Outline:
Introduction: Background of the Book of Ephesians
Propositional Statement: We must all obey the people of the Lord and Honor all people for this is right
I. First command of Paul—Children obey…
a. To whom will obey?—Parents in the Lord
b. Why to Obey?—for this is right
II. Second command of Paul—Children honor…
a. To whom will to honor?—Father and Mother
b. Why honor?—the first commandment with a promise
Conclusion: Unleashing the meaning of the TITLE
Introduction: Background of the Book of Ephesians
That was the Goal why Paul wrote the book of the Ephesians to the people at Ephesus. His aim was to establish the doctrine of the unity of mankind in Christ and the purpose of God for the world through the Church.
So when Paul wrote his letter to the Christian church in Ephesus, the city was one of the wealthiest and largest cities in the eastern Mediterranean area with a population of more than 300,000.
Its position along the coast of modern day Turkey made it a very important trade city, linking the east routes (India, Persia, and the Far East) with the European and African trade routes. The masses enjoyed many sports centers, baths, impressive public buildings and the city’s outdoor theater seated 25,000 people
But, as Paul and the other missionaries discovered, the city was very pagan with a religious life centered on a fertility goddess by the Roman name of Diana. This same goddess was also known as Artemis in the Greek language. She was believed to be the daughter of Zeus, from Greek mythology. The temple built in her honor is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. In this temple, there were both male and female prostitutes that her worshippers were to participate with. Among the highly superstitious people, there were many exorcists, and quacks. The practice of witchcraft was everywhere.
The readers of this Ephesians letter were addressed as Gentile believers (2:11; 3:1). They had a number of needs that Paul sought to meet. They needed to have their hearts enlightened as to the greatness of their salvation (1:18). They needed to feel full participation in the redemption given through Christ and overcome the feeling that they were outsiders or second class compared to the Jewish believers. That’s why if we can read the early part of the book we can understand why Paul wrote the work of God in the Body of Christ, “For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity” Ephesians 2:14-16. Paul already established the importance of the doctrine of Unity in Christ that we are all equal since after the death of Jesus Christ, thus, starting at chapter 4 of the book he discuss the application of those doctrines that he taught regarding to a Christian life. First is the Unity of the Church down to its specific unification and that is the Unity of the relationship over husbands and wives, masters and slaves and our main text for today about Gods will relationship of Children and Parents that will be read in Ephesians 6:1-3. I’m using New American Standard Bible.
“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with a promise), SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH.
So I conclude that hindi lang ang masasamang damo ang matagal mamatay, pati rin pala ung mga masusuniring mga anak ay tumatagal ang buhay. (Joke)
So in verse 1 of chapter 6 the Apostle Paul addressed his message to the Children at Ephesus. The first command of Paul is…
I. Children—Obey
…Children Obey, the word “obey” in Greek is “u`pakou,w” hupakouo {hoop-ak-oo'-o} meaning to listen, to submit, be obedient to. So, children must obey, must submit, must listen and must be obedient. Listening is one of the hardest things that a man will do, why?
Because, listening according to counseling is an effort, minsan nga maririnig natin sa mag asawa “naririndi na ako sayo!” that’s a response of a person who has difficulty in listening. If you compare the word hearing and listening, hearing is done when someone maybe hear the command, instruction or teaching straight to the mind, while listening is done when someone hears the command, instruction or teaching straight to the mind down to the application. Obeying is not just hearing the commands of the people but also applying it in your life as well. So it means when you obey you listen.
You also submit when you obey, submission is an act of surrendering, when you submit you are surrendering, and surrendering is not being a loser but sometimes it is an act of humbleness and trust, when you obey you are humbling yourself before that specific person, that’s why pride and obedience cannot mixed together, it needs to be separated. All in all Children must obey, listen and submit.
But God doesn’t want His children to be led by wrong people, as I said earlier; Ephesus is unreliable place for the children, because among the highly superstitious people, there were many exorcists, and quacks. The practice of witchcraft was everywhere. So Paul wrote a clear command that we must obey our what?
a. Who will obey?—parents in the Lord
We must obey our parents specifically, and what kind of parents? Our parents in the Lord, not parents in the God of Fertility (Artemis), or other gods
In our context what are those gods that possibly our parents had worshipped? Maybe their work, their spouses, their responsibility, their duty, their possessions, their company, their dignity, their honor, their likes and wants, those are the gods that our parents could possibly worshipped until know. But Paul specifically addressed that Children must obey their parents that is in the Lord.
