090913

Honor Your Father and Mother –Grandparents Day

Tim Franklin

Introduction:

• Welcome to Grandparents Day
  • My grandson was visiting one day when he asked, "Granma, do you know how you and God are alike?"
        I mentally polished my halo while I asked, "No, how are we alike?"
        "You're both old," he replied.
  • The Perks of Being 50 & Over
    • Kidnappers are not very interested in you.
    • In a hostage situation you are likely to be released first.
    • No one expects you to run into a burning building.
    • People no longer view you as a hypochondriac.
    • There is nothing left to learn the hard way.
    • Things you buy now won't wear out.
    • You can eat dinner at 4 PM.
    • You can live without sex but not without glasses.
    • You enjoy hearing arguments about pension plans.
    • You have a party and the neighbors don't even realize it.
    • You no longer think of speed limits as a challenge.
    • You quit trying to hold your stomach in, no matter who walks into the room.
    • You sing along with elevator music.
    • Your eyes won't get much worse.
    • Your investment in health insurance is finally beginning to pay off.
    • Your joints are a more accurate meteorologist than the national weather service.
    • Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can't remember them either.
    • Your supply of brain cells is finally down to manageable size.
  •    A grandfather was telling his little granddaughter what his own childhood was like: "We used to skate outside on a pond. I had a swing made from a tire; it hung from a tree in our front yard. We rode our pony. We picked wild raspberries in the woods."
        The little girl was wide-eyed, taking this in. At last she said, "I sure wish I'd gotten to know you sooner!"
  • I trust today’s message will help all of you get closer to those whom the scripture has commanded us to esteem and honor.
• Ephesians 6:1-3 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 "Honor your father and mother," which is the first commandment with promise: 3 "that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth." NKJV

