CHILDREN OBEY YOUR PARENTS EPHESIANS 6:1-3

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt

Yonder on Calvary's mount outpoured

There where the blood of the Lamb was spilled Grace, grace,

God's grace Grace that was pardoned and cleansed within Grace, grace,

God's grace Grace that is greater than all our sin

Sin and despair like the sea waves cold Present a soul with infinite loss

Grace that is greater yet grace untold

Points to the refuge, the mighty cross

Grace, grace, God's grace

Grace that is grown within and cleansed within Grace, grace,

God's grace Grace that is greater than all our sin

Darkness, the stain that we cannot hide What can we do to wash it away?

Look, there is flowing a crimson tide Brighter than snow you may flee today

Grace, grace, God's grace Grace that was pardoned and cleansed within Grace, grace,

God's grace Grace that is greater than all our sin

Marvelous symphony, master's grace Freely bestowed on all who believe

You that are longing to see His face

Will you this moment His grace receive? Grace, grace,

God's grace Grace that was pardoned and cleansed within Grace, grace,

God's grace Grace that is greater than all our sin

Let's continue our time of worship this morning with a call to worship. This is an incredible time because we get to declare

God's truth with one another. So our call to worship this morning comes from Proverbs chapter 3, where once again, this is a time for us to all engage with proclaiming the

Word of God. This proverb begins with saying, My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments for the length of days and years of life.

Let not steadfastness and faithfulness forsake you. Bind them around your neck so you will find favor and good success.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart. In all your ways, acknowledge

Him. Be not wise in your own eyes.

Fear the Lord. It will be healing for your flesh.

Refreshment for your bones. Honor the Lord with wealth and the firstfruits of all your produce.

Then your barns will be filled with plenty. Your backs with mercy inclined.

My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline. The fury of His reproof. For the

Lord reproves Him who He loves. The Father, the Son, and the

Holy Ghost. In all things.

God, you are a creator on high. And God, you have blessed us with this time to be able to gather together with your people.

And Lord, I pray that we look to you, Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith. Lord, we go through so much each and every day throughout the week, and yet you have set aside this particular day.

A day that reminds us that Jesus, you are a risen king, that you do not stay dead.

God, there are so many religions in the world where they have dead leaders. But Jesus, you are

Lord of all, showing that you have conquered death. Lord, we love you. And I just pray that this morning, that we would worship you from the heart.

I pray these things in your name, Jesus. Amen. All right. If you don't mind, please be seated as we prepare our hearts to go to the

Lord's table this morning. Now, this is a time that we set aside every

Lord's Day because this is a time of great unity, right? We, a lot of times in the scriptures, we read the word fellowship.

This comes from the word koinonia, where we have joint participation. Now, this is not a time where we just kind of flippantly do this once a quarter, one time a year.

No, we do it every Lord's Day because of the great fellowship that we have with the saints and with our triune

God. This is such an important time that scripture actually takes a portion to tell us that we must do this with warning.

And so I want to share a passage with you that just shares the gravity of going to the Lord's table together.

The apostle says in 1 Corinthians 11, For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the

Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said,

This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And in the same way, he also took the cup after the supper, saying,

This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Whoever therefore eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and the blood of the

Lord. Let a person examine himself and so eat and drink of the cup.

For if anyone eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself, that is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.

And so when we come together and we partake of the elements, we come together in great unity, remembering everything that our

Lord Jesus has done for us in the past, what he is continuing to do for us in the present, and looking forward to the great marriage of the supper of the lamb.

Amen. And so this is a time also where scripture warns us that if we come to the

Lord's table in an unworthy manner, then we are at risk of partaking in judgment where some people have died.

And I don't want this to just be something gloomy and then say, Jeremiah, well, I don't even want to partake at all because I could never be worthy enough.

I want to encourage you that if you are resting in Christ alone for salvation, then you can come to the table.

Now, if you're hanging on to some unrepentant sin towards a brother or sister and say, I'm not going to give up that thing.

Well, I just want to encourage you, please do not come to the table. And honestly, come seek out myself or Pastor Keith or Pastor Nathan, because we'd love to come alongside of you and help make these things right in your life.

But this is a beautiful time that if you are a Christian that is trusting in Christ alone, apart from any of your works, any of your accomplishments, this is a time for you to come to the table and for us to unify with one another.

If you're a visiting and you are part of an evangelical church that preaches the gospel of grace and you are a member of the church, then you too are welcome to come as well.

And so here in a moment, I'm going to pray. And then afterwards, if you please would stand up and this side will come to this table.

And if we can have this side along with that back corner come to this table, we're going to come on the outside edges and then we'll kind of circle back to our seats.

Amen. All right, let's go to the Lord in prayer. Lord, this is such an incredible time to be able to go to the table.

God, I pray that if anyone here has unrepentant sin in their heart, God, that they would just give it to you.

That they would go make these things right with their brother or sister before trying to come to such an important time, coming to unify with you,

God, and coming to unify with the body. God, I pray that if there's anybody in here that knows that they are not holding to the gospel of grace that is by faith alone and Christ alone,

God, that you would encourage their hearts not to come to the table, God, because there is great judgment involved.

Lord, we love you and we thank you so much for this time of great unity, and we pray that you would bless the rest of our service.

Pray this in your name, Jesus. Amen. As we're all finishing up, let's stand and sing this song together.

God, the uncreated One. The One whom angels' horns revere

Humb the stars like chandeliers Numbered every grain of sand

Knows the heart of every man He is

King forever He is King forever He is

King forevermore Fortress and our strength

The rock on which we can depend

Richness in His majesty His power and authority

Shaken by the schemes of man

A never -changing reign I am Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall

He is faithful through it all Crown Him the

King forever Crown Him the King forever Crown Him the

King forevermore Immortal flesh

Forsaken by a traitor's kiss

The curse of seven centuries Tipped fierce the lowly prince away

Sing this with me, lifted high Oh, lifted high the sinless man

They crucified the spotless lamb Buried by the sons of man

But He was rescued by the Father's hand To reign as King forever

Reign as King forever Reign as King forevermore

King eternal God of grace

We crown You with the highest praise And shouts and sings adore

Your holy, holy, holy Lord What joy in everlasting life

When all is love and goodness sighed Justice rolls and praises rise

At the name of Jesus Christ Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall

He is faithful through it all Crown Him the King forever Crown Him the King forevermore Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall

He is faithful through it all Crown Him the King forevermore Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall He is faithful through it all Crown Him the King forevermore Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall He is faithful through it all Crown Him the King forevermore Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall He is faithful through it all

Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall He is faithful through it all Crown Him the King forevermore Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall

He is faithful through it all with us.

