Part of this study is the fifth commandment in general. And then the second part will be the duties and sins of inferiors. And then the third part, the duties and sins of superiors. And then the fourth part will be application to parents and to children and those specific relationships. And then the fifth part will be application to husbands and wives in particular. All right, now just a brief word of introduction. Does anybody know where the word catechism comes from? Have you guys ever heard that word catechism? What's that? It's from Greek. Kata means down and echo is the other part. So to sound or to echo down. It's where a person would ask questions and then answers would be given in response to those questions. So a catechism is the passing down of the faith by means of question and answer or responses to questions. Now, in the New Testament, Paul says, let him who is instructed in the word share in all good things with him that instructs. And those are both the word catechize. He who is catechized in the word is to share in all good things with the one who catechizes him or the one who instructs him in those good things. So our church has a catechism. In fact, our church has two catechisms, a larger catechism and a shorter catechism. The shorter catechism was used in the New England Primer, actually, as a universal form of instruction of our founding fathers. This is the larger catechism, which is a more advanced edition, teaches the same things, but a more advanced edition of our shorter catechism. All right, so question 123 of our larger catechism, which is the fifth commandment? The fifth commandment is, honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Exodus chapter 20 verse 12. So this is one of the 10 commandments. It's the first precept or the first commandment of the second table of the law. We have in commandments 1 through 4 our duty to God, commandments 5 through 10 our duty to our fellow man, our neighbor, starting with father and mother. Question 124 of our larger catechism, who are meant by father and mother in the fifth commandment. And then the answer comes back, by father and mother in the fifth commandment are meant not only natural parents. And then here we have a couple of scripture passages that discuss your natural parents. Proverbs 23 verse 22. Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old. So here Solomon is giving the basic duty of the fifth commandment. You have natural parents. You have a father that begat thee. You have a mother who as she grows old will consider becomes weaker and less capable of chasing after kids, of disciplining perhaps as quickly or consistently as she should. But God's word is very clear. Hearken to thy father that begat thee. That means to listen very carefully. When your dad speaks, listen very carefully. And then a parallel phrase, despise not thy mother when she is old. Now to despise a thing means that you look down on it. Like a spy is someone who looks with their eyes. To despise is to look down at the person or the thing that you despise. There are some things we should despise. Your mother is not one of them. And the idea of the Proverbs is often they'll have parallels, two things that are very similar. Here the parallels are hearken, that's the commandment, and then despise not. Those two are parallels. And sometimes in the Proverbs you can actually know the definition of words or the flavor or range of meaning of a word by looking at the parallels. Harken, despise not. Listen carefully as Harken. Despise not is don't think down upon them like they're a light person that you don't have to listen to. I don't care. That's just mom. She's old. That's despising your mother. It says don't do that, especially in her weakness. When she grows older, don't look down on her because she's old and she's less capable and competent than you thought she was when she was younger. Okay, so Here, by father and mother, God does intend the natural parents, the father that begat thee and thy mother. Ephesians 6 verses 1 and 2. Unfortunately, there is a rampant false teaching in the church in our days, and it has been since very early on. You see this rebuked by the apostles, that because Jesus died on the cross, Therefore, God is no longer a lawgiver. That's the idea, roughly speaking. Jesus died to forgive our sins, and therefore, I have no duty to God as a lawgiver and a judge. That's not correct. That's never where approved of by the apostles. There's no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. We're under the grace of God. We're not justified by works. We don't keep the law so that we can have everlasting life. But that does not mean God loses his authority as lawgiver because he took on an extra role as a savior. So Ephesians 6, 1 and 2. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise. So a couple of things here. Paul is writing to the Ephesians. And you'll remember he addresses them at the beginning of that book. Let me just read a couple of words that he uses to describe his audience. Because now he's continuing to address the same audience. And this is extremely important. Ephesians 1. He says this, verse 1, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Okay, notice here, Ephesians is written to the saints. It's written to the faithful in Christ Jesus. And the Apostle Paul includes the children of Christian parents in that list. Because he's going to talk about their fathers too, the duty of parents. But here notice, children are saints. When they're raised in a Christian family, the Apostles would consider them to be Christians. They did not necessarily have to look into the soul of a child to say, I know that child is regenerated. What they knew was They had been called by God in a Christian household The Apostle Paul baptized by households. You'll notice this throughout the New Testament. He would baptize each household. And the children of believers were reckoned to be saints. They were called to be saints and faithful in Christ Jesus. So that's Ephesians 1.1. Now he's making application to the same people he's been writing to. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. This means that the saints and their children have an obligation to the Ten Commandments. And here, the Fifth Commandment in particular, and the Apostle cites it, honor thy father and mother. Again, your natural parents, the father that begat thee, thy mother, as Proverbs 23, 22 has it. So then the apostle says something very interesting. He says, which is the first commandment with promise? Now, if you read Genesis and if you read Exodus, you'll find God gives commandments and he attaches promises. And if you read the 10 commandments, The Lord gives a promise in the second commandment that whoever loves Him and keeps His commandment, He'll bless them to a thousand generations. So He's already given one in the ten commandments and several to Abraham and to Moses. He's given commandments with promise. But this is talking about the ten commandments. And it's not just talking about the ten, it's talking about the second table of the law. This is the first commandment of the second table with a promise. The first table has a commandment with a promise, but here he's talking about the second table. The first commandment, the second, the third, and the fourth, that tells us our duty to God. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. The fifth, sixth, and down to the tenth tells us how do I love my neighbor as I love myself. So this is the first commandment of the second table of the law that God attached a promise to it. And the promise he actually cites in verse three, that it may be well with thee and thou mayest live long on the earth." So not only does the apostle give the commandment to the children of believers, incorporating them into the saints and faithful brethren, he also attaches a promise which many people, it would get stuck in their throat to say this. God has earthly promises for Christians. Everything is spiritual to some people and certainly that's the priority. But Jesus said the meek shall inherit what? The earth. He didn't say heaven. He said the earth. So there are earthly promises. There are promises for this world as well as the world to come, Paul says. And certainly the world to come is gonna last a lot longer. So it's more important. But it doesn't mean that God says, forget about this down here. Don't polish brass on a sinking ship. Forget about culture and society and family and civilization. He doesn't say that. He says that if you honor the fifth commandment, Your expectation is that God will bless you in this life with wellness, that it may be well with thee, and with long life, that thou mayest live long on the earth. And attendant or subservient to both of those are all kinds of blessings that lead to that. A life is shortened by stress, by suffering, by misery, by all kinds of afflictions, by all kinds of hatred and disputes and fighting, shouting, killing, all those things, wars, they all come. with a shortened lifespan, peace, blessings, prosperity, that leads to a long life. So he's promising lots of other things, although he mentions, as is common in the Bible, he'll mention the chief ones, and then you're meant to think, oh, wow, there are lots of things that go along with that, aren't there? Lots of things that are subservient to that, that are like steps up to this final one. All right, so your natural parents, God has designated them. Now I want to read a quotation, very long, so forgive me for this, the length of it, but it's very good. James Durham, if it be asked here, why is the mother added? See, God said, to honor your father. He said, children obey your parents. But then you'll notice in verse 4 of Ephesians 6, he only talks to the fathers, he never talks to the mothers. But here in the fifth commandment, God adds the mother. Why is that, he asks. One, because although the mother be not so qualified for the rule and government of the children, yet she is no less entitled to their acknowledgement and this parental honor by the labor, toil, and tenderness of their birth and education." Okay, so here, this is very important. There are supreme authorities in the state, in business, in the church, in the family, and then there are subservient authorities, those under the authority of the supreme authority. In Virginia, we have a governor, then we have local magistrates, we have county sheriffs, we have all kinds of different authorities. And because one is not the supreme authority in the Commonwealth of Virginia does not make them a non-authority. That's the point of the fifth commandment here. The man is more suited to government. He's more suited to be the head of his household. He's given more strength, more foresight. He tends to have in his body and in his mind attributes and characteristics that are more suitable to government. And the woman is not lacking in those attributes, but she has less of them than the manda. She is the weaker vessel. But, Just because that's the case doesn't mean she's not entitled to honor and also in consideration of the other things that she does. She may not speak as loudly, she may not have as commanding a presence, she may not spank