Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 5 is where we will
begin this morning. Just a few short verses today.
Sometimes on Father's Day I get all the men of
the church to do different jobs, make them work,
but this year we're giving the year off. Usually
we let different people preach and lead the music
and all men's choir, but we didn't do that this
year. However, if you really feel led to preach
this morning, come on up. We'll let you go. I
don't see any takers, so I guess I'll follow
through then. All right, Deuteronomy chapter
6, verse 5. Let's pray, and then we'll get started.
God, we come to you. We thank you for your good
word. I thank you that we have the freedom today
to come and to hear your word. I pray, God, that
you just would bless our time together. We thank
you for our fathers. We thank you for fatherhood.
We thank you for what you call... Men too, dear
Lord. What you call fathers too. What you call
husbands too, dear Lord. It's a big responsibility.
It's an important responsibility. But God, it's
one that I pray that you would help men not to
shy away from, dear Lord. That we would be men
who are founded in your words. We would be fathers
who are established by your word, dear Lord.
And we allow that to lead and guide us. As we
bring up the next generation, dear Lord. So I
pray for all the men, all the fathers who are
here today. And I pray that you just bless our
time together. In Jesus' name, I pray it. Amen.
I had somebody tell me last year after Father's
Day, they said, you know, for Mother's Day, every
year, it's all mothers are so good, happy. We're
so happy about our mothers. And then for Father's
Day, it's always toughen up. You guys got to
do a good job and get to work. And that's true,
and I think that that's important. I think that
that's what God calls men to. It's a big responsibility,
men, to be the head of the household, to be a
husband, to be a father. And it's something that
does not need to be taken lightly. And we need
more good men in our world. And for there to
be good men. There has to be good fathers. There
has to be good grandfathers. There has to be
the generation before bringing up these boys,
these children that we see. That's the only way
they're going to learn how to be a man, how to
be a father. And we see this idea of the importance
of passing down the instructions of God, the
ways of God in Scripture. In Deuteronomy chapter
6, verse 5 through 9, we see Moses kind of reiterating
God's command to the people. Now, God's people
were led out of Egypt, and they were on their
way to the promised land, and that was short
-lived because they were disobedient. They complained
all the time, and God said, okay, if you're going
to complain, if you don't want to go into the
promised land, which they didn't because they
were afraid, they got all the way right there
at the doorstep of the promised land. They sent
some folks in to scope it out. The folks come
back. Most of them said, well, we can't go in
there. That's way too scary. Those people there
are big. They're strong. They're scary. We can't
go up against them. And Joshua and Caleb said,
hold up now. Wait a minute. God brought us here.
God said he's going to give us this land. He's
going to give it to us. Let's go in there and
get it. But the people complained, and they were
afraid, oh, it would have been better if we had
just died out here in the wilderness, or if we
had just died in Egypt. We'd have been better
off. Here we are. We got all this way, and nothing's
going to come of it. Well, God was not happy
about what had taken place. And as a result of
that, that generation did not get to enter the
promised land. God said, okay, you say it'd be
better to die in the wilderness, then so be it.
You will die in the wilderness. And God said,
all of these of this generation, except for Joshua
and Caleb, will not get to see the promised land.
Only the younger ones who were coming up. And
so for 40 years, God's people wandered into wilderness,
not able to enter into the promised land. And
the time finally came that that generation had
passed away, and the generation who was to inherit
the land had come and... God was ready to allow
Joshua to lead them into the promised land. Even
Moses didn't get to lead them in because of his
disobedience. And so before this time comes that
they're going to get to go into the promised
land, Moses is kind of reiterating some of the
words and the commands of God. Now, the previous
generation didn't do too good of following those
commands, and they paid the price. But in Deuteronomy
chapter 6 here, Moses says, let me reiterate
for you. Let me help you, this new generation.
It's up to you. It's your turn now. The baton
has been handed to you. You have to run the race.
You have to follow the commands of God and pass
them down. And this is what he says in Deuteronomy
6, verse 5. Love the Lord your God with all your
heart, with all your soul, and with all your
strength. All right? Most important command.
