Good morning. Turn with me to
Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6 and we're
going to look at the first three verses together this morning.
This whole passage, verses 1 through 10, it continues with the practical
instruction from Paul regarding our conduct as believers. And so you could see five divisions
here looking at it in that way. It's children toward their parents. It's parents toward their children. its servants or employees, its
masters or employers, and finally he addresses all believers in
verse 10. But as we've seen previously
when we were looking at husbands and wives, we saw how ultimately
the instruction concerns Christ and his church, Christ and his
bride. And so for each of us as we go
through these divisions, don't tune it out just because you
may not think This is speaking to you, but rather there's something
for all of us to hear and be instructed and comforted in because
we see the gospel, we see our savior in it. And so as we go
through this word, my prayer is that we hear it in the spirit,
that we hear it in the spirit. This is not coming as commands
or a commandment to our flesh. as something for us that we can
do. Who of us can do any good? Who of us in this flesh can please
God by the works of this flesh? And so it's not a command to
your flesh whereby we beat ourselves up and whip ourselves and and
become discouraged, but rather be encouraged as the Lord reveals
the gospel to you and shows you Christ, your Savior, and your
salvation in it. So I pray we hear it with understanding
as the Lord is growing us and maturing us as believers laboring
amongst one another in his body. And what the Lord is showing
us and teaching us is that we seek to minister things that
are good and profitable unto men. We're looking to to minister
in things that are good and profitable to one another, because we certainly
can be a discouragement to one another. We certainly can cause
one another pain and hurt by the things we do or say. Well,
in contrast to that, we can also edify and build up one another
and show love to one another. And so that's what the Lord is
showing us in these passages that are very practical. Paul
said over in Titus, Chapter 3, verses 7 through 9, he's writing
to Titus, a pastor over a church there, and he said that being
justified by his grace, Titus 3, 7, being justified by his
grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal
life. He's saying there, we've been
justified by grace. And it follows, we're sanctified
by grace. We're justified by Christ and
sanctified by Christ. And he goes on to say in verse
8, this is a faithful saying, and these things I will that
thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God
might be careful to maintain good works. These things are
good and profitable unto men. So we don't shy away from the
practical instructions of Paul. He says, verse 9, but avoid foolish
questions and genealogies and contentions and strivings about
the law, for they are unprofitable and vain. And so we know that
we're not saved by these instructions. We believe Christ. He is our
salvation. The Lord's teaching us and growing
us and edifying us that we might also be edifying toward one another. And so we don't trust in our
ability to hear it. We need grace in everything. We need grace in everything.
And just because we speak of what Paul declares practically,
it doesn't make us lawmongers or teachers of the law. Because
we're not saved by the law. We're not led by the law. Because he tells us in Galatians,
the law is not of faith. The law is not of faith. Galatians
3.12. But the just shall live by his
faith. Habakkuk 2.4. So I pray the Lord
give us discerning ears. He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. We're to hear this
as believers. You that believe Christ, you
whose hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ, hear this as believers
who have been called of God to life eternal in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Hear it with a heart that's interested
in adorning the gospel of your salvation, adorning the gospel
of your Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, our beloved husband.
So, as I mentioned, there's 10 verses here, but we're gonna
focus on verses one through three. That's the first of these five
divisions, which is children toward their parents. And we'll
look at this word within the context of the gospel. We hear
it in the gospel, because this word is written to believers.
