[0:00] Take your Bibles again and turn to Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5. We've been studying submission.
[0:14] And we need to be asking, how is this word submission to affect my life? What is it that God is wanting for me to do?
[0:26] Ephesians chapter 5, beginning at verse 21. I'll read through chapter 6, verse 4. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
[0:43] Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.
[0:57] Now, as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.
[1:13] To make her holy, cleansing her by the washing of water through the word. And to present her to himself as a radiant church without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
[1:33] In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church.
[1:53] For we are members of his body. For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.
[2:05] This is a profound mystery, but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
[2:25] Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, that it may go well with you, and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.
[2:45] Fathers, do not exasperate your children. Instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Submit yourselves then to God, James 4, 7 says.
[3:00] And that's where this whole study on submission has its starting point. That God, being our creator, has the potter's rights over the clay.
[3:13] That it's his right to command us. It's his right to judge us. We answer to him, our maker. So our rightful response is to submit to him.
[3:25] And we've seen that that word submit in the New Testament is the word hupotasso, that means to place ourselves under. And that is the proper place for us.
[3:37] That's where we belong as human beings, under God our maker. And so we're to be submitting to him. We're to submit to his word and put ourselves under it and believe whatever it says just because he says it.
[3:53] We're to submit to his commands in his word and to obey them just because he commands it. And then we're to submit to his gospel, the one way of being right with God.
[4:07] Because it is the only way. And the gospel comes with authority to us. And then we're to submit to all the painful providences and circumstances in our lives and put ourselves under and accept them because they've come from God our maker.
[4:26] And he promises to work them together for good to those who love him and are the called according to his purpose. So that being the case, just with that starting point, you can see how much of the believer's life is one of submission, submission to God.
[4:43] Now, two weeks ago, we saw, had something of a shift in our study on submission and saw how our duties to submit is not only directly to God, but it's also our duty to submit to those people that he has placed in authority over us.
[5:01] And that's more difficult because people are not perfect like God and they do not wield authority in a perfect way like our God does.
[5:14] So it will require far more humility on our part to submit to these lesser authorities than to submit to God directly.
[5:24] And yet, if we understand the Bible correctly, to submit to these lesser authorities is no less than to submit to God, since God is the one who has placed them there in our lives and commands us to submit to their authority as unto the Lord himself who sent them.
[5:49] So we're in Ephesians 5. And verse 21 says, Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. And then he breaks down who is to be submissive to who in this order that God has established.
[6:07] It's to be done recognizing his authority behind the human authority. So God has delegated authority in three primary arenas to the family, to the church, and to the state or the civil government.
[6:23] And these authority structures that God has established are for the good and for the flourishing of mankind. So we began with the family for the simple reason that that's where God began in Genesis chapter 2.
[6:38] With the family. The most basic and foundational building block of society. As goes the family, so goes the church.
[6:49] So goes the nation. So getting the chain of command right in the family is hugely important. From Ephesians 5 then, we saw that God commands wives to submit to their husbands as to the head of the wife.
[7:04] And now, today in Ephesians 6, we move from the marriage relationship in the family to the next family relationship of parents and children.
[7:18] And in all these family relationships, God begins with the one who is to give submission to the authority over them. So it was wives, submit to your husbands.
[7:30] Next, he comes to address the submission of children to parents. So I direct your attention to verse 1 of chapter 6. It says, children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
[7:44] If you're a child still living at home, would you join me in reciting Ephesians 6.1? Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
[7:58] That was pitiful. Let me hear this, children. Or we'll have your parents say it. Let's hear it. If you're still at home and you're a child, repeat it with me.
[8:11] Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. All right. So what's the first word?
[8:22] It's children. Oh, so the Bible's not just for grownups, is it? In fact, the whole of the Bible is for children as much as it is for grownups.
[8:35] But there are special places where God speaks a word directly to children, especially. And that's what we've bumped into this morning. God is talking especially to you children.
[8:47] And I want you to understand what it is that God is telling you. So listen this morning with all three ears. Oh, you say you've only got two, then listen with the two you have.
[9:01] But that's an expression to be all ears, to pay attention this morning. This is for you. Now, what's the next three words? Children, obey your parents.
