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[0:00] Well, how did we come up with Father's Day? The most recited history gives credit to a woman named Sonora Smart Dodd from the early 1900s.

[0:11] At age 27, she came up with the idea while she was listening to a Mother's Day sermon in Spokane, Washington. Don't you be planning things while you're listening to this sermon, unless it's something God wants you planning.

[0:29] Anyway, after the service, she went up to her pastor and she told him, I think that the mothers are getting all the attention and it's not fair because fathers too deserve to have attention to honor them as well.

[0:41] And indeed, her father, William Smart, was quite a man. He was a veteran of the Civil War. His wife died while giving birth to their sixth child and he went on to raise them on a small family farm all by himself.

[0:55] So she had a reason to sing the praises of fathers. And she worked hard visiting local churches and other city leaders promoting a day to honor fathers.

[1:08] She had suggested June the 5th, which was either the day of his death or the day of his birth. I'm not able to verify which it was. But that supposedly did not give the pastors time to prepare their sermons.

[1:23] And so the date was deferred to the third Sunday in June 1910. So here we are, 103 years later, and it's Father's Day.

[1:35] The idea was Sonora's, but the date was due to some slow sermon preparing pastors. But long before Sonora ever got the idea in her head to have a day to honor fathers, our creator wrote on tablets of stone, honor your father and your mother.

[2:02] So on Father's Day, we turn to this command of God to honor our fathers. And we're going to see its importance, its explanation, and then some reasons to obey it.

[2:14] First of all, the importance of this command. It is one of the ten commandments. You know, there are over 500 commands in the Bible.

[2:26] But there are only ten commands in the ten commandments. And one of them is, honor your father and your mother. Now, I'm going to refer to honoring your father.

[2:38] I'm not going to repeat, and your mother. We're talking today about honoring your father. These are the words that God himself spoke on Mount Sinai when his people, Israel, were gathered around beneath the mountain, and the mountain was quaking and shaking and billowing with smoke and fire and trumpet sound.

[3:03] And they heard the very word of God audibly speaking, honor your fathers. And then it was God himself who wrote those words on stone tablets and gave them to his people.

[3:22] Honor your father and your mother so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. Now, of course, these ten commandments were not new on Mount Sinai.

[3:35] This was the very law of God that was written upon the conscience from creation. It had always been wrong to have other gods besides him, to worship through idols, to misuse his name or his day.

[3:48] It had always been right to honor father and mother, to not murder and commit adultery and steal and covet and lie. But now those ten commands are written down and engraved as a special set of commands, a summary of God's own holy nature, what he is like.

[4:12] We talked about his holiness this morning. We sang about it. And the ten commandments are that holiness as it comes to impinge upon man's behavior.

[4:23] How is man to live before this holy God? Well, that holy God, because of who he is, demands that we have no other gods but him. And so go the ten commandments, a reflection of his holiness.

[4:37] And therefore, they do not change. They're binding on all men, Jews, Gentiles, in Palestine and in Bremen, as seen by the apostles and our Lord Jesus' quote of these commandments.

[4:55] Indeed, in Ephesians 6, the Apostle Paul quotes the fifth commandment to enforce the duty on why children, Gentile children in Ephesus, are to obey their parents.

[5:07] So if God chose this command to be one of the ten commandments, that speaks of how important it is. The second reason we say it's important is because the punishments for disobeying it show its importance.

[5:22] The punishments for disobeying it. Deuteronomy 27, 16 says, Cursed is the man who dishonors his father or his mother, and all the people shall say amen.

[5:35] All the people shall agree that that boy or girl, that man or woman who dishonors his father is cursed by God. Proverbs 30 and verse 17, The eye that mocks a father, that scorns obedience to a mother, will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley and will be eaten by the vultures.

[5:56] Kids, does that sound gross to you? That's how offensive, mocking, and scorning, dismissing mothers and fathers is to God.

[6:08] The very most wicked people would not be given a proper burial, but would just be left as refuse on the ground and the animals would come and eat them and the birds of the air would feast upon them.

[6:25] Deuteronomy 21, If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son 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.

[6:37] They shall say to the elders, This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a profligate and a drunkard. Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death.

