Word of Salvation – Vol. 22 No. 36 – May 1976

 

Christ Communicated To The Children

 

Sermon by Rev. W. van Schie on Deut. 6:4-9

 

Congregation in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Time and again we are privileged to witness God's gracious covenant promises to us and our children.  Often we are privileged to see a child in our congregation receive the sign and seal of this covenant promise.  But yet, when we see this we must also realise our responsibility as parents.  For when we bring our children before the Lord and we accept holy baptism as a sign and seal of God's covenant promise, then as parents we make promises too – promises before the whole congregation and before God.  We promise that we will train up our children in the fear of the Lord, that we will instruct them in the way that they should go.  And these promises are very serious because not only do we make these promises publicly, but we also make them to God Himself.

We make a vow to God.  We swear an oath to God that we will fulfil these promises.  That we will train up our children and lead them to Jesus Christ.  But they're big promises, aren't they?  And sometimes these promises are very hard to fulfil.  How can we fulfil these promises?  What do we need to be able to say, “Yes, I'm doing what is right before God and before the congregation in making these promises to train up my child”1?

Here in Deuteronomy chapter 6 Moses tells us not only how, but he also tells us what we need to be able to fulfil these promises that we make to God.  Here is Moses speaking to the children of Israel, and this generation of people going into Canaan were a completely different generation to the people who left Egypt.  A whole generation of Israelites were lost in the desert, rejected by God because they didn't keep their vows, their promises, that they had made to God.  And now this younger generation had grown up and they are just on the verge of going into Canaan.

And in Deuteronomy 6, Moses begins this great discourse, advising the new generation how to live in the Promised Land.

And the very first thing that he says is about the home – the believers' home – how parents should instruct their children properly.

I.  GOD'S TRUTH NEEDS A HEART-RESPONSE

(a) Revelation Demands It.

Moses begins by saying: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one.”  The starting point is God's revelation of Himself.  God showed Himself to His people as one.  He is not like little gods we might put on mantle-pieces around our homes.  No, there is only one God who created heaven and earth.  And He is the Lord, the faithful God, who keeps His promises.  That's how He has revealed Himself to His people.  And then Moses goes on.  He has revealed Himself for a purpose so that we as His people can respond to Him.  He didn't reveal Himself as the Lord, the one God, just to satisfy our intellectual curiosity.  No, He showed Himself so that we can respond to His revelation.  He shows Himself so that we can respond to Him in love.  We are to love Him with heart, love Him with soul, with mind, love Him with our total being He showed Himself as the Lord, the faithful One, and then he expects of us because we have seen Him, to respond by loving Him.

(b)  It must grip the Heart

But notice what it says in verse 6 here in Deuteronomy 6 In verse 6 Moses says that it should be a burden upon our heart.  It's not just something of the mind, not just something of the emotions, this is something that has to be in the centre of our personalities, something that is a burden upon our hearts; something that grips us, something that grabs hold of us and shakes our whole being; takes hold of our heart, that we realise that God is faithful, that God is loving, that we want to live in a relationship with Him, from the centre of our being.  This relationship is a very possessive relationship, it grabs hold of us and draws our complete attention to God.

Now, it's not coincidental that Moses starts off with these statements, that God shows Himself and that from the heart we are to love Him.  He says this for a purpose.  This is basic for instructing our children.  No parent can instruct a child in the way of Jesus Christ, or regarding his relationship with God, if that parent doesn't have that same relationship.  We need to have a relationship with God that grips our hearts, that grips our being.

And this doesn't happen by accident.  We don't just have a relationship with God by chance, that we meet God and He meets us, and therefore we have a relationship with Him.  No, this relationship is one that needs cultivation, needs effort, needs working at, so that we have a really close relationship.

(c) Application

Do you know what is the problem in Christianity today?  One of the greatest problems is that many parents are peddling Christian truths which they haven't lived themselves.  Parents are teaching things to the children which they don't practise themselves, and then they wonder why their children don't live up to their expectations.  Parents tell their children to be thoughtful, to be patient, to have self-control, but they lack these very same qualities themselves.  Parents tell their children to have a close commitment to the Lord but they don't have this same commitment themselves.  They are trying to sell something to the children which they themselves do not possess, and parents should not do that.  We can't sell something to our children, or convince our children of something that we don't want to have ourselves.  We can't pass on to the next generation something that WE don't have.  We have to have it first.

It is just like an obviously overweight person coming to you and saying that he has discovered a fantastic pill which instantly cures all problems of excess weight.  He says, “See me afterwards and I'll sell you some.  I have a whole bottle full of them right here.”  But as you look again at his rather huge figure you say, “If they are so marvellous, why don't you use them yourself?”

