We come now to the exposition of God's Holy Word. And congregation, please, if you would, let's take our Bibles out again together. And we want to turn back to Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 6. As we're going through this exposition in Ephesians, we find our place here at the beginning of this last chapter. And we, of course, are considering in these days the duties of children and parents. And so, let me read in your hearing, verses 1 through 3, where again we consider and take up the subject of the duties of children to their parents. Ephesians 6 and verse 1. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise. that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth. Let's now join together before the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you again for this privilege that we gather in your presence, and we have your word. And Father, as we come to your word today, we come ready, humble, eager to receive its precious truth. Lord, we know that we need your word. We know that it is absolute, infallible, inerrant, and all sufficient truth. It gives us that doctrine that we are called to believe, and it gives us the biblical practices of daily living you've called us to obey. Father, help us that we would receive your word with that view in mind. ready to receive and believe and, by your grace, obey. Father, it is our prayer that those apart from Christ, by your sovereign, electing, merciful grace, you would be pleased to draw them to yourself, that they might receive Christ and find salvation which is only found in Him. Father, we thank you for that salvation. May you receive the glory. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. We are continuing in our verse-by-verse exposition of Ephesians, and we find our place here in these verses before us that we just have read, where Paul is speaking and addressing specifically the duties of children unto their parents. Now, we already last week looked at verse number one. And in looking at verse 1, where he addresses the responsibility of children, he says in verse 1 what that duty that they have, and he states it very clearly at the very first line of verse 1. Children obey your parents. We said that this is a present imperative. It is a command. Therefore, it means that children are commanded by God to continually, habitually be obeying. That's the force of that present tense imperative. Be obeying all the time as your manner of existence. This includes, we said last time, a clear recognition of the position of parents over their children as God's authority over them. Secondly, it is a willing submission and obedience to that authority over them. We said, of course, that what we have in these three sets of authority relationships, whether it is the husband and wife, chapter 5, or it is the children and parents, as we're looking at presently, or verses 5 through 9, the relationship of slaves to masters, there is this superiority and inferiority and that responsibility that both parties share in that relationship. And so we see it is the responsibility of children to obey their parents, an imperative. Secondly, we noticed in verse one, the manner that is noted, children obey your parents in the Lord. And that little phrase in the Lord, that prepositional phrase is, is, is actually in terms of the grammar telling us essentially children obey your parents as unto the Lord, as if you were obeying the Lord, because they are in that authority position that God has placed them there to be in. And so your obedience to your parents is a form of obeying the Lord in your life. Paul puts it this way in Colossians 3.20, you are to obey your parents in all things, which is the scope of that Everything short of that which is directly unlawful or sinful, the child is to render obedience unto their parents. And then we said thirdly last week the reason that is expressed in verse 1. So it says, Children, obey your parents in the Lord. And then we notice that last phrase, For this is right. This is right. It is right in and of itself. It is the right thing to do because of that authority God has placed over you children. And of course we said in the parallel, Paul says in Colossians 3.20 that Children are to obey their parents because it is well pleasing to the Lord. And so again, that gives us something of the scope and nature and the reason why this obedience is commanded by God. Now we come today and we want to look at verses two and three as we continue looking at this responsibility of children. And in verses 2 and 3, we are going to note today two things. First of all, the honor which is commanded, that's in verse 2, part A, and then the promise which is attached. It comes immediately after that honor which is commanded. So notice in verse 2, Paul continues in this same train of thought. What are the responsibility of children? They're to obey their parents. And then he says, verse 2, honor your father and mother. Honor them. Now, hopefully this is a very familiar quotation that Paul is making here. And I want you to turn back with me in your Bibles to the book of Exodus, chapter 20, where you will find in Exodus, chapter 20, the record of the Ten Commandments. Of course, we find this particular commandment in