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me to Deuteronomy chapter 6. 
Deuteronomy chapter six. We're gonna have a topical survey 
tonight on the subject of family worship. The practice of family 
worship is certainly seen in the Bible. However, there's no 
specific command that says you must worship as families at 6 
p.m. every single night. The fact 
that you ought to do this is obvious. How you choose to do 
this is up to you, but it is something that is instrumental 
in the formation of our children. and our grandchildren. I want 
to read beginning in Deuteronomy chapter 6 at verse 1. 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 here 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. I 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 Massa. 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 ask God's 
blessing upon our time. Father, thank you for the written 
word and thank you for its profitability in our own hearts and lives. 
And God, I pray for us as parents and as grandparents that we would 
take seriously these things spoken in scripture concerning our responsibility 
toward children and grandchildren. Give us wisdom, give us help, 
give us strength, give us that perseverance with reference to 
these things. And God, we pray in a special 
way for our little ones, that they would rise up and call you 
blessed, that they would believe that gospel of our Lord and Savior 
Jesus Christ, that they would know the Lord, they would fear 
the Lord, that they would walk in communion with you all their 
days. Be merciful to them. And to that 
end, we pray that you would grant us all the Holy Spirit now, and 
again, the forgiveness of sins that we may receive with thankful 
hearts, your word of truth. And we pray through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen. Well, as I said, this will be 
a topical survey. There's not one particular text that says, 
this is how you do family worship. And a lot of the things that 
I will say is by way of encouragement and suggestion. I cannot bind 
anybody's conscience where the Bible does not. Remember last 
week, we looked at Proverbs 30 and the prohibition of verse 
6. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found 
a liar. We cannot add to the Word of 
God. We simply survey what is, and then by God's grace, we seek 
to implement these things in our own home. Again, by way of 
encouragement and suggestion and hopefully helpful things 
for us to consider as we move through Scripture. Now, I want 
to look first at the biblical warrant for family worship, and 
then secondly, the elements of family worship. And the Old Testament 
is going to, there's more in the Old Testament, one, because 
it's much larger than the New Testament, but two, what we find 
in the Old Testament is much of normal day-in and day-out 
life. You have that a bit in the book 
of Acts, but it's sort of a flyover, it's the history of the church 
in terms of the making of disciples and planting churches. You certainly 
have day-to-day life in the gospel narrative, but the focus of that 
is, of course, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The bulk of the 
New Testament are epistles to churches or to men giving instructions. So there's a bit there we will 
look at, but first we want to survey the Old Testament data 
with reference to family worship. The first passage is Abraham 
in Genesis chapter 18. Genesis chapter 18. We looked 
at this recently in our Wednesday night Bible study. So we won't 
spend a whole lot of time here, but this whole section in chapters 
18 and 19, we're dealing with the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah. And here in 1816, it says, 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, since Abraham shall surely 
become a great and mighty nation? and all the nations of the earth 
shall be blessed in him." Abraham is described as a friend of God. Later in Genesis chapter 20, 
he's referred to as a prophet of God. And as a result, God 
doesn't hide things from him. God tells his friend, God tells 
the prophet, so that he knows what is going to happen. He rehearses 
in this soliloquy what he has already established by way of 
covenant or promise to Abraham. Notice 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. That refers back to Genesis 
chapter 12, when God calls Abram out of Ur, the Chaldeans, he 
then goes to Haran, and then he comes into the promised land. 
Notice what he says specifically 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. So he commends Abraham for this 
reality that Abraham has instituted family religion. Abraham has 
commanded his children. Abraham has, as well, commanded 
his servants. We see that they all submit to 
the right of circumcision, which indicates that Abraham had, in 
fact, catechized, taught, instructed his family, including his servants, 
on the ways of Jehovah. And these persons willingly subjected 
themselves to these particular rights. Here, specifically, He 
commanded His children and household to keep the way of Yahweh, to 
keep the way of God Almighty. As well, He commanded them to 
do righteousness and justice. We're all very familiar with 
Micah 6, 8. It says, 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? Well, the taproots 
of that is here in Genesis 18. and the instruction given by 
Abraham to his family, very specifically, to do righteousness and justice. This is replicated, Deuteronomy 
10, Hosea chapter 12, Zechariah chapter 7, and then Matthew 23, 
23. Jesus says, you tithe the mint 
and the anise and the cumin, but you neglect the weightier 
matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faith. Well, these 
are the sorts of things that Abraham instructed his children. 