He says, I want to remind you about the commands
of God. Here's what I want to tell you. Put God
first. Love God more than anything. Now that's
still the most important command. You flip all
the way to the New Testament and you see that
that's still the most important command. We talked
about that a little bit last week. There is nothing
more important in our life than recognizing that
there is a God, one God, who created everything,
that God in all of his wisdom and his knowledge
and his power, that God spoke into existence
everything we see, that God has created humanity,
that God has established everything. We have
one God, and he is the one that we are called
to worship. He is the only one that has our best
interest in mind. Now, there are a lot of false
gods. There are a lot of idols. There are a lot
of things that compete for our mind and for our
attention. And all of these things don't care
about us. God cares about you. He loves you.
He wants what's good for you. Now, there are
bad things that happen. There are bad things
that happen in our world and in this life, but
we cannot forget. You need to know today that
God cares about you, and He's the one. that we
need to follow when we start seeking things of
the world and all these other false teachings
they are going to leave us in a desperate and
desolate place where we are just we are in bad
shape but god's desire from the get -go for his
people was to provide for them and to care for
them and give them all that they needed and protect
them From everything else. We see that from the
Garden of Eden. We even see that in this story
of Moses and the Israelites that God's desire
was to take them to a beautiful, beautiful place
that he would provide for their needs and he
would help them to overcome their enemies if
they would just seek him and listen to him and
put him first in everything. And they failed
to do that. And as a result, they didn't get
to experience all the blessings that God wanted
to give them. They had a lot of hard times that
they brought on their self because they worshiped
false idols and they worshiped false gods. And
they just did some detestable acts. And it left
them in a bad place. And whenever we don't put
God first in our lives, it leaves us in a bad
place. And so when Moses is reiterating God's
commands here, he says, Here's where you need
to start. You need to know that God is in control.
He is one. He is the creator. He is the only
God there is. And you need to love him and worship
him and serve him above all else. You need to
devote all your mind and all of your strength
to knowing God and following him. Let's listen
to what he says as he continues on. Verse 6.
These words I am giving you today. are to be
in your heart repeat them to your children talk
about them when you sit in your house and when
you walk along the road when you lie down and
when you get up bind them as a sign on your hand
and let them be a symbol on your forehead write
them on the doorpost of your house and on your
gates All right, so he says, look, you need to
know that God is the one that we are to serve.
You need to know what God's commands say. Now,
we have lots of commands throughout the scriptures
and lots of laws, but we can really boil those
down to two things. We talked about that last
week. I mention it often. The most important
two things we can do is love God, and the second
is like it, love your neighbor as yourself. Most
everything we see in the Old Testament that really
matters, Boils down to those two things. And
so Moses says you need to know what really matters.
You need to know about God. You need to know
about the instructions of God. And what does
he say to do? He says you need to pass them on.
You need to pass them on to another generation.
We see that throughout the scripture. This is
what's important. That we are to know God's word.
That we are to know God's instruction. That we
are to live that out. And that we are to pass
that on to the next generation. It says repeat
them to your children. When you're in your house,
when you're on the road, when you get up, when
you lay down. That is God's word should permeate
your life. It should be in every part of your
life. And you should repeat these words to your
children. That is you need to know what God's
word says. And those children who are... Coming
after you. The ones that you were raising need
to know what God's word says. Now why does God
want his people to know his word? Because he
doesn't want them to fall into the same predicament
they were just in. They were in the predicament
of wandering around in the wilderness and all
those folks dying because they were disobedient.
Because they knew the word of God. They had heard
the word of God, but they refused to live by
the word of God. And God says this is the most
important thing. is that you know my word and
live by it, and you have to teach the next generation
these things too. Now God had given plenty of
great stories and great examples for God's people
to pass on, that they crossed through dry land
on the Red Sea, that they crossed through the
Jordan River on dry land. And at the end of that
story, we just saw it in Sunday school. That
this story was to be told to the generations
to come, to the children who were to come, that
these stories were to be a reminder of the power
and the greatness and the deliverance of God.