And therefore, we hear this word by the gospel in the light of
Christ, who is himself the very word of God to us. He is the
word of God to us. So I've titled this Instruction
for All Children. instruction for all children. And I intend that to mean that
it's for every one of us, but especially those children. You'll
see, every one of us will see how the Lord is instructing us
and blessing us in this word. So Paul begins here with an instruction
to believing children. This is to believing children
with regards to their parents. And he says, let's read verses
one through three together. Ephesians 6.1 Children, obey
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. Now the children that are spoken
of here would primarily be those yet living under their parents'
house, under the rule of their parents. But as we saw, with
husbands and wives, that doesn't mean that this word isn't an
instruction to us, even if we're not living with our parents under
their roof, under their rule. It's given as a word to the Lord's
people for our comfort and our joy. A, it turns our eyes upon
Christ. We see how we come short. of the glory of God. We see how
we're not obedient in anything in this flesh. We're rebellious
and we constantly fight against the revelation of the light of
God in Christ. But we behold Christ who was
obedient as a son to his father and accomplished our redemption
through his obedience. Christ is glorified in our eyes
in this. And second, we see how the Lord
is preparing us, especially you children that still live under
your parents' house and under their rule. But even to all of
us, no matter how old you are, we can see what a blessing this
is, how the Lord is preparing us and training us for our labors
in and amongst the body, his church, and helping us to be
peacemakers rather than be divisive. And that's what we'll see here
in this passage. So, to hear and receive this
word, we begin looking to Christ. We begin looking to our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ. We do well to behold him who,
as a son, obeyed his father in all things and accomplished our
redemption, our salvation. And so this is why, children,
all of us are to look to Christ always in all things. We see
his glory and his wisdom and power. Peter's confession was,
thou art the Christ. the Son of the Living God. And our Lord answered him and
said, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood
hath not revealed this to you, but my Father which is in heaven. And so it's the Spirit sent by
the Son and the Father, who exalts Christ in our hearts, lifting
Him up, showing Him to be all things to us. He's made all things
to His children, even our example of faith and obedience to the
Father. So I want to begin understanding
what Paul is saying by turning over to Philippians chapter two. Turn over to Philippians chapter
2, and we're going to see a number of verses here in this chapter,
so you may want to mark it if you flip around other places.
But we're going to begin in verse 5. Verse 5, and read down through
verse 8 at this time. Remember, Paul is saying, Children,
obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. Now, in Philippians
2, verse 5, He begins, let this mind be in you, which was also
in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not
robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation,
and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men. And being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself. and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. And so we see here in this passage
how Christ obeyed his father which was our very redemption,
our reconciliation to God. He accomplished our salvation
in obeying his father. He was obedient to lay down his
life in order to make the children of promise. those whom God loved
and chose for himself to be his people, to give them to his son,
to be his son's bride, Christ came and laid down his life in
order that we would receive the promise and the hope of eternal
life in the Lord Jesus Christ. He was obedient to the Father
in doing this work. And so we are brought to trust
in Christ. We are brought to trust the obedience
of Christ. The work he did, we trust him. We believe God. We believe that
he is our Savior. He is our salvation. What he
did accomplished our salvation. The Spirit brings us to receive
our Savior, to receive and believe what He did accomplish our very
salvation. And we receive it by faith, which
He gives to us. And so Jesus Christ and His obedience
obtained eternal redemption for us. Paul, when writing to the
Romans, he said, for by the obedience of one, many were made righteous. He confirms that many were made
righteous there in Romans 5, 19. And so we see that our Savior,
we thank God for his obedience to the Father. Peter speaks of
this as well. He says in 1 Peter 1, verse 2,
