The Ten Commandments - Honor Your Parents

How's it going, beautiful, beautiful weather.

It's a Memorial Day weekend, and today is the day

that honors US military who gave their life and service

to this country. And I actually think it's very fitting

that today, on a weekend, or we're talking about honoring.

The text that we have for today is also talking

about honoring. So maybe some different categories of what we're honoring,

but today we're talking about honoring your parents.

Honoring or honor your parents.

Now, this simple phrase is bound to cause waves of emotion.

Maybe those are happy emotions, just love my parents, They're

the best. Maybe those are feelings of grief, feelings of hurt, pain,

But nonetheless there are feelings. And not only are there emotions,

but this could evoke countless questions and objections.

If you only knew my parents.

If you only had to grow up in the house

that I grew up in, if you knew what they

put me through on a regular basis. And you're right,

I don't know your parents and you probably don't know.

Mine, but God does.

And interestingly enough, I'm just to be clear, I'm not

the one who came up with this novel idea. Just

to put that out there, take some of the heat

off of me. Potentially, God, the one who gave you

those parents, did.

God, the one who gave.

You those parents for whatever reason, is the same God

who calls you and I to honor our parents. Now

I'm today this is kind of a big talkic topic.

It's it's it's can be very heavy, but I hope

today it's it's encouraging, it's uplifting. But I'm hoping to

answer the question why would this command? Why would this

one commandment make God's top ten? This makes God's top

ten commandments for how he expects his people to live

their life. So we're going to read this command as

it's put in his word. We're gonna pray and Lord

willing and get to the very bottom of this very

interesting command. So if you would actually please open your

bibles with me, we're gonna be in Exodus chapter twenty.

If you do not have a Bible, please just raise

your hand. Gabe in the back would love to run

you a bible.

You keep it.

They're awesome bibles. But here we regularly open our Bibles,

and so it's important that you have one in your hand.

But Exodus chapter twenty towards the beginning of your Bible.

We're gonna be looking at only one verse, one verse,

that if we understand it better, might just reshape how

we are to view the way that God has called

all of us to live and love those He has

placed over us.

Again.

That's Exodus twenty, chapter or verse twelve. And then we

are going to pray here it is honor your father

and your mother, that your days may be long in

the land that the Lord your God is giving him.

Let's pray, Father, Lord, Creator, God Almighty. We come before

you today asking for wisdom, for understanding, for your presence

to be among your peace people today as we open

your word, that as we look at just one verse,

that the full weight of your word and of your

spirit would come to bear on our hearts. That you

have softened our hearts, that we would hear this word

and it would go down deep, planting deep roots and

ultimately bearing fruit for your glory and our good in

Jesus name.

Everyone said amen.

So if you're joining us for the first time today,

we're so glad that you are here with us. We've

been going through a study on the Ten Commandments, and

we've called the series the Ten Commandments law defining love,

and we've been exploring how these ten Commandments are the

bedrock and compass for how we are to properly love

God and love people. Our mission here at the Roots

is it's all about Jesus.

We love God, we love people, We reach the lost,

and we make disciples.

And so as we go through this series, our hope

is that it would really start to shape and mold

our view of how we are to truly, properly and

simply love God better and as we should, and love

those around us as we've been called to.

So we live.

In a day and age where what we love, what

people love, is how we tend to define what we

believe is right, how what we love defines and shapes

what we think is right. Sometimes that does work out,

a lot of the other times it.

Hasn't and does not work out.

You've seen that just going through some of these Ten Commandments,

that there's a lot of things that we call love

that God actually turns around and says, no, that's sin,

that's missing the mark, that's not meeting the standard.

And we're not the only ones who do this.

Even in Jesus's day, the people who were considered the

most holy themselves would find ways of trying to skirt

around God's commandments.

You ever tried doing that?

Well, I know he wants this, but maybe if I

just come up to this line, I'm sure he'll be

okay with this.

But look at this, Matthew fifteen.

Three, he says, and he answered them, talking to the Pharisees,

why do you break the commandment of God for the

sake of your tradition? For God commanded honor your father

and your mother, and whoever reviles father or mother must

surely die. But you say, if anyone tells his father

or his mother what you would have gained from me

is given to God, he need not honor his father.

