THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT

     Back to good ol' Exodus 20. Maybe you'll learn these things if you keep
on going through it.

     Exodus 20, verse 1. The Ten Commandments. This morning we're on the Fifth
Commandments. The Fifth Commandment. Exodus chapter 20, verse 1. "And God
spake all these words, saying,  I [am] the LORD thy God, which have brought
thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." Number one: "Thou
shalt have no other gods before me." Number two: "Thou shalt not make unto
thee any graven image, or any likeness [of any thing] that [is] in heaven
above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under the
earth:  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the
LORD thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the
children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me;  And
shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments."
Three: "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD
will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." Four: "Remember the
sabbath day, to keep it holy.  Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy
work:  But the seventh day [is] the sabbath of the LORD thy God: [in it] thou
shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant,
nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that [is] within thy
gates:  For [in] six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all
that in them [is], and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the
sabbath day, and hallowed it." Five: "Honour thy father and thy mother: that
thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee."

     That's the Fifth Commandment: "Honor thy father and thy mother." Shemites
understand it much better than Europeans do. "Honour thy father and thy
mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth
thee."

     Father, bless the broadcast this morning, and bless this audience that
has assembled here to hear the word of God and sing your praises, magnify your
Son and enjoy fellowship with each other. Lord, help them to realize that
they're saved, they're one body and one Spirit, and have a unity and a purpose
in life, Lord, that nothing--not the world or the devil--would be able to
destroy. Father, we're thankful for this good music and good singing. We're
thankful for this large crowd this morning that's come to hear the word of
God. Now show thy servant what to say and how to say it. Give new wisdom and
understanding where I lack it. May the word of God be clear and plain to every
listener. And, Father, may souls be saved because of this broadcast and this
service, for Jesus' sake. Amen. Amen."

     Now, my text says, "Honor thy father and thy mother." That commandment is
mentioned in the Bible about five times. Every time it's mentioned it says,
"Father first." "Honor thy father and thy mother." The Bible assumes, whether
you're saved or lost, if you're male, you are the head of the house. That's
assumed. "Honor thy father and thy mother."

     You know, in America, we have a peculiar kind of approach on television
and in theaters that tends to make a clown out of the daddy. Did you know
that? When I was a boy we had a program called "Henry Aldrich." And "Michey
Rooney," you know--the center for the Globetrotters. Mickey Rooney used to
play in a series of movies called "Andy Hardy." And then after that we had
this "Dobie Gillis," you know.

     And all those things are designed to picture the man of the house as kind
of a muddling, befuddled, kind of confused fellow, that never can find out
quite what's going on, see. And that thing has been on our American public now
since 1930. And it's created a funny picture of the head of the family.

     The verse says, "Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be
long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." The American daddy is
kind of a good ol' pop, you know. I saw a cartoon one time where a bunch of
teenagers were talking, and one of them saying, "What will they give daddy for
his birthday?"

     Another one said, "Well, let's let him use his car this weekend." You
know, that kind of thing.

     And that's what the old man is in the average American home; he's kind of
a good old provider, but doesn't get in anybody's way.

     A man said, "If you want to discipline your children these days, find out
what they want to do, and then command them not to do it." And they'll do it.
"And if you want them to do it, command them NOT to do it, and they'll do it.
And if you don't want them to do it, command them to do it, and they won't do
it." It's reverse psychology.

     Crime and disease are higher among young people in the United States than
any country in the western world except Sweden. Sweden is the only one that
runs any higher.

     A district judge said this. He said the contributing factors to juvenile
delinquency in America are, number one, movies and television. The inspiration
for juvenile crimes comes from motion pictures and television, where the
gunman, the outlaw, the elicit lover, the gangster is often glorified and made
out as a perfectly normal part of our civilization. If there's a television in
your home, the old man ought to have control over it. He ought to determine
what comes on and what doesn't. If he's the father in the house, he ought to
say when it goes on, when it goes off, what it turns to when it's on.

