The Wisdom and Beauty of the 5th Commandment

Well, that was certainly very beautiful special music, and truly all creation does sing the great glory of Almighty God. A first grade teacher had 26 students in her class. She presented each child in her classroom the first half of a well-known proverb and asked them to come up with the remainder of that proverb. It's hard to believe these were actually done by first graders. Their insight may surprise you. While reading, keep in mind that these are first graders, six-year-olds because the last one, in fact, they all are classic. Okay, here are some of the well-known proverbs. I might get a little bit of participation from you on what the actual proverb says. Don't change horses in the middle of the stream. First graders said, until they stop running. The second one, strike while the iron is hot. No, the bug is close. Third one, you can lead a horse to water, but how? They said. Don't bite the hand that feeds you. No, it looks dirty. No news is impossible. If you lie down with dogs, you'll stink in the morning. Love all, trust me, they put. An idle mind is the best way to relax. A penny saved is not much. The whole world laughs with you. Cry and cry. You have to blow your nose. Children should be sane and not spanked or grounded. When the blind leave the blind, when the blind leave the blind, get out of the way. Not bad. Last one, a bird in the hand is going to poop on you. A little bit of humor with our wonderful children. In the Macon and Columbus churches, we are blessed to have children, young people. Looking at the two congregations together, about a third, almost a third of the ones attending, are children and young people. We love and appreciate each and every one. Our church would not be the same without the children. God loves children. Jesus said, Suffer the little children. We have the blessing of little children's ceremony every year. We have special summer camps for our children. We have special Bible classes. So the sermon today, as you may have surmised, is going to be about our children. Let's do a little short group quiz. Number one, one of the Ten Commandments is directly to the children. Which one? Honor your father and mother. That's number five, right?

Second question is true and false. Children have a calling to become members of the church.

That is true. Number three, children are not a part of the church family until they are baptized. False.

False. Children are very much a part of our church family. Wouldn't it be different if our children, just us adults here, no children? They are very much a part of our church family.

Number four, the Fifth Commandment is called the First Commandment with promise. True or false? True. And number five, the Fifth Commandment has two great promises, in fact. What are they?

Okay, we're going to look at the scriptures on that one.

Let's look at the scriptures right now that reveal the answer to those two great promises. Let's first of all go to Exodus 20 and verse 12.

Exodus chapter 20 and verse 12. Of course, the Ten Commandments here.

In verse 12, we have the Fifth Commandment given, Honor your father and your mother.

That your days, here's that first promise, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you. Okay, so that you may have long life. I believe you can say this would apply both nationally the Israelites would be blessed with coming into the land and being there generation after generation. Their days would be long. We can also apply this individually, that a person that honors his father and mother also has that promise of his life being long upon the land. Let's go to the second place that the Ten Commandments are given in Deuteronomy chapter 5. And we'll notice here that a second promise is given to this Fifth Commandment. That's in Deuteronomy chapter 5 and verse 16. And this is that chapter that has the second version of the Ten Commandments. Basically the same as in Exodus chapter 20, but a little bit different. In verse 16, Honor your father and your mother as the Lord your God has commanded you that your days may be long Oh, and it adds something here, doesn't it? And that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. So the two great promises of the Fifth Commandment is number one, that your days may be long. Long life, long inheritance of the land. And Deuteronomy 5 and verse 16, that it may be well with you. A good life, a successful life. So the two wonderful promises of the Fifth Commandment would be a long life and a good life. A life where everything is going well. Let's notice that the Apostle Paul draws on the Fifth Commandment in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 1. Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 1. Okay, here we are. Children, obey your parents in the Lord. For this is right. It's just a logical and right thing that children should obey their parents in the Lord. Verse 2. Honor your father and mother. And here's where we find, which is the First Commandment with promise. And verse 3, notice how he incorporates the two great promises in this verse. Number one, that it may be well with you. That things would go well, but you may be successful. And number two, you may live long on the earth. So, the Apostle Paul consolidated these two promises that it may be well and that you may live long. The Expositor's Bible commentary has about these verses. It is interesting that Paul addresses children directly. They are part of the total Christian family, the Church. Our children are very much a part of our family, Church. Obedience on the part of children, Expositor's goes on to say, consists to listening to the advice given by parents. Many passages of Scripture support such an obligation. Disobedience to parents is a symptom of a disintegrating social structure, and Christian families have a particular responsibility not to contribute to the collapse of an ordered community. We see that happening all around us today. Our country, then, is falling apart because we are not obeying God's laws. And this one, the Fifth Commandment included. Expositor's ends by saying obedience to parents is part of the divine law. So the Fifth Commandment, yes, it's a part of God's law. And the title I'd like to give to the sermon today is the Wisdom and Beauty of the Fifth Commandment. I think we're going to see there's a lot of wisdom and there's a lot of beauty in this commandment. I want you to first to next notice that there was a stiff penalty for violation of the Fifth Commandment in the Old Testament. Let's go to Exodus chapter 21. Exodus chapter 21. And read verses 15 and 17.