as hard, she may not have the physical endurance that a man may have, but she by labor, by toil, by tenderness of their birth and education, she is likewise entitled to honor and obedience from her children. And honor for their whole life, even when obedience ends for mother and father, honor must still be maintained. And then he goes on, and in this as well as in the disposition of the members of the body, mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12, 22-24, the excellent mixing of God's wisdom is very conspicuous. by balancing the greater authority of the father with the greater pains and care of the mother, that the children's duty of love, honor, and gratitude may return to both with suitable equality. So here we see, just because her role is different, Just because her pains are different does not mean she's entitled to less honor. This is extremely important. And we'll get into some of the applications of this later about how husbands ought to bolster the authority of their wives before their children and ensure that honor doesn't just go to dad, but that it also goes to mom. Honor thy father and thy mother. Then he goes on. She is added, number two, she is added to show that it is not only the most eminent superior or neighbor to whom honor is due, but even these who have more weakness, and especially the mother. Hence it is that almost, always almost in the Proverbs, where duty to the father is pressed, the mother is also named with him, to show that children should not think that less respect is due to their mother than to their father. Yea, sometimes the mother is prefixed to the father, as Leviticus 19.3. He shall fear every man his mother and his father. Which is done to meet with the humor of many, who are ready to lessen their duty to their mother, and therefore are called to it, even in her old age, Proverbs 23, 22, and to guard against despising of her then, which is too readily and frequently incident. Thus does the Lord provide in his word against our corruption, which is ready to take advantage of going out of bounds and outbreaking at the weakest part. Now you see this in children. My wife used to work at a daycare. If she told these kids what to do and she gave them orders, it was always harder than her brothers or other men who would come in and issue the same order. The kids were ready to listen to the brothers and the men because the voice and the presence and the physical strength is all known to be greater instinctively by children. But God in his great wisdom says both. The greater and the lesser must be honored. The greater authority and the lesser authority must be honored. And then the depravity of man. This is very important. The depravity of man will look for weak spots and excuses. Well, I don't have to honor her because she's weak. And after all, you know, wait till your father gets home is a constant refrain, isn't it? Mom has to tell the kids, wait till your dad gets home. He'll take care of you. That's not right. There must be an honoring of the mother's authority. One, because God commands it. And two, because it demonstrates in God's wisdom how he's designed all authorities to work. You're not just responsible to the greatest to show honor. You must also show to the lesser. And that's very important. It's a lesson for life, which is why it's right in the fifth commandment. The passage in Leviticus 19, of course the most famous verse, love thy neighbor as thyself, is right out of Leviticus 19. Lesser known is that she shall fear every man his mother. Now fear means that you're afraid of them and you show honor and reverence. You don't want to displease them. So here God addresses children to be honoring and to refuse to do things or to behave in such a way as shows disrespect to mom. And he puts her first in that instance. All right, page two of your handouts. Question 124 continues its answer. 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 we'll look at these two. 1 Timothy 5, 1 and 2. Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father. And the younger men as brethren, the elder women as mothers, the younger as sisters with all purity. Okay, so Timothy is a pastor. He's a young pastor. Let no man despise thy youth, he's told. So he's a young pastor and in his congregation are men older than him. This is not elder like the office of elder, which is clear by the context. It's men who are older than you because there are women who are also older than him. And then there are men who are younger than him and there are women who are younger than him. So he's to behave himself as their ecclesiastical superior in a subordinated way as to their age. And we see this elsewhere in scripture, but here it's very clear. Timothy is to reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. That's his public duty. But now he's going to address a man in his congregation who's older than him Who's the age of his dad? Is he to reprove, rebuke, exhort with much? No. He doesn't do that with this man. With this man, it says, rebuke not an elder, but entreat. When a child goes to his father, he should not ever think it's okay to rebuke him, to correct him, to tell him what to do, to point out his flaws with sharpness. That should never happen. He says, entreat him as a father, appeal to him, use language that is honoring of his superiority to you. And in this case for Timothy, it's not that the man has official authority over him as an elder, it's that this man is older than him in years. This woman is older than him in years. And that has to be recognized even by a pastor to show a childlike disposition