1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:07,680 So for most of his early life, John Newton had absolute 2 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:12,560 authority over human beings. You see, before he ever wrote 3 00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:17,960 Amazing Grace, Newton was a captain in the transatlantic 4 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:23,320 slave trade. On his ship, his word was law. 5 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:27,120 He decided who ate and who starved. 6 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:31,880 He decided who lived and who died, who was beaten and who was 7 00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:35,160 spared. You see, the people below the 8 00:00:35,160 --> 00:00:39,120 deck had no voice, no leverage, no escape. 9 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:42,640 Submission wasn't choice. It was forced. 10 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:47,680 You see, according to his logbook, he bought and 11 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:53,920 imprisoned roughly about 468 men, women and children. 68 of 12 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:55,560 those people died under his watch. 13 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:02,960 Years later, Newton would write that what haunted him most was 14 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:09,760 not only what he did, but how normal it felt to hold that kind 15 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:15,760 of power. Authority had been completely 16 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:21,880 untethered from love. Power had no accountability and 17 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:25,760 human beings paid the price. You see, eventually God broke 18 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:30,920 Newton slowly and painfully. His ship was thrown into a 19 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:33,280 vicious storm and it left him stranded. 20 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:38,000 And so for over 27 days the crew and Newton fought for their 21 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:41,160 lives till eventually their ship found land. 22 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:47,920 But during that time, he came to see Christ not only as Savior, 23 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:51,400 but as Lord. You see, Lord over his past, 24 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:54,800 Lord over his power, Lord over authority. 25 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:59,280 And Newton would later confess, I am a wretched Sinner. 26 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:06,520 Do with me as you please. She only then did Newton begin 27 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:10,600 to understand what authority was meant to be. 28 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:16,320 That's why Amazing Grace that we love to sing doesn't celebrate 29 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:19,760 power. It mourns blindness. 30 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:23,560 It it remembers fear. And then it rejoices that grace 31 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:25,760 can rule where authority once crushed. 32 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:28,880 This. This was written by a man who 33 00:02:29,640 --> 00:02:34,040 owned slaves, and he writes about his chains being gone and 34 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:38,320 finding grace in Christ. And so for some of you, the 35 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:41,800 mention of the word authority tightens your chest. 36 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:47,480 You didn't choose that reaction most of the time. 37 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:52,440 I probably came from experience. Maybe it was a coach who used 38 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:56,200 humiliation as motivation. Maybe it was a parent whose 39 00:02:56,200 --> 00:03:00,560 rules felt unpredictable and whose discipline felt harsh. 40 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:04,840 Maybe it was a boss who reminded you everyday how replaceable you 41 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:07,440 were. Maybe it was someone in 42 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:10,400 spiritual leadership showing that you should have been able 43 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:14,400 to trust someone that had power and authority who use scripture 44 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:17,400 to protect themselves rather than care for you. 45 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:22,000 And even some of you in this room, you can't even name the 46 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:27,960 moment, but your body feels it. Your trauma feels the weight of 47 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:31,920 of where authority has been untethered from Christ. 48 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:39,440 Authority shapes our sense of safety, right? 49 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:42,680 So when the Bible starts talking about authority and submission, 50 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:45,920 some of us don't hear it neutrally. 51 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:50,240 You hear them through memory. You hear it through pain. 52 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:52,760 You you hear it through mistrust. 53 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:57,000 And our culture offers a simple solution. 54 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:02,800 Authority is the problem, and so flatten it. 55 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:09,160 Reject authority altogether. Question everything or just 56 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:15,000 seize authority for yourself. In our text this morning, Paul 57 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:19,880 doesn't do that. Instead, Paul challenges us to 58 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:24,200 recenter the focus of our authority and submission. 59 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:28,720 Because the problem is not authority itself, You see. 60 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:33,000 The problem is an authority untethered from Christ. 61 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:38,560 And before Paul ever gives a command to a child, to a parent, 62 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:44,720 to a slave or a master, he gives us the lens everything must be 63 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:52,440 seen through, Ephesians 521 says submitting to one another out of 64 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:56,800 reverence for Christ. And so this morning we're going 65 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:59,840 to, we're going to kind of start a, a, what is known as the 66 00:04:59,840 --> 00:05:02,000 household code, but we're going to do it in a little bit 67 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:04,880 different order. Now you see, before the ice 68 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:07,840 storm hit, this was supposed to be the passage I preached on. 69 00:05:07,840 --> 00:05:11,560 It moved us a week back. And so if you came hoping to 70 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:14,480 hear about husbands and wives come next week, we will, we will 71 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:16,920 hit on that and that'll be Aaron's duty to do that. 72 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:21,520 But I'm a bit, I'm going to be talking about children and 73 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:25,880 parents and then slaves and masters all still within the 74 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:30,840 household code, as we will see. But that one verse, Ephesians 75 00:05:30,840 --> 00:05:35,440 521 when we left off last week, that is the crucial element to 76 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:39,000 understanding what comes next in Paul's epistle to Ephesus. 77 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:44,680 What he's saying is don't read what I'm about to say through 78 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:49,600 your past as I walk through these areas of of your life 79 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:51,600 where there's authority and then there's someone that's 80 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:54,400 subordinate. Don't read it through your past. 81 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:57,840 Don't read it through your lens, but read it through Christ. 82 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:03,680 So submit to one another in reverence for Christ, because 83 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:08,400 when authority is detached from Christ, it wounds, it damages, 84 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:13,200 it destroys. But when Christ rules authority, 85 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:17,600 everything changes. Augustine once said where there 86 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:21,360 is no love, there is no true authority. 