MCLEAN BIBLE CHURCH JANUARY 27, 2013 PASTOR LON SOLOMON

Transcription

1 MCLEAN BIBLE CHURCH JANUARY 27, 2013 PASTOR LON SOLOMON >> LON SOLOMON: Now, today, we are going to be talking about children and young people and the reason for that is quite simple. It's because we are in a series on the book of Genesis and in our passage for today, God talks with children and young people. Now, you know, I have been mentoring a small group of our younger staff and one of the things we have been talking about is preaching. And one of the things I have been trying to get across to them is what I call preaching the passage. And you say, what is that? Well, what I mean by that is that when we are doing verse by verse, expository Bible teaching like we do here at McLean, we let the passage determine the topic for the message. In other words, if the passage is all about salvation, then we preach the salvation message. If the passage is all about money, then we preach a money message. If the passage is all about personal holiness, then we preach personal holiness message. You get the point. We preach the passage. And when we do this, week after week after week, over time God's people get a well-balanced diet of spiritual truth. Now, today we are going to preach the passage and the passage today is all about instructing our children after us to keep the way of the Lord. So are you ready? Okay. We are? Genesis Chapter 18, but before we dig in, why don't we do a tiny bit of review. Here in Genesis 18, we saw that three men showed up one day and visited Abraham when he was living in Hebron, a little town just south of Jerusalem. There's a map so you can see it. We also learned that two of these men were angels in human form who would leave here and go on down to Sodom and Gomorrah and the third man, we learned, was Jehovah God himself in a theophany. The theophany is a fancy theological word for an appearance of God himself in human form. And why had God come to visit Abraham in human form? Well, he had come to announce the impending pregnancy of Sarah. Genesis 8:10, and the Lord said to Abraham, I will surely return to you at this time next year. Behold, Sarah, your wife shall have a son. And, indeed, this is exactly what happened. Now, there's where we have been. So why don't we pick up now here in Genesis Chapter 18, verse 16. Then 9 three men rose from lunch and looked down towards -- then the three men rose from lunch and looked down towards Sodom. And Abraham was walking with them to send them off, so tend them on their way. As the two angels and the Lord were all walking together, the Lord spoke and here's what he said. He said to the two angels, verse 17, shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? What's he talking about? He's talking about destroying Sodom and Gomorrah before God says Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and through him all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, for I have chosen him because I know that he will instruct his what? I didn't hear anything. He will instruct his what? (his children!) > LON SOLOMON: His children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice in order that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what he has promised him. Now what we want to do today is talk about this question, did Abraham, quote, instruct his children and his household, his grandchildren after him, his great

