So we'll open our Bible this evening, congregation, to the book of Proverbs, chapter 1. Proverbs, chapter 1, our reading, verses 1 through 19, our text, verses 8 and 9, but then also the Heidelberg Catechism to Lord's Day 39. We've arrived at the Fifth Commandment, beginning on page 246, going to the top of 247. We'll have the great privilege and joy and help to say together the answer to that question 104. It's the only question and answer of Lord's Day 39 in a moment, Heidelberg Catechism. To the word of God then this evening, dear Christians who love the word and desire nothing more than to be in the word and in Christ. Listen this evening, Proverbs chapter 1, and we'll begin at verse 1. The Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel. To know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding, to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity, to give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion, A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel to understand a proverb and an enigma, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. My son, hear the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother. For they will be a graceful ornament on your head and chains about your neck. My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, come with us, Let us lie in wait to shed blood. Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause. Let us swallow them alive like Sheol and whole like those who go down to the pit. We shall find all kinds of precious possessions. We shall fill our houses with spoil. Cast in your lot among us. Let us all have one purse. My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your foot from their path. For their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood. Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. But they lie in wait for their own blood. They lurk secretly for their own lives. So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It takes away the life of its owners." And again, our text, verses 8 and 9. My son, hear the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother, for they will be a graceful ornament on your head and chains about your neck." As for our beloved, the living and true Word of God, let's keep our Bible near us and turn this evening now to the summary of the teaching of the Word of God as we have it in the Heidelberg Catechism, this excellent, accurate summary of the truth of Scripture. And now the Fifth Commandment, Lord's Day 39. And so congregation, give an answer to this question. What is God's will for you in the fifth commandment? that I show honor, love, and faithfulness to my father and mother and all those in authority over me, submit myself with proper obedience to all their good teaching and discipline, and also that I be patient with their failings, for by their hand God wills to rule us. As far as your congregation, do we know the truth of God's Word being there summarized rightly for us? Let's ask His help as we continue this evening. Our Father, we just said it, and as we have had good parents and godly parents perhaps in the past or do so now, we know it to be the case that You will to rule us through them We pray that we would understand that. And take hold of it. To know the goodness and the help found for us and godly covenant parents. We pray Lord this evening that we would grow thereby. And being taken hold of by your word. There would be that glorious fruitfulness of the spirits work in us. We ask these things tonight with confidence. But we ask in Jesus name. Amen. your congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the basis and foundation and the maturing of the little children in our midst is the covenant. Well, what is that covenant? It is that God made promises. He marked, signed those promises by water at baptism. And now mark this because it's very important for our purposes this evening and. He placed the recipients of those promises with qualified adults. He placed the recipients of those promises with qualified adults. Those qualified adults with whom God placed those covenant children are called godly born again parents. Covenant family, it is the Lord's plan. It is the Lord's plan that older, wiser Christians raise young, immature children in the fear and admonition of the Lord for their good and His glory. This is a bedrock biblical principle. This is God's doing. in his his covenant being worked out in the lives of our families and it is the primary emphasis of the fifth commandment are there other things to be considered within the realm of the fifth commandment yes of course and we could indeed deal with many other various issues related this however this is the bedrock children Obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Ephesians 6, 1. Obey your parents in the Lord, for this is covenant. Covenant children follow godly parents unto beauty and piety. Covenant children follow godly parents unto beauty and piety. Notice in the following four things taken from the proverb in the catechism. By grace, parents will be leading their children in godly instruction. Secondly, by grace, parents will be leading their children in godly example. Third, in honorableness, covenant children will remain teachable to parents. And fourth, for biblical successfulness, covenant children remain Teachable. That will be explained in due course. And so for the Word of God this evening in the Catechism, covenant children follow godly parents unto beauty and piety. Beloved by grace, parents will be leading their children in godly instruction. We might want to ask the question, however, what grace are we speaking of? What grace is it that parents have which children need? Well, as we consider and think about the covenant of grace and begin to understand something of the fullness