A Practical Charge to Parents and Children, Part 7

This morning I want to finish what we started six weeks ago when we talked started talking about the parents or the practical charge to parents and their children and Talk to you about living and leaving a lasting legacy You know when Moses Gave forth the Word of the Lord and Deuteronomy chapter 6 He emphasized the fact that he wanted Israel to understand their responsibility before the Lord We told you that there were four words in Deuteronomy 6 that summed up his commission to them Somehow they must have an undivided attention to the God of truth here.

Oh Israel the Lord our God is one Not only must they have an undivided attention they must have an unparalleled affection for the God of truth Here oh Israel the Lord our God is one and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your mind and with all your strength and Then they were to have an uncompromised Articulation of God in his truth But he goes on to say in verse number six these words should be on your heart And you should teach them to your children And they were to do that Uncompromisingly and Then he tells them that there needs to be an unrivaled Adoration for the God of truth that you to fear his name and only worship him And if you read through the book of Deuteronomy it was reiterated over and over again in Israel was was on the brink of entering the promised land and Moses would die at the end of Deuteronomy and Joshua become the the next leader and God appointed Joshua to lead Israel into the promised land and they did and they were to go in and they were to conquer the land and they were to divide up the land and and They came to that point and they had seen all the things that God had done and then Joshua was gonna die and Joshua would reiterate to the people of Israel the same things that didn't that Moses said He said them a little differently, but he gathered all the leaders together in Joshua chapter 23 And he tells them these words He says as he called the the elders and the heads and judges and the officers He said that I am old Advanced in years and you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations because of you For the Lord your God is he who has been fighting for you?

He reiterates the fact that God has done this He's led you into the land. He's conquered your enemy. You are now in the land. The land has been Parceled out you are in the place where God has promised you He tells them down at verse number six Be very firm then to keep and do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses So you may not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left Say you will not associate with these nations These nations which remain among you or mention the name of their gods or make anyone swear by them or serve them or bow down To them but you are to cling to the Lord your God as you have done to this day.

Don't stop doing what you've been doing You have clung to the Lord your God You've held dearly on to your God. Don't stop doing that. Don't be led astray Don't go after other gods. Don't serve other gods He goes on to say in verse number 11 So take diligent heed to yourselves to love To love the Lord your God You need to take diligent heed to make sure that you have an Unparalleled Affection for your God. Are you listening to what I'm saying to you? This must be true of you and then he says this For if you ever go back and cling to the rest of these nations These which remain among you and intermarry with them So you associate with them and they with you know with certainty that the Lord your God Will not continue to drive these nations out from before you But they will be a snare and a trap to you and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes Until you perish from off this good land, which the Lord your God has given to you You're gonna be very tempted to go after other gods You're gonna be very tempted to intermarry with them to marry the unbelieving people.

Do not do that. I Tell parents over the years make sure that when your children are dating someone they date a believer and not an unbeliever You are only asking for problems Do not let your children date the unbeliever Because the affection they're gonna have for that person is gonna draw them away from the Lord They're gonna marry the unbeliever and they will be unequally yoked and they will go against the commands of Scripture And they will face the consequences Unfortunately and Joshua says to the nation to the leaders.

Listen, be careful what you're doing He says listen, there are two things that are gonna happen for really one is defeat Because your God will not be with you and number two is distress because everything is gonna be like thorns in your eyes and whips on your back and it's gonna be total distress for you and Then he says this he says in verse 16 When you transgress the covenant of the Lord your God which he commanded you and go and serve other gods And bow down to them then the anger of the Lord will burn against you and you will perish quickly From off the good land, which he has given you Not only will there be Defeat Not only will there be distress There will be disgrace Because the anger of the Lord will burn against you and then he says You will perish You will die Death is inevitable And it might not mean that you actually physically die, but you live it a death like existence Where there is no life Because you've turned your back against God Joshua was so concerned So he reiterates again the same thing that Moses does all throughout the book of Deuteronomy He says look leaders you need to make sure this happens and then he gathers a nation together in in chapter 24 And he gives that famous verse, you know choose you this day whom you will serve But as for me in my house, we're gonna serve the Lord and all the people say yeah, we're gonna serve him, too We're all in Joshua.

