We can turn in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 6. Deuteronomy chapter 6, our message tonight. is more topical in nature. It's called the practice of family worship. It sort of goes hand-in-hand with what we looked at last week in the Proverbs concerning the Christian mother.

I thought this would be a good time to cause us to reflect afresh on the fact that God sanctions, God blesses, God promotes the worship of people in families. So I want to read Deuteronomy 6, verses 1 to 9. 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.

Hear, 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. Amen. Let us pray.

Father, we thank you again for the written Word, and we pray again for the ministry of the Holy Spirit, that He would guide us and lead us and direct us into all truth. We pray that as families, as men, as women who have children, that we would take seriously the pattern we see established so clearly in Scripture. We would be given to the worship of the living God, not just one day out of the seven, but each and every day we would seek to foster in our young ones the necessity to look to the Lord Jesus Christ. God, we pray that as we survey these biblical texts, even if we don't have children, our hearts would be fed, we would be strengthened, we would be nourished, that God, as we come to Scripture, we would taste and see that indeed the Lord is good.

And we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Introduction

Well, I suggest that we get right to it as there are several texts. I want to look first at the biblical warrant for family worship and then secondly the elements of family worship. So

Biblical Warrant for Family Worship

you can turn to Genesis chapter 18 in the first place with reference to the biblical warrant for family worship. Concerning the Old Testament, I have five points. First, the purpose for Abraham. Secondly, the command for Israel.

Thirdly, the practice of Joshua. Fourth, the assumption in the Psalms. And fifth, the emphasis in the Proverbs. Those are the five things I want us to understand as we move through the Old Testament.

Then as we come to the New, we'll see the command by Paul and the example of Timothy. But note first, in Genesis chapter 18, it is God's dealings with Abraham. And note specifically what we find with reference to God's dealings with Abraham. It is just before the judgment of God upon Sodom and Gomorrah.

And we see in verse 16, "...then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on the way. And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?" Now notice, the covenantal purpose of God for Abraham. Verse 18, "...since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation." and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him." That rehearses what God's already said to Abraham in Genesis 12, Genesis 15, and again in Genesis 17. It would be in Abraham that all the nations, all the families of the earth, would be blessed.

Ultimately, that is connected to Abraham's seed, who is the Lord Jesus Christ, according to Galatians 3.16. Now, note God's intimate knowledge and love for Abraham in verse 19. He says, 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. Now, oftentimes I think we come to this passage, and probably I've even preached it this way, that Abraham was already doing this.

Well, Abraham may have been doing this, but this is God's purpose for Abraham in the covenant community.

The Purpose for Abraham

For I have known him in order that he may do this." What must Abraham do? That Abraham may command his children and his household after him. In other words, Abraham, as a father, as a householder, has a particular responsibility. Biblical religion was to be propagated in the home, in the family, certainly in the synagogue, certainly in the tabernacle, certainly in the temple.

Those were absolutely requisite within Old Covenant Israel. And note specifically what Abraham was to command his children. First, that they keep the way of Yahweh. They keep the way of Yahweh.

What God commands, what God says, what God expresses in His Word is what you children are supposed to do. So when Abraham would gather his children, when Abraham would gather his household, Abraham would instruct them concerning the way of God. He would instruct them concerning God the Creator, God the Governor, God the Redeemer. God, the One who called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldeans.

And this is the emphasis of His teaching. But as well, secondly, and then to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him. If you think, in terms of this text, it probably resonates with another text I think all of us know. Micah 6, verse 8.

He has shown you, O 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? There's a long heritage before Micah ever mentions this in Micah 6. We see it all the way here in Genesis chapter 18.

It's codified in Deuteronomy chapter 10 and verse 12, as well in Hosea 12, Zechariah 7. And I think this is probably what Jesus has in mind when he says to the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23, 23, you tithe the mint and the anise and the cumin, but you neglect the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faith. The Lord God's message has always been the same, and this is precisely what Abraham was to teach his children. He was to command them, not suggest, not allow them to make their own decisions, not allow them to go back to Ur, not allow them to engage in the idolatry of Canaanites, but no, he was to command them.

Brethren, there is nothing godly or nothing wise or nothing holy in allowing independence in your children. I'm not suggesting that we take a rubber hose and a bright light and we brainwash them into our way of thinking, but we are admonished to bring them up in the training and the admonition of the Lord. We're not to suggest this or recommend this as a better way of life. Abraham was to command his children and his household after him. that they keep the way of Yahweh, children, household, keep the way of Yahweh, and to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.

