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Lately, I’m sure that we’ve all been pointing to this calamity and to that disaster and have been exclaiming “Look, another flood, another earthquake! It’s another sign that we are living in the last days!”
The apostle Paul also mentioned some of the signs of the last days in 2 Timothy 3:1-5.
Let’s read together what Paul has to say. ”This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”
“In these last days children are so noted for their disobedience and disrespect that God has especially noticed it, and it constitutes a sign that the end is near. It shows that Satan has almost complete control of the minds of the young.” 1
The apostle Paul describes the “wicked” as being disobedient to their parents in Romans 1:29-30. However, from the context in 2 Timothy 3:3-5 it is clear that Paul is not referring to the wicked but to professed Christians as being disobedient to their parents when he says “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away”. (2 Timothy 3:5)
“There are many children who profess to know the truth who do not render to their parents the honor and affection that are due to them, who manifest but little love to father and mother, and fail to honor them in deferring to their wishes or in seeking to relieve them of anxiety.” 2
Could someone honestly point to you and exclaim “Look so and so is being disobedient, and disrespectful to his/her parents! It’s another sign that we are living in the last days!”
What should we all be doing during this probationary time?
2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?”
“Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the new earth.’ ‘Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.’ Children who dishonor and disobey their parents, and disregard their advice and instructions, can have no part in the earth made new.” 3
“If you have become estranged and have failed to be Bible Christians, be converted; for the character you bear in probationary time will be the character you will have at the coming of Christ. If you would be a saint in heaven, you must first be a saint on earth. The traits of character you cherish in life will not be changed by death or by the resurrection. You will come up from the grave with the same disposition you manifested in your home and in society. Jesus does not change the character at His coming. The work of transformation must be done now. Our daily lives are determining our destiny.”4
Is it possible to grow in our Christian experience while disobeying our parents?
“God cannot prosper those who go directly contrary to the plainest duty specified in His word, the duty of children to their parents. . . . If they disrespect and dishonor their earthly parents, they will not respect and love their Creator.” 5
1 John 4:20 “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?”
“Parents are entitled to a degree of love and respect which is due to no other person. God Himself, who has placed upon them a responsibility for the souls committed to their charge, has ordained that during the earlier years of life parents shall stand in the place of God to their children. And he who rejects the rightful authority of his parents is rejecting the authority of God.”6
John 13:20 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.”
What is the only exception?
Ephesians 6:1 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.”
Acts 5:29 “Then Peter and the other] apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.”
“When children have unbelieving parents, and their commands contradict the requirements of Christ, then, painful though it may be, they must obey God and trust the consequences with Him.” 7
What does the fifth commandment require?
“The fifth commandment requires children not only to yield respect, submission, and obedience to their parents, but also to give them love and tenderness, to lighten their cares, to guard their reputation, and to succor and comfort them in old age.” 8
When are children required to assist their parents?
“Each member of the family should understand just the part he is expected to act in union with the others. All, from the child six years old and upward, should understand that it is required of them to bear their share of life’s burdens.” 9
“When a little girl is nine or ten years old, she should be required to take her regular share in household duties, as she is able, and should be held responsible for the manner in which she does her work. That was a wise father who, when asked what he intended to do with his daughters, replied, ‘I intend to apprentice them to their excellent mother, that they may learn the art of improving time, and be fitted to become wives and mothers, heads of families, and useful members of society.’” 10
Have we got the roles mixed up?
“The mother is the queen of the home, and the children are her subjects. She is to rule her household wisely, in the dignity of her motherhood. Her influence in the home is to be paramount; her word, law. If she is a Christian, under God’s control, she will command the respect of her children.” 11
“The children are to be taught to regard their mother, not as a slave whose work it is to wait on them, but as a queen who is to guide and direct them, teaching them line upon line, precept upon precept.” 12
“The education of the child for good or for evil begins in its earliest years. . . . As the older children grow up, they should help to care for the younger members of the family. The mother should not wear herself out by doing work that her children might do and should do.” 13
When are children released from the fifth commandment?
”’Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.’ This is the first commandment with promise. It is binding upon childhood and youth, upon the middle-aged and the aged. There is no period in life when children are excused from honoring their parents. This solemn obligation is binding upon every son and daughter and is one of the conditions to their prolonging their lives upon the land which the Lord will give the faithful.” 14
Whose spirit do you possess?
2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?”
“In these last days children are so noted for their disobedience and disrespect that God has especially noticed it, and it constitutes a sign that the end is near. It shows that Satan has almost complete control of the minds of the young.” 15
“Many children go about their home duties as though they were disagreeable tasks, and their faces plainly show the disagreeable. They find fault and murmur, and nothing is done willingly. This is not Christlike; it is the spirit of Satan, and if you cherish it, you will be like him. You will be miserable yourselves and will make all about you miserable.” 16
A perfect Example
“The Saviour’s early years were useful years. He was His mother’s helper in the home; and He was just as verily fulfilling His commission when performing the duties of the home and working at the carpenter’s bench as when He engaged in His public work of ministry.” 17
“The approval of God rests with loving assurance upon children and youth who cheerfully take their part in the duties of the household, sharing the burdens of father and mother. Such children will go out from the home to be useful members of society.“ 18
Redeem the past
“The youth are now deciding their own eternal destiny, and I would appeal to you to consider the commandment to which God has annexed such a promise, “That thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” Children, do you desire eternal life? Then respect and honor your parents. Do not wound and grieve their hearts and cause them to spend sleepless nights in anxiety and distress over your case. If you have sinned in not rendering love and obedience to them, begin now to redeem the past. You cannot afford to take any other course; for it means to you the loss of eternal life.” 19
Philippians 2:12-15 “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.“
Reference:
- Adventist Home 293
- Adventist Home 293.5
- Adventist Home 294.3
- Adventist Home 16.2
- Adventist Home 293.2
- Adventist Home 293.1
- Adventist Home 293.3
- Adventist Home 293.1
- Adventist Home 180.1
- Adventist Home 91.4
- Adventist Home 232.1
- Adventist Home 232.2
- Adventist Home 285.3
- Adventist Home 292.3
- Adventist home 293
- Adventist Home 300.2
- Adventist Home 290.2
- The Desire of Ages 72
- Adventist Home 302.1
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