We've seen what God has done. We are all in hook line and sinker We are in for God they say in verse number 18 we also will serve the Lord for he is our God verse 21 But we will serve the Lord verse 22. We are witnesses verse 24 We will serve the Lord our God and we will obey his voice That's second minute.

It's like going to church and saying hearing what the Word of the Lord says that we're all in We're doing it But then you leave church And all of a sudden the snares of the world in the seatfulness of riches and everything around you begins to take Take root and you begin to be led astray That in Israel So when you come to the book of Judges Joshua dies dismisses the people For seven the people serve the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua Who had seen all the great work of the Lord which he had done for Israel Then Joshua the son of Nun the servant of the Lord died at the age of 110 And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance All the generation gathered together.

It says in verse number 11 then the sons of Israel did evil on the side of the Lord and served the Baals And they forsook the Lord the God of their fathers Who had brought them out of the land of Egypt and followed other gods From among the gods of the peoples who were around them and bowed themselves down to them Thus they provoked the Lord to anger So they forsook the Lord and served Baal and Ashtoreth and the anger of the Lord burned against Israel And he gave them into the hands of plunderers who plundered them He sold them into the hands of their enemies around them so that they could no longer stand before their enemies Wherever they went the hand of the Lord was against them for evil as the Lord had spoken And as the Lord had sworn to them so that they were severely Distressed How's that happen?

How can a generation Serve the Lord under the leadership of Joshua and then another generation rise up and turn their back on their God Serve other gods so the anger the Lord burns against them How does that happen? Over in Psalm 78 listen to the psalmist Verse number one listen.

Oh my people to my instruction Incline your ear to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable I will utter dark sayings of old which we have heard and known and our fathers have told us We will not conceal them from their children But tell to the generation to come the praises of the Lord in his strength in his wondrous works, which he has done For he established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers That's generation. Number one That the generation to come might know even the children yet to be born I'm sorry that they should teach them to their children.

That's in the verse five. That's generation number two That the generation to come might know even the children yet to be born That's generation number three that they may arise and tell them to their children.

That's generation number four that they should put their confidence in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments and not be like their fathers a stubborn and rebellious generation a generation that did not prepare its heart and whose spirit was not faithful to God In other words you are to teach your children so they can teach their children so they can teach their children So they can teach their children to do what to put their confidence in God to put their trust in God to believe in God Not to forget the works of God to keep the commandments of God Sons of Ephraim were archers and equipped with bows sons of Ephraim Joseph's second son the largest leading tribe in Israel's northern kingdom Who led the nation?

into idolatry The sons of Ephraim were archers equipped with bows Yet they turned back in the day of battle They did not keep the covenant of God And refused to walk in the law in his law They forgot his deeds and his miracles that he had shown them They turned back in the day of battle because they were ill-equipped to fight the enemy Not because they weren't physically prepared they were But they were not spiritually prepared and they could not win Why? Because they forsook their God They turned their back on their God So my my call to you Would be the same as Moses and Joshua You must live In order to leave a Lasting legacy So I want to give you some Principles this morning that will help you do that Some principles that will govern your life That you might be able to not just live what you believe but leave What you believe Everyone in the room Will leave a legacy The question is what kind of legacy will you leave?

I want to leave a legacy of truth to my children I want my children to walk in truth So I teach my children I Exhort my children. I rebuke my children. I Have eight of them And I have 20 grandchildren 20th ones not yet born but is in the womb. So Theoretically and biblically they are born, right? And so we just haven't seen him yet His name is Lance Andrew. Can't wait to see him my kind of guy but all that to say is that I want my Children's children to know the Lord so they in turn can teach their children To know the Lord my father His favorite verse was third John 4.

I Had no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth My father's greatest joy was to leave a legacy of truth in his two children my sister Julie and myself So we in turn could leave that legacy of truth to our children My mother and father were always excited when when Lori and I were pregnant and Then they became even extra excited when our children were married and they in turn were pregnant Because they wanted to see their great-grandchildren walk in truth And see the legacy of truth passed down from generation to generation That's all it matters Passing down money really doesn't matter might buy you a house Some land a car, okay, but it doesn't really matter eternal things matter You got to pass down the truth So, how do you leave a lasting legacy Number one you must love the precepts of God You must love the precepts of God God's commandments.

