Sermon Cloud

Biblical Faith is a Multi-generational Faith

Hebrews 11:20-22

Grace Fellowship Church

August 17, 2008

Series 3 Sermon 53

²⁰ By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. ²¹ By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. ²² By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

Introduction

One of our convictions at Grace Fellowship is the idea of multi-generational ministry. That means the parents take the lead in evangelizing and discipling their children. The modern idea of age segregated classes and children and youth ministries have no biblical basis whatsoever. In essence when you have a children or youth minister that person is taking the place of the parents in evangelizing and discipling their children.

What we see take place in Scripture is the parents, and specifically the fathers given the major role in teaching the children the character and the ways of God which is a heavy burden but a burden that the Lord has placed upon us.

We live in a day where many have set this burden aside. It is too difficult so they must leave it up to the religious professional. Youth ministry and children’s ministry is misguided at best and instead of focusing on the discipling of parents in order to disciple the children they seek to bunch a group of same aged children in a room with someone not too much older than them that can relate to them to disciple them and evangelize them which works really well for about two minutes. And I can tell you from experience that situation quickly devolves into near chaos with no ability to recover the situation.

But what does the Bible say? Remember we hold to a regulative principle of worship and so we are way more concerned with what the Bible says than we are with what pleases us. What we see in Scripture is the parents being taught so that they can teach their children. Deuteronomy 6 is one of those passages. Listen as I read or turn there with me and start in verse 1.

¹ "Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the LORD your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it, ² so that you and your son and your grandson might 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. ³ "O 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.
⁴ "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! ⁵ "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. ⁶ "These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. ⁷ "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. ⁸ "You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. ⁹ "You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

In that pattern there are blessings. You have the prophet or teacher of Israel, Moses, instructing the parents and in turn the parents instruct the children. This faithful instruction can not be replaced by gimmicks or novelty and still have the blessings of God upon them.

The major problem that we have in our day is the transgressing of this biblical model for professional ministry. The role of the pastor or teacher has been relegated in many places to that of motivator, comedian, clown, or entertainer. There is not much solid biblical instruction happening in our day. Go to other churches and what you will find is pastors who long to be liked or approved by their people and people who long to be entertained by their pastors, not instructed. Then you have the children vacating the services before the preaching starts and going off for coloring, cookies and punch and maybe a watered down Veggie Tales style story with a good moralist theme. Sermons for the most part have to do with so called relevant issues and the Bible is not preached. Sure Scripture is sprinkled in among the stories but it is not taught. Instruction in righteousness is neglected. How to walk in a way that pleases God is neglected. The focus for the most part is merely how we can be healthy, wealthy, and worldly wise.

And before I move on this morning let me provide a brief defense for what I do. My goal is to provide to all of you a bedrock of sound biblical theology. The reason I do that is because the Bible instructs me to do that and did you know that life issues are rooted in sound theology? The most popular messages today are usually on some aspect of marriage. But did you know that marriage done right is rooted in theology not pop psychology or culture? Most would think that marriage has little to do with the doctrine of substitutionary atonement. That doctrine states simply that on the cross Christ took our due punishment for sin. So what does marriage have to do with that? Listen to Ephesians 5:25-28.

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, ²⁶ so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, ²⁷ that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. ²⁸ So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies.

Did you know that the practical instructions to wives on submission is rooted in the theology of the Lordship of Christ over the church? Listen to Ephesians 5:22-24.

²² Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. ²³ For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. ²⁴ But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.

Here is my point. Knowing the character and the ways of God will bleed over into the practical human areas of life such as marriage and child rearing and jobs and housework and schooling and recreation. All of these things are theologically guided.

So our focus in this multigenerational church can not be merely on the practical but must be focused on the eternal that will correct and reform the practical. If I do not understand the substitutionary atonement of Christ then I can not love my wife like God calls me to do. Wives if you do not understand the doctrine of the Lordship of Christ over the church then you can not properly submit to your husband.

So multigenerational ministry must be done within a biblical framework. There is a teacher or teachers who instruct from the Word of God covering the text of Scripture gleaning from its pages the knowledge of God and applying that to the lives of the hearers so they can then teach and instruct in righteousness their children.

A commitment to the Word of God is foremost in any church and especially one with a multigenerational focus.

To leave the training of your children to a so called paid professional is at best shirking your God given responsibility and at the worst disobeying the commands of God.

We live in a culture that is plagued with the idea that someone else should do something for you. And many people who do take responsibility for their lives in many areas are looking for someone else to remove responsibilities from them. We see the effect of this in the church where people look for churches based on what programs they offer for children. Do you have a good youth ministry? Do you have a good children’s ministry?

What most are looking for is someone to do their ministry for them. Ephesians 4:11-12 says:

¹¹ And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, ¹² for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;

The fault of this mindset lies squarely on the church. Pastors have allowed fathers to abdicate their roles as the spiritual leaders of their families and also have contributed to this sin by providing alternative means.

