Episode Transcript
Proverbs chapter fifteen verse twenty tonight. Proverbs chapter fifteen verse twenty. Mom, if you don't mind moving that light down a little there you go. There you go. Blinding me with those high beams there. So Proverbs chapter 15, verse 20. And the title of the message tonight is Wise Kids and Happy Parents. wise kids and happy parents. And Solomon starts off with these first three words, a wise son. Now remember, whenever the Bible is referring to one gender, it also includes the other.
But it refers to one gender oftentimes because it is the predominant concept in the thought But it always includes both. So when we're talking about a wise son, it's also referring to a wise daughter. When it refers to a father, it also refers to a mother. But there are dominant um uh themes here, if you would. And so he starts off here a wise son. So we we learned when we began our study of Proverbs, way back, we learned what wisdom is. And to remind us what we learned, just to kind of summarize it Wisdom is essentially our ability to understand and function according to God's design for creation.
You may never thought of it that way, but that's the way it is. Wisdom is our ability to be able to understand and function in life according to God's design for creation. God made everything by wisdom, the Bible says. Everything's made by wisdom. You think about that. If everything is made by wisdom, then we're going to be able to capitalize on all the good things God made by being wise, you see? Why, we'll understand how the world goes.
Maybe you've heard someone say something before where they say, Well, I think I'm gonna do this right here, and an older, wiser person says, Well now that's not how it works, son. You know, that's not how it works. And uh uh so God, when he created everything by his wisdom, we learned that he created everything good. Everything good. So goodness operates according to the wisdom of God. Goodness is received by the wisdom of God. Goodness is given by the wisdom of God.
Goodness on our part is appropriated and enjoyed by the wisdom of God. So wise men understand and then capitalize on that wise operation. by acting according to God's design in experiencing the good that He intended for them to have And that really helps wisdom be understood a whole lot better than thinking of some fellow with a with a long beard sitting down and meditating, right? So foolish men, on the other hand, they refuse to recognize God's design They refuse to recognize God. The Bible says the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. And so they act in opposition to God's design. And so they cause themselves and will learn tonight others to suffer.
On account of their foolish behavior. So the chief goal of any parent should be to raise their children up to be wise children. The chief goal of any parent should raise their children up to be wise children. Because if your child is not wise, then they're not going to experience the goodness of God in this life But instead they're going to suffer needlessly. And then ultimately they're going to blame others for their suffering. That's what happens. And if they continue in their foolishness, they're going to ultimately suffer for all eternity, having rejected the goodness of God that He designed for them And would give them in the gospel by his grace.
In our proverb tonight, Solomon says, one of the benefits of having a wise son is that he, look back at your text, maketh a glad father. He maketh a glad father. So we're just going to modernize that. A wise son makes a glad father. He turns out he he the wisdom of that son results in having a father that's glad. Solomon mentions two actions tonight in this proverb. And then those two different actions are taken by two different people, a wise son and a and a foolish son. And our English translation, the wise son makes and the foolish son despises. That's how it is. The two actions are making and despising.
The wise son makes The foolish son despises. Now, what we want to understand is this there's three English words in our English translation, and those three English words are actually translating only one Hebrew word Brother Shepherd will point that out many times in his Sunday school class as well, since uh I mean right now, all of our teaching right now is uh on in an Old Testament platform, Proverbs, Job, and Daniel. And uh yet we we every time we teach it, we use the New Testament. So uh but we're on a Old Testament platform, so you're hearing us talk about the Hebrew quite often, and Brother Shepherd will point that out as well, that a lot of times you cannot have a word-for-word direct translation. Um it just won't work that way when you cross uh certain languages, e even even cousin languages. like Spanish and English. Latin based, they don't always do word for word.
And so we have three English words that are translated in one Hebrew word, and that one Hebrew word means makes a glad. Makes a glad is actually one Hebrew word. And that one Hebrew word literally means to brighten up or to cheer up. To brighten up or to cheer up. A wise son brightens up His father's countenance. We're going to look at both of these definitions. They're both equally true, and they're both in the dictionary for the Hebrew word. to brighten up and to cheer up.