verse 12, Exodus 20 and verse 12. And you very well, I'm sure, are aware that there is a second statement of the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy, chapter 5, that second giving of the law And that is found in Deuteronomy 5 and verse 16. But it is that fifth commandment of the Ten Commandments. In congregation, we affirm all Ten Commandments. Amen? We believe that all of the Ten Commandments are a summary of the moral law of God. And as you study the Ten Commandments, you realize that each of these commandments really have encapsulated in them whole categories of responsibilities. They may seem very brief, summary, staccato statements, but actually there is a whole host of prohibitions and of duties that are inherent to each one of these Ten Commandments. You certainly can see this in the catechisms that we use, whether it is the shorter or longer catechisms, but there is a lot in each of these commandments. So Paul is quoting in Ephesians 6 verse 2 this fifth commandment. Look with me at verse 12. ìHonor your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you. There you have that honor commanded and then that promise attached to that honor that is required. So the word here in the Hebrew of Exodus 20, the word for honor is the Hebrew word kavod. And the word means literally heavy or weighty. It's the idea of giving due weight to the position and place of your father and your mother. It is the idea, giving weight is the idea of reverencing them, of esteeming them, of having a great respect for them. Now they may be the best of parents, or they may be not so much the best of parents, but regardless of what they may be, and we're all sinners saved by grace, we're all dealing with sin, even the best of us, those parents nevertheless are to be shown this honor, this reverence, esteem, and this respect. Honor, look again at verse 12, your father and mother. They are the God-given authority over children. They are first and they are foundational under God. A congregation that may seem to be pretty basic, but we see increasingly in our culture that this is being challenged in our day. Where we see government schools and we see the federal government trying to encroach into That unique relationship between the parents and the children. Where you have children going to government schools and teachers, sadly, some of them, and we have fine teachers, don't get me wrong here. I am very thankful for the godly Christian teachers we have in public schools. They're like missionaries in a demonic context. And praise God for the work they're doing. and we want to support them in their work. But there are some of these teachers that are left-wing and they want to encourage and promote and create an environment where children are influenced to embrace homosexuality and transgenderism and all of these wicked, iniquitous ideas. So that you have these government schools who are saying, and I think this is true in places like California, where you literally, as a parent, you can't even know what's going on with them being encouraged down this path of debauchery and iniquity. No, congregation, it doesn't take a village, it takes a family. Amen? It takes a father and it takes a mother, not a nanny state, but a father and a mother. There are three spheres of authority and sovereignty. There is the home led by the husband and father. There is the church led by men, pastors and elders. And there is the civil sphere led by men in society. And this is ordained of the Lord. Listen to what the Westminster Catechism says, and I'm quoting from question number 64 as it relates to the Fifth Commandment. It says, the Fifth Commandment requireth the preserving the honor and performing the duties belonging to everyone in their several places and relations. superiors, inferiors are equals. You've heard me say the phrase superiors and inferiors as we've gone through Ephesians. That's the very language of the Bible. That's the very language of the 1689 Confession of Faith. That's the very language of the Westminster Standards. I realize that the idea of superiors and inferiors is not politically correct in our day. But we're not going to throw away our confession of faith. Amen. We're not going to bow to political correctness and say, well, the Westminster catechism is somehow it is not correct in our day. No, these are biblical categories and fathers and mothers are in that place of superior. Their children are in place in terms of rank and authority as their inferiors. And so there is to be this due respect given unto them. There is to be this honor unto them. And indeed the fifth commandment deals with all of these various relationships, not just the parent child relationship. It deals with whether it is in the civil sphere or whether it is in the ecclesiastical sphere. It is basically saying a summary of it all honor to whom honor is due. And of course. In Ephesians, we're concerned with that parental authority. So, as we look here in Ephesians, Paul says, children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. And then he says, honor your father and mother, quoting from the Ten Commandments. So, we want to ask ourselves this morning the question, children, how are you to honor your parents very