     I know of a family who's got a television set, and the fellow put it up
on a big thing about eight feet high in the room, where he was the only one
who could reach it--and then forbid everybody else to climb up there, see.
And, when he comes in and turns that thing on, they watch what's on. When he
turns it off, it goes off.

     And you say, "My, what a cruel, horrible--" Yes, that's the contributing
cause of juvenile delinquency.

     All right, number two: Lack of discipline in the home. Number three:
Idleness and unemployment. Number four: Improper literature. Dirty books.
Paperback. Get 'em anywhere in town. Next: Destructive toys and games, working
mothers, gambling, automobiles. The district judge said a boy or girl under 21
has no business owning a car, period.

     Boy, I bet some of you wouldn't like that district judge, would you? He
said no kid under 21 has any business owning a car. Period.

     That kind of gauls you, doesn't it, you know? That car's your chance to
get away from home where Mom and Daddy can't see you. Amen? Amen, you're
welcome.

     Alcohol is the next one. Unsupervised group activities. Lack of religious
training. Lack of discipline in the school. And the last one, lack of love and
affection in the home. Now, that may be a contributing cause--lack of love and
affection--but that's the last one. That's the last one.

     Now, the first thing I want to say about this commandment is, it's
repeated in the New Testament. The Sabbath is not repeated as a commandment in
the New Testament. But about this commandment, he says in Ephesians, "Honor
thy father and thy mother, which is the first commandment with promise." In
Colossians he says, "Honor thy father and thy mother." He says, "Children,
obey your parents."

     I have a poem:

     Junior bit the meterman.

     Junior kicked the cook.

     Junior's anti-social now,

     According to the Book.

     Junior smashed the clock and lamp.

     Junior hacked the tree.

     Destructive trends are treated

     In chapters two and three.

     Junior threw his milk at Mom.

     Junior screamed for more.

     Notes on self-assertiveness

     Are found in chapter four.

     Junior tossed his shoes and socks

     Out into the rain.

     Negation--that and normal--

     Disregard the stain.

     Junior got in Grandpa's room,

     Tore up his fishing line;

     That's to gain attention--

     See page eighty-nine.

     But Grandpa seized a belt

     And yanked Junior across his knee,

     'Cause Grandpa ain't read a book

     Since 1893!

     That's one of those cures, you know. That's one of those cures. You do it
according to the book; and if you don't do it according to this book, you
haven't done it according to the right book.

     Like a doting aunt said one time, she said when this nephew was born, she
said, "He was born an unwanted child. But now he's wanted in 22 states!"

     A man one time printed a bunch of rules for raising delinquent children.
Here they are. When he was three weeks old, his parents turned him over to a
babysitting. When he was two, they dressed him up like a cowboy and gave him a
gun. When he was three, everybody said, "How cute!" as he went about imitating
a beer commercial on television. When he was six his father dropped him off in
Sunday School on his way to the golf course. When he was eight, they brought
him a BEBE gun. He learned to shoot windshields by himself. When he was ten,
he spent his after time squatting at a drug store reading comic books; his
mother wasn't home, and his father was too busy. When he was 13, he told his
parents, "Other boys stay out as late as they wanted to," so he could too.
When he was 14, they gave him a deadly two-ton, wrangled a license for him to
drive it, and told him to be careful. When he was 15, the police called his
home one night and said, "We have your boy; he's in trouble."

     "In trouble?" said the father. "Can't be my boy!"

     But it was. As the twig is bent, so it snaps back in your face.

     That commandment in the New Testament is just like the one in the old. He
says, "If you're a child, and you want to live a long time, honor your father
and your mother." Do you honor your father and your mother?

     You say, "What if you have a mother and father like I have?" We'll talk
about that later.

     All right, the next thing is, in Exodus chapter 20, he says this. He
says, "Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the
land that the Lord thy God giveth thee." Did you know there's something about
longevity of life connected with this verse? And if you want to live a long
time on the ground, you better be careful how you treat your parents.

