Let us call upon the name of our covenant God together in congregational prayer. Our Father which art in heaven, we stand astounded at what thou hast revealed concerning our Lord in his sojourn upon the earth and the deep grief and sorrow that attended him. For thou has shown us in thy word that with strong crying and tears He looked unto thee, the God of His salvation, and was heard in that He feared. And thou hast shown us in the Psalms how to see our Lord's crying and grief through His own eyes, and how to hear the overwhelming flood of His affliction through His own ears, and to see that grief through His own heart. For our Lord Jesus Christ sank in deep mire where there was no standing, and came into deep waters where the floods overflowed him. He was weary of his crying, his throat was dried, his eyes failed while he waited for thee. As those that hated him without a cause surrounded him more than the hairs of his head, those who would destroy him being his enemies wrongfully were mighty, Though the Lord Jesus Christ restored that which he took not away, and taking upon himself our foolishness and our sins, and calling them his own, and not hiding them from thee. For thy sake he bore reproach. Shame hath covered his face. He became a stranger to his brethren, and an alien unto his mother's children. The zeal of thine house hath eaten him up, and the reproaches of them that reproached thee were fallen upon him. Even when he wept and chastened his soul with fasting, that was to his reproach, so that his garment was sackcloth, and he became a proverb unto those around. Those that sat in the gates spake against him, and the drunkards made him their song. But his prayer was unto thee in an acceptable time, and in the multitude of thy mercy thou hast heard him, and in the truth of thy salvation thou hast delivered him out of the mire. Thou hast caused him to be delivered from those that hate him and from out of the deep waters. We thank Thee, Father, for what Thou hast given in our Lord Jesus Christ, that he was the man of sorrows, though we were the men of sin, that he took upon himself our stripes, though we were the guilty, and that he made himself, and thou didst make him, of our flesh, and of our guilt, that all our iniquity might be punished in him, and might be blotted out in his precious blood. And now, Father, wilt thou give unto us the glad tidings of that work of our Savior, that we might see clearly what he has done, that we might hear the good tidings from thine Anointed, who is Jesus Christ, that all our sins are forgiven us indeed, and that we who are sinners may hear the welcome sound of the tidings of salvation. We pray that thou will remember thy servant who brings thy word this evening, wilt thou cause him to speak truly, thus saith the Lord. Wilt thou set a watch upon his lips, that he speaketh not the will or the wisdom of man, in which there is no prophet, but cause that we might hear the voice of our Good Shepherd. For there is no other voice that is balm to our souls, there is no other voice that can comfort us and give us peace. The voice of every man is the voice of a liar, but the voice of our Savior speaketh true. And so we beseech Thee, Father, wilt Thou speak to us tonight by the Lord Jesus Christ, that we sheep might hear His voice indeed. We pray that Thou by Thy Spirit will cause that word to enter into our hearts, and that by the secret and powerful operation of Thy Spirit, Thou wilt apply that word, so that we who are broken might be made whole, so that we who mourn might be comforted, so that we who are covered with ashes might have beauty, and we who have the spirit of heaviness might be given the garment of praise. We pray, Father, that Thy gospel might refresh us and bless us and save us. We pray that Thou will cause this to be to Thy glory. And indeed, Father, wilt Thou cause the whole service Be unto the glory of thy name, for what is there here in thy house of the glory of man? Here in thy house is the glory of God, the glory of the living God. The glory of the covenant God, the glory of the God who has made His tabernacle with men and who dwells among us, the glory of the God who in Thy everlasting love hath chosen Thy people and hath in due time brought them unto Thyself and gathered us through Jesus Christ, that we might belong unto Thee and that we might have the comfort and peace of Thy everlasting covenant with us in Christ. We pray, Father, that Thy name might be glorified then as Thy gospel is proclaimed, as the psalms of the sweet psalmist are heard in the congregation. We pray that in the offerings and in the praying, all things might redound to the glory of Thy holy name. thou will cause the church to be established upon the cornerstone Jesus Christ, that thou will cause thy gospel to be proclaimed truly, that thou will cause the sound of the truth to be heard in that land by thy power and by thy sovereign grace. and be with thy people wherever they are over the length and breadth of the earth. Thy saints who are in the midst of persecution, thy saints who are in the midst of prosperity, we beseech thee, Father, that thy church, which dies daily and is counted as a lamb for the slaughter and counted always as a sheep to be to be killed might be blessed. We thank Thee for our Savior, who has perfectly suffered all persecution and has done so instead of us, who never, yet and never will, perfectly suffer persecution. We beseech Thee, Father, that Thou wilt comfort us with the knowledge of our Savior's perfection and His perfect righteousness, which Thou dost count as ours, so that even in our persecution we may simply give Thee thanks, and simply be grateful for what Thou hast given. For it is given to us to suffer, and it is given to us