2 grandchildren, to keep the way of the Lord? Well, let's look and see. Why don't we start with his son, Isaac. Genesis 21:4, Abraham circumcised Isaac when he was eight days old this was a sign that God had told Abraham to perform on every male descendant as an indicator that they were part of a special covenant with God, and certainly when Isaac was old enough to notice this, Abraham explained to him what it meant. Second of all, we have Genesis 22, where God told him to offer Isaac as a burnt offering. Now we have to remember here in genesis 22, Isaac was a teenager by now. That's why in verse 7 of this chapter as they were going up the mountain, Isaac said, Father, the wood and the fire are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Well, the point was he was the lamb for the burnt offering! I don't know if Abraham told him that. Then they came to the place where the Lord had told Abraham and Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood and tired up his son Isaac and laid him on the altar. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. Now, friends, Abraham knew that Isaac could not die because God's covenant with Abraham was to be fulfilled through Isaac. So he knew Isaac had to live and have children of his own and yesterday, I am absolutely convinced that in obedience to God, Abraham was going to take that knife and plunge it right into his son if God had not stopped him. Why? Well, because Abraham had thought about this overnight, in Hebrews 11:19, because Abraham reasoned that God could raise Isaac from the dead if he needed to. At least he had the general idea. God stepped in and stopped Abraham from doing it, but, you know, when Isaac untied Isaac, I'm sure Isaac had a couple of questions. (Laughter) Like, what was that all about? And what was that knife all about? And why would you do something like this? And I'm sure Abraham sat down and talked to him about the sovereignty of God and the omnipotence of God and how God has to be number one in your life, not even your own son. And about how we obey God, whether we understand or not. And finally in Isaac's life, we read Genesis 25:21, when Isaac's wife Rebekah was unable to have children, Isaac prayed to the Lord on Rebekah's behalf and the Lord answered his prayer and Rebekah conceived. Now, how did Isaac know that this was the way for a Godly man to handle this problem? Well, certainly because his father Abraham said, hey, son, your mother Sarah had this very same issue and here's what I did as a Godly plan and God honored it. This is what you need to do. The point is, did Abraham instruct his son in the way of Lord? Of course he did. How about his grandson, Jacob? The Bible tells us Abraham lived until Jacob, his grandson was 15 years old. You think Abraham instructed his grandson in the way of the Lord? Well, Genesis 48:21, then Jacob, Abraham's grandson, said to his son, Joseph, behold, I'm about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you back. They were in Egypt at the time. Will bring you back to the land of your fathers. Now, how did Jacob learn about God's promise to give the land of Canaan to Abraham's descendants? Well, he learned about it because Abraham told him. And Abraham also told him that God had predicted that they were going to Egypt for a while but they were coming back. You see, Abraham's fingerprints all over his grandson. And how about his great grandson, Joseph. Joseph said in Genesis 50, then Joseph said to his brothers, I'm about to die, but God will surely take care of you, and

3 bring you up from the land of Egypt to the land he promised by oath to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob. Friends, by the time of Joseph's death in Genesis 50, Abraham has been dead for over 200 years and yet here his descendants are still repeating God's promises and still going on strong for the Lord, we question, we ask, did Abraham instruct his children and his grandchildren after him to keep the way of the Lord? And the answer is, you betcha he did! Now, that's as far as we want to go in our passage, because we want to stop now and we want to ask our most important question and all of our friends at Loudoun and in Prince William and in Bethesda and down in the Edge and around the world on the Internet campus and all of you guys here at Tysons, we all know what the question is, yes, yes? (Yes!) >> LON SOLOMON: Okay. So we are going to really do this, yes? (Yes!) >> LON SOLOMON: It really helps to take a deep breath, here we go, one, two, three...(so what?!?) >> LON SOLOMON: You say, Lon, you know what, that's so corny. Are you going to keep doing that the rest of your ministry? Yes. (Laughter) (Applause) Absolutely. You say, well, we'll put up with it, I guess. You say, hey, that's a great story about Abraham and I really appreciate Abraham pouring his life in his children and his grandchildren like that, but what difference does that make to me? Well, we are going to talk about that. William Bennett, who was the former federal drug policy czar said and I quote, we must develop a fair appreciation for the limitations of government effort on behalf of children. He went on to say, government obviously cannot fill a child's emotional needs. Government is not a father or a mother. Government has never raised a child and it will never. End of quote. Now, Mr. Bennett is right. Let me tell you why he's right. He's right because God never ordained government to do what Abraham did. He never ordained government to raise up children to walk in the way of the Lord and keep the way of the Lord. He never ordained government, Ephesians 6:4 to raise children in the nurture and the instruction of the Lord. God ordained fathers and mothers to do this. And he ordained the church to help fathers and mothers do this. Now, if you are here today and you are a parent, I would assume that you are automatically somewhat interested in the rest of what I'm going to say about. This even if you are here and you are not a parent, that doesn't mean that what I'm about to say doesn't apply to you, for two reasons. Reason number one, is that one day you might be a parent! And the best time to develop a philosophy of how to raise children is before you have any. And number two, even if you never become a parent, we still have a responsibility as a church family to spiritually develop the thousands and thousands of children that God has given us here, and, friends, down through the centuries, some of the most effective children's workers in history have been people who never had children of their own. That doesn't make you exempt. So there's something in the so what here for everybody. So listen up. When I think about this idea of instructing our children after us, to keep the way of the Lord, I can't help but think about Moses. I think we all know the story of Moses, basically. Moses was born in Egypt. He was set adrift in the Nile River by his mother. He was found by Pharaoh's daughter and raised in the palace of Egypt as her son. And