You my God have saved my soul. I am yours forevermore.

I won't be moved of this I'm sure. You my God have saved my soul.

Sing this with me. I was lost. I was lost when you came for me.

I was held in chains by the enemy. But you broke them in victory.

Now I'm free. I am free. You're my joy. You're my joy.

And you are my hope. I am saved by your grace alone.

I will sing of your love for me. Now I am free. I am free.

You my God have saved my soul. I am yours forevermore.

I won't be moved of this I'm sure. You my God have saved my soul.

Now I stand with the King of kings. He has paid for my every sin.

And from now through eternity I am free. I am free.

You my God have saved my soul. I am yours forevermore.

I won't be moved of this I'm sure. You my

God have saved my soul. What once was dead is now alive.

You gave to me the breath of life. You brought me about from the grave.

I'm bursting out with songs of praise. What once was dead is now alive.

You gave to me the breath of life. You brought me about from the grave.

I'm bursting out with songs of praise. I'm bursting out with songs of praise.

You my God have saved my soul.

I am yours forevermore. I won't be moved of this

I'm sure. You my God have saved my soul.

You have saved my soul.

In this life of trials test my faith. I set my hope on Jesus.

These questions come and doubts remain. I set my hope on Jesus.

For the deepest wounds that time won't heal. There is joy that runs still deeper.

There's a truth that's more than all I feel. I set my hope on Jesus.

I set my hope on Jesus. My one, my only trust.

Who set his heart upon me first.

I set my hope on Jesus. While faltering in this whirlwind sin.

I set my hope on Jesus. When I failed you my blood seeped within.

I set my hope on Jesus. Though the shame would drown me in its sleep.

And I dread the waves of justice. I will cast my life on Calvary.

I set my hope on Jesus. I set my hope on Jesus.

My one, my only trust. Who set his heart upon me first.

I set my hope on Jesus. I need to leave my

Lord. I set my hope on Jesus.

Though it offer all its pain rewards. I set my hope on Jesus.

Though this heart of mine is prone to strain.

Give me grace enough to finish. Till I worship on that final day.

I set my hope on Jesus. I set my hope on Jesus.

My one, my only trust. Who set his heart upon me first.

I set my hope on Jesus. I set my hope on Jesus.

My one, my only trust. Who set his heart upon me first.

I set my hope on Jesus. I set my hope on Jesus.

Our scripture reading comes from Proverbs chapter 22. The first six verses that say.

A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches. And favor is better than silver or gold.

The rich and the poor meet together. The Lord is the maker of them all. The prudent sees danger and hides himself.

But the simple go on and suffer for it. The reward for humility and fear of the

Lord is riches and honor and life. Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked.

Whoever guards his soul will keep far from them. Train up a child in the way he should go.

And when he is old he will not depart from it. This is the reading of God's word.

Let's go once again together before our Lord in prayer. Let's pray a prayer of confession.

An assurance knowing that God is always faithful and just. To forgive us of our unrighteousness.

The things that we do that constantly spit at God. By the things that we do even though he has been so gracious to us.

Knowing that he loves us if we are in Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Heavenly Father we come to you corporately together as a body.

As broken people that sin so much against you each and every day. God that is not our hearts desire.

But God we confess it to you knowing that you will always forgive us. Lord we look to you in sweet relationship.

And it's your word that sanctifies and renews our hearts. God it's your truth that tells us that there is therefore now.

No condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus. God oh can we rest in that truth this morning.

God I pray that as the preaching comes forth by Pastor Nathan. God that we would rest knowing that you are a sovereign king.

And God as parents we desire to do these commands of wisdom from your word.

This is train up children the way they should go to revere and honor you Jesus. God we know ultimately that their salvation is in your hands.

God we pray that you be merciful to our children. That you would give us wisdom as parents to constantly point them to you

Jesus. And Lord I pray for those of us that are still under our parents care. God I pray that you would do a great work knowing that.

We are to obey our parents as unto the Lord. God that is what you call us to do. And that we all unite together contending for the kingdom.

Pursuing the kingdom. God your word tells us to seek first the kingdom of God. And his righteousness and all these things will be taken care of by you

Lord. Lord we love you and pray this in your name Jesus. Amen. Sing this with me.

O now indeed I find Thy power in thine alone

Came and changed the leper's spots

And enveloped the heart of stone

And Jesus paid it all Long to hear my own

Sin I've left a crimson stain He washed it white as snow

Then before the throne I stand in Him complaint

Jesus died my soul to save My lips shall still repeat

Sing that with me. Jesus paid it all Jesus paid it all

Long to hear my own Sin I've left a crimson stain

He washed it white as snow O praise the one who paid my debt

And raised this life up from the dead O praise the one who paid my debt

And raised this life up from the dead O praise the one who paid my debt

And raised this life up from the dead O praise the one who paid my debt

And raised this life up from the dead

And Jesus paid it all Long to hear my own

Sin I've left a crimson stain He washed it white as snow

Sin I've left a crimson stain He washed it white as snow

Father we praise you for this time of worship this morning

God We thank you for your word that is true and evident in these songs Fathers we sing praise to your holy and mighty name

Because you are worthy of all praise and honor Thank you that these truths that we sing Father Are relevant to our lives

God In a way that we see it active daily I set my hope on Jesus Father no other rock that we can place our trust

God as we continue this time of worship and offering I ask that you are honored in our giving and our time

Father In our money I pray that you are You are honored, that you are blessed

Father God Lord prepare our hearts for the word that you have prepared for us God That our ears would hear what the

Spirit speaks to the church this morning God In your name we pray, Amen Jesus paid it all

