Honor Your Father and Your Mother

[0:00] Chapter 7, we'll read the first 23 verses. The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus! and saw some of his disciples eating food with unclean, that is ceremonial, unwashed hands.

[0:25] Here's the footnote. The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders.

[0:37] When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles.

[0:52] So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders, instead of eating their food with unclean hands?

[1:05] He replied, Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites. As it is written, These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

[1:23] They worship me in vain. Their teachings are but rules taught by men. You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.

[1:40] And he said to them, You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions.

[1:51] For Moses said, For Moses said, Honor your father and mother, And anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.

[2:04] But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban, that is, a gift devoted to God, Then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother.

[2:25] Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.

[2:37] Again, Jesus called the crowd to him and said, Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make him unclean by going into him.

[2:53] Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him unclean. After he left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable.

[3:08] Are you so dull? He asked. Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him unclean?

[3:20] For it doesn't go into his heart, but into his stomach and then out of his body. In saying this, Jesus declared all foods to be clean.

[3:32] He went on. What comes out of a man is what makes him unclean. For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly.

[4:06] All these evils come from inside and make a man unclean. As we go to prayer, this is a critical week for Duane and Kimberly Baldwin as they minister at the seminary there in Serbia.

[4:29] We want to remember them. There will be four visiting professors coming to teach the classes, but there's only one who can make these men preachers of the gospel.

[4:43] And that's who he tells us, ask the Lord of the harvest. So we want to do just that. Let's all pray. Our great God, your name deserves to be praised among all nations.

[5:05] And you have told us to ask. So we come with our weak prayers, but we're coming to ask, and we're begging you to do a work there in the seminary in Serbia.

[5:19] Help these four professors as they deliver the word of God to these young men. May your Holy Spirit attend their words. We pray for the young men that are being trained to be ministers of the gospel.

[5:35] Make them holy men. Make them men that love the Lord Jesus Christ with all their heart and have a desire to love people as well. Gift them with your gift of teaching and preaching this glorious message that Jesus saves.

[5:52] We pray that you would uphold Dwayne and Kimberly. This is an extremely busy week in hosting all of this and sustain them.

[6:03] And we want to pray for their five boys. We pray for Alex and Aidan as they study here in the States. And we pray for Graham, Drew, and David.

[6:15] Father, you know how difficult it is to be missionary kids. And so we ask that you would shepherd these boys and give much grace and wisdom to Dwayne and Kim in raising them in raising them.

[6:29] And may they grow to be boys that love the Lord their God. We thank you that our pastor Jason and Stephanie could enjoy some time of vacation.

[6:41] And we pray that you would restore their bodies and souls this week. Your name also deserves to be praised not only in every corner of our world, but by every age, young and old.

[6:56] And we thank you that we have young people and children that want to praise your name. We pray that you would bless their ministry today.

[7:09] We pray that you would cause them to grow up to be people that will love our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, Father, as we come to your word, thank you for the gift of the Lord's Day.

[7:25] We have confessed that we have not used it to the best. And we pray that you would help us as a people to do a better job of that. But we are hungry to hear from God.

[7:39] We are hungry to hear our God lifted up and glorified. We bless you for this time and we ask that you would use it to glorify our Lord Jesus Christ in whose name we pray.

[7:57] Amen. Amen. Amen. Hymn number 240. Well, we all have an appointment with this great God one day.

[8:20] He's spoken words. He's given commands. And he's given a summary of all that he's commanded in just ten commandments.

[8:31] Years ago, someone did a survey in which they found that less than 1% of teens and adults in sound Bible churches could come up with all ten of his commandments.

[8:46] That's less than one out of a hundred. Now, if God has spoken, it's important that we know what he said. Because in his summary of the Ten Commandments, he is showing us what kind of a God he is.

[9:03] It's a reflection of his character. And we find that he is a holy God and he has expectations out of those that he has made in his own image. The Ten Commandments are showing us, then, how we are supposed to live.

[9:19] It is the very best way to live. It's the way that the infinite mind of God has designed for his creatures to live. And in the Ten Commandments, we are learning what it means to love God with all of our hearts and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

[9:35] In the Ten Commandments, we're learning the way of freedom. Where do free people walk? How do they live? This is the perfect law of liberty. And we're learning the standard of righteousness that will meet us in the last day when we have an appointment with this God.

[9:54] Well, the Ten Commandments. You can't save yourself by keeping them. You've already broken them. We all have come short of the glory of God.

[10:05] We've not measured up. And that's why we need a Savior. You know, that's one of the reasons we ought to study the Ten Commandments, to see just how helpless we are of saving ourselves.

[10:15] We don't measure up, and therefore we don't deserve to be with God in heaven. And that shows us our need for a Savior, the one that we've just been singing about, and the one that saves guilty lawbreakers.

[10:33] It's by trusting in what he has done for sinners that we come to know God as our friend and Father in heaven, and can meet him in that day not with gloomy fears, but with great joy and without fault.

