Punishment

Genesis to Esther Series – LESSON 13

We have talked about Capital Punishment, but we haven’t really left this subject totally, because we are still going to talk about punishment in general. It all has to do with these Bible subjects.

1. Crime And Violence Are Increasing

Back in the sixties, we had people parading to “make love and not war.” But it is not working. At that particular time, I wrote a paper and I filed it away. I hadn’t read it until I was preparing these lessons. There are areas that I haven’t covered here, but I am going to insert what I wrote, and I hope it will prick your conscience in areas – so that as Christians we will start doing something about it.

Crime is increasing. Lawlessness is the trend of our day. The very nature of this trend has made me ask two questions.

1. What are the major causes of this increase?

2. What can I do to cure, or at least help restrain this lawlessness?

I suppose the first reaction is: “Well, I’m so little and it is so big, I can’t do anything.” That is never right. First of all, I believe that crime is on the increase because there is a general lack of proper respect for authority. May I repeat that? There is a general lack of proper respect for authority. There is a wide-spread disrespect for law. There is a spirit prevalent that refuses control. The seed of the doctrine of self-expression which was taught to a generation, is now producing its fruit.

First of all, there is little respect for parental authority. There is less respect for the authority of school teachers. I kind of like to read some of the books I am reading about the days when the school teachers were called school masters. When they went to school, they didn’t go to school to disturb the classroom, they went to school to learn something. But you cannot learn if there is no respect. Many teachers are facing real problems of discipline because of the basic lack of authority and respect for authority.

There is a lack of proper respect for governments.

2 Peter 2: 10

Peter says Judgment is going to fall on them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government.

He goes on to say those who despise government, are presumptuous, are self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.

There is a shocking lack of respect for authority of policemen. You will notice the order. I have talked about authority of parents. And I have talked about authority of teachers, and then the lack of authority of policemen. He is called a “flat foot,” and he is called a “cop.” I brought along yesterday’s paper. I read letters in newspapers just to see how some people are thinking. There is a letter in this very paper. written by some dear soul who said “I despise the word COP and I wish you wouldn’t use it as a headline.” They are called “cops” and they are called “flat-foots” and all the rest of it.

The Bible says that these men are the ministers of God. They are the ministers of God to execute upon the criminal, the “just desert.” Too often there is a lack, not only of respect for parents and for teachers and for law keepers, there is a lack of respect for pastors. I do not want to go too far here in this study on this, but I want to tell you this: God’s Word declares that a man of God who teaches the Word of God, whom you know to be a man of God. – you are to know him, by the way Thessalonians says know him. And you are to esteem him very highly in love for the work’s sake. That’s God’s Word regarding leaders. I want to tell you, it is very difficult for children to respect their pastors when every Sunday morning they have roast pastor for dinner when they go home. And that is what happens, often.

Crimes are on the increase because the Bible is no longer accepted as a standard of faith and practice. This fact is evident by much material now being published relative to Bible subjects such as Capital Punishment and abortion. Crimes are on the increase because people no longer consider sin to be a sin. Criminals have become delinquents. And of course, delinquents are sick people. And if they are sick people, then they don’t commit crimes. Such reasoning increases crime.

Then too, crimes are increasing because of public sympathy for criminals. If a man shoots a man, the public sympathy is with the man who does the deed – not with the family bereaved and broken by the sorrow. The true values in life are forgotten. The thinking today of too many is: be popular at any cost. Crime has made many a boy feel like a hero. He thinks it is smart to break the law, and it is smarter still to get caught. For he knows that in the society in which we live, that he will become the object of public sympathy.

Am I telling you the truth? Are you seeing what is going on? Men who commit crimes, become heroes. How sad, that today there is public sympathy with sin. Many newspaper articles I read, speak of punishment as being revenge. Punishment is not revenge. Punishment is discipline. Punishment is executing justice. And I wonder if we can think of the difference.

The framework of society is marriage. And when that framework begins to fall, society is in danger. Divorce statistics are telling the story. Motherless homes are not helping the situation. And to quote a social worker: “Babysitting is slow poison.”

