The National Center for Family Integrated Churches is pleased to present Training in Admonition. This message is entitled, Honor, by Scott Brown. Let me read Psalm 29. The Lord will give strength to his people. The Lord will bless his people with peace.

That's a promise, a promise of God, promise from heaven, unalterable, always true. And something you can put in your heart as a song. The Lord will give strength to his people. What a great thing that is. Okay, I would like for us to open our Bibles to Ephesians chapter six.

And today, in the two messages that I deliver today, I'm just going to be dealing with these two verses. The first focus is the focus of honor and then secondly obedience later on in the morning. Ephesians verse one children. Obey your parents in the Lord. For this is right.

Honor your father and your mother. Which is the first commandment with promise that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth. And so the focus here in this message is on honor and this is a foundational principle. And then later on in the morning, I'm gonna spend significant amount of time applying this using many, many practical real life situations that families find themselves in. But I wanna lay this groundwork here first.

And I wanna give you this morning five child-raising foundations that come from this text, and I'll name them now, and then we'll take them one by one. Number one, it is the will of our Father in heaven to create cultures of honor. Number two, honor is the heart of all child-raising situations. Number three, honor is a secret virtue and dishonor is a secret sin Number four it is a command number five success or failure is hanging in the balance now I Want to take this first? Foundation It is the will of our Father in heaven to create cultures of honor.

Now, I want to be very careful to say, I'm speaking to the youngest child who can understand me today, because someday you will be raising children and I want you to understand I'm speaking to you and I'm hoping that you're carefully digesting these things as a young person that you're not thinking oh this is about my parents do not think that way this morning I hope that you don't because you two are in preparation and also you need to understand the will of God for your own Training as a child so you who are children actually have a dual opportunity to apply this both to yourself personally and how you respond and then secondly for who you are going to be someday so I think the young people actually have a greater burden upon themselves this morning in dealing with this subject so I'm hoping that you can acquire some of the principles and words here So this first foundation is it is the will of our Father in heaven to create cultures of honor. When the apostle says honor your father and mother, he's identifying one small piece of a gigantic puzzle that splits out to dozens of other areas of honor.

This is just one of them and you might think what would it be like to experience a culture of honor What is that like? Well it's a wonderful experience is what it is, and God answers what that culture looks like. And it is God who, out of the kind intention of his will, desires to establish cultures of honor, and he does this in so many different ways. Here's one way first of all he's established this culture of honor in heaven Second he has issued commands and given resources to establish a number of cultures of honor that are experienced in everyday life in all kinds of relationships. So back to his culture of honor in heaven, in heaven he's created a culture of honor between himself in the relationships of the Trinity.

The son honors and submits to his father. The father loves the son. The spirit submits and he has created a world, you know, where every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord so in heaven there is this culture of honor that God has created and it's a culture of tenderness and respect and obedience and submission and headship and Service That's the culture of honor that he's created in himself in heaven. That's really the fundamental culture of honor. You cannot understand how to create a culture of honor unless you understand the Trinity.

That's why you have to know God. You have to study who God is and have a grasp of theology. What is the greatest subject of all mankind? It's theology, the study of God. When you study God, then you can know how to live so in heaven he's created a culture of honor on earth he's issued divine decrees for honor in a multitude of human relationships in the heart of man he has created the capacity to honor God.

He calls men to honor God. So this culture of honor actually extends into the very heart of a person. The unseen inner being of man has the capacity to honor God. And then in the home of man there are divine commands to create a culture of honor. In the marriage of a man and a woman, we know that the marriage bed itself is to be held in honor.

The wife respects and honors her husband. The husband loves his wife. The husband honors the wife so much that he's required by God to regard his body as not even his own, but hers. He honors her such that he gives his body to her. That's what he's supposed to do and The same with the wife.

She so honors her husband that she says my body is yours. It's no longer mine So this culture of honor is cultivated in the marriage relationship itself. And then in the wider family as well, this culture of honor continues to be commanded by God, where children honor their father and mother, as it says here in this passage of scripture, where parents love their children and express honor in that same way. And then, not only does a culture of honor get cultivated in the home, it also is cultivated in the church. That's another culture of honor, where the people in the church love one another from the heart.

