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Guest Speaker – Dr. John K. LaShell
Intro
I once did a funeral for a woman whose children said they were glad she
was dead because she made their lives miserable. That shocked me. It
probably shocks you as well because it is so unnatural. I have read that
many men in prison sport a tattooed heart pierced by an arrow, with the
word “Mom” inside. These men, these men who have broken many
different laws, still love their mothers. It is built into us to love our mothers.
Today is Mother’s Day, a day when we celebrate mothers. It is good to give
thanks to God for the mother and the grandmothers He has given you.
Those of us who are husbands give thanks not only for our mothers, but
also for the women who are mothers of our children. I am very thankful
that God gave me Heather as the mother of our children. They love her. She
was and is a good and godly mother to them.
Some of you have more than one mother, and you may love both of them
dearly. Even if your relationship with your mother is somewhat strained
and difficult, you still love her. I urge you not to give up on your mother,
but to pray for her and extend yourself in love toward her.
This morning I’m not going to preach specifically to mothers. I’m going to
speak about how families and the church need to train their children. You
are seeking to raise money for a new addition to the church that will enable
you to train the children of the church and reach more children who are
currently outside the church. What should you be teaching them? And if
you are going to teach children, you must first do some learning yourselves.
So I’m going to speak to all of you, because what you teach children, you
must first know yourself.
Timothy was one of the apostle Paul’s helpers. Acts 16 tells us that his
father was a gentile, but his mother and grandmother were faithful Jews.
They taught Timothy the word of God. This is the responsibility of godly
mothers, but we must not leave out godly fathers because Ephesians 6:5
says, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up
in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” Fathers and mothers are
responsible for the spiritual instruction of their children. You may not get a
Father’s Day sermon, so you can take today’s message for both occasions.
Passage
2 Timothy 3:14-15
You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become
convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from
childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you
the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof,
for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may
be adequate, equipped for every good work.
What did Timothy learn from his mother and grandmother? What do we
need to pass on to the children in our families and in our church? What do
we need to learn in order to pass it on?
The Saving Message of Scripture
According to verse 15, Scripture contains the “wisdom that leads to
salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
Salvation comes from Christ
There is no salvation apart from Jesus Christ. This is an offensive idea
in our world today. This is not new. The name of Jesus was also
offensive and divisive in the first few centuries of the Christian era.
Many people were willing to add Jesus to their local collection of
deities, but they were not willing to reject them to worship Him
exclusively. When we lived in Allentown, PA, I was a member of the
local astronomy club. For the last few years I was there, the club held
its annual Christmas party in our church fellowship hall. Every year
one of the members read a beautiful and carefully composed prayer at
the beginning of our gathering. One year he was sick, so the officers
asked me to give the prayer. I said I’d be glad to do it, but they should
know that I always pray in the name of Jesus. A few days later, they
rescinded their invitation to pray. Here I was, a pastor being told not
to pray in the name of Jesus in my own church!
In our grocery stores, we have generic food. In our drugstores, we
have generic vitamins and generic cold medicines. In our world, there
is no generic god. The God of the Bible is not the same as the false god
of Islam. The God of the Bible cannot be identified with any of the
millions of false gods of Hinduism. The only true God is the God who
took on flesh in the womb of Mary. He is Jesus.
The uniqueness of Christ sets Christianity apart from all other
religions. No other god deliberately laid down His life to save His
enemies. No other religious leader predicted his own death and
resurrection and then pulled it off. Buddha did not do that.
Muhammad did not do that. Only Jesus repeatedly told His followers
that He would die by crucifixion and rise again on the third day.
In school, your children may have friends who are Muslim, Buddhist,
Hindu, or atheist. You need to teach your children that Jesus is the
only one who can save their friends. You need to teach your children
that these other children are not enemies just because they are
different. You need to teach your children to love those who are
different, but at the same time to hold firmly to the uniqueness of
Christ. To be kind, but exclusive is not easy, but that is what you must
teach. That is what you must model.
Salvation comes through faith
There are several common errors regarding faith—
1) Faith is not what saves you. Many in our world are happy to talk
about faith. They say that faith is a good thing. Whatever you believe
in is good for you. That is absolutely false. If you believe arsenic will
make you healthy, and you eat it every day, it will kill you. Faith does
not save you. Faith in the wrong god will kill you. Jesus saves you
through faith in Him. Don’t pass on an empty faith to your children.
Let them see in you a faith that clings only to Jesus.
2) Faith without works will not save you. James 2 is very clear about
that. If you think you can believe in Jesus and live like the devil and
still go to heaven, you will die in your sins. Salvation in Jesus includes
a new heart given by the Holy Spirit. He changes your heart so that
you long to walk in the light with God. When your children rebel
against you and God, don’t just punish them. Talk to them about the
Holy Spirit and their need for a new heart.
