1 00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:15,740 This evening I want us to read from 2 00:00:15,740 --> 00:00:18,960 the sixth chapter of the Book of Deuteronomy. 3 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:23,420 Still in this rather wonderful Old Testament book, 4 00:00:24,620 --> 00:00:28,620 which, like those mines outside Johannesburg, which I 5 00:00:28,620 --> 00:00:32,000 so often refer to, have great wealth buried 6 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:32,840 deep within. 7 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:35,360 But to get the wealth out, you've got 8 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:36,580 to use effort. 9 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:41,860 And in Bible study, well, the analogy holds 10 00:00:41,860 --> 00:00:42,220 true. 11 00:00:42,860 --> 00:00:45,620 Here in these Old Testament books, there's veritable 12 00:00:45,620 --> 00:00:48,880 gold to be excavated and to be claimed 13 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:49,580 as your own. 14 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:53,120 Well, I'll read to you tonight from the 15 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:58,180 New International Version of the Bible, and it's 16 00:00:58,180 --> 00:00:59,800 Deuteronomy chapter 6. 17 00:01:01,420 --> 00:01:04,379 These are the commands, decrees, and laws the 18 00:01:04,379 --> 00:01:06,900 Lord your God directed me to teach you, 19 00:01:07,180 --> 00:01:09,140 to observe in the land that you are 20 00:01:09,140 --> 00:01:12,560 crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, 21 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:14,860 your children, and their children after them, may 22 00:01:14,860 --> 00:01:16,900 fear the Lord your God as long as 23 00:01:16,900 --> 00:01:19,700 you live, by keeping all his decrees and 24 00:01:19,700 --> 00:01:22,060 commands that I give you, and so that 25 00:01:22,060 --> 00:01:24,980 you may enjoy long life here, O Israel. 26 00:01:25,540 --> 00:01:27,720 And be careful to obey, so that it 27 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:29,580 may go well with you, and that you 28 00:01:29,580 --> 00:01:32,100 may increase greatly in a land flowing with 29 00:01:32,100 --> 00:01:34,740 milk and honey, just as the Lord, the 30 00:01:34,740 --> 00:01:36,500 God of your fathers, promised you. 31 00:01:36,820 --> 00:01:39,860 Here, O Israel, the Lord our God, the 32 00:01:39,860 --> 00:01:40,740 Lord is one. 33 00:01:40,980 --> 00:01:43,160 Love the Lord your God with all your 34 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:45,380 heart, and with all your soul, and with 35 00:01:45,380 --> 00:01:46,340 all your strength. 36 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:49,340 These commandments that I give you today are 37 00:01:49,340 --> 00:01:50,620 to be upon your hearts. 38 00:01:50,620 --> 00:01:52,560 Impress them on your children. 39 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:55,040 Talk about them when you sit at home, 40 00:01:55,480 --> 00:01:57,640 and when you walk along the road, when 41 00:01:57,640 --> 00:01:59,600 you lie down, and when you get up. 42 00:01:59,980 --> 00:02:02,460 Tie them as symbols on your hands, and 43 00:02:02,460 --> 00:02:04,600 bind them on your foreheads. 44 00:02:04,820 --> 00:02:06,860 Write them on the door frames of your 45 00:02:06,860 --> 00:02:08,380 houses, and on your gates. 46 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:11,000 When the Lord your God brings you into 47 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:13,200 the land he swore to your fathers, to 48 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:16,220 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you a 49 00:02:16,220 --> 00:02:20,120 land with large flourishing cities you did not 50 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:23,180 build, houses filled with all kinds of good 51 00:02:23,180 --> 00:02:25,840 things you did not provide, wells you did 52 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:28,100 not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you 53 00:02:28,100 --> 00:02:30,880 did not plant, then, when you eat and 54 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:33,760 are satisfied, be careful that you do not 55 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:36,960 forget the Lord who brought you out of 56 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:39,160 Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 57 00:02:39,860 --> 00:02:42,180 Fear the Lord your God, serve him only, 58 00:02:42,660 --> 00:02:44,520 and take your oath in his name. 59 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:47,300 Do not follow other gods, the gods of 60 00:02:47,300 --> 00:02:49,400 the peoples around you, for the Lord your 61 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:51,900 God, who is among you, is a jealous 62 00:02:51,900 --> 00:02:54,520 God, and his anger will burn against you, 63 00:02:54,820 --> 00:02:56,900 and he will destroy you from the face 64 00:02:56,900 --> 00:02:57,460 of the land. 65 00:02:57,860 --> 00:02:59,620 Do not test the Lord your God as 66 00:02:59,620 --> 00:03:00,580 you did at Massa. 67 00:03:01,020 --> 00:03:02,960 Be sure to keep the commands of the 68 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:05,980 Lord your God, and the stipulations and decrees 69 00:03:05,980 --> 00:03:06,840 he has given you. 70 00:03:07,220 --> 00:03:08,980 Do what is right and good in the 71 00:03:08,980 --> 00:03:11,320 Lord's sight, so that it may go well 72 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:13,180 with you, and you may go in and 73 00:03:13,180 --> 00:03:15,100 take over the good land that the Lord 74 00:03:15,100 --> 00:03:19,120 promised on oath to your forefathers, thrusting out 75 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:21,660 all your enemies before you, as the Lord 76 00:03:21,660 --> 00:03:22,060 said. 77 00:03:22,700 --> 00:03:25,020 In the future, when your son asks you 78 00:03:25,020 --> 00:03:27,960 what is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees, 79 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:30,240 and laws the Lord our God has commanded 80 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:34,340 you, tell him, we were slaves of Pharaoh 81 00:03:34,340 --> 00:03:36,840 in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out 82 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:39,080 of Egypt with a mighty hand. 83 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:42,600 Before our eyes, the Lord sent miraculous signs 84 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:46,060 and wonders, great and terrible, upon Egypt and 85 00:03:46,060 --> 00:03:47,760 Pharaoh and his whole household. 86 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:50,620 But he brought us out from there to 87 00:03:50,620 --> 00:03:53,020 bring us in, and give us the land 88 00:03:53,020 --> 00:03:55,380 that he promised on oath to our forefathers. 89 00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:59,020 The Lord commanded us to obey all these 90 00:03:59,020 --> 00:04:01,660 decrees, and to fear the Lord our God, 91 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:04,720 so that we might always prosper and be 92 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:08,680 kept alive, as in the case today. 93 00:04:09,500 --> 00:04:11,660 And if we are careful to obey all 94 00:04:11,660 --> 00:04:14,440 this law before the Lord our God, as 95 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:18,700 he has commanded us, that will be our 96 00:04:18,700 --> 00:04:19,920 righteousness. 97 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:31,540 You might care to have your Bibles open 98 00:04:31,540 --> 00:04:37,420 at the book of Deuteronomy and the sixth 99 00:04:37,420 --> 00:04:37,940 chapter. 100 00:04:39,700 --> 00:04:42,040 And from time to time, we'll be looking 101 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:47,040 at other parallel scriptures from this book. 102 00:04:49,050 --> 00:04:51,990 Let me also remind you of two or 103 00:04:51,990 --> 00:04:52,590 three verses. 