4 this went on for the first 40 years of Moses' life. But don't forget, the Bible tells us that for the first 5 or 10 years of Moses' life, his mother, a woman named Jochebed was his nurse. Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing instead to endure ill treatment with the people of God rather than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. Because he, Moses, considered reproach for the sake of Christ to be greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt? Why? Since he was looking ahead to the reward that God had for him. Now, folks, my question is, where did Moses learn all of this spiritual truth? Hmm? Where did he learn, number one that the Hebrew people were the people of God? Where did he learn, number two, that the Hebrew people were his people by natural birth? Where did he learn, number three, that the goings on in the palace of Egypt were sin? Where did he learn, number four, that there was a Christ, this was a messiah, worth standing up for even if it meant suffering reproach? And finally, where did he learn that God has a future reward for anyone who is willing to stand up for Christ and suffer reproach? Where did he learn all of that? Well, let me tell you for sure where he didn't learn it. He didn't learn it from Pharaoh's daughter, I can tell you that. And I didn't learn it from his idolatry teachers, and his buddies in the capital city. And you say, well, I know where he learned it. He learned it from reading the Bible. No. No, he didn't. You say, well, how do you know that? Well, I know that because there was no Bible. Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible. (Laughter) And he didn't write them for 40 more years. There was no Bible! We all know how he learned these truths, don't we? He learned them from his mother, his mother during those 5 to 10 years poured bucket load after bucket load of spiritual truth into that little boy's life and even though for the next 30 years of his life, those spiritual truths were never nurtured or cultivated or reinforced in the palace of Egypt, still the word of God is so powerful that when it's implanted in a child's life, even with 30 years of neglect, those truths erupted in his life at age 40 and transformed his life. You say, Lon, what's the point? The greatest mistakes we make as the followers of Christ, we underestimate what little children can learn about God and the impact it can have on their lives. Proverbs 22:6, train up a child, God says, in the way he or she should go and when he gets old, he will not depart from it. That truth will come flying back into his life or her life. Friends, this is why the prodigal son returned home. This is why Franklin Graham came back to the Lord. This is why Joseph lived for God and did what was righteous in Egypt, even though for 13 years there was no other believer around watching him or encouraging him, because he had spiritual truth poured into his life as a child, and this is why Timothy was such a great servant of God, because as Paul said, 2 Timothy 3:13, he says from what -- say the next word -- from infancy, Timothy, you have known the holy scriptures. Why? Paul says because your mother and your grandmother Lois and Eunice poured it into you. That's how you learned it. Train up a child in the way he should go and when he gets old, he will not depart from it. This is the promise of God and God keeps his promises.