practically. And I want to state four things today. That'll be the essence of our sermon. Four ways that children are to honor their parents. Number one. Number one, children honor their parents by obeying them, by obeying them. Now that we've already covered, haven't we? That's what we read in Ephesians 6 verse 1. It is this idea of obedience. How do you honor your parents? Obey what they say. This is why Paul in Ephesians 6 links the statement of obedience in verse 1 to the statement of honoring in verse 2. Because you honor your parents by doing what they say. By obeying them. We're not going to spend time on that one because that was the essence of last week's message. Number two, children not only honor their parents by obeying them, they honor their parents by loving them. By loving them. Now, if you are in your Bibles right now in Exodus, I want you to just turn back a book. Turn with me, please, to Genesis. Genesis chapter 46. This idea of honoring your parents' children is that you obey them. And secondly, you love your parents. You love them. Now, most of us are familiar with the story in the book of Genesis here. It is the story, the latter section of this book of beginnings, that tells us the story of Joseph. And we love the story of Joseph. It is a picture of the providence of God in our lives. It is a reminder that regardless of the challenges that we go through, just like Joseph, he went through a lot of challenges and difficulties and frowning providences. He nevertheless had the hand of God orchestrating all the events he experienced so that they were all for ultimately his good and for God's glory. But what we want to see here in Genesis 46, look with me, please, beginning in verse 28. Joseph, of course, has been sold into slavery by his brothers. He was exalted in Egypt by Pharaoh. He predicted the famine. And of course, that is what led to this family reunion because of the famine. And so the family's coming back. Now his father, Jacob, Israel, is going back to see him for the first time after all of these years. And it says in verse 28, it says, Then he sent Judah before him to Joseph to point out before him the way to Goshen. And they came to the land of Goshen. So Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel. And then listen to this language, how it's described. It says that he presented himself to him and he fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while. A corrugation that is a testimony to that love that Joseph had for his father. He loved him. He had true affection for him. And after all of these years of separation and all of the turmoil that he had gone through, now Joseph having been exalted, there is this pinnacle in the story where they're reunited. And he fell on his father. And he embraced him. And for a long while he hugged and wept on his father's neck. Can you imagine this picture? Corrugation, this is what it means to love your parents. Amen? This comes from a heart of true love and affection for his father, which is exactly the kind of affection that we are to have in honoring our parents. Now, if you will turn with me in your Bibles, turn over in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 10. And when we think about this honoring our parents by loving them, we do want to hear the words of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 10 verses 34 through 39. Matthew 10 And picking up this familiar text in verse 34, Jesus says, And do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. Now that certainly is not politically correct in our day. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. Man's enemies will be those of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it. What is Jesus saying here? Jesus is not saying, first of all, that we're not to love our parents, because the Bible doesn't contradict itself. Jesus is saying that coming to faith in Christ can, it doesn't necessarily always does, but it can result in conflict and strained family relations. That can happen. And a disciple must love Christ supremely, even above his father or mother. Loving Christ above all others. It is that love where God is loved supremely. And sometimes that means there is division, and sadly that does sometimes happen, even within family relationships. Jesus here in verse 37, if you look again, he says here, he who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. He is assuming that we love our families. He is assuming that we love our parents. And he says, you do love your parents. But you must love me even above your father and your mother. We've talked about this before. It is this idea of the ordo amoris. It's the idea of ordered love, the ordering or the hierarchy of love. We are to love God supremely, amen, and then we love our own family and kin, and we love our own nation above other nations, our foreigners, that is normal and natural. It isn't something unique or strange. We think about the Apostle Paul himself. The Apostle Paul who wrote in Galatians 3.28, there is neither Jew nor Greek, There is neither male nor female, now obviously there is, but in terms of identity in Christ, those various distinctions are secondary to that unity we have in Christ. He is the same Apostle Paul who said that I have a