104 00:04:52,770 --> 00:04:54,230 You don't need to turn to them, though 105 00:04:54,230 --> 00:04:57,410 you can make a mental note from the 106 00:04:57,410 --> 00:04:58,650 sixth chapter of Ephesians. 107 00:04:59,690 --> 00:05:02,630 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for 108 00:05:02,630 --> 00:05:03,370 this is right. 109 00:05:03,730 --> 00:05:06,470 Honor your father and mother, which is the 110 00:05:06,470 --> 00:05:10,650 first commandment with a promise, that it may 111 00:05:10,650 --> 00:05:13,110 go well with you, and that you may 112 00:05:13,110 --> 00:05:16,430 enjoy long life on the earth. 113 00:05:16,950 --> 00:05:21,290 Fathers, do not exasperate your children. 114 00:05:21,990 --> 00:05:26,610 Instead, bring them up in the training and 115 00:05:26,610 --> 00:05:29,430 instruction of the Lord. 116 00:05:30,550 --> 00:05:33,630 Well, you might think that one of the 117 00:05:33,630 --> 00:05:37,010 most unlikely books in the Old Testament to 118 00:05:37,010 --> 00:05:39,970 look for a doctrine of the Christian family 119 00:05:39,970 --> 00:05:46,670 and pointers for the training of children would 120 00:05:46,670 --> 00:05:49,430 be the book of Deuteronomy. 121 00:05:50,070 --> 00:05:52,450 Indeed, there would be a lot of people, 122 00:05:52,570 --> 00:05:56,330 a lot of educationalists, if they had been 123 00:05:56,330 --> 00:06:00,030 present here this evening, who would perhaps think 124 00:06:00,030 --> 00:06:05,930 that this whole concept of education and the 125 00:06:05,930 --> 00:06:10,590 training of boys and girls could in no 126 00:06:10,590 --> 00:06:16,450 way find any help at all from the 127 00:06:16,450 --> 00:06:17,630 study of Scripture. 128 00:06:18,850 --> 00:06:21,310 Well, those of us who are a little 129 00:06:21,310 --> 00:06:24,370 more informed, and we say that not piously, 130 00:06:24,590 --> 00:06:27,530 we say that in gratitude to God, know 131 00:06:27,530 --> 00:06:29,790 full well that in the Old Testament and 132 00:06:29,790 --> 00:06:31,770 in the New Testament, there is a doctrine 133 00:06:31,770 --> 00:06:33,890 of the bringing up of a family. 134 00:06:34,130 --> 00:06:36,650 There is a doctrine of parental responsibility. 135 00:06:37,170 --> 00:06:40,490 Indeed, there's a doctrine of the responsibility of 136 00:06:40,490 --> 00:06:41,750 children to parents. 137 00:06:41,950 --> 00:06:44,850 There is nothing, I am persuaded, even in 138 00:06:44,850 --> 00:06:47,950 the complexities of the 20th century, that crosses 139 00:06:47,950 --> 00:06:49,090 our lives. 140 00:06:49,470 --> 00:06:53,650 Nothing that affects our lifestyle, which cannot find 141 00:06:53,650 --> 00:06:58,310 help and pointers in the study of the 142 00:06:58,310 --> 00:07:00,630 Word of God. 143 00:07:01,470 --> 00:07:05,010 Indeed, I would put this out to you 144 00:07:05,010 --> 00:07:08,370 for your consideration, that a great deal of 145 00:07:08,370 --> 00:07:12,990 the Bible is nothing more than a rehearsal 146 00:07:12,990 --> 00:07:17,490 of what happens in family units, a rehearsal 147 00:07:17,490 --> 00:07:20,910 of what happens in family units. 148 00:07:21,310 --> 00:07:23,890 Take, for instance, if you think that I'm 149 00:07:23,890 --> 00:07:28,730 perhaps exaggerating, the opening book of the Bible, 150 00:07:29,290 --> 00:07:31,190 which of course bears the name of Genesis. 151 00:07:31,310 --> 00:07:32,270 How would you describe it? 152 00:07:32,310 --> 00:07:33,890 What would you say the contents of the 153 00:07:33,890 --> 00:07:34,850 book of Genesis are? 154 00:07:35,630 --> 00:07:37,730 Well, as I read the book of Genesis, 155 00:07:37,890 --> 00:07:41,230 I find on the opening pages the story 156 00:07:41,230 --> 00:07:45,090 of Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel. 157 00:07:45,770 --> 00:07:50,510 And one hears and listens and sees something 158 00:07:50,510 --> 00:07:52,630 of that family environment. 159 00:07:53,470 --> 00:07:55,210 You push on a little bit and you 160 00:07:55,210 --> 00:07:58,710 come across the story of Noah and his 161 00:07:58,710 --> 00:08:02,110 sons and the great flood and all that 162 00:08:02,110 --> 00:08:06,030 happened prior to and consequent on that flood. 163 00:08:07,230 --> 00:08:10,550 And how could you summarize those chapters that 164 00:08:10,550 --> 00:08:12,290 deal with this particular event? 165 00:08:12,390 --> 00:08:14,190 Well, you could say this is what affected 166 00:08:14,190 --> 00:08:15,610 the family of Noah. 167 00:08:15,970 --> 00:08:16,670 Right, go through. 168 00:08:17,110 --> 00:08:20,030 Again, continuing in the book of Genesis, who 169 00:08:20,030 --> 00:08:20,870 do you come to next? 170 00:08:20,930 --> 00:08:23,890 Who's the most important person after Noah? 171 00:08:24,070 --> 00:08:25,270 Well, of course, it's Abraham. 172 00:08:25,730 --> 00:08:26,710 And what do you read of Abraham? 173 00:08:26,930 --> 00:08:29,250 Well, he's taken out of the land of 174 00:08:29,250 --> 00:08:29,550 Canaan. 175 00:08:30,250 --> 00:08:33,669 He's taken out of the land of Mesopotamia 176 00:08:33,669 --> 00:08:35,710 and he's brought to the promised land to 177 00:08:35,710 --> 00:08:36,010 Canaan. 178 00:08:36,409 --> 00:08:37,390 He comes with his wife. 179 00:08:37,850 --> 00:08:40,130 What's one of the great problems in the 180 00:08:40,130 --> 00:08:42,809 matrimonial relationship between Sarah and Abraham? 181 00:08:43,030 --> 00:08:43,950 Well, they're childless. 182 00:08:44,810 --> 00:08:49,050 And what has a great deal of the 183 00:08:49,050 --> 00:08:54,530 Bible to deal with when it is taken 184 00:08:54,530 --> 00:08:56,930 up with the story of Abraham and Sarah? 185 00:08:56,930 --> 00:08:59,770 Well, it's the advent of Isaac, their son. 186 00:09:00,430 --> 00:09:02,310 And what happens as a result of that? 187 00:09:02,950 --> 00:09:04,010 Continue to read. 188 00:09:04,690 --> 00:09:05,490 And what do you find? 189 00:09:05,610 --> 00:09:08,150 Well, you're given an insight into the home 190 00:09:08,150 --> 00:09:10,450 of Isaac when he's mature and when he's 191 00:09:10,450 --> 00:09:14,470 married and the birth of the twins, Jacob 192 00:09:14,470 --> 00:09:15,270 and Esau. 193 00:09:15,830 --> 00:09:17,910 And then you go on further in case 194 00:09:17,910 --> 00:09:18,890 I haven't convinced you. 195 00:09:19,310 --> 00:09:21,070 And what are you confronted with now? 196 00:09:21,170 --> 00:09:22,870 Well, it's the story of Jacob and his 197 00:09:22,870 --> 00:09:25,090 lads and the problems that there are in 198 00:09:25,090 --> 00:09:28,110 this family circle and the enslavement of Joseph 199 00:09:28,110 --> 00:09:30,890 and eventually the creation of a home for 200 00:09:30,890 --> 00:09:32,830 Joseph in Egypt and so on. 201 00:09:33,070 --> 00:09:34,490 I hope I've convinced you. 202 00:09:34,750 --> 00:09:37,210 The book of Genesis itself is more or 203 00:09:37,210 --> 00:09:40,850 less a statement of one family circle and 204 00:09:40,850 --> 00:09:42,730 its story after another. 205 00:09:43,010 --> 00:09:45,270 And I say that you could go, albeit 206 00:09:45,270 --> 00:09:47,990 to some extent piecemeal, but you could make 207 00:09:47,990 --> 00:09:50,730 your way across the Old Testament in particular 208 00:09:50,730 --> 00:09:53,990 and your study of the Bible would largely 209 00:09:53,990 --> 00:09:58,090 follow the events around family circles. 210 00:09:58,390 --> 00:10:00,330 And of course, when you come into the 211 00:10:00,330 --> 00:10:03,770 New Testament, you're confronted with a magnificent story, 212 00:10:03,950 --> 00:10:06,890 the story of the holy family, of Mary, 213 00:10:07,470 --> 00:10:10,770 of Joseph, and of the infant maturing to 214 00:10:10,770 --> 00:10:13,990 boyhood and on to manhood, the Lord Jesus 215 00:10:13,990 --> 00:10:14,550 Christ. 216 00:10:15,170 --> 00:10:18,190 And of course, wherever you get history, wherever 217 00:10:18,190 --> 00:10:20,590 you get the record of narrative in the 218 00:10:20,590 --> 00:10:22,790 Old Testament and the New Testament, you get 219 00:10:22,790 --> 00:10:25,750 general deductions, general principles which are drawn. 220 00:10:26,190 --> 00:10:27,110 For what reason? 221 00:10:27,270 --> 00:10:28,410 Well, for this reason. 