Children obey your parents

Children obey your parents Eph. 6:1-3
Intro…Christian fish comic…parents set the rules.
Text: Ephesians 6:1-3
Big Picture: Children obey your parents in the Lord…so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy a long life on this earth.


Our series: Husbands love your wives, Wives submit to your husbands, Children obey your parents…
• Notice how these are all short, simple commands from God. Let’s not make things more complicated than need be.

Review: Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church.
Wives submit to your husband’s as to the Lord.
Children obey your parents in the Lord.

Common theme?
As Christians we serve God first. Loving our wives, submitting to our husbands and obeying our parents is the duty of all Christians. We do these things because they are right in God’s eyes…
• It’s not just about loving your wives, submitting and obeying, it’s really about loving God, submitting to Him and obeying Him.

So…in light of all that (today’s sermon)
Ephesians 6:1 Children obey your parents in the Lord…because it’s the right thing to do!
It's like our kids are in the Marines…first time obedience
• When children learn to obey their parents, it sets a precedent for the other authority figures in their lives later on.
• I say to my children all the time (when they complain about doing tasks/chores around the house) “It’s not like I’m asking you to do something that is unreasonable.”

Eph. 6:2 Honor your father and mother.
• It’s also the first commandment with a promise!
• Exodus 20:12 …”so that you may live long in the land the Lord is giving you.
• Obedience sets the stage for a long life. How so?
• Because proper order in the family is the basis for a solid social structure.
• Deut. 21:18-21
• Kids, when you are young and under the authority/influence of your parents, learning to obey them brings a sense of order to your life.
• It teaches you from a young age the line of authority. And what is that line?
• It starts with kids and goes all the way up to God.
• From Old to New Testament, God wants us to obey and honor our parents.
• The general lack of respect that kids have for their parents today is ridiculous. When that respect is established and maintained early on, it will reap benefits for years to come.
• Proverbs 6:20-22
• This is a passage that warns against adultery!
• These verses are similar to Deut. 6:4-9

BTW, we should honor our father and mother all throughout lives. (We are all “kids” until our parents die.)
• For some of you that’s easy, talking, phone calls, emails FB etc.
• For others, parents represent pain. Yet I still believe we can honor them, somehow.

Let’s look at a few other important verses on this topic of children obeying their parents.
• Leviticus 19:3 Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.
• Proverbs 1:8-9 ,
• Prov. 13:24, (when you see a 6 yr. old throwing a temper tantrum in the store…ages 1-5 are critical and can set a pattern for life)
• Prov. 22:6, (Our children need constant training, they aren’t going to get disciplined on their own!)
• Prov. 23: 13-14 (our “rod”) What did your parents use?
Prov. 30:17 We used to quote this verse as youth pastors to put the fear of God into the kids…(the body will lay unburied for the birds to feed on. Duet. 28:26 “Your carcasses will be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away.)

• 2 Timothy 3:1-5

• Luke 2:48-52 The example of Jesus.


Conclusion:
• To bring this all full-circle (v. 4) the responsibility always comes back to the Father.
• (Living) “And now a word to you parents, don’t keep on scolding and nagging your children, making them angry and resentful. Rather bring them up with loving discipline the Lord himself approves with suggestions and godly advice.”
• So there is the balance. Children need to obey their parents and parents are not to exasperate your children.
• What a tricky balance.
• All children alarm their parents, if only because you are forever expecting to encounter yourself.
Gore Vidal