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[0:00] invite you to turn to the book of Exodus again, the book of Exodus and chapter 20. For those who are visiting, we have been going through the Ten Commandments and we're coming to the fifth commandment today, which fortunately or appropriately we've just spoken to the children about. But we're going to turn to Exodus 20 and we're going to read the first 20 or so verses.

[0:32] The people are at the, the children of Israel are at the foot of Mount Sinai. Moses has been up the mountain and down the mountain and up the mountain on a couple of occasions and God is giving him the Ten Commandments, the Ten Words of what we sometimes call the Decalogue. Let's hear God's word.

[0:56] And God spoke all these words saying, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in the heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them for I the Lord your God am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. But showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work you or your son or your daughter your male servant or your female servant or your livestock or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth the sea and all that is in them and he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

[2:38] Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife or the male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that is your neighbor's.

[3:17] Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking the people were afraid and trembled and they stood far off and said to Moses Moses, you speak to us and we will listen. But do not let God speak to us lest we die.

[3:41] Moses said to the people, do not fear for God has come to test you that the fear of him may be before you that you may not sin. The people stood far off while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. Amen and may God give us good understanding of his inspired word.

[4:12] Now let's turn back to God's word there to Exodus that we read a moment ago and as I say we're going to look at the fifth commandment this morning. Commandment number five.

[4:23] And I've entitled the sermon as you see on your intimation sheet, give honour to whom honour is due.

[4:37] But before we come to that let's just retrace our steps a little. I thought that would be good in thinking of where we have come so far or some of the key points that we have discovered as we have looked at these ten commandments. These are God's commandments given to his people after their exodus or their freedom out of the land of slavery in Egypt. These commands are not just man-made ideas or even God's recommendations.

[5:13] They are God's commandments to be obeyed. And what we've seen so far is that whilst these commandments were given to a specific people at a specific time, at a specific point in history and for a specific reason all the commandments and the principles that lie behind them hold valid today for God's people.

[5:48] Keeping commandments according even to the Lord Jesus is a display of our love for God. The Lord Jesus says, or we have in the New Testament these words, if you love me, keep my commandments.

[6:12] But the commandments are not only to be obeyed by Christians, but they actually apply to all people because they come from our Creator God.

[6:24] The Decalogue, these ten commandments, are the Creator's instruction manual for us all. All human beings without exception.

[6:38] And when we discard them, as we spoke to the children a couple of months ago about this, when we discard that user manual, that instruction manual of God, which we have here in God's Word, we are throwing the Maker's design manual in the bin.

[6:58] And I submit to you that that's what, by and large, the world has done with God's commandments and with God's Word. It has discarded it, treated it as archaic, outdated, outmoded, irrelevant.

[7:14] Alistair Begg, in his commentary, says these words, minister in the United States, God's code of conduct is as relevant today and insistent today as it's always been.

[7:31] The landscape of our society reveals signs that we neither know nor care much about the law of God.

[7:45] Amidst the ensuing moral crisis, he says, The message of the ten commandments can give us order, direction, and hope.

[8:01] Now the commonly held belief is that there were two tablets of stone given to Moses on the mountain. If you were to turn to Deuteronomy 5 and verse 22, you would read these words.

[8:16] And he wrote them in two tables of stone and delivered them to me. Deuteronomy 5 verse 22.

[8:30] God wrote and gave to Moses two tables of stone and delivered them to him. Now there's one or two interpretations of whether he gave them two, just two tables as it were, or if he gave them a copy in the second form.

[8:51] So all the commandments on one and all the commandments on another tablet. Two tablets. Or as most people think, some of the commandments were on table one and some of the commandments were on table two.

[9:05] Doesn't really matter in some senses. There is some argument for both of these. But table one, I'm going to assume, contains commandments one to four.

[9:16] That address or that focus our minds and our duties and our relationship towards God. Commandments one to four.

[9:28] And then table two contains commandments five to ten. That focus on our relationship with one another in our society.

[9:39] Our neighbour. So that the Lord Jesus in the New Testament says that the whole law is summed up in these two commandments. To love the Lord your God and your neighbour as yourself.

[9:58] Now today we're coming to look at commandment number five. Contained in verse 12. Look at verse 12. We've already spoken partly to the children on this.

[10:08] And it says honour your father and your mother. That your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

[10:20] Now there's two things that we need to really look at this morning. In summary there is the command in this verse 12. The command is to honour your father and your mother.

[10:35] And then there is a promise second lesson there. For obedience to that command. It says that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

[10:49] It's significant isn't it. That God starts with the duty of children to parents in the family setting.

