← Back to sermon library

welcome to everyone for our call to worship you can turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 8 Psalm 8 I'll begin reading in verse 1 to the chief musician on the instrument of Gath a psalm of David O Lord our Lord how excellent is your name in all the earth who have set your glory above the heavens out of the mouths of babes and nursing infants you have ordained strength because of your enemies that you may silence the enemy in the Avenger when I consider your heavens the work of your fingers the moon and the stars which you have ordained what is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you visit him for you have made him a little lower than the angels and you have crowned him with glory and honor you have made him to have dominion over the works of your hands you have put all things under his feet all sheep and oxen even the beasts of the field the birds of the air and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the Seas o Lord our Lord how excellent is your name in all the earth amen well please turn in your hymn books to Psalm 149 be that Psalm 149 be as in Bravo when you find that we can stand and sing together [Music] [Music] amen well let us pray our Blessed God and Father and we gather together on the Sabbath evening to call upon you to come to the Father through the son and the power of the Holy Spirit we acknowledge that you are in fact the true and the Living God even Father Son and Holy Spirit you are from everlasting to everlasting you are the God who made the world the God who governs the world in the God who graciously and mercifully has redeemed his elect out of the world and we give praise to you tonight for these works we give praise to you for who you are we give praise to you for the gospel of our salvation and for the life and the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ we know his coming into this world wasn't in the first place just for an example though it was that but it was for Redemption it was to obey and satisfy the law of the Father it was to die as a sacrifice and a substitute in our place on that cross and to be raised the third day we give praise to you that Christ now sits enthroned at the right hand of the Father where he has ascended on high led captivity captive and given gifts to men we pray that even tonight we would know the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit that he would be at work in our hearts and minds that you would affect us for good with the Word of God that you would conform us unto the image of your beloved son and that father you would indeed do that work of sanctification in our hearts and in our lives we ask as well father for any and all who have come here tonight that are still in their sins we pray that you would deliver them that you would free them by that powerful grace show them the sufficiency and the the altogether loveliness of Jesus Christ that one in whom there is forgiveness that one through whom comes a righteousness that avails with God we ask that you would do this work that is impossible with men God we know it's up to you to open hearts we know it's up to you to to raise sinners from the dead and we know it's the gifts of faith and repentance that are utilized to close with Christ so we appeal to you and your sovereignty to do this here to do this and other places other churches here in our in our community throughout this nation and to the uttermost parts of the earth we pray with the psalmist that you would revive us we pray as well with the prophet that you would awaken those who are dead in their trespasses and sins God we confess our bankruptcy before you we confess the apart from Jesus we can do nothing we are completely dependent upon Sovereign Grace and this is a good position to be in because you are very merciful and very kind and you are very good not only to your creatures but to your to your people to those in the covenant community we ask tonight that you would just bless this time of worship that you would forgive us for our sins and our transgressions that you would cleanse us in that precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and grant us that boldness to come to the throne of grace we pray father that as we worship you would be exalted and enthroned upon the praises of your people here and that father you would be all in all in this place tonight we also ask that you would look with favor upon the temporal needs in this congregation there are many among us that suffer on a daily basis Lord and we just pray for them and we would ask that you would alleviate this that you would grant them reprieve that you would grant them grace and help that you would strengthen and sustain them each and every day and that while the outer man does decay we pray the inner man would be renewed day by day as well father help each and every one of us in the spiritual realm help all of us to resist sin and temptation help us to pursue those things that are pleasing in the sight of a thrice holy God and just help us to to be faithful in the word and in prayer we also ask God in heaven that you would be merciful to the persecuted Church our hearts go out to those brothers and sisters suffering we think again of that man and in in Mayan bar that Pastor that's in prison father we pray that he would be released soon and I'm sure there are countless thousands like him that are forgotten that had been removed effectively from the field of battle by the enemy and yet father these men these women are never forgotten by the God of heaven and earth may they know that and may this encourage them and even the men in the midst of suffering and inflection may they rejoice in the goodness of God the Lord we also pray for the governing authorities Lord we live in a land where the life of man is taken with so little seriousness we see babies murdered we see adults or elderly folk and infirm people murdered by the government or assisted by that God it is ghoulish it is reprehensible it is it is such an offense against you and we would pray with the Prophet áback ik that in your wrath you would remember mercy again we pray for the preaching of the gospel to go forth conquering and to conquer we pray that more and more people would be informed concerning what God's Word says we pray that the Christian Church would be faithful and upholding those standards preaching that law preaching that gospel so that sinners in this land would hear of a gracious God who sent his son into this world sinners to save and may you be pleased to do that in this nation and God we pray that you would have mercy on babies have mercy on the elderly have mercy on those who are are ill God we pray that you would protect them and watch over them and not only in this country but throughout the nations of the earth again we see so little regard for the lives of little babies of older people and of sick people we know the scripture tells us otherwise so God in heaven we pray that your will would be done on earth as it is in heaven we ask is well father that you bless the Saints and Surrey thank you for pastor Kirkpatrick we pray that you'd uphold this dear brother and use him for your glory and for your honor and for the church and Vernon we just pray for that body we pray that you would keep them together that they would indeed put their shoulder to the plow that they would know the nearness of God as their good and that in your kindness and in your mercy you would provide for them a man with labor and the word and in doctrine and we ask these things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen well you can turn with me again