Exodus 21 and verse 15, He who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

The death penalty went with anyone that would strike his father or his mother. Verse 17, He who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. I'll tell you what, if we had that kind of law followed today, we'd have a lot less. We wouldn't have any crime, we wouldn't have any violent offenders of the law like we do today. Let's go to Deuteronomy chapter 21. Yes, there was a stiff penalty for breaking the Fifth Commandment. You just couldn't break the Fifth Commandment and get away with it. What if you have a rebellious child that just would not obey his parents? What was to be done? Deuteronomy 21 and verse 18, If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, who when they have chastened him will not heed them, then his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders of the city. They shall say to the elders of the city, This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey our voice. He's a glutton and a drunkard. Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall put away the evil person from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear." If we had more of that type of strictness, we'd have a lot less crime and violence in our country today. But you know, there are prophecies that we would have violation or breaking of the Fifth Commandment in our time. Let's go to 2 Timothy chapter 3. 2 Timothy chapter 3 was prophesied that we would have disobedience to the Fifth Commandment. 2 Timothy chapter 3 and beginning to read in verse 1.

2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 1, 2 Know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. Men shall be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents. Notice. And we certainly see that today, unthankful, unholy.

So we see these things in these last days in which we are living. It's also good to Isaiah 3. It was prophesied in Isaiah also that we would have children that would not be not be obedient to their parents. And the sad results of that we see all around us. We even see young children murdering other children. There was some news about that this past week.

Isaiah chapter 3 and verse 5. Isaiah 3 and verse 5, the people will be oppressed. We see a lot of that going on. Every one by another and every one by his neighbor. The child will be insolent toward the elder and the base toward the honorable. And in verse 12, as for my people, children are their oppressors.

We see that everywhere going on in our country today. Children are their oppressors. Women rule over them. All my people, those who lead you, cause you to err and destroy the way of your past. In many ways, the USA leads the way as far as disobedience to the Fifth Commandment. And we should feel sorry for our children today. We have babies that are born in so many babies. I read that a recent figure I read was a million. I'm not sure exactly the number right now. That 40 percent of babies are born to an unwed mother.

Three out of five will live in a single parent home, at least part of their childhood. And now marriage has been redefined. Same-sex marriages. Some children are then adopted into such families, and they have two women or two men as their parents. That doesn't change the Bible definition of marriage. Marriage is between one man and one woman. That's the only true definition of marriage. The social revolution is having a deep impact on our children and on our country. So today, let's explore the wisdom and the beauty of the Fifth Commandment.

Wonderful results. We would have wonderful results. What a different world it would be if mankind kept the Fifth Commandment. The Fifth Commandment introduces a series of commandments that define relationships with other people. Honor your father and mother, and you shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not lie. You shall not covet. These last six of the Ten Commandments set standards of behavior.

