Creflo Dollar - The Behavior and Character of the Last Day Society - Part 4
Now what I wanna spend the time this morning talking about, I wanna show you the scriptural view of honoring your parents. Not my opinion; I can't even afford to try to even think about talking to you about my opinion. 'Cause this stuff is so thick in the world today, you know, somebody that hears something like this, they're gonna have to strongly disagree with the Word. But if I don't come from the Word, then they'll strongly disagree with me, and it still be up in the air.
See, after today, it's either I am gonna believe God's Word and line up with it or I'm gonna believe the norms and values of society. And too many people base their life on the norms and values and the opinions of social media and society, and because a lot of people think this is good mean you think it's good and it contradicts the Word of God. So you have to choose today: God's Word and God's way or social media's word and the unsaved world's word. You better get it together 'cause don't forget what this is tied to: your life and your prosperity. You ain't gotta clap, you make me nervous when you clap. I don't know what you're doing, I don't know if you're trying to set me up or what.
So let's look at this scriptural view of the death penalty. As I said before, the nation of Israel, God commanded that children who cursed their parents be put to death. And you're gonna learn that it's not just using profanity that curses them, it's just what you say about them when you're not around them. Now this was a civil law for a period in Israel history, not a permanent law of God, but it shows the emphasis that God puts on our words spoken to and about our parents. The principle is not limited to, like I said, verbally cursing a parent. And if we doubt that this law reflects God's hatred for dishonoring parents, we need only to read of what Jesus quoted in the book of Matthew chapter 15, which we will in a moment. Jesus applies this principle to people who neglect their parents while claiming to be spiritual. And neglect your parents. Mmm! And neglect your parents.
Leviticus, I wanna read it out of two versions, in the NIV version, Leviticus 20:9, he says: "Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death. Because they have cursed their family or mother, their blood will be on their own head". Look at the NLT. This is God's attitude about this. Remember, cursing is not just profanity. In the NLT he says: "Anyone who dishonors father or mother must be put to death. Such a person is guilty of a capital offense". Look at Matthew chapter 5 and 4. Matthew chapter 5 and 4. Oh, you gonna get in the Bible today. Matthew chapter 5 and verse 4 in the NIV: "For God said, 'Honor your father and mother' and 'Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.'"
Now if you will read verses 1 through 9, what you're gonna find out is God's no longer gonna be responsible for this. He said: "But your decision and actions may be responsible for this. These are consequences". So let's look at this. Let's get a scriptural view of cursing parents. What's the scriptural view of cursing parents? You saw in the Old Testament law how God viewed it, but what's the view? See, cursing someone can mean speaking a verbal curse over them. The word "curse" means to be, when you're blessed, you're empowered to have success. When you're cursed, you're empowered to have failure. And when you curse somebody and speak a verbal curse, you're empowering them to have a failure, a curse over them. But it includes even a lot more than that. The Hebrew word in what we just read, it means to bring into contempt, it means to curse or to despise.
See, this would include speaking negatively about your parents around your children, okay? You're speaking negatively about your parents around your children so that your children form disrespectful views towards them because of what they heard you say. It's about speaking negatively about your parents around other relatives so they now begin to form disrespect because of what you say. Now, it can be appropriate to share parental difficulties, of course, but do it with a few close friends or with a counselor, but we must use caution and ask ourselves how we are expressing our disappointment and why, to make sure you're not playing the victim all the time. 'Cause you ought to be careful not to do the blame game because when you're doing the blame game, that just simply means you have not yet accepted responsibility for your part.
Look at Proverbs 20:20 in the NIV and the NLT. Proverbs 20:20 in the NIV and the NLT. Why would you teach this at church? Because it's everywhere. I would label this as a worldwide crisis. Now, I tell, I have to say more national 'cause you can't do this in some parts of the world 'cause they still will kill you. The elders are honored in most parts of the world, but not so in this nation. We don't honor our elders like we should in this nation. The Bible, I'll show you in a moment, says that when you come across an elder you should treat him like your own father and mother because of their age. You don't do that. You don't do that. Old woman at the grocery store, you let her open the door. 'Scuse me, old woman, get out of my way. Make fun of old people and stuff like that. That gonna get you. You don't wanna do that.