Selfishness is the root cause of much of our trouble. We only get stirred up about a thief if he steals MY car. We get stirred up about a rapist if he attacks MY daughter. We get stirred up about something that happens, if it only touches US – and it reveals our selfishness.

What can be done? We need a return to the days when fathers and mothers, unitedly, placed within their children’s hearts, the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. I have said it many times, even in this class, people may not believe in what my mother did to me; I thank God that there is one thing I can testify, my mother preached into me and prayed into me the fear of the Lord. And if men would fear the Lord, we wouldn’t have all of these things going on that are going on in our world.

2. The Naturalistic – Humanists Believe:

Let’s talk a little bit more about this thing “punishment.” I am quoting here what the humanist says about it. The naturalistic humanist believes:

1. Humanist Says (concerning criminals):

Basic Cause Of Violence Is Lack Of Education.

The humanist is persuaded the basic cause of violence is lack of education. And so he says: “If we could only have proper education, everybody would be good.” Now you know that is his reasoning. Educate so people will be good.

2. Humanist Says (concerning criminals):

Caused By Poor Environment

The humanist says that “poor environment” should be blamed for the existence of criminals. And so they say educate, change the social order, because man’s problems are only external.

3. Humanist Says (concerning criminals):

Give Them Equal Opportunity Which Will Result In Peace And Quiet.

They say: “Give everyone a good income. Equal opportunity – and the result will be peace and quiet.” Give everybody enough money. Put them in a good house. Give them enough to drink, and enough to smoke, and enough to eat, and he will behave himself.

4. Humanist Says (concerning criminals):

It Is Caused By Environment, Therefore:

a. A Criminal Is Not A Criminal –

He Is A “Sick” Man

They say: “violence is caused by environment, therefore, a criminal is not a criminal, he is only a sick man.” Are you following? I am not trying to stretch a point, I’m telling you exactly where we are at today. “A criminal is not a criminal, he is sick. You would not be so cruel as to punish someone who is sick would you? If the man is sick, you don’t kick him when he is down. How inhumane can you be! You don’t punish a sick man, you treat him. And you treat him well.

So you send the poor sick man to prison, but you don’t call it a prison any more, you call it a correctional institute or something, and there you treat him well. You give him soft sofas on which to sit. And you feed him with beef steak that I can’t afford to buy. And you don’t even let him think that he has committed any crime. You tell him, he is not guilty of anything, but he is sick. And so what are you going to do? You are going to send him to a psychiatrist and the psychiatrist is going to tell you how sick he is. Am I not telling you what’s going on?

b. They Say: The Only Crime Is:

The Crime Of Punishment.

They put them in the prison to treat them so well because, basically, they think they are sick.

c. They Say: Man Needs Help. (True)

They say man needs help. Well, he sure does. And I agree with that statement, although I disagree with the rest of it. Man does need help. How true! But then they argue – jail is no help, and it sure isn’t. You don’t send a man to jail to straighten him out. That is where we are wrong in our thinking. Jail is no help, because jail only gives the jailed a “wrong education.”

So you send a fellow to jail, and if he has committed a crime, he is going to learn how to do more of it. So the humanistic judge, who follows such reasoning, is left to give criminals suspended sentences. The poor judge doesn’t know what to do. “This man is sick! And this man needs help, and the law says I should give him ten years, but if I give him ten years, he is going to be a worse criminal than when I put him in, so I am going to send him to a psychiatrist, and the psychiatrist will tell me how long he has to be locked up.”

I want to tell you, our humanistic society is leading into a direction, that if I were not a Christian, it would scare me to death. You see before, it was the judge and jury that determined how long you had to spend in jail for a certain crime. But today, you are taken out of the hands of society, and you are put into the hands of an “expert.” And an expert can put you away for life. An expert can say you are insane and you need to be put away for the rest of your life. We are leading ourselves in this area of punishment so far away from what the Bible says, that we are just complicating things more and more.

WE REPLY

We now reply to the humanistic view that is being propagated today. Here is the way I approach it, and I hope it makes sense.

3. In The Human Relationship,

No Child Is Responsible For His/Her Birth

That is a statement of fact. There is no baby who has ever been born who is responsible for their birth.

