October 5, 2008
Sermon #752
The 10 Commandments-Honor Your Parents
Exodus 20:12 (NKJV) 12“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
Introduction: At first glace this commandment seems to be an easy one. However, in reality it is filled with questions and problems. What are God’s priorities in the family? How can I honor an abusive parent? How do I show honor to parents? How long and how do I show honor to older parents?
I. What are God’s priorities in the family?
A. God is first
Exodus 20:1 - 6 (NKJV) 1And God spoke all these words, saying: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “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; 5you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
Deuteronomy 6:4 - 9 (NKJV) 4“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
B. Spouse is second
Genesis 2:21 - 25 (NKJV) 21And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. 23And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” 24Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Two kinds of relationships: Temporary and Permanent
· Temporary – parents “leave”
· Permanent – spouse “cleave” (1) pursuing hard after (2) being glued or stuck to someone.
Matthew 19:4 - 6 (NKJV) 4And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
Ephesians 5:25 - 33 (NKJV) 25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. 28So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 31“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
C. Children are third
Ephesians 6:1 - 4 (NKJV) 1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2“Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: 3“that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.” 4And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
Colossians 3:18 - 21 (NKJV) 18Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them. 20Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord. 21Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.
ILL: Child abuse has severe consequences
Luke 17:1 - 2 (NKJV) 1Then He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! 2It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.
What is Child Abuse?
· Lack of physical needs being met
· Lack of physical demonstrations of affection
· Lack of affirmation – being constantly told that the child is useless, good for nothing or criticized for everything attempted.
· The child who is neglected, beaten, and worse still sexually abused
· Not disciplining the child
Proverbs 13:24 (NKJV) 24He who spares his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him promptly.
Proverbs 19:18 (NKJV) 18Chasten your son while there is hope, And do not set your heart on his destruction.
II. Parents are fourth - What does it mean to “honor” your father and mother?
ILL: Honor means “to giver weight to” to hold their position in high esteem. You cannot “honor”
God without honor to your parents-He is the one who decided who they would be!
A. Punishment under Old Testament law for the violation of the command
Exodus 21:15 (NKJV) 15“And he who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
Proverbs 30:17 (NKJV) 17The 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.
B. Give Honor
Proverbs 1:8 - 9 (NKJV) 8My son, hear the instruction of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother; 9For they will be a graceful ornament on your head, And chains about your neck.
Proverbs 13:1 (NKJV) 1A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.
· Do not imitate ungodly parents
Ezekiel 20:18 - 20 (NKJV) 18“But I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols. 19I am the Lord your God: Walk in My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them; 20hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.’
ILL: It has been stated that we become like the parent we like the least to get the attention of the parent we want the most.
· Imitate your parents in such a way that it brings Glory to God
1 Corinthians 10:31 (NKJV) 31Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
· It is the duty of the children to take care of the elderly who cannot care for themselves.
1 Timothy 5:1 - 8 (NKJV) 1Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers, 2older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, with all purity. 3Honor widows who are really widows. 4But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety at home and to repay their parents; for this is good and acceptable before God. 5Now she who is really a widow, and left alone, trusts in God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day. 6But she who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives. 7And these things command, that they may be blameless. 8But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
• Honor is always about finances
Everything is about honor. Honor releases the inheritance. Within Honor is love, value, respect, esteem – sow honor and receive honor. Honor is everything!
· Abandonment is the biggest fear of the elderly
ILL: My wife and I have a long-term health insurance policy. It is expensive and I hope we never have to use it – but I have seen what happens to the elderly who do not have provisions for the need. It is horrible what some of our older population have to live in and with! My father was depending on VA help but did not get it so the family took care of it – I owed it to him and God!
ILL: Just as abortion has become the norm euthanasia will become the norm for the elderly in America!
2 Timothy 3:1 - 5 (NKJV) 1But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
· It will take to much money to take care of the elderly
· Being not thankful to parents
· Unforgiving
· No self-control over their finances and life
III. The blessings of honoring parents
A. Live long in the land
B. It will be well with you
Deuteronomy 5:16 (NKJV) 16 ‘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.
C. You will be doing the right thing
Ephesians 6:1 - 3 (NKJV) 1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2“Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: 3“that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”
D. It pleases the Lord
Colossians 3:20 (NKJV) 20Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.
Conclusion:
This pastor is 75 years old. I am the father of three, grandfather to ten, and soon to be great-grandfather. Don’t count me out!
Some say that I am going downhill, but they have it wrong. It is uphill; that’s why it is such hard work!
Psalm 92:12 - 15 (NKJV) 12The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 13Those who are planted in the house of the Lord Shall flourish in the courts of our God. 14They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing, 15To declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