of that term, this is the very issue that we're dealing with this evening. And one aspect of that is the years of carefully accumulated and clarified knowledge that parents have, by grace, received. Here Solomon is, as the son of David, taking to his sons what he received, not only from David his father, but in a variety, a myriad of life experiences, and saying to his sons, verse 8, My son, listen, I have received grace in terms of accumulated and clarified knowledge. And those two things are very important. Not only accumulated, But maturing includes clarifying things. Parents, you see, have received by grace this kind of accumulated and clarified knowledge. Parents know things that children do not. Perhaps one of the most important things that Christian parents know which children don't know, especially as children get to their teen years, they don't know this. Parents know it. What is it? Parents know that there's a lot they don't know yet. But they know more than children do, you see. What do parents know? Well, they know as they were once children that they were benefited by listening to their parents. They were raised, they grew, they matured, especially as godly parents applied to them the truth of the Word of God. And if they had those kind of godly parents as they grew up, they were trained in the covenant line as now the parent wants to train the child. So we begin to see that grace is given knowledge. Grace is given knowledge. But grace is also awareness of forgiveness of sins. God's ability to overcome our own personal weaknesses. Parents know these things. Children need to learn these things. Covenant family parents, parents give to children the knowledge they have accumulated over the years. especially the knowledge of the height and depth of the love of God in Christ Jesus. Romans 8, 39. You see, we do all that we do as parents out of grace received. We do all that we do as parents out of grace received. God's covenant is indeed the covenant of grace, and perhaps we need to begin to understand that in a more fulsome way than perhaps we've thought about it before. And so, beloved covenant parents, by grace, we instruct. We instruct. We instruct when our children come to us and they present to us a particular sin issue, which they don't realize, but we do. We see that issue in their life and we say, now listen, there's something going on in your life and I want to, because I love you, say something to you about that. And you're not going to like it initially, but I love you. So I'm going to address you about this particular issue. I'm going to bring before you what I have learned from my study, my listening, my application of the Word of God, and all of the experiences of my life, and I'm going to speak to you. I'm going to teach you. Now when the children are very young and they're in our home and we bring them to the table, we open the Bible. Perhaps we don't have a particular issue in their life that we're thinking of at the moment, but we know that what they need is the Bible. And so around the table at mealtimes, perhaps, or in the morning, or in the evening, or in a variety of times, we open up the Word of God and we say, now listen, I'm going to read to you. As they get older, we take alongside the Bible perhaps the Heidelberg Catechism, or the Belgic, or the Canons, or even the Westminster Shorter, and we say, now listen, I'm going to explain the Bible to you using this wonderful summary of it. And so as families, we go through the catechism, that especially. And then we take up our Trinity Psalter hymnals that we purchased and we've taken home with us or the Blue Psalter hymnal. We open those things up at the meal and as a family we sit together and we sing the songs of Zion. We're training, raising, teaching. My son, hear the instruction of your father and do not forsake the law of your mother." This substantive body of doctrine, this truth of the Word of God as it's expressed in its summary form in the catechism, as we sing it in the songs that have been given to us down through the ages, our children begin to make it their own. Have you rejoiced to hear even some of our youngest children with us as was tonight, again the case, reciting with us the creed? No, they don't know it all yet. They don't know all the words yet. They don't know how to put them together maybe in the right order or have the cadence that we might think is appropriate for congregational reciting of the Creed. But rejoice that they are saying it. They know the prayers. They know some of the songs. You hear them singing or even whistling or those tunes are right there on the edge of their hearts and minds. This, beloved, is the grace of God. And we need to say as parents, it is God's grace where He is well using me as a father or as a mother in Christ. He's using me together with my spouse to bring this little one to know Him and to love Him. O beloved, there is glory in the covenant of grace. There is glory in God's wonderful, sweet, simple plan. And it of course leads us now to again, as we've been saying, make this assertion. We need to make out of this an assertion. Parents, you must be teaching. Parents must be instructing. Yes, grace leads. Yes, it's first. But you see, it is the grace of God that accomplishes something. It is grace sufficient not only to our own having grown up and maturing process, but it's a grace that's sufficient for what we expect to give then to our children, isn't it? But we need to give it to them. Do not, says Solomon, forsake the law of your mother, her instruction. Hear the instruction of your father in the home, in all the relationship. Covenant family, covenant parents in their instructing, we understand this, that the grace of God, covenant family, the grace of God enables parents to properly, lovingly, firmly, and