In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of discipline and godly parenting. He shares a personal story of witnessing a mother and her joyful son in the congregation, but later noticing the mother's bruised face and tears. The preacher warns against causing harm to one's own household through sinful behavior, as it will lead to poverty and destruction. He also mentions that a man can die with nothing left if he has destroyed everything in his life. The sermon highlights the need for godly discipline and being a positive influence on one's children.

Thank you for coming tonight, I don't know how many of you have travelled very far. Thank you so much for coming. Ah, I see you've put it up a little bit, that's wonderful, I'm grateful. I have a problem of dropping my voice, you know, so if you don't want to hear just words there, let's just keep it up nice and loud. I know it's hard, sometimes I start speaking loud and then we're in trouble with the loudspeaker, aren't we, but forgive me for that. That's what comes with the old age, you drop your voice and you don't know it, but anyway, I'm so grateful to God to be here tonight, it is such a joy, such a privilege, I've been so blessed being in this little part of the world in these last few days, lovely fellowship with our brother Denny coming down here and sharing with him and seeking to learn from him in his understanding of the things of God, and I have been blessed just by being with him. And then today I was so blessed going to some dear fellows, some dear people's home, now I don't even know their name, I can't recall, oh I can, Honey, H-O-N-E, not Honey, Honey, that's right, good, all right, I'm from the jungle, you know, so forgive me, trying to think of these names that we've never heard of in our lives over that side, but anyway I was so blessed being in the home of that godly man, godly woman, and godly children. I must say that girl didn't say anything in the home, but just looking at her face and the young fellow who gave his testimony, my word, what a lovely young godly man, and the young, younger one also, came last night and asked me to write something in his Bible, it was lovely to be in your home, and your two visitors, that was something, to hear those two young men testifying today, we had three testimonies and a meeting in our lunch time today, and I think I would have travelled across the world to hear those three testimonies in one meeting. Actually if I turned over the meeting now and let those three just bring their testimonies as we heard them, I think every one of us would be broken, we were so blessed, and thank God for the richness of what fellowship we received today through these young godly fellows who gave their testimonies from the depth of their soul, so different, and yet unique in their own way, so godly, and I know God could have made them a force for the Lord. Tonight I'd like to do something that is different to what I think most people are used to me doing, and I'd like to try and bring you a Bible study. Imagine coming all the way, you've come for a Bible study, but I'm going to give you a Bible study tonight, not a message or an evangelical outreach message, but a Bible study. Now don't be disappointed in that, because I have a terrible problem. They asked me to bring lectures in the different Bible schools and theological seminars, and they have a terrible problem with me, I try to give lectures, but I'll end up preaching right through the lectures, so they're still wondering, when is this man going to start giving lectures? He's just preaching at these poor fellows. But that's my dilemma. My wife said, if you're a preacher, you never stop preaching. I think she means even at the lunch table I'm preaching. But I am going to try, and if I divert from giving a Bible study and start preaching most of the way through, forgive me, but that's my dilemma. But I'd like you all to turn to a book in the Bible, in the Old Testament, and a book that is so misunderstood. It's the book of Proverbs, written by Solomon, David's son, who wrote three books in the Old Testament. The first is an amazing revelation from God, the second is a tragedy, for it's not only revelation from God, it's revelation across the horror of having backslidden the most awful apostasy, and having come back to God, and His grief as He tells you of the emptiness of everything the world offers. But it was through personal experience that Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes, and of course, the song of Solomon was his joy. He didn't die backslidden, nobody wrote anything in the Bible as a backslider. Solomon wrote Proverbs without much experience, just wisdom given from God. Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes as an old man, having returned back to God, having virtually wasted most of the life he could have had that wisdom and practical experience. But warning, crying out the warning of the only thing that matters is not materialism, not anything else in the world. Everything turns out to be vanity, vexation of spirit, and here's someone who went and tasted it all. The experience, with wisdom in the end, makes it a tragic book, probably one of the most tragic books in the Bible, when you hear what Solomon says. And then, of course, his mighty joy in being able to die reconciled by God despite his apostasy, and turning the back on God in such an amazing way to someone God gave more wisdom than any other man. But I'd like to take the first book that he wrote with much wisdom when he asked for God to give him more wisdom, just to grant him wisdom, the book of Proverbs. But when you study a book, you need to go through it many, many times. Don't go to commentaries. Take my advice. Forgive me, other lecturers won't tell you that. They'll tell you the exact opposite. Go to commentaries so you know you're not heretical, they say. Well, I say, don't go to commentaries. No. Spend time and let God teach you to search out and find things yourself by the Holy Spirit. Prayers, and let God open things to you. But then in the end, I would say, right at the end, go to other books written about this book or any other book you're taking a hold of. I've taken hold of books in the Bible, and I'm so thrilled when I get hold of a book that burns into my soul, I virtually come to a standstill in life, and I memorize the whole book. Now, that I don't think everyone does, but I do, because God told me to. And in a very special and holy way, when I find myself applying my life to what he told me, I find what is all there, most of it's there. It wasn't a discipline or a diligence, it had burned upon my heart. That's the way you should read the Bible. When you finally want to learn it, you find it's there anyway. God has written the crosses by the Holy Ghost in your soul. Anyway, I'm going to break open, as best as I can, the things God gave me, as I asked him to open this book to me, to share, to others. Can we all bow for a moment of prayer, please? Can we just bow for a moment before the Lord? Father, have mercy on us, thy children, and come and visit us through thy holy word. Have mercy on me especially, Lord, wash me in the blood, fill me with the Holy Spirit, and stand beside me, please, dear Lord Jesus, in this book. Visit us through this by word, that we may leave this place rich indeed. In Jesus Christ's holy name, in Jesus Christ's holy name, we all unitedly agree, and ask these things of thee, our Father in heaven. Amen. Now you've all got the book of Proverbs open. I hope you came to the house of God with a Bible. I didn't come into God's house without a Bible. My word, that would be a shock. Well, if you've got your Bible, then you must open