God's Wisdom for Children and Those Who Love Them
Ephesians 6:1-4
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Series: The Book of Ephesians
(Prepared July 1, 2024)
BACKGROUND:
*The Apostle Paul was a prisoner in Rome when he wrote this letter to the Christians in Ephesus. Bible scholars generally agree that it was written during Paul's first Roman imprisonment. And Acts 28:30-31 tells us that "Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him."
*John Phillips explained that "Paul was not at liberty to go where he wished, but he was able to receive anyone who came to visit. So, Paul’s rented house in Rome became the headquarters of world evangelism. The Apostle could not go, but he led visitors to Jesus, and inspired many other Christians to keep spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul even led some of the Roman soldiers guarding him to faith in Jesus Christ! The Apostle used all of his ability and authority to keep spreading the gospel and building the Lord's Church. (1)
*As Paul usually did, he opened this letter by giving us a better understanding of God's love and the good news about Jesus Christ. Then in Ephesians 4, Paul began to focus on how we should live as Christians. And the heart of it is that we should live like Jesus lived: with godly goodness, kindness, humility, love, and forgiveness. But knowing our tendency to fall short, Paul wrote in detail about how to have healthy churches and healthy marriages. Now God's Word will speak to us about healthy relationships between parents and their children.
*That's why today's Scripture includes one of the LORD's Ten Commandments from the Old Testament. They were first listed in Exodus 20. It was about 1,400 years before Jesus was born, and three months after the LORD miraculously set the Children of Israel free from slavery in Egypt. Two to three million Jews were gathered around the foot of Mount Sinai. Then God supernaturally spoke out of a fire from the top of the mountain, so that everyone in that camp physically heard the LORD's voice! It was sure, miraculous evidence that the Ten Commandments came from God.
*The people were so terrified by the LORD’s voice that they begged Moses to be the go-between, and he was. God then wrote the Ten Commandments down on two tablets of stone. Exodus 32 tells us that Moses shattered the first set when he discovered the horrible idolatry the people had fallen into while the prophet was on Mount Sinai. Thankfully, Exodus 34 tells us that the LORD wrote a second copy when Moses went back up on the mountain. And the fifth Commandment was for children to "Honor your father and mother."
*Some misguided preachers today teach that the Old Testament is obsolete in New Testament times, but that is simply not true. Yes, we have a new covenant or new testament through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is the eternal Son of God who humbled Himself to be born as a mortal man. And Jesus was the only perfect sacrifice for our sins, because no one else has ever been able to live a completely perfect life. There is no other way to be saved except by God's grace through faith in our risen Savior.
*But the Old Testament will never be obsolete, because the New Testament is built on the Old Testament. And the New Testament wouldn't make good sense without the Old, because the New is filled quotes and references from the Old.
*One of my favorite examples happened on the first Easter Sunday. Two of the Lord's followers were on the road from Jerusalem to a nearby village called Emmaus. On the way, they were talking about Jesus' crucifixion, and the earlier reports of His resurrection, -- which they did not believe.
*Then our risen Savior drew near and began to walk with them, but Jesus miraculously kept them from recognizing Him. And the Lord asked what was making them so sad. They explained what had happened, and in Luke 24:21 they said, "We WERE HOPING that it was He who was going to redeem Israel."
*After they finished, Jesus used the Old Testament to rebuke His doubtful followers. Please listen to Luke 24:25-28 from the New Living Translation:
25. Then Jesus said to them, "You are such foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures.
26. Wasn't it clearly predicted by the prophets that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his time of glory?"
27. Then Jesus quoted passages from the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining what all the Scriptures said about himself.
