Now, as a new nation was beginning to be established, God gave these laws to them so they would know how to govern themselves. Why? Because a country cannot exist without regulations and laws.
Some people today feel these laws are now archaic.
Illus:Those who feel that we are past the age when we need the ten commandments remind me of the story of the man who went deep sea fishing. He and a friend, who was not known for excellence in academics, as they were heading back to the shore the man who had been piloting the boat became sleepy and turned the ship over to his friend. He told him, “See that star before us?' The man acknowledged he did. He said, "Keep your eyes on that star and aim for it and we will soon be home!' The Man was so proud to be in control that he got carried away. He soon realized the star was not in front of him, and he hollered, “Wake up boss man, show me another star. We have gone past the one you showed me.'
Many feel that we have gone past any need for the ten commandments, but listen, if a society ever needed them, we need them today.
God told Israel to govern herself by these commandments.
For example, God wants young people also be govern by Him.
The fifth commandment is addressed to them.
I. THE COMMANDMENT.
Look at verse 12, we read, Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
The first place a child learns respect is in the home, at least. When they do not learn it there, they will not respect others in authority as they go beyond home.
Illus: A man in Columbia, South Carolina has a terrible attitude toward policemen. To hear him talk, you would think every policeman is a crook and misuses his authority. This is not true, but the reason this man think this is because his parents never taught him to respect them, or anyone else.
God knew, if a society ever hoped to survive, parents would have to raise their children to honor those in authority. Much is being said about this today.
For example, nearly everyone knows now that the main reason our schools are in the mess they are in today is because parents are not faithfully working at teaching their children to behave and respect anyone who has authority over them.
Last Sunday we dealt with the fourth commandment which tells us we are to honor and respect God's day. That is, we are to recognize that God's day is not just another day to do business as usual.
This fifth commandment is similar in that God is telling us that there are some people in a child's life who are special, and deserve respect.
In other words, our parents are different from others in our life. They hold a very special place in our life.
God was leading Israel, as they became a new nation, God wanted them to know it was essential for the children of this nation respect their parents.
We would do well to do the same today, for whether a nation be young or old the people fare better when the children respect their parents.
We often critize the children today because they are not respectful to their parents and elders, but we can not hold them accountable if they have never be taught.
Illus: A mother, one day, on a train, asked her son to go and get her a glass of water. The little boy said, “I don't want to.” A Japanese boy sitting beside them, jumped to his feet and carried out her request. What was the difference? People in oriental countries place great value on respect for the elderly. They would not dream of referring to a father as '”The old man,” or to a mother as “The old woman.”
Many children today who are disrespectful have never been taught the value of honoring their parents.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HONOR OUR PARENTS?
It means a number of things, such as:
(1) “Honor” here means: "To treat with kindness.”
Some people never learned how to do this.
Illus: A boy that never learned respect grew up to be a wild, rebellious teenager. He associated with the worst friends he could find. Those so called friends used him for their selfish purposes. They abused him badly over and over. Yet, he treated them with royalty and treated his parents like they were his worst enemy.
To honor our parents means we treat them with kindness.
(2) "Honor" here means: “To obey".
The apostle Paul wrote to the young people in Ephesians, saying, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother which is the commandment with promise: that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth."
Paul made it very clear, in this passage, that honor means obedience. Often children do not comprehend this.
Illus; A father in Kentucky said his hardest job is getting his teenaged son to realize that “No,” is a complete sentence.
Many children dishonor their parents by trying to wear them down and make life miserable for them because they cannot have things their way.
For example, every time they hear the word "No," they set out to get their parents to give in to them, and often they succeed.
When this happens, parents cease to be effective as disciplinarians, helpers to their children.
Illus; Someone said, “You have to give American parents credit…they know how to obey their children.”
The child that has the attitude, "Mom, dad, I do not understand why you said “No”, but I respect you enough to know that you are doing what you think is best for me,” is a child that is showing honor to his parents.
Honor is TREAT WITH KINDNESS, also, it means TO OBEY. But also-
(3) "Honor” here means: "Do not hold in contempt or despise."
We often hear the word, “contempt" used in our judiciary centers.
Illus: For example, the judge, a man of authority, passes down his command. When a person does not carry out his command that person is held in “contempt of court” and dealt with severely. Some people think they can defy the judge and leave the court saying, “No judge is going to tell me what to do!”
However, they soon learn that a judge is going to tell them exactly what they can, or can not, do.
Parents, out of love and concern for their child, will tell the child things they feel are best for that child. That child has a choice, he can leave the house with the attitude, "Nobody is going to tell me what to do! or he can choose to obey. God has promised blessings to those who honor their parents, and judgment upon those who do not.
(4) “Honor" here means: "Do not mock."
Proverb states what will happen to the man who mocks his father and mother.
Look at Proverbs 30:17, we read, “The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.”
Rebellious young people make mockery of loving parents in three ways:
a. By their actions.
We all have seen sinful, rebellious children actually throw things in the floor when they could not have their way.
b. By their looks.
We also have seen sinful, rebellious children look at their parents with the most disgusting expression they can make with their face.
c. By their words.