     I have a list here of how long people live. This is a Gallup Poll on
longevity of life. And it says this. According to Gallup's poll, these people
lived the longest: Protestant ministers lived longer than priests; Midwest
farmers live longer than anybody; professional people live longer than
laboring people. The longest life average is the second female child in a
Protestant country. The shortest life on average is the life of a European
monarch. The best laboring for living a long life is bricklayer, mechanic, or
carpentry. Married men on average live longer than single men. (It just seems
longer, some of them say!) Then they live longer in a rich ruled area in a
Protestant country. And honor students live longer than athletes--as a whole,
see. So, there's something to it, when you get right down to it.

     Because, a Protestant family in the Midwest is going to tend to be a
Bible-believing family. If you don't believe it, go out there and look at the
agricultural community in Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa--you see what I'm talking
about.

     And they say, "Honor your father and your mother, that the days may be
long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee."

     You know, Oriental people, they always get this much better than we do.
They have a feeling for it. The Orientals say, "Death with honor is better
than life without honor." And that comes from "Honor thy father and thy
mother." They always think a great deal more of the family name than
Westerners do.

     Here's a good example. Here's a fellow named Itshumatsu Yoshida. Eighty-
three-year-old Japanese man. He was in jail 31 years, convicting for murdering
a man for fifty cents. Found guilty in 1913. Got out of jail in 1944. And,
after 31 years in jail, that fellow went to get a retrial, got a written
confession from one of the witnesses that he perjured himself on the stand. He
tried to get back on the trial five times and was denied by the Japan Civil
Liberties Union. Finally they let him have a retrial. And the presiding judge,
Tuichi Kobajachi, headed the three-man court, and tried that fellow again, and
found him innocent. And the happy Yoshida, who had previously told his lawyers
he would stand up and shout, "Bonzai!" if acquitted, could only nod his head
in agreement when the verdict was handed down. At long last, he had a good
name.

     You know what he was worrying about? He was worrying about the family
name--on that thing of 31 years. That fellow spent 31 years in jail, and then
spent five years trying to get reinstated--just so Mom and Daddy wouldn't have
the wrong kind of name.

     Boy, that sounds strange over here in Pensacola, Florida, doesn't it? But
that's how it goes. He said, "Honor thy father and thy mother." Death with
honor is better than life without honor.

     One time a man in Paris went down to the Pig Alley where his daughter was
a professional prostitute. An old man in his 50s went down there and took a
gun and called for his daughter upstairs, and told her to get out of there and
pack her bags, and come home with home. And they gave her fifteen minutes to
do it. And she laughted at him. He took out a pistol and blew his brains out
right in the street in the front of the place, and let her and the police deal
with that. And his idea was, if he couldn't have honor in his family, why,
he's going to die.

     You know, to Westerners--Europeans, mostly--that sounds kind of
fanatical, you know, and kind of funny, you know. But the Orientals have a
sense about that. And the Oriental says, "Honor thy father and thy mother."
And the New Testament says, "That's the first commandment with promise."

     All right, what does it mean to honor? It means four things. When he
says, "Honor thy father and thy mother," what does he mean? Number one, obey
the commands of your father and mother. Obey the commands. They say, "Wash the
dishes"--wash the dishes.

     You say, "I don't want to."

     If you honor them, you will!

     They say, "Make your bed!"

     "I don't want to!"

     If you honor your father and your mother, you will!

     Kids say, "What if my father and my mother tell me to do something I
shouldn't do?"

     Well, come on now! Now, come on now! We know that happens one time out of
about thirty. But what about the other twenty-nine times?

     You know, kids use that as an alibi. They say, "What if you have an
unsaved mother and father and they tell you not to go to church?" That happens
once in a while.

     A fellow said to me one time, he said, "When I was a boy, my father made
me drink whiskey before I was four years old." That's true. That happens.
That's the exception. That's the exception. That isn't the rule. That isn't
the rule.