The Command for Israel

Deuteronomy 6, we just read it, we can go back there. This is instruction given to Israel, the Shema of Deuteronomy 6.4, that's the Hebrew word for here, Or for, listen, if you ever see that Shema, it's a reference to Deuteronomy 6.4. Hear, O Israel. This was Israel's central confession of faith.

The monotheism, the unity, the singularity of the living and the true God. The Lord our God, the Lord is One. Now, based on that central confession, it ought to affect the way that you live. We don't just say, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.

We don't just confess His being. We don't just confess who He is, but we live in light of that confession, and that's what's drawn out for Israel in verses 5-9. Notice, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. That is legit, that is rational, that is logical, that follows.

When the Lord God has redeemed us, when the Lord God has brought us to Himself, when the Lord God has shown Himself to us in such amazing and glorious ways, the natural response of the redeemed heart is to love Him, to adore Him, to prize Him, to worship Him, to say with the bride concerning the bridegroom, you are altogether lovely and chief among ten thousand. This is necessary from the hearts of God's people. Now notice in verse 6 the emphasis on an internalized religion. You see, you can't say the scribes and Pharisees that Jesus condemns in Matthew 23 are simply living according to the Old Testament.

No, the Old Testament never enjoined upon the people an externalism, or a formalism, or a ritualism. It never said, just go through the motions and everything will be alright. No, it's always internalized. It's always from the heart.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength. Now notice in verse 6, It ought to take root. The Word of God ought to find its place in the hearts of the redeemed. If we do not have a hunger for the Word, if there is no receptivity to the Word, then we need to question whether that central confession of faith is legitimately and really ours.

The people of God have a hunger for the Word of God. In fact, Jesus pronounces beatitude on those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. That is a disposition of the redeemed. Now, it may vary in persons from degree to degree.

It may vary based on what's called progressive sanctification. Hopefully, you grow more in your desire for the word of truth as you are along the way. But when you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you want God's word. Now, notice, they were to propagate this truth.

The primary emphasis in verse 7 is upon their children. You need to teach your children. You shall teach them diligently. Not haphazardly, not inconsistently, not when you feel like it, but you teach them diligently.

You need to understand Israel living in this particular setting, moving from the plains of Moab into the land of Canaan. What's going to happen when they move into the land of Canaan? They're not going to dispossess the land of the Canaanites. They're not going to destroy every altar to Baal.

They're not going to throw down every Asherah pole. They're not going to destroy those things that are associated with false religion. If you don't inoculate your children, if you don't instruct your children, if you don't diligently set before them Yahweh and His way, then they will fall prey. They will be saying, praise Baal from whom all blessings flow, when they go with their neighbor Canaanite pagans to the Baal worship service.

You can't let that happen. You need to diligently teach them. He then speaks concerning formal times of instruction and informal times. You shall teach them diligently to your children.

I take that as a reference to formal times of instruction. You ought to set apart what the Puritans called a family altar. and use that means to instruct them concerning the ways of Yahweh, like Abraham did before. Teach them about justice, teach them about righteousness, teach them the things of God Most High. But there ought to be an informal nest to your teaching as well, and that's what verse 7 goes on.

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house. When you're at the dinner table, when you're eating your porridge, when you're eating your steak, or I don't know how many of us are eating steak at night, but we ought to be talking about the things of God, teaching, instructing, and helping them to understand what God's Word is all about. But notice, not only when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way. You go to the zoo and you look at the giraffe.

That's a good time to tell your children about the amazingness of God. I mean, I would have never designed a giraffe. Certainly, I would have never designed a platypus. I don't know that I could have conceived of a monkey.

All of that bespeaks of the glory and the majesty and the excellence of God. There is informal instruction concerning your children. And when you lie down, when you put them to bed at night, and you kiss them on their foreheads, point them, to the way of Yahweh. And then when you rise up as well.

So you get the gist. You see what's supposed to happen. Central confession of faith. Individual response with love.

Internalize it in your heart and teach it to your kids. This is a no-brainer. This is what the people of God do. I referenced this morning John Jasper.

He got converted. What did he do? He witnessed to people that he was working with. I think that happens to God's people.

