Nathan Rambeck - The Christian Family: Sons, Daughers, Brothers and Sisters

[0:00] Did you all enjoy the service we had last week with the speaker Joel from Creation Ministries International? That was tremendous. Anybody learn anything new?

[0:11] Yeah, I see some nodding of heads. Yeah, you know, we live in a day and age where we have so many resources when it comes to the whole creation science issue.

[0:25] For many years and generations, there's been this seeming conflict, right, that people have brought up between science and Christianity or theism or whatever it might be.

[0:40] And today, because of ministries like CMI and Answers in Genesis and several others, many others really, there are so many resources available where we can grab a book or read a magazine or watch a video that will answer questions that so many people have.

[0:58] So I'm really appreciative for that. A few announcements here. So we won't go over everything in the bulletin, but one of the things I wanted to point out, there is a reference to a ladies' fellowship here tomorrow.

[1:15] That is not correct. I guess that ladies' fellowship already happened this last week. So don't show up tomorrow. You might be all by yourself.

[1:28] There is the information about purchasing lilies. Is that still available to do? They can still purchase those lilies? It needs to be done today. So if you're going to get some lilies, make sure you take care of that day.

[1:44] Today, there's a sign-up sheet out on the bulletin. And then also for the Easter service. So next week, we'll have our Resurrection Sunday service. There will not be a Sunday school class.

[1:56] Instead, we're going to have a meal together at the same time. Is that right? Nine o'clock? Okay. Yes. Yes. I'm actually going to be in charge of business here.

[2:09] And I don't even know who my committee is. So anybody who would like to help set up, I can realize that's next Monday. Yeah. So I appreciate any volunteers who are going to be here until next Monday.

[2:23] Yeah. So we'd appreciate any volunteers to come early. Like, what time would be a good time to come? I need it today. We've got to cut the students up today.

[2:33] That way we don't have to try and find a time to come in. Okay. Get the church open. So volunteers after church today. They will set it up. So if you've got some time.

[2:43] The crew would be here by four or two. We would cut the food up in the road. You know, put it together and get the food. Yeah. Okay. And then Marv, I think he will have the coffee ready.

[2:59] Marv's in charge of the coffee. But we do need some volunteers. So I guess we need to get a chance to. So just show up 15, 20 minutes early on next Sunday.

[3:09] But if you can stay afterward today and help set up tables, that would be great. That sound good? Okay. Okay. I think that's it.

[3:20] Any other announcements that need to be sounded abroad here? Nothing? Okay. Yeah. Check out your bulletin for anything else as far as the schedule.

[3:33] I'm going to get started. So we're going to have a short message. We'll try to keep it to 30 minutes or so. And then we're going to have our communion service today. So we're looking forward to that, to remembering the Lord and what he did for us.

[3:48] Well, we're going to continue our series here on the Christian family or God's design for the family. I'm going to focus today on looking at the role of sons and daughters.

[4:01] We've looked at husbands and wives. Husbands and wives make the core of a family. That's the core, the part that is the center of the family.

[4:15] And then we talked about the role of mothers and fathers in a family. I guess it was two weeks ago. And today I'm going to talk about the roles and responsibilities of sons and daughters.

[4:30] So the other side of that relationship, right? You have mothers and fathers. And mothers and fathers have a high level of responsibility towards their children. But do children have any responsibilities?

[4:43] Sure they do. And those responsibilities aren't just for when we're young. It turns out that responsibilities of children go on and on.

[4:58] And when we talk about husbands and wives, when we talk about mothers and fathers, not everyone is a husband and not everyone is a wife. Not everyone is a mother. Not everyone is a father.

[5:10] But I think we can safely say, is everybody here either a son or a daughter? Yeah. So this applies to everybody, right? We're all sons and daughters of someone.

[5:26] Go ahead and open up your Bibles. We're going to start looking at Ephesians chapter 6. And while you're opening up there, I'm going to tell just a short story.

[5:37] So I don't know how many years ago, five, seven years ago, I was at the office where I worked at the time, just making conversation with some of the people around.

[5:51] And there was a discussion about a game. There was lots of gamers at this church. There's a lot of this in the tech world. Everybody does.

[6:02] It's a lot of video games, but also these tabletop games. And there was a discussion of a game called Dungeons and Dragons. Anybody ever heard of that? When I was a kid, my parents told me, stay away from that stuff.

[6:17] And I just did. I didn't know anything about what it was about. But so there was a discussion of this tabletop game, Dungeons and Dragons, which I still don't know too much about.

[6:29] But I was talking to this young lady, probably in her mid-20s, and she was telling me about how when she was growing up, her parents warned her about that game and to avoid it.

[6:44] And during the course of the conversation, I can't remember exactly what her remark was, but it was something very dismissive, like, you know, they were so dumb or so stupid or something like that.

[6:59] And I just remember being a little bit taken aback, a little bit shocked at that kind of response. And I remember thinking during that conversation or after that conversation, you know, there are things that my parents, you know, maybe said or did when I was younger.

[7:19] And as I became an adult, maybe I look back and maybe there was, you know, have a difference of opinion or disagreement. But I can't ever imagine saying something like that about my parents.

[7:33] And I remember thinking, she must have a really bad relationship with her parents to be so dismissive. And I found out later that that was the case, that basically her and her family were not speaking to each other and all kinds of other details.

[7:55] But that was just a vivid example in my mind of a, just a disrespectful comment that, unfortunately, in today's age and culture, isn't all that uncommon.

[8:11] I think it's fairly uncommon, especially for adults, but becoming, it seems, less and less so. So if you've found Ephesians chapter 6, we're going to read the first few verses here.

