The Marvelous Mother - The Proverbs 31 Woman

So if you would turn to Proverbs chapter 31, Proverbs 31, I think most everybody knew that we would be getting to this chapter soon. We spent quite a bit of time in chapter 30 and those messages really did speak to me. I'm very thankful for that strange individual in chapter 30, that Old Testament, we know very little about him. His name was Agar. He gave us some very good teaching. But tonight in chapter 31, we're gonna be dealing with nine verses, verses one to nine. Now here we are, I said this earlier, this is the last book of the last chapter of the book of Proverbs and I have been honest several Wednesday nights.

I have shared with you my fears and my reservations about teaching in Proverbs 31. This reminds me of my old student ministry years. I spent 10 years working with teenagers and I remember during those student ministry years, I had parents that would come to me quite often and they needed help. They would ask for help. They would ask for advice and I'll be honest with you, in my early years, I was very, very quick to give that advice. And a lot of times I can remember, I gave some pretty good advice. I kind of had a burden of limb approach. I could see what was happening in their life. I knew the parents and I loved them.

And a lot of times I was able to give some good advice. But I'll be honest with you, as I got a little older, I kind of got reluctant. I became very reluctant to give parental advice and it was because I was not a parent and I really had no idea what it was like to be a parent. Maybe as I got a little older, I got a little more humble and that's why I backed off of giving that advice. Well, here in Proverbs 31, I feel kind of the same way. It's just that I'm teaching women how to be godly women and I never can be one. I don't care what culture says. I can't walk in your shoes, ladies. I can't and you can't walk in mine.

And that causes me to approach this chapter really with a good bit of fear and trepidation. So if you feel like, "Hmm, Brother Chris, "you've never been there." Well, just give me a pass here. Now here in Proverbs 31, we really have the Mount Rushmore of biblical teaching for women. Ladies, it really doesn't get any better. It doesn't really get any more powerful than Proverbs 31. Of course, you can get into Titus and you could get into 1 Timothy. There's some great teaching there as well. But it's hard to beat what we have here in Proverbs 31.

But if we're going to get all that we need to get here, I think we need to guard against a couple of mistakes. These are some mistakes that just came to my heart as I was studying this week. And I do believe these mistakes could hinder some of you here. First of all, you can't be intimidated. Ladies, don't be intimidated by what we have here. Men either. We can't be intimidated. One writer said it like this and I ran across this this week. Proverbs 31 or the Proverbs 31 woman has haunted and terrified women all over the world for 3000 years. It's true.

So you can't let this teaching intimidate you into not studying and working hard to attain the standard. I'm gonna be honest with you, you'll never get there. You never will. This is the standard. And we must say that this is the standard for all godly women. This is the standard that you much teach your children. This is the standard that you must teach your daughters as you want them to grow up to be godly women. This is the standard for women and girls that we must teach in the life of this church and we will. But then second, the second mistake, and this is one that really can get some of you.

You can't hold on to the standard that you've been accustomed to. Now let's be honest. Culture paints a completely different picture for women. Wives and motherhood that we see here, completely different. Honestly, most of you did not have this model presented to you and your family, the model of Proverbs 31. And you ladies, you must be willing to die to what you have been taught if it contradicts the teaching of the scriptures, of this chapter. Even if it came from your hero, even if it came from your mother, even if it came from your grandmother, no matter who it may be. So let's not be intimidated.

And then let's not reject God's standard because we're holding on to a faulty standard that we are accustomed to. Now real quick, I wanna give you a little bit of introductory material before we really, before I share with you our approach to the chapter. Look at verse one. Notice what verse one says. The words of King Lemuel in oracle, we know that word. The words of King Lemuel in oracle that his mother taught him. Now we have King Lemuel, we have his mother, and we have an oracle. Now we already know what an oracle is, but who are these people? Who are these people? Who is King Lemuel and who is his mother?