clearly teach their children. Teach their children. This takes time, doesn't it? This takes commitment, right? Not only in saying, well, we're going to rush through dinner so that we can get on to the game, or to the show, or to whatever else, but the time for dad to study the Word, the time for mom to be poring over Scripture. It is true, dear parents, that as we first bow before God and His Word as parents, then can we secondly set God and His Word before our children. Oh beloved, what a good truth it is that God gives us grace to teach them. Secondly, then by grace, parents will be leading their children in godly example. Verse 8 sets forth, as we have been saying, the effect and the fruit of grace at work in parents. And it is only godly parents where this can occur. That is not only in terms of what comes out of our mouths by way of concrete and very clear instruction, but what comes out through the pores of our life. Being haters of sin's impact in them, parents. You hate sin's impact in you, right? Godly parents who know their own need of grace, right? Because we understand this, don't we, as godly parents? Isn't this one of the first things we say to our children and continually teach them? Oh, I need grace. I need Christ. I need what He grants to me in forgiveness so I can have nothing apart from Him. As we believe that, as we live it, as it flows out of it, our children begin to catch that. You see, that fruitfulness of grace brings both words and lifestyle out of parents to instruction and law Verse 8b, the law of your mother, shows that mom as much as dad is involved in defining the godly reality in the home. Children grow up seeing dad and mom, mom and dad, together of a peace unified setting forth and both also portraying the same truth. I want you to think about this a minute in terms of the book of Proverbs itself. Sometimes we're surprised by its divisions and the many things that it covers, but think about this, the connection between chapter 1 verse 8b and chapter 31 of Proverbs. There's a wonderful connection there. As Solomon is talking about both the instruction, that is, concrete information that the parents, both dad and mom, give to the children, but then also the example that is lived by both dad and mom before the children. Then if you leap to chapter 31 of Proverbs, you realize that a large section of chapter 31 of Proverbs is dedicated to the impact of the example that Solomon saw from his mom. You think about that life of a godly mother and its impact on her son. You see, this is what Solomon learned both by rote instruction but also by a glorious example of a life well lived. How about it, family? God gives us grace first by the primary means of grace, which is what we are doing this evening, but also sufficient daily grace to show our children by example the truthful reality of what we are teaching them. And so here's what must happen in simplest terms, beloved. Word of mouth. and way of life, they must agree. And so we are again made to be clear-minded about the necessity for grace within. And it is obvious, I think, if we say this about our parents here, that parents, you love your children. You love them. It can be seen so clearly. You love them in that you are keeping them in the context of the Gospel. Bringing them regularly. Habitually we might say in the best sense of the word. Bringing them for the means of grace. In the home you are reading the Bible in their hearing. You are showing them the outworkings of the gospel and all of the struggles and the issues of life so that when they come and they have some difficulty, it's not some humanistic way of pulling up the fists and beating your way out of it, but rather it's falling down before God in prayer and seeking His face. You're telling them godly stories at bedtime. You're teaching them to pray by praying with them. You see, these are the things that we assume are going on because of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is obvious then that that love and that that using of the word of scripture to their lives is the glorious way that God builds in his covenant plan. And so likewise, you don't. You don't shy back from the use of the rod of correction either. Spanking them every time unchecked, unchecked, unrepentant sin gets control of them. In all of this, and it's hard, isn't it, sometimes? In all of this here, parents is what you must believe. They are learning. They are growing. They're being taught. They're seeing the example. And they are getting it. You see, beloved, in the right sense of understanding Christian society and understanding the human aspects of the kingdom of God, the fifth commandment is not an add-on. It's reality shaping. That's what it is. It defines reality for us in our raising of our children, of our covenant families. And so covenant family, because we trust God, because we do trust God and do live His law, His wisdom defines and shapes our family life. Defines and shapes it. Well then third, in honorableness, covenant children will remain teachable to parents. Now that's the flip side of it. We've talked about the responsibilities and the confidence that parents should have, but now we need to look at what is the position of the children. Well, it's interesting if you look at these two verses of Proverbs chapter one a little bit more closely, we come to the conclusion, at least as best we can, of what kind of children, and we use that word now a bit advisedly, Solomon is speaking to here, We understand it must be the case that because of what he says and what he expects them to understand about what he says, that Solomon is not here speaking to a three-year-old. They'd make no sense of it. It is even doubtful that he's speaking to a preteen. Now, maybe, but I think doubtful. Probably, and admittedly, this is a