[8:25] Let me find it myself. But it says this in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 1 through 3, Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

[8:39] Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth. So there's basically two points of instruction here.

[8:53] I think one is geared towards younger children. Obey your parents. And then there's a follow-up or an addition to that, which is a reference to the fifth commandment.

[9:07] Honor your mother and your father. And so we'll talk about these a little bit separately. So I think as children, as sons and daughters, we have kind of different responsibilities or maybe degrees of responsibility when it comes to our parents when we're younger.

[9:27] But we have continuing responsibility, duty toward our parents as we get older. It changes a little bit, but I think throughout that honor, that respect remains the same.

[9:40] Really, this whole, one of the things you'll notice, the Bible talks a lot about loving your neighbor, right? Loving God. The Bible talks about husbands loving your wives.

[9:53] Even the Lord talks about loving your enemies. But here when it talks to children, to sons and daughters, there isn't a reference to love.

[10:07] Now, does that mean that children shouldn't love their parents? No, I don't think that's the case at all. But there's this special emphasis on children, sons and daughters, respecting, honoring, esteeming their parents.

[10:26] Because it's so very important. This honoring is all about authority. And authority is a big deal to God. God wants us to grow up in households where we learn at a young age to honor, to respect the authorities that we have.

[10:51] For children, it's important the obedience part is important. The Bible talks about children being born in foolishness.

[11:01] Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, right? There's not a lot of wisdom. So children start off not knowing anything, right? And we have to teach and train them the very basics.

[11:13] And as they grow older, we continue to teach and train, build, you know, precept upon precept. Build on top of that wisdom.

[11:24] But especially when children are younger, it's so important that children learn to obey. Not just respect, but actually obey. Be compliant. And one of the things, a common or a mistake I see a lot of parents make is that just looking for the obedience in the outward actions, right?

[11:52] But what's just as important as children obeying their parents in their outward actions is obeying their parents in what?

[12:04] In their hearts, right? There's a scripture. There's a scripture. There's a scripture. Actually, it's just a few verses later.

[12:14] And it's not talking about children. It's talking about servants, bond servants, slaves. And it says this in verse 6, not with eye service as men pleasers, but doing the will of God from the heart.

[12:29] And that's the kind of obedience that is important for anybody in an authority situation. But in this case, we're talking about children.

[12:45] Children, and sometimes I'll tell my kids this, have just one responsibility in life. You know, when you become an adult, you have lots of responsibilities.

[12:56] You have bills to pay and things to take care of and household maintenance and things to fix and a job to hold down and all that. There are lots of responsibilities. When you're a child, you have one job.

[13:09] One job. That's obey your parents. And that's the only responsibility. That's the only duty that a child has.

[13:19] But it's an important one. It should be taken seriously. It's important for on the parents' side, right? Because we've all seen cases where children are sometimes just out of control, right?

[13:36] Who've never learned. And, you know, all children are learning and will have failures when it comes to obeying, respecting, honoring their parents.

[13:49] But in some cases, right, we see out in the culture just a complete disregard for parental authority. And really, whose job is it to see the children learn to obey, respect, and honor their parents?

[14:04] Is that just solely upon the child to figure that out on their own for themselves? No, it's actually the job of mom and dad to instill the respect for authority in their children.

[14:18] And when we see kids that are out of control, typically, maybe not always, but typically, there's been a lack of training there involved.

[14:32] Eventually, as we grow up, as we become adults, we transition from childhood to adulthood.

[14:43] And so, where it says here, children obey your parents in the Lord, I think that's specifically geared towards young children in their parents' household.

[15:03] And as you become an adult, especially when you start your own household, the expectation that you would obey your parents is not there.

[15:17] There's not an expectation that, you know, you come home before 10 o'clock at night when you've started your own household, right? That's all on you. That's your responsibility to make sure that, you know, you're living a responsible life.

[15:33] You no longer have that duty, that responsibility to obey your parents' commands over your life. But does that mean that we don't have any more responsibilities towards our parents after we've left the home?

[15:50] Once we've become 20 years old or 30 years old or 40 years old or 50 years old, does our responsibility towards our parents cease?

[16:04] I don't think so. I think it just, it transitions a little bit. So, looking at the second part of this verse, children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

[16:18] And then it says this, honor your father and your mother, which is the first commandment, with a promise, that it may be well with you and that you may live long on the earth.

[16:28] And so, what does honor have to do, what does it mean to honor? Honor has to do with respect and reverence towards authorities in our lives.

[16:41] And even though in adulthood we don't have an obligation to pick up our toys or clean our room, right, we do have an obligation to continue to honor our parents who have been an authority in our life.

[17:03] And that authority changes, but the honor, respect must remain. Proverbs 23, 22 says this, Listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

[17:29] Is that a tidbit of wisdom that we should follow when we're young, when we're still in our parents' house? Sure. It's so important for young people to listen to the wisdom of their parents, to receive instruction.

[17:45] But what's interesting here is, especially when it mentions the mother, it says, Do not despise your mother when she is old. That seems to be talking about a relationship later on in life, doesn't it?

[17:59] Typically when you're still at home, you know, your mother and your father are younger. But should we neglect, dismiss out of hand the wisdom, the counsel of our parents once we become adults?

[18:21] Is that a wise thing to do? Not at all. We should continue to listen to what our parents have to say, to listen to the instruction or the counsel that they provide, to not despise that counsel.

[18:38] You know, in this culture today, it's really a youth-oriented culture where youth is celebrated and revered. And it's actually very different in other cultures.

[18:51] I had the opportunity to live in Asia for several years, in Vietnam and Cambodia and the Philippines. And one of the things I've noticed is there's so much more respect for elders, for adults, for people who are older than you in those countries than you find here in the U.S.