First King Lemuel, most biblical scholars or commentators tell us that King Lemuel was most likely Solomon. We really don't have any direct biblical evidence that tells us that. Most scholars deduce that. In Jewish tradition, identifies Lemuel as Solomon as well. We can't say definitively that it's Solomon, but I believe it's Solomon. Most of the scholars or the scholars that I looked at this week said the very same thing. So second, who is his mother? If Lemuel was Solomon, then this mother would be Bathsheba. Bathsheba, who ultimately was King David's wife, and of course, David was the king. David was Solomon's father.

So it appears that we have Solomon's mother giving this great teaching about what a godly mother and wife looks like. We have this great teaching from God. Remember what an oracle is? First it's from God with this marvelous mother and wonderful wife in the oracle. Listen, first and foremost, we must see that this is from God. We hold it high as teaching from God because that helps us debunk what we're accustomed to. Isn't that right? But we must see the woman, this great woman of God in the chapter. She was a marvelous mother and she was a wonderful, wonderful wife. So here we have the famous Proverbs chapter 31 woman.

And to be honest with you, I could not get away from that title. I think we would almost be sinning if we didn't title this the Proverbs 31 woman. Well, I will add to that title as we go through the verses as we divide them. Now I want you to look at your scriptures. Let me give you the breakdown that we'll use. Breakdowns help you. For me, it helps me get my mind around what we have here and we can't be intimidated by these 31 verses. So look at your copy of God's word with me. First, we have the teaching from a mother to the son. Look at verse two. What are you doing my son? You see?

We have this teaching from a mother to the son, but the first section from the mother to the son starts at verse one and goes on down to verse nine. You see? And that's the first section verses one to nine. And this is the section I will title a marvelous mother because that's what it's all about. An oracle that his mother taught him. And then verse two, what are you doing my son? And it goes all the way down to verse nine. Well then second, we have the teaching concerning an excellent wife. Look at verse 10. Verse 10, an excellent wife, who can find? We are familiar with that verse. Many times a lady's Bible study will start off right there.

And so the section section, it starts at verse 10 and it goes to the end of the chapter. This is the section that I will title a wonderful wife. So what are we looking at? For four weeks, the proverb's 31 woman. And we're gonna see a marvelous mother and a wonderful wife. And we'll be honest with you, we got a good bit of information. But it really needs to be covered. Now I'm gonna do you a favor. I'm gonna give you a little more information on the screens that I normally give you. It'll be real easy for you to write down what we have here. And as always, if you need my notes, I can help you there.

Sometimes people will come up and say, "You know, I didn't get that verse or I didn't get that word." I want us to take what we're studying. I want us to study it throughout the week and the weeks and the months to come. And I want it to be formed into our hearts and lives. And we have to all be on guard against just coming to church, sitting down here in the sermon and walking out. We need to be good students. Now I'm gonna read the verses as we go along. And I want you to see the first major truth that we are going to look at. And that is a weighty exhortation. This is out of verses one and two. This is what I call a weighty exhortation.

Go back to the verse. The words of King Lemiel, an oracle that his mother taught him. What are you doing, my son? What are you doing, son of my womb? What are you doing, son of my vows? Now I see these verses as an exhortation for several reasons. But before we get going, we need to ask a question. What is an exhortation? See, to exhort someone means to incite. It means to encourage. To exhort someone means to strongly advise someone, even by an argument. Now, not an argument as in we're fighting. No, that's not what that means. And that is what we have here. Bathsheba is exhorting her son. She is encouraging him. She is giving strong advice.

She is inciting him and even making strong arguments. All for the purpose of godliness in her son. All to encourage him to ultimately make godly choices in life. But there is a lot to this exhortation. Right here at verses one and two, when she is talking and encouraging her son. And we're going to see some characteristics of her, this woman, in this exhortation. You see it before you. First, notice her intimacy. Verse two does not have the tone of a woman that's writing to a prince or a soon to be king. It doesn't have that tone. It has the tone of a loving mother to her beloved son.

