In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the potential dangers of grouping people together in large crowds, using the example of universities where young people live together and can influence each other negatively. The importance of love, honor, and righteousness in the family is highlighted, with the speaker urging parents to openly express their love for their children. The speaker also emphasizes the significance of a well-run home in determining a person's qualification for leadership positions in the church. The sermon concludes with a mention of the promise of the seed to Sarah and the concept of the old being destroyed before the new can begin, emphasizing the need for interpretations of Scripture to align with the overall teachings of the Bible.

Well, my subject has been announced. I said the other day that, um, while I was over in Sweden, I was asked there if I would preach on the family. And, uh, I had to do it for an interpreter, of course. It's wonderful that God does give interpreters. I called her my mouthpiece. I don't know how long we took, but, um, it takes twice as long for an interpreter. I don't know how long the meeting went on. But God moved in a very real way. And I became aware, perhaps, um, in a way that I hadn't quite thought before, the, of the necessity to talk to the children of God about the family. And, well, here we are. I want to talk to you about the family tonight. I had thought that it might be answered in some other time because it came as a question, not quite in those terms, but it seemed to confirm the fact that we should consider it because I had been asked if I would do so, and there was a question in the box on the topic. You know, God is very, very concerned about our families, really. I don't think we've got to get the wrong idea about it. We have to know what the Lord says. I think I'd like to start in the book of the Genesis. The beginnings. And I think we ought to take it to our hearts, beloved, that God is a family God. This is the great revelation that Scripture gives us, that God is a family God. The family is God's idea. It isn't man's, it is God's. And he calls his people, the really born-again children of God, these are his family. Jesus Christ, we're told, is not ashamed to call them his brethren, that we should all be one in the family of God. Now, you may be sure that God, who created man on the earth and has moved in this way, has great ideals for his family. I know that things have gone entirely wrong on the earth, that the families of the earth are far astray from that which God wants. But he wants his people. In fact, because it is written in the book, he is really demanding of his people that they be what he wants them to be. It's a totally erroneous idea that we can think that we can be right in the family of God. That is, right as we should be, and pay no account to our family relationships on earth. I think I'd like to ask you a question. I've asked it once or twice. I'm going to make two statements. They're almost alike. When I've made them, I'm going to ask you which is the correct one. Here, then, are the statements. God, the church, the family. The other one is God, the family, the church. Which is the correct order? The second one. Absolutely true. It's so important, listen, that a man can't take any position in God's church if he's not right in his family. That's how important it is. What a tremendous thing for us to understand. Lest we get things right out of proportion and perspective, we need to know these things and take them deeply into our hearts. I want to start, as I've said in the Genesis, in chapter 18. It's the chapter that contains the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. You will know that Sodom and Gomorrah are infamous for the terrible sin that went on in these two cities. The breakdown of the proper relationship of male and female, human beings, in the earth. I want to tell you, beloved, that there is a great relationship in the judgments of God. The judgments of God are related to the condition and the basic principle operating in the persons judged. For instance, men with men worked that which was unseemly, and burned in their lusts one to another, so God burned them. That was his judgment. You can say it's poetic, if you like that term. I say that it is related on a basic principle. Judgment to the condition and the kind of thing that you do. How wonderful that is. Praise the name of the Lord. I would also like at this juncture not to dwell on it, to say that the whole psychiatric concept of such things is utterly wrong. God did not judge a lot of sick people and burn them up because they were sick. He burned them up because they were wicked. It wasn't a sickness that they had in Sodom and Gomorrah, it was deep, terrible sin. The breakdown of proper human relationships. I think it must be a sign of the last days in which we are living, that these kinds of things are brought up now and treated as psychological and psychiatric disorders. And it's symptomatic of our terribly sick and disordered society, that it should be so. That men should dare to contradict God, and dare to set up their findings as against the findings and judgments of God. Praise the name of the Lord. But here in Sodom and Gomorrah, God was going to move in judgment. And you know the story, at the time God was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, and blot out this deadly thing from his creation, this blot upon the face of the earth, was the same time, praise God, in which he determined to send his seed into the earth. When men with men had corrupted themselves unto the very sink of iniquity, God said he would send his seed, the righteous man, the holy man, who would burn with the pure fire of love. And he came with the promise of the seed to Sarah. What a wonderful thing it is. Glory be to God. I tell you that it bears out the truth, that before there's life there must be death. The destruction of the old, before the new. Every time. Not the carrying over of the old for destruction afterwards, but the destruction of the old before he starts the new. That's the revelation of Scripture. As I was saying this morning, as truth has to be true upon the whole tenor and teaching of God's Word, not upon an isolated text. But every text properly viewed and interpreted will be of one piece with the whole. If your interpretations of Scriptures bring you out of tune with the whole tenor of Scripture revelation, your interpretation is wrong. So is mine too, if I do it. But God, when He's going to destroy this thing, He comes down to deal with the proper family. Hallelujah. What a marvelous thing it is. And so, in verse 14 of chapter 18, Is anything too hard for the Lord? He says. At the time appointed, I will turn unto thee according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. Hallelujah. Then Sarah denied, not that she was going to have the son, but that she laughed, saying, I laugh not, for she was afraid. And he said, no, but I did laugh. And he wasn't piqued and offended and cleared off. Some people talk about God as though He's that thin-skinned, that if you sniffed a bit hard, He'd run away. He didn't say, well, now you've lost your opportunity forever. Amen. So let's get the devil off your back about that. He's a liar anyway. And every way. But here's God now. The men rose up from thence and looked towards Sodom. And Abraham went with them to bring them on their way. And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do? Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation. And all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him. For I know him that he will command his children and his household after him. And they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. Amen. And you see, the reason why God shared with Abraham this secret is simply because he was going to have his family right. What a tremendous thing that is. Now Abraham didn't know anything about it. I would press upon you that he was living in a terrible age of the wickedest and most obscene and demoralizing human exhibitionism. I mean, it was even worse than England in 1974. Yet he was going to command his family. It's a tremendous thing for us to understand. And they were going to apparently keep right in the midst of a world that was absolutely soaked in sin. This is a thing that you find right through, for instance. Noah. You remember that God came to Noah and he says, You're the only one, you're the only family I've found righteous in the earth. And virtually, an ark was prepared though it hath much typical significance for us today in the day when he did it. God had come to the end. There was just one righteous family in the earth. The seed had been preserved. And so God commanded an ark to be built in order to preserve the righteous family. And the righteous family stepped out on the new earth. You say, really? Oh yes. Only the righteous family stepped out onto the new earth that had been regenerated during the days of the flood. So tremendous was it that that Peter said that there were great changes