Lesson 4 is on the fourth, fifth, and sixth commandments. So I will be splitting this lesson in 3.

Lesson 4 (Part 1): The Fourth Commandment.

The fourth commandment is honor your father and mother. We should fear and love God so that we do not despise or anger our parents and other authorities, but honor them, serve and obey them, love and cherish them.

Let's talk about Jesus in relation to His Father. Jesus and the Father are one and the same, yet Jesus submits to His Father. Jesus submits to His Father by receiving authority from His Father. This is evidenced in Matthew 28:18. "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me". How does Jesus use the authority given to Him? Let's also look at Luke 5:24. Jesus heals a paralyzed man and says "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home". Jesus uses the authority given to Him to give us blessings. Authorities are to give, and those under authority are to receive.

What is mean't by "Father"? There are in fact three things that are called "Father". The first thing that comes to mind are biological fathers. Children need their biological fathers to be able to survive physically and spiritually. Children need food, clothing, and shelter. Not only that, but also need to be brought up spiritually, being taught the Word as they grow up.

The second thing that comes to mind is governments. Governments are put in place to provide us with what we need and also to protect the lives of the people. We do not have to agree with all of the laws of the government if some of the laws contradict God, but we are to submit to and love even a corrupt government because governments still care about their people and provide for them. We obey and serve authorities so that their work may be a joy and not a burden. Although if the government creates laws that contradict God, that's when we should refuse to listen to authorities.

The third thing that comes to mind is pastors. Pastors are like spiritual fathers, mean't to give us spiritual blessings. Pastors are not infallible and therefore we won't always agree with them, but we are to submit to our pastors so that we can receive spiritual blessings and spiritual growth from them. We are to learn from them and respect them.

In Conclusion, the lesson here to respect the authorities given to us. We are to honor them, respect them, and submit to them. The only times we refuse to listen to authorities is when they contradict God. Other than that, always listen to your parents, to your government, to your pastors, and to God Himself.