Hear, O Fathers

We'll take the Bibles this morning and open them to our text here on this Father's Day Sunday morning.

We'll never go verbally, outwardly, necessarily speak about fathers or specifically to fathers.

At least on the face of it, it doesn't. And yet this passage certainly does speak to fathers. And it is a famous passage of scripture found in Deuteronomy chapter 6.

Deuteronomy chapter 6. And I'm going to begin reading with verse 1. Deuteronomy 6 and our text will take us all the way through verse 9. A little bit later, I will read a little bit more past verse 9.

But let me read this passage first of all. Deuteronomy 6, starting with verse 1. Now this is the commandment. These are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you.

That you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess. You know that we're talking about a time period in the lives of Israel.

Where very soon they're going to be going into the promised land. That you may fear the Lord your God to keep all his statutes and his commandments which I commanded you.

You and your son and your grandson. All the days of your life. And that your days may be prolonged. Therefore, hear O Israel.

Be careful to observe it. That it may be well with you. That you may multiply greatly as the Lord God your fathers has promised you. And a land flowing with milk and honey.

Hear O Israel. The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart.

With all your soul. With all your strength. These words which I command you today. Shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children.

You shall talk of them when you sit in your house. When you walk by the way. When you lie down. When you rise up. You shall provide them as a sign on your hand.

And they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house. And on your gates. So an incredible passage of scripture.

Now, you know. Probably know. That between the Old Testament revelation. And the New Testament revelation.

That is when God gave his revelation. Revelation. And we have it now. In what we call the Old Testament. And then God gave his revelation to man. Which we now have contained in what we call the New Testament.

You know. That God was silent. Between the two testaments. For 400 years. 400 years. Not one word. God was silent.

Absolutely silent. 400 years. Now, if you were God. What do you suppose to be the very last thing you would want to say to your people?

We don't really have to speculate about what God said. Before he closed his mouth. And they ceased his revelation for his time. For 400 years. We don't have to wonder what God says.

Because we have it recorded in Bible. And the last thing that God said. Was recorded in Malachi chapter 4. Verses 5 and 6. And it's very fitting for this day.

And I think this sets up for the subject. That I have for you. From the passage I read a while ago. Malachi chapter 4. Verses 5 and 6. Says this. Behold.

I will send you Elijah the prophet. Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. That's how the King James. The new King James translates it.

Or awesome day of the Lord. I like that better. And he will. What will he do? Turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. And the hearts of the children to their fathers.

Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse. That's the last thing God said. Before he was silent for 400 years.

Before he opened up his mouth again. And we now have a new tomb. Last thing he said. It's interesting. And I think apparently God's people.

Israel in this case. Were having a crisis. It was a time of crisis. A family crisis apparently. And specifically. A fathering crisis.

That way I think. Nothing really has changed. God's people. 2500 plus years after. A fathering crisis.

See listen. The fathers are crucial. Very crucial. To the spiritual well-being of the family. And therefore. The well-being of the church. And I would say that.

Therefore. The well-being of the nation. Fathers are crucial. In fact. The statistics show. The father. Is an active believer. In the home.

There is a 75% likelihood. That the children. Will also become believers. I know God. Is sovereign salvation. In this statistic. Is quite apparent.

Especially when you add this. When only the mother. Is the active believer. In the home. And not the father. But just the mother. The likelihood. The children. Becoming believers. Drops down to 15%.

Incredible. And so. The short of it is. We need. In America today. Faithful fathers. Faithful. That is. God-fearing.

Bible-believing. Christ-honoring. Christ-worshipping. Fathers. We need those fathers. In the home. Fathers. Who are the spiritual.

Hebrews. Of their families. I heard about a little boy. Was given the assignment. To write an essay. On his. Personal hero. So this little boy.

Wrote his essay. Brought it home. For his father to see. And the title of his essay. Was. My dad is my hero. Wouldn't that be one of those things? The little boy said. Dad. I decided to write this about you.