for their age's sake. And that's very important. Now, I'm going to skip down on your handout there. There's a quote by William Perkins, which I think is appropriate with respect to this passage. William Perkins noted the following. He said, every creature as it comes near unto God, so it is honorable. And the more honorable by how much nearer it comes unto him. So think about it this way. God has these attributes. And the reason why he commands us to honor other men and women is because they're like him in some way. Now, parents beget you. What is that like? Well, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. So the act of begetting and also of bringing forth, which the woman does, Those resemble God's act of creation. If someone is older than you, what he's saying is they're more like God. God is eternal, right? So God is beyond all comprehension how old he is because he never had a beginning. But creatures become more like God as they age. So the honor that's due to your superiors in age is because they're like God in that way. He goes on. Fourthly, of his eternity, and hence it is that honor is given to the aged before the young man because he bears the image thereof. Thus we see that divine excellency in some person and consequently do bring forth honor. This is from his book, The Golden Chain. So you see the excellency of a man who is older than you in that he is more like God. Now this is true if someone is wiser than you and has greater gifts than you, which we'll look at in a second. If someone is better looking than you, you might not think about this, but that's a form of superiority. Taller than you, that's a form of superiority. Anything where a person has an advantage over other people There is some honor that's due to that because God is the one who made them that way. It's his providence by which one is greater than another, and consequently that honor has to be recognized. Alright, so that's age. And then, if you look back up on your handout, letter C there on the left column, gifts. Genesis 4, 20 through 22. And Ada, bear Jabal, he was father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle. And his brother's name was Jubal. He was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. And Zillah, she also bear Tubal Cain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron, and a sister of Tubal Cain was Naamah. Okay, so a couple of things here. The Bible uses the word father, not just of our natural parents, but here it uses it of those who had gifts, who came up with crafts and taught and instructed others in how to do those crafts. Now we see dwelling in tents, you have Jabal. He is the father of such. If you wanted to know How to handle the harp and the organ. Who would you go to? Jubal. He would instruct you. He would be your father. He would be the superior with more gifts and more knowledge and more understanding of how to do those things. And if you wanted to understand making things with brass and iron, metallurgics, Who would you go to? To Balkane. He was the father or the instructor. He was the one who gave knowledge and wisdom. So in that sense, he's considered, under the fifth commandment, in the language of scripture, he's considered a father. Genesis 45, 8. So now, it was not you that sent me hither, this is Joseph talking to his brethren, it was not you that sent me hither but God, and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and Lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. Now how did Joseph get that job? Anybody? Just think back. How did Joseph get the job of father over Pharaoh? Well, he was wise. He was gifted. He was able to interpret every dream that Pharaoh had that God gave him. indicating what would happen in the next 14 years. Seven years of feast, seven years of famine. And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh to confirm him in the truth of it. And nobody could tell Pharaoh one word about what these dreams meant, except Joseph. And Joseph became a father to Pharaoh by the excellency of the gifts, not in any authority. He didn't have authority over Pharaoh. He could not command Pharaoh. He could command everybody under him. Pharaoh was supreme. Joseph was second. Remember, that's what Pharaoh said. Everyone's going to listen to you except me. I'm the only one you won't tell what to do. That's exactly what Pharaoh said. How then was he a father to him? By his skill in interpreting and administering the application of those dreams to the particulars of the grain, and the storehouses, and the buying up of the land, and the buying of the cattle, and the buying of the Egyptians. All that was by the skill of Joseph, the gifts that God had given him. So when the Bible talks about fathers, it does not just refer to the natural father that begets you. It does refer to that, but not only natural parents. but all superiors in age and in gifts. James Usher, I'm gonna read this quotation, very, very valuable. Who are superiors without authority? Okay, so mom and dad, they have authority, especially to children in their youth. They lose that authority over time and eventually they have none. But they're still required, children are still required to honor them. But who are superiors without authority? And he answers this. Such as God hath by age only, or by some supereminent gifts, supereminent means it raises them above others, or by some supereminent gifts lifted above others, whether they be of the body as strength and beauty, or of the mind as wit and learning, which are most to be honored, or of outward estate as wealth, 1 Samuel 25 8, and nobility, in which