to Deuteronomy chapter 6. Deuteronomy chapter six. This morning's sermon is gonna be more of a topical sermon, but we'll certainly be looking at Deuteronomy six. So I thought it would be a good chapter to read, to frame our minds and hearts aright with reference to the subject matter at hand.

So beginning in chapter six in verse one. Now this is the commandment and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess. that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. Therefore, hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you, a land flowing with milk and honey. Here, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. So it shall be when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of all good things which you did not fill, hewn out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant. When you have eaten and are full, then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. You shall fear the Lord your God and serve him, and shall take oaths in his name.

You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you. For the Lord your God is a jealous God among you. Lest the anger of the Lord your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth. You shall not tempt the Lord your God as you tempted Him in Massah.

You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, His testimonies and His statutes, which He has commanded you. And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land of which the Lord swore to your fathers, to cast out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has spoken. when your son asks you in time to come, saying, what is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the Lord our God has commanded you? Then you shall say to your son, we were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. And the Lord showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household.

Then he brought us out from there that he might bring us in to give us the land of which he swore to our fathers. And the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord, our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive as it is this day. Then it will be righteousness for us if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the Lord, our God, as he has commanded us. Amen.

Well, let us pray. Our Father, we ask now for the ministry of the Holy Spirit to guide us and direct us as we consider various passages in Holy Scripture. I just pray, God in heaven, that you would strengthen this church, strengthen us as a local body, but strengthen us as well as individuals and as families. And grant us the grace to be faithful in a situation where there's so much enmity against the living and the true God.

Give us grace to be faithful in the midst of a generation that has very little concern for the God of heaven and earth. And give us grace to be faithful in rearing our little ones unto you. God, bring them up in the training and the admonition of the Lord, as this is so essential and so important. And God, we pray, we cry out to you for the grace necessary to do these very things.

Forgive us now for all of our sin and unrighteousness, and fill us with your Spirit. Guide us by your Spirit. And we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Introduction

Well, I want to encourage the brothers in the church. Remember, ladies, I said on Mother's Day we hammer the women, and on Father's Day we encourage the men, because it's typically the opposite when it comes to evangelical and reform. Mothers get special treatment, and fathers get the mallet from the pulpit. So we're going to do things a bit differently.

Actually, this is for husbands and wives. It regards the worship of God in private families. Now when we come to Scripture, we see this practice in the Bible. But what we do not have is a particular verse that says, this is how you must engage in it.

The same Bible that tells us not to take away from the Word of God, tells us not to add to the Word of God. So I want to give encouragement, I want to give some practical suggestions, but the reality is, is that you should do this is obvious. How you should do it is up to you before God Most High. When it comes to good ideas, if not checked, they become bad laws.

I remember about 16 months ago, not coughing on one another and making sure our hands were clean has now evolved into a situation that I would have never envisaged. We have a good idea that has become a bad law. Well, the same thing happens in the church. Well-meaning, well-intentioned preachers say good things, but then they back it up as if it's a divine requirement.

I don't want to do that. I think legalism or neonomianism is one of the biggest threats facing the church today, and I certainly don't want to contribute to that or add to it. So I want to look first at the biblical emphasis on family worship, and then secondly, the practical elements involved in family worship. And again, no one text that says, this is how thou must do this, but rather, hopefully, some practical suggestions.

But with reference to the biblical emphasis, we're gonna look first at the Old Testament, and then secondly, briefly, at the New Testament.

Biblical Emphasis: Old Testament

But turn back for just a moment to Genesis chapter 18. If you're taking notes and you want the six particulars that we're gonna look at with reference to the Old Testament, we have the purpose for Abraham in Genesis 18, the command for Israel in Deuteronomy 6, the practice of Joshua in Joshua 24, the assumption of the Psalms, and fourthly, Fifth, the emphasis in the Proverbs, and then we'll end with some negative examples too, specifically from the former prophets. But notice in chapter 18 in the book of Genesis, the Lord's unwillingness to hide from Abraham that he's going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham is a friend of God, he is a prophet of God, and so God wants to include him on the information concerning what will happen in Sodom and Gomorrah.

Notice the Lord's covenantal purpose for Abraham in verse 18. Since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him. reminiscent of Genesis 12, when God calls Abram out of Ur of the Chaldeans, and he tells him to leave his family, leave his home, leave his land, and he will inherit the nations as his possession. Not him specifically, but rather his seed, the Lord Jesus Christ. And then the Lord's intimate knowledge of Abraham there in verse 19.

For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has spoken to him." So with reference to this intimate connection between Yahweh and Abraham, God knows specifically how Abraham conducts himself with reference to his household. Abraham had been brought up an idolater. Abraham had been brought up in the Chaldeans. Abraham had been brought up a stranger to the grace of God Most High.

But Abraham has now been conquered by that grace and Abraham is all in. He trains his servants, he trains his children, he trains those around him in terms of religion, in terms of the way of approach to the true and living God. And notice specifically what is highlighted. He commands his children and household to keep the way of Yahweh, but then specifically to command his children and household to do righteousness and justice.

