the Decalogue to have a promise at all. The Apostle quoted the whole of Exod. 20: 12

which includes the promise which obtained at that particular time, "that thy days may be

long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee". Not that this promise is

necessarily brought over into this dispensation, for we are not Israelites, nor in the land of

Canaan which the Lord gave to Abraham and his descendants; but its importance in

God's sight is stressed by this added promise when the law was given to Israel.

Eph. 6: 1 states that such obedience and honouring of parents is right, and Col. 3: 20

that it is "well-pleasing to the Lord". The Word of God, however, is not one-sided.

Parents have their Christian duty and responsibility to their children. They are warned

not to provoke their children to wrath (4) and Col. 3: 21 adds "lest they be discouraged".

Many a child has failed to respond to the Truth by unreasonableness and unwise and

unsympathetic handling on the part of the parents. Such parents do not deserve their

children's obedience. Christian parents will need all the wisdom, patience and tact that it

is possible to have, so that in these dark and perilous days their family may be brought up

in the discipline (chastening) and instruction (admonition) of the Lord. The absolute

need for such discipline is made clear in Heb. 12: 5-11.  This, though sometimes

unpleasant, is a mark of love not displeasure (Heb. 12: 6). The wise parent will not

hesitate to administer such chastening (not to be confused with the word "chastisement"),

realizing full well that if this is not done the child is being prepared to be ensnared by the

delinquency of these and the darkening future days.

Lastly, Paul deals with slave and masters; and slaves were exhorted to obey their

masters, even though they were not believers. Such a situation would be difficult indeed,

but such slaves or servants of any kind, were given special Divine encouragement.

They were asked to do their work as though the Lord had requested them to do it, which

would put quite a different light on the situation (5). They, like the Apostle himself, were

bond-slaves of Christ, hence they were not to be clock-watchers and put on a show of

working hard just when the earthly master was watching. This would be `eye-service'

and would bring the truth into disrepute. They were to serve with Christ in view as the

final arbiter and rewarder of their work (8). Equally masters were to do the same things

to their servants without threatening or bullying, remembering that they themselves were

but servants, and their Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom they would finally have to

give account.

If only such wise relationships were possible today in the commercial world! Very

few problems, if any, would arise, and the turmoil and strikes that we see all around us

would be non-existent. But we know that unregenerate man will not learn these lessons

in this age. This awaits the coming age with its peace and righteousness.