Providing Shade for Our Children, Part 1

one of the [Music] if not the greatest thanksgiving that i have continually in my life is the fact that uh our four children are in christ and before i talk about that today and this month i i want to say a personal word of profound love and gratitude to my wife patricia for sustaining such an unwavering commitment to christ and through righteous living that was embedded in the life of our children so that they didn't just have a preacher for a father they had a model for a mother and in addition to that people sometimes say what what influence was most important on your children and the answer of course is mom and dad but very close behind that is the impact of so many of you on my children my grandchildren and now great-grandchildren and you touch all of their lives here at grace church so that it's not just what i preach or what patricia says and does but it's undergirded by the strength of conviction and christian life and dedication that the kids grew up seeing and even the great-grandkids are seeing as well so i'm profoundly grateful we have navigated the world as parents and grandparents and now great grandparents and we have seen the hand of the lord and seen his grace and that's very encouraging i want you to know that because i think there are many who assume that this is an almost impossible task given the world in which we live christian parenting under the influence of the word of god godly living wrapped up in a faithful church is god's design for raising the next generation to love the lord jesus christ can be done and while there are things that shift and change in the culture they are all overpowered by [Music] god the living god when we follow his pathway so this month we want to talk about scripture with regard to family and in particular children use the title shade for the children because five or six years ago i gave a series on shade for the children there's a chinese proverb that says one generation plants the trees the next generation gets the shade and every generation should understand the responsibility that they have to plant the trees so there is shade for the next generation what we're facing today is [Music] fierce i will confess of all the things that disturb me in this culture of all the horrific sinful wretched wicked corrupt influences that go on in this culture i think the thing that distresses me most is the war on children this culture is weaponized to destroy children it's systematically designed to do that 62.5 million of them have been slaughtered in the womb [Music] since roe versus wade in the 70s we all understand the breakdown of the family if a child can escape abortion and be born that child has about a 50 50 chance of being born to a married couple it is likely that that married couple will get a divorce it's likely that they will be unfaithful to their marital vows it is likely that the child will be sent to a public school and come under the influence of those whose agenda is anti-god antichrist anti-scripture and as you know our country the politicians who lead it are making laws that are devastating to children under the pressure of sexual freedom homosexuality [Music] transgenderism the desire is to make that normal and to punish people who speak against it with laws in the category of hate speech the lies of systemic racism and the race hustlers dominate the ideologies of universities and even churches music producers movie makers social media providers big tech you name it they literally pump out things that destroy children children are under a relentless assault by all the forces of evil and they are defenseless and we have a society in a culture that wants to make sure that these who are pumping out this destruction are free to keep doing it without restraint children are defenseless when their parents sell them to a human trafficker who drops them eight to ten feet over a wall into sodom and gomorrah all by themselves or when the disney corporation creates characters that are transgender to seduce children into accepting wickedness as normal or when parents insanely offer their children gender identity options children are under assault now the government wants to even have more influence on them so the president announced that they would like to provide government education free of charge from the age of 3 to 20. you get the picture from the president and the leading politicians and bureaucrats teachers race hustlers pornographers media people tech people even medical people children the most defenseless are under attack there is a war on children now we know that children have some things against them just because they're born from sinful parents they start out fallen so their nature is sinful and we'll say more about that in a moment but in addition to that they are born into a world where they have to endure the impact of the sins of their parents exodus chapter 20 says the lord your god punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation in numbers 14 18 it says that the lord visits the iniquity of the fathers on the sons to the third and fourth generation jeremiah 32 17-18 lord you bring the punishment for the parents sins into the lapse of their children after them now that does not mean that god personally punishes individual children for their parents sin in ezekiel 18 the prophet ezekiel under the inspiration of the holy spirit says no one is punished for someone else's sins no one but what those passages are saying is that the sins collectively of any generation of fathers creates a culture that is the product of that sin that has to be endured by the children born into it this is axiomatic obviously obviously whatever is true about a given generation is going to affect the next generation this is the default reality children are born