     Most mothers and fathers, even if they're lost or unsaved or godless,
they don't want their children to come out the same way. And when Mama and
Daddy say, "Be in at ten o'clock," that isn't against the commandments of God--
is it? I don't think it is! When they say, "Rake up the yard," I don't believe
that's a violation of 1 Corinthians 6:20. When they say, "Go out there and hoe
the garden," that isn't a violation of 3 Nehemiah 25:7--all that kind of
business.

     And these kids, you get all these alibis, you know. Too much to do, too
much to do--too much to do this. I like a story about a little girl who was
late for school, a little eight-year-old girl. And the teacher said, "How come
you were late again?"

     And she said, "I was walking behind a slow dog."

     You know, some of the alibis these teenagers give, they're not any more
sensible than that. Anything in the world.

     One time a little boy came home, and he was all bruised and beaten up,
and his Mama said, "I told you not to get involved in any more fights! How'd
you get in another fight?"

     And the boy said, "Well, you told me to count to 50 before I got
involved."

     And she said, "That's right. Did you do it?"

     And he said, "Yeah," but he said, "Jack's dad told him to count to 25."
And you get in those messes, you know, where you do what your parent told you
to do, but it doesn't work out. I mean, if you're countin' 50, and he's
countin' 25, you're gonna get slugged 25 ahead of time, so that isn't gonna
work.

     But normally parents don't ask you to do anything wrong. Now, some of you
have unsaved parents. You say, "Should I obey them?" Yeah, you are to obey
them. You say, "What if they tell me to do something that's against the word
of God?" Well, that's something different; but that isn't gonna come up one
time out of a thousand.

     J. Edgar Hoover published a little thing one time written by a sheriff in
Texas, How to Raise a Juvenile Delinquent In Your Family. He said do it this
way: "Begin with infancy to give the child everything he wants. This will
ensure his believing that the world owes him a living. Number two, when he
picks up obscene words, laugh at him. Soon he'll acquire a vocabulary that'll
blow the top off your head. Pick up everything he leaves lying around; this'll
teach him he can always throw responsibility off on others. Take his part
against neighbors, teachers, policemen--they're all prejudiced against your
child. Your child is never wrong, you know. Finally, prepare yourself for a
lifetime of grief, brother, because you're gonna get it. You're gonna get it."

     You can't always take his part. Sometimes you can take his side against
some things. And I don't ever take the side of my children against the deal,
until I have examined both sides and know what's on both sides real carefully.
And I must confess, about seven times out of ten, my children are on the wrong
side. They're on the wrong side.

     I've had 'em come home and say, "Well, this teacher does this. This
teacher persecutes me," or discrimination. I mean, everybody's using it these
things. And he comes home, you know, and says, "This, and this, and this, and
this, and this, and this, and this," you know. And go and meet the teacher,
and I sit down with him, and I say, "Now what about this? What about this
paper? And let me see this paper. And what about this paper? And what this
assignment? And how come he got this? And how come he got that?" And that
teacher drags out that stuff.

     And the kid messed up. He messed up. He didn't copy down off the board,
he didn't do the homework, he got the assignment wrong, he forgot to bring the
book, he tried to do the work in ten minutes instead of twenty minutes.

     You'd be surprised how many times our children are wrong! I don't know
why think we raised a generation of sinless people, but, brother, we're not
doing it.

     All right, now lost parents say, "Well, do this, and do that, and do the
other thing." But if they tell you to do something against the commandment of
God, you're not obligated to obey. But you be careful you know what the
commandments of God are! I don't guess it's any more discouraging to a kid
than have Mother and Daddy run up by church, and drop it off outside, and pick
it up later, or tell it to walk home. And hundreds of parents do that.
Hundreds of parents these days, Sunday school time, just shove them on a bus
and say, "Bye bye!" and let 'em go on.