222 00:10:28,870 --> 00:10:30,730 So that the likes of you and I 223 00:10:30,730 --> 00:10:33,930 who live centuries after this biblical record may 224 00:10:33,930 --> 00:10:35,950 come to this book and say, yes, I 225 00:10:35,950 --> 00:10:38,070 can identify myself with that story. 226 00:10:38,270 --> 00:10:39,550 I see that principle. 227 00:10:39,890 --> 00:10:40,990 I lift out that lesson. 228 00:10:41,330 --> 00:10:42,470 I apply it to myself. 229 00:10:42,930 --> 00:10:45,870 I believe that God has encapsulated these narratives 230 00:10:45,870 --> 00:10:47,950 in his book so that I might be 231 00:10:47,950 --> 00:10:49,890 a better father, so that I might be 232 00:10:49,890 --> 00:10:51,770 a better mother, so that I might be 233 00:10:51,770 --> 00:10:54,670 a better husband, a better wife, and so 234 00:10:54,670 --> 00:10:54,850 on. 235 00:10:54,970 --> 00:10:57,390 So that I may fulfill my role within 236 00:10:57,390 --> 00:11:00,050 the kingdom of God to a degree of 237 00:11:00,050 --> 00:11:00,530 excellence. 238 00:11:01,450 --> 00:11:03,510 This is the reason, says one of the 239 00:11:03,510 --> 00:11:06,570 writers of the New Testament books, why all 240 00:11:06,570 --> 00:11:10,130 these stories were recorded, and he's referring specifically 241 00:11:10,130 --> 00:11:12,990 to the Old, that we might have instruction, 242 00:11:13,330 --> 00:11:16,610 that we might learn from what these men 243 00:11:16,610 --> 00:11:19,450 and women had to cope with and from 244 00:11:19,450 --> 00:11:22,530 what the biblical writers have to teach. 245 00:11:23,630 --> 00:11:26,910 Now, when you take such a book as 246 00:11:26,910 --> 00:11:30,730 a Proverbs, how would you define Proverbs? 247 00:11:31,270 --> 00:11:33,490 Well, I would say that within Proverbs you 248 00:11:33,490 --> 00:11:34,950 have got precepts. 249 00:11:35,070 --> 00:11:38,590 You have got Old Testament doctrines, which will 250 00:11:38,590 --> 00:11:41,310 help you to control your life if you'd 251 00:11:41,310 --> 00:11:43,650 submitted to the authority of God, yes. 252 00:11:44,190 --> 00:11:47,390 And particularly, you've got doctrines that will help 253 00:11:47,390 --> 00:11:50,190 a parent, and you've got doctrines which will 254 00:11:50,190 --> 00:11:50,970 help a child. 255 00:11:51,850 --> 00:11:55,690 The Hebrew philosophy, or rather theology, of education 256 00:11:55,690 --> 00:11:58,850 is encapsuled in the book of Proverbs. 257 00:11:59,070 --> 00:12:01,710 But alas, the majority of people, if they 258 00:12:01,710 --> 00:12:04,610 know anything about Proverbs at all, could possibly 259 00:12:04,610 --> 00:12:07,090 in this area only quote you that one 260 00:12:07,090 --> 00:12:10,110 about sparing the rod and spoiling the child, 261 00:12:10,350 --> 00:12:12,430 as though you've got the whole of God's 262 00:12:12,430 --> 00:12:15,790 revelation and God's principles in dealing with the 263 00:12:15,790 --> 00:12:17,850 family circle in that one maxim. 264 00:12:18,090 --> 00:12:21,070 And of course, the proposition, the whole idea 265 00:12:21,070 --> 00:12:22,330 is just preposterous. 266 00:12:22,570 --> 00:12:25,310 But if you look into the book of 267 00:12:25,310 --> 00:12:29,070 Proverbs, you will find there some basic rules 268 00:12:29,070 --> 00:12:32,370 and help for parents and for children, for 269 00:12:32,370 --> 00:12:35,370 young people, and how to conduct and control 270 00:12:35,370 --> 00:12:38,910 their family lives and their personal lives. 271 00:12:39,370 --> 00:12:41,010 Well then, so much for this. 272 00:12:41,050 --> 00:12:43,310 I could continue for a great deal of 273 00:12:43,310 --> 00:12:46,250 time just in the area of pure generalities, 274 00:12:46,570 --> 00:12:49,570 trying to show you how the Bible itself 275 00:12:49,570 --> 00:12:52,670 has a great deal to do with modern 276 00:12:52,670 --> 00:12:56,670 life, and how the thing that is threatened 277 00:12:56,670 --> 00:13:00,350 most, as I understand it, in 1979, the 278 00:13:00,350 --> 00:13:05,390 family unit can be rescued, can remain intact 279 00:13:06,030 --> 00:13:10,170 by an application of biblical principles to the 280 00:13:10,170 --> 00:13:11,990 present situation. 281 00:13:13,370 --> 00:13:16,030 Now, I suppose in a very general sense, 282 00:13:16,910 --> 00:13:19,910 you could say that the whole book of 283 00:13:19,910 --> 00:13:24,650 Deuteronomy is given to the children of Israel 284 00:13:24,650 --> 00:13:28,350 by their father Moses, and because it was 285 00:13:28,350 --> 00:13:31,890 very much a father figure that Moses adopted 286 00:13:31,890 --> 00:13:35,630 during the whole course of his lengthy life 287 00:13:35,630 --> 00:13:37,870 of 120-odd years. 288 00:13:38,230 --> 00:13:40,290 You remember, he was the one who brought 289 00:13:40,290 --> 00:13:41,470 them out of Egypt. 290 00:13:41,790 --> 00:13:44,530 He was the one who disciplined them in 291 00:13:44,530 --> 00:13:45,330 the name of God. 292 00:13:45,570 --> 00:13:47,930 He led them, he encouraged them, he corrected 293 00:13:47,930 --> 00:13:49,270 them, and so on. 294 00:13:49,610 --> 00:13:52,110 And in the opening chapters or the opening 295 00:13:52,110 --> 00:13:54,790 verses of Deuteronomy, you've got the idea of 296 00:13:54,790 --> 00:13:57,970 this aged Moses, this father of the nation, 297 00:13:58,430 --> 00:14:02,590 teaching his children, the children of Israel, these 298 00:14:02,590 --> 00:14:06,290 things which he had learned himself from God. 299 00:14:06,910 --> 00:14:09,510 But it's not in that general sense that 300 00:14:09,510 --> 00:14:11,870 I want us to look into the doctrine 301 00:14:11,870 --> 00:14:14,970 of the godly family from the book of 302 00:14:14,970 --> 00:14:16,210 Deuteronomy this evening. 303 00:14:16,790 --> 00:14:20,610 Rather, it's in the literal sense, where the 304 00:14:20,610 --> 00:14:24,150 Lord God causes Moses to put down certain 305 00:14:24,150 --> 00:14:29,290 principles and propositions to literal mothers and fathers 306 00:14:29,290 --> 00:14:32,350 in the bringing up of their offspring. 307 00:14:33,090 --> 00:14:35,010 So, what I have sought to do, and 308 00:14:35,010 --> 00:14:37,670 obviously this is no exhaustive treatment of the 309 00:14:37,670 --> 00:14:39,950 subject at all, what I have sought to 310 00:14:39,950 --> 00:14:44,650 do is to place alongside one scripture and 311 00:14:44,650 --> 00:14:49,310 another scripture, which directly or indirectly has to 312 00:14:49,310 --> 00:14:53,530 deal with this idea of parental responsibility. 313 00:14:54,370 --> 00:14:58,930 So, we turn to the first declaration that 314 00:14:58,930 --> 00:15:01,190 you find Moses, in the name of God, 315 00:15:01,290 --> 00:15:05,410 making to parents in his day. 316 00:15:05,550 --> 00:15:08,610 The ninth verse of the fourth chapter. 317 00:15:09,610 --> 00:15:15,210 Only be careful and watch yourselves closely so 318 00:15:15,210 --> 00:15:17,550 that you do not forget the things your 319 00:15:17,550 --> 00:15:20,450 eyes have seen or let them slip from 320 00:15:20,450 --> 00:15:22,810 your heart as long as you live. 321 00:15:23,470 --> 00:15:26,490 Teach them to your children and to their 322 00:15:26,490 --> 00:15:28,090 children after them. 323 00:15:28,730 --> 00:15:32,290 Remember the day you stood before the Lord 324 00:15:32,290 --> 00:15:33,550 your God. 325 00:15:34,170 --> 00:15:36,070 What is Moses here saying? 326 00:15:36,770 --> 00:15:38,850 Well, he's saying this, and it's very simple. 327 00:15:39,850 --> 00:15:44,570 You children of Israel have received a tremendous 328 00:15:44,570 --> 00:15:45,450 inheritance. 329 00:15:46,490 --> 00:15:50,370 It is something that makes you outstanding amongst 330 00:15:50,370 --> 00:15:52,930 the nations of the world. 331 00:15:53,650 --> 00:15:56,930 Indeed, he actually uses more or less that 332 00:15:56,930 --> 00:15:58,650 language in the seventh verse. 333 00:15:59,210 --> 00:16:02,290 What other nation is so great as to 334 00:16:02,290 --> 00:16:05,210 have their gods near them the way the 335 00:16:05,210 --> 00:16:09,210 Lord our God is near us whenever we 336 00:16:09,210 --> 00:16:10,470 pray to him. 337 00:16:11,130 --> 00:16:13,690 Now, these things that you have received from 338 00:16:13,690 --> 00:16:16,510 the Lord, not only does he say in 339 00:16:16,510 --> 00:16:18,830 the second verse of this chapter are you 340 00:16:18,830 --> 00:16:21,490 not to add to them or subtract from 341 00:16:21,490 --> 00:16:25,610 them, you are to preserve them and you 342 00:16:25,610 --> 00:16:28,490 are to pass them on to your children. 