They get saved and they start to talk to people about Jesus. Well, if they get saved and they have children, guess what they're going to do? They're going to talk to their children about the Lord Jesus Christ, about the law of God, about the gospel of free and sovereign grace. Notice verse 8. in light of what we studied this morning.

This was one of those texts that went in the phylacteries. This is the proof text for those phylacteries. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. That's why they wore it on the forehead and wore it on the forearm.

And it was two texts from Deuteronomy and two texts from Exodus. And again, what's the emphasis? So everybody will see your phylactery and think you're a godly man or woman? No! so that you keep the law of God right before your eyes.

You keep the law of God right near your hand. You don't make a move, you don't have a thought, you don't engage in action without first rehearsing the Word of God Most High. And then note the societal application. Verse 9, you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

What were the gates with reference to Old Testament cities? They were the place where politics was conducted. It was the place where commerce was engaged in. The gates were to be marked with the law of God Most High.

So you see with Abraham, you see the admonition, or rather the command for Israel. Now

The Practice of Joshua

note thirdly, the practice of Joshua, Joshua 24, 15. Joshua 24, 15. This is a covenant renewal ceremony at Shechem. And Joshua rehearses where they had been, he rehearses the grace of God to them, he rehearses the ways of God among them, and the power of God displayed toward them.

He then calls for practical application. He doesn't just rehearse history, talk about grace, demonstration of power, and then say, OK, let's go home now. No, he brings it to bear upon his hearers. Notice in verse 14, now therefore, You see, that's what the Bible's all about.

That differentiates preaching and teaching. There's a therefore with preaching. There is a hopeful movement of the will in preaching. It's not just information.

Joshua is not just concerned to fill their head with understanding, but he wants to move their affections to the God who has redeemed them. Notice in verse 14, Now therefore fear Yahweh, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your father served on the other side of the river and in Egypt. Serve Yahweh. And then he lays down this challenge.

Verse 15, And if it seems evil to you to serve Yahweh, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your father served that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell." I think this is a reductio ad absurdum. I don't think Joshua is actually saying, yeah, those are options, go ahead and pursue those. He is showing the futility of these false gods. He is showing the nothingness of these false gods.

The people know what they have heard. The people understand who Yahweh is. They're not actually thinking they get to decide for, you know, these foreign gods. No, He is simply going to show them the supremacy of God, the majesty of God, and the futility of doing anything but serving God.

And then at the end of verse 15, Nody says, But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And in a real practical application, Joshua was a busy man, wasn't he? What was Joshua's job? Joshua led troops into Canaan to kill people and to break things.

Joshua was charged with taking Israel into Canaan in order to dispossess the land of the Canaanites. Joshua was busy. You see, you have no right or prerogative as a husband, or as a father, or as a mother, to say, well, you know, I'm just too busy to fit family worship in. I'm just too busy to break open the Scriptures with my little ones.

I'm just too busy to catechize them. Joshua was a busy man. Matthew Henry 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. You see, brethren, when something is important, we will fit it in.

When the souls of our children are at stake, and I'm not trying to guilt manipulate you here, but I want you to consider the weightiness of the matter. When the souls of our children are at stake, we ought to carve out time. We ought to be able to afford 10 or 15 or 20 minutes. We'll later say that if you're doing two and a half hour Puritan sermons with your three-year-old, you're probably overdoing it.

But certainly you can do 10 or 15 minutes. You can read some passages of Scripture to them and give a simple explanation to them and sing some basic songs concerning the glory of God and the majesty of Jesus. That won't take you two and a half hours. You don't have to get Owen out and read his, you know, anti-Socinian writings in chapter 12 and make your three-year-old rehearse how Biddle was wrong.

No, no, you don't do that. But brethren, you cannot say you're too busy. I'm just too busy. You know how many times we say that?

Now, that's not to minimize that you're actually busy. But it may be the case that you need to look at your calendar, and you need to look at your day timer, and you need to say, well, teaching my children the way of salvation ought to be one of those chief priorities, so I'm going to work it in there. I am going to fit it in.

The Assumption in the Psalms

Now notice, fourthly, the assumption in the Psalms. Several passages in the Psalms, we sang one, or rather we read one at the outset of worship in Psalm 145, we'll look at in a moment, but Psalm 2230, I referred to this last week. Note this is an assumption. These are not commands.