So Moses says, you need to know what God's word
says, you need to trust God, and you need to
pass it on down to the next generation. Now the
question I want to ask you fathers, especially
today, is what have you and what are you passing
down to your children? Are you passing anything
down to them? Well, I've got news for you. You're
passing something down to them. Now, whether
or not it's good or whether or not it's bad,
you're going to have to decide that. Children
that we raise watch everything that we do. They
listen to everything that we say. They do everything
that we do. They do everything that we do more
than they do everything that we say. You can
tell a kid all day, this is what's right, don't
do this, don't do this, but if you do what you're
telling them not to do, guess which one's going
to win out? They're going to do what they see
you do for better or for worse. If you're going
to be a good father, you've got to be grounded
in the word of God. If you in your own life aren't
grounded in the word of God, if you don't seek
the word of God, if you don't seek to follow
God's commands and live by them, then it's going
to be hard for you to raise a child and teach
a child the ways of God. And so as a father,
you have to test yourself. You have to say, okay,
what does God's word say? What are some of the
commands? that are in God's Word. You don't have
to know all the Bible. It's not like a test,
like you have to know everything, but read the
Bible. What you understand, okay, take what you
understand, what you know, like these are the
things that I know God really wants me to do,
and maybe there's some others I don't know, but
what you do know, you need to take that, and
you need to say, am I doing what God's Word says?
Is my life founded on God? Am I seeking God?
Am I trusting Him for my strength? So that's
the starting place as a father. Or maybe some
of you are fathers -to -be. That's the starting
place. It's never too early or it's never too
late to start seeking God's Word and establishing
your life on God. And once we do that, that's
when the real test comes. Once the child comes
into the world, you've got to start teaching
them. You've got to raise them. You've got to
raise them. You've got to teach them. Now, I
hear people say it all the time. I've said it.
You've probably said it. You've probably heard
it. People will say, I don't know what's wrong
with this generation. I don't know what's wrong
with these kids these days. I can tell you exactly
what's wrong. Nobody raised them. Kids will only
know what they are taught. They will only know
what they are taught. They'll know what they
see in your house. But you know the scary part
and the sad part? is that a lot of parents today
don't raise their kids. They give them a smartphone
or a tablet and say, here you go. And you know
who raises their kids? TikTok and Instagram and
Facebook and Snapchat and whatever else there
is. I don't even know. I'm out of the loop. I'm
old. There's probably a lot of stuff that's cooler
than that that kids do. But I'm going to tell
you right now, you don't want TikTok to raise
your kid. That's what's wrong with a lot of kids
today. They were raised on TikTok and what they
saw and all these social influences, and that's
who raised them. That's been their example. And
that's why they do the things that they do. If
we want to change our world, it's got to start
at home. If we want to change our world, it has
to start with fathers, being fathers. It has
to start with fathers disciplining their kids,
instructing their kids. It has to start with
fathers being a good example. Not just fathers
sending the kids to church saying, go to church
today, daughter. Go to church today, son. It's
got to be fathers that show their kids that God
is important. It starts with fathers. It's a
big responsibility to teach your kids and to
lead your kids and to guide your kids. I don't
have a kid. I don't know. I would imagine it's
probably pretty hard. I'd imagine it's probably
really, really tough, and it's a big responsibility,
but it is so important. Because who loves your
kid more than you do? Who's going to take care
of your kid better than you are? Who can teach
your kid better than you? There's a lot of people
that can teach your kids, but they ain't going
to teach them good stuff. You have to be at the
forefront of that, Father. That's what's important
in our world. Man, I think a lot of people, I
think a lot of people, if fathers would raise
their children and mothers and fathers would
stay together and be that example, that role
model of their children, I think our world, so
many of our world's problems could be fixed in
a generation. I think so many of our world's
problems could be fixed if fathers would be fathers
and lead their households in the way of God.
I think that's why God gives this command. That's
why Moses is reiterating these words like, okay,
you know what God's word says, you know what's
important, you need to pass it down to the next
generation. God's word needs to be everywhere
in your life. Everything you do, when you do
something, you need to let that be an example
for your children. You pull over, you help somebody
on the side of your road, use that as a teaching
point and say, son, We're going to stop and help
this person because God wants us to be a neighbor
to people and to help people and to love people.