[10:49] Now, we've come to the Fifth Commandment this morning, and as we do, we're coming to something of a transition to a new section of the Ten Commandments.

[11:01] You will have noticed that the first four commands have to do with our duty to God. We're to have no other gods besides him. And if he is our God alone, then he tells us how he wants to be worshipped in the Second Commandment.

[11:18] He tells us not to misuse his name in the Third Commandment, and not to misuse his day in the Fourth Commandment. Now, all those have to do, then, with loving God with all of our heart.

[11:31] Now, with the Fifth Commandment, we come to the next section, the last half, the last part of the Ten Commandments. There's actually six of them. And they all have to do with our relationships with each other.

[11:45] This is what it looks like to love your neighbor as yourself. And so we're coming to this shift from what we owe God to now what we owe man.

[11:58] And yet we should not think that these two are somehow separate and never meet. We shouldn't think, I can do real well loving God and keeping the first four commands, even if I'm not too good at all and don't care anything about the last six.

[12:16] No, the Bible says that if we claim, 1 John 3, if we claim to love God but do not love our brother, we're a liar.

[12:29] How can we love God whom we haven't seen and hate our brother whom we have seen? And he is the one who has told us to love our brother.

[12:40] So you see, even as we're coming into the last six commands that have to do with one another, they're still his commands. And if he's our God, then we only love him if we keep his commands, indeed all of them.

[12:56] So we come to see that the ten stand or fall together since they all come from God himself. So we have six commands then.

[13:08] God has a lot to say about how we are to treat one another in this world. When God begins to address our behavior towards others, where does he start?

[13:20] Well, he starts in the home, the most basic building block of all society. For as goes the home, so goes the church, so goes the nation. And so that's where God begins.

[13:34] What happens in your home matters to God. It's not just what happens in church. Do you worship him or right? Yes, that matters, but so does how you treat one another in the home.

[13:46] And here in the fifth commandment, he says, honor your father and your mother. And then he adds a reason for doing so, so that you may live long in the land that the Lord your God has given you.

[14:00] Now, children, let me address you this morning. One of the devil's most dangerous lies is that the Bible and religion is just for the grown-ups.

[14:14] And how many young people are saying to themselves, therefore, yes, I very much intend when I grow up to get serious about God and about what he said about the Bible.

[14:25] But the fifth commandment shatters that lie altogether. Do you have a father and a mother? Then God is expecting something from you here.

[14:39] Not just from grown-ups, but from you. You who have fathers and mothers. He's talking to you. And that should wake you up to the fact that he's been talking to you all along.

[14:51] You're to have him as your only God. You're to worship him, keep his name holy, his day holy. All these things. God's talking to you as well.

[15:01] But in this commandment, there's a sense in which God is especially talking to children. So this morning, I want to speak especially to you children and you young people as God himself addresses you in the fifth commandment.

[15:16] And, of course, your adults can't go to sleep because they, too, have fathers and mothers. And they still owe something to their fathers and mothers, whether they're alive or dead, as we'll see.

[15:27] So four points this morning about this fifth commandment. The first is its importance. And why would I want you to realize how important this command is?

[15:39] Well, kids, you live in a world where children are showing less and less honor for fathers and mothers, even than when I grew up just yesterday. And what you see today is a much more casual view toward parents from their children.

[15:56] They lip off to their parents. They talk back to them. They argue and yell at them. They even ignore them and what they say. And if you watch television and popular movies, they even act worse toward their parents than what I've just told you.

[16:13] And as you grow up and you're living in this world, you could come to the wrong conclusion. You know, it's really no big deal how I treat mom and dad. That would be to make a very big mistake.

[16:25] And that's why I want you to start by understanding how important this is to God. Just the fact that it's it's one of the ten rules he gives us for life as he summarizes all of his commandments.

[16:38] One of them, indeed, the fifth one, has to do with you honoring your father and mother. That's an important thing. And then for other reasons, we see its importance to God.

[16:52] When when the children of Israel finally got into the promised land, they were to do something. They were divide up the congregation. So you're divided here. And half the half the Israelites were to be on one mountain, Mount Gerizim.

[17:05] And they're on the other amount of Mount Ebal were to be the other half. And then the priest were to shout out in a loud voice several curses. Indeed, this is what the scriptures tell us in Deuteronomy 27.

[17:20] Then the Levites will recite, will will say with a loud voice, cursed is the man who dishonors his father or his mother.

[17:32] Cursed. And all the people shout, amen. So be it. And all the children.

[17:43] They, too, were saying it and hearing it. Cursed is anyone who dishonors father and mother. There was a book of the Bible that God gave especially for instructing young people.

[17:57] Proverbs chapter 30 and verse 17 says, The eye that mocks a father and that scorns obedience to a mother will be pecked out by the ravens and will be eaten by the vultures.

[18:13] Exodus 21, 17 said anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death. And if there was ever a young person who refused to obey their parents and would not be corrected, they were to bring him to the town elders and say, This son of mine refuses to obey.

[18:33] And the whole community was to take them out and to stone them. That the people in Israel, that the children in Israel might learn that this is not a small matter with God.