When we're thinking of the concept of brightening up, we're thinking of brightening up a father's countenance. So that's what a wise son will do. He'll brighten up his father's countenance. When a father has a wise son, that father can have a look of pride and joy on his face when he's telling people about his son. Pride and joy. That mother can have a look of pride and joy when she's telling somebody about her son. Now, if they have a foolish son, they can't. If they have a foolish son, they start talking about their son, they're going to have a look of shame. And even if they smile through it, they're going to feel embarrassment in their heart, reluctancy in their heart, sadness in their heart, darkness in their heart, not a cheerful face, but a sorrowful face, but a wise son cheers up His father's heart.
When a father thinks about his wise son, or when a father interacts and speaks with his wise son, that father can do so with a heart full of joy full of joy and thanksgiving to God. So he not only brightens up his father's countenance, but a wise son cheers up his father's heart. To be able to brag on your son and say, yeah, this is what my son does, and this is what he does over here, and this is what he people love to brag on their kids. When I went to the dentist office the other day, I'm getting ready for the dentist to come in and uh little old girl over there is showing me pictures of her daughter, you know. I don't know this girl, but she won't show me picture of her daughter. And so I looked at it and said how beautiful she was. I said, now she's not as pretty as my granddaughter. I didn't tell that.
But you know, but but you tell her how beautiful they are. And you know, at some point in time, when that little child grows up And becomes older. At some point in time it's not so easy to whip the phone out and show the picture At some point in time, it's not so easy to catch up on the latest thing the child's doing. When the dentist came in, she caught the dentist up I got to listen to her. She said, oh yeah, and and so and my child she did this and she said this. And he goes, Oh yeah, yeah, well that's a three-year-old for you know you could hear back and forth, you know. And uh but at some point in time If that child's a foolish child, you don't even want to talk about the child.
You don't want to catch someone up on what's going on in that child's life, if you even know what's going on in that child's life. And so again, this goes for uh a son or a daughter. And so a a wise son makes a father glad. What do we learn from that? We learn this We learn that a son's behavior or a child's behavior has a direct effect on the life of their parents. If a wise son can make a glad father. If a wise son can brighten up the father's countenance, if a wise son can cheer up the father's heart, then we learn right off the bat in this proverb That the life, the behavior, the choices of a child has a direct effect on the life of his or her parents.
And a child's behavior, even long after they're grown and gone from the home. can largely determine whether their parents are happy or sad. And we'll say that again. This is not a stretch. But an adult child, long after they're grown, long after they're gone from the house, they're on their own, their behavior. can largely determine whether their parents are happy or sad. Can't take their joy in Christ away. Can't take their purpose in life away. But it can determine whether their parents are happy or sad, whether they're proud or ashamed, in many cases whether they're protected or abused. Sure can.
And if your parents are still alive, if you're blessed that you have a parent that's still alive, God wants you to know that your life Has a direct impact on their life. Your life has a direct impact on your parents' life. So if you behave foolishly then your life choices will negatively impact your parents' mental, physical, and spiritual health Well. Even their spiritual health? Sure will. Sure will. It'll impact their mental, physical, and spiritual health.
So how can it impact their Mental health. Well, they're worried about you. They're concerned about you. They're thinking about you all the time. How can it impact their physical health? The stress. How can it impact their spiritual health? Isn't God stronger than that? Of course.
I'll tell you how it impacts their spiritual health. They try to pray And the old devil says, what a terrible parent you were. Just look at your child.
Or or whatever. Or or where's God at? How come God's not keeping his promise there in Proverbs about raise up a child the way they should go when they're old, they won't depart from it? And that devil can twist things around and hurt your prayer life even. Not for anything you've done or not done, but because of the choice of your foolish child
So, if you behave foolishly, your life choices will negatively impact your parents' health And when a person says, well, that's nobody's business how I live my life. If I hurt someone, I'm only hurting myself. If someone who says that, they don't know what they're talking about. They don't have any clue what they're talking about. If a child is hurting, their parent is hurting.
