Instructing Our Children After Us to Keep the Way of the LORD - Genesis Part 40

Now today we are going to be talking about children and young people and the reason for that is quite simple, it's because were in a series on the book of Genesis and in our passage for today. God talks about children and young people. Now you know I've been mentoring small group of our younger say of in one of the things we've been talking about his preaching and one of the things I've been trying to get across to them is that we what is God call this preaching the passage and you say what is that what I mean by that is that when we're doing verse by verse.

Expository Bible teaching like we do here at McLean we left the passage determine the topic of for the message.

In other words, if the passage is all about salvation that we preach a salvation message. If the passage is all about money then we preach a money message of the passage is all about personal holiness. Then we preach a personal holiness message you get the point we preach the passage and when we do this we do after we do after we over time, God's people get a well-balanced diet of your ritual truth. Now today we're going to preach the passage in the passage today is all about instructing our children after us to keep the way of the Lord. So are you ready okay where Genesis chapter 18.

But before we dig in water. We do a tiny bit of review. If you remember here in Genesis 18 we saw that three men showed up one day and visited Abraham when he was living in Hebron on a little town just south of Jerusalem. We also learned that two of these men were angels in human form, who would leave here and go on down to Sodom and Gomorrah and the third man we learned of was Jehovah God himself in a theophany, a theophany is just a fancy theological word for an appearance of God himself in human form and why had God come to visit Abraham in human form, will he had come to announce the impending pregnancy of Sarah Genesis 18 verse 10 and the Lord said to Abraham I will surely return to you at this time next year. The whole Sarah your wife shall have a song and indeed this is exactly what happened now there is where we been the one we pick up now here in Genesis chapter 18 verse 16 then the three men rose from launch and looked down toward Sodom and Abraham was walking with them to send them on their way. But as the two angels and Abraham and the Lord were all walking together. The Lord spoke and here's what he said he said to the two angels.

Verse 17.

Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do. What's he talking about.

He's talking about destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, both for God says Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation and through him all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, for I have chosen him because I know that he will instruct his wives, his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice in order that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what he has promised now would we want to do today is talk about this question did Abraham quote instruct his children and his household his grandchildren after him. His great-grandchildren to keep the way of the Lord.

Well, let's look and see why we start with his son Isaac. Genesis 21 verse four says that Abraham circumcised Isaac when he was eight days old.

This was a sign that God had told Abraham to perform on every male descendent as a indicator that they were part of a special covenant with God, and certainly when Isaac was old enough to notice this Abraham explained to him what it meant. Second of all, we have Genesis 22 were God tested Abraham by telling him to offer Isaac as a burnt offering.

Now we have to remember here in Genesis 22. Isaac was a teenager by now. That's why in verse seven of this chapter as they were going up the mountain. Isaac said father the wood and the fire are here. But where is the Lamb for the burnt offering well point was he was the Lamb for the burnt offering out of a ramp roadmap but the Bible says and they came to the place where the Lord told Abraham and Abraham built an altar there and arrange the wood and tied up his son Isaac and laid him up on the altar and Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son not friends. Abraham new that Isaac could not die because God's covenant with Abraham was to be fulfilled through Isaac, so he knew Isaac had to live and have children of his own.

And yet, I am absolutely convinced that in obedience to God. Abraham was going to take that night and he was going to plunge it right into his son. If God hadn't stopped him. Why well because Abraham thought about this overnight in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 19 says that Abraham reason the that God could raise Isaac from the dead. If he had to to keep his promise.

Well, Abraham's reasoning was not exactly God's plan, but at least the guy had the general idea. Now we know God stepped in and stopped Abraham from doing it. But you know when he untied Isaac.

I'm sure Isaac had a couple questions like what was that all about and what was at nightfall about and why would you do something like this and I'm sure Abraham sat down and talk to them about the sovereignty of God in the omnipotence of God in the will of God and how God has to be number one in your life. Not even your own on and about how we obey God whether we understand or not.

And finally, in Isaac's life. We read Genesis 25 verse 21 when Isaac's wife, Rebecca was unable to have children. Isaac prayed to the Lord on Rebecca's behalf, and the Lord answered his prayer and Rebecca can see now how did Isaac know that this was the way for a godly man to handle this problem well certainly because his father Abraham said, a son, your mother Sarah had this very same issue and here's what I did as a godly man and God honored it. This is what you need to do.