343 00:16:29,690 --> 00:16:32,330 Moses is not so much concerned about the 344 00:16:32,330 --> 00:16:37,110 literal will that the Hebrews might write so 345 00:16:37,110 --> 00:16:40,590 that their children benefit when they pass on, 346 00:16:41,150 --> 00:16:44,790 but he is concerned about spiritual riches which 347 00:16:44,790 --> 00:16:47,830 belongs to the Hebrew community as a whole, 348 00:16:48,410 --> 00:16:52,450 which have enriched them during their wilderness wanderings 349 00:16:52,450 --> 00:16:56,930 and which will greatly benefit the generations that 350 00:16:56,930 --> 00:16:57,550 are to come. 351 00:16:58,110 --> 00:17:00,750 So, addressing all mums and dads who are 352 00:17:00,750 --> 00:17:02,930 before him, for you remember Moses is now 353 00:17:02,930 --> 00:17:05,210 an old man and he's taking his leave, 354 00:17:05,930 --> 00:17:07,650 he gives them this piece of advice. 355 00:17:08,589 --> 00:17:11,550 Remember what God has done for you. 356 00:17:12,369 --> 00:17:16,589 Don't let one thing, verse nine, don't let 357 00:17:16,589 --> 00:17:20,450 one thing slip from your grasp, from your 358 00:17:20,450 --> 00:17:25,089 hearts, but pass it on to your children 359 00:17:25,089 --> 00:17:32,330 for you are responsible for that presenting of 360 00:17:32,330 --> 00:17:36,230 the baton of spiritual treasure to the next 361 00:17:36,230 --> 00:17:37,450 generation. 362 00:17:38,090 --> 00:17:40,210 Well, come on to the chapter and you'll 363 00:17:40,210 --> 00:17:43,470 find Moses saying exactly the same thing, but 364 00:17:43,470 --> 00:17:45,230 with one addition. 365 00:17:45,930 --> 00:17:48,890 We'll come to the fifth and start reading 366 00:17:48,890 --> 00:17:52,930 from that verse, Deuteronomy 6, verse 5. 367 00:17:53,030 --> 00:17:55,550 Love, love the Lord your God with all 368 00:17:55,550 --> 00:17:57,650 your heart, with all your soul, with all 369 00:17:57,650 --> 00:17:58,170 your strength. 370 00:17:58,510 --> 00:18:01,070 These commandments that I give you today are 371 00:18:01,070 --> 00:18:02,230 to be upon your hearts. 372 00:18:03,250 --> 00:18:05,370 Impress them upon your children. 373 00:18:06,130 --> 00:18:08,170 Talk about them when you sit at home, 374 00:18:08,170 --> 00:18:10,310 when you walk along the road, when you 375 00:18:10,310 --> 00:18:11,890 lie down, and when you get up. 376 00:18:12,070 --> 00:18:13,770 Tie them as symbols on your hands and 377 00:18:13,770 --> 00:18:15,430 bind them on your foreheads. 378 00:18:15,550 --> 00:18:17,550 Write them on the door frames of your 379 00:18:17,550 --> 00:18:20,930 houses and on your gates. 380 00:18:21,830 --> 00:18:22,750 What's he saying? 381 00:18:23,290 --> 00:18:25,990 Well, he's repeating what we've discovered in the 382 00:18:25,990 --> 00:18:29,750 fourth chapter, that the parents are to pass 383 00:18:29,750 --> 00:18:32,010 on what they've learned from God to their 384 00:18:32,010 --> 00:18:32,290 children. 385 00:18:32,550 --> 00:18:34,170 But here he's saying a little bit more. 386 00:18:34,870 --> 00:18:38,070 He's saying that their lifestyle, that word which 387 00:18:38,070 --> 00:18:39,990 I use so much these days because it's 388 00:18:39,990 --> 00:18:42,130 much in vogue, and there is a Christian 389 00:18:42,130 --> 00:18:46,090 lifestyle, their family circle, their environment is to 390 00:18:46,090 --> 00:18:51,030 be conducive so that children shall accept what 391 00:18:51,030 --> 00:18:55,090 dad and mom is saying and implement it 392 00:18:55,090 --> 00:18:56,090 in their lives. 393 00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:01,940 You know on many occasions when it's been 394 00:19:01,940 --> 00:19:05,340 my privilege, my proud privilege, to have a 395 00:19:05,340 --> 00:19:07,840 little babe in my arm here in the 396 00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:09,980 front of the church and parents have brought 397 00:19:09,980 --> 00:19:12,520 their offspring and they want to dedicate themselves 398 00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:13,140 to the Lord. 399 00:19:13,220 --> 00:19:14,900 And I generally put two or three questions 400 00:19:14,900 --> 00:19:15,420 to them. 401 00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:18,320 And one of the questions is this. 402 00:19:19,020 --> 00:19:22,240 Do you promise as best you can and 403 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:25,440 on dependence also upon the prayers of your 404 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:28,600 brothers and sisters in the tabernacle to create 405 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:31,940 such an environment in your home so that 406 00:19:31,940 --> 00:19:34,160 when your little boy, when your little girl 407 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:38,620 reaches an age of maturity, he, she shall 408 00:19:38,620 --> 00:19:41,640 be led naturally to the Lord Jesus Christ. 409 00:19:43,660 --> 00:19:45,960 And that's not just words that we're going 410 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:51,220 through when I make that particular proposition. 411 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:59,940 It's not just some empty religious practice that 412 00:19:59,940 --> 00:20:02,700 we've adopted here as a sort of substitute 413 00:20:02,700 --> 00:20:04,220 for infant baptism. 414 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:07,220 Here is something very, very holy indeed. 415 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:10,620 Here parents are contracting with the aid of 416 00:20:10,620 --> 00:20:13,540 their other brothers and sisters to create that 417 00:20:13,540 --> 00:20:16,460 environment so that it's natural to talk about 418 00:20:16,460 --> 00:20:16,940 Jesus. 419 00:20:18,180 --> 00:20:20,780 As the Hebrews were said, were told by 420 00:20:20,780 --> 00:20:25,280 Moses, to make it so much a part 421 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:29,360 of their home in their tents as they 422 00:20:29,360 --> 00:20:33,620 moved through into the promised land that they 423 00:20:33,620 --> 00:20:36,500 could talk about the Lord God with no 424 00:20:36,500 --> 00:20:38,160 embarrassment at all. 425 00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:39,860 It's natural to them. 426 00:20:40,340 --> 00:20:42,160 It's part of their family life. 427 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:46,500 And so children will grow up realizing that 428 00:20:46,500 --> 00:20:49,160 what makes their lives so wholesome and so 429 00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:52,460 happy is the trust that they had, that 430 00:20:52,460 --> 00:20:54,140 their parents have in the Lord God. 431 00:20:54,700 --> 00:20:56,560 And they'll want their trust also. 432 00:20:57,460 --> 00:21:01,220 So verse 7 of this chapter says, impress 433 00:21:01,220 --> 00:21:01,540 it. 434 00:21:02,420 --> 00:21:05,660 Impress these things, these instructions you've learned from 435 00:21:05,660 --> 00:21:08,840 God upon your children. 436 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:12,460 Well let's consider another couple of statements. 437 00:21:13,020 --> 00:21:18,920 They're not directly related to the parent-child 438 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:25,040 situation, but indirectly they have bearing upon our 439 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:25,280 theme. 440 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:28,380 Turn back for a moment to the fifth 441 00:21:28,380 --> 00:21:32,340 chapter of the book and let's look at 442 00:21:32,340 --> 00:21:33,880 the 16th verse. 443 00:21:35,020 --> 00:21:37,920 And now we're among the Ten Commandments. 444 00:21:39,740 --> 00:21:42,400 And the people who are being addressed in 445 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:45,160 the 16th verse are none other than children. 446 00:21:45,580 --> 00:21:47,580 That's why I say this is only just 447 00:21:47,580 --> 00:21:50,820 indirectly related to our subject, because we've been 448 00:21:50,820 --> 00:21:53,980 talking more about the role of parents. 