5 Now, if you are a parent, I would like to give you a few practical suggestions about how we can raise up a child in the way he or she should go Biblically. These are a few suggestions, number one, have Christian music always playing in your house, not XM radio or Sirius radio, know the '60s channel or the '70s channel, Christian music. Number two, Pray with your children every night, even when they are infants. And when they know how to speak and pray, get down on your knees and teach them to pray. Number three, put scripture verses in your home. No matter where your child walks in their home, the word of God is going into their life. Number four, read Bible stories to your children more often than anything else. There's nothing wrong with "Good Night Moon" or "Curious George" but your children should hear the Bible being read to them more than "Curious George." Number five, memorize scripture with your children from the age of 1 or 2. You say what? 1 or 2? Children can't memorize scripture at 1 or 2. Don't tell me that. My oldest son James, who is 35 years old now, before he was 3 years old, he knew more than 50 verses of scripture that he could pop off just like by memory because I worked with him and he learned them. Don't tell me your children can't memorize scripture. They can. Don't underestimate them. Pour the word of God in their life. Get your child to Kids Quest every single week that you are in town, and to Awana every single Sunday night. Now, you can't get into Awana right now because at all of our campuses we are chocker block full, and we don't have any room. When we reregister in the fall, Awana is all about scripture memory. Get your child registered. You say, Lon, I'm sorry, I'm tired on Sunday night. Well, you know what, when I was raising my three boys, I was tired too. I preached six services on Sunday morning, one on Saturday night and I would go home flop down and want to watch the football game, just like you, but at 4:30, I got my lazy body up and I said, all right, kids, let's go over your verses, we are heading into Awana. You know why? I tell you, it's very simple. I realize friends, as you should, football will always be there. When you become old, you can take a nap any time you want on Sunday, but your children, you've got one shot at them. Get your body up and invest in those children! Not you. Amen. (Applause) I got a couple more for you. Reward your children for having their quiet time. Yeah, even monetarily reward them for having their quiet time. It's a lot better than hearing a judge say to your child, will the defendant please rise? It's better. And make sure you get your teenager to The Rock, to Sunday morning torque small group, to winter camp, to summer camp. In our house, there was no choice. When the junior and senior high was doing something, our boys were there. No discussion. You say, well, Lon, wait a minute. What about this idea that I shouldn't press God, press church on my children when they are young? My friends, that's the biggest lie Satan ever perpetrated on the human race and it's completely opposite of what God says. God says Deuteronomy 6:6, these words I command you this day shall be on your heart and you shall teach them -- what's the next word -- diligently to your children, which means you press these truths on your children. You say, yeah, but, Lon, if I press it on them like that, won't they grow up to hate church and resent God? No. Look here, no. Not if you,

6 as their parents are living authentic, Godly, Christian lives at home. Now, yes, you press church on your children and then you go home and live like the devil in front of them, you will make them cynical and jaded about God and church, but you press the things of God on your children, and then you go home and you live those chips out to the best of -- children out to the best of your ability and your children will learn to love God and love church and serve Christ. Do you understand what I'm saying? Amen. All right. You say, Lon, all of this is great. I don't have any children. Oh, that's wonderful! That's wonderful! Because that means you have more time to get involved in kids quest and The Rock and serve other people's children. (Applause) It's wonderful! You know, the evangelist, great evangelist DL Moody who personally led 1 million people to Christ according to his biographer and his life. He came to Christ as a teenager in Boston, and then he quickly moved to Chicago, but he had no Theo logical training. He had only been through the third grade. He was a little rough around the edges, and so the churches in Chicago, no church would allow him to minister to adults. So as a result, he started ministering to children. He would go around the squalid streets of Chicago and recruit children to come to church with him on Sunday and then on Sunday, he would get up early and go from house to house to house waking these children up, while their parents were still sleeping the alcohol off. And he would get them dressed and he would bring them to church and fill pew after pew after pew with these children. The church called them Moody's ruffians. You know what, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of those children came to Christ and went on to serve the Lord as pastors and as missionaries and Christian workers all over the world. And later on when Moody himself became a world-famous evangelist, ministering to adults, he wrote a letter to his friend BF Jacobs, who by the way was the founder of the modern Sunday School movement here in America, and here's what he said to Jacobs and, I quote "he said, Jacobs, sometimes I wonder if you will not get more out of your life than mine. I work for the salvation of men and women who have grown up to years of maturity in sin and evil habits. I perhaps reach one out of ten and even then, I'm not sure that the one out of ten I think I have reached will stick. But Jacobs, you work with them when they are young, before these habits are formed. You are sewing seed in the most fertile soil and it will last there and spring up there. Indeed, he says, nine out of ten that you reach will stand fast and be true to God." And he's right. You know, my middle son Justin when he was 4, walked by my bedroom one Sunday night and stopped and looked in. I was in the bedroom and said to me, hey, daddy. He said, will you help me ask Jesus in my life? And I said, whoa! Of course. Come on in. And I learned that what had happened is that morning in Sunday school, here at McLean Bible Church, his Sunday school teacher had told him about Jesus and about salvation and about heaven and about eternal life and about the need to ask Jesus into your heart. And so I got down on my knees with my son right by our bed and we prayed together. He was 4 years old, and he asked Jesus Christ into his life. My son Justin today is 32 years old and it's still sticking to this day, praise the Lord for that! (Applause) And it happened when he was 4! Don't tell me a 4-year-old can't receive Christ and it's not genuine, and friends, I learned another lesson here, don't you ever underestimate the impact of a Godly Sunday