to, what I would say, the key verse. If you take hold of a book and you want to study it, the first thing you must do, once you go through and through and through and through it, it won't take long by the way, it's amazing how fast you can get a couple of times through, searching prayerfully, and the second time you realize a lot more, third time, and you ask God for the key verse. There's always a key verse in every book in the Bible, and when you know that, you'll find that the book of Proverbs is not a hundred or a thousand different thoughts all strewn around, you know. It's all centered on one thing, and when you find the key verse, you'll find there's not a word in the book of Proverbs that doesn't flow from this thought. This is the key verse that holds the whole book together, and I'd like you to read that. The key verse is found in chapter 13, verse 7. The key verse to the whole book of Proverbs is chapter 13, verse 7, a most staggering verse, by the by. There is, there is that maketh himself rich. Oh, I wonder what percentage of America sets to do that in life, has that intent. There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing. Yet he hath nothing. There is that maketh himself rich, yet he hath nothing, in God's eyes. You must always remember, it's in God's eyes, these statements. In man's eyes, this is going to just be one shock to man's system. But God is now going to tell you what he thinks about riches. There is that maketh himself rich, yet he hath nothing, God says. And there is that maketh himself poor. What does God mean there? There is that maketh himself poor, yet he hath great riches, God says, in God's eyes. Can I repeat it? There is that maketh himself rich, yet he hath nothing, God says. And there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches, great riches, God says. That is one question, only one question God expects us to ask ourselves when we read the book of Proverbs. Who has true wealth in God's eyes? Who is truly rich in God's eyes, and who is truly poor in God's eyes? That's the one question we ask ourselves when we read the whole book of Proverbs. But there's nothing else we need to ask but that concerning every verse. Who has true wealth in God's eyes, and who is truly poor in God's eyes? Firstly, Proverbs says, those who get wisdom. Who has true wealth in God's eyes? The first thing God puts out in the book of Proverbs as to who has true wealth, are those who get wisdom. You'll find this word, wisdom, strewn across the whole book. Proverbs 16, verse 16. How much better it is to get wisdom than gold, God says. How much better it is to get wisdom than gold. To get understanding, rather to be chosen, than silver. How much better it is to get wisdom than gold, God says this. And to get understanding, rather to be chosen than silver. Proverbs 8, verse 11. For wisdom is better than rubies, God says. And all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it. Proverbs 4, verse 7. Wisdom is the principal thing, the most important thing in life, God says. Wisdom is the principal thing. Therefore, get wisdom. And with all I getting, get understanding. There are those who are tragically ever learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth, the New Testament says. With all I getting of wisdom, get understanding. But what does it mean? What does it mean to get wisdom? The principal thing. What does it mean to get wisdom? The most important thing in life, where Proverbs tells us. Proverbs 9, verse 10 says, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy, the Hebrew there says, is knowing the Holy One. The knowledge of the Holy One, knowing God, is understanding. Fearing God, knowing God. The most accurate interpretation of this verse would read like this, Fearing God and finding Him is the beginning of wisdom, the first thing you've ever done that matters according to God. Until then, you have nothing of any value in life, God says. Fearing God and finding Him is the beginning of wisdom. Proverbs 8, verse 36, But he who misses Me in life, he wrongs and he injures himself, he faces eternal death, the Hebrew says. And so someone who is truly rich in God's eyes, who has found wisdom, is a man or woman or child who fears God, which results in finding Him as their Savior, who because of fearing God has a personal encounter with Him and becomes reconciled to Him. My father, my father as a boy was in much poverty and despair of life for survival, and in his grief of having to survive as a little boy of thirteen in this world, in the poverty in which he found himself, he, weeping under terrible, terrible strain, determined in his heart that one day he would be rich. One day. And he determined in his heart it didn't matter how he got it, one day he would be wealthy. He would never allow his children, he would never see his children having to resort to this to survive. And he wept as he said that in his heart, going years and years and years and years and years ahead to where my father one day stood with wealth, he had riches, everything his heart as a boy thought was needed for happiness in this world, everything in the boy's heart that he thought lacked in his life, and that's why he knew nothing but misery. He set his heart in it and he got it. One day he had wealth and riches, but his life was ruined through those riches. My father's marriage was destroyed, his children were destroyed, he was drunk, he was an alcoholic, his health was gone with all the pressures, everything collapsed in life, and all the wealth he finally found that he had fought for, no matter what it took to get there, no one would stop him, nothing would stop him. And when he received it all, his life lay in ruin until he found Christ. And when Jesus Christ saved my father's heart and soul, he found wealth for the first time in life. My father studied the world, you know, he turned his back on the business world in one moment, in one moment, when he found out what true riches were, the things he had fought all his life and found only too late, and when he got it, it left his life in poverty, though he had wealth. Once he found Christ, he turned his back on the things that didn't make him rich, he turned his back on the business world and stung that business world, he turned his back and all he wanted was time, the little bit of time left, suddenly all his values changed, all his priorities changed, suddenly he wanted time for God, he wanted time for his wife, he wanted time for his children, he didn't, he realized all the things that he thought would make us happy didn't, it left us in poverty as a family. He turned his back on all these things and gave time to the things that made sense. My father staggered everyone, you know, he went back to all the places he had worked, that's the first thing he did, staggered us, and he confessed to having stolen enormous amounts of money from when he was young as he was fighting his way, he went back and he wrote out checks, checks of such amounts as I would never dare to even mention, and men said, no, we cannot take this money, we don't want it, you didn't steal, and our eyes, all the waste, the different positions he had, he had authority from when he was younger and he went further and further in authority, and all the waste that you sold and made this money with, we didn't know it was worth anything, it wasn't in our eyes stealing, but my father said, I should have told you, I should have told you that I wasn't throwing it away, I was making a fortune, I was making an enormous amount, I should have told you, they said, we don't want this money, we don't regard it as theft, my father said, you will take it, you will take it, I want a clear conscience with