I'm gonna ask you to take your
Bibles and turn with me to the book of Ecclesiastes chapter
three. Ecclesiastes chapter three. I'd like to look at just one
verse of scripture. Verse four. Solomon was moved by the Lord
to pin the truth that God has a season and a time
for every purpose. God has ordained the season of
everything that's going to happen, and He's appointed the time in which that which He's appointed
will come to pass. So nothing happens by accident.
The Lord is ordering everything for His glory and the good and
salvation of His people. Now today I want to deal with
this fourth verse and actually what it's dealing with is the
season and time of the believer's walk in this life. as there's billions of people
in this world, but these scriptures are written to the people of
God, to give the people of God knowledge and understanding concerning
the Lord's will for them. So let those who have ears to
hear, let them hear what the Spirit says unto the churches,
unto the people of God. The scripture says concerning
this thing, there's a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time
to mourn, and a time to dance. Now, naturally, and I was just
thinking recently with the passing of our sister Linda, and the
hurt, the heartache, whenever the Lord is pleased to take one
of His own. That's a time of sadness, but
it's a time of rejoicing. And this time of weeping and
mourning, our Lord Himself, the scripture says in John 11, 35,
whenever Lazarus had died, And the Lord came to the tomb
of Lazarus. The shortest verse of scripture
in all the word of God says this, Jesus wept. Now, I'm gonna go ahead and admit
something for all of us. None of us are ever going to
be able to understand the depth of that verse of scripture. The
Lord Jesus Christ, God, man, mediator, weeping. That's beyond our understanding,
but his tears speak volumes to us. Let us remember Hebrews 2,
verse 17, 18 said, it behooved him to be made like unto his
brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things
pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people, for
in that he himself has suffered. Being tempted, he is able to
succor, that is, to help or to aid them that are tempted. Now, the Lord was made flesh. In the beginning was the Word.
and the Word was with God and the Word was God. John 1.1. John 1.14 says, and the Word
was made flesh. The Lord Jesus Christ, God Almighty,
truly man, experiencing every feeling, Every pain, every hunger,
every thirst, every agony, every temptation, as we do, He felt
it as a man, yet He did without sin. He felt the pain of Lazarus'
death. Here, He who orders these things,
life and death is in the hands of the Lord. And as the man,
Christ Jesus, he felt sorrow, as his brethren did. He wasn't
made in the likeness of angels. We would have had no association
with him, but it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren.
And he knows what we feel. Feel. He knows the anxieties
of his people being God. He's omniscient. But he feels
the anxiety and the pain of his people being man. And the marvelous thing is that
he who never changes, he who sits now at the right hand of
the glory of God, he who never changes, feels right now the
pain of his people, the anxieties, the trials, the troubles. He
knows the tribulation, and he intercedes for us, knowing our weakness. Now, when you think about this,
he knows, he knows. He feels it right now. There's a man seated right now,
on the throne of God, He who is God. And He knows our doubts,
Fred. He knows our troubles. I was
coming this morning to the services, and knowing what I'd been studying
right here, it was so comforting to me to just be honest with
the Lord, be honest with Him. Lord, You know what I'm thinking
right now. You know the anxieties. be gone. I've been tired. Lord, help me. Lord, help me. Lord, direct my thoughts, direct
my thinking. Help me bless the messages. So now, based on our Lord's weeping,
knowing how we feel, There's a time to weep. Whenever Aaron
died, scripture says in Numbers 20, 29, the people wept and mourned. Whenever Moses died, Deuteronomy
34, eight, the people mourned over him. And he feels, he knows. But there's another time to weep
and mourn. not only in the loss of loved
ones, the trials, the anxieties of this life, but there's the
weakness that we behold in ourselves. We know that the Lord's people
are not under the wrath of God. God's people have never been
under the wrath of God. It's not appointed for the people
of God to be under His wrath. His judgment and wrath was spewed
out upon the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary on our behalf. So there's no wrath to the people
of God. But while there's no wrath, there's
no condemnation to them which be in Christ Jesus, there's times
and dispensations of God's providence when the Lord deals with His
own in loving and divinely measured chastisement. Scriptures reveal
whenever the Lord is said to be angry and the anger of the
Lord was kindled against. That anger is as a loving, caring
parent with their children. And when he deals with us, he
deals with us to make us realize our need of repentance, our need
of his forgiveness. And when we see our selfishness,
pride, and arrogant behavior, we weep over that. Whenever Peter,
you heard this story so many times, it's in Luke 22. I'm going
to read it if you'd like to turn there, Luke 22. Peter actually
heard that rooster, the cock crow. And he realized that he
had done exactly what the Lord said he would do. It broke his