1. Human Standpoint: Two People Are Responsible

From the human standpoint, two people are responsible. There are no exceptions. Every father who has fathered a child, and every mother who has mothered a child, is accountable for that child and will be brought to judgment relative to the child.

Those sentences, and that statement is really a sobering statement. There are people who look upon some of these things in life lightly. When you look at it from the Bible standpoint, the birth of a child is something to think of seriously.

Bearing children is a serious business. It is one thing in all human life that bears on eternity – saved and unsaved alike! There is something you must think about: every child that is born, is involved in this. I heard, I think a week or so ago, that one in three teen-aged girls in the high schools here in British Columbia, is pregnant. What is ahead for us?

2. Two People (not one) Are Responsible To Set Up Standards For Their Child

Two people (not one) are responsible to set up standards for their child.

Proverbs 22: 6

(6) Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

The way a child should go is never the child’s decision. I wish I could get every parent to believe that! Train up a child in the way he should go. The way a child should go is never a child’s decision. Children are made to want guidance, and they prove it by the fact that they want attention. Children want attention don’t they? If you have had anything to do with children, you know that. And why do they look to an adult for attention? – because basically they are asking for guidance.

4. Children Begin Life In Innocence

Children begin life in innocence. And because of the way they begin, they need guidance. They do not know the dangers of fire, nor the dangers of water etc. And so parents become responsible to set rules. Mother says: “don’t touch the stove.” And before the child can understand, or before the child can speak, that law is made -- “Don’t touch the kettle,” and so on.

I want to ask you a question. Are such rules for a little child justifiable? Of course they are! We all know that a child is not safe without some rules. Thank God for parents that put up some fences around little children. Thank God for parents that shut some doors for little children. Thank God for parents that put up some gates in front of doors for little children.

5. If Rules Are Broken, Do The Parents Have A Responsibility, A Right, To Punish?

Now the question comes, and I think my thinking is sound: if rules are broken, do parents have a responsibility, but more than that, do parents not only have a responsibility, but do they have a right to punish?

1. Does A Baby Need Punishment?

Now, as we look at it, if a mother loves her baby (so often we get so sentimental at this point) will she, or better, should she spank her baby? Oh Brother Pritchard, how inhumane can you get? Do you believe that a little baby should be spanked? – YES I DO. Because a little baby needs punishment. Is this cruel? Is this inhumane? Stop and think. Some parents (and I know how the humanist argues this) have battered and bruised and even crippled their children. I am sad about that.

But I’m not talking about abuse, because some have abused (NOT PUNISHED). Punishment is not abuse. And if we can get the distinction straight, we will be able to think straight as we go from here. Some have abused, they have not punished -- must we conclude that all punishment is wrong? Because some innocent people have been executed, does that make all Capital Punishment wrong?

2. So-Called “Free Expression”

Some believe in so-called “free expression.” Have you read Spock’s book and some of the others that were written a few years back? “If a child wants to paint the walls, let him.” Do any of you have little children? I went into a home one day where twin boys got into a box of apricots; they didn’t get caught until most of the box was empty. What a mess! You should have seen the decoration on all the walls -- the beautiful orange from those apricots. What did the mother do? She went in, I suppose, and said:

“Leave the boys alone, don’t you know that they are going to become wonderful artists? If you stop them from painting the walls that way, you are going to so inhibit them. You are going to spoil his art work down the line.”

Again, I quote the Irishman – “That is bologna. I don’t care how you cut it, that’s bologna.”

Somebody else sees his child come in with a saw (and all these things are happening) and he starts to cut the legs off of the tables in the front room. Somebody comes in and says: “you don’t punish him for doing that, you let him do it. Don’t you know that free expression is the way to raise children? He is going to turn out to be the best carpenter in Vancouver. And if you stop him from cutting off the legs of the table, you are going to hinder him when he grows up.” Bologna!

If a child wants to jump into the lake, would you let him do it? If a child wants to curse and swear and smoke and drink and miss school and steal and miss church, are you going to let him do it? “Don’t restrain him.” You see, that is what we are taught. In all of these things, don’t restrain. “Let them do what they like, because if you restrain them, you are going to injure their personality.”