Oh I love that law. It is my meditation all the day If you want to leave a lasting legacy of truth, you've got to love God's commandments Gotta love the Word of God You got to love not just the incarnate word you must love the inspired word in fact you can't love the Incarnate word unless you love the inspired word Because they're his words, right? Says if you love me, you will keep my commandments Why because my commandments are not burdensome And so you'd love The written Word of God you love the commands of God I have a Book that I've read quite often.

It's called the godly man's picture It's by Thomas Watson great Puritan preacher writer It's a great book. I recommend it highly In it he has a whole section That examines on whether or not you really love God's Word It's so convicting and I'd read the whole thing to you But we'd be here the rest of the day and so I'm not gonna do that But he says that the godly man he he he loves the word written He loves the inspired word. He loves the commands of God He says what sums of money the martyrs gave for a few leaves of the Bible Do we make the word our bosom friend as Moses often had the rod of God in his hand.

We should have the book of God in our hand When we want direction, do we consult the sacred Oracle when we find corruption strong? Do we make use of the sword of the Spirit to hew them down? When we are disconsolate do we go to this bottle of the water of life for comfort? Then we are lovers of the word but alas How can they who are seldom conversant with the scriptures? Truly say they love them Their eyes begin to be sore when they look at the Bible The two Testaments are hung up like rusty armor, which is seldom or never made use of The Lord wrote the law with his own finger But though God took pains to write men will not take pains to read he emphasized the fact that there is so much in the scriptures that need to be Adhered to that.

We need to love the Word of God and your children Love what you love They just do You love your wife The kids love their mom They just do You love the Lord Your kids begin to see your love for the Lord That's why you go to church. That's why you read your Bible. That's why you have devotions That's why you're on your knees in prayer That's why you memorize scripture because you love the precepts of God You want your children to love the precepts of God He goes on to talk about how often we say we love the Word of God But we don't love the reproofs of God, but the godly man loves the reproofs of God Why because it refines the godly man so that he might learn to love his God even all the more You want to leave a lasting legacy?

love the precepts of God Number two embrace the providence of God embrace the providence of God The sovereignty of God is the fact that God is in control of all things.

He's Over everything the providence of God are the outworking details of the sovereignty But you must embrace the providence of God In other words the details of God's outworking of the sovereignty And they're happening every day. They happened yesterday with the attempt of assassination upon the president all that under the providence of God I Told you last week when when I was seven years nine years nine years of age My father talked about how the first time I ever heard talk about the Lord The very fact that it was the Lord who allowed me to come home from the war to be here for your grandmother's funeral The very first words out of my father's life mouth were about the Lord and his providential care for his own children My first wife died of cancer at the age of of 26 years of age Because she had developed breast cancer and she it was a stage 4 carcinoma and she died 15 months After she was operated on and had a mastectomy It was all about the providence of God and what God was doing in her life into my life in the life of my family and From there.

I realized in Psalm 119 verse number 68 that God is good and do it's good But verse 67 is the is a tone that is set for verse 68 when it says Before I was afflicted I went astray But now I keep your word That's for 67 then Islam says thou are good and do us good God was embedding in me the providence of God the sovereignty of God that God was in control of every aspect of my life and God was doing and outworking his own Providential will in my life every step of the way From the marriage to Laurie to to the children that we have to are leaving the previous church We were into to starting this church.

It was all the providence of Almighty God working every detail out according to his good pleasure That's why I love the Romans 11 when the Apostle Paul says these words in Romans 11 verse number 33 Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God how unsearchable are his judgments and unfathomable his ways For he was known the mind of the Lord who became his counselor or who has first given to him that it might be paid back To him again for from him and through him and to him are all Things not some things all things to him be the glory forever Paul says everything comes from him goes through him and back to him again because everything that happens Happens because of God because it's all about the glory of God We need to understand you as a parent need to embrace the providence of God When things are going awry God is providentially working things out you need to understand what God is doing When things don't go your way You need to trust the Living God That his providential care is going to watch over you and take care of you and lead you in the ways of righteousness.