     They conducted a poll one time up in Chicago, and they took five teen-age
girls, and asked them what they thought about parents who dumped the kids off
at Sunday School or church. And the answers they got summed up into these
statements. Five of them, put together, said: "When a kid gets older, he'll
figure, 'My parents didn't go. You have to go to church only to a certain age.
So when you're an adult, you can stop and let your kids go.' If they expect
their children to be churchgoers, they ought to go themselves." That's the
opinion of the teenagers on the subject.

     I grant you that sometimes our parents--and my parents were unsaved
people--weren't a very good example. But they often gave good advice.

     You say, "Well, they didn't explain it to me." I know that. And you say,
"Well, they didn't live it before me." I know that. But, still, I bet you they
gave you good advice.

     And part of your honoring your father and your mother is not merely to
obey the commandments, but to heed their advice. You don't find many parents
give the kids bad advice. You find a few of them. I know some of you kids, if
you drank like your mothers and daddies did, you'd be in jail. And if some of
you kids cussed like your mothers and fathers do, your conversation wouldn't
be fit to listen to. I know that. I know that. You can't follow the example
all the time. You can follow the advice. You can honor them, see? And maybe,
when you grow up, you won't do any better. As a matter of fact, maybe when you
grow up, you'll do worse. I know a kid who just couldn't wait to be a mama or
a daddy. "My mama this," "My daddy this," "My mama this," and they grow up--
and you talk about a mess, boy, they really perform one.

     But you can't follow all of them all the way. Some of you kids have
fathers that curse and use foul language. Well, you can honor your mother and
father, but you can't honor their language.

     I saw a cartoon one time with a little girl sitting at a window, looking
out across the streets in the winter time. She's laughing. And her mother was
asking what she was laughing at, and she said, "Daddy's out here, sitting on
the sidewalk, talking to a banana peel." Well, you know what he's saying! You
know what he's saying. You can't copy all that.

     All right, now next. To honor your father and mother means to treat them
with respect. There ought to be politeness. Politeness. This business about
"Huh!" to Mama. "Huh!" to Daddy. You listen to, "Huh? Huh? Huh?" that
business. It's sir, kid! And it's ma'am! Now, maybe up North, they don't say
sir, ma'am, but down here we do.

     It isn't "Huh?" and "Yeah!" and "What do you want!" You know, it's "Sir,"
brother, and "Ma'am." If you don't know how to say "Sir" now, we'll pray the
draft will git ya! You get into the "draft," brother, and they'll teach you to
say "Sir!"

     You ought to treat them with respect. Now, you can't expect your little
ol' tiny children, they're going to make a mess of things. I mean, probably
every mother and daddy had kids who threw food in their face. That isn't
exactly with respect, you know. Like a fellow said, if you want to make a
tossed salad, give vegetables to a twelve-month-old. You get a tossed salad;
it'll be tossed all over the room.

     But when they get older, there ought to be some respect about it. There
ought to be some civility to it, you know, and not "Huh!" and "What!" and just
talk back and backtalk, and backtalk, everytime you say something, you know,
"Hmmmm," "hmmmm," "hmmmm", "hmmmm," or something, under your breath. Ever have
them do that? Tell 'em something, and as they're going out of the room,
"Hmmmm," "hmmmm," "hmmmm," "hmmmm," you know...

     "Hey! Come back here! Something you wanted to say? Let's hear it. What
you got to say? I want to hear it too. Just don't talk to yourself--you're
liable to go crazy."

     All right, you're supposed to respect them.  I got a hold of here, a real
good thing, one time. This is a letter; I don't have it here; it's gone. Well,
if the preacher can't preach without his notes, he's in pretty rough shape.
Here it is, right here! But anyway, this thing here was a bill that a boy left
to his mother. He did a job for her, you know. And then he sent her a bill and
said, "Total that Mother owes Harry, three dollars." And so the next day she
paid him. And when she left him his three one-dollar bills, she put a note on
it, and it said, "Food for Harry, ten years: Zero. For toy skates and bicycle:
Zero. For clothing at home ten years: Zero. For dishwashing, cooking, and
ironing, ten years: Zero. For nursing Harry during pneumonia, Zero. Total
Harry owes Mother: Nothing."