So for the sake of your tradition, you have made

void the word of God. So these people who had

been considered the most God fearing people in Jesus's day

had tried to find workarounds to the clear commands of God.

And it's the worst part is in that tech specifically,

it's not just like, well, I'll do some of it.

It was like no, no, no, we actually made up

a whole new rule that just means you don't have

to obey the commandment. They were just directly contradicting God's word.

They thought their own ideas were enough to get around

the things that God had clearly called them to do.

And if we're not careful he God's clearly revealed word.

I fear that we might just do the same. And

I think if we're honest with ourselves, we already know

that we do the same. So where this command it's

number five sits in the Ten Commandments is actually a

huge turning point. We've looked at the first four commandments

the last several weeks, which have directed us and how

we are to properly love God.

And now we're moving.

To what can be referred to as the second table,

or it's really this kind of a little bit more,

but the second half of the ten Commandments, the next

six that deals with loving people. Now, why the fifth

commandment is so pivotal is because God is actually seeing

God give us commands in a very rational order. It's

actually really crazy. When you start looking at this, you're

just like wow, Like God, this just makes sense. God

has given us four commands directing us and how we're

to properly love, worship, revere and do that regularly unto him.

And now as we transition to what it looks like

to love people, God moves from heavenly authority, and before

he just gets to how you're gonna interact with Joe

down the street, he says, we're gonna look at dealing

and how we are to act, and what I expect

of you to respond.

To earthly authority. Then after this week we'll be dealing.

With the people down the road, our neighbors, our friends,

our siblings. To the fifth commandment is dealing primarily with

our first and most important authorities, second only to God himself.

That's crazy. That is our parents.

So we just learned how we are to regard God,

and now we are going to learn how.

To regard our parents.

We're going to see shortly that actually this commandment, in

its broadest context, its broadest understanding, doesn't just have application

to our parents as authorities over us, but in general

just any authority that God himself has placed over us.

He's like, we know it at the beginning. None of

us chose our parents. And if you did, you tell

me how you figured that one out. None of us

chose our parents God did God put them over us,

which Like I said, depending on your upbringing, that could

mean a million different things to you. You could be like, Gosh,

thank you God, and you're like, what was that?

What is up with them? Why? Then we'd have a

million questions.

But understanding that God is the one who put them

over us, this should not only make us sober in

our thinking towards our parents, but it should also make

us think through the incredible task and responsibility that He's

given you.

If you have children as well.

Now, I think it's fair to say that many of

us are like, Man, I wish my kids were in

here today.

Man, this would have been really good for a family service.

And I agree with you.

But while that's true, this command isn't just for little kids.

As noted by one of the commentaries I was reading

this week, they're like, these commands were clearly given to adults.

Look at the subject matter, don't commit adultery a little

bit Pg. Thirteen for most of our kids. So these

commands are given to adults, and those adults are going

to have children who are then going to teach them

these commands. So ultimately, what I'm saying is, don't count

yourself out of this command. This command is for all

of us, and I think this is really important for

us to remember, even as adults, because we live in

such a funny time.

To put it lightly, we live in a culture where

we say.

Things like okay, boomer, get with the times, man, and

many many, many variations. Now, of course, this isn't a

new thing, and you want to if you want to

know how we know it's not a new thing. It's

because there's a command from a book that's like kind

of old by a couple thousand years that's had to

just say, hey, just in case you kids start getting

a little wild.

Onto your parents.

In the sixties, we've had different We've had different ebbs

and flows of generational uprisings and different rebellions or youth

rebellions and different things like that.

But it is interesting. Sixties were an interesting time.

I wasn't there by like thirty years, but I do

like history. I do like music, and I like music

and history from around that time period.

But there were.

Ideas and slogans going around to the extent in this

one insistance, this is so fun. There was a slogan

going around of don't trust anyone over the age of thirty.

Don't trust anyone over the age of thirty, because if

you're over thirty, you're already part of the establishment. Man,

Now here's the deal. As someone who's on I'm like,

I'm not even thirty, Like I'm right.

There, I'm on the line.

That seems like a crazy statement to me. And I

also know that thirty is not very old at all.

And I know that because my wife is is thirty,

So it's not very it's not very old. In the sixties,

you had different songs and anthems telling parents to get

out of the way, saying like you don't know anything.