[18:44] So you can see just from these scriptures, children, that it is a big deal to God. It's a little deal to the world you live in, and it may not be a big deal to you.

[18:55] But I want you to start to see that how you treat your parents is of huge importance to God. And though the death sentence for this sin was only for that nation, that theocracy, that God ruled nation of Israel in the Old Testament, still his attitude towards those who misuse, who dishonor their parents, is the same in the New Testament.

[19:22] When Paul starts his gospel, he starts with the law of God that he might show that all men are sinners. And he says the wrath of God is upon all the godlessness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in their wickedness.

[19:38] And he goes on to describe those that the wrath of God is upon. And what is this wickedness that they live in? And he spells it out. There's many things, envy and murder and strife and malice and gossip and pride.

[19:52] But then in Romans 1.30, he comes and says, they disobey their parents. And the next phrase is in verse 32 then, and they know that God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death.

[20:06] It's one of those sins that are listed there in Romans 1 to show why the wrath of God is upon men. And what such sinners deserve death.

[20:22] The wages of sin for those who disobey their parents. So whether you honor your father or mother may be no big thing in the world today.

[20:33] But please, children, get your idea of this commandment's importance from God himself in his word. Now, why is it so important to God that you honor your father and mother?

[20:48] Well, it's because God's own authority stands behind your parents. Kids, you didn't choose your parents, did you? How many of you signed up for your mom and dad?

[21:01] Not a one of you. No, God chose them, didn't he? And God put them over you as his representatives. And he gave them an assignment to do for him.

[21:16] He has told your mom and dad to love you, to take care of you. That includes your body as well as your eternal soul. He's told them to bring you up, to teach them the word of God.

[21:28] To teach them his laws, his commands, his gospel. He's taught. He's told your parents to correct you, to discipline you, to equip you for life.

[21:40] Children, your parents work for God. And he gives them authority to do that work. He gives them the right to rule over you. So that means that God is watching.

[21:52] He is watching. He is watching in every family. He's watching not only to see how your parents are doing with the assignment that he gave them, but he's also watching to see what you are doing with your assignment that he gives you in the fifth command to honor your father and mother.

[22:10] And whatever you do to your parents, God takes very personally as if you have done it to him. Because when you dishonor your parents, you're dishonoring the God who put them over you.

[22:24] And when you honor your parents, you're honoring the God. Whose parents or whose workers they are. So this commandment is important because you show what you think of God's authority by what you do with your parents, who are God's authorized mom and dad to you.

[22:46] So it's important. This command is important. That's why it's here in this summary of the Ten Commandments. Secondly, let's consider for a moment its difficulty. It's difficulty.

[22:58] Secondly, kids, why is it so hard to obey this command? Why is it so hard to to honor father and mother?

[23:09] The short answer is indwelling sin. That you have a natural dislike for authority. Kids, do you have a natural dislike for any foods?

[23:24] Do you have some foods that you just naturally don't like? I have a natural dislike for liver and lima beans.

[23:36] Any of you kids have any foods you naturally... Mom and dad won't get upset at it unless you say all of mom's cooking. But are there some foods you don't like? Never have?

[23:48] Anyone? Anyone? Oh, they're all eating their greens. Scott, you got one? Tomatoes. Tomatoes. Okay. You just don't like them?

[24:01] There's just something inside of you that says yuck to tomatoes. Well, that's what we all have toward God's commands.

[24:12] A natural dislike that wants to push away God's commandments. You don't like anyone telling you what to do.

[24:22] God included. You want to be your own boss. And not have to obey mom or dad. Anyone else. You want to be able to do whatever you want.

[24:34] Whenever you want. With whomever you want. Do you know where you got that natural dislike for authority? You got it from your mom and dad.

[24:46] Do you know where your mom and dad got it? From their mom and dad. And where'd they get it? Right on back to the first mom and dad. Our first parents.

[24:57] Adam and Eve. said we don't like the idea. Through Satan's temptation. They came to the point where they said. We don't like the idea of you telling us God. What we can and cannot eat.

[25:11] And that was their sin. And that's what led to the fall of all their children. And that's why we all inherit from our parents. This sinful nature.

[25:21] This natural dislike for God's authority. For his commands. We want to do it ourselves. Romans 8 7 says that this sinful nature.

[25:35] The sinful mind is hostile to God. It's not only disliking it. It's hostile to God. And why? It does not submit to God's law.

[25:47] This natural heart and mind of the sinner. Does not submit to God's law. Nor indeed can it. So what is mankind's beef with God?

[25:58] It's the fact that he is giving us commands. And expecting us to obey. To not do this. And instead to do that. And he didn't even ask us.

[26:08] Before commanding us. Can you imagine? That's why we're hostile to God. We have this natural dislike for God. We heard it in the Sunday school hour.

[26:19] That Luther hated God. Didn't we? As a sinner. Well. When God gives commands.

[26:30] There's this natural dislike. Then that bristles. And that stiffens my neck. Against what God has told me. Such that I will not do what he says.