in your hem books to psalm 32 B as in Bravo 32 B will stand as we sing together [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] we could turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Genesis where in Genesis chapter 26 for our scripture reading this evening Genesis chapter 26 I'll begin reading in verse 1 there was a famine in the land besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham and Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in Guerard then the Lord appeared to him and said do not go down to Egypt live in the land of which I shall tell you dwell in this land and I will be with you and bless you for to you and your descendants I give all these lands and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father and I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven I will give to your descendants all these lands and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge my commandments my statutes and my laws so Isaac dwelt and Gerard and the men of the place asked about his wife and he said she is my sister for he was afraid to say she is my wife because he thought lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah because she is beautiful to behold now it came to pass when he had been there a long time that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through a window and saw and there was Isaac showing endearment to Rebecca his wife then Abimelech called Isaac and said quite obviously she is your wife so how could you say she is my sister Isaac said to him because I said lest I die on account of her and Abimelech said what is this you have done to us one of the people might soon have lain with your wife and you would have brought guilt on us so Abimelech charged all his people saying he who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death then Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold and the Lord blessed him the man began to prosper and continued prospering until he became very prosperous for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of her and a great number of servants so the Philistines envied him now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father and they had filled them with earth and Abimelech said to Isaac go away from us for you are much mightier than we then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gera and dwelt there and Isaac dog again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father for the Philistines and stopped them up after the death of Abraham he called them by names which his father had called them also Isaac servants dug in the Valley and found a well of running water there but the herdsmen of Gera our quarrel dwith Isaac's herdsmen saying the water is ours so he called the name of the well east sack because they quarrelled with him then they dug another well and they quarreled over that one also so he called its name sit 'no and he moved from there and dug another well and they did not quarrel over it so he called its name Rehoboth because he said for now the Lord has made room for us and we shall be fruitful in the land then he went up from there to Beersheba and the Lord appeared to him the same night and said I am the God of your father Abraham do not fear for I am with you I will bless you and multiply your descendants for my servant Abraham's sake so he built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord and he pitched his tent there and there Isaac's servants dug a well then Abimelech came to him from gerhart with a who's a of his friends and phy call the commander of his army and Isaac said to them why have you come to me since you hate me and have sent me away from you but they said we have certainly seen that the Lord is with you so we said let there now be an oath between us between you and us and let us make a covenant with you that you will do us no harm since we have not touched you and since we have done nothing to you but good and have sent you away in peace you are now the blessed of the Lord so he made them a feast and they ate and drank then they arose early in the morning and swore an oath with one another and Isaac sent them away and they departed from him in peace it came to pass the same day that Isaac servants came and told him about the well which they had dug and said to him we have found water so he so he called it Chiba therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day when Esau was 40 years old he took his wives Judith the daughter of Barry the hittite and baysameh the daughter of elon the Hittite and they were a grief of mine to Isaac and Rebekah Amen well let us pray father we thank you for your written word we thank you for the promises of God that are yay and amen in our Lord Jesus and as we see this twofold promise in the book of Genesis concerning land and seed we see that come to fruition and the fullness of the time when God sent forth his son born of a woman and born under the law to redeem those under the law he has a seed he has secured the salvation of all the father had given him and as well well according to the Apostle Paul he has inherited the world itself and we pray that this gospel would go forth to all the nations and that multitudes would come to know him as Lord and Savior we pray that again for our meeting here tonight I pray in particular for the young people and the children as we consider that fifth commandment tonight I pray God the Holy Spirit would use that to bring conviction for sin and set forth Jesus Christ in his ability to save to the uttermost all who come to God through him and we pray in Jesus name Amen well for our final him before the preaching we can turn to Psalm 128 B as in Bravo that Psalm 128 will stand as we sing together [Music] we could turn with me in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 5 we're continuing our study in the Ten Commandments tonight the fifth commandment Deuteronomy 5:16 but I want to read the section beginning in chapter 5 at verse 6 I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage you shall have no other gods before me you shall not make for yourself a carved image any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth you shall not bow down to them nor serve them for I the Lord your God am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the father's upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me but showing mercy to thousands to those who love me and keep my Commandments you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy as the Lord your God commanded you six days you shall labor and do all your work but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God in it you shall do no work you nor your son nor your daughter nor your male servant nor your female servant nor your ox nor your donkey nor any of your cattle nor your stranger who is within your gates that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you and remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day honor your father and your mother as the Lord your God has commanded you that your days may be long and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you you shall not murder you shall not commit adultery you shall not steal you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor you shall not covet your neighbor's wife and you shall not desire your neighbor's house his field his male servant his female servant his ox his donkey or anything that is your neighbors these words the Lord spoke to all your Assembly in the mountain from the midst of the fire the cloud in the thick darkness with a loud voice and he added no more and he them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me