obey mom and dad even though I know it's wrong. Now, in saying all this, I truly believe that God is, I mean, this is obvious. If you read your Bible, God is much more merciful and forgiven to little children than he is toward adults. The best example of this in the Bible is when the Israelites had left Egypt and they were heading to the promised land, to the land of Canaan. And of course, you know, Moses sent the two spies out there, or the two spies came back. You know, it's basically saying, yep, we can go into the land of Canaan. God's going to deliver us. God's going to give us, you know, to help us defeat the enemies. But all of Israel were too afraid to go there, weren't they? They were too afraid. And how did God punish the nation of Israel in those days? He basically said, everybody that's 20 years and over, you will not go into the promised land. You're going to wander in the wilderness for 40 years and you will die in the wilderness. But those that were children, those that were 20 and under, they would be permitted to go into the promised land. Something we see very clearly in the Bible is God distinguishes those that are adults and those that are children. He's much more merciful to the children. And the reason for that is because they don't have their own authority at this point in time. They're under their parents' authority. And parents, you've got to understand this. When your children muck up, when your children are disobedient, it's on you, okay? When your children can't obey, when they can't be polite to adults, it looks bad on you. It doesn't look bad on your children. You know, parents all the time try to blame their kids. Oh, my child's just wayward. Oh, my child's, yeah, he's having a hard time. No, you're a bad parent. You're not instructing your children properly. You know, I've mentioned before, children that go into the shops and they have tantrums and they yell at mum and dad. Hey, that's not a reflection on a bad child. That's a reflection on bad parenting. God's going to hold the parents accountable for the children. But one thing you need to understand, children, as we saw in that example of the Old Testament, is once you hit the age of 20, you can no longer hide behind your parents. You know, God's going to hold you fully accountable for what you do. You know, and again, you see this happen in life. You know, I've seen this happen many times. People that are adults, and they're like, oh, my life is messed up because when I was a child, I grew up in a divorced home. And that's sad. You know, when I was a child, this happened to me, this happened to me. I had bad parents and I had bad counsel, bad guidance. That's sad. I'm sorry that that's the case. But you can't use that as an excuse for the rest of your life, okay? You have the Word of God. You have the wisdom of God. You've got the Proverbs. You've got all of it here, the 66 books of the Bible. It's time for you to grow up. It's time for you to say, Lord, yes, I had a messed up childhood, but Lord, I'm an adult now, and I can't hide behind my past. I've got to put that behind me. Lord, help me to walk according to your ways. It doesn't matter if you had a bad childhood or a good childhood. God still expects the same, the same from all of us, okay, that we would walk according to his paths. So please, children, you've got to understand, yes, the Lord's going to be leaning on your mistakes today, but not forever. There's going to be a time when you have to stand on your own two feet and stand before God. So parents, you must take full responsibility of your children. Their bad behaviour is a reflection upon you, a reflection upon you. Now, let me just go through a few things, children, that you're going to face as children. You may even face this in this church, or you may face this with your siblings, or you may, if you go to, you know, if you're in public school or something, you may face that out there, or some other environment when you're with a bunch of children. One thing that I've seen consistent in every church that I've been part of is children have conflicts with other children. Always happens, all right? And when things aren't managed properly, there goes mum, all emotional, my little child, right? And then she gets upset at the mother of the other child, right? And nothing gets sorted, and then starts creating conflicts, and then the parents, you know, fathers get involved, and then people leave in church because, you know, there's a conflict within the congregation, and all it was about was a little toy, right? They've left the church because things aren't getting sorted out, and all of it was over some little toy, some little comment between children. And children, let me explain this to you. You are going to have conflicts in your life, okay? You need to use these opportunities to learn how to do that which is right. When you have conflicts with your siblings, with other children, this is an opportunity that God gives you to learn to be a peacemaker, okay? The children of God ought to be peacemakers, and you put your hand up if you're at fault, and say, you know what, I messed up, I'm sorry. Can we be friends again? And if it wasn't your fault, just say, look, I don't know what happened, but I want to be friends, let's forget that and let's move on. Learn to be a peacemaker. You've got to learn how to deal with conflict, and