Jesus and the 5th Commandment

[0:00] Luke chapter 2, verse 41, and we'll read through the end of the chapter. Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover.

[0:11] ! When he was 12 years old, they went up to the feast according to the custom. After the feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it.

[0:28] Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him.

[0:41] After three days, they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.

[0:55] When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.

[1:09] Why were you searching for me? He asked. Didn't you know I had to be in my father's house? But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

[1:21] Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men.

[1:38] Honor your father and your mother. The fifth commandment. Last week we saw that this is something all of us owe to our parents.

[1:52] And honor is first an inward attitude, isn't it? Before it's ever expressed outwardly. It's the way you think about your parents. To think of them with respect.

[2:05] To hold them with respect. Not because they in themselves perhaps are so wonderful and perfect. No, that's not it. It's that they represent God's authority over you.

[2:18] He puts them there. And so to regard them with respect because of the God who has made them your parent. And then we're to treat them with honor.

[2:29] Not just insight. It's to come out. And the way we listen to them. The way we obey them. The way we speak to them and about them with respect. To live in a way that brings honor to them rather than disgrace.

[2:43] And then to take care of them when they're older and in need. That was the meaning of this commandment. And then we also looked at the difficulty of the command. Why is it so hard for children to obey their parents?

[2:56] Well, because you're born with a natural dislike for authority. And you're not alone in that. We all came into this world with a natural aversion to authority.

[3:08] We don't want anyone telling us what to do. Don't do this. Instead, do that. But God has given us many commands.

[3:19] We're studying ten of them, aren't we, in this series. Which is just a sampling of his many commands that he's given to us. Indeed, our animosity towards God is expressed by not submitting to his laws.

[3:35] He says something and we're to bow ourselves and put ourselves under his law. And we show our dislike for authority by not obeying, not submitting to his commandments.

[3:47] And it's that distaste for authority that is our sinful nature that we inherited from our parents and they from theirs. All the way back to our first fallen parents who passed on this sinful nature to their children.

[4:03] Parents, you have noticed that you never needed to teach your children to disobey, did you? You labored long and hard to teach them to obey.

[4:14] You never needed to teach them to dishonor you and to go against your authority. These things come quite naturally and are expressed at a very early age.

[4:29] That's what makes this command so hard to obey. He's not only given us commands to obey, he's also given us parents to obey. And he's given them the authority to give us commands.

[4:41] And he tells us we must honor them by obeying them. The only exception being is if they command us to sin. So God's authority over us in this world is first experienced when father and mother say no to us the first time.

[4:56] That's where we first meet up with God's own authority in a very visible, tangible way. Well, that's the difficulty of this command.

[5:09] And then why? Why did God give us parents and tell us to honor them? Was it to make us miserable? Was it to ruin our happiness and rob us of all joy?

[5:21] To the contrary, he gave them to us with a design to bless us, to enrich us, to enhance our lives, to make us better, to help us and prepare us for life in God's world.

[5:32] Because as we get out of the home, we find that that's not the only place God has his authority structures. We meet it at school, on the job, even in athletics. We meet it in the social government.

[5:44] We meet it in church. There is authority that God has established. And we must submit ourselves to those governing authorities. And by learning early to submit to authority of our mother and father, we are thereby ready to go into this world and to do well there.

[6:06] Because we have learned to live under God's authority. In other words, the benefit of the fifth command we saw last week was promised to those who obey it.

[6:19] Ephesians 6.3 says this is the first commandment with a promise that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth. That's God's reason for giving you parents, children.

[6:33] A very kind reason. Benefits. Go along with it as you honor them. He wants you to have life go well for you and for you to enjoy long life.

[6:46] He wants to spare you from a thousand ruinous snares in life, some of which could even take you to an early grave. So we saw last week its meaning, its difficulty, its benefits.

[6:59] And we saw its importance. How important is the fifth commandment? Well, don't take your cue from what other kids are doing with their parents, but rather from God himself.

