WEBVTT 00:00:00.650 --> 00:00:03.149 Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons, 00:00:03.270 --> 00:00:06.209 a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg. 00:00:06.870 --> 00:00:08.750 It's our hope that these sermons will draw you 00:00:08.750 --> 00:00:11.169 more into the life of following God, Father, 00:00:11.330 --> 00:00:14.150 Son and Holy Spirit. Please consider coming and 00:00:14.150 --> 00:00:16.469 joining with us each Sunday morning at 10am in 00:00:16.469 --> 00:00:18.809 the heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You can find 00:00:18.809 --> 00:00:22.329 us online at SecondCityChurch .org and on Facebook, 00:00:22.629 --> 00:00:25.030 Instagram and YouTube. We hope you enjoy this 00:00:25.030 --> 00:00:30.239 sermon. God Bless. Lord, we're thankful for Your 00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:32.479 Word. We're thankful that You give it to us in 00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:36.219 love. You desire to instruct us in Your ways, 00:00:36.420 --> 00:00:41.159 to reveal Yourself to us, to train us. God, like 00:00:41.159 --> 00:00:44.659 the perfect Father, You desire our well -being. 00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:47.780 You desire us to be nurtured in Your ways. And 00:00:47.780 --> 00:00:50.219 so, God, I pray that this morning we'd be attentive 00:00:50.219 --> 00:00:53.000 to Your Word, that we would desire it, desire 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:58.149 You, desire to honor You, to love You. to serve 00:00:58.149 --> 00:01:02.350 you, to follow you. Now, O Lord, may the words 00:01:02.350 --> 00:01:04.489 in my mouth and the meditations of our hearts 00:01:04.489 --> 00:01:06.549 be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our rock and 00:01:06.549 --> 00:01:12.129 our redeemer. Amen. All right. You probably know 00:01:12.129 --> 00:01:15.030 that the ancient Roman emperors did some kind 00:01:15.030 --> 00:01:17.590 of wild things with their power. Let me share 00:01:17.590 --> 00:01:21.510 a few of them with you. I read that Nero built 00:01:21.510 --> 00:01:26.689 a spinning dining room. Which reminds me of the 00:01:26.689 --> 00:01:30.549 spinning bar at the hotel in New Orleans now 00:01:30.549 --> 00:01:31.909 that I'm thinking of it. I forget which hotel 00:01:31.909 --> 00:01:35.150 that is. Which hotel is that, babe? The Monteleone, 00:01:35.290 --> 00:01:37.590 right? Yeah, the hotel Monteleone in New Orleans. 00:01:38.049 --> 00:01:40.109 And it had this ivory ceiling to it, kind of 00:01:40.109 --> 00:01:43.569 wild. Elagabus, I guess that's how you say his 00:01:43.569 --> 00:01:48.129 name. I read, played pranks on dinner guests, 00:01:48.489 --> 00:01:54.010 including the ancient form of the whoopee cushion. 00:01:55.920 --> 00:01:58.659 I don't know what that was like. It was probably 00:01:58.659 --> 00:02:04.700 pretty funny for him. Commodus, he reigned from 00:02:04.700 --> 00:02:08.780 177 to 192, and you may remember him from the 00:02:08.780 --> 00:02:12.500 movie Gladiator. He renamed all of the months 00:02:12.500 --> 00:02:16.860 in his honor. Let me read them for you. Amazonius, 00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:21.020 Invictus, Felix, Pius, Lucius, Aelius, Aurelius, 00:02:21.240 --> 00:02:27.710 Commodus, Augustus, Hercules, Romanus, and Exuperatorius. 00:02:28.469 --> 00:02:31.629 Most of those were titles that he bore himself. 00:02:32.590 --> 00:02:34.469 And you're probably scratching your head at that 00:02:34.469 --> 00:02:38.169 last one as I was. So I looked it up. Exuperatorius 00:02:38.169 --> 00:02:45.050 means all surpassing conqueror. Hercules, of 00:02:45.050 --> 00:02:50.520 course, is from Hercules. Hercules, sorry. These 00:02:50.520 --> 00:02:54.000 names of the 12 months were actually used during 00:02:54.000 --> 00:03:01.560 his reign until he was assassinated, which happened 00:03:01.560 --> 00:03:06.979 to 36 % of Roman emperors. Then they were dropped. 00:03:07.340 --> 00:03:09.379 But still today, actually, we have two months 00:03:09.379 --> 00:03:12.939 that were named after different Roman emperors, 00:03:13.300 --> 00:03:19.210 Augustus and then his son, Julius. August and 00:03:19.210 --> 00:03:22.949 July, right? The thing is that the world revolved 00:03:22.949 --> 00:03:25.729 around them, right? They could do what they wanted, 00:03:25.849 --> 00:03:29.409 name what they wanted. Time revolved around them. 00:03:29.550 --> 00:03:33.009 Others were for their play, for their purposes. 00:03:37.569 --> 00:03:41.650 Commodus actually renamed all of the Roman Empire, 00:03:42.289 --> 00:03:47.479 Colonia Commodiana. It's my colony. World is 00:03:47.479 --> 00:03:52.379 mine I'm sure some of you are wondering why I 00:03:52.379 --> 00:03:54.919 would start a sermon on the fifth commandment 00:03:54.919 --> 00:04:00.460 with all this Roman Emperor talk It is not as 00:04:00.460 --> 00:04:02.500 you may be wondering because we have all heard 00:04:02.500 --> 00:04:05.400 that the average American man thinks of the Roman 00:04:05.400 --> 00:04:09.939 Empire ten times a day Which I find wild but 00:04:09.939 --> 00:04:11.539 I watched this little video about that and the 00:04:11.539 --> 00:04:13.860 guy that was being interviewed actually said 00:04:13.860 --> 00:04:20.560 Yeah, that's too little Oh, really? Okay. No, 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:23.160 that's not why. Rather, I think it shows that 00:04:23.160 --> 00:04:29.319 if we are able, if we are able to have sort of 00:04:29.319 --> 00:04:33.120 the power of the world, we would make it around 00:04:33.120 --> 00:04:39.060 us. Everything doing, orbiting time and space 00:04:39.060 --> 00:04:43.199 and people under us. We view others out of our 00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:45.259 lenses. Quite literally, we just see the world 00:04:45.259 --> 00:04:47.699 out of the lens of our eyes, but also we act 00:04:47.699 --> 00:04:50.160 out of the lens of our