[19:13] Even in the U.S., there's a difference depending on where you live. Has anybody seen that? Where is it kind of more common for people to respect their elders? Kind of think the South, right?

[19:25] That's kind of what comes to my mind. And it's kind of more Southern culture. There's a tendency for people to say, yes, ma'am. Yes, sir, right? I think that's tremendous.

[19:37] That's great. That's great. In adulthood, I think part of honoring our parents also requires attending to care and provision for our parents as they get older.

[19:58] Let's open up to 1 Timothy 5 and look at what Paul says about this. This is a passage in which Paul is talking about widows and about the church caring for widows who are in need.

[20:17] We don't think about widows, I don't think, as much today. We have things like insurance and pensions.

[20:28] Yes, that was actually the word I was looking for. Things that are in place to kind of these safety nets, right? And some of them are government-related and others are not. But it's easy to think, well, if a woman loses her husband, it's not a big deal.

[20:45] There's plenty of safety nets out there to take care of her. But in past ages, that was not the case at all. If a woman lost her husband, a lot of times that meant she lost her ability to take care of herself.

[21:01] And so it was a much more, I think, difficult thing. But in 2 Timothy 5 here, it says in verse 3, Honor widows who are really widows.

[21:16] In fact, throughout this whole passage, most of the passage talking about how you should honor widows is about all the times when you should not.

[21:27] He actually talks more about when you should not take care of widows. And part of this is talking about the family. But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety at home and to repay their parents.

[21:43] For this is good and acceptable before God. Skipping down to verse 8, But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

[22:00] And then skipping down just kind of towards the end in verse 16, he says this, If any believing man or woman has widows, let them relieve them, and do not let the church be burdened, that it may relieve those who are really widows.

[22:19] This is talking about the responsibility that families have to one another. There's specific reference, right, to children and grandchildren in verse 3 and 4.

[22:32] If there's a widow who is in need, she's lost her husband, she doesn't have the ability to provide for herself, who should be the one to help care for her?

[22:44] It's her children. If she has sons, if she has daughters, especially who are married, who have the ability, right, to provide, then those, that's the first safety net in any family.

[23:01] or for any widow, for anyone really in need. And I think we can use the term widow here to apply to any person who might be in need.

[23:14] You might think of even both a husband and wife where the husband might have a tremendous disability or is not able to work. You know, some kind of debilitating disease or illness that prevents him from being able to work.

[23:32] But in all these cases, the first safety net, is it Medicare, Medicaid, or all these government programs that we have? No, it's our family, our children.

[23:45] And he puts it in these terms, let them first learn to show piety at home. That's where we learn things, right?

[23:56] At home. Even if we're not part of our parents' household anymore, this is an opportunity for sons and daughters, no matter our age, to learn character, to learn how to serve others, at home first, with our own family.

[24:12] and to repay their parents. You know, it's hard when you're younger to really appreciate the kind of love and care, responsibility, the work, the sacrifice that goes into raising children.

[24:36] When you're a child at home, it's easy to just overlook it, to not realize what that takes. I found that in my life, as I became a father, and found all the tremendous responsibility, and the required sacrifice, the appreciation for my own parents kind of went a few notches up, right?

[25:04] Because you realize, oh, wow. My parents, you know, they didn't just provide a house, and, you know, all the basic necessities and things.

[25:16] There's a lot that goes into it, isn't there? And we have opportunities to repay our parents throughout their lives, especially in their later years, as their needs grow.

[25:29] And then verse 8, but if anyone does not provide for his own, and who's this talking about? I think really this is anyone in your immediate family.

[25:41] And sometimes sons and daughters aren't available. Sometimes it's other members of the family. You know, I've told my kids, you know, if mom and dad aren't around for whatever reason, and my sons especially, if you have a sister and something happens to her husband and dad's not around, it's your responsibility as a brother to help take care of her in her need.

[26:14] And really, it's not just not just as sisters, but anybody, right? Any brother or sister or immediate close family to take care of those needs.

[26:26] those who don't provide for their own, who don't provide for their own family members, and especially those of his household, it says there in verse 8, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

[26:40] That is so severe. But that's the that's the importance. That's the importance that God places on taking care of one another in a family.

[26:52] Of honoring our parents. In verse 16 again, if anyone, if any believing man or woman has widows, let them relieve them and do not let the church be burdened, that it may relieve those who really are widows.

[27:09] What does he mean by that? If you lose a husband, aren't you really a widow? Well, he's saying if a woman loses her husband but still has children who are willing to take care of her, to help, then, you know, obviously there's still technically a widow, but doesn't suffer the full impact of that because of because of her family.

[27:38] Let's also turn to Matthew, chapter 15. And look at this, continue to look at this responsibility of caring for parents, especially as they grow older.

[27:56] Matthew 15. So, Jesus is rebuking the Pharisees here for their traditions.

[28:17] And there were traditions, is there anything wrong with their tradition? Traditions are actually nice, aren't they? You have family traditions, things at holidays. But what Jesus was really upset about was traditions that conflict, that undermine the scriptures, that undermine the word of God.

[28:35] He's going to bring one up here in rebuke. He said this in verse 3, he answered them and said to them, they were all uptight about the disciples not washing their hands because that was a big deal.

[28:50] You know, they were big on this tradition of washing your hands before they ate bread. And he answered and said to them, why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?

[29:03] For God commanded, saying, honor your father and your mother. And he who curses father or mother, let him be put to death. But you say, whoever says to his father or mother, whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift of God.

[29:22] Then he need not honor his father or mother. thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. And then he yells at them, hypocrites!