heart. Look at Luke 22, verse 54 to
verse 62. Then took they him and led him, brought him into the high priest house, and
Peter followed afar off. And when they had kindled a fire
in the midst of the hall and were set down together, Peter
sat down among them. But a certain maid beheld him. That's he, that is Peter, set
by the fire. Ernest looked upon him and said,
this man was also with him. And he denied him, saying, woman,
I know him not. After a little while another
saw him and said, thou art also of them. And Peter said, man,
I'm not. In about space of one hour after
another, confidently affirmed saying of a truth, this fellow
also was with him for he is a Galilean. And Peter said, man, I know not
what thou sayest and immediately while he yet spake, the cock
crew. And the Lord turned and looked
upon Peter, and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he
had said unto him before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me
thrice. And Peter went out and wept bitterly. Now, in Peter's denial, the Lord was aware. He said,
you're gonna deny me before the cock crows twice. Three times,
you're gonna say you don't even know me. Peter said, I'll never
do it. Others can say that. I'll go
to the death for you. I'll never deny you. But before Peter ever did it,
Did not the Lord tell him before he did, I've got something for
you. Look back for chapter, same chapter
22, look at verse 31, 32. The Lord said, Simon, Simon,
behold, Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you
as wheat. But I've prayed for thee that
thy faith fail not. And when thou art converted,
and you know, you've heard me say this before, it doesn't mean
regenerated. He was a regenerated man. He
knew the Lord. He was a man that knew God. But when you're turned back,
you strengthen the brethren. What a comfort to know that the
Lord knows. the temptation that's going to
come. He knows it because he's ordained it. So all of our trials
are, according to God's will and purpose, are beforehand.
He knows before the trial, he has interceded. Satan hath desired. He's telling me, he said, let
me tell you what Satan's thinking. He's desired to have you and
sift you as wheat. Hadn't happened yet. It was getting
ready to. But he said, I've prayed for
you. I've interceded for you. I've
pleaded my own merit, my own blood. And God who hears and
honors his intercession on our behalf, keeps us. Based totally on his intercession.
Satan hath desired to have you. So the time to weep is when,
by the grace of God, we're made to behold the weakness of our
flesh and the presence of that old man within. Whenever we see
ourselves, we behold. You may not even know it. Somebody
else, but the believer knows it. He knows when he stumbles.
And inside breaks his heart, that body of death that's there
that we struggle with, and then we remember the mercy of God,
I've prayed for you. While we're being crying and
while we're weeping, mourning over what we are inside, remember
Matthew 5, for blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be
comforted. They're gonna remember. You think
about the Lord praying for us, interceding for us. and keeping
us in the midst of our frailty and wandering. Those who mourn,
weep, those who mourn over their sins. Look at Psalm 51. Oh, that blessed passage of Scripture
that it would do us well to consider this, David. after Nathan the
prophet. You remember, I told you, I think
a time or two ago when I was here. It was at least nine months
after David took Bathsheba. At least nine months, because
she had the baby. She had a baby. It wasn't until
God sent a preacher, told him, you're the man. You're the man. David penned this psalm right
here. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness,
according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out
my transgressions, wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse
me from my sin, for I acknowledge my transgression, and my sin
is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest
be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. Look at verse 10 through 12.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within
me. That verse of scripture has come to my mind over the last
few days. Renew a right spirit in me. Cast me not away from thy presence,
and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the
joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free spirit. Oh, there's a time to weep. Thanks be unto God. Scripture
said there's a time to laugh. The Lord didn't leave Peter. I'm gonna stay in that context
of where I've been. Didn't leave Peter to go to his
grave with the guilt. He never forgot it. But I think
about after the Lord was risen from the dead He's sitting on
the shore, and the disciples are sitting around. He's got
some fish. He's roasting some fish there. Peter's sitting,
and the Lord asked him a question there on the shore of the Sea
of Tiberias. He said three times, Peter, love
as thou may more than these. Peter assured him. He said, Lord,
You know all things. Now I'm telling you, all God's
people, you that believe, you know this. You see the weakness
within. You know it. You know it. You
feel the pain of disrespectful thoughts and actions. But you
think about the mercy of God. I'll never leave you. I'll never.
That's a wonderful word there, never. I'll never. I'll never forsake you. I will
never forsake you. Do you love me? Lord, thou knowest
all things. Thou knowest that I love thee. Feed my sheep. You teach them. You tell them concerning me.