[6:49] You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid. Now these are the words of God. This is what God wanted done in his Old Testament nation of Israel.

[7:02] Not all sins were punished by stoning, by death. But such stubborn refusal to honor fathers and mothers brought the greatest punishment.

[7:15] And in this way, God is showing how important it is to him that children honor and obey their parents. It's the same punishment that was given for those who blasphemed and cursed God.

[7:30] So that's the second way we know its importance. It's one of the Ten Commandments and the punishments against it are horrendous. And then thirdly, it's important because of its effect upon society.

[7:45] Its effect on society. And here, we see just why such stiff penalties were commanded in the nation of Israel. In order to live peaceful lives where there is law and order, there must be respect for authority.

[8:06] God has entrusted some of his own authority to government leaders. He's given some to pastors. He's given some to masters or employers, to husbands, to parents, for the peaceful ordering of society.

[8:23] What would a society look like where there was no respect for authority? Well, think of that for a moment with me.

[8:34] Where nobody obeyed the traffic laws. You say, oh goody, I can drive as fast as I want. Yes, but also people don't stop when you've got the green light. They come right on through.

[8:47] Oh. And the laws for business. You thought you were getting a gallon of gas for four and a quarter, but you really only got three quarters of a gallon. Nobody's obeying the laws of measurements.

[9:00] And nobody obeys the boss at work. Everybody leaves messes for you to fix. Nobody follows the rules at school. You have to do all the work in that group project.

[9:11] Athletic events. Everyone plays by their own rules. What fun would baseball be if everybody followed their own rules? Nobody's listening to the commanding officers in the military, the breakdown of order and discipline in our servicemen and women.

[9:31] A family where everyone does whatever they want. That sounds good. Well, until your bigger brother wants something that is yours. And then suddenly, you don't like it so well.

[9:43] Respect for authority is at the very foundation of a well-ordered and enjoyable society. And our relationship to father and mother is the very first place we learn to respect God's authority that He has delegated to other people.

[10:03] We first bump into that in the home. The first time Dad said, don't. The first time Mom says, no, we bumped into God's authority given to certain individuals on earth.

[10:21] Children learning to honor their father and mother then is at the very foundation of all peace in society. But where respect for parental authority breaks down, there are the roots of anarchy, lawlessness, crime, disintegration of society.

[10:40] Indeed, disobedience to parents is a mark of, it's a characteristic of a collapsing society. Remember in Romans chapter 1, in verses 18 and following, we get a sea, a civilization that God has given over to do their own thing.

[10:56] They've rejected God, they've suppressed His truth, they haven't considered knowing God, something worth hanging on to, so they've cast off the knowledge of God, and God has just given this people over to their own desires, to their own depraved mind, to do whatever they think what should not be done.

[11:15] And you can read the list, but verse 30 says they disobey their parents. They disobey their parents. It's a characteristic of a degenerate society given over by God to destruction, falling apart at the seams, society that's crumbling from the inside decay, a society that's on its way out, where children disobey their parents.

[11:38] Because God knows that if they disobey the authority on the first level, they will disobey at every other level. 2 Timothy 3, you can read about the marks of terrible times in the last days, and disobedience to parents marks terrible times.

[11:57] Such devastating effects upon any society show why this command to honor your father is so important. And it shows why the Old Testament nation of Israel could not afford to let those live who refused to obey their fathers and their mothers.

[12:18] Such behavior indulged would lead to the undoing of the nation. So that's why this command is important. Now secondly, let's seek the explanation of this command.

[12:35] What does it mean to honor your father, children? What does it mean to honor your father? If you're to obey this important command, what must you do?

[12:47] Well, number one, hold him high in your heart. Hold him high in your heart. Honor him. Before dealing with outward actions, this command first makes a demand upon the inside of your heart.

[13:03] Honor is in the first place an attitude that you have. It's that inward respect and esteem and love that you have for your father because he is your father.

[13:18] And so the little boy who disobeyed his father and his father told him to go stand in the corner. And the boy said, I may be standing on the outside, but I'm sitting on the inside. Doesn't matter how long he stands there, he's not honoring his father because honor starts as an attitude on the inside.