I Love what Peter says in in first Peter chapter chapter 5 We says these words Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God first Peter 5 verse number 6 the phrase mighty hand is an Old Testament phrase used by God in the in the case of Israel in the realm of two Things one their discipline to their deliverance read the book of Exodus It's all about the mighty hand of God who delivered them the mighty hand of God that disciplines them.

It's the it's the mighty hand of God's Destiny upon your life and Peter says you need to humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God's destiny Whether it be one of discipline or one of deliverance You need to humble yourselves under that and then he says that he may exalt you at the proper time In other words, God's gonna exalt you at his time. Not your time You just need to submit yourself to the providential care of God in your life and let him work out all the details You need to put your confidence in God and trust in him You want to leave a lasting legacy as parents embrace the providence of God?

That God is in charge He is ruling over all our Lord is in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases Listen to what the Bible says in the book of Acts When the Apostles had been threatened and released And they came back to the congregation of the believers.

This is how they respond They began to pray When they were told you cannot speak any longer in this name and They threatened them then released them they knew their lives were at stake The first thing they did was pray and listen to how they pray They pray these words When they heard this they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said Oh Lord It is you who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them In other words, they're appealing to God based on his created creation.

He is the creator of all things He is the master architect of everything So they appeal to him as the great creator of the world Who by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of our father David your servant said why do the Gentiles rage and the people's devised? Feudal things the kings of the earth took their stand and the rulers were gathered together Against the Lord and against his Christ For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed Both Herod and Pontius Pilate Along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel to do whatever your hand and your purpose predestined to occur Lord Herod did Pilate did the religious leaders did everything your hand predestined them to do they were subject to the Sovereign will of the Living God They knew that nothing happened by accident it was all under the predetermined plan and purposes of God they knew that and that's why they could pray to their God and then they would say these words and now Lord take note of their threats and Grant that your bond service may speak your word with all confidence In other words Lord just take note of the threats we realize what they're going to do We know that this is under your control take note of that Lord.

We just want to speak the word with confidence That's all they wanted to do Proclaim the truth. That's it. So Lord, let us do that and the Lord did They proclaimed the truth of the Living God Why they embraced? the providence of God Parents I urge you to realize that Every event that happens in your life Whether it be adversity or prosperity is under the direction of the sovereign hand of the Living God and you need to embrace it wholeheartedly and Teach your children to embrace it. I told you this story before I'll tell it to you again Drew who will be here to preach in two weeks My One of my sons Will tell you that the turning point in his life In which he hangs everything on is when he was seven years old and we left church the open door Had nowhere to go Had no severance pay had no money had no insurance Laurie was pregnant with I'm not sure which child it was I can't remember now, but she was way out to here and He knew that everything was about trusting the sovereign providential work of the Living God in our lives At seven years of age You can ask him when he comes that was a turning point in his life That helped him understand that God was in control of everything Embraces providence And trust him to accomplish his purposes So love the precepts of God Embrace the providence of God and then number three Glorify the person of God in other words put him on display In the realm of that providential working of God You put him on display you glorify his name You you reflect the righteous radiance of your Redeemer That's what it means to glorify the Lord reflect the righteous radiance of your Redeemer In and through his redeemed is how we glorify his name put him on display Whatever you do whether you need a drink do heart of the glory of God first Corinthians 1031 Ephesians 3 verse number 21 let there be glory in the church from generation to generation Pass down his glory from generation to generation put him on display for generation to generation.

Well, how do you do that? by magnifying his name See, this is the one thing the only thing that you can control in life. You can't control Anything you can't control the events of the day You can't control your wife your kids your husband. You can't control your boss. You can't control how much money you make You can't control where you live. You can't control anything. You think you can but you can't that's why you get so frustrated Because you try to control it. You can't it goes disarray and you you get so frustrated The only thing you can control is whether or not I will put God on display amidst whatever is happening in my life That you can Because that's the choice that you make Yes, Lord, I'm gonna magnify your name I'm gonna glorify your name Lord, I don't know what's happening in my life I'm gonna honor you.

