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The Fourth Commandment

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Honor your father and mother,

That it may be well with you,And you may live long upon the earth.

Exodus 20:12

… that it may be well with you

This reminds us:God gives us the commandments for our

happiness

That you may live long on earth

This reminds us:The Old Testament people did not obey,

so they lost their land.

Examples from Old Testament

I found eleven examples of disobedient children in the Old Testament.

1 Kings 15:3. (about a king’s son named Abijam):

He committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been.

No wonder they lost their land.

Honor your father and mother

God put our parents over us, to take

care of us. Honoring parents shows we are

honoring God.

What does the New Testament say?

Children, obey your parents in the Lord. Ephesians 6:1 “In the Lord” means we obey our

parents because we belong to the Lord.

Another New Testament verse

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

Colossians 3:20 Our “new life” wants to please the Lord Our impulse to obey our parents comes

from our new life. Our “new life” wants to obey God. God says “obey parents” and it is our “new life” that says, “Yes, of course.”

Why obey our parents?

God gave our parents authority over us,

but our old nature (also called “old life” does not like to obey authority.

When God says “don’t do something” it is our old nature that says “I want to do it anyway.”

When our Old Life takes over:

Disobeying parents shows our sinful nature

So we need to ask God to forgive us, not just ask our parents to forgive.

Gotcha!

If we catch our old nature in the act, we are keeping Satan from getting a foothold in our lives.

When we see the old nature in action, we stomp it down by saying, “God, please forgive me, please change me.”

Very Selfish

Our old nature doesn’t like to obey God, or parents, or in fact any authority.

Therefore Martin Luther included more than just parents when he explained the 4th commandment.

Let’s take a look:

Luther’s comments:

This commandments means that We would not look down on our parents

and masters, and not do things to make them angry, but would give them honor, would serve them, obey them, love them, and admire them.

What would Masters include?

Your boss. Colossians 3:22 says: Obey in everything those who are your

earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.

What else would Masters include?

The police. Romans 13:1-2 says: Let every person be subject to the

governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed.

Any other masters?

Pastors. Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give account.

Can you think of more?

About our attitude

Our attitude toward authorities shows our attitude toward God. Obeying authorities gives honor to God.

What if our authority makes a mistake?

If they ask you to disobey God, you should put God first, but …

accept the fact that you may have to suffer for it.

In Acts 5, the disciples said “We must obey God rather than men.” (verse 29)

As a result (verse 40): they beat them and told them not to speak about Jesus”

But most of the time:

Most things our authorities say to us are not against God’s will;

It is just that we don’t like their decision.

Can you think of examples? But we can make an “appeal” to our

authority, asking them to change their minds.

How to ask your authority to have a change of mind ---

Check your attitude. Make sure they know you respect them.

Find out their basic goal for you. Show them another way you can help

them meet their goal.

If they still say no …

obey them because of your faith in God.

Jesus said to His father: “Let this cup of suffering pass from me. But nevertheless not my will but your will be done.”

Discussion

What good ways have you found to handle disagreements with your parents?

How is our government set up to handle disagreements with their laws?

What ways have you found to make your parents feel good?

How will you handle your kids when you become a parent?

End of Fourth Commandment

Purpose of God’s Law

For by works of the law no human will be justified in His sight, since through the law comes the knowledge of sin. Romans 3:20.

How to show love to God

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. First John 5:3

First Commandment

Told us not to put other things ahead of God. Consider the three men who were thrown into the fiery furnace. They said:

The Fiery Furnace:

Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up. (Daniel 3:17-18)

The second Commandment

Told us not to misuse God’s name, but to pray, praise, and thank him. Consider this verse:

Praising God’s name

At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the father. (Philippians 2:2:10-11)

The Third commandment

Told us to hear and learn from God’s Word.

Consider what Jesus said:

Being in God’s Word

Jesus said, “If you continue in my Word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32.

The Fourth Commandment

Told us to love and obey our parents and other authorities.

This verse shows that how we treat others show what our attitude toward God is:

Loving the unseen God

He who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. First John 4:20.

Did You Notice?

The first group of commands Was about how we treat God

The next group of commands Is about how we treat others

The End

Words by Jim Found Design by Lizzy O

Copyright notice: pictures from Microsoft Word Clip Art files.