WEBVTT 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:12.800 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:24.559 --> 00:00:27.359 We're going to be in Deuteronomy chapter 6 this morning. 00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:31.440 So if you wouldn't mind turning in your Bibles there, my name is Jeremy. 00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:34.000 I'm the pastor of Student and Family Ministries. 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:35.600 We want to welcome you if you're a guest. 00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:39.119 It is so good to be with you worshiping together. 00:00:40.479 --> 00:00:45.119 We're in the middle of a little short sermon series on Deuteronomy. 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:53.439 Pastor Jason set us up for Deuteronomy 6 this morning, and then Webb's going to uh to close us out in Deuteronomy 8 next week. 00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:55.119 So really looking forward to that. 00:00:55.439 --> 00:01:03.280 As you're turning in your Bibles to Deuteronomy 6, I just want to ask you if you can remember what you had for breakfast this morning. 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:05.680 That's fairly easy, right? 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:08.879 What about this? 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:14.640 Who was the first person that greeted you as you walked into the church this morning? 00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:21.040 It might be just as easy, or maybe you're trying to remember because you saw a number of people all at the same time. 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:21.920 How about this? 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:23.599 Let's go back to yesterday. 00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:25.760 What'd you have for lunch yesterday? 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:28.239 Yeah, I I I can't remember. 00:01:28.400 --> 00:01:32.799 Uh honestly, that's pretty pathetic, but that I can't remember what I had for lunch. 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:34.719 Kids, do you know remember what I had for lunch? 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:36.239 Okay, what'd I have? 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:38.239 Pizza Ranch. 00:01:38.319 --> 00:01:40.319 Who could forget Pizza Ranch? 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:44.000 And all the goodness it does to you afterwards. 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:51.840 What was the last thing someone said to you before you went to bed last night? 00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:55.519 What was the last thing someone said to you before you went to bed last night? 00:01:55.680 --> 00:01:56.480 Do you remember? 00:01:57.120 --> 00:01:58.400 Uh let's do this. 00:01:58.480 --> 00:01:59.920 Let's go back three days. 00:02:00.159 --> 00:02:01.200 Three days ago. 00:02:01.519 --> 00:02:02.959 What were you wearing? 00:02:03.840 --> 00:02:04.480 What were you wearing? 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:06.079 What were you what were you dressed in? 00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:09.199 Who did you talk to and what did you talk about? 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:11.840 Let's go back two weeks. 00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:14.879 Two weeks from today. 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:19.039 What was the first song that we sang in worship? 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:23.439 There's going to be a test as you leave this morning. 00:02:24.879 --> 00:02:29.840 What was the biblical text that we we studied and that was preached on? 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:31.680 And what was it about? 00:02:32.560 --> 00:02:40.080 If we keep going farther and farther and farther back, we we realize our memories get fuzzier and fuzzier and dimmer and dimmer. 00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:45.439 That's because we just as people have this knack for forgetting. 00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:59.280 For instance, I I have this, probably not rare, but it's a medical condition that causes me to forget everything my wife asks me to get at the grocery store as soon as I park and walk through the doors. 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:06.080 Like before I leave, she's going through, she's sitting there, okay, look at me in the eyes, okay, focus. 00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:08.159 I need, and then she'll go off the list. 00:03:08.240 --> 00:03:09.840 And a lot of times it's not even a long list. 00:03:09.919 --> 00:03:15.840 It's not like an overwhelming list, it's just like a few things, like three or four things, butter, ice cream, lettuce, whatever. 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:18.240 And I'm sitting there, okay, okay, got it, got it. 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:29.919 I get in the car, and Hugo's is only five minutes away, so it's not like, you know, I've had a long time for my mind to wander, but as soon as I park and walk through the doors, I fear just creeps my heart, and I'm like, why on earth am I here? 00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:33.199 So I'm calling or texting her, what did you want me to get? 00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:36.479 And she's so patient with me and all that. 