That's what Job did. He didn't know He didn't know blessed to be the name of the Lord The Lord gives Lord takes away but blessed to be the name of the Lord I'm gonna magnify the name of the Lord amidst our tragedy. I miss our loss of everything I'm gonna embrace his providence and I'm gonna glorify the person of the Living God You want to leave a lasting legacy That's how it happens And your children will take note They'll listen They'll see they'll watch they'll hear And they'll begin to wonder why how but they do Love the precepts of God Embrace the providence of God glorify the person of God And before align with the people of God He walks the wise men Will be wise But a companion of fools Proverbs 13 20 Will suffer harm Align yourself with the people of God in other words Commit yourself to hanging around the people That would be the best influencers in the life of your family and your children Don't hang around people that would be a bad influence for your kids Align yourself with the people that would be a good influence with your kids Right, and so you align yourself with the people of God.

That's why we don't forsake this living of ourselves together Why because we stimulate one another to love and good deeds So you you want to align yourself with the people of God over in Proverbs chapter chapter 23 Verse number 19 Says these words Listen to my son and be wise And direct your heart in the way Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine or with gluttonous gluttonous eaters of meat For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty and drowsiness will clothe one with rags Solomon exhorts his son be careful who you align yourself with Align yourself with people that are godly people not ungodly people Proverbs 24 verse number one do not be envious of evil men nor desire to be with them For their minds devise violence and their lips talk of trouble Don't align yourself with evil men Align yourself with godly men And you want to leave a lasting legacy align with the people of God They're your companions they're your friends They're the ones you hang out with because they're gonna your children take note of the people You hang out with because everybody follows somebody right?

and so they're gonna take note of who you're following and They will begin to follow the same kind of people that you follow So align yourself with the people of God next commit to the proclamation of God Commit to the proclamation of God Commit your life to proclaiming the message of the gospel So others will hear and know and fear the Living God Make sure that you are committed to preaching and teaching the truth to your children to others Because you want the gospel to go forth were to go into all the world and make disciples And we are to teach them to observe all that God's commanded us This is this is why we're here We commit to the proclamation of God because the only reason you still live after God saves you is for that reason Why else are you here?

Because everything else you do here can be done perfectly in glory so your worship here is Not nearly gonna be what it is in glory, right? Your praise here is not gonna be nearly what it is in glory What does God leave you here? to proclaim the gospel Faith comes by hearing and hearing by a word about the Christ So we are the proclaimers of truth God saves you That you might proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light first Peter 2 verse number 9 That's what we do We proclaim the truth That's why you still breathe That's why you're still here today God allows you to live One more minute one more day one more month one more year So you will be involved in proclaiming the message of the kingdom of God So you commit to the proclamation of the gospel?

And lastly yearn for the promises of God All the promises are yes in Christ second Corinthians 120 So you yearn for the promises of God?

Yearn for his peace his comfort His forgiveness his love His grace his mercy His presence is coming again You yearn for the right things you were yearn for that which is eternal and not that which is temporal There's a yearning in your heart to be in the presence of God. There's a yearning in your heart to be able to Obtain the inheritance as first Peter says that's incorruptible and undefiled and it never fades away There's this yearning in your heart that says Lord.

I want what you promised me more than anything else You do that you're gonna live and leave a lasting legacy for your children to follow May God give us the grace to accomplish that. Let's pray Father we thank you for today We are of all people so richly blessed And we thank you Lord that we can gather together on this Lord's Day and be challenged by your word. I'm challenged I'm challenged every time I open the Bible Because I'm called into account To the truth of your word And I pray father for all of us That we would be the kind of people that bring glory to your name None of us are perfect But Lord we serve a perfect God And Lord you are God of forgiveness and grace and mercy What we as parents have done up to this point Cannot be changed But what we do from this day forward Can change drastically So use us for the glory of your kingdom for your purposes That we might say Lord we love serve and obey our God Until you come again as you most surely will in Jesus name