[13:39] And that's precisely what he wasn't giving his dad. You see, no amount of obedience on the outside is seen as honor unless the inward heart has an attitude toward dad of respect and esteem.

[14:00] It's not enough just to do what your dad says. You must respect him from the heart. Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart. And that's true of all of God's commands, but it's also true of the fifth command.

[14:17] God is concerned with what you're thinking about your father. Do you respect and honor him deep down? Do you have a high regard for him in your heart?

[14:29] That's first in honoring your father. But this command goes on to make demands upon your outward actions too, not just your inward attitude.

[14:41] Your actions as well are to be honoring and respectful. So let's speak about, let's talk about words for a while. You're to honor God or to honor your father with your words. You're to speak to him and about him with respect.

[15:00] When your father gives you a command, yes, dad, would be speaking with respect to him. There's to be nothing rude or disrespectful.

[15:12] A father once complained in the heat of a moment, never had a father, never had a father a worse son than I have and the son replied, yes, my grandfather did. Well, that's sauciness.

[15:25] That's backtalk. That would have got your mouth washed out in our home growing up when I was a boy. No disrespectful backtalk to your father.

[15:36] No refusal. No saying no. No making demands of your father. You are to ask your father for things and for permission. Have you found it staggering to see the way that children speak to their parents?

[15:57] Even youngest children telling their moms no to their face. there's to be no complaining.

[16:10] Oh, do I have to? Why can't I? To complain against your dad does not honor him. Now, it's not saying you can't ask questions of your father, but when you do, the tone of your voice is all important.

[16:26] Are you speaking with a tone of respect? Or are you speaking out of anger and disrespect towards your father? There's to be no harshness towards him.

[16:38] First Timothy 5.1 He's not the neighbor boy to argue with. He's your father. And you're to speak to him accordingly. The father that God has put over you.

[16:50] So honor your father means you honor him in the way that you speak to him. But it also means to honor him in the way that you speak about him when you're with the other boys and girls and the guys and you talk about your dad.

[17:05] You don't call him the old man. You don't call him by his first name. You refer to him as your father, as your dad with respect.

[17:18] You don't tear him down to your friends. You don't speak evil of him if you can't find something good to say. You don't say it. Is it kind? Is it true?

[17:29] Is it necessary? No, it's not necessary for you to be out there spreading your father's faults. Do your words about him make others respect him and think well of him or think ill of him?

[17:47] You know, even after your father is gone like my father is, your words about him are still to honor him. I sometimes read books written by children after their parents die and they trash their fathers.

[18:03] They put it in print. No, it's not saying that some places and sometimes a pointed word might need to be said about a father, but with respect.

[18:14] With respect. So words, gestures. gestures. We're to honor our fathers with our gestures. That's with our motions, kids, with our body language.

[18:26] Do you know your face can say a lot without using a word? Just your look. And honoring your father gets down to the looks that you give your dad, the way you look at him.

[18:39] Your eyes. Remember? What was it that caused the vultures to pluck out the eyes and eat it of children? It was a mocking eye, a scornful look that brought down such judgment.

[18:54] Just a look of the eye. You're to honor him in the way you look at him. There's to be no mocking looks. No shaking of the head.

[19:08] No rolling of the eyes and tossing of the head and waving of the hand. None of that. You see, that's disrespectful in the very body language, the motions of your body.

[19:20] You're to honor him with your words. You're to honor him with your gestures. And fourthly, you're to honor him with your obedience. I want us to consider Ephesians chapter 6 and verses 1 to 3 this morning.

[19:35] Some of you children have memorized this, but, you know, Paul wrote this letter to the Ephesians and sent it with Tychicus. And when it arrived, it would be read at a gathering of the church. So here we are, the church at Ephesus, and we've got a letter from the Apostle Paul today.

[19:50] And so I'm up here standing and I'm reading the letter to the church and I'm going down through and as it gets to the end and I say, children, and suddenly, the children are all eyes.

[20:04] He's talking to us. Yes, children, God has a word to say to you. Children, it's a word especially given to you.

[20:15] And here it is. Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. And then he quotes the fifth commandment.

[20:26] Honor your father and your mother. He's saying that obeying is part of what it means to honor your father.

