If you would open your Bibles
with me to Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3. I'm sure
everyone has noticed the sign-up sheets for food and nursery and
things and the vestibule for our upcoming conference. The
Lord willing, Jan and I are leaving on vacation after the service
today. We're going to meet our Kids
for a week of vacation at the beach. And Wednesday night, Jonathan
Tate will be preaching, and next Sunday, Eric Floyd will be preaching. So I know those men covet your
prayers. Let's begin our reading Colossians
3, verse 17. And whatsoever you do, in word
or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks
to God and the Father by Him. And then these next verses, Paul
begins to talk about some of the things that you do that affect
the everyday lives of almost all of us. Wives, submit yourselves
unto your own husbands as is fit in the Lord. Do that, whatever
it is you do, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus. Husbands,
love your wives and be not bitter against them. Children, obey
your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing unto the
Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they
be discouraged. Servants obey in all things your
masters, according to the flesh. Not with eye service as men pleasers,
but in singleness of heart, fearing God. And whatsoever you do, do
it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men, knowing that of
the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for
ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall
receive for the wrong which he hath done, and there is no respect
of persons, Masters, give unto your servants that which is just
and equal, knowing that ye also have a master in heaven. We'll
end our reading there. All right, let's stand together.
Shawn leads us in singing our call to worship. Approach, my soul, the mercy
seat, where God will hear our prayer. There humbly fall before
His feet, for none can perish there. Thy promise is my only
plea. With this I venture nigh. Thou callest burdened souls to
Thee, and such, O Lord, am I. O wondrous love to bleed and
die, to bear the cross and shame, that guilty sinner such as I
might plead thy gracious name. ? The hearing ear, the seeing
eye ? ? The contrite heart bestow ? ? And bless us with thy precious
word ? ? That we in grace may grow ? Okay, if you would, turn
to song number 480. 480, in tenderness he sought me. In tenderness he sought me, weary
and sick with sin, and on his shoulders brought me back to
his fold again. While angels in his presence
sang, until the chords of heaven rang. O the love that sought me! O the blood that bought me! O the grace that brought me to
the fold! Wondrous grace that brought me
to the fold! He washed the bleeding sin wounds
and poured in oil and wine. He whispered to assure me, I've
found thee, thou art mine. I never heard a sweeter voice,
it made my aching heart rejoice. O the love that sought me, O
the blood that bought me, O the grace that brought me to the
fore, wondrous grace that brought me to the fore. He pointed to
the nail prints, for me his blood was shed. A mocking crown so
thorny was placed upon his head. I wondered what he saw in me
to suffer such deep agony. O the love that sought me, O
the blood that bought me, O the grace that brought me to the
fold, wondrous grace that brought me to the fold. I'm sitting in His presence,
the sunshine of His face, while with adoring wonder His blessings
I retrace. It seems as if eternal days are
far too short to sound His praise. O the love that sought me, O
the blood that bought me, O the grace that brought me to the
fold, wondrous grace that brought me to the fold. So while the
hours are passing, all now is perfect rest, I'm waiting for
the morning, the brightest and the best. When He will call us
to His side, To be with Him is spotless pride. O the love that sought me! O the blood that bought me! O the grace that brought me to
the fold! Wondrous grace that brought me
to the fold! Let's open our Bibles to Acts
chapter 17. Acts 17, we'll begin reading
in verse 16. Now, while Paul waited for them
at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him. And he saw the city wholly
given to idolatry. Therefore disputed he in the
synagogue with the Jews and with the devout persons, and in the
market daily with them that met with him. And certain philosophers
of the Epicureans and of the Stoics encountered him. And some said, what will this
babbler say? Others, some he seemeth to be
a setter forth of strange gods, because he preached unto them
Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him and brought
him to Erephagos, saying, May we know what this new doctrine
whereof thou speakest is? For thou bringest certain strange
things to our ears. We would know, therefore, what
these things mean. For all the Athenians and strangers
which were there spent their time in nothing else but either
to tell or to hear some new thing. Then Paul stood in the midst
of Mars Hill and said, ye men of Athens, I perceive that in
all things ye are too superstitious, too religious. For as I passed
by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription. to the unknown God, whom therefore
ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you, God that made the
world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven
and of earth, and dwelleth not in temples made with hands, neither
is he worshiped with men's hands, as though he needed anything,
seeing he giveth to all life and breath, in all things, and
hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the
face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed and
the bounds of their habitation, that they should seek the Lord.
If happily they might feel after him and find him, though he be
not far from every one of us. For in him we live and move and
have our being. as certain also of your own poets
have said, for we are also his offspring. For as much then as
we are the offspring of God, we ought not think that the Godhead
is likened to gold or silver or stone, graven by art and man's
device. In the times of this ignorance,
God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent,
because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world
in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof
he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he raised him
from the dead. And when they heard of the resurrection
of the dead, some mocked, and others said, we will hear thee
again of this matter. So Paul departed from among them,
howbeit, Certain men claimed unto him and believed, among
them which was Dionysus, the Arape guide, and a woman named
Damaris, and others with him. Thank God some believe. Let's
go to our Lord in prayer. Our God and Father in heaven,
Lord, we thank you for this day. Thank you for this opportunity
to gather together as a people. Lord, we pray you would be pleased
to bless us with your presence. Lord, you've promised where two
or three are gathered in your name, you'll be in the midst
of them. Lord, bless us with your presence here this morning.