not always be that child that runs to mom and dad or every time for every little problem, okay? God gives you experiences as children so you can grow and learn from that, and then you can take that experience and apply that to adulthood. You know, the problems that adults face is more than just a word that was said, is more than just who stole my toy or who didn't play with me today. No, no, the problems that we face as adults are much greater than all of those. But here's the thing, the adult that cannot deal with conflict, the adult that cannot be a peacemaker, the adult that's always fighting, that's always fighting with everybody, that can never make friendships, it's because they did not learn a simple principle when they were children. They didn't take the little conflicts they have, and they are little things, and deal with them and grow from them. Parents, when your children have conflicts, it's not time to wrap them in bubble wrap and protect them. It's time to teach them, hey, this is life. Life is not a bed of roses. God has given you this opportunity so you can learn that sometimes you're gonna get hurt, sometimes people are gonna say nasty things about you, but you need to learn how to be strong, you need to learn how to draw strength from God, you need to learn how to face that person and deal with it and be a peacemaker. We need to learn, children, we need to learn from the examples, the opportunities that God gives you. I'll give you some examples of this. You know, when children play, you know, there's a term, the sore loser, right? The sore loser. You play a game, and this always happens. Whenever you have kids, it always happens. You go to a birthday party, you invite children, it always happens. Some game, some child didn't get the prize, and they go, mommy, I didn't get the prize. The sore loser, right? You go and play a game, whatever it is, a card game, they lose and they carry on. That's the sore loser. You know what? If you grow up to be a sore loser, you're not going to be able to make friends. No one's gonna wanna play with you later on when you're the sore loser. When you go and win, you complain. Listen, when you play a game, there's gonna be a winner and there's gonna be a loser. That's the way the world is, all right? There's always a winner, there's always a loser. And when you lose, this is an opportunity for you to build character. You go to the winner, you shake their hand, and you say, well done, well played. Can you teach me how to be better? Can you teach me this game so I can be as good as you? Hey, we need to learn how to rejoice in the successes of other believers. Too many Christians today, right, they look at the success of other brothers and sisters and go, I wish I was them, I wish I was like that. Stop being a sore loser. Go and rejoice with that brother if they have great success. Learn, that's what's gonna help you grow love for one another. Just like the sore losers, have you guys ever come across sore winners? Oh man, they're worse than the sore losers. They win, it's like, oh, I'm the greatest, right? They kiss their muscles, I'm the best. No one can beat me, filled up with pride. Again, if you're a sore winner, no one wants to play with you anymore. No one wants to be your friend anymore. And you're gonna be like, why doesn't everyone play? Because you're a sore winner. Hey, if you win, you realize someone's lost, you go and shake their hand. Say, well played, thanks for playing with me. All right, maybe I can give you some tips in the future you know, to do better next time. Hey, be, you know, have good character. You know, children, you need to learn this now. We live in a generation of bad character. We live in a generation of sore losers. We live in a generation where everyone's whining and complaining and they can't move on with their lives. God gives us these experiences as children, small experiences, so when you grow up, you can deal with the bigger challenges that come. Okay, that come. Your conflicts are small. And children, when it comes to obeying your parents, this is what you should never say to your parents. That's not fair. Have you ever heard that parents? That's not fair. You know, maybe your parents sent, I don't know, I'll give you one example. Maybe your parents have sent one of your siblings, one of your brothers, sisters to clean one window, right? One of the windows. And to you, they said, I'll go and clean three windows. Oh, that's not fair. You know, why does little Tony over there get to clean one window and I have to clean three? Forget what's fair. You know what? If life was fair, we would all die in our sins and go to hell. That would be fair. Now, God stepped in. He sent Jesus Christ to come and die for us on the cross. That wasn't fair for Jesus Christ. Listen, life is not about what's fair. Life is about being obedient to the authorities that God has put in your life with God being the high power and making sure that everything aligns with what God says. Listen, if it's not fair, it may very well not be fair. What are you gonna do about it? Go and clean the three windows. I'll tell you what's gonna happen. You put your head down, you clean the three windows. The other one cleans one window. You know what's gonna happen in life when you grow up? If that's what you do, you have good character. You say, yes, mom, I'll do it. You go and do