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:38.560 How good is your memory? 00:03:39.039 --> 00:03:41.759 Do you ever walk into a room and forget while you're there? 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:48.400 We memorize things in schools for tests, but we soon forget them afterwards. 00:03:48.960 --> 00:03:51.919 We just have an amazing propensity to forget things. 00:03:52.080 --> 00:04:00.800 And with the amount of information that demands our attention on a regular basis, we are struggling to retain information and have an increasingly short attention span. 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:02.879 This is according to the New York Times. 00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:04.080 So take it for what it's worth. 00:04:04.159 --> 00:04:13.120 But according to the New York Times, the average attention span for the notoriously ill-focused goldfish is nine seconds. 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:13.680 That's right. 00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:15.120 You learned something new this morning. 00:04:15.280 --> 00:04:17.600 Goldfish have an attention span of nine seconds. 00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:18.240 You're welcome. 00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:19.600 That one's free. 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:27.360 But according to a new study from Microsoft Corporation, people now generally lose concentration in eight seconds. 00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:28.399 Eight seconds. 00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:38.000 That's if you're doing the math there and drawing conclusions, you are you're correct to conclude that on average we have a shorter attention span than a goldfish. 00:04:38.639 --> 00:04:40.160 That's frightening. 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:46.639 It highlights the effects of increasingly digitalized lifestyles on the brain. 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:59.759 Researchers just looked at it from about the time when the mobile revolution began, about 2000, and the average attention span has dropped from 12 seconds now to about eight seconds. 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:03.839 Our propensity as people to forget is not new. 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:14.959 You might think, well, this is a result of technology and having so many screens and platforms demanding our attention, but forgetfulness is an ancient problem. 00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:17.040 It's not something that's new. 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:21.600 Consider with me for a moment the people of Israel, God's chosen people. 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:28.639 In Judges chapter 3, verse 7, it says, And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:34.000 They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. 00:05:34.720 --> 00:05:40.639 1 Samuel chapter 12, verse 8 through 9, Samuel's recounting the history of Israel to them. 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:47.439 And he says, When Jacob went into Egypt, that's a reference to Jacob and his whole family, and the Egyptians oppressed them. 00:05:47.680 --> 00:06:00.560 Then your fathers cried out to the Lord, and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place, that this place in this text is the promised land. 00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:17.920 So God did all of that, but then he goes on, but they forgot the Lord their God, and he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. 00:06:18.079 --> 00:06:28.560 Jeremiah chapter 23, verse 26 through 27, a little bit later on in Israel's history, Jeremiah the prophet says this on speaking as God's mouthpiece. 00:06:28.720 --> 00:06:34.879 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart? 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:47.360 He's addressing present-day false prophets, attempting to lead the people of God astray, who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another. 00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:56.480 Now you might come to a conclusion that that was a modern day issue and problem in that time, but he connects it to the past. 00:06:56.639 --> 00:07:01.360 He says, Even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal. 00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:05.120 Hosea chapter 2, verse 13. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:15.519 When God is bringing his chief indictment against the people of Israel, he says, This, I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals. 00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:30.079 That's a false God that the people of Israel chose to worship, when she burned offerings to them and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers and forgot me, declares the Lord. 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:47.839 Putting this into perspective of where we're at in Deuteronomy, it seems pretty abundantly clear as to why God is so incredibly repetitive with telling his people to remember, to do, repeat, obey. 00:07:48.160 --> 00:07:57.839 He says it over and over and over because his people have a knack for forgetting even what matters most. 00:07:58.079 --> 00:08:04.240 Last week, Pastor Jason wrapped up his message on uh Deuteronomy chapters uh four and five. 