For the Generations to Come

PDF

We're here this morning, obviously, to dedicate this building to the Lord – not the brick and mortar, but rather how it will be used. This building is ultimately a tool. It is a tool that exists for a much greater end than having a nice building or having classrooms or having a gymnasium. This building exists for a specific purpose. It is part of a much larger plan. In fact, it is part of a plan designed by God, a plan that is unfolded for us in Psalm 78 where I invite you to turn with me this morning. Psalm 78.

In the brief time that we have together, I want us to look at what is really the heart of God for the generations to come. This psalm was written by Asaph, a Levite in the time of David and Solomon, one of the three who were put in charge of the temple chorus and the music at the temple. Jesus calls Asaph a prophet. In this psalm, Asaph takes on the role of a teacher – teaching us by opening our understanding of history.

It was G.K. Chesterton who wrote, "The disadvantage of men not knowing the past is that they do not know the present. History is a hill or high vantage from which alone men see the town in which they live or the age in which they are living." Or perhaps you've heard the famous words of George Santayana, who said this: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

That's the message of Psalm 78. It is a lesson from history. It's a sermon from Israel's history. Asaph recounts the history of Israel and from the time of the Egyptian exodus until David. He recounts God's amazing love to the people; their sin and disobedience toward God and God's then moving in, chastening in their lives. And this cycle repeats again and again. This psalm is a warning to us not to let history repeat itself in our lives and in our children's lives.

So how do you do that? How do you avoid being condemned to a life like that, a cycle like that in your family, a life marked by sin and disobedience followed by divine chastening? Well, Asaph gives us the answer here. In verse 1, he begins by calling all Israel to listen to him. And then in verse 2, he says I'm going to give you a parable – that is, I'm going to give you a lesson from the history of the nation that is a dark saying. That is, it's difficult to accurately interpret history. I'm going to recount to you the history of the nation in a way that becomes a parable for all of us, a lesson from history that is universally applicable to every person.

In verse 4, Asaph promises to make sure that the next generation of his time hears this explanation of history, this lesson from history, and remembers it. Look at verse 4, "We will not conceal … [these things] from their children, But tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done." That verse is emblazoned on the front of this building as you come into the main foyer. That is what our children's workers, what this building exists to do.

Why is it so important? Why is it so important to make sure that the next generation understands the past and learns its lessons from its history? Because that is God's plan. And that's what Asaph tells us. Look at verse 5. Follow along as I read four verses that give us the heart of God's plan.

For He established a testimony in Jacob And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers That they should teach them to their children, That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, That they may arise and tell them to their children, That they should put their confidence in God And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments, And not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart And whose spirit was not thankful to God.

The theme of those profound verses is this: God has a multi-generational plan to spread the knowledge of Him, to produce faith in Him and to encourage faithfulness to Him - a multigenerational plan. And in this text, Asaph unfolds that plan for us. As you look at those verses, there are really three crucial parts to God's plan for producing multi-generational faithfulness to Him. If we want our kids, our grandkids, our great-grandkids to walk in God's ways, then we have to embrace God's plan as it's revealed here.

Briefly consider it with me. The first part of God's plan is a single textbook, a single textbook. Verse 5, "For He established a testimony in Jacob And appointed a law in Israel…." Asaph is clearly referring here to God's revelation. The two nouns "testimony" and "law" give us some nuance of, of distinction, but ultimately, they are speaking of God's revelation. Notice he says, "God established a testimony." In many courts of law still, when a witness takes the stand, he's asked to raise his right hand and to swear that he will tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Asaph here is saying that the eternal God, the Maker of heaven and earth, has given His testimony. He has cause to stand, or He has made firm His own testimony about the truth. In His Word, God has revealed to us His own firm, established testimony as to what is true – what is true about Him; what is true about us; what is true about the world; everything that we need to know that pertains to life in godliness. It is God's testimony to the truth.

Notice in the next phrase that His testimony to the truth is contained in the law He appointed in Israel. The word "law", the Hebrew word is "torah". It means instruction. In God's instruction to His people, His revealed will is made known. You put those two nouns together, "testimony" and "law" – they appear together only four times in the Old Testament and every time they appear, clearly it's a reference to the Scripture, the whole of the Scripture.

In fact, back in Psalm 19, very familiar passage, you remember Psalm 19:7. David writes, "The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." And he continues to use other synonyms for the Word of God. These two words together are synonyms, and together they speak of the entirety of the Scripture, God's revelation. When these two nouns occur together, they are essentially a synonym for the Word of God.

