PURSUING YOUR PLEASURE IN GOD BY PASSING YOUR
PLEASURE TO THE NEXT GENERATION
Psalm 78: 1-8
INTRODUCTION
Marva Dawn in the introduction to her book, "Is It a Lost Cause?
Having the Heart of God for the Church’s Children?" writes, "My
experiences over thirty years of working with thousands of young people
in churches and schools, convocations and camps make me especially troubled
about children in Christian families... How are our children being formed?
Do they know themselves primarily as citizens of the kingdom of God? Do
we and our offspring look, act, talk, and think like people who are shaped
by the Word of God? ….why do I encounter lots of teenagers at church youth
convocations who don’t have the foggiest notion of what it means to believe
and live as a Christian? Why do the Church’s young people make the same
choices as the rest of the world about their sexuality, their use of money
and time, their attitudes toward work, their flippancy and cynicism? ….are
we raising our own children to live the substance and presence of faith—and
to pass God’s love and their faith on to their friends, neighbors, and
peers… ? Or are we letting them be sucked into the behavior patterns,
the attitudes, the meaninglessness, and the despair of the world around
them? Is the raising of genuinely Christian children a lost cause
in our post-Christian society?"
I do not believe it is a lost cause to raise Christian children in our
post-Christian society. However, I am absolutely convinced that the path
that the church at large is taking is going to produce fewer Christian
children that become Christian adults, not more. The church at large is
failing because it has abandoned what the church knew and practiced for
thousands of years. We have neglected what the Bible teaches about the
nature of children, the nature of the gospel, the nature of conversion
and the God appointed methods of bringing not only children, but adults,
to faith in Christ. There is not a Christian who wants her child to suffer
forever in hell. There is not a Christian church that does not want to
do everything in its power to bring the children entrusted to its care
to a saving and growing faith in Jesus Christ. Yet, few are the parents
and churches that are making the kinds of changes that are necessary to
stem the flood of Christian children who are abandoning Christ and his
Church.
The reason that the church knew what to do about its children for most
of its existence is because the Scriptures are very plain in describing
the primary method God has chosen for the salvation of the children of
the church. The passage before us today is one of those clear descriptions
of God’s means for saving the children of believing parents. God has appointed
parents as the primary teachers of their children in the context of a
believing community. In other words, children become believing adults
by being with believing adults, especially their parents. To borrow a
line from Hillary Clinton, "It takes a church of believing adults
to raise a Christian child". As children are taught the gospel in
their homes and in their churches and then as they see the gospel lived
in their homes and in their churches, then usually these children embrace
Christ and live as his obedient followers. That is what Psalm 78 tells
us…
MAIN POINT
Christian parents and churches are eager to teach God’s works and
word to their children because…
I. We are learning (vv. 1-3)
Notice right off the bat that it is not just parents that are being addressed
by the psalmist. Rather he is appealing to all of God’s people. This Psalm
is aimed at the entire church. The doctrine that this psalm teaches and
the method that it prescribes are for all of us. While there is a clear
and primary application to parents in the opening 8 verses of this psalm,
yet it is not difficult to see that it applies to all of us. All of us
need to be concerned for the children of the church. All of us have a
part in modeling and teaching the faith to the children among us. But
also, the language that is used here can easily be seen as a description
of church life at large. Older Christians have a responsibility to care
for those who are new to the faith. All of us desire to see the faith
spread to more and more people. It is remarkable in the NT how often this
family language is used to describe the church and the relationship between
the leaders and members of the church. Paul tells the Galatians that he
became their father through the gospel. He describes his relationship
to his young apprentice Timothy in the language of a father with his son.
Everywhere the church is described as the family. So while I am going
to be applying this passage most directly to parents, which is the intention
of the passage, all of us need to view these principles as applying to
us in our relationships with other members of the body of Christ and especially
with the children of our church.