God, you will take it, and he gave, and he gave, and he gave, and he gave, and he flew around our country to businesses that hadn't seen him in years, and then he put his life into the things that mattered, they tried to woo him back, you know, to the business world, they tried to get him back, my mother was contacted because they knew they shouldn't contact him, they knew it wouldn't help, and some of the richest men in our country sat in a meeting, in a conference, and my father and mother were sitting in the center of the room, and they offered my father so much that no man should really have ever been offered, it was beyond belief, my mother said, to try and woo him back so they couldn't survive without him with all his knowledge and his influence, they offered him so much, my mother sat trembling, and she looked over at my father and hoped he wouldn't say no, my mother wasn't saved yet, you know, but as he stood, she knew he was just going to say no, he stood up and began to weep, mummy says, he didn't find it easy to say these things to this man, but he said, thank you, but no, I fought all my life for wealth and position, and I thought that would give me happiness, when I got it, I found I was poverty stricken in life, until I came to Christ, I had nothing of any value, but when I found Christ, I found riches for the first time in life, I became rich coming to Christ, I know you people, I know you so well, with all your wealth, and I, my heart bleeds for you, it bleeds for you because all of you are poor, you're so poor when I think of your homes, when I think of your situations, I know what you are, you have nothing of any value, you're poverty stricken in all your wealth, oh come to Christ and get out of it, get out of all this rat race, get out of all this thing that doesn't give you any happiness at all, that left you poverty stricken, come to Christ and find the riches I found, and he turned and walked out, and my mother said she had to walk off him, but before she did, she turned and looked back, and all those men were sobbing, broken, they knew it was true what he said, they were in poverty with all their wealth, they were in poverty with all their wealth, there is that maketh himself rich yet hath nothing, there is that maketh himself poor yet hath great riches, God says, oh what is the profit if a man gains the whole world and loses his own soul, how poor he is for eternity, and so the book of Proverbs reveals to us more than anything else, who is truly rich in God's eyes, and who is truly poor in God's eyes, firstly, who is truly rich in God's eyes, he who fears God and has found him as the saviour, secondly, he who has a good name, Proverbs says, makes a man truly rich in God's eyes, he who has a good name makes you rich, oh look what God says, Proverbs 22 verse 1, a good name, a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, what would you choose? Here you have the choice, put most Americans here right now, here on one side is a good name, you choose that, and here is riches without a good name, just lose your name to get it, what percentage would say, no I don't care about the good name, I choose the riches and lose a good name, no matter what I do to get it, I want riches, what percentage would choose when the choice is there, a good name or riches, well, well God says, a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold, loving favour, deep respect the Hebrew says, a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, deep respect rather than silver and gold, oh that your name will be remembered with deep respect in this world, oh that your name will be remembered as a good name, with deep respect, Proverbs 7, 10 verse 7, the memory of the just is blessed, but the name of the wicked shall rot, God says, even to your children sir, I guarantee you, leave them riches, but don't leave them a good name, and your name will rot, I guarantee you, you'll be poor if you don't die with a good name, Proverbs 10 verse 7, the memory of the just is blessed, Proverbs 20 verse 7, the just man walketh in his integrity, and his children are blessed after him, do you know what that means, the just man walketh in his integrity, the true meaning is because of his integrity, his children are blessed after him, because, tell me, will your children be blessed, blessed because of your life sir, ask yourself now, ask yourself now, if a man is godly, it affects his children's lives forever, if a man is godly, it affects his children's lives forever for good, I cannot tell you the inheritance my father left to me, leaving me a good name, rather than riches, when he died, as I walked through my land, and hundreds of men walked up to me, one after the other, and said these words, I never knew a more godly man in my life than your father, I cannot tell you how wealthy I was each time those men came to me, my father left me an inheritance I treasure, if he had left me wealth without a good name, his memory would have rotten, his name would be rotten in the world that he left behind, and I would have known he did me damage, not leaving me a good name, oh, what a wonderful thing it is, to have a good name sir, but rather than riches, did you choose it, did you choose the right thing for your children to inherit, that your name won't rot, and so the whole revelation of the book is, who is truly rich in God's eyes, and who is truly poor, firstly, he who fears God, and has found him as his savior, secondly, he who has a good name, thirdly, Proverbs 18 verse 22, tells us what makes a man truly rich in God's eyes, this is going to shock you, who shall findeth a wife, findeth a good thing, God says, and obtaineth favor of the Lord, Proverbs 19 verse 14, a prudent wife is from the Lord, a wise and understanding woman is given from God, Proverbs 31 verse 10, who can find such a woman, who can find a virtuous woman, for her price is far above rubies, do you know how wealthy you become, without rubies or riches of a material, but get a good wife, like God says, and you're wealthy, God says, who can find a virtuous woman, in this amazing chapter of 31, her price is far above rubies, God says, the heart, the heart of her husband, doth safely trust in her, so that he shall not, he shall have no need of spoils, she will do him good, she will do him good and not evil, all the days of her life, listen to what verse 25 says, of this amazing chapter, I won't read the whole chapter, but strength and honor are her clothing, she shall rejoice in time to come, she openeth her mouth with wisdom, and her tongue is the law of kindness, she looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness, her children rise up, and call her blessed, you want to see my children do that, they're not conscious they're doing it, you know, oh, I worship God for Jenny every day of my life, I worship, I don't thank, I find myself in worship, for the good, you know, one of the reasons I do that, is because of the way my children rise up, and call her blessed, in their converse, as soon as their mother's been spoken of, as soon as there's anything, it's just their children, these three boys God gave us, rise up and calling her blessed, just as God said would happen, her children rise up, and call her blessed, her husband also, and he praises her, oh, I think I'd be grieving God, if I didn't rise up, and do the same as the boys do, and praise her, I know how rich I am, you see, with this woman, many daughters have done virtuously, but thou exaltest them all, favour is deceitful, beauty is vain, but a woman that fears the Lord, a woman that fears the Lord, she shall be praised, if you're not praised in your home, no one else will ever praise you on earth, dear