It is assumed in the Psalter that Israel is taking up this task. It is assumed in the Songbook of Israel that the people of God are engaged in this activity of instructing their children, for it was commanded in Deuteronomy 6. The Shema, the response in terms of the individual, the necessity to internalize it in one's heart, and the necessity to teach the children diligently, to instruct them. They had the example of Joshua making that glorious declaration, as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh.

That ought to be all of our testimony. In Psalm 22, 30, because of what had gone before, the psalmist is able to say, 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. Brethren, when a baby is born in our church, and we pray, Lord God bless the baby, we thank you that the baby's been born healthy and strong, and we pray that one day that baby will be born again. I think there's a latent assumption that the parents are going to take seriously the admonition of the apostle to bring those children up in the training and admonition of the Lord, to bring them to the house of God so they sit under the preaching of God's Word. We don't pray this just because there's a book out there that says pastors ought to pray that way.

We pray that with a heartfelt desire to see our little ones right with God, to see these children and young people inoculated from the temptations of this world. I was walking this morning and thinking about this, and I had a lot of struggles as a young man with temptation. I didn't have the internet in my pocket. There are some difficulties facing our young people today, and if we do not teach them the way of Yahweh, do not think that the way of Satan isn't going to intrude upon them.

The Psalter assumes that the faithful in Israel are going to be instructing their children. Psalm 78, verses 4 to 7. Psalm 78, verses 4 to 7, 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, and may not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not set its heart aright and whose spirit was not faithful to God." You see the emphasis.

The one generation passes the baton of truth to the next generation. And as I said, we read that at the outset in Psalm 145, verse 4. One generation shall praise your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts. David assumes that the people of God will take seriously the mandate of God in Deuteronomy 6-7, and they will diligently teach these statutes, these commandments, these ordinances, these laws to their children.

And they won't just do so in formal, stated times, but they'll do so around the table. They'll do so when they walk in the zoo. They'll do so when they lay Him down at night. They'll do so when they rise up in the morning.

You see, the heart that is devoted to God wants to present that truth of God to other needy sinners. And then

The Emphasis in the Proverbs

finally, the emphasis in the Proverbs, we won't spend a lot of time there, but every time Solomon says, My son. What is Solomon doing every time he says, My son, in 2-1, 3-1, 4-1, 5-1, 6-1, and 7-1? He is teaching His children the ways of Yahweh. He is teaching His children the truth of God.

He is teaching them not only about the way of Yahweh, but as well to do righteousness and justice. He is training them to be decent, normal human beings that are contributors to society. Much of the Proverbs help in terms of rounding out the religious instruction of young people. So that's the Old Testament.

Again, a flyby. We could spend more time, but we will move on.

The New Testament Witness

Note the New Testament. You can turn to Ephesians, the command of Paul. Ephesians chapter 6, specifically in verse 4. And you fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath.

Do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. That's what Paul says that fathers are supposed to do, bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. If we're thinking biblically, which I hope that we should, we go back to Deuteronomy 6, we might infer or conclude that Paul means we ought to diligently teach them. There ought to be formal times of instruction where we sit them down and speak to them the truth concerning Jesus, we catechize them, we sing with them, we teach them the truth as it is in Jesus.

And then there are these informal times as well. We bring them up in the training and the admonition of the Lord. Similarly, in Colossians chapter 3, Colossians 3 gives us the negative or the prohibition. Again, do not provoke your children lest they become discouraged.

I think a provocation of children is to allow them to express themselves, to allow them to pursue independent thought, to allow them to be their own man or woman. No, they're five. You have a duty and a responsibility before God Most High to seek by the grace of God to shape them in the truth of God. And then I mentioned the example of Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 1. 2 Timothy chapter 1.

What was Timothy doing as a child? He was being taught truth by a godly mother and a grandmother. 2 Timothy 1.3, I thank God whom I serve with a pure conscience as my forefathers did. You see, Paul speaks of forefathers there. He doesn't say those guys who went before us that did the right things.

Now, we can use titles as long as we don't abuse titles. If you weren't here this morning, you don't know what I'm talking about. But if you were here, you do know what I'm talking about. 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." He says that that faith was present in his mother and in his god grandmother.

