Audio Messages:
Pastor Wade Burleson

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Ephesians 6:1-4 (English-KJV)

1. Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
2. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise;
3. That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
4. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

1. Good News for Kids . . . "that it may be well with you"
   God is interested in young people and the lives they live. Further, He has given a plan, when followed, will lead to a prosperous, happy and fulfilled life.
   1. Children, obey your parents
      The word "children" refers to any young person under the care of parents.
      "Obey" (Gr. "hupakouo") --- "to listen under" This word carries the idea of a subordinate listening to one in authority and doing what is asked as a soldier would to his commander or a student would to his teacher.
      Two reasons why children are to obey their parents:
      1. This is right --- in other words, it is a righteous act commanded by a Holy God.
      2. In the Lord --- if you claim to know Christ, your obedience to your parents is "as unto the Lord" just as a Christian's wife's submission is to her husband (v.22).
   2. Children, honor your parents
      The word "honor" carries with it the idea of respect, awe, and reverence.
      Maybe you think you can never honor your parents because of who they are:
      1. God ordained you to have precisely the parents you were given.
         In O.T. Israel, the child who cursed his parents was stoned (Exodus 21:17).
      2. To obey your parents without appropriate honor of them is hypocrisy.
         An appropriate act without the appropriate attitude is always hypocrisy.
      3. The inability to obey and honor one's parents is an indicator of one's heart. " For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft" (I Samuel 15:23). Obviously, if parent's force you to violate the Word of God , disobey your parents
2. Good News for Parents . . . "fathers provoke not your children to wrath" The Lord does not leave us either ignorant or helpless in training our children. Is it not interesting that the Lord's instructions to the parents are addressed to the fathers?
   1. Do not provoke your children --- "don't exasperate or frustrate them"
      Just as the wife's submission is complemented by the husband's love, so too the child's obedience to parents is complemented by the parent's love for the child,
      1. When you discipline in uncontrolled anger.
      2. When you discipline without communication.
      3. When you discipline with inappropriate punishment
      4. When you discipline without thought of what you're teaching.
   2. Bring them up --- "raise them to maturity"
      It is the responsibility of the parents to raise their children, not the school or the church.
      1. The wise parent will know when to move from control to persuasion.
      2. The wise parent will be more concerned about his child's character and conduct than the child's popularity and performance.
      3. The wise parent will not take his personal value from his child's life.