Have you ever wondered why in Micah chapter 6, when the children of Israel are trying to figure out what God has against them, and they say something to the effect, shall we bring our firstborn as sacrifice before the living God? God says through the prophet Micah, chapter six, verse eight, he has shown you, oh man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Well that was predated from Micah's prophecy all the way back here to the practice of Abraham. He taught his children, he taught his servants, he taught his family and his household with reference to the service of God Most High.

Now this is proleptically, he is going to have a great deal and he is going to do this to be sure. Now

The Command in Deuteronomy 6

notice secondly the command for Israel which we read there in Deuteronomy chapter 6. Most instructive, most important, to see that the nation of Israel was to be regulated by the Word of God. Not regulated by emotion, not regulated by feeling, not regulated by irrationality or criminality, but rather they were to be regulated by the Word of God. Notice what they would confess as their central confession according to verse 4.

Here, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. In light of who God is, that is legit. In light of who God is and what he has done for us, this is the necessary implication.

Therefore, love him. Paul does the same thing in Romans chapter 12. Therefore, beloved, by the mercies of God, I beseech you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, which is your reasonable and rational service." In other words, if Romans 1 to 11 is true, and it is, if it is the reality that Christ has saved us from our sins, that justification by faith is the reality, then what is the necessary or logical implication? that you are to present your bodies to him. You're to live in a certain way that is well-pleasing in his sight.

Terms of sanctification. You live like one who has been justified freely by God's grace. And so the same thing is true here. We have this one true and living God, and the response is, love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

But then notice the necessity to internalize that truth in verse six. It can't just be catechetical. Though catechism is important, it needs to be experiential. It not only needs to be up here, but it needs to be in here and actually forget that because these are the same.

Heart and head are interchangeable in scripture. The idea being is it's not just theory only, but it's application. It's not just something out there cognitively, but it's something that we hold true to. Notice in verse six, these words, which I command you today, shall be in your heart." In other words, what God is doing here on the plains of Moab through Moses functioning as a prophet, preparing the children of Israel to take the land by conquest, is to be something that they hold on to.

It is something that governs them. It is something that they delight in. It is something that they rejoice in. And then notice in verse 7, you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

So there is that individual emphasis in verse 6. The words which I command you today shall be in your heart. There is the family insistence or the family emphasis there in verse 7. Verses 8 and 9 indicate again, individual and societal.

So verse 8, you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Again, the societal application, the law of God governed the land of Israel. That was the purpose, that was the emphasis, and that is what is enjoined upon the people here.

But in terms of instructing our children, God does not say, do it if you think it might help. Do it if you think it might be beneficial. Do it if you have the time. There are certain things in life, brethren, that you make time for. and you make time for instructing your children in the truth concerning the living God.

You don't just sort of tack it on. You don't just sort of add it on. You don't just say, well, you know, we didn't get around to it today. There's times of formal instruction.

What we'll argue later is the use of a family altar. I don't mean in a papist sense, but in terms of gathering the family together and worshipping God together. There should be those formal times. There should be those seasons.

There should be that emphasis on the part of fathers and mothers to instruct their little ones in the true and saving religion. If we do not, brethren, If we do not seek to address or counteract the prevailing philosophies of our generation, it will be ruinous. These poor kids, and I don't mean poor in the sense that they are judicially or that they are not sinners, they're not in Adam, but these poor kids are faced with threats and faced with temptations that some of us weren't. We didn't carry around phones.

We didn't have access to the internet. We didn't have all those things that can be used successfully, can be managed effectively, can be helpful in terms of life. It's a wonderful way to, you know, find your way in a GPS. But there's a whole lot of things attached to those particulars that we need to guard our children against.

And the way to do that is by instructing them in the truth of God's holy word. So seasons of formal instruction, a family altar, but then informal, when you rise up, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, when you go to the zoo, you point to the giraffe and you tell your little son or your grandson, isn't that an amazing thing that God made? See, we seek by grace to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Jesus Christ. We don't just say, well, let them figure it out.

I've heard parents say that before. They're even doing that with gender now. Well, when they're three and they can figure out whatever gender they want to be. That is nonsensical.

That is absolute folly. What hole have we fallen into societally where somebody actually thinks that's a good idea? I guarantee you no parent that has any ounce of intelligence takes their newborn baby that just starts to learn how to roll and puts them in the middle of the bed without pillows around them. Well, you know, if he rolls off, that's just the way it goes.

I mean, it's not the end of the world if a kid happens to roll off the bed, mother, so don't freak out that way. But we don't do that. And yet when it comes to religion, when it comes to God, well, we'll let Johnny or Junior figure out his own way. No.

Because the world doesn't operate that way. They're indoctrinating. The devil is active. He roams about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

He has infiltrated all manner of places within popular culture and society. You don't think that he's not actively engaged in trying to corrupt your child with false religion, with cultism, occultism? with humanism, with all the prevailing philosophies that are anti-God. If we are not going to step in the gap, if we are not going to exercise the stewardship that God Most High has entrusted to us, then we need to repent. We need to stop that attitude and we need to understand that these children, if we're not indoctrinating them, Someone else is going to.