amen let us pray father in heaven we thank you for the written word of the living and true God we thank you for these 10 commandments we thank you for the power of the Holy Spirit that you have given to us to see them and to enjoy them and Lord God hopefully to apply them in our own lives as well we see these Commandments function in your hand as a means to show sinners their sin and their need for the Savior and God we pray that such would take place even tonight that your Holy Spirit would be at work in hearts old hearts and young hearts showing us where we fall short and how desperately we need the Redeemer even our Lord Jesus Christ that blessed one in whom there is forgiveness father we just thank you for him we thank you that there is mercy to be had with you and we pray that you would pour it out in abundance even tonight and we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well we have concluded the first table of the law and now we continue with the second table of the law which is our duty toward men and I don't think it's accidental that the fifth commandment pre is the first one rather with reference to that second commandment if we have problems with Authority visa vie our parents we're going to have problems with Authority or with anybody in society and as society continues on the particular trajectory trajectory that it does we see the dissolution of family family is the basic building block of society and when that dissolves we ought not to be surprised when society around us crumbles God has given a particular command to regulate the family the fifth commandment it's a blessed commandment it's a wonderful commandment and it's a commandment the children and adults need to take to heart now with reference to this particular commandment there are two sections that we find in the first place the command is stated honor your father and your mother as the Lord your God has commanded you and then secondly there is a promise given or a promise attached and that's in the latter half of the verse that your days may be long and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you so that's how we will pro see in the exposition tonight in the first place the statement of the command secondly the promise given by God to those in Israel and those Gentiles as well who comply with God's commandment we see that the Apostle Paul takes this commandment in Ephesians chapter 6 and he applies it to Gentile children that is another indicator or another proof that the Ten Commandments are binding today they are perpetual they are still in play and the people of God must take them seriously we cannot maintain that the commandments of God visa vie the Ten Commandments were simply for Israel and that Gentile church is somehow under a different law code that is heretic I know if I'd say oh yeah let's go ahead and say heretical I don't mean damning but I think it's false it's wrong and it really does create a lot of mischief in the professing church so let's look first of all at the command stated and there's three things we want to consider here first the explanation of the command secondly the scope of the command and then thirdly the sanction related to the command but in the first place note the specific duty it says honor your father and your mother now the particular Hebrew word here means to be heavy to be weighty to be a burdensome or honored now the connection between heaviness and honor is clear were not to treat our parents lightly we are to esteem them we are to revere them we are to honor them as the passage demands later on in the prophet Ezekiel one of the reasons why Israel was ejected from the land under Babylon was for this very reason they made light of parents they did not take seriously this fifth commandment when the fifth commandment breaks down or obedience - it breaks down that then has repercussions for all of society most children today need more discipline that's my observation as an outsider it's not the case that they need less it's not the case that they need hands-on rather they need to be helped and nurtured and cherished and loved and cared for discipline all of that is absolutely requisite on the part of parents to their children but with reference to the children they are to treat with respect with dignity and honor their parents now in terms of the connotation in this particular passage it means to make honorable to honor and glorify and interestingly always father and mother are to include it it's not just the father but it's father and mother it's not a sexist document it's not a chauvinistic document it's not the case that children don't have to submit to their mother because their father is the head of the house that is absolutely positively contrary to the word and will of God it is both father and mother that carry this Authority and as a result children are to honor their parents now if you look at Deuteronomy 4:40 you will see the covenantal focus with reference to this particular commandment in Deuteronomy 4:40 it says you shall therefore keep his statutes and his commandments which I command you today that it may go well with you and with your children after you and that you may prolong your days in the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all time in other words this is to regulate their conduct in the land if they despise this if they reject this if they treat their parents with content or they treat them lightly they are going to break that covenant that they are in this was foundational with reference to Israel's life as the Covenant people of God to maintain faithfulness in the family one commentator says the close parallel between these words the fifth commandment and 440 indicates that the basic issue involved in the commandment was the continuity of the covenant parents were responsible to teach their children concerning the covenant and by so doing both children and parents would prosper in the land and see the fulfillment of the Covenant promise of God but to teach effectively there must be a receptive audience if children did not honor their parents and were rebellious and self-centered they were not be able to learn about the Covenant relationship with God which had been so central to the lives of their parents and as a consequence of dishonouring their parents they would not prosper in the promised land for they would not know intimately the Lord of the Covenant promise in other words this was in fact foundational to Israel's life not just the religious life but political ethical everything and as I said the prophet Ezekiel among various sins highlights the reality that they held in content their own parents this was one of the reasons why they had been cast out of the land in fact in the book of Deuteronomy in chapter 27 there's a series of curses for disobedience in the land and one of the curses is upon those who despised their parent of parental authority those who reject their parents and do not honor them and do not obey them now in terms of that particular Duty there are other places that we ought to reflect on that cover this particular command turn over to Exodus 21 just to see that this is not an isolated theme in Scripture that the scripture highlights this reality not just in the old but in the New Testament as well and as I said the Apostle Paul Universal Isis this particular commandment in Ephesians chapter 6 that it may be well with you as you live in this world in Exodus chapter 21 specifically at verse 15 and he who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death and then verse 17 and he who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death