Now notice in 2 Timothy 3.15, 2 Timothy 3 15 that faith wasn't just present in Lois and Eunice It wasn't just internalized in their heart, with reference to Lois and Eunice, but they also taught Timothy, 2 Timothy 3.15, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. So it implies, it infers, it everywhere argues for the reality that this grandmother and this mother tutored their child in the things of God. They taught him the truth. So that's the biblical warrant.

Elements of Family Worship

Let's move on secondly to the elements of family worship. The elements of family worship. Now there's a whole host of books out there. One I can highly recommend by Terry Johnson.

It is called the Family Worship Book. And after a few introductory pages on why family should worship, he then has an order of service for family worship. I mean, the call to worship the whole spiel, if you're so inclined. He has in there the Westminster Shorter Catechism.

He has the children's version. He has a Bible reading plan. He has psalms. and the Psalms of David in meter. He has psalms like we have in our Trinity Psalter.

It's a very helpful resource. If you fathers are, you know, in between things at this particular time, may I suggest Harry Johnson, the family worship book published by Christian Focus Publications. Very helpful, very nice, very well put together for that purpose. But

Commitment to Public Worship

the first thing that I want us to consider with reference to the elements of family worship is the commitment to public worship. You probably thought I was going to say, OK, after dinner, have all the kids sit on the couch and get your Bible out and get your songbook out and sing and pray and read. We're going to deal with that in a moment. But you know what's the first and most important thing is a commitment to public worship.

It's to bring them to church, to teach them the centrality of the church in God's redemptive plan. Psalm 87 too, God loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. David Clarkson preached a sermon called public worship to be preferred before private. This flies contrary to the spirit of our age, where we think, you know, it's all about me, it's all about my experience, it's all about what I do with my little ones.

God says, bring your little ones to church. God says to teach them and to train them to come to church. You ought to highlight the importance of the church with your children and the church's public worship services. That is the first order of business.

Johnson 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. You can have family worship every night, but if you do not regard the church, if you do not bring them to that place where the sacraments are administered, where the Word of God is proclaimed, and where the people of God gather in obedience to their Lord, you're undoing with your practice what you are preaching up from Monday to Saturday night. The Church of Christ is central in God's redemptive plan. Acts 20, 28, when the Apostle Paul is charging the elders, the Ephesian elders, he says that they are to take heed to themselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit had made them overseers.

He says they need to shepherd the Church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. Yes, he purchased individual sinners, but he purchased the church. The corporate people of God is something that the church today needs to appreciate afresh. Public worship to be preferred before private, by David Clarkson.

Psalm 87, how do you make heads or tails out of that reality? The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob. It doesn't mean he hates the families of Israel. It means he loves it when they gather together in the courts of church, and they praise, and they worship, and they honor.

Westminster's Shorter Catechism asks, what are the outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption? The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption are His ordinances, especially the words, sacraments, and prayer, all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation. Now, throughout history, the church has gotten a bum rap. And in our day, the same is true.

The church is full of hypocrites. The church is bad. It's all about religion. It's all about pastors wanting money.

You know what? I don't doubt that that's out there, but an abuse of something doesn't argue against the proper use of it. And the proper use of the church is that covenant people of God coming together on the Lord's Day to praise and to worship and to honor and to glorify Him, such that the preaching of the gospel goes forth, and hopefully our little ones will hear that gospel, and by God's Spirit will be born again, born anew, and they will believe the gospel. So please, focus upon, center your lives upon the public worship of God's people.

Sanctification of the Lord's Day

Secondly, Now they go to the couch. Now you get the hymn book out. Now you catechize them. No.

The sanctification of the Lord's day. The sanctification of the Lord's day. That ought to be paramount as well. God's provided the means for us to develop religiously, in formal settings, our children.

And one of those particular means is a high view of God's day. We don't have time to sketch a biblical theology of the Sabbath. That has been done here. many, many times. Chapter 22 in our Confession of Faith outlines a biblical theology of the Sabbath.

We could start at Genesis, chapter 2, the creation account. Genesis chapter 4, when Cain and Abel, at the end of days, probably the Sabbath day, bring their sacrifices to present unto God. We could go to Exodus, the thundering of Sinai. What's that fourth word?

Remember the Sabbath. Same thing in Deuteronomy chapter 5. We'd stop at Isaiah 58 to see that blessed promise of God that if we cease from our own ways and we stop thinking our own thoughts on God's holy day, then He will exalt us and He will bless us and He will give us the desires of our hearts in terms of the spiritual realities. We would move on to the New Testament and see that Jesus Christ is Lord of the Sabbath.