He didn't expect that they would just come upon these things, 
but rather he took the time to educate them. Now, as we've studied 
in the book of Genesis, Abraham was a man with a lot of responsibility. Abraham was a man who had a lot 
of business. He was a man that had a lot of 
irons in the fire. And nevertheless, he found the 
time to instruct his children in these ways. It is simply unacceptable 
for men in our generation to say, I don't have the time to 
bring up my children in the training and admonition of the Lord. I 
don't have the time to do what God has commanded me to do. That is unacceptable. As we move 
through these particular examples, when we get to the book of Joshua, 
for instance, I know as a matter of fact, that none of us are 
involved in conquering other peoples. I know that none of 
us are going into enemy territory and killing people and breaking 
things. That is precisely what Joshua's 
job was, and yet he's able to say, as for me and my house, 
we will serve the Lord. So in all of his busyness and 
all of his activity, in all of the ability or rather the task 
of dispossessing the land of the Canaanites, he nevertheless 
found the time to sit his children down and instruct them in the 
fear of God. When we say things like, I'm 
too busy, that is never an acceptable response. If you are too busy, 
change things. Fix things. Rework things. Do not neglect that which is 
most important. Now, your jobs are, in fact, 
important. Some of you have very important 
jobs. You're doing great things. But you cannot neglect the great 
thing of rearing children. That is the most monumental task 
any of us will ever know, is to have children and to try to 
formulate them or form them to be decent, profitable human beings, 
trusting, hoping, and praying that God in His mercy and grace 
will save them, will grant them faith and repentance, that they 
may close with Christ. We can't ensure that, but we 
can do our job in presenting the material and the data to 
them. So if you ever think, I'm too busy for this, think about 
Abraham, think about Joshua. Again, 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. Turn back to Deuteronomy chapter 
6. Deuteronomy chapter six, you see the emphasis there. You're 
not supposed to forget your kids. With reference to God's covenant 
with Israel, the children were spoken to, the children were 
included, the children were to be instructed, and they were 
to be formed and shaped according to the word of the living God. 
You have the central confession of Israel's faith in verses four 
and five. It's called the Shema. Shema 
simply means hear or listen in Hebrew. And so that Shema says 
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 then notice the necessity 
to internalize this truth. Verse six. And these words which 
I command you today shall be in your heart. You don't just 
put them on your fridge. You don't put them on your bumper 
sticker. Rather, you internalize them. This is the word of the 
living God. This goes to the heart of man. This needs to be 
embraced. This needs to be received. This 
needs to be responded to and acted upon. But notice as well, 
there was a necessity to instruct children. Verse 7, you shall 
teach them, not just teach them, but teach them diligently. This 
takes time, it takes effort, it takes energy, it takes creativity 
in terms of home schedules and all that sort of thing. You shall 
teach them diligently doesn't mean, and I'll warn everybody, 
not warn, but encourage you, don't read three-hour Puritan 
sermons to five-year-olds. That's not smart. That's not 
what diligently means there. Okay, kids, sit down for three 
hours. We're gonna read Thomas Manton on 1 Peter 3. No, that's 
probably not the way to go about it. They are kids. Diligent there 
doesn't mean, you know, work through all of Spurgeon's sermons 
on your kids each and every night. I mean, come on. That's an extreme 
that diligently does not entail. But he says, you shall teach 
them diligently to your children. And then notice, you 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 you see, there is 
this need for diligence with reference to passing on this 
data concerning God's law to these children. But as well, 
there are these times of instruction during formal, formal times. 
Look what it says. You shall teach them diligently 
to your children. That's a formal session where 
children are sat down and we as parents instruct them concerning 
the will and word of God. But then there's these informal 
sessions as well, and that's what the text goes on to say. 
And you 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. In 
other words, this ought to be the subject matter, not just 
for that particular time of the day when you have family worship, 
that formal time. But informally, when you're walking 
at the zoo and you see the giraffe, you are amazed at the glory of 
God and the way that he made the giraffe. I mean, you bring 
all of creation to bear upon the children's consciences in 
terms of God's handiwork. See, those informal times go 
a long way in the formation of our children. We give them that 
raw data with reference to the formal times, but then these 
informal times as well. But it doesn't stop there in 
terms of the Word of God and its pervasive influence upon 
all of life. Notice what verse 8 says. 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 gate. So there is an individual commitment 
to the truth, verse 8, and then a societal application of God's 
law in verse 9. In other words, the Word of God 
is so important. The Word of God is absolutely 
crucial that it is our responsibility, our duty, and our command to 
pass that Word on to our young people in our own hearts, in 
our own lives, and then with reference to society. And then, 
of course, notice in verses 20 to 25. It says, 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, I don't know. No, that's 
not what you say. You tell him the significance 
of the Exodus. In our new covenant era, you 
tell him the significance of the cross. You teach them the 
scriptures. You teach them law and gospel. 