so you see it's a capital offense in this particular era of this particular covenantal expression I'm not advocating that necessarily though for reasons that I don't want to get into but with reference to this particular statement you see how important it was for the children of Israel to maintain this relationship to their parents Leviticus chapter 19 Leviticus 19 verse 3 every one of you shall Revere his mother and his father and keep my command my Sabbath's rather I am the Lord your God and then again in Leviticus chapter 20 at verse 9 for everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death he has cursed his father or his mother his blood shall be upon him and then you can turn to the book of Proverbs this is some of the some of the material we covered when we went through several themes of the book of Proverbs I just want to highlight a few passages proverbs chapter 15 proverbs chapter 15 verse 20 a wise son makes a father glad but a foolish man despises his mother now kids it might be the case where you have peers or friends that that are unkind to their parents that's not funny that's not cool that is transgression against the law of God Most High do not ever begin to think for a moment that it's okay to treat your parents lightly to hold them in contempt to not honor them or to not obey that that is never okay that God God in His Word condemned such a mindset consistently proverbs 17 and verse 25 a foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him a foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him children are a blessing from the Lord the scripture testifies to that but brethren you have to put some work into it if you don't discipline that if you don't correct them if you don't help shape them and mold them and nourish them and love them and shower them with affection and do the sorts of things that God calls you to do they're not going to rise up to be a blessing they're gonna rise up to be undisciplined unkind ungracious and hold you or treat you with contempt we need to take seriously not only the responsibility of inferiors children to their parents but the responsibility of Superior's their parents to their children we'll deal with that as we move on notice in 1913 proverbs 19 13 a foolish son is the ruin of his father and the contentions of a wife are a continual dripping latter part of the verse demands its own sermon but we don't have time for that ladies just don't be that kind of a wife the contentions of a wife are a continual dripping and that is not meant in a positive way I personally like to hear the sound of rain but that one kind of a beat of a drop of water gets very irritating and Solomon says that's how a contentious wife is don't do that to your man come on don't make him live in a position where he'd rather dwell on the roof or out in the wilderness love your man 19:26 and of course husbands love your wives that's not the point of that passage 1926 he who mistreats his father and chases away his mother is a son who causes shame and brings reproach notice as well in proverbs 30 proverbs 13 again there are several others I'm just looking at some of the key ones proverbs 7 30 verse 17 the eye that mocks his father and scorns obedience to his mother the Ravens of the valley will pick it out and the young Eagles will eat it and then turn to the New Testament so you can see that this is not confined to the Old Covenant theocratic nation of Israel but rather it is binding on the people of God in the New Covenant as well Ephesians chapter 6 verse 1 children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right honor your father and mother which is the first commandment with promise that it may be well with you and you may live long notice not in the land not talking about the land of Canaan he's talking about the earth so if there is a difference or differentiation with reference to old a new covenant application relative to the fifth commandment in the Old Covenant it was that you may live long and prosper in the land when Paul comes to deal with a Gentile church he says in the earth itself which again highlights or indicates for us that the fifth commandment the first one with a promise is contained among others those commandments of God are not only for the Old Covenant nation of Israel but they are for the new coven People of God because they are moral law reflects who God is it's always binding it is trans covenant all wherever we find ourselves in redemptive history we are under obligation to obey these Ten Commandments so children are addressed in verses 1 to 3 but then fathers in verse 4 you father's do not provoke your children to wrath but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord that statement itself reflects the fifth commandment again in a moment I'm going to define for us that it's not only inferior --zz toward superiors that has to take heed to this commandment but superiors must conduct themselves in a godly way toward their inferiors that is demanded by the fifth commandment also notices well in Colossians 3 Colossians chapter 3 verse 20 parallel to Ephesians 6 a little bit different Colossians 3 2000 your parents and all things for this is well pleasing to the Lord again we need to give the qualification in all things that are lawful if a parent tells the child that they need to smuggle drugs across the border they must obey God rather than men if a parent commands a child to do something that is a transgression of the law of God it is in that arena that they can say no but those times hopefully in our church aren't going to be a lot don't none of you are asking your kids to be drug mules or any sort of a thing like that but we always need to qualify obedience to a lawful superior insofar as the lawful superior commands that which is consistent with the law of God when the lawful superior commands that which is inconsistent with the law of God or is a transgression thereof we must obey God rather than men that's the mandate we see in acts 4 and in acts 5 when the Jews tried to stop the Apostles from preaching the gospel no that would then be to disobey God we need to obey God we always have God as the higher authority now if it is the case where you must disobey because of that do it that's consistent with the Word of God don't whine don't cry don't grumble just say this is not what God would have me to do now in terms of Ephesians 6 and Colossians 3 we notice specifically that children are to honor or reverence their parents in other words they're supposed to be a good attitude of heart toward the parents and kids we're on to you we know when your hearts aren't right we know that when you are complying at least externally there may be something outlandish internally so it's not just the external compliance to the command but it's also this attitude of heart this is what Paul's point is in Ephesians chapter 6 children obey your parents in the Lord that's the external activity for this is right honor your father and mother verse 2 which points to the internal disposition so you honor from a right place you honor because it's right you honor because you love and esteem and revere them as well we might extend this commandment to children to provide for their parents an old age this was an issue with reference to our Lord he's challenged in Matthew chapter 15 and he highlights a particular practice that the Pharisees would engage in where they would take monies that should have been given to their parents but put it back into the temple now you say well that's pious and that's godly but it's also self-serving see the Pharisees would get that money back it