SERIES: EPHESIANS: THE CALL AND CONDUCT OF THE CHURCH, WEEK 48

TITLE: THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF CHILDREN

TEXT: EPHESIANS 6:1-3

INTRODUCTION: (1) CHILDREN ARE A GIFT FROM GOD TO PARENTS, PSALM 127:3-5 SAYS: (READ THEM)

* NOW CHILDREN TRULY ARE A GIFT FROM GOD, A REWARD, A BLESSING.

** AND FROM THE BEGINNING OF SCRIPTURE, IT IS PLAIN THAT CHILDREN ARE A BLESSING FROM GOD.

*** BUT ALSO WE KNOW THAT AS MUCH AS CHILDREN CAN BE A BLESSING, THEY CAN ALSO BE A MEANS OF HEARTACHE IF THEY ARE NOT OBEDIENT CHILDREN WHO HONOR THE LORD BY HONORING THEIR PARENTS.

**** NOW PARENTS HAVE GREAT RESPONSIBILITY IN THIS PROCESS, TO BRING UP THEIR CHILDREN IN THE TEACHINGS AND DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD AND TO NOT EXASPERATE THEM, WHICH WE WILL SEE LORD WILLING NEXT SUNDAY IN EPHESIANS 6:4.

(2) BUT TODAY, WE’LL FOCUS ON THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CHILDREN. AND WE CAN BOIL IT DOWN TO TWO RESPONSIBILITIES, NO. 1 OBEYING THEIR PARENTS AND NO. 2 HONORING THEIR PARENTS.

* AND DESPITE WHAT THE WORLD MAY SAY, CHILDREN ARE TO OBEY AND HONOR THEIR PARENTS.

** CHILDREN ARE NOT TO BE LIBERATED FROM THEIR PARENTS AND ENABLED TO CHOOSE WHATEVER THEY WANT TO DO AND THE WAY THEY WANT TO DO IT.

*** YET UNFORTUNATELY WITH DISASTROUS RESULTS, THE MODERN VERSION OF EPHESIANS 6:1 WHICH IS A PERVERSION IS: “PARENTS OBEY YOUR CHILDREN, FOR THIS WILL KEEP THEM HAPPY AND BRING PEACE TO THE HOME.”

**** AND THINGS CERTAINLY HAVE BEEN TURNED AROUND.

(3) AND THE WORLD TODAY HAS MUCH TO SAY ABOUT CHILDREN’S SO-CALLED RIGHTS. BUT THE EMPHASIS BIBLICALLY MUST BE ON THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES.

* FOR EMPHASIS ON RIGHTS, WHETHER BY CHILDREN OR ADULTS, WEAKENS AND DESTROYS RELATIONSHIPS ON EVERY LEVEL.

** AND IT IS THE SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY THAT BUILDS RIGHT RELATIONSHIPS AS WELL AS RIGHT CHARACTER.

*** AND BIBLICAL CHARACTER TRAINING MUST BE A VITAL PART OF OUR RESPONSIBILITY AS PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS TO TEACH CHILDREN RESPONSIBILITY AND DISCIPLINE.

**** AND RATHER THAN CHILD-CENTERED PARENTING AND PUTTING THEM FIRST, WE MUST PUT THE LORD FIRST AND THEN THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE HUSBAND AND WIFE AND THEN LOVE OUR CHILDREN BY LOVING AND TEACHING THEM AND TRAINING THEM TO FULFILL THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF OUR TEXT TODAY.

(4) IN LIGHT OF THAT, I’VE TITLED OUR MESSAGE TODAY, “THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF CHILDREN”, THEN LORD WILLING NEXT SUNDAY WE’LL LOOK AT THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF PARENTS.

* NOW TODAY UNDER THE THEME OF THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF CHILDREN, WE’LL LOOK AT 3 THINGS AS WE STUDY EPHESIANS 6:1-3.

** NO. 1 THE ACTION OF CHILDREN – OBEDIENCE, V. 1; NO. 2 THE ATTITUDE OF CHILDREN – TO HONOR THEIR PARENTS, V. 2; AND NO. 3 THE ADVANTAGE OF OBEYING THESE TWO COMMANDS, V. 3.