[9:14] Now, that's a command. God's telling you something to do. And he deserves that right. He feeds you. He keeps you alive. He gives you your next breath.
[9:25] And he commands you to obey your parents. O-B-E-Y. Obey your parents. Do what mom and dad tell you to do.
[9:37] It's not a suggestion. It's not saying, well, obey if you want to. Obey if you feel like it. Obey if you agree with mom and dad. It's just children, obey your parents.
[9:53] Now, the kind of obedience that God expects of you children can be counted on your three fingers. When parents command you to do something, you are to do it right away.
[10:05] There's to be no dallying, no procrastinating. It's, yes, mom, and off you go. Secondly, you are to do it all. Not halfway.
[10:16] Halfway. Indeed, in Colossians, he tells children, obey the Lord or obey your parents in everything. That means make sure nothing is left undone.
[10:29] Do all that they tell you. And then thirdly, not only do it right away, do it all, but do it with the right heart attitude. That perhaps is the hardest of all.
[10:41] Because that is something that must flow from the heart. To do it without arguing or complaining. No, no. But mom, none of that.
[10:52] It's yes, mom, and obeying with the right heart attitude. Now, is that the way you children obey your parents? You say, but I don't always want to do what they say.
[11:11] That's why you're called to submit to them. You see, you are to submit what you want and put it under what they want. That's what it means to submit to them, to obey them.
[11:25] But that's hard. You're right. And it's one reason why you need the Lord Jesus as your Savior. As we sang today, he's the one who can help us in all of our duties.
[11:40] The Lord knows it's hard, too. And so he's given us here in this passage some helps to obey. He's given you children some reasons to obey.
[11:53] Some motivations. And the first motivation is the Lord himself. It's the Lord who has put your parents in authority over you. So obey them as you would obey the Lord.
[12:09] In other words, as verse 21 says, you're to submit to your parents out of reverence for Christ. To obey them.
[12:21] To obey in the Lord. In this chain of command. Remember a few weeks ago when I gave you the illustration. Maybe you're out playing outdoors and your little sister comes out and calls you in for supper.
[12:34] Mom said to come in for supper right now. And I said, you may not feel like obeying your little sister. But you do obey her.
[12:45] Why? Because you know that mom has sent her. And so you're obeying her because of the higher authority of mother. Now this morning, children, we're learning that there's an even higher authority above mother.
[12:59] There may be times when, yes, she says, come in because mom says so. And you don't want to do what mom says so. And so then you're to remember that there's somebody who has sent your mother.
[13:12] And that's the Lord himself. So submit to your sister because it's mom who sent her with the word. And submit to mom because it's the Lord who put her in authority over you.
[13:24] That's the first encouragement. You do it because it's what the Lord has commanded. And he's the one who tells you to obey your parents.
[13:35] So if you disobey mom, you're disobeying the Lord. That's why you do it right away and do it all and do it with the right heart attitude because that's the kind of obedience the Lord requires of all of us.
[13:51] But there's more help. There's more reasons. The second reason to help you obey your parents is just for this is right. Isn't that interesting? That ought to appeal to you to do what's right.
[14:03] And this is right. Obeying your parents is the right thing to do. Disobeying is the wrong thing. Now who determines what's right and wrong at your house, in your life?
[14:17] Well, it's God. God is the one. And his word is telling us what's right and wrong. And so God has told us it's right to obey your parents.
[14:32] And he proves it by Paul proves it by quoting from the fifth commandment out of the ten commandments where it says honor your father and mother.
[14:43] So that's not a small command. That's one of the ten that sum up all of our responsibility to God. Honor your father and mother. That tells us what's right in God's eyes.
[14:56] What he demands of us. And children, honoring is more than just outward obedience. Honor, again, is a matter of the heart. It's an attitude that thinks high, highly of mother and father.
[15:11] It respects them. It puts a high value on them. And because you honor them and esteem them in your heart, you therefore obey them and do what they say.
[15:26] That's the second help. Because when you obey your parents, you're doing what's right. The third help is that it pleases the Lord. Colossians 3.20.
[15:38] Again, Paul writes much the same to the Colossian church and the children there as he does to the Ephesian children. But in Colossians 3.20 it says, Children, obey your parents in everything for this pleases the Lord.
