Successful Families Part 2

Welcome to this edition of PowerPoints with Jack Graham. A little later in the program we'll tell you how you can get Dr. Graham's brand new message series, Don't Blink. But first, here's his message, Successful Families Part II. Don't Blink because we're doing a series of messages on the Ten Commandments taking them one by one. And when we came to this critical central commandment, the Fifth Commandment, we're taking it in two parts because there is a portion of the tablet which would have to do with being honorable parents. If we are going to expect our children to honor us and respect our leadership then we ought to live honorable lives and be honorable parents. But at the very start of this commandment is the very straightforward and simple admonition, commandment, to honor your mother and your father. Now this commandment is repeated in the New Testament when the apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter 6 gave these same words given to us in the Ten Commandments, the Decalogue, honor your father and mother. And he notes that this is the first commandment and the only commandment with a promise attached and that promise is that you may do well and live long in the land. This is a promise of longevity, not only of posterity but prosperity in the life of the person who keeps this commandment to honor your mother and your father. We know that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. It is a very terrible sin. Rebellion against one's parents was punishable by death in the Old Testament.

In that remnant of life. We know when Paul was categorizing the sins of mankind, calling for the judgment upon our sins, he listed in the very heart of all of these very wicked and serious sins disobedience to parents. Later on in 2 Timothy chapter 3 when there is a description of the last days one of the signs of the last days will be disobedience to parents, a ramping up of rebellion. And we know that many of the problems that we're facing as a culture today in our own country are a result of the bitter seeds of rebellion that were sown in the 60's and 70's and now the bitter fruit is on. I know this, that rebellion in life will wreck havoc upon an individual, upon a family, upon a nation and a culture. So a result of rebellion in the family means that you will have a miserable life.

D.L. Moody the great evangelist said this, I've learned one thing if nothing else that no man or woman who dishonors father or mother ever prospers. I've observed that same truth. No man or woman who dishonors mother or father ever prospers. While that is true the reverse is true and penetrates right here in the Scripture. For it says if you obey this commandment, if you keep this commandment your life will be lost.

And it will go well with you in the earth and in the land. So if you grow up in obedience to this command you're going to live a blessed life. And if you have a child who is compliant, if you have a child who is walking in truth and there's no greater joy for a parent but that our children are walking in truth.

If you have a child like that thank God for the child that you have been given. Now the word honor is the word which means waiting. It's a heavy word to honor your mother and your father, to honor your parent. It means we don't treat them lightly. That we esteem them. That we elevate our parents. That we put them in a position of prominence in our lives. Healthy respect and honor for our families, for our parents produces character in our lives.

Produces morality in our lives. Now you know today there's a tendency to blame everything on our parents. This is especially a tendency in pop psychology and so much of the psychobabble that we hear today. That we blame everything on our parents. Now indeed some sins and failures are the faults of parents. For the Scripture says the sins of the fathers will be visited upon the next generations from generation to generation.

And we often pass our own sinful habits and ideas and so on along to our children. Now while it is true that some have lived under the consequences of their parents' actions, it is also true that at some point in life we all have to accept responsibility for our own actions and for our own decisions. It is a sign of immaturity to keep blaming our parents and the failures of our parents for our problems, for the fact that you know you can't keep a job or you can't keep your marriage together. You can't keep your life together.

That's not all your parents' fault. And it's time that we all accept responsibility for our own lives and our own choices. Now having said that, and accepting that responsibility, it all starts with this commandment. Honoring your father and your mother.

How should we do that? I want to give you four ways that you honor your parents. Number one, obeying. Is that in the Bible?

Oh yes. Obeying your parents. Ephesians 6 one, introducing this commandment, the Scripture says obey your father, your mother in the Lord for this is right. You say, well my parents, they aren't always right. It doesn't say obey your parents because they're always right. It says obey your parents for this is right. You know children don't come with an instruction manual. And many of us have to learn how to make it up as we go. And certainly we make our mistakes as parents. I know I've had to apologize many times to my children for mistakes and failures in my own life. But the fact is that children are to obey because this is right.

This is the right thing to do. Verse 20, children obey your parents in everything. This is an all encompassing commandment. Children obey your parents in everything.

Why? For this pleases the Lord. Do you want to please God?

Do you want to honor God? Then obey your parents. How can you honor God that you have not seen if you dishonor your parents whom you have seen? Do your parents obey the people that God has placed in your life as your guardians, as your governors?

Say well I, you know I don't have that great appearance. Maybe your parents aren't even Christians. And God has a word to say to parents who aren't followers of Jesus. He says these are the words of Jesus, it would be better for you to have a millstone hung around your neck. And thrown into the middle of the sea than to hinder a little one from coming to me in the kingdom of God. It's a very serious sin with consequences and judgment when parents keep their children from following Christ. But having said that, your parents still love you.

They may not always show it. Jesus said love your enemies. Love your enemies. Your parents, good or bad, have been divinely delegated. Sovereignly placed in your life. And it just could be, in fact I believe it is, sure that God is shaping you, sovereignly shaping you. He is in control of your life, your gene pool, your home and your background. And maybe your parents need to see the grace and the love of God in you.