87 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:26,240 Paul is about to show us that authority, what authority looks 88 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:31,040 like when it's placed back under love because it's placed back 89 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:34,640 under Christ. And so when we come to Ephesians 90 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:39,000 6, children and parents, slaves and masters, Paul is not giving 91 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:43,320 us isolated rules. He is showing us what happens 92 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:47,640 when Jesus Christ stands over relationships where authority is 93 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:52,600 unequal. That is the question before us 94 00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:55,400 this morning. How does Christ rule 95 00:06:55,400 --> 00:07:01,280 relationships where authority is unequal if you're not already 96 00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:04,120 there to Ephesians six term with me as we read our text this 97 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:09,080 morning. Paul says children obey your 98 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:12,120 parents in the Lord for this is right. 99 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:16,520 Honor your father and mother. This is the first commandment, 100 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:19,720 with a promise that it may go well with you, and that you may 101 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:24,000 live long in the land. Fathers, do not provoke your 102 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:28,120 children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and 103 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:33,000 instruction of the Lord. Bond servants, obey your earthly 104 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:36,720 masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you 105 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:41,040 would Christ, not by the way of I service as people pleasers, 106 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:46,880 but as bond servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the 107 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:50,640 heart, rendering service with a goodwill as to the Lord and not 108 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:55,280 to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does this he will 109 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:59,960 receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bond servant or 110 00:07:59,960 --> 00:08:05,920 is free masters. Do the same to them and stop 111 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:10,400 your threatening, knowing that He who is both their Master and 112 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:15,120 yours in it is in heaven, that there is no partiality with Him. 113 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:21,800 You see, Ephesians is not a book about isolated commands. 114 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:26,080 It's a book about new creation, life under the reign and rule of 115 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:29,320 Christ. Paul has already told us in 116 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:32,480 Ephesians 2 we were dead, but God made us alive. 117 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:36,240 Later he says Christ has broken down the dividing walls. 118 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:40,559 There is no longer this division amongst one another and now we 119 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:43,120 are to walk in a manner worthy of Our Calling. 120 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:47,400 And so by the time we reach chapter 5, Paul is showing us 121 00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:50,400 what life looks like. It's walking in love, walking as 122 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:54,840 children of light, walking in wisdom and and wisdom. 123 00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:59,920 Paul says it's not merely knowing what is right, it is 124 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:02,640 living rightly under the lordship of Christ. 125 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:06,960 That is wisdom. That's why he says in 521 126 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:09,960 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. 127 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:15,480 This is not mutual submission in the sense that roles just 128 00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:20,480 disappear. It's mutual submission in the 129 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:23,360 sense that everyone is under Christ. 130 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:28,280 Now, Paul applies that principle where power differences are most 131 00:09:28,680 --> 00:09:33,720 obvious. Again, how does Christ rule in 132 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:36,480 relationships where authority is unequal? 133 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:41,920 Paul answers that in three ways by using the example of children 134 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:44,680 and parents and slaves and masters. 135 00:09:45,680 --> 00:09:50,880 First, what we see is Christ redirects submission upward. 136 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:54,640 Christ redirects submission upward. 137 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:58,200 You see in Ephesians 61 children, obey your parents and 138 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:00,640 the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother. 139 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:03,200 Then it may go well with you that you may live long in the 140 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:05,440 land. And then he goes in, in verse 6 141 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:07,480 and talks or five. They talks about the bond 142 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:11,640 servants. He begins this passage 143 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:15,240 intentionally. He doesn't speak first to those 144 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:17,800 in power. He doesn't speak to those that 145 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:19,760 are in authority. He speaks to the one that's the 146 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:24,240 subordinate, one that does not have authority, children, 147 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:29,840 slaves, or workers. This alone would have gotten the 148 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:33,200 Church of Ephesus attention. All right. 149 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:37,720 As mentioned earlier, in order to properly understand what Paul 150 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:42,200 was saying, you must keep Ephesians 521 in your mind. 151 00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:46,320 Paul fleshes submission out through three different 152 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:49,040 relationships. He starts first with wives and 153 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:51,600 husbands, and he goes to children and parents, and then 154 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:56,040 slave and master. In each relationship, Paul is 155 00:10:56,040 --> 00:11:01,520 going to address the one who is the subordinate first, and then 156 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:03,440 he admonishes the one with authority. 157 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:06,960 And so he begins this intentionally, because in the 158 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:11,280 ancient world household instruction usually went 159 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:13,800 straight to the head of the house. 160 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:17,120 But Paul does something different here. 161 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:21,480 He addresses the ones with least power directly. 162 00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:27,480 As Peter O'Brien noted, he says Paul's concern is not merely to 163 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:31,680 preserve social order, but to show how the Lordship of Christ 164 00:11:31,680 --> 00:11:36,400 reshapes existing relationships. In other words, Paul is not 165 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:38,360 rearranging the furniture in the home. 166 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:43,320 What he's doing is he's changing the center of the room of what 167 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:46,480 the what the furniture is pointing to what our hearts are 168 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:52,480 pointing to everything that follows wives and husbands, 169 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:56,600 children and parents, servants and masters is Paul showing us 170 00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:00,800 what ordinary life looks like under Christ's rule. 171 00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:04,200 And so he begins with the children. 