Look at verse 20 in the NIV. He says: "If someone curses their father or mother, their lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness". In other words, you're not shining no more. It's not working for you no more. And you wondering why. You 40 years old, trying to figure out why haven't you been able to get over, and it's tied to what you have yet to give attention to. You got grown folk responsibility. Look at the NLT: "If you insult your father or mother, your light will be snuffed out in total darkness". Go to Proverbs 30, verses 11 through 13. Proverbs 30:11-13 in the NLT. Somebody says: "Man, I didn't know went through that much Scripture going to church". But that's what you're supposed to do when you go to church. And reason why we don't know this kind of stuff is that we hooping and holl'ing over the latest comment that some worldly person said during the week. He says: "Some people curse their father and do not thank their mother. They are pure in their own eyes, but they are filthy and unwashed. They look proudly around, casting disdainful glances," wow.
So what is the scriptural view of mocking parents? Well, we can also show contempt for our parents by making fun of them, looking down on them or speaking flippantly to and about them. The Hebrew word "mocks," it means to laugh, to scorn, or to mock, and in Proverbs 30:17, turn there, he's talking about our parents in this manner. He said it's never appropriate to do that, mocking them. "Oh Dad, you're just drama-filled," or something. I don't know what they say. Verse 17 says: "The eye that mocks a father, that scorns an aged mother, will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley, will be eaten by the vultures". In other words, God takes it very seriously. Mocking your parents, he takes that very seriously. You don't mock them because, all right, surely, they may not understand what you doing in your, you know, this is your season and this is your generation, and they don't understand a lot, maybe. But you gotta be careful about that.
So what's the scriptural view for the elderly? Let's look at that, I was talking about that just for a moment. The elderly, what's the scriptural view there? Leviticus 19:32. Leviticus 19:32. He said, and really what he says in, he says, "Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the Lord". And so he commands people to stand in the presence of elderly as a way of showing respect and showing reverence of God. Nobody does that. "I ain't standing. I'm tired. Let them stand". It's gonna be bad with you, not them. Scripture is so important as we consider these things. This command is not based on the character or the importance of the elderly person, but it's based on their age. And God obviously thinks respect for the elderly is important, and we need to change our view about that. It's not right. Just pause and take a look around. The elderly are not being honored, and they should. The Scriptures consider respect for parents the norm, so you have to listen to what I'm about to say as if it was a norm for parents to be respected.
1 Timothy 5:1, it assumes that we speaks respectfully to our own parents and something that often isn't true in this day and age, but in this Scripture he says: "Do not", in the NIV, "Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father," assuming that you respect your father. So you see what's happening here. You don't respect your own natural father, ain't no way in the world you respecting the elderly. You're not respecting the elderly 'cause you don't respect your own father. And God commands us to honor and respect different types of leaders, even secular governmental leaders, based on their age and based on their position and not based on their character or their integrity.
We honor our parents because God says we owe them honor. We owe them honor. Not because they've been perfect. Ain't no such thing. That's TV. Ain't no such thing as a perfect parent and if you think you are, you lyin' to yourself. You are greatly deceived. You're lyin' and leakin' and your breath stink. It just won't work. You are not a perfect parent. We honor them because we owe them honor, not because they've earned it. A parent doesn't have to earn honor; you owe it to 'em. Y'all don't understand what I'm saying. There are things you don't even know when you were born and when you were growing up. Stuff you don't even remember. How you think you got around before you walked? Who got up when you were hungry? Every time I think about that, I get tired just thinking about it. Who cleaned you? Who taught you how to speak English? Who taught you how to walk? Who was there with you when you missed it, when you messed up? Who came and got you out of jail? Who spent their last dime so you can go to the Washington, DC trip? Who fed you when you were hungry, comforted you when you were lonely, when they were dead tired? Who was the taxi driver in your house?
I think about my mama, gawd dog. It's like she went and worked a full-time job, then got off work, and then I had to be picked up from practice and then this one had to be picked up from that, and then that one had to be picked up from that one, and then that one had to be picked up, then she had to come home and then she had to make sure we had something to eat and then she had to get everything ready for the next day to do it all over again for all them years and you think they gotta earn your honor? I owe my mama. I mean, before she even asks, the answer's yes. I don't even care if it's sacrificial. She probably did sacrificial stuff a whole lot of times, stuff I don't even know or remember that she sacrificed.