Lord, in all that's said and done, Lord, may it be for the
glory of thy name. Lord, please bless us with your
presence. Be with our pastor as he stands
in this place. Lord, truly, who's sufficient
for these things? Lord, be pleased to speak through
your servant here this morning. And Lord, give us ears to hear. Lord, hearts to receive thy word. Lord, faith to believe. to believe
thy word and to rest in Christ and Christ alone. Lord, for those
of our number who are sick and hurting, Lord, we pray you would
be with your people, Lord, that you'd comfort and strengthen.
Lord, for those who've suffered loss, Lord, we pray your hand
be upon them, Lord, to comfort and strengthen and encourage
in days to come. Lord, cause us not to rest in
this flesh or anything to do with it, Lord, but to rest in
thee. To rest in Christ and Christ
alone. Lord, we pray for our pastor
and Janet as they travel and vacation this week, Lord, that
you would truly give them a time of rest and relaxation with their
family and return them safely to us. Now again, we thank you for this
opportunity to gather and worship. Lord, bless us with the spirit
of worship here this morning. Set aside the thoughts and cares
of this world. Let us seek Christ. For it's
in his name we pray and give thee thanks. How tedious and tasteless the
hours when Jesus no longer I see. Sweet prospects, sweet birds,
and sweet flowers have all lost their sweetness to me. The midsummer sun shines but
dim, The fields strive in vain to look gay. But when I am happy with him,
December's as pleasant as May. His name heals the richest perfume,
And sweeter than music, His voice. His presence disperses my gloom,
And makes all within me rejoice. I should, were He always thus
nigh, Have nothing to wish or to fear No mortal so happy as
I My summer would last all the year Content with beholding his
face My all to his pleasure resigned No changes of season or place
would make any change in my mind. While blessed with a sense of
His love, a palace a toy would appear, and prisons would palaces
prove. If Jesus would dwell with me
there. Dear Lord, if indeed I am Thine,
If Thou art my sun and my song, Say, why do I languish and pine,
And why are my winters so long? Oh, drive these dark clouds from
my sky, Thy soul-cheering presence restore, Or take me unto thee
on high, Where winter and clouds are no more. Oh, that was beautiful. Thank you. That song goes very well with
what I'm going to attempt to preach here in a minute. Boy,
having Christ in our doctrine and knowing Him, so important. But there's nothing the believer
can do, nowhere the believer can go that we don't need Him. Hope I can stress that today,
the importance of having Him and everything that we do and
all the relationships that we have for the believer, if we
have that, if we have his presence, we have him with us, it's all
right. I've entitled the message this
morning, Family Life. If you turn back with me to Colossians
chapter three. Now I've given the message this
title, Family Life, because true religion, salvation, It's more
than doctrine that's written in a book that we talk about
somewhere on Sundays and Wednesdays and don't think about the rest
of the week. Now, true religion, true preaching, true worship
absolutely must have true right doctrine. It has to be correct.
It has to be true, correct doctrine all the way through it. Because
the true doctrine, the true teaching of Christ affects the everyday
life of a believer, not just for a couple hours on Sunday
and Wednesday, but every day. And I say this, true doctrine
has to be all the way through our preaching, our worship, everything
that we do, but that affects the everyday life of the believer
because true doctrine is the preaching of Christ. It's the
preaching of him. He's with the believer always.
He's important to the believer, not just for two hours on Sunday
and an hour on Wednesday, but every day and everything that
we do. True religion is knowing Christ. It's preaching Him, it's knowing
Him, it's believing Him. So true religion, this relationship
that the believer has with Christ, that has to affect absolutely
everything the believer does. It has to. It has to affect every
relationship that we have. True religion, and I'm not talking
about just here a claim of a set of beliefs, of doctrines, but
having Christ in the heart. That absolutely has to make better
husbands, better wives, better parents, better children, better
workers, and better bosses. It absolutely has to. A relationship
with Christ, Christ in the heart, absolutely has to make a person
easier to get along with because they're more considerate, they're
kinder, they're more loving, they're less selfish if Christ
is in the heart. And I seriously question a person's
religion if it doesn't make a man a better husband and doesn't
make a woman a better wife. I question it. I question religion
where a child is not a better child and parents are not better
parents, employees are not better employees, and bosses are not
better bosses. I just, you know, I seriously question that. Because where Christ is in the
heart, the walk and conduct and attitudes
can be affected. Now, I'm not saying it's going
to be perfect, but it will be effective. It absolutely will
be. And just like a couple of weeks ago, the last time we looked
here in Colossians chapter three, the key to this is found in verse
11. Christ is all. Christ is all. How we go about
all these different relationships that we're going to look at this
morning just completely depends on this. Christ is all. It's
all in looking to him. Now, we can only be better husbands
and better wives, better parents and children, better employees
and bosses by the power of God in us who's commanded us to walk
this way. The believer's motivation and
how we conduct ourselves in these different relationships all has
to do with this, Christ is all. Christ is all, like Paul said
in verse 17, whatever you do, if it's in word or deed, Do it
in the name of the Lord Jesus. You're doing it following Him.