Praise God that he did Because I had nothing to offer Except for the sin

That meant that he had to pay it Amen, Amen Saints do you

You understand the gravity of that this morning don't you You know I have a confession to make

I didn't want to preach today Didn't think you'd hear that from me did you

My heart felt cold this week But you know what

I was still able to hold firm To a concrete foundational truth

That no matter what my heart felt It was still just as true as it was

When my heart was overwhelmed with Gratitude and joy You ever feel that Saint You ever go through those moments

We all have them We're in the valley where we just Feels like we're just trudging through the mud

Trying to see the light once again Oh but the truth is

Jesus paid it all He paid for even that moment He paid for even your Seemingly coldness of heart

And his goodness is holding you firm His heart is warm towards you

If you are in him today And I hold firm to that truth

And that's why I can boldly come into this pulpit knowing This isn't me This is all about his word

This is his word And before we jump in today I would like for us to pray for a brother

Joe Greenough One of our members here has been in ICU last night And he's seeing the doctors today

And they're working When he says he's doing well I was texting with him earlier So he is doing well They're just keeping an eye on him

And so I would like for us to pray for Joe this morning He's one of our family members And I know that him and Angel are

Dealing with that right now And there's much suffering that goes with that And we want to bear burdens with our brothers and sisters, right?

So please bow with me Let's pray for Joe and Angel Dear Heavenly Father God, we come to you right now

And we just Before we open your word Before we look at your great truth We just want to lift up our brother

Joe Lord, we pray that you bring healing Lord, we pray that you give the doctors wisdom

Lord, we pray that you would give him rest In the moment that he is there at the hospital Lord, that he could trust in you

Lord, give him great strength and faith And the providence of God in all things

Lord, be with Angel as she cares for him And as she worries, I'm sure

As we often do Lord, we pray that you grant her peace During this time That she could care for and serve her husband

As he is in need Lord, help them to feel the great love From us the saints that care for them this morning

We pray that you would guard them And overwhelm them with your great peace

A peace that only comes from you And we thank you this morning For how you're going to work In Christ's name

Amen Amen Well, saints, go ahead and open a copy of God's word

To Ephesians chapter 6 As we go into week 6 Of our study of God's design for the family

And have finally made it To the sixth and final chapter of Ephesians After so many months

I think we've been here for I know we have well over a year And so we only have a few more weeks

I think the schedule shows 10 more weeks after today in Ephesians So it's going to feel like a long lost friend

Once we don't open our Bibles up to Ephesians anymore every week But we will move on in God's word

But today we are here in Ephesians chapter 6 Starting in verse 1

Children Obey your parents and the Lord For this is right

Honor your father and mother This is the first commandment With a promise

That it may go well with you And that you may live long In the land

O Lord, give us wisdom Holy Spirit, illuminate our hearts and minds

To this truth Guard my lips from error Guard the ears of the hearers That we could be discerning

And see your truth As you have proclaimed it In Christ's name, we pray that Well in Romans chapter 1

Paul gives us a bleak snapshot Of the state of humanity

If you remember He's going on enlisting The depravity of the human heart

And by the time he makes it to verse 28 Paul says And since they did not see fit

Humanity, right? To acknowledge God To acknowledge who he is

To acknowledge his design To acknowledge him as the creator Then God gave them up Says to a debased mind

A mind that cannot approve or discern good In any way that only seeks evil

And he says This debased mind He gave them up to it To do what ought not to be done

They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness Evil Covetousness Malice They're full of envy

Murder Strife Deceit Maliciousness They're gossips

Slanders Haters of God Insolent Haughty Boastful Inventors of evil

It just keeps getting worse, doesn't it? Disobedient to parents It's quite a list

Of the state of the human heart Disobedient to parents

Is in this list This has been the default of man

Ever since the fall A rejection of God's good design Out of a rejection of God's own authority

A rebellion against his creation His design and his law And this hardness of heart

It just continues to grow It grows and it abounds As creation grows As we get closer to Christ Finally returning

And putting death under his feet And crushing all of this iniquity and sin

And judging the wicked But it just continues to grow And we see

We see the fact That Paul points this out To his protege Timothy In 2

Timothy He gives a similar list And he talks about in the last days In 2 Timothy 3

He says But understand this, Timothy That in the last days There will come times of difficulty

It's coming, Timothy In the last days What are the last days, guys? Now We've been in the last days

For 2 ,000 years now We are awaiting the return of Christ This present dark age right now

And he says Hey, this is going to be difficult He says For people will be lovers of self

Lovers of money Proud Arrogant Abusive Disobedient to parents

We see this all around us, don't we? It's quite obvious Our culture takes what

God says is evil And lauds it as good Praises it as if it's fine

We don't follow God's prescribed means And his good design

Let's be honest In our culture today Children rule In most cases

In the lives of many of our families They are often surrounded around the desires of the children

Many parents cater to the foolish desires of their children

They make the decisions They make the rules They set the pace I've even met with fathers

I've met with many men in this community That tell me Hey, I want to be at 12 -5

I want to be at that church Where we're going It's just not healthy And I'm never taught anything And man,

I just I want to be at a healthy church I want to go to 12 -5 And you know the only reason they don't? Because their children don't want to come here

And a lot of times Their wives don't want to come here And I'm like You're allowing them

To decide where you go to church? What What kind of mad world are we living in?

That you're allowing your wife or your children To tell your family Where you're going to attend church?

It's absurd That man gives in to this foolishness

And lets them decide I share that point Particularly To show the fact that even

Christians People who seem to love the Lord Are susceptible to this distortion

And as I think about it I'm like Well, those men obviously haven't listened To our previous sermons Of their role as a patriarch

So they're derogating their duties Today, not only do the children

Not obey their parents The parents don't demand obedience You see it all around Go to the grocery store

And watch a mother with her children In many cases today They don't demand obedience

We're all about gentle parenting We'll deal with that When we get to verse 4 guys

Sorry, couple weeks All the while God Hates Disobedience That's why he listed it

With sins like murder And haters of God You realize that, right?