449 00:21:54,380 --> 00:21:56,600 But listen to what is said here and 450 00:21:56,600 --> 00:21:59,020 perhaps you'll understand why I feel it's necessary 451 00:21:59,020 --> 00:22:01,340 to introduce this point at this stage. 452 00:22:02,180 --> 00:22:05,580 Honor your father and your mother as the 453 00:22:05,580 --> 00:22:08,680 Lord your God has commanded you, so that 454 00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:10,800 you may live long and that it may 455 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:12,780 go well with you in the land the 456 00:22:12,780 --> 00:22:15,940 Lord your God is giving you. 457 00:22:18,100 --> 00:22:20,160 Now I would go so far as to 458 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:26,110 say this, that the family circle which has 459 00:22:26,110 --> 00:22:30,650 known the working out of these principles which 460 00:22:30,650 --> 00:22:35,650 Moses has already given to the Israelites, will 461 00:22:35,650 --> 00:22:38,470 be one in which the children will automatically 462 00:22:38,470 --> 00:22:43,070 honor and respect their mother and their father. 463 00:22:46,350 --> 00:22:48,850 One of the things that's basic to any 464 00:22:48,850 --> 00:22:52,290 educational situation, if it's going to be successful, 465 00:22:52,590 --> 00:22:53,130 is rapport. 466 00:22:53,830 --> 00:22:54,570 It's confidence. 467 00:22:54,570 --> 00:22:57,230 I used to teach as some as you 468 00:22:57,230 --> 00:22:59,230 know in downtown London. 469 00:23:00,530 --> 00:23:03,190 And really in the sort of blackboard jungle 470 00:23:03,190 --> 00:23:09,540 area of the educational world, the last qualification 471 00:23:09,540 --> 00:23:12,480 that you needed to start with was a 472 00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:13,420 head full of knowledge. 473 00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:19,100 You could have known Pythagoras's theory or theorem 474 00:23:19,100 --> 00:23:22,620 backwards and you'd never have communicated it to 475 00:23:22,620 --> 00:23:23,360 the London kids. 476 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:28,200 You could have been seated in the history 477 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:31,360 of the British Empire and they would give 478 00:23:31,360 --> 00:23:32,660 you no listening at all. 479 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:36,080 You could be one of the greatest gymnasts 480 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:38,140 of all time and they still wouldn't be 481 00:23:38,140 --> 00:23:40,120 interested, believe it or not, in PT. 482 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:41,700 Not these lads and lasses. 483 00:23:42,940 --> 00:23:45,240 The first thing you had to do before 484 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:47,720 you could start to teach in downtown London, 485 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:49,580 and my colleagues who are there to this 486 00:23:49,580 --> 00:23:52,180 day tell me the same obstance, the situation 487 00:23:52,180 --> 00:23:55,240 is some degrees worse than when I was 488 00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:55,660 present. 489 00:23:56,100 --> 00:23:58,120 The first thing you had to do was 490 00:23:58,120 --> 00:24:00,000 to gain the confidence of your children. 491 00:24:02,250 --> 00:24:06,170 Until you'd, and particularly for your endeavoring to 492 00:24:06,170 --> 00:24:09,690 teach scripture, until you had convinced that 13 493 00:24:09,690 --> 00:24:12,930 or 14 or 15 year old that you 494 00:24:12,930 --> 00:24:14,570 were a human being too and that you 495 00:24:14,570 --> 00:24:17,070 got an interest in his life, that what 496 00:24:17,070 --> 00:24:19,570 he had to say concerned you and you 497 00:24:19,570 --> 00:24:22,090 were involved with his problems and the fact 498 00:24:22,090 --> 00:24:24,270 that he came from a broken home and 499 00:24:24,270 --> 00:24:26,590 that he wasn't very good to start with 500 00:24:26,590 --> 00:24:29,970 in the English language and this sort of 501 00:24:29,970 --> 00:24:30,170 thing. 502 00:24:30,330 --> 00:24:32,450 Until you'd started to relate to him as 503 00:24:32,450 --> 00:24:34,250 a human being, all that you had to 504 00:24:34,250 --> 00:24:36,970 say went in one ear, accelerated and stayed 505 00:24:36,970 --> 00:24:37,510 out of the other. 506 00:24:39,110 --> 00:24:43,270 And you know, that principle can be plucked 507 00:24:43,270 --> 00:24:47,230 from the direct educational context of the schools 508 00:24:47,230 --> 00:24:50,410 and it can be placed back in the 509 00:24:50,410 --> 00:24:50,710 home. 510 00:24:52,050 --> 00:24:57,270 Unless little Benjamin and Ruben in the days 511 00:24:57,270 --> 00:25:01,650 of the Old Testament had got confidence in 512 00:25:01,650 --> 00:25:06,230 what mum and dad were, they'd never have 513 00:25:06,230 --> 00:25:10,430 confidence in what mum and dad were teaching. 514 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:18,160 But that parent, mum and dad, who has 515 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:22,500 been before the Lord, whose life is conditioned 516 00:25:22,500 --> 00:25:27,980 naturally by the Word of God, will automatically, 517 00:25:28,860 --> 00:25:33,220 if one can use that expression, gain the 518 00:25:33,220 --> 00:25:37,780 respect of their child, gain the honor of 519 00:25:37,780 --> 00:25:38,280 their son. 520 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:41,160 And that's the reason why I brought into 521 00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:43,760 our consideration this evening this commandment. 522 00:25:43,900 --> 00:25:45,960 Honor your father and your mother. 523 00:25:46,180 --> 00:25:47,880 It's directed to children, yes. 524 00:25:49,300 --> 00:25:51,620 But there are some parents who don't deserve 525 00:25:51,620 --> 00:25:55,240 to be honored because what they have to 526 00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:56,960 teach and the way that they live are 527 00:25:56,960 --> 00:25:59,740 so diametrically opposed, it doesn't ring true. 528 00:26:02,170 --> 00:26:04,390 And there's nobody who's more gifted to spot 529 00:26:04,390 --> 00:26:05,550 a hypocrite than a child. 530 00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:14,940 A child is one of the most expert 531 00:26:14,940 --> 00:26:20,200 people in the world today to detect humbug 532 00:26:20,200 --> 00:26:22,320 and charade. 533 00:26:23,540 --> 00:26:29,720 And children do not respect hypocrites nor humbugs. 534 00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:35,800 So it's for parents, in the outworking of 535 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:41,220 God's demands in their lives, to gain that 536 00:26:41,220 --> 00:26:47,860 respect that little Johnny and little Sally want 537 00:26:47,860 --> 00:26:48,300 to give. 538 00:26:49,740 --> 00:26:54,140 Because it's natural to them to respect mothers 539 00:26:54,140 --> 00:26:58,960 and fathers who are lovingly and winsomely controlled 540 00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:01,420 by the Spirit of God. 541 00:27:03,820 --> 00:27:06,320 Have you noticed, and again this is not 542 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:08,760 directly relevant to our subject, but it must 543 00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:11,740 come into it at some stage. 544 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:15,280 Have you noticed how Moses, when giving the 545 00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:20,300 commands of God in this area, chastises anyone 546 00:27:20,300 --> 00:27:24,460 who dares to interfere with the religious education 547 00:27:24,460 --> 00:27:27,180 of a youngster as he or she has 548 00:27:27,180 --> 00:27:29,800 received it from mother or father? 549 00:27:30,620 --> 00:27:33,320 Turn to the 13th chapter of Deuteronomy, will 550 00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:35,780 you, and the sixth verse and onwards. 551 00:28:11,380 --> 00:28:13,920 From one end of the land to the 552 00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:17,820 other, do not yield to him or listen 553 00:28:17,820 --> 00:28:18,320 to him. 554 00:28:19,060 --> 00:28:20,840 Show him no pity. 555 00:28:21,620 --> 00:28:23,800 Do not spare him or shield him. 556 00:28:24,800 --> 00:28:28,200 You must certainly put him to death. 