I know this. If you have a problem with your parents because of some sin against you and you're struggling with that, it's a difficult situation, start by forgiving your parents and loving them in your hearts and asking God to give you grace to do that. While we're never to do anything that would dishonor God, the Bible says obey God and not man. If your parents ever ask you to do anything that is sinful or wicked or dishonoring to God, you certainly are not obligated to obey in that sense. But you are obligated to obey your parents in Christ, in the will of God. Listen to this letter from a father to a son. Dear son, as long as you live under this roof, you will follow the rules. In the house, we do not have a democracy. I did not campaign to be your father.

You did not vote for me. We are father and son by the grace of God. I consider it a privilege and I accept the responsibility. In accepting it, I have an obligation to perform the role of a father. I am not your pal. The age difference makes such a relationship impossible. We can share many things, but you must remember I'm your father.

This is 100 times more meaningful than being your pal. You will do as I say as long as you live in this house. You're not to disobey me because whatever I ask you to do is motivated by love.

This may be hard for you to understand at times, but the rule holds. And you will perfectly understand this when you have a son of your own. Until then, trust God.

Trust me. Love, Dad. Yes, it's true.

As long as you are living under the rooftop of your home and your family, you're taking their food and sleeping in their beds, you have the opportunity and you have the obligation to obey your parents. And this is how we honor them. Don't Blink is our thanks for your gift today to help boldly proclaim the truth of the gospel. So call now to request your copy of Don't Blink when you give. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. Text PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotion.

Our website again is Jack Graham.org. Now let's get back to today's message, Successful Families, Part 2. Number 2, respecting your mother and father. You honor your parents by respecting them, being proud of your parents, valuing not only their lives but their influence upon your life, cherishing their counsel and their words.

In fact, the word obey, back to that word obey, it's a word which means to listen under and to listen to our parents as they advise us. You say, well, my parents, they're, you know, I'm smarter than my parents. Well, you may be, but you're probably not wiser than your parents. Especially you're not wiser than your parents if they're Christian parents who know the Word of God and can counsel you God's way. And so parents will instruct their children and guide their children and while they don't have all the answers, they can point you to the one who does.

Listen to your parents. Proverbs chapter 1, look at verses 7 through 9 of Proverbs chapter 1. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and fools despise wisdom and instruction. If you don't want to be a fool, listen to the Word of the Lord. Hear, my son, your father's instruction and forsake not your mother's teaching, for they are graceful.

You want to be beautiful in life? It is the instruction and the counsel of your godly parents, for they are graceful garland on your head and pendants for your neck. Listen to what your parents are saying. No, you don't have all the answers.

I know you think you may have all the answers, but you don't. And how many times do we look back at our parents' counsel and say, that was great advice. But never be disrespectful. Now all of us would have to admit that we have been disrespectful at times to our parents. And immediately when God convicts us of this kind of rebellion or disrespect or prideful arrogance, we need to repent of it and ask our parents to forgive us. Well, my parents are, they're always on my back.

No, they're not on your back, they're on your team. And most parents are fighting like crazy for their kids. We have a generation in which Satan is on the prowl, and yet we will not allow Satan to have our kids. We're going to fight for our kids. Amen? We're going to, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, defeat the enemy and save a generation for Christ.

May God help us to do it. And let me tell you something, there are many single parents, and if you're a single mom or a single dad, you are fighting a fight of faith. And I tip my hat to you, because I believe as a single parent you may have the toughest job on earth. And if your mom or your dad is a single parent, students, boys and girls, you show them respect for fighting for you and loving you sometimes against all odds when they are hurt and broken themselves. Don't be disrespectful. Honor your parents. You can be disrespectful not just with your words, you know, the screaming and the hollering and the raging and the whining and crying, but you can do it with just shrugging and, you know, the whatever attitude that you have towards your parents. Don't criticize, demean or dishonor, mock or insult your parents. Always speak to and of your parents in a way that honors them. Listen to Proverbs 30 and verse 17.

The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother will be pecked out by the ravens in the valley and eaten by the vultures. This is not a little thing. This is not some psychological thing.

This is not some emotional misbehavior. This is at the very crux and the center of the Ten Commandments. Respecting your parents.

Thirdly, caring. And here I want to broaden my subject to not only young men and women and boys and girls at home honoring their parents, but you see this commandment encompasses all of life. This commandment is for children of all ages.

It is a total life commitment that we have to our parents as long as we live, as long as they live. Jesus himself set the example with dying on the cross bearing the sins of the world. He took time out to take care of his mother.

Standing at the foot of the cross, he gave over his mother to his beloved apostle John, made sure that she was taken care of even in his dying moments. We live in a generation in which youth is celebrated and I'm really good with that. And in this generation in which we stress youth so much, let's don't forget to admire, respect, honor the aged. And so when it comes to our aged parents, sad isn't it that so many elderly are now just dumped in nursing homes and forgotten? I'm not talking about the necessity of placing a parent lovingly and caring for that parent through medical care in a facility. We all understand that, but did you know according to research that only about 30% of the elderly in nursing homes are visited by a family member or a friend? That means 70% of these precious older people are just dumped off at a nursing home and forgotten, left to die. Now older people want their independence, but wanting your independence is not the same thing as wanting isolation. Can you imagine the isolation and the alienation that so many people feel because their kids really don't care? This should never be true among followers of Jesus and our families.