*** SO WE’LL LOOK AT THE ACTION, THE ATTITUDE AND THE ADVANTAGE IN EPHESIANS 6:1-3.

**** AND WITHOUT ANY MORE INTRODUCTION, LET’S LOOK AT V. 1 PLEASE OF EPHESIANS 6 WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR FIRST POINT, THE ACTION.

I. THE ACTION, (READ V. 1)

A. NOW THE FIRST WORD IN V. 1 IS CHILDREN WHICH IDENTIFIES THE NEXT GROUP OF PEOPLE IN THE FAMILY THAT PAUL IS ADDRESSING.

* AND HE HAS ALREADY ADDRESSED WIVES AND HUSBANDS, NOW HE ADDRESSES CHILDREN.

** NOW THE GREEK WORD FOR CHILDREN IS TEK-NON AND IT DOES NOT REFER PARTICULARLY TO YOUNG CHILDREN BUT TO ALL OFFSPRING.

*** AND SPECIFICALLY IN THIS CONTEXT, SONS AND DAUGHTERS WHO WERE STILL UNDER THE CARE AND AUTHORITY OF THEIR PARENTS.

**** CHILDREN WHO HAD NOT LEFT THE HOME YET THAT WERE NOT SELF-SUFFICIENT AS SINGLE YOUNG ADULTS OR THAT WERE NOT MARRIED.

1. NOW THE NEXT WORD IN V. 1 IS OBEY AND IT IS A PRESENT ACTIVE IMPERATIVE VERB THAT MEANS THAT TO OBEY IS A COMMAND THAT IS AN ONGOING ACTION, AN HABITUAL CONSTANT OBEDIENCE.

* THE RIGHT ACTION AND RESPONSE IS FOR CHILDREN TO ALWAYS OBEY THEIR PARENTS AS LONG AS THEY ARE UNDER THEIR ROOF OR UNDER THEIR AUTHORITY AS FAR AS SUPPORT, THAT THEY STILL NEED THEIR PARENTS TO SURVIVE AND CANNOT SURVIVE INDEPENDENT OF THEIR PARENTS, THEY ARE NOT ON THEIR OWN.

** AND SPECIFICALLY THIS GREEK VERB TRANSLATED “OBEY” LIT. MEANS “TO HEAR UNDER”, THAT IS TO LISTEN WITH ATTENTIVENESS AND TO RESPOND POSITIVELY TO WHAT IS HEARD.

*** IN OTHER WORDS, CHILDREN ARE TO PUT THEMSELVES UNDER THE WORDS AND AUTHORITY OF THEIR PARENTS.

**** AND THIS IS TO BE DONE “IN THE LORD”.

2. AND THIS PHRASE IN THE LORD MOST LIKELY QUALIFIES THE VERB OBEY, EMPHASIZING THE CHILDREN’S ULTIMATE OBEDIENCE TO THE LORD.

* TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY, THE OBEDIENCE OF CHILDREN TO THEIR PARENTS HAS TO DO WITH THEIR SUBMISSION TO CHRIST, “AS TO THE LORD” OR “AS TO CHRIST”.

** OBEDIENCE TO THEIR PARENTS IS OBEDIENCE TO THE LORD. THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT OBEDIENCE IS ONLY GIVEN TO CHRISTIAN PARENTS – THOSE IN THE LORD.

*** RATHER, PARENTS ARE THE HUMAN AGENTS THAT THE LORD HAS PLACED OVER CHILDREN AND OBEYING THEIR PARENTS IS OBEYING THE LORD, READ COLOSSIANS 3:20.

**** CHILDREN OBEY THEIR PARENTS AS REFLECTIVE OF THEIR OBEDIENCE TO THE LORD, OBEYING PARENTS FOR THE LORD’S SAKE.

3. PARENTS ARE GOD’S STEWARDS STANDING IN THE GAP, GOD’S PROXY AUTHORITY, FOR THEIR CHILDREN, WHO ARE SIMPLY LOANED TO THEM IN TRUST BY THEIR OWN HEAVENLY FATHER.