And Ephesians 5 21 says that actually, church members are to submit to each other, Meaning that when you're submitting to someone, you are actually putting yourself lower than they are and you're listening to them. There's a way that we submit to one another in the church. All of us hopefully are submitting to one another in particular ways, you know, As we're gathered here at this time. It's a culture of honor that God Desires to establish and he does it through submission through respect and through this whole culture of honor at the same time God Desires that members of churches honor their leaders and obey them so says Hebrews and so there's this culture of honor in the church that God establishes and even in the state God has established a culture of honor even in our relationship with the state It's so easy to hate the state, but God says honor the king So you can see all of these relationships That are established in the world have at least one aspect of their function to honor. God creates cultures of honor.

He does it in heaven, he does it in the marriage relationship, he does it in the family, he does it in the church, and he does it in the state. There's not a corner of the world that we know of today that's not governed by this principle of honor. So here's what I want to say. God establishes, creates, nurtures, builds cultures of honor, and so should you, and so should I. And that is a fundamental principle of all child-raising parents have a responsibility to create a culture of honor and children have a responsibility to come alongside them and to honor their father and mother, as this text says.

And this is one of the most critical principles of child raising that's revealed here in Ephesians, chapter six, verses one and two. So young people, make sure you understand that it is God's intention to create a culture of honor. Now here's something we all need to recognize. He will do it. He will create a culture of honor because there will be one day where whether you like it or not, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord And you will honor the king.

And that culture of honor will prevail for all eternity. So you might as well get on board now, you know, because it's an inescapable reality. Turn to God, create a culture of honor. So here's the question. Are you doing anything as a parent?

Are you doing anything as a child to defeat a culture of honor that God is trying to establish. And all too often, all is not well. And that there's another kind of culture, and it's the culture of the devil. He has been perfecting dishonor ever since he dishonored God at the fall in eternity past. And in this culture of dishonor, what you find are people who cannot honor God, husbands and wives who cannot honor one another, churches where people cannot honor each other, nation states of dishonor filled with hatred and insurrection, where you have homes torn asunder by resentment and anger.

Now, it's a sad state and a legacy of children who cannot figure out how to honor their imperfect parents the tragedy of it is When a child can't honor his father and mother then he can't honor his pastor. He can't honor his boss. He can't honor his king, and he won't honor his friend. And it just unleashes a hailstorm of hellish results for that child. And so God has established the family to be a sort of a petri dish to nurture this culture of honor, to create something so beautiful so that it can actually grow and spread to all these other areas where Honor is necessary to establish.

Now, when this happens, the gates of hell have been opened and all manner of demons are there to defile. When you court dishonor, you're courting something that will lead you to a place that you do not want to go. It's the place of distrust. It's the place of disappointment. It's the place of rejection.

It's the place of offenses. It's the place of broken relationships. It's the place of rage. It's the place of pride. For some, it's a place of drug use to kill the pain.

For others, it's a place of suicide. Dishonor is devastating. And when you dance with this partner, you're dancing with death. I pray that if there's anyone dancing with the partner of dishonor here this morning, they will recognize who they are dancing with. It's a slow dance that just gets you more offended with every step of the way dishonor is like one of my worst nightmares that I sometimes have here's one of my worst nightmares I'm not kidding you this is one of my worst nightmares I'm climbing a rock face and I'm 50 that I'm hundreds and I'm thousands of feet above the valley floor and it's straight down and I come to a place where I can't go any other way But I can't go down either You cannot go down.

In fact, I actually had a dear friend who died doing that. He ended up coming to a place on a 2, 000 foot rock, an ice face on Mount Alberta, and he fell 2, 000 feet to his death. When you cultivate dishonor you end up going to a place and you cannot get down. It's the place of death and you have to understand that that's what Dishonor does to a person. It is a dancer you do not want to be dancing with.

So two questions. For parents, are you courting dishonor? Are you courting dishonor? Or are you trying to put it to death? And I mean in your own heart.

Because often children struggle with dishonor because parents never learn how to honor their father and mother they never learn how to honor their pastors they never learned how to honor their civil leaders they don't honor one another and they've been courting dishonor And it's so critical that you understand if you are courting dishonor in your relationship as a husband and wife. Because how can you lead your children to honor so that they don't end up on that rock face having danced with the devil and there's no way out. So it really begins at the top. In the same way that God has established a culture of honor in heaven between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. So, husbands and wives have the responsibility to establish that same kind of culture where there's service and honor and respect, where one gives his body to the other.

This first foundational principle in this text, it is the will of our Father in Heaven to create cultures of honor. This is so critical. Secondly, honor is at the heart of all child-raising situations. Honor is at the heart of all child-raising situations. If you're considering child-raising practices of the youngest child or the oldest child, the same basic issue remains the most critical issue.