[29:36] Jesus wasn't always nice. But there's an important principle here. Jesus was talking about the, how the tradition of the Pharisees undermined the word of God.

[29:50] but he's talking about two commandments here. One is the one we already read, the fifth commandment, honor your mother and your father. And the other one was about not cursing your parents.

[30:03] And in that case, there was a death penalty involved and we'll talk about that in a second. But this scripture, this passage is a little bit hard to understand because what's it talking about?

[30:19] It says, but you say, this is their tradition, whoever says to your, whose father and mother, whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God, then he need not honor his father or mother.

[30:32] You see, what happened was there's this tradition where as parents get older and, you know, back then they didn't have things like insurance or things like we have today, but as they get older they don't have the ability to provide for their own needs.

[30:51] They don't have the ability to till the ground or whatever it is to make provision for themselves. And so as children had a responsibility to help take care of their parents in their old age.

[31:06] But there was this tradition where you could basically say, all my money that I've saved up you know, it's kind of a waste to spend that on my parents.

[31:19] I mean, there are much more fun and interesting things I could do with that money. And so what I'll do is I'll take the money that I might spend on helping them out and I'll assign it as a gift to the temple.

[31:35] And then that way, I mean, I'm giving the money to God, right? I'm assigning it to him. And so that money is already reserved in some kind of way for the Lord.

[31:47] And so my parents still just have to figure it out on their own. And this made Jesus furious. How dare you?

[32:01] The scripture says, honor your mother and your father. And he even brings up this other commandment about cursing your parents and equates this kind of tradition to cursing your parents.

[32:16] A kind of egregious sin that was so severe that the death penalty was demanded. Sometimes I'll be, this scripture comes up in talking to unbelievers, people who especially are skeptics of the Bible, and they'll say, the Bible is such a dumb book.

[32:39] It says that if kids are rebellious, that the parents should kill them, that they should put them to death. Is that what the Bible says? Well, what about right here?

[32:51] The Bible says that when children are rebellious, what do you do? You give them a spanking, right? Use the rod of discipline. But this scripture, and this comes from, where is it?

[33:06] Exodus 21, 17. it says this, and he who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. Is that talking about little kids? No.

[33:19] It's talking about adults, right? Adult children who despise and curse their own parents. parents. This was something that was considered there was absolutely zero tolerance, zero tolerance for cursing your parents.

[33:44] In fact, the death penalty was also instituted for cursing God. There's a passage in, for the sake of time, we won't look into it, but in Leviticus, it tells an account in Leviticus chapter 24, verse 10 through 16, about two young men who got into some kind of fisticuffs, you know, some kind of brawl in public, and during this brawl, one of them, cursed the name of God.

[34:26] And they went to Moses and said, this guy cursed God's name, what do we do? And Moses went to the Lord, and you know what the Lord said? Let him be stoned, because the name of God is to be revered.

[34:42] You should never ought to blaspheme or treat the name of God with such disrespect. And we see the same kind of penalty for showing that kind of a disrespect to parents.

[35:02] We ought to care for our parents as their needs grow, as they age older in life, and treat it with the same kind of care, love, sacrifice, that our parents gave to us when they were raising us.

[35:25] Amen? But in this commandment, this fifth commandment, well, I'll say this.

[35:39] Our responsibility to honor and respect our parents all throughout our life is a training ground because authority is God's ideal, or it's his idea.

[35:54] And as children, children have an opportunity to be trained to respect authority. And if they learn that lesson as it promises in this commandment, they will live long on the earth, or specifically it says in the land that they were given.

[36:16] If they don't learn that lesson, you can expect to have destruction in your life. I think about the verse in 1 John chapter 4 where it's not talking about honor, but it's talking about love, loving God and loving your neighbor.

[36:37] and John says, he says, how can we love God who we can't see, right, if we don't love our neighbor who we can see, right?

[36:54] And so there is a, if we learn to love our neighbor, we can learn to love God. I think it's the same way with honoring, right?

[37:06] We learn to honor our parents starting young, really young, and continuing to grow and to be trained and to exercise that muscle of honoring our parents throughout our whole life.

[37:22] How can we honor God who we can't see if we do not honor our parents who we can't see? God is the one who deserves all the honor, right?

[37:35] And we learn, we teach our children, when we teach them to honor and respect their parents, to honor us, we're teaching them how to honor God. There's a promise given in the fifth commandment, right?

[37:54] And what is the promise? That you will live long. I don't think we should look at it as like a reward. If you honor your parents, then you'll get this reward. But it is a promise.

[38:07] I think really it's just a natural consequence. When you learn to live a life of order, in which you respect the natural order in which God established, of parents over children, and that extends to all the rest of the order.

[38:29] We have civil authorities that we need to submit to. And all of us have been in positions both of authority and submission.

[38:44] And when those kinds of things break down, culture breaks down, society breaks down, families break down, individuals break down. There's a proverb that is so vivid in its poetry.

[39:02] It says this, in Proverbs chapter 30 verse 17, the eye that mocks his father and scorns obedience to his mother, the ravens of the valley will pick it out, and the young eagles will eat it.

[39:21] Pastor Mar was talking about poetry this morning, and you know, you can just read a passage that says, hey, it's a good idea to obey your parents or to honor your parents, and if you don't, you know, it's going to cause trouble.

[39:37] You can say that, but when you paint this picture, in Ohio here, you know, you can't drive half a mile without seeing roadkill, right? It's just all over.

[39:48] And what's inevitably there, right? You see the birds, you know, they're getting their delicious meal. they're picking out, you know, from that dead animal, from that dead carcass, and this is the picture being painted of the eye that mocks his father and scorns obedience to his mother.