he writes to us, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father through sanctification of the spirit unto obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." He's showing us
that the Spirit sanctified the chosen children of God. The Spirit
separated us out from among all the others and brought us to
behold the obedience of Christ, to behold what He accomplished
for us, to behold that He wrought our salvation, our very redemption
by His death. That obedience spoken of there
in verse 2 is Christ's obedience. The Spirit brings us to behold
Christ's obedience and we're sprinkled or covered by the blood
of Jesus Christ. Now, beholding our Lord and the
many blessings our God gives to us in Christ, I want you to
notice how Paul began this in Philippians 2 verse 5. He says,
let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. So that to you that are believing
children, you that are believing children and trusting the Lord,
that mind of Christ, it's taught you and all of us, all believers,
we're taught the mind of Christ by His Spirit. And the Lord teaches us under
the instruction of the gospel. He's teaching us under the instruction
of the gospel. But to you believing children,
to you that believe, you're hearing this gracious word of the Lord. You're hearing the revelation
of the mystery of the gospel being brought forth to you of
who Christ is and what he accomplished for us. And you hear it while
living under the roof and rule of your parents. That's where
you first heard that word, under your parents in the Lord. And
that's the place and the time where God has chosen to reveal
faith in you, to cause you. You that believe, living under
your parents' home, that's where the Lord gave you faith. That's
where he showed you Christ. That's where he He turned, that's
where he wrought again, gave you life, born again by the Spirit
to behold Christ and to believe him. It was while you were living
under the roof and rule of your parents. And so your mind as
a child is being taught this gospel and you're receiving the
instruction of the Lord and you're hearing and learning what he's
teaching all his people through the gospel. And so it follows
that the first place where you're going to begin to bear those
fruits of righteousness as a believer is there in your house. That's
where you're first going to begin to bear those fruits, is in your
homes under the rule of your parents, learning humility, learning
obedience, according to the unfeigned faith that is in thee. If I was
to borrow a phrase that Paul uses with Timothy in 2 Timothy
1.5. And so Paul says, children, obey
your parents in the Lord, for this is right. This is right. Now, sometimes children, especially
teenagers, as we begin to get older, we begin to see ourselves
at a minimum, at least as equal with our parents. Usually we
see ourselves as more intelligent, having more knowledge, a better
understanding of how things work, and our parents don't have that
typically. But before you push against your
parents, before you push against your parents and you begin to
demand your rights as an equal and despise them or treat them
poorly, remember what we read of Christ here. Remember what
we read of Christ, where he says, who being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God. He's the Son
of God. He's fully God, as the Father
is God, as the Spirit is God. Christ is the Son, and he's fully
God. He's equal with God. But he made
himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant. You see that there? Christ, who
is fully God. Fully God. And children, you're
people. You're people just as your parents
are people. And we understand that. But under
the roof, under the rule of your parents, there's a blessing there.
And we see how Christ, who's fully God, He humbled himself
and became obedient to the Father, even unto death, the death of
the cross. And so Christ trusted the will
of His Father and your obedience to your parents, to your parents
in the Lord, not in doing evil, if your parents instruct you
in evil, but in the Lord, that's trusting the will of God, your
Father. You're trusting not them, not
in their abilities. You're trusting the will of God,
your father. And so the Lord is teaching us
that your Lord, he's sovereign. He's sovereign over all things
in heaven and in earth. And he put each child in the
household that he put them in and he gave them parents, the
parents that he gave them. And they're teaching you and
raising you and instructing you and providing for you. And they're
bringing you to hear the gospel and reaffirming those things,
trying to reaffirm those things that you're hearing. And that's
being done with all their faults, all their limitations, all their
failures. But God is sovereign and he's
the heavenly father and he knows exactly what he's doing and he's
the one that put you there and he didn't make a mistake he didn't
make a mistake he made you as he made you And he gave you to
the parents that he gave you to, put you in their household.