hearts, right? Out of 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:52.699 the heart comes our words and our actions, how 00:04:52.699 --> 00:04:57.420 we live. The commandments began, right? You shall 00:04:57.420 --> 00:04:59.399 have no other gods before me. And of course I 00:04:59.399 --> 00:05:01.759 suggest to you that that's in part because we 00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:04.259 actually have this innate kind of thing that 00:05:04.259 --> 00:05:07.800 sin at its heart is this pride that says, I desire 00:05:07.800 --> 00:05:12.579 to be God. to have the place of God, to rule 00:05:12.579 --> 00:05:17.600 our world for ourselves. There's Sophocles in 00:05:17.600 --> 00:05:21.040 there somewhere. But when we place ourselves 00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:23.779 as God, the truth is that we don't just sin against 00:05:23.779 --> 00:05:25.819 God, we sin against others, right? That's why 00:05:25.819 --> 00:05:27.660 partly earlier I was saying also when we were 00:05:27.660 --> 00:05:29.360 reconciled to God, we are also reconciled to 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:31.819 others. And we are brought from slavery to life 00:05:31.819 --> 00:05:33.980 in this resurrection reality. We don't just have 00:05:33.980 --> 00:05:36.480 a proper relationship with God, but we're oriented 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:41.910 towards our communities. As late moderns, we 00:05:41.910 --> 00:05:45.970 often confess the 1960s creed, question authority. 00:05:48.170 --> 00:05:49.990 And maybe you've heard, don't trust anyone over 00:05:49.990 --> 00:05:53.129 30, something that most all of us believe until 00:05:53.129 --> 00:05:58.990 we are over 30. You know, Boomer is not just 00:05:58.990 --> 00:06:01.670 a name now for a generation that was born between 00:06:01.670 --> 00:06:06.370 1946 and 1964. It has now become rather a dismissal 00:06:06.370 --> 00:06:10.870 of those older than us. Okay, Boomer. We confess 00:06:10.870 --> 00:06:15.410 equality as a central idea of life and society 00:06:15.410 --> 00:06:20.569 And that kind of invites us to not think of people 00:06:20.569 --> 00:06:25.029 as over us or under us as to be revered or to 00:06:25.029 --> 00:06:29.569 be cared for intended to We believe in the self 00:06:29.569 --> 00:06:34.329 -made man. We mold ourselves from the dust And 00:06:34.329 --> 00:06:36.310 we are embarrassed by belly buttons that remind 00:06:36.310 --> 00:06:41.410 us of dependence on others, right? We believe 00:06:41.410 --> 00:06:45.670 in the holy word consent, the necessity of our 00:06:45.670 --> 00:06:48.009 own giving of approval for anything to be right 00:06:48.009 --> 00:06:51.730 and good. And so we come to the fifth commandment, 00:06:52.430 --> 00:06:54.810 this hinge commandment between how we engage 00:06:54.810 --> 00:06:58.189 with God and how we engage with others. Honor 00:06:58.189 --> 00:07:01.689 your father and your mother. Honor your father 00:07:01.689 --> 00:07:04.600 and your mother. that your days may be long in 00:07:04.600 --> 00:07:06.879 the land that the Lord your God is giving you. 00:07:08.259 --> 00:07:12.860 And I think we hear that, and there's part of 00:07:12.860 --> 00:07:16.319 us that just, we know that there are ways that 00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:19.300 you apply that, that we go against that in some 00:07:19.300 --> 00:07:20.779 ways. And there's certain people that totally 00:07:20.779 --> 00:07:22.620 go against that, right? We're like, we're thinking 00:07:22.620 --> 00:07:24.540 about the Roman Empire all the time, 10 times 00:07:24.540 --> 00:07:27.279 a day. And so we're like, Nero murdered his mother 00:07:27.279 --> 00:07:30.959 bad. He did not keep this commandment. Amen. 00:07:32.589 --> 00:07:37.649 Y 'all aren't sure okay weird Can I get amen 00:07:37.649 --> 00:07:42.610 But also I think we think we hear this command 00:07:42.610 --> 00:07:44.769 honor your father and your mother and we and 00:07:44.769 --> 00:07:49.170 part of us thinks I antiquated hierarchical structures 00:07:49.170 --> 00:07:56.329 We push against it as we mock dismiss dismissingly 00:07:56.329 --> 00:08:00.730 dismissively 92 year old senator Chuck Grassley, 00:08:00.829 --> 00:08:05.000 right? Honor to those over us care for those 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:09.860 under us So who's this who's this commandment 00:08:09.860 --> 00:08:16.600 for First I want to say this command is for children 00:08:16.600 --> 00:08:21.620 children listen And I say that first because 00:08:21.620 --> 00:08:25.839 it's it's easiest to convince you of It's not 00:08:25.839 --> 00:08:28.620 hard for us to get behind. It's certainly not 00:08:28.620 --> 00:08:31.459 hard for parents to get behind on Saturday morning 00:08:31.639 --> 00:08:35.899 when they want the chores done. After all, the 00:08:35.899 --> 00:08:40.759 command does specifically begin, honor your father 00:08:40.759 --> 00:08:44.480 and your mother. So at the very least, this is 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:48.519 for children. At the very least. But what is 00:08:48.519 --> 00:08:51.779 this command? It's the command to honor. What's 00:08:51.779 --> 00:08:56.740 that mean? To honor, that word in Hebrew is the 00:08:56.740 --> 00:09:04.580 word Chaved, means weighty. heavy, like a big 00:09:04.580 --> 00:09:08.940 presence, right? Something that is very present. 