I heard Dr. Brandt, say about his girl – when she was little, she went to church without a whimper. I think of my own children when I start talking about this. I had a boy and a girl. My little girl, to this day, still loves the things of God. She always has. And of course, me being a pastor and preacher, she went to church more than most children. And mom was always there with this little girl, and was always in church. And if Judy started to misbehave, mom would have to say “I’m going to take you out.” And that was punishment enough. She didn’t want to miss, and she’d cry and weep to stay.

But when our boy came along, it was a different matter. To say to our boy “I’ll take you out if you misbehave,” put smiles all over his face. There was nothing he liked better than to get out of there. Now the reason I told you that was this: You don’t treat children the same, because they are not all the same. God makes individuals.

I remember a certain man, a druggist from a certain town in which I lived. He had five daughters, and his wife was a nurse. He said, “before we got married, we read all the books on how to raise children. We knew all about it, but when we got our five girls, we found out we had to put the books away, because they were all different. The rules wouldn’t fit, because the kids wouldn’t keep up to the rules of the book.”

Well, I want to tell you, God makes individuals. We are all individuals, and our children are all individuals. And you have to treat them as individuals. Brother Henry Brandt said when his daughter was young, she went to church and Sunday school and didn’t complain. But then she got about twelve years old, and she suddenly decided she wasn’t going to go to church and Sunday school any more. And so he said, “big man that I was, she wasn’t going to get out of bed – so we helped her -- we got her out of bed. She wasn’t going to put on her clothes, so we helped her. And she wasn’t going to get into the car, so we helped her. And she wasn’t going to go into church, so we carried her in.” Good father! When your children come along and get to this place where there are certain things they don’t want to do, and you are the parent – you are responsible to see that they do it.

When it comes to school, you become responsible to see that they go there. But when it comes time to go to church, what do parents say: “I’ll let them make up their own mind.” No you don’t! You set standards, and you are responsible to set standards.

We’ve gone back, and we started with a baby. When a baby touches what he is not supposed to touch; – is it a cruel mother who slaps baby’s hand? No. There are some homes where I have been, that when baby got big enough to wander around, they took every trinket off of every low shelf. The valuable pieces of china went up high. Why? – so little tyke won’t touch it.

Well, I am glad I have a wife who had been taught better than that. And when my little girl was small enough to walk around, we didn’t move a thing; because you would go up to this piece of china and say “don’t touch.” And it wasn’t very long until that little girl found out that when her mother said “don’t touch” she knew what she meant.

I remember an occasion when we as little kids were singing at Trossachs Camp. We used to sing before we went to school – four of us. And this one day my younger brother Les didn’t want to sing. His mother said to him “Are you going to sing?” and he wasn’t going to sing. And she said twice “Are you going to sing?” She took him out behind the Tabernacle, and it wasn’t long before he was in singing. You know, sometimes the best way to straighten a boy out, is to bend him over. And a good education on the seat of understanding helps a great deal.

I followed some of the practices of my mother. And on some occasions, I have been sorry and I have apologized to my boy. I remember, he used to sing “How Great Thou Art” when he was three years old. We would stand him up on a stool, so he could be seen, and he would get anointed. A little boy getting anointed singing How Great Thou Art! And every place he went, people wanted him to sing.

We went to Regina when he was about three years of age, and he had never been in that church before. He was sitting at the back with his mother, and the time came for him to come to the pulpit and sing “How Great Thou Art.” I said “Jamie come up here,” and I saw him disappear under the seat. And I said “Jamie are you going to come?” And I said, “folks I guess I have to do something. I’m his father, and I can’t go on like this, even though it is public.” I walked down that long aisle. I put my hand out and I took that little boy by the hand and I lead him up that long aisle to the platform, and he got up and sang with all the joy of the Lord in his heart.

When we got home, he said “You know dad, I’ve never been in that church before, and I was just afraid to go up there. It wasn’t I didn’t want to sing, but I was afraid of all those people.” Cruel father on that occasion! And I tried to make it right to him. There are some times when we put our children in a spot that we shouldn’t, and we provoke them to anger.

Well I’m not talking about that, but I am talking about those times when I say to a little child – “you do it.” – and why do I make him do it? because I am in authority here. You teach them what it is, by a little slap on the hand. And if it takes a second one, you slap them again. And if it takes a third one, you do it again. Why? – you are teaching obedience. And that is necessary when they are little. Punishment is necessary.