[20:37] If you would honor your father, you must obey your father. That's what he means when he quotes the fifth commandment to prove that your obedience is owed to your father.

[20:49] So when your father is teaching you, when he's giving you counsel, when he's giving you commands, whether it's about good manners, whether it's about how to dress, whether it's something to promote your good health or your safety, whether it's house rules or the Lord's own commands themselves, your duty is to obey him.

[21:10] And that's how you honor him. Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching. Thomas Watson put it this way, kids.

[21:23] A child should be the parent's echo. Echo. When the father speaks, the child should echo back obedience. Echo.

[21:39] Do you know an echo always gives back what goes out? So if I say, hello, hello, comes back.

[21:51] My name is John. My name is Sue. Oh, if you hear that, you know it's not an echo. There's somebody out there. Because an echo always answers in kind.

[22:07] What goes out comes back. And Watson says, that's the way it's to be, kids. Dad gives the command and your obedience should echo back exactly what your father said.

[22:18] That's what Jesus says. I always do exactly what my heavenly father commands me. Let's echo obedience. Children, obey your parents in everything, Colossians 3.20 says.

[22:36] In everything. Not just in the things that you agree with them, but especially in those things where you disagree with them. The things where you don't want to do what dad says.

[22:47] Especially then, children, obey your parents in everything. That's the real test of your submission. Will you obey when you don't want to do what dad says?

[23:05] The only time you can disobey dad is if he tells you to do something that breaks God's command. And then, you can say, dad, I must obey God rather than man.

[23:18] And you must say that with respect, not with defiance. You're to honor your father. You're to obey him in everything. Unless he commands you to sin.

[23:30] Calvin asks, do we find one among a thousand children who is obedient to parents? Children, be one in a thousand. Be that one in a thousand who obey your father.

[23:45] father. What does it mean to honor father? Well, it means to obey him. Fifthly, it means to maintain his good name and reputation. You know, kids, you carry your father's name.

[23:56] Literally, you carry his last name. Wherever you go, you carry his name. That's also how people think of you. Oh, he's so-and-so's boy.

[24:07] She's so-and-so's girl. And don't live in a way to bring shame upon his name. Honor him.

[24:19] Keep his name from being besmirched by bad behavior. Even after he's gone, don't trash the valuable gift of a good name that your father has given you.

[24:32] It took him a lifetime to build that name in many cases. Maintain it in honor to your father. And then lastly, to honor father means that you care for him in his time of need.

[24:44] The command to honor your father does not end when you leave home. It extends into their old age. 1 Timothy 5.4 says that caring for your father in his old age and his need is just putting your religion into practice.

[25:00] It's simply paying your debts is what the scriptures call it. Debt's incurred by the way that dad cared for you when you were young. He took care of you when you were unable to care for yourself.

[25:14] Now you're to repeat the kindness. You're to repay them. That's the language of 1 Timothy 5 and verse 4. Remember, the Pharisees seemed eager to obey God and his commands.

[25:26] But they developed a traditional loophole by which they could get around this command of honoring your father and mother. And Jesus confronts them. Why do you break God's command for the sake of your tradition?

[25:37] God said, honor your father and your mother and anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death. These are the words of Jesus. But you say, God said, but you say that if a man says to his father or mother, well, mom and dad, whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God.

[25:57] Then he's not to honor his father with it. Thus, you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites. Isaiah was right when he said about you, you draw near to me with your mouth, you honor me with your lips, but your heart is far from me.

[26:16] Your religion is simply rules taught by men. Honoring dad means taking care of him when he's old. There's an old Spanish proverb that says, it's strange how a father can support ten sons, but ten sons cannot support one father.

[26:36] It's not cannot, it's will not. Honoring father in his need. First Timothy 5, 8, if anyone does not provide for his relatives and especially for his immediate family, that would include fathers, he's denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

[26:58] He's worse than a stork because even storks, young storks, bring food to the old ones when in their old age they're not able to fly.

[27:12] So there's something of what it means to honor your father. Respect him in your heart. Respect him in the way you speak to him and about him, in your gestures and body language, in your obedience, in maintaining his good name and in taking care of him when he is old.