[15:50] Again, it's reminding ourselves that behind mother and father is the Lord. And we want to do what pleases him. When you obey your parents, God takes pleasure in that.
[16:05] It's something that he smiles upon, that he likes. And there's no higher goal in life than to please the Lord. We make it our goal to please him, Paul says.
[16:16] That's the highest goal in life. To live pleasing to him. And for you children, here's something that's pleasing to the Lord. Lord, it's obeying your parents.
[16:28] You say, but it's hard. Yes, it's hard. So what you need to do is not please yourself, but to please the Lord instead. And that's something that every grown-up here has to struggle with as well.
[16:41] Who will we please? Ourselves or the Lord? Children, obey your parents because it pleases the Lord. And then there's even more help, a fourth reason.
[16:52] And it's because it's good for you. It may not feel good for you, but you'll figure it out one day that it was good for you that you obeyed mom and dad.
[17:04] Now, one of our families here in the church has just recently been blessed with a new baby girl. So tiny and sweet. So kids, should mom and dad just leave her alone to do whatever she wants?
[17:18] You say, oh, no. No, she needs mom and dad. She'd die if you just left her to herself. Oh. So, can you see how good God is to have put her under the care of a mother and father?
[17:37] So, maybe at her first birthday, is that when we leave her to herself? Oh, no. She still needs mom and dad.
[17:49] Oh. Well, then what? Her third birthday? Her fifth birthday? Her tenth birthday? Her fifteenth birthday? When should we just leave her to herself? Kids, you need to know that no one loves you more than your mother and father.
[18:07] No one wants what's best for you more than your mother and father. I say that is generally the case. There are exceptions, but...
[18:18] In obeying them, you're doing something that is good for you. And God has been good to put you under them.
[18:28] There are still things God wants you to learn from parents and from submitting to parents. I've heard that your minds do not become fully developed until you're 25.
[18:45] So, you've still got stuff to learn from mom and dad who've been around the block before and know the dangers and know what is good for you and know the word of God.
[18:56] So, it's good for you to obey your parents. This is even further explained by the promise that God gives to those who obey.
[19:09] You see it there? Verse 2. Honor your father and mother, which is the first or foremost commandment with a promise that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.
[19:22] Obedience to parents brings God's blessings upon your life. First of all, notice, it will go well with you. What kid doesn't want life to go well with them?
[19:33] You don't want it going bad. Well, if a child learns early to obey his or her parents, they're well on the way to a life going well for them.
[19:44] They have benefits. They have head starts on kids that have never learned to submit to mom and dad's authority. So, if you have learned to obey and honor mom and dad's authority in the home when you don't feel like it, that self-discipline will serve you well when you get to school, if you go to school.
[20:06] And it will be seen in your grades because you learn to study even when you don't feel like it. And all of that, you see, opens up further doors of opportunity for better jobs and so on.
[20:17] When you get a job, if you've learned that self-discipline in the home, then that discipline will get you to work on time. And it will give you a record of good attendance at work.
[20:30] And when the boss is looking for promotions, you will be on the top of that list because you learned in home to submit to authority, to discipline yourself to obey even when you don't feel like it.
[20:46] If you go into the military, that respect for and submission to authority will pay you huge dividends. It will help you in learning to relate to the authority in the church and in the marriage relationship.
[20:59] It's hard to think of an area of life that does not benefit from a learned submission and obedience to parents in the home. It will go well with you, children.
[21:10] The second part of the promise is that you may enjoy long life on the earth. Really?
[21:25] Well, it's the word of God, so we put ourselves under it, all right? What does this mean? That it will go well with you and that you might enjoy long life?
[21:36] Well, it's not a promise of long life to every person without exception who obeyed their parents. And it does not mean that every single one who is disobedient to their parents will die young.
[21:49] What it does mean, that all things being equal, obedience to parents is an important factor in your lifespan. A disobedient child who's never learned to submit to authority is far more likely to get in trouble with the law, to show disrespect for police and the laws of the land.
[22:12] A child that's not learned to discipline life at home is more likely to fall into the abuses of the body that indeed shorten life, like drugs and drunkenness and chain smoking and sexually transmitted diseases and guilt for it all that leads to suicide.