* SO TO TEACH A CHILD TO OBEY THEIR PARENTS IS TO TEACH A CHILD TO OBEY GOD.

** AND IN HIS DISCUSSION OF THIS POINT, JOHN R. W. STOTT POINTS OUT THAT IN THE TRADITIONAL CHRISTIAN HANDLING OF THE 10 COMMANDMENTS, THE TRUTH, “HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER” IN EXODUS 20:12, THE FIFTH OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, IS PLACED IN THE 2’D TABLE OF THE LAW WHICH DEALS WITH HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS.

*** WHILE IN THE JEWISH HANDLING OF THE 10 COMMANDMENTS IT IS PLACED IN THE FIRST TABLE WHICH DEALS WITH OUR RELATIONSHIP TO GOD!

**** STOTT ARGUES THAT THIS, RATHER THAN THE CHRISTIAN DIVISION, IS “SURELY RIGHT”.

4. THE REASON BEING OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS IS PART OF OUR RELATIONSHIP TO GOD AND BECAUSE DISOBEDIENCE TO PARENTS IS AT THE HEART OF SPIRITUAL REBELLION.

* STOTT POINTS OUT THAT THIS IS WHY UNDER JEWISH LAW, CURSING OR STRIKING A PARENT WAS A CAPITAL CRIME AND COULD BE PUNISHED BY THE DEATH PENALTY IN EXODUS 21:15&17, LEVITICUS 20:9 AND DEUTERONOMY 21:18-21.

** NOW THAT SOUNDS AWFULLY EXTREME TO US UNDER GRACE, BUT REBELLION BY CHILDREN TO PARENTS AFFECTS ALL OF SOCIETY, IT HAS A LEAVENING CRIMINAL AFFECT ON SOCIETY AND PRODUCES CRIME, MURDER AND SOMETIMES THE DEATH OF THE CHILD.

*** I MEAN A REBELLIOUS REBEL CHILD GROWS UP INTO A REBEL AND SOMETIMES INTO A CRIMINAL. SO REBELLION WAS TO BE DEALT WITH SO THERE WOULD BE ORDER IN SOCIETY.

**** SO OBEDIENCE BY CHILDREN TO THEIR PARENTS WHICH IS ULTIMATELY TO THE LORD IS FOR THE GLORY OF GOD, THE BLESSING OF PARENTS, THE BLESSING OF CHILDREN AND THE BLESSING OF SOCIETY.

5. AND THE ONLY EXCEPTION TO THAT OBEDIENCE IS IN THE MATTER OF DOING WHAT IS WRONG, IN SINNING.

* CHILDREN CANNOT BE GIVEN A COMMAND TO LIE, BE IMMORAL, CHEAT, ETC. AND THIS IS THE ONLY EXCEPTION CLAUSE.

** OTHERWISE CHILDREN ARE TO OBEY THEIR PARENTS AS TO THE LORD, AND ONE MORE ADDITIONAL REASON IS GIVEN FOR THIS, IT IS RIGHT AT THE END OF V. 1.

*** AND THE BASIC REASON FOR CHILDREN TO OBEY THEIR PARENTS IS IT IS SIMPLY THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

**** AND THIS RIGHTNESS IS NOT BASED ON CASE STUDIES OR OTHER HUMAN EVIDENCES OR THEORY, BUT ON GOD’S STANDARD OF RIGHT. GOD’S DECLARATION MAKES IT RIGHT.

6. AND THE GREEK WORD TRANSLATED “RIGHT” HERE REFERS TO THAT WHICH IS CORRECT, JUST, RIGHTEOUS, TO THAT WHICH IS EXACTLY AS IT SHOULD BE, BECAUSE EVERYTHING THAT GOD COMMANDS IS RIGHT.

* ALL THAT GOD COMMANDS FLOWS FROM HIS INHERENT RIGHTEOUSNESS. SO HE IS INCAPABLE IN HIS CHARACTER AND BEING OF COMMANDING SOMETHING OR DOING SOMETHING THAT IS WRONG.