     Now, that would disturb you, wouldn't it, man? That would kind of upset
you. Respect.

     Now, as I said before, Oriental people have much better sense of it than
American people do. I have at home the letters of Kamikazi divers; they wrote
home before they took their one-way trip. And there wasn't a letter--I've got
about 18 letters--and in those 18 letters, there isn't one letter that fails
to mention love for mother and father and reverence owed to them and
obligation to them. There isn't a one of them.

     Most of those letters will say, "Dear Mother, I want to thank you so much
for being such a wonderful mother to me. And I realize that I have not treated
you with the respect I should, and I hope you'll accept this honorable
person's love and token for your high esteem, and so forth, and so on."
Ichikowa, Yamasuacha, or something, down there at the bottom of that thing.

     Eighteen whole letters! One of them begins: "Dear Father, I go to my
death with the only regret that I have not called you"--and then the loving
name for father--I forget what they call that--but the name of endearment for
father. Instead of calling him just "Father," they call him by a term that's
just a little bit closer. Then he talks about, "For all you've done for me. No
boy had a more wonderful mother or father than you. And so forth and so on. I
go to my death, like cherry blossoms falling, radiant in the spring," brother.
Down the side of that old destroyer, cruiser, aircraft carrier, boy, in a
thousand pieces.

     You know, I never read many letters like that from American G.I.s. I've
read some letters that were censored, and I've read some letters that were
uncensored. But there weren't very many that began like that, and had that
thing in them, you know, about, "I realize how much I owe you, and how
worthless I've been, and how I've not returned your affection," and so forth
and so on. Japanese letters are full of them. They're full of them. Sometimes
you wonder if America is civilized or not.

     All right, last of all. You ought to provide for them in their old age.
Christ said one time to the Pharisees of his day, "You people go around
talking about 'Honor your father and your mother,' but," he said, "when you
talk about honoring your mother and your father, you take money that should be
saved up to take care of them, and you dedicate it to the treasury, and after
Mama and Daddy are dead, you go down and take it out of the treasury, and keep
it for yourself. And you make the word of God of none effect by your
tradition. And many like things do ye."

     Did you know there's not one commandment in the Bible for a father to
love a child, or a mother to love a child? Doesn't that strike you as rather
strange? There isn't one commandment in the Bible for children to love their
parents. Do you know why? It's taken for granted they should! He says in 2
Timothy, he says, "In the last days, they're gonna be without natural
affection, disobedient to parents," and yet not one time did he ever say,
"Boys, and girls, love your mother." Not once did he say, "Boys and girls,
love your father." Not once did he say, "Mothers, love your children." Not
once did he say, "Fathers, love your sons." It's taken for granted that if
you're a normal person, you'll love them. You'll love them. And if you do,
you'll care for them.

     Did you know that even wild animals have better sense about raising
children than people do? I mean, all these animals, these wild animals out in
the country, they give their kids instruction and discipline them and deal
with them, and if they don't do what they're told, they get in trouble. I
mean, any animal--wild turkeys and mice and elephants and caribou and
rhinocerise--I never could get those plurals--rhinocerooses, rhinocereeses--
you know, the American language is the most confounded thing in the world
sometimes! You know, they see that the plural of "mouse" is "meece." No, the
plural of "mouse" is "mice." But the plural of "goose" is "geese." Did you
ever figure that thing out?

     Let me just show you what I mean for a minute. If the plural of "mouse"
is "mice," what's the plural of "house"? Well, "hice." See? There are a bunch
of hice down the street, you know. They're spelled the same way: "mouse,"
"house." "Mice," "hice." But the guy says, "Houses." Isn't that stupid?

     Look at this here: "Goose" and "geese." Why not "gooses" instead of
"geese." And the guy has got "goose" and "geese," but when he says "moose," he
doesn't say "meese!" You know, you don't go up north to shoot "meese."