in the earth in those days. You must read Peter's comment on the flood. He's great on the flood. Read both his epistles. He's elemental. He gets down to basic things. He's rugged and he doesn't come with any sort of finesse about it. He tells you the exact truth. And they stepped out on the new earth. I know that men quickly degenerated again because that's only in type. That's why he says we're going to have an earth wherein dwelleth righteousness in the new creation when Peter talks about it. And only the righteous family in its great extended sense of the family of God is going to live in that new creation. But coming back then to Abraham he said it was because Abraham's family was going to be right that he imparted unto him the knowledge of the truth. And what a wonderful thing that is. God wants us right in all our relationships. And you know these are days when the family has come to a great breakdown and a great break up. It's a terrible thing to realize it but every system in this earth is aimed at breaking up the human family. Isn't that right? Yeah. Even your educational system does it. You can't now send a child to the school next door if they say it's got to go to tent six miles away. Oh well, we'll provide a bus of course. Away it goes. And you get your O-Levels and you get your A-Levels and you say, oh well no, of course you'd better go to St. Andrews University up in Scotland. So away you go. Or they say, well no, I think you ought to come into the army. So away you go. Everything in this world is aimed at the breakdown of the family unit. It can't help it. It must do in order to exist. That's how wrong it's got. And there's no hope for it and God's going to destroy it and hallelujah. Amen. It's gone far, far away and drifting farther away all the time. And the Lord has great plans for us, beloved. We who are His children. That we being taught of God should come into a place in Christian homes and families where we are right before God. Now God wants us to be that. And as I have already pointed out, the importance of the family is so great that a man can be qualified or disqualified for holding position in the church of God just by how his home is run. What a tremendous thing that is, beloved. Now we're going to read in the New Testament then something about these glorious truths. I want to turn you to the Ephesian letter first of all. And in the chapter 3. When Paul commences his great second prayer in the third chapter, he says in verse 14, For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. I know that can be translated every family. But it doesn't have to be translated every family. And it's a commentary on the spiritual understanding of the translators if they do translate it every family. For God is speaking about only his one family in the earth. That's what he's talking about. It's always wise, I want to tell you this, excuse me digressing a little bit. When you read a Bible, if you have an ability to go back to the Hebrew and the Greek, and when I say a Bible, I mean a translation of the Bible. And see how they translate a word. What they put in your English or whatever version it is. It will tell you their spiritual conception of truth. Always. Do you realize that? It will tell you what their own spiritual understanding is. The way they interpret a word, the way they translate a word. For words in the Bible are not to be translated according to mental concepts, but according to spiritual understanding. And when a word has a variety of meanings, watch the particular meaning that they put down. It will teach you a lot. God named the whole family in heaven and earth. And if I understand that right, that means that this is the Jesus family. Now I'm not talking about any modern ideas about the Jesus family. But this is a family of Jesus people. Isn't that a marvelous thing? God's got a whole family of these people. Praise God. Some of them are called dads, and some of them are called moms, and some of them are called boys, and some of them are called girls. It's all according whether or not, of course, whether they've been born from above. If they've been born from above, they are in a family. They're in the family of God. And you and I have to get the family instinct. The family knowledge. Praise the name of the Lord. I'll tell you this much. There are people who feel lonely, rejected, outcast, unwanted, as an interior spiritual condition. They can't have been born yet. Not born from above. For birth from above immediately imparts the consciousness of being in the family. That's what it's all about. If it fails that, it's failed in its chiefest virtue. That we should know that we're in the family of God. As they used to teach me to sing when I was a boy, No, never alone. Did they used to teach you that? She wasn't a boy, but she's fairly old. Like I am. And this is the whole truth. That we've been born into the family of God. Is there anybody in this room tonight that feels rejected? An outcast? Unwanted? Out on a limb? Not in? You do? I was. Ah, I said if you feel it now. Oh well, there you was. So was I. One of the most wonderful things about a true son of God is that he's got a past. He's got a past. Amen. It's past. It's over. Amen. But he's got a present and he's got a future. And it's a marvelous thing for us to understand. And you and I must see this. That we're in the great family of God. And God loves this great family concept. And over and over again, when he writes through the pens of the apostles or the people that the apostles used in dictating to them the word of God. He comes on to this family position in the church of Jesus Christ. And if we look down into the sixth chapter of the Ephesian letter. I want you to remember that he only here is considering a family that talks about being filled with the spirit. We'll start in verse 18 of chapter 5. That you're not to be drunk with wine wherein is excess. But be filled with the spirit. Speaking to yourselves. Did you note it didn't say rowing one another. It says speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of the Lord. Now that's a marvelous position to be in. If you are filled with the spirit so the scripture says. You will speak to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and make melody in your heart to the Lord. And listen to this one. You'll give thanks always for everything. All things. How many spirit filled people are there here tonight on that basis. See we like the text which says in everything give thanks. Because you don't have to give thanks for it then. But in it you can still say oh this is horrible. I wish it would go away. But I'll praise God. I've read a book called from grumbling to praise or something. Hallelujah. You see. Oh prison to praise sorry. This is a tremendous truth. Giving thanks for all things. Unto God and the Father. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. My there are some tremendous standards here for a Christian family. Now you parents you listen. This is not first of all put upon the children. But upon you. Your children aren't old enough to know. And when you are married your children are to be born into this kind of a home. Were they? A home where there is spirit filled parents. A home of song. A home where there is melody in hearts. A home where thanksgiving is always arising to God. What a place to be born. Praise God. All you kids tonight stand up if you'd like to have been born in a home like that. Yeah. Glory be to God. Amen. Amen. Aren't many children have that. Then you got Christian parents say they are baptized in the spirit always grumbling about their children. And delinquency. I want to tell you that the first trouble on this earth is not youthful and child delinquency. It's parental. They think that if they go along to the church. And use their tongue. And say Hallelujah. Amen. That's a Christian home. Far from it. Amen. This is the home all you children I want to speak to you now. This is the home that you should have expected to have been born in. If your parents claimed to be born again. I'm not breathing discontent now. I want to tell you the truth. I'll talk to you later. Here then is the tremendous position. What a family. Submitting yourselves one to another. In the fear of God. What a great thing this was. You know this is a tremendous position. You know I think some of you must have heard me say this before. But you know whenever I go out of the country. As soon as I turn my back something happens. Because when I get home I find there's a new gimmicky word going around the country. And I say oh what's this now. Oh I came back from India some time ago. And all I could hear was submission. Submission. Submission. I was as green as grass. Well I look green don't I. Well I was brown as a berry really. I'd come back from India. But inside I was quite green. A tappy got up from the seat somewhere about. It wasn't you. I don't know. It was in the city of London you see. That's where they always make the greatest mistakes. And well it's right. As soon as you get the bigger the crowd that there is together. The more liability