172 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:10,280 The charge children obey your parents in the Lord for this is 173 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:13,280 right. See Paul here doesn't soften the 174 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:16,920 word obey. Authority in the home is real. 175 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:21,040 Christianity never pretends otherwise. 176 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:23,640 He says children obey your parents. 177 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:29,120 But Paul refuses to let obedience just kind of stand on 178 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:32,680 its own. He anchors it in the Lord. 179 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:37,920 Those 3 words are not just a a fun decorative that Paul used 180 00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:42,200 even though he loves to use in the Lord in Ephesians, but 181 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:48,240 they're decisive and commentator pointed out that the phrase in 182 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:52,160 the Lord places the child's obedience within the sphere of 183 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:55,760 Christ's authority and not merely under parental control. 184 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:02,080 That's crucial because what Paul is not saying is obey because 185 00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:06,360 parents are always right. What he's not saying is obey 186 00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:10,800 because parents are ultimate. He's not even saying obey if 187 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:16,200 your parents are believers. He's saying obey because you 188 00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:21,360 belong to Christ. Throughout Ephesians in Christ 189 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:25,680 or in the Lord describes A believer's location where their 190 00:13:25,680 --> 00:13:29,480 life is rooted, right. Chosen in Christ, made alive in 191 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:35,120 Christ, created in Christ for good works and now Paul brings 192 00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:37,240 children fully into that reality. 193 00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:43,400 Andrew Lincoln writes that this command assumes children are 194 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:47,280 participants in the Christian community where obedience flows 195 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:49,720 from their relationship to the Lord. 196 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:54,400 That means obedience is not a pre Christian morality, it's a 197 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:59,840 Christian discipleship. Children do not step outside of 198 00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:02,760 their faith when they obey their parents. 199 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:06,920 Their obedience is one of the ways their union with Christ is 200 00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:10,520 lived out, and that's always been the pattern in Scripture. 201 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:15,040 If you go back to Leviticus 19, as they're establishing the Holy 202 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:20,400 Code, it says everyone of you shall Revere his mother and 203 00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:23,040 father. I am the Lord your God. 204 00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:27,240 Notice how that command is framed. 205 00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:31,320 He's saying parental authority is real honor and Revere your 206 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:34,840 father and mother, but it's immediately placed under God's 207 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:38,760 authority. Paul is doing the same thing 208 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:41,480 here in Ephesians. He's saying, hey parents, you 209 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:45,440 have real authority, but you're not the highest authority in the 210 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:49,840 home. Christ is O'Brien, again is 211 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:52,320 helpful here. He says that the Paul's wording 212 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:57,720 relativizes parental authority by placing it explicitly under 213 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:03,160 the lordship of Christ. You see, that means obedience is 214 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:07,240 real. Children, students, but it's 215 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:11,080 never blind. You see, children are not being 216 00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:13,280 asked to trust authority, just in general. 217 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:18,000 They're being invited to trust Christ as they live under 218 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:21,600 authority. And that phrase in the Lord, 219 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:25,960 while it also deals with your relationship with Him, it also 220 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:28,840 sets the boundary lines for authority. 221 00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:32,520 Paul doesn't spell them out, because Scripture already has. 222 00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:36,800 But what he says is when human authority commands what God 223 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:42,560 forbids, or what forbid or forbids what God commands, the 224 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:44,400 hierarchy of allegiance is clear. 225 00:15:45,160 --> 00:15:50,200 As the apostles put it, we must obey God rather than man. 226 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:54,480 That's right, Paul assumes that framework here. 227 00:15:55,280 --> 00:16:03,600 You are to obey your parents in the Lord so outside of them 228 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:08,440 asking you to blatantly sin children, students, those that 229 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:11,800 are still under the authority of your your parents, you are to 230 00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:17,680 obey Paul only gives 1 clear out and that's if they do what is 231 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:22,640 against what the Lord has told you to do explicitly from 232 00:16:22,640 --> 00:16:24,760 scripture right. That's not the, oh, the Lord 233 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:30,040 told me to do this and ends up being going out late at night, 234 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:32,440 right? No, you, you listen to your 235 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:35,160 parents in that. But if they tell you, hey, you 236 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:38,440 cannot have a relationship with the Lord, you cannot read your 237 00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:43,200 Bible and, and have partnership with Christ, then you obey God 238 00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:43,720 first. Amen. 239 00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:50,280 So kids, students, teenagers, when you obey, you're not just 240 00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:53,400 doing what mom or dad said, which is a good thing. 241 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:57,840 What you're doing is you're practicing what it means to live 242 00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:00,200 under Jesus as King. That's right. 243 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:05,200 John Calvin and his institute said all obedience that we yield 244 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:09,319 to men must be subordinate to the authority of God. 245 00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:15,000 And then obedience is then further motivated by and based 246 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:19,599 on the fact that that it's just right and it's just a a common 247 00:17:19,599 --> 00:17:24,560 thing in society that it is right for children to obey it 248 00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:27,880 just that it just makes sense. It is right to do that. 249 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:32,640 And then Paul doesn't leave the command hanging. 250 00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:34,760 He reaches back into the Old Testament. 251 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:39,520 He says honor your father and mother, for this is the first 252 00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:42,880 commandment with a promise. This is this is not some random 253 00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:47,680 reference Paul is pulling in the deep structure of God's design. 254 00:17:49,120 --> 00:17:51,640 You see the 5th commandment sits at the center of the 10 255 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:54,960 commandments. Many believe it. 256 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:59,880 It's the bridge commandment. It bridges the commands about 257 00:17:59,880 --> 00:18:03,760 loving God and commands about loving others. 