[27:34] So we've seen its importance, its explanation, now there remains the last point. Reasons to obey this command. Do you know, children, that God knows how hard it is to obey your parents?

[27:48] God knows how hard it is to obey your fathers? And so he gives you reasons to encourage you, to motivate you, to get you up and going.

[27:59] Don't think God is just out there dishing out these commands and is unthinking and unfeeling about how they affect us. He knows it's hard to obey your father with a right attitude when what he tells you to do is something you don't want to do.

[28:17] So God gives you all kinds of reasons to help you to honor him, to help you obey him. So children, why should you honor and obey your father?

[28:28] First of all, because it's right. And that's the answer God gives to children. Ephesians 6.1, children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right.

[28:39] What makes it right? The fact that God said so. God says, I'm right, I'm righteous, and this is what being righteous means. Obeying your father.

[28:49] Because I command it. And that's the reason you're to do it. It's the right thing to do. Secondly, why should I obey and honor my father?

[29:03] Because fathers carry God's own authority over you. As long as you're in their home, children. As long as you're growing up under their roof. Dad carries some of God's authority.

[29:17] God gives that authority to dad to rule over you, to bring you up in a certain way. Dad's going to have to give an account one day for what he did with that authority. Just as government, teachers, employers, we've all got to give an account one day for what we did with the authority.

[29:34] But it's God's authority given to men. So, why should you obey dad? Because God put him over you. Have you ever thought, children, that God has given your dad an assignment to bring you up?

[29:52] He's on a mission. God's mission. God put him over you. And you're to obey him remembering that. Remembering his position over you.

[30:05] That means when you dishonor your father, you are dishonoring God who gave him authority. When you disobey your father, you're disobeying God who put him in charge.

[30:19] In other words, children, you treat God as you treat your father, your earthly father. So, honor your father, realizing God has put him there.

[30:33] Honor and obey him in the Lord, unto the Lord, with reverence to the Lord who has made him your father. father. A third reason, why should you obey and honor your parents, your father?

[30:48] Because it pleases the Lord Jesus. It pleases the Lord Jesus. Colossians 3.20, children, obey your parents in everything for this pleases the Lord.

[31:01] It pleases the Lord. Children, has God saved you from your sins in hell. Did Jesus take the punishment that you deserve?

[31:17] Then you want to please him, don't you? And now God's telling you how to do that. You want to know how to please me? Jesus says, obey your parents.

[31:31] But this is pleasing to me. know this, children, when you disobey your father, you displease your, the Savior.

[31:46] When you obey your father and please your father, you please the Lord Jesus. Obey your parents in everything for this pleases the Lord.

[32:05] It not only brings joy to your father, but pleasure to Christ. And then a fourth reason, and I'm not saying that these are in any particular order, why should I obey my father?

[32:17] Because Jesus did. Because Jesus did. And here, children, you need to realize that Jesus was once your age. Jesus was once your age.

[32:29] At age 12, we read of Jesus going with his parents to the Passover feast in Jerusalem. You remember how his parents couldn't find him, he was in the temple.

[32:41] And then the Bible says this, he went down with them to Nazareth and was obedient to them, and Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

[32:53] And the next thing that we read about Jesus in our Bibles is when he's 30 years old. Wait a minute, what a jump in the account from 12 to 30.

[33:06] Here he is a 12 year old just coming into his teen years and then we hear nothing until he's 30. Wouldn't you like to have it at least just a chapter or two about his teen years?

[33:20] What did he do as a 15 year old? What did he do as a 17, a 19 year old? Well, the Bible doesn't tell us everything we want to know, but it tells us everything we need to know.

[33:32] And what it tells us is a summary of all those years. It says, he went down to Nazareth with his parents and was obedient to them.

[33:45] That's huge, children. Right through his teen years, he was obedient to his parents. And remember, his parents were imperfect parents. They didn't always get it right.

[33:58] Dad didn't always have it just so. And Jesus still honored and obeyed him every time. Now, in obeying his father and mother, the Lord Jesus was doing two things, kids.

[34:17] Number one, he was working out a perfect righteousness to give to believing sinners, to give, to children who disobeyed their parents. Jesus was obeying his parents so that he would have a report card of righteousness because if you're to get into heaven, you've got to have straight A's on God's report card.

