Sunday Sermon Colossians 3:20-21
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Introduction
Introduction
Good morning everyone and thank you for that wonderful message of music!
When you pray, please lift up our worship team all through the week as they get attacked by the wicked one who attempts to stop them from leading us in worship, bringing us to the throne and worshipping our God.
We are glad that each one of you are here to worship with us in Spirit and in Truth, one verse at a time.
Rather than ramble, let’s dive into the Word as it is going to be another hot one today.
Read Colossians 3:18-21
Read Colossians 3:18-21
Prayer
Prayer
Review
Review
In looking back, we have come as far as verse 19.
Paul has moved from teaching us what it looks like to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, to moving into our homes or our domestic lives.
He has moved from, doctrine to duty, and from duty starting in our homes.
If we have been born again, regenerated, saved, and are being sanctified church, then the transformation that is happening in our heads and hearts, is going to move to our hands and feet.
Another way to put this would be : If you are in the transformation or the sanctification process, then guess what? Our homes will have this in them as God sees fit, not us.
But this will only happen if we have these three things going on in our lives:
We Let the peace of God to rule or be the umpire of our hearts. We all the peace of God to direct our decision making and the words we speak to one another.
We Let the Word of Jesus Christ, the whole counsel of God dwell with in our hearts. If it is dwelling which means residing inside of us, then not only will our minds be getting renewed church, but we will be getting sanctified! John 17:17
We do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And guess what? Everything, means everything by word, thought, or deed.
And if the Word of God is not dwelling within our hearts, and our minds are not being controlled and renewed, then guess what?
The peace of God will not rule in our hearts or our homes, therefore, the wives will not submit to their husbands, and husbands will not love their wives.
If these two are not going on in the home church, then chances are the kiddos are struggling to obey.
If Jesus is going to be the center of our homes, the center of our marriages and our relationships with our kids, then we must not be hypocrites.
We must practice what we preach.
Many of you know the old adage: “ Don’t do as I do, do as I say!” If, you are living this way in your homes, if you are telling your kids to not use curse words, not use drugs, not us alcohol, not smoke and you are, “What kinda of message is your kids getting?”
They are confused for sure!
But I promise you, that if you tell them not to do something and you yourself are doing that very thing, then you my brothers and sisters are setting your kids up for failure!
And please do not use the excuse of this is only for adults, because the truth of the matter is that you probably have addiction of an idol in your life!
OUCH!!!!
If the wife is submitting to the husband, and the husband is radically loving his wife, and your kids see Jesus in you, then the verses we will spend some time on today, will happen in you homes and most importantly with your children.
Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.
So I think the first thing we must do is to clarify who the children are?
Also, we need to remember that Paul is exhorting the church, therefore, he is talking about a home that there are believers.
Now that might mean that the wife is saved and the husband is not, but this does no give us an excuse to not walk out our faith in our homes because our children are watching and listening to everything we do and say.
Remember, if we live out loud in our homes, and love as the Bible commands us, then through this God can and will save our households!
Children- teknon- child n. — a son or daughter of any age; offspring, sometimes referred to collectively as children.
Tekna (children) is a general term for children and is not limited to a specific age group.
It refers to any child still living in the home and under parental guidance.
metaphor: the name transferred to that intimate and reciprocal relationship formed between people by the bonds of love, friendship, trust, just as between parents and children
in the NT, pupils or disciples are called children of their teachers, because the latter by their instruction nourish the minds of their pupils and mould their characters
Children, -- The Apostle Paul is not addressing children in general but a special kind of children. They are covenant children. Children born into a Christian home with special privileges. Some of these children may be truly converted. Others may not but this command is given to covenant children and if they do what God tells them, they will be greatly blessed.
Before I look at what the Bible says about children obey their parents church, I think it is extremely important for us to look at some number or statistics that are staggering:
A famous person said, “The younger generation no longer respects its elders; it tyrannizes its teachers, fails to rise when old people enter the room, and has atrocious manners.” This quote did not come from the Letters to the Editor column in the Union Bulletin. It was the observation of a wise old gentleman who lived over 2000 years ago. His name was Socrates.
It is now 1987 and things have gone from bad to worse. Juvenile delinquency and juvenile crime are skyrocketing to heights never known before. Some of the most brutal crimes committed today are by children, not teenagers, children twelve years old and younger. Today children are into drugs and sex and it is not uncommon to find girls ages twelve and thirteen as unwed mothers. In our public schools, assaults on teachers have risen over 80% in the last ten years.
Top Offenses In The Public Schools:
1940 2021
1. Talking 1. Rape
2. Chewing gum 2. Robbery
3. Making noise 3. Assault
4. Running in the halls. 4. Burglary
5. Getting out of turn in line. 5. Arson
6. Wearing improper clothing 6. Bombings
7. Not putting paper in wastebaskets. 7. Murder
8. Suicide
9. Absenteeism
10. Vandalism
11. Extortion
12. Drug abuse
13. Alcohol abuse
14. Gang warfare
15. Pregnancies
16. Abortions
17. Venereal Disease
18. AIDS
19. Pornography
Why church? Why is this happening to our children?
The first thing I would suggest is that God is not longer part of the home.
The second thing is that there are no fathers in the homes and our kids are being raised in single parent homes
This is not what God desires.
But rather than me give you numbers, show you the demise of our homes and society, let me share a scripture:
But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
Does this sound familiar? Do you think any of this is happening today?
Paul wrote this to Timothy and he shared this was happening then church.
There are two things that I would like to zero in on in this text and that is:
Disobedient to parents
Without love>>> in the original language, this means there is not love in the home
How can this be?