And I don't personally as a father and grandfather want somebody else doing that unless of course they happen to go to our church and I know them and love them and trust them. This is a horrible situation that we are facing today. And it is certainly not the case that parents can abdicate responsibility when it comes to this most crucial element in terms of the religious education of their children. Notice as well later on in the chapter, verse 20, when your son asks you in time to come saying, what is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the Lord your God or Lord our God has commanded you?

Notice what you're not supposed to say. Well, I don't know. I wasn't paying attention. I don't know.

That's for pastors and theologians. I don't know. That's for seminary students. I don't know.

That's for the reformed church. I don't know. I don't care. I'm not going to engage in this.

That's not what the father does. The son throws the ball over the plate. The father takes the whack at it. When your son asks you, why do we do what you do?

Answer him. Tell him. We fear the true and living God. He has saved us by his grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

He has published his law. It is perfect. It is a reflection or revelation of his perfections. And because we break that law, he sent his son to die, to live, to die, and to rise again.

If your kid asks you, tell him. Indoctrinate him. The enemy certainly wants to.

The Practice of Joshua

Notice thirdly, the practice of Joshua. Joshua chapter 24. Joshua chapter 24. So the children of Israel, if we're following the Bible, have left the plains of Moab.

In Deuteronomy, they enter into the promised land in the book of Joshua. They are told to go in and conquer the land. They are then told to divide the land. And then they are told to retain the land.

And that's the emphasis in the latter chapters. So Joshua renews the covenant with God at Shechem in chapter 24. And then Joshua lays down the gauntlet as it were. He sounds like Jesus in Matthew 12.

He who is not with me is against me. He sounds like Elijah at Mount Carmel in 1 Kings chapter 18. How long will you falter between two options? If God is God, serve him.

If Baal is God, then serve him. You can't bring this half-hearted, this sort of divided attention and think you're doing any good. So notice what Joshua does in chapter 24 at verse 14. Now, therefore, fear Yahweh, serve him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the river and in Egypt.

Serve the Lord, and if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the river or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. Again, he's not actually advertising for those false gods. He's not saying, you know, that's an option out there, go ahead. He is laying down the emphasis that I mentioned.

He was not with me, he's against me. How long will you stumble between two opinions? If God is God, then serve him. If Baal is God, then serve him.

So he's laying it down, he's making it clear, but then notice how he underscores his own conduct. He says, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Now you need to understand something, brethren. You are busy men.

I have been very encouraged over the years and very blessed to see the work ethic that is demonstrated in this church. It is a wonderful thing to see hard-working men. But you haven't been tasked with invading Canaan and killing people and breaking things. That is a full-time job, and nevertheless, Joshua was able to inculcate in his children the fear of God.

He taught them the truth as it is in Jesus. This idea that, well, I'm too busy. There are seasons, to be sure, that are extra busy. But don't take it from your family.

Rather, take it from yourself in terms of time. In other words, neglect your own situation before you neglect your wife and your children. That just makes good sense. You may think, well, I don't know if I can do it.

Joshua did it. Joshua was faithful. Joshua was a military commander that was tasked with dispossessing the land of Canaan of the Canaanites. I think I've told you before, he didn't do it through a Facebook campaign.

He didn't do it through social media. He didn't say, we want all the Canaanites to go ahead and leave now because Israel is here. No, he went in there as a military commander and he did what God had called him to do. Matthew Henry makes the wise and sage observation.

He says Joshua was a ruler, a judge in Israel, yet he did not make his necessary application to public affairs an excuse for the neglect of family religion. And I don't want to bind anyone's consciences. There are things, circumstances, seasons of difficulty and trial, and you certainly don't need me to harangue you and say, oh, you're just a terrible person. But on the other hand, brethren, if we want and we believe that it is good to instruct our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, we will make time for it.

We will certainly seek, by God's grace, to maintain fidelity in this aspect of family religion. Again, understanding that if we're not indoctrinating them, someone will be. And that someone that will be hates God, despises Jesus Christ, wants to shut churches, wants to put pastors in prison, wants to engage in all sorts of mayhem.

The Assumption in the Psalms

Now notice fourthly, in terms of the assumption in the Psalms, we already read at the outset in Psalm 22, notice in verses 30 and 31, a posterity shall serve him. How could that be the case? It's the case because they took seriously, not every Israelite, but some of the Israelites, the remnant that was faithful, took seriously the mandate in Deuteronomy 6. They instructed their children.

They taught them the law. They pointed them to the great redemptive act of God in terms of the Exodus. They were faithful. And as a result, David can say in verse 30, a posterity shall serve him.

It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation. They will come and declare his righteousness to a people who will be born that he has done this. One of our brothers prayed, I think it was last Sunday morning. We don't want a one generation church.

We don't want it. I mean, if that's all we're going to get, praise God, it's better than not having any church. We want two generations, three generations. four generations. We want to see our sons rise up and go faithfully into ministry of the word.

We want to see that sort of thing happen. Well, it's not gonna happen if we just passively and idly sit by and let the world train our children to actually despise God Almighty. A posterity shall serve him. Look at Psalm 78.

Psalm 78. Again, this is an assumption in this altar. Psalm 78 verses four to seven. Verse four, we will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord and his strength and his wonderful works that he has done.