It's our turn now would you have to offer us

if you're not going to get with our new ideas,

get out of the way. Listening to these lyrics from

the famous Bob Dylan song the times are changing, and

I'm going to spare you. I'm only going to read them,

even though my Dylan impression is all right, Um, it says,

come mothers and fathers throughout the land, and don't criticize

what you can't understand. Your sons and your daughters are

beyond your command. Your old road is rapidly aging. Please

get out of the new one. If you can't lend

your hand for the times. They are a change in

powerful anthem, powerful song. But the whole point is get

with it or get out of the way.

Now, it needs to be said. Parents don't get everything right.

A lot of us know that as parents, having them,

seeing our parents' parents, seeing our children parent. There's many

ways that that can go. Parents don't get everything right.

But that is no excuse for us to blow them off.

Maybe just because they disagree with you, consider this, if

we do just a little bit of thinking.

It's a fact.

That anyone who's older than you has lived longer than you.

Yes, that's a fact. That's just a true statement.

Anyone older than you has lived longer than you, especially

your parents. That doesn't mean that they know everything, but

it also doesn't mean that they don't know anything regardless.

God's command here is that even if you did know

more than them, as all kids think they do, that

there is still honor to be given. That they're still

honor to be given. Proverbs the Wise Sayings in the Bible,

makes it clear that there is a blessing to old age.

Proverbs twenty and twenty nine look at how the contrasts

of young and old the glory of young men is

their strength, that the splendor.

Of old men is their gray hair. Amen and job.

It says wisdom is with the aged and understanding in

length of days. So we're seeing that God's word is

making clear that there is a sense in which wisdom

does come with age. We should know that because throughout

our entire life, there's so many areas where maybe we

just maybe we got it right a lot, but then

there's a lot of areas where we've gotten it so wrong,

and because of that we've just been constantly, constantly learning. Now,

that doesn't mean that everyone's learned the lessons that they

should have by now, doesn't mean that every old person

is wise about everything. I mean, honestly, sometimes you could

just learn a lot from looking at someone who's lived

a long time and just where things went wrong, even

if they haven't figured out it out yet. Many people

have spent a long time in this life, have had

many shortcomings, many years of sin, many struggles, foolish acting foolishly,

But they, as much as us, need God's grace to

learn those lessons, apply that grace and that newly profound

wisdom that's dawning upon us. Finally, after it's taken the

eleventh time of going through the same cycle, and God

gives us that grace and we finally see we put

that into practice in our life. Is never the same

in that one area. Now, I know, with a command

like honor your parents and a culture like ours, one

so steeped in rebellion and kind of just general respect

for authorities parents, I don't think our skepticism is going

to be quickly put out. So that's why, ultimately I

want to spend most of our time looking at three

reasons why we should honor our parents. I want to

plead the case from scripture and Lord willing, let it

be what begins to shape us instead of just our

own flesh and culture reaction. So I'm gonna start with

reason number one, and I'm gonna be honest with you.

You might not like it.

I will also say it because of that, it is

the longest one. So the other two are shorter after that,

but the first one is a little bit longer. The

first reason we should honor our parents, we've already alluded

to it is that God put them there. God put

them there. Now, this is technically different than just saying

because God said so it's very like that, but it

is different. We need to understand that the parents we

have is not an accident. And here's the deal, Like

I just need you to go there with me. That

is crazy. That can feel crazy, and to some of

you you're just like, I don't know what you're talking about.

This is it's only been great, but for some that

has not been the case. They can't they're still trying

to to this day figure out any of it. We

might not be able to understand it. But is the reality.

It's not an accident.

God made you.

God wanted you here, and God decided for whatever reason,

to use your parents to be the ones to bring

you into existence. As my mom like to remind me

growing up, I brought you into this world and I

can take you out now.

Whether or not that statement lines up.

Was what God says, it does show the reality that

our parents, to an extent, are are God's instruments in

bringing us into this world, as much as God brought

them into this world by their parents and so on.

We could easily be upset or pleased maybe with whom

God did decide to set over us as our parents,

but we should remember also that we all have Adam

and Eve as our parents, and as the story goes,

even they didn't get it right, and since then no

parents have.