[22:29] And the Bible has many such statements. Think of the warnings in Proverbs. These commands are a lamp and this teaching is a light and the corrections of discipline are the way to life.
[22:47] The way to life. Proverbs 5.23, he will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly. Proverbs 5.12, the man whose sin has led him to death will say with a groan at the end of his life, how I hated discipline, how my heart spurned correction.
[23:09] You see, learning to obey parents, learning to submit to discipline, to their discipline leads to life. Disobedience leads to death. 2 Kings 2 gives us a picture of it.
[23:25] God's prophet Elisha was walking along the road. Some youths came out of the town and began to mock and jeer him. Go up, you old bald man.
[23:36] Go up, you old bald man. Ha, ha, ha. Everybody's laughing until two bears came out of the woods and mauled 42 you. God's curse, God's judgment upon them.
[23:50] They had not learned to respect authority, to respect elders. Something that brings life, you see. If it's learned in the home.
[24:01] It does have real benefits to life. So children, those are four reasons why you ought to obey your parents. It's the Lord himself who commands it.
[24:14] It's right and it pleases the Lord and it's good for you and it will bless you. And most of those blessings will only be realized after you leave home.
[24:27] And you can talk to adults around you after the service and ask them if it's true. And they'll say, yeah, I didn't appreciate it when I was younger. But now I see what a valuable, what a kind thing of God to put us under the authority of parents.
[24:43] Now, this is a series on the topic of submission. And that's why we've dealt with children and their submission to parents. But there's always this corresponding word to the person being submitted to.
[24:56] And so it is here, and I want to speak to that. There's a corresponding word to the parents. And it's especially laid at the feet of you fathers. Because as the head of the home, the buck stops here with you.
[25:10] And also because it just could be that fathers fall into this problem more than mothers. Not always, but perhaps that's the reason fathers are addressed.
[25:24] Mothers are obviously included in what is said. But it's the head of the home that is spoken to in verse 4. And he's given something not to do and something to do.
[25:35] First of all, the negative. Fathers, do not exasperate your children. Don't provoke them to anger. Don't embitter them. Don't crush their spirit. Don't dishearten and discourage them.
[25:49] And I know fathers that I've read books where I've had over 20 things listed of things that exasperate our children in a sinful way. That would be a study all of its own.
[26:03] But let me just mention a couple or a few. Overprotection. Will exasperate them. Being too harsh.
[26:13] Too strict. Constantly nagging. Heavy on criticism. Rare on praise. Belittling.
[26:24] Neglecting. Physically abusing. Playing the hypocrite. Telling them one thing, doing another. Lack of love.
[26:36] Losing your tempers. Dads. Dads, ask your wives. If you're wrongfully exasperating your children. Mothers, you could ask your husbands.
[26:50] Am I provoking them to wrath in a sinful way? So that's the negative. We don't want to go there. Here's the positive. Instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
[27:03] Lord. Just as the Lord instructs and disciplines you. With great tenderness and patience. I think we've sung that this morning.
[27:13] His graciousness with us. He doesn't deal with us as our sins deserve. He's very gracious. But he does discipline us. But it's in love. And so there's two words here.
[27:25] Including the two major tasks of parenting. And it's instruction and discipline. There's instruction. The shaping of the minds of our children.
[27:36] Teaching them what's right and wrong in the Lord's eyes. So that all of life is viewed through the lens of what God says. And what God wants. It's instruction.
[27:49] With words. And with Christ-like example. But then there's also discipline. Which is not so much just the shaping of the mind. But the shaping of the will.
[28:01] By correcting wrong behavior. And especially disobedience to parents. Discipline. Must accompany. The instruction.
[28:13] There must be painful consequences. For willful disobedience. To the authority that God has established. And then so.
[28:24] So doing. You're seeking to teach them. That when you buck the authority system. That God has established. You will pay. And by our discipline in the home.
[28:36] We're teaching that. You're not going to get away with it. In one way or another. That will come back and bite you with pain. So. Parents.
[28:46] God has given you those two main things. To instruct and to discipline. And he's given you three tools with which to do it. He's given you a book. He's given you a book.