For he established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children, that the generation to come might know them, the children who would be born, that they may arise and declare them to their children, that they may set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments. You see, there is something larger than just us. There is the passing of the baton. There's the instruction concerning Bible and doctrine that we give to these children.

There is something greater than just ourselves. And if we don't value that and prize that, we're not going to operate consistently with the principle. And then notice in Psalm 145, Psalm 145, same emphasis in verse four, one generation shall praise your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts. Again, it's assumed by the psalmist that the people of God who have been blood bought by the Lord Jesus Christ are going to do this.

Imagine, men, women, you have a hobby. I bet your children know what that hobby is. I bet they see your delight in it. I bet they see your desire for it.

I'm not suggesting that religion or Christianity or doctrine in the Bible is simply a hobby. It's far greater than that. So if they know you like stamp collecting, they better know you love the triune God. They better know that you subscribe to the Old and New Testaments.

They better know that you affirm that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and that it's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. If they don't know you're a stamp collector, but they know that you have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, then you'll hear on that day, well done, good and faithful servant. You can make it through life without teaching your kids about stamp collecting. I can amen that 100%.

The Emphasis in Proverbs

Notice fifthly, the emphasis in Proverbs. This would be a whole sermon, I'm just gonna highlight a few points. Proverbs 1, 8. Proverbs 2.1, Proverbs 3.1, Proverbs 4.1, Proverbs 5.1, Proverbs 6.1, Proverbs 7.1.

Solomon is instructing his successors. Solomon is instructing his sons. Yes, he wants to equip them for their future accession to the throne, but he wants them to function in daily life in a way that is pleasing to God Almighty. So over and over and over again, he says, my son, my son, my son.

What does that emphasize? Again, Solomon is a king. Solomon is reigning over Israel, a consolidated kingdom. This isn't the divided monarchy.

It's not that he just has the 10 northern tribes of the two southern tribes. This is a united monarchy. The temple is built. Solomon has done great work in terms of the sort of typological kingdom of God on earth.

And yet he has all this time to instruct his children. Not that he has all this time. He makes the time so that he can instruct them. And the one specific passage is one I know we all know in Proverbs chapter 22, verse six, train up a child in the way he should go.

And when he is old, he will not depart from it. What is he assuming there? He's assuming that we love our children. He's assuming that we want the best for our children.

And as the blood-bought children of God, we know what the best is. And we know the best is the service of God Most High. We know the best is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. We know the best is a commitment to and an allegiance to the word of the living God.

And so we will train them up in that way with the confident expectation that when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Negative Examples: Eli and Samuel

Now, in terms of the negative examples, turn back to 1 Samuel. You've got it in Eli and you've got it in Samuel. But in 1 Samuel 2, we get a picture of Eli's sons, and they're not good guys. They happen to function as priests at the tabernacle, and they were just not good fellows.

People would come to offer up their sacrifices of meat, and these guys would take a big three-pronged fork and put it in there and take out a bunch of meat for themselves. It taught Israel to despise the sacrificial system. That's not good. The sacrificial system was to point Israel to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

They were supposed to esteem it. They were supposed to revere it. They were supposed to delight in it. And yet these sons of Eli did this sort of thing.

But not only did they steal the sacrificial meat of others, Which, brethren, if you ever find yourself stealing someone's sacrifice, you've hit a low point in your life. You are in an abysmal place of wretchedness and depravity. Just like in Malachi, they were bringing the lame and the blind and the defective animals, and even stealing animals when they were going to sacrifice at the temple. Again, if you're stealing a sacrifice to offer up to God, you're in the bottom of the barrel.

You need to claw your way out of it and stop that kind of behavior. But with reference to these sons of Eli, not only did they steal the sacrifices, but they lay with women at the tabernacle. So just wretched, horrible people. But if you look at 1 Samuel 2.12, this is the core of the issue.

They did not know Yahweh. In other words, they did not know experientially the God of heaven and earth, and as a result of that, the symptomatic sinful expression was the stealing of sacrifice and the laying with women. With reference to Eli, he knew or had at least some knowledge of what they were doing, and he didn't stop them. Now, I think this is a terrifying passage.

I referred to Ezekiel 9 a few weeks ago, and so that's one of the terrifying passages of Scripture. Well, so is 1 Samuel 3. Look specifically at what Samuel is told. Verse 11, then the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do something in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.

In that day, I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house from beginning to end. For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile and he did not restrain them." Now get this, Eli can't change their hearts. He is not sovereign. He can't make them believers.

He can't make them actual knowers of the Lord, but he can restrain their behavior. And brethren, that is something that is imperative upon the people of God today. As Reformed believers, we know it doesn't depend upon him who wills or upon him who runs, but on God who shows mercy. John tells us concerning the Word, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

We cannot change their hearts, brethren, but we, by God's grace, ought to seek to restrain the lawlessness that they often engage in. See, this idea is very important today as I survey the scene. Raising decent human beings is a lost art. Again, we can't save them, we can't regenerate them, but by God's grace, we ought to restrain in such a way that at least we're sending decent people out in the world.

Decent human being is an underrated category today. We don't want our human beings that flow from our loins thrashing Portland, tearing down statues and engaging in absolute lawlessness and rebellion. That's not acceptable. Well, by God's grace, we ought not to be an Eli because Eli was condemned for having not restrained them.