was a means by which they no longer gave the reverence to their elderly parents that they should have when you get to first Timothy chapter 5 who's the first line of defense in the care for widows it's the family the family must look after her widows are their widows it's the family that's tasked with loving and esteeming their older parents or grandparents this is getting more appropriate for me as I get aged I want my kids to hear this sermon just just kidding they're my retirement plan really just kidding but you see this is what the tax stipulates we are to provide for that we are to care for them we are to look after them as well we need to obey them that means to submit to their authority engage in the right actions toward parents we've got the internal heart disposition of honor we've got the external compliance of obedience to the commands that they give us and then to give thanks to them and for them I mean it is a blessing as far as I know every kid in this church has both parents and I think that I can say that with confidence but you never know right there might be something that I forget some of us were not brought up in that way some of us did not have two parents in the home some of us came from broken families that's not a good way to live I would suggest if you kids have both parents in the home and your parents are the parents that I know them to be you ought to be very thankful to God Almighty this is a great and rich and splendid blessing I find it to be quite joyful than amongst my grandchildren they have bunches of grandparents they got grandparents everywhere again when I was growing up all of my grandparents were dead I don't remember having any interaction say with my mother's mother on you know one or two occasions I'm not saying that so you'll go home and cry for me that's not the point the point is is that if you have parents if you have that family unit you are blessed immeasurably this is a wonderful gift from God Almighty and instead of being a whiner and a grumbler and a complainer which Paul says don't be praised God Almighty from whom all blessings flow namely mom and dad it is a great gift from Jehovah if you've got parents you ought to esteem them you ought to revere them you ought to treat them as heavy not because they are physically but because they have dignity and Worth and they are over you now notice in terms of the scope of the command it's not just children to their parents it's also parents toward their children it's the relationship between superiors and inferiors now before you report me to the the prime minister for saying mean things this is language that didn't used to cause any problems in society when you said superior and inferior nobody attached a bunch of maliciousness to it and said oh he thinks he's on a power trip no it's just a cat aurilla function there are those over others there are those under others and that's what the Commandant highlights there are superiors and there are in theory errs now note that the Commandments delivered at Sinai and Moab were primarily addressed to parents so it's not the case that parents having children are somehow not obliged to the fifth commandment we all find ourselves in a position where we need to submit to superiors we see it in the family we see it in the workplace we see it in the church we see it in the commonwealth the westminster larger catechism defines this well who are meant by father and mother in the fifth commandment by father and mother in the fifth commandment are meant not only natural parents but all superiors in age and gifts and especially such as by God's ordinance are over us in place of authority whether in family church or Commonwealth so it's not just you children that are inferior to the superior which are your parents your parents are inferiors to Superior's that are over there and the fifth commandment regulates that conduct for each and every one of us now notice the fifth are the the family it's obvious we see that here in the fifth word but if you're in Ephesians are still near there look back at Ephesians 6 to see the workplace to see the workplace this is another expression of the fifth commandment if you're the whiner the grumbler the complainer at work you are disobeying God Almighty let me just make that very clear if you're the guy that's late or you're the guy that's a whiner or you're the guy that's never happy and you're the guy that doesn't do his job your problem is ultimately theological you are transgressing God's holy law God does not take this lightly God does not say oh it's okay just express yourself however you want at the workplace no God says do exactly what you're paid to do if you don't do exactly what you're paid to do you're a thief and you are a malingerer and you are lazy and you are in your duty six days you shall labor and do all your work there's no way you can come from reading the Scriptures or having an understanding of the analogy of faith and think that God does not approve hard work God most certainly does approve our work and God tells us that over and over again in Scripture but let's look specifically at this superior inferior relation in ephesians 6 5 notice there's a specific responsibility for each bond servants be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling in sincerity of heart as to Christ not with eyeservice as men pleasers but as bond servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart with good will doing service as to the Lord and not to men knowing that whatever good anyone does he will receive the same from the Lord whether he is a slave or free that is the duty of an inferior at work you're supposed to work you're supposed to do what you're told you're supposed to engage in an honest day's labor for an honest day's pay and he says as to Christ but then notice there's duty for superiors verse 9 and you masters do the same thing to them giving up threatening knowing that your own master also is in heaven and there is no partiality with him so if you happen to be management or the owner you don't crack the whip on your slaves you show them respect and dignity and you be a superior that it's easy to be an inferior under if persons worked on their particular roles I think this life would be a whole lot better if husbands love their wives the way they're supposed to and wife submitted to their husbands the way they're supposed to it would be a most blessed thing if parents looked after their children the way they're supposed to in children submitted the way they're supposed to it would be a blessed thing but we live in a sin curse world we live in a world where there are marred relationships we live in a world where there is selfishness we live in a world where there is laziness and apathy we live in a world where we have to fight against these tendencies and be regulated by the Spirit of God according to the written will of God which we find in his word so the workplace indicates this you can turn to Colossians 3 this highlights this as well probably not a bad idea to spend a moment longer here and parents we need to teach our kids to work to bless the thing about living in a Dutch community you guys are good at that praise God it's a good thing a good solid work ethic that is absolutely positively crucial you will fail in life if you do not have a good work ethic if you're a kid that's lazy you need to change now I don't mean you need to go out back and you know make big rocks into Little Rock's for all of your life pounding no that's not what I'm saying but when your parents tell you to get up go outside get some fresh air run around do that which is contrary to this