Let me make a commercial right here for the prayer Triads that we’re
trying to organize during Lent. They are a perfect way to obey the vision
of this passage on one level. When you get together you are going to talk
about the works and words of Jesus in your lives and then pray together
for his ongoing work. You will get together so that you will do verse
7, "…trust in God…not forget his deeds…keep his commands." You
meet so that you don’t do v. 8, be stubborn and rebellious, have a heart
that is not loyal to God and a spirit that is not faithful. Let me encourage
you to get involved in one during the six weeks of Lent. That’s the end
of the commercial.
Now notice how the psalmist describes what he wants us to pay attention
to. I’m going to move backwards through the text. Notice in v. 3 that
what he is telling us is not something we’ve never heard before. What
he asks us to pay attention to is what our "fathers" told us.
Right here we know that the relationships being described here are not
exclusively biological. He is addressing the church. None of us became
members of Christ’s church without being taught by someone else. There
isn’t anyone in this room that got here without the help of a number of
"fathers" in the faith. Some of us are here because of biological
fathers, but not all of us. Notice that there is continuity between how
you begin the Christian life and how you make progress in it. It isn’t
new information that most of us need but a reapplication of what we already
have been told.
That is why in v. 2 the psalmist says that while the things he is going
to say were taught to us by our fathers and are "from of old",
yet they contain hidden things. Literally, he says they contain riddles,
things hard to understand. What he is going to say is a parable. That
is, a story of earthly events that has a heavenly meaning that can only
be understood by those who take the time to meditate and think about its
meaning and ask God for his help. Isn’t that exactly his plea in v. 1?
He pleads with us as those who profess to be followers of Christ to listen
and to pay attention to what he is saying to us. The two words he uses
are very strong. These are not the simple words for listen and hear. Most
of the time they are used in prayer. Psalm 5:2 "Give ear to
my words, O Lord, consider my sighing." Psalm 88:1-2 "O Lord,
the God who saves me, day and night I cry out before you. May my prayer
come before you; turn your ear to my cry."
Just as we plead with God to pay attention to us, he pleads with us to
pay attention to him. The difference between our pleading with God and
he with us is that we plead with him out of our need. He pleads with us
not because he needs us but because we need him, but don’t believe we
need him. Verse 1 is the cry of every Christian teacher. I want you to
listen to me on Sunday mornings and when we visit in person and in every
other place where I am teaching you. It is not because I am on some ego
trip and need your approval. I love you and I want you to know the love
of God for you. I want you to go to heaven and not to hell. I want you
to be happy. So I plead with you, as the psalmist does, as God does, "Listen
to me as I seek to apply the various ways that God speaks in his word
to the details of our lives."
If you are going to be able to teach your children or anyone else for
that matter, you are going to have to listen and learn. No one ever taught
another person who was not first a student. No one ever grew as a Christian
or influenced others to grow without study and thinking and laboring to
understand what God has said in his word. The only way you will ever be
eager to teach your children about Christ is if you are personally growing
in your relationship with him. If he is becoming more of a treasure to
you, then you will do what it takes to pass on your pleasure in Christ
to your children. Everyone talks about what they love. All parents talk
with their children about what they love and hope in.
Some of you have been teasing one of my sons, who shall remain nameless,
about his lack of knowledge about cars. I will not embarrass him by repeating
some of the interesting remarks he has made about how cars work. However,
he has no knowledge of cars in large part because I never did anything
to expose him to cars or how they work. Why didn’t I do that? I have no
interest in knowing how cars work. I don’t love cars and so none of my
children know anything about them beyond you need to put gas in them to
make them go and you need to change the oil.
You cannot pass on what you do not possess. If you are not a student
of God, a lover of his word, you will never pass on a faith to your children.
Last fall a group of parents from our church met at our house to discuss
the use of the catechism in our church. I began our discussion by asking
if anyone in the group had ever learned a catechism as a child. A number
of us had done so. Then I asked if anyone saw any value from learning
the catechism. No one viewed it positively. Then I asked why was that?
All of us who learned a catechism talked about how it had nothing to do
with our lives. We only had to learn it like you learn math or some other
subject in school. None of our parents ever got involved in the process.