Like there are so many teaching opportunities,
just small everyday thing that we can do. Just
speaking to people that others might pass up
and saying, son, we spoke to that person. We
helped that person because God wants us to do
that. He doesn't want us to look down on people
or to judge people. Pass people by. Just doing
those things. And telling your kids why you do
those things. Say, daughter, this is why we do
this. This is what God's word says. And that
needs to be in every part of our life if we're
Christians, especially if you're a father. It
says at the end of this verse, verse 8, he says,
Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them
be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the
doorpost of your house and on your gates. Now,
some would take these quite literally, and maybe
they're intended to be literal. I think that
this is symbolic language. I don't know that
God literally intends for us to hang scriptures
from our body, bind them to our hands. Now, the
Jewish people would certainly take that literally.
They have little boxes, even still today, I think,
somewhere that have scriptures in them. know
that we need to physically make a symbol on our
forehead. I think it's symbolic language. I think
maybe the language here is to imply that the
fact that we're living by God's word should be
evident through our actions and in our thoughts.
That through our hands, the work of our hands
should show that we are God's people. In our
minds, in our heads, our thoughts should show
that we are God's people. Not necessarily that
we're supposed to just go home today with a sharpie
and write some scriptures on your doorpost, if
you want to, so be it. But I think that it's
symbolic language, that it should be established,
that people should be able to see by your actions
that you are one of God's. That they can see
from your house, that your household, not from
scriptures written on a doorpost, but through
the way you raise your household and to the way
you live, that people would look at... You and
your family and they would know that through
your actions you're saying, but as for me and
my house, we will serve the Lord. I think that's
what God's trying to get across to us here. That
God's word is to be right at the center of our
life and it should dictate how we live. And it
should be evident to all around us that we are
God's people. Now maybe you're a father today
and... Maybe you think back at your life and
you think, I don't know that that's evident in
my life, and that's okay. And so, I mean, we
just want to be honest. We're not here to pretend
today. We're just here to be honest. That's why
we read God's Word. Sometimes it cuts through
the quick, and we read it, and we say, golly,
I'm not where I need to be. God has not been
first, and I have not done a good job of passing
down to the next generation the things of God,
and I need to do better at that. Praise the Lord
if the Holy Spirit convicts us in that way today.
That's what we come to church for, is to read
the Word of God. Let it work on us. In Psalm
78, verse 5, it says very similarly, it says,
He established the testimony in Jacob and set
up a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers
to teach their children, so that a future generation,
children yet to be born, might know they were
to rise and tell their children, so that they
might put their confidence in God and not forget
God's works, but keep his command. Isn't that
something to think about? Same idea here. God
gave the instructions to those in the past that
they would pass them down to the next generation
so that children yet to be born will know about
God and all of his mighty works. Children yet
to be born. Now this is important for you to
realize, fathers. The things that you say and
do do not just affect you. They do not just affect
your kids. They're going to affect your kids.
They're going to affect your grandchildren. They're
going to affect your great -grandchildren. They're
going to affect your great -great -grandchildren.
And let that sink in. Descendants that you will
have that will probably never even know your
name, the very actions you commit today may impact
their life. So you've got a big responsibility
if you've got a child. Or you think one day you're
going to have a child. Like, it's a pretty big
deal. Because how you raise them and what you
teach them and how you lead them is going to
make a difference. Because one day, they're going
to have a child of their own, Lord willing. And
you know how they're going to raise that child?
The way you raise them. It's a big deal. You
can pass down a bunch of junk for generations
to come. You can pass down anger and bitterness
and addiction and hatred and abuse. You can pass
that for generations to come. You can establish
your life on the word of God, on Jesus Christ.
You can allow God to work in your heart, start
to change you. And you can start taking what
God's put in you. And you can start teaching
that little boy and you can start teaching that
little girl. And you can say, let me tell you
why God is good. Maybe you can't tell them everything
when they're young, but maybe one day they get
to a point where you can really tell them. Let
me tell you what daddy was like one day. Let
me tell you how I used to be. Let me tell you
what I used to do. And let me tell you how God
changed my life. And let me tell you, son. Let
me tell you, daughter. Don't do that. Don't do
that. God doesn't want that. You be better than
that. You teach your kids through the ways that
God works in your life. And you teach your kids
to teach their kids. The things that you do and
say now, they will have an impact for generations
to come. And do not take that lightly. Don't
take it lightly. You may have a small child right
now and one day they're going to grow up and
they're going to leave and they're going to go
into the world. And the world's going to chew
them up and they're going to spit them out. And
the world ain't going to care about their feelings
and the world ain't going to cater to their needs.