The single textbook in God's plan to ensure covenant faithfulness over multi-generations is His revelation, the Scripture. As one author has said, "Wisdom more often lies in what has been passed down through the generations than in the latest theory or research finding which will soon be outdated." The only hope that we have as a church and each of us in our families to remain true to God in the future is to build our lives and our families and this church on the Word of God, on the truth to which God Himself has testified, His will revealed to us. This is the single textbook which we as a church, as families and as individuals must remain committed to.

So, God's plan for us to produce multi-generations of faithfulness to Him begins with a single textbook. But what are we supposed to do with this textbook? Well, the second part of the plan as it's unfolded here is a simple process, a simple process. Look at verse 5,

For He established a testimony in Jacob, … [He] appointed a law in Israel, Which [that textbook] He commanded our fathers That they should teach them to their children, That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, [and] That they may arise and tell them to their children….

Notice the psalmist says this has been God's plan from the beginning. He commanded our fathers. Asaph here is looking back. He's looking back to that generation of people that came out of Egypt and captivity, those people who actually gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai and heard the voice of God speak the Ten Commandments. He's saying our fathers heard this. That first generation who came out of Egypt to whom God gave His law, He also commanded them something else. He commanded them, verse 5 says, to teach their children His Word and His works. He commanded it.

Turn back to Deuteronomy. This theme recurs again and again in Moses' last sermons to the children of Israel before his death, the book of Deuteronomy. Look at Deuteronomy 4. Deuteronomy 4:9 and 10. He tells the people of Israel,

"Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life [not only should you do something with them]; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons. Remember the day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when the LORD said to me, 'Assemble the people to Me, that [that] I may let them hear My words so that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on earth, and [here's God's design from the beginning] that they may teach their children.'" [This was always God's plan.]

You see it in chapter 6, that famous section of the book of Deuteronomy called the Shema, still repeated daily by orthodox Jewish people. Deuteronomy 6:4,

"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. [And] You shall teach them diligently to your sons and you shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up."

So, four hundred years after Moses spoke those words to the children of Israel, Asaph is writing this psalm. He's writing this psalm and he's reminding those people that the same God who said, "You shall have no other gods before Me", the same God who said, "You shall not commit adultery", "You shall not murder" is the same God who at the same time said, "Teach these things to your children." That's every bit as much a command as the others.

Now notice in those two verses there, verses 5 and 6, there are four distinct generations. First is our fathers, then you have their children. And then in verse 6, you have the generation to come, even the children yet to be born. And then the fourth generation is their children - four generations as you see this multi-generational plan of God unfold. God's simple process involves each successive generation of those who believe in Him teaching their children.

And by the way, it's still God's plan. When we get to Ephesians 6:4 in our normal study of the book of Ephesians on Sunday morning, you'll see that fathers today, those who are followers of Christ, are instructed to bring up their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. It hasn't changed. Parents, we must teach our children. It is equally important, this command to teach our children is equally important with the commands to have no other gods before the true God and not to murder and not to commit adultery. Every parent here is responsible to pass on the truth of God to the next generation.

I looked on with horror as you probably did at the Beijing Olympics as two of our relay teams failed to place, failed to really even finish the race because one of the runners failed to pass on the baton clearly and accurately. In a relay race, each runner is responsible. The runner who has the baton is the one who is responsible to make sure that it's safely passed to the next runner. In the same way, every parent here has the responsibility to pass the baton of truth to the next generation.

Some of us here, like Abraham, were snatched by God's sovereign grace out of a family of unbelievers and those who are involved in paganism, perhaps even idolatry. Maybe you're still the only believer in your family or maybe you're one of a few. Listen. You are running the first leg in the relay. You have been given by God the baton of truth. It's your job to pass it on to the next generation.

Some of us here have had the baton of truth passed down to us from faithful Christian parents, perhaps Christians who go back generations. When we have a family reunion, we gather around with many, many Christians. You too are responsible to pass on the baton. It doesn't matter how you got the baton. That doesn't matter. If you know the truth of God through His Son, then you are now responsible for the truth you have received, and you must pass it on to the next generation - deliberately, daily, consistently throughout life.

Now let me just make a couple of important points about this process. Let me say that although it is a very simple process, it's not a guarantee. I wish it were, but it's not. There are no perfect parents. None of us does everything right. But even if we live consistent Christian lives, and if we faithfully teach our children, and if we make sure they're in a good church, exposed to right teaching, there's no guarantee they will be faithful to what we have passed on to them. Parents, listen to me. You are not responsible for what the next runner does with the baton, but you are responsible to make sure it's passed on.