lady, oh, she shall be praised, the godliest man I ever knew in my life, was Will McFarlane, he was a South African man, who shook our nation as a young man, and then went on to shake many nations of the world, I've been around Canada, and I've met so many, and just came up to me, when they heard me preaching on Will McFarlane, and they came up and said with tears, oh, you could not recover, you would never recover, just standing with Will McFarlane for a few minutes, you cannot recover from such a man, let alone hearing him preach, you know, he was the first man I even knew in my life, that made me weep, just looking at him, he shone, I used to think it was some big superficial glow, you know, of Moses, being with God, so alone in the presence of God, but when I saw this man, I knew there was something more than just a superficial glow, there was this shine, but it was of purity, and holiness, and integrity, every word that you could ever find of virtue, that comes through life, walking with God, was written and flowing out of him, I stood and looked at this man, whose face shone of godliness, Christ-likeness, holiness, integrity, purity, and I trembled, and I began to weep, I began to stand there weeping, then he turned and looked at me, not knowing what was going on, he just looked at me, and didn't ask me why, I shook and trembled when I realized, how holy God could make a man this side of heaven, oh, he was a blessing, when in his old age his wife was killed, in an accident, he was driving the car, we tried to stop him for a long time to drive in his old age, but he wanted that little independence, and then his wife was killed outright in an accident, and he was lying in hospital, and when he awoke, when he awoke, the doctors said that we should not tell him, of his wife's death, because his system might not be able to take the shock, so there was this silence, and he looked as he woke up and said, where is my wife, where is my wife, and we had to say, she's gone, she didn't make it, the tears came down his face, you know, but his face wasn't sorrowful, it was like an acceptance of gentleness, acceptance of God taking it, whether it was that she was in heaven, I don't know, but his face just seemed to glow in peace, not torment, the tears came, and he raised his one hand, and he said these words, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ himself, she was the most precious gift God ever gave to me, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ himself, she was the most precious gift God ever gave to me, tell me, dear ladies, do you know that that is what your husband says of you, do you know in your heart, as you look at your lives, that you've made your husband so rich, that apart from Christ himself, there's nothing he treasures more on earth, and he knows it, and everyone knows it, the children know it, that you are so a jewel, that in God's hands, you've made your husband so rich, that there's nothing but Jesus Christ himself, that the man could even think of as his true riches in life, that made him truly rich, is that your life, lady? have you made your husband rich? there was a reverend vicary in our country, a Presbyterian minister who loved God, they wouldn't let him resign, retire, in his weariness he just went on and on preaching in this town, they didn't want a young man, coming out with new theology and liberal theology, there was a man who preached truth, and they loved him and kept him, this godly, godly man had a wonderful wife called auntie Sissy, everyone loved this godly woman, she was so down to earth, and so plain in her ways, she was just so beautiful to behold, what everything a woman should be in life, I tell you when I looked at that woman, I knew this man was rich, there was a true jewel from God, well, suddenly, without a word, his wife struck with severe illness, lying in bed, the doctor, the nurses, the doctor turned to him and said, reverend vicary, quickly come, she's going, Sissy's going, say goodbye to her, she's about to go now, and do you know what this old man did? he fell on his knees beside the bed, he put his arm over, and he groaned such a groan, it was like a man who was in agony, it was from within his whole being, this groan just came out, and he sobbed, and he said these words, oh God, if Sissy's going to die, I must die now too, right now God, for without Sissy, my life will be meaningless, I don't want to live without Sissy, I beg thee God, I beg thee if Sissy is to die, take me now, I don't want life without her, I'm useless, I'm worthless without Sissy, I don't want to live, for there's no meaning in life without Sissy, take me now to God, and he wept, he wept, and do you know what God did? In one moment, God healed that woman, totally, she didn't take a few days to get out of bed, sir, God did such a miracle, that the doctors, the nurses, the whole town was shaken more than any other event in the history of that town, to make people seek after God, because they knew this was not some superficial group claiming some sensationalism that wasn't true, they knew this was a down-to-earth solid group that didn't claim about miracles at all, yet suddenly men knew, God does some amazing things, it all tells me, as your husband knows, you know why God healed that woman? The only reason God healed that woman, because it was true what that man said, he was meaningless without her, take away that wealth from him, and he had nothing left, that he could think of to live for, he was so wealthy with her, God knew it was true, without her, his life would be worthless, so God knowing it's the truth, and seeing the groan of his heart, that he wanted to die with her, because he didn't want life without her, God knew it's true, so he gave him back, for a few more years, gave this godly woman back, oh, the preciousness of God, in looking at a man, who knows he's truly wealthy, through the woman God gave him, oh, how rich the man is, if his wife is godly, oh, how rich the man is, if his wife is godly, but how poor he is, if she's not godly, Proverbs 12 verse 4 says, a virtuous woman is a crown to her husband, you know, you go to England, and you see all the crowns, you wonder that there were so many different crowns, I mean, one crown had such wealth, that there is no value left, there's no value to a crown, did you know that? It's priceless, no millionaire could ever buy it, there's no billions and billions of dollars, that's worth for Britain to say, I'll give it to you, there is no value left, it's so priceless, it's so valuable, there's no price attainable for it, and each crown, in the era, proved how wealthy and great the kingdom was, that's why they took the largest jewels found on earth, the current diamonds, taken from the empire, and placed into the present reign, into the crown, to show the wealth and the might of this nation, the crown, and you know what God says about a man? A virtuous woman is a crown, that shows you how wealthy a man is, God says, to her husband, but, now I hate this, I hate this, suddenly the whole book turns, and shows the other side, but she that maketh ashamed, is as rottenness to his bones, you know I've seen some diseases where the bones rot, it's a terrible thing, it's a terrible sickness, taking hold of a man, oh how in sorrow and grief and suffering he comes, a virtuous woman is a crown to her husband, but she that maketh ashamed, is as rottenness to his bones, a man is rich indeed, but poor, poor, it is not godly, how poor he is with an ungodly woman, Proverbs 14 verse 1, every wise woman buildeth her house, but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands, God says, she undermines and destroys everything the home could have