** AND THAT’S WHY IN PSALM 19:8 THE PSALMIST SAID: (READ IT). ALSO READ PSALM 119:75.

*** SO WHAT GOD COMMANDS AND SAYS AND DOES IS ALWAYS RIGHT. SO OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO FOR MANY REASONS, AND THIS IS THE ACTION THAT CHILDREN ARE TO HAVE TO THEIR PARENTS.

**** NOW THEIR ATTITUDE TOWARDS THEIR PARENTS IS COMMUNICATED IN V. 2 WHICH IS OUR SECOND POINT TODAY, THE ATTITUDE. LOOK AT V. 2 PLEASE.

II. THE ATTITUDE, (READ V. 2)

A. NOW THE RIGHT ATTITUDE BEHIND THE RIGHT ACT OF OBEDIENCE IS HONOR.

* AND THE GREEK VERB TRANSLATED “HONOR” IS THE WORD TEM-AH-O WHICH YOU CAN SEE ON THE SCREEN.

** AND IT LIT. MEANS TO VALUE HIGHLY, TO HOLD IN THE HIGHEST REGARD AND RESPECT.

*** AND THIS VERB IS IN THE IMPERATIVE MOOD HERE WHICH MEANS IT IS A COMMAND.

**** NOW NOTE THAT IN BOTH ITS VERB AND NOUN FORMS THIS WORD FOR HONOR IS OFTEN USED AS A TERM OF REVERENCE, PRECIOUSNESS GOD THE FATHER AND CHRIST IN I TIMOTHY 1:17 WHERE IT SAYS: “NOW TO THE KING ETERNAL, IMMORTAL, INVISIBLE, THE ONLY GOD, BE HONOR AND GLORY FOREVER AND EVER. AMEN.”

1. THIS WORD IS ALSO USED IN HEBREWS 2:9 BY GOD THE FATHER IN REFERENCE TO THE SON, (READ IT).

* NOW AGAIN TO HONOR MEANS TO VALUE HIGHLY, TO HOLD IN THE HIGHEST REGARD AND RESPECT AND CAN BE USED AS A TERM OF REVERENCE AND PRECIOUSNESS WHEN IT COMES TO GOD.

** AND CHILDREN ARE TO HONOR BOTH THEIR FATHER AND MOTHER, TO HOLD THEM IN THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE RESPECT.

*** AND IN LEVITICUS 19:3A IT SAYS, “EVERY ONE OF YOU SHALL REVERENCE HIS MOTHER AND HIS FATHER.”

**** AND SO A RIGHT ATTITUDE THAT LEADS TO RIGHT ACTIONS IS VITAL BY CHILDREN.

2. AND IT INVOLVES ACTION AND ATTITUDE WITH DEPENDENT CHILDREN NOW AND LOVE AND RESPECT AND HELPING OUR PARENTS WHEN WE ARE OLDER AND THEY NEED OUR HELP.

* AND AS THEY CARED FOR US MANY YEARS, WE NEED TO HELP CARE FOR THEM WHEN THEY ARE OLDER.

** THEN NOTICE AT THE END OF V. 2, THAT THIS COMMANDMENT IS THE FIRST COMMANDMENT WITH A PROMISE.

*** MEANING THIS IS THE FIRST COMMANDMENT OF THE 10 COMMANDMENTS WITH A PROMISE ATTACHED TO IT.

3. NOW THIS COMMAND TO HONOR OUR PARENTS IS THE FIFTH OF THE 10 FOUND IN EXODUS 20:12 AND DEUTERONOMY 5:16.

* NOW THE QUESTION COMES UP AT THIS POINT, HOW CAN THIS 5TH COMMANDMENT BE THE FIRST COMMANDMENT WITH A PROMISE WHEN THE 2’D COMMANDMENT HAS PROMISES ATTACHED TO IT, NAMELY PUNISHMENT FOR THOSE WHO HATE GOD BUT STEADFAST LOVE TO THOSE WHO LOVE GOD IN EXODUS 20:4-6 AND DEUTERONOMY 5:8-10?