[7:11] And we we saw that the punishment that God attaches for dishonoring parents shows us how important it is to him. He says that.

[7:24] Cursed is the man who dishonors his father or his mother. And in the New Testament, Romans one has a list of wicked things that bring God's wrath down on people.

[7:37] And one of them is they disobey their parents, even though they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death.

[7:48] You just can't read those words without understanding how important this is to God. Honoring father and mother is of great importance to him.

[7:58] And therefore must be to you as well. But now. There is nowhere that we see the importance of this commandment so clearly as we do in the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

[8:12] So today we want to take up this topic of the Lord Jesus and the fifth commandment. And we begin with his incarnation and birth. First Timothy one fifteen explains why there is a Christmas, why there was a first Christmas.

[8:27] An incarnation and a birth of Jesus. Why? Why did he become man and come to earth? Here's a faithful saying that is worth having all of you accept it.

[8:38] Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Now he had the all in satisfying experience of living forever and ever eternity past with with his father and with the Holy Spirit.

[8:57] Nothing like it. The pure atmosphere of unmixed holiness. Joy, love, perfect relationship within the Trinity. And then two thousand years ago.

[9:09] He, the eternal son of God, left that enjoyment of glory with his father in heaven. He came out of his ivory palaces into a world of woe.

[9:21] Of evil. Of bad things. Where sinners are guilty and vile and polluted and filthy. A world of woe and brokenness and sadness.

[9:34] A world that was marred by sin. Now the son of God had been a spirit being without a body.

[9:45] But two thousand years ago in becoming a real man, he took on him a real body. A human body like ours that experienced weakness and weariness, hunger, thirst, need for sleep, piercing pain.

[10:01] It was a real body. And he took a real human soul like ours. It's capable of loneliness and fear and disappointment and rejection and separation and overwhelming sorrow and heartbreaking grief.

[10:19] Amazing. When you think of what he was and how he existed before. That he would come and take a human form and experience such sorrow that he's called the man of sorrows.

[10:34] And acquainted with grief. Why, children? Why would Jesus, the eternal son of God, do that? And the answer is because there were boys and girls down here who had dishonored their parents.

[10:47] They had dishonored their parents. And in dishonoring their parents, they had dishonored God who put their parents over them. And so they brought down upon themselves God's wrath, God's curse.

[11:02] Death. The second death. Eternal punishments in hell. And Christ Jesus came into the world to save such sinners. Sinners who disobeyed their parents.

[11:16] Now, if that's the first place in the home where you meet up with God's authority, I would say that it's probably true of most all of us that our first sin against God was probably involved the way that we dishonored our parents.

[11:30] Our first conscious sin, at least. And he came because here we are. We we've broken the fifth commandment.

[11:41] And he came to bring salvation. And if he's going to save human sinners, then he needs a human body. And therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said. This passage in Hebrews 10 takes us right in to listen into what Christ said, just as he's coming into the world, coming into the virgin's womb.

[12:00] This is what he's saying to his father as he was coming into the world. He said, sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me. You didn't want any more animal sacrifices like all those in the Old Testament.

[12:15] No, with burnt offerings and sin offerings, you were not pleased. Why not? Because they could never take away sin. They could never save sinners. But a body you prepared for me because this was to be a sacrifice of more noble blood than animals.

[12:34] This one sacrifice would save sinners. And it would be the body of Jesus. God's perfect lamb. So the father prepared a body for him, conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary.

[12:50] And God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son and sent him into this world so that anyone who has dishonored father and mother might not perish but have everlasting life.

[13:03] You see, the incarnation and birth had everything to do with our breaches, our breaking of the fifth commandment. That brought us under God's wrath and sentence of death.

[13:16] But it wasn't just the father loving the world, preparing a body and sending his son. No, listen to what the son says. Father, you have prepared a body for me.

[13:28] Then I said, here I am. It's written about me in the scroll. I have come to do your will. Oh, my God. Your law is within my heart.

[13:38] Jesus is sent. Yes, the father sends him and prepares a body for him. But Jesus offers himself voluntarily, willingly says, here I am, father.