there is for mistake. Obviously. Well of course. Look you see it in your educational system. They take. It's right. You take. You take young people at an age when they're just about one in the you know. And you group them all together in a thing called a university. You get them living in halls or what not there. And there they all are together. And before long they've hatched up the wickedness of their heart all together. And you've got trouble. You've got student trouble. If they'd have left them on their farms or in their villages. You wouldn't have had it. That's right. That's the idiocy of men. Thinking that education is going to put our youth right. Education has put the world wrong. Because it's on a wrong foundation. That isn't to say you aren't to get your faculties trained. But you've got to see the background of it. Well anyway. This young man he came up to me. I don't know what I've been preaching on. And most people when I sort of speak they sometimes talk to me. Well you know talk about what being the subject. He said you know we're having a wonderful time in our church. We've got this truth of submission. I said oh yes. You know green is anything. I didn't know anything. They'd slipped it in while I'd been abroad. He said we've got this truth of submission you know. I said yeah. Oh fine. He said yes. We submit to the elders. Our elders submit to brother so and so. He submits to brother so and so. Going higher up the scale all the time. Just ready for this pyramidal teaching to come over. It's amazing how the devil alerts people. He said we submit. And he submits to so and so. And he submits to so and so. I said well praise God you know. Glory. I thought that was marvellous. Well then there sort of came a gap. Nothing was said. And he walked off. And he went to a brother of mine somewhere over by the wall. And he said here he said. He went through the whole story again. Then he said who does Mr North submit to? I'm telling you the truth. So the young man had the sense to say I don't know. Go and ask him. So he did. He came back. And he went through his story again. See. And I said to him. Look. The truth of submission is bound up here. Submitting yourselves one to another. I submit to you sister. One to another. Don't say to the chap higher than you. One to another. Though there is a truth of submission to those that God has put over you. What a tremendous thing this is. Submitting yourselves one to another. Glory be to the name of the Lord. Well. This is in the larger family of God. And then from this he launches straight over into the human family. And he says. Wives. Submit yourselves unto your own husbands. Well. You know it's a pity he started with the women but he had to. Don't you know that's how all the trouble started in the world. It's right. You dear sisters you must face the truth. It's right. The whole story of the failure of mankind ties up with a woman that wouldn't submit to her own husband. And because of that she cooperated with the devil. The devil came in. And I think I said this here last year. But suffer me to repeat it. Sometimes when we read the story in Genesis. We read it thinking that when the devil the serpent tempted Eve. It was in Adam's absence. There is no justification if you read the story for thinking that Adam was not there. At that time. But the serpent went behind and dishonored God. Went behind God's back on it. God made man the head. But he bypassed God's order. This is his subtlety. And went to the woman. And the woman took. And she disobeyed God. She was deceived says the scripture. And then she took and gave to Adam the silly thing. Gave to Adam. And he ate. And that was that. And it was through the woman. That it all happened. In the beginning. Mind you. The woman was selected to be the blessed one. That should bear the seed. If you like she's redeemed her character. It's a tremendous thing. That God has done this. Of course it's all happened in the great wisdom of God. But here then. In the family. In the New Testament. He comes first to the wife. And he says now you wives. You must submit yourself. To your own husband. Then notice what he says. As unto the Lord. How many of you women do this? How many of you wives. Submit yourself to your own husband. Not after a long argument. Not in bad grace. But willingly. Voluntarily. Submit yourself to your own husband. As though he was the Lord. The great example. Of Christian marriage. Is indeed Sarah. At whom we looked. In chapter 18 of Genesis. Peter commends her. Because it says. That she called her husband Lord. Abraham was her Lord. And she is held up. As the perfection. In this realm. For Christian wives to follow. How many of you. Really believe that your husband is your Lord. And how many of you really act. As though he is your Lord. How many? And how many children. In a Christian home. Have gone wrong. Because wives, mothers. Have not submitted themselves to their own husbands. As unto the Lord. Listen. One of the loveliest things I like. In church comings together. Is what took place on Sunday morning. Here. It's funny. Wherever I go. I seem to have this put on me. It's a delightful joy. I went to Sweden. Before we knew where we were. There were about two or three babies to dedicate. It was a marvellous time. And there they were all waiting. Of course some of them had been sprinkled beforehand. And they decided that was all wrong. So they came and got their babies dedicated. Unto the Lord. In a proper manner. And you know. It's marvellous. And I love to pray for the parents. I never believe in. I don't know what you leaders of fellowships do. Or elders. Or whatever you want to call yourselves. I don't know whether you want to say. You know. Get it done. Lord is the baby. Ah. I like to pray for the father. I like to pray for the mother. There together. In a great family. Hallelujah. I can't help it. I always do. I wonder some of you keep coming. In fact Norman and I had a little chat today. And we wonder that some of you keep coming to these meetings where we preach. Because we always say the same things. We never say anything different. We always say the same things. Hallelujah. I don't know whether it's because you do like the same things said. That you keep coming. I don't know. But I like to pray for these precious women. That they shall be an example to the precious babe they've born. I love to pray that they will learn how to guide the home. I love to pray that God will give them strength. And the babies will so love their mummy. I love to pray that they'll want to love their mummies Jesus. That's right. I once asked a question in a meeting. And I asked. Who is the most Christ like person you know? Who's the person you know most of all. That's most like Jesus. And the young lady came up to me afterwards. And she said. It wasn't you I thought about my mother. I said praise God. The most Christ like person I ever knew. My mother. And if I may say this because none of you. Except the person concerned knows anything about it. That person is in the room. But don't look because you won't even know who to look at. There are about 300 of us here anyway we're saying. That woman had a devil for a husband. Wives. Submit yourselves. Unto your own husbands. As unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife. Wife. You are your husbands body. He is your head. Just as Jesus Christ is the head of the church. Which is his body. So the husband in the Christian marriage. And especially though this should have some substance in every marriage. The husband is the head of the wife. You are your husbands body. And you are to treat him as your head. Glory be to the name of the Lord. Do you? You know I've met husbands. And I don't think it was like this in our... It certainly wasn't like this in our family. They... I've sat in a room. And I've been with them. And they've married some girl. Or I don't know whether the girl married him. And... She's highly educated. She's been to university. He's a bricklayer. She does nothing else but belittle her husband. Nothing. Her superior manner. Her superior education. Get out of it. You're the body. He's the head. And stop it. And stop it at once. You're sinning. I want to say in our family it might have been the other way around. It wasn't so with my wife. The tremendous thing about it beloved. Is that the husband is the head of the wife. And when you girls... Go to get married. You marry someone who you can have as your head. Not just as a lover. Jesus isn't only just the lover of man's soul. He's the head of you. You've got your perspectives right. Wrong. If you can't look up and honour and hold your man as your head. You mustn't marry him. This young man. Christian marriages are not based on physical or sexual attractions. They may have a part. The tremendous thing about Christian marriage beloved. Is that you're not. Any of you women. You're not to marry a man whom you can't look up to as your lord. Not to take the place of Jesus. Don't misunderstand me. And if you can't hold him as your head. You mustn't marry him. And he whoever he is. He's certainly