None of our parents ever made an attempt to show how what we were learning
affected life. We learned from our parents to view the catechism as a
religious activity that had no bearing on any part of life. The psalmist
knows that the number one barrier standing between God and children in
the church are parents who don’t really take him serious. Parents and
other adults in the church who don’t pay attention and who aren’t personally
growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus are the chief barrier
between God and children. For your own sake and for the sake of your children,
pay attention.
Christian parents and churches are eager to teach God’s works and
word to their children because…
- We are learning
- And because…
II. God shows us his greatness so we will show him to our children
(and grandchildren) (vv. 4-6)
The first thing I want you to notice is that there are five generations
mentioned in these verses. Look at the end of v. 5. First there are the
"forefathers", then "their children"—which is the
"we" from v. 4, then the "next generation"—which is
our children, then the "children yet to be born"—our grandchildren,
and finally the children of our grandchildren. This really is quite amazing.
The first word in v. 6 that is translated "so" in English is
quite emphatic in the Hebrew. The reason God saved Israel and gave his
laws to them is so that they would teach these works and words of God
to their children in such a way that the fifth generation would still
believe. The psalmist is not making this up. This same line of reasoning
is found throughout the OT.
Yesterday as part of my own Bible reading I read Exodus 10: 1-2. This
is too good, you need to turn there. It is on page 47. "Go to Pharaoh,
for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that
I may perform these miraculous signs of mine among them and so that
you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with
the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and so that
you may know that I am the Lord." Isn’t that amazing! God destroyed
Egypt and delivered Israel out of slavery so that the Jewish people could
tell their children and grandchildren about this great God who so powerfully
saved them. God delights in parents and grandparents telling their children
and grandchildren about how great and powerful and merciful he is. One
of the reasons he gave his son to die for your sins is so that you will
tell your children and grandchildren what a great and awesome God he is.
Why does God do this? Why does he destroy Egypt and save Israel so
that they will tell their children and grandchildren? Why does he
kill Jesus for your sins and give you faith in him by His Spirit so that
you will tell your children and grandchildren? We are not told specifically
in these verses. But, I don’t think the answer is far away. In Exodus
9: 16 God tells Pharaoh, "I have raised you up for this very purpose,
that I might show my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed
in all the earth." Here God says that the reason he destroys Egypt
is so that his name is worshipped by people from all corners of the globe.
He does all things for the glory of his own name. It shows his greatness
when people from different cultures worship him and when people from different
generations worship him.
John Piper in his book, "Let the Nations be Glad", gives a
good explanation of this reality. "The fame and greatness and worth
of an object of beauty increases in proportion to the diversity of those
who recognize its beauty. If a work of art is regarded as great among
a small and like-minded group of people, but not by anyone else, the art
is probably not truly great… But if a work of art continues to win more
and more admirers not only across cultures but also across decades and
centuries, then its greatness is irresistibly manifested….there is something
about God that is so universally praiseworthy and so profoundly beautiful
and so comprehensively worthy and so deeply satisfying that God will find
passionate admirers in every diverse people group in the world. His true
greatness will be manifest in the breadth of the diversity of those who
perceive and cherish his beauty."
It’s like music. Only young people today like rap music. You will search
a long time before you will find anyone over 25 that likes rap. Only old
people like classical music. You will search a long time for someone under
25 who really enjoys classical music. However, people of all ages enjoy
big band music. In our house everyone from Jaimee to Jane and I and my
dad who is 86 love to listen to swing. The diversity of ages that love
swing shows the greatness of the music.
Notice the content that we are to pass on to the following generations.
At the end of v. 4 it is the deeds of the Lord, his wonderful works. The
word translated "power" is better translated "fierce deeds
of judgement." Read with me vv. 9-21. It’s plain to see in the rest
of this psalm that he means for us to talk about the acts of God as recorded
in the Scriptures and then to apply them to our situation. For us that
means talking about God’s saving work in Christ. Not only as he is shown
in the NT but also how the OT points to him in all that it says. Then
notice in v. 5 that there is also a revelation of God’s law or his will
that is to be passed on. So we are to talk with our children not only
about God’s powerful acts of creation and salvation but also about his
will for human beings as shown in his law. We are to tell our children
what God expects of them and to warn them of God’s anger and judgement
if they do not do as he says. We are to talk with our children about God
as he has revealed himself in this book, both in his works and his law.