And if their parent doesn't hurt when their child hurts, they're not much of a parent. Wouldn't give a plug nickel for them. If a young person gets drunk, has a wreck, becomes crippled. Who takes care of them? Their girlfriend? Their buddies that were drunk in the car with them? Their buddies' parents? Some teenage kid go off and get hurt and crippled like that. They're going to go back to mom and dad's house and be a burden on them the rest of their life. That's an extreme example, but it's a very real example, and it's happened with a lot of folks
Your friends may think about you once in a while if that were to happen to you, if you were to get hurt You know, I was talking to my wife and I were talking to Chris Johnson. We uh took him home from church the other day He's talking about his best friend. Whenever he had his accident, Chris, uh a lot of times he'll have a ball cap on, you know, but you know, his his skull got crushed in in a very bad automobile accident. And uh his best friend was in that accident with him. I don't think his best friend was scratched, but uh that's a whole nother story But his best friend never even went to see him. I don't know if he's even seen him since then.
Never went to visit him in the hospital. So listen, your friends, they may seem real close to you now, but if something like that were to happen to you, they may think of you once in a while. They may wonder how you're doing. Maybe they'll even whisper a prayer for you But your parents, your parents, they'll probably think about you every day. Pray to God that you're okay. And if you gotta have a place to land and be taken care of, their door is gonna be open. And there's not too many people like that in life that you can count on. So if you're a wise child Then you're going to live your life in such a way that you're going to make your parents glad.
That the thought of you in their heart is going to brighten up their countenance. and cheer their heart. If you're a wise child, you're going to interact with your parents so they can be brightened up. A wise son maketh a glad father. But you know what? If the father's not hearing from his son, what's to cheer him up? So if you're a wise child, you're gonna Not only live in such a way to make your parents glad, but you're going to speak to them in such a way that makes them glad. You're going to talk respectfully to your parents. You're going to honor your parents as God's word says.
If you're a wise child, you're gonna call them. Deal with them in such a way that when you're around them, you're gonna brighten them up and make them glad. No parent should dread hearing from their son or daughter. But there are parents all over this world that when they see it's their son or their daughter texting or calling them, they get tense. You know why? Because some kids only call when they need something. Some kids only call or come by. when they're upset about something. Or some kids they can't call without by the time the conversation's over, they're getting in a fight about something with their parents.
Life's too short to fuss and fight. It's too short. But no parent should dread hearing from their son or daughter. They should always say, ah!
Look here. You know what Tammy does? I'll be at work. And if one of her kids text or interact with her, do you know what she'll do? I just heard from so-and-so. Why? Because for a parent to hear from their child, it means something to them. They love their children.
You remember that, Hannah? So spend time with your parents to enjoy their company. Not to fight with them And not to give them stress. You say, well, you don't know my parents. They're hard to talk to. And then there's some parents like that. I know that. Some kids have foolish parents. I know that.
Because you know what, even fools need love. And I I've I've been uh in law enforcement long enough to know that you can be nice to anybody, can't you, Brother Shepard? You can be nice to anybody. And never forget, no parent's perfect. Just like you're not perfect. I'm sure not. If you were raised by a parent who fed you, didn't let you starve, they fed you. Y'all ever seen those parents who go off and they'll They'll go off and play games or something, they'll leave the kids starving in the house. We see that on the news all the time.
If you if you've raised by a parent who actually fed you who put clothes on you, who who changed your dirty diapers, who cared for you when you were sick, who tried their best to teach you right from wrong, the best they knew how. Listen, and you weren't abused
You're a blessed kid. So, well my my parents spanked me too hard. Well, bless your heart, you know. I mean you're okay. You're okay If they didn't sexually abuse you, they didn't break your arms, burn you with cigarettes? And they put a roof over your head and they fed you and they took care of you. They paid your doctor bills. You're a blessed person. Because a lot of kids didn't have that.
A wise son will make a glad father, look back in your text, will do the last half of this now, but a foolish man Now, if a wise one is one that recognizes God's design and lives according to his good and perfect design in life Then a foolish man is someone who does not live according to God's word and and not they don't recognize his design, so they don't honor their father and their mother They don't, because that is God's design for his love, in his righteous instruction, in his loving protection to be first introduced to you through your parents. That's why you should honor them. And a foolish man, the Bible says, look back in your text, despiseth his mother. He despises his mother, and that means he doesn't esteem his mother. He doesn't respect his mother. Now if I I tell you what I do a lot of times. I tell you what I do.