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:13.279 The last point he made on remembering God's word was that God, remembering God's word requires attention, careful attention. 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:16.160 And that's what we're gonna pick up in Deuteronomy 6. 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:22.720 Remembering God's word requires attention, especially as it relates to passing it down to the next generation. 00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:25.279 And that's where we're going to be this morning. 00:08:25.439 --> 00:08:29.199 That's gonna be the main thrust and focus of this morning's message. 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:35.440 When a new generation begins to come to maturity, they don't just stumble upon the knowledge of God. 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:38.159 They don't just happen to come across it. 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:45.200 It must be intentionally handed down from one generation to another. 00:08:47.440 --> 00:08:48.480 That's going to be our focus. 00:08:48.559 --> 00:09:03.759 Now, before we dive in, before we begin our journey here this morning, our feast in God's Word, I want to just provide a little caveat here this morning that a lot of what I'm going to say this morning has to do with families. 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:06.960 It applies very easily to families. 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:10.080 In fact, I'm going to speak a lot to parents this morning. 00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:24.080 But I don't want you to get the impression that if you are not a person with children in your home, if you are a single person, unmarried, or maybe you just don't have kids, that somehow, some way this doesn't apply to you. 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:31.919 I would argue that it absolutely applies to every single person in this room if you are part of this community of faith. 00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:43.519 If we look at the context in which Moses is given this address, he doesn't just call all the parents and families together for a little familial pep talk. 00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:47.600 He doesn't just address the parents in the congregation. 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:50.879 He gets everyone together. 00:09:51.519 --> 00:10:02.320 And my belief, my conviction is that Moses knows it doesn't just require good, faithful parents to transmit God's word to the next generation, although that's a key part of it. 00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:13.120 It requires the intentional participation of an entire community to pass God's words from one generation to the next. 00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:16.480 You're fooling yourself if you think you don't have a part in this. 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:29.440 If I could just speak personally, I have benefited from both men and women, singles and married, who have invested personally in my own children. 00:10:29.919 --> 00:10:48.000 My children have grown in their love for God because of people who may or may not have children willing to say, I'm going to take on this task and I'm going to come alongside you and partner with you in this and make it my priority to teach your kids about God's word. 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:58.399 So that not only is dad and mom teaching this at home, but now we have people in church building trust with our kids, reinforcing the exact same thing. 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:00.879 It requires an entire community. 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:04.720 I want to ask you and invite you, get on board with this. 00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:10.320 The next generation is not going to stumble upon it, and we can't just say, parents, it's your problem. 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:13.600 All of us need to be together in this. 00:11:13.759 --> 00:11:15.679 This is a team sport. 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:17.679 No one sits on the sidelines. 00:11:17.759 --> 00:11:20.240 There's no JV team in this church. 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:24.240 Everyone is on varsity and everyone is in the game. 00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:34.720 So, with that said, I want us to take note of how Moses sets up the command of passing down God's words from one generation to the other. 00:11:35.200 --> 00:11:38.480 Typically, verses four through nine are the how-tos. 00:11:38.879 --> 00:11:45.840 We look at those in the in the uh Shema, um, and it gives us a lot of, here's how to go about doing it. 00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:57.200 But a lot of times we skip over a very important section in Deuteronomy 6 that is incredibly helpful for us understanding what it is that's being passed on to the next generation. 00:11:57.360 --> 00:11:59.360 Look at verses 1 through 3 with me. 00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:04.879 We see first that there is a blessing for the next generation. 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:06.320 Verse 1. 