The point is that Abraham instruct his song in the way of the Lord course he did about his grandson Jacob. The Bible tells us Abraham lived until Jacob, his grandson was 15 years old. You think Abraham instructed his grandson in the way of the Lord well Genesis 48 verse 21 says that Jacob, Abraham's grandson said to his son Joseph. Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you back. They were in Egypt at the time will bring you back to the land of your father's now, how did Jacob learn about God's promise to give the land of Canaan to Abraham's descendents will he learned about it because Abraham told him, and Abraham also told him that God had predicted they were going to Egypt for a while but that they were coming back. You see Abraham's fingerprints all over his grandson and how about his great-grandson Joseph. Joseph said in Genesis 50 then Joseph said to his brothers. I'm about to die, but God will surely take care of you and bring you up from the land of Egypt to the land he promised 502 Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob friends.

By the time of Joseph's death.

In Genesis 50 Abraham's been dead for over 200 years and yet here. His descendents are still repeating God's promises and still going on strong for the Lord. We question we asked was did Abraham instruct his children and his grandchildren after him to keep the way of the Lord and the answer is, you betcha he did. Now that's as far as we want to go in our passage because we want to stop now and we want to ask our most important question in all of our friends at Loudoun and Prince William and at Bethesda and down the edge and around the world on the Internet campus and all you guys here at Tyson that we all know what the question is yes yes okay so word in a really do this.

Yes, I come on now, you know, really helps to take a deep breath first moved there we go take it in. Want to read salon you know what that is so corny you could keep doing that. The rest of your ministry. Yes, absolutely, is a well will put up with it. I guess, is that it has a great story about Abraham and I really appreciate Abraham porn his life into his children, his grandchildren like that to present make to me what we can talk about that William Bennett, who was a former federal drug policies are said and I quote, we must develop a fair appreciation for the limitations of government effort on behalf of children.

He went on to say government. Obviously cannot fill a child's emotional needs, government is not a father or a mother government has never raised a child and it never will." Now Mr. Bennett is right and let me tell you why is right he's right because God never ordained him government to do what Abraham did, he never ordained government to raise up children to walk in the way of the Lord and keep the way of the Lord. He never ordained government. Ephesians 64 to raise children in the nurture and the instruction of the Lord God ordained fathers and mothers.

To do this and he ordained the church to help father's and mother's to now if you're here today and your parent. I would assume that you're automatically somewhat interested in the rest of what I'm going to say about this but even if you're here and you're not a parent that doesn't mean that what I'm about to say doesn't apply to you for two reasons. Reason number one is that one day you might be apparent in the best time to develop a philosophy of how to raise children is before you. Having an number two. Even if you never become apparent. We still have a responsibility as a church family to spiritually develop the thousands and thousands of children that God is given us ear and friends down through the centuries. Some of the most effective children's workers in history have been people who never had children of their own.

That doesn't make you exempt, so there's something so what here for everybody. Solicit when I think about this idea of instructing our children after us to keep the way of the Lord. I can't help but think about Moses.

I think we all know the story of Moses, basically Moses was born in Egypt, he was set adrift in the Nile River by his mother. He was found by pharaohs daughter and raised in the palace of Egypt as her son and this went on for the first 40 years of Moses his life, but don't forget the Bible tells us that for the first five or 10 years of Moses his life. His mother, a woman named Jaco bed was his nurse. Now watch what happens.

Hebrews 11 verse 24 by faith Moses when he had grown up refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing instead to endure ill treatment with the people of God rather than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, because he Moses considered reproach for the sake of Christ the Messiah to be greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt. Why since he was looking ahead to the reward that God had for the folks. My question is where did Moses learn all the spiritual truth. Where did he learn number one that the Hebrew people were the people of God, where did you learn number two that the Hebrew people were his people by natural birth were to be learn number three that the goings on in the palace of Egypt were sent ready learn number four that there was a Christ, there was a Messiah worth standing up for even if it meant suffering, reproach, and finally where did he learn that God has a future reward for anyone who's willing to stand up for Christ and suffer reproach where you learn all that.

Let me tell you for sure where he didn't learn it. He didn't learn it from Pharaoh's daughter. I can tell you that any didn't learn it from his idolatrous teachers in the palace. Any didn't learned from all of his buddies in the capital city is the one where he learned he learned it from reading the Bible know we didn't. So how do you know that while I know that because there was no Bible, Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible any dinner item for 40 more years.

There was no Bible. We all know how he learned these truths don't we he learned from his mother. His mother during those 5 to 10 years poured bucket load after bucket load. A spiritual truth into that little boys life and even though for the next 30 years of his life, those spiritual truths were never nurtured. They were never cultivated. They were never reinforced in the palace of Egypt. Still, the word of God is so powerful that when it is implanted in a child's life. Even with 30 years of neglect doesn't matter.