[11:03] He encompasses every human being. Because as we were saying to the children. Every human being has a parent. Every human being has a mother.

[11:16] And somewhere a father. And it's no exaggeration I submit to you. To say that the well being of a person.

[11:27] Or people. Or nations. Begins in the home. The second command or the second tablet as I say.

[11:42] Focuses on loving our neighbour. How we relate to all the other people that we interface in our lives. And yet this second tablet starts with this command.

[11:56] To honour our mother and our father. A home. In which there is a father. And a mother.

[12:10] A father. And a mother. A heterosexual relationship. We need to say that. Functioning together. And fulfilling the responsibility.

[12:23] Of bringing up a child or children. In the way that they should go. Proverbs. The writer of Proverbs.

[12:34] Which we sometimes call wisdom literature. Says these words. Train up a child. In the way he should go. Even when he is old.

[12:46] He will not depart from it. So being a parent is one of the greatest callings. That we are called to by God.

[13:00] It's within that God prescribed context. That beliefs. And values. Are transmitted from one generation.

[13:12] To the next generation. Now people. May dismiss. The heterosexual. Nuclear family. As we might call it.

[13:23] Of a mum. And a dad. And 2.4 children. Whatever. 2.4 children are. They might discard that. As archaic. And outdated.

[13:34] But as Christians. As people who believe. In the word of God. We require. To uphold that structure. Defend.

[13:45] That structure. Maintain. That structure. In our society. As the biblical. And God appointed. Norm. Our society.

[13:59] You don't hardly need me. To tell you this. That our society. Is littered. With the debris. Of broken. Discarded.

[14:10] Marriages. Following the refusal. To obey. God's law. Regarding sexual. Activity. Within.

[14:22] The marriage. Bond. And very often. The people. Who are the losers. Are the children. Children.

[14:34] So often. Are. The losers. So God. Places. A very. High value. On the family. Structure.

[14:44] And the family. Unit. And that is under attack. Today. In our society. This command.

[14:56] Is primarily. But not exhaustively. To children. Within the context. Of. The family. Some people. Rightly.

[15:06] See. Further. Authority. Relationships. Inherent. In this command. But we can't look at that. This morning. So I want us to focus.

[15:17] On. The literal. Relationship. Of. Honouring. Father. And mother. In. A family. Context.

[15:28] In the Old Testament. In the community. Of Israel. And of God's people. Disrespect. For parents. Was a very. Very. Serious.

[15:39] Sin. Listen. To the words. Of Moses. He writes. Just in the next chapter. Exodus 21. In verse 15. If you want to turn there. Just to prove.

[15:49] That what I'm saying. Is correct. Exodus 21. In verse 15. Says. Whoever strikes. His father. Or his mother. Shall be. Put. To death.

[16:01] That is. Very. Very. Very. Serious. Or turn over. To Leviticus 20. In verse 9. Moses.

[16:11] Goes further. There. And says. For anyone. Not only. Who strikes. His father. Or mother. But anyone. Who curses. His father. Or his mother. Shall surely.

[16:22] Be put. To death. He has cursed. His father. Or his mother. His blood. Is upon. Him. Now.

[16:34] Whilst. That. We need to say this. Whilst. That. Particular. Death penalty. Does not apply. Today. Even in the New Testament.

[16:45] The Lord Jesus. Denounced. The religious leaders. Of his day. For claiming. To keep this. Fifth commandment. But actually. Breaking it. By leaving.

[16:56] Their parents. Destitute. They didn't. Honour. Their parents. And the Lord Jesus. Was scathing. About that. They didn't.

[17:07] Honour. Their parents. As adults. As. We shall see. And you know. When the apostle Paul. Writes. To the church.

[17:17] At Rome. With all the debauchery. And with all the. Worldly society. That he was. Speaking into. In cataloging. The sins.

[17:27] Of that. Degenerate. Society. In the first century. That had rejected. God. He catalogs. All the sins.

[17:38] In Romans 1. In verse 30. But included. Within. Heneous sins. As we might say. Horrible sins. He includes.

[17:49] The mark. Of a society. That's rejected. God. And he puts in there. Those. Who are. Disobedient. To parents. Dishonouring.

[18:03] Parents. Lies. At the very root. Of a society's. Problem. The reason.

[18:13] That this sin. Is so serious. Is because. It's a rebellion. And dismissing. Of the authority. Structure. That God.

[18:25] Has. Appointed. God. Created. Marriage. God. Created. The family. It's part of his design. If we're fortunate enough.