[26:40] Now. Children. It's not just a problem then of a few. It's not just your problem. Isaiah says we all have this problem. Isaiah 55.3.

[26:53] Or 53.6. We all like sheep. Have gone astray. And we have turned each one. Each one. We all. And each one.

[27:03] Has turned to his own way. You turn to your way. I turn to my way. But what we have in common is it was not God's way. We said no to God's way. And we all.

[27:14] Each of us went our way. We disliked his authority. We wanted to do it ourselves. We want to be able to boast.

[27:24] At the end of our lives. Like Frank Sinatra in that song. I did it my way. My way. Say have you heard that on the lips of a three year old. A two year old recently. My way.

[27:36] I do. Me. Me. It's not just Frank's problem. It's all of us by nature have this ingrained problem with authority. A dislike for it.

[27:47] That refuses to submit. Now. Where does that dislike for authority first bump in to God's authority? Where does it first hit God's?

[27:59] I have this natural dislike for God's commands. Where does it first bump into God's authority? It's in the home, isn't it? It's in the home.

[28:10] Where God has set up his authority of fathers and mothers. You were barely two years old and you wanted to touch something. And mom said no and slapped your hand and put on a cross face and you knew exactly what she meant.

[28:26] And you reached out and you touched it anyway. What was that? You bumping into God's authority in the home as a two year old.

[28:38] And saying I don't want to be told what to do. You wanted something in the store and mom said no. And you threw a fit. You wanted to go to a certain party and they said no.

[28:52] And you argued and pouted and cried. They told you to do something and you didn't want to. And you just refused to do it. What is that? That's that natural dislike for God's authority coming out loud and clear.

[29:06] To anyone who gets in the way of what I want. And we hit it first with mom and dad. That's where we bump into God's authority. First in our lifetimes.

[29:20] That's what makes this command of honoring your father and mother so difficult. You know if you didn't have that natural dislike for authority. It wouldn't be so hard. So that's its difficulty.

[29:32] Thirdly thinking of this command. What is its meaning? What does it mean to honor father and mother? Well first honor is an inward attitude of the heart isn't it?

[29:46] Before it ever expresses itself in actions and words and things like that. It is first a way that we think about someone.

[29:58] Honor is first the heart attitude that holds someone up as important. As worthy of being respected. Putting respect upon them.

[30:09] The core word means that of weight. A person we still say someone's words are weighty. They carry weight with me. They're important to me.

[30:20] And honor is to treat our parents as weighty persons. As important persons. And when they speak it ought to carry a lot of weight with me.

[30:30] And importance with me. And so honor is first of all an inward attitude of the heart. So this command then children is not just requiring you to act in a polite and respectful manner.

[30:44] To put on your best outward face. While inwardly you are churning against mom for commanding you to do something. You are hateful of dad's rule and what he has done to say you can't do this.

[31:00] But outwardly you have this little sweet smile. That's not honoring mom and dad. It's making demands of your heart. First and foremost.

[31:17] Notice. This command. This honor is something you owe to your mothers as well as your fathers kids. Some children are prone to take advantage of their mothers.

[31:28] And so God is sure to specify. Not just fathers. But fathers and mothers. Sometimes you can try to get away with more.

[31:41] Perhaps against mom. You're apt to slight her. Argue with her. Mistreat her in ways that you wouldn't think of mistreating your father. God wants you to know.

[31:51] That you owe equal honor to father and mother. They both are working for him. They both have his authority over you. It's due to father and mother.

[32:03] Now how is this honor. This attitude that highly regards them. How is that expressed. How is it to be expressed. How can you know if you're honoring your father and mother.

[32:14] Well it's by the way. It will be seen in the way that you listen to them. And obey them. Proverbs 1.8 says. Listen my son to your father's instruction.

[32:24] And do not forsake your mother's teaching. So when they speak to you. Do you honor them by listening. What you're saying dad is important to me.

[32:36] What you're saying mom is important. And I show that. By listening. Well. If you honor them. That means you won't interrupt them.

[32:47] While they're speaking. It means you'll give them your attention. And not ignore them. Not walk out on them. While they are talking to you.

[32:58] That's treating them. As nobodies. That's the exact opposite. Treating them. As important people. That God has placed over you. Do you listen to their instruction.

[33:11] And take it on board. When they tell you. What television programs you can watch. And can't watch. What you can do with your phone. What kids you can run with. Are you listening.

[33:22] And heeding their. Instruction. Or disregarding it. Ephesians 6. 1 to 3. Paul is writing to Gentile.

[33:34] Children. And the. That would have included. Gentile. Children. The church of Ephesus. As well as Jews. That were there. And he says. Children. Obey your parents. In the Lord.

[33:44] For this is right. Parents. I think that ought to be. The first. Verse. One of the first. Verses. That you teach. Your children. Perhaps the first. Would be. Genesis 1.

[33:55] 1. And then Ephesians 6. 1. But they need to know. That this God. Who created them. In the heavens. And the earth. And everything in them. Is the same God. Who has put parents. Over them. And told them. Children.