To see that Jesus says that the man wasn't made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for the man. It's a good thing. It's a blessed thing. It's a gift given by God.

We'd stop at Acts chapter 20 and see that that day has been changed to Sunday. In the Old Covenant, in terms of positive law, it was observed on the Saturday. But in the New Covenant, in terms of positive law, we see it is observed on Sunday. Acts 20, verse 7. 1 Corinthians 16, Paul tells the people of God on that first day of the week, put in their offerings, verse 2.

And then Revelation 1.10, John is in the Spirit when? On the Lord's Day, on Sunday. There is a theology of Sabbath that runs from the beginning to the very end Sabbath is far more important than a lot of us realize. Sabbath, with reference to God, is most important.

It speaks of His enthronement, it speaks of His rule, it speaks of His kingdom, and it speaks concerning that day when we will enter into that eternal Sabbath rest with our God. The blessing of the Sabbath. Turretin makes this comment. He says, experience teaches too well that license and the negligence of sacred things grows more and more where a proper regard is not shown for the Lord's day." Let me just read that again.

Experience teaches too well that license and the negligence of sacred things grows more and more where a proper regard is not shown for the Lord's day. Brethren, in many respects, God has structured stuff in a very simple way. You know, we could not have a seminar tonight, okay, here's 15 ways to get your kids holy. No, God's taken care of it.

Take them to church and observe His day. Cease from all your other activities, show them the priorities involved in terms of God's kingdom, and that will go a long way to reinforcing the religious instruction you give them throughout the week. Vos, I love this statement in his biblical theology concerning the Sabbath. He says, the Sabbath has faithfully accompanied the people of God on their march through the ages.

That's beautiful. The Sabbath has always been there for God's people as a respite, as a rest, as a day of sanctification, a day of blessing, a day where we get to come to the house of God and we get to worship Him. I think that idea of the Puritan Sabbath, where you just sat your kids down for hours on end and rotely went through things, that's not the view of the Sabbath we ought to have. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go to the house of the Lord.

The Sabbath day means the day of worship with the people of God. And I think that if we inculcate that in our homes and we pass that along to our children, that will be invaluable. If your children rise up, obviously converted by the grace of God and Jesus Christ, but they're faithful churchmen? They actually show up when the church doors are open?

And they honor the Sabbath day? What could be better? I mean, I'd much prefer that than my kids, you know, hitting home runs or making loads of money or, you know, inventing whatever new cures there might be for maladies out there. If they have a high view of Jesus' church and a high regard for Jesus' day, then they are thinking Jesus' thoughts after Him.

If Christ loves the church, and He does, and Christ has sanctified the day, and He has, then to teach them these fundamental principles is certainly a priority for the people of God.

Use of the Family Altar

Now, thirdly, the use of the family altar. Sit them down on the couch. You can sing hymns with that. Sing psalms with that.

Brethren, the singing of Psalms is something we ought to do in order to learn the Psalms. It's a great way to hide God's Word in our heart. It's a great way when we consider that we are singing to God, God's Word. It's good to sing the hymns as well.

Good, doctrinally sound hymns. We don't want to sing Jesus is my boyfriend songs and, you know, sort of do these sways in the living room and teach them to be effeminate and not able to sustain any kinds of thought with reference to singing. Brethren, teach the kids to sing. I'm sure my kids still remember some of the songs that we sang, you know, the old standbys, number three, second tune.

We'd rattle that right off. Psalm 127, I'm sorry, 134 in the Trinity Psalter. I mean, these are good things to instill in your young people and in your children as well. Secondly, the place of prayer and intercession.

You know what one of your problems are, little ones? I'm not going to yell at you or scream at you, but you think about yourselves a lot. And in this, you're very much like your parents. I think this is a fundamental trait that each and every one of us have.

We have a narcissistic tendency. There is a self-love about us. Now, there's a biblical self-love. We don't ingest poison.

We don't lick our fingers and put them into electrical sockets. We don't try to work on electrical panels without the proper training or wood or rubber or something to not get a zap. I mean, there's a self-love that is righteous and good. There's a self-love that isn't, and that self-love is oftentimes occupied with self.