Lack of realtionship
A. T. Robertson says this, and I quote: “Real Christianity is both a doctrine and a life. Mere belief is dead without life as proof. Real spiritual life is impossible without vital contact with God and Christ, and our dealings with others become the final proof of our real connection with Christ.” End quote.
Christianity, he says, is dead unless it’s relational. It’s dead unless it has an impact with people. And the nitty-gritty, the place where the rubber meets the road, is the family, the home, the basic unit of society.
I wonder whether Christianity can affect society at all if it can’t affect its own homes?
I wonder whether Christianity is ever going to do anything in a society when it can’t do anything in the home. And when, on the other hand, it does something in the home, then it’ll have an impact on society.
The bottom line is if your destroy the home, you destroy society!
So I whole heartedly believe that if Jesus is missing in the home, if the father and mother are not in love fulfilling the commands that God has given them, then our kids are not going to obey because they have no one to obey.
The words of Socrates that I shared earlier do not see much different from those of a schoolteacher who recently resigned from her school system. She said, “The teachers are afraid of the principals, the principals are afraid of the parents, and the parents are afraid of the children. But the children are afraid of no one!”
For the most part church, children do not create problems; they reveal them.
Parents who cannot discipline themselves cannot discipline their children.
If a father and mother are not under authority themselves, they cannot exercise authority over others.
It is only as parents submit to each other and to the Lord that they can exercise properly balanced spiritual and physical authority over their children.
Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.
So we learned that these kids could be saved or not saved, but we must understand that this text is a universal truth that covers all cultures around the world.
It is common for various cultures, even various religions to teach that our kids are to obey.
But what does obey mean?
Obey-hupakouo- (hoop-ak-oo'-o) (“under” + “to listen”) – to listen, to obey, to harken, to submit to, of one who on the knock at the door comes to listen who it is, (the duty of a porter).
The parallel text in Ephesians is almost identical:
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.” And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
The first relationship in the home is between the husband and his wife, the second one in the home is between the parents and their children.
It important that we get this church because this relationship category cannot be right unless the relationship between husband and wife is right.
Tekna (children) is a general term for children and is not limited to a specific age group.
It refers to any child still living in the home and under parental guidance.
The present tense of the imperative hupakouete (be obedient) demands a continuous obedience.
It means to keep on obeying!
Notice that there is a commandment here with a promise church in this text church:
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
It is clear that this is still binding upon us, therefore, if we obey our parents, the Lord promises us long life, longevity in the land the Lord gives us church.
We have all seen many people perish at a young age because they did not harken the voice of their parents.
And here is the bottom line:
If our kids do not obey us, they will not obey their teachers, they will not obey their employees, and eventually they will not obey the laws of the land or even the police for remember what Paul said:
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
it is important to note here that there are several commands to obey in the Word of God, for if a child would become rebellious in the OT, guess what??
‘For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood shall be upon him.
“If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not heed them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city. And they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones; so you shall put away the evil from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear.
Praise God that Jesus went to the cross and that we are in the age of Grace
Because there are many of us right here today, that would have been taken outside the city and stoned to death.
Does this mean a child is to obey absolutely?
Yes and no. According to Colossians 3:20 which says, “Children, obey your parents in all things, for this pleases the Lord,” children are to obey parents in everything except if the parents ask them to do something immoral or inflict something on them which is contrary to the moral law of God.
If a child is asked by a parent for sexual favors or is abused or unmercifully beaten, the child does not have to obey.
But generally the child’s responsibility is to obey the commands, wisdom and wishes of the parents. What if the parents’ commands or wishes seem unfair, harsh and unreasonable? The child still must obey providing the parents are not violating the moral law of God. There is a special blessing for kids when they obey their parents.
When the kids were younger, they would ask us if they could do some particular activity. Usually I said yes, but occasionally I said no. The kiddos would say, “Why?” My answer would he “I can’t give a logical answer, but out of our wisdom and insight, we just have a gut level feeling it is wrong. We ask you to respect our decision.
The key to this section is not, “Children obey your parents” but “Children, obey your parents in the Lord.” They are to obey their parents because this is what the Lord wants them to do. Their first obligation is not to please their parents but to please their Lord, and it pleases Christ when children obey their parents. Children, God will bless you in a very special way when you obey your parents because you love Christ even when your love for your parents seems shaky.
In closing I would like to share:
The underlying problem with our children today is the breakdown of the home.
The authority structure has been shattered.
Relationships between parents and children are almost nonexistent.
Children do not seem to have much discipline and there is little respect for parents.
Children basically are not being taught obedience in the home.
How are your kids doing? How are you doing?
Let us remember obedience, is better than sacrifice!
Prayer
Prayer
Lord, if there was ever a time we need you, it is now! We struggle as parents to raise our children in the fear and the admonition of the Lord. We have failed our children and because of this, our kids struggle. Father, if we do not fulfill the commands that you have laid before us as parents, we cannot expect our children to obey. Please forgive us for failing you and failing our children. Empower us through your gentle Holy Spirit to love you first, so we can love the way you have called us to. It then Father, that our kids will obey. Help us to be humble and admit when we have failed and be the parents you have called us to be. Lord, please help our children understand that it is through obedience that your promise us longevity and blessing. Please empower them to obey. God we ask that you would heal the hearts of our children and us all from the pain and confusion that we have endured. And one last thing, please save our children, our spouses, and families that do not know you!
In Jesus Name we Love You, AMEN!
Announcements
Announcements
Are there any announcements?
Please keep Kymbra in your prayers and send her a text if you think about it
Benediction
Benediction
There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
This text, applies to us all.
Remember parents, we are not called to be our children's buddy but rather their parents!
Next week we will continue our study with children and move into parenting
Be here!
THE LORD BLESS YOU!
YOUR MISSION STARTS NOW!