So you've got to get them ready for that. If
you don't get them ready for that, they're in
big trouble. There's a lot of kids, sadly, that
are in big trouble because they didn't have anybody
that taught them and led them, cared enough to
let them know what was important. You got to
teach them what matters. You got to teach them
about the word of God, the commands of God. You
got to teach them about Jesus Christ. For God
so loved the world that he gave his only begotten
son that whosoever believeth in him shall not
perish but have everlasting life. Talk about
a pretty incredible story about a father and
a son. Jesus Christ is why we have hope today.
That's why we have hope for you fathers that
say, man, I really blew it. Well, praise the
Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has died
on the cross so that you could be forgiven today.
Praise the Lord for that. Yeah, you might have
blown it. It's not good, but praise the Lord,
there's grace. You might have failed as a father
yesterday and last year and the last ten years,
but praise the Lord, today is a new day. Today
is a new day that you can... Put your faith and
trust in Jesus Christ. Ask Him to forgive your
sins and become your Lord and Savior and live
for Him and establish your life on God and then
begin to soak up the Word of God and the teachings
of God and say, God, help me to be a better parent.
I don't understand all this stuff in the Bible,
but I know I want to be a better father. So God,
help me just to understand what I need to know
and God, just help me to do it the best I can.
Help me just to lead my boy or lead my girl.
The best I can. Now I'm not a father. So I don't
know. But I don't think any father would disagree.
That there's probably no better feeling. In the
world. Than to see your children succeed. Than
to see your children. Know the truth. And to
live by the truth. I can't imagine that for any
Christian father. That there's a greater feeling.
Than seeing their child. Come. To trust Jesus
Christ as our Lord and Savior. To come to know
the truth. I can't imagine that there is a better
feeling in this world. John says so in 3 John
chapter 1. That's toward the back of the Bible.
3 John chapter 1 verse 4. He's talking to a guy
he's writing to here. Talking about a child in
Christ if we can call it that. Nevertheless,
I think the words of this verse are applicable
to fathers of literal children as well. He says,
I have no greater joy than this, to hear that
my children are walking in the truth. That's
got to be a pretty good feeling as a father,
to know that your child is walking in the truth,
to know that your child is doing good. That they're
not led astray, that they're not deceived, that
they're not involved in a bunch of junk that's
not good for them. But to know that they have
a firm foundation, that they are grounded in
the Lord, and that they are doing good. There's
got to be great joy in that. And fathers, you
have a role in seeing that come to fruition.
If you want your children to grow and walk in
the truth, And you've got to teach them truth.
It's not just telling them truth. It's about
showing them the truth. So how are you living,
Father? What kind of example are you being? Is
it a good one? If so, praise the Lord. If it's
a bad one, hey, today's a good day to change.
Today's a good day to pour out your heart to
the Lord and say, God, man, I haven't done so
good, but God, I want you to help me. Nobody's
going to lead and teach your kids better than
you, Father. They're going to be what you teach
them to be. So teach them to be something good.
Let's pray. God, we come to you. We thank you
for your good word. I pray, God, that you would
just be with any fathers in here, any fathers,
maybe fathers -to -be, dear Lord, that you help
them to understand the significance of what it
means to be a father. God, maybe there are some
fathers today and they're struggling and they
know that they failed in some way. I pray that
you just would let them find your grace today,
that they would seek you and trust you and follow
you, dear Lord. Maybe there are some fathers
in here that don't know Jesus Christ. Maybe there
are some mothers, maybe there are some children
in here today, dear Lord, they don't know Jesus
Christ. And maybe today they just feel that conviction
that they just need to repent. I pray that even
now that they would ask you to forgive them.
God, I pray that you would help these men of
this church, these fathers of this church to
be strong, to be planted in you, and to be an
example to their sons and daughters. And I ask
these things in Jesus' name. Amen.