The Fifth Commandment sets the stage. Character begins to form in childhood, and character drives our conduct and behavior. During these formative years, attitudes in relation to others are shaped and molded. You think back on your own childhood. Your attitude and your behavior toward others were shaped in your childhood. A primary focus of the Fifth Commandment is learning to respect and to honor others beginning in childhood. The Fifth Commandment then guides in how to properly submit to authority, how to accept teaching and correction, how to consider and yield and submit to others, how to accept the influence of mentors.

So look at all the benefits of keeping the Fifth Commandment. We see the wisdom in this and the beauty. Keeping the Fifth Commandments or Commandment helps establish a life of lifetime pattern of respecting rules, principles, and laws. Honoring other people should be a normal, natural habit learned during youth, during childhood.

The Fifth Commandment shows from whom and how the fundamentals of love, respect, and honor are most effectively learned. It's in a loving family led by a father and a mother. But children have their responsibility, too. As they begin to grow up and have these principles of honor and love and respect developed in them, children have a responsibility to choose to do that which is right.

Let's go back to Ephesians chapter 6. You know, there can be situations where a child doesn't submit in the Old Testament. That child would be brought to the elders of the city and put to death if he would not obey and respect his parents. Children have their responsibility to do what is right. Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 1. Notice, children obey your parents in the Lord. Why? Simply because this is right. It's the right thing to do. It's just the right thing to do.

And one other thing that it is, turn to Colossians 3 and verse 20. To obey your parents is something else as well. Colossians 3 and verse 20. Children, obey your parents in all things. Why? For this is well pleasing to the Lord. So, our young people who are here, if you choose to obey your parents, you are doing something that is right and you're doing something that is well pleasing to God.

If you obey your parents. So, children here choose to obey your parents and choose to do what is right. And it will be well pleasing to God. And it does the right thing to do. Our children can choose to help their parents do chores, to love and care for siblings. There's a choice to make here. That's what I'm trying to say. Our young people that we have here. You have a choice. Our children can go further. They can choose to obey God and do what is well pleasing to Him. They can choose to study the Bible. I know I did at the age of 15 or 16. I began to study the Ambassador College Bible Correspondence Course. That was my choice. My parents didn't decide for me. I found out about it and wanted to take the Bible Correspondence Course. I took 18 lessons before graduating from high school and then applying for Ambassador College. So, under the children that age can make choices. They can make choices when they're younger than 15 also. When they're six or eight, they can choose to obey their parents. They can choose to do what is well pleasing to God, draw close to God. And we do see here in our congregation, our young people, I think, doing a good job at this. Children can choose to follow the examples of godly young people. I want our young people to answer to let us know who this is. Who was sold and taken to Egypt? He refused sexual immorality. He was thrown into prison, but in everything he conducted himself in a godly manner, and he was richly rewarded. Who was that? Joseph. All right. We've got several of these. Let's see if you can get each one. Who was the child who was loaned to the Lord? Right after he was weaned, his mother gave him to the priest to minister in the house of the Lord. And even as a child, he let none of God's words fall to the ground, and he became a great judge and prophet in Israel. Who was that? Samuel. All right. Very good. Who served God from his youth as a person after God's own heart? He was not afraid to face a giant who threatened his people. He became a great king in Israel. David. All right. I'm giving you easy ones. Overall, there may be a difficult one later on, though. Who, even in captivity in a foreign land, would not eat defiled food? And three of them would not bow down to a golden image and were thrown into a fiery furnace, but all these youths were richly rewarded. All right. As far as the one who also refused defiled food was Daniel. So Daniel and his three friends. All right. Who was chosen before he was born? Then when God called him, he said, I cannot speak. I'm just a youth. But God used him to warn his nation and do a great work. Jeremiah. Jeremiah. Okay. Very good. I'm real proud of you. Who was chosen before he was born? Then when God called him, he's...let's see, wait a minute. Got that one. Who, at age 12, amazed teachers in the temple with his understanding and answers of the scriptures?