[34:05] Obey your parents. That's. That's his summary. He just gets one shot. At the kids. There in Ephesians 6. And the one thing. That he. He wants them to know. Is children. Obey your parents.

[34:15] In the Lord. For this is right. Because this is where. They first meet. This God. Who made them. Who made all things.

[34:27] They first meet him. And his authority. Through their parents. And to prove. That it's right. He just quotes.

[34:37] The fifth commandment. Do you see that? He just. For this is right. Honor your father and mother. Which is the first commandment. With promise. He just.

[34:47] He just quotes it. As if saying. You already know this. If you know the commands. The ten commandments. Because. They tell you to honor. Your father. And mother.

[35:00] So. Honor your father. And mother. Means. You must obey them. Doesn't it? Children obey.

[35:13] Because it's written. Honor your father. And mother. Now. Honoring father. And mother. Means much more. Than obeying them. But nevertheless. Always means.

[35:24] At least that much. To obey them. So do you obey them. Even when they cross. Your desires. And will. Do you obey them. The command. Doesn't say.

[35:34] Honor your father. And mother. If you agree with them. Does it? It doesn't say. Obey their commands. If you like them. No. Obey them. For this is right.

[35:46] And why is it right? Because God says. Children. Honor. Your father. And mother. So it's seen.

[35:59] This honor. Is seen. In our. Listening to. And obeying. Father and mother. Secondly. It's seen. By the way. That you speak. Of them. And to them. As you speak.

[36:11] To them. There's to be. No lipping off. No. No back talk. No disrespectful. Arguing. Yelling. Lecturing. Your father. And mother. As if. That's your job.

[36:22] And they're on the other end. Of that lecture. No. You're the one. That God has put your parents over. That you might listen to them. As they instruct you. No whining.

[36:32] Or complaining. What comes out of your mouth. You see. Is to come from a heart of honor. And if. If there's honor in the heart. Then there will be honor. In the way you talk to them.

[36:44] You'll answer respectfully. Both in the words you choose. And in the tone of voice. That you speak those words. And even in the body language.

[36:54] That you use. Did you know that children. That you can send messages. Without speaking to mom and dad. Sure you knew that. Just the way you look at them.

[37:06] You can tell them. Whether you honor them. Or dishonor them. I was just talking to a fellow last week. And he told me about. A granddaughter. And the parents.

[37:18] Told him. Told her to. To do something. And she refused. A five year old. And. Then they told her. What the consequences would be. If she didn't.

[37:30] And so she did it. But he said. She did it with a look. That would have killed. That was saying. I may be doing this.

[37:41] But I despise you. For making me do it. That's what I'm talking about. Body language. She didn't. She didn't have to say. I hate you. She sent the message.

[37:52] With her eye. And you see. That's what I mean. When. How we talk to our parents. Not only with words. And the tone. But even. Our body language. Do we. Frown at them. Do we.

[38:03] Do we roll our eyes. At them. Do. Or do we. Treat them. With. Respect. Even in. The way we listen. Joseph.

[38:15] Even as a grown man. When his father. Comes to him. He showed him. Honor. He bowed down. To his father. In Genesis 46. When King Solomon.

[38:26] Sat on his throne. And his mother. Came in. To see him. He got up. Off of his throne. And bowed to her. You see. That's body language. That was honoring.

[38:38] To. Father. And mother. Now kids. If you bow. The next time. Your mother. Comes into your room. She might have a heart attack. That. I'm not necessarily.

[38:48] Telling you. To do that. We show honor. Maybe in different ways. But you still show it. In. In the way. That you.

[39:00] Not only speak to her. But act. Toward her. When she. Comes into the room. Honor. And then. It. It will be seen. In the way you speak.

[39:10] Not only to them. But of them. About them. When. When they're nowhere in sight. And all the friends are around. And they're all trash talking. Between their mom and dad. You will be different. You will not slander.

[39:22] Your father or mother. You will not speak evil of them. You. Hold them high. Honor. In your heart. Therefore. What comes out of your mouth.

[39:32] Will. Be to speak well of them. Before. Those. Around you. Her children. Rise. And call her. Blessed. And if you can't praise.

[39:43] Your mother. Then keep quiet. About her. But you don't. Speak evil of her. Young men. If you ever hear a girlfriend. Bad mouthing her mother. Run from her. Like the plague.

[39:56] She trashing her father. Cross her off the list. You don't want her. If she has no respect. For God's authority. In her home. Don't think.

[40:06] That when you guys get married. She'll have any respect. For your authority. You see. It's the same. It's God's authority. That she's. Fighting against. And so. Not only in the way.

[40:18] We speak to. Our parents. But we speak about them. With. Respect. And honor. Thirdly. We show. And express. This honor. By the way. We take care of them.

[40:29] In their old age. How does life begin? It begins with you kids. Being helpless. Absolutely. Utterly. Helpless. If. If no one did anything for you.