This disobedience to parents Was listed That's why I read those two passages earlier Because he's listing it

With great depraved sin We see that clearly In God's prescription

For the people of Israel Back in Deuteronomy Regarding disobedience of children

Actually turn back there with me Turn to Deuteronomy with me Deuteronomy chapter 21 You remember Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Yes So I actually had a pastor friend of mine

He never could say Deuteronomy Mom, how did he say it? He said Deuteronomy I think all the time

And he never could say it So he avoided ever referencing Deuteronomy Because he couldn't say it So These are laws given to the people of Israel To set them apart

And really to show the holiness of God At the beginning of 21

He lays out How to make atonement for unsolved murders How to deal with civil situations

Later on he mentions inheritance rights And there in chapter 21

Starting in verse 18 He deals with this matter that we're discussing

He says It's as if a man Has a stubborn and rebellious son Who will not obey the voice of his father

Or the voice of his mother And though they discipline him He will not listen to them

Then His father and his mother Shall take hold of him And bring him out to the elders of the city at the gate

Of the place where he lives And they shall say to the elders of his city

This, our son, is stubborn and rebellious He will not obey our voice

He is a glutton and a drunkard Then All the men of the city

Shall stone him to death with stones So you shall purge the evil from your midst

And all Israel shall hear And fear Guys, this is what

God thinks of disobedience To parents That he would have these

Disobedient children stoned to death Killed Because of it

Wow Scary, isn't it?

Now, praise God that we are no longer under those civil laws Of Israel any longer

I, for one, would not be able to take the life of one of my children Or harm them in such a way No matter what they did

However This shows us what God thinks of it And we try to act

As if it's not really that big of a deal All kids rebel Let's not overreact,

Pastor All kids rebel Don't they? It's true

Your innocent little Johnny is not an angel Everybody knows it

Including you Right? All kids rebel And yes, they do All rebel because all men rebel

Because of this sinful flesh that is within us Even you and I, parents

We still rebel Against authority That is why

Scripture gives us these commands Children, obey your parents and the

Lord for this is right So that our minds may be renewed That we may discern

What is right And what is good And maybe, just maybe

That will slow us down on this trajectory Of a distortion of all that God has created

By our sinful flesh And our distorted minds And as parents

We must instill this word Into the minds of our children, guys

That's a part of our job We must pour the word of God Into the minds of our children

That's why you're gathered here today But that's not just my job If the only word of God that's getting poured into your children's minds

Is coming from me And or the teachers in the children's classroom Or from Pastor Jeremiah with the youth on Wednesday nights

If that's the only time Guys, you are fighting an uphill battle That's not enough It's our job to pour this into them

Even before they are regenerate Train up a child in the way they should go

And when they are old they will not depart from it Now of course

That's not a promise There's no guarantee of salvation in a child But it is a principle

It is a solid core truth We are raising our children

As if the Holy Spirit is going to awaken them to new life We are trusting in the providential hand of a good and gracious God That does and can save And we will treat our children

As if that is most certainly going to happen And we disciple them as such Meaning In this particular area

When we look at scripture We teach our children to obey us We teach them to obey us

Why? Why do we teach them to obey us? Well, of course

Because God says so That's enough reason as is If we read a text like the one we just read

Of course I need to teach them But why does he say so? Why does God's word

Show us that he hates disobedience to parents And that they should obey so much? Why is a child's disobedience

Such a horrible and destructive sin? Well, it's a simple answer

Because disobedience To him is a horrible and destructive sin

You get that, right? When your child is disobeying you They're ultimately disobeying

God And over the past six weeks

We've already seen If you've been with us God's design for the family

Is one that carries imagery, right? So much imagery The imagery of the gospel

The imagery of Christ with the bride The imagery of a reflection of the creator

And we keep going back to Genesis 1, right? We have to continue to go back To the very beginning Right at the core

Where God says So he created them In his own image After his own likeness

He created them Male and female He created them And then God blessed them

And then what does he say to them? Be fruitful And multiply

And fill the earth And subdue it You see, the triune God Perfectly sufficient

In and of himself With absolutely no need of us You understand that There was no deficiency in God God did not need to create us

He could have gone Throughout all of eternity Without us And been perfectly sufficient

You know that, right? God is sufficient He had absolutely no need

He was not lonely He had no deficiency in himself That required our being created

Yet Created life Was the natural outpouring of his love

You get that, right? God is love

It's one of his attributes It's not that he does love

It's the fact that he is love And life was created as an outpouring

Of that love An intimate love Between God the Father God the

Son And God the Holy Spirit That was to be expressed In his love for the elect

And this led To that perfectly sufficient God Bringing about life

You trekking with me? God, the creator Brings about life

And it is an outpouring Of his great love Right at the very beginning

Before all of creation There was a covenant made Between the triune God And it was a covenant of redemption

I will We will Create a people And we will redeem a people

Unto ourselves This is the game plan And that produced life

Life That is to reflect him, the creator Right?

We're image bearers Created after his likeness To reflect him

And now through the intimate love Of the image bearers Of a husband and a wife

Becoming one flesh Notice the imagery One flesh united as one

Brought together Brings about new life The outworking of that love

Produces life Be fruitful And multiply Fill the earth

And you see, out of that multiplication He says, I have an elect From every tribe, nation, and tongue

Of my beloved Out of all of it I have my people The ones that I have set my affection upon Before I even created all this

And was guaranteed to raise them up In the fear and knowledge of me Now that's your job

As parents You brought them into the world Through this union of marriage

Now, you are to equip them You are to raise them up In the fear and knowledge of me

Because I will call many of them to myself And they will be mine

You can only do that through walking In his design, in his precepts

We see distortions of it all the time Children are produced Outside of the context of the covenant of marriage

And we see the problems that come with that, don't we? Look at what happens Our prison system is completely packed full

Overwhelmed of fatherless men We see the fruit of all that comes with it

I saw statistics this week Of just the sheer volume of teenage suicide

Connected to broken families And all that comes with the devastation of it

So we can only see this type of discipleship That is going on within his design and his precepts

The design of a nuclear family That reflects his character And displays his goodness of the gospel

As we've talked about the last few weeks A loving husband who is laying down his life

And leading through love of his wife Caring and providing for A wife submitting to her husband

And nurturing all that is around her And bringing about beauty within their home Pointing to the glorious beauty of Christ And children

Now today, new life Being discipled You see the imagery, don't you?