This is the subject matter that we are to be most concerned that they
are learning.
Here is the practical question we must face as a church and every parent
and grandparent must face. Are you teaching your children and grandchildren
about Christ in such a way that your great (or great-great) grandchildren
are going to hear about and believe in Christ? When you think about passing
on your faith to your children in light of those next two generations
you are going to think about it differently. We’ve all played "telephone"
and know how quickly the original message is garbled and distorted. So
we know we cannot depend entirely upon oral transmission of this truth.
Reading is crucial to this task. Here is a reason for you to improve in
your own ability to read. Here is the reason to insist that your children
learn to read well. Repetition and memorization are necessary if we are
going to be successful in passing on our faith. Here is another reason
to use the catechism. As a summary of basic biblical teaching it can help
bind the generations together and enable your children to pass on their
faith to your grandchildren and great-grandchildren. God is asking you
and I to love our biological great-grandchildren. But he is also asking
us to love our spiritual great-grandchildren. God wants River Hills Community
Church to still be bearing witness to Christ in Janesville and around
the globe in the year 2060 when most of us will be dead. What are we doing
right now to make sure that happens? Verses 1 & 4 give us the answer:
pay attention yourself and do not hide but tell the works and words of
God to your children.
I know that what this passage is telling us to do is difficult. It feels
uncomfortable. It feels like we’re trying to cram one more thing into
our already hectic lives. But what is more important than passing on the
knowledge of God to your children? We were made for God. When you are
70 years old you are not going to regret spending time reading the Bible
and memorizing the catechism with your children. But you will regret the
hundreds of hours you wasted watching TV when you could have been talking
with them about the greatness of God. Are you telling your children and
grandchildren about the works and words of God in Christ with a view to
your great-grandchildren knowing and believing? Are we, as a church, telling
the story of God’s saving grace in such a way that there will be a River
Hills Community Church serving Christ in Janesville 100 years from now?
Christian parents and churches are eager to teach God’s works and
word to their children because…
- We are learning
- God shows us his greatness so that we will show him to our children
and grandchildren
- And because…
III. This is the way God has chosen for our children to be saved (vv.
7-8)
Verses 7 & 8 tell us the goal for which we are shooting. It states
our goal both positively and negatively. We are after the conversion of
our children. We want them to put their trust in God. We don’t want them
to be unfaithful to God. Now what makes that little statement so much
harder than it seems is that my children and your children do not want
to put their trust in God. Our children like us want to trust everything
else rather than God. Our children want to put their hope in the approval
of their friends. Our children want to trust in you as their parents.
Our children want to trust in food and video games and having control
of the remote. Our children, like their parents before them, are enemies
of God and do not want to trust him anymore than the Palestinians want
to trust the Israelis. But this is what we are to aim for. What most of
us aim for is so much less than this. We are happy when they don’t put
up a fuss in church or when they don’t embarrass us at school or in front
of the pastor. We’re happy with academic success or good jobs or straight
teeth. These verses force us to ask the question, what do you want for
your children? All you need to do in order to answer that question is
to look at what you have your kids involved in and what it is that disappoints
you about your children. When you cry over your children are you crying
because they didn’t get "A’s" or are you crying because you’ve
not yet seen the evidence of conversion in their lives?
I want you to see the fullness of conversion that is described in these
verses. Putting your hope in God is quite different from asking Jesus
into your heart. It is quite different from saying you don’t want to go
to hell but you want to go to heaven. Putting your hope in God cannot
be done without renouncing all other hopes. It is far more than agreeing
that you are a sinner and that Jesus died on the cross for sins. It is
abandoning yourself to God. It is what the person who cannot swim and
who is drowning must do if the lifeguard is going to save him. He must
not fight or try to save himself in any way, he must trust himself entirely
into the power of the lifeguard. It is to know and to live as though if
you have Christ and nothing else you have everything but to have everything
and not Christ is to have nothing. When you have put your hope in God
then you cannot help but remember and think about his might deeds in Christ.