You're doing it looking to Him. You're doing it calling upon
Him and believing Him. And any child of God, someone
that God Almighty has saved by His grace, that has given them
a sight of Christ by faith, they have a new nature that wants
to follow, that will follow the example of Christ our Savior.
And I know we can't do anything perfectly. I know that. We can't
do something as perfectly as the Lord Jesus did it, because
he did everything perfect, didn't he? Well, I'll tell you what,
we can give it our best shot. I mean, we can give it our best
shot. Isaac coaching basketball last
year, if you're down by two points with two seconds left to go,
half court shot's unlikely. But you want somebody to take
it, don't you? You don't want somebody to be afraid, oh, I'm not going
to make this, so I'm not going to shoot it. Give it your best shot. I
know. I know we can't do these things
perfectly, but give it your best shot. I can't stress this enough. First
and foremost, Christ is our Savior. He's our master. We bow before
Him, we beg Him for His mercy, we worship Him. First and foremost,
I can't stress, He's the Lord, He's the King, He's the Savior.
But Peter said, 1 Peter 2 verse 21, Christ also suffered for
us, leaving us an example. that we follow in his steps.
And that's what a believer wants to do. Follow his example. And I want to look at these verses
this morning and see if we can't learn something that might show
us something more of Christ our Savior that we trust him. And
also give us an example where each of us can learn to do better
in each of these relationships that we have in our lives. And
the first, Paul begins with wives, verse 18. Wives, submit yourselves. under your own husbands as it
is fit in the Lord. Now the Lord has made the husband
to be the head of the home, to be the head of the wife. That's
God's order in the home. It's not because men are inherently
better. Eric just read that the Lord has made us all of one blood
of one. We all got the same nature. This is just God's order in the
home. And because of that, because
this is God's order in the home, wives are submit to submit yourselves
to the authority of the husband in the home. And I say to our
girls and our single women, I want you to listen to me. You be very
careful who you put yourself in submission to. You be very
careful who you marry, because this is God's commandment to
us, that you are to be in submission to him. And just don't get yourself
in a rush now. Boy, I know. I know when you're
young and you just think of, boy, I mean, when I was marrying
Jane, I wanted to marry her. I want to marry her right now.
I mean, I didn't want, you know, there was no way. I just, I wanted
to hurry. But just take your time. And you be sure you know
this fella. You be sure you know him. You
be sure that he's earned your love and your respect. You be
sure he loves and respects you, for you put yourself in submission
to him now. You be careful. And this thing of submission,
one of the most twisted things in men's minds, This does not
mean that our ladies have to submit themselves to the vile,
selfish wills of their husband. The Apostle Paul makes that very
clear. He says, as it's fit in the Lord, as it's fit in the
holiness of the Lord, as it's fit in the love and the compassion
of our Lord's character, you submit yourself. Something that's
outside of that, you don't. Just don't do it. And if that
doesn't answer any question that you got about this, I'm afraid
maybe you don't even know the Lord. Submit yourself as it's
in the Lord's character, as it's revealed in scripture. Biblical
submission also does not mean this. It does not mean that ladies
are second class citizens and men are just better and they
got to obey all men. Again, Paul makes it very plain. Submit yourself to your own husbands. to your own husbands, not every
man to your own husband. It ought not be a problem if
things go the way they ought to, to submit yourself to a husband
who promised before God to love you and cherish you as Christ
loved the church. It ought not be difficult to
do, should it? Godly submission does not mean that women are
inferior to men at all. I wish you didn't have to say
all these things, what this is not, what this submission is
not, but now you got to because Men just have this thing twisted
around. Women are not inferior to men at all. And us men need
to get that out of our heads. We need to get it completely
out of our heads. Our wives, the husband's the head of the
home. But now listen, our wives are to have input in everything
the family does, in everything. I have in my notes the children.
I mean, not only should the wife have input in that, she needs
to have the most. of it, you know, that's just
a fact. In our finances, in the way we do things, the wife is
to have input in everything because the wife is the CEO of the home. She's to be a keeper at home,
that's what Paul says. She's to run the home. And me
and we just need to stay in our lane and let her run it, let
her be the keeper of it. And I tell you this, a wise man,
a wise man will listen to the input of his wife. We just gotta
admit, she often has a better idea than we do. And just from
the, generally speaking, the nature of women, she'll usually
have a more gracious, more kind, and a more loving way of looking
at things than men do. And we'd be wise to listen. And
I'll give you an example. David. David benefited mightily
from listening to the advice of Abigail. If he didn't listen
to her advice, he'd have made a royal mess of everything. And he's better off listening
to her advice. And if you don't know that story, you go home
this afternoon, 1 Samuel 25, and you'll see how wise David
was in listening to Abigail. Now here's what biblical submission
is. Biblical submission is a beautiful thing. It's absolutely beautiful
because listen. It's a picture of Christ in the
home. You ladies have the honor and
the privilege in submitting yourselves to your own husband as it's fit
in the Lord because you are a picture of Christ and you have the opportunity
to be a picture of Christ to your children, to your family,
to your neighbors. What a blessing God's given you
to be a picture of Christ in the home. Because Christ submitting
himself to the will of his Father is the salvation of his people.