We're just reflecting the creator And his good design So why do we teach our children to obey us?

Because we're teaching our children to obey him That's the whole purpose It has nothing to do with you being embarrassed at the grocery store

Because your child is throwing a fit It has nothing to do with the fact That your child can't sit still during a church service

And now everyone's going to think you're a bad parent It has nothing to do with any of that It has to do with the fact that you're teaching them to obey

Because you're teaching them to obey him, ultimately The family dynamic is a reflection of him

And children in the room Why are you to obey your parents? The same answer, isn't it?

Why? Why are you to obey mom and dad? Because mom and dad aren't always right, are they?

I'm just stating the obvious, guys They're right a lot more than you think they are I'll tell you that much They're not always right, okay?

So why are you to obey them? Because you're obeying him

He's the one that said to obey them And he's the ultimate authority That's why he says

Children, obey your parents And the Lord It's not detached from this

It's all intertwined into all of it That's why the lost world is incapable of following this command

Because it's in the Lord Only those who are doing it out of obedience to the

Lord Are truly seeking to obey their parents And I want us to see three things about obedience

That I think are going to better help us understand Children and parents This command of this

Both parents Us, who are training our children in this And you children That are seeking to be obedient The first thing

I want us to see here Is obedience in your conduct Now this isn't obvious, right?

All of these are going to be fairly obvious today I couldn't get any more creative with my bullet points

I'm sorry But let's get right to the heart of the matter, right? Obedience in your conduct When he says there in verse 1

Children, obey your parents And the Lord He says

For this is right Some translations Will have the word just For this is just It's the same

Greek word That Paul uses over in Romans 7 When he's speaking of the law He says so the law is holy

And the commandment is holy And here's the same word And it's translated righteous

The law is righteous It is good It is perfect God's law is perfect And this command is tied

To one of the ten commandments from Exodus 20 Look at verse 2 He quotes it, he says

Honor your father and your mother God's law is not Forbidding us

From good things Children, you realize that, right? I'm speaking to you children this morning

Pretty directly here You realize that the laws of God Are not rules

That are forbidding us From good things We often think of it that way, don't we?

Like our parents' rules Are only there to prevent us From having fun

The things we want to do It's restrictive Well that's not God's law God's law, it's forbidding us

From bad things by pointing us To righteous things Things that are for our good

Things that are for his glory You see, so When God tells us to do something

Then that thing That he's telling us to do Guys, is the best thing for us

It's absolutely The best option For you There is no better option

There is no other option All other options lead to death It is the only option

It is best for you And here, he's telling you children To obey your parents

As a matter of fact He repeats this over in Colossians chapter 3 In verse 20, he says Children, obey your parents

And he says, in everything And then he goes on, he says For disobedience, guys

When you're obedient to your parents In everything This pleases the

Lord This Pleases the

Lord Now I need to point out The word for children

Used here is referring to Dependent offspring Okay We need to make sure to define

What Paul is speaking to here Dependent offspring Young men in this room

Young men, if you are still dependent On your parents, meaning that they are Providing for you

This applies to you I don't care how old you are

If they're providing for you This This applies to you

Young women in the room If you are not married Then you are dependent on your parents

And you are still under your father's Headship This applies to you Once you all are married

And have left your father And your mother You are no longer

Obligated to obey Your parents You realize that, right?

My mother is here today I love my mother, I honor my mother I don't have to obey her But I did

There was a portion of my life Where she was an authority over me In every way Now, like I said,

I honor her Because you are called to honor your father and mother That never ends, that commandment never changes

But obey is different But for children Who are dependent

You are to show your obedience Through your conduct What does that look like?

I'd like to point out three ways That you are to do this You are

Obedient in your conduct With your appearance You're obedient in your

Conduct with your appearance This is really rooted in the matter Of the heart

If you do not Have a heart of obedience It's often going to make its way to your face

And your expressions, right? What's in your heart makes its way out of your mouth Makes its way into your facial expressions

And how you appear But that's not what I'm getting at In the moment, we're going to deal with the heart actually

In just a few minutes Here I'm speaking About your witness

To others Now this is

Assuming that you care about that But I know your parents do And you're being discipled in that But your witness to others

That are watching you or watching your appearance And all that you do But not only that It affects your should be

Desire to bless Your parents You realize that, right?

Your desire should be to bless Your parents That's honoring your parents And when those two things

Do not match up It is not a blessing To those around you Proverbs 10 .1

says A wise son makes a glad father A wise son

Brings joy to a father Oh, but a foolish son Is sorrow to his mother

Your appearance should be one Of glad obedience As a blessing

To those authorities That are over you It's a way to love them

It's a way to honor them Knowing that What my father and mother

Are telling me to do Is for my good I may not see it in the moment

Often I don't As a child But my outward expression Will be one of receiving that wisdom

And letting my parents know That I trust and honor them Through my appearance

Parents As you discipline your children In this And you disciple them

More specifically Practice what you preach With your heavenly father

Right? Often times we know what we have to do But our appearance does not

Express a gratitude And an honor towards our authority And that affects our children

And how they are being Discipled But also parents require Require an outward

Adherence in the appearance of your Child's expression That may seem like legalism

To you and we're going to deal with that in greater Detail next week as we deal with verse 4 Of discipline and All that comes with that but You are called to Disciple your children and you are

Teaching them How to be obedient to the lord In everything in honor

The second thing I want us to see About obedience in your conduct Is with your actions

Then this one again Is obvious If you don't do what they say

You're not obeying at all in the first place Right? Remember that passage that we just read in Colossians 3 20

Children obey your parents He says in everything If your parents tell you to do

Something And if that thing doesn't go against God's law Then you take action and you do it