to believe. All these things are given unto us of Thee, and Thy sovereign power. We pray, Father, that Thou will also remember those who have persecuted us. Will Thou forgive Thine own among them, for they know not what they do, Will thou cover those iniquities in the blood of Christ and cast them into the sea of forgetfulness? Will thou remember those who have persecuted us and who are thy foes? Thou knowest, Father, thou knowest. All these things are known unto thee. And we pray then, Father, that we might not seek revenge, for vengeance is thine and thou shalt repay. And wilt thou cause thy perfect will and thy perfect work to be done, for this is good. We pray, Father, that Thou wilt also continue to bless the school that Thou hast established. We thank Thee for Pavilion Christian. We receive this school day in and day out as a wonder of Thy grace, for Thou hast established what was impossible for us to build and hath given unto us a covenant rearing for our seed together in the bonds of covenant love. We pray that thou will continue to maintain the school that thou has given unto us. Will thou continue to cause our covenant seed to be reared in the fear of thy name. We pray that thou remember the mother in our midst whose children attend Heritage Christian. Will thou bless them and keep them. We thank thee for the glad tidings of the gospel that even the lambs are in the arms of the shepherd. Our lambs belong unto him and that he goes and carries where we cannot and are unable to. We pray, Father, that Thou will remember our children. Will Thou bless them, will Thou keep them, will Thou protect them in these evil days. And in all of our sicknesses and weaknesses, in all of our surgeries and recoverings, in all of our sorrows, in all of our lowliness and suffering, will Thou be our God, will Thou be our strength. We have none, but Thou hast all. And so, Father, we thank Thee that Thou hast promised that Thou art to us our God, and we are to Thee Thy people, and this in Jesus Christ. Thou forgive the sins we have committed, wash them away in our Savior's blood. Will Thou keep us from sin. Will Thou hear our prayer and answer us in mercy. For Jesus' sake. Amen. We worship the Lord now with the giving of our offerings. The first offering is for the Evangelism Fund and the second is for the School Fund. so We continue now with Psalm 69 and pick up our singing with verse 19. We'll sing through verse 25. That amounts to the last four stanzas in the first column and the first three stanzas in the second column. In this portion, we sing of one of the most clear prophecies of the cross. They also, verse 21, they also bitter gall did give unto me for my meat. We also begin to sing in this portion the imprecations of the Lord Jesus Christ against the wicked. Verses 23 and following. Let thou their eyes so darkened be that sight may them forsake, and let their loins be made by thee continually to shake. And there are many who refuse to sing these portions of the Psalms, these imprecations. There are many even who say that these imprecations are not Christian and not appropriate for God's people to sing. But the key to these imprecations is the same as the key to the whole book of Psalms, and that is that the Psalms are the songs of Jesus Christ. So that this is his song and the church sings this song with him so that it is the Lord Jesus Christ as the great judge appointed by God with the right to judge and the right to seek vengeance who sings these things and the church then with him. We'll sing now verses 19 through 25 of Psalm 69. Could he as my reproach now know my shame and my disgrace? Those that my adversaries beat are all before thy face. Reproach hath broke my heart, I'm full of grief, I look for one. To pity me, but none I found, the fortress of my mind. They also bitter gulped and give one to me for my meat. They gave me vinegar to drink when as my thirst was great. Before them that their table grew, a snare and do thou make. ♪ Their welfare and prosperity ♪ ♪ Adrapt themselves today ♪ ♪ Let thou their eyes on your hand be ♪ ♪ The sight, may them forsake ♪ ♪ And let their loins be made by thee ♪ ♪ Continually to shake ♪ Thou art on them in indignation. Then let Thy wrathful anger, Lord, bestow, take them upon. Go with them, bestow, and let be their habitation. We turn in God's word this evening to Psalm 82. Psalm 82. Psalm 82, a psalm of Asaph. God standeth in the congregation of the mighty. He judgeth among the gods. How long will ye judge unjustly and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah. Defend the poor and fatherless. Do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy. Rid them out of the hand of the wicked. They know not, neither will they understand. They walk on in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are out of course. I have said ye are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High, but ye shall die like men and fall like one of the princes. Arise, O God, judge the earth, for thou shalt inherit all nations. This is God's word, holy and inspired. May he bless it to us this evening. On the basis of that passage and many others, we have the instruction of the Heidelberg Catechism in Lord's Day 39 concerning the fifth commandment. The fifth commandment in Exodus 20 verse 12 reads, honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Lord's Day 39, question 104. What does God require in the fifth commandment? That I show all honor, love, and fidelity to my father and mother, and all in authority over me, and submit myself to their good instruction and correction with due obedience. and also patiently bear with their weaknesses and infirmities, since it pleases God to govern us by their hand. Beloved congregation and our Lord Jesus