misguided. If he can't look upon you as his body. And love you as his own flesh. Now let's go on shall we. The head of the wife. Even as Christ is the head of the church. And he is the saviour of the body. I don't know whether you've got a capital H for he there. Or whether you've got a small h. It will decide what you think about that statement. Amen. Amen. As the. Blessed head is the saviour of the spiritual body. If you get your relationships right. Man and wife. The true man. Who's the head. Is also the saviour in this limited sense. Please. Not the. Redeemer of your body. You must never mistake. The word salvation for redemption. There are two distinct words. He is the saviour. Of the body. Hallelujah. You say. If this be true. Well no let's read on forward. Let's get 24 over shall we. Therefore. As the church is subject unto Christ. So let the wives be to their own husbands. In everything. Are you subject to your husband. Does he reign over you. We are subjects of the queen. She reigns over us. I know that. Again we're living in days when. Monarchy doesn't mean so much as it used to. But it did in those days when the Bible was written. And you're to understand it. In that concept of the truth. You are to be subject. Unto your husbands. In everything. You are not to quarrel. You are not to force him to do what you want to do. You are not to nag him until he gives in. For a man I'll let you into this secret. All you women. Most men that I know. Will do anything for a quiet life. So if you nag long enough you've learned this. You'll get your way. But you're sinning. Sinning. You are to be subject to him. That isn't to say you aren't to lovingly talk to him. That isn't to say you aren't to show him where he's wrong. He's often wrong. He's not the infallible head. As Jesus is the infallible head. But then neither you are the infallible body, are you? Blessed be the name of the Lord. What a tremendous thing it is then. For God to have it like this. No. You say what is it? It's pretty hard on the wise. But wait a minute. It's the man's turn's coming. We're only dealing with it in the fallen order that still obtains in the earth. The fallen order was Satan via the woman into the man. And it's still the fallen order where human relationships are concerned. So Paul starts in the fallen order. He is speaking as he says in one or two places after the manner of men. Though he is speaking with the authority and the power of God. And so I want you to notice what verse 22 says. Now all you women can sit up and start smiling. I hope you've not been depressed so far. It says, Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord, my you men. Can they, you husbands? Can they? Do you enforce a position that you don't produce by your own life? Can your wife submit herself to you as unto the Lord? Are you anything like the Lord in your relationships with her? See what you've done in getting married, don't you? Marriage isn't all honeymoons. You see what you've done? You've taken on a position in your relationship with your wife that you have to fill as Jesus Christ. You've got to be a head. Not a boss. Arthur Wallace, a name much revered among us and probably known by every one of us, once said at a wedding in Exeter, something which I wasn't at the wedding, somebody reported me back. So I sort of tucked it away in here when I heard it. He said this during his address. He said that God didn't take a bone from Adam's head to make a woman that she should reign over him. He didn't take a bone from Adam's feet that he should trample on her. He took a bone from Adam's side that she should be equal with him. I've remembered that. It's true. That is true. But remember that when you come into a proper new birth, when you respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ, God intends to set in operation in your family the true order that Adam and Eve lost in the beginning. It's a restoration as well as a regeneration. It is a setting in order as well as showing you wonderful grace. And if you want to be treated as the Lord, then be as the Lord. Amen. Have you ever learned how Jesus speaks to you? Eh? Have you? Do you know Jesus has never shouted at me once? How about that? I wish I could say that about my wife. I've never shouted at her once. I'm not trying to tell you that I'm always bawling in anger at her. That's not what I'm saying. Distinguish the things that differ. I wish I could. Jesus never shouted at me. Never. Do you know he's got me by whispers? That's the language of love. You see, it's that that counts. You see, I love my brother Norman. Come here, Norman. He's writing down all the things I'm saying. You'll be appreciated. No, I love my brother. Now, if I wanted to tell him I loved him, you'd think, I love you! I'd get him so close that he could hear the whisper. That's right. That's love. Learn the truth. And move in the reality of it. What God is saying is at least basic common sense. You see. And you are to be as the Lord. Let's look at verse 25. Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church. Amen. Well, blessed be the name of the Lord. See that word also. That means that Christ is head of the church. Christ is Lord, in verse 22. But listen. He loves. He's the Lord of love. He's the very head of love. He's the crown of glory that mustn't cover His head at all because He's glorious. That's how it's to be. And I want to tell you that if you and I don't create this kind of a home, we ought not to think of bringing children into the world for this is the background and atmosphere into which they should be born. They should be begotten and formed in a woman where if they can hear in the Spirit, they can hear her heart singing and making melody. They shouldn't be brought into the world ushered in by the sobs of a breaking heart. I tell you that all people's troubles start in the womb. The basic troubles of humanity start in the womb. Oh, if I could tell you stories about that now. I dare not digress. Don't think I'm a psychologist. That's the last thing I'd ever be. I just want to be a simple preacher of the gospel. But this I've learned. That troubles start in the womb. And listen. So do good beginnings on the human level. That's where they start. That's a marvelous thing. Listen, you children, I want to tell you, you want to be jumping for joy if you had really Spirit-filled parents. If you really did. If you came into a home like that, you want to be glorying and praising God. Oh, what a tremendous thing this is. Let me go on because I want to talk to you youngsters in a moment. He says, Husbands, you are to love your wives. As Christ loved the church and gave himself for it, you've got to give yourself for your wife. Amen. You haven't got to let her stop at home with the children while you're out with your pals. You've got to give yourself for your wife. Now, if God calls you out in ministry, and I'm saying if God calls you, that's a different matter. Hallelujah. But in the normal relationship, you're to give yourself for your wife. Amen. And he did it that he might sanctify it. And cleanse it with the washing of water by the word that he might present it to himself, a glorious church. Listen. You will make your wife what you want. If she be a true woman of God, she will respond to you. If she can respect and honor you, and know that you love her, and that you are her true Lord and Head, you can present her to yourself. You will make her what you want her to be. And how about that? Listen. I wish somebody had told me these things when I was your age. I wish I'm a few young people. I wish someone had pointed these things out to me. Nobody did. Hallelujah. Glory be to the name of the Lord. Present her to yourself. Make her what you want to be. Sanctify her. Set her aside unto your own delights. Now I know that in the context of all this, you can talk about rebellious spirits. You can talk about stubbornness. You know, my wife. Or so and so and so and so and so and so. But I'm telling you the context in a spirit-filled life. And this is what you ought to be. You ought to be spirit-filled. It's just normal. There's nothing marvelous about being spirit-filled every day of your life, except that it's all a marvel. I mean, something extraordinary. Why? You realize this, don't you? I hope you realize it. Now you take this in. This is truth. It'll shock you if you've not heard it before, but it's true. There was nobody in the early church except they were filled with the Holy Ghost. You read Acts 2 and see. Every original member of the church was baptized in the Holy Ghost, filled with the Spirit. Read Acts 2. In fact, you can read Acts 3. Acts 4. Acts 5. By the time you get to Acts 6, you find that the women are murmuring. Sorry, women, but it's true. I mean, you can't alter the Bible. Now, they'd been neglected. Serves the men right, then. They shouldn't have neglected them. See? You ought to give yourself four. I wish it was all men sitting in the front row, you know, because I keep pointing at Hilda, so it's her fault. And she's never been married. Except to the Lord. But here's the position, beloved. Oh, it's so tremendous to understand this thing. In the context of a Spirit-filled company, the Lord is opening His heart to you. Are you ready to have all the truth that God wants you to have? And then, oh, this is all so glorious. He goes right down through the chapter. Let's read it through, shall we? So ought men to love their wives, verse 28, as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. No man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord, the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother. Will you listen to this, you fathers and mothers? Let your man and let your woman, daughter and son, go. Leave them, that's what the Bible says. Leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife. And they too shall be one flesh. And the example of this union of marriage is Christ and the church. Not Adam and Eve. You see there. Not Jacob and... Jacob and... Isaac and... Not quite sure, are you? But they're not the examples. Adam and Eve are not the examples. The example is Jesus Christ. And when you get married, you young people, as some of you certainly will, perhaps most of you, this is to be your example. Amen. