I want you to turn to a passage
of scripture that was brought back to my memory recently, Ephesians
chapter six. And I'd like to just look for
a few minutes at verses one to four. We've considered this passage
before, but again, it was brought back to my memory. I'd like to just look at it again. You know, I suppose that every
generation would consider the passage that I'd like to deal
with for a few moments to be always the most needful at hand. You know, we think, prone to
think that years gone by were not as evil. as the ones in which
we live, but according to scripture, that's not so. Problem with man
started in the Garden of Eden and things have never gotten
better. Genesis chapter one, God's record
of man's creation was recorded. For sake of time, I'm not gonna
read these chapters, but God placed man in a garden and set
bounds around him. And chapter 2 of Genesis established
the consequences for disobedience. Chapter 3, man disobeyed God
and experienced the result of his sin. He died spiritually. Because of that one sin, all
the earth was cursed. Man was driven out of the garden
and suffered the rest of his life. Pain and toil and agony. In the fourth chapter of Genesis,
we witness the first murder. Held not only the penalty of
God's justice upon Cain for killing his brother Abel, but also the
degeneration of man's attitude toward the sanctity of marriage. A beautiful picture of marriage,
union between the Lord Jesus Christ and His glorious bride.
Chapter 5 of Genesis revealed the explosion of man's population
upon the earth and went right on into chapter 6 of Genesis
with the revelation that God beheld the wickedness of man
was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil continually, every day. That's all man thinks
by nature. That's all he thinks, it's evil,
evil, evil. Therefore, the Lord, by the grace,
mercy that was showed to mankind, one man, one man, one man found
grace in the eyes of the Lord And for the sake of that one
man, that man's wife and his three sons and their wives and
a remnant of God's creation was spared. Scripture says that every
living thing of all flesh, fowls, cattle of their kind, and every
creeping thing of the earth after its kind, everything else was
destroyed. Creation was obliterated except
for all those found in the ark in the flood. So based upon the
revelation of scripture, man, because of sin, is born a child
of wrath against God. And I told you a while ago, God's
people never been under his wrath, but this means that all that
are born in Adam have a spirit and an attitude of wrath against
God, against all that's righteous and good. And because of one
man's sin, all mankind is in need of regeneration, being taught
the mercy of God. But out of all of mankind, all
of humanity, there's a remnant unto whom God's going to show
mercy. That's what the Lord told Moses.
Show me your glory. He said, I'm going to show mercy
and compassion unto whomsoever I will. Romans 9 says, so it's
not a man that willeth. Man free will is ridiculous. Man doesn't have free will. Man's
dead. It's not a man, it's not him
that willeth. God that shows mercy. So here
we are in the very beginning and the very heart of the passage
that I wanna look at today, Ephesians chapter six verses one to four. At the heart of that, I'll read
Ephesians, then I'm gonna go back and read Genesis 15, Genesis
chapter two, 15 to 17. Here's the passage I wanna deal
with today. Children, Ephesians six, children, Pray your parents in the Lord,
for this is right. Honor thy father and mother,
which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be
well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And you
fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in
the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Now that spirit of
what was penned by the Apostle Paul to a church as he was moved
upon by the Spirit of God, the spirit of that was set forth,
turned back to, you can hold your place right there in Ephesians
6, but turned back to Genesis 2. It was a commandment of the Lord
to Adam. And it was concerning obedience,
that's what it was concerning, obedience. Genesis 2.15, and
the Lord took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to
dress it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the
man saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely
eat. Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt
not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou
shalt surely die. The very heart of that passage
right there, very heart of it, is obedience, obedience. Back
in Ephesians chapter six, children, now listen. Here is a word of admonition
to children. And I don't care how old you
get, you're still a child. Your parents are still here,
I'm thankful for that. If they're not, the memory of them is still
here. But here is the word of admonition. Children, they, your parents,
in the Lord. For this is right. Parents are the means by which
children are brought into this world. God created man, gave
man the ability to procreate, to replenish. And almighty God
has given parents the responsibility and the authority to teach and
to raise their children concerning their need of obedience. Ephesians 6, 4, and your fathers. It says fathers, they're the
ones that have been set forth as being the head of the house.
Provoke not your children to wrath. Now, all are born wrathful. against God, and we know that.
All are born with a spirit of wrath against the Lord. And the
Lord knows whose are His. And they're not, again, I'm going
to say it again, they're not under the wrath of God. It's
not appointed unto them. They've not been appointed to
wrath. We're all born with an attitude
that hates God. You fathers, now listen to me.
Fathers, grandfathers, you listen to me. Provoke not, don't encourage
it. Don't encourage it. Children
are born wrathful against God, against God's people, against
the gospel. Don't encourage it. Provoke not
your children to wrath. Don't encourage it. What are
you to do? Bring them up in the nurture
Admonition of the Lord. Why? Because they fell in Adam. They died in Adam's rebellion.