Because. Well. I couldn't spell sports names. But. Seriously. Fathers are so crucial. In the family.

In the church. In. The nation. And for the health. The spiritual health. Of all three. Contexts. Of life. And. Surely. You.

Like I. Am concerned. About our country. I mean. Really. The well-being of our country. Is very much on our hearts. And minds. And even on our lips. And we speak of it. Quite often.

And we talk about. The failures. The failures. Of our government. And so forth. But as Adrian Rogers. Used to say. Our greatest problem. In America. Today.

Is not in the White House. It is in our house. And how true that is. No matter how you want to look at it. How you want to evaluate it. The problem is.

Near. At hand. It is in. Our homes. And specifically. In the old and father. And so this famous passage.

That I read a moment ago. Out of Deuteronomy. Chapter 6. As a word for. Certainly for the family. But I think specifically. For dads. It really begins.

The heart of it begins. With verse 4. Where the Bible says. Hear. O. Israel. Hear. O. Israel. And we can say. Hear.

O. Fathers. You see. Among the Jews. This. This passage here. Really. Starting with verse 4. Proverbs. And continuing. On even a little bit. Further than I read.

A moment ago. This passage. Is known. As the Shema. Shema. Which is a Hebrew word. That simply means. Hear. That's how the passage begins. Hear.

O. Esther. And this was a very important passage. To the Jews. It still is. For many Orthodox. Jews. Today. Indeed. It is a very. Very significant passage. Of scripture. For Christians.

Or it should be. And so. What do we have here? We have God. Through his spokes. A person. His spokesman. Moses. He is. Giving his instructions.

To his people. Israel. Just before. Prior to. Their crossing over. The Jordan River. And entering. In. To the promised land. So he's giving that instructions.

Israel had to be ready. Very. Very. Ready. To enter into the land. The land of promise. And there would be work. To be done there. There. There would be land. To be conquered. There would be enemies.

To deal with. And judgment. To be exacted. By God. Through Israel. And so forth. And by the way. We've been studying that. On Sunday nights. As we've been. Working our way.

Through the book of Joshua. And so he's preparing them. For entering into the land. And so. What would God. Tell them to do. In order. That they might. They had maximum strength.

As the people of God. As they ever even planned. What did he tell them to do? To fortify the family. To strengthen the family. And so. What God says.

In these verses. In Deuteronomy chapter 6. What he says there. He says to parents. And again. Though he doesn't say it. Explicitly.

I think it is certainly implied. What he has to say here. Is primarily. To fathers. To fathers. The fathers of the home. The key to the passage. Really.

The entire passage. Is found in verse 7. You shall teach them. Diligently. Teach them. That is. God's precepts. You are to teach them.

To your children. Now there are five lessons. In these verses. For moms. To. But. Specifically.

For dads. Five lessons. They are very simple. They are foundational. You can't go anywhere. Beyond these.

Can't build anything. Of significance. In the home. Until you get these. Foundational truths set. And here they are. Here is number one. Invite.

Your children. To receive. The Lord. That is number one. Invite your children. To receive. The Lord. Yahweh God.

And the person. Of Jesus Christ. Verse 4. Is so foundational. Just a shortening phrase. And yet within this phrase. There are. Four. Incredible truths.

That we must. As fathers. Demonstrate. To our children. Teach our children. In the home. And we must do it. Very early. And it's this phrase. Here oh Israel.

Here it is. The Lord. Our God. The Lord. Is one. One small. Little sentence. Two phrases. Put together. In one sentence. The Lord.

Our God. The Lord. Is one. This is foundational. This is the place. To begin. And the place. That you must begin. Very very early. And there are four.

Foundational truths. Here. That we must. Demonstrate. As well as. Instruct. Our children. Here they are. Number one. There is. A God.