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:29.440 Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the rules that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son, and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:42.639 Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord the God of your fathers has promised you in a land flowing with milk and honey. 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:46.159 Notice the command given to obey. 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:49.279 It's given with the end in mind. 00:12:50.240 --> 00:12:57.440 He tells them to obey through the lens that there is a promised land on the other side of obedience. 00:12:58.159 --> 00:13:00.639 He says that you may do them. 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:07.279 Listen to my words, follow my rules and statutes, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over to possess it. 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:10.159 And then in verse 2, that you may fear the Lord your God. 00:13:10.320 --> 00:13:19.279 Those might not seem like blessings in and of themselves, but this is the blessing of keeping in God's covenant, of God's promises. 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:25.759 He says, do them so that we will have a right relationship in the land that you're going to. 00:13:25.919 --> 00:13:30.320 But then look at verse 2, that your days may be long. 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:34.320 Verse 3, that it may go well with you. 00:13:35.200 --> 00:13:42.000 Again in verse 3, that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey. 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:48.960 There's an intricate connection between blessings of God and obedience to the words of God. 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:54.080 Obeying God's words leads to God's blessing for God's covenant people in the Old Testament. 00:13:54.240 --> 00:13:57.200 It was the heart of the covenant between God and his people. 00:13:57.440 --> 00:14:04.240 If you obey my words, obey my voice, do what I tell you to do, I will be your God, you will be my people. 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:06.559 No nation on earth can stand against you. 00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:14.399 You will have more than enough to provide for your family, you will multiply greatly, and you will be a great and mighty people on the earth. 00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:18.000 That was the promise to God's old covenant people. 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:21.200 We even see it again in verses 10 through 15. 00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:50.240 He says, When the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob to give you with great and good cities that you didn't build, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant, and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 00:14:51.279 --> 00:14:52.320 The promise is there. 00:14:52.480 --> 00:14:55.600 And notice in verse 10 he says, And when the Lord your God. 00:14:55.759 --> 00:15:02.480 So it's not a matter of if God is going to fulfill his end of the deal, it's as if it's going to happen. 00:15:02.799 --> 00:15:05.519 This is a blessing that will take place. 00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:08.639 It's not a disputable matter here. 00:15:09.039 --> 00:15:10.320 He will fulfill it. 00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:18.159 And then also notice that God is going to provide things that don't happen by the work of his people. 00:15:18.480 --> 00:15:24.000 Again, with great and good cities, he's going to give them that they did not build. 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:29.440 Houses full of all good things that they did not fill. 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:33.039 Cisterns they didn't dig, vineyards they didn't plant. 00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:43.360 They're going to inherit a land where they will be blessed, multiplied, and prosper, and God is the one behind it all. 00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:50.080 They don't even need to lift a finger to begin to plant things or to build houses. 00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:54.159 But with blessing comes a warning. 00:15:54.960 --> 00:15:56.720 There's a warning here also. 00:15:57.679 --> 00:16:06.000 Verse 12 through 15 we see, take care lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:11.759 Verse 13 it is the Lord your God you shall fear, him you shall serve, and by his name you shall swear. 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:17.440 You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you. 00:16:17.679 --> 00:16:27.039 For the Lord your God in your midst is a jealous God, meaning he is desirous of his people, the people who bear his name. 00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:28.720 He is a jealous God. 00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:34.799 Lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you and he destroy you from the face of the earth. 00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:42.399 We have here the promise of both blessing and its opposite, curse, destruction. 00:16:43.279 --> 00:16:48.639 God isn't casual with regards to who or what his people worship. 00:16:48.879 --> 00:16:56.639 Forgetfulness of God will lead to idolatry and abandonment of the God who ultimately wants to bless his people. 00:16:57.039 --> 00:16:59.039 That's God's desire here. 00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:02.639 Otherwise, he wouldn't have given them the warning of forgetting. 