Now, brethren, don't beat yourselves up. I mean, there's sin that our kids engage in. There's sins that no doubt they got away with. Wait till your kids are older and you have that discussion sometime.

It's quite enlightening. You mean we didn't restrain you as much as we thought we were? But it's the overarching tenor of his life. He didn't care.

He wasn't engaged. He wasn't involved. He was lazy when it came to the actual instruction of and the restraint of his sons. And then notice in chapter eight, chapter eight in 1 Samuel.

And again, this is with Samuel. We don't have a statement that he did not restrain his sons. So we need to be somewhat cautious here. But I wanna show you something that this served in Israel's history.

Verse one, chapter eight. Now it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba, but his sons did not walk in his ways.

They turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes and perverted justice. Not good. In fact, bad, we would say. But look at the effect it had upon Israel according to verse 5.

It says, And they said to him... These are the elders of Israel gathered together. They come to Samuel at Ramah. And they said to him, Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways.

Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. That was the predicate to see their sons or the sons of Samuel engaged in lawlessness. They cry out, we want a king just like the other nations. Now, for those of you who have perhaps missed it over the last six months, I've tried to show in a few instances where the government can't always be trusted.

I know that's a tough one, and I know it stretches the limits of credulity today, but there are times, say for instance, the beasts in Revelation chapter 13. certain kings in the nation of Judah, certain kings in Babylon, certain kings throughout the world, and various other expressions. Notice what Samuel says is going to happen in their request for a king. Look at 1 Samuel 8, 10. So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who asked him for a king.

And he said, this will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you. He will take your sons and appoint them for His own chariots and to be His horsemen, and some will run before His chariots. He will appoint captains over His thousands and captains over His fifties, will set some to plow His ground and reap His harvest, and some to make His weapons of war and equipment for His chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers, and He will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to His servants.

He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage and give it to His officers and servants, and he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men and your donkeys and put them to his work. He will take a tenth of your sheep and you will be his servants." It's a horrible depiction of what the king is going to look like with reference to Israel. So again, this idea that civil government will only always do the best thing is simply not biblical. But the connection that you need to see in this instance is that Samuel's sons were a living testimony to the nation of Israel that we would rather have a king like the nations around us than to have these corrupt fellows over us.

It is a horrible and wretched thing. Now, when it comes to Samuel, again, we don't have a statement that he did not restrain them, so I want to be somewhat careful in overstepping here. So those are some negative examples.

Biblical Emphasis: New Testament

Now in terms of the New Testament, there's just not a whole lot of data there with reference to this particular point. But what is there is absolutely crucial. Turn first to Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6.

We have the command by Paul and then we have the example of Timothy. in terms of family religion, the worship of God in private families. Ephesians 6, 4, and you fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. The similar situation is in Colossians 3, 21. You have, do not provoke your children, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

In other words, they're not playthings. You're not to be capricious. You're not to be arbitrary. You're not to engage in sort of lawlessness in terms of training up your children.

And then the emphasis falls specifically on act and on word with reference to a father's instruction of his children. Notice what Paul says. but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord." That first word training, paideia, emphasizes actions and admonition emphasizes words. And notice that it's all to be done with reference to the Lord. In other words, there is a scope, a sphere of Christian behavior and ethics that you're supposed to operate in.

And that extends even, yes, even to the rearing of your children. Ken Harms was here, he would remind me, we raise cattle, we rear children. When you rear your children, it is in the Lord. It is to be the training and the admonition of the Lord, both by word and action, you're to instruct them concerning the God of heaven and earth.

That is crystal clear. It's plain evident, it's obvious. You fathers do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. Now turn over to 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy 1, just to see this in the life of Timothy.

Remember, Timothy had... a Greek father, but he had a Jewish mother. In Acts chapter 16, this was the reason why Paul had him circumcised when they went into certain Jewish regions, so as not to cause unnecessary offense. But notice in chapter 1, 2 Timothy, at verse 3, I thank God whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. What a great heritage!

What a good thing to have a good mother and a good grandmother who tutored Timothy in the sacred scriptures. And we know they did that because of 2 Timothy chapter 3. Look at what he says in verse 15, and that from childhood, you have known the holy scriptures. In view primarily is the Old Testament.

So you had Lois and Eunice training Timothy in terms of Old Testament religion. What was the content of that Old Testament religion? Blood atonement by our Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, a neglect of the Old Testament is a neglect of blood atonement by our Lord Jesus Christ.

Look at what he says. And that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures which are able. The Holy Scriptures, identified specifically here as the Old Testament, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. You had the promise of Messiah to be believed on in the Old Testament.

You had the blood atonement from our blessed Christ applied, according to Hebrews 9.15, retrospectively. In other words, everybody that's entered into the presence of God Most High does so through the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. So Paul sees this faith in Timothy. Paul sees this faith as having been given by God, but having been nurtured into play by his grandmother and mother.

And he says to him, you have known the sacred scriptures from your youth. So I believe the emphasis in the scripture, again, that you should do this is obvious. How you do this is up to you and God.