You pass on to them the data of God's holy word. The assumption 
is, is that at some point, the son is gonna ask, how did we 
get from point A to point B? And you as the father need to 
tell the son in theological language. You need to tell the son how 
God delivered you from Egypt, brought you out of that bondage 
and gave us this land by a promise to Abraham. And we have received 
it and God has blessed us and we are thankful and grateful 
to him. You see, all of life is brought 
to bear with reference to the scripture. Notice in the third 
place, the practice of Joshua in Joshua chapter 24. Joshua 
24 is a covenant ratification ceremony at Shechem. And essentially 
what... Joshua is exhorting Israel on 
is how they're supposed to retain the land. The book of Joshua 
is basically about entering into the land, then conquering the 
land or dispossessing the Canaanites, dividing up the land, and then 
the latter chapters deal with retaining, keeping, holding onto 
that land. And so this ratification ceremony, 
Joshua traces the history of Israel, how they got from point 
A to point B, and then he starts to make application and stipulation. And in verse 14, he says, now, 
therefore, fear the Lord, 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 the Lord. That's legit, 
isn't it? That's consistent. This is equivalent 
to Romans chapter 12. You know, you're supposed to 
glorify God, you're supposed to present your bodies as a living 
sacrifice unto God. Paul says this is your rational 
or reasonable service. In other words, if God has redeemed 
you through the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, he 
then asks you to present your bodies as living sacrifices. 
And this is rational. This is reasonable. This is legit. This is what you ought to respond 
with. And the same is the case here. 
He says, put away the false gods and serve Yahweh. Verse 14. Now notice in verse 15. 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 father 
served that were on the other sides of the river or the gods 
of the Amorites in whose land you dwell." Now, we need to understand 
that Joshua's not actually giving them a choice. He's not actually 
saying, well, you know, that's an option. You have option A 
and you have option B. I would like that you take option 
B, which is serve Yahweh, but you know those other options 
are available. No, he's laying down the gauntlet. He sounds 
like Elijah will sound on Mount Carmel. How long will you falter 
between two opinions, or halt between two opinions? If Yahweh 
is God, then serve Him. If Baal is God, then serve Him. 
Joshua is essentially telling them, you need to fish or cut 
bait, with the obvious emphasis on fishing. And then notice how 
he ends this particular exhortation. He says at the end, but as for 
me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Not just me, but me 
and my house, we will serve the Lord. Matthew Henry comments 
with reference to the busyness of Joshua. 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. He didn't do that. Well, you 
know, honey, I was out cutting heads off all day. I just don't 
have the energy or the time or the wherewithal to catechize 
the little ones. No, he didn't do that. Now, I 
realize all of us have seasons where we're busier than others. 
And I realize there's providential hindrance. I realize there's 
accidents. I realize there's sickness. I 
realize there's a whole lot of things that can go wrong in a 
given day. But if the overarching trajectory of your life is that 
you're too busy to obey God at this most rudimentary level, 
then you've got problems and you need to repent. I say that 
as a brother, I say it with love, I say it with affection, and 
with a genuine desire to see our children be taught the will 
and word of God Most High. This church is going to fold 
if the young people don't rise up, confess the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and do what they're supposed to do. We have a legacy and a 
heritage that we hopefully will pass on to our young people, 
that they have a good church where the gospel is preached, 
where the Lord God is loved and proclaimed, and where the people 
of God love each other. That's something we ought to 
be striving for and shooting for in our own experience. So Joshua was a busy man, but 
he found time to teach his family. Fourthly, in terms of the Old 
Testament, we have the Assumption in the Psalms. The Assumption 
in the Psalms. You can turn to Psalm 20. I'm 
sorry, Psalm 22. Psalm 22. Again, just a survey 
of some relevant passages dealing with family worship. Psalm 22, verses 30 and 31. This, of course, is the Psalm 
of the Cross. First half of the psalm deals 
with Jesus on the cross. The latter half of the psalm 
deals with the exaltation of Jesus Christ after his resurrection, 
his ascension on high, his session at the right hand of the Father. 