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife, even as himself. And the wife, see that she reverence her husband. Now some have thought that that means the wife hasn't got to love the husband because he has reverence. It means that you've got to love and reverence him. That's what it means. You've been given an extra charge. Hallelujah. And what a precious and glorious thing this is then, beloved. This glorious union. God is moving to it. Having said that, now we come to the children. Amen. I'm so glad that God has dealt with the father and the mother before he deals with the children. Amen. Because you get fathers and mothers, you know, full of compassion come I with complaint against my child, my daughter Hermia. But that's Shakespeare, not the Bible. That's the merchant in Venice, not the merchant seeking goodly pearls. Amen. Yeah, it's right. God wants us to understand truth. I testify to you that in most cases, I hope you're all listening, where I have found. I think perhaps I must be able to speak from as much authority as any man on this earth. I don't make this boastingly. We only boast in the cross. I want to tell you that I'm not sort of coming out with some cheap addition. In most cases where I have had to deal with young people, I have found that half or lots, if most of their trouble, turns on lack of demonstrated love in the home. I tell you honestly as though I was going to be caught up now to report to the Lord. That is what I have found. I've had these children come to me, girls mostly, but I suppose they like my white hair and they like the fact that I'm a big old dad and a father figure. And they come to me and I like it, it's all right. And I sometimes said to them, when they'd be sitting in front of me weeping, I said, my dear, don't be afraid. In this matter, you must be unto me as my own daughter. If I regarded my own daughter above you in your need now, I should not be worthy of the position I hold. And they say, out come their troubles. I say, well, out it comes. Listen, lovey. Did you come from a home of love? They're ever so loyal. I say, yes, of course. We all loved everyone in our home. Yeah, we loved one another, you see. I'll tell you, parents, your children never let you down. It's only this persistent man that gets to the bottom of it. I'm sorry. And I say to them, did your daddy ever get hold of you and give you a big hug and pinch you on the cheek and a kiss you and say, think you're the finest kid that ever was? Oh, no, no, we didn't do that in our family. Of course, we loved one another, but we didn't do that. Well, you see, you know, I never remember my father kissing me. Hey? Girls saying this to me. You fathers, you're nearly crazy. Do you want to drive your daughters into sin? What do you think you're doing? They come to be loved, fondled, kissed with pure masculine love that they've got to find. If they don't, they'll think it's sex. They've got to find love that's not merely interested in flesh. They've got to find pure masculine love. That gets hold of them and hugs them and kisses them and loves them. That's what they've got to find. Listen, I'll let you into a secret. My mother's been dead now for a long time. She came up to Bradford with us when we moved up from where we were in Kent. But you know this, I'm going to tell you something. My relatives used to laugh at me. I can see my aunt teasing me. Because when I was a great big boy of twelve, I used to go and sit on my mother's knee. They used to laugh at me. Let them laugh. I didn't know my little heart, my young boy's heart, didn't understand then. I know now, white hairs have brought me wisdom. I know I needed feminine love. I needed it. You see, the man can't be without the female. And the female certainly can't be without the male. We need it. And I've gotten hold of, perhaps you men, you're in this room, listen. I've gotten hold of your daughters. And I've given them a big hug. And they've wept. And they've broken. And they've got released. And I've done what you should have done. Robbed in your own family? I don't mean mere sickly, sentimental fawning. Going into long clinches and all this business. I don't mean that. I remember once writing to our daughter Judith. She's out in Africa now, so she'll probably never know I've been talking about her unless her mother tells on me. She went off to university in Liverpool. She's the brains of the family. And I told you the other day, I've only got sawdust. She went off to the university, you see. One day I was preaching in London. It's funny what London does for me or holds for me, I don't know. It's because I was born there in Bethnal Green, I suppose. And I was sitting in a home. A home of brother and sister Palmer. And I'm always busy, too busy. You ask my wife, she'll tell you. She protects me like a mother hen does her chicks, or twice. You ought not to do that, dear. And so I got ever so much to do. But you know what I did? I pulled over a pad to me. And I just wrote, dear Judith, I'm ever so busy. I'm just writing to tell you that I love you. Daddy. That's all I did. That's all I did. But listen, to tell you. I got a birthday card from her once. I was in London again. And this is what it said. I kept it a long time. I didn't tell her. It said, to the finest dad a girl ever had. I took it to Peter Palmer and said, that's all a man wants, brother. That's all he wants. You young men, I'm telling you, you're going to be dads. Don't you treat your daughters and sons like your father and mother treated you, unless they treated you like this. They need loving. You mothers, you've got to get hold of your boys, and hug them, and kiss them, and demonstrate your love. Oh, but we don't show our hearts on your sleeve. Well, shame on you. What's wrong with your heart, then, that you can't show it on the sleeve? Is it so black and twisted? What's wrong with it? Let everybody see your heart. There's no shame in love. And perfect love will cast out all the fear. Oh, believe me, you young people, these are the foundations of home life. Love, first of all. Honor. Righteousness. I know your children are born unregenerate. Children, obey your parents in the Lord. Listen, lovies. This is right. If you don't, it's wrong. This is right. Honor thy father and thy mother, which is the first commandment with promise. Hallelujah. May the Lord open our hearts. Listen, you children. If you don't obey, if you're living in a spiritual, godly home, this is the result of that iniquity that brother was speaking about this morning. Iniquity is the disposition that disrespects and disregards the law. We are born in this way, even though we may be born in a Christian home. You mustn't disregard your parents. Though, parents, I want to have a word with you. When your children get old enough, don't try and dominate them. Hallelujah. Don't try and dominate them. Love them. Treat them as your equals, and then they'll treat you as their superiors. That's right. Treat them as though you're their superior, and they'll seek to show you that they're superior. Treat them as your equals, and they'll treat you as their superiors. Hallelujah. Love them. Nurture them. Care for them. Above all, set them the right example. Let them see everything. Don't take any notice of this modern psychological jargon that goes around. For instance, our children are all grown up now, and we're grandparents. We've got five grandchildren. Hallelujah. But when they were young, we decided that we would seek to live wholly for Jesus. We never had a gramophone in the house. You can think what you like about us. We never had a wireless in the house. We certainly never had a television in the house. And she said, all your children are deprived. Why at school they have to give a thesis on what? The program that was on the television last night. Well, we said, all right, then we'll let them be dunces. See? If that retards their education, Lord. Well, one of them