258 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:09,520 As commentators regularly note, it is the first place where 259 00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:14,120 obedience to God is worked out through obedience to a human 260 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:17,840 authority. You see, God designed the home 261 00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:20,800 to be the first place authority is encountered. 262 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:25,600 Before a child ever meets governments, before a child ever 263 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:30,400 meets an institution or an employer, they meet authority in 264 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:34,200 the home. And so that is why Paul moves 265 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:40,920 from obey to honor, right? Because obedience describes what 266 00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:44,160 children under the care of their parents should do, right? 267 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:46,320 And if you're like me, when I was a teenager, I was like, when 268 00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:50,760 do I not have to do that, right? When do I become my own man and 269 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:54,760 I can do what I want, right? When do when does the obedience 270 00:18:54,800 --> 00:19:00,200 command stop for me? Well, Paul tells us by bringing 271 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:04,600 up honor. It describes A posture that 272 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:08,360 lasts a lifetime. You see respect in speech, 273 00:19:08,360 --> 00:19:12,000 humility and posture, gratitude for provision. 274 00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:14,680 When was the last time you thanked your parents for what 275 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:15,920 they give you? Right? 276 00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:19,720 Children, parents like, yeah. Can I get an Amen, Right. 277 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:22,920 It's care in later years, right? When they get older. 278 00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:27,800 How you honor them is by taking care of them, returning the 279 00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:31,880 favor. Clinton Arnold notes that Paul 280 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:34,880 understands the 5th Commandment not merely as a rule for 281 00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:39,960 children, but as a foundational principle for ordered human 282 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:43,680 relationships. And when Paul highlights the 283 00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:47,960 promise, when he says it's a first command with a promise, 284 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:51,680 he's not offering prosperity when he says so. 285 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:54,680 That they may go well with you and that you may live long in 286 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:58,120 the land. This is not a verse here to say, 287 00:19:58,120 --> 00:20:01,120 well, if I just obey, I'm never going to die. 288 00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:05,640 All is going to be well. Everything is going to be great 289 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:08,480 for me. What he is doing is he's saying 290 00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:12,360 this command, the promise is wisdom. 291 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:16,200 Why? Because it as you think about as 292 00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:19,840 a child, I want it when your parents said don't go in the 293 00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:24,160 street and you chose to obey and not go in the street. 294 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:26,320 You're more likely to survive, right? 295 00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:29,680 You're not going to get hit by a car, right? 296 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:32,920 When they tell you, hey, don't play with matches, they burn. 297 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:37,320 When you obey, you're more likely not to burn the house 298 00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:40,880 down and live. I needed to be told that over 299 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:43,600 and over again in my life. I would light a match and just 300 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:46,080 watch it burn until it went to my finger and then I'd throw it 301 00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:49,280 and praise the Lord that the house is not burned down. 302 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:52,720 But see, it's, it's this reality of like, it's, it's just common 303 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:56,160 sense of if you don't do this, then the likelihood is you're, 304 00:20:56,240 --> 00:21:01,240 you're going to live. But there's more meaning to it 305 00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:05,800 says in the Old Testament, long life in the land meant stability 306 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:08,520 and flourishing within God's covenant order. 307 00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:13,960 Paul applies that principle to a church no longer tied to the 308 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:18,320 land. He's saying God has woven 309 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:23,920 flourishing into ordered life, not because parents are perfect, 310 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:28,800 not because authority never fails us, but because God uses 311 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:33,080 authority, especially in the home, to form hearts that know 312 00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:36,000 how to live under Him. Right? 313 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:40,840 Authority is the in the home is meant to be a signpost, not a 314 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:43,120 substitute. It's a it's a signpost pointing 315 00:21:43,120 --> 00:21:46,440 children toward a greater authority, right? 316 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:50,040 So that I tell my, my, my 4 year old and my 2 year old every 317 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:54,680 night when they fight going to bed is I know this seems silly 318 00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:59,200 to obey dad right now, but one day the Lord is going to ask of 319 00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:01,440 you. And what I am doing is I am 320 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:03,840 training you and helping you learn what it looks like to 321 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:08,880 submit to Christ and his Lordship, right. 322 00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:11,920 The better father, the the the the wiser Lord. 323 00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:20,040 And so he tells children, obey your parents and the Lord, and 324 00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:23,800 honor your father and mother. And then he moves to bond 325 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:28,520 servants in verse 5 and he widens the circle. 326 00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:33,200 You see, this is where meaning often gets lost if we move too 327 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:36,040 fast. As I was preparing for this, I 328 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:41,800 found very little people writing sermons on this whole Section 1 329 00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:44,320 through 9. It was like one through 4, 5 330 00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:46,000 through 9. They never did it together. 331 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:49,640 And I, I was sitting there going, man, how do I, how do I, 332 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:55,160 how do I make this mesh? Because it sounds very odd, but 333 00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:59,080 when you understand the century and the, the world that Paul is 334 00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:05,440 writing to is, he's not switching topics here, right? 335 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:08,440 In our modern world, our, our first interpretation goes to the 336 00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:12,280 workplace. Now, that is not a a wrong 337 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:16,840 application of this, but it's missing the deeper truth in it. 338 00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:20,720 You see, in the ancient world, servants were part of the 339 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:23,120 household itself. This is still under the 340 00:23:23,120 --> 00:23:26,480 household code. The household was not just a 341 00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:30,120 family unit, it was an economic and social unit. 342 00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:32,560 You see, servants live there, they work there. 