Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
7 sermons cite this verse
That's why one of the first commandments with the blessing is children Honor your parents in the Lord For this is right Do you know how many times a child don't want to do what their parents say? All the time But what God is trying to do Is challenge you To a discipline that you will need for your whole life I got it. I got to give you I got to give you the revelation I found in this stuff Okay, I want you to just write this last. This is bonus for everybody when you're marked God's already handled what you think you have to I'm approve it to you right here. Okay, so remember what David did he snuck up on him and he tore a a piece of his robe I Want to flip all the way back to when David's name was not even mentioned and Saul was marked and Saul Disobeyed what God told them to do and Samuel the prophet came and told him why didn't you obey God? …
… text. We'll come to the catechism as an illustration in a little bit. But I want to work from a simple text from Ephesians chapter 6. You can follow along in your Bibles, Ephesians chapter 6, verses 1 through 3. This is where Paul, in chapter 4, having urged the Ephesians to live a life worthy of the calling they received, gives explicit instructions. And what does it mean to walk the Christian walk. This is in the middle of a particular section, sometimes called the household codes, where we have specific instructions with the various relationships that we might encounter in the household, wives and husbands, and now children and parents. Verse 1, children, obey your parents in 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. Isn't it interesting to note just at the outset that Paul addresses children as part of the covenant community, as those who belong to the church? He does not say, Now, children, if you hear this, I know that you have not yet made a profession of faith, and you have not yet joined the church, and you are not yet Christian. So, I'm saying this to you, children, as simply children who are in earshot of my commands, this would be a good thing for you to do. He says rather, children, here is my command to obey your parents in the Lord. …
… well, the children don't have to do this. Why would they have to do this? The answer is, children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. What makes it right? The law of God makes it right. What about the law of God? The fifth commandment. Honor your father and mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God gives you. So in other words, he says, husbands and wives, this is your part in the social climate. And this is why the Bible says so. Children, this is your responsibility, and I am underpinning it by telling you by quoting Scripture. Now, when he comes to the issue of slavery, he doesn't underpin it with anything. He doesn't go somewhere and say, Slavery is fine, and slavery is okay, and slavery is part of God's plan, as it were, and let me tell you why by quoting the Bible. He doesn't because it isn't. And that absence is a crucial indication of Paul's heart and mind in relationship to that fundamental question that we're raising. In fact, Paul's conviction is that slaves should leave their bondage if they're given the opportunity. 1 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 21, he says, Each of you should remain in the situation where he was when God called him. Were you a slave when you were called? He says, Don't let it trouble you. Although if you can gain your freedom, do so. …
… 5, verses 22 through 33 of displaying the gospel and a husband's selfless sacrificial love for his wife, a wife's submissive respect and love for her husband, which leads to Ephesians chapter 6, verses 1 through 4, and a father and a mother loving their child in a way that reflects the love of God for that child. There's so much we could talk about here, but just to bring the data on to bear on why this is so important, do you know what percentage of women seeking abortions are unmarried in our country. Approximately 86%. So almost nine out of 10 women in our country who seek abortions are unmarried. We in our culture have decoupled sex from marriage and the effects are tragic for children in the womb. the devilish fruit of sexual immorality is the death of millions of boys and girls and do you know who's the most influential person in a woman's decision to have an abortion research shows it's the father of that baby there's not even a close second And most fathers are at best abdicating that decision, if not encouraging it. …
… It provides sensibility. Ephesians 6.1 says, Children, obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. It's just right. Yes, it is. And I think it's interesting that God repeated these things four times. I mean, when God says something once, you better pay attention. Four times. So this is like the linchpin. This is the key. This is the gear that will catapult us to speeds we never, ever thought possible. And there is a longevity piece, a stability piece, a sensibility piece. And then there's tranquility. Colossians chapter 3, verse 20 says, children, obey your parents in everything. For this pleases the Lord. And that's our ultimate goal, to please the Lord. Please the Lord. So all of these things, it's just interesting to me that they're repeated throughout the Bible, from the Old Testament to the New Testament, that we should obey our parents. And that's not always easy to do. No. I would say that, you know, Ed mentioned the Torah. It's all about living honorably. …
… They're really very simple and direct. Children, obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." That is a minimalist approach to the family, and yet it covers everything. There are plenty of places you can go and get bad advice about the family. This is the foundation of all God's design for the family, directed at children and at parents. I don't need to belabor the point. We all know that the family is being assaulted. I mean, it's just wholesale. Men are being assaulted by the culture and have been for a long time. Women are recast as toxic, a toxic patriarchy that has had a destructive impact on society. Women are the abused targets of this toxic patriarchy by being forced to stay home and have children and never find their real fulfillment, which would come to them in the corporate location, because that's where women need to be fulfilled. …
… he must lead in the word and not just you but look at chapter 6 in verse 4 back up to verse 1 children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right honor your father and mother which is a verse commandment with a promise so that it may be well with you and that you may live long on the You are fathers. Do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Who? Fathers. And so this individual that is going to be called husband is an individual who's going to be responsible for washing his wife by the water of the word, leading her in the word, and setting the tone and leading in the discipleship of the children as well. Which means, women, if we are willing to pursue a man who's not a believer or to pursue a man who's not mature in the faith or committed to the faith enough to lead in this area of word that we are actually saying that it doesn't really matter all that much to us whether or not our children have the kind of discipleship that God intended for them to have. …