[40:39] Die. In just a matter of. Hours. Days. Days. But God is so planted. That. That. That. That you come into the world. And there's parents there. Whom he's given the assignment.

[40:50] To take care of you. And so. They selflessly. Take care of you. And. And they're. They're just giving of themselves. To you. And then. And then. As life goes on. Pretty soon. There's this role reversal.

[41:03] And now mom and dad. Are less. Able to do for themselves. And they need someone. To do for them. And now you've grown up. And now you.

[41:14] Can take care of them. In their old age. Isn't that something. How this. This works. This. This reversal. The Roman historian. Pliny called it.

[41:25] Called the fifth commandment. The law. Of the storks. Because. The young storks. Would bring food. To the old storks. That could no longer fly. And so.

[41:36] There you see. The principle. Yes. Mom and dad. Took care of you. When you were helpless. Now that they're in need. You are. To take care of them. That's all part. Of what it means. To.

[41:47] Honor. Father. And mother. Proverbs 23. 22. Do not despise. Your mother. When she is old. That's. What.

[41:58] We need to be told. Because. It can be a costly thing. In many levels. To honor. Our mother. When she is old. The story is told. I'm not sure.

[42:08] Whether it's true or not. But it holds. An important lesson. There was an elderly father. Who lived with his married son. And their children. And the meals. That they ate together. Were wonderful times. Of sharing.

[42:20] Around. The dinner table. But as the years. Went on. The old man's health. Began to decline. And. He couldn't help. As much. Around the house. And his hands.

[42:30] Began to shake. And sometimes. He would spill. The food on the table. And even on the rug. One day. When he was shaking badly. He dropped his bowl. And it broke.

[42:41] On the floor. And splattered. The food all over. And in anger. And frustration. The son. Said to his father. Dad. I can't take it any longer. If you can't control yourself.

[42:51] You'll just have to eat. In your room. By yourself. And so. The son. Gave his father. A wooden bowl. That could not break. And at every meal. He took food. Into his father's room. Time went by.

[43:04] The meals. At the dining room table. Were cleaner. And quieter. The old man. Was very lonely. Eating in his room. Alone. But didn't say anything. For fear. Of making his son.

[43:15] More upset. And several weeks later. The son. Came home. And found one of his children. Making something out of wood. And he says. Well hey. What are you making? Why making a wooden bowl?

[43:26] He said. Oh it's very nice. But what will you use it for? Oh it's not for me dad. It's for you. But not yet dad. I'm saving it for you. When you get older.

[43:37] And your hands begin to shake. And when I see that it's too hard. For you to eat with us. Well then I'll give it to you. So you can eat in your room. Stricken with grief. The man went.

[43:47] Into his elderly father. And asked his forgiveness. For not giving him. The respect. The honor. That he deserved. And that night. The old man returned.

[43:58] To the dining room table. And though it was a little noisier. And a little messier. The family. Was whole. Again. Honor.

[44:10] Your father. And mother. It's not just for the youngsters. Here. Today. It's for a lot of you. Who are right in the thick. Think of this. Right now. Honor.

[44:21] Your father. And it requires. Self-sacrifice. Yes. Exactly the kind. That your mother and father. Made for you. When you were. In need. The church.

[44:34] Has a responsibility. To look after widows. Who are really in need. In fact. First Timothy five. Was written. To address this need.

[44:45] That there. There are. Ladies. Whose husbands. Have died. And. And so. They're all by themselves. And they really have needs. That they can't meet themselves. As they're getting older.

[44:56] And yet. God doesn't just say. Church. Come on. Sweep in. And take care of. No. There's. There's first something else. That should happen. First Timothy five. Four. If a widow has.

[45:07] Children. Or grandchildren. They should learn. First of all. To put their religion. Into practice. By caring for their own family. And so. Repaying their parents.

[45:18] And grandparents. For this. Is pleasing. To God. You see. Caring for aged parents. Is not always an easy. Task. And it's not always.

[45:28] A church task. If there are children. And grandchildren. They should. First. Be the ones. To take care. Of their.

[45:38] Elderly mother. Grandmother. And notice. What. That is called. It's called. Putting your religion. Into practice.

[45:50] And that's something. God doesn't have. Much. To say. About religion. That never makes it. Into practice. That has a lot. To say against it. It's phony. There's nothing to it.

[46:03] It's like the Pharisees. No. How do you put your religion. Into practice. Well. You keep the fifth commandment. And you honor. Father and mother. When.

[46:14] They are in need. And. He says. This is repaying. Your parents.

[46:25] You understand. What it's saying. That's the way. They sacrifice. For you. Now you are to sacrifice. For them. It's recognizing. They have done. So much. For me. It's my opportunity.

[46:37] To show my honor. Back to them. And then it's called. Pleasing to God. For this. Is pleasing to God. And listen. Some of you. Are going through. Some very self-sacrificial.

[46:49] Acts. Toward your parents. Right now. To take care of them. To make sure. That. That they are comforted. And that they. That they're visited. And they. They're not left alone. And. And.

[46:59] And that cost you time. It cost you money. It cost all kinds of things. Here's some help. That pleases the Lord. Obeying him.