7 School teacher in the life of a child or a Godly teenage worker. One of these workers can still impact children and young people for Christ. Let me conclude and say today we preach the passage. The passage was about instructing our children after us to keep the way of the Lord. And if you are here and you are a parent and God has blessed you with children, then I hope today's mess aim is a compelling reminder that the highest duty. And the greatest duty you have for your children is not to clothe them or to feed them, or to house them or even to educate them the greatest and highest duty you have for your children is to spend, as Paul says, and be spent for them implanting the word of God into their hearts. Your children are going to grow up. And I want to tell you something, their success is not going to depend on whether they had a Mustang growing up or whether they lived in the biggest house growing up or whether they had the finest clothes growing up. It's not going to depend on their education because there are people in this world who have all of this and their life is an absolute disaster. It will depend, their success on the word of God planted in their heart. So don't get your priorities wrong. Let's major on the majors here. And it's going to cost you something as a parent to do this. As Paul said, you are going to have to spend and be spent on your children. But, hey, when they grow up to walk with Christ, and you see them doing the same thing with your grandchildren, oh, my friend, it's going to be so worth it. I promise you. And if you are here today and you don't have any children, or maybe your children are all grown, hey, one of the greatest contributions that you can make to the work of God here on earth is to become a volunteer in Kids Quest and work with children, somebody else's children and help implant the word of God into their life. If you are not serving the Lord in some way here at McLean, I want you to go out and talk to the people at the Kids Quest lobby. I don't care what skill you've got, but we can use you in Kids Quest. Or maybe you want to work with The Rock and the teenage group. You say, Lon, they are scary. But truth is, they are more scared of you than you are of them. And all they want is somebody to on them. You love on a teenager and I promise you, they will love on you back. Don't you worry about how scary they are. You just go love on them. Whether it's teenagers or children, hey, if you are not already doing something here, I really want to challenge you to get involved in serving Christ by serving young people and putting the word of God in their hearts. Let me just say as a parent or even as a person that volunteers to work with young people, if you are willing to change your priorities, to spend and be spent for them, I want to thank you on their behalf, your children's behalf for doing that. They may be too young to thank you right now. There will be a day when you grow up and they will thank you. Until that day, I will thank you for them, because they will grow up and say, wow, I can't believe you did that for me, but, man, thank you so much. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thanks for talking to us today about a very cogent subject in our world. And, yes, Lord, many of us here are tempted every single day to major on the minors. Our world doesn't call them the minors. Our world says they are the most important thing, money and fame and power and resources and notoriety. In giving our children all the material things that the world says they need, but, Lord, those are the

8 minors. The major is spiritual truth. So help us major on the major and make the priority changes we need to do that. Help us spend and be spent for our children and worry about ourselves later. Use the word of God today to challenge us, Father, for the sake of our children and our grandchildren. And wouldn't it be great if you could punch Gabriel in the side and look at each one of us and say, I know that that person right there, they are going to instruct their children and their household after them in the way of the Lord. I know that Gabriel. Lord, make us those people for the sake of our children and our children's children. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. And what do God's people say? >> AUDIENCE MEMBER: Amen. >> LON SOLOMON: Amen. Hey, next week, the passage is all about intercessory prayer. That's what we are talking about next week. Look forward to seeing you there. Take care. (Applause). (Music) * * * This text is being provided in a rough draft format. Communication access realtime translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. * * *