[13:51] Send me. And he comes willingly to save those of us whose earliest sins were that of breaking the fifth commandment.

[14:03] So the fifth commandment is important if it brought Christ out of heaven to save us sinners. My, this is very important stuff we're dealing with. It took the incarnation and birth of Jesus to save such sinners.

[14:19] But secondly, we see the importance of this command when we consider Jesus' perfect obedience. His perfect obedience. Galatians 4, 4 says, in the fullness of time, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under law to redeem those under law.

[14:39] Here's the lawgiver, God's eternal son, being born now under the law. Who's the law for? Is it for God to obey or man to obey?

[14:51] Well, God is the one who speaks it. Man is the one who is to obey it. But now that God's son, God the son, is made man, he's now born of woman, he's born under the law.

[15:07] Now he's obligated to keep that law himself. He comes under the Ten Commandments. He comes under the Fifth Commandment. He now has the duty of honoring his father and his mother.

[15:22] In fact, to qualify as a sacrifice to redeem other lawbreakers, other men and women, boys and girls who have broken God's law.

[15:34] He must be without sin. Because if he gives into temptation even once, dishonoring his parents, then he's no savior for us. He can't die for our sins.

[15:46] He can only die for his own sins and get what he's got coming for dishonoring his father and mother. And so I want to encourage you children to know that the Lord Jesus was once your age.

[15:58] Whatever age you are. You two, you five, you ten, you teenager, you're in your twenties. Jesus, eternal son of God, became a man and was once your age.

[16:14] But at no age did he ever dishonor his father and mother. Now that's the miracle we just read about in Luke 2. When as a 12-year-old, he goes up with his parents to Jerusalem for the feast or for worship.

[16:29] He gets lost to them. They couldn't find him. And when they found him, Luke tells us, Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them.

[16:41] It's the same word for submission. He submitted himself to them. He put himself under them. He who created them becomes man and is now submissive to Joseph and Mary.

[16:59] And that's the last thing we're told about him until he appears on the pages of Scripture as a 30-year-old to be baptized and begin his public ministry.

[17:09] And by this, the Holy Spirit is saying that the only thing you really need to know about Jesus between ages 12 and 30 is that he was obedient to his parents. We're not told anything else about that period of his life.

[17:24] He went down with them to Nazareth and was obedient to them. This is important. That's the last thing we're told about him. Now, Jesus was tempted to dishonor his parents.

[17:36] Say, how do you know that? Well, Hebrews 4.15 says he was tempted in every way as we are. And yet was without sin. He was tempted to disobey his parents.

[17:50] He was tempted by the devil. We read of that in the Gospels, don't we? How Satan said something to him, planted certain thoughts, tempted him to sin.

[18:03] And no doubt the devil tempted him to dishonor his father and mother. No doubt he was tempted by other kids to join in with them as they're talking down their mother and father.

[18:22] And I would add that no doubt he was tempted by his own parents. Jesus had godly but imperfect parents.

[18:34] It's not like they were perfect parents, were never unfair and never unkind. Mary and Joseph were sinners. That means their sin splashed upon those who are around them.

[18:47] And that means their own children. Every parent here must confess that to be the case. That we don't keep our sins to ourselves. But that our sins splash on our children.

[19:00] And on each other as husband and wife. And whereas other children responding to that sin that splashed on often splashed back with their own sin.

[19:11] Jesus never did. He never did that. He bore patiently with any sinful behavior. It's almost in the scripture passage when Mary and Joseph finally find him back there at the temple.

[19:24] She's giving him a good scolding, isn't she? Why have you done this to us? How could you do this? He had parents that were sinners just like your parents and my parents were.

[19:38] And that would tempt a person to respond in kind. But not Jesus. He prayed for his parents instead of arguing with them. Or instead of lecturing them. But he never dishonored them.

[19:52] He may not have always agreed with their decisions. But he always obeyed them. Hebrews 5.8 says he learned obedience by the things that he suffered.