[34:40] Obedience to her father and mother. It's got to be perfect. Why? Because God is that holy. He cannot accept sin in his presence. Well, we've already come short of that.

[34:55] We've already blown it. We've disobeyed our father. We've not had the right attitude. We've given him looks that could kill. We've dishonored him in the way we've spoken to him and about him and disobeyed him.

[35:10] What are we to do? Well, here's Jesus. He came to earth for that very reason. And he lived under a family with imperfect parents and he obeyed every time without one exception so that he would have a perfect report card straight A's that he might have that righteousness to give to you if you will come and believe on Jesus.

[35:32] You give him your sins and he gives you his perfect report card so that you can stand before God with a perfect report card as to obedience to your parents.

[35:44] That's one thing that he was doing. Children, you can't save yourself by obeying dad better. You can't just try harder to save dad and hope that it's good enough to get you into heaven.

[35:57] No, disobedient children go to hell unless they trust in Jesus to save them from their sins. And Jesus loves to give his perfect report card to all who quit trying to lean on their own doings and trust in his doings.

[36:14] That's the first thing Jesus was doing by obeying his parents. He was working out a perfect righteousness to give to disobedient children. He was doing something else.

[36:28] By obeying his parents, he was laying down an example that we should follow in his steps. And obeying your parents is following in the steps of Jesus.

[36:44] First John 2 says, this is how we know if we are in God, whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. Now, children, listen to me a moment. Some of you are claiming that God has saved you.

[36:59] Some of you are saying that I believe Jesus has saved me from my sins. I'm trusting in him to save me. And we're happy for you. Isn't Jesus a wonderful savior?

[37:12] savior? Isn't he a gracious savior and master? Now, if he saved you, you will want to please him.

[37:26] And first John is telling us that anyone who claims to live in him must walk as he walked. And so as you obey your father, you are showing that Jesus has come into your hearts and has made you a new boy a new girl with a desire to do what pleases Jesus.

[37:47] You didn't once have that heart. You wanted to go your way. But Jesus has saved you and now you want to obey him. Then obey your father. Walk in his footprints.

[38:04] And Jesus' obedience means that you don't need to go through years of rebellion in your teen years. there is grace in Jesus Christ to submit to your parents during those difficult teen years as you're coming into your own independence.

[38:22] You say, how do you know that, Pastor? Because Jesus, the summary of his life, his life at home was that he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them.

[38:36] Well, the fifth reason. Why should I obey and honor my father? Because of the care and cost to fathers in bringing you up. The care and cost to dad in bringing you up.

[38:50] A child today will cost its father around $400,000 to raise him to age 18. That's with 3% inflation rate. Almost a half a million dollars to raise you, boys and girls.

[39:04] But the cost to dad is more than financial. I wonder if you'll listen to me for a moment and let Thomas Watson, an old Puritan, tell you something that you might not know. This is what he said, as children grow older, the care of parents grows greater.

[39:22] Now, you might have thought the opposite, that the older you get, the less care dad and mom have for you. I mean, after all, you can put your own clothes on, you can feed yourself.

[39:39] But no, it's true. What Watson says is true. As children grow older, the care of parents grows greater.

[39:49] When you were young, you know what we were afraid of? You falling down and scabbing your knee or bumping your head. Now that you're older, it's not bloodied knees that we're afraid of.

[40:01] it's broken hearts and relationships and marriages and wrong decisions that set the course for a lifetime and squandered opportunities and wrong friendships formed.

[40:20] These are heavy cares. The older you get, the greater the care. And the fifth reason to honor your father. It's out of gratitude for the cost and care.

[40:35] To your father to bring you up. The Bible calls you to be a wise son or daughter who brings joy to your father, who repays him with joy and not with grief.

[40:45] And so repays him for all his care for you. And lastly, why should you honor your father? Because of the promised blessing attached to this command.

[40:57] Back in Exodus, the full command reads this way. Honor your father and your mother so that you may live long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. Do you know it's a legitimate thing to be motivated to obey your father because of a reward that's offered you?

