A Practical Charge to Parents and Children, Part 5

If you have your Bible, turn with me to the book of Deuteronomy, the sixth chapter. If you haven't been with us over the last few weeks, we've been looking at some of the practical charges to parents and their children from the Scriptures. I thought that I'd finish this this week, but I'm not going to be able to do that. So, it'll go into July at least for one more week, who knows, maybe even two more weeks. But I think it's imperative that we understand what the Scriptures say. As you're turning there, I want to read an excerpt from John MacArthur's newest book, The War on Children.

I told you a couple of weeks ago, it is a must read. If you don't have that book in your library, you need to purchase it today. It's called The War on Children. He talks about how the government and the school system is trying to infiltrate the family and take control of your children. And in chapter one, I believe it is, he talks this way. He says, Christian parents cannot simply float passively along with the drift of our culture. We need to renew our commitment to wise, careful, attentive, biblical parenting.

If you are a parent, you need to recognize that your children are not exempt from the ongoing efforts to commandeer their worldview and alienate them from biblical principles. Above all, realize that this is war. It is, of course, not literally armed combat. It is even more serious than that. It is a dangerous ideological conflict with eternity at stake. The enemy's aim is to capture your children's hearts and put them in permanent bondage by enslaving them to a sinfully corrupt worldview, a godless, amoral belief system.

Your responsibility as parents is to keep them free from that bondage. You must do that by taking control of what they are taught. Teach them God's word, train them in righteousness, model righteousness for them, participate in every aspect of their lives, give them wise, biblically-based guidance, and above all, give them your extravagant love. You cannot isolate your children enough to make sure they are untouched by the world's assaults, but you can shield them from many of the worst influences they will encounter.

He is so right, and we can shield them. We can protect them, and we should. But, you know, every culture is the same. Ours is not any different than what Moses said 3,500 years ago when he wrote the book of Deuteronomy. As the nation of Israel began to embark on a pagan polytheistic nations, and they were a monotheistic nation, they had to realize that they were going to be inundated with all of the pagan culture in the land of Canaan. So Moses' job was to prepare them as they entered, to make sure that the nation understood their responsibility before the living God, that they would somehow be successful, that they would be able to survive in a pagan culture, that they would be able to live for the glory of God, that they would be the nation God wants them to be.

And so he methodically, systematically, and most importantly, under divine inspiration, prepared them as they embarked on the promised land. And as he did, he told them that there were four main things that need to happen. You must hear, love, teach, and worship God. And we told you that there needs to be an attention to the God of truth, that's hearing. There needs to be an affection for the God of truth, that's loving. There needs to be an articulation of the God of truth, that's teaching. And there needs to be an adoration of the God of truth, that's worship.

So in Deuteronomy chapter 6, Moses prepares them with the essential elements, the principles that will allow them to, as he says in verses 24 and 25 of Deuteronomy 6, to survive. To be successful. To understand that they're able to stand strong in a pagan culture. Because they need to be able to do that. And so we've talked to you about the first point, attention to the truth.

That was last week and the week before that. Because Israel didn't pay attention to the truth. Deuteronomy 6 verse 4, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one. Are you listening about who your God is? Do you understand who your God is? And all throughout the book of Deuteronomy, all throughout the book of Jeremiah, all throughout the book of Isaiah, it was all about listening, hearing, and responding to what God says.

But Israel refused to listen. They hardened their hearts and would not respond to the voice of the living God. But everything begins with how you hear and listen to the truth. You need to be able to listen quickly and quietly. Listen repeatedly and openly. Make sure that we listen wholeheartedly, not half-heartedly. That we listen intensely. Because everything that God says is true and is of utmost importance.

And if you're not a good listener, if you're not a good hearer of the word, you will not be a good lover of the Lord. And that's point number 2. So, there's an attention to the God of truth. That's, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one. And then number 2, there is an affection for the God of truth. And that is found in Deuteronomy 6 verse number 5, when he says, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. Now those are not unfamiliar words to us.

