John Hagee - Honor Your Father and Mother
The fifth commandment, "Honor your father and your mother" is God's commandment to focus on the family. The fifth commandment is different from all the others. Why? Because this is the only commandment that has a promise. And the promise is if you honor your father and your mother, you will live a long life. Your days will be long on the earth. And if you honor your father and your mother, it will be well with you in the land, meaning you will prosper. So translate that just to basic English. It means if you honor your mother and father, you will live a long and prosperous life, because God will see to it.
How many of you are interested in a long and a prosperous life? You want to know about this commandment. Read with me Deuteronomy 5:16. Ready? "Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord is giving you".
Father God, thank you for your word. Thank you for your presence. Let every soul that's hearing this in this room, across America and around the world recognize that without the return of the presence of God in our country, and without the return of the Ten Commandments, our nation will not long endure. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
You may be seated. In keeping with the text, I choose to honor my father and my mother. Let me tell you immediately that my mother was the guiding light of my life. In 1958, when I was a senior at Reagan high school in Houston, Texas, I received an appointment to west point military academy by senator Lyndon baines Johnson. Let me tell you that I had zero interest in the church. If there's something less than zero, that's where I was. My mother privately assembled a women's prayer group for my salvation and the direction of my life, because I made it very clear, "When I leave here, take a picture, because you'll never see me here again".
Three months later, with a miracle transformation, I was on my way to Bible college to willingly prepare for the ministry. And I will tell you, that was a miracle. I honor my mother because my mother pounded the gates of heaven, and Jesus Christ became the Savior and Lord of my life. I honor her because without her, there would be no Cornerstone Church. There would be no global television ministry. There would be no cornerstone Christian school. There would be no sanctuary of hope. Christians united for Israel would never have been born. I will tell you, when a group of women start talking to God, great things can happen.
I honor my father for living a righteous life and for supplying the basic needs of our family. But now hear this: my father and I seldom agreed on anything, not ever. We were just polar opposites. But I never disrespected him. I honored him for being my father. There are people in this church and some who are watching from around the world, who were abandoned by your father, or your mother, or both. Some of you were abused. Some of you had parents that simply were disconnected from a moral fabric. The future of America depends upon the preservation of the Bible-based family. God Almighty created the first family in the Garden of Eden. And the blueprint of the traditional family is under attack from all sides. He created male and female, and commanded them, not to go home and watch television and raise cats and dogs, but to be fruitful and multiply, have children.
Think about that. Our government subsidized the murder of innocence under the guides of choice. But thanks to the Supreme Court, the abortion issue now rests with every state. In Texas, we have the heartbeat law. If you can detect the heartbeat of a child in the womb of the mother, you cannot touch that child. Thank God for that law. But now the real work begins. That's why we have created the sanctuary of hope, to give courageous young women, who have chosen life for their unborn child, an opportunity for a better life, a Christian life, and a prosperous future. Radical feminists are attacking stay-at-home moms by labeling them as "Inferior and living without purpose".
Let me tell you something. The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. The Bible presents the portrait of the ideal woman in Proverbs 31. She's married. Can you believe it? She's a mother. She is a homemaker. In her mouth is the law of kindness. She's not some hip hell raiser from Harvard. The Bible goes so far as to say her husband trusts in her. This is a real woman! God bless them all! Can I get an "Amen"? David writes in Psalm 127:3, "Behold, children are the gift of the Lord, and fruit of the womb is his reward". And that's a truthful statement. For 50 years, through abortion, America flushed the gift of the Lord down the drain. Remember this truth: if you do not honor your father and your mother, you cannot honor God or lovingly care for the children he has given you the privilege to raise.
The family in America is under attack. The unisex movement seeks to destroy the masculine leadership concept. I want you to hear that. Boys are now carrying purses and wearing earrings. Girls are carrying footballs and wearing tattoos. Everything is upside down. Today, 40% of children are born out of wedlock and many more were conceived but aborted. I want you to hear this statistic. Eighty percent of young people in prison came from a fatherless home, 80%. We are being labeled as "A fatherless generation". I want to say this to all of the fathers who are here and those of you who are watching by television, if you have children and you've walked off and left them, be a man and go back and support those children emotionally, financially, personally.
I tell you without blinking that America has lost its moral compass and we're going in the wrong direction. If the family fails, this country will fall. Don't you ever forget it. The fifth commandment is a divine call to focus on the family. You didn't choose your family. Sometimes when you look at your family tree, you have to put the best spin you can on what you've got. Family is mothers and fathers and their children. A family is not a house. A family is not a house and a prestigious address. A roof will keep out the rain. And the four walls will keep out the cold winter's night, but that's not a family. A floor will support the tottering steps of an infant and it will support the feeble steps of the aged. A door will welcome friends and be a barrier to enemies. A fireplace will warm those who nestle close to it on a cold winter's night, but this is not family.