love for my own people, the Jews. I have a love for my own kindred, my own lineage. In fact, he is very dramatic. He says, I would wish that I could be accursed for the sake of my kinfolk according to the flesh. There's nothing wrong. In fact, there's everything natural about loving your own kinfolk, your own people, as Paul certainly illustrated in his life. This is also true of many other illustrations. I share this because of the events of this last week. How many of you are aware of the passing of one of the great champions of the faith, Votie Bauckham? Now, he was one of those gentlemen that I loved in terms of his ministry. I loved him and all that his work was so unbelievably faithful to the Word of God. He was not just a garden variety evangelical preacher. He was not just a Baptist. He was distinctly a 1689 Reformed Baptist. That's who he was. He was committed to the Scriptures in his ministry. He was committed to a fidelity to what the Bible says about the family. He held to and taught what we hold to, which is the idea of patriarchy. You've heard the differences between the various categories as it relates to the family relationship. You have the egalitarians, and that's where the woman rules the home. And then you've got the complementarians, and someone said that's where, in many instances, the husband has to ask permission to run the home. And then you have the patriarchy, where the man actually rules and leads in the home. And certainly there are those in the complementarian position that are far closer to the patriarchy position. Votie Bachmann was committed very explicitly to the idea of patriarchy. In fact, all the way back in 2008, he didn't like the fact that John McCain picked Sarah Palin as his running mate. Why? Because he held to the concept of patriarchy. He was a man who rejected the CRT. He rejected all of the Marxist ideology. All of that. He wrote a book, Fault Lines, and I would highly recommend that book. Get that book and read it. It's excellent. He was also a man talking about natural affection. You're saying, Pastor, where are we going with this? He was a man who held to that idea of ordered love and natural affection. He had a love for his fellow black people. We recognize that that love is not somehow erased when you come to faith in Jesus Christ. He and his wife had two black children, and then they later adopted seven more black boys to raise them because of the blight that so often is true in that culture and in that society. It is said that whenever he went for the first time to visit Zimbabwe in Africa, that he was greeted there right after he got there by an old black man who came up to him and asked him, is this the first time you've ever visited Zimbabwe? And he said, yes, it is. He gave him a big hug and he said, welcome home. And Wody Bachman, his tears just started flowing down his face because there was that natural affection he had. These are his people. And he loved them. Well, you know the rest of the story. He loved them so much. What did he do? He moved and went back over there and sought to establish a seminary and a college there and was there for several years and only moved back to the United States recently because of his poor health, which, sadly, we know all too well the situation. It is passing at the age of 56 because of his heart condition. But you see, Votie Bachmann, who was on the one hand someone who totally rejected CRT and Marxism, He had a natural affection for his own people. Now, he was born in L.A., and yet he had that affection for Zimbabwe. There is nothing wrong with loving your own people. Amen? There's nothing sinful about that. Now, we're told that's sinful, but there's not. Now, yes, we are all one in Christ regardless of our ethnicity, but there's nothing wrong, there's nothing sinful with loving your own people. And Votie Bachmann is the greatest testimony of that reality. Congregation, this idea of children loving their parents is that which is normal and natural. It is natural, normal affection. And yet the reality is often children will rebel and they will turn away. And the Scriptures say, children, you are to honor your father and your mother. And a part of honoring your father and your mother is that you not only obey them, but you love them. Like Joseph, when he saw his father, and he hugged his neck and wept for a long time. Turn with me in your Bibles back in the Old Testament and look with me please in Leviticus, Leviticus 19. And we say this idea of children honoring your parents, it is by obeying them, loving them. Number three, children honor their parents by respecting them, by respecting them. That's the idea of honoring. Now, positively, we have this idea stated in Leviticus 19 verse 1, it says, And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them, You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy. And then verse 3, Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and keep my Sabbaths I am the Lord your God. Here in verse 3 you have this idea of respecting your parents. He says every one of you, without exception, this is a universal duty, you shall revere your mother and father. The word there revere is the word Yahweh. in the Hebrew. It means to fear, respect, or reverence. In fact, if you look down in verse 14, the very same Hebrew word is found as it relates to our duty to God. Chapter 19 of Leviticus, verse 14. You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shall fear your God. I am The Lord. And there you have that phrase, fear your God. It is the same Hebrew word. That gives you an idea of this idea stated in verse 3 of revering your parents. It is that deep reverence and respect for them. Indeed, if you'll turn with me over in the New Testament, look with me quickly over in 1 Timothy, 1 Timothy chapter 3. 