Practical Elements of Family Worship

Now, in terms of some practical elements, again, not laws, you must do this because Jim Butler said so. I know there's books out there on helps to a devotional life that become law manuals. I remember at one point in my Christianity feeling a bit off because I didn't journal for Jesus. Well, I'm sorry, there's nothing in the scripture that tells me I have to journal for Jesus.

If you want to journal for Jesus, you're free to journal for Jesus, but don't make that a law for those of us who don't want to journal for Jesus. See, we can take a good idea and make it a bad law. We can take a good idea or a preference and make it somebody else's commandment. This is killing churches.

This is so... horrible, that we take something that the Lord has shown us, and we want to make sure everybody else knows it. And we even have Facebook now and Twitter to make sure everybody does know it, and how it is the case that I'm such a holy and pious and righteous man. No, brethren, live unto God and seek to be faithful. Here's some things that I want to commend to your conscience.

Commitment to Public Worship

In the first place, the commitment to public worship. Now, that may seem a bit counterintuitive. It's on family worship, and you're telling us to be committed to public worship. That's because you're a pastor, and you make the big bucks when everybody shows up, because that's what the people said in the paper, right?

That's not it. If you do not have regard for the church of Jesus Christ, if you do not have regard for the public worship of the triune God, do you think your children are? In other words, there are some lessons that are better caught than taught. We certainly teach them, but we want them to catch it as well.

And with reference to our approach to religion, with reference to our approach to the Lord's day, we either A, Psalm 120 to it, I was glad when they said unto me, let us go to the house of the Lord, or we whine, grumble and complain because we have to go to church. Don't you think that your children will pick up the distinction? They'll pick up the difference? I mean, they're not brain surgeons.

I'm not granting that. But they're not complete ignoramuses either. They can discern that sort of energy. And if you are portraying this idea that, oh, it's church again, then that's not going to commend church to your children.

Listen to the psalmist. Yahweh loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. You know, we all love the Puritans. Do you know there was a Puritan by the name of David Clarkson who preached a sermon with this title?

Public worship to be preferred before private. Listen to that public worship to be preferred before private. This is a very individualistic privatized day that we live in. Oh, it's all about my quiet time.

It's about my devotional life. It's about the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is about covenanting together. It is about pressing forward one with another.

Brethren, this morning, and I'm not always into this, but when I was praying for the brothers here, specifically brothers, in terms of our church, I praise God for this church. This church has helped me tremendously. This church has been great in terms of benefit. This church is where I want to be.

And in terms of church, that's the message we wanna commend to our children. If it's not this church, find the church that you can commend to your children because it is that important. As well, we need to appreciate the dignity of the Church, Acts 20, 28, the Church of God, which He purchased with His own blood. We don't treat lightly that which Christ purchased with His own blood, and neither should we teach our children to treat it lightly either.

And then in 1 Timothy 3, we learn that it's the house of God. And then we have, of course, the prohibition against forsaking the church. Hebrews 10, 25, I'm sure you've heard this over the last little while. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another in so much the more as you see the day approaching.

See, brethren, there is a corporate dimension to our Christianity called the church that we, get rid of to our own hurt and our hindrance. Our confession of faith says, but God is to be worshiped everywhere in spirit and in truth, as in private families daily, and in secret, each one by himself, so more solemnly in the public assemblies, which are not carelessly nor willfully to be neglected or forsaken when God by his word or providence calleth thereto. and Terry Johnson in a very helpful book. Some of you might be new to this. Wow, what do I do?

Well, Terry Johnson's written a book called The Family Worship Book. And he says simply, the first and primary key to your family's spiritual health is a commitment to the weekly public worship services of the church. That's a big one. That's huge.

Do we want to raise a generation of people that hate the church? Well, of course we don't. But do we want to raise a generation of people who can take or leave the church? Of course we don't.

One of the greatest tragedies we've witnessed over the last several months is this idea that church is somehow not essential. Ask any blood-bought believer whether or not the church is essential. Actually, that's probably too ambitious. Don't do that.

Ask those who have a proper conception. See, brethren, I think there are blood-bought believers out there that have not been taught. They have not had the scriptures faithfully preached to them. They've not been shown or it's not been demonstrated the very emphasis of God in terms of church life.

It is central in his redemptive plan. And if it's this attitude of I can take it or leave it, we're gonna pass that attitude on to another generation that's going to be ultimately pastoral nightmares. The idea that we have to harangue people, the idea that we have to entice people, we have to carrot and stick people just to get them into the church. You watch, I'm not a prophet or the son of a prophet, but there's gonna be a whole host of sermons in the next few weeks and months on lambasting the people on the need to go back to church.

They're quite content in their jammies on their couch. They're quite content toggling between cat videos and pastor whoever, you know, sharing his sermonette. It is going to be the emphasis with the gathered church in the coming weeks that they're going to have to harass people to come back to church. That rings disingenuous to me, for one, but I hope I hope that the churches are full again, and I hope that God's word is proclaimed from sea to sea.