3. Should Children Grow Up Unrestrained?

I think that is a good question. Should children grow up unrestrained? Should they grow up unpunished? Should they be given the impression that they can do no wrong?

Listen, a child who is never punished for what that child does, will somehow put it together that they are little angels; they don’t do anything wrong, because they never get punished.

4. In Innocence, Rules Are Needed.

In innocence, rules are needed. Therefore punishment is needed when rules are broken. Punishment is needed in innocence, to teach obedience. And in a child, it will eventually deter from repeated disobedience. Here is where and when parents must be consistent. It is more important what you do for a child when they are small, than later on in life. That’s when you teach them that punishment brings about obedience.

There are two things I think about when I read this. Here in the city of Vancouver, a little girl was walking down the street, and the little girl got angry. Isn’t it amazing how angry children can get!

I’m still hurting from last spring when my grandchildren were out here, and my little grandson got so angry and showed a temper tantrum. I had to get hold of him and cuff his ears. That hurt grandpa to have to do that. It is the only time I have ever had to do it. I want mom to do it, but I had to do it on this occasion.

Well, this little girl got angry and she threw something down right out on the street. The mother went up and said to the little girl “Pick it up.” And the girl said “I won’t pick it up.” And the mother said “Pick it up.” Let’s put yourself on Grandville street any afternoon. It only takes a few minutes until you have a crowd. And this mother has a crowd out on the street, and her face is getting red, because she said to that little angry girl “pick it up” and the girl said “I won’t pick it up.” Do you know, that mother stood there and just repeated “pick it up” until that child picked it up. My response to that is Good Mother! I like to see mothers consistent. If you make a rule one time and let the child break it the next time, you are not going to teach them obedience.

You know little children can be cagey. One little girl refused to say “please” at the table. She was just old enough to say “please,” and her mother was trying to teach her. She was learning to talk. She wanted something, and everybody knew what she wanted and her mother said “you say please.” And she said “no.” And her mother said “upstairs you go, and when you are ready to say please, then you can come down and have your dinner. It was a long while after, and the girl came to the top of the stairs. She was crying and she said “mommy, me can’t say please.” Did you get what human nature is like? “Me can’t say it.” Here she is saying it, but she can’t say it. That is the rebellion of human nature. I want to tell you, little children need to be taught obedience. And punishment is a deterrent.

6. Babies Grow Up and Conscience Is Awakened.

Babies don’t stay babies, they grow up. And when babies grow up, conscience is awakened. You read the Bible – that’s the way it is. Now, when rules are broken, there is something that exists that didn’t exist before – the person feels guilty. Did you know that babies do not know what guilt is? Have you ever realized that? Babies really don’t know what guilt it. They don’t understand that. But when conscience is awakened, and you do wrong, you feel guilty.

A question – Is there anybody here that remembers that you were spanked when you were two years old? Why do I ask that question? There is a time in life when a child can be corrected, and hold no resentment. You don’t remember all of those slaps you got when you were a year old. Why? – God wants to teach us, that’s the time to teach children. Those of you who have had babies, you know how that was, and how it hurts as parents. I have spanked my children, and on my knees, before I spank them, I would say to them, “it is going to hurt me more than it is going to hurt you.” They still laugh at that. But right after I finished spanking them, they would throw their arms around my neck and say “Dad I love you.” And I want to tell you, they meant every word of it. They have the ability immediately to forget. But when you get older, you see, you don’t forget.

Now conscience is awakened and the person feels guilty. The person now has the ability to blush. By the way, this is a normal human reaction, Don’t think you are not normal if you blush. I repeat, God has made us all the same. And you see, in the Old Testament when the children of Israel got to the place they couldn’t blush, that is when God talked about it. So if you can blush, thank God you can still blush when you do something wrong.

Zephaniah 3: 5

(5) The just Lord is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame.

Jeremiah 6: 15

(15) Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination: nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the Lord.