Okay. Jesus. You know, we can follow all of these wonderful examples, young people. If you...you can choose to follow these wonderful examples in the Bible. All right. Now, another one. Who learned the scriptures from childhood? His mother and grandmother were both members of the church, making him a third generation, actually. So he learned the scriptures from childhood. His mother and grandmother, members of the church, he became a minister and a big helper to Paul.

All right. That's correct. Timothy. So, now, we have many others who served God as young people. Isaiah, the prophets, the twelve apostles were all relatively young. They obeyed God when they were in their youth or early adulthood. They walked with God. They prayed and they were close to God. So, we encourage our young people to follow in their footsteps. And I think many of our young people do. We'd be surprised. How many of us here have parents or even grandparents who were members of the church? We are a second or a third generation. Think about that. And I was looking at the two congregations. We have a lot of people that are second and third and maybe even fourth generation in the church. So, we would we would like for our young people to continue that that custom of remaining in the church and being another generation that follows in the footsteps of your ancestry. I'd like to bring out that there are some deadly sins for young people to avoid. Avoid a crowd that is going to go for evil. Do not be drawn into a crowd that is going to cause you in some way to break laws or do evil toward others. Avoid sexual immorality. Control your sexual desires during childhood and wait until marriage has got ordained.

Don't waste your childhood like not getting an education or not taking your education seriously. I'm very happy to see we have a lot of young people who go on to college, graduate, and make very good grades in high school. Study hard. I remember one young man, though, in one of my congregations who was around age 25 and he had not developed himself. He had not done well in school. He had not gone on to further education after high school. He had a very low paying job if he had a job at all. Around age 25, he met someone he wanted to get married, but how could he provide for a wife and family? He had not used those critical years. Between 16 and 25 are very critical years for a young person to establish himself and prepare for a family, prepare for marriage, prepare for a career that he can provide for a family. So don't waste your childhood, especially, like I mentioned, those critical years around age 20, around 15 to 25. Don't ruin your health. It's very important that young people then have good diet, exercise, maintain good weight, take care of your teeth. As far as your permanent teeth, you only have one set. You lose them, that's it. You don't get them back. So I wish I'd done a better job myself. I wish I had. So take care of your health in every way. Avoid addictions, like to alcohol, drugs, and most of all, avoid leading God out of your life. I'd like to give a formula, which I think is a very good one for young people, and it's a gem of a formula. G-E-M. We know what a gem is. This is a gem of a formula. The G stands for God. So the scriptures put it this way, remember your creator in the days of your youth. Ecclesiastes 12 and verse 1. So God, put God first in your life. Pray to God. Study the book He inspired. Obey Him. Meditate about your life and your relationship with God. So God is the G of gem. E is for education. That is the second thing that is very important for a young person to get education and training. Do well in school. Go to your classroom every session. Learn. Do your homework. Pass all the quizzes along the way. Prepare for the final exams.

Do well. Many very young people do that. I'm very glad to say. Education. E-G-E-M is for marriage. Marriage and family. That should be a high priority and goal because God ordained family, and most people want to have a mate. They want to have a family. They want to have children. So G-E-M. God, education, marriage. Three very important aspects of a young person's life.

Okay, let's move along on this fifth commandment. The wisdom. We're exploring the beauty and wisdom of the fifth commandment. This question is for parents. True or false? The fifth commandment is directed to children. There is no application to the parents. Absolutely false because the fifth commandment has powerful unstated commands to the parents. The fifth commandment is the child rearing commandment. It demands the parents train their children. Children come into the world knowing nothing and needing to be taught everything. The parents should give them the basic principles of life and how to succeed. Proverbs 22 and verse 6 says, train up a child in the way he should go, and when he's old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22 and verse 6, yes, children carry their training all their lives. The home they grow up in shapes and moles their future. It shapes what kind of adult they will become.