3) Faith in Christ is quenched by legalism. Children are natural
legalists. They think that being good is following rules. Being bad is
breaking rules. We unconsciously teach legalism in Sunday School
when every lesson is a “be good” lesson: Jesus was a good obedient
child. You should be good and obedient like Jesus. Well, yes, but a
steady diet of that undermines Scripture. You and I are not good. We
are sinners. We can’t be good apart from the blood of Christ to take
away our sins and the Spirit of Christ to change our hearts. Stop
telling children that God likes you just the way you are. Children
know that all is not right. Tell them we are all broken, but Jesus came
to heal our brokenness.
What do we need to learn in order to pass it on to our children?
The Saving Message of Scripture
The Full Contents of Scripture
Verse 16 says, “All Scripture is inspired by God.” When Paul wrote this
sentence the books of the New Testament had not all been written.
Timothy’s mother and grandmother taught him the Old Testament
Scripture. Now, of course, we have the books of the New Testament as
well. All Scripture is inspired. All Scripture has authority over our lives.
All Scripture is without error. So what should you know, and what
should you teach your children?
The broad storyline of Scripture
You should be able to give a good summary of the message of the
Bible, and then able to expand on your summary.
Creation—God created the heavens and the earth and all that is in
them. Don’t get hung up on how old the earth may be or how God
created the plants and animals. That may be important, but it is not
central. It is important to teach that Adam and Eve were special
creations of God and the parents of the whole human race.
Fall—When our first parents disobeyed God, they dragged us into
their sinful rebellion. We are born guilty and rebellious. As the New
England Primer put it, A is for Adam. In Adam’s fall, we sinned all.
We ratify Adam’s choice by the sinful choices we make every day.
Redemption—is through faith in Christ alone, as we have already
seen.
Consummation—What is this world coming to? It is coming to the
end appointed by God. All those who rebelled against God will be
tossed into the garbage dump of the universe, which is hell. Those
who have been redeemed by Christ will see and share in His glory in
the new creation.
The contribution of each part of Scripture
If all Scripture is inspired by God, you should have a pretty good idea
what is in all the parts of Scripture and how each part contributes to
the whole story. How do the first 5 books of the Bible lay the
foundation for everything else? How do the prophets, priests, and
kings of the Old Testament look forward to Christ in His three-fold
office? How does the history of Israel—its entry into Canaan, the
division into two kingdoms, the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities,
and the return of the Jews to the land—how does all that fit together
with the prophetic books in God’s great plan for His people?
Tony Mikulencak was a deacon and Sunday School teacher in the first
church I pastored. He only had a 6th grade education, but he knew the
Bible very well. I asked how he had learned it. He had a Scofield
Reference Bible (one of the few study Bibles available at that time).
He had read and re-read it. He had absorbed the teaching of the
notes. He had checked the cross-references in the center column of
his Bible. The Bible itself had educated him.
I recently re-read an account of the 1742 Cambuslang Revival in
Scotland. When Daniel Defoe, the author of Robinson Crusoe visited
Scotland, in the 1740s, he was amazed at the biblical literacy of the
Scottish peasants and servants. When the pastor announced a text,
there was an audible rustling of the pages as people turned to the
passage for themselves (Fawcett, 81). When the great English
evangelist, George Whitefield visited Scotland, he was impressed by
the same thing. Many districts in Scotland had no schools in those
days. One woman testified that she had often stayed home from
church when young because she could not read. She was ashamed
that she could not make use of the Bible as others did. “And therefore
I set about learning to read, when I was about 18 years of age, having
never learn’d to read any before that; and it was one of the Terms of
my Agreement with those whom I serv’d, that I should always get a
lesson every day; and by following it out in that manner, I came to be
capable to read the Bible” (Fawcett, 77). Many illiterate people in
Scotland learned to read, just so they could read the Bible, and many
of them could find a passage mentioned by their minister even when
he had not supplied the reference.
Let me say this to you gently, but firmly. If you have been a Christian
for some years, and if you do not know the Bible well, the reason is
that you do not love the Bible. Set yourself to know the Bible well so
that you can teach the children in your home and in your Sunday
school.
What do we need to learn in order to pass it on to our children?
The Saving Message of Scripture
The Full Contents of Scripture
The Essential Doctrines of Scripture
Scripture is “profitable for teaching.” The KJV uses “doctrine” instead
of teaching. Bible translations vary, but in the NASB the Greek word
used here (didaskali,a) is sometimes translated “doctrine” (2 Timothy
4:3; Titus 1:9). Doctrine is certainly an important part of the teaching
of Scripture. What should you teach? Teach—
The Apostolic Deposit of Truth
The apostles left a deposit of doctrinal truth to be passed on.
Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me,
in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard, through the
Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted
to you (2 Timothy 1:13-14).
The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many
witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach
others also (2 Timothy 2:2).
So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you
were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us (2
Thessalonians 2:15).
Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly
life and not according to the tradition which you received from us (2
Thessalonians 3:6).
The apostolic deposit of truth included what to believe and how to
live. So, in practical terms, what do we teach when we pass on the
apostolic deposit of truth? We teach—
The Doctrines Scripture Emphasizes
Don’t focus on the minor doctrines. Don’t major on the minors. Make
the main thing be the main thing.
- The sovereignty of God
- The Trinity
- The love and care of the Father for His children
- The saving work of Christ
- The indwelling Holy Spirit
- The vital importance of the Church
- The victory of Christ over demonic power
Now, I don’t expect all of you to become experts in the finer points of
Christian philosophy and theology. Let’s take God’s sovereignty for
example. You may not be able to explain how God’s sovereignty is
related to our free choices. You may not know the technical terms
theologians use to describe our freedom as either libertarian or
compatibilist. BUT you can teach children to trust in the sovereign
goodness of God. When something really bad or difficult happens,
you can say, “Our Father is kind and good and all-powerful. He would
not have allowed this to happen if He didn’t have some good reason
for it. Let’s pray and tell God we trust Him even though this hurts.”
Another example: You may not know everything about the indwelling
Holy Spirit, but you need to learn to rely on Him in all your battles
with sin. When your children sin after they are converted, you need to
do more than just spank them or give them a lecture. You need to say,
“Let’s tell God you are sorry, and let’s ask the Holy Spirit to help you
to do better next time.” When you pray with them before they go to
school or out to play, you can say, “Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to help
you be holy today.
What do we need to learn in order to pass it on to our children?
The Saving Message of Scripture
The Full Contents of Scripture
The Essential Doctrines of Scripture
The Application of Scripture
The Bible teaches us how to live each day with God. Our text says that
Scripture is “profitable for reproof, for correction, for training in
righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for
every good work.” If we want to teach children how apply Scripture to
life, we need to be doing it ourselves.
Reproof—do you expect Scripture to convict you of sin when you read it?
When you read Scripture with your children, you can sometimes say,
“This passage shows me that I need to be more humble. Or “This
passage talks about anger. I’m sorry that I shouted at you yesterday.”
By applying the lesson to yourself, your children may begin to see
how scripture applies to them.
Correction—God doesn’t just want to tell you that you are wrong. He
uses Scripture to change us. If you read a passage with your children
about lying, you might say, “I used to lie sometimes, but God says that
we should always tell the truth, so I stopped lying.”
Training in righteousness—God uses Scripture to train us, and training
takes time. It takes time and practice to learn how to play the piano. It
takes time to learn how to throw a football. It takes time and practice
to learn how to follow Jesus well. So don’t despair that you are not
perfect yet. When you falter and fail, get up and determine that you
will learn from Scripture and the Holy Spirit how to live. Don’t
despair when your 6-year-old child doesn’t act like a mature 30-year-
old believer. Train your children so that they will be useful for every
good work. Think of training in holiness, not of becoming holy
instantly. How can you do that?
Conclusion
This may seem overwhelming, but you cannot do it all at once, nor
should you try. If you give your children a love for the Bible, then what
you begin, they will be able to carry on.
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
(Deuteronomy 6:4-9).
Family devotions—perhaps in the morning at breakfast, perhaps in
the evening around the supper table. Hunter Coultrap our worship
director at ABF gave two lessons on family devotions. He urged families
to adopt the Read, Sing, Pray model.
Not long ago I had breakfast with one of the men in our church, and I
encouraged him to start leading his family in devotions. He has been
thrilled with the change that practice has made in his family. Recently he
gave me a specific example. They were reading through the gospel of
John. One of the children asked a question, and the Lord brought to the
father’s mind one of the songs the children had learned at church. I
think they had the songs on the computer. Anyway, the family sang that
song, and it contained the answer to his child’s question. He said that his
wife is just sitting on the edge of her seat as they and their children study
the Bible together.
A Children’s Catechism
Hindrances: One parent wants to do this; the other is indifferent. One
parent feels inferior in spirituality or Bible knowledge.
To all of you, Bible contents, Bible doctrine, and Bible living are crucial
for your happiness in Jesus. The things your children need are exactly
what you need.