343 00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:34,560 They were governed by the same authority. 344 00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:39,400 And so before we move any further, we need to pause for a 345 00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:44,720 moment and name something. Clearly ESV translates it bond 346 00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:46,080 servants. Some of y'all's might be 347 00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:49,480 servants. Some other translations will say 348 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:54,360 slaves. When Paul speaks to bond 349 00:23:54,360 --> 00:24:00,680 servants here, he is not talking about the slavery as we know it 350 00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:04,520 from modern history. And that is important to note, 351 00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:07,720 right? Because we read this from our 352 00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:14,000 21st century lens, this is not a a bond servant. 353 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:17,520 That was race based. That was chattel slavery that 354 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:19,560 defined the Atlantic slave trade. 355 00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:24,440 You see, the system was that system was built on kidnapping, 356 00:24:25,120 --> 00:24:28,840 racial hierarchy, lifelong ownership, generational bondage. 357 00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:34,760 That kind of slavery here me is an evil distortion of God's 358 00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:41,880 design and scripture will never bless it and never does. 1st 359 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:45,080 century slavery was still broken and still sinful and we'll see 360 00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:49,080 that but it was different. You see in the Roman world 361 00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:53,360 slavery was not race based. There were there were many 362 00:24:53,360 --> 00:24:56,520 people, even doctors that were servants, bond servants of 363 00:24:56,520 --> 00:25:00,360 someone. Many slaves were emancipated 364 00:25:00,360 --> 00:25:03,720 during their lifetime. Most of the time it became age 365 00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:08,240 of 30 was when they finally paid off all their debts. 366 00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:13,000 Many of the servants, they entered it because of debt or or 367 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:15,720 just economic collapse. They needed to provide and so 368 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:19,600 they would go under someone's authority and be paid and get 369 00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:21,800 make money and so they could be out of that. 370 00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:25,760 Some were educated, many of them held positions of 371 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:29,720 responsibility, many lived within a household and could 372 00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:34,680 earn wages or freedom, and many would use it as a way to become 373 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:38,160 Roman citizens and develop a relationship with their former 374 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:41,880 masters. That doesn't make it good 375 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:47,120 though, and Paul is not admonishing and celebrating it. 376 00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:51,840 What he's doing is he's speaking into an existing household 377 00:25:51,840 --> 00:25:56,360 structure, not endorsing oppression as God's ideal. 378 00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:02,320 You see, Paul is not defending the system, he is redeeming 379 00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:07,080 people within it. And notice what he does not say. 380 00:26:07,120 --> 00:26:09,400 He doesn't say this system is just. 381 00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:15,080 Masters are always right. And he doesn't even ground 382 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:19,280 obedience in the goodness of the structure, he grounds obedience 383 00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:22,400 in Christ. You see, if we miss this, we 384 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:26,040 miss read Paul. Paul is not giving timeless 385 00:26:26,040 --> 00:26:29,520 approval to slavery, and anyone that would say otherwise is 386 00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:32,720 wrong. He is showing how Christ's 387 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:37,280 lordship enters broken systems and reshapes how God's people 388 00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:41,840 live within them, and the seeds of that reshaping are already 389 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:44,520 here. Remember, Paul tells servants 390 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:48,920 that their obedience is rendered as to Christ, and then tells 391 00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:52,200 masters that they have a master in heaven who shows no 392 00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:55,440 partiality. He is quietly undermining every 393 00:26:55,440 --> 00:27:00,880 claim of absolute human ownership in Christ's Kingdom. 394 00:27:01,120 --> 00:27:04,280 No one ultimately owns another human being. 395 00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:09,640 Christ alone is Lord. And as Lincoln observes, he says 396 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:12,960 Paul's instructions to slaves are not a new subject, but a 397 00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:16,600 continuation of the household relationships already under 398 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:20,640 discussion. Paul is not changing subjects. 399 00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:26,960 He's moving, moving deeper into the same household and notice 400 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:28,920 what he does inside that structure. 401 00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:32,320 He does not minimize the power imbalance. 402 00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:37,880 He does not praise the system, but he absolutely refuses to let 403 00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:41,040 human authority be ultimate. Over and over again in this 404 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:45,040 section, he says as to Christ, as servants of Christ, doing the 405 00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:48,160 will of God from the heart, as to the Lord and not to man. 406 00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:53,320 Arnold comments that Paul redefines the obedience by 407 00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:58,680 relocating its ultimate reference point where he says 408 00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:02,400 not. He says obey your earthly 409 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:09,280 masters and he he reframes that ultimate point to Christ. 410 00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:15,160 Your obedience does not end with the person who has power over 411 00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:17,680 you. It rises to Christ. 412 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:21,280 Which means obedience is no longer just survival. 413 00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:23,800 It's no longer merely keeping your head down. 414 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:28,840 It becomes worship as you serve and he gives six ways that the 415 00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:33,880 bondservant is to do that with respect and fear sincerity of 416 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:35,800 heart, right? It resembles first Chronicles 417 00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:39,240 2917 of of David, say in the uprightness of my heart, I have 418 00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:44,440 freely offered these things says obey as they would obey Christ. 419 00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:50,920 Colossians 317 not serving to be seen as people pleasers, right. 420 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:54,520 You're not doing it to be seen by man, but you're doing it for 421 00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:59,360 the Lord, doing the will of God as servants. 422 00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:03,720 And lastly, with a great attitude, Deuteronomy 10/12 and 423 00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:07,360 now Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? 