[47:10] Always pleases him. And when you obey. The fifth commandment. That. That is. Pleasure to God. That's the way. It's supposed to be. Is what his heart says. That.

[47:20] That's why I gave. That command. And. And that's. The way it's. Supposed to be. And it brings him. Pleasure. But to not provide for.

[47:32] Your mother and father. In their need. When you're able. Is to deny the faith. And to be worse. Than unbelievers. First Timothy. Five. Eight. So.

[47:43] The scripture passage. Showed Jesus. Standing up for the fifth commandment. When the Pharisees. By their traditions. Would say. You don't need to look after your mom and dad. When they're in need. As long as you just. Say that this is a gift for God.

[47:55] Then you don't need to help them. No. It's part of what it means. To honor father and mother. And then lastly. How do you show this honor. From your heart. How will it look.

[48:05] Well. It's by the way. That you live. And you will live in a way. That honors your father and mother. And that's why I say. Whether your mom and dad. Are long gone. Or whether they're still here.

[48:16] You will live in a way. That honors. Their memory. Their name. In the community. You will live in a way. That doesn't. Drag their name down.

[48:26] But lifts it up. Your very life. Then. Will be an honor. When people. Think of. Your mom. And your dad. Well that's. What it means.

[48:37] That's at least something. Of what this means. To honor father and mother. Now what are. Lastly. Its benefits. And the thing. That strikes me. Is God knows. How hard it is.

[48:47] Kids. To obey your parents. And he knows. Older parents. Or older. Older. Children. How hard it is. To take care of parents. When they're old. And so he attaches. A promise.

[48:58] Blessing. To his command. Isn't that something. And it's right there. Here's the command. Honor your father and mother. Right away. He hitches. A promise. Blessing. To it.

[49:09] To encourage you. And what is the promise. Blessing. It's. So that you may live long. In the land. That the Lord. Your God. Is giving you. Deuteronomy. Chapter 5. Repeats.

[49:19] This. This command. Honor your father. And your mother. And it tweaks. That a bit. The reason. Added to it. Not changing the command. But changing. The reason. Given for it. So that you may live long.

[49:31] And that it may go well. With you. In the land. That the Lord. Your God. Has given you. Long life. Going well. With you. And that's. The way we find it. As well.

[49:42] In Ephesians. Chapter 6. And verse 3. You see. Israel could stay. In the promised land. As long as they obeyed God. But once they rebelled. Against God.

[49:54] He'd drive them out. He'd bring enemy nations in. And with their armies. They would. They would destroy them. And drive them out of the land. And here's this promise. That. As you continue to obey me.

[50:06] You will live long in the land. And will. Have a good life. In the land. And no small part of that. Would be dependent on. Whether children were growing up.

[50:17] With a proper view. Toward God's authority. That begins right in their home. Children that obey. And honor father and mother. God's authority. Will then obey it.

[50:27] In all the other spheres of life. And Israel will stay long in the land. That God had given them. To enjoy. To enjoy. May. But Paul.

[50:41] Tweaks it a bit. The reason. The added blessing. He gives the same command. Honor your father and mother. But in Ephesians 6. 3. He says that it may go well with you. And that you may enjoy long life on the earth.

[50:56] Long life. A good life. Those are part of the blessings attached to this command. Benefits here and now. Not only in the promised land that we're heading to, but even here and now.

[51:08] Proverbs 4.10, listen, my son, and accept what I say, that the years of your life may be many. Now, somebody says, well, I know some very disobedient children that lived to be 100 years old.

[51:19] And you also know some very obedient children that died young. But all things being equal, this promise is still true. It is not true that only the good die young.

[51:34] No, the promise is for children who honor father and mother that they will enjoy life and long life. In other words, those who learn to submit to authority in the home and carry that same sweet attitude toward God's authority into the various other spheres of life like school and job and government and church.

[52:02] They will enjoy life. That's the way life was meant to be. But if they despise authority in the home, then they'll despise the authority in the other spheres of life.

[52:15] And that could bring them to not enjoying life and even to an early death. Absalom dishonored his father and mother, and it brought him to an early grave.

[52:27] Eli's two sons disregarded their father's rebuke and were slain. The examples were many in the Old Testament. And you don't have to look far to find other examples of this.

[52:38] Children, if you want life going well for you, few things are so important as learning to submit to God's authority. That's what God is saying. This commandment is good for you.

[52:50] And in the keeping of it, there's a great reward. You only lose by disobeying. Satan tells you that you win by disobeying. It's a lie. So what has God done?

[53:01] It's not only the home that has God's authority set up. Kids, he's set that up in other spheres, as I just said, when you go to work and when you go to school and when you drive your car and the government laws.

[53:13] There's this authority of God in the whole of your life. You never can get away from it. And so learn it early in the home that you might learn how to live well and long in the earth.

[53:28] To fail to learn early is to learn the hard way that God's authority is like a rock and you can kick against it, but you can't move it.