Here's the truth.

God has set them over you as your parents. Whether

they do a good job or not is not on you.

I'm gonna say that again. God has set them over

you as your parents, but whether they do a good

job or not is not on you. God will judge

them for how well they did or didn't steward you

as your child. And I pray that to some degree

that just lets you exhale. God will hold them to

account as much as He's going to hold us to

account for the kids that He's given us.

So now I hope you're holding your breath again.

But God is going to hold you to account for

the type of child you were to your parents. So

this verse is really getting in how you were when

you still lived under their roof. How do you treat

them now that they're.

In their old age.

God holds us accountable not for their sin, but he

will hold us accountable for our own. God holds us

accountable for how we live in the places that He

puts us. Us having bad or sinful parents, there is

no excuse for us to then act sinfully, just as

much as them having a difficult child doesn't give them

allowance to turn around and act sinfully.

It really does go both ways, because God.

Will hold each and every one of us individually accountable

for the things and places that He's given us.

And put us.

God will hold all those He places in positions of

authority accountable, and that is good news, scary news if

you're an authority. It's good news for everyone else. But

I think it is also something that needs to be

said that as much as you might think that it's

by your own awesomeness that you are in some kind

of position of authority, God's words says that that is

not entirely true. That is something that God has given

you to steward and hold you accountable and responsible for it.

Anyone in authority is there because God has placed them there.

It's then that person's responsibility to respond to steward that

gift well, which is why historically this command isn't just

understood in regarding parental authority, but it's brought a sense.

It's understood to regard all those that God has placed

over us. And what's the best example of that our parents.

That means we're not to only honor our parents, but

all authority that He's placed over us. Now, our parents

are kind of the most extreme version. Most of us

can quit our job. Maybe you don't have money anymore,

but you can say I don't want to be under

your authority anymore. Someone in our country, we get to

vote and try and make decisions. What we want doesn't

always pan out, but at least we get to try

and have a voice, and if we really want to,

we can move. We can try all these different things

like that. But our parents, those.

Are your parents.

To honor our parents or also to honor all authority

place over us, and the reason for that is because

all authority, whether they end up doing good or bad,

is set in place by God. That seems like a

crazy statement, Let me back it up. Romans thirteen to

one through two says, let every person be subject to

the governing authorities, For there is no authority except from God,

and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore,

whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and

those who resist will incur judgment. If you weren't mad

at me beforehand, for any of going through this stuff.

I'm sure we're getting there. This is a crazy claim.

I'm not saying it's an untrue claim. It's just a

crazy claim. It's crazy. It's hard to wrap our brains

around this fact. But it's exactly what God's word tells us.

All authority is set in place by God.

All I have a billion questions.

All authority we see in different places where God, in

the Old Testament many times would raise up a righteous

king and he would do good, and then things got

too good and he started doing whatever he wanted to.

God would raise up a bad king and come over

and take out the good king. And then he'd be like, hey,

that was a bad thing you did, and he would

raise up a good king and he'd come take out

the bad king.

So God is really he moves in these ways.

That you're just kind of like, all right, I get it,

God's doing whatever he wants to do. But man, if

I'm just an Israelite, I mean like I'm under the

good king. Oh, oh, the good king's bad now and

here comes the bad king and he's coming. And God,

God's telling me that he's doing all of it, Like

he's bringing these things about. It's just hard to wrap

our brains around. But ultimately we can trust that he

I mean, as the ultimate authority. He knows what he's doing.

I don't.

But He is the one putting these things into place,

into practice, making these things happen. So it's just like

our parents. We may not get what God is doing,

but nonetheless, three things are sure. God put them there.

God will hold them accountable with the authority that he

gives them, and he will hold us accountable. And how

we live under their authority? Now, I'm sure that there

could be a burning question in our soul. Very reasonable

for this type of topic is what if they're evil?

Though?

What do I do as one under that authority? What

do I do? They're bad and they're my authority? Do

we really have to honor them? Do you really have

to obey them? And to make things clear?

Yes and no.

Let me paint you a picture Christianity. It's the first century.