424 00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:11,200 But to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways to love 425 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:14,640 him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all 426 00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:17,800 your soul. And this is where one of my 427 00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:22,760 favorite stories and all of the world hits home and helps us 428 00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:28,720 feel what Paul is saying because it isn't easy for us to 429 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:32,080 understand because we don't live in this context that Paul's 430 00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:34,600 addressing. There's a man named Brother 431 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:39,200 Lawrence. If you know his story, he wanted 432 00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:44,000 to be a monk and he wanted to, to, to to work in the monastery, 433 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:46,720 but there was no opportunity. But they said, hey, we have a 434 00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:50,720 dishwashing position. That's all we have. 435 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:54,560 And So what Brother Lawrence did is he spent his life doing 436 00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:57,800 unseen, repetitive work in a monastery kitchen. 437 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:03,000 And yet he famously said he experienced the presence of God 438 00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:06,320 as fully while washing dishes as he as while he prayed. 439 00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:12,600 Because his mentality was, every dish that I wash I will do for 440 00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:17,480 the glory of God as if God was about to use this spoon, and I 441 00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:20,640 will wash every dish for that reason. 442 00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:25,440 This is the attitude. Because yes, this does translate 443 00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:29,520 to the workplace. This is the attitude that we 444 00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:34,200 should take to our work, seeing that we work unto the Lord, not 445 00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:39,640 man, right? Because it is possible for the 446 00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:43,400 homemaker to cook a meal as if Jesus Christ were going to eat 447 00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:45,520 it. It is possible to clean the 448 00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:48,600 house as if Jesus Christ were coming to their house. 449 00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:54,040 It is possible for teachers to educate students, doctors to 450 00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:58,200 treat patients, shop assistants to serve customers as if they 451 00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:03,360 were serving Jesus Christ. Because we do all for the glory 452 00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:06,360 of God. Work is not the effect of the 453 00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:08,480 fall. Work was there in the first 454 00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:13,040 place. Our attitude towards it is what 455 00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:16,040 fell. We started viewing work as as 456 00:31:16,040 --> 00:31:19,640 laboursome. It became hard because of our 457 00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:24,640 because Adam chose to sin, he now has to toil in his work. 458 00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:29,720 That is Paul's point. When obedience is offered to 459 00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:34,000 Christ, ordinary faithfulness is gathered into divine purposes. 460 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:37,960 You see, Christ sees it. So it's not by the way of eye 461 00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:41,680 service as people pleasers, but as bond servants of Christ, 462 00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:44,720 doing the will of God from the heart, doing all this knowing 463 00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:48,120 that he will receive back from the Lord whether he is a bond 464 00:31:48,120 --> 00:31:51,200 servant or is free. Christ receives it, he remembers 465 00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:55,600 it, and again, he's careful. This is not blind obedience 466 00:31:56,600 --> 00:31:59,760 because obedience is rendered to Christ. 467 00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:02,680 It has limits. Authority is real, but it's 468 00:32:02,680 --> 00:32:07,120 never ultimate. But the ordinary everyday spaces 469 00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:11,720 of life, homes, households, work, we cannot easily escape. 470 00:32:12,720 --> 00:32:16,280 Paul wants believers to know something deeply comforting. 471 00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:22,080 You are not submitting alone. Christ stands between you and 472 00:32:22,080 --> 00:32:25,880 has authority over you. Christ receives what you offer 473 00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:29,040 in faith, and Christ rules even there. 474 00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:33,400 So whether you are a child learning obedience in the home, 475 00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:36,000 or someone living under authority that feels heavy and 476 00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:40,680 unavoidable, or someone whose faithfulness feels unseen, 477 00:32:41,080 --> 00:32:44,320 Christ sees it and he's a good Lord. 478 00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:48,080 That is how Christ rules relationships Where authority is 479 00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:51,360 unequal. He redirects submission upward, 480 00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:56,880 and then he moves on to address the ones in authority. 481 00:32:57,800 --> 00:33:01,160 Christ restrains authority downward. 482 00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:07,000 He restrains authority downward. If in the first movement Paul 483 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:10,440 showed us how Christ redirects submission upward, here he shows 484 00:33:10,440 --> 00:33:15,640 us something just as necessary. Christ restrains authority 485 00:33:15,680 --> 00:33:19,400 downward. Paul has spoken to those under 486 00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:21,840 authority, and now he turns to those who possess it. 487 00:33:23,040 --> 00:33:27,680 And the tone tightens, not harsh, but serious, because Paul 488 00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:29,720 understands something we often ignore. 489 00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:33,960 Authority, if left unchecked, drifts toward harm. 490 00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:38,800 So Paul speaks directly to parents, and then he speaks to 491 00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:42,400 the masters. Paul begins. 492 00:33:42,400 --> 00:33:45,720 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring 493 00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:47,920 them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. 494 00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:53,240 Paul addresses fathers not because mothers are 495 00:33:53,240 --> 00:33:57,880 insignificant. Paul addresses fathers because 496 00:33:57,880 --> 00:34:00,520 they represented recognized authority in the home. 497 00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:04,720 Now you've heard the studies, you've heard the statistics of 498 00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:07,920 when the father comes to know the Lord, the family is more 499 00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:11,040 likely to follow and the families that don't. 500 00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:13,600 The father has no relationship with the Lord. 501 00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:18,639 He's speaking to those whose presence, words, and discipline 502 00:34:18,639 --> 00:34:21,920 shaped the emotional climate of the household. 503 00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:25,239 Right. The Christian fathers, Paul was 504 00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:29,760 saying, should look different than the Roman ones who use 505 00:34:29,760 --> 00:34:34,880 their authority to control their kids, to get results. 506 00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:38,360 They they, they use it as fear to obedience. 507 00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:43,400 And Paul starts he does not begin with what children owe 508 00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:47,840 parents. He begins with what parents must 509 00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:50,880 not do. He begins with a negative, says 510 00:34:50,880 --> 00:34:52,880 do not provoke your children to anger. 511 00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:58,920 As Peter O'Brien notes, Paul's first concern is a place is to 512 00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:02,480 place a check on the misuse of parental authority. 513 00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:07,720 In other words, Paul knows authority needs limits. 514 00:35:10,440 --> 00:35:13,480 You see, the word provoke does not describe a single failure or 515 00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:18,320 a bad day. It refers to a pattern authority 516 00:35:18,320 --> 00:35:21,520 exercise in a way that grates, crushes, or discourages. 