** EXODUS 20:4-6 – “YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FOR YOURSELF AN IDOL, OR ANY LIKENESS OF WHAT IS IN HEAVEN ABOVE OR ON THE EARTH BENEATH OR IN THE WATER UNDER THE EARTH.”

V. 5 – “YOU SHALL NOT WORSHIP THEM OR SERVE THEM; FOR I, THE LORD YOUR GOD, AM A JEALOUS GOD, VISITING THE INIQUITY OF THE FATHERS ON THE CHILDREN, ON THE THIRD AND THE FOURTH GENERATIONS OF THOSE WHO HATE ME.”

V. 6 – “BUT SHOWING LOVINGKINDNESS TO THOUSANDS, TO THOSE WHO LOVE ME AND KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS.”

*** NOW THEN IT APPEARS THAT THERE IS A PROMISE HERE. SO WHAT IS THE SOLUTION?

**** WELL, STRICTLY SPEAKING, THE STATEMENT IN V. 6 OF EXODUS 20 SHOWS HIS MERCY TO THOUSANDS WHO LOVE HIM IS NOT A PROMISE ATTACHING ITSELF TO THE 2’D COMMANDMENT, BUT A DESCRIPTION OF GOD’S CHARACTER AND WHAT HE DOES AS A JEALOUS GOD AND A MERCIFUL GOD.

4. ON THE ONE HAND, HE IS A JEALOUS GOD WHO PUNISHES DISOBEDIENCE AND ON THE OTHER, HE SHOWS MERCY TO THOUSANDS, THIS IS GOD’S RESPONSE IN WHO HE IS.

* JUST LIKE IN THE COMMAND IN EXODUS 20:7 (READ IT).

** NOW HE WILL PUNISH THOSE WHO TAKE HIS NAME IN VAIN, THAT IS HIS RIGHTEOUS RESPONSE TO VIOLATING HIS COMMAND, NOT NECESSARILY A SPECIFIC PROMISE TECHNICALLY.

*** WELL, LIKEWISE GOD PUNISHES AND REWARDS IN EXODUS 20:4-6.

**** WHEREAS THE PROMISE OF THE 5TH COMMANDMENT IS MORE SPECIFIC, ADDRESSED TO A SPECIFIC AUDIENCE – CHILDREN ARE DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE COMMAND TO “HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.”

5. THEREFORE IT APPEARS TO ME AND THERE ARE OTHER EXPLANATIONS TO EXPLAIN THIS WHICH I AM NOT GOING TO GO INTO TODAY, IT IS APPROPRIATE TO REGARD EXODUS 20:12 AS THE FIRST COMMANDMENT WITH A PROMISE ATTACHED TO IT, NOT A RESPONSE.

* NOW WHAT IS THE PROMISE? WELL, THE PROMISE IS GIVEN IN V. 3 WHICH LEADS US TO OUR LAST POINT TODAY, THE ADVANTAGE, THE BLESSING, THE REWARD OF OBEYING THESE TOW COMMANDS IN VV. 1&2. LOOK AT V. 3 PLEASE.

III. THE ADVANTAGE, (READ V. 3)

A. NOW GOD GIVES AN ADVANTAGE, A SPECIAL BLESSING TO CHILDREN THAT SUBMIT TO THE COMMAND OF OBEYING AND HONORING THEIR PARENTS.

* AND THAT ADVANTAGE OR BLESSING IS PEACE OR SATISFACTION, JOY – IT IS WELL WITH THAT CHILD AND THE PROMISE OF LONG LIFE.

** AND BASICALLY THIS PROMISE IS A SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLE IN MY MIND, OBEDIENCE BRINGS BLESSING, HERE A SPECIFIC PROMISE OF BLESSING.

*** I MEAN OBEY YOUR PARENTS AND THERE IS JOY, PEACE, FULFILLMENT, SATISFACTION, GOD-GIVEN HARMONY, ETC. IT IS TRULY WELL WITH THAT PERSON.