We've heard them over and over and over again. And if you're a Jew, you're going to quote this every day. Because it's the great Shema that they put in those phylacteries around their wrists and around their head to make sure that they understand the law of God. That they are to love the Lord their God. But we understand this verse, we've heard it over and over again. In fact, if you go back to Mark chapter 12, you will realize that the very last question asked of our Lord during his earthly ministry by the religious establishment centered on this question.

It's Wednesday of Passion Week. They are bombarding Christ with questions. He is answering those questions right and left as only he can answer them. And so, he gets asked one last question. And this is it. Mark 12, verse number 28. One of the scribes came and heard them arguing and recognizing that he had answered them well, asked him, What commandment is the foremost of all? Jesus answered, The foremost is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.

The second is this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. The scribes said to him, Write, teacher, you have truly stated that he is one, and there is no one else besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as himself is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. When Jesus saw they had answered intelligently, he said to him, You are not far from the kingdom of God.

After that, no one would venture to ask him any more questions. Because that's it. That's the ultimate question. What is the foremost commandment? And the scribe knew it well. He understood it. And commends Jesus for answering it correctly. And Jesus says to him, You know what, you are not far from the kingdom of God.

Now what does that mean? Either you're in the kingdom or you're not in the kingdom. He says that because Jesus is the king. He's the one coming to preach about the kingdom. But Jesus is also, in John 10 verse number 9, the door to the kingdom. And the scribe is standing right in front of the door. You're not far from the kingdom. In John 14, Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes unto the Father but by me. To get to the Father, you've got to come through me. You've got to come through the door.

Because I'm the door of the sheep. You're not far from the kingdom because you're standing right at the door. You're on the verge of intelligently answering the question. But there's more to it than that. Are you willing to enter and follow me? And obey me? You see, you're right at the doorstep of the kingdom because Christ is the only way into the kingdom. And yet he was unwilling to love the Lord with all of his heart because if you love the Lord, what do you do? You obey the Lord. Right? You do what he says.

You can't say you love him and don't obey him. Christ made that very clear in the 14th chapter of John. He says in verse number 21, He who has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will disclose myself to him. Verse 23, Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him. He who does not love me does not keep my words, and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me.

In other words, if you love me, you'll obey me. Are you as a scribe willing to obey me as the Lord of the universe, that I am the God of the universe, that I am the God who spoke to Moses from the burning bush? Are you willing to follow me and serve me without question? That's the bottom line. In other words, he says, Do you love me enough to obey me? Because those in my kingdom who have gone through the door love me enough to obey me. See, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 16, verse number 22, If you don't love the Lord, you're accursed.

That's important. You see, but we find ourselves having our affection stolen by other things. That's why in Ephesians chapter 2, the church of Ephesus, they lost their first love.

And the church of Ephesus was a great church. They were founded by the apostle Paul. They were passionate by young Timothy. And Paul warned them that savage wolves would come in and try to distort the gospel and turn people away from the Lord. And the church of Ephesus was a strong church. But everything became mechanical. Everything became in such a way that it was not from an intimate kind of relationship with the Lord. It was just the things that they did became rote, became routine. And Christ condemned them because they had lost their first love.

So they needed to remember from where they had fallen, repeat their first deeds, right? And repent from their sins. It's so easy to lose our affection from the Lord. And most of us would say, Hey, you know what? I love the Lord. And the question always comes back, Do you really love the Lord? I mean, that was the conversation that Jesus had with Peter in John 21. Remember that? Peter, do you love me? Of course I love you, Lord. Feed my sheep. And this happened shortly after breakfast. And they were sitting there on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

And Christ said in His resurrected body, that glorified body, would sit and eat with Peter. And He says, Peter, do you really love me? And Peter says, Lord, you know I love you. Then tend to my lambs. Tend to my lambs, Peter. And maybe they were just sitting there by the side of the sea and just wondering what was going to happen next. And there was silence. I don't know. Because Christ asked him, Peter, do you love me more than these? These are the disciples, your fishing occupation, whatever these is.