sanctified guess. Probably the young person being directly addressed here in these verses is between 14 and 16 years old. And we could discuss those ages a little bit. There's a reason we say that. It is because a young person is in those formative years that Solomon by the Spirit's inspiration is addressing here. Those formative years That is to say, listen, what instruction they have heard, verse 8, what examples they have seen, verses 8 and 9, they are able to appreciate. They are able to begin to make an assessment of these things that their parents have been giving to them. A preteen doesn't do that, at least not very well, and certainly not a 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 year old child. But a young person will. I think there's something of great significance here to our parenting responsibilities in terms of how we think of parenting to be a sprint. It's not a sprint, it's a marathon. Where you need, especially when the children get to those teen and even later teen and young adult years, where you begin to say to them, now listen. You've heard things from us. You've seen things in us. Now you begin to assess. You begin to address those things to your own heart. You begin to accumulate that knowledge and make that formative appreciation of it yourself. And you do that, says Solomon here in verse 9, in terms of beauty. In terms of ornamentation, he puts it. Now, I think it's generally true, and maybe some teens have no interest in this, but we've seen it in ours all the years. Teens seem to like fashionable things, whether it's nice fashionable clothes or another set of tennis shoes or something. Solomon says the teens love these things. They are interested in ornamentation of beauty for the head and chains around the neck. These things are desirable. They want to look nice. Well, how will they look the best? They will look the best in terms of putting on these things that their parents have been teaching them of the means of grace that show something of the beauty and the splendor of holiness. The beauty and the righteousness of godliness. As dad and mom are teaching and will bring them from one situation to the next, these things must be accepted with a general trust, at least initially, by young people who may not actually either understand, although they understand far better usually than we think they do, or maybe are perhaps struggling with, even in their hearts arguing about what they're being taught. But they accept it with a general trust. To grasp the weightiness of God's law. Young people, listen. Accept what Dad and Mom are teaching you, are showing you, are living before you. God has said so. Fifth Commandment. Especially when you don't grasp all the reasons, when you can't see all the connections, when it doesn't exactly make sense to you, trust. that God is raising you by those parents. You see, covenant family, sometimes, sometimes honor your father and your mother is all a young person can hear. And that's all they need to do at that moment. Just listen to parents. And out of a heart to honor them and to honor God. Just listen. honor them and listen. You see it is with an honorable heart that building can happen, maturing will happen. Thinking about this in terms of our young people having met up this past week with more than 600 other young people, many of them URC young people in Ohio, and we would assume, and I think it's true to say, that in those main sessions and those workshop sessions they heard the exact sort of things that they would have heard in their own home churches under their own pastors. And we rejoice about that. But especially that what they would have heard in those main sessions and those workshop sessions and in the sunrise and sunset groups are the very same things they would be hearing at home through their parents' instruction and leading. And this is a glorious truth, you see, dear congregation, that our young people are being shaped, that they are already learning. Each time a young person shows an honorableness to the Lord by honoring dad and mom, they are leading by example. Oh, it is true we live in a day where young people want to mock, and show disdain to parents but covenant young people christian young people show a different thing and lead by example godly young people don't enter into mocking all the weaknesses of their parents but choose rather to honor dad and mom the catechism says that i am patient with their failings by the way that's something that biblical dads and moms teach their children that They as adults are not perfect. They have weaknesses and failures. Sin abounding. But they show that they leave those things at the foot of the cross. That they take those issues to Jesus and He is sufficient for all of that. And the children are listening. They're watching. Solomon says at the text before us, hear. That's active listening. Take it in. Don't just sit there and expect it's all going to be handed to you. But engage in an active listening. Many of you take notes during the sermons. That's a wonderful illustration of active listening. And the other side of it is do not forsake. That is, do not make an active choice to take their instruction and toss it to the curb. Receive it. Covenant family, there's a wonderful harmony and a godly peace In the family, when young people choose to honor dad and mom, if we may say it again this way, it needs to be said I think again tonight, this is exactly the place where grace is needed. Grace, not only for parents, but for young people. Who, even as dad and mom are quite impassioned about a particular thing, young people may see a different way. Maybe even a better way. Parents might learn that later. But for the moment, they honor dad and mom, love them, and say, yes, I will. I'll trust you. Honor your father and your