[20:07] What the writer is telling us is that his obedience wasn't learned on some planet where everything was perfect. And conditions were just right. That's where he obeyed God's commands.

[20:20] No. No. He learned obedience in a world that was polluted and shot through with sin and temptation. A world where he suffered many things from the hands of others.

[20:34] Provoking things. And perhaps even suffering at the hands of good and imperfect parents. So other kids complained of their parents' rules.

[20:47] But never him. Other kids talked back to their mother. Slandered her. Never him. Other kids lied to their fathers. Argued with their mothers. Hid their anger at their parents' authority under an outward mask of obedience.

[21:02] But inside despised them for their rules. But never Jesus. Though tempted to do so. He never dishonored his parents either in thought, in word, or in deed.

[21:17] And then at age 33. We find the Lord Jesus in John chapter 19. Hanging on the middle cross of Golgotha. And he's still honoring his mother.

[21:30] He's now enduring the painful and shameful agony of crucifixion. Unbelievable pain in his body. And in his soul.

[21:41] And he's looking down. And there she is. His mother. Looking up at him. And there over, not far away, is John the apostle. And Jesus.

[21:54] Is not consumed with his own great needs. At this moment. But he's concerned for her needs. And out of that honor for his mother.

[22:06] He says, dear woman. Behold your son. Son. Behold. Behold your mother. He's taking care of her.

[22:17] He's arranging for John to look after. And she went home with him. And he took care of her. One of the ten commandments from Mount Sinai.

[22:30] Is embodied in one of the seven sayings of Jesus from the cross. He honored his father and mother. He took the fifth commandment seriously.

[22:41] Even while he hung on the hellish cross. Don't let anyone say. This commandment isn't very important. Look what Jesus did. To obey it. See how he perfectly obeyed.

[22:55] The fifth commandment. So children of all ages. Here's a perfect example. To us. That we might follow in Jesus steps. And honor our father and mother. And here's a perfect standard.

[23:06] By which we will all be judged one day. For whether we obeyed or disobeyed. The fifth commandment. But more than that. Here's a perfect righteousness.

[23:17] To cover all of our sins. Against the fifth commandment. Children hear me. Jesus knew that God is so holy.

[23:28] He knew that no one will ever get into heaven. To live with him. Without a perfect righteousness. If you don't have a record. That is perfect.

[23:39] You can't live with a perfectly righteous God. It would consume you. With his holiness. He's just that holy. No one will ever enter in.

[23:51] Without a perfect report card. A perfect record of obedience. To every command. The fifth commandment included. Which means. Never dishonoring mother and father.

[24:03] In thought, word or deed. You've got to have that kind of record. To get into heaven. And Jesus knew it. And he knew that we didn't have such a record. That we've all. Come short.

[24:16] Of that righteousness. And that's why Jesus came. And he came to obey. And to honor his father and mother. That he might. Earn a perfect record. On his report card.

[24:26] To put to the account. Of every sinner. That trusts in him. Now he has a perfect record to give. To sinners. And every stitch of that righteous robe.

[24:40] Is woven by his. Perfect obedience. And he's willing to exchange. Our filthy rags. For his. Perfect righteousness. When we come. And. Own our sin.

[24:51] And confess our sin. And trust in him to save us. He takes our. Filthy rags. And gives us. His perfect. Robe. Of righteousness. So we then.

[25:01] Can come before the glorious father. Without fear. Without fault. And with great joy. Knowing will be accepted. Because of Jesus.

[25:12] Perfect obedience. To the fifth commandment. And every other commandment. Yes. The fifth commandment. Is so important. That Jesus magnified it.

[25:23] By perfectly obeying it. That sinners. Might have. The perfect record. That they need to live. With God forever. So what does Jesus deserve.

[25:34] For having perfectly obeyed. The commandment. Well he deserves the promise. That's attached to it. He deserves to have things. Go well with him. And to have long life. On the earth. Yeah. He's the only one.