finished up in Liverpool University. The other one became a deputy matron in the largest children's home in Bradford. The other one became a telephonist, and I don't know what. They didn't seem too deprived, dear. They didn't seem to have lead where their head should have been. What's all this nonsense? We said, Lord, we're going to do what we believe to be right. Well, if you don't have a television in your home, you see, they'll go to the neighbours, and you don't know what they'll be looking at there. So we said, no, well, we don't, but we'll trust them to you, Lord. See, we got a television for the children, and then you see the mums looking at it. Then you see the dads. But they got it for the children. You might as well tell the truth. Now, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with television. I look at it occasionally, very occasionally. As I go round, I see it in a few homes. I know it has its uses. I know that. But for the use that it is, you better not have it because of the abuses to which it's put. You have to make a choice in these things. We never had anything. Say, well, did you have a gramophone even? No, I didn't have a gramophone. I only had a father. He used to sing. He used to talk. He used to play a fiddle. They had a mum. What more do you want? What more do you want? Wasn't Jesus deprived? I say, wasn't Isaac deprived? He never had a wireless. Well, they never had a jockey or a disc or an LP. Well, how ever do you get on with that lot then? Did you ever hear such rubbish coming from sanctified lips? Did you ever hear such utter nonsense? And they never had tape recorders. So I guess they never suffered from tape worms. Now, beloved, let's get this thing right. You say, well, we can't go back and live in the Victorian era. No, I don't want to do that. But I'm getting ready for another era. And that's the victory era. Beloved, you and I have got to get down to truth. I'm not saying you shouldn't have a wireless in your house. Please don't misunderstand me. I'm telling you what we did. You haven't necessarily got to do what we did. But then you asked me to speak to you. And I can only tell you the truth. If you're going to build a house, you've got to have the foundations right. May the Lord lead us into truth. Listen, men. If you want your wife to do what she should do to you and be to you what she should be, if you want your children to be to you what they should be, you be right to them first. Don't you demand that they be right. You call them cheeky if they demanded that you were right. But of course they're not cheeky. But they don't know enough to tell you. And you'd count it insubordination if you did. And you can't listen to the voice of the Spirit talking to you. Now may the Lord lead us in. Now you children, listen. You ought to obey your parents in the Lord for that's right. And stubbornness is as the sin of witchcraft. You'll get full of devils if you're stubborn. Rebellion is like divination. You'll get full of devils if you're a rebel. How many times has one had to deal with the hippie crowd that's rebelled against everything? And devils have had to come out of them. And know this, that the devil comes in to lord it and master it over you and drive you here and drive you there. The last thing to do is to go with the crowd, you young people. Crowds have always been wrong. The truth has always lain with the minority. Right throughout history. Might is not right. But right is might. Hallelujah. New Year. Gather your children round you, you parents. Teach them to pray. Read the Scriptures together. I can remember the time when we used to sit round our breakfast table and read our Scriptures together and pray together. And sometimes, you know, when their little school friends came, they won't mind me saying this now. It's years ago and it's all past now. When their little school friends came and knocked at the door, you see. Are you going to school this morning? Just open the door for them. And they used to be very embarrassed when their school friends came in. Saw them praying. It didn't matter about that. Glory be to God. That's got nothing to do with us. You are to train your children upright. Right. God's holding you and me responsible. How do you sort of... How about their health? Listen, I sometimes go home. Let me tell you a home far away from here. Which isn't in England at all. So don't start thinking, oh, was that at Worcester or Exeter or Aurora or London? Don't start thinking like that. It was a long way away from here. Across the sea. I went into this home and I hadn't been in the home very long when I saw that the oldest child in the home was seriously troubled. Mother and father, Christians. Born again Christians. The child was seriously troubled. Well, you know, I had to go steady. Do treat me kindly when I come to your home because I'm very much afraid of you, really. I have to sort of get to know you. And you see, it was very difficult in this home because you see, they'd heard that Mr North was coming. And the little wifey, oh, you'd have thought she, the Pope was coming or something like that. Oh, Mr North. Does he like his tea pink, white or yellow? Oh, how can I look after the great Mr North? So at times I'd say, all right, love, I eat and I sleep and I speak just like everybody else, you see. Well, I sat in this home and after they'd got used to me for two or three days, I spoke to them about their little girl. Because you see, every night in the middle of the night she used to wake up screaming. Now I'll warn you, if I come to your house, I'd like a nice quiet bedroom, please. I love children, but I, you know, when they start screaming in the middle of the night. Well, anyway, this little child used to wake up about the early hours of the morning. Oh, and cry, you'd never heard her cry. I mean, I'd observed it. She used to not just cry, she used to open her mouth wide and yell. She'd go, ahhh! Yeah, I'm being literally too. And I'll give them their credit, they knew how to sleep, they never heard it. I'll let you into a secret, I'll let you into a secret. You mums, I'll give you a real clue, you'd be like my wife. She never used to hear the babies crying in the night. But Daddy did. Well, I have them all day, dear. I get tired. I don't blame her for sleeping. But anyway, this child used to wake up and it went on for about three nights. I don't know whether I had compassion on them or I was sorry for myself. But I certainly moved on what God had shown me. And I drew them on one side. Because she wouldn't behave herself at the table. She used to sit up and down and couldn't control this little child. She used to rush through the house. And all this thing. So I ventured it at last. I said, Have you ever considered that your child is being interfered with? They said, Oh, not that, no. No, not our child. I said, Have you ever considered that your child is being troubled by the enemy? Oh, their precious child. They couldn't believe it. He said, No, no. When she wakes up in the night, it's because she takes her bottle to bed and she wakes up and she can't find it. You see. I said, Well, I rather think, I knew really, but you see, I rather think that your little child has been interfered with. So, He said, Well, I'll talk to a wife about it. So that night, about nine o'clock at night, they got round to it at last. And they came to me. It's all right. It's a moth on your sleeve. They came to me and they said, You know, we think perhaps, perhaps you may be right. I said, Yeah, I'm sure you're right. I'm sure I'm right. So they said, Well, will you pray for it? What should we do? Will you pray for it? I said, No. They were startled. No, I said, I won't pray for it. And their faces fell. This is not my child. She's your child. You're to be as God to your child. What should we do? I said, Well, when she goes to bed tonight, you stand over her cot and you pray and command the evil one to leave her alone. They don't stop their nonsense in the name of North. They stop in the name of Jesus. Of course, if you won't do it or can't do it, then I'll step in and do it for you. Now notice, Church, keep out. This is the family. And don't any of you elders think you've got a right to interfere in families. You haven't. And don't find a text to give you excuse to do it. I said, No, I won't. They put her to bed that night. They went up and they prayed over it. We went to bed. It woke up. And I heard it talking to itself. No crying. No yelling. Mum and Dad had done it. They wanted me to do it. Do you know I have so many privileges sheerly because you men and you women don't know your privileges. The things that you could do. What God expects you to do. So I haven't got any gifts. Well, neither have I. I've got Jesus. I've got His name. I have the Holy Ghost. Nobody came and whispered in my ear and said, You've got such and such a gift from tonight. I'm telling you the truth. I'm telling you the truth as though it's judgment day. Get your home right. Get your family right. Why we got like, there's a family that are little children. If there's anyone that say, Daddy, pray for me. Pray for me, Daddy. In fact, when they sort of grew up and had to go before medical people to sort of be examined to take on some of these jobs. They've never been to a doctor in their life. There's nothing wrong with being a doctor. You can't help it. They've never been to a doctor in their life. They didn't know what doctors were. There's nothing wrong with the medical profession. Bless God for them. Where would we be without them? But the church is forsaken. And it's privileges. It's rights, beloved. The world needs the medical profession. And so do we at times. Hallelujah. Of course we do. But praise the name of the Lord. The church is busy handing over its privileges and rights to authorities here. Institutions there. Something else somewhere else. But when here we are, we are the children of God. And we're here to relate to God. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Do you see this, you young men and you women that are going to marry and you're going to have children? Do you see what you're going to do? Do you see your privileges? What God wants you to move in? Oh, the wonder of it all. I can remember the day too. Here's the relationship. Let it get really established between you. You know, our children had the misfortune in one sense of being born into a family where their dad was always out preaching. There, here, somewhere else, you see. And although I stopped in the church in Bradford for years and I wouldn't go out, and I want to tell you young people that are trying to build up a church, you don't build up a church by running away from it. Stop in it. Amen. And let God move. But this was a particular evening when I happened to be away. And a visiting preacher came, and one of my daughters, I have three, best in the world, you know. Hmm, that's right. I happened to be away, and that night, this daughter of mine responded to an invitation from the front, you see. And you know one of the things that cheered my heart, I never told anybody, was this. You know, when it was all over, did differently from me, you know. In those days, people used to come to the front when God was moving, and there they stayed till they got right. We never had any of this counsellor business and backroom business. They got right there on the floor. And they used to say, stop there till you know you're right in your heart. See, that's right. And there wasn't a Sunday, but what they responded, over the years and years, weekdays too, under what God was ministering. Anyway, I was away this night, and this man that was preaching started to counsel my daughter, you see. And do you know what she said when I got home? She said, I wish it had been Daddy. See? These are the rewards of faithfulness. You led your daughter to Jesus. You led your children to Jesus. Didn't you ever have any trouble in your home? Oh, yes, of course we had troubles. What did you do then? Got over them. Did you ever punish your children? Oh, yeah. Yeah, we punished them. We punished them if they lied to us. Or if they disobeyed us. If they had an accident or things like that, you know. Or if they did this, that or the other. So we never used to say to them, just tell us the truth, dear. If you tell me the truth, that's all right. Did you use a stick? No, I never used a stick. My hand's pretty hard. Did you give them corporal punishment? Of course I gave them corporal punishment. That's all part of it. But I wasn't always hitting them. And don't do this business, always smacking them. Never keep on smacking a child. You know what you're doing to them? Teaching them to hit back. That's all you've done. So I'm their parent. Well, they don't think that. They've got an inbuilt psychology. Didn't you know that? They've got an inbuilt... Yes, that's their wicked heart. Are you sure it isn't yours? If you're going to hit children, then do it properly at the right time. Don't keep on... give you a smack. And listen, if you don't want your children to yell at you, don't you shout at them. Say, I've got a son, he's always shouting at me. Didn't you shout at him? Now come on, you be honest. They thought that was the thing to do. Hallelujah. God... God knows this great thing that He wants us to understand, beloved. He wants a Christian home to be a palace of love. That's what He wants. He wants a Christian home where children are brought up right. One of the drawbacks of being born in a Christian home, only there are some drawbacks, is this. There may be that some of you are in the room tonight. You were taught to pray when you were a child. Praise God for that. You were told the stories of Jesus when you were a child. You went to Sunday school and you went along to an evangelistic campaign or somebody came to your church and they told you to open your heart to Jesus and they sang, Into my heart, into my heart. You know it, don't you? Yeah, that's right. And you responded, didn't you? That's right. You responded. And then when you got to about 14, 15, 16, 17, oh dear, you went off to college or university and somehow you got all sort of unclean and all things... This is right, isn't it? You stop me if I'm wrong. I think I'm right. I really must confide in you that I've dealt with hundreds and hundreds of people like this. Oh, but you know, when I was... I can remember it. I was eight. When I was eight, I let Jesus into my heart. But, you see, it's all sort of hard and unclean and, oh, especially if they're precious children, you see. I say, now look, look, look, if that's your experience, I want to tell you what to do. You let Jesus give you a new heart. You responded to Jesus in your childlike way. And he accepted you. And, you see, he's prevented you from going astray. You say, well, I wouldn't like to say I've never gone astray. No, no, no. But you never really gone down, bang, and got as rotten as you could have done. That's right. That's the restraining influence of a godly home. Hallelujah. But you've got to get a new heart. You've got to... You've got to get a new, new heart from Jesus. In your childish way, you responded. It's good. He's kept you. He's brought you to the moment that you now must let the Lord really give you an entire inward newness. That's what you've got to do. You've been having trouble like that. Have you? All right. Jesus will absolutely purify you within. He'll absolutely give you a new heart. And you parents, listen. I want to tell you the last thing you must do is try and patch up quarrels. Get down to the bottom of it. Have the fountain from which it all sprang cleared out. Will you do that? Will you pray together? Will you do that? Will you reestablish righteousness as the foundation of everything in your home? Will you? Will you let the Lord reign there? You wives, will you from tonight submit to your own husbands? Will you be in subjection to them? Will you treat them as your head and as your Lord? Yes or no? Get it right. Get it right. You husbands, will you love your wives? Will you be a true head to them? Will you see that she's your body? That might help you a lot in the matter of whether you have ten children or two. She's your body. I tell you what, if men had to bear the children, there'd be a lot less children in the world. Amen. God knows we're to live in a correct relationship, one with another. You're to honor one another. Love one another. Keep each other sanctified and pure. Let there be a home where children are right. And you men, you've got to start in your home. If you can't rule your home right, withdraw from your pastorate or from your eldership or from your diaconate or from your church committee or what you call it. Withdraw. God won't deal with you on the basis of trying to bluff it through. Start at the bottom. Let God deal with you. Let the Lord build up there. Let it be a home of Jesus. I suppose I ought to stop really. Don't know how dear brother Jones puts up with us, but he does. He's very long-suffering and he's very loving. Where are you, beloved, in all this? Is the prevailing thing in your home utter love? You say, yeah, but how about if we're children in a non-Christian home? What do we do there? Listen, your parents know whether you've got a submissive spirit or not. If you don't submit to them, how do you think you're going to win them? It's an amazing thing that non-Christians know how Christians should behave. And if you're going to run away from home, how are you going to love them? How are you going to do it? There may be times when it's right. The majority of times it's wrong. And if you have a substitute parent for your home parents, that's the quickest way to break your own parents' hearts. Let's not subscribe to that. Let's know what God is doing. You parents, don't you be too possessive. Do you know my advice to young people when they get married? So, now you parents, you'd better warn your children off. A young man came to me not so long ago, a precious young woman talked to me. It's all right, you needn't look around. So many share these lovely secrets with me. I have thrill upon thrill. And they wanted to know, why come loving home? My word, a marvellous