So it doesn't matter if you, like some of our families have only sort of grown children. There are many of us here this morning who all we have are grown children. That's where I am. But some of us here have only smaller children. But let me just say this, the fundamental issue is the same for the old children and the young children.

And here's one of the realities, if you don't address it when they're young, you will have hell to pay when they're old. So you ought to get it right when they're young and exert whatever energy, prayer, fasting, self-mortification, repentance, whatever it takes when they're young. But maybe you're not young, maybe your children are not young, and maybe some of those seeds have been sown. But recognize that this basic issue remains the most important issue, and you'll never grow beyond this issue. While there are many seasons in child raising, you'll never enter a season of child raising without honor being at the heart of it.

And so, I want to say that I think that the most important thing that we can do You know when your toddler will not come to you right away, when you have a screaming infant, or when you see the eyes of your teenage child rolling, or they're talking back to you, it's the same issue that has to be addressed, it's not that complex. So honor is at the heart of all child-raising situations. Number three, honor is a secret virtue and dishonor is a secret sin. Well, when we get to my next message on obedience, we'll recognize that there are outward signs of honor and dishonor. At the same time, one can perform outward functions and still have a heart of dishonor.

And so This is why I'm saying that honor is a secret virtue and dishonor is a secret sin They are both matters of the heart they really in reality are unseen Obadiah Sedgwick the English Puritan, said of secret sins, it is the desire of a holy person to be cleansed not only from public, but also from private and secret sins. And he answers the question, why should we desire to be cleansed from secret sins? He answers, because secret sins will become public sins if they're not cleansed. Spurgeon said that the danger of a secret sin is that you cannot commit a little sin in secret without being by and by betrayed He says you cannot, sir, though you may think you can, preserve a moderation in sin. If you commit one sin, it is like the melting of the lower glacier upon the Alps the other must follow in time Thomas Brooke said God is privy to your most secret sins.

His eye is as much upon secret sins as he is upon open sins. He quotes Psalm 90. Thou has seen our iniquities before the our secret sins in the light of thy countenance. He quotes Jeremiah 23 24 God has an eye upon our inmost evils he seeth all that is done in the dark can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him says the Lord do I not fill heaven The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good and Then Thomas Brooks also says consider that secret sins will be revealed He says the most hidden works of darkness shall be openly manifested through the actings of sin in the dark Yet the judging's of the sins shall be in the light as he quotes Ecclesiastes 12 14 for nothing is secret that shall not be made manifest For God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether good or evil. That's Luke 8 17 and Ecclesiastes 12 14.

So because they are secret sins, they are primarily matters of the heart. Now, this is where I'm driving at this, okay? What am I trying to say? I'm trying to say this. This is why child raising is primarily primarily primarily heart work not head work or outward works Yes, it does include head work yes, it does include outward works, but it is primarily heart work And this is where it's so easy to get confused It's so much easier to get your child to say yes, sir and no ma'am Anyone can do that anyone can get their child and Train them like a dog to hold their hand out and shake someone's hand and look them in the eye I think you should do that But you better understand that that is a tip, a small molecule of the iceberg in its importance.

Because it's primarily heart work. It is interesting that the Apostle mentions obedience before honor. I Have read commentators who say That when you obey the honor will come I think there's a kernel of truth in that. But you cannot rely on the outward appearance. Because Dishonor is a secret sin and honor is a secret virtue.

And people can perform the exact same acts and have completely different hearts. If you don't understand this, you will be a little Pharisee creating nothing but a bunch of little Pharisees because honor is a secret virtue and dishonor is the secret sin. And so all child raising, whether it's with the young or whether it's with the old, cannot stop at the behavior level. It must get to the heart, or it's like putting a bandaid on cancer. It's just not going to cut it at all.

So We have to examine our hearts. We have to have hearts that are discerning. We have to be able to look at our children in the eye and seek the Lord's wisdom as to whether the heart has been touched or whether we have only secured an outward behavior that pleases us, that gets us so we can get on to the next thing. This is the hardest part of parenting, because it's easier to get them to say, mama, I'm sorry, and have it not touch the heart at all. This brothers and sisters is both the greatest Danger and the greatest opportunity that provides the greatest blessing.