Right? That's the command Obey your parents It is an action

You don't have the right to say I'll do it later Or do

I have to It's not an option Yes God says you have to You must now

Or whenever your parents say to do it Obedience is not A suggestion children

You must act upon it You must act upon it

Timely Because you are honoring your parents in this

Do you remember the story of Jonah Some of you might have been with us

A couple years ago And we preached through that Old Testament book Here you have a prophet

God goes to the prophet and says Go to Nineveh And tell them this He doesn't want to do it

He has rebellion in his heart doesn't he And what does he do Jonah finds a ship

That's going across the sea In the exact opposite direction Of where God had told him to go

He took action didn't he But his actions Were not an action of obedience

But here's how Serious God takes obedience God was going to sink the ship

The storm comes Sailors are scared Jonah knows it's because of me You're going to have to throw me overboard

And Jonah in his own heart what does he want to do He says I still don't want to obey God And go to Nineveh I'd rather die

I'm not going to bend the knee And tell God as soon as I'm off this ship I'll go and then the storm would stop

He's saying no I'm not going to bend the knee I'd rather die throw me in the water Because I'm not going to obey

You ever felt like that I was unfortunately one of those children wasn't I Bow the back

You're going to have to break me or kill me Before I bend the knee And this is Jonah But God being the good father that he is

What does he do He provides for him Jonah doesn't die Jonah's swallowed by a great fish

That great fish goes back the other direction And then spits him out onto the beach God says

Get up and go again You're going to obey whether you like it or not You don't have options

I'm not going to let you die And I'm not going to let you run You're going to obey This is a good father

Jonah had to obey And ultimately Jonah obeyed Now unfortunately Jonah did not obey

From the heart Matter of fact he went into the city And said hey you idiots 40 days and you're toast

Dropped the mic and walked out and sat And went maybe God will change his mind And smite him You know his heart wasn't there

And often times we as children We're not obedient We don't want to be obedient We may carry out the act like Jonah finally did

Because we realize mom and dad are stronger than me And I don't have options But this is the heart of God This is

God showing us that he takes Action of obedience Seriously guys

And your parents are placed there To give you directives To teach you

How not to be Jonah You get that right Your parents are there to teach you

And disciple you how not to be Jonah Because God's God's judgment and God's Chastening is a lot more difficult

Than that belt And that grounding So it's the goodness of parents

To discipline and force the children To act They don't have a choice

But to obey Period That's hard isn't it

Like man pastor how do we do this You're stronger than them They're dependent on you

They don't need that phone They don't need that car They may not even be able to leave the house

But you Don't want them to grow up And be a Jonah do you You want them to grow up and be obedient From a heart

Because God will chasten Those that he loves And you are chastening Those that you love

And obedience is a command To take action Proverbs 13

Says a wise son hears his father's Instruction This instruction as to what to do

To take action He hears his father's wisdom He listens to it Oh but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke

He will suffer for it He will always suffer in that In this world for that Remember there is wisdom

In obedience In active obedience And thirdly

Obedience In your conduct With your attitude This is of course

Similar to the appearance You may You may give God Or you may give your parents specifically

The appearance of obedience You may even Outwardly obey them

Through your actions Yet when no one is looking When that bedroom door closes

Your true attitude Starts to show doesn't it You may realize

Oh mom and dad are stronger than me I had to do the thing I did the thing and I kept a straight face

My appearance was good But inwardly my attitude Was one of Great rebellion against them

You know you remember that You remember a young man You're like yeah I took care of mom And you walk into the room

You close the door You freak out Like hitting things You know what

I'm talking about Because your heart, your attitude Is one of sin And your obedience and your conduct

Involves your attitude It involves every element of who you are Sometimes it's just that Pin up anger towards your parents

Sometimes it's emotional frustration With their rules Mom and dad just don't understand

Why are they so strict I can't wait until I grow up And I don't have any of these rules Good luck with that The rules get stricter and more trust me

As I said a moment ago This is ultimately a heart issue Many of you children in this room

Are growing up in Christian families And you know better Than to just outright disobey But don't be fooled

Don't be fooled By your outward adherence Of obedience to your parents God is not impressed

You've not bought points with God Remember what

God said to Samuel He says For the Lord sees not as man sees

A man looks on the outward appearance The expression Maybe the attitude Maybe the actions

Maybe the appearance Are all put together Because I'm a good homeschooled kid And I know better than to do this

I know that God wants me to be obedient Oh, but he says But the Lord looks on The heart

That's what matters Guys, you remember the sermon on the mount You remember what

Jesus said about the law In the sermon on the mount Here's Jesus preaching

And Jesus actually, he defines the law And he's the one that gets to define it He's the one that wrote it, right

So he gets to define what the law really means And in Matthew chapter 5

In verse 21 He points to one of the Law that God has given

He says, you have heard Said by those of old You shall not murder

Remember that's in the list Disobedience to parents Of that rebellion and sin This is just God's law

He said, you shall not murder This is speaking of God's law, of course

And then it goes on, he says And whoever murders will be liable To judgment They were trying to say

That in order to obey God's law of not to murder All you have to do is just not murder

Someone And you're good You are righteous according to the law

Makes sense, doesn't it You shall not murder I didn't murder I'm not guilty of the law

And Jesus, he defines the law He says in verse 22

There in Matthew 5 But as I say The one with the authority, the one that wrote the law

The one that gets to define the law The one that is fulfilling the law I say to you that everyone

Who is angry With his brother Will be liable of judgment

To judgment What is Jesus doing here He's telling them

That simply obeying the law Outwardly Obeying your parents commands

But dishonoring them In your heart Is not obedience to the law

At all You're guilty of the whole law

You've broken it Period Now parents and kids alike

Old, young Let me let y 'all in on a little secret We are all

Guilty You realize that right

Every Last One of us Has failed

Miserably At fulfilling and carrying The law

This is why We all need Jesus It's great, great hope

He's the one He's the only one Who was able to do this He's the only one that Fulfilled the law perfectly

Even as a child He was fulfilling the law You realize that, don't you? Have you ever heard that? Have you ever heard the fact that God In the second person of God In human form

As a child was fulfilling The law Luke 2 .51

With him and his parents as a child He went down with them, his parents And came to Nazareth And was