Christ, Lord's Day 39 treats the fifth commandment of God's law, honor thy father and thy mother. The fifth commandment of God's law begins what we sometimes call the second table of God's law, which teaches us the duties that we owe to our neighbor. The first commandment of God's law teaches us love for God. And the second table of God's law teaches us love for the neighbor. That love for the neighbor opens with the fifth commandment, honor thy father and thy mother. And as the catechism explains it or shows in its explanation, this deals indeed with love for the neighbor. That I show all honor, love, and fidelity to my father and mother and all in authority over me. The fifth commandment deals with the matter of authority. The fifth commandment deals with a matter that is ridiculed by men today. No man pays any attention to authority as God has appointed authority so that men revile parents, men revile government, Men revile office bearers in the church. Men revile all authority. But all of that reviling of men simply reveals what men think of God, as the catechism indicates, because it pleases God to govern us by the hand of these authorities. When we deal then with authority, even though we are dealing with love for the neighbor, We are dealing yet with Jehovah God. He is the authority that stands behind all authority. And that means then that we members of the Church of Jesus Christ need one to redeem us from our sin against the Fifth Commandment. The Fifth Commandment not only stands in condemnation, of all of those wicked men of the world who with boldness and brazenness revile the authorities but this fifth commandment accuses us for we too have dishonored father and mother we too have not shown all love honor and fidelity to those who are in authority over us so that the hope of the church of Jesus Christ is not that tomorrow she goes out and does better in keeping the fifth commandment but the hope of the church of Jesus Christ is the gospel of our savior that one who according to his human nature was under authority and who obeyed authority perfectly on our behalf and redeemed us from all our sin. This evening then, we consider the fifth commandment. We'll use that as our theme. Fifth commandment, in the first place, consider authority. In the second place, consider submission. And in the third place, consider redemption. Fifth commandment, authority, submission, and redemption. The Fifth Commandment deals with authority. As the Heidelberg Catechism indicates, what does God require in the Fifth Commandment? That I show all honor, love, and fidelity to my father and mother, and all in authority. over me. Father is an authority. Mother is an authority. The government official is an authority. The office bearer in the church is an authority. The boss at work is an authority. The Fifth Commandment and Lord's Day 39 deals with the matter of authority. And so the question for us is, what is authority? What is meant by that authority? And if we were to pare down this idea of authority to its core idea, then authority can be defined loosely and roughly this way. Authority is the right of say-so. The one who has the authority has the right to say how something is. The one who has the authority has the right to make the final, official disposition of a matter. So that whatever matter it is that comes before the authority, that authority has been clothed with the right to have the say in that matter. You could put it this way, that the one who has authority is the one who has the right to tell those under his authority, that's the way it is. That's the way I have determined. That's the way I have judged. That's the way it is. Authority is the right of say-so or more technically it is the right to make the final official disposition with regard to a matter. Authority we are dealing with in the fifth commandment because God has given authority to certain men in this world so that they have the right of say-so and the right to dispose certain matters. The fact that we're dealing with authority here in the fifth commandment also shows us that we are dealing with an issue that is contentious between man and God. Because man is constantly trying to wrest from God the right of say-so. Man wants to be the authority. He wants to be the one who says that's the way it is. The one who makes the final disposition of all matters that come before him. And when we say that man is trying to wrest that authority from God, we don't mean this. That there are certain men who have authority in this world. That's not it. God does give authority to human beings. He gives his own authority to human beings, distributes that authority to human beings. But when we speak of man seeking to wrest this authority away from God, we mean that man seeks to have the final disposition of all matters. That he seeks to have the sovereign and ultimate say-so. That he seeks to take away from God, God's right to judge. And God's right to say, that's how it is, that's how I have determined it, that's how I have judged it. Man seeks to stand on his authority of himself. He seeks to stand on his authority independent of God. Man will not acknowledge that his authority is derived, that it has come from another, that it has come from God. But man seeks to wrest that authority for himself. He does that everywhere, through all of life. Each man in his own life seeks to wrest that authority from God. You seek to wrest it from God, and I seek to wrest it from God. Man seeks to wrest that authority from God in the doctrine that is taught in the Church, so that man has the final say-so of the way it is with regard to salvation, let's say. Or man seeks to wrest from God the final say-so with regard to worship, so that man has the final