Tell them about mercy. Tell them about compassion. Oh,
what joy is found in these sweet words of comfort. and love concerning
his forgiveness and his long suffering. When the Lord's people,
turn with me while I'm making this statement, Psalm 126. When
the Lord is pleased to make known his loving kindness to rescue
his people from the darkness of sin and unbelief and then
keep them and restore them, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation,
not my salvation, your salvation. You gave it. Restore unto me
the joy of, Lord, don't take your spirit from me. Don't lead
me to myself. Look at Psalm 126, verse one
to three. When the Lord turned again the
captivity of Zion, we were like them that dreamed. Then was our
mouth filled with laughter. and our tongue was singing. Then
said they among the heathen, the Lord hath done great things
for them. The Lord hath done great things
for us. We're of. We're glad. We're glad. Aren't you glad? God does not forsake us when
we're so unfaithful. I mean, that's just a continual
act. for us, but he never leaves us. He sends these glorious holy
seasons of mourning, allowing us to be as gold, tried in the
fire, tribulation. Why? Because he loves us, loves
us. We need to be shown afresh. He's faithful to send also that
fresh remembrance of his sacrifice and his redemption for us and
our hearts leap for joy. There's a time to weep, there's
a time to laugh, time to mourn, and there's, in closing, a time
to dance. I looked at that last phrase
right there and thought much upon that, asking the Lord over
and over, Lord, would you teach me something about what you're
saying right here? A time to dance. Now, obviously,
there's more to be considered here than what we normally think
when it comes to dancing, which really often, when we think of
dancing, we're actually speaking more of this worldly disrespectful
rather than heavenly act of adoration to the Lord. I think about in
Exodus 32, whenever Moses gone up on the mountain and the people
were left there and they told Aaron, build us a God. So Aaron got all the gold and melted
it down. He made a golden calf and God
told Moses, he said, go back down. They're being disrespectful. He went down and he saw they
were all dancing around this golden calf. You remember the
story. Moses asked Aaron, he said, I
don't know how it happened. He threw the gold in the fire
and out came this golden calf. Moses had it ground up. Remember the people had to drink
it. He put it in the water, made them drink it. There they were
dancing. That's not, you know. The word
dance here, It means to skip about and leap. But it has everything to do with
the spirit of praise. I want you to turn here. This
is an amazing passage. 2 Samuel 6. 2 Samuel 6. This
is the word that's used concerning this, the dance here. 2 Samuel 6. I want to read verses
12 to 14, then just go back to a couple of verses in 2 Samuel
6, and just show us in closing where this comes from. 2 Samuel
6, verse 12 to 14, and it was told King David, saying, the
Lord hath blessed the house of Obed-Edom, and all that pertaineth
unto him. because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up
the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom into the city of
David with gladness. And it was so that when they
that bear the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed
oxen and fatlings. And David danced before the Lord. This is the same word, same word
as in Ecclesiastes. Leaped, skipped. David danced
before the Lord with all his might. And David was girded with
a linen ephod. Now, prior to this right here,
same chapter, 2 Samuel 6, verse 3 says, And they set the ark of God upon
a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that
was in Gibeah. And Uzzah and Ahio, the sons
of Abinadab, drove the new cart. Now, here was the situation. They had taken the ark of God
and put it on a cart and be born. The problem with that is that's
not how God told them to carry the ark. Remember how the ark
was to be carried? I can tell you it's in Deuteronomy
31.9 if you'd like to look at it. The priest were to bear up
that ark. Now you stop right here and just
set your heart on those priests being pictures, pictures of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Who's gonna bear up? Upon whose
shoulders is born the mercy seat of God, the mercy of God, where
God meets with his people? Who bears that up? Christ, Christ. David had had that ark placed
on a new car. And while it's being born, oxen
shaking it, and it appeared as though to a man named Uzzah.
It says, Scripture says when they came to, verse six, when
they came to Nacon's threshing floor, Uzzah put forth his hand
to the ark of God and took hold of it. Why? For the oxen shook
it. They were stumbling. Uzzah's
gonna reach out and he's gonna help God. He's gonna keep that
ark steady. Not gonna fall on his watch.
And he touched that ark and God killed him. Why? Here's the picture. They've got
the ark sitting on a cart, carrying it man's way. This is how man
decided. This is how David decided. And
here's Uzzah. He's going to put his hand. He's
going to steady it. And God killed him. Why? It wasn't being born God's way. Christ was not being honored
And the Lord was pleased after all of that to be placed in the
house of a man named Obed-Edom. Here was the long-suffering of
God. He didn't obliterate them, didn't obliterate the people.
He killed them for their disobedience, killed Uzzah for his disobedience. But he put this ark in the house
of a man named Obed-Edom. And God blessed it. God was pleased
to bless it. Bless that man's house. And the
scripture now, now, here we go. Now, David, it was told King
David, I'm gonna read those same 12 to 14 again. And it was told
King David, saying, the Lord have blessed the house of Obed-Edom
and all that pertaineth unto him because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up
the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom into the city of
David with gladness. Look at verse 13. Made a change,
Ben, in the way it was being carried. And it was so that when
they that bear the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed
oxen and fatlings. It was being born God's way.