What is best? Live with the feeling of guilt, or punish and remove the guilt? In this whole argument that I’m trying to present to you, (this idea of letting guilt or crime go unpunished,) what are you doing? You are making the one who has committed the crime to live forever with his guilt. I think you know the answer to that one.

7. The Answers Are In The Bible

The answer to all of this is in the Bible.

Proverbs 3: 12

The principle we should always remember is that crime must be punished.

(12) For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

First of all, you can think of this as being correction. Punishment for children must be looked upon as correction. And the Lord corrects those whom He loves. I think that should always be reminded to children.

You are not going to punish because you don’t love them. You are going to punish because you do love them.

We are told in verse twelve if it is love, it will correct. Something that pertains to myself, goes back probably 25 years ago. I used to wear bow ties in the fifties. The major reason was I got too much soup on the long ones. My brother-in-law was a bachelor, and had a good job, and bought a lot of clothes and ties. He gave me probably 36 ties – expensive ties, and they were hanging in my closet, but I was still buying bow ties. I suddenly got under conviction about it, so I started wearing long ties again. The only problem was, I hadn’t tied a tie for so long, that I was tying it like the 1920’s or 30’s – with a very long knot.

So when I was teaching at Eston, I took out these long ties, and I started wearing them with a knot a way down here. One day a student came in. Here I was the principal of the school, and he took one look at me and he was so nervous. You don’t correct the principal do you? He said, “Brother Pritchard, you know you are bugging all the students.” I hardly knew what the word meant then. And I said “What’s wrong?” He said, “it is your tie. Every time they see your tie, they laugh at you. Brother Pritchard. We are wearing the Windsor knot now - this is a Windsor knot I’ve got on now.” And there in my office, he took off his tie, and he tied the knot and he taught me how to tie my tie correctly. I hope it is still in style. I don’t pay too much attention to these kind of things, but I hope it’s right.

I know that when that fellow did what he did, he loved me. He loved me so much that he was willing to shake in his boots and come in and tell me what I was doing wrongly, and correct me. I have prayed for that student more than any other student. And every time when I look in the mirror, when I am tying my tie, I think of this experience.

I think that illustrates the point I am making. If you love somebody, and they are making a fool of themselves, you will go and tell them. And people start praying for somebody like that, that has the gumption to “get up and do it.”

Well, whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. A father will correct his child, not because he hates him, but because he loves him.

Proverbs 13: 24

This is very important

(24) He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.

A child who is never corrected is an unloved child. “Betimes” means – “when needed.” I have seen mothers who are swatting their children every time they turn around. The poor children get a phobia and they duck whenever they see mom, because they know that when she comes around she is going to hit them. That doesn’t do any good. The proverb says you are to chasten your child only when it is needed. Will you remember that?

Encourage them when it isn’t needed, but chasten them when it is needed. And you can’t have children and not have times when they need it.

Proverbs 19: 18 This is sobering

(18) Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.

Now you know, that every child is so made that it only takes one little tap and they can cry as though they are being killed. They can sure cry to get into the heart of a dad or mom. They can really turn it on, but it says, don’t stop for that. You chasten a child while there is hope. Do you know what that verse implies? There comes a time when there isn’t any hope. May I suggest to you, it’s really too late to spank a child when they are a teen-ager. If you haven’t done it before then, don’t start when they are thirteen or fourteen. You don’t start to correct a child then. The Catholic church has taught us that the time to bend a child, and to get something into a child, is when they are tiny. That’s what the Bible teaches too. It is when they are little – while there is still hope – that’s when you correct them. And you correct them when they are little, and don’t let them get away with it because they cry so loudly.

Proverbs 22: 6

(6) Train up a child in the way he should go

(not the way he wants to go, but the way he should go)

and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Again I come back to parental responsibility. What way do you want your children to go? Do you want them to go in the way of the world? Do you want them to go in the way of the flesh? Or do you want them to go in the way of God? God says You train them in the way that they ought to go. Do you know what is involved in that?

I don’t know too much about plants, including tomato plants and the rest of it. But some of you who work with that kind of thing, know that when you want a certain tree to grow straight, (in a place where there is a lot of wind,) you put a guide wire on it. That guide wire will keep the tree from bending in the wrong direction when the wind blows.

