PREACHED:OL,8-21-03,AM

“TEACH YOUR CHILDREN…”

 

INTRODUCTION:

 

1§  SAT Scores…

 

A.     Scholastic Aptitude Test

 

                1.     Great focus on scores:

 

a.     Scrutiny, interest, concern… 

 

1)     Excel because:

 

a)     College scholarship and even entrance!

 

b)     Future success In life!

 

2§  Another kind of SAT…

 

        A.     Spiritual Aptitude Test!

 

1.     Same level of scrutiny, interest and concern?

 

                2.     Same desire to excel?

 

        B.     Not college entrance—heaven!

                Not earthly success—eternal!

 

 

 

 

 

 

3§  Great Bible Emphasis

 

A.     Gen 18:19; Prov 22:16; Eph 6:4;    II Tim. 1:4, 3:15

               

        B.     One special passage—Psa 78.

 

1.     If we are going to teach our children effectively, what must we do?

 

DISCUSSION:

 

Œ  GIVE CAREFUL ATTENTION, OURSELVES!

 

A.     “Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth!”

 

                1.     Preacher calls for attention!

 

a.     “Don’t sleep through this sermon!”

 

2.     CHARLES SPURGEON, Treasury of David: “Shall God speak and his children refuse to hear?”

 

a.     Awesome, Sobering Question!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

B.     If the parents don’t incline their ears to the Word, it is clear that the children won’t!

 

    LEARN THE LESSONS OF HISTORY!

 

A.     “I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known!”

 

B.     We need to hear over and over the lessons and warnings that we already know!

 

1.     God’s powerful words and actions—man’s willful ignorance, rebellion and suffering!

 

a.     V 11. “They forgot his works…”

V 18. “They tested God in their heart…”

V 32. “They still sinned in spite of his wonders…”

V 42. “They did not remember his power or the day when he redeemed them from the foe…”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vs 56,57. “…they tested and rebelled against the Most High God and did not keep his testimonies, but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers.”

 

C.     If the father does not care about the spiritual, neither will the children!

 

Ž  BELIEVE—FUTURE IN OUR HANDS!

 

        A.     Vs 4-8.

 

1.     The past, present and future merge NOW!!

 

B.     Do you realize that you are teaching or failure to teach the Word of God, affects not one generation, not two generations but future generations of your family?

 

C.     There is a positive and negative aspect to teaching the Word:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.     I want my children to set their hope in God and not forget his word and power, like some in my family that I know have shown no spiritual interest and reaped a harvest of unfaithfulness in the lives of their children!

 

a.     The solution is not putting it off on somebody else to teach your children!

 

D.     Remember! You cannot teach what you don’t believe and practice!

 

1.     V 8. “…that they should not be liked their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast and whose spirit was not faithful to God.”

 

  ACCEPT THE BIBLE AS ESTABLISHED LAW AND NOT FICKLED SUGGESTION!

 

A.     V 5. “He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children…”

 

B.     But they must see our love for God and his will in our lives, if they will listen to our instruction!

 

 

 

 

1.     We must respect his law and at the same time, love his guidance!

 

  AIM IN OUR TEACHING TOWARD AONE GOAL!

 

A.     V 7. “…teach their children…so that they should set their hope in God and not forget his commandments…”

 

        B.     How? When? Where?

 

1.     Read Deut 6:4-9.

 

a.     Naturally, everyday and everywhere!!

 

CONCLUSION:

 

1ŝ  SAD AND SOBBERING VERSE!

 

A.     Judges 2:8,9. “Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110 years. And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done of Israel

 

 

 

 

 

B.     I pray, Brethren, that it will be said of us:

 

1.     “Because of their diligence in teaching their children the Word of God, and their emphasis on their children teaching their children, generation after generation arose stronger in faith and practice than the one that preceded them!”