Our subject this morning is subtle sins. If you're a visitor today, we're glad to see you. Our series that we've been considering is about the very many subtle sins. Sins that get in. Sins that we allow. Sins that seem to be semi-respectable. Yet God says that no sin is respectable. We have in the New Testament, I found now, and I might find more, 12 lists of sins. They don't make for very happy reading. If you add them all up, I think I get to 135 names. There's some duplication. The big sins like pride, And drunkenness are mentioned many times on these sin lists. And the sin this morning of disobedience is mentioned on three of the lists. I want to turn you very briefly to three verses. Romans chapter 1, and we see the first mention in this horror show of sins mentioned here. I read just Romans 1 and verse 30. Look at this list of sins. Verse 30 and 31. Back biters. Somebody that speaks behind a person's back. Haters of God. Is there a worse sin? Despiteful. That means spiteful. malicious, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents. Now the first thing we notice is this might seem to be an innocent sin in the midst of a horrible list of sins. But no, it's not. As we shall find out, these are all serious sins. It goes on in the next sin, and these are always linked. The order of these sin lists is very deliberate, without understanding. I pause there, turn over to 2 Timothy, and to chapter 3, and verse 2. 2 Timothy, chapter 3, and verse 2 and 3. Let's read this other sin list. For in the last times, before God will come again and judge the world, before the end of the world, in the last days, men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, people that use God's name in vain without meaning it, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. Then we turn over to our reading, Titus chapter 3, verses 2 and 3. Here's another sin list. Some of the sins are put in the negative, some in the positive. We are to speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, not to be people that fight. Gentle, showing all meekness unto all men, for we ourselves also were sometimes, he's speaking to believers, he's saying once we were foolish, disobedient, deceived, and we listened to and we served the lusts and the desires and the feelings and the pleasures of our own hearts, living in malice and envious, hateful, hating one another. Isn't this horrible? But I have to treat these verses and speak to you about them. This is the Word of God. Why are there 12 lists of sins? Because we need to be reminded. This is the problem that we all have. It's the problem of humanity. And three times this sin of disobedience is mentioned. On two of the three, it was particularly disobedience to parents. This word disobedience is used six times in the New Testament. But sometimes, Luke 1.17, you don't need to turn to it, it says this, to turn the hearts of fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just. The person in that verse whose disobedient is me, a father, a parent, not the child. So actually the word disobedience is used of grandparents, great grandparents, parents, children. This is not a message today to children only. It's to all of us. Because all of us are disobedient. It's probably on the same page, but look back to Titus and chapter 1 and verse 16, the final verse of the first chapter of Titus. These people, they profess that they know God. They claim to be Christians. But in their works, in their lives, they deny him. Being abominable. That's a horrible word. Vile. Detestable. Disgusting. They being abominable and disobedient. And unto every good word, work, reprobate, rejected by God. They claim to be Christians. They dress the right way. They go to chapel. They've got a Bible next to their bed. They would tick the box on the census, Christian. They claim to know God, but they're disobedient. This is one of the sins that characterizes people who think they're Christians and they're not. They don't have the life of God inside them. Changing them. Renewing them. Transforming them. Making them as God wants them to be. Let me try and define this word. We're going to stick to Titus 3 and to that verse, disobedient, verse 3. Foolish, disobedient, deceived. The word disobedient, it has two parts to it. They both begin with R. If you're taking notes, children, the first one is rejection. If you are disobedient, and I am, sometimes, I am making a conscious decision to reject what God wants me to do. Disobedience is rejecting God's way. There's a second part to it. It gets worse. Disobedience is rebellion. It's saying, I will not be persuaded. I'm unpersuadable. Here's me. I hear God's word. I hear what my parents say. I hear what the prime minister says. I hear what governance says in the schools and in every place of life. Governors, rulers. And I will not be persuaded. I will be in rebellion. This is quite serious, isn't it? Rejection, rebellion. God is saying, if you decide to disobey me, your parents, the government, your head teacher, your teacher, the police, anybody who's set in authority above us, you are committing a rejection of God. and a rebellion against God. So God's way rejected. Now we all know we live in a fallen world. The plan A has failed because we sinned. We are now living in plan B. A world which is characterized by rioting, by