So we have to labor with our children, we have to take time. We have to be with them to see if their hearts are changed. And what that also means is that we have to be people of prayer and fasting. You remember when we were going through the Gospel of Matthew, and we came across the man who had the demonized son, And the eight disciples couldn't cast the demon out. The others were up on the mountaintop with the Lord Jesus.

And those disciples and the Lord came down and the man says they couldn't cast it out. And the Lord says that this kind only comes out by prayer and fasting. There are pernicious difficult things that require preparation of the heart in prayer and fasting. And if you're at all concerned about the hearts of your children I just expect that you'll have to be concerned with prayer and fasting A lot of times we want to try all these human measures on our children, and we must apply human measures, but we often neglect weightier things like prayer and fasting. And we think that we can just do it out of technique.

But this is actually a spiritual work where only God can touch the heart and change it. And so we must cry out for our children that God would touch their hearts. Number three, honor is a secret virtue and dishonor is a secret sin. Let's take this time to really examine our hearts to see if there is any wicked way in us in this way. Children, please examine your hearts.

Is there any dishonor toward your father and mother? Recognize how important that is for the rest of your life. You will serve yourself well by taking care of this. You know, the apostles said, he who loves his wife loves himself. I would just like to turn that and say, he who deals with dishonor in his own heart loves himself.

You'll find it coming back paying great dividends. Number four, it's a command. This is a commandment. Of course it's a commandment with a promise, but it's a commandment in this sense. The terminology that the Apostle uses here indicates that this is it refers to an imperial order and We're not really allowed to set this aside for anything.

This is a command The Greek word that is used here is the word Timah, or honor, it means to fix value on something. It pictures a situation where there's esteem and reverence that is bestowed on another person. You know, honor, honor your father and mother. It is assigning value to that person. So if you're a child here, you need to understand how critical it is for you to assign value to your father and mother.

One of my favorite families in history is the Jonathan Edwards family. Did you know? Did you know that when the Edwards parents walked into the room, or if other adults walked into the room the children would rise Have you ever done that for your parents because you had such honor in your hearts for them? Well, these children actually did have honor toward their father and their mother. They had respect in their hearts and it meant that they rose when their parents came into the room.

I'm not suggesting that everyone has to do that, but I am suggesting that's a right application of what's being said here. It would not be wrong or legalistic to do that. It would be very strange in our culture because we live in a culture of dishonor. That is so strange to us because of the world that we live in. That doesn't really want anyone to honor anyone else.

And so There's honor toward God, there's honor toward kings, there's honor toward people. It's interesting, even God honors men, did you know that? In John 12, 26, The Lord Jesus says, if anyone serves me, him, my father, will honor. Even God honors men. That might sound strange to your ears, but the sovereign of the universe has the capacity to honor sinful fallen men and women.

There are several occurrences of this in the Bible. It goes back to the 10 commandments. Exodus 20, verse 12. Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you. The Lord quotes this in Mark chapter 7 verse 10, for Moses said, honor your father and your mother and he who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.

The English definition of honor from Webster's 1828 dictionary includes these four things, esteem due or paid to worth, high estimation. Number two, a testimony of esteem, any expression of respect or of high estimation by words or actions as the honors of war military honors funeral honors civil honors number three dignity exalted rank or place distinction number four reverence veneration or any act by which reverence and submission are expressed as worship paid to the supreme being. So this is ascribing honor to your father and your mother Here are a couple of questions When you get up in the morning, how do you greet your father and mother? Do you agree with them with honor and respect are you dutiful to go out of your way to graciously and humbly and? Appealingly bless them for their position of honor and authority?

Do you have that or does it matter to you at all? Do you treat them like shadows in the night? Do you just walk by them? Do you care at all? Do you honor them?

Are you anything at all like the Edwards children who would rise when their parents came into the room? That's actually a more exemplary pattern than the kind that's more common in our culture. When you pass your father and mother, do you just look down and pass by? Or do you look dutifully? You know, I once had a dog that I trained.

And this dog, particularly at one point in my training when I was particularly on top of it intense would always keep his eyes on me. I would have that dog sit I would take him downtown I would walk into the bank he would sit right there at the door he watched me the whole way through the through the glass I would go around he would sit outside he would follow me in to one place after another his eyes were on me all the time you know that was honor and respect that dog she wanted to know what I wanted her to do But honor is a command and it involves action. It involves hearing and persevering. Proverbs 1, 8 says, my son, Hear the instruction of your father and do not forsake the law of your mother so you have these ears that are ready to hear ears ready and a Mind that does not want to forsake it in other words There's a dutiful spirit that says I want to do my mother's will, at least in Proverbs 1, 8, the law of your mother. Do you want to do the law of your mother?