00:17:02.960 --> 00:17:09.440 God's desire for his people is that they would flourish under his lordship. 00:17:10.880 --> 00:17:13.279 So what blessings do you and I have? 00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:16.240 What blessings has God promised you and I? 00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:19.920 He is He's not promised me any land. 00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:27.200 I can't just assume God's going to give me a house full of stuff, full of stuff I didn't fill it with. 00:17:27.440 --> 00:17:29.200 I believe that's called breaking and entering. 00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:39.839 These promises are for God's old covenant people, but God promises something far greater for his new covenant people. 00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:41.359 For his church. 00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:53.440 As God's new covenant people, we have access to blessings that transcend any kind of physical blessing, such as land or wealth, or length of days. 00:17:53.599 --> 00:17:57.519 It's far greater, far better than any of that. 00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:04.000 You and I, if we are in Christ, we have a whole different level of blessings that can't be touched. 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:08.880 Because they are blessings that the apostle Paul says are in the heavenly places. 00:18:09.039 --> 00:18:15.359 Take your finger, put it there, plant it in Deuteronomy 6, flip with me over to Ephesians chapter 1. 00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:31.839 This is going to be a mouthful, but follow with me if you will. 00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:35.039 Ephesians chapter 1, starting in verse 3. 00:18:35.200 --> 00:18:48.079 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:55.440 Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. 00:18:56.000 --> 00:19:06.559 In love, he predestined us for adoption as sons through Christ Jesus, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved. 00:19:07.519 --> 00:19:32.799 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:34.640 Stay with me, verse eleven. 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:49.440 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 00:19:50.000 --> 00:20:06.640 In him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance, until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory. 00:20:06.799 --> 00:20:09.440 Are you following with everything that Paul just said? 00:20:09.920 --> 00:20:10.240 Okay. 00:20:10.640 --> 00:20:12.000 If not, it's cool. 00:20:12.079 --> 00:20:14.079 I'm going to summarize it, okay? 00:20:14.480 --> 00:20:25.039 Starting in verse 3, we have the assurance by Paul himself that Christ Himself has given us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:30.160 If you're one to write in your Bible, underline that word, every spiritual blessing. 00:20:30.559 --> 00:20:32.079 There's no exception to it. 00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:34.240 There's nothing God is holding back. 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:37.440 Every spiritual blessing has been given to us. 00:20:38.160 --> 00:20:39.279 What are these blessings? 00:20:39.440 --> 00:20:44.400 According to Ephesians 1, we have the blessing of having been chosen by God. 00:20:44.559 --> 00:20:45.839 That's verse 4. 00:20:46.240 --> 00:20:48.079 We have the blessing of holiness. 00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:49.440 That's also verse 4. 00:20:49.519 --> 00:20:52.000 The blessing of adoption, verse 5. 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:56.160 The blessing of grace, receiving something you don't deserve. 00:20:56.319 --> 00:20:57.440 That's verse 6. 00:20:57.599 --> 00:21:02.319 We have the blessing of redemption, having been purchased by God. 00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:03.680 That's verse 7. 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:06.319 The blessing of forgiveness. 00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:11.759 If there's one thing you and I need most, it is the forgiveness of our sins. 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:20.240 That is a blessing given to us, both past, present, future sins, forgiven in Christ. 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:23.759 We have the blessing of knowing God's will, verse 9. 00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:27.839 No longer wandering around about life, wondering, what does God want for me? 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:32.160 We can know God's will definitively, according to what Paul says. 00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:34.559 That's in verse 9. 00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:41.599 The blessing of reconciliation, being made right with God, being brought back into a right relationship with Him. 00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:42.960 That's verse 10. 00:21:43.200 --> 00:21:46.319 We have the blessing of an inheritance in heaven. 00:21:46.559 --> 00:21:48.160 That's verse 11. 00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:50.640 We have the blessing of salvation. 00:21:50.799 --> 00:21:51.680 That's verse 13. 00:21:51.920 --> 00:21:59.759 And then to top it all off, we have the blessing of the Holy Spirit in our lives who guarantees. 