[25:46] That really. Deserves that. Blessing. Isn't it? So we see the importance. Of the fifth commandment. In his. Perfect obedience. To it. We also see it.

[25:57] Thirdly. In his defending of it. Against those who attacked it. And I'm not going to spend time here. We did in the Sunday school hour. Honor your father and mother.

[26:09] As a command of God. And when the ruling. Religious leaders. Of Jesus day. Were making loopholes. So that people could. Not have to honor.

[26:20] Father and mother. With their money. Jesus didn't stand by. And say. Well it's only. A little loophole. For the fifth commandment. No. He came out. Fighting. He put on the gloves.

[26:31] And he. He came out. And he fought. With these. Pharisees. And scribes. Who by their traditions. Had set aside. One of God's commandments.

[26:41] And he dealt. Very pointedly. With them. Because you see. This is not. Something unimportant. This is one of God's.

[26:52] Commands. And he honored the law. And he defended it. Even as he did. Many other commandments. That they had. Twisted. And distorted. This commandment.

[27:04] Was worth fighting for. It's that important. To Jesus. But. But fourthly. And I want to come here quickly. The importance of the fifth command. Is seen most clearly. When we consider Jesus.

[27:15] Atoning death. His atoning death. I think sometimes. Children think small. Of their sin.

[27:25] I was once. A young person. And I think it's a problem. That. Sometimes the sins of children. Are belittled. Because children are so little. I mean. How bad can it be?

[27:35] I'm just a little guy. Right? But the seriousness of sin. Is not measured. By the size of the sinner. But by the size of the.

[27:46] One. That they sin against. That's what makes sin serious. Not how old you are. But. What is the great God.

[27:57] That you sin against. So you may be a child. A young child. But if you dishonor your parents. You are dishonoring. A great God. Who commanded you.

[28:08] To obey them. That's. A big deal. That's what makes. Dishonoring father and mother. So serious. Because you dishonor God.

[28:20] Whose command it is. You treat him. As a nobody. I heard you say. I know I'm to honor. My father and mother. I know I'm not to talk back. I know I'm not to. To disobey them.

[28:31] But you know. I'm going to do it anyway. And that's to say. What I want. Is even more important. Than what God has commanded. That's to treat God. As something little. That is to dishonor him.

[28:42] We talk about dissing someone. We're putting them down. And that's what a child does. When they dishonor their parents. They diss God. Don't think much of you.

[28:54] And your commands. No. But it's a serious blot. On God's honor. And what does that deserve? Well we've already seen it. Cursed is the man.

[29:05] Who dishonors his father and mother. For these things. The wrath of God is coming. The wages of sin is death. God's wrath. God's curse. God's death.

[29:17] Of. Eternal torments. And children. There's no exception clause. Unless you're a little person. Unless you're a child.

[29:28] Then of course. It's not so serious. That you. Would be cursed. Or. Have God's wrath. Or. Die the second death. Of eternal torments. No.

[29:38] There's none of that. Is it a small thing. To dishonor God. By dishonoring your parents. Then come with me children. To the middle cross. On Mount Calvary.

[29:50] And let's see. What it took. To remove the dishonor. From God. That you're dishonoring. Your parents. Put upon him. We come to the middle cross.

[30:01] And we see Jesus. Hanging there. And dying. Here's death. Here is death. And oh what a death. This is death. With the sting of death. Because the sting of death.

[30:15] Is sin. And Christ is dying. For sin. He has been made sin. For us. He bore our sin. In his body.

[30:26] On the tree. And that's why he's dying. What a death. A death. A death with the sting. Of sin in it. And here is wrath. God's wrath.

[30:37] For sin. And sinners. God is pouring out. His infinite wrath. But upon his son. Who stands in. For sinners. And he who knew only the smile.

[30:47] Of his heavenly father. Is now being made. To feel. The separation. And wrath. Of his father. And he willingly drinks. The cup of God's wrath.

[30:58] For sin. Here's death. Here's wrath. Here's curse. For cursed is anyone. Who is hanged on a tree. Galatians 3.