disobedience, by civil unrest, by anarchy. We're in a plan B world. It's not the way that God intended it to be. He knew that would happen, so he had a plan B. And in plan B, he appointed only three institutions. An institution is an organization. Three God appointed institutions. The first is the family. That's God's way. The first institution he organized was that we would be in families. Adam and Eve came together, they married, they had children. There was a family. Now even when families are broken, sadly that happens because of the sin of others and our own sin. God would still have there to be order, love, care, guidance, direction, support within the family. Even if it's not what God really intended. It's not what we had imagined family would be like. It still provides a restraint on evil. It helps children to have some form of guidance. Yes, parents get things wrong. Sometimes we're told to do things that we shouldn't be told. And yes, if we know God's word says, do this, we're commanded to do that. We listen to God's word first. And that's not an easy issue to work out. So the first institution is the family. The second, is governments. Governments. Just imagine a world where there was no government in a country. We don't have to think too far because we see sometimes governments fall, collapse. The country that comes to mind off the top of my head is Haiti. A country which has had uprisings and drug problems and civil war and government after government has fallen. What happens? Looting. People smash into the shops and take the televisions and they go home with everything they can that they can get hold of. Looting, rioting. That's what the world would be like if God had not implemented Plan B. Family and governments. To suppress evil, to hold it down. No, it doesn't get rid of evil. Governments can't do that. But their purpose is to have order, decency, and to care for widows, and the poor, and children, and so on. There's a third institution. Oh, this is the best of them all. Because the head of this institution is Christ. And that institution is the church. I don't really understand it. This church is full of such ordinary people. And this church is full of weak people. Full of people that have done wrong. Maybe they've done wrong by the laws of the land. done wrong by the laws of God. They've not listened to their parents. And yet, the church is God's way for healing broken hearts and broken lives. And where the family breaks down and the church has to step in to try and support, God has ordained that the lonely and the solitary are put in families in the church. Some of you don't have a Christian family. This is your family. And isn't it good and gracious of God that he should place us here? We must treasure the family, the church, and even governments. Most of us, we don't really admire and respect politicians, but God tells us to. He says we've got to honor them. They have a difficult job. They have a responsibility. You might like to turn to Romans chapter 13. In case you think that I'm making it up and that we can be anarchists, disregard what the government says if we didn't vote for them. Well, why should I do what they say? Romans 13 verse 1. Let every That's all of us. Every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God. That's the ultimate power. But God has ordained other powers. The powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth what God has ordained, the ordinance of God. And they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. If you disobey the policeman, and you don't listen to your teachers at school, and you won't respect those that God has appointed to lead churches, there's a very strong warning They shall receive to themselves damnation. Verse 3. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise. of the same. For those people appointed to rule, verse 4, are the ministers of God. They are administrators of God for good. I'm not going to get into the ethics of what happens when we're told to do things that are clearly not good, clearly not right, It's obvious most of the time that we shouldn't do what God has said is wrong. But sometimes governments tell us to do things. We don't want to, but we know that their motive is mostly for good and therefore we have to follow them. But imagine a world with no families. Where everybody was an island. I'm on my own. I'm a law unto myself. Nobody tells me what to do. I'm not accountable to anybody. I'm not responsible for anybody. Wow! That would be the law of the jungle, where anything goes. Can you imagine children growing up in a world where nobody cared for them? Nobody directed them, guided them, shepherded them. There was no responsibility for each other. That's God ordained. And each did what was right in their own eyes. What a world that would be. But we live in Plan B, where God has appointed family, church, government, three building blocks of society for the promotion of good, for the protection against evil, for the care of children, and for the blessing of everybody. Without it, it would be chaos. So God has appointed these things. What is disobedience? Rejecting God's way. I won't listen to my father. I won't listen to anyone. I know what is right. Disobedience, rejection and rebellion. The Psalms say God's way is perfect. Oh, isn't that