Christianity is booming, doing great spreading. People are getting saved,

and Rome doesn't like it. It's kind of turning into

everything upside down. They hate it because they're a pagan

nation ruled by pagans and wicked emperors who themselves think

they're actually the God and usually like to be regarded

as such. And now there's some lunatics running around saying

that there's only one God and he's not him some

guy named Jesus. They hate Christians and in many cases

start to make commands that Christians are to disobey God. Now,

let's say you're a Christian, it also happens to be

living somewhere hostile to God, does a lot of things

to try and undermine God's word. Active in our society

whose leaders hate God, how often are you trying to

find ways to honor them, like right now? How many ways?

How often are you like man gas prices are just

probably not a lot, if anything. Most of us not saying, oh,

I'm just speaking generically, like to load up our bumper

stickers with all of our feelings and thoughts about those

who are over us, just to show how much we

hate our leaders. And to some degree we could appeal

to that's the American way, but I do believe the

Bible ultimately tells us that that is not the Christian way.

Look at what Peter says, and this is Peter. It's

not like he got like.

To live in luxury by the Roman Empire, and they're like, hey,

can you just pen this for us and tell everyone

to obey us.

People like to think that.

A Peter, who's generally recognized as a guy who ended

up being killed by the Roman authorities, so he had

regular confrontations with authorities, both the religious, I'm sure beyond

regarding our Lord Jesus, and this is what he has

to say about those who are over us. It's gonna

sound familiar, kind of like what Paul said in Romans.

Says be subject therefore for the Lord's sake to every

human institution. And man, it's just like it's just you

read these texts and you're like, man, you just had

to put that in there. You had to say those things.

Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution,

whether it be to the Emperor as supreme or to

the governors as sent by him. To punish those who

do evil and to praise those who do good. For

this is the will of God, that by doing good

you should put to silence of the ignorance of foolish people.

Live as people who are free, not using your freedom

as cover up for evil, but living as servants of God.

Now listen to this.

Honor everyone, love the brotherhood, Fear God, honor the Emperor.

Peter says, we are to submit an honor those authorities

placed over us by God, the ones we like and

don't like. It says, no, no matter what, we are to

live in a way where we can be free as

God's people from accusation of those who do try to

slander how we live.

But do we actually live that way?

If I'm talking about politics, it takes about five seconds

for that to not be the case. You find so

many ways to express our disrespect for those authorities over us.

It's easy to do in just a highly political society.

Social media ramp at every news headline, trying to get

you to click, trying to get you just rage bait you.

It's not that we can't call foolish things foolish.

It's not that we can't call evil things evil because

we ought to do so. But just in a respectful,

in God honoring way.

How do we know?

Peter says, Honor everyone, love the brotherhood, Fear God, and

so far all of us are like perfect. I think

I can do that, love the brotherhood. I love my

church family. Fear God sounds good. Surely Peter can't mean

like everyone though, right, Like the crazy guy at the top,

the guy who we just can't figure out what he's doing,

what he's gonna end up doing with us, the guy

who thinks that sometimes he is God.

He doesn't like that we worship another God.

But Peter makes sure just in case the Christians tried

to do what all of us do. Peter says, yes,

even the Emperor. You see that at the end of

the text. There honor everyone, love the brotherhood, fear God.

And here's the thing, he already said everyone, right, So

why does he say this at the end because.

He knows how we can bet.

He's like, honor everyone, Yes, everyone, even the Emperor.

It's just fun Bible stuff.

I'm sure all of us could at this point be

ready to explode, just like I'm kind of done. He

lost me a long time ago. I'd like to try

and answer the question that I believe is on all

of our minds. How do we honor and obey them

when they're evil and telling us to do evil. That's

the problem. Whether it's our parents or the government or

any authority over us. We have parents who maybe hate God?

How do I still honor them? How am I still

supposed to obey them? Now we need to recognize that

as much as they are the authority that God has

placed over us, they are not the ultimate authority. God

is the ultimate authority, which means, just like we see

in the Ten Commandments, just like we see in other places,

there is an order two things. There's an order to things.

God as the ultimate authority. Start with our parents. Phesians

six to one says, children, obey your parents and the

Lord for this is right. So that is weird to

obey our parents in the obedience of what God has

said and how we are how to live. So, if

you want just a couple quick ones, there's stuff in

the Old Testament, Old commands about, hey, if anyone strikes

their parents death, if anyone curses their parents death, pretty

hardcore stuff.