557 00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:32,880 Your hand must be the first in putting 558 00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:35,620 him to death, and then the hands of 559 00:28:35,620 --> 00:28:36,040 the people. 560 00:28:36,660 --> 00:28:37,880 Shall I tell you something? 561 00:28:38,940 --> 00:28:41,340 An hour ago I decided not to read 562 00:28:41,340 --> 00:28:48,670 the latter part of that scripture because, and 563 00:28:48,670 --> 00:28:51,250 I confess my weaknesses to a congregation as 564 00:28:51,250 --> 00:28:53,470 I have to confess them before the Lord, 565 00:28:54,310 --> 00:28:55,850 seem to me so harsh. 566 00:28:57,410 --> 00:28:59,570 And I like to feel that I've got 567 00:28:59,570 --> 00:29:01,830 a relatively sensitive nature. 568 00:29:01,830 --> 00:29:04,930 Is this really what God meant? 569 00:29:05,470 --> 00:29:11,150 That if someone came along and dislodged a 570 00:29:11,150 --> 00:29:15,150 person from following the principles that godly mother 571 00:29:15,150 --> 00:29:17,390 and father had given to them, they had 572 00:29:17,390 --> 00:29:19,470 to be dealt with in such a horrific 573 00:29:19,470 --> 00:29:20,570 fashion as this? 574 00:29:23,630 --> 00:29:25,310 It offended my sensitivity. 575 00:29:26,890 --> 00:29:31,170 Until just in that vestry, some minutes before, 576 00:29:33,500 --> 00:29:36,480 the word came to me that I was 577 00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:41,200 to turn to Matthew 18 and verse 5 578 00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:45,240 and 6, and pass judgment on this. 579 00:29:48,020 --> 00:29:50,900 I'll read from verse 4, Matthew 18. 580 00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:54,140 In fact, I'll read from verse 2. 581 00:29:54,900 --> 00:29:58,300 Jesus called a little child and had him 582 00:29:58,300 --> 00:30:00,800 stand among them, and he said, I tell 583 00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:02,940 you the truth, unless you change and become 584 00:30:02,940 --> 00:30:05,520 like little children, you will never enter the 585 00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:06,240 kingdom of heaven. 586 00:30:06,420 --> 00:30:09,640 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is 587 00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:11,840 the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and 588 00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:14,100 whoever welcomes a little child like this in 589 00:30:14,100 --> 00:30:15,380 my name welcomes me. 590 00:30:17,420 --> 00:30:19,660 But if anyone causes one of these little 591 00:30:19,660 --> 00:30:24,820 ones who believe in me to sin, it 592 00:30:24,820 --> 00:30:26,960 would be better for him to have a 593 00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:31,700 large millstone hung around his neck and to 594 00:30:31,700 --> 00:30:35,360 be drowned in the depths of the sea. 595 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:40,400 Woe to the world because of the things 596 00:30:40,400 --> 00:30:43,680 that cause people to sin. 597 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:49,120 Those words fell from the lips of the 598 00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:55,100 gentle Jesus, so often thought by children as 599 00:30:55,100 --> 00:30:56,200 being meek and mild. 600 00:30:58,380 --> 00:31:00,840 But the mildness of Jesus was not to 601 00:31:00,840 --> 00:31:06,120 be confused with weakness, and he recognized the 602 00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:10,820 enormity of the crime of dislodging someone from 603 00:31:10,820 --> 00:31:17,780 faith, of leading someone into sin, of leading 604 00:31:17,780 --> 00:31:20,480 them away from godly principles which have been 605 00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:22,200 built into their personality. 606 00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:27,340 And Jesus shows none of the reticence that 607 00:31:27,340 --> 00:31:31,740 I show when he looks into Deuteronomy. 608 00:31:32,620 --> 00:31:34,760 And he takes up the principle, and in 609 00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:37,800 stark language he spells it out. 610 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:41,160 Those who rob others of faith, it would 611 00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:43,880 be better that a millstone had been placed 612 00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:46,720 around their neck and they had never been 613 00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:47,100 born. 614 00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:55,180 One of the most terrible crimes, says the 615 00:31:55,180 --> 00:31:58,360 Word of God in both testaments, is for 616 00:31:58,360 --> 00:32:03,900 anyone to interfere with the carefully given instruction 617 00:32:03,900 --> 00:32:06,760 of a godly mother and father to their 618 00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:07,180 offspring. 619 00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:10,760 I wonder if you'd ever realized that before. 620 00:32:11,620 --> 00:32:13,160 You see what I mean, my friend? 621 00:32:13,260 --> 00:32:14,700 I'm in no way straining me. 622 00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:17,040 Stand up at this moment and object. 623 00:32:17,300 --> 00:32:18,240 Tell me if I'm wrong. 624 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:21,460 I'm in no way straining language when I 625 00:32:21,460 --> 00:32:24,080 say that within this book of Deuteronomy you've 626 00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:27,540 got principles, you've got gold, that will help 627 00:32:27,540 --> 00:32:31,080 you to live a much better life and 628 00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:34,400 to control your family circles in a much 629 00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:35,120 better way. 630 00:32:37,980 --> 00:32:42,060 Let's conclude this catena of scriptures, a catena 631 00:32:42,060 --> 00:32:44,420 being a selection of things that you bring 632 00:32:44,420 --> 00:32:46,040 together that I've lifted out. 633 00:32:46,140 --> 00:32:47,760 And I could have brought other scriptures to 634 00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:50,600 you, but obviously there's a limit on time. 635 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:55,380 To the 21st chapter in the 18th verse, 636 00:32:56,220 --> 00:32:59,460 and here you have again very strong language. 637 00:33:00,220 --> 00:33:02,980 This time it's referring not directly to the 638 00:33:02,980 --> 00:33:07,520 parent but to the child, the mature son 639 00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:13,940 who cuts across what his father has said, 640 00:33:15,100 --> 00:33:18,260 rides roughshod of the law of God. 641 00:33:19,180 --> 00:33:21,460 If a man has a stubborn and rebellious 642 00:33:21,460 --> 00:33:24,680 son who does not obey his father and 643 00:33:24,680 --> 00:33:27,480 mother and who will not listen to them 644 00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:30,940 when they discipline him, his father and mother 645 00:33:30,940 --> 00:33:32,820 shall take hold of him and bring him 646 00:33:32,820 --> 00:33:35,180 to the elders at the gate of his 647 00:33:35,180 --> 00:33:35,480 town. 648 00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:38,140 They shall say to the elders, this son 649 00:33:38,140 --> 00:33:39,900 of ours is stubborn and rebellious. 650 00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:41,600 He will not obey us. 651 00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:43,320 He's a propagate and a drunkard. 652 00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:45,840 Then all the men of his town shall 653 00:33:45,840 --> 00:33:46,800 stone him to death. 654 00:33:47,380 --> 00:33:49,900 You must purge the evil from among you. 655 00:33:50,560 --> 00:33:53,440 All Israel will hear of it and be 656 00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:54,060 afraid. 