*GotQuestions.org noted that "Jesus fulfilled at least 300 Old Testament prophecies during His earthly ministry! (2)
*Here is another wonderful Old Testament Scripture that God put in the New Testament. It's Hebrews 13:5 where Paul tells Christians, "Let your conduct be without covetousness, and be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.''' And where did the Lord say this? -- In the Old Testament, in Joshua 1:5. (3)
*Also remember the Lord's Sermon on the Mount. Whenever Jesus compared an Old Testament law to His standards, The Lord always raised the bar higher than Old Testament law. For example, in Matthew 5:27-28 Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
*For all of these reasons, and many more, the Old Testament is certainly as relevant as it ever was. That's why Paul used the Old Testament to teach us about parents and children today.
MESSAGE:
*King Duncan said, "Nothing in our lives brings us joy like children, but they are also a challenge. Maybe that is why there are so many jokes about raising children. 'We child-proofed our home', said one comedian, 'but they keep getting back in.' Another comedian said, 'If you have a lot of tension and you get a headache, -- do what it says on the aspirin bottle: Take two aspirin. And keep away from children'" (4)
*Children can be a challenge. But God gives great wisdom here for children and all those who love them.
1. FIRST GOD TELLS CHILDREN TO GIVE HONOR TO THEIR GODLY PARENTS.
*We see this wisdom today in vs. 1-3, where God's Word says:
1. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
2. "Honor your father and mother,'' which is the first commandment with promise:
3. that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth.''
*Remember that this letter was written about children being brought up in Christian homes. Paul would have never told children to obey parents telling them to do evil. And Christian homes aren't perfect homes, but most godly parents love their children dearly, and do everything possible to take good care of them.
*In the beginning, parents are the ones who gladly wipe their children's bottoms. And they don't really mind too much when their children spit up on them. (It's just "angel juice" you know. That's what we used to say.)
*Parents are the ones who walk the floor all night when the children are sick or just cutting teeth. Parents are the ones who drive hundreds of miles to carry them to games, plays, parties, recitals, doctors, dentists and more. Parents are the ones who struggle with homework, try to steer them through the terrible twos, and then try to steer them through the more terrible teens.
*Good, godly parents are the ones who teach their children right from wrong. They teach their children about the salvation we can only receive through the cross of Jesus Christ, and they demonstrate the love of our Heavenly Father to their children, so God says we should honor our parents. And we need to do it while we can. I wish I could do something to honor my parents right now! But they are not in this world. So honor your parents while you still can.
*Also notice the promise in this commandment. Again from vs. 2-3, it's "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."
*Our gracious God has also given us many more promises in His Word. And we can always count on God to keep His promises, because He is always faithful and true. God never lies. In fact, He cannot lie. That's why in Titus 1:1-2, Paul opened his letter with these words: "Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which is according to godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, WHO CANNOT LIE, promised before time began."
*The true and living God will always keep His promises! But how many promises did the Lord put into His Word? A quick internet search gives a wide range of answers. Some say 3,000, 6,000, or 8,000 promises. Rick Reed also saw an estimate of 30,000 promises in the Bible! But that seemed high, since there are only 31,173 verses in the Bible.
*Rick also told the story of Everet R. Storms, the Canadian schoolteacher who began to keep a record of the promises during his 27th reading of the Bible. It took a year and a half for Mr. Storms to compile his lists, and it included 7,487 promises from God to man! (5)
*God's first promise was about the future Savior, and we find it in Genesis 3:15. Adam and Eve had already sinned in the Garden of Eden. But God promised that the Seed of the woman would crush Satan's head.
*Then in Genesis 12:2-3, God made some wonderful promises to Abraham. The Lord made 7 promises to Abraham in two short verses: "I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.'' That last promise was all about Jesus coming to save everyone who will receive Him as Lord and Savior.
*Also remember the wonderful Christmas promise in Isaiah 9:6-7. God gave this prophetic promise about 700 years before Jesus was born: "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this." Praise the LORD! We can always count on God to keep His promises.