She states that this oracle is from a mother, not a subject of the king. You see, she calls him her son three different times and then even references the fact that she gave birth to him. So we see there's intimacy in this exhortation. Second, we see urgency. In verse two, she questions him three times. Look at verse two. What are you doing my son? What are you doing son of my womb? What are you doing son of my vows? It seems that Bathsheba's urgency is two sided. First, she has an urgency about her. She has a seriousness in her. And then second, she is wanting to bring about an urgency in her son as well.

She desires that her seriousness be taken up by her son as well. So we have urgency in the heart of this woman in this exhortation. And then third, we see her gravity. Now we see this mother's gravity in two ways. First in the name Lemuel, just the name. Now, if you study Israel history, Israel's history, there is no king listed in the history of Israel with the name Lemuel. Scholars speculate that Lemuel was her name for Solomon. Kind of like a pet name. You know what a pet name is? Now, that might be cute. A pet name or a nickname might be cute. But there is a serious side even with the pet name.

The name Lemuel in the original language literally means unto God or dedicated to God. But also, we see this gravity in the last question of verse two. Look at the last question. What are you doing son of my vows? It seems that Bathsheba is referring to a vow of committing her son to God. That would be much like the vow of Hannah. Remember in 1 Samuel 1? Hannah, she vowed that she would give her son to God. So we see the gravity of this exhortation. Now, you know my teaching by now. I like to take a couple of steps back. We kind of wade into the verses, wade into the words. And let's step back and summarize what we see.

We are starting off this great exhortation. We see a loving yet serious mother exhorting her son. She is encouraging her son. She is advising her son, even using strong arguments as we will see. She is lovingly urging her son toward godliness and to making godly choices in life. She is a marvelous mother. And we see intimacy in this marvelous mother. We see urgency. And then we see gravity. It's all wrapped up in her heart and in her exhortation. Now in applying what we see just in verses 1 to 2, we need to ask some questions here. Sometimes I'll make the comment that we're going to ask a rhetorical question.

Rhetorical meaning we're going to ponder over that. But I don't want us to ponder this question and get up and forget it. This is a question maybe that needs to haunt us. Do we as parents exhort our children to godliness and godly choices? Yes or no? Do we? On Monday, Tuesday? Do we do it on Thursday, Saturday? Do we do it when we're busy, when we're not busy? Or do we only do it on Sunday? See, do we ask, do we exhort our children to godliness and godly choices? And do we encourage them like we see with Baishimba? Do we do it with great intimacy? Do we do it with great urgency? Do we do it with great gravity? You see?

My question is, are we giving our children over to the Lord like Baishimba did? What? For God's purposes, for God's work, for God's kingdom. See, she gave him over to the Lord in name. She gave him over to the Lord with a vow, but she gave him over to the Lord in action. Sometimes we will give our children over to the Lord with a vow. Let me pause right here. There's one thing in most Baptist churches that I despise, and that's baby dedication. I've seen more parents stand up in front of a congregation with their child and dedicate him or her, dedicate the child to the Lord, and they walk out, and they barely come back to church.

That's a lie. Look, she dedicated her son in name and in vow, but in action. You see? She wasn't hypocritical. And we have to ask ourselves, how are we doing here? Are we exhorting our children? Do we do it just in name, just in vow? Do we do it every day? You know, I thought about it like this. Imagine the dinner table with Bathsheba. Imagine the car ride with Bathsheba. You know, we've got our kids in the car with us. They can't get out. Imagine the dinner table with Bathsheba. Imagine the car ride with Bathsheba, with this great intimacy, this great urgency, and this great gravity.

Now, I could keep going on, but for the sake of time, I want us to move on. And I want us to see our second major truth. I want us to see what I'm calling a weighty warning. A weighty warning. This is in verse 3, all the way down to verse 7. To be honest with you, this could be two points in the message, but I combined it because of time. And I think we'll be able to cover it all. Now, to me, we have a two-sided warning. This is all still a part of the loving mother's exhortation. Remember what an exhortation is. An exhortation is giving strong advice. It is even laying out an argument, not a fight, but an argument.

