Arkansas State press., 1943-10-22
HONORING OUR PARENTS

H0N0RING OUR PARENTS
LESSON TExT-Exodus 2o:12; Luke
a:4s.5l: Mark 7;6.l3: John ls;25.27.
GOLDEN IEXT-Children. obey your
oasaaas-h M Lord for this is right
Ephesians 6:H
Right relations between children
and parentsN have much to do with
the peace arki prosperity of a com
munitv and nation, Experience
has demonstI lated that to be true.
but even mo, basic is the fact that
IL is in aeco with the promise OF
God.
One of tn sad breakdowns in
modern life that of proper honor
and obedien to parents by chill
dren. In all DO many homes Gods
order has bee reversed and instead
of honoring I'd obeying their par
ents, children both young and Odd
have taken tn place of boss" and
mother and ia her must obey II they
want peace a rest.
The need fc our lesson Of today
Is both great 4 ID acute. The future
happiness Of fndreds OF thousands
Of children an the present welfare
of thousands neglected and boss
ridden parentl will depend on the
intelligence a faithfulness with
which this les sen is taught in our
churches. and the honesty Of heart
with which we all receive its truth.
I. The Command and Promise
{Exod. 20:l2).
We r told by Paul that this is
the first commandment with prom
Use" (Eph. GID. The Lord was
not making a bargain with man. or
seeking to draw out obedience by a
prize. but there is obviously a great
reward in the observing of this COM
mandment.
Then. too, as the children of God
ff we are such) through Jesus
Christ, the first and most important
consideration to come before us is,
What is the mind and will Of the
Maker Of VS. all regarding this mat
ter Of the relation between parents
and children? His words are plain
we are to "honor" our fathers and
our mothers.
The word Honor" carries with 1t
. great many things, but perhaps
the three outstanding elements are
respect, obedience, and affection.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the
Saviour and then the Example of
believers, presents a beautiful pat
tern Of true obedience to this COM
mandment. 4
II. willing Obedience Nuke 2:48-
81; John . :25-27).
The fact that Jesus was God mani
fest in the flesh only enhanced His
conduct. He who is divine presents
an example Of obedience and con-
sideration both as boy and mar
which we do well to emulate.
/. As a Boy Luke 2:48-5l). The
boy Jesus. increasing ''in wisdom
and stature. and in favor with God
and man. ". 52), had come to His
twelfth year and with His parents
had gone up to Jerusalem to cele-
brate the Passover,
There moved in His heart the con
viction that He must now be about
His Fathers business-an altogeth-
er proper and commendable pur-
pose. but one which resulted for
the moment in separation from His
parents. This was far more serious
than a physical separation, for we.
read that they did not understand
Him ". 50l,
Tragic indeed are the conse-
quences Of our failure to understand
our children. Notice, however. that
Jesus did not withdraw Himself from
their watchful care. nor refuse 10
obey them ever though they failed to
understand Him. Equally tragic are
the results of hasty and bitter sep
a%rations brought about by the dis
obedience Of children.
2. As a Man John l9:25-2T). The
value of our lesson will be greatly
reduced il we see only the RESPONSE
bility Of children while they are
young. We are the children of our
parents as long as we and they
live.
One marvels at the carelessness
and hardness Of heart that viii per-
init men and women who have time
and money for everything else, to
neglect their aged parents and even
shunt them off into a public institu-
ton for care.
iii. Hypocriticai Disobedience
MARX 7;6-l3).
Such an important commandment
naturally held a high place in the
thinking Of the community. To VIC
late it involved a measure Of shame
which men sought to avoid. So the
Jews Of Christs day devised a
scheme which made it possible for
a mar to appear TO be very religious
even as he deprived his parents Of
the honor and help to which they
were entitled by the law Of God.
The man who was so avaricious
that he did not wish to support his
aged and needy parents could en-.
tirely evade that God-given respon-
t. IT. AIa ~r.,zs