You have the opportunity to be a picture of the Savior. God
the Son, equal with the Father. He thought it not robbery to
call himself equal with the Father, because he is equal with the
Father. But what did he do? He submitted himself. He submitted
himself to becoming a man. He submitted himself. God Almighty
submitted himself to confine himself to live in a body of
flesh, to live as a man with the limitations of the flesh,
to live as a man under the rule of the law. He submitted himself
to becoming a servant. He came as a servant to his father,
to obey his father, to please his father, to work out a perfect
righteousness for his people that he might bring them to God.
And he submitted himself. In the garden, he prayed, Father,
if it's possible, let this cup pass from you. But not as I will, thy will be
done. And he submitted himself to the
father. Aren't you thankful? He submitted himself to sacrifice
himself to be made sin. I mean, can you think of anything
more abhorrent to the nature of the son of God than to be
made sin for his people? And then to suffer and die, to
put it away. that he might save his people
from their sins. He submitted himself. And that's
our salvation. And if you know the Savior, that's
beautiful to you. Oh, what a beautiful how every
aspect of salvation in Christ is so beautiful. And you have
that honor. To be a picture of Christ in
your home in that way. And husbands, we should honor
our wives in that way. She's a picture of Christ, my
savior in our home. We should honor her that way,
shouldn't we? And that brings me to husbands. Paul says here
in verse 19, husbands, love your wives and be not bitter against
them. Now, husbands, love your wives. Don't rule over her like a tyrant.
Love her. Don't micromanage her. Love her. Love her so well, she's willing
to be in submission to you. Willing. Don't be bitter against
her. And what Paul means there is don't deal bitterly with her. Don't deal harshly with her.
Don't deal with her in such a way that she feels bitter towards
you. Love her. Love her. Love answers this whole
thing. Love her. Husband, just do your
best. Do your best to love her. I know
we can't love our wives like Christ loved the church. He loved
his bride perfectly. I understand that. But I'm telling
you what, it's the rare woman that won't submit herself to
you and won't love you back if you're doing your absolute best
to love her. Now that's just so. Rule your
home well by love, not a high and mighty attitude like you're
so much better than everybody else and you sit in your throne
and tell everybody what to do and when to do it. Rule your
home in love. And husbands, remember this,
if you've married a believer, God Almighty has entrusted you
to love, and to care for, and to cherish a princess, one of
his daughters. Look at 1 Peter 3. You think
it matters to the king how you treat one of his daughters? So
what Peter says about that here. Verse seven. Likewise, ye husbands dwell with
them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, honor
her as under the weaker vessel as being heirs together of the
grace of life that your prayers be not hindered. The husbands
honor your wife. She's valuable. She ought to
be valuable to you. She's valuable to God. She's one of his children.
She's valuable to him. She's a daughter of the king.
You're heirs together. You're heirs together of God's
grace. It's not like you get more and
she gets what's left over. You're heirs together of God's
grace. And if you're treating your wife
harshly, Peter says, your prayers will be hindered. And that word
hinder means cut off. Not just, well, God listened
to some of them and not all. It means cut off. Can you imagine
somebody treating your daughter poorly and you just, you know,
going to listen to everything they say? No. That your prayers
be not hindered. Now, just like the wife, the
husband is a picture of Christ in the home. And man, what an
honor that is. And what a responsibility that
is to be a picture of Christ in the home. In Ephesians chapter
five, Paul says the husbands are to love his wife as Christ
loved the church. Well, how did Christ love the
church? Sacrificially. He loved the church and gave
himself for her. Oh my. I was talking to a man
one time and he said, uh, he's talking, we're talking about
this thing of marriage and he said, how men get all so hung up on
wife submitting yourselves, your own husbands. He said, how about
trying this on for size? Love your wife as Christ loved
the church and gave himself for it. Oh, the Lord Jesus Christ,
our bridegroom. He sacrificed himself. He endured
unimaginable suffering, suffering of the soul you and I cannot
comprehend. We can't even begin to scratch
the surface to understand that. He suffered, he sacrificed himself. Why? For the good of his bride. She couldn't be redeemed any
other way. So husbands, let's not make our wives give up herself
for us. We're to give up ourselves and
to sacrifice of ourselves for her. She comes first. Let's not
consider our wives to be our servants now, or she just waits
on us hand and foot. She's much more than that. She's
one flesh with us. One flesh. I don't know about
you, but I try to treat my body pretty well. Let's love her. Think of her
as our flesh. And think of ourselves as her
servant. Yes, the husband's the head of
the home. He's to rule the home. He's to make those decisions.
Yes, absolutely. He has to take that responsibility. But our
Lord and Master washed the feet of his disciples. See what I
just did? I'm your Lord. I'm your Master. And I washed your feet. I served
you. Now you serve one another. You serve one another that way.