00:09:10.100 --> 00:09:13.620 It's heavy. It's often a word in the Bible, actually 00:09:13.620 --> 00:09:19.659 it's most often used in reference to God. God 00:09:19.659 --> 00:09:23.159 and His glory, the weightiness of His divine 00:09:23.159 --> 00:09:28.259 majesty, the call that we, as part of His creation, 00:09:28.649 --> 00:09:30.909 are to give to the creator, the one who's over 00:09:30.909 --> 00:09:37.269 all things, to be honored, to receive our attention, 00:09:37.570 --> 00:09:41.830 our praise, our obedience. So to give honor to 00:09:41.830 --> 00:09:45.090 somebody is to give weight to their presence 00:09:45.090 --> 00:09:49.669 in your life. To give honor to someone is to 00:09:49.669 --> 00:09:55.490 give recognition of their God -given role, often 00:09:55.490 --> 00:10:00.389 over you. To honor is to respect, to esteem, 00:10:00.450 --> 00:10:05.730 to value, to prize something. Just to say that 00:10:05.730 --> 00:10:08.710 we give our attention to their words. We open 00:10:08.710 --> 00:10:14.470 our ears, open our hearts. We understand that 00:10:14.470 --> 00:10:19.190 their presence shapes us. It influences us. And 00:10:19.190 --> 00:10:22.529 of course, the opposite of honor is dishonor. 00:10:24.060 --> 00:10:26.860 So we could say this is not is it's not dismissing 00:10:26.860 --> 00:10:29.759 a relationship. It's giving its proper do its 00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:34.940 proper weight To dishonor is to not only to disrespect 00:10:34.940 --> 00:10:37.159 but to treat lightly to act as though it's just 00:10:37.159 --> 00:10:39.960 kind of some feather that can be blown away if 00:10:39.960 --> 00:10:47.059 you will I read This week there was a teen magazine 00:10:47.059 --> 00:10:50.700 whose cover read. Do you really hate your parents? 00:10:51.379 --> 00:10:53.779 like who doesn't I feel like I had to read it 00:10:53.779 --> 00:10:57.919 that way. Like who doesn't? And then the article 00:10:57.919 --> 00:11:01.220 actually advised on how to deal with detestables, 00:11:02.080 --> 00:11:04.000 which is unfortunately actually something that 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:06.419 is fairly common, right? It's rather assumed 00:11:06.419 --> 00:11:07.960 that during at least your teen years that you 00:11:07.960 --> 00:11:12.789 will dismiss the weight of your parents. And 00:11:12.789 --> 00:11:14.389 let me say this, it is good and it's right and 00:11:14.389 --> 00:11:16.190 it's actually a normal developmental thing for 00:11:16.190 --> 00:11:18.070 you to become your own person with your own interests, 00:11:18.129 --> 00:11:20.049 with your own loves and with your own sort of 00:11:20.049 --> 00:11:22.409 way of being in the world. Yet the Bible and 00:11:22.409 --> 00:11:27.490 history commends to you the honor, the constant 00:11:27.490 --> 00:11:30.990 honor of your parents, kids and y 'all. This 00:11:30.990 --> 00:11:32.769 is for the rest of you too, actually. I'm gonna 00:11:32.769 --> 00:11:37.789 get there. Here's the truth. The relationship 00:11:37.789 --> 00:11:40.269 you have with your parents is not only the first, 00:11:40.330 --> 00:11:42.909 but it is the most fundamental relationship that 00:11:42.909 --> 00:11:47.090 you have. It lays the foundations or the bedrock 00:11:47.090 --> 00:11:50.029 from which you learn to engage in all other relationships. 00:11:51.929 --> 00:11:55.809 It's the foundational human relationship. It's 00:11:55.809 --> 00:11:58.850 the relationship where you learn life, being, 00:11:59.309 --> 00:12:03.269 holding yourself, speaking, engaging with others. 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:09.639 If you meet somebody in your class who's hardworking 00:12:09.639 --> 00:12:12.799 and diligent, who's kind and considerate, who 00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:15.080 doesn't laugh at somebody else's misfortune, 00:12:15.519 --> 00:12:18.919 you know, you fell over, you know, they're not 00:12:18.919 --> 00:12:20.559 that kind of person. You probably have their 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:23.840 parent to thank because it's the foundational 00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:25.860 dynamic from which they learn to engage with 00:12:25.860 --> 00:12:28.820 others. It's certainly the case. Let me just 00:12:28.820 --> 00:12:30.580 say, I feel like I can qualify so much of what 00:12:30.580 --> 00:12:33.860 I'm saying today. It is certainly the case. that 00:12:33.860 --> 00:12:37.620 there are bad parents and great kids, and great 00:12:37.620 --> 00:12:40.019 parents and bad kids. But the way of the world 00:12:40.019 --> 00:12:42.120 is typically that you learn to engage in the 00:12:42.120 --> 00:12:45.220 world from this foundational dynamic of learning 00:12:45.220 --> 00:12:49.860 to honor your parents. To honor your parents 00:12:49.860 --> 00:12:52.799 is to give weight to their presence in your life. 00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:56.679 This does not necessarily mean always obey, though 00:12:56.679 --> 00:12:59.279 isn't that also a biblical command? But when 00:12:59.279 --> 00:13:02.879 it is actually obey is as Ephesians 6 tells us 00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:09.279 children obey your parents in the Lord So while 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:11.559 the default is obedience is obedience towards 00:13:11.559 --> 00:13:16.639 the Lord and what he's commanded And let me say 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:19.100 this it's when we say talk about children, it's 00:13:19.100 --> 00:13:20.779 actually it's not just the case right that your 00:13:20.779 --> 00:13:24.279 children as a young child is it You grew up. 00:13:24.419 --> 00:13:27.320 I am still a child My parents are still living 00:13:27.320 --> 00:13:30.789 they have weight in the world, weight over my 00:13:30.789 --> 00:13:34.269 life in a way, an ability to speak into my life. 00:13:35.750 --> 00:13:38.110 The relationship that you have as kids with your 00:13:38.110 --> 00:13:41.230 parents is what I'm suggesting, just how you 00:13:41.230 --> 00:13:43.529 learn to engage with those around you and particularly 00:13:43.529 --> 00:13:47.250 those over you. It's where you learn how to listen 00:13:47.250 --> 00:13:51.570 and when to speak, how to engage with those about 00:13:51.570 --> 00:13:55.850 you, how to respect those over you. I think this 00:13:55.850 --> 00:13:58.789 is why this is such a practical command in the 00:13:58.789 --> 00:14:02.490 Bible. And I think