**** BUT ALSO THERE IS THE PRINCIPLE OF IF YOU OBEY YOUR PARENTS AND HONOR THEM YOU WILL AS A RULE LIVE LONGER.

1. LET ME EXPLAIN. A PERSON WHO HONORS HIS PARENTS IS NOT BITTER TOWARD HIS PARENTS AND ALL THE PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL CONSEQUENCES ARE NOT A PART OF THAT PERSON’S LIFE.

* BUT ALSO A CHILD THAT OBEYS HIS PARENTS WILL ESCAPE A GOOD DEAL OF SIN AND DANGER AND THUS AVOID THINGS THAT COULD THREATEN OR SHORTEN THEIR LIVES.

** FOR EXAMPLE, A CHILD DOES SOMETHING THAT PUTS HIM OR HER IN DANGER AND THE PARENT SEES THEM AND TELLS THEM TO DO SOMETHING AND THEY OBEY, IT MAY SAVE THEIR LIFE.

*** LIKE A PROBLEM WITH TRAFFIC, RIDING THEIR BIKE, WALKING NEAR TRAFFIC, PLAYING WITH AN ELECTRICAL CORD OR GETTING INTO CLEANING SUPPLIES OR MEDICINES.

**** ALSO A PARENT WARNS THEIR CHILD AGAINST THE DANGERS OF SMOKING, OF ALCOHOL AND IMMORALITY, AND THE CHILD LISTENS AND SAVES HIMSELF FROM THE HIGHER RISKS OF LUNG CANCER, EMPHYSEMA, PSORIASIS OF THE LIVER, LOOSING CONTROL WHILE DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE AND VENEREAL DISEASE WHEN IT COME TO IMMORALITY.

2. AND THIS IS NOT IN CONTRADICTION THAT GOD HAS ORDAINED OUR SPAN OF LIFE, BUT IN HIS PROVIDENTIAL WILL KNOWING AND ORDAINING THE END IN THE BEGINNING, HE PROVIDENTIALLY ORDAINS OUR SPAN OF LIFE KNOWING WHAT WE WILL DO AND FULFILLING WHAT HE HAS ORDAINED.

* AND OBEYING PARENTS LEADS TO MANY BLESSINGS WITH LONGER LIFE BEING ON OF THEM.

** AND LIFE IS NOT MEASURED ONLY BY QUANTITY OF TIME IN A SENSE BUT ALSO QUALITY OF TIME.

*** I MEAN GOD ENRICHES THE LIFE OF THE OBEDIENT CHILD NO MATTER HOW LONG HE MAY LIVE ON THE EARTH. SIN ALWAYS ROBS US WHEREAS OBEDIENCE ENRICHES US.

**** SO THE SON OR DAUGHTER THAT HONORS HIS PARENTS CAN KNOW THAT HIS LIFETIME WILL BE THE FULL MEASURE GOD HAS ORDAINED, RATHER THAN FROM OUR HUMAN PERSPECTIVE CUT SHORT LIKE ANENANIAS AND SAPPHIRA FOR EXAMPLE IN ACTS 5:5-10 AND CERTAIN MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH AT CORINTH IN I CORINTHIANS 11:30 (READ IT.)

4. NOW THEIR LIVES WERE CUT SHORT FROM OUR HUMAN PERSPECTIVE, BUT IN THE SOVEREIGN PLAN OF GOD THAT WAS THE TIME ORDAINED FOR THEM TO DIE. AND I DON’T HAVE A PROBLEM RECONCILING THE TWO.

* AND ON THE WHOLE, THE PRINCIPLE OF LONGER LIFE FOR THOSE WHO OBEY AND HONOR PARENTS IS TRUE WITH SOME EXCEPTIONS TO THE PLAN AND PROVIDENCE OF GOD.

** AND WHAT I’M TRYING TO SAY IS, JUST BECAUSE A PERSON DIES AT A YOUNG AGE DOESN’T MEAN THAT THEY WERE DISOBEDIENT REBELLIOUS CHILDREN, FOR EXAMPLE A BABY DYING OR A YOUNG CHILD THAT DIDN’T HAVE THE TIME TO ESTABLISH A PATTERN OF REBELLION ALTHOUGH WE ARE ALL BORN SINNERS, BUT I THINK YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.