Husbands do what it takes. to take care of her, do what
it takes to make her happy, do what it takes to make her secure
in your love so that she'll be happy to submit to you. If you earn her trust and her
respect so she's confident you're not gonna do anything to hurt
her, she'll submit and trust you. She'll submit to you and
trust you. Isn't that the way Christ loves the church? Do you
have any reservations at all trusting the Lord's doing right.
None whatsoever do. Well, if we make our wives trust
us that way, then she'll have no problem finding it easy to
submit to our rule. And I think this needs to be
said, and I hope, husbands, that it'll help. We need not get too
full of ourselves. We think, well, our wife is a
picture of Christ the servant, and we're the picture of Christ
the Lord. Hang on. I mean, that's true,
but we need to remember we're the picture. We're the picture
of Christ. We don't have the wisdom of Christ.
We don't have the love of our Savior. We're not infallible
like our Lord is. Because I said so, that's a real
good answer to our children. Because I said so. That's a real
good answer. More parents should give that
answer and stop right there. Because I said so. But because
I said so is never an acceptable answer to our wife. And we need
to remember that. We're not to rule over her like
that. We're just the picture, not the real thing. And I'm telling
you with very few exceptions, a wife will gladly submit to
the rule of her husband if he's doing his dead level best to
love her as Christ loved the church. We just need to, you
know, don't be so concerned telling your wife to submit to you. Be
concerned with loving her. love her into it, and she will. When we were first married, I
was working just, I mean, insane hours. On the rare occasion,
I might have been a little grumpy, and Jan's grandmother told her,
love him out of it. Good advice. Husbands, love her
out of it. Love her into being willing to
submit to you. I can't stress that enough. It'll
make your life better. So you do it as unto the Lord.
If you do this following Christ, it's going to make your life
better. I'm telling you, I want the best for you. I want to preach
Christ, but then from this also want to give you what's best
for you, what's best for your life, daily life. Next, Paul talks
to children. Verse 20 children obey your parents
and all things for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. Now you
children, I love children. And I sat in pews just like you
are right now. I was your age, sitting in places.
I was your age going to school, your age playing with friends
and so forth. And I know to you that I look
so old, but I remember being a child. I really do. And so
as I say these things to you, I want you to understand I know
what it's like to be you. I think about you in every message
that I prepare. I want you to listen to me. Something
in God's words specifically for you. Now your parents are older
than you and they've had more time to learn than you have.
They're not perfect, but now they've had more time to learn
things than you have. Now it's just right. It's just
best, isn't it, to obey somebody that knows more than you? You
think, I know you think this, I know you think your parents
don't understand you. At least there's times you think
they don't understand what it's like today. They grew up in the
Stone Age and they don't understand what it's like today. They don't
understand what it's like at school. They don't understand
what it's like to have all this peer pressure. They don't understand
what it's like that you just, oh, you just want to be accepted
by your friends. You want to have friends in school
that your parents don't understand. I'm telling you, your parents
understand a whole lot more what you think. Just like me, they
remember being a child. They remember being in second
grade and fifth grade and middle school and high school. They
remember those things. And it's very wise for you to
obey them and benefit from their experience. And this is what
I promise you. I promise you your parents know
far more than you think that they know. and you know less
than you think you know. Now trust your parents and obey
them. And here's something else, it's
very important. Your parents love you. You just
don't know how much your parents love you. You'll never know how
much your parents love you until God gives you children of your
own. You can't just, it's all about love. And because they
love you like that, they only want the best for you. And even
if they make a mistake, even if they make a mistake, they're
out of love for you. They're trying to do what's best
for you. And usually they're probably not making a mistake.
Your parents love you and you love your parents, don't you?
Don't you love your mom? You love your dad? Well, you
know how you show your love for them? By obeying them. Obey, do what they tell you to
do. Paul says here, that's well pleasing to the Lord. It's well
pleasing because that's this is the way the home, the family
is supposed to be run. It's well pleasing to the Lord.
If we learn to obey our parents authority. We just might learn
the Lord might use that as something to teach us to obey Christ authority
over us. God has commanded us. He's not
invited us. He's not told us this is a good
idea. You can choose to do this or this. God has commanded us. Come to Christ and trust Christ
as your Savior. God commands us. Don't try to
save ourselves by being good little boys and good little girls.
He's commanded us to trust Christ, to be all of our salvation. And
I'm telling you, nothing is more well-pleasing to God than when
we obey Him and trust Christ. And could be, like I said, it
could be that the Lord use us learning to obey our parents,
that we learn to obey Him. and nothing is more well-pleasing
to the Lord, nothing is more right, nothing is more beneficial
for you than to trust Christ to be our Savior. Ain't it only
right that we trust Christ to be our Savior? He's the Savior
of sinners, and we're sinners. We ought to trust Him to save
us then, shouldn't we? I want you to look at Exodus chapter
20. In Ephesians chapter six, we won't read it, you can just
trust me, on this, that Paul says this is the first commandment
with promise. The first commandment with promise.