See, that's when you got your big-boy drawers on right there, some of y'all need take them panties off. You got them big-boy drawers on and you need to start acting like a big boy and you need to start honoring your parents, not because they've earned it, but because you owe it. "Well, that ain't in the Bible". Really? Romans 13:1 in the NIV says: "Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if you owe revenue, then pay revenue". That means if you owe somebody some money, pay 'em. "If you owe somebody respect; respect 'em; if you owe somebody honor, then honor them". What's the scriptural view on rewards then? Well, why do you think that the fifth commandment, or I will refer to it as moral law under the New Testament in Ephesians, promises blessings on those who honor their parents? Why would God give this command, this moral law, an emphasis he doesn't give any other? Why would he give this emphasis that he doesn't give any other?
Look at Ephesians chapter 6, verse 2 through 3 in the NLT. Ephesians 6, verses 2 and 3. He says: "'Honor your father and mother.' This is the first commandment with a promise: If you honor your father and mother, 'things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.'" Well, the opposite has got to be true too. That if you don't honor your mother and father, things won't go well with you and you won't live life long on this earth. If you think with me for a moment, famous people that died young. If we could track it back, you'd find some things. Nobody thinks about that. Track it back. Forget about people. Think about yourself. Like I told you, I'm so glad God gave me an opportunity 'cause things were not going well for me when I was in rebellion and dishonoring my parents. They were not going well for me. Stuff wasn't working.
Man, when I got saved, and I knew, "Man, I need to correct this," that's mama. But I also learnt by looking at how my mama honored her parents. What are we setting up if there's a generation of children that don't honor their parent, what is the next generation seeing? So what is the scriptural view for unworthy parents, 'cause I can hear that, "Yeah, but what if your mama this, and what if", I told you, you alive. They must have did something right. You alive to recognize something. You wasn't at the fire station. You wasn't flushed down somewhere. Luke 6:32 deals with this, a couple of Scriptures I wanna share, Luke 6:32 first in the NIV. What's the scriptural view of unworthy parents?
Luke 6:32 says: "If you love those who love you, what credit is there to you? Even sinners love those who love them". You know what he's saying? You know, you'll take this Scripture and use it for unsaved friends but won't use it for your unsaved parents. "If you love those who love you, what credit is there"? He said, "Go and challenge yourself". Put all of the hurt and the pain and all that stuff. Listen, my dad and I wasn't... we didn't get along too good. I mean, I did one of the most disrespectful, dishonorable things ever, and pulled a gun in front of my dad, in his face, to threaten to shoot him. Dishonorable; it tore his heart out. And I could have been a victim and stayed with that, all that, and all that kind of stuff, but I'm like, "I gotta fix this, I gotta fix this. I can't just love those who love me. I just can't love him because he's doing everything I think he should do. I gotta fix this".
And I did, thank God. Thank God. And even though I fixed it, it still causes me to cringe, like, "Boy, who do you think you are"? And the way I used to talk to my mother. "Who do you think you are"? Thank God for salvation 'cause I now know that you just don't love people that love you. You love even when it's hard and when it's uncomfortable and when it's challenging. 1 John chapter 4, verse 20 says: "Whoever claims to love God and yet hates a brother or a sister," that includes your parents. They're to be considered your brother and sister before they're your parents. "Is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have seen every day". Put your little Christianity on the side. "It ain't working," he says.
You can't go around and love everybody else in the church and then don't love your parents. I know people who love ungodly believers enough to spend their lives sharing the gospel, but they place boundaries in their relationship with their parents because they find their parents annoying. That means they're picking and choosing which of God's commandments to obey and it shows a lack of love for God as well as a lack of love for your parents. John chapter 14, verse 23 says that "anyone who loves me will obey my teachings. My Father will love them, and he will come to them and he will make our abode or make our home with them".
God will not simply look at their service to the gospel, he'll also look at their obedience to the gospel. In situations where a parent is physically abusive, mentally ill, criminal, well, God will guide you and direct adult children how to honor his commandment without being abused and without enabling his parents or ungodly behavior. But we must be careful not to exaggerate our situation, thinking we can neglect or reject a parent simply because they are annoying or because they're difficult. We mustn't do that.