*** ISAIAH 55:8&9 AND DEUTERONOMY 29:29 COME INTO PLAY AT TIMES AND WE MUST REST AND TRUST IN THE GOODNESS OF GOD.

NOW WITH ALL OF THOSE TRUTHS IN MIND, AS I WRAP UP THINGS TODAY, I WANT TO MAKE A COUPLE OF APPLICATIONS:

(1) NO. 1, IT IS ALWAYS RIGHT TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT.

* AND WHAT I MEAN BY THAT, WHAT GOD COMMANDS AND OUR OBEDIENCE TO WHAT GOD COMMANDS IS ALWAYS BEST.

** WHAT HE COMMANDS IS ALWAYS GOOD AND RIGHT AND WE ARE THE BETTER FOR IT BY OBEYING IT. FIRST OUT OF LOVE, JOHN 14:15. BUT 2’D BECAUSE WHAT GOD SAYS IS RIGHT, READ EPHESIANS 6:1 HERE.

*** SO BROTHERS DO WHAT’S RIGHT UNTIL YOU DIE, FOR WHAT IS RIGHT FROM GOD IS ALWAYS BEST AND FOLLOWS WITH BLESSING.

(2) NO. 2 IN HONORING OUR PARENTS, WE MUST SOMETIMES LEARN TO DIFFERENTIATE THEIR PRACTICE AT TIMES FROM THEIR POSITION.

* FOR NOT ALL PARENTS LIVE IN SUCH A WAY THAT THEIR CHILDREN CAN PROPERLY HONOR THEM, ESPECIALLY IF THE CHILD HAS BECOME A CHRISTIAN AND THE PARENTS ARE NOT CHRISTIANS.

** WELL, GOD SOVEREIGNLY GAVE US THE PARENTS WE HAVE. GOD PLACED THEM OVER US AND IT IS ONLY BY HIS GRACE THAT WE ARE CHRISTIANS.

*** SO ALTHOUGH WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO HONOR AND AGREE WITH EVERYTHING THEY DO, WE MUST RESPECT THEIR POSITION, THEIR PLACE AND PART IN OUR LIVES FROM THE SOVEREIGN HAND OF GOD.

**** SO WE RESPECT THEIR GOD-GIVEN POSITION, WE HONOR THEIR POSITION, AND WE HONOR GOD AS WE DO THAT. WE LOVE THEM, WE DO THINGS FOR THEM, WE PRAY FOR THEM, WE HELP THEM BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT IS RIGHT AND HONORS GOD.

(3) NO. 3 THE WAY WE ARE ABLE TO FULFILL THESE COMMANDS AND ALL COMMANDS OF SCRIPTURE AS CHRISTIANS IS TO BE WHAT? FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT! THE ULTIMATE IMPERATIVE.

* AND WE CONTINUE TO COME BACK TO THIS. BUT THIS IS THE ONLY WAY WE CAN DO WHAT WE NATURALLY CANNOT DO, TO DO IT SUPERNATURALLY THROUGH THE CONTROL, THE DIRECTION, IN WALKING IN THE SPIRIT.

** SO CHRISTIAN YIELD AND THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL ENABLE US TO FULFILL AND DO WHAT IS RIGHT.

*** AND LAST OF ALL, YOU CANNOT BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT UNTIL YOU BECOME A CHRISTIAN.

**** AND IF YOU DON’T KNOW CHRIST AND HAVE NOT TRULY RECEIVED HIM AS YOUR LORD AND SAVIOR, I WOULD INVITE YOU, CALL YOU TO TURN TO HIM TODAY.

(4) TO CRY OUT IN REPENTANT FAITH AND TRUST HIM AND HIM ALONE FOR YOUR SALVATION. AND IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT, WE’LL HAVE A COUNSELOR TO TALK WITH YOU WHEN WE DISMISS.

* TURN TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST TODAY, THE ONLY WAY TO SALVATION.