Now, what does that mean? Well, you know, God gave the
10 commandments, didn't he? And in nine of those commandments,
God said, do this, period. Or don't do this, period. But
there's another commandment. There's another commandment that
has a promise attached to it. Look out here, Exodus chapter
20, verse 12. Honor thy father and thy mother,
that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God
giveth thee. Now there's a promise that you honor them that your
days may be long. There's a promise here. You obey
your parents and your life will be better. You learn to honor
your parents and obey them and your life will be better. You'll
be happier. Your whole life, your whole life long will be
happier if you learn to do what your parents tell you to do.
Let me give a few examples. I bet you can't count the number
of times your mother has told you, brush your teeth, brush
your teeth. You know what? That'll make you happier. Your
whole life long, you're going to avoid pain in your teeth and
diseases that come up from your teeth. Sometime if you don't
believe me, you just ask Charity Collins. Ask her how much she
works in the dentist's office, how often she's seen people in
there and pain and things. Your whole life long, you'll
be better if you learn to obey your parents. Just such a simple
thing as brush your teeth. Your parents tell you, clean
your room. Do certain chores. You got to do this. You got to
do something small, at least, to help around the house. Now,
you obey them and do it. Because I'm telling you, learning
that, learning to work, will make your whole life happier
and better. It sure will. Eventually, you're going to have
to work a job for years. Years, you're going to have to
work it. My dear friend Jim Meadows told me, he said he retired from
the railroad, worked there 40 years or something. He said,
Frank, I've worked a long time. He said, and this is what I've
seen. He said, I've seen men that come to work and hate it
and just fight against it every single day. They hate work. And
I've seen men come to work and they just do a good job. They
try to find something to enjoy in it and have a good attitude
about it. He said, you know what? They both worked 30 years. Well,
you're better off learning to do it happy, aren't you? Wouldn't
you rather spend your time happy than sad? You're going to have
to work a job for years, and you'll be happier. Because listen,
this is what I'm telling you. This is especially true today.
People do not teach their children to work. And you're going to
grow up, and you're going to get a job, and you're going to
have a boss. And you know what your boss is going to expect?
He's going to expect for you to show up on time and to work.
And if you learn to show up on time and work, you already got
a leg up on most of your co-workers and your boss is going to like
you. And your life will be happier if your boss likes you and respects
the job that you do. When it comes time for a raise,
if you're the one that the boss likes because you always show
up on time and you work and do a good job, you're going to get
a raise. And you know, money's not to be all and end all, but
it comes in mighty handy down here, Bob. You'll be happier
if you've got enough money to pay your bills. Now you just
will. If your parents teach you to obey them the first time,
they don't get down and beg you, now don't you want to do this,
I'm going to count to three and you better do this. If your parents
teach you to obey them the first time, your life will be happier. I'm going to tell you what, it
could keep you out of jail. is not going to arrest you if
you do what he says the first time. And he ain't counting to three.
Jails are full of people who never learned to obey their parents
the first time. I've visited those places. I've
not been in them. I've not seen them. I've seen
things on TV. I've visited those places. You don't want to go
there. You'll be happier if you're not in jail. I mean, it really
is this serious. Learn to obey your parents the
first time. And this is something so beautiful. Our Lord is telling
children to do something that he himself did as a man. See,
everything he tells his people to do, he did first. The Lord
Jesus Christ is the son of God. He's God in the flesh. Yet not
only did he obey his heavenly father, he was born to an earthly
mother and a stepfather. And you know what? He obeyed
them. The only child who ever lived
knew more than his parents did. And he obeyed. He obeyed. Now if the Lord Jesus could obey
his parents, don't you reckon I can? Don't you reckon you could? Kind of pretty good motivation,
isn't it? And when we don't obey perfectly, when our little, I'm
talking to our children, when our children don't obey their
parents, and us adults, believers, children of God, we don't obey
our Heavenly Father perfectly, Here's our comfort. Christ did. And his obedience is our obedience
made us perfect. Right next fathers. And this
applies to parents, fathers and mothers both. But you'll see
why specifically here is he's talking. He mentions fathers
in verse 21 back in cautious chapter three. Fathers provoke
not your children to anger lest they be discouraged. Now, look
back at the book of Proverbs for a moment. First, look at
Proverbs chapter 13. While you turn, let me talk to
you. You know, a big job, a big part of parenting is teaching
our children. I'm afraid somehow my generation
just somehow got the thought, you just keep your children alive,
keep them in shoes and clothes, you know, until they're 18 and
your job is done. The big part of parenting is teaching. teaching
our children what to do, what not to do. And particularly when
they're little, children are taught not to do wrong by discipline. And this is what the, and I know
this is not the way of our society today, but now God's word has
not gotten out of date. There's nothing in God that,
I mean, we're saved by grace through faith, that not of yourselves,
it's the gift of God. That'll never change, will it?
Neither will these verses, I'm getting ready to read to you.