And when we teach our children, it's so important that we do so with a multi-generational mindset. We are not just teaching our kids. When I was in California, there was a lady there who was first generation Christian, and she delighted to teach her children the truths about God and about Christ and His ways. And one day, she said to my wife, she said, "You know what I love about teaching my children is when I look in their faces, I realize I'm not just teaching them, I'm teaching my grandchildren and my great-grandchildren." That's the attitude we need as we pass on the baton.

Maybe you're here this morning and you're married, but you haven't been able to have children or you're single. You, also have an important part in God's multi-generational plan. When Asaph wrote this psalm, he wasn't just teaching his own children. He was teaching a lot of other people's children. He was teaching us. Although parents have the primary responsibility to teach their kids, all of us have an opportunity to influence the next generation and we better use that influence to pass the truth on. So even if you don't have kids, you can play a role in this multi-generational plan.

Charles Spurgeon wrote, "It is the duty of the church to maintain in fullest vigor every agency intended for the religious education of the young. To them, we must look for the church of the future. And as we sow towards them, so shall we reap." That's why I'm so grateful for this Children's Building. It gives us a chance to sow more into their lives.

God's plan for multi-generational faithfulness to Him includes a single textbook, a simple process. The third part of the plan is a spiritual objective, a spiritual objective. Verse 7 begins with a Hebrew conjunction. Here it's translated as "that". The Hebrew word means "so that" or "for this purpose", "to this end". The goal of God's plan, listen carefully. The goal of God's multi-generational plan is not so that our children will be polite. It's not that our children will be well-educated. Although certainly that's an important goal, that's not God's main objective, and it shouldn't be your main objective either. God's main goal is not that our children are great athletes.

God's objectives are spiritual objectives. There are three of them here that Asaph mentions. Look at verse 7, so that or for this purpose, here's why the plan should be followed: "that they should put their confidence in God." The Hebrew word literally means reliance, personal trust. We're talking about genuine biblical faith. Faith comes by what, Paul says in Romans? Faith comes by hearing. So as we teach our children the Word of God, we provide a resource in their hearts for the Spirit to use to produce faith. We can't make our children believe. We can't produce faith in their hearts, but we can pour the truth into them so that the Spirit has a resource to ignite and create that faith in their hearts.

We are to follow this plan - use the textbook, follow the multigenerational process so that our children and those to come would put their confidence in God. Look at the second objective in verse 7: so that they should "not forget the works of God." The Hebrew word "to forget" is not really like our English word. It doesn't mean to let it slip from your memory as in, "I (you know), I forgot where I put my car keys." To forget in a Hebrew sense is to intentionally turn your mind from. It's to ignore. It's to walk away. We are to follow this plan so that our children, our great-grandchildren, or our grandchildren rather, our great-grandchildren don't turn their back, ignore the truth about God.

And the third objective, you'll notice at the end of verse 7: so that they should "keep His commandments" - a submissive, obedient will to God. Notice he contrasts that obedience with what happened before, Israel's earlier history, verse 8, "And [should] not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart And whose spirit was not faithful to God." They were rebellious. They were defiant. And the reason was a problem at the heart level. There was something desperately wrong with their hearts. Notice "they did not prepare their hearts." Literally, the Hebrew text is a very picturesque expression. It literally says, "they did not make their heart firm." They didn't resolve to walk in God's ways. The result? Their spirit was not true or faithful to God.

So, those are the spiritual objectives behind God's plan – true, genuine faith in God, a relationship with God through faith and ultimately, as the New Testament reveals, through the work of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, that we would know God; that we wouldn't turn on Him; we wouldn't forget Him; we wouldn't ignore Him; and that we would keep His commandments - an obedient, submissive will. That's God's intention with the plan.

Now, I want to close our time together this morning by giving you a lesson in contrasts. Two pictures – one picture of what results when you don't follow God's plan, and the other picture of when you do. The first picture is a tragic one. I want you to turn back with me to Judges 2. Here's what happens when you don't follow God's plan for multi-generational faithfulness. Judges 2:6,

When Joshua had dismissed the people, the sons of Israel went each to his inheritance to possess the land." [So they've conquered the land. They've divided it. And now they're going to live in the land of promise. They've come out of Egypt after the wilderness wanderings. Now they've conquered the land and it's theirs.] Verse 7, "The people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the LORD which He had done for Israel. Then Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of one hundred ten. And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance…." [Now notice verse 10], "All that generation [that, that knew Joshua, that we're there when all these things happened] were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel.