been, the literal, not the literal, the explanation is the closest interpretation you'll come to it, every wise woman buildeth her house, but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands, she undermines, she destroys everything the home could have been, do you know that a woman like that, you don't have to go to the godless homes, you can find it in professing Christians' homes, a woman like that, everything the home could have been, she undermines, she destroys, Proverbs 27 verse 15, a continual dropping, in a very rainy day, and a contentious woman are alike, have you ever been in a very rainy day in Africa, and that dropping, oh, you can't switch off, you know, you can't concentrate, you can't sleep, it's just this terrible dropping in one spot that makes a noise, you can't switch off to it, it just dominates everything, continual dropping, in a very rainy day, and a contentious woman are alike, Proverbs 21 verse 19, it's better to dwell in the wilderness, in the desert, the Hebrew says, than with a contentious and an angry woman, 21 verse 9, it's better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, it's better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a white house, oh, where can I hide, it's a cry, Proverbs 9 verse 13, a foolish woman is clamorous, it means dominating and aggressive, oh, what a foolish woman this is, oh, God reveals to us here in the book of Proverbs, who is truly rich in his eyes, and who is truly poor, how rich are you up to now, sir? Firstly, he who fears God, and has found him as a saviour, secondly, he who has a good name, thirdly, he who finds a truly godly wife, fourthly, we find in Proverbs 17 verse 6, and this will hurt some of you, what God says makes a man truly rich, or truly poor in his eyes, Proverbs 17 verse 6, children's children are the crown of an old man, children's children are the crown of old men, that's true, you know, you see, my children's grandfather, oh, he's a revered man, talking about my wife's father, he's loved throughout our land, he's one of the most loved priests in South Africa, and he's revered, revered, men stand as he walks into a room, you understand, there's something of a reverence, men sit in silence to listen to this man, he is so godly, I've sat at his feet and I've learned enormous truth from him, reverence to him, but you know, when we kept a little child, little Noli, who's now too big to mention, but Noli, this little first grandchild, he walked into the room where everybody was just listening, and there was this great godly man, and Noli was the only one in the world that could do this, you know, he walks in, he says, Grandpa, little boy now, Grandpa, and everybody just looks at this little boy in the doorway, Come! Well, you should see this grandpa, follows him, you know, no one else in the world could do that, but a grandchild, taught me about it, God knows what he says when he says, children, children of the crown of old men, but then the second half of the verse, this pierces the heart, like very few verses in the whole Bible ever pierce your heart, God says this, the glory, the glory of children are their fathers, God says, the glory of children are their fathers, it doesn't mean that they don't love their mothers, we've read, oh, how they raise up and call her blessed, how precious, there's no way that the mother is now in any way inferior here, but there's something about what God is saying here that is so vital, that it would stagger your heart if you believe the word of God to be true, the glory of children, God says, are their fathers, can I show you a poor man in this world? Take me to a man who knows he is not the glory of his children, and we found a man, even if he's a billionaire, the glory of children are their fathers, there are only two reasons a man is not the glory of his children in this world, God gives those two reasons here in the book of Proverbs, there are only two reasons a man knows a man is not the glory of his children, only two reasons a man is not the glory of his children, firstly, Proverbs 11, verse 29, he that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind, oh, how poor this man will become, God says, you know what that means? he that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind, he that breaks down the members of his home because of his sin, God says, this is one of the only two reasons God gives why he is not the glory of his children as God intends it to be, to make him know that he's right and rich in God's eyes, firstly, he that troubleth, he that breaks down the members of his own home through his sin, because of his sin, shall inherit the wind, oh, how poor he'll become, he eventually becomes poverty stricken in life, I guarantee you, I guarantee you, no matter who he is in the world, he that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind, I was preaching once in a series of meetings over a weekend, in the front row there was a woman sitting with her little boy, I would say he was 13 years old, maybe 14, but there was this woman sitting and beside her was her son, and why I noticed them was because of the joy in their heart as I was preaching, whenever I broke open there was just amazing joy in her eyes, tears, and in this little boy he was excited as his mother, they would weep over the things of God, they were joying, just sitting there drinking in the things of God, I couldn't help but notice them, but one night I stood up to preach, and while I was preaching my eyes went over to this woman and boy and I stopped preaching, I could hardly preach from that moment because I saw her face was swollen and bruised, and the tears were just flowing down her face now, not of joy, and I looked at her little boy and his eyes were swollen, his face swollen, and he was crying, so I battled to get to the end of that scene, but when I did I didn't want the people who wanted to speak, I just moved past them and I got to this woman and I said, who did this to you? Who did this to you? She said, my husband, my husband, I said, why? Because we came to your meeting, sir, because we came to your meeting, he doesn't love God, he beat my boy, the other children don't come to church, have you? And she said, make my son a fanatic, I said, I'll beat God up, and she wept, and the boy wept as they looked at me, I said to her, you're going to go back, you're going to go back to this, you're going to go back home to this monster? She looked at me and said, sir, don't ask me why, but I have to go back, trust me about that, I have no option, I have to go back in spite of what he did to my boy and me, I have to go back. Well, it was a few short years later, that boy stood in jail and was terrible shame, he became bad, he spent more time in jail as a boy, taken by the police, and all the things in his father's heart broke, and his father was in shame and broken, and I sent a message to that man, I wouldn't go near him, he wouldn't allow me near him, but I sent a message and I knew it got to him by a man who did allow me to him, and I said this, what did you expect? What did you expect? You said you would beat the God out of him, now look at him, now look at him, what did you want? It wasn't long after that he lay dying, that man, and I sent the same man with another message, I won't tell you the words I sent, but I said, oh poor, there are only two reasons a man is not the glory of his children, firstly, he that troubles his own house, that breaks down the members of his house because of sin, shall inherit the wind, God says, oh you'll be poverty stricken, secondly, the second reason as to why a man is not the glory of his children, the only other reason God gives as to why a man will