Because if there's other things, another thing that we have witnessed during this time frame is the desperate need of our nation for the redemptive religion of Jesus Christ the Lord. If ever we needed that word to run swiftly and be glorified, I would suggest, brethren, tis now. And we ought to be praying to that end, that God raise man up, that God unleash man to proclaim that whole counsel of God, such that persons are taught about the centrality of the church and God's redemptive plan as well.

Sanctification of the Lord's Day

Second one is the sanctification of the Lord's Day. Sunday is different, child. It just is. It is the one day carved out by God for the public worship of God.

It is the day of God where the people of God gather in the house of God for the worship of God. And when we do not esteem that day, they're not going to either.

The Use of a Family Altar

And then finally, the use of a family altar. Again, not potpourri. I'm not saying, you know, you carpenters out there get in the business of building actual altars to put in people's living rooms. This is what the Puritans referred to family worship.

Well, what do I do there? Well, first of all, you could sing. You don't have to sing, you know, all the psalms. I think Psalm 104 is all in there.

You know, some of those psalms are in the hymn book and they're not broken up. I'm not suggesting that. If you're engaged in Puritan-length sermons and your family devotions, dial it back, brothers. Just scale it down a little bit because that's not a smart way to proceed.

But in terms of singing, praying, reading scripture, reading a helpful Christian book. And be aware, not every child's Bible story book is necessarily doctrinally sound. There's a new one that Banner of Truth is published by Catherine Voss that I would suspect is quite good. Some of you may have already utilized it or seen it.

But with reference to Scripture, make sure they get real Scripture, they get real verses, they get real Bible, and then with reference to these sorts of things, it helps and benefits not just them in terms of instruction, but it helps and benefits them in terms of being able to sit for a few minutes. Again, don't do an hour and a half, but you're training them to perhaps be able to do an hour and a half. So that when it comes to Sunday, maybe they don't get everything. And brethren, I'm not so foolish as to think anybody always gets everything.

But the bottom line is, I like to think that everybody gets something. That even the smallest among us, if they're paying attention and listening, they will hear something that does resonate with them. And that is the goal of our instruction as parents. to bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. And to do that in isolation from the church is neither healthy nor wise.

And so we want to have a robust appreciation for the church. We want to have a robust appreciation for the Lord's day, and we ought to make use of the family altar. And at that family altar, I will summarize it this way, teach them the law and teach them the gospel. Teach them why we do what we do and teach them why it is the case that we now engage in it when before we didn't.

Teach them sovereign grace. Teach them the blood of Jesus Christ. Teach them the glorious truths of the gospel. Teach them those things because they need to hear it. you need to pass it on to them such that a posterity shall serve him.

Paedo-Baptists don't have a corner on family religion. It's one of the castigations against Baptists that somehow we don't care for our children. No, we use the family altar as well. And we acknowledge that even without Paedo-Baptism, God in his grace and mercy and in his loving kindness works in family units.

There are Lois's out there, there are Eunice's out there, there are those faithfully instructing their children that God in his infinite mercy and grace saves by that grace, brings them out of darkness into marvelous light, and then they go out, they get married, they have kids, they duplicate that information, and we see again the grace of God working in and through and among families. I don't believe it's obligation. I don't believe it's necessity. I don't believe in every situation.

He must save our children. But I am saying practically that he does choose to operate in that manner for his glory and for the good of his churches. It is a most blessed thing.

Application and Conclusion

Well, in conclusion, first, a recognition of the importance of family worship. Bridges commenting on Proverbs 13, 22. with the man, a good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children. He says, if there is no earthly substance to leave, yet a church in the house, a family altar, the record of holy example and instruction, and above all, a store of believing prayer laid up for accomplishment, when we shall be silent in the grave, will be an inheritance to our children of inestimable value. In other words, pass this information on.

It is most necessary today. Secondly, the implementation of family worship. If you're not doing it, start. Ten sermons on how bad you are.

Just start. You meet people like that. You know, I haven't been reading my Bible and praying as I ought. Then read your Bible and pray as you ought.

Why do we overcomplicate things? I'm not praying as I ought, so I need to read A.W. Pink's book on prayer. Well, it's not bad to read A.W.

Pink's book on prayer, but you could also pray I'm not reading the Bible the way I ought. I ought to get one of those calendars where I'm reading 20 chapters a day. No, you could just read a few sentences. Why don't we just take the simple path sometimes?

Not the simplistic way, but a simple path. Johnson, again, Terry Johnson in that book says, remember, there's nothing to getting started like actually getting started. Doesn't sound helpful? We're making a point.

Like everything else that is valuable but requires discipline and sacrifice, losing weight, stopping drinking, getting an education, staying married, attending worship service, it finally comes down to doing it. Start. Do it. That's it.

Should be no questions. Amen. Secondly, if you are practicing family worship, then persevere. Well, you know, we keep doing it.

My kids haven't had this aha moment where the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin. Keep doing it. There's no time frame. There's no, well, you do it for the first four years of their early education and then just leave them on their own.

No, just keep doing it. It's a wonderful thing. Keep doing it. And as I said earlier, if you're preaching Puritan-length sermons at family worship, then please back it down.

Please back it down. You can really frustrate your children. We're told not to provoke them to wrath. Well, three hours after dinner of, you know, Robert Clarkson on public worship, to be preferred, over private, is probably going to provoke them to wrath.