[28:57] This book. The Bible. To instruct them. He's given you a rod. The rod of correction. To correct them when they disobey.
[29:08] And he's given you a throne. The throne of grace. To seek God's help. Both in your parenting. And in the response. Of your children. So faithfully.
[29:20] Lovingly. Consistently. Use those three things that God has given you. A book. A rod. And a throne. Don't try to be wiser than God. And come up with a better way.
[29:31] Than these three tools. I want to speak. To the use of the rod of correction. The loving biblical use of the rod of correction.
[29:42] Is as far from child abuse. As east is from west. Indeed Proverbs 13.24 will actually say. That he who spares the rod.
[29:54] Hates his child. That's the abuse you need to beware of. As well. To spare the rod is to hate your son. But he who loves him. Is careful to discipline him.
[30:06] Careful. To do so consistently. Careful to do so in love. And in wisdom. Proverbs 23.13 and 14. Don't withhold discipline from a child.
[30:19] If you punish him with a rod. He will not die. Punish him with a rod. And save his soul from death. Again. You see. It's a matter of life and death.
[30:31] And there is need for us. To be preparing them for life. It's the undisciplined child. Who's left to wander on the road. That leads to death. Again.
[30:43] God's word. Not mine. Now. It's true that. The punishment needs to fit the crime. God deals with us in that way. And spankings are not for every.
[30:54] Thing that is done amiss. But it's reserved for the more serious things. And if ever there was a serious matter for discipline. It is to not submit to authority.
[31:05] In the home. It is to. When mom says. Do this. And they. Do not do it. Or dad says. Don't do this. And they.
[31:15] Do it. As a violent. As a. As a clear. Violation. Of authority. And so that needs to be reinforced with discipline.
[31:27] With a pain that needs to be felt. And that begins very early. As some of you parents. New parents know. It needs to be followed up consistently. It's hard work.
[31:39] But hear me. The bitter harvest of not discipline them. Will be even harder for you. To bear with. Discipline them. To submit to God's ordained authority.
[31:49] Begins by teaching them to obey their parents. That is no small part of what. God has given you the task. Of bringing up your children. In the discipline and training.
[32:00] Of the Lord. Well I know the so-called experts. Are telling us that such discipline. Is cramping their style. And their freedom to express themselves. As if what comes out of a child naturally.
[32:14] Is not to be thwarted. But encouraged. God's word says otherwise. Foolishness. Is bound up in the heart of a child.
[32:25] And the rod of reproof. Will drive it far from them. Proverbs 22.15. He will die for lack of discipline. Led astray by his own great folly. It's not like.
[32:36] Oh they're so pure. And whatever comes out. Will be wonderful. You parents know that. But the experts. Are denying it. You know what else those experts. Parents are telling us today.
[32:48] That children no longer need their parents. For making important life decisions. That young pregnant teenagers. Should be able to decide. Whether or not to kill their baby. Without any parental involvement.
[33:00] Indeed. It's hidden. In many cases. From the parent. That young children should be able to decide. Without any parental involvement. If they want to try to change their gender.
[33:10] With drugs and surgeries. It's a recipe for disaster. Because it flies in the face. Of what God has said. No. He has put children.
[33:21] In the care of their parents. For this very reason. That they might help their children. With life decisions. That lead to life. Rather than decisions that lead to death. And God has given parents.
[33:34] Not the school. Not the government. And not even the church. The primary responsibility. For the bringing up. Of your children. Mothers and fathers.
[33:45] It's on you. And no society. That throws off parental authority. Will escape. It's bitter harvest. We're swimming upstream. On this one brethren. The culture is going downstream.
[33:59] Keep parents out of it. And we need to double down. Then on our privilege. And on our witness to this world. That God knows best. How to raise children.
[34:10] And descend into this world. Sharpened arrows. That have been raised God's way. That can demonstrate. By their lives. And by their words. That you can't improve on God's order.
[34:22] Of children learning to obey. Their parents. Now. Let me just state the obvious. But it does need to be stated. That disobedience to parents.
[34:33] Is sin. S-I-N. God commands children. Obey your parents. When you don't kids. It's a sin. And it's a big sin.