true? God has a perfect way even in plan B. He has a perfect way. to raise children, to care for each other, to look after the lonely, to care for those who've fallen badly and broken God's laws. And that's all of us. We need the church of Jesus Christ. It's not perfect because we're here, but it has a perfect head and it has a perfect word and it has a perfect gospel. And so we teach. The perfect Word and the perfect Christ and the perfect Gospel. God's way rejected. Secondly, what about our way? Our way. Sometimes we think we know best. We've got teenagers here this morning. I want to speak to you for just a few minutes. We've had a delightful time. Some of you have come away on a camp out, but you are going through the most difficult years in your lives. I know that because I've been there. Teenage years are years of rebellion. They're years where we're no longer children. Our bodies might be mature, but our minds are not mature. And we haven't got that much experience to fall back on. And so there's a tension. There's me and there's my parents as a teenager. What will I do? Will I do what I think's right? Or will I listen to God and respect my mother and father? and do what pleases God. Ephesians chapter 6 is the verse that we must turn to. Sorry to jump to a number of verses this morning but the subject is dispersed in a number of verses. Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 1. This is a categoric commandment and it's for all of us this morning. Ephesians 6 and verse 1, this is God's way You ignore this at your peril, children, obey your parents. But it doesn't stop there. There are three words, in the Lord. Do you know all the children here this morning, in a sense, God has appointed me as a parent in the Lord. I have to be like a father to you. In a sense, your teachers at school are your temporary parents. There are adults here. Sometimes they see a child doing something dangerous or wrong or disrespectful. They have to say, stop. You shouldn't be doing that. Where's your mum? Where's your dad? in the Lord. We don't try and tread over boundaries. The primary responsibility to parent is the parents. But sometimes, when it's necessary, we must step in. Parents in the Lord, with the Lord's authority, for the Lord's purpose. But look at those words at the end of the verse. For this is right It's not many things in the world that are right, are there? There's lots of things that are wrong. Things that shouldn't be. No, it's wrong. Parents shouldn't abuse their children. They shouldn't leave them not looked after. They shouldn't feed them with junk food. They shouldn't have no discipline at home and let them go to sleep anytime they like. That's not really right. It's not good for the children. We need sleep. But these things, this order, this governance, this way that God has prescribed in plan B, they're right. We know they're right. We know there are times as adults, we look back and we think, I shouldn't have done that. I made my mother cry because I disobeyed her. I didn't listen. And I was foolish. I was without understanding. And God says to me, obey, listen, take it in, be persuadable. Your parents, if they parent well, when they can, they should try to persuade you. Please go to bed. Please get ready for school. No. I won't be persuaded. That's what a disobedient child says. So the first verse speaks about obedience. The second, this is a bit broader. Honor. Honor. That's a very wide word. How do we give honor? We speak well of our parents. Do you know what my mom and dad did for me? They were so kind. Honor. Respect. Show them due honor and respect, thy father and mother. Look at this lovely phrase in brackets, which is the first commandment with promise. There's a promise given. God says, obey. God says, honor, respect. And if you do, God's promising something very special. The first commandment with a promise attached to it. If you keep this commandment to obey and honor, then there is a promise that will be kept. Well, what's the promise? Verse 3. It's a very nice promise. Everybody would like this. Verse 3, that it may be well with thee. As I go through life, I make my choices, I decide where to live, who to marry, who my friends will be, who I want to please, if I've thought of God's way. Oh, that will really help me in life. I will respect my mother, my father, my stepmother, my stepfather, whoever it is that God has appointed. If I only really have one parent, respect them, love them doubly. Give all the respect that should be due to two to one. God will bless you. It will be well with you. Your life will be the better for it. You will live a long life. I don't know whether that means lots of years, maybe, but it means you will be prosperous. Through your life, God will shower blessings upon you because you've honored your parents. You've respected them. You've obeyed them. Isn't this beautiful? Wouldn't you want to live in a society like this? Where God has given government, family, church, it's all organized. It's all decent. Those that fall down are lifted up. Those that are broken to pieces. God helps us to put them back together again. But there's a problem, isn't there? We don't like authority. We've got an authority problem. There are people here, you struggle with authority because I see it. There are children in their teenage