And that's exactly the same reaction that children have towards their parents.

So often parents try to lead their children to a really close and meaningful relationship with Christ when they do not have that relationship themselves.

The first thing the children say is, "What about you, Mum, what about you, Dad; what's your relationship to Jesus like?  It's all so obvious to us and it's no use telling us what to do when you don't do it yourself."

As parents we cannot instruct our children and we cannot fulfil our promises to God if we don't have Jesus Christ in our own heart.  It's impossible.  We need Jesus Christ in our heart first, before we can lead our children to Christ.  And that's the first thing that Moses says here.  You need a relationship with God before you can lead your children to God,

II  GOD'S TRUTH NEEDS TEACHING IN THE HOME

(a)  Formally Training

But then Moses goes on.  In verse 7 Moses says that we are to teach our children.  Here in the Hebrew this word 'teach' is the same word that is used in Proverbs 22 verse 6 where it says that "we are to train up our children in the way that they should go and when they are old that they will not depart from it."  The word 'teach' means "to train"; that is, by formal instruction.  This by lessons that parents give to their children, by time spent in teaching in a structured way.  And this is not to be done sloppily, it's not done according to the spare time that the parents may have for their children, it's not to be done to suit the parents' whims or fancies.  No, this is to be done diligently, with effort, with plenty of time allocated and with commitment.

You know what the problem is in our day and age?  The church spends much time in teaching the children and some parents have the attitude that, "well, they're learning things in cell groups and in catechism; they're learning things in Bible adventure club, and in Cadets and Calvinettes; well, they're learning so much there's no need for me to teach them anything else at home."

The church can never be a substitute parent.  The parents need to FORMALLY teach the children in the home, and this is even more important than what they are learning in the church.

(b) Informally Teaching

Then Moses says something else which is very interesting He talks about another way of teaching, and for this he uses the word 'talk'.  There is a need to talk with the children.  This is not by formal lessons, it's not structured at all.  It's a very informal chit-chat, a very informal conversation.  Moses explains what he means by this talking.  He says "when you sit down with your children, you just talk with them.  And when you go out walking with your children, you talk with them.  And when you lie down and rise up, in all situations of life you just casually talk with your children about spiritual things.".  This, of course, presupposes that we as parents spend time with them walking and in all situations of life, simply living with our children.  Just casually, in conversation, talk about spiritual matters.

There is a story, that I heard about a family in America In that family were three girls and two boys.  Those five children, when they grew up, all became missionaries.  The three sisters became missionary nurses, and the two brothers became missionaries in South-East Asia.  One day one of the brothers was asked: "What do you remember most about your father?"  And after a few minutes of thinking, he said: "Well, I remember one early morning getting up to do my paper run, when it was four o'clock in the morning, and my parent's door was slightly ajar and I could see my father on his knees in prayer.  That's one thing I remember.  On the floor, in prayer.  And another thing I remember very clearly is our father playing on the floor with us, laughing and rolling around."  That was the biggest impression left in that missionary's mind, on the floor praying, on the floor playing.  The two methods of communication that Moses talks about here, by teaching and by just casual conversation with children.

(c)  Application

And you know, so many parents are too busy to do this.  Too busy with work, too busy with overtime or a second job.  Too busy visiting friends, too busy with mates, too busy watching television or reading their own magazines or papers, too busy living their own lives to spend necessary time with their children.  The results are always the same.  When they're young, you don't notice it so much, but when they're teenagers that's when the problems become crucial.  All the time that we don't live with our children, in teaching them, in talking with them, we miss wonderful opportunities to answer questions that THEY BRING up just quite casually.  Questions that they like to have answered, about spiritual matters too.  When we miss these opportunities, they may never come back again and meanwhile there are questions, questions, questions stored up.  Questions that are never answered, that the parents should answer.

What's it like in our home?  How much time to we spend with our children, teaching them formally, going through Bible stories with them, instructing them in the things of the Lord?  How much time do we spend just living with them, playing with them so that any time anything comes up, we are there, prepared and ready to talk about it?  What we need to be good Christian parents is to have time, time to teach, formally and informally, time to lead our children to Christ.

III  GOD'S TRUTH IS TO BE LIVED

(a)  Our Way of Life

But then Moses goes on.  There's one more thing that is needed from Christian parents to lead their children to God.  It's not enough just to know that Jesus is in our heart, it's not enough just to spend time with our children and tell them.  There's something else which is very important.  Moses says we are "to bind the word of God on your hand."  The hand is symbolic for action.  We are to have the Word of God controlling our actions.  Our relationship with God is to so govern all our actions so that nothing which we do is outside his control.