[40:08] The ravens of the valley will pick out those eyes, and the young eagles will eat it. Such a vivid picture of the destructive nature of neglecting to honor your parents.

[40:23] just looking at our culture, it's easy to see the impact of not rightly honoring our parents.

[40:38] You might be at the store and see a child refusing to obey their parents, throwing a fit of some kind, and saying to their mom or dad, I hate you.

[40:58] That should be utterly shocking to hear something like that. But it's unfortunately not all that uncommon. But when we see those children, are they happy?

[41:12] Are they happy children? Are they smiling all the time? they're as miserable as can be. They're as miserable as can be. And when we don't learn to properly order our lives through honoring our parents, through children obeying their parents, it just leads to misery.

[41:32] It leads to our own misery. And the same thing applies as we get older. If we fail to honor our parents as we ought to, even in our 30s, 40s, 50s, it causes misery.

[41:48] Even an honor student who has straight A's and maybe is the captain of the football team or whatever it might be, if that kind of a young man or young woman is at odds with their parents, their life is on a path of destruction.

[42:11] Straight A's matter nothing. Another thing I think about, because this whole honoring of parents in the fifth commandment, I think it's similar to the do not commit adultery.

[42:25] The commandment do not commit adultery, it's really representative because the ten commandments tries to compress the whole law of God, right? Somewhat summarize it. So do not commit adultery is representative of the do not commit any kind of sexual immorality.

[42:41] Adultery is just one type, but it's about keeping ourselves sexually pure. And I think in the same way, honor your mother and your father represents, honor all the authorities in your life, whether it be God or the government or anybody else who has any kind of level of authority in your life.

[43:02] today, one of the problems that we see that's in the news a lot is police authority, right? And there are young people, especially today, who treat the police with such tremendous disrespect.

[43:20] And what does it lead to? A lot of time it leads to death, destruction. you refuse to respect the authority of the government, of the civil authority like the police.

[43:38] And it leads so many times to these young men, mostly, their lives ending early because they didn't learn as children to honor the authorities in their life.

[43:52] There's a phrase that goes around sometimes. This is probably in the last five years. But it goes, okay, boomer. Anybody ever heard that?

[44:05] Like these memes that go around the internet? Maybe some of you haven't, but especially in kind of political circles. I guess maybe it's beyond that.

[44:16] But you have different names for generations, right? You have the millennials. You have the boomers, the baby boomers, right? Millennials, generation X, Z, I can't remember all of them. We have all these ways that we, but the boomer generation is actually some people called, these are the children born after World War II, right?

[44:39] And these are people that are entering retirement, women. And there's a lot of social, like a social rift between young and old.

[44:52] And for whatever reason, I think a lot of it is contrived. It's intentionally, you know, people do things, right? Especially in politics, to try to divide people. I think this is one of them.

[45:03] But there's this phrase, okay, boomer, it's a way to mock and ridicule those of the older generation, always done by those who are younger. It's just another sign of the disrespect in our culture for those who are older.

[45:17] I think these kinds of things are actually pretty unique in America and the West. Because as I've gone and kind of observed throughout the world, in Asia and South America and Africa, you don't see this kind of thing.

[45:34] I mean, if anything, I know in Asia, that there's too much respect of parents in that they build altars to their parents, to their passed-on family members.

[45:45] But nobody would ever even dream of saying something rude or dishonoring to an elderly person. It wouldn't even cross their mind. I think this kind of thing is actually unique in a post-Christian culture, where there's a stream of actual rebellion against God because it's so destabilizing to society to have that kind of disrespect towards whether it's your parents or elders.

[46:14] It just causes the fabric of society to break down. Is honoring your parents always easy? it isn't, is it?

[46:28] And with all the things that we've talked about and talking about this whole family thing, it's a husband's duty to cherish his wife. Is that always easy? It's a wife's duty to respect her husband.

[46:43] Is that always easy? It's a children's duty to honor their parents, honor and obey their parents. Is that always easy? It's not. But you know when it matters the most?

[46:58] It matters the most to honor our parents when it's hard, when it's difficult, when it requires sacrifice, when it requires that we give something up. That's when it really, really matters.

[47:10] It's easy to obey your parents when they say, hey, let's go to the baseball game, right? It's easy to do that. It's easy to, honor your parents when they're, when they're being great and there's no family conflict.

[47:30] But we need to honor our parents regardless of what's going on. And I have seen, there's a friend of mine who has parents who have done a lot of, made a lot of really big mistakes that really impacted him and all of his siblings in his life.

[47:47] And, you know, it's not something that he tries to hide or anything like that. But I have seen him, in his words, continue to honor his mother and his father and not to ridicule, not to attack, not to say evil things about them, even though he grew up with a tremendous amount of difficulty.

[48:14] and I think that has led to his life being so stable. So, as sons and daughters, we have an obligation, we have not just to honor our parents when we're young, but throughout our whole life.

[48:32] Honoring of parents does good for us, those who are doing the honoring, it does good for our family, and it does good for society. So, I'll just end with this, are we all honoring our parents like we ought to?

[48:50] You know, I think some of us, you know, some of us have even had parents who have passed on here. Does this still apply? Can you, if your parents have passed on, is it, are you able to dishonor them?

[49:05] It's possible, isn't it, right? So, it's not like there's any time where this stops. We need to continue to honor our parents when we're young and when we're old.

[49:18] For young people at home, are you honoring your parents today? Are you doing what you ought? Are you obeying parents outwardly? Just with eye service to make sure that they see that you're always doing what you ought to be doing when they're watching, but when they're not, eh, I'm going to get away with what I can.