it's also why it's the command 00:14:02.490 --> 00:14:04.669 with a promise. In fact, Ephesians chapter six 00:14:04.669 --> 00:14:07.090 tells us that it's the first command with a promise 00:14:07.090 --> 00:14:12.649 because this is the fundamental command that 00:14:12.649 --> 00:14:16.590 organizes your social life. It sets you up in 00:14:16.590 --> 00:14:19.279 life. This is why, again, I've mentioned this 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:21.460 earlier, but this is why this command, most theologians 00:14:21.460 --> 00:14:23.899 take it as a hinge from your relationship with 00:14:23.899 --> 00:14:25.899 God to your relationship with others. This is 00:14:25.899 --> 00:14:28.480 the beginning point from which you begin to engage 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:31.139 with the world about you, your neighbors, and 00:14:31.139 --> 00:14:34.279 all of the rest. This command says, honor your 00:14:34.279 --> 00:14:38.480 father and mother, but it adds that your days 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:40.600 may be long in the land that the Lord your God 00:14:40.600 --> 00:14:43.580 is giving you. Isn't that interesting? It's not 00:14:43.580 --> 00:14:46.379 just a, hey, do this, but there's actually certain 00:14:46.440 --> 00:14:50.960 effects that it has in your life. You will learn 00:14:50.960 --> 00:14:54.360 how to speak to your teacher by honoring your 00:14:54.360 --> 00:14:56.320 parents. You will learn how to speak to your 00:14:56.320 --> 00:15:00.059 bosses by honoring your parents, treating your 00:15:00.059 --> 00:15:03.940 parents with weight. You will have a greater 00:15:03.940 --> 00:15:07.740 possibility of receiving helpful feedback from 00:15:07.740 --> 00:15:10.379 your professors when you've submitted papers 00:15:10.379 --> 00:15:12.559 if you learn how to honor them with your speech. 00:15:13.240 --> 00:15:15.759 with your being, with your presence in the classroom, 00:15:15.860 --> 00:15:18.279 all the rest. Let me give you an odd example 00:15:18.279 --> 00:15:19.779 of this in my life. Actually, it's not that odd. 00:15:20.100 --> 00:15:22.940 I feel really hesitant to give this example because 00:15:22.940 --> 00:15:26.759 there is a rule in preaching that when a preacher 00:15:26.759 --> 00:15:28.440 gives an illustration, they're not supposed to 00:15:28.440 --> 00:15:30.340 be the one that looks good in the illustration. 00:15:35.519 --> 00:15:37.539 I don't know if you've noticed that I really 00:15:37.539 --> 00:15:39.480 try not to give illustrations where it kind of 00:15:39.480 --> 00:15:41.259 makes me look like I kind of had it going, but 00:15:41.259 --> 00:15:44.039 I'm going to break that. I'm gonna break that 00:15:44.039 --> 00:15:48.240 today. So when I was in college, I went to Western 00:15:48.240 --> 00:15:54.980 Washington University and a couple of the spring 00:15:54.980 --> 00:15:57.419 semesters, I wanted to go on some bigger trips 00:15:57.419 --> 00:15:59.500 with a couple of friends, trips that would take 00:15:59.500 --> 00:16:01.240 longer than a week because they were far off 00:16:01.240 --> 00:16:04.080 and there was a lot involved in them. And so 00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:06.019 I thought, well, I would really like to just 00:16:06.019 --> 00:16:08.120 not have one week off for spring break. I'd love 00:16:08.120 --> 00:16:10.779 to have two weeks off for spring break, brazen 00:16:10.779 --> 00:16:14.490 child as I was. And so what I did is at the beginning 00:16:14.490 --> 00:16:16.590 of each of these spring semesters, I went to 00:16:16.590 --> 00:16:19.970 all of my professors and I said, I am going to 00:16:19.970 --> 00:16:21.990 be a good student. I'm going to show up to class 00:16:21.990 --> 00:16:23.809 on time. I'm going to give my attention to your 00:16:23.809 --> 00:16:25.450 words. I'm going to do what you say. I'm going 00:16:25.450 --> 00:16:28.250 to submit my homework on time and I will participate 00:16:28.250 --> 00:16:30.870 in class. Would you give me an extra week off 00:16:30.870 --> 00:16:35.330 for spring break? You ever heard of anyone doing 00:16:35.330 --> 00:16:38.649 this? I actually haven't, but you know what? 00:16:38.889 --> 00:16:42.059 Both of those years that I did that. Every single 00:16:42.059 --> 00:16:45.600 one of my professors said, yes, if you do what 00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:49.759 you just said, if you show up, if you're diligent 00:16:49.759 --> 00:16:51.279 in your work, if you participate in class, if 00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:53.460 you turn your stuff on in time, I will give you 00:16:53.460 --> 00:16:56.480 that extra week off. Every single one of them. 00:16:57.120 --> 00:16:59.320 Which is just to say I honored the relationship 00:16:59.320 --> 00:17:01.179 and it frankly went well for me those spring 00:17:01.179 --> 00:17:04.680 breaks. Children, I'm telling you this. If you 00:17:04.680 --> 00:17:09.789 want to ask your future employer, for greater 00:17:09.789 --> 00:17:13.430 responsibility at work, for a greater, maybe 00:17:13.430 --> 00:17:17.529 a pay raise. If you want to ask your professor 00:17:17.529 --> 00:17:19.630 to meet with you that extra hour because you 00:17:19.630 --> 00:17:24.150 are struggling in calculus, you need help on 00:17:24.150 --> 00:17:27.809 that paper. If you want to interview well for 00:17:27.809 --> 00:17:32.009 a future job, if you want your days to be long 00:17:32.009 --> 00:17:34.069 in the land to which the Lord your God is bringing 00:17:34.069 --> 00:17:40.589 you, desire to honor those over you. Seek out 00:17:40.589 --> 00:17:42.950 what does it mean for me to honor the people 00:17:42.950 --> 00:17:46.130 that God has placed over me and practice it in 00:17:46.130 --> 00:17:50.430 the home? Because of course this command is for 00:17:50.430 --> 00:17:53.309 natural parents, but it is not just for them 00:17:53.309 --> 00:17:57.549 Right adults. Let me give you some advice Speak 