as sinners and they're born into whatever level of sin and corruption their previous generation or generations left them it's so axiomatic that even ancient literature like euripides 400 years before christ said the gods visit the sins of the fathers on the children or horus in his odes says for the sins of the fathers you though guiltless must suffer or shakespeare the merchant of venice that famous line where he says the sin of the fathers are to be laid on the children everybody gets that so they come into the world sinful they come into a world that is defined by the sins of previous generations and they're going to have to navigate that in deuteronomy chapter 5 we read in verse 9. well let's go back to verse 6. i am the lord your god who brought you out of the land of egypt as god is saying to the children of israel as they're ready to go into the promised land after wandering 40 years and he says you shall have no other gods before me you shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of what is in heaven above or an earth beneath or in the water unto the earth you shall not worship them or serve them for i the lord your god i'm a jealous god visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate me if you hate me subsequent generations are affected by that hate verse 10 says but showing loving kindness to thousands to those who love me and keep my commandments there is hope if you love god and keep his commandments there is hope in surviving both your own fallenness and the kind of corruption that a child is born into i want you to turn in your bible now to deuteronomy chapter six and i want to give you a picture that i think is very instructive and sort of foundational as we talk about this children of israel in the book of deuteronomy are about to enter the promised land it was a promised land but it was a pagan land there were no influences in that land whatsoever when it came to the true and living god the people of israel had been taken captive centuries earlier they now had arrived back at the land it was occupied the land of canaan by endless tribes of idol worshipers it was the worst kind of paganism immoral blasphemous paganism totally engulfed by satan and when arriving the children of israel are instructed concerning some things if you look at deuteronomy 6 and see how the chapter begins this is the commandment the statutes the judgment the lord your god has commanded me to teach you that you might do them in the land while you're going over to possess it so that notice this your son and your grandson might fear the lord your god you have a responsibility to your children and your grandchildren and what do you want to teach them to keep to fear the lord your god to keep all his statutes and his commandments which i command you all the days of your life and that your days may be prolonged lifelong submission to obedience to worship of love for fear of god verse three oh israel you should listen and be careful to do it that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly just as the lord the god of your fathers has promised you in a land flowing with milk and honey do what i just told you do everything the lord commands you to do fear him obey him all your life so that you can pass it on to your children and grandchildren so that you can enjoy the full blessing of the land of milk and honey verse 4 the famous shema hear o israel the lord is our god note that because you're going into paganism with many gods the lord is our god the lord is one you shall love the lord your god with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might these words which i am commanding you today shall be on your heart if you want to prosper in the land if you want to pass on righteousness to the next generation and the next love the lord your god with all your heart with all your soul with all your might and that shows up in obedience verse six what i'm commanding you shall be in your heart it starts in the heart with loving god then verse seven you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up in other words the constant theme of life and conversation inside the home outside the home all the time from dawn to dark is the word of god the word of god you talk about it when you sit in the house when you leave and walk by the way when you come back and you're ready to lie down at night and when you rise up in the morning the conversation is always the same it is the law of god the law of god encompassing loving god and obeying god in verse 8 he says you shall bind them as a sign on your hand they shall be his frontals on your forehead the idea there is your hands should operate in response to the law of god your mind should be concentrating all the time on god and on his law that that is something that was twisted by the rabbis who decided that what that meant was you get a little box and put it on your hand and it's got the shema in it another little box on your head with the shema written and stuffed in the little box and they went around with what were called phylacteries that's not the idea god doesn't want you to wear a box on your head in a box on your arm he wants your hands to reflect your love for him and your obedience he wants your mind to reflect your love and obedience and then in verse 9 write it on the doorposts of your house and on your gates so whether you're going out or coming in the word of god is everything again if you go to a jewish home even today you will find deuteronomy 6 4-6 rolled up in a little scroll stuck in a tiny little box stuck on the doorposts of every orthodox jewish home it's meaningless to make some kind of object out of it when it's talking about the heart in other words your love for god should control you all the time everywhere in what you think what you say and what you do then verse 10 