day I mean it's it's its devices it's it's screens fresh air sunshine we we need vitamin D you've got to get outside you got to listen to your parents you got to be physically fit you got to do the things so that you're not a sluggard so that you're not lazy so that you don't fail ultimately in life now I know that sounds harsh but it's true notice in 322 in Colossians bondservants obey in all things your masters according to the flesh not with eyeservice as men pleasers but in sincerity of heart fearing God and whatever you do do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of your inheritance for you serve the Lord Christ but he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done and there is no partiality masters give your bondservants what is just and fair knowing that you also have a master in heaven so that's the family or the family and then the workplace notice the church look at first Timothy chapter 3 first Timothy chapter 3 again just showing there are superiors and inferiors in all stations of life and we need to take seriously our responsibility in those stations of life in terms of the eldership the eldership is not authoritarian but there is Authority and in Paul's language the pastor's the elders of the church they take care of they they steward the house of God that's a very difficult proposition when the people of God don't want to be steward it when the people of God don't want to submit when the people of God want to sort of do their own thing again this is tough to preach because I don't want to sound like an authoritarian or not or an autocrat but there is this structure in the church and it's for the good altom utley of the church and the glory of God notice what Paul says first Timothy 3:1 this is a faithful saying if a man desires the position of a bishop overseer / elder / pastor he desires a good work a bishop then must be blameless the husband of one wife temperate sober-minded of good behavior hospitable able to teach not given to wine not violent not greedy for money but gentle not quarrelsome but college are not covetous one who rules his own house well having his children in submission with all reverence no no parenthetically for if a man does not know how to rule his own house how will he take care of the Church of God now there's a shift in terms of the language he rules his own household but he does take care of the Church of God but there is analogy there is a parallel and there is the superior inferior relationship again that doesn't mean the the superior gets accolades it simply means it maintains order and decency in the very house of God that is absolutely crucial and then turn over the book of hebrews hebrews chapter hebrews chapter 13 to passages their superiors inferiors not only in the family but in the workplace and in the church Hebrews 13:7 remember those who rule over you who have spoken the word of God to use faith follow considering the outcome of their conduct and then in verse 17 obey those who rule over you and be submissive for they watch out for your souls it's not talking about civil authority he's talking about ecclesiastical Authority the civil government doesn't care about your soul the civil government doesn't pray for you each day the civil government couldn't care one bit about your communion with God Almighty this is a passage speaking about pastors they care about your soul they pray for you they are concerned about your communion with Christ and so as a result the Apostle Paul gives this admonition obey those who rule over you and be submissive for they watch out for your soul as a Souls as those who must give an account let them do so with joy and not with grief for that would be unprofitable for you if your pastor is miserable it's ultimately going to be unprofitable for you and then of course the Commonwealth we looked at this last week so we won't duplicate our efforts Romans 13 let every soul be subject to the governing authority for there is no authority except from God and those which exist are established by God so does everybody follow this superiors and inferiors in family workplace church and Commonwealth the fifth commandment is comprehensive it doesn't just speak to children it speaks to parents it doesn't just speak to parents and children it speaks to workers and say and masters or what's the word employers it speaks to those in the Commonwealth it speaks to those in the church now notice finally with reference to the statement of the command the sanction related to the command other words when God gives a command there's penalties attached God's not like some parents where they say if you don't do this I'm gonna do this and instead of actually doing it then you start to count if you're a counter you should stop that because that's going to exasperate your kids kids need clear-cut well-defined boundaries they don't need to know that you can count to 10 and if you count to 10 you have gone way too far in your demand for obedience if you've counted to 3 you have gone way too far in your demand for obedience don't be a counter be a discipline er be a lover be one who showers affection do what solomon says in the book of Proverbs you can turn back there just to see the first stage of the penal sanction attached or owing to this fifth commandment proverbs 13 proverbs 13 verse 24 he whose Aires his rod hates his son but he who loves him disciplines him promptly that's the reality if you don't discipline your kids the scripture tells us you hate them remember that that study in in bad parenting this guy got you know the worst father of the Year Cup he didn't get the best father of the Year cup he got the worst father of the Year cup that was the man Eli in the book of 1st Samuel his sons were terrible his sons were priests they served in the they served in the in the in the in the tabernacle and they would steal sacrifice and they would lay with temple prostitutes they didn't know the Lord now Eli couldn't make them know the Lord we are Calvinists brethren we aren't reformed we believe in the doctrines of grace with men it is impossible to save us all but with God all things are possible so we cannot fault Eli for not being able to save his children he couldn't do that but in 313 the demand is by God concerning him that he will be held to account why because he did not restrain them he couldn't save them he couldn't impart grace he couldn't make them believers he couldn't make them knowers of the Lord but he could have restrained them from stealing sacrifice and laying with prostitutes and he didn't do this perhaps he was one of those lazy ones perhaps he was one of those ones that said well they're so lovely I don't ever want to spank them I don't ever want to discipline that you have to do this this is what's commanded in Scripture now be cautious we live in a situation and a context where judicious nice and wisdom are absolutely crucial and necessary when your neighbor can dine you out and have social services all over your life just because you're trying to faithfully execute your role as a parent so be wise be cautious but be obedient to the word and will of the Living God he who spares his rod hates his son but he who loves him disciplines him promptly notices well proverbs 19 proverbs 19 specifically verse 18 Jason your son while there is hope and do not set your heart on his destruction I remember reading bridges on proverbs I'm sure I commended that book as we went through the Proverbs and he had a footnote at some place I don't know if it was this particular tax but he said the father is the church fathers thought that if you didn't have your your children's will