In fact, the Bible says if you don't take care of your own family, you're worse than an infidel. I'm so grateful that my maternal grandfather lived with us my first 10 years of life and I gained so much wisdom and his influence upon my life is probably the human reason that I'm standing here today. The influence of a grandfather that my parents cared for in his declining years.

I'm grateful for that. Stay involved in their lives and interested in their conversations even when they tell those same stories over and over and over again. You never outgrow this commandment.

Never. And remember, parents who have older parents, your children are watching you and what's going on. If you're not careful, the chickens are going to come home to roost because most likely your children are going to treat you the way you're treating your parents.

So how do you want to be treated? Honor your mother and your father. I tell you, your parents will rejoice and celebrate in every tribute you bring them or give them. When my mother passed away in 1975, my father having died in 1970, we went back to clean out the house and I found tucked away in a cabinet a stack of letters. And these were the letters that I had written my mother and my father from college. But my mother had saved every letter like it was a treasure and tucked it away. And what a reminder that is for us today. You just never know what a word of encouragement is.

And remember this, dead noses smell no roses. Don't live with regrets that you didn't say I love you, that you didn't tell them that you cared. Don't live in the awesome loss of your parents thinking that, you know, I should have expressed that gratitude. I should have written that letter. I should have picked up the phone. Or in case there's an estrangement between you and your parents, I should have worked that out.

I should have forgiven. No, caring for your parents because you love them. They sacrificed so much for you. Love your parents in turn.

Show it. One final word. Following. Following Christ. The best thing you can do is to walk in truth to follow Jesus.

Especially if your parents have pointed the way for you to follow in their example. Listen to Proverbs 23. Proverbs 23 verses 24 and 25. The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice. He who fathers a wise son will be glad in him. Let your father and your mother be glad.

Let her who bore you rejoice. That's a proverb that should be a principle in your life. Godly children are the golden crown of parents' lives. And with it comes this promise that you will live if you keep this commandment, not only a long life in terms of the quantity of life, but the quality of your life will be better. The Scripture says it will be well with you.

It will be well with you. So if you want to live a great life, if you want to be successful in life, follow Christ and demonstrate the love of Christ in your family. And honor your father and your mother. Jesus told a parable. The parable of the prodigal son. And really it was a parable about this disrespectful son. This rebellious, recalcitrant son who demanded his father's inheritance and left.

And what happened? He spent it all. He wasted his life and ended up in ruin in the far country. I'm telling you, if you dishonor your parents, if you dishonor your father and your mother, you will live a miserable life. If you are unrepentant in dishonoring and disrespecting your parents, you will live a miserable life. But it's never too late. Like that son, rebellious son living in the far country, you can repent.

You can turn around. And that boy came back home. And you know the story, no doubt. That father waiting for him on the front porch went running to him and embraced him and forgave him and welcomed him home. Said, this was my son which was dead who's now alive. So have you honored your heavenly father by professing your faith in Jesus Christ and coming home to him? Have you put your faith in Jesus so that you can live an honorable life both as a parent and as a child?

Do it today. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message, Successful Families, Part 2. Our world is full of chaos and confusion, moral and spiritual darkness. What it needs to see is bold faith from followers of Christ. That's why Dr. Graham wants to send you his new five message series, Don't Blink.

This series tackles some of the most pressing issues our culture is facing today and shows how the Bible offers the answers our world so desperately needs. Don't Blink is our special thanks for your gift to help boldly proclaim God's word through PowerPoint. So request your copy when you call today. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. Text PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit JackGraham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional.

Our website again is JackGraham.org. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? Well, there's no doubt, is there, that God's word is clear. We are to honor our fathers and our mothers. So just as the fifth commandment says, commanding us to honor our parents, this is a commandment that comes with a promise because we are promised a life that is full and even long, longevity in life and prosperity in life when we keep this commandment.

This is a biblical principle. It's wonderful when you have great parents that are honorable. But let me remind you, if you do not have honorable parents, if your parents did not teach you to walk with the Lord or maybe there's a lot of baggage in your life due to the way that you were raised, I want to really encourage you as a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ to bow your head before the Lord right now and forgive your parents. Ask God to send His grace and His love and His power to your parents' lives if they are still on earth. And I pray that in your own life you will never carry bitterness and the barrenness of a broken life that comes from the way that you were raised. So God bless you today and may you extend God's grace to the people that you love and the people who need that love the most.

Honor your father and your mother. This is God's commandment and this is God's promise. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember, when you give a gift to PowerPoint, we'll send you Dr. Graham's brand-new five-message series, Don't Blink, as our thanks. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word POWERPOINT to 313131. Text POWERPOINT to 313131. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about how every life is precious to God. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.