*Foreign missionaries have often faced far greater difficulties than most of us. In the 1800s, Hudson Taylor was an English missionary to China. And during one especially trying time, Hudson wrote these faith-filled words to his wife: "We have twenty-five cents. And all the promises of God!" (6)
*Hudson Taylor had great faith in the promises of God, and Christians, so should we! But honoring our parents does not give us a 100% guarantee that it will be well with us, and we will live long on the earth. It does not mean that if you honor your parents you will always live to be 80 or 90 years old.
*Nobody ever honored their Father more than Jesus Christ! And He died at the young age of 33, and many devoted Christians have died at a young age, so there can be overriding circumstances. But God does make a promise to us here. And the promise is that if we honor our parents, life will be better both for them and for us.
*But how can we honor our father and mother? Back in vs. 1 Paul said to "obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right." Obey your parents. The original Greek has the word picture of someone who hears a knock on the door, and then gets up to do whatever is necessary. We cannot fully honor our godly parents unless we obey them by doing what is right.
*But children young and old: We can’t do this all by ourselves. We must have help from God, because we were all born with selfish, sinful hearts. No one ever had to teach their children how to lie. No one ever had to teach their children how to be selfish, or stubborn, or mean. We say things like, "Oh, isn’t he a cute, little angel." And the reality is, "Sure, -- as long as he gets exactly what he wants, exactly when he wants it." We all get our selfishness very naturally, because we were all born as sinners into this fallen world. You may know that one of the first words all babies learn is "MINE!" And it's hard for us to overcome our inborn selfishness, so we can’t keep God's commandments on our own.
*But God loves us so much that He sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ into the world to die on the cross for our sins. Three days later Jesus rose from the dead. And if we will trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He will forgive all of our sins, and help us keep His commandments. Jesus will help you obey your parents in the Lord, and this is right.
2. GOD WANTS CHILDREN OF ALL AGES TO GIVE HONOR TO THEIR GODLY PARENTS. AND PARENTS: HELP YOUR CHILDREN LIVE GODLY LIVES.
*This is God's message for godly parents in vs. 4, where His Word says, "And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord." Parents: We must help our children, and here God gives us 3 ways to help.
[1] FIRST: WE MUST AVOID AGGRAVATING OUR CHILDREN.
*Why does God tell us not to provoke our children to wrath? -- Because many of us do tend to provoke our children to wrath. Mostly we do it by being too quick-tempered and hard on them, always a criticism, never a compliment. But another way we can provoke our children is through the bad habit of breaking our commitments. If you say you are going to do something, do it! Try to keep your commitments to your children as much as you possibly can.
*I like the story of the dad who promised to take his two sons to the circus. But early that morning the phone rang. It was a call for dad to come into the business office. The two boys got ready to hear the bad news. But then they heard their father say, "No, I won’t be down. -- It’ll have to wait."
*When dad got off the phone, his wife smiled and said, "The circus keeps coming back, you know." -- "Yes, I know," Dad replied. But childhood doesn’t." (7)
*God wants us to try our best to keep our commitments to our children. And we must avoid aggravating our children, because God says, "Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath."
[2] BUT MUCH MORE IMPORTANT, WE MUST TRY TO TRAIN OUR CHILDREN TO KNOW AND LOVE THE LORD JESUS CHRIST!
*As vs. 4 also says, "Bring your children up in the training and admonition of the Lord." The original word for "training" included the whole scope of educating our children, including both their minds and their morals. It also included giving them proper discipline when they needed it. And the word "admonition" had the idea of giving them wise warnings. (8)
*We would never give our children poison to drink. But our society is filled with moral and spiritual poison. And one of our most important jobs is to warn our children against that poison. Of course, you can’t raise your children in a bubble. They are going to get exposed to the lies and garbage. But you can make sure that they understand the world from a godly point of view.
*Most of all, we need to teach them all we can about God. Teach them about the Lord’s might, the mighty power He displayed in creation, and the amazing miracles He worked in the Bible. Teach them about the incomparable glory of God. Teach them about God's greatness, but also teach them about God's goodness. Teach them about the Lord’s mercy, the mercy we all desperately need because of our sin, the mercy Jesus died on the cross to provide, the mercy that is freely available to everyone who will put their trust in our crucified and risen Savior Jesus Christ.