conquered by the age of two you had failed now I'm not convinced that that's absolutely altogether right but I am absolutely convinced that that's all together the way we should think it's easier to deal with rebellion at that stage than rebellion at sixteen it's easier to deal with the snake when it's still in the egg then when it's this great big python that has the ability to wrap itself around you and squeeze you to death you need to understand that when the children are little you need to obey God you need as a superior to follow God's Word in this regard notice in proverbs 22 at verse 15 proverbs 22 at verse 15 foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child the rod of Correction will drive it far from him that's God's Word proverbs 23:13 and 14 do not withhold correction from a child for if you beat him with a rod he will not die you shall beat him with a rod and deliver his soul from hell so the first stage of the first aspect of penal sanction attaching to the fifth commandment is the rod and reproof there are times when you don't necessarily need to use physical corrective discipline you ought to be able to say things to your kids and they by God's grace should obey and comply hopefully it doesn't need to be stepped up in terms of corporal discipline but turn back to Deuteronomy for just a moment Deuteronomy chapter 21 now I don't cite this again to say this is the way it ought to be in our generation but I cite this to highlight the actual transgression involved in this particular commandment God does not take it lightly and I also want to treat this passage because I think believers we need to know how to deal with Old Testament passages that are an offense to people around us and Deuteronomy chapter 21 is offensive probably not just to people around us but it could be offensive to people within us inside the church persons roll their eyes at passages like we find in Deuteronomy 21:18 221 let's read the passage and I'll make a few observations 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 who when they have chastened him will not heed them then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city to the gate of his City and they shall say to the elders of his City this son of ours is stubborn and rebellious he will not obey our voice he is a glutton and a drunkard then all the men of his City shall stone him to death with stones so you shall put away the evil from among you and all excuse me Israel shall hear and fear now perhaps you've heard persons say well I can't believe the Bible I would never submit to the Bible because after all God says that little kids ought to be stoned to death if they don't eat their Peas that's not what this is that is absolutely positively not what's in view this does not apply to a naughty two-year-old you do not deliver up a two-year-old to the city elders and then ultimately watch the city people stone that two-year-old to death he's a glutton and a drunkard this is an adult rebel son this is an incorrigible son notice as well the family has inflicted on him rightly paternal pressure they had disciplined him they did try to squelch this in their son they did try to keep him from gluttony and drunkenness again those are symptomatic the problem with this rebel is that he's a rebel he is a transgressor against the fifth commandment he does not esteem his parents he does not Revere his parents he does not treat them with heaviness and respect he rather treats them lightly he condemned in contempt he is a rebel adult and it's in that instance that he is delivered up for the execution applied in the law the parents bring their sons to the elders but neither the family nor the church have the right to inflict capital punishment I think this underscores the seriousness of the fifth commandment it underscores how essential this was to maintaining the theocracy in the land it shows as well by extension how important it is to maintain society in the earth today when the family breaks down brethren it looks akin to what we're seeing if we do not take seriously our responsibility we're altom utley contributing to the decay and to the decline of society as a whole you just read one modern author on this passage again I think that this kind of passage maybe not this one I've heard it I've heard people say well that seems horrible that that God would command the execution of a retro of a rebel son or of an incorrigible son it is intriguing that Jesus cites this in that Matthew 15 passage and he doesn't hyper qualify and he never says oh no we shouldn't even think that way no he understands what the law demands but Verne poythress and a helpful book called the shadow of Christ in the law of Moses he says the death penalty for wholesale violation of parental authority may seem harsh to modern sentiments but I would argue that it is not only just but realistic parental authority even if very imperfectly exercised takes place in the context of personal relationships and natural pressures in the direction of love parents have many advantages over the state if a person does not receive instruction from parents the chance of receiving instruction from the state's more impersonal discipline are nil if the kid doesn't respond to father and mother why is he going to respond to justin trudeau if he doesn't respond to father and mother why does he care about the rcmp if you have taught him or her how not to obey authority in the home they're never going to obey it outside the home often time brethren we are complicit in creating rebels because we do not do what God commands he goes on to say the person who rebels in wholesale fashion against parents will also repel against the state and create general destruction and disorder until eliminated it is mere sentimentality to refuse to come to grips with this reality again I'm not sanctioning or advocating necessarily for this I think it is however and under it underscores the seriousness and the gravity of the offense of violating the fifth commandment now in terms of the promise stated we'll just quickly look at that and Deuteronomy chapter 5 he says that your days may be long and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you now this is not formulaic I want a good life therefore I obey my parents that's not the way you're supposed to do this you're supposed to obey your parents because it's right you're supposed to obey your parents because God commands you to you're supposed to obey your parents because they're worthy to be obeyed now as a corollary or as a benefit or as a sideline result it may go well with you in the land not necessarily positively if your life is miserable you shouldn't say but but you know I obeyed my parents why is my life miserable again it's not formulaic God or Yahweh is not bail we don't put in the requisite amount of obedience and get out the requisite amount of blessing but it's a general principle it's a general maxim I think sometimes people falter with the Proverbs at this point they think that each of the Proverbs means universally positively always if I do this then good will happen no their general Maxim's it's for the most part this way in a moral universe governed by a glorious God for the most part if you do what you're supposed to life goes well again it's a general statement you do what you're not supposed to typically life does not go well Solomon says the way of the transgressor is hard what can we infer by way of implication the way of the righteous isn't hard the way of the right just yes there's affliction yes there's disappointment yes there's sorrow yes there's hardship but the overarching thing with reference