1 Timothy chapter 3. And notice here the various responsibilities and duties and qualifications for an elder. And one of the most important things is that he has his household in order. His wife is not to be a busybody or a gossip or a whisperer. She is to be in control under her husband and doing nothing contrary to his ordering. His children, verse 4, are to be obedient and they are to be compliant or that would be disqualified. And notice in verse 4 it says, one who rules his own house well, that includes wife and children, wife and children, And then he says, having his children in submission, and notice the last phrase, with all reverence. There's that idea of respect. With all reverence. This is something that is expected and required and the duty that children are called to. So positively, the idea of respecting your parents is that you have this reverence, this honor that is, yes, even like a godly fear you would have for God because of their place and position and authority that God has placed in them over you as the child. Now, turning back to the Old Testament, look with me please in Exodus again. We were there just a moment ago. I want you to look with me in Exodus 21. The idea of this notion that children honor their parents by respecting them. Positively, they respect and revere. Negatively, this is the other side of the coin, what it is not, well, Chapter 21, look at verse 15. Exodus 21 and verse 15. And he who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. That's a very strong statement. We, in our modern day, might think that sounds rather cruel or harsh. But this congregation shows us the importance of that respect. that is to be rendered. You strike a parent? Well, in ancient Israel, that called for the death penalty because that was not reverencing your parent. Look at verse 17 of the same chapter. He who curses his father or mother shall surely be put to death. So on the one hand, you have a physical assault. That's worthy of capital punishment. But in verse 17, even cursing your parent in the Old Covenant. That was worthy of capital punishment. This is more than simply a harsh word spoken in anger. This is a disparaging, insulting word repudiating their authority and speaking with utter contempt. And that's the idea of this verse. Now look with me, please, in your Bibles over in Proverbs. Turn to Proverbs chapter 30. Again, we're talking about the idea of children honoring their parents by respecting them. Positively, they're to revere them, they're to respect them. But negatively, it means that they are to not strike them, they are to not curse them, and then number three, to not mock them, to not mock them. This is found in Proverbs 30 and verse 17. Proverbs 30 and verse 17. This is the opposite of respecting your parents. It says, the eye that mocks his father and scorns obedience to his mother, the ravens of the valley will pluck it out and the young eagles We'll eat it. You don't see often in homes this verse cross-stitched and put on the wall about eyes getting eaten out by ravens and eagles. And yet, congregation, this is the Word of God too. Amen? Just like trust in the Lord with all your heart. It is a statement about this idea of showing mockery toward your parents. The opposite of respect. How does God estimate this? That's what we should be concerned with. And how God sees it, He sees it as a very serious sin before Him. So, children, what are you to do in honoring your parents? You are to obey them. You are to love them. You are to respect them. Number four, and finally, children are, number four, to honor their parents by listening to them, by listening to them. We're already in the book of Proverbs, so let's just look in Proverbs to consider this subject. Turn back to Proverbs chapter 1. All of these things, congregation, they all flow together, don't they? It's not like these are totally separate things, like, oh, I love my parents with true love, but I don't respect them. I won't obey them. You know, all of these things, they fit together. They're all part of this one spirit and attitude of action that is to be present in a child. And yet it's good sometimes to see the various elements when we put the whole thing together in our understanding. And this element here is that children are honoring to their parents when they listen to them as that authority figure. Proverbs chapter 1, this of course is what Solomon spoke of many times. We'll just look at a sampling of verses. Chapter 1, verse 8. My son, hear the instruction of your father and do not forsake the law of your mother. For they will be a graceful ornament on your head and chains about your neck. There in verse 8, hear the instruction. of your