[18:36] To be married. And if we're fortunate enough. To have children. God has appointed that. And gifted us that. The family is his design.

[18:50] And parental authority. Is divinely. Delegated. By God. And is an integral part. Of our reverence.

[19:03] For God. But you know. If you're anything like me. We have a natural. Dislike. Don't we.

[19:13] For authority. We don't. Like. Being. Told. What. To do. I was about to say. A Glasgow. Term. We don't like.

[19:24] Being. Tell. What. To do. But it's within the family context. That children.

[19:37] Are to learn respect. For authority. the fifth commandment establishes the fact that our parents are by God's design to be revered and honoured and the honour that we are to give them is to be a reflection of the honour that we ought to give God our heavenly father no child, no family no church no city or country or people will ever give honour where honour is due or respect to whom respect is to be given unless they are taught respect and honour and obedience within their homes and for their parents it is so critical to people's behaviour that the family is the place where children are to honour and respect authority now honour is the key word here in this commandment isn't it it's the only word that we really well

[21:07] I was going to say it's the only word that we really need to define but people as I've already said are defining what a mother and a father is in our society it's not a female and a male it might be a male and a male it might be a female and a female but honour is the key word here honour is the key word in this command it means to show respect the Hebrew word means to be heavy it's the word that the Old Testament writers use for the glory of God it carries weight for the weightiness of God's divine majesty and so to honour someone then is to give weight or to grant a person a position of respect and even authority in one's life so to honour our parents and we'll see that this isn't just for infants or children it really applies to us all this command no matter what age we are we shall see so to honour your parents whatever age you are is to treat them with a ton of respect a ton of respect yeah I remember hearing and I probably fell into this category myself you know they say when you're small maybe look

[22:53] Thomas you think your parents know everything they're wonderful they're superheroes dad and mum can do no wrong they're the greatest when you're a teenager you think they know nothing at all they're outdated they're outmoded they know nothing but when you mature maybe into your maybe twenties or thirties you then maybe begin to realise that your parents actually do know something and that what they taught you hopefully was good but how do we show respect to our parents how do we what does that look like in our lives well first I would say by showing respect to their persons you know you may not have a mum and dad that may be the best in your estimation but they have a God appointed position and we are to give honour where honour is due

[24:03] God doesn't say honour your mother and your father if you think they deserve it or honour your mother and father if they've earned it God intends us to honour our parents because they are our parents even if their life cannot be copied or mimicked or modelled they are still to be honoured so we show honour by showing respect to their persons but secondly we show honour to our parents we honour our mother and our father by listening to what they say we've already spoken about that to the boys and girls listening is honouring listen to the writer to the proverbs again in chapter 1 in verse 8 he says hear the instruction of your father and forsake not the law of your mother now we don't have to accept and believe or follow absolutely everything but to listen to them is a significant way of honouring them they have lots of experience in life they're further down the track than you or I are and the attitude of despising parental advice because it is parental advice is sinful the attitude of well what do they know they don't live in my lifestyle but we show honour by listening to what they say as I've already said this commandment is not just for 8 year olds or 10 year olds or 12 year olds this commandment is not age bound it applies to every single person in this room even if you don't have a fantastic relationship with your parents it's still or even don't know where they are it's not age bound it applies to you if you're a child of 12 if you're 40 if you're 50 or 60 or even 70 and your parents are still alive honour is shown in our attitude it's the way we think of our parents that matters it's the way that we treat them it's the way we speak of them it's the way we speak to them the way that we care for them or perhaps don't care for them that is the issue you know the command doesn't say here although it is implied to a certain extent the command doesn't say obey your father and your mother it doesn't say that it says honour your father and your mother now obedience does certainly apply at a certain age but the bible does say in the new testament that to children you are to obey your parents in all things for it is well pleasing to god colossians 3 and verse 20 obey obey your parents because it is right so when we're young

[28:03] and when we're children we are to obey our parents but there is a time when we all perhaps leave that family structure leave our mother and our father and new relationships are formed we move on to being married or we move out the house but this command to honour encompasses us all all of us no matter what age and in fact it's a lifelong command and it's perhaps addressed it might just be addressed can I put it to you that to those who are around about 40 or 50 years of age whose parents you may still have living and you may be fortunate to have children so there may be a situation where the person being addressed here and the majority of people might have been of this age in a normal distribution of life that they had their parents there they were there themselves as a mother and father and they had children so there perhaps maybe were three or four generations that were before Moses as he brought this commandment to them all alive at once you know that's significant isn't it because the way that you you as a perhaps 40 or 50 year old show respect to your parents will be highly visible to your children they will see how you treat your parents and in the circle of life isn't it amazing that there was a time at the beginning of your life life when your parents our parents as we were speaking to the children fed us dressed us and cleaned us and it might just be at the end of your parents life that you will have to dress them and feed them and clean them they did that for us is it not our bounding duty to do that for them where we can it's a mark of honour and respect for our parents if we're able to do that they sacrificed for us they got up in the morning they had sleepless nights they sacrificed their time their money their career for us are we not to reciprocate that when they are at the end of their lives honour your father and your mother you know we spoke about obedience earlier on didn't we but the supreme example of this is seen in the life of the Lord