[49:42] For parents, are we teaching our children to honor, to respect, to obey? For us who are older, who are adults, are we honoring our parents with our words?

[49:55] Are we taking care of our parents as they have needs? If not, is there something we can do? Is there an adjustment we can make in our life to make that right?

[50:05] I'll end with another verse from Proverbs, chapter 23, verse 25. It says this, Let your father and your mother be glad, and let her who bore you rejoice.

[50:22] That should be our goal as children, that our parents would look at us and they would rejoice, that we as children would be a joy to our parents.

[50:38] Young or old, are your parents rejoicing over you? Let's finish this message in a word of prayer, and then we'll move on to our communion service.

[50:53] Father, thank you for your word, thank you for the instruction that it provides. May this word today sit deeply and richly in our hearts, may we make any changes or adjustments in our lives, that we would honor our parents as we ought to, and honor you in doing so, in Jesus' name.

[51:16] Amen. Amen. All right, Pastor Marv. Nathan, your messages over the past few Sundays have imparted a ton of wisdom, and your having the family you do gives you great credibility in doing it, so thank you, thank you so much.

[51:51] Is there a, what we would call, is there a 60-cycle hum going on, or is it just my hearing? I don't have my hearing age in, and maybe that's a good thing, but I detected a hum there.

[52:17] I was so appreciative of that hymn that we sang this morning, number 311, that I would like to sing a couple of verses of it right now, and then we'll sing a couple more later.

[52:32] Hallelujah, what a Savior. And if you would stand, please. Number 311. Man of sorrows, what a name for the Son of God who came.

[53:01] Ruin sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah, what a Savior.

[53:14] Bearing shame and scoffing rude, in my place condemned he stood, sealed my pardon with his blood.

[53:30] Hallelujah, what a Savior. Savior. Thank you. Thank you. You may be seated. We'll sing the rest of it a little bit later, so organist, penis, you won't want to wander too far away.

[53:45] Thank you so much. I'm just so impressed with the message of that hymn. You know, the word hallelujah literally means praise the Lord, praise Jehovah.

[53:59] that's what it means. And I don't know whether you are aware of it or not, but it is the only word known to the human vocabulary that is the same in every language of the world.

[54:20] Makes no difference whether you're talking about Korean, Japanese, an African dialect, German, French, whatever. The word hallelujah is the same in every language.

[54:34] And to the best of my knowledge, it's the only word that is. And how fitting, because it means praise the Lord. I do have an explanation regarding the lilies that probably ought to be made.

[54:52] On the sound desk back there where Keith is, there's a stack of envelopes, and in each envelope is a three by five card. If you would like to order a lily for your loved one, or multiple lilies for loved ones, all you need to do is take the card that is in there, just an index card, and put their name on it, and put your name on it, and if you have the money available, then for $10 for each lily you can put in the card.

[55:23] If you don't have the money available or ready, you can do it next week, or whatever, and then put the card and the envelope in the offering box.

[55:35] But it needs to be done, if you're going to do it, it needs to be done today. So if you wish to do that, even if you don't have the money, then fill out the card anyway, and put it in the offering box, and that way we'll be able to announce in the bulletin next week your name and the name of the individuals that you are honoring.

[55:55] And then after the service concludes next Sunday, then you are free to take the lilies that you purchased home with you so that you can enjoy them or give it to someone else, whatever you want to do with it.

[56:07] So it does make a beautiful front here with all the lilies arraying. It's just really something special. So thank you for your participation in that if you would like to be involved that way.

[56:22] In your bulletin, if you would note, there is a scripture portion that is assigned from Hebrews chapter 10. and in connection with the communion service, I want to share that with you as well as the article that is included in the bulletin as well, and it has to do with the April 6 article.

[56:47] And I had a difficult time as I was looking over this book that we've made available to you that many of you already have. It's called Two Minutes with the Bible, and it's taken, the title is taken, of course, from a daily devotional, and it just takes two minutes to read each of these.

[57:04] And I know many of you have already obtained a copy of it, and you use it regularly, and I certainly recommend that. And my understanding is that the last supply of them is all gone already, so we'll try to get more, and they'll be available to you.

[57:19] But I want you to look at the one on April 6 because it ties in with what we have to share with you regarding the communion service. I've made an issue of the fact of late that when our first parents disobeyed God and lost what we would call their first state, in a sense, they lost so very much that God had created within them primarily the purity and the relationship that they enjoyed to the creator.

[57:57] And their sin, their disobedience to God, literally ruined that whole thing. And as a result, as we were talking about the nine o'clock hour this morning, that which God had created that he was able to pronounce very good, he could no longer say that about it, because the very people that he had put in charge of the whole shebang, it was called their dominion.

[58:30] God gave to Adam and Eve dominion. That means the responsibility and the ability to dominate all of creation.

[58:42] They were in charge of everything. And when they disobeyed the very one that gave them that commission, everything changed. They lost their right to dominion.

[58:55] And instead, it was forfeited and taken up by someone who had no right to it either. And that was the adversary, Satan.

[59:07] And as a result, the Bible tells us to this day that he remains the God of this age. And if you want to know why there is so much evil and injustice and death and disease and heartache and everything else that goes with it in the world, that's why.

[59:31] Because Adam and Eve unleashed. A new capability that the earth did not have earlier.

[59:43] And that is for corruption and everything that went with it. And included in the fall that they underwent was the fall, and you must really understand this.

[59:54] This is terribly important. It included the fall of their intellect. That means their thinking ability, their reasoning, and their logic ability, was impaired.

[60:13] So they could no longer think with the clarity that they had before. Their thinking had fallen also.

