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CHILDREN IN THE LORD Daniel Patz, Lead Pastor Grace Church, Sunday Worship Ephesians 6:1-4 March 14th, 2010
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. (2) "Honor your father and mother" (this is the first commandment with a promise), (3) "that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land." (4) Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
There were once three little silver trouts, who lived in a stream of clear water, which ran between two high green banks. The banks protected it from the wind and storms, so that the water was always smooth; and as the sun shone there, it was a very delightful place. Besides, these little fishes had plenty to eat and drink, and nothing to trouble them; so that you would have expected them to be perfectly happy. But alas it was not so; these little trouts were so foolish as to be discontented and unhappy, and God heard them complaining. So he told the little fishes that each of them might wish for whatever he pleased, and it should be granted.
So the first
little trout said, ‘ I am tired of moping up here in the water, and
of having to stay all the time in one place; I should like to have
wings, to fly in the air as the birds do, and go where I pleased.’ The other little trout said, ‘I too am a poor, ignorant little fish, and for that reason, I do not know what is best for me; my wish is that God would take care of me, and give me just what he sees best for me; I do not want any thing that he does not choose to give me.’ So God gave wings to the first, and he was very happy, and soared away into the air, and felt very proud, and despised his companions whom he had left in the river. He liked so much to fly, that he flew away off, till he came to a great desert, where there was no water, nothing but sand as far as he could see. By this time he was tired of flying, and was faint and thirsty, but he could see no water. He tried to fly farther, but could not; his wings failed, and he fell down panting on the hot sand, where he died miserably.
“And God gave the
second little fish knowledge, as he had desired, and he understood
all kinds of danger; but instead of being happier, he was all the
time in terror. He was afraid to go into the deep water, lest the
great fishes there should swallow him up; and he was afraid to go
into the shallow water, lest it should dry up and leave him. If he
saw a fly, or any thing that he would like to eat, he did not
venture to touch it, lest there should be a hook concealed under it.
So he pined away and died. And now, which of the three fishes was the wisest?” “0, the last, papa. But I am sorry for the two poor little fishes that died. They were not much to blame, papa, after all; they didn’t know what would happen to them.”
“No, certainly
they did not; they were to blame for not being satisfied with what
God had given them, and believing that he knew best” Point out that we are like the first trout by our nature. We want our own way and not God's. We need forgiveness for dishonoring God and we need a heart of wisdom like the third trout. 1. Kid's Job "Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. Honor your father and mother..." Children are given the job of obedience to their authority: Obedience is doing what you are told without: CHALLENGE, EXCUSE or DELAY. Children are given the job of honoring their authority: Honoring means - to treat special, prize, hold as a great value - be respectful, do it with a right attitude. CIRCLE of BLESSING - when you obey and honor your parents, God says it is like a circle of blessing - "that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land" DISOBEDIENCE and DISHONOR - moves us out of the circle of blessing and into DANGER...it won't go well with you and you will not have the promise of living long. 2. Parent's Job "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."
BRING THEM UP IN THE LORD Discipline - God's way of bringing children out of danger into blessing. Proverbs 13:24 Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him. Proverbs 19:18 Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death. Proverbs 22:15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him. Proverbs 23:13-14 Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol. Proverbs 29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother. Proverbs 29:17 Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart. 3. Jesus' Job "Children obey...IN THE LORD" Your parent's job is not just to teach you do what they say with a good attitude. This verses (Ephesians 6:1) says you must do it in the LORD! You need to obey because you are the Lord's child. You belong to the Lord. You love the Lord. When you obey your parents, you obey the Lord. This is where Jesus' job is so necessary. ADAM - from Circle of Blessing to outreaches of danger - no way back. SECOND ADAM - JESUS - Jesus came and obeyed his father so that we could be forgiven and made right with God. But not only that - so that we would have a new heart and want to obey God in a new way - like that third fish. The gospel for children God is greater than you could ever imagine Psalm 145:7-9 Great is the LORD! He is most worthy of praise! His greatness is beyond discovery! 8 The LORD is kind and merciful, slow to get angry, full of unfailing love. 9 The LORD is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation. God’s greatness is called His glory and God’s glory never ends! No matter how hard you try you can’t even imagine how great God is. God is always good and fair and kind and loving and holy and strong and with us. There is no one and nothing else like God in the entire universe. God created you to love and enjoy Him forever. [OR TO OBEY HIM AND LOVE DOING IT] Romans 11:36 For everything comes from [God]; everything exists by his power and is intended for his glory. To him be glory evermore. Amen. God planned you and made you to love and enjoy His glory and greatness. You were not made for parents or toys or vacations or presents or candy. You were made for God. God created you to know how great He is and to love and enjoy Him forever. No one loves and enjoys God rightly. [NO ONE LOVES TO OBEY HIM LIKE HE SHOULD] Romans 3:10-12; 23 "No one is good—not even one. 11 No one has real understanding; no one is seeking God. 12 All have turned away from God; all have gone wrong. No one does good, not even one." 23 For all have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious standard. We do not love and enjoy God the way that we should. Instead, you and I love other things more than God and we enjoy things that God has told us not to. When we love and enjoy bad things or things more than God, the Bible calls it sin. We have all sinned. Because we do not love and enjoy God rightly we deserve to be punished. [BECAUSE WE DON'T WE DESERVE TO BE PUNISHED] Romans 6:23 The wages of sin is death When we sin and do not do what is right we deserve to be punished. We have not loved and enjoyed God rightly. Therefore, we deserve to be punished. The Bible says that the punishment that we deserve is death. The place where we are punished for our sins is called hell. Because God is loving and fair and great He punished His own Son, Jesus, for our sins. 1 John 4:9-10 God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Because God loves you, He wants to forgive you of your sins. Because God is fair, though, your sins must be punished. But because God is great He is able to be both fair and forgiving. God punished His own Son, Jesus, on the cross for our sins so that we do not have to die. You can be forgiven of your sins by trusting in Jesus. Romans 3:22 We are made right in God's sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done. You can be forgiven of your sins and made able to love and enjoy God forever by trusting in Jesus. Trusting in Jesus means believing that He died for your sins, turning away from your sins, obeying His commands, and loving Him more than anything. Being able to trust in Jesus is a gift from God.
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