And that is what she is doing. She is warning her son. She is arguing against two sins that she knows could be a snare for him, even for a future king. So she is arguing in a positive way by giving this warning. First, her warning against sexual temptation. Look at verse 3. "Do not give your strength to women, your ways to those who destroy kings." Now, I want to pause here for a minute. And I want you to look up, and I want you to think about something with me for a second. Who's writing this verse? Might say, pastor, my memory is not that bad. It's by Sheba. Who is writing this warning, and who is she writing this warning to?

This is Bathsheba writing to her son, who would be king. And what is she saying? Ponder what this woman is saying. Sometimes in explaining weighty matters, less is better. As I was doing some reading even today, I ran across something that the old commentator, J. Vernon McGee, he said, and look, he explains by Sheba's heart right here in verse 3, better than the eight or nine other sources I looked at. And notice what J. Vernon McGee, he said about by Sheba in verse 3. Just his section, it had three words. That was it. She knew David. You see why I ask you to think about who's writing this verse? She knew David.

She knew sexual sin would destroy so much. She knew it would destroy a family. Look at David's family after he committed the sin with Bathsheba of immorality. She even had her husband, her original husband, killed. She knew that it would destroy a king's judgment. Look at David. She watched it destroy King David's judgment. She knew it would diminish the strength of a king. She saw it in David. More importantly, she knew what God's word said. Deuteronomy 17, 16, and 17, it speaks to this. And God said that kings must not take multiple or many horses, many wives, and must not take much silver and gold.

So this was a great warning against sexual temptation. She knew what this meant. But then the second warning, her warning against strong drink. We see this in verse 4 to 7. Notice the transition. It is not for kings, o Lemuel. It is not for kings to drink wine or for rulers to take strong drink. Least they drink and forget what has been decreed and pervert the rights of all the afflicted. Give strong drink to the one who is perishing and wine to those in bitter distress. Let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more. Now this is quite a few verses.

And there is a lot here that this marvelous mother, this marvelous mother is saying. Notice she emphatically states that wine and strong drink is not for kings and rulers. She emphatically says it. It is not for kings, o Lemuel. It is not for kings to drink wine or for rulers to take strong drink. Two times she says wine and strong drink is not for kings. And she adds to her warning by including rulers as well. Her repetition indicates just how serious she took the warning. She knew the temptations of strong drink. She knew the consequences of wine and strong drink. So we see the warning here. There's a warning.

Don't take to the wine or the strong drink. But notice there's a shift in the warning. First, she shifts to the consequences. Look at verse 5. Least they drink the king or the ruler. Least they drink and forget what has been decreed and pervert the rights of the afflicted. Here she warns her son what happens when a king is captivated by wine and strong drink. She explains that their ability to judge fairly and to make proper decisions may be impaired. She explains that they may forget the standards of God's law and God's justice and fail to defend the poor, those who are disenfranchised, and the suffering.

But then second, she shifts to the need. This might surprise some of you. Verse 6, give strong drink to the one who is perishing and wine to those who are in bitter distress. Let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more. Here she explains the legitimate need for alcohol. It appears she is describing some very extreme circumstances. Those who are perishing, maybe they are sick, maybe they are dying, and they need alcohol really as medicine, as a pain reliever. Those who are in distress, maybe they are enduring the most tragic of circumstances and they need alcohol as a sedative.

So let's back up and look at what we've seen here in verses 3 to 7. This marvelous, godly mother is exhorting her son. She is warning her son not to fall for sexual temptations and not to fall for taking many wives. One could argue she is warning her son from personal experience just as much as from God's word. She is also warning him not to fail or fall for the temptation of wine and drink. She knows it would hinder him in making good judgments according to God's word and God's standards. Now as I'm studying to teach, lots of times I just can't help but let my-- I call it my Holy Spirit imagination kind of go with me as I'm studying.

And you know, for me personally, I believe she is warning her son in these two areas of life for two reasons. First, because God inspired her to. This is God's inspired word. God wrote this. So first is because God inspired her to. God inspired her to warn her son about these different traps here. And let me question you here for just a minute. How did Solomon do? How did Solomon do? He struck out with one. Women ended up being his downfall. He didn't listen. But then second, I believe she teaches her son because of her practical experience in life. She had seen the mistakes her husband King David had made. She experienced those mistakes.