There's also commands not to disobey parents.

There's commands not to obviously as we're looking at today,

not to dishonor them. So there's a sense of like,

all right, so we should not be striking our parents.

I don't necessarily think that if anyone of you hit

your parents, we should get the stones.

But there should be.

There's going to be consequences for those things they ought

not be. We should not strike them, curse them, disobey them,

dishonor them. But this obeying your parents and the Lord

also means that if your parents tell you to obey

a command that goes against God, whom are you to obey?

You're to obey God.

So, if it comes down to it, who is going

to be the highest authority? God is, so we are

to obey him above our parents.

And here's the deal, Jesus.

Jesus didn't shy away from that reality that following him

was going to cause that stuff all over the New Testament, right,

He's like, this is going to be rough for families.

People are going to be split over this.

Fathers and their sons, mothers and their daughters, sons to

their fathers, daughters to their mothers, all the ways you

can slice it. And I'd say probably with the amount

of people that we even have in this room, a

lot of those things are represented here. So we're to

honor God first as a prime authority. But if our

parents ask us, or if what our parents ask us

doesn't contradict or dishonor God, we should honor our parents

and obey them as is right and as fitting. Now,

I think this is a really good opportunity to just

kind of pause, as is right and as is fitting?

What does that mean?

Well, this idea of honoring has this idea of weight weightiness.

John Colvin said, this honor can be this idea of reverence, obedience,

and gratefulness.

It's kind of some helpful categories. Maybe have this respect

for them, this desire to.

Obey them, and also this thankful disposition to them. Now,

I do think that this command should be taken at

face value. We don't want to do what the Pharisees

did and start cutting up a bunch of lines that

aren't there.

So I need you to hear me even what I'm

about to say that we're not doing that.

I do believe that there's a difference between living in

your parents' house in the authority of them over you,

then you living across the country in a different house

leading your own family. But there's still ways in both

of those context that we're so called do honor and

obey them. You're living at your parents' house and they

ask you to take out the garbage while you're living

underneath their authority take out the garbage in an honoring,

respectful way. I think even if we were to be

older and our parents who are now older as they're

in their older age, call us and say, hey, can

you come help me take out my garbage? We might

not be dropping everything at nine am or at two pm.

Well we're work, but we're like, hey, I would love

to come help you. Like having that like that that

disposition to help them, And I think that's something that

would be very helpful for us understanding because, like I said,

I know we all come from different backgrounds, we all

come from different places.

Is with different parents.

We might have had a great parent and a bad parent,

or two bad parents, or no parents, or all the

parents and they were great in the village, like you

could have all these different ways that it could have

been sliced UF. So how are we to understand this

honoring And one of the best ways I could think

to explain it is our disposition should be to honor

the position and the person that is in that position.

And I have a picture to kind of explain what

I'm talking about. Most of the time around I'd say decent, civilized,

good people. If you have, say, a young or or

whatever lady who's about eight months pregnant, and she waddles

into wherever she's waddling into. Most people will look at

that lady and find some way like, hey, take my seat,

how can I make things easy on you? Or hey,

I see you have your handsful, you have other kids

running around? Is there anything I can help get you? Hey?

Can I pick that up for you? Like, there is

this disposition. But here's the deal.

You don't know if she's gonna be a good mom

or a bad mom. You don't know if she's gonna

be a bad mom yet, but that doesn't change how

you treat her. You recognize her position and that she's

the person in that position, and you go, I would like,

how can I honor you?

Can you take my seat? We revere that we appreciate it. Oh,

like this is great.

Life is awesome, This is your life is gonna change,

it's gonna be wild and crazy, but this is wonderful.