it. You'd be a hard worker. Then when you grew up in life, you're gonna be three times more successful. You're gonna be three times more productive because you learn how to be three times more productive when you were a child. And you're gonna be able to carry that for the rest of your life. You're gonna be more successful as a child that worked harder, that had stricter parents than the child that was left to their own devices. Oh, it's not fair. They got to go to the cinema and watch the horror movie. Yeah, but now they're a bum drinking alcohol with no job and no life, okay, when they're adults. You on the other hand, married, kids, successful, soul winning, pleasing the Lord, man, so much better because you had good teaching as a child, all right? Obey your parents. Go to Proverbs 22, verse six, please. Proverbs chapter 22, verse six. Proverbs 22, verse six, the Bible says, Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Man, listen, parents, you have, you can affect your children for the rest of their lives today. You train up a child in the way he should go, Bible says he will not depart from it. Look, you teach them the Word of God. You teach them the importance of church. You teach them the importance of winning souls. You teach them the importance of walking in God's ways. You teach them the importance of not being tainted by this world. You know, they may, yes, maybe in their lives, they're gonna, you know, make some mistakes in their lives, but at some point, they're gonna wake up again and go, man, I need to get back to God. I need to get back to God's way if they've made mistakes in their life, and they're going to get back on that old path. But you know, the opposite is true as well. You know, if you train your children to be disrespectful, you train your children to not be obedient, you don't train your children to be hard workers, you don't train your children to the importance of church and doing godly things, then when they're old, guess what? They're not gonna care for any of those things anyway. They're gonna be the same way. They're going to be disrespectful. They're gonna be losers. Is that what you want for your children? Now praise God if they're saved, but they're going to destroy their life. They're not gonna be a benefit. They're not gonna be a blessing to other people. They're not going to please the Lord God. Parents, be mindful. Children, understand this. The reason your parents are strict, they're giving you guidance today, because they want you to be successful adults in the future in accordance to God's word, okay? This is what God's word says. Your parents are holding onto this promise. If I train them in the way they should go when he is old, he will not depart from it. Now please go to Proverbs chapter 10, verse one. Proverbs chapter 10, verse one. And I've already kind of mentioned this before, but let's look at this again. Proverbs chapter 10, verse one. The Bible says, the Proverbs of Solomon, a wise son maketh a glad father, but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother. You say, well, yeah, I realize that if I'm wise and obedient, I'll please my parents, but at the end of the day, it's my life. I'll do whatever I want. Listen, you mess up your life. You become the foolish son. It says, but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother. Listen, if you go off the rails, you get into the world, you get into drugs and alcohol and all the lust of the flesh and lust of the eyes and the pride of life, you know, you get out of church and you have no interest in the things of God, your mother will go to the grave with heaviness in her heart. Children, is that what you want for your mother? To go to the grave with heaviness and sorrow? No, that's not what we want. But if you're foolish, you will do that to your mother. You will cause that to your mother. Look at Proverbs 15 now. Proverbs 15 verse 20. Proverbs 15 verse 20. Proverbs 15 verse 20. The Bible says, a wise son maketh a glad father, but a foolish man despiseth his mother. A foolish man despiseth his mother. Parents, the reason why we need to get rid of the foolishness in the hearts of the children, children, the reason you need to obey your parents is because you can potentially grow up and despise your own mother who gave birth to you. That's the generation we live in. They don't care about their parents. That, mom and dad, give me my inheritance. Mom and dad, die early, I don't need you. Let me live my life. They despise their parents, despise their mother because they're foolish. They weren't trained, they weren't obedient to their parents. We need to understand, children, when you disobey, you're gonna bring unnecessary burdens upon your own mother and father. And I'm sure right now, you love mom and dad more than you love anybody probably right now, okay? And do you want to give them burden? Do you want to give them sorrow? If you're saying, no, I don't want that, then you need to learn to be obedient. You need to learn to listen to the wisdom, the instruction of your parents. Please go to Proverbs 28, Proverbs 28, verse 24. Proverbs 28, verse 24. Proverbs 28, 24. The Bible says, who so robeth his father or his mother and saith, it is no transgression. The same is the companion of a destroyer. The Bible talks here of robbing your father and your mother. Now, immediately your probably thoughts will go