No doubt she had great heartache here. And we could say that much of what she is teaching, it came out of her own experience in life and what God had taught her through those experiences. But first and foremost, it was because God inspired her. Now an application, we must see that Proverbs constantly issues warnings about two things, sexual immorality and drunkenness. Those are two of the biggest sins addressed throughout the entire book. And look, just like Solomon, today those are big snares for young and older alike. Sexual immorality and drunkenness are two of the greatest temptations that our young people face.

And we must be active in instructing our children and our teenagers in these matters. Let me give you a little piece of advice here. We gotta have wisdom here. But some of you need to hear this. We must teach out of our own lives and our own experiences as well. Some of you might not be able to cover up or keep secret your past mistakes and sins. Could Bathsheba? If so, use them as a teaching tool. Bathsheba did. She had the power of God working in her life and she had the wisdom of God and she was able to use these past experiences in her life.

And you know, there's some of you here, you might need to consecrate your past life to the Lord to be used by him. Now I'm not talking about airing out your dirty laundry. I've seen that. I'm not talking about glamorizing sin. No, there is a difference. And you might not be able to do that with your small children. It might take them getting a little older. And you might need to consecrate your previous life so as to minister to adults in the life of the church. God's taught us here that trials are meant first for the body, first for the church, and then for you.

Every work of sanctification in our life is first meant to be used in the life of the church. And you know, our past and our past failures, and some of you have even been victimized. Those should be consecrated unto the Lord and used for him. Now think about it. But imagine Bathsheba. Imagine listening to her talk about sexual temptation with what she went through and what she participated in. Imagine the power that God gave her in the ability. See, it was all consecrated. Again, she was not airing out her dirty laundry. She was not glamorizing sin. And this is where you have to have wisdom. Sometimes you might need some good advice.

But you know, I wanna be careful of our time. I wanna stop here and I wanna speak to alcohol. I've taken a strong stance on alcohol in the life of our church. And there have been people who've taken offense about my position. I don't drink, don't care about drinking. I got plenty of water at my house, and the strongest thing I usually put in my life, my mouth is coffee. I drink a sports drink when I run. I just don't have any need for it. And I think about all of the people that I could cause to stumble if I did drink. Now, we know the scriptures don't command those not to drink. There is Christian liberty here.

But you know, these are verses that I can't get past. If God's word tells Solomon, it's not wise. Don't drink, Solomon, you're a king. You've got a rule of nation. Why would I need to cloud up my sober judgment or possibly blow my witness? It's just not worth it. And that's the standard that I hold high in my life. Brother Keith holds the same standard in his life. You're not gonna see me fail in this area. I'm just not going down that road. It's not worth it. Was it worth it for Solomon? And it sure isn't worth it for me. Now, let me keep going. I want us to look at our third major truth, and that is what I'm calling a weighty reminder.

I'm gonna go back and grab verse five and bring that in with verse eight and nine. But I'm calling this a weighty reminder. Hereby she recalls on young Solomon to remember. She's calling him to remember. She's teaching him God's word, reminding him of God's word, and calling him to remember God's word and God's judgments as he grows up, you see? So first, I want you to see, she reminds him of the possibility of distractions. Go back to verse five, talking about alcohol. Kings and rulers shouldn't drink. Least they drink and forget what has been decreed and pervert the rights of all of the afflicted.

We've already covered here, verse five, this warning concerning wine and strong drink. But look at this as a reminder. She is reminding him that there can be distractions in life that could cause him to forget what God's word says, to forget the judgments of the king. She knows he needs to keep a sober mind from any distractions that would cause him to forget what God's word says and what the king decrees. So the marvelous mother reminds the young son, watch out for distractions that would cause you to forget God's word. But then second, she reminds him of doing justly. That's what verses eight and nine are all about.