disposition of how worship shall go, let's say. Man constantly in his life seeks to wrest from God authority and take that authority to himself because man is infected and afflicted with this incurable disease of his nature that man thinks he's God. That's always the disease of man. It's always the deadly disease of man. It's the disease that lives in you and that lives in me. Man thinks that man is God. And if man is God, then man has the authority, the ultimate authority, the sovereign authority. But over against that resting and grasping of the authority by man stands the truth that God alone has all authority. It belongs to Him. There is one and one alone who has the right of say-so. There is one and one alone who may dispose of matters. There is one and one alone who says, that's the way it is because I said so, and that one is Jehovah God. The catechism alludes to that in question 104 when it says that it pleases God to govern us by their hand. There the catechism shows the power, the authority behind all authority in this world. It's God. And whatever authorities there are among men, God is governing us by their hand. That's also the teaching of Psalm 82, which we read, God standeth in the congregation of the mighty. There you see a whole gathering of all the great authorities that God has distributed through the world. You find God standing among all of these rulers as among a great congregation, and God judgeth among the gods. There stands Jehovah, and there stand all the rulers of men. And God says to all of these rulers, how long will ye judge unjustly and accept the persons of the wicked? There God standing among the gods, God standing among the rulers, has for himself the right and the prerogative to judge them concerning their judgment. Their judgment was only from him and all judgment belongs to him. Verse 8, Arise, O God, judge the earth, for thou shalt inherit all nations. Jehovah God and Jehovah God alone has all authority. There's a comfort in that for the Church of Jesus Christ. especially a comfort for those in the church who are beset by evil rulers and who are hurt by those evil rulers, those authorities who are in their life, but those authorities who use their authority to hurt and to destroy the people of God. The comfort for the child of God is not this, I'm going to get my revenge someday, they'd better watch out. When I come into power, but rather the comfort for the child of God is this, whatever they inflict upon me which hurts and which is very grievous, there is one who rules over all. In fact, my God is the God who stands in the congregation of the rulers. And my God is the one who judges among the gods. Arise, O God, judge the earth, for thou shalt inherit all nations." Jehovah God is the authority and all authority belongs to Him. Jehovah God, who has all authority, has been pleased to give all of that authority of His to the man Jesus Christ. An astounding truth regarding the man Jesus Christ. We are talking about Jesus Christ according to His human nature. Jesus Christ as He came in our flesh. Jesus Christ is God according to his divine nature. He has all authority of himself. No one gave him any authority according to his divine nature. But according to his human nature as a human man with a human mind and a human will, that human man has been given all authority by the triune God. That's what Jesus said when he rose from the dead and appeared to his disciples. He said, as Matthew 28 records it, all power is given unto me in heaven and on earth. But when you take a look at that word power, you find that that's the word authority. That's what the meaning of that translated word power is. All authority is given unto me in heaven and on earth. Jesus, that man has authority over the angels, all those creatures of the heavens. The Lord Jesus Christ has authority over the whole earth, over nations rising and nations falling. He has authority over the seasons so that the earth springs forth and the bud is formed by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. God has been all authority in heaven and earth to Jesus Christ. The apostle reflects on that too in Ephesians, when he says, God hath set him above all principalities and powers, and hath made him head over all things to his church, which is his body, the fullness of him, which filleth all in all. The Lord Jesus Christ is made the head, that is the authority over everything in the world, for the sake of his church. Jesus Christ exercises all authority on behalf of Jehovah God. And that holds rich comfort for the church. Because who is that Jesus who holds all that authority? Who is the one that is in control of the nations? Who is the one who is in control of all of the rulers of the earth? Who is the one who's in control of the authorities in your own life? Who is the one who's in control of every single thing that befalls you? Why, it's Jesus Christ! And what has the Lord Jesus done for His church? Why, He has given Himself in our place. He has redeemed us by His blood. The Lord has demonstrated beyond any shadow of doubt the depth of His love for His people. He's shown you what He thinks of you. And by showing what He thinks of you, He's shown you what God thinks of you. And this is what God thinks of you. I love them. I love them. They're my people. This is what Jesus thinks of you. I'll die for them. They're my people. I'll give my life in their place. The Lord loves his church with an unbreakable love, an everlasting, infinite love. And that's the one now who has all authority in heaven and on earth, the one who rules over all things, and the one who does so on behalf of Jehovah God. What do you think that one who loves you is going to do in his rule of you? He's going to do you good. He's