Is there a family in your house or have you become a group of self-centered individuals married on paper but separated from each other? You hang your clothes in the same house, but that's about it. A family is the picture of a mother cooking dinner for someone she loves. It's the laugh of a baby. It's the strength of a father. It's the warmth of loving hearts. Family is light from loving eyes, kindness, loyalty, and covenant love on all occasions. Home is the first school and the first church that I ever attended. I learned from my parents what was right and what was wrong, what was good in the sight of the Lord and what God forbade. Family is where you go for comfort when you're hungry or sick.
When you have been battered and bruised by the world, family will open the door and heal you and welcome you. They will anoint your wounds with oil of gladness and wrap their arms around you like cords of steel, holding you together through the storms of life. That's family. Family is where joy is shared, and sorrow is eased. Family will be glad of your success. They will be delighted with your promotion at the job. They will be proud of you making the honor roll in school. They will buy every newspaper on the rack because you're in the paper, you're the high school football star, or you're the businessman of the year, or you're the mother of the year.
Family is where fathers and mothers are respected and loved. They're never addressed as "Ole man" or "Ole lady". I will tell you, if I ever called my father "Ole man," I'd been fishing for my teeth in a very short period of time. Their names are used in hushed tones of respect and reverence. With advancing years, they're not shuffled to the sidelines to be ignored. They are family whether they are in a wheelchair or reclining on a couch, too feeble to sit up. They are there because they belong there! They're your family! Family is where children are wanted and considered a blessing from the Lord. They're not looked upon as an inconvenience to your career. They're not considered detestable because they might destroy your high school figure. They are angels unaware that God has sent to be with us for a few days until they are released to live their own life.
Family is where the simplest food is good enough for kings, because it was earned with the sweat of an honest day's pay, and where money is not nearly as important as loving kindness. Family is where even the tea kettle sings with happiness. Family is where one man loves one woman, and the angels of heaven descend into that home to enjoy the beauty of that moment. Family is where children love that man and that woman, and their love is returned. That's a family. May God bless it. May God preserve it. It's America's only hope for the future. I ask you again, "Is there a family in your house"? "Is there a family in your house"?
I have traveled the world, and heathen children often have greater respect for their parents than in western civilization. They wouldn't dare address their parents as "Ole man" or "Ole lady". And if you have a child like that, go home and wash their mouth with soap. It'll help them. Ever so often, I hear a teenager say, "Well, I didn't ask to be born". The implication is that since life has been thrust upon you without your consent, you have the right to be disrespectful, to shun responsibility, and act like an absolute moron. Wrong! I saw a sign the other day that some of you mothers might want. It said, "Teenagers, if you're tired of being hassled by what you believe are unreasonable parents, now is the time to take action. Leave home and pay your own way while you still know everything".
In the Bible, children are God's social security program for parents. And it's a lot better program than we have in Washington. David said in Psalm 127:3, "Behold, children are a gift of the Lord... Like arrows in the hands of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth". "Arrows in the hand of a warrior," that's an instrument of defense. Defense from what? Defense from trouble. Defense from poverty. Defense from need. Defense from loneliness. Defense from old age. How can one man and one woman raise six children, and those six children cannot take care of that one man and one woman? Think about it. This commandment is a benefit for children. Children, obey your parents that it may be well with you and that you may live long upon the earth. Two facts: it will not go well with you in all things, and you will not live a long life with prosperity if you do not honor your mother and your father.
The Bible clearly reveals that the judgment of God comes upon children who rebel against their parents. I point you to the story of Absalom in the Bible, who rebelled against his father, David. And when Absalom was running from David's army, he got his long hair that probably should have been cut, but that's another sermon for another day. And his long hair was caught in the tree. And Joab, the general of David's army, rode up behind him and threw three spears through his heart, and he died hanging from that tree. The Bible says, "Cursed is every man who dies, who is hung from a tree". He died like a dog in disgrace, because he was buried beneath rocks because he disobeyed his father. Why obey my parents? Because saint Paul writes in Ephesians 6:1, "Obey your parents for this is right".
Hear that phrase? "For this is right". There's only right and wrong. Why is two and two, four? Because four is the only answer two and two equal. Why should children obey? Because God said it's right. Any other opinion is wrong. You don't get to vote, woke people. Why obey? Because they know more than you do, and their knowledge will save your life if you will listen. I hear people say, "Well, I just want my children to grow up with absolute freedom". There's no such thing as absolute freedom! The stars don't have it. They're hemmed in by the hand of God. The oceans don't have it. They're hemmed in by the shoreline. Men do not have it. You're hemmed in by other people.