You know, it's a command. It includes lowliness and servanthood. In Matthew 10, verse 24, the Lord says a disciple is not above his teacher nor a servant above his master. It involves one seeing oneself as lower. That's what honor and respect is that the apostle is speaking of here when he says honor your father and mother.

One last thing under this heading. It can't be faked. It cannot be faked. The Lord said this. Well, did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites as it is written, this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

Now you may be able to fake out man, but you cannot fake out God. Command or whether you hate the command. If you hate the command to honor your father and mother, then you should recognize who it is at the door of your heart, trying to consume it. As God said to Cain who killed his brother, sin is crouching at the door, but you must master it. But it is a command, It's a command.

And then fifthly, success or failure is hanging in the balance. Your success And your failure is hanging in the balance because this is a command with a promise. Now you cannot become friends with dishonor, without losing this promise. Now, as parents, you cannot become friends with dishonor. You have to name this for who it really is.

Dishonor in your home is devastating to the success of your children. When I see parents nursing, not dealing with dishonor, what I'm seeing is the destruction of a child for the comfort of a parent, is what I'm seeing. I'm seeing a parent who is in la-la land. I'm seeing a parent who does not Understand what is happening? Maybe that parent does not believe God Maybe they don't believe this verse that it will not go well with you.

And you will not live long on the earth. Maybe they don't believe that. Maybe they're actually unbelievers. Maybe they are just foolish believers. But they have to name this Impostor for who he really is He will steal the prosperity and the longevity of your children do you understand that?

And if you believe that why would you for a single second play patty cake with dishonor? Why would you allow it to live, first of all in your own heart? Toward your spouse, toward your father and mother, toward your pastor, toward your president, toward your boss. You come home complaining about your boss and you are unraveling the success of your children by your dishonor You can play pattycake with dishonor you think you can get away with it You cannot get away with it is what this text says it will go well with you and your life will be long if you honor your father and your mother it is a command with a promise and if you do not it will not go well and life will not be long. And I would just have to say for the both of you.

You might ask, why are things not going well for me? Is it possible that it has to do with dishonor that you've cultivated? You've made it your friend. You've nursed this imposter and you've let dishonor Come off your lips about those that you work with those that you work for those that you minister alongside of those that you used to minister alongside of And you have allowed dishonor to fill your soul and you wonder Why things are not well with you? Why are things not well with your emotions?

Why are things not well in your family? Why are things not well in other places? Is it possible that? Dishonor is the culprit Because this says that it will not go well with you, but it will go well with you if you honor. It's so easy, you know, as parents to just think, I'm gonna get my children to honor me.

I am gonna squeeze out every bit of dishonor that I can. Whenever I see it, I'm going to chop its head off. But you come home, and your heart is full of dishonor by the words that you speak. You look at your wife with dishonor. You look at your husband with dishonor.

It's not enough to say, child, honor me, because the sword always cuts both ways. So let's drive this stake in the ground. Dishonor is devastating to children, both young and old. Dishonor is trickled down. Dishonor is trickle down.

Dishonor is really serious. Allowing dishonor in your home is a form of child abuse. You are abusing their future. You're abusing their very life. You know, the government's not going to come and pick you up for this kind of child abuse.

But it's abuse just the same. And it'll have every day payoff ramifications for those children. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth. Now, this is a promise of prosperity and longevity. There are two elements to this promise.

For the first element of the promise is it will go well with you. Now, what does it mean to go well? Now this actually is a promise of outward prosperity. It is a promise of achievement of purposes. It is a promise that good things will happen.

I don't believe that this means that every child who's honorable will be wealthy. I don't think you need to be wealthy to be prosperous. You don't have to have wealth to have a prosperous soul. In fact, some of the most prosperous seasons in your soul were the times when you didn't have any money at all. Go figure.

So the first element is it will go well with you. That doesn't mean that you won't be persecuted, that doesn't mean that you won't be hurt, but there is a wellness about you. There is an ability within you there's a strength upon you it will go well with you you will be able to walk through the fire and not be burned you'll be able to go through the flood and not drown. It will go well with you. You'll be mighty in the land.

And the second element of the promise is that you may live long on the earth. This has to do with longevity. We know of the destructiveness of sin. We know how corrosive it is from many different angles. If you dishonor God and become a homosexual, your lifespan, if you have AIDS, will be 41 years old.