not be the glory of his children, is that his children choose to follow evil and wickedness, and not to follow the God of his father, Mr. Macfarlane, this godly man I was telling you about, you know, whose faith strong and who shook this world like very few men have ever, Mr. Macfarlane said to me one day, I have only one regret in life, I have only one regret in my life, and that is that my wife was not, and I with others said, but sir, look at all the children you do have in your thousands, look at us, we love you as a father even more than a father, oh he said, I know that boy, I know that, but I would so love to have had our own children to hold in my arms and to be a father too, that's the only regret I have in life, I was at a convention when in his 80's he was 86 years old, at that age he was still preaching with a clearer mind than I've got tonight, oh how soft the mind stays if you stay in the word and pure, and there he was, and God came, oh he wasn't the main speaker, they couldn't get him at that age, but he walked one message per convention, and oh, the whole convention was damned excited, at what God brought through this holy man, Christ had walked with God and helped himself over 400 times through the Bible, sitting at the lunch table in this convention, a whole group of preachers and a few other Christians, and somebody, one woman said, did you notice about this man Will McFarlane, he hasn't got a wrinkle on his face, I've never seen anyone in my life who's in his 80's has no wrinkles in his eyes, has no wrinkles in his forehead, there's no wrinkle and it came out that it was because of the walk, surely, that he had with God, his walk with God kept him from having the troubles and the terrible things that come from not walking with God, and the fears that drift through sin, and there was a little lady sitting at the end of the table, I don't know her name, but she had a Bible in front of her, she had wrinkles all over her face, she was grey, and she had dark rings under her eyes, and tears were coming down her face, and she said that she heard us saying it probably must be through the walk that he had with God that he had no wrinkles, she said yes, I think that probably has a lot to do with it, but I wonder, I wonder if it's also because he had no strength, well, we all looked at her with all these wrinkles and black rings under her eyes, and the fears that she said that, and we wondered, we wondered now of her life, we wondered of her life, Can I read this to you? It is so, that children can be and should be your greatest joy, they should be and can be your greatest joy, making your life rich, but, but if your child is godless through his free will, and he chooses sin, and wrong company in the life of sin, he will become your greatest grief, and your sorrow, and will cause you to age, he will cause you to age, Listen to what Proverbs says, Proverbs 10, verse 1, A wise son, a wise son maketh a glad father, but a foolish son is heavy mix of his muscles. 13, verse 1, A wise son heareth his father's instructions, but a scorner heareth not rebuke. Chapter 15, verse 20, A wise son maketh a glad father, but a foolish man despises his mother. He despises his mother. Chapter 17, verse 25, A foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness, bitterness to her that bare him. 19, verse 13, A foolish son is the calamity of his father. He can ruin his life. He can ruin his father's life like Eli's sons did. They ruined their father's life, his ministry, and his life was ruined. A foolish son is the calamity, the ruination of his father's life. 19, verse 26, He that wastes his father and chases away his mother is a son that causes shame and bringeth reproach on the home. He that wastes his father, do you know what that means? He doesn't want his father's authority and guidance to be brought up by a God-fearing man. He refuses it. He wastes what God gave him a father for and chases away his mother. Do you know what that means? He causes his mother to retrieve from being a mother to him. He can't help but have to retrieve and not be a mother. All he wanted to be to bring him up, he won't let him. He chases away what God gave him to mold his life. So he's God-fearing. He causes her to retrieve from being a mother. Oh, he brings great shame, great reproach on the home. 20, verse 20, Who so curses his father and mother. Oh, they get to this place, you know, when sin takes over. Who so curses the father and mother. His lamp shall be put out, God says. That's how much grief you give God, boys, if you get to this point. Who so curses his father and mother. His lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness, God says. The lamp. Verse 27, The spirit of the man is the candle, or the lamp. Terrible thing God's saying here. His lamp shall be put out, God says. Now there's verses that are very, very, very important. Chapter 3, verse 11. And if you don't read these verses, you'll miss the whole point of what God says now. Chapter 3, verse 11, My son, My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, despise not the chastening of the Lord, neither be weary of his correction, for whom the Lord loveth, he correcteth, even as a father, his son, in whom he delighteth. Fathers, if you delight in your son like God delights in you since you've been saved and given your life to him, you chasten. Hebrews takes these words up in virtually word perfect, but expounding a bit more, tells us that if we accept the chastening our fathers who gave us in their lack of perfect understanding, how much more should we submit to the King of Kings, our Heavenly Father, who always will bring about the good, whatever he does to us. Now be careful here. The whole thought is, what do you do to make a son not go into sin? What do you do when a boy is angry, you can still stop him when you see he's got sin in his heart and intent on turning to sinful people? What do you do to correct things if you see troubles are coming before it's too late? Well, firstly, God says, you think of the way he corrected you before you dare to try and discipline your son. Because as God disciplined you, and you were conscious this is God, you knew it wasn't the devil you needed this, and it was to bring out holiness, to bring you back to right walking with God, and God disciplines all of us. You see, this poor man in the beginning years, oh, I needed it as a child of God, and I knew it was because he loved me and I submitted to it. In the end, I was grateful for it and loved him more for doing this, to stop me, to make me what I ought to be. It always brings out, all chastening, all trials God brings upon us, brings out the fruit, peaceable fruit of holiness. It is what God wants, that the chastening brings us. Now, beloved, you have to chasten your son in the same way that as you know God chastened you, your child knows in his heart, it is the same way he loves you for it. He knows you're right. He knows you're, it's coming from love, because he's delighting in you. He knows, he knows. Oh, now we understand that, of how you are going to chasten your son, that you dare to start disciplining him, to try and turn him from wrong, and keep him from wrong. Listen to what Proverbs says. To understand what God wants us to do, concerning correcting children, we can't begin to even understand unless we realize that as he chastens us, then only we can think how we can chasten them in the same way. Proverbs 19, verse 18, Chasten thy son while there is hope, God says. Listen carefully. And let not thy soul spare for his crying, God says. Amazing words here. 13, verse 24, He that spareth his rod hateth his son, God says to you. But he that loveth him chastens him at the time it is signed. You have to, just because you love him, just because you love him. 22, verse 6, Train up a child in the way he should go. When he's old, he will not depart from it. But that involves a lot of discipline and chastening. But in such love that they know it's only love that makes you do it. Otherwise you're sinning. You're sinning. 