Submissive to them Now when we read those words

We can read between the lines and go Perfect Submission of appearance

Actions, attitude Outward, inward, the heart Every element of Submissiveness and honor to his parents

Was being fulfilled in that moment He and he alone was able to This is there to Show us that he did fulfill this

Jesus Fulfilled the whole law So that he may Represent us

Us disobedient children Us disobedient adults

He wanted to represent us

We broke the law From birth we've been breaking the law

And he Who knew no sin Became Sin Upon the cross didn't he

Children listen to me You broke the law You can't fulfill it

You can't obey the ten commandments Perfectly you cannot He did

And then he took that sin That breaking

Of the law And he bore it on himself He said he became sin

For us And remember Remember what the wages of sin are

Death Meaning the price of our sin The cost of our sin What is that sin going to cost you and I Death Our disobedience

Our rebellious hearts and actions Deserve death and that's why Jesus Had to die

To pay those wages To pay that price Of death

So that those Who believe in his name

Who repent of their sin May receive His righteousness

He He fulfilled the law perfectly

And then grabbed my sin Put it on himself Paid the price

And at faith Not at baptism Not at some sinners prayer

At the moment of faith A repentant heart

Comes forth And he has now placed His very perfection

So you might

Become his righteousness It's the great exchange

And in this moment At that very moment you are made A new creation

You can never be unsaved You can never be lost You can never

You can never go back To death You are eternally secure

In and through his righteousness Because it had nothing to do with your effort It had nothing to do with you

Praying the right prayer It had nothing to do with you being baptized It had nothing to do with you carrying out the law

It had nothing to do with you at all You were dead in your trespasses And in your sins

You were a corpse And he awakened you

So he is the one that will keep you We're made a new creation And we are finally able to see

And love God's law Finally, because before we're dead, right? We're dead in our trespasses and sins

And we had no capacity To even understand The law at all

Much less any capacity to obey it In its fullness But now

Because of the righteousness of Christ And because of the indwelling Holy Spirit That is within us as the guarantee

Of that glorious inheritance Guess what? You now have the capacity to love

And obey his law Now unfortunately

We can't do that perfectly yet But one day we will

We look forward to that day in glory, right? We fight and we war against this flesh still

So young people If you are in Christ today And you struggle with obedience to your parents Know that if you are in Christ You have the power to obey

You have the power to love God's law And his rules But your flesh is still going to war against you

Parents, that's why you Must enforce obedience in them To train them and disciple them

Towards this obedience Towards the ultimate authority Which is the

Lord Till then we seek the power of the Holy Spirit To align ourselves to it

And it leads us To the second thing I want us to see today Obedience in your heart

We have obedience in our conduct And now we have obedience From the heart

Look at the passage again There in Ephesians 6 Children, obey your parents

In the Lord Done out of a love For the Lord, right? That's what he's meaning

This is out of a love for God For this is right And then he quotes there,

Exodus 20 The law, honor your father And your mother The obedience is one thing

Oh, but honor Honor assumes appropriate obedience And so much more

Honor is so much more Than obedience Honor comes from the heart

An unregenerate heart Might be able to obey outwardly But it is

Thoroughly incapable Of true honor It cannot

It cannot obey the law of God What God has demanded Only a Christian, a spirit -filled individual

Is capable of this So how is this accomplished? Because you say

Well, I'm a believer And I don't obey perfectly Sometimes I don't even want to obey perfectly How do we accomplish this?

How can we honor? Specifically in this How can we honor our father and mother

With obedience in our heart? How do we do this? I'm going to sound like a broken record, guys

You know me, I'm a one -trick pony All I got Look to Christ That's it

That's the only option, that's the only way If you are in Christ It's not just looking to Christ once And then being justified and moving on in the

Christian life It doesn't work like that It's an ongoing Pursuit of looking

And remembering what Christ has done for you Looking to Him As our example

Keeping our eyes And our gaze and our thoughts And every element of our being

Constantly saturated In the great truth Of what He has done

For me To redeem me If you've been redeemed

Oh this This is the only way Saint, that you will be able to have obedience

In your heart This is the only way you're going to be able to honor Your father and your mother

In the way you should I made a comment a moment ago To those that are no longer under the care

Of their parents They don't have to obey But they do have to honor

So how do we honor our parents? How do we deal With parents that are sinful, broken people

That we still have to honor them? Again, think about what

Christ did Think about it For a second Think about the second person of the

Godhead Condescending From a rightful throne To come be made like the creature

He created Humility Perfect, ultimate humility

So that He may redeem you That This is how we honor

Our father and our mother Even when a father and a mother May not seem to be honorable

It still doesn't Negate the command We must honor them

We love them We care for them And we can only do that when we're reminded Of our great enmity

Against a great God who redeemed us Through Christ It brings about humility of heart

Because the reason you don't honor Your parents Is pride on your own part

Make no mistake It has nothing to do with their shortcomings It's all about Pride in your own heart

And the gospel crushes and burns pride Destroys it

In your life This, this is what Will give you

Obedience Obedience from the heart Honor Third and lastly

I gotta get through this last point Obedience leads to blessing Obedience leads to blessing

There in verse 2 and 3 Honor your father and your mother He says This is the first commandment with a promise

What's that promise? That it may go well with you And that you may live long in the land

Does this mean That everyone who honors their parents lives a long time And everyone who doesn't honor their parents

Dies early That doesn't seem to be the case But after all It says it's a promise

And as you dig into it you begin to realize Oh that Greek word for promise That's a guarantee

Like that's the same word that's used for the promise Of the Holy Spirit that will be It's the same word of the promise of glory that will come

It's a guarantee And I'll be honest I'm not real sure where I land on this

I'm just being transparent with you today I've wrestled with it I've wrestled with it over the years

I've wrestled with it this week I'm not real sure but what I do know Though is that That none of us

Have perfectly honored our parents right Not a one of us Have ever done that only

Christ did And that when we do Honor our parents In the power of the

Holy Spirit There is blessing And I think

There's blessing in all of God's law God's law is good, it's for our good It's for his glory

And there is great blessing in this And here's where I think this is getting at The wisdom and goodness of the benefit