years and I hear you disrespecting, even with a look, Your parents, I went to do a visit just recently. I was visiting an elderly man. He's reaching the later years of his 80s. And his son came in. I'd never met the son before. I won't tell you the details of the conversation, but there was total disrespect for the father who's a Christian by the son The son should know better. He has office in some respect in life. He's been voted for. And he disrespected his elderly father. It was horrible to listen to. Actually, I wasn't surprised because the father had told me a previous visit before that his son is very disrespectful. It's ugly. It's abominable. That's what the word of God calls it. I'm going to turn you to 2 Kings and to chapter 17. We see here the worst that can happen when we throw away God's blueprint. 2 Kings 17 and verse 14. Let me just read a few verses here. This is about the children of Israel. This is about those who didn't listen to God's ways. Verse 14, 2 Kings 17 verse 14. Notwithstanding, they would not hear, but hardened their necks to be like the neck of their fathers, They did not believe in the Lord their God. They rejected his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and his testimonies, which he testified against them, and they followed vanity. They departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses. Sorry, I've skipped a page. I've jumped to another page. Apologies. Verse 15, let me read that. And they followed vanity and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them concerning whom the Lord had charged them that they should not do like them. God had a blueprint for his people. Don't do what the heathen do. Well, what did they do? Verse 16, they left off all the commandments of the Lord, their God, and they made the molten images, even two calves and a grove and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. Here's the worst bit. And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire. They put them on a bonfire. and used witchcraft, divination, enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke Him to anger. Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel." Terrible things. Disobedience. The people of God had thrown away God's way. They had kicked off, sometimes we call it kicking back. They rejected, they rebelled, they were lawless, they were rebellious. They contradicted the laws of God. They rejected the symbolic laws of God. Sometimes disobedience can be seen in words, actions or even attitudes. Children, do you have a bad attitude sometimes? Your parents say, fix your attitude. It's not even the words or the actions. It's just rebellion. I don't want to do that. I'm going to have a bad attitude. You make me. Heard that before? So God would have us to be obedient. How should we do that? Just a few exhortations as we close. Honor. Respect. Value your parents. Parents by blood. Parents by marriage. Parents in the Lord. The widest definition of parents possible. Honor them. And if you've disrespected your parents, and maybe we all have, you've never said sorry about that. Today's the day. You go to your mum and dad, your Sunday school teacher, those who've been given an office, responsibility, and you say to them, I've disrespected you. I've not given you the value that I should have given. I've not treated you like a mother. who brought me from the womb, who's given me a meal three times a day. I've treated you badly. I've not honored you. And that was wrong. Make sure you see obedience as worship. How does that work? When I obey my parents and I respect them and honor them, I'm doing what pleases God. It's a form of worship. To worship God is to bring our lives before him, to surrender to him, and when we obey our parents, that's like worship. God would have us to be under rule, under government. The government of the nation, the government of the church, this church, God would have you to be under it. the government of the family, whatever your family situation is, honor, respect, your loved ones. What did the Lord Jesus say? He was in Gethsemane. He had this great torment, this great conflict, this way or that way, where do I go? There's a way that seems right to me. It's to avoid Calvary. It's to avoid agony. It's to avoid blood and punishment. And yet the Lord Jesus says that wonderful word, nevertheless, not my will, but thy will be done. You see, that's what a believer does. Somebody that has a new heart, that wants to walk in God's ways, not my ways. They say, nevertheless. I know I have passions and desires, and I have a willingness to go another way, but I won't do that. Christ is my pattern. He says, thy will be done in my life, and in others' lives, in my children's lives, in church life, in national life, God's way is perfect. Desire the ways of God. Don't let disobedience creep in. A turn, a look, a sigh, an attitude. If you've disobeyed God, you tell him. If you've disobeyed your parents, you tell them. Seek repentance. Seek to walk in God's way. It's a plan B. because we're in a fallen world. God is making the very best of a broken world and a broken life and he would have it to be decent and in order for me and you to be under the authority of God's word and of all the institutions that he has appointed. May the Lord help us to be obedient not to be disobedient.