Those truth erupted in his life at age 40 and transformed his life. You salon.

What's the point. The point is that one of the greatest mistakes we make. As followers of Christ is that we under estimate what little children can learn about God and the impact it can have on their lives. Proverbs 22 six train up a child God says in the way he or she should go and when he gets old.

He will not depart from it.

That truth will come flying back into his life or her life friends. This is why the prodigal son returned home. This is why Franklin Graham came back to the Lord. This is why Joseph lived for God and did what was righteous in Egypt, even though the for 13 years. There was no other believer around watching him or encouraging him because he had spiritual truth poured into his life as a child and this is why Timothy was such a great servant of God, because as Paul says, second Timothy three verse 15 he says from what I'd say the next word from infancy Timothy you have known the holy Scriptures. Why Paul says, because your mother and your grandmother Lois and Eunice poured it into your that's how you learned it train up a child in the way he should go and when he gets old he will not depart from it.

This is the promise of God, and God keeps his promise. Now your parent like to give you a few practical suggestions about how we can raise up a child in the way he or she should go biblically. These are just a few suggestions. Number one have Christian music always playing in your house, not XM radio or serious radio, not the 60s channel of the 70s channel Christian music number to play with your children every night from the time their infants and when they get old enough to know how to begin speaking and praying. Get down on your knees and teach them how to pray. Number three. Put Scripture on the walls of your home so that no matter where your child walks in your home. The word of God is going in to their life.

Number four read Bible stories to your children more often than you read anything else is nothing wrong with good night Moon are curious George, but your children are to be hearing the Bible read to them more than a year, curious George number five memorize Scripture with your children from the age of one or two so wanted to.

Children Memorize Scripture. One or two.

Don't tell me that my oldest son James was 35 years old now before he was three years old. He knew more than 50 verses of Scripture that he could pop off just like this by memory because I worked with you, and he learned on don't tell me your children can't memorize Scripture. They can. Don't underestimate them for the word of God in your life. Get your child to kids quest every single week that you're in town and Tawana every single Sunday night.

Now you can get into a lot of right now because of all of our campuses. We are chockablock all and will you have any room, but when we reregister in the fall.

Tawana is all about Scripture memory.

Get your trial registered you say will lawn. I'm sorry but tired on Sunday night. We know what when I was raising my three boys. I was hard to preach six services on Sunday morning one on Saturday night and I would go home flopped down more. Watch the football game.

Just like you put a 430 I got my lazy body up and I said I kids at school over your verses were hidden in the Llano you know why I tell you it's very simple because I realize friends, as you should football will always be there when you become old. You take a nap anytime you want. On Sunday, but your children you got one shot at them, get your body up and investing those children not you, a man I got a couple more for you reward your children for having the quiet time. Eight yes, even monetarily reward them for having their quiet time. It's a lot better than hearing the judge say to your child will the defendant please rise better and make sure you get your teenager to the rock to Sunday morning to small group to winter camp the summer camp in our house. There was no choice. When the junior and senior high was doing something our boys were there no discussion is that while the long wait a minute about this idea that I should impress God impressed church, all my children like this when they're young, my friends, that is the biggest lie of Satan ever perpetrated on the human race and it's completely opposite of what God says God says.

Deuteronomy 66 these words I command you this day shall be on your heart and you shall teach them. What's the next word diligently to your children, which means you press the screws on your children say Avalon if I do that impress them on a like that what they grow up to hate church and and resent God no look here, no not give you as their parents are living, authentic, godly Christian lives at home now. Yes, you press church on your children then you go home and live like the devil in front of them. You make them cynical and jaded about God and church but you press the things of God on your children.

And then you go home and you live those things out to the best of your ability and your children will grow up to love God and to love church and to serve Christ you understand what I'm saying. Amen.

So on all this great have any children on this wonderful wonderful because that means you have more time to get involved in kids quest in the rock and serve other people's children wonderful. You know the evangelist great evangelist Theo Moody, who personally 11 million people to Christ.

According to his biographer in his life. He came to Christ as a teenager in Boston and then he quickly moved to Chicago. But he had no theological training. He'd only been through the third grade he was a little rough around the edges, and so the churches in Chicago, no church would allow him to minister to adults.