Within this command As a matter of fact turn with me to Proverbs chapter 1 This is wisdom literature

And I think we see the principle Here of maybe what this This promise really is

I'm going to read quite a bit here So stay there in Proverbs chapter 1

And we'll close with this text And I want you to see

Kind of what this This blessing I believe to be In Proverbs chapter 1

Start reading in verse 8 It says Hear my son Your father's instruction

And forsake not Your mother's teaching Essentially honor them through obedience

You're honoring them Listen to your father's instruction Don't forsake your mother's teaching

This is wisdom here For they are graceful garland For your head

And pendants for your neck They are An array of beauty around you

As you are being clothed in beauty Through your father's instruction And your mother's wisdom

And teaching My son if sinners entice you Do not consent

If they say come with us Let us lie and wait for blood Let us ambush the innocent

Without reason Now we read this text Often times and we go well I'm not out there doing that I don't go hang out with my friends

And we're looking to like murder somebody That's not what we're doing This right here is giving us imagery

Of the very core heart of the world They are self, they are selfish

And they are after themselves no matter how nice They may be and may seem to you They are

Wicked to the core And their intentions Are always self

And he's saying be careful This is what they do Like Sheol let us swallow them alive

And whole like those who go down To the pit We shall find all precious goods

We shall fill our houses with plunder Plunder Selfish gain

Seeking after self We will find treasure We will plunder the goods of them

So that we may obtain That's the opposite of wisdom Verse 14 Throw in your lot among us

We will all have one purse Oh my son do not walk in the way of them

Hold back your foot From their paths For their feet run to evil

And they make haste To shed blood For in vain Is a net spread

In the sight of any bird But these men lie in wait For their own blood

They set an ambush For their own lives Such are the ways of everyone

Who is greedy for unjust gain It takes away the life Of its possessors

Hmm You see a contrast here Of a long

Fruitful life Versus A not long and fruitful life In the sin

Now look at the next few verses though We see this Verse 20 Wisdom obtained from godly parents

Right? Wisdom obtained From those before us That we are looking to Wisdom from the word of god

Cries aloud in the street In the market she raises her voice The head of the noisy street

She cries out At the entrance of the city gates she speaks How long oh simple ones

Will you love being simple How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing And fools hate knowledge

Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child And the rod of correction will drive it far from them We are by default

Fools Fools All of us We desperately need wisdom

And the foolish will run Into ways and paths that are destructive For them

In this very life If you turn At my reproof behold

I will pour out my spirit To you I will make my words known to you This is wisdom speaking

Because I have called and you And you refuse to listen Have stretched out my hand And no one has heeded

Because you have ignored all my counsel Counsel that was prescribed for you

Children obey your parents That's counsel prescribed for you And would have none of my reproof

This is wisdom Given by god This is god's words This is the wisdom that's coming forth to you children

Given by your parents Verse 26 I also will laugh at your calamity

I will mock when terror strikes you And your calamity comes like a whirlwind

When distress and anguish come upon you Then they will call upon me

But I will not answer They will seek me diligently But will not find me

Why? Verse 29 says Because they hated knowledge and did not choose

The fear of the lord Would have none of my counsel And despised all my reproof

How do we gain that wisdom? From his word What does his word say? Obey your parents

Honor your father and your mother There is wisdom that comes from this You're getting wisdom

The way god has prescribed In his design for wisdom But you would have none of it

You rejected honoring your father and your mother And you will suffer the consequences of it

He says verse 31 Therefore you shall eat the fruit of their way And have their fill of their own devices

For the simple are killed By their turning away And the complacency of fools

Destroys them But whoever listens to me Will dwell secure Are you seeing the pattern here?

And will be at ease Without dread of disaster I believe

That this is the promise Obeying your parents Your father and your mother

Gains you wisdom When they are godly parents It gains you godly wisdom

Wisdom leads to quality And quantity of life Foolishness leads to destruction

There's great blessing through walking In God's good design Children, obey your parents and the lord

For this is right Follow the way of wisdom

The way of wisdom Points to the ultimate wisdom The source of wisdom

God almighty The only wisdom we know Parents As you care for your children

As you disciple your children Don't try and disciple your children In your own wisdom You don't have any

Open up that word Glean from your heavenly father The ultimate wisdom

And then disseminate that wisdom To them through that word Children Honor your parents

Obey them So that you may honor the word So that you may walk

In the way that God has prescribed So that you may live long in the land So that you may be blessed

There's blessing in wisdom Does it mean that you're for sure Going to live a long life? I don't think that's the case

But that principle is there That there is great Wisdom and goodness in this

And again it only comes Through Jesus Christ You cannot

You will not Ever be able to see The wisdom of God Outside of seeing the goodness of Jesus Period Let's pray

Dear heavenly father Oh we bow Before you right now and we ask that We ask that we

Would be a people Who are doers of the word and not hearers only And when

We ask that we acknowledge that we In and of ourselves Are so prone to Wonder Prone to leave the

God we love Oh But in your goodness Through the

Convicting power of the holy spirit Through your word you draw us Back he who began a good work in us

We'll see it to completion of the day of Christ Jesus And we hold to that promise And we ask that for all the parents in this room

That they would look to you, they would rest in you They would trust in you, they would glean From your great wisdom

And that they would parent well They would disciple their children Lord I pray for the children in this room

That are struggling with Obedience and honor of their parents Help them to see the beauty

Of the cross, the beauty of Christ Repent of their sins Lord and those that are in you

That have repented of their sins And been brought into union with you Lord I pray the holy spirit

Would draw their minds And hearts to your word that they would seek To be obedient For those here that maybe don't have children

And are out of the home Now lord I pray that they would Help encourage the other saints

Into walking in wisdom Into looking to the glorious Gospel And your word

And be encouragement to the children To all around lord We pray that you would

Stir us to good works Or mold us as a church

Mold us as a family We are dealing with difficult topics These past few weeks Lord we see that there is so much change

That must take place In our outward lives God help us to be people

Who are willing to burn all the bridges To align ourselves to your truth Give us grace

We thank you in Christ's name Amen Let's stand and sing the