22, verse 15, Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. God promises. God promises. No matter what the governments of the world tell you. Do you know that in England, they jailed a man about six months ago for stopping his daughter using physical force. He didn't beat her, he just used his hands stopping her to get out the door and he was holding her back as she was fighting. Do you know she took him to court and put him in jail? The law is so lawless it's unbelievable. It has reached the place that Jesus said there would be lawlessness. It doesn't mean there won't be law, but the law will just defend lawlessness. Wrong! It was shaking. Margaret Thatcher was the only voice of England that stood up and cried out against it as if it was a stupid. How is it possible the law has got to a place that if a man is stopping his child from going out and destroying... It was drug addicts standing at the gate wooing her out and he knew she was problems with drugs and he was stopping her irresponsibly and because he did that and he used his physical hands to stop her from going out and love, begging her not to... She took him to court and charged him. It's law now that you're not allowed to touch your child. I don't know where it's heading, but it's coming, it's fighting its way. They stopped it at the schools first, you know. No more hitting. Doesn't matter if a boy stands up there abusive and just gasping toward a teacher no matter how small he is. They're not hitting. They're not hitting. No wonder teachers age and die before their time if they haven't their heart to be teachers in these schools. The law is protecting wickedness. God seems to be driven from itself. I don't defend abuse. I think that's wickedness itself and we'll find that out. But goodness me, when we come to a place we take the home has not the right to do what God says is the only thing that works. Tell me governments of your country, even this government of your land, look at what we're producing, taking the Bible away, fighting against what God says, making laws against God's laws. Look at what we're producing and tell me something, haven't we done something wrong? Look at your youth. Look at it. For God's sake. When are we going to get back to the Bible? When will you give them a chance of being brought up pure and decent by allowing us to do what God says, not fighting against us and saying it's wrong and jailing us? You know Prince Charles? We all criticize him, don't we? Prince Charles was asked about this controversy raging in England now trying to bring the law that a parent cannot touch his child physically. And Prince Charles said it's stupid. Well, I think he got the right word there. It's stupid. He said what parent in his right mind won't give his child a good spat, a good spanking, if a child is needing it? It's stupid. Well, they didn't jail him, not yet anyway. He got something right there anyway in life, didn't he? He got it right there. Be careful how we criticize Charles. I'm saying this from my heart. I know he made a terrible mess, but I'll tell you why. Before you condemn him, think about this. I guarantee you the devil bombarded that boy a million times more than anyone in his building because of who he was. He didn't have life like you and I. He wasn't saved. And Satan took hold of him because of the influence on an institution the world is trying to bury totally, marriage. And the blessing it could have been as an unsaved man to the world if he had worked it out with that woman. And Satan went from every angle with bombarding and pressures you never knew in your marriage and your life to make sure that this could have influenced marriages to get back into order and be the thing. And that it could work if he was the example. No wonder the devil bombarded him. Don't you judge. If we had prayed as much as we judged him, if every word we said about Charles criticizing him was said to God in earnestness for his soul, that man would have been saved over and over. If the Christians didn't criticize but came to God because of who he was crying for protection even though he's an unsaved man. So be careful now. But now concerning this that God says foolishness is bound in the heart of a child but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. When God speaks about a rod be careful. Don't go and make some weapon you know to put fear in your child's heart to the degree I don't think God even has a... I honestly don't think that God has in mind that we preach to go and buy a big rod now and beat the child. You can really do such damage. Don't break a child's spirit Paul says by your way of discipline. Don't break a child. You can break a child's spirit in a Christian home. I've seen them. They never ever revive. They never conceive. They're broken because of the wrong discipline in a Christian home. You think you're doing God right and obeying God. No, no, no. Friend, it's different. If your child doesn't know that it hurts you more than it's hurting him you are sinning. You are grieving God more than that child grieves you. If your child is not conscious and deeply conscious as you're conscious when God disciplines you and corrects you it's out of perfect love and you accept it and love him the more for it not hate him. If your child is not conscious that it hurts you more than it's hurting him you really have missed the mark there. You know D.R. Moody was a great man of God and when Moody beat his children and he had to sometimes I believe one of them particularly was extraordinarily naughty but they wrote a book about their father I wonder what your children will write about you. Think about it they wrote a book about the children wrote a book of their father it wasn't a big book and they said this of their father when they were beaten they admitted they had to have it they really had to have a good beating but they said they knew they knew that they mustn't go to sleep if they had a hiding that day they knew that Moody would come upstairs so they lay there waiting you know no point sleeping we've got to wait for daddy he beat us and he was a big man you know terribly big man terrible problem that he came up the steps boom boom you heard daddy was kaboom this big enormous giant of a man here comes daddy well they said they knew exactly what he was going to do he knelt beside the children he beat and he wept every time he beat them he wept on his knees beside the bed before he let them go to sleep and he said forgive me I'm so sorry I had to do that it so hurt me that I had to do that I'm so sorry I had to do that that wasn't compromise that made him great no wonder he won four million to Christ they said by the by some say twelve million but it's been proved a lot didn't go through with God but it's proved about four million roughly for sure in the estimate of godly people never backfired did you ever win four million to Christ no wonder God used him in his complicity because there was such a compassion to man and even his children it hurt him more than it hurt them let your child know that are you godly in the way you discipline are you are you godly but he has to he's delighting he doesn't want to he doesn't give him joy let him he's grieving haven't you this child is conscious of it one child needs one look another child needs a good spanking one child needs a look and he's in more pain