00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:03.599 The inheritance that we have in heaven. 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:05.119 That's verse 14. 00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:07.839 And there's much more that we can dig in there. 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:12.240 Do you see the blessings that we have in Christ? 00:22:12.480 --> 00:22:14.079 And connecting that to what? 00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:18.880 If we go back to Deuteronomy 6, connecting that to what we are passing down. 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:22.480 We are not merely passing down arbitrary rules. 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:25.599 We are not passing down mere religion. 00:22:26.720 --> 00:22:30.160 We are not trying to crank out good moral children. 00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:40.319 Inherent with passing down God's word to the next generation includes passing down the blessings that come along with it. 00:22:41.279 --> 00:22:47.519 The blessings you and I have in Christ are far greater than the people of Israel have in a promised land. 00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:50.559 We have a far greater promised land that cannot be touched. 00:22:50.640 --> 00:22:52.480 It is not threatened by other nations. 00:22:52.720 --> 00:22:54.720 It cannot be removed from you. 00:22:55.119 --> 00:22:57.680 It was purchased by Christ for you. 00:22:57.839 --> 00:23:00.400 No longer do you have to try and earn obedience. 00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:07.119 Christ was obedient for you, and he seals you now with the Holy Spirit, guaranteeing that it's yours. 00:23:07.839 --> 00:23:14.480 These are the blessings that we have to pass down to the next generation. 00:23:16.240 --> 00:23:21.359 We have also the opportunity to pass down curse. 00:23:25.680 --> 00:23:30.079 That's verse 12 through 15, forgetting God. 00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:45.279 And when we forget God and let our kids, let the next generation wander into idolatry, we are passing down not blessing, but rather judgment on our own children. 00:23:45.920 --> 00:23:48.240 Judgment on the next generation. 00:23:49.119 --> 00:23:54.160 My encouragement for you, church, here this morning in saying all this is simply this. 00:23:54.319 --> 00:23:59.200 Deuteronomy chapter 30, verse 19, Moses summarizes everything he's saying. 00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:04.160 He says, Life and death are before you, blessing and curse. 00:24:04.799 --> 00:24:08.640 Therefore, this morning, church, therefore, choose life. 00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:10.880 Choose blessing for our children. 00:24:11.119 --> 00:24:13.440 Choose blessing for the next generation. 00:24:14.240 --> 00:24:18.240 Choose the eternal life that Christ has secured for them. 00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:21.599 Let that be what we hand down to them. 00:24:23.920 --> 00:24:25.039 Not curse. 00:24:25.920 --> 00:24:27.920 Those are the stakes at hand. 00:24:28.960 --> 00:24:34.640 And with that being said, we want to pass down blessing to our children. 00:24:34.720 --> 00:24:37.759 Let's turn our attention as to how we go about doing that. 00:24:38.079 --> 00:24:42.640 How do we pass blessings down from one generation to another? 00:24:42.880 --> 00:24:49.039 How do we pass the blessings that Christ has secured for us down to our children? 00:24:49.599 --> 00:24:52.000 And we see the transmission to the next generation. 00:24:52.079 --> 00:24:55.200 That's verses four through nine back in Deuteronomy 6. 00:24:55.440 --> 00:24:59.359 Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:06.480 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. 00:25:06.799 --> 00:25:09.920 And these words that I command to you today shall be on your heart. 00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:23.519 You shall teach them diligently to your children, 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, you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 00:25:23.680 --> 00:25:27.680 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. 00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:38.799 In Hebrew, it it's it's pronounced Shema. 00:25:39.119 --> 00:25:45.759 And in fact, this passage of Scripture is called the Shema, which just simply means to listen, to hear. 00:25:46.160 --> 00:25:49.279 This is the thesis statement of the Old Testament. 00:25:49.440 --> 00:25:56.720 It is quoted by Jesus himself in Mark chapter 12 when he is questioned what is the greatest commandment in all the Bible? 00:25:56.880 --> 00:26:02.480 Jesus points to this text and quotes it verbatim, verse 4 and 5. 00:26:02.720 --> 00:26:05.519 Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 00:26:05.680 --> 00:26:10.559 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 00:26:10.880 --> 00:26:16.480 It's easy to understand why that would be the greatest command in all of Scripture. 00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:27.359 But it's also the starting point for families when it comes to passing down God's words to our children, to the next generation. 00:26:27.839 --> 00:26:29.279 Look again at it. 00:26:29.519 --> 00:26:32.480 It identifies, Here, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 00:26:32.720 --> 00:26:37.759 We are identifying ourselves with God, but not just identifying ourselves with Him. 00:26:38.079 --> 00:26:44.880 Verse 5 says, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. 