The subject of your thoughts and daydreams is Christ and his work for
you. Reading his word, going to church, talking with others about Christ,
learning doctrine, all these things and more become your preoccupation.
Finally all this leads to an obedient life. The converted child does not
only hope in God and remember all that God is and does but he delights
to obey God and grieves when she doesn’t. Obedience to God when it costs
is the sure sign that a child or an adult has been converted and is truly
hoping in God.
I’m going to be very blunt right here because I don’t want you to mislead
your children. When your child comes to you and says she wants to go to
heaven, that she wants to be a Christian do not tell her to ask Jesus
into her heart. Do not tell them if they pray this little prayer Jesus
will come and save them. Rather, tell them about the dying and rising
of Jesus. Describe the meaning of his death and how God gives the righteousness
of Christ to all who believe. Tell them of God’s law and his anger with
those who break his law. Then tell them to cry out to God for mercy and
read his word and to pay attention in church and perhaps God will save
them. Tell them to repent of the specific sin that you know that your
child cherishes. Tell them of how amazing is the love of God for sinners.
Read the stories of the gospels and point out the kindness and the harshness
of Jesus. What we are trying to do is to convince them of their desperate
need for Christ and to show them the greatness of Christ so that they
will call out to Christ and put their hope in him.
I’m going to repeat an illustration that I have told before but it so
summarizes what we are trying to do with our children. Imagine that your
child is at Daytona Beach and swimming for the first time in the ocean.
He is having a great time learning to body surf. Suddenly he discovers
that he is a long way from shore. A riptide has come and swept him away
from shore and out into the ocean. But 50 yards up the beach is a great
big lifeguard with a boatload of life-saving equipment. When your child
realizes he is in danger and sees the lifeguard, what will he do? He will
cry for help. When will he stop? When he’s in the boat. What might be
some reasons that he would not cry out? There are four. He may not know
he is in danger. He may think that he can escape on his own by swimming.
He may enjoy the ride and think it is cool. He may not like the lifeguard
because he yelled at him earlier and he is not going to give him the pleasure
of saving him. If your child is going to be saved from the riptide he
must know and feel he is in danger and he must believe the lifeguard can
save him. My job as a parent is to convince my son of two things. First
he is in the worst of all possible dangers and he can do nothing to free
himself. Second, Christ is a great Savior and can be trusted. When we
do this we are giving the Holy Spirit the fuel he needs to a light a fire
in our children’s hearts for God. When the Holy Spirit convinces my child
that he is in danger and that Christ alone can save him, he will cry out.
I don’t need to tell him what to say.
This is your work as a parent. Won’t you labor for the salvation of your
children by paying attention to God’s law for yourself? Won’t you work
and pray to convince your children of their great need for Christ by telling
them of the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his fierce acts of judgement,
the wonders he has done and his glorious law? Won’t you do it so that
your children and your great-grandchildren will hear of this Christ and
put their hope in God and not forget his deeds and obey his commands?
We have so many resources available to help you.
- Jim Ellif tapes, pamphlet on conversion, website (there is a link
on our website to his)
- Faith Training Seminar on March 31st
- "Your Child’s Profession of Faith"
- The catechism
- Tape series on The Christian Family
Christian parents and churches are eager to teach God’s works and
word to their children because…
- We are learning
- God shows us his greatness so that we will show him to our children
and grandchildren
- This is the way that God has chosen for our children to be saved
© Copyright
2001 John Swanson.
You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material
in any format provided that:
(1) you credit the author,
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If you would like to post this material to the web, or if your intended
use is other than outlined above, please contact River Hills Community
Church, 2843 West Court Street, Janesville, WI 53545. (608) 758-0943.
mail@riverhillsonline.org
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