And many scriptures instruct parents how to lead and teach their children. So the fifth commandment is not just about the children. It's about the parents. It's about both fathers and mothers, and a team effort giving children training and teaching. Let's notice Proverbs 1. Proverbs 1. So there is a child-rein commandment. It is the fifth one.

Proverbs chapter 1 and we'll read verses 8 and 9. My son, hear the instructions of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother. Oh, it implies here that the father is giving some instruction, doesn't it? And the son is being admonished to heed that instruction given by his father. And the mother is laying down some rules and some laws. Do not forsake the law of your mother, for they will be graceful ornaments on your head and chains about your neck. That's the fifth commandment, responsibility of fathers and mothers. Proverbs chapter 3 and verse 11. My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor detest his correction, for whom the Lord loves he corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights. You know, there are other verses we won't read here in Proverbs that do not spare the right of correction. There is discipline as a part of the teaching that parents give to their children. You know, I remember very much. I came up in a stricter age than we have today. Pretty strict. My father and mother didn't allow any misbehavior without punishment. Many times my mother would do the disciplines and she'd say, go get me a switch, and so I'd go get a switch and she would, you know, whip my legs. And if you ever have that happen, my mother and father were pretty strict when I was coming up. They did not allow just anything to happen. I'm glad. I'm very glad they were doing their job, their responsibility. So here in Proverbs we see the father and mother work together as a team. Things that parents, fathers, and mothers should teach their children teach respect for authority. Teach respect for authority. You know, my mother and father did and that I was to respect school teachers. I was to respect certainly policemen. I was to respect any authority figures. Teach about God and His laws and His purpose and plan. I'll just go through a few of these things very quickly. You know, we can teach our children, you are holy to God. Let's go to a couple of verses on that. Acts chapter two. Our children have a calling and we can teach them, you have a calling son, daughter, you have an opportunity to be a part of the church of God and be a member of the church of God. You are already a part of the church family before you're baptized and God stared is with you before you're baptized and God's spirit will be in you once you become an adult and you repent and are baptized and you can let them know. The promises to them as well. Acts chapter two and after verse 38 Peter said to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. But another is verse 39. For the promise is to you and to your children.

And to all who are far off. So it is to the children. The children are a part of God's church family. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 7 now in verse 14. One of the important things we can teach our children. They are very much a part of the church. We want them to get involved. In fact, we have even here we have ones that help out with services in different ways, help out in responsibilities that are to be done in our congregation. In 1 Corinthians 7 and verse 14, the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean. But now they are holy. I tell you, our children do have a holy calling and we need to teach them that. We teach about their calling and that they are holy to God. Teach about Satan and this evil society and that they're called out to be strong and be different. And they should not be afraid to be different. They will need to be different. Teach them to get education for job and career. Teach them how to control money. It's very good if they can even have maybe a savings account and be frugal with their spending and avoid impulse spending. Teach about marriage and family and sex. So many things in that area that children need. Teach how to maintain their health. Teach not to follow the crowd and go around and be pulled into something evil. You know, I knew a young man in California who was out with the wrong crowd and this wrong crowd got involved in some crime. I think there may have been a murder or a robbery. Anyway, this young man ended up in prison for a good number of years. So, you know, you can teach your children not to get involved with the wrong crowd. They can end them up in prison. This young man didn't even participate. He was an accomplice.

So parents should encourage their children. That is very important. Don't always encourage. One of the important things that parents can teach their children, one of the most important things as far as a quality of character is confidence. Encourage them that they can do it. They can make good grades. And then we told our children, we're confident that you can make good grades.