going to bless you. He's going to keep you. He's going to do that. He can't do anything else that one who loves you with a sovereign love which cannot be broken. The Lord Jesus Christ in His sovereign love of His church sees to it that all things that He does on her behalf are for her good. That's what Paul meant when he said he's the head over all things to the church. He rules the heavens and the earth, the nations and all things for the sake of the Church, because you're the members of His body, and He loves His body. He loves His body as much as He loves Himself, for His body is Himself, made one with Him and united to Him, according to the eternal counsel of Jehovah God. The Lord Jesus Christ is the one who rules all things and governs all things as the authority of God, the one who has the right of say-so, the one who says that's how it is, that one who governs all things, governs all things according to the perfect counsel of Jehovah God. That's alluded to in the catechism. That's behind what the catechism is saying. When the catechism says, again, it pleases God to govern us by their hand, as he talks about these other rulers. But God is pleased to do something. God is pleased to govern his people, which means that God is governing his people according to his eternal direction and counsel. Whatever conspiracies of the foes of the church then are hatched, and whatever plots are made, and whatever attacks come upon the church of Jesus Christ, the Lord is in control of all those things. And the Lord will see to it that even all of those things serve the good of the church. They have to. They have to. because he governs all things according to the perfect will of Jehovah God. When we deal with authority, we are dealing with Jehovah God, to whom all authority belongs, and Jesus Christ, to whom God has given all authority in heaven and on earth. And now God has been pleased, having given all of that authority to Jesus Christ, to distribute that authority among men. God sets up the rulers. God sets up the rulers in the state. Romans 13, the powers that be are ordained of God. And there is no power but that which is ordained of God. All those rulers of the state are appointed by God, and God clothes them with authority. Clothes them with authority to have the say-so. Clothes them with the authority to say that's how it is. Those rulers are clothed with that authority for God's sakes, not for themselves, not so that they may do with that authority what they please, whether the ruler ever acknowledges that or not, is beside the point. God clothes them with that authority for his own glory. It pleases God to govern society by the hands of those rulers. God sets up authorities in the home. He gives a husband to a wife as the authority for the wife, and parents to the children as authorities for the children. God sets up authorities in the church appointing office bearers and clothing them with authority, not for themselves, not to use as they please, but authority that is from Him. He sets up authorities in work as He sets the bosses and the managers and so on. God clothes all these authorities with His own authority, for it pleases God to govern us by their hand. When we deal with the authorities, We are dealing then with Jehovah God. That's Lord's Day 39. It pleases God to govern us by their hand. And that's Psalm 82. Psalm 82, which calls the rulers gods. A striking statement because that's the name of God. He takes his own name, God, and applies it to the rulers, gods. And he does that not because these rulers are anything but men, that's all they are, that's all they'll ever be, they are mere men, but he calls them by his own name to indicate that he has clothed them with their authority. And he emphasizes that I have called you gods. I have called you by my own name to indicate that the authority that you have has come from me." God distributes that authority among men. But the authority belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ and to Jehovah God. so that when those men have their say-so and exercise their authority, they are not to say anything different, then that's the way it is according to Jehovah God. Nevermind that the authorities pay no attention and pay no mind. But the authorities are to say that's the way it is. They have the right to dispose of matters to the glory of Jehovah God. And God will see to it that every single thing those authorities do is for the good of his church, even when they sin, even in their weaknesses and their infirmities, as the catechism mentions. There is a significant implication of this matter of God distributing authority to men. And that significant implication is found in the Belgic Confession, Article 36. And it is such a significant implication because what's taught in Belgic Confession 36 has often been wrested by men and twisted in order to be a kind of proof of common grace, the idea that God has a favor for all men, elect and reprobate alike without exception, and that God in that favor for all men has been pleased to restrain sin in the heart of even the reprobate and even the unregenerate, so that those reprobate do not break out into sin the way they otherwise would, and that God has restrained sin in their heart by His grace, in a kind of favor to them, a favor that will never save them, a favor that doesn't do them any lasting good, but it is a good favor that he has upon them now by which he restrains their sin. And when those who taught common grace, the Christian Reformed Senate of 1924, wanted proof for the restraint of sin in the heart of man, they could find the word restrain in the confessions. Here's a place where the restraint of sin is taught. Article 36, the magistrates. We believe that our gracious God, because