517 00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:25,400 Another way to say it is you have crushed your child's soul. 518 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:32,320 And he says, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, 519 00:35:35,040 --> 00:35:40,320 harshness, unreasonable demands, favoritism, humiliation, or 520 00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:42,400 discipline. That it lacks explanation. 521 00:35:42,400 --> 00:35:46,440 That is what kind of provoking Paul is addressing. 522 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:51,440 Paul is saying authority that repeatedly frustrates rather 523 00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:54,680 than forms has already stepped outside of Christ's design. 524 00:35:56,720 --> 00:36:02,720 This is Christ's restraining authority, right? 525 00:36:02,720 --> 00:36:06,200 So that I'm learning more and more as a father now with A4 526 00:36:06,200 --> 00:36:11,280 year old and a 2 year old who, yeah, I wish I could just be 527 00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:15,720 obey and do as I say. But as those who have kids, you 528 00:36:15,720 --> 00:36:17,320 laugh because you're like, that ain't happening. 529 00:36:17,320 --> 00:36:20,080 All right, if you have any advice about a 2 year old who 530 00:36:20,080 --> 00:36:23,280 fights for three hours at nap time, please come talk to me. 531 00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:26,600 And if you found a way to do it in a loving way, I would love to 532 00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:32,040 know because I yes, we want our children to obey, but Paul says 533 00:36:32,040 --> 00:36:35,200 do not do it in a way that provokes them to anger. 534 00:36:38,280 --> 00:36:39,760 And he doesn't stop with a prohibition. 535 00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:41,280 Then he gives a positive calling. 536 00:36:41,720 --> 00:36:44,440 So how do we not provoke our children in anger, fathers? 537 00:36:44,760 --> 00:36:48,240 It's by bringing them up in the discipline and instruction of 538 00:36:48,240 --> 00:36:52,360 the Lord. That phrase bring them up is 539 00:36:52,360 --> 00:36:56,760 deeply pastoral. It's the same verb Paul used 540 00:36:56,760 --> 00:37:00,680 earlier in Ephesians 529 to describe how one cares for their 541 00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:05,040 own body by nourishing, by cherishing, by sustaining life. 542 00:37:07,560 --> 00:37:09,160 Not because authority in the home was never meant to 543 00:37:09,160 --> 00:37:11,680 dominate, it was meant to cultivate. 544 00:37:12,200 --> 00:37:14,760 When he says, bring them up in the instruction of the Lord. 545 00:37:15,440 --> 00:37:18,960 You should be cherishing your children, admonishing your 546 00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:22,040 children. They should know how loved they 547 00:37:22,040 --> 00:37:25,200 are by you. And he defines that cultivation 548 00:37:25,200 --> 00:37:30,400 with two words, discipline. This word does not primarily 549 00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:35,960 mean punishment, it means training, a whole life, 550 00:37:36,040 --> 00:37:39,320 formation, habits, love, character. 551 00:37:40,440 --> 00:37:44,240 Andrew Leakin writes that the discipline refers to the total 552 00:37:44,240 --> 00:37:48,880 process of education and formation, not merely corrective 553 00:37:48,880 --> 00:37:52,360 discipline. Right, because correction may be 554 00:37:52,360 --> 00:37:55,760 involved and punishment may be involved. 555 00:37:57,600 --> 00:38:02,480 But if the aim is just to beat them in submission, then you 556 00:38:02,480 --> 00:38:06,560 missed it because then all it is is behavior modification. 557 00:38:07,280 --> 00:38:09,480 They're like, oh, yeah, I just don't want to get a spanking, so 558 00:38:09,480 --> 00:38:11,840 I'm just not going to do that. But you've missed the heart of 559 00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:16,120 that obedience. The aim is always maturity, 560 00:38:16,680 --> 00:38:21,120 never control. It's the same word translated as 561 00:38:21,120 --> 00:38:25,480 chastening in Hebrews 12. So Paul is telling parents, he's 562 00:38:25,480 --> 00:38:29,880 telling us fathers to jealously guard your responsibility as 563 00:38:29,880 --> 00:38:33,360 parent. Yes, we delegate some of that to 564 00:38:33,360 --> 00:38:36,000 church. And if you if you put your kids 565 00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:38,480 in this public system, you delegate that to their teachers. 566 00:38:39,120 --> 00:38:41,640 So you're delegating some of it, but you're never surrendering 567 00:38:41,640 --> 00:38:48,120 it. Parents, your responsibility to 568 00:38:48,120 --> 00:38:50,880 bring them up is a God-given task. 569 00:38:53,200 --> 00:38:57,480 Hear me when I say this parents, no one can replace you and 570 00:38:57,480 --> 00:38:59,760 students, no one can replace your parents. 571 00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:05,680 It's a God-given role that is beautiful, tethered to Christ. 572 00:39:06,520 --> 00:39:09,520 Lloyd Jones observes. If parents but gave as much 573 00:39:09,520 --> 00:39:12,880 thought to the rearing of their children as they do to the 574 00:39:12,880 --> 00:39:17,680 rendering of animals and flowers, the situation of our 575 00:39:17,680 --> 00:39:21,520 world would be very different. A more modern thing is if we 576 00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:24,640 would give more thought to rearing our children than our 577 00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:29,760 sports than our hobbies, than our pleasures and what would 578 00:39:29,760 --> 00:39:33,800 this world look like if us parents, we would rise up and 579 00:39:33,800 --> 00:39:38,000 take our God-given task and say we are to discipline our kids in 580 00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:43,440 the way of the Lord. The second thing he says is 581 00:39:43,440 --> 00:39:46,360 instruct them. This word refers to verbal 582 00:39:46,360 --> 00:39:49,680 guidance, teaching, warning, explaining, appealing to the 583 00:39:49,680 --> 00:39:53,920 conscience. Arnold notes in his commentary 584 00:39:53,920 --> 00:39:55,880 addresses. It addresses the heart and 585 00:39:55,880 --> 00:39:58,800 understanding, not merely outward behavior. 586 00:39:59,560 --> 00:40:02,000 I didn't who in here has been the victim of It's just a 587 00:40:02,120 --> 00:40:05,920 because I said so. Well, yes and Amen. 588 00:40:08,680 --> 00:40:09,880 It doesn't get to the heart of it. 589 00:40:09,880 --> 00:40:12,440 It doesn't instruct them. It doesn't tell them, hey, This 590 00:40:12,440 --> 00:40:15,720 is why we're doing that. This is This is why we ask of 591 00:40:15,720 --> 00:40:18,400 you. That's why we tell Silas at nap 592 00:40:18,400 --> 00:40:20,040 time. We don't hate you because we 593 00:40:20,040 --> 00:40:22,880 want you to sleep. Mommy and Daddy actually love 594 00:40:22,880 --> 00:40:25,720 you and that's why we tell you to go take a nap because you're 595 00:40:25,720 --> 00:40:28,360 cranky and you're mean and you need sleep. 596 00:40:29,920 --> 00:40:33,080 And he'll run around going, no, I don't want to, but it's us 597 00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:36,040 training them that right, Judas, in that stage of asking why, 598 00:40:36,040 --> 00:40:38,760 why, why, why. And as much as I want to say 599 00:40:39,280 --> 00:40:43,880 stop asking me, that is the moment we train them, we teach 600 00:40:43,880 --> 00:40:45,920 them, hey, This is why we do that. 601 00:40:45,920 --> 00:40:47,640 This is why mommy and daddy asked that. 602 00:40:49,600 --> 00:40:52,280 Christian authority does not merely enforce rules. 603 00:40:52,560 --> 00:40:56,680 It forms understanding. It gives them sustenance on why 604 00:40:56,680 --> 00:41:02,480 they are to obey that rule significantly, both training and 605 00:41:02,480 --> 00:41:05,000 admonition or or discipline instruction, whatever your your 606 00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:09,240 your Bible translates in the English to those two words are 607 00:41:09,240 --> 00:41:11,800 used to describe the purpose of Scripture. 608 00:41:12,960 --> 00:41:15,760 Second Timothy 316, First Corinthians 10/11. 609 00:41:17,080 --> 00:41:20,360 What Paul is doing is he says, how do you raise them in this 610 00:41:20,360 --> 00:41:22,240 way? How do you do this? 611 00:41:22,680 --> 00:41:26,640 Raise your children in the Word of God and through the Word of 612 00:41:26,640 --> 00:41:31,840 God and both are governed by the same phrase Paul has already 613 00:41:31,840 --> 00:41:37,720 used of the Lord. Bring them up in the discipline 614 00:41:37,720 --> 00:41:42,080 and instruction of the Lord. Parents are not forming children 615 00:41:42,080 --> 00:41:44,960 according to personal preference, fears, or cultural 616 00:41:44,960 --> 00:41:47,840 pressures, right? They're not just trying to be a 617 00:41:47,840 --> 00:41:50,360 buzzkill and not that you have fun. 618 00:41:51,480 --> 00:41:56,760 They are stewarding lives that belong to Christ, and I have 619 00:41:56,760 --> 00:41:59,680 learned that more and more over the years as I've had kids. 620 00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:04,120 They're not mine. God has graciously given me 621 00:42:04,120 --> 00:42:08,200 Judah and Silas. And until I see that like that, 622 00:42:08,440 --> 00:42:11,480 my authority will be tethered, untethered from Christ. 