657 00:33:55,360 --> 00:33:59,080 Now there is no reason to believe that 658 00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:01,940 that was to be a practice which would 659 00:34:01,940 --> 00:34:06,360 be frequently employed by the Israelites in the 660 00:34:06,360 --> 00:34:07,580 days of yore. 661 00:34:09,199 --> 00:34:11,380 But when you've done all that you can 662 00:34:11,380 --> 00:34:14,219 to modify it with a sort of sophisticated 663 00:34:14,219 --> 00:34:18,000 20th century approach, this principle stands out in 664 00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:21,040 relief that it is a disgrace before God 665 00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:26,920 for a person to break his law and 666 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:32,320 for someone to blot the testimony of a 667 00:34:32,320 --> 00:34:34,260 godly family. 668 00:34:35,679 --> 00:34:38,840 So you see how all these points interlock 669 00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:42,340 together, even though discovered in the early book, 670 00:34:42,659 --> 00:34:44,860 in an early book of the Old Testament, 671 00:34:45,100 --> 00:34:50,380 to show that God is a God who 672 00:34:50,380 --> 00:34:54,739 is concerned for families, for the welfare of 673 00:34:54,739 --> 00:34:57,740 mother and father, for the welfare of their 674 00:34:57,740 --> 00:34:58,340 offspring. 675 00:34:59,700 --> 00:35:02,140 And if you take these principles that we've 676 00:35:02,140 --> 00:35:05,160 lifted from Deuteronomy and you start to apply 677 00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:07,520 them to some of the family situations that 678 00:35:07,520 --> 00:35:10,820 I enumerated a little while ago, say that 679 00:35:10,820 --> 00:35:15,560 of of Jacob, say that of, and I 680 00:35:15,560 --> 00:35:19,480 didn't quote these people, Ruth and and Boaz, 681 00:35:20,360 --> 00:35:23,180 say that of Eli and that of Samuel, 682 00:35:23,380 --> 00:35:25,580 you can work out just where they were 683 00:35:25,580 --> 00:35:27,520 successful and where they failed. 684 00:35:28,400 --> 00:35:30,080 And you can go on into the New 685 00:35:30,080 --> 00:35:32,160 Testament and you can apply some of these 686 00:35:32,160 --> 00:35:34,620 principles, say to the family circle of John 687 00:35:34,620 --> 00:35:37,880 the Baptist, or say to the family circle 688 00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:40,800 of Timothy, you remember, who had these godly 689 00:35:40,800 --> 00:35:44,060 parents and grandparents, Louis and and Eunice. 690 00:35:45,720 --> 00:35:48,660 One of the most wonderful things about the 691 00:35:48,660 --> 00:35:51,820 Word of God is that its principles remain 692 00:35:51,820 --> 00:35:54,520 constant throughout the two Testaments. 693 00:35:55,720 --> 00:35:59,840 And you can not only lift these pointers 694 00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:02,280 and apply them to the those who seem 695 00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:04,360 to be successful and those who seem to 696 00:36:04,360 --> 00:36:07,780 fail in old and New Testament times, you 697 00:36:07,780 --> 00:36:09,080 can apply them to your own heart. 698 00:36:09,820 --> 00:36:11,420 You can apply them to your own family 699 00:36:11,420 --> 00:36:11,860 circle. 700 00:36:12,600 --> 00:36:14,660 We could have spent all our time probably 701 00:36:14,660 --> 00:36:17,400 this Thursday, if we'd have had the Sunday 702 00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:21,080 night congregation, asking for testimonies along this line. 703 00:36:21,540 --> 00:36:23,340 And all the folks could perhaps have got 704 00:36:23,340 --> 00:36:25,180 up and said, yes, there as a parent 705 00:36:25,180 --> 00:36:26,040 I was strong. 706 00:36:26,180 --> 00:36:27,100 There I was weak. 707 00:36:27,300 --> 00:36:29,080 I implemented this principle. 708 00:36:29,080 --> 00:36:30,300 I did it deliberately. 709 00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:31,060 I saw it. 710 00:36:31,160 --> 00:36:31,920 I applied it. 711 00:36:32,760 --> 00:36:34,780 And this was the benefit that resulted. 712 00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:38,940 And someone else perhaps feeling honest and that 713 00:36:38,940 --> 00:36:43,180 they must confess their wrongfulness in front of 714 00:36:43,180 --> 00:36:46,100 a congregation could have said, yes, but I 715 00:36:46,100 --> 00:36:46,820 missed on this. 716 00:36:47,640 --> 00:36:51,100 And I didn't apply this particular scripture, this 717 00:36:51,100 --> 00:36:53,120 particular teaching in my family circle. 718 00:36:53,800 --> 00:36:55,600 And maybe that's one of the reasons why 719 00:36:55,600 --> 00:36:57,420 things went awry. 720 00:36:58,240 --> 00:37:01,260 I tell you, these principles, they remain constant. 721 00:37:01,860 --> 00:37:03,560 So what can I do in the last 722 00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:06,500 six or seven minutes that I've got? 723 00:37:07,080 --> 00:37:10,280 Let me try to be extremely practical, realizing 724 00:37:10,280 --> 00:37:13,860 particularly some of the groups who will receive 725 00:37:13,860 --> 00:37:17,360 this tape later on and who have families 726 00:37:17,360 --> 00:37:20,960 to look after, parents and mothers, let's say, 727 00:37:21,380 --> 00:37:24,100 mothers and fathers, let's say a word or 728 00:37:24,100 --> 00:37:26,600 two to these people as well as to 729 00:37:26,600 --> 00:37:28,820 ourselves here in the tabernacle. 730 00:37:30,500 --> 00:37:35,180 When you look into the Old Testament and 731 00:37:35,180 --> 00:37:38,940 its teaching on the Father, you are driven 732 00:37:38,940 --> 00:37:41,280 to the conclusion, which is made so very 733 00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:45,320 plain in Martin Lloyd-Jones's commentary on Ephesians 734 00:37:45,320 --> 00:37:49,240 and the we read earlier this evening, that 735 00:37:49,240 --> 00:37:52,260 in the Old Testament, it is quite clear 736 00:37:52,260 --> 00:37:54,900 that the Father was a kind of priest 737 00:37:54,900 --> 00:37:56,720 in his household and family. 738 00:37:57,260 --> 00:37:58,440 He represented God. 739 00:37:59,420 --> 00:38:02,100 He was responsible not only for the morals 740 00:38:02,100 --> 00:38:06,440 and behavior, but also the religious education of 741 00:38:06,440 --> 00:38:06,840 children. 742 00:38:07,740 --> 00:38:10,300 Now that's not too exaggerated a statement. 743 00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:12,920 In fact, it's not exaggerated one little bit. 744 00:38:13,260 --> 00:38:15,840 Moses makes it quite clear that it's not 745 00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:18,120 the rabbis, it's not the Levites, it's not 746 00:38:18,120 --> 00:38:22,000 the priests who are responsible primarily for the 747 00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:25,480 education of the Hebrew youngsters, it is their 748 00:38:25,480 --> 00:38:26,160 parents. 749 00:38:27,220 --> 00:38:29,460 I think that one of the great tragedies, 750 00:38:30,020 --> 00:38:32,040 and here I'm going to make some eyebrows 751 00:38:32,040 --> 00:38:36,100 pucker, one of the great tragedies in the 752 00:38:36,100 --> 00:38:40,800 United Kingdom is the fact, though economics are 753 00:38:40,800 --> 00:38:43,200 preventing this from happening so much these days, 754 00:38:43,840 --> 00:38:46,320 that people pack their children off to boarding 755 00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:46,720 school. 756 00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:51,020 The place for a child, all other things 757 00:38:51,020 --> 00:38:53,280 being equal, I know there are exceptions to 758 00:38:53,280 --> 00:38:55,860 the rule and qualifications have to be made, 759 00:38:55,960 --> 00:38:58,760 but in the main, on the whole, in 760 00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:01,360 general, the place for a boy or a 761 00:39:01,360 --> 00:39:03,380 girl to be is with their mum and 762 00:39:03,380 --> 00:39:03,900 their dad. 763 00:39:06,440 --> 00:39:09,640 And the most powerful educative force in the 764 00:39:09,640 --> 00:39:13,620 world is not the school, is not teacher, 765 00:39:14,200 --> 00:39:16,420 is not later on the lecturer or the 766 00:39:16,420 --> 00:39:16,960 professor. 