[60:25] And that allowed them to reach all kinds of terrible, wrong conclusions about a whole lot of things. And the first one to exhibit that was one of their sons by the name of Cain.

[60:43] Cain! And he developed, out of his fallen, warped thinking and logic, he developed a kind of hatred and competitive spirit, obvious, maybe even jealousy, of his own brother, Abel.

[61:01] And you know the story. He rose up and slew him. And then, to further his flawed thinking, he lied about it.

[61:14] And when asked, where is your brother, Abel? I don't know. Am I my brother's keeper? Am I responsible for him?

[61:25] How should I know where he is? I don't know where he is. And of course, that was a lie. And all that does is compound the story, and it goes on. And they were born with that fallen nature of their parents.

[61:41] And when they married and had children, their children were born with that fallen nature. And when they married and had children, their children, and you get the story.

[61:53] And that's where we are today. That is the only explanation that makes any sense for why the world is the way it is.

[62:05] And you will not find that explanation anywhere else other than in the scriptures. It alone tells us where we've come from, what we're doing here, where we're going, what it will be like when we get there, what this thing called life is all about.

[62:21] You will not find that information anywhere other than in the Bible. And one more clear-cut representative of man's fallen nature and inability to think clearly is in regard to his own being in person.

[62:44] When the scriptures pronounce all under sin, you'd be surprised how many people think that doesn't really include them because they are a nice person as opposed to a whole bunch of people who aren't.

[62:58] So they do not see the category that applies to them in being in that all. That, too, is a consequence of their warped thinking and skewed logic.

[63:10] And it goes on in so many areas. And by the way, as I mentioned earlier, we almost every month see a new one, a new representation of this. It's just...

[63:21] And I think... I think this is part and parcel of the last days. I'm not saying that we are in the last days, but you've heard me say before we're closer than anybody has ever been.

[63:36] And we may well be in the latter days. And I think the scriptures set forth the concept that the further civilization and humanity goes, the worse and absurd, more absurd it becomes.

[64:00] You get a little feel for that? Even... Even... Same-sex marriage... is bizarre.

[64:16] And if you really don't like the sex you are, you can be the other sex. If you don't like being a man, you can be a woman.

[64:27] Vice for... Now, we look at that and say, that's just plain nuts. Well, it is. But attributed to that very thing we're talking about, the ability of people to use their flawed logic and warped reasoning and reach some of the most harebrained conclusions that you could ever imagine.

[64:50] You think, good grief, what are they coming up with next? As the generations go on, it just gets wilder and wilder and wilder. And that's what we're dealing with now. And the other has to do with, and this is a very, very large, I call it, I guess I'd call it a stumbling stone.

[65:09] And it has to do with trying to present truth to those who have this flawed logic that we're talking about. And we try to present God's remedy for that, being the person of Jesus Christ and the penalty that he paid for the entirety of the human race.

[65:26] And what is the response of flawed logic and warped reasoning? Tell you what, the problem with you Christians is, you think that your Christianity is the only way.

[65:42] And you don't recognize there's good in all religions. And you don't, you're an isolationist. And you don't see the value of other religions. And why should Christianity be the only way?

[65:54] There are lots of good people out there and lots of good ways to, and they all, they're all paths that lead up the mountain, but they all end at the same place. That's that warped logic and faulty reasoning.

[66:08] And when we say, not that it's our idea, because it isn't our idea, but when we say, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes unto the Father by him, how can you be so narrow?

[66:22] That's their thinking. They're using that kind of logic that we've described. Now, don't, don't be angry with them for it.

[66:34] Pity them. Pray for them. Because there was a time when you used it too. Remember? There was a time when we all used it.

[66:46] So these people who engage in that kind of thinking, as I've said, they are not the enemy. They are captives of the enemy. And we need to keep that in mind.

[66:57] The exclusivity of Christ is essential to the truth of God. And we do not apologize for it, but we make it very clear.

[67:08] We didn't invent it either. It's not our idea. We probably never would have thought of it either. Do you know why? Because we too have a fallen intellect. And even as believers, we have not arrived.

[67:21] We may be on the way, but we certainly have not arrived. We've got the same ability to reach the same stupid conclusions that a lot of other people do who aren't even saved. And we do it as a Christian.

[67:33] Think of that. So the exclusivity of Christ is a very, very big item. And for those who think we are out of line for insisting in the exclusivity of Christ, not that it's our idea, but because God says that it is, do you realize that Islam is exclusive?

[67:58] Do you realize they believe that there is no possibility of being accepted by their God, Allah, other than through Islam?

[68:09] Do you know that? The Shahada? There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet. Now, if I just uttered those words with sincerity and intent, I just became a Muslim.

[68:25] Just like that. That makes me a Muslim. Just like that. But of course, I said it as an illustration, not as a commitment, so it doesn't make me a Muslim.

[68:38] But that's all it takes. And do you realize that Hinduism is exclusive? All of these so-called other great faiths are exclusive.

[68:51] Now, there's a couple that say, well, everybody, you know, they have the collective pot and everybody. But that's a rarity. And we need to understand, when we proclaim this, we do so without apology and with conviction.

[69:11] And remember, it's not our idea, but it's God's idea. And I want you to look at the purple sheet, the lavender sheet in your bulletin that has the scriptures on it from Hebrews chapter 10.

[69:28] And I want you to just follow along as I read it.

[69:38] And I'm only going to read the bold print because that just happens to be the King James. Not that we are, have an issue with the others, but the others are supplemental and they express the same thing, but in just a little bit different way.

[69:57] And I'm very impressed with this translation because one of them will provide some light perhaps that the other does not. So I want you to follow along as we read that.