Proverbs 13, verse 24. He that spareth his rod hates
his son, but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. Look
over a couple pages, Proverbs chapter 19. Verse 18. Chasten thy son while there is
hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying. Now this is what
these two verses are saying. Parents will correct, and by
correct I mean spank, spank their children if they love them. And
if they don't, if they don't discipline, they don't spank
them, I'm telling you, it's because they love themselves more than
their children. They don't want to discipline
their children because they just, I just love them, I don't want
my children pouting at me, I don't want them mad at me. You know,
if you spank your child and they're pouting at you, spank them for
pouting at them and just teach them not to do that. I'm telling
you, teach them not to do that. You spank them and then it's
over. Then it's over. You dry their little eyes, you
love on them and let them know that you love them and it's over.
They'll be just fine. Coming from the, I bet there's
not a person in this room got spanked more as a child than
me. I'm telling you, you'll be just fine. And spanking a child
is just one of the best ways to teach a child not to do wrong. I mean, I don't want to get spanked,
so I won't do that again. Eventually, they'll learn. And
I'm telling you, that's just the truth. And nothing in today's
liberal society is ever going to change that. I don't care
if they get mad at you. Who cares? Solomon said, don't
let your soul spare for us crying. Don't feel sorry for him. He
wouldn't be crying if he had done wrong. Be much more concerned. They ought to be much more concerned
if you're upset with them. I'm telling you, just teach them
to deal with it. Yeah, they're going to cry. Yeah,
they're going to be mad. Again, I know this by experience.
Yes, they're going to be mad. Teach them to deal with it. Teach
them to deal with it. Because remember here. All the time we're raising our
children and we're teaching them and we're disciplining them.
What is the first prayer on a parent's heart every single day? God,
be merciful to my child. God, would you save him? Would
you reveal yourself to him? We're hoping and praying this
child will grow up to be a believer. Well, maybe if I taught him to
deal with my correction, maybe they'll learn to deal with their
heavenly father's correction, because if they're one of God's,
they're going to be corrected. They're going to be corrected.
But here's a warning now from scripture, and I am a Man, I'm
a law and order guy. I mean, out there in society
and in the home, I'm a law and order guy. That's just the way
Jay and I ran our home, especially when our children were little.
But now here's a warning from scripture, and if you'll take
it from a law and order guy like me. Fathers, don't provoke your
children to wrath. And this is said to mothers too,
but it's said to fathers, because we're more prone to be kind of
hard, you know, You've got to spank your children. You've got
to discipline. But don't provoke them to wrath. Don't be unreasonable
with your children. Make your children please you. Make them. Make them obey you. But don't make it impossible
for them to obey you. Don't make it impossible for
them to please you. Love on them. Even when you spank
them, physically, love on them so they know that you love them.
And remember this, children are just children. They're not adults
yet. They think they are, but they're
not. They're not adults yet. Our job as parents is to teach
them to be an adult when it's time. That's our job. And just
like everything else we've been looking at, our motivation for
this and our example in this is Christ is all, our Savior. You just think how patient Our
Heavenly Father is with us. How patiently he teaches us.
By the preaching of the word, line upon line, precept upon
precept, how patiently he teaches us to experience, how patiently
he teaches us while we grow in grace and faith. Our Heavenly
Father does not spare the rod, does he? No. If he loves you,
he's gonna chase you. If you're without chastisement,
you're a bastard, not a son. That's what scripture says. If
you're his son, he chastens you. But he does it for our good,
doesn't he? He does it for our good. Now, every one of us hate
trials, and we don't want the next one. But every believer
has to admit, when we come through it and look back, we say, oh,
that was good for me. That was the best thing for me.
I told you, I don't think there's a person in this room who has
spanked more than a child than I am, than I was. And I hated it. But I look back now and it's
the best thing for me. It's the best thing for me. The
same thing is true with our Heavenly Father. We come through these
trials and it's painful. We don't like it. It's not pleasant
in the moment. But we look back and we say,
oh, that's the best thing for me. Because in our Father's chastisements
and His trials for His people, what does He always teach us? He always teaches us to trust
Him more. He always teaches us. He teaches
us again. Oh, his grace is sufficient.
It makes us more secure in his love and his care and his provision
for his people. See, our father does discipline
his children, but he also gives us grace sufficient for every
one of them, doesn't he? All right, here's the next thing.
Servants, verse 22, back in our text here, Colossians chapter
three. Servants obey in all things your
masters, according to the flesh, Now with eye service, as men
pleasers, don't just do a good job when they're watching, but
in singleness of heart, fearing God. And whatsoever you do, do
it heartily, as to the Lord and not men. Here's why you do a
good job, whether the ball's watching or not, because you're
working as unto the Lord, not unto men. Knowing that of the
Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve
the Lord Christ. What an honor, God's given you
this blessing to serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong
shall receive for the wrong which he hath done. And there's no
respect of persons. Now, believers are to be the
best employee in the business. We're not to be gold breakers.
We should be a hard worker and do a good job all the time, whether
anybody's watching or not. And you know what? You might
not have a good boss. I mean, I've had some bad bosses
do a good job anyway, because listen. Paul says here, we're
not working for that boss. If he's a bad boss, okay. I mean,
you know, that's miserable, but you're not working for him anyway.