And in verses 30 and 31, we read, 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. See, Israel accepted that in 
the faithful, obviously, the believers, the true religionists 
in Israel accepted that blessed responsibility to pass on information 
to their children. Turn to Psalm 78. Psalm 78 is 
another passage where it's assumed that the people of God are teaching 
their children the Word of God. Psalm 78, verses 4 to 7. Psalm 78 verse 4, 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 has established or 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. See, the blessed privilege and 
task, and brethren, you know this as well as I do, there's 
nothing better than spending time with your kids in the Word 
and in prayer and in singing. This isn't the drudgery or the 
hardship of the Christian, oh, I've got to read the Bible to 
my kids. That's a bad attitude, if I may suggest. I've got to 
spend this time teaching my kids the best things in the world. Nobody says that, I hope. Brethren, 
this is a blessed, blessed privilege that we have. Notice in Psalm 
145, we sang this at the very outset of worship, but Psalm 
145 emphasizes or highlights this reality as well. Psalm 145, 
verse four, one generation shall praise your works to another 
and shall declare your mighty acts. So we see the purpose for 
Abraham, Genesis 18, the command for Israel, Deuteronomy 6, the 
practice of Joshua, Joshua 24, the assumption of the Psalms, 
and there are others to be sure. Fifth, the emphasis in the Proverbs. We won't spend a lot of time 
here because we've spent some time going through Proverbs. 
And what's one of the techniques that Solomon employs on many, 
many occasions? My son, my son, my son, my son, 
my son. He's instructing his sons in 
the way of God. He's instructing his sons concerning 
the things of the Lord. He's instructing his sons with 
reference to life in God's world. He's giving them those principles. 
He's giving them those nuggets of wisdom. He's giving them those 
things because it's his responsibility, and as well, it is his blessed 
privilege. Now, I want to consider finally, 
before we move to the New Testament, one negative example, and one 
example that may be negative, but we're just not sure. That 
negative example is Eli in 1 Samuel chapter 2. You can turn there. 
1 Samuel chapter 2. In other words, as you read your 
Bible, follow Joshua. Don't follow Eli. Eli's not sort 
of the paradigm of... He didn't get the Father of the 
Year Cup. That's for sure. Or if he did, he shouldn't have. 
1 Samuel 2-3. Notice the sinful actions of 
Eli's sons. Verses 13-17 in 1 Samuel 2. 1 Samuel 2-13. And the priest's 
custom with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, 
the priest's servant would come with a three-pronged flesh hook 
in his hand while the meat was boiling. Then he would thrust 
it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. And the priest 
would take for himself all that the flesh hook brought up. So 
they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. Also, 
before they burned the fat, the priest's servant would come and 
say to the man who sacrificed, give meat for roasting to the 
priest, for he will not take boiled meat from you, but raw. 
But if the man, or if the man said to him, they should really 
burn the fat first, then you may take as much as your heart 
desires. He would then answer him, no, but you must give it 
now. And if not, I will take it by force. Therefore, the sin 
of the young men was very great before the Lord, for men abhorred 
the offering of the Lord. It's terrible, right? These are 
priests in the house of God. They're to facilitate the sacrificial 
system, and yet what they're concerned with is their share. 
What they're concerned with is extorting the worshiper, extorting 
the people of God, and threatening them. That's really not the qualities 
of a priesthood that one should grieve. And then notice, they 
lay with women, according to verse 22. Now Eli was very old, 
and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, and how they 
lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle 
of meeting. Again, these are just wretched specimens of human 
beings. They're bad dudes. The source 
of this is in verse 12. Notice, the sons of Eli were 
corrupt. They did not know the Lord. Now, 
Eli cannot make his sons know the Lord savingly, but the fact 
that they engaged in these particular practices would indicate that 
he didn't give them that bare-bones information that they desperately 
needed. And that is validated by God's 
revelation later to Samuel in 1 Samuel 3. Notice what God says 
to Samuel. In verse 13, he says, 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. And therefore I have sworn to 
the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned 
for by sacrifice or offering forever or ever or forever. So 
you see, Eli was negligent. Eli was ignorant. Eli was wretched 
in the way that he went about parenting his children. Now turn 
over to 1 Samuel chapter 8. 1 Samuel chapter 8, verses 1 
to 3. 1 Samuel 8 verse 1, 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. Steve 
this morning referred to that instance where Israel craves 
a king like the nations around them. That's chapter 8. They 
saw the oppressiveness of Samuel's sons. They saw the wretchedness 
of Samuel's sons. And that evoked from them this 
desire to be like the nations around them. But in this instance, 
we don't know whether it was his negligence. We see where 
God says specifically to Samuel concerning Eli that he did not 
restrain them. We don't know about Samuel. There 
are instances and seasons and times where parents do their 
best, but parents are not sovereign. Parents do not have the ability 
to change the heart. Parents do not have the ability 
to make their children a certain way. Turn to Deuteronomy 21. 