And, says Moses, "we are to put them here on our foreheads, on our eyes".  This is symbolic for our attitudes.  Our way of thinking, has to be controlled, led and governed by God and His Word, and by our relationship with Him.  It's not just something of the heart, nor is it just a matter of words which we give to our children, but rather it's something that we live.  We have to do it in our way of life, our way of thinking and our actions.  We know it very well, don't we?  Actions speak louder than words The most effective way to communicate to a child is through example, through action.

(b)  In Private and Public

But then Moses goes on too, he says: "You are to put this also on your door posts."  This shows the extent to which we have to go, in our Christian life.  On our door posts this means the post inside the house, not outside the house, the door frames inside the house.  And this is symbolic of all the private rooms inside our home.  Well, they all should be governed by the Word of God.  In other words, our most intimate, our most private life, must be governed by the Word of God, must be governed by our relationship with God.

And then Moses says also "on your gates", outside in the yard.  This is symbolic, meaning that also our public life should be a witness, that we have a relationship with God.  In private and in public, in all that we do, in our actions, our relationships with people, we are to be consistent in showing we have a relationship with God and that we are living by God's Word.

(c)  Application.

You know there is nothing more devastating to our children than saying before others that we believe one thing, but in our private life having bitterness and hatred in our heart.  Or in church saying we are solidly committed but in private being lazy in our spiritual life.  In the home we can't fool anybody.  In the home we can't fool our children because they see us as we really are.  We can fool other people in church, we can fool the Session, we can fool anybody, but we cannot fool our children and we cannot fool our marriage partner because it is in the home that the mask comes off, and the real "I" comes out.  And there is nothing more devastating than to say one thing in public and then do something opposite in private, because all the instruction that we may give to our children is ruined straight away.  Also there is nothing more devastating than having one belief or practice in private, but changing as soon as we are forced to be in public.

For example, if visitors come to our house, we don't pray before and after meals anymore, because it's embarrassing to the visitors who are not Christians.  Or if we go to a restaurant, we don't pray, because it's embarrassing.  We do it at home, in private, because it's the right thing to do.  We are being inconsistent.  Do one thing in private but another in public – just to suit the situation.  And there's nothing more devastating to our children than a life like that.  All instruction goes by the board, because children see the inconsistency and the insincerity.

Is our life consistent?  Is what we do in public the same as we do in private?  Do we practice what we preach, and live what we believe?  If we don't then we are instructing our children all right, but in how NOT to be a Christian.  It's a negative instruction.  And yet these same instances can be used to really build up the children.  There is no better example in the home than a child seeing his father or mother commit a sin, maybe in anger, maybe in something else and then seeing the parents repent and try not to sin again.

And there is no better example than for parents to pray in public as they do in private, for then their life is consistent.  This is really tremendous instruction which has a tremendous impact on the children.  So bind the word of God to all spheres of life!

CONCLUSION

How do we lead our children to Christ?  This is a very important question for you young people as well, who are not married yet, or who are married but have no children.  It's very hard to suddenly change when your child arrives on the doorstep.  It's good to get into the pattern, the Biblical pattern, from the word ‘go’.  God's pattern.

So, when you're searching for a partner and you find one, and decide to build a Christian home, then make sure you have your priorities straight before you start.  If you don't it can end up in tragedy very quickly – a deep spiritual tragedy

How can we lead our children to Christ?  By examining our own hearts first of all: Do I so have Christ in my heart, that He grips me?

And then secondly, by examining our homes.  Are our homes really Christian homes?  A Christian home isn't just a place where Christians live.  Just because Christians live there that doesn't make it a Christian home.  A Christian home is one where Christ rules every area of life.  Are our homes really Christian homes where we spend time to teach and talk with our children?

And then thirdly, we can examine our own lives.  Are our lives real examples to our children, that they can follow our example and be committed Christian people?

God has given us children, but at the same time He has given us a responsibility to train up those children.  Don't do it in your own strength, do it in God's strength.  Make sure of your own relationship to Jesus Christ first.  Spend time with your children to teach them.  And then examine your lives to see if they're a good example.  With God's strength you can lead your children to Christ.

Congregation, in the Bible there is a very serious warning.  I suppose Judges 2 verse 10, is one of the most horrible texts in the Bible.  In Judges 2 verse 10 it says this: "There grew up a generation who did not know the Lord."  So quickly after they came up into Canaan, there was a generation who did not know the Lord.  Do you know why they didn't know the Lord?  Because their parents forgot to tell them about Him.  May that never happen to our children.  May we have the Lord in our hearts, and spend time with our children, so that by our lives we may lead them to Christ.

Amen.