00:17:57.549 --> 00:18:00.769 honorably to your boss speak honorably about 00:18:00.769 --> 00:18:04.549 them Let your words practice your words in the 00:18:04.549 --> 00:18:06.650 home of how you would speak to them Don't badmouth 00:18:06.650 --> 00:18:08.069 them behind their back because you're more likely 00:18:08.069 --> 00:18:11.640 to do that in front of them It will go better 00:18:11.640 --> 00:18:13.819 with you if you learn to honor those who are 00:18:13.819 --> 00:18:16.700 over you isn't it crazy It's utterly wild to 00:18:16.700 --> 00:18:22.859 me that Peter tells us Second Peter first Peter 00:18:22.859 --> 00:18:26.339 to 17 right honor the Emperor who was the Emperor 00:18:26.339 --> 00:18:29.700 at the time when Peter was writing that Nero 00:18:29.700 --> 00:18:34.220 the guy who killed his mother It's not that the 00:18:34.220 --> 00:18:36.099 of course the Emperor was doing always honorable 00:18:36.099 --> 00:18:38.140 things But the Christian community was called 00:18:38.140 --> 00:18:40.619 to engage with them in honorable ways Because 00:18:40.619 --> 00:18:42.920 as you do so as you honor those proper authorities 00:18:42.920 --> 00:18:44.940 that God has placed over you. It was more likely 00:18:44.940 --> 00:18:48.299 to go well with you This is true. It's a very 00:18:48.299 --> 00:18:53.059 practical command You learn how to engage with 00:18:53.059 --> 00:18:55.779 those authorities over you primarily in the house 00:18:55.779 --> 00:18:59.009 in the home but they extrapolate beyond that. 00:18:59.150 --> 00:19:01.410 St. Augustine said this, if anyone fails to honor 00:19:01.410 --> 00:19:09.250 his parents, is there anyone he will spare? Give 00:19:09.250 --> 00:19:13.650 your parents weight. This command is for children, 00:19:13.690 --> 00:19:16.190 but it is far from being only for children. It 00:19:16.190 --> 00:19:19.930 is for us too, all who are under God -given authority. 00:19:22.019 --> 00:19:24.500 But here's the truth, beyond sort of this idea 00:19:24.500 --> 00:19:27.539 that this is for children, it's this authority 00:19:27.539 --> 00:19:32.359 dynamic, right? It's a command also for those 00:19:32.359 --> 00:19:35.420 parents and those who have authority. This is 00:19:35.420 --> 00:19:36.880 how Christians have always taken this. This is 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:38.200 not just for those under authority, but this 00:19:38.200 --> 00:19:40.559 is actually a command for those who have authority. 00:19:41.019 --> 00:19:43.680 Think about this like this, okay? So the command 00:19:43.680 --> 00:19:45.119 honor your father and your mother, and then it 00:19:45.119 --> 00:19:47.240 goes to the promise that it may go well. with 00:19:47.240 --> 00:19:49.160 you, right? That your days may be long in the 00:19:49.160 --> 00:19:51.500 land the Lord your God has given you. Well, if 00:19:51.500 --> 00:19:53.680 your days are long, eventually you grow up and 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:56.539 you actually are the one that is doing the instruction. 00:19:56.759 --> 00:20:00.240 It's for you, all of the community. It's the 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:02.700 command for the whole community. So is this a 00:20:02.700 --> 00:20:07.099 command only for children? No, it is not. Is 00:20:07.099 --> 00:20:10.140 it a command only for employees? No, it's not. 00:20:10.839 --> 00:20:12.980 Is it a command only for citizens, those who 00:20:12.980 --> 00:20:17.819 receive laws? No, it's not. No, the desires for 00:20:17.819 --> 00:20:20.259 the health of the entire community for the whole 00:20:20.259 --> 00:20:25.039 of the all of the relationships The you cannot 00:20:25.039 --> 00:20:28.880 just mean children here You cannot just mean 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:33.640 the the the fatherly motherly dynamic It can't 00:20:33.640 --> 00:20:35.460 just be those who are under authority it also 00:20:35.460 --> 00:20:38.220 must be those who grow up to have authority There's 00:20:38.220 --> 00:20:40.960 a call there by the way. Okay quick side note 00:20:40.960 --> 00:20:45.000 about this command for all the ways and times 00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:49.460 in where the Bible is said to be an ancient patriarchal 00:20:49.460 --> 00:20:53.400 text. Did you all notice that it says honor your 00:20:53.400 --> 00:20:56.980 father and your mother? Like there is an equal 00:20:56.980 --> 00:21:00.200 footing in this text there. Pretty interesting 00:21:00.200 --> 00:21:01.960 for an ancient text where that would certainly 00:21:01.960 --> 00:21:05.279 not have been the case, broadly speaking. Anyway, 00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:07.220 contained in this command to honor your father 00:21:07.220 --> 00:21:09.880 and your mother is also a command for the father 00:21:09.880 --> 00:21:15.480 and the mother. For the ones who have a degree 00:21:15.480 --> 00:21:19.160 of authority, which is to say, honor those who 00:21:19.160 --> 00:21:23.460 live under you. Give their presence a weight 00:21:23.460 --> 00:21:26.839 in your life. Don't dismiss the reality of who 00:21:26.839 --> 00:21:31.119 they are, what they bring, how God's made them, 00:21:31.160 --> 00:21:32.779 the gifts they have, the proclivities they have, 00:21:32.819 --> 00:21:36.180 the personalities they have. Which is to say, 00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:41.299 parents, it is your duty, it is our duty to understand 00:21:42.329 --> 00:21:44.390 Parenting an infant is different than parenting. 00:21:44.589 --> 00:21:46.490 Parenting a teen is different than parenting 00:21:46.490 --> 00:21:48.289 an 18 year old is different than parenting a 00:21:48.289 --> 00:21:52.529 28 year old. Do not coddle your 18 year old. 00:21:54.750 --> 00:21:56.569 Send them out into the world with your blessing. 