What am I talking about? You tie them down. How are you going to train a child to go in the way he should go? There are times you have to tie them down. Nobody likes to do it, and they are going to cry about it. You can call it grounded if you like. God says train the child in the way that he ought to go.

Tie him down once in a while, and if he doesn’t like that, tie him up.

Proverbs 22: 15

(15) Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.

I don’t want to be too hard on you, but let me say this: that’s true of my children and that is true of yours. There are no exceptions to that rule. Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child.

It is an amazing thing to me, and maybe to you, how that there are young people, (before they are married) who see what other people’s children do, and they say, “what I wouldn’t do if that child were my child.” Have you ever heard it? “Wouldn’t I straighten him out!” But when their own child comes around, they change their thinking.

There was an article in the newspaper about a man who went to buy some furniture for his home in North Vancouver. He took his children with him, and there was an expensive sofa worth about three-thousand dollars. The kids were sitting on it, and the salesman went and took them off, and told them not to climb on it, and all the rest of it. The salesman went over the furniture, fluffing the pillows etc. And the man said “I’m going to go to the States to buy my furniture, because this store doesn’t care about the customers, they only talk about the kids!”

Well, now that might be putting it in my language, but, in my opinion, I want to think there are some children who go into some stores who need to be tied down. Pardon me for being so blunt, but I’d like to get my hands on a few, wouldn’t you?

Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction will drive it far from him. God says that. Not the rod of abuse, but the rod of correction.

Proverbs 23: 13-14

(13) Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.

He won’t die. He may sound like it, but it will take more than that to kill him.

(14) Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.

I want to tell you, that is a serious matter. A lot of children are in trouble today, and primarily it falls at the feet of some parent who has not started when they were young enough. I cannot impress that too much. You start when they are little, not when they are grown up.

Proverbs 29: 15,17

(15) The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.

(17) Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.

Proverbs 31: 26-28

Talking about a good mother.

(26) She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

(27) She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

(28) Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.

The Bible teaches, without question, that wrong-doing needs to be punished.

8. Rebellion Is A Horrible Human Problem

Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. Parents are responsible to restrain their children.

1 Samuel 15: 23

(23) For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry

Ephesians 6: 1

(1) Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.

1 Samuel 3: 13

(13) For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.

Samuel tells us about the priest Eli. His sons were wicked. And God says the reason they were, was because Eli restrained them not.

Violence Is Caused By Fallen, Unrestrained Human Beings

Romans 3: 10-18

(10) As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

(11) There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

(12) They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

(13) Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:

(14) Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:

(15) Their feet are swift to shed blood:

(16) Destruction and misery are in their ways:

(17) And the way of peace have they not known:

(18) There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Romans 1: 24-32

(24) Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

(25) Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever Amen.

(26) For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

(27) And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

(28) And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

(29) Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,

(30) Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

(31) Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

(32) Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

James 4: 1-3

(1) From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?

(2) Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

(3) Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

Romans 7: 18

(18) For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

Philippians 3: 3

(3) For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

The Bible Answer To Crime And Violence

What is the Bible answer to crime and violence, and the rest of it when a man is grown up and is in it?

The first answer to this is the New Birth – Regeneration. Men need to be born again. ---- a work within the heart of man.

John 3: 1-7

(1) There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

(2) The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

(3) Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

(4) Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?

(5) Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

(6) That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

(7) Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

And then, secondly, Conversion. And that means “a turn about” – a right turn.

And then, and not until then, Bible education. You don’t try and teach a man what the Bible says until he has been born again, because he won’t see through it. But, once you are born again by the Spirit of God, then what is in the Bible starts to make sense.

I have an article that says:

Christians who learn to treat others kindly will find himself liking more and more people as he goes on. (C.S. Lewis)

If you learn to be kind, you are going to begin to like people. The same spiritual law works terribly in the opposite. The Germans, at first, ill-treated the Jews because they hated them. Afterwards they hated them much more, because they ill-treated them. The more cruel you are, the more cruel you will become. The more you hate, the more you will hate. And so the vicious circle goes on.

But Praise God, the other side is true. The more you love, the more capacity God will give you to love. And what does the new birth do? It sheds the love of God abroad in your heart by the Holy Ghost so you can start loving people. There is no way to help people like loving them. Amen