When you say “in the Lord”, the parents must have wisdom that comes from God, doing the will of God, fulfilling the work of Jesus (Go and make disciple) meaning minister of God and pursuing excellence for God’s sake. These were the parent who is in the Lord. But why we need to obey our parents who are in the Lord?
b. Why obey?—for this is right
We must obey our parents who are in the Lord for this is right. I just want you to know that obeying those parents who are not in the Lord is not right in contrast to what the Apostle Paul commanded to the Ephesians, because those parents who are not in Lord commanded things that are not in lined to the will of the Lord, though they commanded beautiful things.
As children of God we must do the right thing, and Paul said that the right thing to do is to obey our parents in the Lord regardless of what we feel, situation and needs. Sometimes we tend to disobey our parents because we think that we know our real needs, but since these were the parents who are in the Lord, parents that has the wisdom from God, it is right to obey before them, because God entrusted us to them.
But how about those parents who are not in the Lord? Paul also has the command for the children regarding their parents who I could probably say are “not in the Lord”, remember that Ephesus is a place wherein people are still committing pagan practices, witchcrafts, or exorcism; in short these people are not really submitted to the will of God, still Paul command excellent words for the children at this time. The second command of Paul is…
II. Children—Honor
…Children Honor, the word “Honor” in Greek is “ima,w” timao {tim-ah'-o} which means fixed the value, for the value of something belonging to one’s self, to revere and to venerate. So it said that honor means fixed value, when you say fixed it will never change, when we give honor it is forever giving value to a specific person, it is also said that it is for the value of something belongs to us, so everything that is belong to you is valuable, and honoring is to revere or respect, so when you honor someone you respect him and not despise him. So according to Paul…
a. Who will honor?—father and mother
Honor you Father and Mother. Obeying and honoring are different. To obey means to do what another says to do; to honor means to respect and love. We as children are to obey while we are under on our parents’ care, but we must honor our parents for life.
I personally realized that no matter who my parents are or what my parents had done in the past, even though they have a lot of mistakes, I must honor them as my parents because they belong to me and I belong to them.
I heard one of our youth in our Church saying “Hindi ko sila kayang irespeto kasi hindi sila karesperespeto”. Somehow it is true to us that it is hard to honor someone who doesn’t anything in him or her to be honored.
We have standards when it comes on honoring. Example of this is, in School, before we achieve the first honor we must have good and high grades, in work, before we achieve promotion we must work hard and accomplished many.
For us Honor is for the one, who deserves to be honored. But Paul is commanding us that we must honor our parents; it is so interesting, that Paul doesn’t write “Honor your father and mother in the Lord”, but he generally speaks that children must honor their parents although they are not in the Lord. It implies that whatever kind of parents we have we must give them respect and equal value as the parents who are in the Lord. So why honor?
b. Why honor?—it is the first commandment with a promise
Again, God command us to Honor our Father and Mother, so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth. This is the first commandment with a promise; it establishes the importance and weigh of this command. Two “so that’s” are being found in the promises of God.
1. So that it may be well with you
2. So that you may live long on the earth
There are many arguments concerning to this promise because the command and the promise that Paul quoted are not intended for the Gentiles but rather for the Jews, thus, Paul exhorts the heart of Jesus to the gentiles in the first chapters of the book, the reality that Jesus unite them with the Jews as one body, so that there will be no excuses to his teachings and to God’s promises.
Outward prosperity and long life are blessings promised to those who keep this commandment. This is the way to have it well with us, and obedient children are often rewarded with outward prosperity. Not indeed that it is always so; there are instances of such children who meet with much affliction in this life: but actually obedience is thus rewarded, and, where it is not, it is made up with something better.
Conclusion: What does the Apostle Paul wants to convey?
After addressing the command to the children, Paul gives another instruction but no longer for the children and parents but for the slaves and masters. Indeed, the main theme of the Book of Ephesians is all about Unity and reconciliation. Thus, Paul wants to convey the proper relationship of God and Man, which we should Honor God and Obey His will, which we should listen to Him and submit to His will. Like in Filipino tradition, when we say “PO” we shows respect to the one who was commanding us, in addition, when we say “OPO” we act in obedience in the command of the one who was commanding to us. Therefore, it is also what God wants us to do, to Honor Him by saying “PO” and by obeying Him by saying “OPO” in all commands that He will impose, because there has a promised that awaits us, to live well and to live longer in this world. God bless us.