[34:46] It bothers me to hear parents. Belittling it. Oh kids will be kids. You just have to. You just have to live with it. Even laughing. At disrespect to parents. As though it were nothing.
[34:58] It's not nothing. It's not nothing. It's rebellion against God's authority. It's what kicked Satan out of heaven. It's what kicked Adam and Eve.
[35:10] Out of the garden. It's what takes people to hell. If they don't repent of that sin. It's that important. It's rebellion. Against God. So let me say a few words.
[35:22] About the seriousness. Of disobeying parents. You know. It was never treated lightly by God. In Deuteronomy 21. He said. If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son.
[35:32] Who does not obey his father and mother. And will not listen to them. When they discipline him. His father and mother shall take hold of him. And bring him to the elders at the gate of his town.
[35:43] And they shall say to the elders. This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He's a profligate and a drunkard. Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death.
[35:56] You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it. And be afraid. These are the kinds of sons that ruin a nation.
[36:07] And it was not to be allowed in God's nation state of Israel. Deuteronomy 20. And I'm not saying that that ought to be the law today. I'm just saying. Please understand.
[36:18] God takes it seriously. Deuteronomy 27.16. When they came into the promised land. Half of the people were to stand on Mount Gerizim. To bless the people.
[36:29] And the other half were to stand on Mount Ebal. To pronounce curses. There were 12 curses. The second one. Was this. And the Levites would shout this out in a loud voice.
[36:40] Cursed is the man. Who dishonors his father and mother. And then all the people shall say. Amen. And this thundering voice from Mount Ebal.
[36:52] Carrying through the valley. Well that would make a child think. Before he dishonored father and mother. The curse of God. We're talking about.
[37:03] Why so serious? Well again. Rebellion. In the authority structure of family. Will spill over. Into rebellion. In the nation state. That was Israel.
[37:15] And our nation's crime problem. Can be traced back. To children. Never learning to submit to parents. Often no parents. That are. Teaching them. And disciplining them.
[37:25] And the facts are there. That this is a major contributing. Element to delinquency. But it's not just something. In the Old Testament. As if God has changed.
[37:37] Well there is no more nation state. Of Israel. As God's chosen people. The church. Has come in. To. To the true Israel of God.
[37:49] And we are not a nation. It is not a nation. Like it once was. So we don't have national laws. We have the church. That's. The commands of God. But there's no capital punishment. There's no.
[38:00] Things like that. In the church of Jesus Christ. Romans 1.30. Finds this sin. In a list of sins. That mark a culture. Under the judgment of God.
[38:11] It's a culture. Given over by God. To their depraved mind. To do what ought not to be done. And so to reap the results. Of their wickedness. And so we have. In Romans 1.30.
[38:22] The list. It goes on. And God haters. Insolent. Arrogant. Boastful. Inventing ways of doing evil. They disobey their parents. They're senseless. Faithless. Heartless.
[38:33] Ruthless. And the judgment of God is coming for it. It goes on to say. 2 Timothy 3. 2 and 4. In these last days.
[38:43] There will be terrible times. Why? Because there will be terrible people. People will be lovers of themselves. Lovers of money. Boastful. Proud. Abusive. Disobedient to their parents. Ungrateful.
[38:54] Unholy. Without love. Unforgiving. Slanderous. Without self-control. Brutal. Treacherous. Rash. Conceited. And so on. Again. Terrible times.
[39:06] Are coming. When a whole generation of youth. Are unleashed upon society. We're never taught discipline. And respect. And obedience to authority. But the thing that makes sin.
[39:20] So serious. Is that it brings one. Under the curse of God. Cursed is everyone. Who does not continue. To do everything written. In the book of the law.
[39:31] Galatians 3. 10. Well that's a pretty sweeping charge. Isn't it? This curse. That we talked about. It's not just for. The disobedient. To parents.
[39:42] It's for everyone. Who has not continued. To do everything. In God's law. We're lawbreakers. But here's the good news. Is that there is a way.
[39:52] To be rescued. As guilty lawbreakers. That we all are. When God made Adam. He made him a mature man. You know he was married. On the same day. He was made. But when God sent.