     And folks, you know, they say, it's a "man," and it's "men." Isn't that
stupid? Why not "mans"? Or "manses"? What's the plural of "pan"? It isn't
"pen"! When you say, "man," "men," "pan," "pen." Isn't that stupid?

     Well, anyway--rhinoceruses, and hippopotamuses. All those animals, they
train their offspring, and they make 'em obey, and authorities on this have
said this: "When I see a wild turkey family, I am impressed by the
unquestioned absolute obedience that the little ones accord their mother
instantly. Water fowl, nesting in vast lockeries protected by water where a
few enemies may come, are loud, quarrelsome, and thorough exhibitionists, like
many of today's children. When those were youngsters, their mothers taught
them the best routine of life, and they had the sense to obey. If they didn't,
they wouldn't have been here long. They never questioned, they never argue--
they do what they are told, and they do it in a hurry."

     And you'll find that true of any wild animal in the world. Wild mothers
know it is no favor to their children to spoil them; bad little bears get
bashed when they sin. When that bear cub doesn't do what it's told, the old
man goes "Plock!" you know, and that kid goes across the floor about fifteen
feet. And he learns! Fawns are taught from birth to hate certain scents, and
pass up certain up certain kinds of greenery. You know what that deer does,
when that deer's coming up? That deer is taught, "Now, honey, don't you eat
this. And don't you go by one of these things here. And don't you take a bite
out of this. And don't you walk in this place when you go through the forest,"
see? And the deer obeys!

     And you tell the child, "Now, don't do this, and don't do that!" And the
kid says, "Well, so and so has done it!" You know, the animals have got more
sense than some of you kids have got. You ought to heed their advice.

     Did you know sometimes the advice of a mother or father is life or death?
Now, folks think I'm an alarmist, you know. I'm an alarmist, because I always
give the other side, you know. And, yet, I often think sometimes, standing
here, the day is going to come in America, when you are going to be with your
family somewhere, and you're going to tell your family to do something, and if
they don't do it, in five minutes they're going to be dead, or in the
hospital. And that isn't an alarmist, see? That's somebody who keeps up with
what's going on.

     And there's going to be a time in a hurricane or a tornado, or a
revolution or a civil war, or a race war, or something else, when the life of
your family is going to depend on that family doing what it's told, just like
that, without even looking back to see what you said. The life of wild animals
often depends on those things.

     Let me tell you, brother, when you get under fire, and the fellow says
"Down!" you get down! The guy says, "Hit the dirt!" you know, and you say,
"Well, I never saw such a narrow-minded, bigoted, opinion--who does that
fellow think he is? That dogmatic demogogue!" Why, PEEEEWWWWWWWW, that's all
to you brother!

     I think of a case that happened down here in Panama City, where two boys
went out in the bayou one day, and they were back there behind Panama City,
off to the west of it a ways, that wild country, a lot of wild boars back in
there. And there was a man back through there, a certain kind of man, you get
more and more of 'em every day. And he went along the bayou back there by the
hallows looking for some little boys, and there were three little boys out
there playing by a boat. And that fellow came by there, and he got in that
boat, and he said, "Come on, boys, get in the boat, and I'll take you for a
ride." The boys were about six, seven, eight, nine--along in there.

     And they started to get in the boat. And one boy's mother, about 100
yards away in a house, was on the back porch. And she yelled out across there,
and she said, "Jimmy! Don't you get in that boat with that man!" And the
mother up in the other place turned around and yelled the same thing. "Don't
get in the boat, boys," and went on with her work.

     And one of those boys turned around and went back to his mother, 100
yards away, and the other two got in the boat. And that fellow took 'em out
there in the bay, in the bayou, back there, and did things you couldn't speak
about anywhere. And then took those boys and strangled them, and hit 'em on
the head with the paddle, and then threw them over the boat and drowned 'em.
And when he came back and landed that boat, and tried to cut off through the
woods there to get away from the main part of town, the sheriff pinned 'em
back there with a posse; they all had the word out on 'em. And they met him;
he still had the blood on his clothes. Blood in the boat. And they took that
fellow and put him in jail down there in Panama City; they had to get him out
of that county to keep from getting lynched.