Also, we have seen sinful, rebellious children yell and scream terrible things at their parents when being corrected, or denied some selfish desire.
Children who do these things fail to recognize that God sees all that they are doing in mocking their parents that He so graciously provided to watch over them.
(5) “Honor" here means: "To make happy.
We read in Proverbs 23:24-25, The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. 25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.
Illus: A young girl had a beautiful white dress on. She was with her friends one day as they walked past an abandoned coal mine. One of her friends said, “Let’s go inside”. The girl with the white dress on immediately said, "No. I cannot go inside.” Her friends began to pick on her and said, "Oh. you are afraid if your dad finds out he will whip you!" She said, “No. I am not afraid of the whipping if he finds out. I am afraid of making him unhappy with me.”
A child should live in such a way as to make his parents proud of him at all times. This is one commandment we can carry out even long after our parents are dead and gone.
In fact, how we live does continue to reflect on our parents as long as we live.
When we live right, and obey God, and our parents, we bring honor to our parents.
(6) "Honor' here means: "Providing for parents when they can no
long can provide for themselves."
The Pharisees would try to circumvent this commandment to honor and care for their parents through a religious, ritualistic vow in which they pledged to give everything to God. That way they could use their resources for themselves, claiming this is how they were giving to God.
God's Word speaks out against such selfishness in I Timothy 5:8, “But if provide not for his own, and specically for those of his his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel."
It may be when parents grow old some become grouchy. Some may even make "inconvenient” demands, but we must never forget that one time we were helpless, and they put up with us and all the “inconvenience" we caused.
One man begrudged the fact that he had to put up with his parents dripping food on the table cloth as they ate. He went out and built two wooden troughs. The next time they ate he placed them their laps. He justified this saying, that if they were going to eat like pigs they should be treated like pigs. Not long after that the wife saw their little boy trying to build something. She asked him what he was building and he replied, “I am building a wooden trough for you and daddy to eat out of when you get old and I have to take care of you...”
II. COMMITMENT.
Look at Exodus 20:12, we read, “…that thy days be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”
Notice, the command is not just to honor father and mother when you think they are right. Nor is it to honor them just when you think they are perfect. If these were conditions for honoring parents we would have little obligation to honor them. Why? Because parents are not perfect, they are humans who make mistakes.
Illus: Joseph and Mary, the parents of Jesus, were not perfect. Jesus knew more than they did, yet He honored them by obeying them.
When children are small, and they think the parents have made bad decisions often the parents will say, "We may be wrong in our decision, but we are making the best decision we know how to make because we love you!"
Illus: One set of parents would tell their boys that this was the first time they had ever been parents and they were doing the best they knew to do with what we had to work with.
Every parent in this auditorium have made any mistakes, but they can say this, they always tried to do what was best for theeir children.
God does not tell us to honor only perfect parents. God tells young, and old, alike who profess to be His children, to honor our parents!
Illus: Someone said this to college students, “Be kind to your parents. After sending you through college, you’re all they have left!”
Even if they do not send you through college, you should honor them, for two reasons:
a. Because God's Word teaches you to.
This is not something for you to do if you happen to think it is a good idea. God command every person to do this, and every person will give account to Him according to our obedience to His command to honor our parents.
b. Because God's Word teaches that if you obey this command, God has committed Himself to grant you “…that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”
Does this mean that God will actually shorten the lives of those who disobey His command. It could mean this.
Remember the first place a child should learn respect for authority is with his parents. If he trips on this hurdle, it could be like the row of dominos, he may keep tripping. He may not obey and respect the school teachers. He may not respect the church, the preacher, and finally, the police. He may determine that no one is going to tell him how to live. It could happen, that as a result of this he may die early of a disease, or be killed in some accident as a direct result of his disobedience.
Illus: Back in the mid '50's in Columbia, S.C., there used to be a young man whose name was Roy Knight. If he could walk into this auditorium today as he was then every single girl's blood pressure would shoot up at least 10 degrees. Back then Elvis Pressley was popular and everyone who knew Roy thought he looked more like him than any other look-alike around. Roy was good looking, but was as wild as any wild animal could be. His loving parents tried to make him come in early at night, but he would dis-honor them by staying out until the wee hours of the morning. He had no respect for Sunday School teachers, preachers, politicians, or policemen. He had no respect for his school teachers, and would just walk in and out of class as he saw fit. One particular night, as many others, his parents asked him not to stay out late. He frowned, walked out and slammed the door behind him. He went out and got so drunk that he could hardly walk home. He got home in the early hours of the morning and began knocking things around. His dad came to check on him and Roy attacked his dad and almost killed him His dad was able to get a knife and while they were fighting stabbed his son through the heart. If Roy had been living today he would be in his late fifties. He was cheated out of many productive years simply because he refused to learn to respect, first the authority of his parents, which led to his refusing to respect anyone else.
Children today who dis-honor their parents by sinful living, smoking, drinking, taking dope, indulging in sex, etc., are shortening their lives, only God knows by how many years!
Conclusion/summary:
Young people, yours is a grave responsibility to obey what God has commanded. You must know He has given this commandment for your good, and He will help you as you determine to obey it.
I. THE COMMANDMENT.
II. THE COMMITMENT.