00:21:56.670 --> 00:22:00.009 Teachers know this, right? I mean, like no teacher 00:22:00.009 --> 00:22:03.369 is thinking I should give the same assignment 00:22:03.369 --> 00:22:07.269 to a third grader as I do a 10th grader. We all 00:22:07.269 --> 00:22:10.750 know how ridiculous that sounds. There's an attentiveness 00:22:10.750 --> 00:22:12.869 to those who are under their care, where they 00:22:12.869 --> 00:22:15.890 are, who they are, how they learn, how they grow. 00:22:16.509 --> 00:22:20.549 There's an honoring of who they are, the weight 00:22:20.549 --> 00:22:25.490 they are, their presence in the world. Parents, 00:22:25.809 --> 00:22:27.910 let's grab onto this. Those in authority, grab 00:22:27.910 --> 00:22:33.230 onto that. Learn those under you. So I don't 00:22:33.230 --> 00:22:36.150 think I've ever really done this in a sermon, 00:22:36.849 --> 00:22:43.099 but The theological text of our denomination, 00:22:43.480 --> 00:22:44.839 actually of sort of the Reformed Presbyterian 00:22:44.839 --> 00:22:48.200 Church historically and globally, is the Westminster 00:22:48.200 --> 00:22:50.480 Confession of Faith and Larger and Shorter Catechisms. 00:22:51.099 --> 00:22:54.640 And the Larger Catechism is amazing on the Ten 00:22:54.640 --> 00:22:56.339 Commandments. I've been tempted the last few 00:22:56.339 --> 00:22:59.240 weeks to read some of it to you and I have not 00:22:59.240 --> 00:23:03.400 done so. But I wanted to I want to read to you 00:23:03.400 --> 00:23:06.140 some of the Westminster Larger Catechism as it 00:23:06.140 --> 00:23:09.400 speaks to Not the obligations of those who are 00:23:09.400 --> 00:23:11.559 under authority, but the obligations of those 00:23:11.559 --> 00:23:13.839 who have authority Okay, so I want to read some 00:23:13.839 --> 00:23:16.220 of this to you today. Keep in mind. This was 00:23:16.220 --> 00:23:20.640 written in 1647 it may use some words That are 00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:23.619 not as common today and it talks about those 00:23:23.740 --> 00:23:26.200 with authority as superiors, those under authority 00:23:26.200 --> 00:23:29.619 as inferiors. We think of inferior as actually 00:23:29.619 --> 00:23:31.819 lacking value. That's not how it's intended, 00:23:31.819 --> 00:23:35.779 okay? So question 129 is what's required of superiors 00:23:35.779 --> 00:23:37.480 towards their inferiors? What's required of those 00:23:37.480 --> 00:23:39.299 with authority for those who are under their 00:23:39.299 --> 00:23:42.920 care? It's required of those with authority according 00:23:42.920 --> 00:23:46.420 to that power they receive from God and that 00:23:46.420 --> 00:23:49.480 relationship, that relation wherein they stand 00:23:49.480 --> 00:23:55.200 to love, pray for, and bless those under them. 00:23:56.640 --> 00:23:59.039 That is our primary posture. That's the first 00:23:59.039 --> 00:24:01.319 thing that's required that we love, pray for, 00:24:01.359 --> 00:24:04.720 and bless those under us. If you have people 00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:08.000 that work for you, that is how you are to care 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:11.799 for them, to honor them. Let me continue. To 00:24:11.799 --> 00:24:17.359 instruct, to counsel, to admonish them, countenancing, 00:24:17.900 --> 00:24:21.690 commanding, and rewarding. such as do well and 00:24:21.690 --> 00:24:23.730 discounting and saying reproving and chastising 00:24:23.730 --> 00:24:27.049 such as do ill protecting and providing for them 00:24:27.049 --> 00:24:29.569 and all things necessary for soul and body and 00:24:29.569 --> 00:24:33.849 by grave wise holy and exemplary carriage y 'all 00:24:33.849 --> 00:24:35.329 haven't used the word carriage in a long time 00:24:35.329 --> 00:24:37.130 that's not like a horse -drawn carriage it's 00:24:37.130 --> 00:24:40.150 how you comport yourself in the world to procure 00:24:40.150 --> 00:24:43.369 glory for god honor for themselves and to preserve 00:24:43.369 --> 00:24:49.809 authority that god has put upon them great call 00:24:50.429 --> 00:24:52.329 to those with authority. But here's the thing. 00:24:52.349 --> 00:24:54.309 What are the sins of those with authority? Listen 00:24:54.309 --> 00:24:57.089 to this. The sins of those with authority are, 00:24:57.269 --> 00:24:59.730 besides the neglect of the duties required of 00:24:59.730 --> 00:25:02.569 them. So you got to do the duties. What are the 00:25:02.569 --> 00:25:08.589 sins? An inordinate seeking of themselves. I 00:25:08.589 --> 00:25:11.910 mean, think of something that kind of hits home 00:25:11.910 --> 00:25:14.029 for me, these commands in Colossians and Ephesians, 00:25:14.109 --> 00:25:18.869 fathers do not provoke your children. When do 00:25:18.869 --> 00:25:23.250 we provoke our children, fathers? In an ordinance 00:25:23.250 --> 00:25:28.269 seeking of yourself, do what I told you. Listen 00:25:28.269 --> 00:25:33.849 to me. Okay, let me keep going. In an ordinance 00:25:33.849 --> 00:25:35.910 seeking of themselves, their own glory, ease, 00:25:36.430 --> 00:25:38.630 profit, or pleasure. In an ordinance seeking 00:25:38.630 --> 00:25:41.910 of your profit is actually where you sin against 00:25:41.910 --> 00:25:46.410 those under you. Commanding things unlawful. 00:25:46.509 --> 00:25:49.609 or not in the power of inferiors to perform. 00:25:50.430 --> 00:25:54.309 Think of that, parents. Part of the way the confession 00:25:54.309 --> 00:25:56.450 has applied this is it says it's actually sinning 00:25:56.450 --> 00:25:59.730 against your children, let's say that, if you 00:25:59.730 --> 00:26:01.609 are commanding them to perform something that 00:26:01.609 --> 00:26:07.829 is not in their power to do. Counseling, encouraging, 00:26:08.029 --> 00:26:12.230 or favoring them in that which is evil, dissuading, 00:26:12.529 --> 00:26:15.769 discouraging, and discounting them Discontinencing 00:26:15.769 --> 00:26:19.130 them in that which is good, correcting them unduly. 