then it shall come about when the lord your god brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers abraham isaac and jacob to give you great and splendid cities which you didn't build and houses full of all good things which you didn't fill and hewn cisterns which you did not dig vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant and you eat and are satisfied in other words the land is ready for you you're going to go in and and we're going to we're going to take action against the pagans judgment's going to come on them and you're going to step in and take what they have prepared but verse 12 says watch yourself when it all is there for you that you do not forget the lord who brought you from the land of egypt out of the house of slavery you shall fear only the lord your god you shall worship him and swear by his name you shall not follow other gods any of the gods of the people who surround you for the lord your god in the midst of you is a jealous god otherwise the anger of the lord your god will be kindled against you and he will wipe you off the face of the earth god is a jealous god back in [Music] the fourth chapter of deuteronomy verse 24 for the lord your god is a consuming fire a jealous god when you become the father of children and children's children and have remained long in the land and act corruptly and make an idol in the form of anything and do that which is evil in the son of the lord your god so as to provoke him to anger i call heaven and earth to witness against you today that you will surely perish quickly from the land where you're going over the jordan to possess it you shall not live long on it but will be utterly destroyed the lord will scatter you among the peoples and you will be left few in number among the nations where the lord drives you there you will serve god's the work of man's hands wood and stone which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell but from there you will seek the lord your god and you will find him if you search for him with all your heart and with all your soul we warned them i'm a jealous god and when you go into the land and start producing children and children's children and having families and you turn from me and you turn to idols i will wipe you out i will wipe you out turn to the book of judges because the book of judges gives us insight into what that first generation did when they went into the land judges chapter 2 verse 6. now their leader is joshua and when joshua had dismissed the people the sons of israel went each to his inheritance to possess the land so there they are they're in the land they've been warned they have been warned to pass righteousness on to their children and children's children to love god with all their heart and soul and mind to obey him so notice in verse 7 the people served the lord all the days of joshua and all the days of the elders who survived joshua who had seen all the great work of the lord which he had done for israel that first generation that had seen the miracles of the exodus and the wandering in the wilderness and how god provided food and protection and how god allowed them to come into canaan and how god made the walls of jericho fall down and they had seen all of that and that generation was faithful they served the lord all the days of joshua and even after his death all the days of the elders who survived joshua that first generation was faithful then verse 8 says joshua the son of none the servant of the lord died at the age of 110. they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in tim natharas in the hill country of ephraim north of mount gash all that generation also were gathered to their fathers and there rose another generation oh here's the next after them who did not know the lord or yet the work which he had done for israel what a disaster not to pass on all of that to the next generation what a disaster what a massive failure so verse 11 then the sons of israel did evil in the sight of the lord and served the baals and they forsook the lord the god of their fathers verse 13 they forsook the lord and serve baal and the ashtaroth amazing parental failure massive the original people that first generation were eyewitnesses of the exodus and the miracles subsequently in the wilderness and they failed to teach their children predictable results is in the verbs in verses 11 to 13 did evil did evil served the baals forsook the lord followed other gods bowed themselves down to them provoked the lord to anger this is the greatest monumental failure that a generation can make baal and ashtaroth baal was called lord of heaven supposedly the son of a god called el he was the god of rain he was the god of storm he is identified as lord possessor he was worshiped by the way with animal sacrifice he was worshiped with certain rituals he was worshiped with lewd dances he was like all deities seemingly worshipped with sacred prostitutes both men and women and supposedly ashtaroth his sister wife was the goddess of sex and the goddess of war a prostitute called a holy virgin that's where they ended up in one generation verse 14 the anger of the lord burned against israel and he gave them into the hands of plunderers who plundered them and he sold them into the hands of their enemies around them so they could no longer stand before their enemies wherever they went the hand of the lord was against them for evil as the lord had spoken and as the lord had sworn to them so that they were severely distressed god judges when one generation fails its responsibility to pass on righteousness to the next verses 16 and 17 say god raised up judges it was not a monarchy they weren't national rulers they were simply deliverers who had different points god raised up to protect the people of israel from complete oblivion the lord