And what was the first thing that Adam failed to do? What
was the first thing he failed to do? Obey. Obey. And Adam, when he fell in Adam, when he
fell, Adam had no recourse, but the second Adam, the Lord Jesus
Christ, he accomplished perfectly what the first Adam couldn't
do. Whenever children are admonished,
children obey, obey, obey. That is, that's the heart of
what was told Adam in the garden. Obey. You consider now the glorious
truth of the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ before His
Father, He who submitted Himself, humbled Himself, no reputation. You consider His obedience in
this passage of Scripture is a beautiful picture of the admonition
of the Lord and his obedience to it. Children, obey your parents
in the Lord. He said, my meat, my sustenance,
is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish the work. No son has ever been, except
for him, obedient. Word and thought and deed. That
was his desire. That was his hungering. That
was his sustenance, to be obedient. He that sent me is with me. The Father hath not left me alone,
for I do always those things that please Him. Children, obey your parents in
the Lord, for this is right. That which he did was right. It was right, it was good, and
it is the foundation of our acceptance with God, his obedience. Romans 5, 19, for as by one man's
disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous. Not what I've done, not what
you've done, but what he's done on your behalf. if you know Him. His obedience in the finishing
of the work given Him was obedience acknowledged by the Father. This is my beloved Son in whom
I'm well pleased. Hear Him. And His obedience resulted
in all of God's sheep spiritually living long Children, obey your
parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and
thy mother, which is the first commandment with promise, that
it may be well with thee that thou mayest live long on the
earth. How long are God's people going
to live? Because of His obedience. How long? My sheep hear my voice. I know
them. They follow me, and I give unto them eternal life. How long
are they going to live? They'll never perish. Neither
shall any man pluck them out of my hand." So the obedience
of children in the Lord is right. Why? Because it pictures the
obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ before His Father. It's right. Colossians 3, 20. Children, lay
your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing unto the
Lord. It's an amazing revelation that the obedience of children
to their parents would be that which pleases the Lord because
it pictures His Son and His obedience unto the Father. Obedience to
parents is, again, that wonderful type and savor of Christ. Listen to this. Luke 2. I'll
read this to you. It's Luke 2, verse 51 to 52. And he went down, this is the
Lord when he was a young lad. He went down with them and came
to Nazareth and was subject to them. Now here's the Lord Jesus
Christ and he was subject unto his earthly parents. But his mother kept all these
sayings in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom
and stature and in favor with God and man. What did she behold? What did she ponder? What did
she keep? Those sayings in his heart, in her heart. She beheld
his obedience. Heard his words and pondered
in her heart the adoration from the beginning. Those shepherds
that came in told her, an angel appeared unto them, was born
unto you this day in the city of David, a Savior, Christ the
Lord. She remembered what the angel
of the Lord had said unto her before she was conceived by the
Holy Ghost, that which is conceived to be called the Son of the Most
High, the Son of God. You're going to have a son. Not conceived by man born in
Adam, but conceived of God. And she watched Him, she beheld
Him, she pondered all these things in her heart. So children, this
is not just a good suggestion. This is an admonition from the
Lord. Children, wait. Listen, hearken, be obedient,
submit yourself to your parents in the Lord as your earthly representatives
of the Lord, for this is right. It's right because the Lord has
appointed it. It's right because it honors
Christ. It's right because children owe
a debt of gratitude to their parents. So in the home, children,
according to the Lord's word and direction, there to be taught
authority and submissiveness unto the Lord. That ordained
authority being obedient to their parents, because it's good. It's right. I tell you, it's
good for the home, it's good for the community, it's good.
It's honorable, so it's here in the home that children first
learn the necessity of obedience. Obedience that was not given
by our father Adam, but obedience that was given by the Lord Jesus
Christ. Parents, the home is where the
children first learn the necessity of hearing the gospel. You fathers, provoke not your children to
wrath. Don't arouse them. As I said
a while ago, don't arouse them. Don't arouse them to be wrathful
to God. I've heard this said one time,
well, I want my children to be, I want to give them space. You know, I want to let them,
you know, have to learn and think for themselves and let them be
independent, let them decide what they're going to do and
what would be, and I thought of this, I thought of this illustration.
If you like to raise a garden, why don't you go out there and
just, with that attitude, why don't you go out there and plant
that garden and just leave it to itself? and just, you know,
let it, so I'm gonna go ahead and drop the seeds in there and
plant the things I'm gonna plant, and then I'm gonna just leave
the garden to itself and just let it do its own thing. You know what you're gonna have?
Weeds. You're gonna have a mess, that's
what you're gonna have. Children, obey, honor. You fathers, provoke
not your children to wrath. I'll encourage you. Bring them up. Parents, grandparents,
you wanna know the best thing you can possibly do for your
kids? Have them under the sound of the gospel. Let them hear
the glorious words of God's grace in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The scripture says, this is the
first commandment with promise, honor. honor. It's the heart's desire and regard
for that which is right to those that have been regenerated. The
Lord Jesus Christ, he honored the Father, ascribing all things
unto his will, seeking only his glory, honoring his name, and
there's no greater encouragement or admonition. that can be given
to children than to raise them up. Let them hear the truth of
the glory of God. I pray God bless this to our
hearts for Christ's glory and our good and the good of our
kids and grandkids. Encourage them. All right, Gary.