Do you love me more than anything else and anyone else? And Peter said, you know, Lord, I sure do like you a lot. I really do. And Christ, for the third time, asked him, Peter, do you really like me a lot?

He questioned the love that Peter thought he could get away with. And Peter became angry and disturbed. Lord, you know I love you. And He says, feed my sheep. Then He talks to Peter about following Him, even to His death. See, if Peter, who was with the Lord for three years, the leader of the disciples, the man who was a spokesperson for the disciples, if he had his love questioned by the Lord, I'm sure that our love would be questioned by the Lord. Just think about it. Do you really truly love the Lord?

Peter, I mean, yeah, Paul, I'm sorry, not Peter, Paul. Paul in Philippians 1-9 would say these words as he prayed for the church of Philippi. In this I pray that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so you may reprove the things that are excellent in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ. Heaven filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through the Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. Paul says, I want your love to abound yet more and more in real knowledge and in real discernment.

I want you to know your God, understand your God, discern your God, so much so that you love Him abundantly. Why? Because the essence of our relationship with the Lord centers around our love for the Lord. So here is Moses telling the nation of Israel, he says, listen very carefully. You need to hear of Israel that the Lord our God is one. You need to give all your attention to the truth of the living God. You need to listen to all that he has to say. And then you need to give all of your affection to the living God because you're about to embark on a pagan land that's going to rival your affection for the living God.

And they're going to want to steal your affection. They're going to steal your passion. And you can't let that happen. So you need to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your soul, all of your mind, all of your strength. He repeats the word all over and over again because he doesn't want them to be partially in love with the Lord. He wants them wholeheartedly in love with the Lord. He wants them completely in love with the Lord. He wants them totally in love with the Lord because if not, their affection will be turned away from the Lord.

And the warning for that is that you will forget the Lord your God. And guess what? They did. They did. They end up turning away from the Lord because they got so involved in the pagan culture. You know, parents, we had this huge responsibility to love the Lord and teach our children how to love and admire the Lord. That's so incredibly important. Listen to what Thomas Vincent, one of the great Puritan preachers and writers said 300 years ago. So 300 years ago, there wasn't all the things rivaling people's affection like today.

The easy access that we have to everything around us. This was written 300 years ago. He says, Even in true Christians unto Jesus Christ. Is it not evident that you have but little love to Christ when he is but little in your thoughts and meditations? You can think often of your food, but how little do your thoughts feed upon Christ, who is the bread of life? You can often think of your raiment, but how little do you think of the robes of Christ's righteousness? You can think often of your earthly friends, but how little do you think of Jesus Christ, your friend in heaven?

Moreover, does it not argue little love to Christ that you speak so little of him and for him in your conversion one with another? If you had much love to Christ, would not this love breathe forth more in your discourses? You can readily discourse of news and public occurrences, but when you leave Christ quite out of your discourse, it shows that you have not an abundance of love to him, because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth shall speak of their riches. Such as have much love to pleasure will be often speaking of that subject.

Such as love their friends, much will be often speaking and commending them when they are in company. And when you speak but little of Christ, it is a sign that you love him but little. That's just so good. So right, so true. How many times do you speak, talk to someone about Thursday night's debate? Right? Did you see the debate? Did you talk to somebody about it? In your family, in your friends. And we can easily converse about all the political surroundings, but we forget about the essence of the God who controls all the politics around us.

We spend more time talking about who's going to be the next president, and who should be the next president, more than the God who controls the presidents and vice presidents and prime ministers and kings and princesses in our country. It shows that we have but little love for the Christ, because we speak so little of the Christ. So let me ask you a question.

Do you love Christ with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength? Because you see, you're going to pass that down to your children. Because in the very next verse, he says, you need to have all these things. He says it this way. Let me read it to you so that you can get it right.