If you don't have AIDS, your lifespan on average will be 42 Sin will destroy you That's just the way the world's wired. There is longevity and so this just brings up the whole importance of rebuilding a culture of honor. Now it's common when families are being reformed that there are missteps and some learning curves and for example your family may have experienced changes maybe rather quickly and There was resistance to those changes and there was dishonor that rose up in your children and there are two huge considerations that are upon you as you're reforming your family now and The first is this the current state of the culture of your Household what is the current state of the culture of your household when you're changing things and there has not been a? Culture of honor the change will come so much harder, and you have to brace yourself for that You have to batten down the hatches and recognize that you have to make your way back. You have to cut through the jungle again.

And it's hard cutting. The early stages of a reforming family can be so difficult, but you must bear the burden to get through the jungle, to hack off the weeds and vines that have grown up. But a culture of dishonor is what makes the going so hard. And I know that many of us here are struggling with that, having come off a life of disregarding the commands of God regarding honor and obedience. And so we struggle with lots of things like that and if pride and rebellion are running in the souls of the children then the changes are far more difficult Just what I want to say about that is, be patient, take one step at a time.

Deal with one thing at a time. God always blesses His word when people really take it seriously. Do You recall the verse that we opened the morning with the Lord will give strength to his people The Lord will bless his people. He blesses his people when they take his word seriously They take one step at a time. They are progressively being Sanctified they're not justified and then arrive They're justified and then they're progressively Step by step being sanctified at different rates in different areas in different ways And we have to be patient with one another in that Husbands and wives have to be patient with one another children have to be patient with their parents The first Huge consideration Is the current state of the culture of your household remember God is in the business of creating Culture a culture of honor he does it in heaven.

He does it in marriage. He does it in the family He does it in the church. He does it in the state. He's building cultures of honor And who does He do that with? Dishonorable sinners.

That's who He does it with. Which means that there are going to be problems. Reformations are always messy. Your life is going to be messy as he's reforming you, but don't be discouraged because he will give strength to his people, but he is creating a culture of honor. Keep on taking the next steps.

The second huge thing is whether the things you are replacing are better than the things you've eliminated. Are they more compelling? Are they more exciting? Are they better? What happens to a lot of people is they start reforming their family and they get rid of this and they get rid of that and they get rid of the other thing and they don't put anything in its place.

Do yourself a favor go to the NCFIC blog and read a blog post by Jonathan Sides. And find the blog post that's titled, Is Your Church Known More for What You Don't Do? And he addresses this subject very well. You have to ask whether the things you are replacing the things you eliminated are better and more wonderful and have you fill the void. The third thing is that we need to be able to identify the things we need to eliminate.

We learned so many things from our parents, some of those things were wrong. What do we need to eliminate? We've got to identify attitudes and practices that need to be eliminated that's what progressive sanctification includes it's not just a secret work of the heart that does nothing in your life it's a culture that's created it's a living visible public culture that's created from a heart of honor. But if it doesn't begin in the heart, then the culture is just fake. And that's the big danger for all those who are reforming that they create a fake culture that's not connected to their hearts at all.

Now, These four things, it is the will of our Father in heaven to create cultures of honor. Hey, let's create cultures of honor. From top to bottom, transforming every part of culture that we are inserted into. Number two, honor is the heart of all child-raising situations. Number three, honor is a secret virtue and dishonor is a secret sin.

Number four, To honor father and mother is a command. Number five, success or failure is hanging in the balance. Honor your father and your mother. Children obey your parents and the Lord for this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first command with a promise that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.

Let's pray. Oh Lord, I pray that you would pour out the blessing of this principle here upon all of us, that you would so create a culture of honor in our own hearts, that we would cry out, Abba, Father, our hearts lifted up in love toward you, so thankful for your ways, for your commands, for your mercies, for your dear son and his sacrifices. Oh Lord, that you would pour it out and create the culture that you have established in heaven, that you would use us to spread it throughout the whole earth, and that your name would be glorified. And on that day, when every knee is bowed and every tongue is confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord, that we Lord, that We are in that great throng, tears streaming down our face, so grateful for the honor that you established in heaven so that we might be caught up in such a wonderful culture as yours. Amen.

Proclaiming the sufficiency of scripture for church and family life and to the establishment of biblically ordered churches. For more information resources and products please visit our website at www.ncfic.org