What does intercession do? It gets the kids' minds off of self, at least for a time, and puts them on to the sick people in church, puts them on to the pregnant ladies in the church, puts them on to the villages being ravaged by Islam and other countries, puts their minds on the missionary enterprise, puts their minds on other things. teach them to intercede, teach them intercession. They ought to hear fathers and mothers praying, not simply for God's blessing upon themselves and their children, but upon their brethren and their children, upon the church that they go to, upon their place of employment, so that God would be pleased to save sinners. Intercession is something we ought to teach, something we ought to imbibe.

Certainly, thirdly, the centrality of Scripture. Family worship ought to be rooted in God's Word. We ought to teach them. Again, if you are, you know, reading David Clarkson's sermon to them and they're three, you are overdoing it.

But certainly you can take Jesus and Bartimaeus and read that and explain that to them so that they understand. You can take the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus. I mean, what kid doesn't want to hear about Zacchaeus? What child would be put off by the story of Zacchaeus?

And if you're a father or a mother who's able to speak it and tell it with some joy and happiness, and he was a little fellow, and he ran up the tree, and Jesus saw him there. Okay, what happened next? We've lost that. The Bible is exciting.

The Bible is thrilling. The Bible is joyful. It is something that we ought to yearn to read and to teach our children. The Old Testament stories.

Grab them by the hands and take them to the Valley of Elah, where David faces Goliath. Who would not be thrilled by that story? Take your sons to judges. Oh, young men love judges, don't they?

They love Ehud. They love Samson. They love Gideon. Give them those things so that they can love them.

Take your daughters there too. Take them to JL. Take them to Samson. Take them to Gideon.

Brethren, the point is, it is the Scriptures that we need to instill in our little ones. That is the means by which God brings forth sinners. James 1.18, of His own will, by the Word of Truth, He brought us forth. You know, one of the first practical arguments for family worship is evangelism.

If you are tracking with Scripture, and you understand the doctrine of depravity, and you understand the reality that Adam is a federal head, and you understand that your children are not saved simply by virtue of the fact that they've been born into a Christian home, evangelism ought to be paramount. Take them to our Lord's words. Take them to the passages of Scripture. Take them to the Gospel records.

I mean, they're not difficult. You hear people all the time, oh, the Bible's so hard. There are some things that are difficult to understand. Peter says that concerning Paul's writings, doesn't he?

But not all of it. I mean, the story of Ehud is pretty easy to understand. The story of David is pretty easy to understand. The story of JL is pretty easy to understand.

I mean, you can explain it, you can lay it out there, and you can draw out a few practical lessons. We ought to fear God. We ought to believe the Gospel. All those things, brethren, what better time than when you sit your little ones down and you teach them?

And then as well, I would end with this observation, the usefulness of creeds and confessions. You know, one of the aspects of that self-love-ism is that we think we're it. There's a whole church behind us, 20 centuries worth of valuable resources, of excellent things. Read to them the Nicene Creed, read to them the Apostles' Creed, read to them the Chalcedonian Creed.

Read to them the Westminster Shorter Catechism. They even have a child's version of it. Who made you? God.

What else did God make? All things. Why did God make you in all things? For His own glory.

How can you glorify God? By loving Him and doing what He commands. You see, brethren, it doesn't take a whole lot of effort and energy to learn these particular truths. And as well, when it comes to, say, the shorter catechism, it teaches the children to think conceptually instead of pictorially.

I saw this. It was a reference by Mottier in teaching. It was either Mottier or someone else that had made this observation that children brought up, on the shorter catechism, for instance, the one I like, other than the paedo-baptism, that's why there's a Baptist version of it back there, available to take. All that stuff you can take.

It's not just there. Wow, they filled the Reformed Baptist requirement and they have a literature rack. Take it! Bring it home.

Put it on your tables and read it. Use the catechism. There's a Spurgeon's catechism. Again, it's a Westminster Shorter.

But the kids that were taught learned to think in concept rather than in pictures, and that's good. Kids taught early in their youth will be able, if God indeed saves them, to be able to rehearse those things 15 and 20 years later. I've seen it with my own eyes. Sometimes you're catechizing older children and you think, well, the little ones aren't ready yet.

And then one day, lo and behold, you happen to ask the little one and they rattle it off. Wow, they're brighter bulbs than I had given them credit for. They can soak in a whole lot more than we've ever even imagined. Do not be afraid to take the Scripture and to take this doctrine and to bring it to bear upon them.