Especially when it's 80 degrees out and all their friends are outside playing. teach them scripture, pray with them and sing with them, and then let them live. That's a legit thing too. And then finally, the practical benefits of family worship. Again, this is probably coming along as you have to do this.

No, I think you see it in the Bible. It's done. The how you do it, that's up to you and God. But in terms of some practical benefits, it is a means by which we're able to obey God and pass on to our children those things that he calls us to.

You're supposed to teach them the great redemptive acts of God. You're supposed to teach them the law of God. Secondly, it is the means by which children are prepared to sit in the worship services of the church. I see that very practically as a father and as a grandfather, a very helpful thing for us.

And one of the ways I find encouragement is that my kids can typically sit through a worship service today. They were taught early on, and that was a good beneficial thing. Third, it's the means by which familial closeness is fostered, right? We're told to actually love each other as families.

What a great expression of our love for one another when we worship the true and living God. As well, it is the means by which a kingdom emphasis is maintained. We are teaching our children Matthew 6.33, even if we're not telling them this is Matthew 6.33. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

Fifth, the means by which our children hear the gospel for the salvation of their souls. See, brethren, we have gold, we have rubies, we have diamonds, we have the pearl of great price. The persons we should most want to pass that on to is our children. We should want them to hear.

We should want them to believe. We should want them to enter into the public worship of God with joy and with an adoration to the true and living God. And then as well, finally, the means by which parents can counteract the destructive influence of an ungodly world that is tirelessly trying to corrupt our children. It's evident out there.

You see it. I don't have to even preach this because you know what I'm saying is true. This is not a vacuum. If we do not indoctrinate them, someone else will.

So, brothers, I want to encourage you with every drop of encouragement I can muster. If you're doing it, continue to persevere. If you're not, start. And understand that it is in this that we honor God and we pass on the best thing we can ever pass on to our children, the knowledge of God Most High. and children, young people, the fact that you're here and the fact that your parents do engage in this is a wonderful testimony of their love for Christ and their love for you.

And instead of rejecting that or resisting that or, you know, kind of rolling your eyes, praise God, many of us weren't raised with that. Many of us were not raised in homes with a Bible. Many of us were not raised in homes with two parents. Many of us were not raised in homes with any sort of degree of religion and that commitment.

And the fact that you are in that scenario or in that position, it is most blessed. I look at it as street signs. You know when you're driving with your mom or your dad and you see that stop sign? That means stop.

You don't go past that sign. You see another sign. It was great. Driving to Kelowna, there's a 120 stretch, you know, when you get out there off the beaten path.

That's nice. That's, I think, probably the only place in Canada. It's a good thing. You see those signs and they're instructive.

Well, that you have families. You have parents, you have pastors, you have friends, you have people in the church that are telling you the same message to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Those are signs, those are pointers, those are helps given by God. Don't tarry, don't wait, don't resist, don't hesitate, but rather look unto the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. you shall pass from death to life and you will enter into heaven above and stay there forever.

That is most excellent. Well, let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Our Father, we thank You for Your Word, and we thank You for its clarity at this point of family religion. I pray for Your blessing upon all of us as we endeavor in this direction to seek to be faithful to Paul's words in Ephesians 6. I pray that we would not provoke our children to wrath, but we would bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. that it would be one of our chief missions in life to pass on this education to these little ones. And God, I pray that this church would be useful to that end as well, that parents would be instructed, that they would be helped along, and that in the public worship services, as law and gospel is preached, that the children would have ears to hear and hearts to receive these things.

And God, may it be the case that this would be a multi-generational church, that you would sustain the work here, that you would bless and prosper the work here, and that you would be merciful and gracious. And we ask this in the name and for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Why don't we close by singing the doxology in praise to our triune God.

It's found on page 568 in your hymn books, and we'll stand as we sing together. ♪ Peace on earth, Christ is born ♪ ♪ Praise Him, all creatures sing along ♪ ♪ Praise Him, all ye that hear Him o'er all ♪ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. Thank you Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for your great grace to us, for your mercy, for your loving kindness, for your goodness displayed not only in creation and providence but in in redemption. And we just want to pass that on to our children.

And we know that your grace is absolutely crucial in terms of their salvation. But God, help us to use the means that you've ordained. We know that it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. So give us all wisdom, give us all boldness, give us all courage to pass on this information to the wonderful children in this congregation.

And we ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. We'll close with a brief time of meditation.

Scripture References

• Genesis 12; 18:18-19
• Deuteronomy 6:1; 6:4; 6:6-9; 6:20
• Joshua 24:14
• 1 Samuel 2:12; 3:11; 8:1; 8:5; 8:10
• Psalms 22:30-31; 78:4-7; 120; 145:4
• Proverbs 1:8; 2:1; 3:1; 4:1; 5:1; 6:1; 7:1; 13:22; 22:6
• Ezekiel 9
• Micah 6:8
• Malachi 1
• Matthew 6:33; 12
• Acts 16; 20:28
• Romans 1-11; 12
• Ephesians 6:4
• Colossians 3:21
• 1 Timothy 3
• 2 Timothy 1:3; 3:15
• Hebrews 9:15; 10:25
• Revelation 13