Now the argument will immediately come up. What do you do with the children whose fathers and mothers are unbelievers and they will not do anything spiritual for them? And the answer to that is very simple. Whatever the Lord calls you to do for them if it means you spiritually adopt that child or minister to that family and evangelize them but you do not set up a program at church to invite all of the lost children in with the children of Christians in order to evangelize them.

If you read the history of the Old Testament what you will quickly discover is that as soon as the Israelites brought in the pagans it did not take very long for the pagans to influence the Israelites to idolatry. Solomon sinned against the Lord greatly and the kingdom was divided because of his pagan wives who convinced him to build temples to their gods.

You don’t think that happens today? What are the idols of our day? Materialism, comfort, sports. How many churches have to build more comfortable facilities or more up to date facilities or gymnasiums?

So in our multigenerational ministry we need to understand and focus on the Scriptures, what they teach, and how it applies to us.

Context

We have been looking at what Biblical saving faith is in Hebrews 11. We have been discovering in the text what faith looks like, acts like, walks like, lives like, and today what faith does for your children and how faith looks at the end of life. We have seen that true biblical saving faith is a theologically driven faith. It is a worshipping faith. It is a faith that walks with God and obeys His commands. We saw two weeks ago that biblical saving faith is a radical faith which chooses to live as immigrants rather than settling in and last week we saw that biblical faith is a tested faith from Hebrews 11:17-19.

PNP

This week I want you to see that biblical saving faith is a multigenerational faith. From our text, Hebrews 11:20-22, I want you to see that in order for our faith to be multigenerational it must have two characteristics.

1. Multigenerational faith must be passed on to the next generations.

2. Multigenerational faith must be a persevering faith.

Purpose

My purpose this morning is to establish with you the biblical pattern laid out by God in which we can instill in our children the ways of God and direct their paths in a biblical way. And that way is that they will follow our example.

RPNP

So look with me this morning at Hebrews 11:20-22 to these two characteristics of multigenerational faith.

1. Multigenerational faith must be passed on to the next generations.

Look with me at verses 20 and 21.

²⁰ By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. ²¹ By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff.

I want you to notice the word in my translation invoked and in your translation it is probably blessed. I like the translation that I am using here specifically because it gives you more of the Biblical idea of blessing. Mine says instead of just blessed that Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. The reason I like my translation better here is because it carries with it the authority of the father over his children’s future.

You all are familiar with the stolen blessing from Jacob and Esau. Jacob received the blessing of the firstborn and Esau did not receive a very good blessing. But Esau had already sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of soup. By Esau doing that he showed his disregard for the words of his father over his life. If his heart would have been right he would have rather starved to death than give up the right he had to this blessing.

In the story Esau is so angry with Jacob that he sets his heart to kill him as soon as the period of mourning is over for his father Isaac.

One of the important aspects of biblical fatherhood that has been lost in our day or either misunderstood in our day is the God given right of fathers to invoke future blessings on their sons and daughters. I have seen people and heard people talk about how they speak blessings over their children either on their birthday or every day or some other day. In doing this they almost believe in some type of mystical power that they are blessing over their children.

But that is a wrong idea of this blessing. The first thing we need to understand about this is that it is a biblical responsibility for a father to bless his children. Also this blessing should be a one time event at the end of the father’s life. Now this is of course is provided that you do not die suddenly. But it would not be the case, even if you were to die suddenly that the blessing would not be transmitted.

You see what most people don’t recognize is that this blessing at the end of the father’s life is a culmination of the instruction and training the children have received their whole lives not just some quick fix to years and years of neglect.

The children will walk in the ways of their fathers. Do a quick scan of the kings of Israel and Judah. What you will learn is that the sons picked up on the sins of the father. What was David’s greatest sin? His improper relationship with Bathsheba along with his other wives (pl) which was against the law of God. So when Solomon went to the throne not only did David bless him and give him great instructions but by his very example his son walked. Listen to 1 Kings 11:1-8 and see that Solomon not only repeated the sins of his father he carried these sins further which our sons will do as well saving a gracious act of the mercy of God.

Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, ² from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the sons of Israel, "You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods." Solomon held fast to these in love. ³ He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. ⁴ For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. ⁵ For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites. ⁶ Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not follow the LORD fully, as David his father had done. ⁷ Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon. ⁸ Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

But then it gets worse with the other kings after the kingdom is ripped apart. The two new kings Rehoboam king of Judah and Jeraboam king of Israel both led Israel into further apostasy. And so did their sons. Listen to 1 Kings 15:1-5.

¹ Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah. ² He reigned three years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom . ³ He walked in all the sins of his father which he had committed before him; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, like the heart of his father David. ⁴ But for David's sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, to raise up his son after him and to establish Jerusalem; ⁵ because David did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.