And he caused you to hear the gospel, bringing you to the obedience,
to behold the obedience of Christ, who is our salvation, gave you
faith to believe him. And he's instructing you in bringing
forth those early fruits. And they're being born there
under that time when you're in the household of your parents. But he didn't make a mistake,
but what he's doing is he's teaching us in a manner that's going to
help you as you become faithful members in churches as well,
in gospel churches, where as more mature believers, as you're
growing and you're becoming part of the church, you yourselves,
you begin to shoulder hardships. and burdens and disappointments
with the believers there. You're going through trials and
difficulties all with a variety of believers that God has gathered
together in that local body with all the differences and all the
challenges that that brings. So trust your holy, I mean, trust
your heavenly father being obedient to his word in the case of your
parents, Right? Desiring, praying for, seeking
the Lord for that mind, which was also in Christ Jesus, who
humbled himself, seeking him, right? Let this mind be in you,
therefore, which was also in Christ Jesus. And seek that because
one day you're going to be out of the house, maybe going and
attending where your parents attend, maybe living in another
state and attending a gospel church there, where you labor
in that body. But remember this, that what
you've learned at home, how the Lord has taught you in instructing
you at home and bringing forth these fruits at home, because
it's going to be a great help to you when you're learning to
submit yourself to your brethren. And I'm taking that where Paul
said in Ephesians 521, submitting yourselves one to another in
the fear of God. We're learning as a body to labor
with one another, to work together, to love one another, to strive
for the gospel with one another. Now you may have parents that
you would describe as difficult or as unreasonable, but it just
may be that one day you're going to find yourself in a body of
believers with people that some would describe as difficult and
unreasonable. You're going to come into that
in life laboring in gospel churches as believers. And we'll need
to bear long with them and be patient with one another. And that bearing long with them
is going to feel quite familiar to you because the Lord will
have already taught you and brought these experiences where you've
labored with your parents and trusted the Lord and hearing
what they're saying, being patient and kind as well. And so we learn
then these things to be peaceful, to be peacemakers, to labor with
one another rather than being divisive with one another because
that's not a good thing to be divisive in the church. Learn
now in your youth or wherever, at whatever point you're hearing
this, learn to trust your father. Learn to trust your heavenly
father giving thanks, even though he proves his work in your midst,
where you suddenly begin to take on hardships and the weight of
trials and sufferings and trouble. All right, so it may be, though,
that you do have very little friction with your parents, right?
Sometimes there are children that seem to get along wonderfully
and harmoniously with their parents, but it does seem to me more typical
that differences do arise, and that's why Paul said, children,
obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. He's confirming
them in walking as believers who are yet under the rule and
roof of their parents. And the reality is, as much as
we'd like to think that churches are just, you know, there's peace,
there's never any problems, there's never any differences of opinions. The reality is that there are
trying difficulties that arise in the churches. It happens all
the time. It happens in our day, it happens
all the way back to when these churches were first being formed
because Paul said many times to them, be of one mind. Be of
one mind. For example, if you're there
in Ephesians, Ephesians, what is it, 127. He says there, well, I'll read
it. Ephesians 127, only let your
conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ, that whether
I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs,
that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together
for the faith of the gospel. He's saying, remember that, brethren.
Flip over to Romans 12. Romans 12, and look at verse
16. Romans 12, 16, be of the same
mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend
to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. He's instructing them, don't
be puffed up and proud and arrogant, because that would happen in
some churches, and they'd hear of it, and there would be trouble
and problems. Then in 2 Corinthians, and this
is just some of them, there's more. Yeah, 2 Corinthians 13. At the end of the book there,
verse 11, he said, finally brethren, farewell,
be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace,
and the God of love and peace shall be with you. And so he
wrote this many times. Even Peter in 1 Peter 3.8 says,
be all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren,
be pitiful, be courteous. The apostles are instructing
the churches in this because it's very easy in this flesh
to not be of one mind and to look out for oneself. And so go back to Philippians
chapter two now in verse one. This is what Paul
is writing about. This is how he started off addressing
the church, showing the reality that there's differences. There's differences, and there
can be divisions that arise in the church. Verse one, if there
be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of
love, If any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, or of one mind,
having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let
nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness
of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look
not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things
of others." there's much value to be gained in letting this
mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, because it will
be profitable to your brethren. Now, as we close this point out,
I want to say a few things on verses 2 and 3 in our text. Ephesians
6 verses 2 and 3. Let's read it again. He says,
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. So you that have the spirit,
you'll readily hear the gospel in that word. You'll hear the
gospel that the Lord is speaking to his people in this word. Not the law, but the gospel.