     And, you know, they said for weeks after that happened, the father of
those two boys would go out by the back of the yard there, in back of his
house, and stand by the bayou, and call for those boys out there, you know:
"Bobby! Sammy! Supper's ready! Bobby! Are you coming? Sammy? Bobby?" Weeks.
Weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks.

     You know something? You know what the difference between those two
families was? One of those kids was taught, when Mama and Daddy said "JUMP!"
you said, "Which way and how far?" And the other one was taught, when that
mama and daddy said "Jump!" you say, "Well, that's your opinion. But my
teacher in school taught me I need to make up my own mind about those things.
So I'll give it due consideration to my mature mind. And when I come to a
peaceable agreement, I'll let you know about it!" That's right! That's right!

     And you know something? That thing, some of these days, that thing will
be a matter of life and death.

     I close with this poem:

     Years ago 

     When I was just a little lad,

     And afterschool hours used to work

     Around the farm with dad,

     I used to be so worn out

     When eventide was come,

     I got kind of anxious

     Like about the journey home.

     But daddy used to lead the way

     And once in a while he'd turn around and say,

     So cheery like, so tender,

     "Come! Come on, son!

     You're nearly home!"

     That always used to help me some,

     And so I followed Father home.

     I'm old and gray and feeble now,

     And trembling at the knee,

     But life seems just the same today

     As when it seemed to me,

     For while I'm still so wearied out,

     When eventide is come,

     And still get kinda anxious like

     About the journey home,

     Still my Father leads the way,

     And once in a while I hear Him say,

     So cheery like and so tender,

     "Come! Come on, son! You're nearly home."

     And, same as then,

     That helps me some.

     And so I'm following Father home.

     You're taught to honor your father and your mother so you'd honor God.
You're taught to obey your father and mother, so you'd obey God. And where a
boy or girl will do one, he'll usually do the other. An exception proves the
rule.

     All right, let's stand for prayer.

     Now, Father, bless the message this morning. Bless these that have heard
out across the highways and byways. And, Father, speak to our congregation
here this morning, about this matters. Fathers and mothers, boys and girls,
lay these words on their heart. And may they by the grace of God, obey them
and be saved from many an agony and tribulation and trouble in life.

     While heads are bowed and eyes are closed, musicians are playing, I want
to know this here this morning. How many of you boys and girls, under 25,
you're under 25 years old, you're saved and you know you're saved--would you
raise your hand? You're saved, and you know you're saved?

     All right, thank you. Put 'em down. While we're still in prayer, how many
of you youngsters, you're under 25, you'll raise your hand and say, "Preacher,
as far as I know, I've never been saved. Far as I know, I'm lost. My mother
and daddy aren't Christians. I'm not a Christian. Pray for me." Would you
raise your hand? Any young person under 25. Would you raise the hand? "Pray
for me. I'm not saved. I'm not a Christian. My mother and daddy aren't either.
Pray for me."

     All right, maybe your mother and father are saved. Would you raise the
hand and say, "Preacher, I'm not saved, but my mommy and daddy are Christians.
I know they're saved. I know I'm not. Pray for me." Would you raise the hand?
All these young people saved here this morning? You all ready to meet God?

     All right, before we close, how many young people would raise your hand,
with nobody looking around, just between you and the Lord, let me see your
interest, your response to my message, you'd raise your hand and say,
"Preacher, I'm saved. I'm a child of God. But I know I haven't obeyed my
father, or I haven't obeyed my mother like I should. And I'm sorry for my sin.
I'm guilty. By the grace of God, I'm going to try to do better in the future."
Would you raise the hand? Would you hold your hand up? All right, thank you,
put 'em down.

     We'll continue in prayer this morning. Without an invitation, I'm going
to ask Brother Harry Mon if he'd dismiss us in prayer.