767 00:39:17,740 --> 00:39:21,560 The person who has the greatest influence, humanly 768 00:39:21,560 --> 00:39:25,720 speaking, on a youngster is the mother and 769 00:39:25,720 --> 00:39:26,340 the father. 770 00:39:28,780 --> 00:39:31,340 And all this rubbish that we should leave 771 00:39:31,340 --> 00:39:35,740 teaching a morality and sexual behavior and religion 772 00:39:35,740 --> 00:39:37,740 and what have you to the schools or 773 00:39:37,740 --> 00:39:41,260 to the church, yes even the church, the 774 00:39:41,260 --> 00:39:45,060 absurdity that we should leave these things completely 775 00:39:45,060 --> 00:39:47,080 in the charge of someone else. 776 00:39:48,520 --> 00:39:50,380 Well, what can one say? 777 00:39:51,200 --> 00:39:53,060 It really is a nonsense. 778 00:39:54,080 --> 00:39:56,580 We are called as gods. 779 00:39:57,700 --> 00:40:02,280 Mothers, we are called before God, mother and 780 00:40:02,280 --> 00:40:10,740 father, to exercise responsibility as priests before our 781 00:40:10,740 --> 00:40:11,040 children. 782 00:40:12,200 --> 00:40:13,240 And what does that mean? 783 00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:16,840 Well, it means that we must be there 784 00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:17,700 to be consulted. 785 00:40:19,180 --> 00:40:23,600 So Moses postulates the picture of a Hebrew 786 00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:25,940 child centuries to come. 787 00:40:26,100 --> 00:40:29,680 Dad, why are we breaking this bread? 788 00:40:31,740 --> 00:40:33,400 Why are we drinking this cup? 789 00:40:34,740 --> 00:40:36,960 Why are we keeping this particular feast? 790 00:40:38,380 --> 00:40:40,240 Dad, why are we so different from the 791 00:40:40,240 --> 00:40:44,300 rest of the nations that are around Palestine? 792 00:40:46,050 --> 00:40:47,250 And dad knows. 793 00:40:48,510 --> 00:40:53,950 And he said, well, years ago, centuries ago, 794 00:40:54,940 --> 00:40:58,470 there was a great deliverance that God effected 795 00:40:58,470 --> 00:40:59,630 historically for us. 796 00:40:59,750 --> 00:41:00,870 We were a slave people. 797 00:41:01,650 --> 00:41:02,730 We had no land. 798 00:41:03,610 --> 00:41:04,850 We had no hope. 799 00:41:05,690 --> 00:41:09,410 But God came, sent as a deliverer. 800 00:41:10,230 --> 00:41:14,370 Moses opened up the Red Sea, took us 801 00:41:14,370 --> 00:41:16,950 out of the land of bondage, kept us 802 00:41:16,950 --> 00:41:21,070 miraculously during our wilderness journeyings, gave us his 803 00:41:21,070 --> 00:41:24,430 law, and brought us to his land. 804 00:41:25,350 --> 00:41:26,790 And we're remembering this. 805 00:41:27,730 --> 00:41:29,790 We're remembering the goodness of our God. 806 00:41:30,870 --> 00:41:33,450 But dad, why have we got ten commandments? 807 00:41:33,730 --> 00:41:35,110 Are we to keep them all? 808 00:41:35,890 --> 00:41:38,210 Doesn't that one about the Sabbath day seem 809 00:41:38,210 --> 00:41:39,690 to you to be a little old-fashioned 810 00:41:39,690 --> 00:41:40,310 now, dad? 811 00:41:41,830 --> 00:41:43,250 And father will say, no. 812 00:41:44,690 --> 00:41:47,030 The reason why we keep the Sabbath day 813 00:41:48,340 --> 00:41:52,080 is because the Lord, our God, has commanded 814 00:41:52,080 --> 00:41:56,700 right at the beginning of time that there 815 00:41:56,700 --> 00:42:00,600 was a day of rest, which is symbolic 816 00:42:00,600 --> 00:42:03,080 of that great eternal rest that he will 817 00:42:03,080 --> 00:42:06,920 give to our nation and all righteous people. 818 00:42:08,080 --> 00:42:10,400 And we will obey the law, our God, 819 00:42:10,480 --> 00:42:14,340 in regard to this commandment now and in 820 00:42:14,340 --> 00:42:15,500 the centuries to come. 821 00:42:17,710 --> 00:42:19,670 But you see, for the Hebrew father to 822 00:42:19,670 --> 00:42:22,770 be able to win the confidence of his 823 00:42:22,770 --> 00:42:25,410 child and answer his questions, he's got to 824 00:42:25,410 --> 00:42:26,050 be available. 825 00:42:28,490 --> 00:42:30,150 And as it was in the days of 826 00:42:30,150 --> 00:42:31,750 yore, so it is today. 827 00:42:32,090 --> 00:42:38,080 Dad, our teacher says that the whole business 828 00:42:38,080 --> 00:42:41,300 of Adam and Eve is a myth. 829 00:42:42,200 --> 00:42:43,340 He doesn't believe it. 830 00:42:43,420 --> 00:42:45,000 Dad, what do you think? 831 00:42:47,660 --> 00:42:49,420 Oh, I've got no time at the moment. 832 00:42:49,540 --> 00:42:50,280 Go and ask your mom. 833 00:42:52,180 --> 00:42:53,140 Go and ask the pastor. 834 00:42:53,140 --> 00:42:56,560 Go and ask your Sunday school teacher. 835 00:42:58,000 --> 00:42:58,720 Not a bit. 836 00:43:01,410 --> 00:43:05,970 The priest, the loving father, he's had his 837 00:43:05,970 --> 00:43:10,050 eye and his heart on and in the 838 00:43:10,050 --> 00:43:11,390 word of God all his life. 839 00:43:11,570 --> 00:43:14,250 He may not be an expert, but little 840 00:43:14,250 --> 00:43:15,370 Johnny doesn't want an expert. 841 00:43:15,490 --> 00:43:16,950 He wants somebody he can talk to. 842 00:43:18,150 --> 00:43:19,870 Dad may not know anything about the second 843 00:43:19,870 --> 00:43:22,450 law, thermodynamics, and all the problems that the 844 00:43:22,450 --> 00:43:26,190 physicists sometimes bring up and relate to the 845 00:43:26,190 --> 00:43:29,490 opening chapters of Genesis, but Johnny wants to 846 00:43:29,490 --> 00:43:32,810 know what dad's got to say and why 847 00:43:32,810 --> 00:43:33,790 dad believes it. 848 00:43:34,870 --> 00:43:36,870 And Johnny's got more confidence in his dad 849 00:43:36,870 --> 00:43:38,890 because he's got a love affection for him, 850 00:43:39,350 --> 00:43:41,270 not just a respect that he may have 851 00:43:41,270 --> 00:43:41,750 for a teacher. 852 00:43:41,930 --> 00:43:43,550 He's got a deep love for his dad, 853 00:43:44,190 --> 00:43:46,470 and he listens to what father says. 854 00:43:46,970 --> 00:43:48,710 And it may well be in the years 855 00:43:48,710 --> 00:43:51,030 to come that he'll develop a greater maturity, 856 00:43:51,390 --> 00:43:55,350 a greater intellect than his father, but nonetheless 857 00:43:55,350 --> 00:43:57,330 he'll still be glad that it was his 858 00:43:57,330 --> 00:44:00,910 father who first of all started to answer 859 00:44:00,910 --> 00:44:04,010 his questions and didn't bob him off and 860 00:44:04,010 --> 00:44:05,570 push him on one side. 861 00:44:13,170 --> 00:44:15,810 And those who couldn't be present, and we 862 00:44:15,810 --> 00:44:17,670 just ask your blessing to be upon them. 863 00:44:18,250 --> 00:44:20,430 We pray for fathers and mothers and for 864 00:44:21,410 --> 00:44:23,990 their sons and daughters, and we just ask 865 00:44:23,990 --> 00:44:25,370 for household salvation. 866 00:44:25,770 --> 00:44:27,770 We realize, Lord, some of us who've never 867 00:44:27,770 --> 00:44:30,010 had the privilege of bringing up our own 868 00:44:30,010 --> 00:44:33,230 children, that maybe it's not quite as easy 869 00:44:33,230 --> 00:44:37,150 as somehow, sometimes, some of us may think 870 00:44:37,150 --> 00:44:37,850 and feel. 871 00:44:38,650 --> 00:44:42,690 But in those vexed problems, in those compounded 872 00:44:42,690 --> 00:44:47,930 issues of these complex 20th century times, we 873 00:44:47,930 --> 00:44:50,710 ask that you will give fathers and mothers 874 00:44:50,710 --> 00:44:52,330 a wisdom which comes from above. 875 00:44:53,110 --> 00:44:56,330 We ask for that rapport which will stay 876 00:44:56,330 --> 00:45:01,350 them in good, in a good situation during 877 00:45:01,350 --> 00:45:03,330 all the difficult times. 878 00:45:03,750 --> 00:45:05,450 We ask, O Lord, that there shall be 879 00:45:05,450 --> 00:45:08,510 that honor on one side and that respect 880 00:45:08,510 --> 00:45:11,170 on the other, and we pray that the 881 00:45:11,170 --> 00:45:15,170 Heavenly Father himself may preside over our family 882 00:45:15,170 --> 00:45:18,130 circles so that youngsters may be brought up 883 00:45:18,130 --> 00:45:20,290 in the fear and admonition of the Lord, 884 00:45:20,830 --> 00:45:24,410 eventually to put their wholehearted confidence in the 885 00:45:24,410 --> 00:45:27,090 God and Father of their own parents. 886 00:45:27,650 --> 00:45:29,490 And this we ask for Jesus' sake. 887 00:45:29,970 --> 00:45:30,290 Amen.