loving home. I said, now when you two people get married, move a hundred miles away from your parents. Really? When my daughters got married, I said, move a hundred miles away from us, love. Oh, but we... You move a hundred miles away from us. You see, these husbands of yours, you women, I want to tell you something, you young people, they're still their mummy's little boys. So mummy will come in and interfere. You see, now you women, you'd better be very careful. You see, you've got the advantage of the men. This is why Paul comes on the woman. You have those children, and they've come from your actual flesh. They've lain nine months inside you. You hug them up to your breast. The father can't do it. And you mustn't take unfair advantage, you possessive mothers. Mother love is often smother love. It's lauded as the most wonderful thing in the world. I found it, generally speaking, gone wrong, and one of the worst things in the world. It's possessiveness. I tell you what, they're dissatisfied with their husband's love, so they take a substitute and they possess their children. That's what happens. I'm sorry, I'm not trying to lay your souls bare, but you asked me to speak on the subject. I have discovered this in all honesty and openness before God, I tell you. You see, I happen to be one that's been allowed of God, I don't know why God did it, to go down into the secrets of men. He chose it. And I know. I've told mothers, take your hands off your children. Take your hands off your children. Leave them alone. They won't do it though. They won't do it. That's what I'm saying. I said to men, take your iron hand off your daughter. Take it off. They don't need iron hands. They need tender, loving hearts. That's what they need. Oh, but we've got to love firmly. Are you quite sure that your grip isn't harsh instead of firm? Hold them, but don't crush them. I tell you, beloved, that we often make our own troubles. We breed them. God help us to understand truth. That we may move in the reality of it. I said I was going to stop, but you see, these things keep sort of flooding in. And I suppose I ought to stop, really. You're thinking about drinking cups of tea now. And some of you have got to go a long way home. God bless you for coming. Know this, that you women have got to stop under the protective headship of your husband. And you children have got to stop under the protective covering of your home until the Lord knows you're of age to go for yourself and does what he wants you to do. And when you do find the girl of your dreams or the man of your heart, or you think so, pray about it. Know that it's the right one for you. When you know it is, and you both know it is, do what God wants you to do. And then go right away from your families. You don't want mums-in-laws or mums coming in. You don't want that. You want to be left alone to bring your family up in the fear of God. That's what you want. That's what you need. You've got to learn to get on your feet and go through on your own. And don't any of you girls start crying for your mummy. I want to go back to my mother. I'm not joking. I'm telling you the truth. This has ruined so many marriages. Weigh it up before you marry. Let God know where your heart lies and go through with it. Amen. There is a saying of the world, it's harsh. You've made your own bed. Lie on it. There is such an element of truth in it. And God alone knows what the need is. I think I'll tell you a story that John Wesley told. You know, John Wesley wrote on nearly every topic under the sun. He preached sermons and they were all written sermons, anyway, at one period of his life. That's why they've come into book form. He wrote on Christian homes and bringing up the family. And one of the things he said is this. I want all you grandmothers to put your fingers in your ears now because it's not too good on you. Especially if you're an in-law. John Wesley said, you must not let your children go under the care of your mother-in-law. That is the last thing you must do. In one day, they will ruin a lifetime's work. Now, this is Wesley. He was a wise old man. And he knew. He said, submit to them on all other things, but never let them have your children. In one day, they will ruin the training of a lifetime. That's what John Wesley said. I reckon there's evidence of it and to prove it. Give in to them on this, give in to them on that, but never let them have your children. Now you see this modern curse of getting babysitters. Mothers today must have babysitters. I don't know why they must have babysitters. Susanna Wesley had 14 children. Did she have 14 babysitters? What did she have? Oh, we're such a pampered generation today. Oh, hallelujah. We must let our wives go out. Let's all sit in. We must go and dine down the steak bar. And you let somebody come and sit in with your children. Don't you realize what you've got? Don't you realize, you mothers, that's your mission field? Don't you realize? You say, don't you think we need a night off? You should have thought of that before you got married. What do you think marriage is all about then? You say, what does he want? To chain us up to the sink? No, I don't want to chain you up to the sink. I want to awaken you to your responsibilities. Not forever crying out for a babysitter because you and your husband want to go out about once a week. You're there to create a home. You're there to go through. You're not to become a psychological wreck and a nervous breakdown after about two years of marriage. Go through with God. Well, I'd better stop. I can keep on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on. Amen. You married? I can't stop. You've got your family. That's supposed to be your little home and your little haven. That is what it's supposed to be. Oh, but you see now, we are educated. You see, I had a marvelous training. I meet young women. You see, I was trained for this. I was trained. I went to university. I got my degrees. I did this and I did that. You know, I just want an outlet. Here, I tell it. You've got two knees, haven't you? Get down on them. If you want an outlet, let it out to Jesus. That's the way to do it. Oh, but I must go to night school. I've got abilities, you know. You've got a family, you know. Take your place. God will see to the rest. He'll keep you sane. He'll keep you humble. He'll keep you the body and not the head. If you'll call Him Lord, you know what He'll do? He'll call you My Princess. That's what Sarai means. My Princess. You'll always be the princess of His dream that He fell in love with in the beginning. My Princess. I'm telling you. Listen. Listen. A man's happy as anything if his wife's happy. That's quite normal, isn't it? But if he says, oh, I've got to do this to keep her quiet or something like that, you're not going to get anywhere but in a mess. But you're lovely. Let's pray. Little children, let us love one another for love is of God. Glory be to God. And let's not love in word but in deed and in truth. And let's obey the truth and walk in the light and let the Lord put it all right. Glory be to God. And you, young people, don't you blame your parents for your sins. And don't you blame your youngsters for your faults. You parents. But live together in love and in light. Amen. Wouldn't you like to get everything right? Amen, Lord. Amen. Amen. Glory to God. Glory to God. Praise the name of the Lord. We praise Thee for the truth. We praise Thee, Lord, for the blazing light of honesty. Thank You, Lord, for love. Thank You for righteousness. Thank You for homes of peace. Thank You, Lord, for power that moves in homes, knitting hearts together, breaking through every barrier, overturning everything that's wrong. Thank You, Lord, for homes where husbands are heads and wives are bodies and children are a gift of God, where love and respect and honor and quietness and tenderness firmly move unto the glory of God. Lord, do this among us here, Lord. Let these young people in Thy presence know the glory of correctness and know how to behave themselves. And know, Lord, what to do and move in Thy will. O God, save us, we pray Thee, from becoming like the world. Enable us, we beseech Thee, to live as saints of God. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. They like Jesus to be like Jesus. It's the men ought to be leading this, they are to be as Christ. I ask, come on you men, to be like unto my wife, not in a measure, but in Thy fullness. All I ask to be like Him, to be like Jesus. Wives, you sing it. To be like the Jesus you see in your husband. All I ask to be like Him. You children sing it. To be like the Christ you find in your home, but in Thy fullness. All I ask to be like Him. You young people, if you think you haven't found it in your home, what are your children going to think when they are born into your home? If you have found it in your home, you are the most privileged child to walk this earth. To be like Jesus. To be like Jesus. All I ask to be like Him, not in a measure, but in Thy fullness. All I ask to be like Him. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.