of the depravity of mankind, hath appointed kings, princes, and magistrates, willing that the world should be governed by certain laws and policies, to the end that the dissoluteness of men might be restrained, and all things carried on among them with good order and decency. For this purpose he hath invested the magistracy with the sword for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise or the protection of them that do well. There we read of the restraint of the dissoluteness of men. But that restraint of the dissoluteness of men is not done in God's grace to those men, to those unregenerate men. It is not at all done in grace to those men. There's a grace, but that grace is to us. It is the grace of our God at the beginning. We believe that our gracious God, the God then who is gracious to those people who are his own, those people who belong to him. And when Jehovah God appoints magistrates, and gives the policeman a gun or a sword with which that policeman will execute the counsel of God, then God, by that gun and by that sword and by that magistrate and by that judge and by that policeman and by that rule, that authority that he has appointed, by that he restrains sin so that the man who would be inclined otherwise to commit that crime doesn't commit that crime. And God has done that for the purpose of order in society. But now none of that means what the defenders of common grace mean by it when they try to take all of that as some proof that God is gracious to all men. God has a purpose with all men, and God is working that purpose, but that purpose does not include any favor toward the reprobate wicked. That favor is for his elect people alone. When defenders of common grace then try to confuse the issue by proving common grace from the word restraint there in Belgic Confession 36. They are misusing that word and not teaching the truth regarding that restraint. God's favor is for his elect people in Christ. And all things, the things that hurt them, as well as the things that they like, all of those things are for their good and done by God for the good of his elect people in his everlasting grace to them. The fifth commandment is about authority all authority belongs to God. The fifth commandment then requires submission as the Heidelberg Catechism teaches in Lord's Day 39. What does God require in the fifth commandment? That I show all honor, love, and fidelity to my father and mother and all in authority over me and submit myself to their good instruction and correction with due obedience and also patiently bear with their weaknesses and infirmities since it pleases God to govern us by their hand. What doth God require that I submit? God has authority, God has distributed authority and he calls those who are under authority to submit. That submission God's people to authority is first of all an attitude of the heart. Before obedience ever comes into it, submission for God's people is in their heart. That's where the catechism begins as well, that I show all honor love, and fidelity, faithfulness to my father and mother, and all in authority over me. From the heart, I honor them. That is, when I look at the authority, then that authority fills my view, and I understand that behind that authority stands God, who is the God who stands in the congregation of the gods, and that it pleases God to govern me by the hand of this authority." That's honor for the authority. Though the authority may be a wretch, though the authority may be despicable, for the sake of the authority that God has given to that authority, in my heart there is love or honor for that authority. Then, love. That I love that authority. that in my heart I am determined to do good to that authority and fidelity to that authority. That is, I'm faithful to that authority. The attitude or the submission that is required is, first of all, this attitude of the heart. And who does that? Who in the world does that? The commandment here has its office of exposing our sins. No one can say, not one of us can say, that I have shown all honor to my father and mother and all those in authority over me, love to every authority over me, faithfulness to every authority over me. When I examine my own heart concerning authority, even those authorities that I love, My heart doesn't leap 100% entirely in love for and honor for. And then there are those authorities that disagree with or those authorities that do evil. And then my heart leaps to hatred and despising and an easy slander of the office of the authority. Thou shall not revile the gods nor curse the ruler of thy people. The commandment here shows the easy cursing and easy reviling that comes to my heart concerning the authorities This fifth commandment requires in the first place then that attitude of submission. Then in the second place, the commandment requires obedience. I submit myself to their good instruction and correction with due obedience. And now what was in the heart becomes action. The child of God is called by the fifth commandment to obey the authority, that is, to do what the authority says, to follow the instruction that the authority gives, to submit to the correction that the authority might inflict, that I submit with due obedience to his good instruction and correction. The Catechism here uses a very important word in this matter of obedience. It's due obedience. Not all obedience is due to the authority. The authority might come and require what is contrary to the Word of God. And when the authority requires what is contrary to the Word of God, then the answer of the child of God is, let's not do obedience. I may not. I honor you for the office that God has given you, for the authority that he's given, but I may not obey you in this. I may