Sermon Audio: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ministrybymail

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ² “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: ³ “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.” ⁴ And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. ⁵ Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; ⁶ not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, ⁷ with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, ⁸ knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. ⁹ And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that your own Master also is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.”

Dearly Beloved Fellow Christians,

In the 139^th Psalm (1-3) David expresses his faith that God knew everything about him. God was watching over him at all times and knew everything about his daily life, even down to the last and smallest detail. “O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up. You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.”

As we continue reading through that Psalm we see that David isn’t at all frightened or disturbed by his consciousness of God’s thorough knowledge of him and his activities, and even his thoughts. Quite the opposite: he draws comfort and assurance from it. The same is true for us and all who know God as the God of grace and love in Jesus Christ. The thought of God’s constant presence and thorough knowledge of us gives us peace and confidence. It is the thought of going through a single day without the Lord beside us that is scary.

The knowledge that we are always in God’s presence—that we are never apart from Him—is knowledge that must also have a profound effect on our daily life. Since we know that God is with us constantly and knows every detail of our life, then certainly we cannot live without considering how He wants us to live. We can’t just live as we please but must always be asking ourselves whether what we are doing is God-pleasing. We do this out of love for our Lord who gave Himself for us.

In our text, Paul admonishes us to remember God’s presence in our life as we fulfill our duties in the station in life in which He had placed us.

WE LIVE UNDER THE WATCHFUL EYE OF THE LORD WHO LOVES US

-He tells us how He wants us to live.

As we study the Scriptures it is essential that we distinguish between law and gospel, the two main teachings of the Bible. What we have before us here in our text is clearly law. Paul quotes the Fourth Commandment in which God tells us what we should do, how we should live. And because our text is a law passage it has a sting to it; as we hear it, it accuses us and convicts us of sin. It can’t be otherwise, because we are still sinners with a sinful nature. Our obedience to God’s will is not perfect. When we hear God’s law we are reminded that we haven’t lived up to His holy standards.

It’s good and wholesome for us to hear the preaching of the law, for it leads us to repentance; it humbles us before God. When we are humbled by the preaching of the law, we see that our hope for salvation is in Christ alone; it is not in ourselves or anything that we have done or can do.

So as we hear our text we find that it accuses us. What child can hear “Children, obey your parents” without feeling guilty about disobeying his parents? What father can hear “do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord” without feeling guilty about his failings as a father? The same is true of the admonitions to servants and masters, if we make the effort to apply them to ourselves in our modern-day roles. Have we always conducted ourselves in the workplace in a God-pleasing way? Have we always been as salt and light to our superiors and co-workers? It is right that we should consider these questions, that we should confess our sins and look to Christ for the peace of forgiveness.

But Paul here is addressing believers; he is talking to you and me, to us who confess our sins and trust in Christ for our salvation. His purpose here is certainly not only to convict us of our sins and lead us to repentance. He writes these things to teach us how believers ought to live. He reveals how God wants His children to live, what kind of conduct is pleasing to Him. He addresses us as believers who have been sanctified by the Holy Spirit, whose hearts have been opened to the Word of God. He addresses us as those who love the Lord.

As believers who love the Lord we are eager to know how He wants us to live. We want to please Him. We aren’t content to live just to please ourselves. We aren’t content to live our lives as if no one is watching us, as those who imagine that they can hide from God.

So, Paul tells us, this is what the Lord wants: He wants children to obey their parents, and not just to obey them, but to obey them “in the Lord.” He wants children to be conscious of the fact that their parents are God’s representatives. Parental authority is not arbitrary; parents do not have their authority because they are bigger and stronger than their children. Parents are under God, acting on His behalf, and are responsible to Him for their conduct toward their children.

Paul also repeats the promise that is attached to the Fourth Commandment; He promises to bless children who honor their parents. He promises that it will be well with them. Children who obey godly parents will be spared many troubles in their life. They won’t have to learn every lesson by bitter experience. God also promises that obedience to parents will tend to a long earthly life. I say “tend to” because we know that even godly children sometimes die in childhood or young adulthood through diseases and accidents that are not their fault. Still God promises that obedience to His commandments makes our life better and brighter.

God also wants parents to be conscious of their responsibility to Him. We need to be patient and careful in our use of discipline so that we don’t make our children frustrated. And parents especially have the responsibility to bring up their children “in the training and admonition of the Lord.” A big part of “Training” here is teaching by example. Parents should be living examples of godly living. “Admonition” is teaching by verbal instruction. Parents should speak of God in the home, have family devotions, and take their children to church for the instruction in the Word that is available to them there.

The Lord would have “bondservants” (for us employees) to do their work considering Christ as their Master. He would have masters (for us employers) remember that they too have a Master in heaven. All of us are to remember that we are servants of God, servants of our Lord Jesus Christ. No matter whether we are children or parents, employees or employers, we are responsible to one Master in heaven.

-What He commands is for our blessing.

But the thought of our text isn’t just that we live under the watchful eye of God who commands these things; that thought, all by itself, would be unsettling. The Lord in whose presence we live our life is the Lord who loves us. It is Christ that our text sets before us here. Paul connects the name of Christ with each of the admonitions here. Children are told to obey their parents, “in the Lord,” that is, the Lord Jesus, for so the title of Lord is used in the New Testament. Fathers are told to bring up their children in the training and admonition “of the Lord,” more than anything else teaching them to know their Savior. Christian slaves were told to be obedient to their masters “as to Christ.” Masters are told to remember that they have a Master who is in heaven.

In all that we do, we are to remember that we are serving Christ; He is our one Lord. These commandments come from Him, and they are not burdensome, as John writes (1 John 5:3). The yoke of Christ is an easy one and His burden is light (Matt. 11:30). Whatever Christ tells us to do is for our good. How could we think otherwise, knowing His love for us, knowing how much He suffered to redeem and save us?

It is good for children to obey their parents. Children who are obedient to their parents are blessed, as God promises in the Fourth Commandment, while rebellious children stray into many troubles. Parents who bring up their children in the training and admonition of the Lord will be blessed with godly children who will be a comfort and help to them when they are old. Parents who provoke their children to wrath drive them away. Employers take notice when workers do a good job and value employees who do their job even when the boss isn’t watching. Business owners who treat their employees well will have loyal workers and their businesses will prosper.

These things are generally true, yet we know that they aren’t universally true. Good workers aren’t always appreciated; good employers don’t always have good employees, etc. But even in these cases we will be blessed for doing what is pleasing to Christ. Even if no one notices, appreciates, or rewards our faithful service, we may be sure that Christ will never fail to notice, appreciate, and reward it. In this world, lords and employers aren’t always good. But Christ is forever the good Lord. It isn’t always a joy to serve other people here, but it is always a joy to serve the Lord who loved us and gave Himself for us. Amen.

—Rev. John Klatt

Watertown, SD

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All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.