to those who comply with God is blessing he is a good father he is a kind father he is a gracious father so we see this extended from land Old Covenant to earth New Covenant suffusion 6 3 that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth Charles Hodge says this is the usual course of his Providence the usual course of his Providence again that's the way you should interpret the book of Proverbs and that's the way you should interpret these sorts of statements yes for the most part are there exceptions yeah are there persons that were obedient and compliant and they grow up and their lives are miserable yeah that happens I'm sorry to say that but for the most part the usual course of God's providence is if you obey God blesses Johnny D echoes daddy says it is a principle of the divine administration and the usual course of Providence everybody understand that usual course of Providence if you treat things like a formula you are treating Yahweh as if he's bail and you're not supposed to do that now in conclusion in terms of the positive aspects of the command the inferiors are to render honor obedience and gratitude toward their Superior's that's it that's what the fifth commandment demands that is requisite that is required inferiors are to render honor obedience and gratitude toward their superiors and then with reference to the superiors superiors are to govern in a righteous manner if you are stationed as a superior do your job well effectively carry out your particular tasks again let's look at the husband wife analogy wouldn't life be easier for a wife to submit to her own husband as unto the Lord if he was exercising christ-like love loving leadership and headship to his wife so I got this zany idea brothers and sisters that as believers in Christ we try to help each I know that seems odd but we should try to help each other I should try to help my wife by being the kind of husband that she wants to submit to I should get the help from her that she's the kind of wife that I'm able to love if we have children we ought to raise them the way that God says to help them be all that they can be and you kids ought to be subordinate to your parents not whiners not grumblers not complainers and sniff lers but those who do what they're told that's how we ought to function and operate in a civil society especially when we come into the life of God's church Westminster larger catechism 129 what is required of superiors toward their inferiors it is required of superiors according to that power they received from God and that relation wherein they stand to love pray for and bless their inferiors to instruct counsel and admonish them countenancing commending and rewarding such as do well and discountenance seeing reproving and chastising such as do ill protecting and providing for them all things necessary for soul and body and by grave wise holy and exemplary courage to procure glory to God honor to themselves and so to preserve that authority which God has put upon them so again fifth commandment two heads authority or superiors and inferiors now in terms of the sins prohibited by the command the failure of inferiors to honor obey and express gratitude toward their superiors and with reference to superiors not carrying out their duties the way that God calls them to do now finally we come to the threefold use of the law remember that everybody nod because I know I've said that ad nauseam in this series and we're only at the fifth commandment there's three ways we use the law of God the first use is what's called the civil use God has given a law to restrain creatures from being as bad as they can be the the law cannot change the heart but it restrains the heart less the language of a man who lived in the 60s it cannot change the heart but it can restrain the heartless and that is the civil yes civil use or also called the political use of the law the third use of the law is the normative the normative use simply means how do we use God's law normally as blood-bought children of God those justified freely by grace those who have been cleansed in the precious blood of Jesus those who have been forgiven those who have received the righteousness of God or the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone we now have the spirit the law of God is the marching order in a life that is pleasing to God so normatively as superiors and as inferiors we are to comply we are to obey we are to do what God calls us to do now the second use of the law is called the pedagogical pedagogical simply means child tutor in other words the law tells us how bad we are the law tells us how sinful we are when I read this statement kids I want you to internalize it do you render honor obedience and gratitude towards your superiors is this the disposition of your heart is this how you function is this how you carry yourself each and every day I'm going to take a stab at this and say probably not you've got sin in your heart and this law should expose that sin this law should should amplify this sin and this law should show you your need for the law keeper which is Jesus Christ see Jesus continued in subjection to Mary and Joseph imagine that have you ever thought about that well I don't want to submit to this government because it's wicked I don't want to submit to this man because he's wicked I don't want to submit in this arena because they're wicked couldn't Jesus say that Joseph and Mary were sinners Joseph and Mary were imperfect and yet our Lord according to his humanity continued in subjection to them the law of God shows you your need for that one who continued in subjection to his parents you need Christ you need forgiveness you need blood you need atonement you need cleansing you need what Christ brings in the Christian gospel and the preaching of the law is necessary to show that sin to show the need for the Redeemer or the remedy and that being in the Redeemer himself let this law do its work in your heart let it show you your need for Jesus Christ John Calvin said those who abusively are stubbornly violate parental authority are monsters not men this is how the old boys typically responded to the sorts of disobedience that has been commonplace or is commonplace rather today a lack of respect for parental authority it ought to break our hearts certainly if it's happening in our homes it ought to break our hearts to the point where we seek by God's grace to recover and to remedy that situation and get it in order but look around us look at society all around us isn't there signs of this decay where parental authority is not esteemed where it's not revered where persons are not honored if you're found out here this evening and you're a child or young person flee to Christ flee to the Lawkeeper flee to the one in whom there is forgiveness and there is a righteousness given that avails with God well let us close in a word of Prayer father thank you for this fifth commandment thank you for not only creating but giving us law giving us those things that help in a civil society and God I pray that you'd help us in the church to take these things seriously our particular response is superiors or inferior --zz whatever the case may be certainly we all find ourselves in one position or another or both at many times and places in our lives so help us to seek the Holy Spirit's aid to help guide us and direct us relative to these things and grant us grace to bring glory to you and again I pray for children I pray for young people I pray God that you would indeed show them their sin and show them their need for the Lord Jesus Christ and we pray in his most blessed name amen you