PT-1 "The Submission of Children" (Eph. 6:1-3)

SPIRIRUAL DIARY FOR 9/5/2019 9:50 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  PT-1 “The Submission of Children”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 6:1-3

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with a promise), 3 SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH.”

 

            Today we begin looking at the first main point from John MacArthur’s commentary, as we look at the submission of children which will probably take a number of days to complete.

 

            The word that is translated children is “Tekna” and it speaks of not only young children, but all children who live under the parent’s roof, as all of the children are to obey and honor the parents.  The word obey has to do with action, and the word honor has to do with attitude.  We have already learned that men and women who leave the house are no longer under the authority of their parents once they themselves marry as seen in 5:31 “31 FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.”   Those who leave the family home are to have special respect for their parents.  In the nation of Israel during the time when this letter was written and even before when the son gets married most of the time the house of his parents was added onto so that he and his wife would actually live in the addition to the parent’s home.  This would actually be good for the young couple along with when the parents got older the couple could then care for the parent’s.  Now one of the things that this section shows us is that the child who is brought up to obey and honor his parents will always be sensitive to their wisdom, counsel, and welfare.

 

            Let’s look at the word obey, as it is translated from the word hupakouo.  This word means “to hear under,” that is, to listen with attentiveness and also to respond positively to what is heard.  The children are to put themselves under the words and also the authority of their parents.

 

            As we look at the words “in the Lord” we see this refers to the sphere of pleasing the Lord, to obeying parents for the sake of the Lord.  Children obey their parents as reflective of their obedience to the Lord.  The context makes it very clear that “in the Lord” applies to honor as well as to obey.  The parent’s are to be obeyed and honored because to do so is to obey and honor the Lord.

 

            John MacArthur writes “Parents stand in the gap, so to speak, between children and God while the children are too young to have a full and mature relationship with Him themselves.  Parents are God’s stewards, His proxy authority, for their children, who are simply loaned to them in trust by their own heavenly Father.  That is why children are commanded, ‘Be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord’ (Col. 3:20).  The only exception to that obedience is in the matter of doing God’s will as taught in Scripture.  He should say with Peter and John, ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking what we have seen and heard’ (Acts 4:19-20).  Otherwise, however, a child is to obey his parents ‘in all things.’

 

            “The basic reason for children to obey and honor their parents is simply that it is right.  The rightness is not based on psychological case studies or other human evidence or theory, but on God’s standard of right.  God’s declaration makes it right.”

 

            Lord willing we will begin our next SD on this subject by looking at some more Greek words that should help us better understand this section better.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have to say that I am thankful to the Lord for giving me two children who were very easy to raise and for the most part we had little problems with them.  They pretty much obeyed my wife and me and so now as they are married they have had a good background in order to raise their children in a similar way that they have been raised.  Praise the Lord for this.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Humility has been on my mind since the beginning of this year, to which the Lord has taught me much about it and continues to do so even though at times I feel like I have been out in the wilderness learning from the Lord, as there have been some great trials in learning more on this subject, but I believe in the end that the Lord will make me better off in going through these trials.

 

Quotation from “Love in Action” “Paul reminded his readers that Jesus Christ is also, at the very core of His ministry, and encourager.”  Now I suppose that most everyone who reads these Spiritual Diaries has figured out that in this section there is one day given a Scripture verse or verses and then the next day gives some application from that verse or verses.

 

9/5/2019 10:25 AM