respect, although brethren be equals, yet by age the elder is superior to the younger." And we saw that with Timothy. Even though he is their superior in perhaps wisdom, knowledge, authority in the church. He has all those things above the older men and the older women. Still, he has to honor them because of what God has done in giving them, although equals perhaps in grace, yet in age the elder is superior. And this also, the mind, wit, learning, that's what we're looking at. with j-ball, with ju-ball, and two-ball cane, these men had learning, they had understanding, they had gifts. Alright then, page 3, and then we'll conclude with page 3 and pick up on page 4, God willing, next week. Thomas Watson, a very beautiful illustration of this. He says, there are fathers for seniority on whose wrinkled brows and in the furrows of whose cheeks is pictured the map of old age. These fathers are to be honored. Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head. Hoary is like snow when it falls down on the ground, it's white. Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head and honor the face of the old man, Leviticus 19.32. Especially those are to be honored who are fathers not only for their seniority, but for their piety, whose souls are flourishing when their bodies are decaying. That's from his book on the Ten Commandments. Okay, question 124, the answer continues. Who are meant by father and mother in the fifth commandment? by father and mother in the fifth commandment are meant especially such as are such as by God's ordinance are over us in place of authority whether in family, church, or commonwealth. Okay, so first let's look at the family. 2 Kings 5 13, And his servants came near and spake unto him and said, My father, If the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst thou not have done it? How much rather, then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? Now remember, this is the Syrian leper who comes to the prophet and he's told how to cleanse himself. Go to the river here in Israel, wash yourself a certain number of times, and your leprosy will be gone. And this guy gets upset. Shouldn't I have just stayed home and washed in my own river? What's the point of coming all the way down here to hear from this prophet? One of his servants, and remember, in the Bible, a servant is like a child. He's like part of the family, in other words. Slaves were always considered in the Bible part of the family. And you'll notice this, although there's lots of rhetoric about how awful slavery was, what are the names that African slaves' descendants still bear to this day? Washington, Jackson, Lee, They bear the names of who? Englishmen, Scots-Irish, German, because they were part of their families. They were incorporated into their families. So within the household, even a slave refers to his master as what? My father. So he's actually very wise as a slave because a slave can't command his master what to do. He's under orders. He's under a duty of obedience. So he asks him, my father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst thou not have done it? If there was some magical incantation, and there was big lights, and everything was amazing, and all this stuff was happening, wouldn't you have done it? So he asks it as an appealing, as Timothy was told to do to the older men, appeal to him. Come to him not with sharpness, because he's your father. And in this case, the servant sees his master as his father. And so he appeals to him with questions indirectly. All right, so that's the family. Then there's the church. Look there at letter E, 2 Kings 2 verse 12. And Elisha saw it and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof. Now who is that? That's Elijah. Elijah is a prophet of God. Elisha is his understudy. And the mantle, we use this phrase to this day, the mantle of Elijah falls down on Elisha. It's where the superior hands off his position to the inferior. And in this case, it's in the church. This is the prophetic office. The man who preaches the word of God is called his father by Elisha when Elijah ascends in chariots of fire. Second Kings 13, 14. Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died, and Joash the king of Israel came down unto him and wept over his face and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof, think of that, the chief magistrate of the whole nation, comes to the prophet Elisha and refers to him as my father. I will submit myself to your authority. I will appeal to you as my superior. Why? Well, because just being the king of Israel doesn't exempt you from ecclesiastical authority. Just like being an ecclesiastical superior doesn't exempt you from civil authority. Those things are meant by God to interplay and interchange with each other. They're meant to cooperate by God. The church and the state are separate jurisdictions that God intends to cooperate. Just like the family and the state, just like the church and the family, so the church and the state, God has designed them to cooperate. So the supreme civil magistrate recognizes the ecclesiastical superiority. The church or the spiritual power of Elisha the prophet. All right, Galatians 4 19. My little children of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you. Now you also see this very clearly with 1 John, where John refers to those receiving his letter as his little children with tenderness and care. But here notice The whole church, all the churches of Galatia, the Apostle Paul could call them his little children. And he could refer to himself under the figure of speech of a mother, of whom I travail