That's so foundational. Isn't it? I mean. How can you get past that? Now you must go. Way beyond that. But how can you. Get past that. Until you have. Established that.

In the hearts. Of your children. There is. A God. The Lord. Our. God. That's what Moses. Instructed. The fathers. Of his day.

To instruct his children. The Lord. Our. God. We must. Teach our children. This. Foundational truth. We can begin. With Genesis. Chapter 1.

Verse 1. Just start. With the very first. Book of the Bible. The very first. Verse. And chapter. Of the Bible. In the beginning. God. See.

Interesting. The Bible. The Bible. It really doesn't. Make an argument. For God. Establish. Some. Criteria. For God. Some. Some formula. For understanding. Who God is. It just begins.

With him. It understands him. In the beginning. God. That is when everything. Began. God. Was here. In the beginning. God. You can begin there.

And then you can take them. To the New Testament. In John chapter 1. Verse 1. In the beginning. It starts the same way. In the beginning. Was the word. And the word. Was with God.

And the word. Was God. Of course. The subject there. Is the Lord Jesus Christ. The second person. Of the Trinity. God himself. God. The very God. Third member.

Of the Godhead. And so you can begin. With Genesis 1. 1. You can go to John 1. 1. And it's crucial. That as fathers. And mothers. As parents. We must teach our children.

Very very early. As early. As we possibly can. As soon as they can even. Comprehend anything. We must teach them. There is a God.

Paul said. In Hebrews 11. 6. He who comes to God. Must believe. That he. Is. That he is. There is. I've got to teach your children.

There is a God. In heaven. Second. The second truth. There is only one God. That's also found right. In this very short.

Little second. There is a God. And he's the only one. There is only one God. The Lord. Our God. Now the Lord. Is. One.

He's one. One God. Not. The God. And so you just decide. Which God. Is going to be your God. There is only one God. And so. The implication.

Clearly is. All other. Gods. Are. Not. They're false. Our children. Are going to face. Many gods. Certainly.

All of us. Face many gods. In our lives. Things that we can worship. And devote. Things to. But. I'm talking about. Those who are. Promoted. As. God. Going to meet.

Many. Many. Gods. Out there. In this world. There are many. More. Gods. Coming to the stage. Every. Single. Day. The devil. Has. Many. Ways. To tell a lie. That's only one.

Truth. And there is. One. God. Only. One. God. It's a foundational. Truth. They say. Well. This is just too. Elementary. Too simple. But it begins here. We must teach our children.

There is a God. And he is the only one. And then there's a third truth. In this short little verse. He is the Lord. Now we're going much deeper on it. There is a God.

And there's only one God. And that God. Who is the only God. Is the Lord. He is the supreme. Sovereign. Ruler. There is no other God.

And he is supreme. The God who is supreme. The Lord. Our God. He said. The Lord. Our God. The Lord. Is one. Two times.

In that short little sentence. The Lord. Romans 10. 9. Says. That if you confess. With your mouth. That Jesus is. What? Lord. Lord.

That is supreme. Ruler. Believe that Jesus is Lord. And believe in your heart. That God raised you from the dead. You shall be saved. Then there's one more truth.

And this is crucial to ends. He is the. Our God. You see where this. This short little.

Handful of words. This sentence. This sentence leads us. From the foundational truth. That there is a God. To the next one. That must be understood. That he is the only God.

And being the only God. He is Lord. And he is to be Lord. He is our God. The Lord is. Our God.

Our God. Not personally. Through faith. And so dad. Listen. I have to tell you. Our number one responsibility. Is to see to it. That our children. Know the truth. About God. And all of his persons.

Father. Son. And Holy Spirit. And it is then. Our responsibility. To lead our children. To a personal relationship. With God. Through Jesus Christ.

We are to invite. Our children. To receive. The Lord. It is the father's responsibility. Not the preacher's.

I can't tell you. How many times. I have been called. Over the years. In my ministry. And I always go. Where a father. And he has come to me. During worship service.