like robbing them financially. Yes, I mean, that would be a totally wicked thing, right? Stealing financially from your parents, taking money from them, of course. But you know, robbing your parents is more than that. You know, you can rob, you can be a thief, not just of money, but of possessions and time. Possessions and time. Let me give you a quick example of this. Let's say time, let's say time. Your mom and dad says, you know, child, you know, for the next 10 minutes, go and clean your room. You know, I've given you 10 minutes, go and clean your room, all right? Your parents have set that time period right now for you to get there and get working, for you to get out there and obey mom and dad. But what the kids sometimes do, they get started, right? And they find the toy that they're meant to pack up and they start playing with it, okay? And then for the next 10 minutes, they're playing with toys. Next 10 minutes, their bedroom's getting messier, all right? And then the parents come in and the bedrooms are clean. You know, and it's like, you haven't done your chores. You haven't done the work. You might even be disciplined. But now you've robbed your parents of another 10 minutes. Because they're like, well, get back there. Another 10 minutes, go and clean your room. Look, you've robbed your parents of time. You've wasted their time, okay? It's not just finances, by you being lazy, by you being disobedient, you're robbing your parents of time. You can rob your parents of possessions as well. And you know, a household, look, I've got 10 kids. You guys know that, right? You know, the reason why it's so hard for us to rent up in Queensland is because all the tenants think we're gonna destroy the house. They think surely with 10 kids, by the time they leave, you know, there'll be holes in the walls. There'll be pee all over the carpet. You know, there'll be nappies hanging off the fans or something. You know, that's what they're gonna be thinking, right? They're like, the house is gonna be a disaster. You know what? Children, the things you have, the clothes you wear, you know, the toys you have, the possessions you have, the house, the roof that you have, have been provided to you by your parents. Yes, they've been provided by the Lord, but the Lord has given your parents the ability to be able to provide your needs. And when you waste those needs, when you go and jump on the new couch, right? You go and take the pen and you draw on the walls. Hey, you're destroying the possessions that your parents have given you, okay? You can rob your parents, not just of money, but of time and of possessions. And of course, Dad goes to work. He works several hours a day, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12 hours, whatever it is, every day to make sure you're provided for. Take care of the things that your parents have given you. Take care. Honor your mother and your father. Obey them. They work super hard to give you a good and happy life. Children, let's go to Proverbs 29. Proverbs 29, verse 15. Proverbs 29, verse 15. And this is just calling back to the sermon last week on disciplining your children. But again, I'm preaching to the children, right? Children, pay attention. Proverbs 29, verse 15, the Bible says, "'The rod and reproof give wisdom, "'but a child left to himself bringeth his mother "'to shame.'" Children, when you disobey your parents, you'd probably rather be left alone. I'm sure you don't wanna get disciplined. I'm sure you don't wanna get that rod on your backside, right? You probably just wanna be left alone. The Bible tells us here, if you're left alone, a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. You're not going to learn your lessons, all right? This is why God has instructed parents to use the rod. You know, if you're, next time you get taken by your parents, dad gets the belt out of whatever it is, whatever rod device he uses, right? You need to remember something. Mom and dad are obeying the book. Mom and dad are obeying the Bible. This is why, this is why they're doing it, because they love me, because they want me to have wisdom, because they want me to learn from my mistakes, because they want me to become an adult that is successful and productive for the Lord. That's why your parents discipline you, you know? And I don't know. I don't know all the parents down there. I've never gone around asking, do you use, what do you use? I don't know. But children, if your parents aren't using the rod, you know what? Go to your mom and dad and say, mom, can you, next time you discipline me, can you use the rod? Do it! That's what God wants for you, okay? And if your parents aren't doing it, maybe you need to be the one. And say, mom, I heard in church that you need to be using the rod. Yes, you go and tell them that, okay? Because you don't wanna be that child that grows up and puts their mother to shame. All right. Now, the next thing, children, I already mentioned this. I feel sorry for you. You're growing up in such a wicked generation, such a wicked generation. I don't even know what to say about this generation. I used to be in, I think I've, I don't know if I mentioned these. I get sometimes confused with what I say in Queensland and up here. But I used to employ a lot of people, you know, a lot of younger people, obviously, a few years ago. And, you know, people coming straight out