raised up judges who delivered them from the hands of those who plundered them yet they didn't listen to their judges they played the harlot with other gods and bowed themselves down to them they turned aside quickly from the way in which their fathers had walked in obeying the commandments of the lord they did not do as their fathers one generation one generation for 300 years the judges tried for 300 years or so god raised up judges to protect them the end of the story of the judges is basically chronicled in the final verse chapter 21 verse 25. in those days there was no king in israel everyone did what was right in his own eyes one generation and then 300 years the second generation third generation the fourth generation the iniquity escalated and ended up with that free-wheeling wickedness that's defined as everyone doing what was right in his own eyes back in deuteronomy 12 verse 8 god had said and i'm quoting that verse you shall not do at all what you're doing here today every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes they were doing it back in chapter 12 it's chronicled and for 300 years they kept doing it until it was the defining reality forsaking the true god forsaking the responsibility to pass on the truth about the true god to the next generation failure to raise children to borrow new testament language in the nurture and admonition of the lord in the fear of god is a multi-generational disaster that invites not only the difficulty of the fact that all that are born into it are sinful that all that are born into it are basically born into a sinful corrupt culture that's been produced in multiple generations that is bad enough it's tough enough and it invites divine judgment but i want to add something not only were all those children born as sinners and born into idolatry born into generations that didn't know god and did what was right in their own eyes but the culture actually turned on the children and in deuteronomy chapter 12 verse 28 be careful to listen to all these words which i command you so that it may be well with you told them at the beginning we're back to the beginning we went to the end and judges were back to the start of their arrival in the land i command you so that it may be well with you and your sons your children after you forever for you will be doing what is good and right in the sight of the lord your god when the lord your god cuts off before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess and you dispossess them and dwell in their land beware that you are not ensnared to follow them after they are destroyed before you and that you do not inquire after their god saying how do these nations serve their gods that i also made you likewise you shall not behave thus toward the lord your god for every abominable act which the lord hates they have done for their gods and here's how bad it gets they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to the gods what it's not enough that the child is sinful it's not enough that the culture has been basically defined by generations of corruption and idolatry but they actually kill the children they burn them carthage one of the places where child sacrifice was done there were gods depicted made out of some kind of metal they had their arms like this tilted down a little bit and live babies were placed into their arms just over a fire and as the fire eventually caused the little one to curl up he fell through the arms of the bronze idol into the fire as a sacrifice from the parents when parents ran out of children they would buy poor children pay their poor parents for a child to use as a sacrifice that's what the pagans do in chapter 18 verse 10 verse 9 first when you enter the land which the lord your god gives you you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations there shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through the fire you never offer your children as a sacrifice sad to say when they did get into the land they were disobedient and they did offer some of their children in the fire a passage in ezekiel i think ezekiel says so much about this that's helpful he's speaking to the people years after they had been in the land in ezekiel 16 there's a lot of places we can look at this but for time sake ezekiel 16 verse 20 moreover here comes the indictment moreover god is speaking in this whole chapter moreover you took your sons and daughters whom you have borne to me what a statement you bore them to me they are mine and you sacrifice them to idols to be devoured were your harlotry so small a matter you slaughtered my children mark that in the truest sense your children aren't yours whose are they there are the lords born to me you slaughtered my children over in verse 36 thus says the lord god because your lewdness was poured out and again these pagan idolatries were all basically built around sex cults because your lewdness was poured out and your nakedness uncovered through your harlotries with your lovers and with all your detestable idols and because of the blood of your sons which you gave to idols therefore behold i will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure even all those whom you loved and all those whom you hated and i will gather them against you from every direction and expose your nakedness to them that they may see all your nakedness i will judge you like women who commit adultery and or shed blood are judged and i'll bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy the children of israel did the very things that god told them not to do this is unthinkable unthinkable that they would go so far as to give their own children in a fire chapter 20 of ezekiel again verse 30 thus says the lord god will you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and play the harlot after their