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His parents. Hence, He rendered com plete obedience, and showed utmost respect to them. This was the will of God for Him then, and doing that will was as great as anything in His life. He was ever obedient, learning this greatest of all graces, while waiting through those eighteen long years before His ministry began. Meantime, He stead ily grew in favor with both God and man, and left an enduring example of the value and necessity of honoring one’s parents. III. T he C ondemnation (M ark 7:9-13) Because of their traditions which they exalted above the Word of God, the Pharisees brought their worship into disfavor with God, their doctrine into conflict with His Word, and their practice into rejection by Him. They repudiated the commandment of God in order to establish their own self - righteousness; t h e y neglected their duty toward God in order to pamper this self-righteousness; and they denied the Word in order to up hold their self - righteousness. They had self, not God, in view, and acted upon the principle of “What will I receive?” rather than, “What shall I give to God?” This attitude ever kills all true religion. Points and Problems 1. "Honour thy father and thy moth er" (Ex. 20:12). The importance of this command is enhanced by its po sition in the Decalogue. It comes im mediately after the commandments having to do with man’s relationship to God. Hence, it is thereby indicated that, next in importance to our duties to God, are the obligations of children to their parents. In patriarchal times, the father was the priest in the home (Job 1:5). In a unique sense, he was the representative of God. We live in a different dispensation, but in God’s economy, the father and mother in the home occupy a place of honor and distinction which others cannot fill. Proper recognition of this parental authority has a definite relationship to 1 the solidarity of the family, and the solidarity of the family bears a close relationship to the stability of national life. 2. "Full well ye reject the com mandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition" (Mark 7:9). Why do men refuse to obey God? Why do they fail to accept the Gospel? It is that they may follow their own ways. Since the days of Adam and Eve, men have been trying to substitute plans of their own devising for the will of God. They still cling to their own ways of thinking, and stumble on toward perdition. Often men’s ways seem eas-
One Sabbath day, the Lord Jesus en tered the synagogue and found there a man whose hand was crippled. The Saviour’s enemies were always wait ing to criticize Him. Some of them were in the synagogue that day. They waited to see whether or not Jesus would heal the man on the Sabbath. These enemies had many rules about how to act on the Sabbath. They were careful to obey these rules, but love for God was not their reason for keep ing the Sabbath day holy. The Lord asked them if it was right to do good and to save life on the Sabbath. They did not answer, for they knew that Jesus could see their sinful hearts. The Lord was grieved with them. He said to the sick man, “Stretch forth thine hand.” As the man obeyed, he was healed immediately. The man or woman, or boy or girl, who is a Christian, will use God’s day as a holyday, not as a holiday. God wants His children to do with His day as Jesus did with it. He wants them to keep it holy, to worship and praise Him on that day, and to serve Him by helping others to know His love. For the Christian, Sunday will be a happy day; a day in which God and His work are placed first. LESSON FOR AUGUST 11 Making Our Homes Christian L E S S O N M A T E R IA L : Ex. 20:12; M a rk 7:9-13; L u k e 2:51,52; Eph. 6:1-4. G O L D E N T E X T : “ H ono ur thy father and th y m other: that thy d a ys m ay be long upon the land w hich the Lord thy God giv- eth the e" (E x, 30:12). Outline and Exposition 1 T he P recept (Ex. 20:12; E ph . 6:1-4) Honoring one’s parents brings lon gevity and contentment (Ex. 20:12). The Holy Spirit reiterates this truth when exhorting the Church with re gard to filial and parental responsi bilities of the home life (Eph. 6:1-4). To thus give rightful place to the parents is a privilege for the heart, a precept for the will, and a power for the life. When rightly u n d e r s t o o d and obeyed, none of the commandments of the Lord are grievous but joyous (cf. 1 John 5:3). It is the desire to be without restraint, to be independent of higher authority, that makes God’s commandment seem like a strait jacket. n. As a child, Jesus furnished an ex ample of rendering honor to parents. Although He knew who and what He was, He also recognized that He was under authority, and that authority had placed Him under direction of T he E xample (L uke 2:51,52)
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