Open your mouth for the mute or the dumb, the King James says, for the rights of all who were destitute, open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the right to the poor and the needy. Here she is reminding her son to stand up for the disenfranchised, for the downcast, and the down and out. She says, open your mouth for the most vulnerable, the mute, those who couldn't even plead their case. She's saying, you open your mouth for them. And also she's saying, open your mouth for the most overlooked, the poor, the needy, those in society who would have been overlooked. But notice something in a reminder.

In verse eight, she mentions the mute, the King James says, dumb. Then in verse nine, she mentions the poor and the needy. But notice right there in the middle, the second part of verse eight, for the rights of all. This is all inclusive. She calls on her son to remember the rights of all who were destitute. I like how John MacArthur says it. He says, the monarch, the King, the monarch thus mediates the compassion of God. So this marvelous mother is reminding Solomon not to forget the poor and the needy as he rules. Now taking a step back from the verses here, notice what we have.

This marvelous mother reminds her son not to forget what God's word says about the disenfranchised, the downcast, and the down and out. She reminds him, and I'm borrowing John MacArthur's words, she reminds him to mediate the compassion of God towards all who were destitute. Now an application. I've got three words for you. Just love people. Just love people, folks. Love the less fortunate. Love the down and out. Love the hurting. Love all of those in society. Love people. Love the needy. Love the poor. Love those who can't even open their mouths to cry out for their own needs and rights and justice in life.

I think about some of the children we've ministered to. They don't have the ability to cry out for help. I'll give you a verse to go look at later. Maybe mark it and study it in your own time. Psalm 41, one. Blessed is the one who considers the poor. Years ago I learned this verse in the old new international version, the NIV. Blessed is he who has regard for the weak. I was introduced to that verse years ago when I was youth pastor at First Baptist Church Ellisville. And you know, I just loved all kinds. It didn't matter.

And I'll never forget I was out of town and I had someone come and visit and preach and speak to our students on Wednesday nights. I always had a worship service for students. And I taught God's word. Jared was in that ministry years ago. But I'll never forget when I let that visiting preacher preach, he came to me later and he said, "Man, you've got a Psalm 41 ministry, 41, one ministry." He said, "Blessed are those who have regard for the weak." He said, "You had all kinds in that place." Just loving people. I think that was modeled for me as I was growing up. My parents were both school teachers and they loved everybody.

I remember in my neighborhood growing up, I had a neighbor who was a good friend of mine. I went to school with him. His name was Todd Shewmate. And Todd had an older brother. His name was Alton. Alton was mentally challenged. He had the mind of about a three or four year old. Oh, he was big as a side of a house and strong as a bull. But it was clear that Alton had the mind of about a three or four year old. If I'm in Jones County, Mississippi and I would have bumped into Alton Shewmate, he would walk up to me and start talking to me exactly like he did 25 years ago. That's the way his mind works.

My parents always taught me, "You never abuse anybody like that. You love them and you treat them the way you would want to be treated." And what do we see here? We see that we are to love people. That is what, I love how MacArthur puts it. We are mediating the compassion of God towards the destitute. And imagine how Bathsheba would remind us to stay true to what God's word says. And listen, I think about how she watched her husband, David, live God's word and live out these truths. Ultimately, he wrote much of God's word. But what I'm showing you is this. She was reminding him of what God's word says. Don't be distracted.

We can't be distracted. And look, we must mediate the compassion of God, which is what King Solomon ultimately was to do. Now, as I begin to close, remember the title of the message. Proverbs 31 woman. We're gonna look at the Proverbs 31 woman for four weeks. And tonight we're covering verses one to nine. It's a lot. We're looking at the marvelous mother. Now, dads, there's a lot you can learn here as well. It didn't take us long for you to realize, wait a minute, a lot of that hits me right between the eyes. But you know, I wanna close by giving you what I call three Gs. Three Gs, easy for you to write down. First of all, a genuine heart.