detestable things verse 31 when you offer your gifts when you cause your sons to pass through the fire you are defiling yourselves with all your idols to this day and shall i be inquired of by you o house of israel as i live declares the lord god i will not be inquired of by you don't ask me for anything nothing you've gone too far to lay any claim on me chapter 23 again verse 37 they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands thus they have committed adultery with their idols and even caused their sons whom they bore to me to pass through the fire to them as food in other words they fed their children to the gods again they have done this to me verse 39 they have slaughtered their children for their idols they entered my sanctuary on the same day to profane it and lo thus they did within my house they went from sacrificing their children to idols to showing up at my house don't please don't go worship god on the sabbath if you just offered your children to a god as human sacrifice on friday forsaking the true god and his worship and obedience is a multi-generational disaster disaster of massive proportions child sacrifice is a part of world religious history all kinds of evidence has been gained by archaeologists we now know that the aztecs sacrificed their children every day the incas did it regularly the mayans did it and believed that the child would exist in some kind of resurrected form mass child sacrifice occurs in northern peru with a tribe called mokay one of the andean gods was the kake to his honor children were offered the phoenicians on the coast of the land of israel offered human sacrifice i mentioned them earlier the carthaginians they know about these idols because they have found evidence of them where the child was placed to slide down into the fire plutarch writing about child sacrifice and carthage also said that it was common to buy little ones from the poor and slit their throat before they threw them in the fire you might be surprised to know the quran documents that the arabs were engaged in human sacrifice of children to allah all kinds of evidence of this in pre-modern europe particularly in southern africa and uganda there's evidence of child cannibalism in human history recently we all realized that aborted babies were being dismembered and baby body parts were being sold by planned parenthood when it was discovered and chronicled in video instead of indicting planned parenthood for selling aborted baby parts the man who took the video was indicted on nine counts this is a very dangerous place for children you have about a 50 50 chance to survive the womb no way to escape judgment satan's war starts in the womb and never lets up it's carried through every medium possible to destroy children broken homes sinful parents in every electronic form of media educational system it's everywhere satan's war on children by the way is a war on god because the children belong to him i want to show you that so let's close by looking at mark chapter 10. mark chapter 10 i think it's safe to say this that the pharisees had no interest in children apparently the their theology of works had basically excluded children since they couldn't do righteous works so they were they were ignored but in verse 13 of mark 10 this is also the same account as in matthew and luke they were bringing children to him the people so that he might touch them but the disciples rebuked them but when jesus saw this he was indignant and said to them permit the children to come to me do not hinder them for the kingdom of god belongs to such as these whoa what a statement truly i say to you whoever doesn't receive the kingdom of god like a child will not enter it at all and he took them in his arms and began blessing them laying his hands on them they're his they belong to the kingdom and so the king picked them up and blessed them just as in ezekiel these are my children to help you with that psalm 127 just a couple of passages are really important psalm 127 verse 3 it's an unqualified statement behold children are a gift of the lord children are a gift of the lord the fruit of the womb is a reward like arrows in the hand of a warrior so are the children of one's youth how blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them they will not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate we'll say more about that in subsequent weeks but i just want you to notice verse three children are a gift from the lord look at psalm 139 oh lord you have searched me and known me you know when i sit down and when i rise up you understand my thought from afar you scrutinize my path am i lying down i intimately acquainted with all my ways you know everything about me everything about me how so go down to verse 13. you formed my inward parts you wove me in my mother's womb i'll give thanks to you i'm fearfully and wonderfully made wonderful are your works and my soul knows it very well my frame was not hidden from you when i was made in secret and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth your eyes have seen my unformed substance when i was just a zygote in your book were all written the days that were ordained for me when as yet there was not one of them how precious also are your thoughts to me oh god you wove me in the womb i belong to you [Music] psalm 22 9 david says to god you brought me forth from the womb you brought me forth from the womb go back to genesis and not literally just thinking in your mind you don't have time for that from genesis 4 1 whenever a woman conceived of a child it was viewed as an act of god [Music] even in chapter 17 verse 20 a child born to an unbeliever ishmael is a gift from the lord ruth chapter 4 verse 13 boaz took ruth and she became his wife and the lord enabled her to conceive a son for samuel 1 19 20 hannah