father. Do not forsake the law of your mother. There's a blessing attached, verse 9, to that reality. Look in chapter 2, verse 1. My son, if you receive my words and treasure my commands within you so that you incline your ear to wisdom and apply your hearts to understanding, yes, if you cry out for discernment and lift up your voice for understanding, If you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures, then you will understand and fear the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. Here again, that idea of verse 1, receiving my words. He says, son, receive my words. Look over in chapter 3, verse 1. My son, do not forget my law. But let your heart keep my commandments for a length of days and long life and peace. They will add to you. That sounds kind of like the fifth commandment, doesn't it? It's really a kind of echoing the idea, the commandment, and then the promise attached to it. Look over in chapter four. Again, this idea of listening to your parents. Proverbs 4 and verse 1, Hear my children the instruction of a father, and give attention to no understanding. For I give you good doctrine, do not forsake my law. When I was my father's son tender and the only one in the sight of my mother, he also taught me and said to me, let your heart retain my words. Keep my commands and live. Get wisdom. Get understanding. Do not forget or turn away from the words of my mouth. And he continues on all the way down to verse 13. Listen to your parents. Chapter 5, verses 1 and 2, ìMy son, pay attention to wisdom, lend your ear to my understanding, that you may preserve discretion and your lips may keep knowledge.î Just a couple of more places. Turn over in chapter 13 of Proverbs, all of these are found, these illustrations are found in Proverbs, over in chapter 13. Chapter 13 in verse 1, a wise son, who is a wise son according to the Bible? A wise son heeds his father's instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke. And then finally, if you will, over in chapter 23, Proverbs chapter 23. Again, you may think we've exhausted every one of these sayings. We're just hitting some of them. There are many others. This theme is so often found here. But Proverbs 23, look at verse 22. 23, 22. Listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old. So here again is this idea of listening, not despising, heeding what your parents say. Children, you honor your parents by listening to them. How are you to listen to them? Let me give you four ways that you are to listen to them. Number one, listen to your parents dutifully. Dutifully. Because this pleases God. It is your duty before God to listen to them. You say, well, I don't want to listen to them. Well, I don't like listening to them. Well, I don't want to hear what they have to say. God commands you to listen to them. Now, we live in a day where, oh, don't talk about duty. Ugh, duty. Talk about love. But no, we are to be doing what God commands. Amen? And God commands children, listen. So listen dutifully. You're rendering obedience to God when you listen to your parents. Secondly, listen to your parents Eagerly. Eagerly. It is for your good. They have something that will be helpful to you. And it will help you. It will warn you. It will instruct you. It will encourage you. It will be for your good, both physical and spiritual. So listen eagerly. It will be helpful to you. Third, listen to your parents humbly. Humbly. Isn't it amazing how children, when they get a little bit older, they get to that stage where they know far better than their parents. Am I the only one who's seen this happen or is this fairly common? You get to the teenage years and they know a whole lot better than their stick-in-the-mud parents. They are wiser, they are better, they have far better understanding. And then isn't it interesting how everything kind of comes around and then later on, about 30 years old or so, whenever they have kids, they say, you know what, Dad? You had a lot of good things to say. I agree with you a lot more. I can see how wise those words really were. Children, you are to listen, and you are to listen with a spirit of humility. The spirit of rebellion is a spirit that is proud and aloof and lofty and says, I know better. But understand, you don't know better. Your parents know better and you need to listen to your parents and do so with a spirit of humility. Listen dutifully, eagerly, humbly and then number four, listen heedfully. That is when you listen to your parents, you are to listen with an attitude that you're going to do what they say. It's not just, well, I'll give you a hearing. No, I'll give you a hearing so that I can do the heeding of what you have said. If you're not doing the hearing unto heeding, then you're not hearing correctly. That is your duty. Children, you are to be listening to your parents. Now, let's turn back, please, in the moments that we have remaining. Let's turn back to Ephesians, where we look in Ephesians chapter 6 again. We've talked about this honor that's commanded. Now, notice, please, taking up the text again in verse 2, we have this promise which is attached. Honor your father and mother. which is the first commandment with promise, verse 3, that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth. This, of