He says, These words which I am commanding you today shall be on your heart. These shall be on your heart. In other words, you can't teach them to your children unless they are embedded in your heart. And that is because you love me with all of your heart, all of your strength, all of your mind. There's intimacy there. There's intensity there. But yet, we don't seem to be that intense in our love relationship with the Lord of the universe. And we should be. But yet, our affection seems to be stolen so quickly.

So if I was to ask you, do you love the Lord? You'd probably say, yeah, I love the Lord. Peter did. Lord, you know I love you. Of course I do. Even though I denied you, I love you. Even though I ran away and forsook you, I love you. Even though I was arrogant, I do love you. And Peter did love the Lord. He really did. But yet, yet there was that aspect of his life that he couldn't say, I am sold out until the Spirit of God came, developed his life, and read the book of Acts, and there was a man who truly loved the Lord because he gave all for the Lord.

So let me give you a quiz so that you can examine your life in light of the Word of God to know whether or not you love the Lord.

Okay? Number one, you know you love the Lord when you meditate daily on the law of God. That's pretty simple, isn't it? You know you love the Lord when you meditate daily on the law of God. What does it say in Psalm 97? Psalm 119, verse number 97. Oh, how I love your law. It is my meditation all the day. Is that you? Do you meditate daily on the law of God? He goes on to say earlier in Psalm 119, these words, he says, I shall delight in your commandments which I love, and I shall lift up my hands to your commandments which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes.

Verse 127, he says, I love your commandments above gold, yes, above fine gold. He says in verse number 163, I hate and despise falsehood, but I love your law. Seven times a day I praise you because of your righteous ordinances. Those who love your law have great peace and nothing causes them to stumble. If you love the law of God, you have great peace. You don't have just peace. You got great peace. If you don't have great peace today, you don't love the law of God. I don't care what anybody says.

I'm just gonna quote what the Bible says. Those who love the law of God have great peace. Why? Because they are in love with the God of peace who controls their lives, who takes care of all their anxiety, all their worries, all their concerns, and lets them live in peace and tranquility because they trust in a sovereign God who rules over all. Someone said, oh, how I love your law. It's my meditation all the day. Wow. If you love the law of God, if you meditate daily on the law of God, that's one aspect of saying, yes, Lord, I love you.

But how about this one? Those who love the Lord God, they hate fully what God hates. You hate fully what God hates. Right? Psalm 97, verse number 10. Hate evil you who love the Lord. Do you hate evil? Or do you like to dabble in evil? Like to dabble in sinful things? Or do you hate evil? See, this is a good exam. Because we find ourselves not hating those things that we should be hating. The Bible says, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.

The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. Why? Because they're not of God. They're of the world. And the world's passing away and the lust they're of. But he who does the will of God abides forever. There's a love God hates. God hates it when you love the world. Because he doesn't want you loving the world. He wants you loving him. He wants all of your affection. He wants all of you. And he can't have it unless you are meditating daily on the law of God and hate fully the things that God hates.

Number three. How do you know you love the Lord? You imitate authentically the character of Christ. You imitate authentically, you imitate genuinely, you imitate sincerely the character of Christ. Ephesians chapter 5, verses 1 and 2. Paul says, Be ye imitators of God and walk in love. In other words, you need to walk as Christ walked. 1 John 2, 6. If you say that you abide in him, then you ought to walk even as Christ himself walked. Well, he walked in love. Do you walk in love? And so you find yourself asking this question, Do I imitate authentically the character of Christ?

Look at Ephesians 4, verse number 32. What does he say? We are to be forgiving of one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us. Listen.

The essential element of your love for God is that you are so willing to forgive those who have offended you. If you're not willing to forgive those who have offended you, you do not love God. You love yourself. You love. That's why you don't forgive. You love yourself, but you don't love God as you think you love him. Because those who love God want to forgive as God forgave. Want to love as God loved. Want to be as merciful as God is merciful. Want to be as kind as God is kind. They want to imitate authentically the character of Christ.