You're working to the Lord as unto the Lord. And just remember
that tomorrow when you wake up about five o'clock and you're
getting ready for work and what an honor God's given you to go
to work. I mean, what a blessing that
God's given you a job and what a blessing it is he's given you
to be able to go to work and work as unto the Lord. And you
just remember this and don't think, well, you know, I'm one
of God's children. He'll always provide. He's going to take care
of me, you know, and don't you go do a bad job at work and then
expect your boss to give you a raise. Don't you go do a bad
job at work and just be surprised if you get fired because God
says here, you're not, he's no respecter of persons. You do
a bad job. You're going to get what you
deserve. You do a good job and you'll get what you deserve to
do it as unto the Lord. And then last, masters, or bosses,
chapter four, verse one. Masters, give unto your servants
that which is just and equal, knowing that ye also have a master
in heaven. Now people work for you. You
may not own the company, but I worked a long time and had
people that worked for me. And this was very important.
Treat them well. Treat them well. Treat them fairly.
Pay them as much as you can. Don't pay them as little as you
can. Pay them as much as you can. So they can support their
family. I mean, these people got a family.
They're giving you your time. Pay them well. Treat them well. And you think, well, maybe that's
not very good business. I want to pay them as little as I can
so I make more money. Well, for the rebel out there, all right.
But I hope I'm not talking a bunch of rebels. I hope I'm talking
some God's people here. What's our motivation for treating
somebody well on the job? Pay them as much as you can pay
them. Christ is all. Well, you think about being a
supervisor, supervising other people. You just remember this,
our Lord and Master. We have a Lord and Master who
we serve, who we answer to. Thankfully, He has not treated
us fairly. If He treated us fairly, it's
in His tail, wouldn't it? No, He's treated us with pure mercy
and pure grace. He's actually given us not what
we deserve, but what Christ our Savior deserves. Our Lord and
Master makes His people delighted to serve Him. Aren't you delighted
to serve Him? I mean, it's just a small thing,
but I noticed, I was out here at the vestibule this morning,
and people were coming in, particularly our ladies, and they saw the
sign-up sheets out there, and they went straight to them and
signed up. I mean, you know, we have conferences,
and we have things that need to be done around here, and I'm
so thankful for this, People are always saying, what can I
do? Can I help do this? Can I help do this? Our ladies just, you
know, Janet says, I don't even need to set out some food sign-up
sheets. She says, our ladies are pros. They're just, you know.
You know why all that is? God's people love to serve Him.
This is an opportunity to serve Him, isn't it? Our Lord makes
us delighted to serve Him. Well, if you're a supervisor
down there at the job, take a page out of that book. Treat people
fairly. I know some people you can't.
Some people are easier to supervise than others. That's why I said,
be the one easy to supervise, but treat people as well as you
can, thinking of our Lord and Master. See, we think of all
those relationships in light of Christ our Savior. Oh, it's
such a blessing. It's such a blessing. And it's
a motivation for us to follow His example. All right. Now,
one of my favorite parts of the week, every week, is greeting
you all at the door. With your permission, I'm going
to skip that today and leave while we're singing. Jan and
I got a long drive, and we're hoping to meet up with our children
in time for dinner tonight. We want to kind of get started.
And Hopie, please don't think at all that's any indication
of my love for you. We just feel like we need to
get on the road. And Lord willing, we'll see you in, well, I guess
a week and a half or so. All right. Let's bow together. Our father. How can we begin to even thank
you that we can bow before you and call the God of heaven and
earth our Father? Oh, how we thank you for your mercy and
your grace. How we thank you for salvation in our Lord Jesus
Christ that was worked out by your perfect servant to establish
righteousness for his people who submitted himself to becoming
the sacrifice for the sin of his people that he might put
our sin away. Oh, Father, how we thank you.
how we thank you for your spirit that comes to your people and
reveals Christ to us and in us. And Father, I pray that out of
a heart that's overflowing with thanksgiving and awe and wonder
that you would do something so wonderful for the likes of us,
that you might help us in each of these relationships to be
better, to be better husbands and wives, better parents and
children, workers and bosses, And even in things that weren't
mentioned, neighbors and coworkers and everything that we do, Father,
help us to do them more patiently, to do them for the honor and
glory of Christ our Savior. It's in his precious name, for
his sake, in his glory we pray, amen. All right, Sean. Okay, if you would, turn to song
number 229 and stand as we sing. Tell me the old, old story of
unseen things above, of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His
love. Tell me the story simply, as
to a little child. For I am weak and weary, and
helpless and defiled. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story of
Jesus and His love. Tell me the story slowly that
I may take That wonderful redemption, God's
remedy for sin. Tell me the story often, for
I forget it so soon. The early dew of the morning
has passed away at noon. Tell me the old, old story, Tell
me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story of
Jesus and His love. Tell me the story softly with
earnest tones and grave. Remember, I'm a sinner. who Jesus came to save. Tell me the story always if you
would really be in any time of trouble a comforter to me. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story of
Jesus and His love. Tell me the Stone Wolf story
when you have caused to fear that this world's empty glory
is costing me too dear. Yes, and when that world's glory
is dawning on my soul, tell me the old, old story. Christ Jesus makes thee whole. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story of
Jesus and His love. Thank you.