[31:31] Jesus himself isn't it at the age of 12 Luke tells us the Lord Jesus was with his parents Mary and Joseph up in Jerusalem at the temple and somehow they lost him or he as it where got lost got separated from his parents but he was up at the temple and they went back and they found him and there he was he was disputing with the leaders and the teachers of the day and his parents as you can imagine were quite upset where have you been we've been looking for you for three days we've been looking for you and Luke tells us in these words and the Lord Jesus went down with them and he came to Nazareth and he was subject to them he obeyed them he honoured them he respected them he went down with them to

[32:36] Nazareth that was at the age of twelve but then do you remember amazingly at the end of his life when he was on the cross he was looking out for his mother even then showing her his honour and his respect that she deserved and one of the sayings from the cross of the seven sayings from the cross as Jesus is hanging there on the cross in pain and agony when he saw his mother John tells us in chapter 19 in verse 26 and 27 when Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby he said to his mother woman behold your son and then he said to that disciple

[33:40] John behold your mother and from that hour the disciple took her to his own home he watched out for his mother even when he was on the cross even when he was dying he was keeping this fifth commandment what an example to us all what an example to us all but then finally there is a promise at the end of this commandment isn't there that we've perhaps not got time to look at but let's just do it for a minute this promise that it may be well with you and that you may live long in the land Moses writes that promise was given to that specific people at that specific time as we said at the start it was given to them as a nation as they would move into the promised land their blessing in the promised land was contingent upon their obedience to their parents but this command was not only given to the nation but it was given to individuals in the nation and it's given to us as individuals

[35:00] Paul personalises this commandment in the New Testament in Ephesians 6 and verses 1 to 3 now if you were to look at those verses and to look at the promise as it were that's in that verse it's not an absolute guarantee that if you obey your parents you will live to 90 because there's many people who haven't obeyed their parents and who have lived a long life and there's people who have obeyed their parents and who have had a short life but by and large the promise is a general statement by God a general promise what do I mean by that well ordinarily so ordinarily so it's the case that people who love their parents who take care of them who honour them they are generally happier and more content in the way that they live their lives people who despise their parents discard their authority who disown them outright very quickly out of hand those same people you'll generally find tend to go to ruin in other aspects of their life very quickly so what are we saying what we're saying is how we treat our parents impacts our life it impacts our children and the respect that they have for their grandparents it impacts

[36:53] I submit to you the life of our nation it's easy to think ill of our parents it's easy to think that we know more than our parents we're in a better position it's easy to think ill of them God says don't don't do that honour them respect them those who brought you up and who brought you in to this world they're in a position of authority no matter what age they are no matter what age you are God says give honour to whom honour is due God says honour your father and your mother and it will go well with you may we all be enabled to have those relationships good relationships respectful relationships it's not always easy with our parents they are the ones who brought us in you might not agree as I've said with everything that they do or even believe and say but we are to honour them because they are in a

[38:14] God given position let's pray together father we thank you for our parents we thank you for those who brought us up especially we give you thanks for those of us who were brought up in Christian homes who were brought up in the fear and nurture and admonition of you our Lord we thank you for parents who brought us up to respect you to honour you but father we are conscious that there are many many people who don't have godly parents for a variety of reasons who perhaps don't or didn't have a stable upbringing an encouraging upbringing a positive upbringing father we are conscious that there will always be people even in a congregation like this who have had strained relationships or no relationships at all with their parents but father we pray that you might enable us all whoever we are to respect our parents to watch out for them as your own son did on that cross to treat them with respect and dignity and honour and where appropriate obedience help us to mend those relationships where they're broken and as much as lies within each of us to live at peace with our parents and with all men father forgive us where we have failed in this and where reparations and reconciliation and restoration can be made we pray that you'll enable us to do that so that we might honour our mother and our father father we ask this in Jesus name amen now we're going to sing in closing the hymn on your hymn sheet may the mind of

[40:50]  Christ my saviour live in me from day to day I can