[41:12] That's the very reason Jesus put the reward in the command. To move you to obey your father. Because so that you may live long in the land.

[41:25] He's showing just how honoring it is to him to see children obeying their fathers. Now originally this meant for the Israelites they would live long in the promised land that God had given them.

[41:45] And in Ephesians 6 Paul stretches that and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he widens the promise of that command not just to the promised land in Palestine but on the earth.

[41:55] He says obey your father and mother so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth. You say pastor you saying that if I obey my mom and dad that I'll have an enjoyable life and live long on the earth.

[42:15] No I didn't say that. The Bible says that. Do you know what Proverbs says over and over? my son do not forget my teaching but keep my commands in your heart for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity.

[42:31] Proverbs 3 1 and 2. Keep my commands and you will live. Listen my son accept what I say and the years of your life will be many. Chapter 4 verses 4 through 10.

[42:44] When parents are bringing up their children according to God's word there are earthly blessings for those who obey. But when they don't get the first lesson in submitting to God's authority at home their lives begin to unravel and it even affects their health.

[43:03] Ask a medical doctor a Christian medical doctor if sinful behavior if rebellion that leads to sinful behavior if it shortens lifespans.

[43:16] And he will roll his eyes and say I are you kidding? Of course it does. All sorts of addictions and lifestyle situations that create life shortening diseases that make life miserable rather than well for you.

[43:34] Well the fear of the Lord adds length to life but the years of the wicked are cut short. A long life of well-being was a blessing of God given to those who honor their father and their mother.

[43:48] father. But where that breaks down they have a principle of rebellion in them that ripens and leads them into all sorts of life shortening sins and behaviors.

[44:01] So there's Eli's two sons and they did not obey their father Eli and they were killed in an early age struck down as a judgment of God.

[44:12] There's Absalom who rebelled against his father and he didn't live out half of his days struck down by the Lord's judgment. In Israel stubborn rebellious sons were stoned ending their lives at an early age.

[44:25] Parents were told do not withhold correction from your child. If you discipline punish him with the rod and save his soul from death. You see when children do not learn to submit to authority in the home that kind of rebellion ripens and brings them into all sorts of sin that shortens their life and leads to a life not of well-being but of misery.

[44:54] So there's six reasons to obey your father. There's the importance and explanation of what it means. Children I'm not telling you anything new when I tell you that most children today are not honoring and obeying their fathers.

[45:12] lack of respect for authority is unhinging our nation and it creates a very darkness in our country. But you know that stars shine the brightest when the night is the darkest.

[45:25] And so you dear Christian children you need to seize the day seize the opportunity is the dark night of children disrespecting their parents.

[45:36] Is that the way it is out there? Then you let your light shine. you honor your father. You obey your father that others might see your good deeds and glorify your father in heaven.

[45:52] We're going to sing a song that tells us that right now around the throne of God in heaven there are thousands of children. That throne of God that we sang about earlier that he is holy holy holy.

[46:06] There's children there and they're singing to him but they're not there because they're children. Children without Jesus will go to hell. Children are there singing praises who've been saved by Jesus Christ who put their trust in him.

[46:23] So let's take our hymnals and sing 648 and children. We heard this morning the heavenly father's arms are open wide to receive all who come to him through Jesus Christ.

[46:35] You talk to him even as we sing and ask him to forgive your sins and trust in him to save you. 648. We're going to children if you've called on the Lord to save you talk to your parents.

[46:50] They might rejoice with you. We too might rejoice with you. Let's all pray. Thank you Lord Jesus for this word of yours given so long ago.

[47:02] Children. Honor your father. And your mother. And we pray that you would use it to convince us of our sins and to drive us to Jesus' blood that we would trust in nothing else than our Lord Jesus Christ.

[47:18] I pray that you would save children. You would save those who are older children as well as younger children. Put a new heart in them. And then send them into this dark world where hardly one in a thousand obey their parents.

[47:34] and cause them there to let their light shine for the Lord Jesus who's loved them and given himself for them. Do it for your great praise.

[47:44] Do it for the good of these young people that indeed their lives might go well. That they might live long on this earth even forever and ever in a new heaven and a new earth that you will one day bring in.

[47:58]  We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.