So as a result, he started ministering to children. He would go around the squalid streets of Chicago and recruit children to come to church with them on Sunday and then on Sunday he would get up early and go from house to house to house, waking these children up while their parents were still sleeping, the alcohol all and he would get him dressed and he would bring them to church and field field pew after pew after pew with these children. The church called them Moody's ruffian you know what hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of those children came to Christ and went on to serve the Lord's pastors and his missionaries in his Christian workers all over the world and later on when Moody himself became a world-famous evangelist ministering to adults he wrote a letter to his friend BF Jacobs, who by the way was the founder of the modern Sunday school movement here in America and here's what he said to Jacobs and I quote, he said, Jacob. Sometimes I wonder if you will not get more out of your life than mine. I work for the salvation of men and women who have grown up to years of maturity in sin and evil habits. I perhaps reach once 1/10 and even then I'm not sure that the 1/10. I think I've reached will stick. Jacobs you work with them when they're young before these habits are formed, you are sowing seed in the most fertile soil and it will last.

There in spring up there. Indeed, he says 9/10 that you reach will stand fast and be true to God."

In his right you know my middle son Justin when he was four walk by my bedroom on Sunday night and stopped and looked and I was in the bedroom and said to me hey daddy. He said will you help me asked Jesus in my life and I said of course money is and I learned that what happened is that morning in Sunday school here at McLean Bible church for Sunday school teacher told them about Jesus and about salvation and about heaven and about eternal life and about the need to asked Jesus into your heart and soul.

I got down on my knees with my son right by our bed and we prayed together.

He was four years old and he asked Jesus Christ into his life.

My son Justin today is 32 years old and it's still is sticking to this day. Praise the Lord for that. And it happened when he was four.

Don't tell me, a four-year-old can't receive Christ. It is not genuine and friends.

I learned another lesson here. Don't you ever underestimate the impact of a godly Sunday school teacher in the life of a trial or godly teenage worker in the life of a teenager.

We must never do that.

And if you have no children. It doesn't matter. You can be one of these workers and still impact children and young people for Christ, so let me conclude and say.

Today we preach the passage. The passage was about instructing our children after us to keep the way of the Lord, and if you're here your parent gods blessed you with children that I hope today's message will be a compelling reminder that the highest duty and the greatest duty listen to me now that you have for your children is not to close them or to feed them, or to house them or even to educate them the greatest and the highest duty you have for your children is to spend the as Paul says an beast bent for them implanting the word of God into their hearts. Your children are going to grow up and I want to tell you something. Their success is not going to depend on whether they had a Mustang growing up or they lived in the biggest house growing up when they had the finest close growing up, and it's not even going to depend on their education because there are people in our world and have all of this in their life is an absolute disaster is going to depend their success on the word of God planted in their heart, so don't get your priorities wrong.

Let's major on the majors here and it's going to cost you something. As a parent to do this. As Paul said, you can have to spend and be spent on your children. But hey, when they grow up to walk with Christ and you see them doing the same thing with your grandchildren, friend, can be so worth it. I promise you if you're here today and you you don't have any children or maybe your children are all grown hey one of the greatest contributions that you can make to the work of God here on earth is to become a volunteer in kids quest and work with children somebody else's children and help them plant the word of God into their life. And if you're not already serving the Lord in some way. Here McLean I want you to go out the lobby and talk to the people at our kids quest food we can use onto what's kill you, God. We can use you in kids quest to order go out and talk to the folks out there and at the rock move maybe want to work with teenagers you say lawn teenagers are scary. They are scary but you know what the truth of the battery is there more scared of you that you are them and all they want to semi-level you love on a teenager and I promise you still love on you back. Don't you worry about how scary they are. You just go level what is teenagers are children. Hey, if you're not already doing some here. I really want to challenge you to get involved in serving Christ by serving young people and put in the word of God in their hearts and let me just say is apparent or even as a person. The volunteers to work with young people. If you're willing to change your priorities to spend and be spent for them.

I want to thank you on their behalf. Your children's behavior for doing that they may be too young to thank you. Right now, but there will be a day they'll grow up and they will thank you so until that day. I'm going to thank you for the because they're going to grow up and say while I can't believe you did that for me but man, thank you so much. Spring heavenly father. Thanks for talking to us today about a very cogent subject in our world.

And yes, Lord. Many of us here are tempted every single day to major on the minors, our world doesn't: the minors are world says that the most important thing money and fame and power and resources notoriety giving our children all the material things that the world says they need more those of the minors major spiritual truth so help us major on the major make the priority changes we need to do that help us spend and be spent for children and worry about ourselves later. Use the word of God today to challenge his father for the sake of our children and our grandchildren. Wouldn't it be great if you could punch Gabriel in the side and look at each one of us and say I know that that person right there.

They are going to instruct their children and their household after in the way of the Lord. I know that Gabriel would make us those people for the sake of our children and our children's children. We pray these things in Jesus name what God's people say a man