in birth again. It's like going through labor a second time with the second children. The same children are coming forth. But he's laboring, he's working hard, he's experiencing pain, just like he had the first time they were brought to spiritual life. Now the second time, you're making me do this all over again. But notice, my little children, though he was an apostle of Jesus Christ, he looked upon them as his children. Isaiah, letter F there, Isaiah here in the Commonwealth. Isaiah 49 verse 23, speaking to the people of God after their days of humiliation, now in their days of exaltation, he says, And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers. They shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord, for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me. You'll notice here the irony. On the one hand, the kings and queens are referred to as fathers and mothers, right? So the people of God are going to look to them as superior in the commonwealth. But then what are the kings and the queens also going to do to them? They're going to bow their face down to the earth. That's a sign of respect. That's a sign of inferiority. They're going to go down. They're going to lift you up. So they will be your superiors in these things. You will be their superiors in those things, you see. So it's a recognition of the twofold. There's the ecclesiastical superiority. There's the civil superiority. An honor must go from each to each, if that makes sense. The magistrates must be honored as fathers and mothers, kings and queens. And then you have the the people of God, his prophets, so to speak, being honored by the civil magistrate by their due submission to their government in their sphere. That's extremely important. In totalitarianism, there can be no other spheres of superiority. It must only be the state that is superior. In God's economy, There are always jurisdictions. There's the family, there's the church, there's the state. And there must be a mutual flow of honor and respect. The state must honor the authority of the father and the mother in their own household. The church must honor the authority of the father and the mother in their own household. The state must honor the church in its superiority in spiritual matters. The church must honor the state in its superiority in civil matters. And this is exactly how God designed society to work. When you have any kind of hostility among the jurisdictions, what do you find? You have an incomplete society. You have a corrupt society. You have a tyrannical society. And one of those jurisdictions There are families who will not recognize the authority of the church. That's a corruption in this teaching, what scripture says. You have states that are totalitarian who say, no way. You have churches that teach people they owe no allegiance to the civil magistrate. Actually the Church of Rome teaches that. They say, you see this, if one of their priests happens to be a pervert, Do they turn him over to the magistrate? What do they do? Shuffle him off to another parish, so he can continue his perversity, because their doctrine is, we're under the authority of the Pope. We're not under the authority of any civil government. Samuel Adams, in his own way, you know, founding father, the beer guy, he said, his view was, tolerate all sorts of Christians except the Roman Catholics. Because they have an allegiance to a foreign government and they're anti-Christian. Don't accept them. Everybody else, fine. We'll let you be, you know. He had his own beliefs. He was very strong in his beliefs. He's willing to tolerate all kinds of Christians. That's where he drew the line. No Roman Catholics. Because their authority structure is the Pope is a civil head. He has two keys. The key to the kingdom of God and the key to the thrones of the earth, he says. He believes that he inherited from Constantine on the day of his baptism. That Constantine gave him the whole of Western civilization and all the kingdoms under his dominion to the Pope himself. It's called the donation of Constantine. They made it up and forged it. And in the book of Revelation it says the same thing. That the red dragon of Rome, the pagan Rome, would give his authority and his seat. to the ecclesiastical Rome. So it kind of matches what scripture says anyways. But here you'll notice there's no snubbing of civil authority in the Bible. Even though there is an ecclesiastical superiority and they'll bow and lick your feet, you still owe them honor as father and mother. You still owe them respect. You still owe them obedience. You still have to recognize their superiority. So just to review, And we'll pick up, God willing, on page four next time. So we looked at, which is the fifth commandment? Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. We looked at who are meant by father and mother. By father and mother in the fifth commandment are meant not only your natural parents, then on page two, but all superiors in age and gifts, then on page three, And especially such as by God's ordinance are over us in place of authority, whether in family, church, or commonwealth. Again, those separate jurisdictions that are intended to cooperate. All right, let's close our time together in prayer. And again, just a reminder, if you have any questions, please write them down. And we can talk about them too afterwards, but write them down so that the benefit can be for others who can't be here and be with us. And then I will take those questions up and answer those at the beginning of our next session. All right, let's close in prayer. Our Father in heaven.