They want to walk in love as Christ walked in love because God is love. So, if you were to take an exam and say, do I love the Lord God with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength? I got to ask myself, do I meditate daily upon the law of God? Do I eat fully the things that God hates? Do I imitate authentically the character of Christ? But there's more. Number four. Do I demonstrate freely my obedience to Christ? Do I demonstrate freely my obedience to Christ? We read it earlier in John chapter 14, verse number 15 and verse number 23.

But we are to be the kind of people that obey the Lord. We obey his commandments. Why? Because we love him. And so we're going to demonstrate freely our obedience to Christ because 1 John 5, verse 3 says, those commands are not burdensome. So Christ says, if you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Well, I'm going to demonstrate that freely to the Lord. I'm going to obey him. I'm going to do what he says. That means I'm not going to sit back and question him or debate with him or argue with him. I'm going to say, yes, Lord, you said it. I'm going to obey because I love you so much. In fact, my love for you pales in comparison for your love for me. So I'm going to demonstrate freely my obedience to you because I want to honor your name. But there's more. Those who love the Lord anticipate longingly the coming of the Lord.

If you love the Lord, you anticipate his coming again. You long for his coming again. 2 Timothy 4, verse 3, Paul talks about the fact that there's a crown of righteousness awaiting all those who love his appearing. Listen, if you're sitting here today and you're not longing for the return of Christ, if you're not anticipating his coming again, there's a question about your love and the depth of your love for the Christ. Because you're loving what's going to happen tomorrow more than you are loving Christ coming before tomorrow.

You're loving wanting to get married before the bridegroom actually comes and takes the bride home. See? And so you're anticipating longingly the coming of Christ. That's how you know you love him. You want to see him. You want to be with him. You want to know that when you see him, you'll be like him because you see him just as he is. But how about this? Those who love the Lord Elevate consistently prayer for the peace of Jerusalem. Psalm 122, verse number 6. When was the last time you prayed for the peace of Jerusalem?

Because if you love the Lord, that's what you're going to do. And not just when they're in conflict with Hamas and Hezbollah, but all throughout their existence. We should be praying for the peace of Jerusalem because in so doing, you are praying for God's kingdom to come to earth. In so doing, you are praying that the Prince of Peace will come and rule in the city of peace, Jerusalem, over his people, Israel. So in essence, you are not just anticipating longingly the coming of Christ, you are praying consistently for the peace of Jerusalem because you know that when he comes again, there will be peace.

There will be no peace in the Middle East until Jesus comes again. There will be a semblance of a truce. There will be a ceasefire. There will be accords signed. And when Antichrist comes, there will be a semblance of peace because he will be the semblance of a man of peace, but it's not true peace because he really is against Israel. So true peace won't come until the Messiah reigns. So you pray for the peace of Jerusalem. How do you know you love the Lord? You elevate consistently prayer for the peace of Jerusalem.

You do. That's what it says. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, all you who love the Lord. So if you love the Lord, that's what you do. If you love the Lord, you obey what he says. If you love the Lord, you imitate his character. If you love the Lord, you hate what he hates. If you love the Lord, you just can't wait to meditate on the law of God daily. Why? Because the law of God tells us about the Lord our God. We want to know him. And lastly, those who love the Lord consecrate wholly their lives to following the Lord.

That's what happened with Peter. In John 21, after Christ questioned him about the love that Peter thought he could get away with. Christ says in verse 18 of John 21, Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished.

But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you and bring you where you do not want to go. Now this, he said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he said to him, follow me. Here it is, Peter. You say you love me? You say you're sold out to me? You want to convince me you love me? Peter, you follow me to the point of death. Because you've done what you wanted to do. There's coming a time when someone else is going to stretch out your hands.