There was honoring unto the Lord. And whenever David saw the blessing
of God to allow them. He didn't cast them out, didn't
forsake them. He wouldn't cast off his
people because of their disobedience. Chastened them, but he didn't
cast them off. Whenever David saw it, he realized,
ah, verse 14, David danced before the Lord with all of his might.
And David was girded with the linen ephod. He knew that God
was pleased, had been reconciled on the merit of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And here we learn something of
the spirit of thankfulness for the mercy and long suffering.
David danced, he skipped, his heart was rejoicing. Yes, for
the people of God, There's a time to weep, there's a time to laugh,
there's a time to mourn, there's a time to dance. And all these
times are compassionately ordered and directed by the Lord for
His people. Last verse of scripture, Psalm
30, Psalm 30, verses four and five. Psalm 30, verse four and
five. For his anger endureth but a
moment. I'm sorry, I'm gonna start before
I start in verse five. Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his,
and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. For his anger
endureth but a moment. In his favor is life. Weeping
may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. The Lord,
chastening hand, is tempered with mercy. His rod of correction
is stayed when the work is done, and he's slow to anger, and he's
plenteous in mercy. And our weeping over our sin
may endure, according to the scriptures, for a night, but
nights not forever. And we suffer because of our
guilt, and that's good. We need it. We need it. The joy
comes in the morning when the Son of Righteousness comes in
the power of His Holy Spirit and assures us of His love for
us. We rejoice in His compassion. I pray God bless this verse of
Scripture to His glory and our good. Amen. Okay, let's take
just a little break. Okay, if you would, let's look
at our hymnals again this morning. Let's look at number 40. Four
zero, great is thy faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness, O
Father. There is a shadow turning with
thee. Thou changest not, thy companions,
they fail not. has been, thou forever wilt be. Great is thy faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. By morning new mercies I see. All I have need hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord,
unto me. Summer and winter and springtime
and harvest, sun, moon, and stars in their courses above, Join
with all nature in manna. To thy great faithfulness, mercy
and love. Great is thy faithfulness. ? Great is thy faithfulness ?
? Morning by morning new mercies I see ? ? All I have need hath
provided unto me ? ? And a peace that endureth ? ?
Mine own dear presence to cheer ? ? Strength for today and right
for tomorrow ? ? Blessings all mine ? ? Thousand peace I ? Great
is thy faithfulness. Thy faithfulness. Morning by morning, this I see. All I have needed thy hand has
provided. Faithfulness. ? Lord unto me ? Look at the
bulletin now, if you would, please. The tune today is How Firm a
Foundation. ? Lord unto me ? A refuge for sinners the gospel
makes known Is found in the merits of Jesus alone The weary, the
tempted, the burdened by sin are never exempted from entering
in. Refuge for sinners His love did
ordain In Jesus the Lamb From eternity slain And if God the
Spirit Reveals this to you Take refuge in Jesus, though hell
should pursue. Should conscience accuse us as
often it may, the blood of our Savior has put sin away. In Jesus' name, your Lord and
Savior can do. God's city of refuge and righteousness, 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. The 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 going
to 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. They 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 five of Genesis revealed the explosion of man's population
upon the earth and went right on into chapter six 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
and 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 were 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 have 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, 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 of 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, but God that shows mercy. So
here we are in the very beginning and the very heart of the passage
that I want to look at today, Ephesians chapter 6, verses 1
to 4. At the heart of that, I'll read
Ephesians, then I'm going to go back and read Genesis 15, Genesis
chapter 2, 15, 17. Here's a passage I want to deal
with today. Children, Ephesians 6. Children, pray your parents in the Lord
that 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, the 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 Set forth, turn
back to, you can hold your place right there in Ephesians 6, but
turn 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. The Lord God commanded the man,
saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat,
but 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, the very heart of it, is obedience, obedience. Like 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 a word of admonition
Children, lay 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 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 gonna
say it again, they're not under the wrath of God. It's not appointed
under them. They've not been appointed to
wrath. But 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
and 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 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 and 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. Your 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 it's the heart. It's the
heart's desire and regard for that which is right to those
that have been regenerated 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 the good of our kids and grandkids,
encourage them. All right, Gary. Let's stand, if you would. Let's
look at your Songs of Grace book in closing here this morning.
Let's look at number 86. 86. My faith has found a resting
place. We'll sing the first and the last. First and the last
verses. I love your holy law, my God,
I love it in my heart. And if I could, I would obey
in spirit every part. Your law is holy, just and good,
all perfect and all true. But I am weak and sinful wretch,
it works I cannot do. And now your laws become my friend,
demanding my release. It points to Jesus slain for
me and gives me perfect peace. By faith in Jesus Christ I'm
free from condemnation free. For all your law requires of
me Christ Jesus is my plea.