00:26:45.119 --> 00:26:51.920 And not just loving God, but these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 00:26:52.960 --> 00:27:02.000 I believe the reason that Moses structures this passage in this way is that you cannot pass on what you yourself do not possess. 00:27:02.559 --> 00:27:11.440 You cannot give love of God to the next generation, to your children, if you yourself do not have a love for God. 00:27:11.759 --> 00:27:18.880 You cannot try and impress the words of God on your children's hearts if it's not first written on your own. 00:27:19.599 --> 00:27:22.000 You can't pass down what you don't possess. 00:27:22.079 --> 00:27:24.880 You're pouring from an empty cup. 00:27:28.079 --> 00:27:30.960 Just ask a really honest and painful question. 00:27:31.519 --> 00:27:35.279 Question of application that this text seems to beg. 00:27:36.160 --> 00:27:41.039 Is your love for God evident to your family or is it assumed? 00:27:41.920 --> 00:27:45.200 Are you just assuming people see your love for God? 00:27:45.359 --> 00:27:49.279 Or are you living it out visibly in front of your kids? 00:27:50.079 --> 00:27:57.680 Is your life characterized as one that is consumed with and driven by the Word of God, or is it consumed and driven by something else? 00:28:00.160 --> 00:28:05.279 Your children's values are going to be shaped by your values. 00:28:06.079 --> 00:28:15.119 And if you do not value God above all else, that is going to then be passed on to our children. 00:28:16.559 --> 00:28:23.200 The reality of God's love in your life will have a profound impact of the reality of God's love in your children's lives. 00:28:23.519 --> 00:28:33.599 It has to start with you, parents, mom and dad, I'm talking to you because what follows in verses six through nine is the application of verses four through five. 00:28:33.839 --> 00:28:39.519 You can't do verses six through nine teaching them in your house when you rise, when you say, all that stuff. 00:28:39.599 --> 00:28:43.279 You can't do that if it's not verses four and five first. 00:28:44.400 --> 00:28:51.359 Now, if that just grips you and you feel a little bit hopeless because your love of God is feeling weary. 00:28:52.720 --> 00:28:58.559 Or maybe your life is not defined and categorized as one that is driven by the word of God. 00:28:58.799 --> 00:29:02.480 I have wonderful news for you this morning. 00:29:03.039 --> 00:29:07.920 News in the form of Ezekiel chapter 36, verse 26 through 27. 00:29:08.079 --> 00:29:16.640 The prophet Ezekiel speaking on God's behalf, prophesying of a day where God is going to make a new covenant with his people. 00:29:16.880 --> 00:29:22.480 And he says this, that in that day, I will give you a new heart. 00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:25.519 And a new spirit I will put within you. 00:29:25.680 --> 00:29:27.519 Notice who's doing the work here. 00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:31.519 It is not God's people who are getting the heart and putting it in themselves. 00:29:31.680 --> 00:29:34.799 It's not trying to obtain God's spirit and put it within themselves. 00:29:34.960 --> 00:29:37.839 God says, I will give you a new heart. 00:29:38.160 --> 00:29:40.000 I will give you a new spirit. 00:29:40.319 --> 00:29:53.759 I will put it in you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey all my rules. 00:29:54.400 --> 00:30:01.680 This prophecy given hundreds and hundreds of years before Jesus Christ came, Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of this. 00:30:02.000 --> 00:30:24.240 Because Jesus Christ took on your stony, rebellious heart, and he placed it upon his broad shoulders, and in exchange gave you a heart that is capable of obeying God, of loving God, a heart with God's own words written on it. 00:30:24.640 --> 00:30:30.480 If your love for God is lacking, the solution is not try harder. 00:30:31.839 --> 00:30:37.279 You can't really command and try to love God. 00:30:38.319 --> 00:30:40.720 It's something that needs to be done to you. 00:30:42.400 --> 00:30:46.640 And if that's where you're at, trust in the one who provides it. 00:30:47.599 --> 00:30:48.880 Trust in Christ. 00:30:49.599 --> 00:30:56.079 Okay, if you're feeling weary in your love for God, it's not a try harder, it's a trust in Christ. 00:30:56.640 --> 00:31:06.079 Only Christ can give you the heart required to do verses six through nine to pass on God's love and God's words to the next generation. 00:31:06.240 --> 00:31:09.759 Only Christ can set you up for success in that way. 00:31:09.920 --> 00:31:15.440 And so you can't simply try harder and try and be more obedient. 00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:25.599 The solution here is to fall at the feet of Christ and just beg for Him, for His forgiveness, for His grace, and for His mercy. 00:31:27.680 --> 00:31:30.160 God says, I will do this for you. 00:31:30.720 --> 00:31:36.799 So then, if Christ can give us the heart we need to pass on God's words to the next generation, then what does it look like? 00:31:36.960 --> 00:31:39.599 Let's look again at verses six through nine. 00:31:40.559 --> 00:31:46.880 We need the heart first and foremost, but then it overflows into family life. 00:31:47.119 --> 00:31:48.880 Verses six through nine. 00:31:49.359 --> 00:31:53.359 These commands are these words that I command to you today shall be on your heart. 00:31:53.519 --> 00:31:54.559 Sorry, verse seven. 