[31:09] 13. This death. Under God's wrath. And curse. Is the punishment. We deserve. For dishonoring. Our fathers and mothers. And this alone.

[31:21] Can remove. The dishonor. Done to God's name. By our breaking. The fifth commandment. But it's not us. On that cross. It's Jesus. The eternal son of God. And he's dying.

[31:32] As a substitute. Someone that stepped in. For his people. He dies. Instead of them. As Paul says. Christ redeemed. Us from the curse. By becoming.

[31:43] A curse. For us. And so. Christ drinks. The cup of God's wrath. Right down. To the bottom. So that there's now. No condemnation.

[31:56] For sinners. Who trust in him. He was bruised. For our transgressions. He was crushed. For our iniquities. The punishment. That brought us peace. It was upon him.

[32:06] And by his stripes. We are healed. Children. Never think. That just because you haven't. Cussed out your parents. Just because you haven't. Run away from home. That your sins.

[32:17] Against the fifth commandment. Are small things. Read the seriousness. Of your sin. By seeing. Who it is. That dies on the cross.

[32:29] For children. Who broke. The fifth commandment. You who think of sin. But lightly. Nor suppose. The evil great. Here. May view.

[32:39] It's nature rightly. Here. It's guilt. May estimate. Mark. The sacrifice. Appointed. See who bears. The awful load. Tis the word. The Lord's anointed.

[32:51] Son of man. And son. Of God. You see. The Lord Jesus. Shows us. How important. The fifth commandment. Is. Nothing.

[33:02] Less than this. Will take away. The dishonor. That we do. To God. When we dishonor. Our parents. And so.

[33:14] The fifth commandment. Condemns us all. And by the way. That's one of the purposes. God has. For the fifth commandment. Is to show us. That we're condemned. Can any of you say.

[33:26] I never dishonored. Father and mother. Part of the reason. That that commandment. Is there. Is to show you. You need a savior. None of your. Trying harder. And doing. No. You broke it.

[33:37] It's broken. You deserve death. Curse and wrath. Now what are you going to do? You see. One of the purposes. Of this command. Is to say. There's a savior. For those who have broken.

[33:48] The fifth commandment. His name is Jesus. He never broke it. So he has a righteousness. To give to you. If you'll just come. And trust in him. That's why this commandment.

[33:59] Is here. It is here. To lead us to Christ. That's one of its purposes. Think what Jesus accomplished. By his. Obeying this command.

[34:10] Perfectly. In his full obedient life. In his. His dying. And atoning death. By that. Life and death. He restores to us. The promised benefits.

[34:20] Of the fifth commandment. That we had forfeited. Remember what those promised. Benefits are. For those who. Who keep the fifth commandment. The blessing of enjoying. A long life on earth.

[34:31] And having things go well. For us. Well. We forfeited such promises. By dishonoring our mother. And father. Instead. We deserve. The curse.

[34:42] And death. And things not going well. For us. Under God's wrath. But Jesus. Perfectly. Honored his father and mother. And he's qualified. For.

[34:53] The blessing of a long life. And things going well. For him. And wonder of wonders. He's willing to trade. With us. Willing to take.

[35:04] Our curse. And to give us his blessing. To take. Our death. And to give us. His life. To take. Our wrath. The wrath.

[35:15] We deserve from God. And to give us. God's everlasting favor. Forever and ever. On an earth. That has been made new. Without any sin.

[35:25] Without any death. What a trade. Have you made that trade? Has everyone here. Made that trade? Your sin. For his righteousness. Your curse. For his blessing. If not.

[35:36] Why not? Do you know. He's willing to make that. That's the gospel. Come to me. You weary. You tired. You tired. You tired of being. Not able to measure up.

[35:47] To God's standard. And knowing your curse. Because of it. And you're guilty. Come to me. All you who are weary. And heavy laden. And I will give you rest. I'll give you soul rest. I'll give you that inner rest.