conceived a son from the lord all the way through from genesis children are from the lord pharisees didn't have any interest in children their legalistic system but jesus did apparently and it was not unusual for him to have parents coming to him back in chapter 9 there are a couple of references to children back in 1936 he took up a child in his arms talked about receiving one here some parents bring their children they just want jesus to touch them he healed by the way with the touch so they knew he had power but the disciples rebuked him in judaism children were commonly brought for a special blessing on the day before the day of atonement the jews had always valued the blessing of a father the blessing of a prophet the blessing of a rabbi the talmud says they brought children to the synagogue for that very purpose as the father had laid his hands on his child's head he would take him to the elders to have the elders lay their hands on his little head and one by one he would ask the elders at the synagogue to bless the child and pray that the child would grow up and here's a quote from some of their literature he would grow up famous in the law faithful in marriage and abundant in good works famous in the law faithful in marriage and abundant and good works so the people were used to this but the disciples rebuked them by the way these are very small children while matthew and mark use the generational or the general term pidea which means a child luke uses brephos which means a baby small child so they were bringing children to him and that would include the smallest of children and we know they're small because verse 16 says he took them in his arms the parents wanted jesus to touch them touch a blessing a touch of prayer gave them some hope that this man of god this obviously powerful prophet of god touched their children maybe he would bless them with the ultimate eternal life but the disciples rebuked them epi tomato is the verb to censure to reprimand literally used for punishment they exploded against these parents verse 14 jesus saw this and he exploded back he was angry he they were wrong and he was angry you have to understand this wasn't a minor issue he was angry at their indifference toward children and said to them permit the children to come to me do not hinder them for the kingdom of god belongs to such as these that's an incredible statement the kingdom of god belongs to such as these he doesn't say the kingdom of god belongs to these like these children happen to be elect children he says the kingdom of god belongs to such as these to this category of humans this class of beings these kinds matthew says the kingdom of heaven belongs to these they're gods he calls them my children in ezekiel by the way nothing is said about the parents faith nothing is said about a covenant a baptism a circumcision a right a ritual if there was ever to be a place of comment on infant baptism this would have been it jesus says absolutely nothing [Music] the kingdom of heaven belongs to these what yes little children before they reach the age where they can believe or reject belong to god that means when your little ones arrive you're stewarding them for god are they sinners of course psalm 51 5 behold i was brought forth in iniquity and sin my mother conceived me psalm 58 3 the wicked are estranged from the womb of course sinfulness is not a condition that comes on people later on some people try to teach that that we're all born neutral and we're sinners because we choose to be sinners that's absurd on the face of it since that would mean that nobody ever chose not to be we know they're sinners because that's evident the fact that they die they all die eventually some die in childhood some die in the womb some die in the very act of birth but before they're of the age when they can understand their sinfulness and the gospel they belong to god and what that means is that when they die he gathers them to himself they're part of his kingdom i will tell you this generation of people the leaders the immoral people that are engaged in this massive assault on children are going to have to answer to god and that day will come but what about us we're going to have to answer to him too for the little ones he gives us when they arrive they're his and our life commitment is to make sure that as they grow and we influence them they come to faith in christ right that's raising your children in the nurture and admonition of the lord i have four more pages and it's all the best stuff what can i say does that mean you're coming back next week because okay we're going to pick it up right there let's pray we we embrace that responsibility that duty that privilege that opportunity of raising these precious little ones that are given to us oh lord how i pray that you'll give parents wisdom that shall give them grace that you'll help them to focus their whole lives on passing righteousness to those precious little ones who belong to you they're yours you put them in our hands to steward to raise in the nurture and admonition of the lord the scripture says we think about all the children that are here in these families gathered today and probably a thousand of them all over this campus and more tonight lord give wisdom to their parents may this whole church embrace them and love them and show them what it is to love you raise a generation who don't do what's right in their own eyes but who do what's right in your eyes that's our prayer savior's name and for his glory amen

Channel: Grace to You

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Keywords: John MacArthur, Bible, Preaching, Christianity, Expository, Exposition, Sermon, Jesus, Christ, Grace to You

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Length: 58min 48sec (3528 seconds)

Published: Fri May 07 2021