From this wicked King Abijam came the good king Asa. And this was the gracious act of God in preserving the line that He promised David. Of course Asa had to put his own mother out of leadership because she was a wicked woman. I want you to listen closely to verse 14 of 1 Kings 15. This is after he removed his mother and cut down her idol and burned it the Bible says:

¹⁴ But the high places were not taken away; nevertheless the heart of Asa was wholly devoted to the LORD all his days.

Let me say to you this morning dads that some of you have come from wicked backgrounds where your fathers walked according to the ruler of this present world. God has graciously called you out of that world and you are headed to a city that has foundations but like Asa you have not torn down the high places that your fathers put up. In other words you still let some of those sins of your fathers around your children and even though your heart is devoted to the Lord all of your actions do not tell what your heart says. Listen, it is important to have a heart religion but it is just as important to have a hands religion to that cuts off and roots out what could be a stumbling block for the next generation.

Parents, and future parents and future and present grandparents our children and grandchildren either are now watching us or when they arrive they will be watching us and if you leave things undone in this living out of the New Covenant in Christ then they will by their very sin nature be attracted to whatever it is you left them open to. Maybe it’s the things of the world that they will be attracted to. Maybe it’s the idea of status. It could be a plethora of high places that your fathers set up for you and you have never torn down that just could be the stumbling block for your sons and daughters.

Asa has some sons and they are good kings. However they do the same thing as their father and leave the high places there. You get to second kings and we meet down the line another king of Judah named Ahaz. Listen to 2 Kings 16:1-4.

² Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the sight of the LORD his God, as his father David had done. ³ But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and even made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had driven out from before the sons of Israel. ⁴ He sacrificed and burned incense on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

Then the Lord raises up another good king and he sets a great example for us. His name is Hezekiah and I want you to listen to 2 Kings 18:1-6.

¹ Now it came about in the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king. ² He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. ³ He did right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father David had done. ⁴ He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah . He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan . ⁵ He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel; so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him. ⁶ For he clung to the LORD; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD had commanded Moses.

And that is exactly what we must do as parents if we are going to invoke future blessings on our children. We have to make a clean cut with the world and even the wrong things of our heritage. We have a new King and a new Kingdom that we are apart of and as the Epistle to the Hebrews states this is a righteous King who rules in righteousness and our King is Jesus Christ.

And by the way, this goes for Grandparents as well. Look at verse 21.

By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff.

There is a lot to be said here and I want to say it quickly. Notice the generational progression. Isaac blessed Jacob and when Jacob was dying he blessed all his sons and then he blessed these two grandsons of his. This says a lot about Joseph. Joseph had been elevated by God to the hierarchy of the most powerful nation in earth. His two sons were born to an Egyptian woman but his actions show that his heart was not in Egypt. He could have taken these boys to Pharaoh for a royal blessing but instead he took them to his father who had received blessings from his father. What Joseph was saying to his boys was this. Even though we live in Egypt and we have all that this place can provide us our heart is with the godly and this is our lineage and heritage and this is where we go for our instruction and our blessings.

In other words, Egypt in all its splendor is not the place we are looking for. We are looking for a city that has foundations that are built by God. And the father of these two boys and the grandfather affirmed this for them.

I would be remiss if I did not mention that this blessing which is a culmination of a life well lived is also a prayer. It is couched in the language of prayer at the very end of life so that the children will know who is sovereign. All we can do is pray and preach and live out the example before the children and grandchildren. It is the Lord who makes Christians out of them.

But oh how He uses our lives.

Lastly this morning I want you to see:

2. Multigenerational faith must be a persevering faith.

Look at verse 22.

²² By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

You all know the story of Joseph. He went from slave to prisoner to second in command of all of Egypt. He made Pharaoh the most powerful man on earth. He could have dug his heels in to Egypt and possibly even been the next Pharaoh. But even though his life was lived in Egypt he was longing for a city. He was aware of the promises of God and kept the faith his whole life. So at the end of his life he gave instructions about his bones.

When you leave this place, take my bones with you and bury me where my fathers are buried. In other words this place is not my home.

Folks, that sends a message. The message is this. If it is so important for us to take Joseph’s bones out of Egypt then it must be pretty important for us to get out of Egypt as well.

That is what the Egyptian slavery was all about. God has a people that He has chosen and called and He will not leave them comfortable on this planet. And the reason is we don’t belong here. We are not allowed by our Lord to settle in. And so if we are going to have a multigenerational faith that is passed on to the succeeding generations then we must live this way.

We must tell our children and grandchildren that this place is not our home. We must tell them that we don’t belong here and that we are merely pilgrims passing through a land and we are trying to get as many people to go with us as we can.

And that is not easy. We have all the attractions of this present world around us and we are going to a place we have only heard about. But the true Christian will know that place is real because when we hear about that city it resonates in our hearts and we are drawn away from this place to that place where we will be for all eternity.

So parents, grandparents teach your children the fundamental fact of the faith and that is this is not our home. We are merely on a journey to that great city that has foundations. The one that is built by God. And not only tell them but live it out in front of them.

Let’s pray.