And I'm going somewhere with this point. Deuteronomy 21, verse 18, if a man has a stubborn 
and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father 
or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened 
him, these parents did their job. They have chastened him. There are instances and there 
are seasons and there are times when parents do their job. Now, 
no parent does their job perfectly. We understand that, right? That's 
why Jesus came into this world, sinners to save. He died for 
our bad parenting. He died for our sin in the domestic 
sphere or realm. But there are parents who have 
tried, parents who have chastened their children, parents that 
have brought the word to bear upon them, parents that have 
catechized, parents that have done all this, and yet their 
children go astray. Our job, as the standers by, 
is not to judge the parents. Well, you know those parents 
did a terrible job in raising those children and look how they 
turned out Wait a minute these people chase in their son They 
got to the end of the rope with him and they had to turn him 
over to the elders in the city And then ultimately he would 
be stoned to death because he was incorrigible Rebel he was 
an adult son and he was a glutton and he was a drunkard but the 
parents did chase in him and We need to be very cautious, 
brethren, of looking at a child who has gone astray and immediately 
concluding that his parents were lazy, his parents were negligent, 
or his parents didn't do their job. That is not our call. The story of the prodigal son. 
Who's the father of that boy that goes astray? It's God Almighty, 
is it not? Yes, everybody with me? The boy 
wants the share of his father's inheritance. He goes out and 
he squanders it. He goes out and he wastes it. 
Do you think the townspeople said, oh, that father was terrible. 
Look at how his son turned out. Probably. But in the story of 
the prodigal son, the father is, of course, God. You see, 
we have to be careful about slinging these accusations where it is 
none of our business in the first place. But secondly, we don't 
know. We don't know what people are doing in their homes. We 
don't know that they're not catechizing. They're not instructing. They're 
not teaching. They're not schlepping their 
children to church. We have to be very careful. So 
with reference to Samuel, we're not sure. His son's turned out 
terribly, but we don't know what sort of restraint he sought to 
exercise on that. So those are some Old Testament 
passages. Turn with me to the New Testament. We have two commands 
by the Apostle Paul, and we have two illustrations in the life 
of Timothy. In Ephesians chapter six, verse four, you fathers 
do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in 
the training and admonition of the Lord. And then in Colossians 
3, 21, fathers do not provoke your children, lest they become 
discouraged. So in both instances, fathers 
and mothers, it's not a case where mothers can provoke their 
children to wrath, mothers can be terrorists. No, no, no, no, 
not at all. But he's addressing the father 
as the head of the household. But he says to them, do not provoke 
them to wrath. Do not break their spirits. Do 
not exasperate them. Do not drive the wind out of 
their sails. See, it's not just a matter of 
didactic instruction. There's supposed to be this context 
of love, this context of affection. This context of delighting in 
your children and your children delighting in you. That's what 
every creature should aspire to. Every one of us who are parents 
or grandparents should want. We want our children to love 
us and we want to love them. That's good. So Paul's prohibition 
is don't provoke them to wrath. Don't exasperate them. Don't 
lay things upon them that they simply cannot bear. And certainly 
don't let them get away with murder either. You've got to 
be disciplinarian, but you don't want to break their spirit. You 
want to drive out the sin, but you don't want to drive out their 
humanity. But then by way of a positive 
exhortation, he tells them in verse 4, but bring them up in 
the training and admonition of the Lord. Now, you can freely 
teach your children, you know, to be auto mechanics. You can 
teach them how to be electricians. You can teach them to be plumbers. 
All that stuff is great. And I highly suggest that we 
prepare sons and daughters for life in this world. But it's 
the training and admonition of the Lord. It's teaching them 
the fear of God. It's teaching them about Yahweh. 
It's being like Abraham. It's like being like Joshua. 