course, again is a quotation from the fifth commandment, which we already have read, and we see this allusion in what we read in the Proverbs just a moment ago. What do we make of this promise attached? this promise that it will be well with you and you will live long on the earth. Well, certainly in terms of the Old Covenant reality, if you did not obey your parents, you would not live long on the earth. Amen? Because there was the death penalty if you didn't obey your parents. So there was a very real application as it related under the Old Covenant. But here Paul is quoting this with the promise detached in the new covenant. What is this telling us? Well, we should understand this is a special encouragement for children. Obey your parents, that it may be well for you and you will live long in the land. It will be better for you in every way when you obey your parents' commands. This is a general promise and it is a general principle. It should not be taken as somehow an automatic guarantee that you're going to live past age 90. It doesn't mean that you necessarily, well, if I was obedient, then I can expect to get real close to 100 years of age. No, that's not how the Bible speaks. The Bible speaks in general principles, and there are always exceptions to those principles. Nor, on the other hand, does this necessarily mean that a child dying young, well, he obviously didn't obey the fifth commandment. It doesn't necessarily mean that either. There are many providences that determine the length of life. God is sovereign over the length of our days, and so we should take this for what it is. It is a general principle, a general promise, God's smile and favor and blessing are upon His children who obey Him, just as that is true when we obey our parents. And God gives this encouragement, this inducement to obey your parents. Congregation, as we conclude this morning, looking at these two verses here in Ephesians, Just a couple of words of application, really just what we have already said. To our children here, what are you to take away from the message today? What did pastor say to you today? Well, I was speaking right directly to you. You are to honor your parents. That's what God has commanded you to do. You say, pastor, how am I to honor my parents? Number one, you're to be obeying them. Number two, you're to be loving your parents. Number three, you're to show great respect for your parents. And number three, you are to listen to your parents. These four elements are your responsibility, your duty, your calling as children, because God has put mommy and daddy over you in the Lord. And they are in a place of authority. And so you are to follow, obey, love, listen, respect, and honor your parents. This is your duty before the Lord. The congregation, as we think about this, kind of expanding the application a little bit, these four elements of honoring parents, in a real sense, this is our duty to God as His people as well. Amen? We are all children of God. And God is our heavenly Father. And so what is our duty? Well, our duty, really, before God is just like our children before a parent. We're to be obeying God. We are to be in that duty as those who are under our Heavenly Father as children. We are to be loving God with all of our heart. Jesus said supremely, no one is to be above me in love. Respecting and listening, heeding, and not only coming to hear the Bible, but to hear it with a view of heeding what it says. Praise be to God, there are many here in our midst for which that is your testimony. You're here today because you want to hear God's Word, and you want to do what God says, and you want to do whatever it says. You have a heart that says, I just want to obey what God has commanded. That is the heart of someone who is a new preacher in Christ. That's the heart of someone who has been transformed by the grace of God. The question as we conclude this morning is this, is that true of your heart today? Are you here today because you eagerly want to hear and heed the Word? Are you here today because this is your goal, your aspiration, your affection, your delight? Or is there something else? Well, my friend, if this isn't your heart, then you need to turn to Christ. Christ who changes hearts. Jesus said, all who come to me I will in no wise cast out. Run to Christ. Receive Christ. And you will find in Him a life that transforms. Forgiveness and cleansing and you will be a new creation. Let's bow together in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you again for your Word today. Thank you that as we come to your Word, it is so clear and basic that even a little child can understand its truth. Help us, Lord, that we would be like little children who desire to be fed and to grow and mature in the faith. Father, we pray that in accordance with your sovereign mercy, you would be pleased to draw sinners to yourself. Lord, that you would add to your church and be honored as indeed the God who is sovereign over all. And that we all, as your children, would be following in obeying and honoring you as our Heavenly Father. We thank you, O God. As you work in our lives, may you be glorified in all things. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.