1. Obey For This Is Right
   1. Obedience is the first step in honoring your father and mother.
      1. A Prophets view: 1 Samuel 15:22 So Samuel said: "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. NKJV
         1. Obedience is an issue of the heart.
         2. You can good works but God is looking at our hearts to see how obedient we are. When we are obedient God is pleased with that. He would rather us be obedient from the heart than to do all the works required of a Christian.
         3. He wants our hearts.
      2. A good parent is diligent about apprehending the heart of their children. They want their children to grow to the place of obedience because their hearts are in it not just because they do not want to get in trouble.
   2. Paul said, “Obey your parents in the Lord for this is right.”
      1. He said to “obey in the Lord.” He did not say, “obey for this is right” he said, “obey in the Lord” for this is right. Why”
         1. We gain insight by looking at the definition of Lord.
            1. Lord--‎ku/rios ‎kurios (koo'-ree-os); from kuros (supremacy); supreme in authority, (Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
            2. Supreme in authority. You are obeying an authority that is higher than your parents. If you want a real test of how well you are loving God you only have to measure how well you are loving your parents.
            3. We obey in the Lord because Paul is appealing to a higher authority for us to answer to. We are not just answering to our parents.
         2. We gain insight by looking at the word obey.
            1. ‎hupakouo (hoop-ak-oo'-o); to hear under (as a subordinate), i.e. to listen attentively; by implication, to heed or conform to a command or authority:(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
            2. To hear under= implies to be submitted to authority. You are hearing under the covering of those who care for you and have authority over you.
            3. "To obey." The word is used in this sense for wives, children, and servants (Eph 6:1,5; Col 3:20,22), for demons and nature (Mark 1:27; 4:41), fr (from Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, abridged edition, Copyright © 1985 by William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. All rights reserved.)
      2. For this is right. Paul makes it very clear—it is right to do this.
         1. It is accurate
         2. It is morally correct
         3. It is righteous—it is God’s way of doing things.
2. Honor is Commanded
   1. Commandment: A mandate, an order or injunction given by authority.
      1. This is not the fifth suggestion given by God! In fact, it was so important to God that He had Moses write it in stone as one of the 10 Commandments.
      2. It is a decree or charge that is expected to be carried out. God gave us 10 decrees to carry out. Jesus boilded it down to just two: love God and love each and you will have fulfilled all the law and the prophets.
   2. What is Honor?
      1. From the Greek-timaoo: to estimate, to fix the value, to revere, dignity, to deem worthy of honor. Thayers Gk. Lexicon.
      2. From the Hebrew: Kabed-to be weighty, to be heavy, honorable, glorious, greatness.
      3. When we honor someone we ascribe to them value, dignity, worth and greatness.
         1. Ie. If the President of the US were to come to Freedom we would honor him because of who he is, and the position he holds. We would treat him as one who has much weight in the national and international arena.
         2. We are to honor our parents as commanded by scripture. We are to ascribe to them weightiness, worthiness, value of who they are.
   3. How do we honor our parents?
      1. Honoring parents is first of all obedience to God. God commanded that we as believers honor them.
         1. As I said earlier, this is not a God suggestion.
         2. We live in a culture that is all about “me”. My culture says there is no God and that I am the center of my universe. Therefore if my parents expect, or demand something of me that I do not want to do, then because I am the center of my universe I can rebel. This is not Kingdom thinking! In fact, God called this witchcraft in
         3. 1 Samuel 15:22-23 So Samuel said: … Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, ... 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king." NKJV
      2. Honoring parents is an issue of the heart. There is little honor if it does not come from the heart.
         1. Matt 15:8-9 "These people draw near to Me with their mouth,Andhonor Me with theirlips,But their heart is far from Me.⁹And in vain they worship Me, NKJV
         2. Oh, as a parent the one of the greatest honors given to us by our children is when they love and honor us with both their lips and their heart. We honor them by giving them our heart and not just our service or actions. When you give a parent your heart you give them something greater than gold.
      3. Honoring Parents begins with obedience.
         1. As a child when you obey you hold the heart of that parent in your hand because they live to give you the best wisdom and understanding that they have.
         2. Obedience says, I trust you. Obedience says, you are worthy to be obeyed.
      4. Honoring parents is giving them worth.
         1. I have a file and a drawer full of notes from the boys as they have grown and as they have become men. They are notes of thanks, they are notes of appreciation, they are notes of gratitude for all that has been given to them, they are notes of affirmation—affirming for me for who I am and not just for what I have done. That is honor, it ascribes—a weightiness, and greatness that can only be given by others.
         2. As parents age and move into those years where they can no longer care for themselves. The last thing we want to do is make them feel that they are a burden to us. We seek to give them in their last years as much dignity, weightiness, worth as humanly possible from a child—who may be 60 years old themselves.
            1. The sadness of so many in the progressive care units that abound in our state is that they have no one to care for them, to give them honor other than strangers who are paid to do it.
            2. Only you as a parents child can truly give them the honor they deserve.
   4. Side Bar—How do I honor one who is undeserving of honor? They abused me, neglected me, did not care for me? I cannot begin to relate with the depths of pain that some children have felt at the hands of their parents. I can only offer Gods Word with hope for your healing.
      1. We start with the heart—your heart. If you are holding bitterness, anger or unforgiveness towards a parent you are only harming yourself. God loved you when you were doing all sorts of the things to trample His son’s blood under your feet. Yet he loved you and cared enough to die for you. Him sending His son to die for you was an issue of his heart. So if in your heart, there are issues contrary to love, they must go. Healthy heart—healthy life.
         1. If all you can do from this 5^th commandment is get your heart right towards God and your parents you have come a long long way!
         2. Beyond that, all you can do is look for little moments, a small ray of hope to give thanks for.
      2. We honor them because--They gave us life, therefore they are to be honored. They could have aborted us. If this is all you can find then you start there.
      3. If you are adopted, you honor those who chose to give you life and committed to a lifetime of loving you and raising you. They by an act of the heart chose you to be their child. That counts for so much in this life. Later if you find your birth parents you love them as God commanded but your loyalties are to those who gave you their heart for so many years.
      4. I know my heavenly Father is a good Father. I encourage you to trust him
3. A Good and Long life is Promised Ex. 20:12
   1. Promise:
      1. Exodus 20:12 "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you. NKJV
         1. Greek: to offer, promise, vow.
         2. Heb.ma`an —purpose, intent; as a preposition: for the sake of, in view of, on account of, for the purpose of, to the end that(from The Online Bible Thayer's Greek Lexicon and Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon, Copyright © 1993, Woodside Bible Fellowship, Ontario, Canada. Licensed from the Institute for Creation Research.)

1. God has vowed/promised to give us long life: upon the land.
   1. I love what the Heb. lexicon had to say about the word ‘upon’ –on the ground, and above the ground. I thought you would like. Honor your parents that it may go well with you and that you may stay above ground. That is a good reason as a child to honor your parents.
   2. God wants us to have dominion and to reign with Him. A children, when we honor our parents, we are literally gaining the favor/blessing of God!
   3. God gave the children of Israel a destiny and He wanted them to reach it. Each of you have a destiny and eternal purpose and God wants you to reach it. So to help give you more time to accomplish that He is giving you help while you honor your parents.
1. Paul’s inight: Ephesians 6:3 "that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth." NKJV
   1. That it may be will with you. The word used here means that it may fare/go well with you, that you may prosper.
   2. That you may live long on the earth. Simply means length of days.
   3. So if you have length of days in which things are going well with you—that is a good life.

Conclusion:

• In closing, this day is about honoring our parents and especially our grandparents.
• The thrust of the message is about holding the hearts of the older generation in our hands and ascribing to them the honor that they are worthy of. To love them as only we as children and grandchildren can.
• In the world of texting—don’t forget the power of a hand written note to a grandparent. Don’t forget that parent or grandparent that is no long able to care for themselves. You have the power to give them dignity in the midst of their dependence on others.
• Invitation to receive Jesus as Lord.

(Author: Pastor Tim Franklin)

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