Thank you for repopulating the world. Like, there's so many

different ways, but none of that is dependent on how

she does it parenting or will because you don't know,

but you still have this general honor in respect that

you give towards her. Now, I believe we should take

that pure honoring, detached from the actions, and take that

and apply that to our parents, that whether I do

know how they parent it or not, that there's still

a sense in which I recognize the position that God

gave them, recognize that they happen to be the people

in that position that God put there, and respond in

the same way. How can I be helpful? You want

my seat, Simple things, to just show this honor and

this reverence, in this respect, in this gratefulness, this gratitude,

which sometimes can be really hard to do. You feel

like your grasping at straws. But there's many ways that

we can be as simple as thank you God for

using this person to bring me here. So again, if

your parents ask what they ask you doesn't contradict or

dishonor God. Believe that this command is calling us to

honor them and obey them as is right and it

is fitting. The same goes for our government. There will

be laws you don't like, but that aren't sinful. To

obey the speed limit. After writing that phrase, I've had

a heck of a time last couple of days as

of seeing my number go above.

It's the Lord's working on me too.

And because we ought to obey that he expects us to,

which is being consistent here. But if the government commands

you to disobey God, you obey the higher authority. You

obey God Acts five twenty nine. But Peter and the

apostles answered, we must obey God rather than men. And

because of all this, all the more reason we should

strive to understand and know God's word, so that we

actually know when our parents have crossed the line, so

we actually know when the government has off the line.

Read your Bibles. It will inform you and teach you.

And just to be clear, just because you don't like

a law doesn't automatically mean God agrees with you. If

you don't like a law, it doesn't mean that God

automatically agrees with you, and that means you get to disobey.

Once again, That's why we got to know our word,

know his word, because if you are going to be

rebellious towards your parents or the government, God's going to

hold you accountable.

We saw that in Romans thirteen.

God will judge those who disobey his command to honor

the authorities above them, whether it's your parents or the government,

or anyone in authority that God has placed over you

in some fashion. That could be your boss, your pastor

your your husband, your governor your president, your parents. There's

all kinds of variations.

The reason that this.

Is such a big deal is because to reject the

earthly authority God has placed over you is to reject

the ultimate and heavenly authority that placed them there. And

for all those who reject the ultimate authority, they will

surely have judgment to face.

Think about why this is so important.

When God teaches us to obey earthly authorities, he's actually

teaching us how to submit.

In a really difficult way.

And ultimately, I believe that trains us to trust and

submit to Him.

Think about it.

When we teach our children to obey authorities above them,

we're actually ultimately training them to submit to the ultimate

authority God. If we raise kids to reject all authority,

we should not be surprised when they rebel against us

and ultimately rebel against God. Learning to submit and honor

imperfect and fallen authorities primes us and.

Trains us all the more and easier Lord.

Willing to submit to the perfect and righteous authority, God himself.

If I can submit to.

An authority I agree with when they're unrighteous, I should

then learn to submit to a completely righteous authority, even

when I don't understand the things that he's calling me

to do, which moves us to our second reason. Like

I said, we're going to kind of fly through these

last couple of months. The second reason is we honor

the ultimate authority when we honor the earthly authorities. The

only person who ever lived perfectly and honored God the

Father was Jesus the Son.

And where did it lead him? Straight to his death?

I'll get Philippines too, says have this mind among yourselves,

which is yours.

In Christ.

Jesus, who though he was in the form of God,

did not count a quality with God a thing to

be grasped, but emptied himself by taking on the form

of a servant. Being born in the likeness of men

and being found in human form, he humbled himself by

becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on

a cross. Jesus humbled himself and perfectly submitted himself to

his heavenly Father, which led to his death by the

hands of earthly authorities start trying to make sense to this,

it's hard to You're like, I see what God did,

but trying to make sense to this, trying to guess

the game plan, it's hard. It's very similar to our

own lives, to one of the craziest moments where if

you look at this, this obedience seems hard to understand.

It's all part of God's plan because he knows what

he's doing. Not only did Jesus.

His obedience to his father mean his death, but also

meant but for all of those who have fallen short

of honoring earthly authorities, all of those who have fallen

short of honoring our heavenly authority, can now be saved

Philippians two nine. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and

bestowed on him the name that is above every name,

so that at the name of Jesus, every and he

should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to

the glory of God, the Father Romans ten Knights. Is

because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord,

and believe in your heart that God raised him from

the dead.

You will be saved.

Jesus's obedience to the Father did mean his death, but

it also was God's plan in order to save everyone

who believes in him. It's again, it's something that would

be hard to fully wrap your brain around that Jesus

would willingly obey his father and thus secure for us

in eternal salvation. Praise God for Jesus, Praise God for

his obedience, his perfect obedience to the Father. So for

anyone who has put their faith in Jesus who has

now been saved from their sins, we are now called

to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, laying down our

life in obedience to God the Father, no matter the cost.