I don't think mom my mama knows this. I'm not sure I ever told her this, but I'll tell her tonight
When I was a little boy, I was walking home from school minding my own business And there were some kids at school and they reached down and it was summertime and everything was dry. And some boys thought it'd be funny. They reached down, they grabbed a big old handful of sand and threw it in my eyes. I couldn't, man, I could barely see to get home. Had so much sand in my eyes. And I went home with all that sand. I can't remember if mama washed my eyes out first or put me in the car to go chew the boys out first. I can't remember which one she did first. But uh but I remember her putting me in the car She said, you know who they were?
I said, I sure do. She said, well, because back then, hardly anyone rode the bus. We walked home. When you hear old person talk about walking, they meant it. We walked on or rode a bicycle. And so we drove out of the neighborhood, went down the road, I said, there they are Boy, my mama got out of there like a mama bear. Chewed those boys out. They were probably thinking, hope this crazy woman don't jump on me. And you know, a lot of time to this day, I I'll be fifty-nine here in a few months.
To this day, I still remember back when my mama went and chewed those boys out to protect me, you know. There's very few people. Who go to bat for you like that? And to not esteem and respect someone Who protected you when you were young? Made sure the sun was out of your eyes when you were a baby. You didn't know any better, and all you could do was squint. Made sure you didn't have diaper rash. Woke up in the middle of the night when you were crying. I tell you what, I've been through all that five times It's your turn.
Now it's your turn. You know. Sarah, I'm not talking to you. And uh
Losing sleep. And and how can a man not respect the one who nursed him? Woke up in the middle of the night to tend to him when he cried, kept him safe as a child. Your mother or your father may be guilty of a lot of things, but if they took care of you for 18 years, they deserve your respect for that. And the fact is in most cases, and nobody will love you, in most cases. I say that because many, if not most, marriages now end in divorce. I'm going to say most cases, nobody will love you Put up with you. Forgive you. Pray for you.
And care for you like your parents will. Now I've been to many places in my life. And I've never seen a sign that says, please clean up after yourself. Your girlfriend doesn't work here.
Why? There's a reason for that. Because mothers will often sacrifice and serve their kids even when they're grown like nobody else. And only a fool would despise a person who cares about them like that. To despise your parents is unwise because it's unnatural. And to despise them is also unwise because it's detrimental to your own well-being in this life and your future judgment in the life to come. Mothers have a special need. Not uh uh uh not only rather do mothers have a special urge to protect their kids, but when that kid grows up They have a special need to be protected by that kid. Special need.
Especially by their sons. As their mother ages. If your mother's alive and You don't still live at home. She needs to hear from you. Just knowing human nature, I'd probably say she needs to hear from you more than your father does. So Jeremiah kids when you grow up, your mama will probably need to hear from you more than your daddy does. I'm not saying your dad won't want to hear from you, he will. But there's just a special need, a special thing. You just call your mama.
You call your mama. They have a special need to be protected and to be cherished by their sons as they age. So
Check on them. Call them. This goes for grandparents too. Grandparents, especially grandmothers, they still have that maternal instinct, even for their grandkids. I try to check on my parents most every day. And I love talking to both of them. But I usually call my mother's number. Before I'll call my dad's. And there's a reason for that. I try to call both.
There's two reasons for that. One, my mother likes to talk more than my dad. And if my dad gets to his expiration or his limited number of words, he'll say, here's your mama. You know? That's just history. It's just the way men are. But the other reason is because I believe the maternal nature of a woman has a special need to hear their baby's voices. I do. Dads need to hear that their kids are okay. Moms just need to hear.
With that, we'll close tonight. Father, we thank you so much for your precious word, your wise word, your compassionate word. that reaches out to children when they're young, and that reaches out to parents when they're old and instructs them both. Thank you for knowing the beginning from the end and giving us your wise design. Thank you for the family. Thank you for our parents and help us to be the sons and daughters you created us to be and the parents you created us to be. In Jesus' name, amen.