It's like being like Solomon in the book of Proverbs. You 
see, there is this emphasis with reference to this fear that Paul 
indicates. Bring them up in the training 
and admonition of the Lord. The word training emphasizes 
action. So by way of example, we ought 
to set good examples for our children. And admonition emphasizes 
words. In other words, we're supposed 
to give them verbal instruction. We're supposed to give them the 
content of the gospel. We mentioned this morning in 
our confession study, we cannot preach the gospel by our actions. We cannot preach the gospel by 
our virtue. We have to preach the gospel 
in propositional form. We have to tell them that Jesus 
lived, Jesus died, Jesus was raised, and all who believe on 
Jesus will be saved. That is crucial. We can't demonstrate 
those things in our virtuous life, and we can't demonstrate 
them by way of example. So while example is absolutely 
crucial, words are absolutely crucial as well. And you might 
say, well, I'm not really bright myself with reference to these 
things. If you can say Jesus lived, Jesus died, Jesus was 
raised, believe on Jesus, you have successfully explained the 
gospel. This ain't rocket science, brethren. It's not something that requires 
a PhD or a Bible school certificate. It just requires basic familiarity 
with the fundamentals of the faith. I mean, a three-year-old 
doesn't ask, well, how does the Trinity function the way the 
Bible says? Explain how there's one substance 
and three... Three-year-olds don't do that, 
thankfully. Thirteen-year-olds might, so 
you better get smarter as they grow up, right? You better learn 
more to stay ahead of the game. But the bottom line is that Paul 
says we need to bring them up in the training and admonition 
of the Lord. Two examples in the life of Timothy. Notice in 
2 Timothy 1. 2 Timothy 1, 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 am I am persuaded is in you 
also." You see, his grandmother and his mother taught him the 
scriptures. And if we miss it there, we better 
get it when we get to 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. Praise 
God Almighty that Timothy's parents took seriously the responsibility 
to teach and instruct him in the things of God. Remember that 
scene in the book of Acts when Paul first meets Timothy. Paul 
hears about Timothy, meets Timothy, and wants to take Timothy with 
him. I've always been amazed by that. If the apostle Paul wants you 
on his team, you're doing pretty well. If a man of the caliber 
of Paul the Apostle says, I want Timothy, then Timothy has been 
reared well, God's grace is obvious in his life, and Timothy is indeed 
walking with the Lord. So those are some lines of evidence 
for the biblical warrant for family worship. Now, in terms 
of the elements of family worship, I would suggest in the first 
place, there ought to be a commitment to public worship. There ought to be a commitment 
to public worship. I'm going to argue in a moment, 
or at least encourage in a moment, that at home you should read, 
you should pray, you should sing. It doesn't have to contain all 
those elements to be sure, but there ought to be a commitment 
to public worship. Yahweh loves the gates of Zion 
more than all the dwelling places of Jacob. There is an emphasis 
in scripture on corporate worship, and one of the best gifts we 
can give to our children is to teach them how important church 
is. You say, well, that sounds self-serving 
coming from a pastor who, you know, has a vested interest in 
this. No, it's biblical. It's what scripture says. Hebrews 
chapter 10 mandates we're not to forsake the assembling of 
ourselves together as is the custom of some. This is not an 
invention by, you know, cravenly, wicked, sinful, greedy pastors 
that just want to have, you know, people in their churches. This 
is an emphasis from beginning to end in God's holy word. He is assembling a vast multitude 
of sinners from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation to 
be what when we get into heaven? The church triumphant. It is 
all those peoples before the throne of God confessing that 
salvation belongs to our God and to the Lamb who sits upon 
the throne. There needs to be that commitment to family worship 
that we demonstrate to our children. We ought to appreciate the centrality 
of the church in God's redemptive plan. Can people be saved on 
their own reading their Bibles? Yes. But does God emphasize the 
place of the church in the maturation process of His people? Absolutely, 
positively, He does. He speaks concerning the dignity 
of the church. If Jesus shed His blood for her, 
certainly we can show up consistently, certainly we can show up regularly. Doesn't Paul tell those Ephesian 
elders in Acts 20, shepherd the church of God, which He purchased 
with His own blood? If the blood of Christ was the 
means by which the people of God are purchased, doesn't that 
highlight the intrinsic dignity and worth of those people? Not 
because of them, but because of what Christ has done. The 
church is a dignified organization because of her master. 1 Timothy 
chapter 3 underscores there the dignity of the church. 1 Timothy 
3, 14, these things I write to you, though I hope to come to 
you shortly. But if I am delayed, I write so that you may know 
how you ought to conduct yourself. Notice how he described the church 
in the house of God. OK, kids, we're going to serve 
the Lord, but we're not going to go to his house. I'm going 
to teach you the ways of Yahweh, but we're not going to go to 
his house. Wouldn't that be an odd thing? Why wouldn't we go 
to his house, dad? Why wouldn't we go to his house, 
mom? Well, because there's a bunch of hypocrites there. Exactly. 
That's precisely where they need to be, because hypocrites need 
forgiveness. Hypocrites need salvation, if 
they're total hypocrites. Hypocrites need to go to the 
hospital or go to the church the way that a sick person needs 
to go to the hospital. That's never a good argument to not 
go to church. Well, all the hypocrites are 
there. And I think we have a fundamentally misconception about Hippocrates. If somebody is bemoaning and 
lamenting their sin in private before God, they're not a hypocrite. 
They're confessing their transgression before God. Just because you're 
a sinner doesn't necessarily mean you're a hypocrite. I'm 
not saying being a sinner is OK. That's not what I'm suggesting. But there are people that sin, 
and they confess it. They forsake it. They may stumble 
again, but by God's grace, they get back up. That's not a hypocrite. 
That's a sick person that needs the continual medicine of the 
doctor. We wouldn't say, oh, you terrible wretch. No, we'd 
say, good on you that you're applying or you're appealing 
to the doctor. But notice how he describes it. 