Application and Conclusion

In conclusion, first, we ought to recognize the importance of family worship. We ought to recognize it. I hope and pray that this is not guilt manipulation. You're not feeling that your consciences are bound.

I'm not suggesting two-and-a-half hours with your three-year-olds. I've got 15-part sermon on why you need to, you know, clean up after. No, that's not it. 15, 20 minutes. Do it.

Recognize the importance. Secondly, implement it in your home. If you have not, then start. I like what Terry Johnson says.

He says, remember, there is nothing to getting started like actually getting started. We do this, don't we? Wow, I heard this message on family worship. That's something I need to do.

I'm going to go buy five books. I'm going to read Terry Johnson on family. Just do it. I see this with prayer.

Oh, my prayer life is sluggish. I'm going to read A.W. Pink on prayer. I got a zany idea.

Why don't you pray? Just do it. Maybe Nike was right. Just do it.

He says, doesn't sound helpful? We're making a point. Like everything else that is valuable but requires discipline and sacrifice. He says, it finally comes down to doing it.

Start Do it. If you already are, then persevere. Be consistent. Be faithful.

Look to these scriptures again. Get renewed. Get refreshed. Keep this family altar intact.

And then finally, the practical benefits. Again, these are things that we ought just to consider. First, the means by which we are able to obey God with reference to teaching our children. If Israel is charged to instruct them diligently, then this is a means by which we can do this.

Secondly, do you know what a real practical benefit of family worship is? You teach them to sit for 15 or 20 minutes. Isn't that good? In a day and age that is more pictorial, more visual, more image-driven, it's hard to capture the attention of young people.

It's harder to capture the attention of older people. 140 characters on Twitter is about the extent of our mental cognition. We've got big problems. You set them down for 15 or 20 minutes and teach them how to sit down for 15 to 20 minutes. Then you bring them to corporate worship and you tell them, we're going to do that four times.

And you better not get out of line. No, you train them. There's a practical benefit involved. Thirdly, it is a means by which familial closeness is fostered.

I mean, isn't that good to spend time with your kids and the things that are most important? Isn't that a blessing to be able to hold your little one's hands and pray to the living and true God for them? Isn't it a blessing to foster that sort of intimacy with your children? It is as well a means by which a kingdom emphasis is maintained.

We're told in Matthew 6.33 to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. This is a means by which we set that principle before our children. Why are we doing this? Because we love God.

We want to seek God. We want to pray to God and we want to hear from God. You know, a little one's going to say, okay, all right. And then they're going to hopefully be brought up in that environment, in that atmosphere, and it's going to become a way of life.

And then finally, and I've already alluded to this, the means by which children will hear the Gospel for the salvation of their souls. Evangelism. Open the Scriptures and preach the Gospel. Testify concerning God, His law, how they broke it, and how Jesus came to live and to die and to rise again.

Brethren, seize the opportunity to instruct your little ones in the way of Christ. Well, let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Father, we thank you for your Word and we thank you for these things that you've given to us, hopefully to use for your glory and for the benefit of our own souls and our own children. I do pray for the children and for the young people here. God, may you indeed call them forth by your power, by your Spirit, according to your Word. May they know the joy of the Lord is their strength, and may you keep them, and watch over them, and bless them.

And may there be a generation to come who praises the Lord Almighty, and generations to come who praise the Lord Almighty. We ask that you would go with us now, watch over us in this coming week, and help us to honor and to glorify you. And we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Scripture References

• Genesis 2; 4; 12; 15; 17; 18:16; 18:18; 18:19
• Exodus 20:8
• Deuteronomy 5; 6:4; 6:5-9; 6:6; 6:7; 6:8; 6:9; 10:12
• Joshua 24:14; 24:15
• Psalms 22:30; 78:4-7; 87:2; 145:4
• Proverbs 2:1; 3:1; 4:1; 5:1; 6:1; 7:1
• Isaiah 58
• Hosea 12
• Micah 6:8
• Zechariah 7
• Matthew 6:33; 23:23
• Acts 20:7; 20:28
• 1 Corinthians 16:2
• Galatians 3:16
• Ephesians 6:4
• Colossians 3
• James 1:18
• 2 Timothy 1:3; 3:15
• Revelation 1:10