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.
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.
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