[53:39] His authority is unmovable, unshakable. And it's built into the various institutions of life. So it's first in the family. That's where you first learn that what mom and dad say is more important than what I want.

[53:54] You can learn that before you're two years old. And it might cost many spanking sessions, many tearful rebukes and corrections and disciplines. But it's for your good, children.

[54:07] It's not for your harm. What's for your harm is for a child to be left to himself to say God's authority doesn't mean anything in the home or elsewhere. But if he doesn't learn to submit to God's authority in the home, he then moves out of the home into other spheres.

[54:24] So now he's at school. And now the teacher's saying, get out your books and turn. I don't want it to get out my book. And you've just won yourself a visit to the principal.

[54:35] And maybe to be expelled. You keep that kind of attitude up at school. Maybe to be expelled. Maybe to flunk out of school. Now you go out for a sports team. And the coach tells you something to do.

[54:50] And you don't think that's the best way to do things. And that's a way to win your place on the bench or off the team. And you say, well, it was a stupid team anyway.

[55:02] And I really wasn't that encouraged. I didn't enjoy the sport much anyway. And yes, if I get in trouble with authority at school, I really didn't care for school.

[55:15] I'm going to get a job. Make a lot of money. So now you're in the workforce. And the boss says, wants you to do this in this way. But it's not the way you want to do it.

[55:26] And you've never learned to submit to authority. So you bucket. And you get a pink slip. Or you're soon on your way. Well, I didn't like that job much anyway. And I'll go find one that I do like.

[55:38] And you bounce around from job to job. Well, this is for sissies. I'm going to join the military. I'm going to be a tough guy. And what do you learn there?

[55:49] Lo and behold, the commanding officer is not giving suggestions. And if you don't agree with him, you're in trouble. It will not go well for you there.

[56:02] And on and on it goes. I'm going to get married. And you never learn to put your will under to serve another person. You'll be in and out of marriages and relationships. Leaving behind a trail of shame and pain.

[56:17] Even the laws of the land. If I want to drive this fast, I'll do it. I don't care what the law says. If I want this, I don't. I can shoplift if I want to.

[56:29] Nobody's going to stop me. Watch. And you begin to get in trouble with the law. And it's not the good life that God intends. Now you're in jail.

[56:41] You've got a record attached to your name. Life's not going well. Well, you see, eventually you end up at the last judgment. And now you're before the judge of all the earth.

[56:52] The one who instituted all authority. Gave some to the government officials. Some to teachers. Some to parents. Some to the church. Some to all these different authority structures.

[57:03] And now you're before the one who stands on the top of the heap. And he wants to know what you did with his commandments. What you did with those people working for him.

[57:15] Exerting his authority. Exerting his authority. And you'll see that it all started out in the home. I think a sad study of those on death row would be to find out what kind of home lives they had.

[57:28] Did they learn at home to submit to God's authority? You see, God comes in the fifth commandment, children, to do you good.

[57:40] Remember what we said about the commands? They are righteous, holy, and good. And it is sheer stupidity to fight against God's good commands.

[57:52] No, they're for your good. And it's stupid to not honor father and mother. It will lead to a trail of misery. The devil says that's freedom.

[58:05] No, it's not. It's bondage and it leads to destruction. Freedom is to run in the way of God's commandments. This is the good life. This is the way it's supposed to be.

[58:17] And it's not only foolish and stupid to disobey parents that God has put into your life for your good. It's also very, very wicked. You know why it's wicked to not honor father and mother?

[58:29] Because it's God who tells you to do so. So in dishonoring your parents, you're dishonoring God himself. Now we've all done that.

[58:40] Everyone in this room has done that. We have dishonored our parents and we've dishonored God. And the good news is that God loves foolish, wicked people.

[58:56] And he invites us to be saved by not just trying harder to obey our parents and to honor them, but by coming as a helpless sinner and saying, God, I'm a sinner.

[59:09] I deserve your wrath. I deserve to be cursed. I'm the one who has dishonored my parents. I'm not recognized they are important because you put them over me.

[59:21] Please forgive me. And please save me through Jesus. Because of what he did. You know, if there was just one person, one child who ever could live the whole of their life without sinning against God, then they would qualify to stand in our place and to take our punishment for us.

[59:46] And that's what Christmas is all about. God has such a son. And he sent him into this world. And he lived the perfect life that he might qualify to die in the place of children who disobey their parents.

[60:02] And it's in his blood and it's through his work that we can be forgiven, accepted as righteous as Jesus is righteous in the courtroom of heaven.

[60:13] We're going to have more to say about that next week. But children, don't wait till next week. You don't know that you'll be here next week. No, this Savior is ready to save you. And he is glad to save you.

[60:25] God will save to the uttermost all that come unto him through Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Great God in heaven, we thank you for your words that are clear and plain.

[60:41] We thank you that they reveal our sin and our need of a Savior. And when we are most at our wits end and in despair, we thank you that you have good news for us, that Jesus Christ is a willing and an able Savior.

[60:56] Draw children this morning to trust in him to save them from their sins. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.