It's the house of God, the church of the living God, the pillar 
and ground of the truth. If we want to instill in our 
children a love for God's truth, we need to instill in them a 
love for God's word and church. Just because there's bad things 
that happen in the church doesn't mean the church is bad. That's 
a logical fallacy too, right? Just because some fool takes 
a gun and goes into a shopping mall and shoots a bunch of people 
doesn't mean there's a problem with guns. It means there's a 
problem with that fool. Just because fools mess up in 
the church doesn't mean we get rid of church. How did we get 
to this point of such irrationality? Oh, this guy sinned in the church, 
never go to church. What? How does that follow? It 
doesn't follow, and yet this has found its way into the hearts 
of multitudes. My point is, is that if you as 
a husband or as a father or mother want to instill in your children 
something, instill in them a respect for God's church. We have in 
Second London Confession 22.6, God is to be worshipped 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. 
Terry 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. And I think that we just immediately 
say, oh, family worship. Okay, we're going to read, we're 
going to pray, we have this. Yeah, but you've got to set a pattern 
and set forth the context and show how important it is to come 
to church. Secondly, there ought to be this 
appreciation of and an attempt at the sanctification of the 
Lord's day. See, that touches on family worship. That touches on the ethos, the 
atmosphere in one's home. The biblical theology of the 
Sabbath is set forth in many places. Genesis chapter 2 is 
where it begins. We see it all throughout scripture. 
We see the change of the day in the New Testament. We don't 
have the time, unless you all want to go for it. We can go 
till about 8, and I can give you the biblical theology of 
Sabbath. I'm not getting a great big. boost of confidence that 
I should do that, so I won't. But I'm sure you can find stuff 
on the internet from our church with reference to the Sabbath. 
But there is a biblical theology of it, and then there's the blessing 
of it. Francis Turreton made this observation. 
He said, 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. Now you might go, well, that 
sounds like legalism. It's an amazing thing. Whenever we talk 
about actually doing what God says, we're legalists. That's 
not legalism. That's not legalism. Legalism 
is a bad thing. But wanting to obey God, that's 
not legalism. It's a good thing. Voss, in his 
biblical theology, makes this observation. He says, the Sabbath, 
quote, has faithfully accompanied the people of God on their march 
through the ages. I like that. That's a very excellent 
endorsement of this. So we ought to have, first, a 
commitment to public worship, second, a sanctification of the 
Lord's Day, and then thirdly, what the Puritans would call 
the use of a family altar. Again, it doesn't have to be 
four hours. If it is, I would highly encourage 
you to change your life. You actually need to go to work, 
and you need to work harder. You need to give more hours to 
your employer if you're reading long Puritan sermons to your 
kids. So that's the corrective to what I said earlier. But reading 
scripture, law gospel, teach them what God's commandments 
are. Teach them how to use those commandments, and teach them 
that in light of the brokenness of the commandments or the broken 
commandment on the part of the children, how they need Christ. 
We need to be familiar with those two main emphases in scripture, 
law and gospel. We need to teach those things 
repetitively to our children. They need to understand what 
the cross is all about. They need to understand what 
the active obedience of Jesus is and the passive obedience 
of Jesus is. They may not get it all at once, 
but you take time to explain to them how what Christ brought 
out on the cross and in His life satisfied for everything we need 
in terms of sinfulness. We need to make sure that the 
Scriptures are central. You are certainly free to sing. 
I think everybody got a free hymn book not too long ago, right? 
got rid of the old and we brought in the new and hopefully all 
of you took those home because that's a great thing too. I'm 
not again saying thou must sing two hymns, have a psalm written. 
No, I'm not saying that. But it's a great way to teach 
your kids hymns. It's a great way to get doctrine 
in them and it's just a great thing to sing hymns. The other 
day I was in there singing away and Mike and his sons knocked 
on the door. Oh man, they probably thought this was, you know, a 
nutcase sitting in there just singing away. You know, I go 
through this new hymn book. I'm sure it takes me longer to 
figure out the hymns. But you start looking at them 
and you just want to sing. It's a good thing, right? It's 
not a bad thing. How dare you sing hymns and psalms? That's good. Kids like that too. You can do that. That's a great 
thing. As well, prayer. You know, there's people out 
there that say, well, we shouldn't encourage children to pray because they 
might be unbelievers. It's intriguing. Simon Magus. 