not submit to your instruction or correction in this. I must disobey you because God says no, and I must obey God rather than man. And this too, The law here too has its office of exposing our folly and our wretched, wretched disobedience. The Lord tested us when we were in the Protestant Reformed churches regarding this matter of obedience to him with regard to the worship of the church. The whole world, including all of the authorities said, you may not worship, you may not come to church. And the church capitulated. The church rendered obedience to the authorities that it should not have rendered. The church should have said to the authorities, we are going to worship and if you come, and you take us to jail, then we will go to jail. But the word of God is, forsake not the assembling of yourselves together. We are exposed as those who are disobedient with regard to this matter of due obedience. This law then teaches us that we are not good It teaches us that we are not heroic in our obedience to the law of God, that we of all who maybe even in our hearts secretly pride ourselves on being very obedient and who pride ourselves on having done better maybe than many others when the government said, don't worship. This law comes to us and says, no, you are not good either. You too are exposed as disobedient to the word of God. We are to render due obedience to the authority The Catechism in describing this submission and its obedience brings up the matter of the weaknesses and the infirmities of the authorities. The Catechism says that the authorities are weak and infirm. Every single authority on this earth is weak and infirm. When we see in those authorities weaknesses and infirmities, then we are not to despise them. We are not to hate them in our heart with a malice and a vengeance. But rather, when we see those weaknesses and infirmities, we patiently bear with those weaknesses and infirmities. And here, too, the law has its office to expose me and my lack of submission. because the moment I see a weakness or an infirmity in the ruler, then my heart automatically, instantaneously reacts with malice and with hatred against the authority. We are to submit and patiently bear with the weaknesses and infirmities of the ruler. There are times when the weaknesses and the infirmities of the ruler are such that he makes himself unfit for rule. And the child of God may appeal to an authority over the authority in that case. When a man becomes violent in his constant abuse of a family, the family may appeal to the state who has the sword, which is not given to me and is not given to even the office bearers of the church, but that family may appeal to the state with its sword as the authority over the authority in order to seek protection from the abusive man. That's legitimate. No one may speak against it because the authorities that be are ordained of God. He has appointed that magistrate with his sword for the punishment of those who do evil. And the child of God in the midst of all of the weakness and infirmities of the rulers, the child of God who finds even the state allied against him someday, and the false church and all the authorities that he can think of in his life coming against him. Even then, the child of God has refuge. His refuge is not this, that on this earth he shall escape, but his refuge is this, that over every authority is Jehovah God, and God will judge the authorities. Do you see the burden that lifts from the child of God? that the child of God doesn't have to seek his own vengeance, that he can let that vengeance and that revenge go. Vengeance is God's, he will repay. As God said in Psalm 82, I have said to you rulers, ye are gods, and all of ye are children of the Most High, but ye shall die like men and fall like one of the princes. For God standeth, verse 1, in the congregation of the mighty. He judgeth among the gods. How long will ye judge unjustly? and accept the persons of the wicked, Sila, the child of God, when every ruler is lifted up against him, rests in this protection of Jehovah God, who is ultimately the ruler. The Fifth Commandment is about authority. The Fifth Commandment requires submission. The Fifth Commandment exposes my sin, and therefore I need redemption. My hope to have a long life in the land which the Lord gave, as the Fifth Commandment speaks of, my hope is not that I finally learn to submit to authority, It is not that I finally do better in submitting to authority. The hope of the child of God is that there is one who has submitted to authority and he has done so as our substitute. Jesus Christ, the righteous, is the man who was under authority. God gave him all authority in heaven and on earth. having raised him from the dead, but the Lord Jesus Christ was a man under authority. He was under the authority of his parents as a child and was in subjection to them, in subjection to his earthly mother and to Joseph who had married his mother. Jesus was in subjection to those earthly parents Jesus was in subjection to the high priest. When the high priest put Jesus under oath, as Jesus was on trial, Jesus did not respond to the high priest. You have no right to adjure me by the living God. You have no right to put me under oath. Jesus submitted to the oath that was administered to him by the earthly high priest. Jesus submitted to the sentence of Pontius Pilate, who, though he could find no sin in him, nevertheless condemned him and sentenced him to death. Christ submitted to the earthly authority. And all his life, the Lord Jesus Christ submitted to Jehovah God. He was obedient in all things, as Paul says in Philippians 2, and became obedient even to that highest obedience of the lowest death, as he became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. There