That is absolutely tragic. The very first generation after Joshua died turned away from the God of Israel who had accomplished all of the rescue from Egypt. Why? They didn't know the Lord. Why didn't they know the Lord? Verse 10 says because they didn't know what He had done. Now think about the implications of that statement. It means that those who heard Moses say in Deuteronomy 6 you must diligently teach these things to your children didn't. And the very first generation after Moses and Joshua died turned from the Lord. The text goes on to tell us how they turned to idolatry, worshiping other gods. They forgot. They turned from the true God. The next generation aren't true believers in God at all – for the most part.

The second picture by way of contrast, the picture of what it looks like when you do follow God's plan is Asaph himself, the one who wrote Psalm 78. You see, Asaph had a number of children. David assigned four of Asaph's sons to serve under him, that is, under Asaph and with Asaph in the temple chorus. So, Asaph and four of his boys were involved in the corporate worship of Israel. So, Asaph obviously taught his own children.

But I want you to fast forward with me. I want you to fast forward from the time of David when Asaph lived forward to the time of Zerubbabel when the people of Israel returned from the Babylonian exile to rebuild their temple. It's been five hundred years since Asaph wrote Psalm 78. It's been five hundred years since Asaph taught his own children God's ways. Many generations have passed. So, what's the state of Asaph's family now? Let's see how this multi-generational approach can work.

Look at Ezra, the book of Ezra 2. In Ezra 2, Ezra records for us a list. It's not particularly interesting to read, but what is interesting is in the middle of that list of people who returned from Babylonian exile to Israel to rebuild the temple, we find this in verse 41, "The singers (who returned): the sons of Asaph, 128." Later Nehemiah says another 148 sons of Asaph, descendants of Asaph, returned to lead in worship, in the worship of God.

Let me show you the hearts of Asaph's descendants five hundred years after Asaph and after he wrote these wonderful psalms. Look at Ezra 3:10, "Now when the builders had laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD [this is the rebuilding of the temple after the Babylonian captivity and exile. They've returned, they laid the foundation, and here's what happened. They had a celebration just as we do today], the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph [that is, the descendants of Asaph some five hundred years later], with cymbals, to praise the LORD according to the directions of the King David of Israel. They sang, praising and giving thanks to the LORD (and this is what they said), "For He is good, for His steadfast love is upon Israel forever."

And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the LORD because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.'" A hundred and twenty-eight of Asaph's descendants gathered around as the foundation for the worship of the true God, the temple there was begun, and they said, "He is good. He is good and His steadfast love endures forever" – still embracing their God.

Is God's plan a guarantee to any one of us that our children will walk in His ways? No. But does God still honor His plan for a multi-generational faithfulness that's outlined here in Psalm 78? Yes, He does. And it's still the plan. Folks, that's what this building is all about. This building isn't about our church having more space; although, as you will see, we certainly do. It's not about our kids having more fun although I'm certain they will. This building is a tool. It is a tool to help all of us fulfill God's multi-generational plan in this place. When we teach our children here, we must always remember that we're not only teaching them. We're teaching our grandkids. We're teaching our great-grandkids, and on it goes.

If the Lord tarries, it's my prayer that five hundred years from now, many of our descendants, whether it's in this place in this community or having moved on to other communities in other places around the world, five hundred years from now many of our descendants will still be faithful to the God we love and serve because the foundation was laid in their lives here as we remain faithful to God's multi-generational plan. Wherever they are, it's my prayer that they will still be passing on the baton because we told our kids the truth, and we told them they had to pass on the truth, and they had to pass it on to their kids and to make sure their kids passed it on to their kids and so forth. May God find us faithful passing on the baton.

Let's pray together.

Our Father, thank You for this wonderful day that's been so long coming. Thank You for Your faithfulness to us. Thank You, Father, for opening our eyes to see who You are, to give us a relationship with You through Your Son. And Father, I pray that You would give us a commitment to the plan we've examined today. Lord, may we stick with the textbook, Your Word. Help us to be true and faithful and accurate in, in its proclamation. May we handle it in a way that honors You and Your revelation.

Father, I pray that You would help us to be committed to the very simple process - each successive generation passing on the truth. And not just the truth, but passing on the command You've also given us to pass that truth on. And Father, we pray that the outcome, the objective would be met that our children and our children's children would put their true confidence in You, they wouldn't forget You, they wouldn't turn from You and ignore You and that they would keep Your Word.

For Your glory, for Your name and the glory of Your Son in whose name we pray. Amen.