You don't want to discourage and frustrate your children. There are verses about that. Let's go back to Ephesians 6 and verse 4. Ephesians 6 and verse 4. Right after these verses, we read earlier about the Fifth Commandment, honor your father and mother. Then in verse 4 it goes on to say, And you fathers do not provoke your children to wrath. Don't frustrate your children. Encourage them instead. Bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. You want to encourage them and especially instill in them the quality of confidence. And children can learn confidence, well, in sports. That's one way that they can learn confidence. Also in academic grades, making good top grades in the classroom. So many ways that we can encourage our children and instill that quality of confidence that they can do well. They can succeed. Bring them up in the training and admonition of God in that way. Let's go to Colossians chapter 3 and verse 20. Colossians chapter 3 and verse 20. And it says, Children, obey your parents and the Lord. For this is well pleasing to the Lord. We read that earlier. Verse 21, though, we did not read. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. It could become very discouraged. You know, if you run them down, you're all you're going to be a failure. You're never going to make anything of yourself. Guess what? That becomes what is called the self-fulfilling prophecy. Parents who run their children down, provoke and discourage them. You're never going to mount anything. You keep telling a child that long enough. You're never going to be anybody. Sure enough, they'll grow up and they'll not be anybody. They won't make the good grades. They won't have the confidence to succeed.

And so parents need to avoid doing that. Our parents, our children, need a lot of encouragement and praise. Praise for success. If there's failure, encourage improvement. So you I'm confident you can do better next time. Always be positive. Always strive to build up their confidence. You know, parents, I'm still talking to the parents about the Fifth Commandment. The wisdom and beauty of the Fifth Commandment. Pretty broad, isn't it? When you consider it applies to children, it applies to parents also. But as far as parents, I'm sure you probably have seen this before. How your child learns. If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn. If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight. If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy. If a child lives with shame, he learns to feel guilty. If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient. If a child lives with encouragement, he learns confidence. If a child lives with praise, he learns to appreciate. If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice. If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith. If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself. If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, he learns to find love in the world.

So true, isn't it? So important that parents keep these things in mind as their children grow up. Okay, just a few other aspects of the Fifth Commandment. We're broadening our understanding, I think, and appreciation for the Fifth Commandment. And since we have about one-third of our congregation children, I think it's important that time in this sermon that we look at the Fifth Commandment this way. True or false, everyone can answer on this one. When children become adults, they get away from home. They no longer keep the Fifth Commandment. False. Absolutely false. You know, Jesus condemned the Pharisees because they neglected care for their elderly parents. You read that in Mark 7. We are to honor, love, and respect our parents as long as they live. Do special things for them. Remember their birthdays. Remember Mother's Day, Father's Day. When we get away from home, I mean, in our 20s and 30s and 40s, my parents have been dead for many years. In 1989, 1991, I lost my parents. I still honor them with many memories. They were not perfect parents at all, but they did many good things, and I appreciate what they did. I still honor my parents with fond memories of them, and many of the things they taught me I carry on.

Okay, one final question on the wisdom and beauty of the Fifth Commandment. Everyone again, what is the greatest way we can fulfill the Fifth Commandment to honor our Father and Mother?

What's the greatest way? I think you'll agree.

Love God. Okay, that's it, actually. The greatest way, I believe, is that we be born into God's Kingdom, that we fulfill the purpose for which they brought us into the world.

The purpose for which we were born to enter the Kingdom of God. That's the greatest way we could honor our Father and Mother. Go ahead and grow, develop spiritually, remain faithful, enter the Kingdom of God. There's no greater way that we could honor our parents than fulfill the very purpose for which they brought us into the world. Okay, brethren, I'll end with just a few final comments. We do have an excellent booklet on marriage and family. The last two chapters, especially, are children. One of those chapters are children, gifts of God, in a hostile environment. Shows the importance of parents, gives a lot of guidelines for rearing our children. And a second chapter on bringing up a moral child and the perils of peer pressure.

God's command to teach personality and temperament differences. Children do have different temperaments, different personalities that we must learn to work with. Single parenting, some may find themselves in that situation. Sibling rivalry and the role of discipline. So all that is in our booklet near the end of our booklet marriage and family.

Well, in conclusion, I hope this triggers thought and discussion. And I hope we all, children and adults, have learned that there is a lot of wisdom and beauty in the Fifth Amendment. Honor your father and mother that your days may be long and that it may go well in your life. Have a good Sabbath afternoon.