That even if we don't understand my parents, even if

we don't understand the authorities that He said over us,

I believe that our obedience to God, that is to

honor these people how we should is all part of

his plan.

Is when we.

Honor those authorities over us like God has told us

to God himself is honored as our heavenly father, and

we are shown to be his obedient children.

Look at Classans three twenty.

Children, obey your parents and everything for this pleases the Lord.

Now I can imagine it still might be a little

bit hard to work through these things. Looking at these

first two points, we could still struggle to understand this.

This is just arbitrary, like like why we can't we

don't know the end, like I get God said to

do it, and apparently if I don't that there's judgment

to face and say. Yes, that is what the Bible

we've seen in many places ultimately says. But in God's

great mercy and life of our original text gives us

one big final reason why we ought to honor our parents,

and it's actually really positive. I need a band the

cabout Please, let's look at our text again. Exodus twenty twelve.

It says, honor your father and your mother, that your

days may be long in the land that the Lord

your God is giving you. God says that your days

may be long. So our third reason is that it

may go well with you. Obey your parents, honor your parents,

that it may go well with us. Now, this isn't

saying that every person who does this is going to

live to one hundred and twenty.

Let's just make that clear.

But it is getting across this idea of blessing and

abundance that if you obey this commandment, God says it

will go well with you.

Now again, you might be skeptical and go like, all right,

but that was for them, wasn't it. That was just

for them?

Then that'd be fair, a very fair conclusion. But look

at what Paul does and says to the church in Ephesus,

made up of Christians. It says, 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. Paul explicitly says that

this command has a promise attached to it.

And here's the deal.

I don't like, lovingly care what you think. When it

tells us there's a promise cling to it, why not

he gives it to us. And I believe that this

promise is twofold. It's both natural and supernatural. Let's start

with the first one. It should be easy to work

through how it will naturally go well with us. If

you're a child and you disobey, goes bad for you.

If you're a child and you do obey, generally speaking,

goes pretty well.

For you.

If you are a citizen who disobeys and breaks the law,

doesn't go very well for you.

If you're a citizen who.

Generally does an all right job not bringing the law,

generally speaking, it goes pretty.

Well for you. That was the natural one. It's pretty easy.

It's pretty straightforward now.

Secondly, I believe there is a spiritual blessing for those

who obey God's command.

Think about it.

Think about the difference that it makes to have Christians

show honor and respect to their parent, their boss, their husband,

local authorities, especially those we think that don't actually deserve it.

How God could use your obedience to Him to potentially

soften the hearts of those around you as they're seeing

your heart softened towards them. Think about the spiritual blessing

will be to your family to set a standard of

children obeying and honoring their parents by modeling.

It to your children, that you would do that to

your parents as.

Maybe they want you to STRs as they want you

struggle as they watch you depend on Him to act

lovingly towards those who wronged you and weren't there for you.

There would speak volumes.

God loves to move in big ways by turning things

on their heads. How much of a blessing it would

be to see God begin to radically change our families

and our communities because of those walking in obedience to

this command here, and here's the deal. I believe that

there's many other ways that God might bless you in

following this command.

And I don't know what that is. So you can't

get mad at me when you're like, it didn't happen.

But I do believe that the promise here is that

if you follow this command, and it will go well

with you. Again, we may not see how, but this

is where we get to put into practice that faith

we love to talk about. Say, God, I don't see

how this will be for good, but I trust your

promise because God has clearly laid out in this command

that for those who honor their parents, it will go

well with them.

That's what it says.

Maybe not the ways we'd expect, but we trust God

with the results and his promise. God has, by his

good plan and purpose, placed these people above us. And

we were told that if we would submit ourselves or

our heavenly father and honor our earthly ones, it will

go well with us. And that's a promise we can

cling to now as a bonus tip and encouragement. And

then reflecting on these verses of how we ought to

be as children, I think as parents, I think there

is something to be said of.

Why don't we.

Strive to be godly, honoring and honorable parents and make

it just that much easier for our kids to actually

honor us.

Would you please stand