of school. I mean, first of all, academically, you think they know, like, everyone's texting, everyone's on Facebook, and everyone's doing this and that. You think they know how to spell, right? You think these people know how to write an email. You think these people know how to do some basic mathematics, some basic calculations. And you hire them, and next thing you know, they can't even do the most simple things. That's one thing. But the disrespect, all right, the disrespect, the self-entitlement. I'm entitled to this job. I'm entitled to these hours. I'm entitled to this pay or more pay. No, you're not, okay? You gotta prove yourself. You gotta show yourself as someone who is productive, someone that is valuable to the business. Otherwise, you're fired. We're gonna try again and get someone else, all right? We live in a generation that is self-entitled, and the book of Proverbs talks about this generation. Go to Proverbs chapter 30, please. Proverbs chapter 30, verse 11. Proverbs chapter 30, verse 11. The Bible says here in Proverbs 30, 11, there is a generation that curseth their father and doth not bless their mother. Look, I don't know what this, this must be, this generation. 2019, 2020, come around the corner. It has to be this generation, all right? This is what I'm seeing out there in the public, a generation that curseth their parents, okay? That does not bless their mother, doesn't appreciate their mother, is not thankful toward their mother. You know, get away from me, Mom, leave me alone. I wish my parents were dead. Those are the things that are coming out of children today. They were coming out of my generation as well, and I thought my generation couldn't get worse. It's gone worse. It keeps getting worse and worse. Verse number 12, there is a generation that are pure in their own eyes and yet is not washed from their filthiness. They're pure in their own eyes. The self-entitlements, they never think they'd do anything wrong. They're always offended. It's always everyone else to blame. It's never them. Man, you try to correct one of these children these days, you try to show them the right path, and oh man, why are you speaking that way? Why are you a hater? Why are you trying to offend me? Hey, grow up, get some thick skin. You've got to learn what's right and wrong. They think they're pure in their own eyes. They think they've done nothing wrong. They think everyone else is to blame except themselves, all right? And this is a major problem, major problem, because when people start thinking they're pure in their own eyes, they're not gonna understand their need for a savior, okay? They're not gonna understand their need for salvation because those that know they need to be saved recognize, actually, I'm not pure in my eyes. I'm actually a very wicked, sinful person, and I need a savior, I need Jesus Christ. Man, this is the generation that's coming through, you know, a generation that's never disciplined, a generation that never learned their lessons. You know, they're never disciplined. Like I said last week, they're never gonna think they're wrong. They're never gonna think they need correction. Verse number 13, there is a generation. Oh, how lofty are their eyes, and their eyelids are lifted up. In other words, they're full of pride, all right? Full of self-worth. You know, they think they're better than those that have come before. They think they know how to run the world better, right? Verse number 14, there is a generation whose teeth are as swords and their jaw teeth as knives to devour the poor from off the earth and the needy from among men. Look, there is a generation that is destructive with their speech, okay? Instead of edifying, instead of showing love and wisdom and knowledge, they just wanna tear each other down. They wanna tear everybody down. Their words are like swords. And look, who do they go after? They go after the poor. They go after the needy. Look, they'll take whatever they can take. If they can abuse somebody, take advantage of someone, they'll do it because they feel self-entitled. They'll do whatever it is, okay, to destroy other people around them. You know, they're full of cowards. They take on the poor and the needy, full of cowards. Look at verse number 15, the horse leech. The horse leech is just a type of leech. You know what a leeches are? They're bloodsucking little creatures, kind of like worms. The horse leech have two daughters crying, give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied. Yea, four things say not, it is enough. You know what the Bible's saying here? That there is a generation of leeches. There is a generation of bloodsuckers, okay? They're saying, give me, give me, I deserve it. Mom and dad, give, give. You know, employer, give, give. Hey, what are you going to give? What are you going to put in? No, they wanna suck you dry. They wanna suck your blood as it were. And this is how they are. You know, I once, we went, in Queensland, we went to this rainforest, and I'm not sure if it, there was a leech on Sebastian's head. And I'm not sure if it got attached, but Christina tried to grab the leech and started to pull it. Like, we don't know what to do, right? I think you're meant to pull like vinegar. I mean, we're in the rainforest. We don't have anything, right? Anyway, she's pulling it, and let's say Sebastian's head is here. She's pulling