[40:04] A savior. To deliver us. He sent him. As a baby. In the womb. Of Mary. And that means this kids. That Jesus. Was once your age.
[40:15] I don't know how old you are. But he was once your age. He died at age 33. But he was once. Five. Ten.
[40:26] Fifteen. Twenty. And that means. He knows what you're going through. He's been through. Every temptation. That you have. To disobey.
[40:37] Mom and dad. And what we find. In the scriptures. Is that he never. Disobeyed his parents. And evidently.
[40:48] That's a big enough. Thing. To God. That he put it in the Bible. It's in Luke chapter 2. And. And you remember. When they had gone up. When Jesus was 12. Anybody here?
[40:58] 12. Jesus was 12. And they went up to Jerusalem. For the feast of Passover. And. And after it was over. They were going home. And mom and dad. Thought that Jesus was with the other. And they were. Suddenly found out.
[41:08] No. He's. He's not with you. He's not with me. And they had to come back to Jerusalem. They found him in the temple. And the mother said. Oh. Why have you done this son? We've been. Worried. Sick. Looking for you.
[41:19] And. Jesus says. Didn't you know. I had to be about my father's business. And. And then it says. He went down to Nazareth. With them. And was obedient. To them.
[41:30] The word is. From. Hupotasso. He went down to. Nazareth. And was. Submissive. To them. That's our word. Jesus was submissive. To parents.
[41:42] Now. Mary and Joseph. Were wonderful folk. But they were not perfect. They didn't get it right. All the time. But Jesus. Got it right. Every time. Submitting to his mother. And father. And kids.
[41:53] That's not just an example. For you to follow. It is that. It's also the reason. We have a savior today. That can say. Come to me. All you who are weary.
[42:04] And burdened. And I will give you rest. Why? Because. I have kept the law perfectly. And for all of your sins. That deserve the curse of God. I have a perfect record of obedience.
[42:15] Even as a child. At every stage. Giving submission to my parents. And therefore. If you're a child who's disobeyed. And we all stand condemned.
[42:27] Under that one command. Let alone all the laws that we broke. We have a savior. Who has a perfect obedience. To give to any poor sinner. Who comes. And pleads for mercy.
[42:38] For Jesus sake. And. And. And Jesus righteousness. And his obedience to parents. And his obedience to every other law. Is placed to our account. So that when God looks on us.
[42:49] And opens the record books of heaven. He sees the perfect obedience of Jesus. And what happened to our sins? Oh they were put on him. On Christ. And at age 33.
[42:59] He went to a cross. Where his father damned him. Condemned him. Cursed him. Poured out his wrath on him. That we might be forgiven. Taking the punishment we deserve. This is the savior we have.
[43:11] At the right hand of the father. Today. This is the one who invites. One and all. Come to me. I can save you. I have a righteousness to give you. And so. He's Jesus.
[43:23] Strong and kind. He's kind. And. He's willing to forgive all. He turns none away. He's strong. He's able to help us.
[43:34] In our every need. So let's stand and sing this together. As we have it. Jesus. Strong. And kind. And even as we sing. If you're without this savior.
[43:46] Call on him. To have mercy upon you. And he will. He will save you. Jesus. Strong and kind. Pray with me.
[43:57] Oh Lord. We thank you for your word. But it convicts us that yes.
[44:07] We've all disobeyed our parents. We've all come under the curse of lawbreakers. And so we are so thankful for a savior. Who was strong in righteousness. Strong in obedience.
[44:18] And never once broke your holy commandments. And that he is a savior for all of us then. For any lawbreaker. To come to this savior. And to ask for mercy.
[44:30] And to receive from him his perfect obedience to your law. Thank you Lord Jesus for dying in our place. And taking the punishment we deserve. I pray for every child here.
[44:41] We want to see them grow up. In this wicked world. With you. As their God and savior. We want to see them trusting in you early.
[44:54] That they might give their hearts to you. Young. We want to see parents. Embracing. That responsibility. To bring them up. In the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
[45:06] And oh how we want you to protect them. From all the evils of the day. Thank you that we can come to you. With our greatest concerns. We lay them at your feet. In Jesus name.
[45:17] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[45:31] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Relax. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[45:41] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.