*God wants all of us to bring our children them up in the training and admonition of the Lord, teaching them not just with our words, but with our godly lives, letting them see Jesus in us.
*Christian author, pastor and former atheist Lee Strobel gave this great testimony: "How can I tell you the difference God has made in my life? -- My daughter Allison was 5 years old when I became a follower of Jesus.
*All she had known in those 5 years was a dad who was profane and angry. I remember I came home one night and kicked a hole in the living room wall just out of anger with life. I am ashamed to think of the times Allison hid in her room to get away from me. But five months after I gave my life to Jesus Christ, that little girl went to my wife and said, 'Mommy, I want God to do for me what he’s done for Daddy.’ -- At age five!
*What was she saying? She’d never studied the archeological evidence (on the truth of the Bible). All she knew was her dad used to be this way: Hard to live with. But more and more her dad is becoming this way. And if that is what God does to fathers, then sign her up. At age 5 she gave her life to Jesus!
*God changed my family. He changed my world. He changed the eternity of my daughter." (9)
CONCLUSION:
*That's the kind of godly parents God wants all of us to be. Not perfect yet, but as 2 Peter 3:18 says, growing "in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." God wants us to be parents worthy of honor, because we helped our children live godly lives.
*But what if you weren't blessed to have a father and mother like that? Sadly, that's the case for an ever-growing number of children today. And that's why it's even more important for us as a church to do all we can to bring children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord!
*But even if you had the worst earthly father, you can still have the best Father of all, because our Father in Heaven wants to be your Father too.
*Remember what Jesus told the people about prayer when He was preaching the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 7:7-11 Jesus said, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"
*Even if you had the worst father of all, you can still have the best Father of all, if you will receive His crucified and risen Son Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Call on Jesus to save you today, as we go back to God in prayer.
(1) Adapted from EXPLORING ACTS by John Phillips, Kregal Publications, Grand Rapids - "Proving the Power of God" - Acts 28:1-31 - Downloaded to "Bible Study 6" from Olive Tree Bible Software, Inc.
(2) GotQuestions.org - "How many prophecies did Jesus fulfill?" - https://www.gotquestions.org/prophecies-of-Jesus.html
(3) JOHN GILL'S EXPOSITION OF THE BIBLE by Dr. John Gill, D. D. - 1697-1771 - Published in 1746-1766, 1816 - Hebrews 13:5 - Downloaded to e-Sword by Rick Meyers - Copyright 2021
(4) Sermons.com sermon "A Life Without Apology" by King Duncan - 2 Timothy 1:1 2
(5) Everet R. Storms story in the book ALL THE PROMISES IN THE BIBLE by Herbert Lockyer - Source: "How many promises there are in the Bible?" by Staff Writer: Rick Reed - Columnist for the Daily Commercial - 212 East Main Street, Leesburg, FL 34748 - https://www.dailycommercial.com/story/lifestyle/columns/2017/07/08/reflections-how-many-promises-there-are-in-bible/20305079007/
(6) Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching & Preachers, W. Wiersbe, p. 242 - SermonCentral illustration contributed by Lou Nicholes
(7) SermonCentral sermon "A Checklist for Dads" by Robert Leroe - Ephesians 6 1-4
(8) Sources:
-STRONG'S HEBREW AND GREEK DICTIONARIES - from Strong's Exhaustive Concordance by James Strong, S.T.D., LL.D. - Published in 1890; public domain. - Downloaded to e-Sword by Rick Meyers - Copyright 2021
-THAYER'S GREEK DEFINITIONS - Published in 1886, 1889; public domain. - Downloaded to e-Sword by Rick Meyers - Copyright 2021
(9) Lee Strobel from sermon "The Case for Christ" - Source: SermonCentral sermon "First Things First" by Bruce Emmert - John 10:1-10