[70:07] And if you would stand, please, we'll honor the word as we read together. I'm going to begin reading with verse 28. And I'd like you to read along with me, but we will just read the bold type from 28 down through verse 30.

[70:20] And we'll just skip the others in between. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Follow along.

[70:34] Go ahead. Verse 29. How much for punishment supposes he, shall he be thought worthy, who hath dropped the blood of the Son of God, and hath encountered the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done this despite the spirit of grace.

[70:59] For no man in the midst has said, the justice of the law unto them, the wrath of the Son of God, and hath done this despite the Lord. Thank you.

[71:09] Be seated, please. Now, did you get the gist of that? Do you see what this text is saying? He's making a comparison here. He's saying, he who despised Moses' law, those who did, died without mercy under two or three witnesses.

[71:27] That being the case, how much sore punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despot under the spirit of grace.

[71:46] What is the spirit of grace? It is that favor that God has bestowed upon us as a result of the payment that Jesus Christ made for our sins.

[71:59] And those who detract from that, who depreciate that, or who deny that, are doing despot. They are despising the very spirit of grace.

[72:12] And grace is that singular item that is characteristic, so characteristic, of the Christian faith and the Christian faith alone.

[72:25] Do you realize that out of all of the faiths in the world, that we've mentioned just some of them, out of all of the faiths in the world, and all of the other beliefs, philosophies, et cetera, every single one of them, without exception, is predicated upon what the recipient, or the proponent of that particular faith or religion can do, or will do, for its founder.

[72:53] Every one of them, with one exception, and that's Christianity. And there, all of the emphasis is not placed upon what the followers do for the founder, but it's based upon what the founder has already done for the followers.

[73:15] And that's everything. That is the spirit of grace. Grace, acrostically, G-R-A-C-E, grace is God's riches at Christ's expense.

[73:39] That's everything. That's absolutely everything. That's why Jesus could say, and had to say, no one comes unto the Father but by me.

[73:53] And whenever anyone finds fault with that or would suggest some other way, it would be perfectly appropriate to ask them, what is the other acceptable ways that you were thinking of?

[74:10] Put them on the spot. Do them a favor. Put them on the spot and make them think. Because listen, nothing happens until somebody starts thinking. And nobody starts thinking without information.

[74:25] That's why witnessing is so important. That's why preaching and teaching is so important. All you are doing is imparting information. You give people something to process so that they can reach a conclusion and make a decision.

[74:41] That's marvelous. And I want you to look at this reading, if you would. it's called, well, actually, you know, I was confronted with a real dilemma because when I picked this up, I was reading April 5, 6, and 4, 5, 6, and 7.

[75:05] And I thought, now I've got to choose one of those. But they're all so good. So, I just did them all.

[75:18] And they are here for you to read. And you can take it home with you and make a great contribution for conversation this afternoon. If you'll look at the April 6 one, Christ's death for all.

[75:31] Just follow along as I read it, if you would, please. Paul preached Christ's death for all men in 1 Timothy 2, 4 through 7. He states emphatically that this glorious truth was first committed specifically to Him who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

[75:53] For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time.

[76:10] Now, you've got to understand something about the man who wrote this because he was a Jew. And he was coming from a position that no Jew had ever considered to that time. This is brand new stuff.

[76:22] And it was delivered first to him. And he goes on to say, Whereunto I am ordained a preacher and an apostle, I speak the truth in Christ and lie not, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.

[76:35] So here we've got a Jew who has been called to be a teacher to the Gentiles. Gentiles are referred to as the dogs or as the uncircumcision.

[76:48] And they were certainly considered to be second class citizens if at all. And yet, he has undergone a kind of catharsis that has totally upended his whole world and his whole thinking.

[77:01] Let me put it this way. Before Paul had an encounter with Jesus Christ on the Damascus Road, he, like everyone else, was fraught with skewed logic and warped thinking.

[77:18] And when he was confronted with the claims and the appearance and the revelation of Jesus Christ, everything changed. His whole system of theology and belief changed virtually overnight.

[77:30] And now he is preaching a faith that he once sought to destroy. All this amounts to is this. Paul got his skewed logic and warped thinking straightened out by the word of God.

[77:40] Simple as that. And that's what he's giving us. Note the words, to be in due time and whereunto I am appointed. Thus, this glorious message of Christ's death for all was not part of prophecy or of the so-called Great Commission, but was later committed to Paul.

[78:02] Nowhere in Old Testament prophecy do we read that Christ would die for all, including the Gentiles. Even in that famous prophecy, Isaiah 53, which Gentile believers are so apt to apply to themselves, the Hebrew prophet says, all we, like sheep, have gone astray.

[78:23] Who wrote that? A Jew. To whom was he writing it? To Jews. Exclusively. And, it's recorded in a Jewish prophet. Now, if I tell you that we all, or all of us, are going on an outing, this does not mean that all the world is invited.

[78:44] And in this case, Isaiah's meaning is especially clear and emphatic for speaking still as a Hebrew prophet, he goes on to say, for the transgression of my people, was he stricken.

[79:02] That's not you. Who is Isaiah talking about when he says, my people? He's talking about the children of Israel, his colleagues, if you will.

[79:14] How then could Paul have meant in 1 Corinthians 15, 3, that his preaching of the cross as good news for all was in fulfillment of prophecy.

[79:27] Indeed, he distinctly states that it was a mystery, a secret. It wasn't a fulfillment of prophecy because it was never prophesied.

[79:40] it was never predicted. What was predicted was what God was going to do on behalf of my people. But when Jesus Christ was angry, the priest of com packing from his arrib to his word 12, whoosh, the buddy was possibly several times at this time.