You might need to write that down. A genuine heart. See, you must have a genuine heart in teaching your children. The marvelous mother was all about instructing her son. And you and I, moms and dads, we must have a genuine heart in teaching our children. First of all, we must be truly born again. If we're not born again, we're just teaching them religion. We must truly be born again. And look, also we must live this. Our children spot hypocrisy. They know hypocrisy. They can see it in you, they can see it in me. And they have not been conditioned to play the hypocrisy game yet. So first, we must be born again. Second, we must live this.

And look, how did she live it? With great intimacy, urgency, and the great weightiness. Remember that? Remember her great intimacy? She didn't talk to him like a king. This was her son. And she had this great urgency. And it was just weighted down with this weightiness and seriousness. And so that's what I'm talking about about this genuine heart. Us men had a good discussion about these things Sunday night. You know, we all teach our children different. We all do. And there's no prescription in the New Testament. There's no formula. There's no plan. See, we're led of the Spirit of God.

Some are a little more formal and some do it as they come and they go. But let me tell you something. If you do it in a formal manner, if you do it more of coming and going, if it's not genuine, it's fake. I never forget one time counseling a young man whose mom and dad were leaders in the church. And as he got older with great resentment, great resentment, he began to tell me how he hated being instructed by his parents, God's word because of their hypocrisy. And I'm telling you, they taught their children better than most of us here do sitting in this room. You better have genuineness. But then second, the second G is God's word.

See folks, we gotta teach them God's word, God's commandments, God's standard. God's standard, not your mother's. God's standard, not your grandparents. God's standard, not your best friends. See, this is where it gets personal. Because what happens is we begin to push back from what we've taught. And then our moms and dads don't understand. Our grandparents and family don't understand. You see, this is where it gets tough. And then we have to die to what we like and what we're comfortable with. So you must see that we must know God's word.

How are you gonna know how to raise your children the way you should unless you know God's standard and God's ways and what God's word says? So we do it with a genuine heart and we instruct them using God's word. We just open up the Bible. This is what God's word says. I'll give you a great way to do it. One of the men that attends here tells me about how every Sunday when he leaves church, he talks with his son about the sermon. He talks with him about the sermon all throughout the day. They converse back and forth. I'm feeding you God's word on Sunday morning in the sermon on the mount.

He talks about how he just dialogues with his son about what the word says all throughout the week. And you could do that with your small groups with what we learn here. I can't tell you how many times I instructed my children based off what we studied in Proverbs. I just would regurgitate the message. And then the third G is get involved. Get involved. You must actively get in the middle of teaching your children. Don't farm out teaching your children to somebody else. Don't do it. But then again, you can't do it alone. See, as born again Christians we're part of the body of Christ.

You need to have your children here every time the doors are open. You need to have your family here every time the doors are open. We're working hard to teach you God's word. The class is going on right now. They're working hard to teach you God's word. We don't teach terrible curriculum here. I've got so many minister friends. They're dealing with terrible curriculum. Terrible, and I'm like, get rid of it. We teach truth, we labor over these things, we pray over these things. We give you enough to teach your children. We're all in this thing together. But you must be actively involved. Moms, you must be involved. Dads, you must be involved.

Dads, don't farm it out just to the mom. It takes both. There's some times when we're dealing with issues in our home, my wife will say, "I've gone as far as I can go with this issue. "You gotta take the ball and run." And I do. There's some times when it's girl stuff, I just back out of the room. There's a language, I don't speak, it's called girl. I don't speak girl. So what do we see here? We must have a genuine heart. We must use God's word as a standard, and we must get involved. Listen, we get in the middle of teaching our children. Now, I wanna close with verse two. Go back to verse two. What are you doing, my son?

What are you doing, son of my womb? What are you doing, son of my vows? Some scholars say that this can be interpreted as what are you doing and what are you going to do? We need to have Bathsheba's heart here. Oh, son, what are you doing? What are you gonna do? And we must have this intimacy, this urgency, and this weightiness. Because ultimately, if God doesn't help us, she won't happen. Proverbs 31, woman, I call her the marvelous mother. And I'm sure I've picked that up somewhere in my study throughout the week. Let me do this, let me pray.

Let's commit this to the Lord, and then we're gonna look at a couple, Look at a couple of prayer requests.