[35:58] And peace. What a wonderful thing. Jesus does. By his perfect life. And his atoning death. Bring your sins to Jesus. And he'll make the exchange.

[36:09] With his righteousness. He'll do that today. Do it right now. As you sit there in your seat. If you just throw yourself. On his mercy. And trust in nothing.

[36:20] But his death. His obedience. To save you. And what's more. Our Lord not only restores. The promised benefits. Of this command. Long life.

[36:33] Things going well for us. That's called. Eternal. Abundant life. But he also. Is the answer. To our difficulty. With this command. Children.

[36:45] We talked about. Why is it so hard. To obey mom and dad. Because of this. Attitude. That doesn't like authority. Jesus fixes. That inward.

[36:56] Dislike of authority. He not only took the penalty. For our dishonoring. Our parents. He fixes that. Problem in our hearts.

[37:08] It doesn't want to be told. What to do. How does he do that? Well our memory verse. For the last two weeks. Tells us that. Ezekiel. 36. 26. And 27.

[37:22] I will give you a new heart. And put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you. Your heart of stone. And give you a heart of flesh. You see how he does it?

[37:34] That heart that says. Don't tell me what to do. And when mom says to do something. And dad makes his rules. There's something inside. That bristles. And stiffens my neck. And I don't want. And I don't like them.

[37:45] There's something to change that. It's God's almighty work on the heart. To take out that stubborn heart. To heal our wayward heart.

[37:56] And to put in a heart. That's not hardened. But a heart of flesh. That's soft and pliable. That says. Yes. I will submit to your ways. I will obey your laws.

[38:07] That's the first thing. New heart. That enables us. To obey with joy and happiness. And with our hearts.

[38:18] The commands of God. In verse 27. There's more. I will put my spirit in you. And move you to follow my decrees. And be careful to keep my commands.

[38:30] Not perfectly. But really. And radically. And sincerely. And with repentance. When you fall. You see. I will put.

[38:41] I will move. Two things that God does. To deal with this difficulty. What makes it so hard. To obey mom and dad. I will put.

[38:52] What will he put? I'll put my spirit in you. Children. Do you hear that? Almighty God says. I will put my spirit. This is the same spirit. That hovered over the darkness.

[39:03] And the depth. And the beginning of creation. And brought order. And life. And light. Out of chaos. And the darkness. It's the same spirit. That hovered over. The virgin Mary.

[39:15] And brought forth. The boy Jesus. In her womb. It's the same spirit. That then raised Jesus. From the dead. Took him out of the grave. And brought him into newness of life.

[39:25] I will put. My spirit. My spirit. In you. Five year old. Ten year old. Fifteen year old. Twenty five. Whoever you are. I will do that for you.

[39:36] He does it for all of his people. He gives them a new heart. And then he puts his own spirit. In us. To what end? To move us.

[39:49] To move us. To follow his decrees. And to be careful. To keep his laws. Why does he promise. To put his spirit in you.

[40:00] To move you. To keep you. The fifth commandment. To honor your father and mother. He says. You can't do that. You don't have the heart. To honor them. I know that. I see the resistance there.

[40:11] So I'm going to take out that old heart. And put a new one. And I'm going to put my own spirit in there. The same spirit. That Jesus had. That never sinned against his spirit.

[40:22] I'm going to put that spirit in you. To move you. To motivate you. Now how does he do that? How does he move us. To obey the fifth commandment?

[40:35] How does a cowboy move a horse? Well there's more than one way. Isn't there? I suppose if you got enough people. Pulling on a rope. You could move them that way.

[40:46] Or you could put a carrot out in front. And you move them along that way. Or you got some spurs. And you could dig into his sides. And move them that way. God will put his spirit in you.

[40:58] To move you. To keep the fifth commandment. That's his promise. Young people. That's his promise. That he keeps for everyone. How does he move us?

[41:09] The spirit. He's in us. Well he reads with us. The holy scriptures. And he says. John. Look at the promise.

[41:20] Blessings. For those who honor. Father and mother. Can you believe it? Can you believe he promises that. To you? This is the way of life.