There's no escape from authority. There's no escape from the rules that God has established for mankind. Freedom is the opportunity to do as you ought, not to do as you want. Jesus said, "He that will teach and do these commandments shall be called great in the Kingdom of God". Do not break God's law, because it will break you. It will break you. We honor our parents by caring for them in their golden years.
On one occasion a few years ago, a woman was in a nursing home. She called me and said, "Pastor, would you please tell my son to come see me? I haven't seen him for more than a year". I said, "Where does he live"? Thinking it must be on the other side of the United States. She said, "He lives just six blocks from here". I went to his house and knocked on the door. He came to the door. He saw me. I said, "Get in the car. We're going to take a trip". He said, "Where are we going"? I said, "We're going to go see your mother". And I told him, as he walked in, I said, "You owe her your life. You owe her your love. You need to support her every day of the life that she has left, otherwise, you have no honor whatsoever". I pushed him in and locked the door behind him. I went home and made him walk home.
A 16-year-old girl came to my office and said, "Pastor, I can't honor my father. He raped me. He's not worthy of honor". I called the authorities and the authorities put him in jail, because that's where he belongs. And if you call any counselor at this church and make that confession, by law, we will turn you over to the cops. The Bible says, "Give honor to whom honor is due". And there are parents who are not due honor. Are you a child abuser? You have no honor. Are you a child pornographer? You have no honor. Are you a deadbeat dad, who won't support your children? You are without honor! Do you make promises to your children and do not keep them? You have no honor. Mother, do your children hear you use God's name in vain and see you stagger through the door with a different lover every week? You have no honor! Loving your children, you are to love your children as God loves you. You're the source of love, the source of protection, the law giver.
Father, you're the prophet, the priest, and the provider of your home. Very clearly, that's the Bible position you have. I ask you: how much time do you spend with your children? Giving your children things is often a cheap substitute because you haven't given them your time. You need to go to their games. You need to go to their concerts. You need to go to their Christmas play. If my child was playing the part of a potted plant in the school play, I went. I told them on the way home, "Without you, that play was an absolute bust". Do you defend your children?
When my five children were home, every supper meal, they called it "The J. Edgar Hoover hour". For you younger people, J. Edgar Hoover used to be the director of the FBI. And I would go one by one, "How'd your day go? What did you make on your test? How are you doing on your term policy"? And then here's the can opener. "Do you know anything I need to know"? And just let it settle there. You see their little eyes dashing around. Just keep drilling. There's something you need to know. On one occasion, Matthew said, "Well..." When he was in third grade, he wrote a paper on the meaning of Christmas. And at the supper table when I asked him, "How did you get on with your day today"? He said, "Well I won the third grade contest for describing the Christmas story, but I won't be allowed to read it over the public address as the teacher promised". I said, "Why not"? He said, "Because I mentioned the name of Jesus in my story".
The hair on the back of my head started standing up. I instantly responded, "Matt, I'm going to school with you tomorrow morning. Take your Christmas story". I went to the school, went to the principal's office before school started. I said, "I'm pastor Hagee. I'm here to see about my son giving his Christmas story like you said he could". And he said, "Well, the principal is not here. She's not. She's busy". I said, "Look, it's 15 minutes till school. She's in her office drinking coffee. Go in there and tell her there's somebody out here who wants to talk to her". She came out. She knew who I was. I said, "Tell me why my son is not being permitted to read his story". She looked at me with one of those i-know-it-all kind of smiles. And she said, "Well, you know it's all about the separation of church and state".
I said, "Let me tell you something about church and state". I said, "Our founding fathers came from England where the state controlled the church. And they have put in the separation of church and state just to keep the state out of the church. There's a wall between the two of us. You have no business telling my son what he can or cannot do when it comes to his faith". "I want him to read that story and I want him to read it this morning". "Okay". Matt went in. He read the story. We walked out. He went into his classroom. He looked like William the conqueror. My point is this: when your children are right in a matter, fight for them. Stand up for them. Let's bring back the Ten Commandments! Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered!
"Call upon me," David said, "And I will show you great and mighty things that you know not". "Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver you". David writes, "Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you to pieces, and there is none to deliver you". That's a message of you, America. Don't you dare try to forget God, because God will cause that great judgment to come to this country. Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered. Let the joy of the Lord sweep this country. Let there be a spiritual awakening in this country. Let there be a revival that sweeps this country. May the anointing of the Holy Spirit of God sweep this country. Give the Lord a shout of praise in the house of God! Amen. Amen. Amen.