What does Peter tell him? Pray. Pray. I've heard that argument 
many times in my life over the years, and I've always been just 
blown away by it. Why wouldn't I teach my child 
to pray? Why wouldn't I teach my child 
to call upon the name of the Lord God Most High? Why wouldn't 
I teach my child to ask for forgiveness of sins or to teach my child 
to ask for help and assistance by God to do the things that 
he's supposed to do? Prayer ought to be a vital place 
in family worship. It's a great time to pray for 
the church. It's a great time to pray for the needs of the 
people in the church. It's a great time to pray for 
the missionary enterprise. It's a great time to pray for 
the various things that are happening throughout the world. It's a 
great time for family to come together and to worship the true 
and living God together. Well, in conclusion, we ought 
to recognize the importance of family worship. Charles Bridges 
says on Proverbs 13, 22, that's where a good man leaves an inheritance 
to his children's children. Bridges 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. Great, great observation. Secondly, 
with reference to the implementation of family worship, if you're 
not doing this, I would highly encourage you to do this. Feel 
the weight of those examples in the scripture and start. Just teach, just tell, just talk. Terry Johnson again. It's a book 
called The Family Worship Book. He says, remember, there is nothing 
to getting started like actually getting started. That's profound, 
isn't it? It's like that with everything, 
right? I've always been amazed, you know, I preach a sermon or, 
you know, you talk to people and you say, oh, you need to 
read your Bible. I haven't been reading my Bible. Then read it. Don't agonize. Confess it. If 
it's sin, confess it to God and start. You don't have to wallow 
in self-pity for six months saying, well, I haven't been reading 
the Bible, I haven't been praying. Just do it. Why does Nike know 
things better than Christians at times? Just do what you're 
supposed to do. But back to Johnson. Remember, 
there is 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, i.e. 
losing weight, stopping drinking, getting an education, staying 
married, attending worship services, it finally comes down to doing 
it. Start. Do it. That's what he 
says, and I gotta give him a hearty amen on that one. If you are 
practicing family worship, then by God's grace, persevere. It 
does pay rich dividends. It is a blessing. You may not 
always see it when they're little and you're in the trenches, but 
when your kids rise up and they confess saving faith in Jesus 
Christ and they're able to quote Westminster Shorter Catechism 
on what is justification, something they learned when they were little 
children, that's a blessing and an encouragement and something 
that we ought to be Longing for and then in terms of some practical 
benefits first It's a means by which we are able to obey God 
with reference to teaching our children formal times and informal 
times There ought to be formal times set seasons where we sit 
and worship with our kids Secondly, it's a means by which children 
are prepared to sit in the services of the church Say well, that's 
very pragmatic. Yeah, and it's a good thing and 
We ought not to have it be the case that a kid can't sit for 
an hour. I mean, we are running into that 
problem left and right, aren't we? We have, you know, everybody's 
fidgety, not just kids anymore. You hear, oh, you guys have an 
hour-long sermon at your church? Too bad for you. Give us 20 minutes 
so we can get back to doing those things that we want to do. That's 
the prevailing ideal out there today. Hour-long sermons are 
no longer the norm. It used to be two-hour sermons. 
I've got Puritan sermons in there and I read them. I think, how 
in the world did people sit through these things? How did they sit 
through these hour-and-a-half sermons? Because they weren't 
so easily distracted by every shining thing. that appeared. There's phones, there's computers, 
there's TV, there's everything vying for the attention. Sit 
them down, tell them to put everything away and to pay attention. That 
hopefully will prepare them so that on Sunday you tell them 
to put things down and sit and pay attention. As well, it's 
a means by which familial closeness is fostered. Again, there's nothing 
better, is there, than to worship God with your family? I'm not 
preaching up here, I want you all to be miserable and unhappy 
and, you know, just have bad lives. No, this is how happiness 
is found. It's doing what God calls us 
to do. As well, it's a means by which 
a kingdom emphasis is maintained. What are we told in Matthew chapter 
6? Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Family 
worship is a means by which we orient children to that kingdom 
principle. And then as well, it's a means 
by which children hear the gospel for the salvation of their souls. 
That is most crucial. They need that data, they need 
that set of facts, they need the truth concerning Jesus Christ 
and Him crucified. Well, hopefully you will be encouraged, 
and hopefully you will pursue this if you are not, and that 
by God's grace you'll keep doing it if you are, and that your 
children will ultimately benefit. They will call upon the name 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. and they will happily be worshiping 
God for the rest of their lives. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for the clarity 
of it on this subject, and I pray that You would encourage and 
strengthen all of our hearts, help us to persevere in these 
things, and help us to find great joy in these things. For God, 
it is a delight to see little children learning the Scriptures, 
to see little children understanding the truth as it is in Jesus. 
We ask that you would go with us now. We pray for your blessing 
upon us in this coming week. And we pray through Jesus Christ, 
our Lord. Amen. We'll close with a brief time 
of meditation.