the Lord Jesus Christ hung on the cross because God said, go to the cross. And Jesus Christ was obedient to the authority over him. And hanging there upon that tree, all of my disobedience, all of my sin was upon him. So that although his heart never once rebelled, and refused to submit, though he in his heart never rebelled, all my rebellion of my heart was placed upon him, which rebellion he bore away by his precious blood. The child of God is redeemed from all his disobedience to this fifth commandment by the perfect sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. The child of God now stands before the throne of God's judgment before the bar of God's judgment hears from Jehovah God that marvelous, mysterious, lovely declaration, you have honored father and mother, you have loved and shown fidelity and honor to all in authority over you. You patiently dealt with their weaknesses and infirmities, and you have submitted yourself to their instruction and correction with all due obedience. The child of God hears that about himself, not because he ever did any of it, but because the Lord Jesus Christ did all of it. And that means then, because of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done, The child of God has long life in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. In the Old Testament, that long life in the land was a type, as the people of God lived in that land of Canaan, type of the earthly type, rather, of the heavenly Canaan. And Jesus Christ, by his perfect obedience, gives to us that long life, that eternal life, in that heavenly Canaan that the Lord gives to us for his sake. The fifth commandment, rather, is a commandment about authority and submission. The gospel of authority and submission is that Jesus Christ was under authority and obeyed for our salvation. Amen. Our Father which art in heaven, we thank thee for thy word unto us this evening. Bless it to our hearts and comfort us by it. that we might have the assurance of our righteousness in Christ. And we beseech Thee, Father, that Thou wilt bestow unto us the comfort and peace of this gospel that we might go forth into this week, and all that Thou hast set before us, and that we might have that peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we pray also that Thou wilt give to us the grateful obedience of those who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ as the fruit of our gratitude and the good works which thou hast before ordained that we should walk in, so that knowing the obedience of our Savior as ours and his honoring authority, we honor Father and Mother. Will thou hear our prayer, answering us in mercy, for Jesus' sake, amen. We return again to Psalm 69. We have a portion of the first part left to sing on the second page, the last four stanzas, verses 26 and following of that second column, and then a portion to sing on the next page, turning the page to Psalm 69, verses 30 through 36. In the end of the first portion, verses 26 through 29, we have Jesus' continued imprecations, verses 26 through 28, In verse 29, we have that note of sorrow, his strong crying and his tears that we have seen throughout Psalm 69, but now become exceeding poor and sorrowful am I. But by thy salvation, O my God, let me be set on high. And then turning the page, we find that the psalm resolves and really explodes in praise and thanksgiving to God. The name of God I with a song most cheerfully will praise, and I in giving thanks to him his name shall highly raise. There is the grateful deliverance that God has given to the Lord Jesus Christ. We're going to sing both of these then, both of these portions. We'll start with verse 26 and we'll sing all the way through verse 36, which means that we will have to change tunes halfway through this. So we'll sing 26 through 29, and then the accompanist will play a brief interlude to get us into the next tune, which is also very familiar. And then we'll pick up singing with verse 30. So when we finish with verse 29, We'll turn the page and at the appropriate point in that interlude pick up singing verse 30. Verses 26 through 36 of Psalm 69. ♪ Because Him they do persecute ♪ ♪ Who've loved this life before ♪ ♪ They turn unto the grief of those ♪ ♪ Whom Thou hast wounded sore ♪ ♪ And Thou iniquity unto their former wickedness ♪ and do not let them come at all into thy righteousness. Out of the book of life let them be raised and bought it white. Among the just and righteous let not their names be read. But now become exceeding poor and sorrowful am I. My life's salvation, O my God, gladly be set on mine. ♪ But I with a song most cheerfully will praise ♪ ♪ And I in giving thanks to him ♪ ♪ His name shall highly raise ♪ ♪ His truth, O Lord, a sacrifice ♪ ♪ For Jesus shall prove ♪ And pull the cocks o'er any means that rattle o'er and o'er. And this a humble man shall sing, with joy to them shall give, ♪ Oh, all ye that do seek the Lord ♪ ♪ Your hearts shall ever live ♪ ♪ For God looked for years and will not ♪ ♪ His prisoners contend ♪ ♪ But heaven and earth and seas and plains ♪ ♪ And all that move in them ♪ God will to the cities build, and He will Zion save, that they may dwell therein, and Him ensure possession there. And they that are His servants see, in marriage now the same, ♪ So shall they have their dwelling there ♪ ♪ That love is blessed there ♪ Blessed be the Lord, our God, the God of Israel, for He alone hath wondrous works in glory let excel. for He alone doth wondrous works in glory and in self, and blest be His glorious name to all eternity. The whole earth let His glory fill, Amen, so let it be. The whole earth let His glory fill, Amen, so let it be. The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. Amen.