than a child got to spanking you don't beat a child that just needs a look just because God says you should take the rod you don't dare do that you break a child like that some child just needs one little word you know Samuel my three children are beautiful terrible to say that isn't it father to say that to his children but oh I love them I'm rich with them they love God but my three children are so different and all the tourists all just live to the smile Roy and then there's little Samuel who never got a Heidi if he did I think it was Jenny when I wasn't looking anyway but Samuel didn't need a Heidi oh but Roy got Heidi the middle one woo I don't know where he came from you know I don't know if there's any boy like that here tonight but I'll tell you if anything went wrong in our house anything went wrong we didn't say who did it we just said Roy we knew there's only one that would do such a thing as this terrible to have a child like that I looked at him one night when he did something I wouldn't dare ever tell anybody what he did and I looked and I was so stunned that I was I couldn't do anything where did he come from and my mother looked at me and said he was exactly as you were I was so shaken I looked at her well at least I know he came from me isn't that terrible that my mother said that Roy got so many hidings it's unbelievable I tell you I loved him when I hit him I loved him I explained and it mustn't be out of wrath or anger or your sin because of your sin now you do such damage you know Roy said to us how is it that I got so many hidings daddy when I was more like them and you never said it's so unfair you never hit him so I said well Roy you tell me when to hit Sam and I hit him and he looked at me and he looked at Sam and he said true Samuel never needs a hiding terrible now you don't hit a boy like that a rod doesn't mean hit you know Samuel burst into tears just before I came to America and I'm still haunted of it because he didn't need to be taken I just disagreed with something that little Bella was about I didn't realize how sensitive he was that he had gone and done this thing Jenny everybody just eyes big what have you done but I didn't really think it was so wonderful and I said no I'm sorry you didn't he just sobbed and sobbed and sobbed and an hour later I was in the same as he didn't do wrong if you want daddy to lie and say I'm happy you did I'll do it but please just don't cry like this Samuel doesn't need you're the smallest word is enough to make a child's heart break you don't make it certain children you do others and when you have to get others it was such love that's hurting you more that would guide you just how hard it's hurting you more in your heart at the end I have no rod I never will and I disagree with rods I think the principles there is discipline and to some a correct little spanking God doesn't want us to go some men did have rods and I don't judge them for that they never used them some of the men I knew were just there and they looked at the rod and that was enough but be careful the principles are there not the beating and abusing a child by hurting him unjustly be careful now be very careful now chapter 23 verse 13 these are staggering words I'd like you all to look at them 23 verse 13 withhold not correction from the child for if thou beatest him with the rod he shall not die thou shall beat him with the rod and shall deliver his soul from hell God said thou shall there has to be discipline in the child you delight in if you love him if you don't hate him you will deliver his soul from hell by showing him he has to stop to one child just showing him through a look to another child determined you know just as much to make this child realize stop now and the child understands he has to stop he doesn't beat him you know just how much to beat with your hand thou shall beat him thou shall deliver his soul from hell God says 28 verse 24 who so robbeth his father and mother and sayeth it is no transgression the same as the companion of a destroyer he is a man destroying literally who so robbeth his father and mother and sayeth it is no transgression the same as the companion he is a man robbeth his sayeth it is no transgression the same as the companion who so sayeth it is no transgression 29 verse 17 29 verse correct thy son and he shall give thee rest God says yea he shall give delight unto thy soul these are promises these are promises if we do our part God promises the other part he won't fail you 23 verse 24 and i end with this 23 verse 24 let's start in 22 hearken unto thy father that begat thee despise not thy mother when she's old by the truth boy get the wisdom God wants you get the understanding the father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice and he that begat of a wise child shall have joy in him thy father and thy mother shall be glad and she that beareth thee shall rejoice my son give me thine heart give me thine heart trust me and let thine eyes observe my ways let thine eyes observe my ways can you say that to your son trust me because of my life no other reason no other reason trust me just because of what you see in my life boy observe my ways and let that because you know that's what you should turn out to be because you know that's what you want to be that's what God wants of a man look at my life boy look at me and because of this alone that you see give me your heart trust me the way I bring you up so that you can fear God too so that you can fear God too if you can't say that to your son sir you can't discipline him you can't discipline him look at my life boy and out of the respect that you see and have because of me look at my life observe my way because of this trust me in my decisions even the way I discipline you trust your life to me that I can be able to mould you if God wants me to just because of looking at my life can you say that to your child sir can you say that to your child before you discipline him before you tell him what to do can he look at your life and you get the right do you know what my brother did he smoked 60 cigarettes a day for 20 years nevertheless and you looked at me with that cigarette in your hand and you said my boy don't ever touch that don't ever let me find you with a cigarette don't ever do it while you had it in your hand you said that daddy and daddy it didn't make sense to me I went out and I smoked from the age of 13 I smoked a lot I smoked 20 cigarettes a day by that age you see daddy it didn't make sense to me because something in me wanted to be like you I didn't understand I wanted to do what you did deepen my whole being it didn't make sense I wanted to be like you daddy you stood with a drink alcohol I saw it in your hand so much of my life it was seldom not in your hand daddy for years you stood with a drink and as you stood with that bottle with that glass you said to me again and again don't you ever let me find you touching drink don't you ever take alcohol but daddy when I was 13 years old I lay drunk I was drunk by the age of 13 because daddy it didn't make sense deep in my heart I wanted to do what you did no matter what you told me but daddy when you came to Christ and you walked out of that door from the first step you took staggered the world right to the step you're taking now daddy when you came to Christ and you became one of the holiest men of God that I've ever known in my life that I think I ever will know daddy when you told me to do something when you held out and told me the desires of your heart concerning me I did it daddy I did it without hesitating because daddy your life commanded me to obey you your life commanded me made me obey you can we all stand please in silence