[41:31] This is the way of blessedness. This is the way of freedom. Now walk in it. And look at the curse. That's attached to those who dishonor. Father and mother. Oh run from that John.

[41:42] Run. You don't want to go near that. The spirit. Moving us. To be careful. To keep the fifth commandment. This is your duty to God.

[41:53] This is the almighty. Who's speaking these words of command to you. Do you not. Honor him. And fear him. Then honor your father and mother. Look at Jesus.

[42:06] Honoring. His imperfect. Mom and dad. Look. Isn't that beautiful. To see him not. Splashing back. When he splashed upon.

[42:17] Isn't it? Isn't it a wonderful thing? Look at. Be like Jesus. And now look at him. There on the cross. Suffering and dying. Cursed and condemned.

[42:28] For your dishonoring. Of mom and dad. Are you going to return. To that same sin? Will you not. For love of this savior. Honor. The father and mother.

[42:39] That he gave you. And he has so many ways. It's not just one way. He's got many ways. To. To move us. But that's his promise. You see why it's so futile.

[42:50] To come to any command. And for children. To come to this command. And to hear how important it is. That we obey. And honor father and mother. And say. I'm going to try hard. This week. I'm really going to bear down.

[43:00] And I'm just. That's all. I'm going to. I'm just going to try hard. That's an exercise in futility. And some of you have done it. Dozens of times. I'm going to try harder. To obey God's commands. No.

[43:12] What makes it so hard. Is you got the old heart. You need what only God can do. Give you a new heart. And put his Holy Spirit in you. And enable you.

[43:25] Move you. To willingly. Follow. The Lord Jesus. In obeying. His commands. He works.

[43:39] In us. To will. And to do. His good pleasure. What a gospel. What a savior. Who honors this fifth commandment.

[43:49] By his own obedience. By. By his defending it. And then by dying. For those who have broken it. And he offers this. Exchange.

[44:00] To every child here. To every older person here. Give me your sin. I'll give you my righteousness. Bring me the punishment. Of death.

[44:11] And curse. And wrath. And I'll give you life. And blessing. And God's eternal favor. Don't. Neglect.

[44:23] His offer. How will you escape. If you neglect so great. A salvation. Let's pray. Our God.

[44:36] These things are so good. We wouldn't believe them. Unless they were written in ink. On a page. That we could read them for ourself. And see that this is the very word of God. This is the promise. Of the gospel.

[44:49] And this is why Jesus came from heaven. To save those who had. Dishonored. You. By dishonoring their parents. And dishonored you.

[44:59] In a thousand other ways as well. We thank you for the perfect life. Of Jesus. That he has a righteousness to give. Today. December 10th.

[45:13] 2017. And your promise is still good. Oh bring. Sinners. To come to you for righteousness. To trust in your death.

[45:25] To be the punishment. That takes away. All of their punishment. And gives them eternal life. Give sinners help. In coming. And receiving.

[45:36] Eternal life. As a free gift. And not something that they try to merit. By their. Trying harder. And then. Send them home. With a new heart. And. And your spirit.

[45:47] In their hearts. To be the best commentary. On the fifth commandment. That they can be. To honor father and mother. Because they love. The Lord Jesus. Who has saved them.

[45:58] From their sins. Jesus. Get glory to yourself. Then. By showing. Yourself. Gracious. To save. And we praise you.

[46:10] We praise you. For your design. In giving us parents. And we praise you. For your design. In saving us. From our sin. In enabling us. To keep your laws. We praise you.

[46:21] In Jesus name. Amen. Let's turn to number. 195. It asks the question. Was it for crimes.

[46:35] That I have done. He groaned. Upon the tree. Did Jesus die. For my breaking. Of the fifth commandment. Yes. Is the answer. This him. For all. Of our sins.

[46:47] He dies. And provides. The atonement. From them. Let's stand. And rejoice. In a savior. Who died. For sinners. 195. 1905. 1905. 1905. Thank you.