the leech, and the leech is like this long. Like, ah, and then she's pulling the, just sucking on him. Like, you know, we managed to pull it off. We checked his head. But somehow, even though it didn't grab on, it would just maybe held on. They're extremely hard to remove. Extremely hard to remove. We live in a generation of bloodsuckers. Very hard to teach, very hard to discipline, very hard to correct, very hard to change their ways. And they're looking to take advantage of other people. Verse number 16. We're talking about those things here in verse number 15, the things which are never satisfied, right? Never satisfied. And it said here, three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say it is not enough. So there are four things actually in total that are never satisfied. Look at this. Number one, the grave. Verse number 16, the grave. You know the grave is never satisfied. What does that mean? People are dying all every day, okay? Every day, there's never an end to death at this point in time. Of course, at the end of the millennium, as Christ rules the rain, then there'll be an end of death, okay? At that point, but for now, death continues every day of our lives. The graves are always filled, but they're never satisfied. They're going to be continually filled. This is why they're never satisfied. Next thing there in the list is the barren womb. The barren womb. You know, wives that are unable to fall pregnant. Wives that have difficulty with having children. They're never satisfied. You may remember when I preached on women, and that's actually part of, you know, God's put that in the DNA of a woman to get married and desire children. And when they aren't able to fulfill that, yes, they will never be satisfied. It's the barren womb. And then it says here, what else is never satisfied? The earth that is not filled with water. And that's pretty straightforward. Because if the earth does not have water, there's droughts, there's no plantation, there's no crops, there's no food, and you can never be satisfied with what the earth is able to put forth. But look at the last one. And the fire that sayeth not, it is enough. You know, there is a fire here that has been referred to that is never quenched. I mean, there can be some bad fires in Australia, but at some point they're quenched. At some point, once they destroyed people's houses and it's caused destruction, at some point they burn out. They're satisfied. But there is a fire here that says it is, that sayeth not, it is enough. And the only fire that I can possibly think of is hell. Hellfire, you know, the lake of fire that is never satisfied. That fire will burn forever and ever. And for those that have rejected Christ, they're gonna be burning forever and ever. How important brethren, it is for us to get out and preach the gospel. I don't wanna get sidetracked though, but what is everlasting fire then being referred to? This generation that we're talking about. This generation. It's just as bad, just as never satisfied as hellfire. That's the comparison that we have here in the book of Proverbs. And you say, is this really about children? Is this really about generation? Look at verse number 17. The eye that mocketh at his father and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out and the young eagles shall eat it. This is children putting down their fathers. Old man, what do you know? Old man, you're of another generation. They despise, they mock their father. They despise the instruction of their mother. It says here the ravens of the valley shall pick it out. The young eagles shall eat it. It's kind of like the idea of once the parents lose that in their children, once the children are part of that generation, it's almost like you'll never get them back. It's taken away. It's like those ravens that come and take it away and eat it. Parents are gonna desire for their children to be back the way it used to be as children. They're going to have regrets. They're gonna wish they were able to raise their children better, go back in time, but it's never gonna be returned that time. The damage you caused with your children to their parents can have lasting effects. Please use your time now that you have with them. Value it. Teach your children. Children, understand this. Understand this as well. Why are my parents so strict? Why do they say no when I want to do certain things? They have their reasons. They have their reasons. It's because they love you. They don't want you to destroy your life. In conclusion, guys, please go to verse number, sorry, Proverbs chapter six. Proverbs chapter six, verse 20. Let's just end on this. Proverbs chapter six, verse 20. The Bible says, I'm not going to elaborate on this. We'll just read it as it is. Let's pay attention. Proverbs chapter six, verse 20. The Bible says, my son, keep thy father's commandments 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. And when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. For the commandments is a lamp and the law is light and reproofs of instruction are the way of life. Children, hearken to these words of the Bible. Listen to mom and dad. Listen to them and understand why it is that they love you so much. Understand why it is they spend the time to train you and to correct you and to discipline you. Let's leave it there. Listen to mom and dad. Listen to mom and dad.