00:26:22.250 --> 00:26:24.569 How about that, parents? I feel like I know that 00:26:24.569 --> 00:26:27.650 in my life. The way we break this command is 00:26:27.650 --> 00:26:32.670 we correct those under us unduly. Overly harshly, 00:26:32.670 --> 00:26:35.630 too many times. Carelessly exposing or leaving 00:26:35.630 --> 00:26:37.890 them to wrong, temptation, and danger, provoking 00:26:37.890 --> 00:26:40.450 them to wrath, or in any other way dishonoring 00:26:40.450 --> 00:26:43.480 themselves. See the confession says there is 00:26:43.480 --> 00:26:49.880 an author that is due those under you What this 00:26:49.880 --> 00:26:52.359 is to say is that this command is not just for 00:26:52.359 --> 00:26:55.079 children or those under authority to honor those 00:26:55.079 --> 00:26:58.980 above them This is just as much a command as 00:26:58.980 --> 00:27:01.680 the for those who have authority who have those 00:27:01.680 --> 00:27:06.059 under them who are to care for Protect love to 00:27:06.059 --> 00:27:08.720 honor their weight and their presence in your 00:27:08.720 --> 00:27:14.910 life Give their presence It's due. Which is to 00:27:14.910 --> 00:27:19.750 say that all life has weight. There are no little 00:27:19.750 --> 00:27:23.829 people. There's nobody that you can dismiss in 00:27:23.829 --> 00:27:27.650 this world. There are no insignificant people 00:27:27.650 --> 00:27:32.849 in this world. No people that do not carry weight. 00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:43.720 The problem that we face in this command and 00:27:43.720 --> 00:27:48.039 the reason why we all break it is that we do 00:27:48.039 --> 00:27:51.660 not honor the role that others always have in 00:27:51.660 --> 00:27:55.720 our lives. God has always placed you in certain 00:27:55.720 --> 00:27:57.180 relationships and those relationships are always 00:27:57.180 --> 00:28:01.099 to be honored for that relationship. And we do 00:28:01.099 --> 00:28:05.960 not do so. We do not honor those who are over 00:28:05.960 --> 00:28:08.359 us and we do not honor those who are under us 00:28:08.359 --> 00:28:11.740 as we should because we are like the emperors 00:28:11.740 --> 00:28:15.299 of old. We are like Adam from long ago, desiring 00:28:15.299 --> 00:28:19.460 to be God. We want to decide what is best for 00:28:19.460 --> 00:28:23.740 the world. And if you are not on board, as one 00:28:23.740 --> 00:28:26.180 unfortunate preacher once said, you're going 00:28:26.180 --> 00:28:33.720 to get run over by the bus. The Creed question 00:28:33.720 --> 00:28:37.069 authority and frankly, it's accompanying Liberating 00:28:37.069 --> 00:28:40.750 sexual revolution was largely actually the rejection 00:28:40.750 --> 00:28:44.009 of the family structure rejection of authority 00:28:44.009 --> 00:28:48.269 structures And it has not gone well It's not 00:28:48.269 --> 00:28:51.970 gone well What I'm saying is that this command 00:28:51.970 --> 00:28:56.450 is a command for all of us Do not dismiss this 00:28:56.450 --> 00:29:01.450 as us for children It's a command for all of 00:29:01.450 --> 00:29:05.599 us and all of our relationships and we all break 00:29:05.599 --> 00:29:08.119 it, but there is good news. And interestingly, 00:29:08.240 --> 00:29:11.000 I think the good news of this command is that 00:29:11.000 --> 00:29:13.259 this command is followed perfectly by our Lord 00:29:13.259 --> 00:29:17.019 Jesus and by our Heavenly Father. Okay, there 00:29:17.019 --> 00:29:18.920 are a lot of texts I could go to for this, but 00:29:18.920 --> 00:29:20.900 let me just kind of read a few of them for you. 00:29:21.059 --> 00:29:23.400 First, one that most of you know, John 3 .16, 00:29:23.460 --> 00:29:26.380 for God so loved the world that He gave His only 00:29:26.380 --> 00:29:28.640 Son. And what does the Son do, but He obeys the 00:29:28.640 --> 00:29:33.220 Father, right? He honors the Father. In Luke 00:29:33.220 --> 00:29:37.250 6, Luke 11, how are we taught to pray the Lord's 00:29:37.250 --> 00:29:42.950 prayer? But our Father, right? Hollywood, holy, 00:29:43.329 --> 00:29:46.829 honored, be your name. The beginning of actually 00:29:46.829 --> 00:29:48.670 our life and our conversation even with the Father 00:29:48.670 --> 00:29:52.170 is how Jesus interacts with the Father, our Father. 00:29:53.450 --> 00:29:55.390 And Jesus, we can read in John chapter eight, 00:29:55.589 --> 00:29:59.970 says, I do not seek my own glory. The word becoming 00:29:59.970 --> 00:30:02.190 flesh and dwelling among us doesn't seek his 00:30:02.190 --> 00:30:05.309 own glory. Instead, we can also further read 00:30:05.309 --> 00:30:09.769 in John chapter 12. Now is my soul troubled, 00:30:09.829 --> 00:30:12.170 and what shall I say? Father, save me from this 00:30:12.170 --> 00:30:15.710 hour. No, but for this purpose I came to this 00:30:15.710 --> 00:30:19.609 hour. Father, glorify your name. The Son, Jesus 00:30:19.609 --> 00:30:23.049 in the flesh, God incarnate is honoring the Father 00:30:23.049 --> 00:30:26.569 constantly. In Jesus' high priestly prayer, we 00:30:26.569 --> 00:30:28.930 find this idea of course repeated again and again. 00:30:29.309 --> 00:30:32.509 that Jesus honors the Father, I glorified you 00:30:32.509 --> 00:30:34.309 on earth, having accomplished the work that you 00:30:34.309 --> 00:30:37.289 gave me to do. He's able to say, I've honored 00:30:37.289 --> 00:30:43.509 you by listening to you, obeying you, following 00:30:43.509 --> 00:30:47.210 you. That's verse four, verse six. I've manifested 00:30:47.210 --> 00:30:49.049 your name to people whom you gave me out of the 00:30:49.049 --> 00:30:51.910 world. I made known to them your name and I will 00:30:51.910 --> 00:30:56.029 continue to make it known. I'm honoring your 00:30:56.029 --> 00:31:00.289 presence, your weight, your glory. When Jesus 00:31:00.289 --> 00:31:01.869 is in the garden, of course, right before his 00:31:01.869 --> 00:31:04.490 crucifixion on the night in which he was betrayed, 00:31:04.650 --> 00:31:07.509 he's sweating drops of blood, right? And he says, 00:31:07.509 --> 00:31:09.910 Father, if you're willing, remove this cup from 00:31:09.910 --> 00:31:12.309 me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. 