00:31:54.799 --> 00:32:06.720 You shall teach them diligently to your children, 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, you shall bind them as a sign on your hand. 00:32:06.880 --> 00:32:08.799 They shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 00:32:08.880 --> 00:32:12.960 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. 00:32:13.200 --> 00:32:22.079 What is described here is a home that puts the Word of God as its sole priority. 00:32:22.559 --> 00:32:24.319 The sole priority. 00:32:24.799 --> 00:32:31.680 It's so prioritized that when you uh when you walk, you talk about them. 00:32:31.920 --> 00:32:34.480 When you sit, you're talking about them. 00:32:35.359 --> 00:32:37.440 When you eat, you talk about them. 00:32:37.680 --> 00:32:42.720 They so define you in your house that they are they are as symbols on your hands. 00:32:42.880 --> 00:32:45.759 Everything you do is driven by the word of God. 00:32:45.839 --> 00:32:50.240 It's like frontlets on your eyes, it's it's the lens through which you see all of life. 00:32:50.400 --> 00:32:56.000 It's the it's written on your doorposts, it's the very defining feature of your home. 00:32:57.519 --> 00:33:01.359 If I could just have a quick word, parents. 00:33:03.359 --> 00:33:10.480 God's word given to your children is the biggest priority of your life. 00:33:12.079 --> 00:33:15.119 If you don't catch what I'm saying, let me say it this way. 00:33:15.839 --> 00:33:18.720 God doesn't care what their GPA is when they get to heaven. 00:33:20.319 --> 00:33:23.039 He doesn't care what sports they do or don't play. 00:33:23.680 --> 00:33:27.119 He doesn't care what college they go to, he doesn't even care if they go to college. 00:33:29.039 --> 00:33:35.839 The priority for God's people is God's words passed down. 00:33:38.079 --> 00:33:40.160 That frees us, friends. 00:33:40.799 --> 00:33:47.920 That relieves us of trying to get our kids to do everything I want because you are not the most important person in your house. 00:33:48.079 --> 00:33:51.599 You are not, your preferences are not the ultimate value of your house. 00:33:51.680 --> 00:33:55.039 The ultimate value of your home ought to be God's words. 00:33:58.000 --> 00:34:01.759 We we don't need what the world worships. 00:34:02.640 --> 00:34:04.880 We need worship of God. 00:34:05.359 --> 00:34:11.280 We get worship of God by teaching these diligently to our home to our kids. 00:34:11.679 --> 00:34:14.000 And that's that's a big aspect of that. 00:34:14.159 --> 00:34:15.519 Teaching diligently. 00:34:16.639 --> 00:34:19.599 It communicates intentionality in the home. 00:34:19.840 --> 00:34:21.920 These aren't things that are accidentally done. 00:34:22.000 --> 00:34:25.199 They are they are incredibly relational. 00:34:26.239 --> 00:34:31.840 It is habitual, it is constant, unceasing. 00:34:32.800 --> 00:34:34.320 It's a regular habit. 00:34:34.400 --> 00:34:38.079 It is part of the rhythm of what your family does. 00:34:38.639 --> 00:34:41.360 It doesn't need to be formal instruction either. 00:34:41.760 --> 00:34:44.239 You know, there's more than one way that you learn. 00:34:44.400 --> 00:34:46.639 And there's more than one way your children learn. 00:34:46.880 --> 00:34:52.719 They do learn through formal instruction by you sitting down, opening up God's word, and teaching your children. 00:34:52.800 --> 00:34:53.599 They learn that way. 00:34:53.679 --> 00:34:59.920 But sometimes the first sermon that your children will hear and remember is the sermon of your life lived out. 00:35:01.440 --> 00:35:08.960 Teaching your children is not always, okay, kids, we're going to sit down and for three hours we're going to read through the book and you're going to enjoy it, okay? 00:35:09.199 --> 00:35:09.599 All right? 00:35:09.760 --> 00:35:12.079 Don't you yawn, little Jimmy, okay? 00:35:12.320 --> 00:35:14.079 You stay awake, stay with me, okay? 00:35:14.159 --> 00:35:15.840 That's not always what we do. 00:35:16.239 --> 00:35:21.119 Sometimes, sometimes it's it's taking advantage of moments. 00:35:21.920 --> 00:35:23.920 I have a confession for you. 00:35:24.000 --> 00:35:33.920 I as I'm as I'm preparing for this sermon, I had something happen to me, to me, that I was just convicted of. 00:35:34.000 --> 00:35:35.280 And it happens a lot. 00:35:35.519 --> 00:35:42.000 So winter came and just destroyed all the plant life that I had around my house, except for the grass. 00:35:42.159 --> 00:35:44.239 Grass is green, oddly enough. 00:35:44.480 --> 00:35:47.760 In Colorado, it all turns brown until April. 00:35:48.880 --> 00:35:55.679 But I'm out there cutting away all the gross-looking dead leaves that are on my on my on the plants that grow out. 00:35:55.760 --> 00:35:58.079 I don't even know what they're called because I'm not the gardening type. 00:35:58.159 --> 00:36:00.559 I just know it looks gross and I want to get it get rid of it. 00:36:00.639 --> 00:36:04.320 Okay, so I'm I'm out there, I'm pruning all this dead plant life. 00:36:04.400 --> 00:36:10.159 And actually, before I go out, my my wife asks me if I could take my three-year-old with me. 00:36:10.400 --> 00:36:13.519 Say, can Micah go out with you to do this? 00:36:14.239 --> 00:36:18.880 And when I when I do yard work, like that that's a little bit of me time. 00:36:19.199 --> 00:36:19.519 Okay. 00:36:20.239 --> 00:36:24.239 I get my headphones, I put it in, I'll listen to music or podcasts. 00:36:24.400 --> 00:36:32.960 I just get to kind of relax and just focus on mowing the lawn, or in this case, pruning the plants, whatever it is. 00:36:33.519 --> 00:36:37.599 And simply suggesting that Micah would come out. 00:36:37.679 --> 00:36:40.000