You're going to be crucified. You're going to die on my behalf, Peter. So get in line and follow me. If you love me, consecrate your entire life wholly to following me, no matter how bad it's going to get. Because it's going to get bad. Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following him. The one who had also leaned back on his bosom at the supper and said, Lord, who is the one who betrays you? So Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, Lord, what about this man? What about John? Is John going to be commissioned to follow you to his death?

Are you going to tell him the same thing you told me? It's like when you sit in church and you hear the sermon and you say, what about that family? Are they listening? What about my husband? Is he following? What about my children? But see, Jesus wasn't addressing anyone but Peter. He wasn't addressing John. And when you hear the sermon, the sermon is not for your mate or for your children or for another family. That sermon is for you. It's specifically ordained for you. But when you start thinking, what about this person?

What about that family? What you've done is you've made an excuse as to why you won't follow the Lord fully. And the Lord says to Peter these words, If I want to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me. Peter, listen.

Who cares what I'm going to do with John? That's not your concern. The concern is you, Peter. You follow me. You say you love me? Follow me to your death. Follow me unreservedly, unconditionally. Follow me so that you will demonstrate to others that you truly love the Lord. You see, he followed at a distance during the crucifixion trials. Remember that? Peter always followed from a distance. And whenever you follow from a distance, you will always deny your Lord. And Peter did. Christ wants you to love Him so much with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength.

The intensity that's there, the intimacy that's there must scream loudly in your lives, I love the Lord. I would do anything for my Lord. I will serve Him fully. You see, Moses is saying to the nation of Israel, Listen, you're about to embark on a land that's going to rival your affection for the things of God. You're going to live in houses that you did not build. You're going to have wells that you did not dig. You're going to have all the access to what's there. And you've got to be careful, be careful that you don't turn away from the Lord your God.

He warned them. He told them. But they didn't listen. They didn't listen. And their affection was stolen. And they went after other gods. And the Lord became so angry with them. His anger burned against them. Why? He had redeemed them. He brought them out of Egypt. He did exactly what He said He was going to do. He brought them to the land He promised their father Abraham. Everything was going right on course. Everything was perfectly laid out for them. It was ready to go. All He had to do was what?

Hear what God says. Love all that God is. Make sure you teach it to your children and worship only God. That's all you have to do. If you just do those four things, you will have success and you will survive in the pagan culture. But if you don't, if you don't, you will fail miserably. And they did. They failed miserably. I don't want to be counted among them. I don't want to do that. That's why we drive this home. Make sure there is an attention to the God of truth. There is an affection for the God of truth.

Once there is, then comes an articulation of the God of truth to your children. Now they can believe what you say. Why? Because it's in your own heart. You're compelled to do it. And they can see it in your life. They know you love the Lord. And once they know you love the Lord, man, they are ripe to learn about the Lord. Your children don't want to learn about the Lord. It's not their fault. Although it is to some degree. Check your own heart. Check your love for the Lord, your passion for the Lord.

Because you see, they glean from that. They pick up on that. They know your passions. They know your affection. And they know how well you listen.

Because they sit in the same sermon and hear the same message you hear. They know. And therefore, when that begins to move along, when you have an attention to the God of truth, an affection for the God of truth, now, now your children are ripe to hear about that God. And that's why there is an articulation of the God of truth. And that's next week. Let me pray with you.

Father, thank you for today. Thank you for a chance to be together. Thank you for what you've taught us. I pray that we'd be the people who love you. Help us not to play games with the words. Help us not to play games with our affection. May they be totally sold out to our God. None of us, Lord, really can do all of those seven principles effectively. We live with sin. Every day there is a competition that wants to steal us away from our commitment to Christ. I pray that, Lord, we'd remain faithful to our God.

That we'd work slowly, systematically, but effectively on our relationship with you. That we would truly be lovers of God and not lovers of self or lovers of man or lovers of pleasure. But lovers of God. That, Lord, our children would see that there is no one who can rival our affection for God. They would follow in our footsteps and learn to love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.