For we being children of God, by His effectual calling, we
hear the promise that He's given to us of life in the Lord Jesus
Christ. We that believe the Son and honor
the Son according to His gift of grace and revealing faith
in us, we hear the promise of the Lord. That is, God, our Heavenly
Father, gives His child His child had promised the effectual command
to believe on Christ. He effectually works in us the
hearing ear to believe Christ, to be obedient to Him. As Christ
was obedient to His Father in obtaining our salvation, so faith
in Christ is called obedience. It's called obedience in the
scripture. Turn to Romans 1.5. I want to
show you that and a few places in Romans we'll look. Romans
1.5 Paul writes by Christ we have received grace and apostleship
for obedience to the faith among all nations for his name." In
other words, he's saying we're declaring the gospel of reconciliation,
the gospel of redemption of God by Jesus Christ to all and those
that are chosen of God They're obedient unto the faith of Christ. They will have faith wrought
in them to believe Him. Turn over to Romans 6. Romans 6 verse 17. But God be thanked that ye were
the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form
of doctrine which was delivered you. Faith there being described
as obedience, or being obedient to the Father. And then turn
over to Romans 16. Romans 16, where Paul is closing
out this book to the Romans. Verse 25. We'll begin, we'll really focus
on verse 26, but he says, Now to him that is of power to establish
you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ
according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret
since the world began, but now is made manifest and by the scriptures
of the prophets according to the commandment of the everlasting
God. He's speaking of the great commission
to his church to go and preach, making disciples, to teach them,
making disciples of Christ. And that's made known to all
nations. Why? For the obedience of faith. Because that's how God is pleased
to call out his people. It's faith. It's his work of
grace in us whereby we believe his salvation. We believe Christ,
our Savior. All right, so that's the gift
of faith that's wrought in us by the Spirit, whereby we all,
all believers, are made obedient to our Heavenly Father, to believe
on Him whom He has sent. And this command is made effectual
in us, and it comes with a promise. It comes with a promise, right?
We're looking, we're understanding what Paul's writing there in
Ephesians 6, 2, and 3, how it comes with promise. And Romans
10, 11, whosoever believeth on him, on Christ, shall not be
ashamed. That's a promise. Here's another,
Acts 10, 43. Through his name, whosoever believeth
in him shall receive remission of sins. That's a promise. John
640, for this is the will of God that sent Christ, that everyone
which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting
life. And Christ will raise him up
at the last day. That's a promise. You that are
obedient to your Father, through faith, the obedience of faith,
receive the promise of God to live long. How long? Life eternal. Life everlasting. You have everlasting
life who believe on Christ, who are obedient in the faith that
God has given to you, looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. So
after obeying our Heavenly Father in the faith of Christ, that
makes every other obedience easy. It makes every other obedience
easy looking to Him. trusting him, believing him,
and it's that we may be good and profitable to men, to our
brethren, that we may be edifying to them and laboring with them,
laboring with them long, loving them, being peaceful and kind
and courteous and pitiful, as Peter said. And so, children,
obey your parents and 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. So obey your parents, trusting
the will of your loving Heavenly Father, because it's profitable
to you. It's profitable to them, and
it'll be profitable to you later when you labor with brethren
in the church. And so I'll close then with what
Paul wrote to Timothy, because I think it's relevant here. He
says in 1 Timothy 4, in the middle of verse 8 and in verse 9, he
says, but godliness, living in obedience to the faith that we
profess, the hope that we profess by faith. But godliness is profitable
unto all things, having promise of the life that now is and of
that which is to come. This is a faithful saying, and
it's worthy of all acceptation. So I pray the Lord bless you
to hear his gospel word and how he's instructing his children
to believe him, to trust him, and it comes with the promise
of life in the Lord Jesus Christ. So may he bless that word to
your hearts. Amen. Let's close in prayer. Our gracious
Lord, we thank you, Father, for your word of instruction. We
thank you, Lord, that we can hear your gospel, that we may
look to Christ, that we may rejoice and be glad in his obedience
unto you, Lord, which secured our very salvation, which secured
our life. And we thank you, Lord, that
you, by your grace, by your spirit, have made us alive and made us
obedient unto the faith of your saints, unto the faith which
looks to the Lord Jesus Christ and believes him. Lord, we thank
you for this and give you all the glory and the praise. And
Lord, we thank you for the promise which you've given to us in the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's in his name we pray and
give thanks. Amen. All right.