mother. This is the first commandment with a promise. Well, let's look forthly at that promise. for biblical successfulness, covenant children remain teachable. Indeed, the Apostle Paul, in expounding the fifth commandment in Ephesians chapter 6, does explicitly say that this is the first commandment with a promise, namely, that in keeping this commandment, things will be well with you in your own particular area, and you might live long on the earth. Young people, I wonder if you realize that's exactly what Dad and Mom want for you. I have never met a Christian father and mother who are earnest about living in Christ, who do not want their children to be, here we'll use the word carefully, successful. If we understand what that means. Successful. That things will be well with you, and you may live long on the earth. Parents want exactly this. They deeply desire it. They pray earnestly for it. More than you young people might know, but I suspect you probably know that. They search the scriptures because of that desire. They turn the Word of God over and over in their hearts as they meditate on the promises that were given to them and you at baptism. So that you might grow in your application of that baptism, so that you might prosper in the Lord. All of these things about which Solomon says here, verse 9, will be a graceful ornament on your head and beautiful, we might say it, beautiful chains around your neck. So that our young adults will grow up looking exactly how Solomon portrays them here, if we can put it this way, beautifully bejeweled. beautifully bejeweled in Christ. It might be helpful to remember that there comes, for most folks, a particular age that once you pass it, a certain age that once you pass that age, fashionableness is really not that important. It's not very important. You don't spend a whole lot more money on great clothes or whatever else people buy to look fashionable, but by then you see in the covenant person that fashionableness is part of their DNA by grace. Have you ever been near, and I know we have, a person who has walked long with Christ, and they exude joy, they exude godliness, they exude a confidence in the Word of God and a faithfulness that shows it out. And we love to be around those older people. But here we're saying that young people can have that same sort of beauty, that same sort of biblical piety, a wonderful Godliness. Most young people put a fairly high premium on being fashionable. Well, keeping the fifth commandment will have you looking beautiful in the eye of the most important eye. God's eye. Covenant family, we do believe, we do believe that biblical successfulness, otherwise called piety, comes to our children insofar as they hear instruction and put it into practice rather than casting it aside. Now we just talked about how it's sometimes a glorious thing for us to come into contact with an older person who's walked along with Christ and we just love to be around them. But have you ever been around a young person like that? What a joy it is to be around a young person who has a growing distinct beauty of godliness and Christ-likeness. They're always fun to be around in the right sense of the word because they don't blow you off. They want to listen to you. They want to talk with you. They want to turn over with you the things of the Word of God. And they say, and mean it, I'll pray for you when you have some kind of trial or difficulty. Young people, look for those kinds of young people to be around. It is a glorious thing that God by His covenant work makes His young people to be beautiful in the piety of godliness. How glorious, how beautiful, beloved is God's covenant design. Solomon says it here, on the head of our children and around their necks, a beauty and a glory of the teaching of God bestowed firstly by their parents The community then growing more and more to be a community of beauty. A community of beauty. It's interesting how in the Revelation, John captures this as he looks at the New Jerusalem. As he looks at the fullness, the completion of what glorification will look like in terms of the church. And there will be there, no? Negatives, no defects, no black mold, no dirtiness. All will be purity and brightness, even the streets transparent gold. The very beauty that Solomon is talking about here in full measure. A community of beauty and the growing splendor of holiness. This is what we believe we will see. Covenant family, biblical lawfulness. So now we're thinking about the commandment, aren't we? Biblical lawfulness, where children love and honor parents, does not, does not lead to legalism. That's Satan's lie. But biblical lawfulness leads to the beauty of holiness. What more could parents desire in their children and young people? than the splendor of piety seen in a godly character. It's what we yearn for. It's what we pray for. It's what we teach for and live for before them. That all the promises that God made at baptism, all His promises of the covenant, more and more come to pass through Jesus Christ. Amen. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your commandments. We thank you that you say to parents, raise your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. We thank you that you say to children, honor your parents in the Lord, for this is right. The first commandment with a promise. We thank you that you are building us And in all of this, the glory of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, full and complete, is magnified. What a wondrous thing when a child having been baptized comes before the congregation and says for herself, for himself, I believe. We see the quiet, silent, heart smile of the parent in the background, knowing what God is doing. In all the glory to the Lord, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.