00:31:12.369 --> 00:31:16.170 He's honoring the reality of the Father's presence 00:31:16.170 --> 00:31:19.710 in his life. He's obeying the Father. I can give 00:31:19.710 --> 00:31:23.109 you more. But in Christ, we see the honoring 00:31:23.109 --> 00:31:25.869 of the Father perfectly. Where we fail, the Lord 00:31:25.869 --> 00:31:30.650 Jesus lives perfectly. And of course we see this 00:31:30.650 --> 00:31:34.529 most clearly in his going to the cross, humbling 00:31:34.529 --> 00:31:37.069 himself, being obedient to the point of death, 00:31:37.430 --> 00:31:39.309 obedient to the point of death, even death on 00:31:39.309 --> 00:31:48.329 a cross. In that same high priestly prayer, what 00:31:48.329 --> 00:31:52.049 is interesting is that you see actually the combination, 00:31:52.069 --> 00:31:54.910 not just though of the son seeking the honor 00:31:54.910 --> 00:31:56.970 of the father, but actually the father seeking 00:31:56.970 --> 00:31:59.779 the honor and glory of the son. because it's 00:31:59.779 --> 00:32:03.740 a dual dynamic. So in John chapter 17, again, 00:32:03.900 --> 00:32:05.880 the night before our Lord's crucifixion, Jesus 00:32:05.880 --> 00:32:09.299 prays, Father, the hour has come, the hour of 00:32:09.299 --> 00:32:15.200 my cross, my suffering. Glorify your son. This 00:32:15.200 --> 00:32:20.740 is honor the reality of me as your son, that 00:32:20.740 --> 00:32:23.680 the son may glorify you. He goes on, now, Father, 00:32:23.819 --> 00:32:25.660 glorify me in your own presence with the glory 00:32:25.660 --> 00:32:29.339 that I have with you. existed, there's this dynamic 00:32:29.339 --> 00:32:32.799 of honor at play. Of course, in Philippians 2, 00:32:32.819 --> 00:32:35.380 which I already sort of alluded to, we read that 00:32:35.380 --> 00:32:37.160 it was for the joy that was set before him that 00:32:37.160 --> 00:32:39.680 Jesus endured the cross, despising its shame. 00:32:41.599 --> 00:32:44.380 But it was for the Father's honor, right? And 00:32:44.380 --> 00:32:46.160 it was in doing that, actually, this is interesting 00:32:46.160 --> 00:32:48.619 in verse 9, all that is followed up by saying 00:32:48.619 --> 00:32:51.740 that the Father exalted him, that's Jesus, and 00:32:51.740 --> 00:32:53.880 bestowed on him, that's Jesus, the name that's 00:32:53.880 --> 00:32:56.470 above every other name. So the father honors 00:32:56.470 --> 00:32:58.609 the son and the son's obedience to the father. 00:32:58.650 --> 00:33:00.569 There's this dynamic at play between the father 00:33:00.569 --> 00:33:02.730 and the son, which is exactly what this command 00:33:02.730 --> 00:33:10.390 is calling us to do. All this to say is that 00:33:10.390 --> 00:33:16.509 in the glory of Rome, we see both the ugliness 00:33:16.509 --> 00:33:19.789 of what happens when we think everything else 00:33:19.789 --> 00:33:24.369 needs to revolve around us. The revolving dining 00:33:24.369 --> 00:33:30.619 room. the renaming of time and 30 % of the world 00:33:30.619 --> 00:33:39.079 is a slave. But in that same Roman world, what 00:33:39.079 --> 00:33:42.160 we saw is God coming into this world and honoring 00:33:42.160 --> 00:33:45.160 Jesus, honoring the father and in that dynamic, 00:33:45.380 --> 00:33:47.579 the father honoring the son and lifting him up. 00:33:47.599 --> 00:33:50.599 And that is our hope that where we fail, the 00:33:50.599 --> 00:33:54.670 Lord Jesus succeeds. And we can rest in this 00:33:54.670 --> 00:33:56.650 reality that what God has done in Christ, He 00:33:56.650 --> 00:33:59.549 will do for us as we seek Him, as we pray out 00:33:59.549 --> 00:34:02.630 to Him, our Father, hallowed be your name. And 00:34:02.630 --> 00:34:04.190 so, brothers and sisters, let me end with this 00:34:04.190 --> 00:34:09.550 simply. Honor your father and mother. And believe 00:34:09.550 --> 00:34:11.230 that what the Lord tells us is true, that it 00:34:11.230 --> 00:34:13.230 will go well for you in the land to which you're 00:34:13.230 --> 00:34:17.510 going. This was true of our Lord. This is true 00:34:17.510 --> 00:34:21.090 of our Lord. And may it be true of us as His 00:34:21.090 --> 00:34:26.019 people. Let me pray. Lord, I pray that we would 00:34:26.019 --> 00:34:29.019 see the weight of other people in our lives. 00:34:31.099 --> 00:34:35.159 See the honor that we are to give others. The 00:34:35.159 --> 00:34:38.500 way we are to consider their presence and their 00:34:38.500 --> 00:34:41.400 role in our lives. And I pray that we be those 00:34:41.400 --> 00:34:46.139 who desire, eagerly desire, actively desire to 00:34:46.139 --> 00:34:49.059 follow this command. And that more than ever, 00:34:49.199 --> 00:34:52.239 we will see that as we fail, the Lord Jesus succeeds, 00:34:52.400 --> 00:34:54.840 and that He goes to the cross to honor the Father, 00:34:54.880 --> 00:34:57.679 but also to pay for our sins, that we might be 00:34:57.679 --> 00:35:00.119 those who die to sin and live to righteousness. 00:35:00.579 --> 00:35:02.260 We might know that it's by His wounds that we 00:35:02.260 --> 00:35:04.820 are healed, brought from death to life, from 00:35:04.820 --> 00:35:07.800 slavery to freedom. And may we live this kind 00:35:07.800 --> 00:35:10.440 of resurrection life that mirrors the reality 00:35:10.440 --> 00:35:13.360 of the Son and the Father. Praise in Jesus' name. 00:35:13.760 --> 00:35:17.110 Amen. Thank you for listening to Second City 00:35:17.110 --> 00:35:20.050 Sermons podcast. We hope this sermon has encouraged 00:35:20.050 --> 00:35:22.210 you to worship God and to celebrate the gospel 00:35:22.210 --> 00:35:24.909 of Jesus. Please consider subscribing to this 00:35:24.909 --> 00:35:27.670 podcast and joining us in person each Sunday 00:35:27.670 --> 00:35:31.050 at 10 a .m. You can find us online at secondcitychurch 00:35:31.050 --> 00:35:34.130 .org and on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. 00:35:34.650 --> 00:35:36.510 Thanks again for listening. God bless.