623 00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:14,040 And it becomes about me, becomes about no. 624 00:42:14,040 --> 00:42:19,560 I want them to respect me. Parents, we have real authority, 625 00:42:20,600 --> 00:42:22,280 but our authority is not ultimate. 626 00:42:23,080 --> 00:42:27,280 Christ is and that's who we should pointing them to. 627 00:42:27,920 --> 00:42:30,360 Paul knows how easily authority turns inward. 628 00:42:30,840 --> 00:42:35,200 Parents can use authority to protect their ego, manage 629 00:42:35,200 --> 00:42:38,880 embarrassment, enforce convenience. 630 00:42:39,120 --> 00:42:41,320 Anybody that has kids knows kids are not convenient. 631 00:42:42,200 --> 00:42:44,440 Demand outcomes without patience. 632 00:42:46,360 --> 00:42:49,760 What does your authority produce in the people under it? 633 00:42:51,160 --> 00:42:56,560 Does it produce fear or does it produce formation in the Word 634 00:42:57,200 --> 00:43:00,760 and in the Lord? So Paul draws A theological 635 00:43:00,760 --> 00:43:03,600 boundary. Christ does not rule by 636 00:43:03,600 --> 00:43:06,760 provoking anger. He rules by forming hearts. 637 00:43:07,400 --> 00:43:11,400 So parents, this passage is not calling you to perfection. 638 00:43:12,160 --> 00:43:16,040 And children hear me, this is not you to look at your parents 639 00:43:16,040 --> 00:43:21,560 and say, why aren't you perfect? It is calling you to 640 00:43:21,560 --> 00:43:24,960 accountability. Paul is not saying children 641 00:43:24,960 --> 00:43:28,640 should never feel frustration. He's saying they should never be 642 00:43:28,640 --> 00:43:33,400 formed by anger. The goal is not compliance. 643 00:43:34,160 --> 00:43:37,200 The goal is formation, right. The goal is for them to realize 644 00:43:37,200 --> 00:43:40,320 their need for a savior and one day come to him and say I need 645 00:43:40,320 --> 00:43:42,920 you and I want to be submitted under your authority. 646 00:43:44,000 --> 00:43:47,800 If all Judah and Silas learn from my training in the home is 647 00:43:47,800 --> 00:43:51,600 oh, I just fear Daddy, I've I've, I've failed. 648 00:43:52,680 --> 00:43:55,360 I have failed in that moment because what I've hoped I've 649 00:43:55,360 --> 00:43:59,520 done is said, Hey, fear the Lord as I submit to the Lord 650 00:44:01,600 --> 00:44:04,360 discipline that trains instruction that explains 651 00:44:04,360 --> 00:44:10,440 authority, that reflects Christ. And then he turns to masters 652 00:44:11,040 --> 00:44:14,920 says masters do the same to them and stop your threatening right. 653 00:44:14,920 --> 00:44:17,240 That phrase do the same is arresting. 654 00:44:17,240 --> 00:44:20,760 He's saying hey, that same Christ conscious sincerity that 655 00:44:20,760 --> 00:44:25,160 I've demanded of the servants I demand of you too. 656 00:44:26,880 --> 00:44:31,840 Authority does not excuse anyone from obedience to Christ and 657 00:44:31,840 --> 00:44:35,120 Paul immediately names the abuse stop your threatening. 658 00:44:37,120 --> 00:44:43,480 Threatening is authority reduced to fear, compliance without 659 00:44:43,480 --> 00:44:48,640 care, power without restraint. Right? 660 00:44:48,640 --> 00:44:50,440 That's why it's be slow to anger. 661 00:44:50,680 --> 00:44:55,400 I'd be slow to speak. It's like God knows our hearts. 662 00:44:56,880 --> 00:44:59,840 And as O'Brien observes, Paul attacks the very mechanism by 663 00:44:59,840 --> 00:45:04,480 which domination is maintained. Fear. 664 00:45:06,560 --> 00:45:09,560 Paul is not naive about power. He knows exactly how it 665 00:45:09,560 --> 00:45:13,000 operates. The most damaging thing that 666 00:45:13,000 --> 00:45:17,880 could happen and your authority is to watch the person under you 667 00:45:17,880 --> 00:45:21,200 cower in fear and not in submission and respect. 668 00:45:24,040 --> 00:45:27,000 He says under Christ's lordship this stops. 669 00:45:27,960 --> 00:45:30,280 And Paul grounds it theologically because he's he's 670 00:45:30,280 --> 00:45:33,560 just knowing that he who is both their master and yours is in 671 00:45:33,560 --> 00:45:36,040 heaven and that there is no partiality with him. 672 00:45:39,320 --> 00:45:43,000 As Arnold puts it, earthly hierarchies dissolve before the 673 00:45:43,000 --> 00:45:47,520 heavenly throne. Authority will answer to Christ. 674 00:45:48,160 --> 00:45:50,680 This lands anywhere authority is exercised. 675 00:45:50,920 --> 00:45:55,400 Parents, leaders, managers, pastors, teachers, coaches. 676 00:45:55,400 --> 00:46:01,280 If you have authority over someone, you should rule and use 677 00:46:01,280 --> 00:46:06,320 that authority in the Lord. If Christ is Lord, authority is 678 00:46:06,320 --> 00:46:09,840 never for ego, convenience, control, or self protection. 679 00:46:10,400 --> 00:46:12,960 It's always for stewardship, formation and care. 680 00:46:13,920 --> 00:46:18,040 As we get to the the Third Point, Christ unites both sides 681 00:46:19,000 --> 00:46:21,920 very quickly. If Christ redirects submission 682 00:46:21,920 --> 00:46:26,200 upward and point to Christ restrains authority downward. 683 00:46:27,120 --> 00:46:30,800 This whole section of Scripture unite shows us Christ unites 684 00:46:30,800 --> 00:46:35,800 both sides under 1 Lord. He's spoken to children, 685 00:46:35,800 --> 00:46:39,240 parents, He's spoken to servants and masters, and in every case 686 00:46:39,240 --> 00:46:42,840 he has refused to let the relationship stop at the human 687 00:46:42,960 --> 00:46:46,080 level. Paul keeps lifting our eyes 688 00:46:46,080 --> 00:46:49,560 upward. Paul is dismantling the illusion 689 00:46:49,560 --> 00:46:51,840 that authority ultimately runs horizontally. 690 00:46:53,880 --> 00:46:57,840 Every relationship in this passage is triangular, not 2 691 00:46:57,840 --> 00:47:00,320 sided. It's child, parent, Christ, 692 00:47:00,680 --> 00:47:04,600 servant, master, Christ. No one stands alone. 693 00:47:04,600 --> 00:47:07,480 No one stands above Christ. No one escapes his lordship 694 00:47:07,480 --> 00:47:13,320 because he is Lord, and he places Jesus Christ at the 695 00:47:13,320 --> 00:47:16,560 center of it. Paul does not flatten 696 00:47:16,560 --> 00:47:18,600 distinctions. He does not erase authority. 697 00:47:19,200 --> 00:47:22,400 He revitalizes it by saying Jesus Christ is Lord. 698 00:47:24,520 --> 00:47:27,400 And so if Christ is Lord of the relationship, then obedience is 699 00:47:27,400 --> 00:47:30,360 never wasted. Children obey not because 700 00:47:30,360 --> 00:47:32,440 parents are perfect, but because Christ is worthy. 701 00:47:33,320 --> 00:47:35,920 Servants obey not because the system is just, but because 702 00:47:35,920 --> 00:47:38,520 Christ sees you. Faithful obedience offered to 703 00:47:38,520 --> 00:47:42,160 Christ is never invisible. Paul is telling the church you 704 00:47:42,200 --> 00:47:44,800 are never merely submitting to a person. 705 00:47:45,480 --> 00:47:51,040 You are living before the Lord. So authority is exercised before 706 00:47:51,040 --> 00:47:56,920 the face of God. And as we conclude, at the 707 00:47:56,920 --> 00:48:00,720 beginning we talked about John Newton, not to admire his past, 708 00:48:01,360 --> 00:48:03,360 but to confront the reality of authority. 709 00:48:04,160 --> 00:48:07,560 A man who held power, a man who misused it, a man who lived as 710 00:48:07,560 --> 00:48:09,080 though authority belonged to him. 711 00:48:11,680 --> 00:48:15,120 Grace placed his authority under a better Lord. 712 00:48:16,920 --> 00:48:18,840 And that's exactly what Paul has been showing us. 713 00:48:18,840 --> 00:48:23,360 Christ redirects the mission upward, He restrains authority 714 00:48:23,360 --> 00:48:27,320 downward, and he unites us all under 1 Lord. 715 00:48:28,120 --> 00:48:31,640 The problem was never authority. The problem was who held it. 716 00:48:32,640 --> 00:48:35,160 And when Christ becomes Lord, obedience is no longer 717 00:48:35,160 --> 00:48:38,760 degrading, authority is no longer domineering, and power is 718 00:48:38,760 --> 00:48:42,280 no longer unaccountable. So the question before us is 719 00:48:42,280 --> 00:48:44,960 simple. Where does Christ need to be 720 00:48:44,960 --> 00:48:47,640 acknowledged as Lord over authority in my life? 721 00:48:49,480 --> 00:48:51,680 For some of you, that means trusting him and obedience where 722 00:48:51,680 --> 00:48:54,680 you've resisted. For others, it means repenting 723 00:48:54,680 --> 00:48:56,800 of authority you've carried careless carelessly. 724 00:48:57,640 --> 00:49:00,280 And for many of us, it means surrendering control we were 725 00:49:00,280 --> 00:49:04,920 never meant to hold. And so as we move to our 726 00:49:04,920 --> 00:49:08,640 response time and as the band comes up, we're going to sing 727 00:49:08,640 --> 00:49:13,360 words that confess what Newton learned and what Paul is calling 728 00:49:13,360 --> 00:49:16,960 us to see. That faithfulness doesn't come 729 00:49:16,960 --> 00:49:20,120 from our strength, that obedience doesn't rest on your 730 00:49:20,120 --> 00:49:23,720 resolve, That leadership isn't sustained by our power. 731 00:49:25,080 --> 00:49:31,160 The Christian life is lived not by self rule, but by grace under 732 00:49:31,160 --> 00:49:36,320 a good king. So as we respond, may we say 733 00:49:36,320 --> 00:49:41,080 with honesty and hope, not I, but Christ in me. 734 00:49:42,960 --> 00:49:45,160 Thanks for listening. To learn more about Heritage 735 00:49:45,160 --> 00:49:48,200 Church or if you'd like to respond to this sermon, visit 736 00:49:48,200 --> 00:49:52,520 our website at www.heritageshawnee.org.