Or after worship service. And say. Listen. My son. Or my daughter. Is in asking. Questions. And would you come by. And. And share with him.

How they can become. Christians. And I never do it. But I'd like to. One day. Maybe you'll be the first one. If you come to me. And I'd like to say. Well I'm the truth.

You tell me. You see. It is our responsibility. As fathers. In modern. Olympic history. America. Has.

Effectively. Been. The. The. Supreme. They. Owned. The 4x100. Relay race. You know. Watch. The summer. Olympics. And every.

Every time. We have the summer. Olympics. And the track. And the field. We can't wait. To see. The 4x100. Relay race. Because Americans. Have. For. For. Decades.

Have. Owned. That place. But you might remember. In Beijing. 2008. Both teams. Men and women. Were.

The. By. The. Favorites. And. Both. Teams. Failed. To. Even. Qualify. For. The. Proliminary. Remember that?

Not. The final race. Just. The. Proliminary. Do you remember. Why? Because. A member. Of. Each of. Those. Teams. A men's. Team.

One. Of. The. Members. Dropped. The. Baton. I. Remember. Watch. Such. Disappointment. And. You can't.

Win. The race. You can't. Even. Finish. It. If you. Drop. The. Baton. One. Lessons. For us. Today. In our. Generation. For dads.

And for moms. And grandmoms. And granddads. Because we're all a part of this. We must take seriously. Our responsibility. To successfully. Effectively. They pass on the gospel.

That's right. I've been in China. A number of times. And it just. Has always been interesting. To me. And when I would meet a believer. Very often. That believer.

Would say. That he or she. Was a. Either a first century. Christian. Many of them would say that. Or they might say. A second century. And very few. Very rare. Would I hear.

A believer. And when I did hear. This believer. Was just so proud of it. That he or she. Was a third century. Christian. We don't even think. In terms like that. In our.

Church. Most of us. In this room. Are Christian. And there are. Multiple generations. Before us. Who have been believers. We've been.

Been. You know. Blessed by. By the providence of God. To be born. In a. Christian nation. But in China. The first century. Most of the. Many of them. Are first century.

Believers. They're the first ones. With the time. And I guess. If we could encourage them. And I plan to. The next time I go.

Don't fail. Don't ever fail. To pass on. The baton. To a second. And a third. And a fourth. Generation. And I'm afraid to admit. That that's what's happening.

In our country. Country. Our culture. That's why we're in such. Deep trouble. Spiritually. Moral. Because. The baton. Is being dropped. Generations.

Are coming on board. Do not even know God. Do not even know God. Invite your children. To receive the Lord. Second. Inspire your children.

To revere the Lord. Invite your children. Inspire your children. To revere the Lord. Look at verse 5 again. You shall love the Lord.

Your God. With all your heart. With all your soul. And with all your strength. Very familiar. The pastor's quoted. A couple of times. In the New Testament. By none other than Jesus himself.

To revere God. Is. To love him. To love him. And I'm going to say.

Don't separate. Loving God. From everything else. That God calls upon us. To do. To be. Because. Everything God demands. Be it.

Repentance. He does demand that. Faith. In him. Obedience. Service.

Worship. All of those. Everything God demands. From us. Is summed up. With the word love. To love him. And so. This portion of the Shema.

Instructs us. On how to love God. And therefore. How he. As fathers. And mothers. Are to pass on. That love for God. To our children.

How are we going to love God? Well. According to this passage. This verse. We're to love God. First of all. Fervently. We're to love him. Fervently. You shall love the Lord. Your God.

With. All. Your heart. With. All your heart. Now. Now. Listen. And I. Just speak to the husbands. Here.

Half-hearted love. Will not satisfy your wife. Have you discovered that? No. You can't say to your wife. Honey.

I love you. 364 days out of the year. I'm just reserving one of those days. With all the other women in my life. That won't fly.

Half-hearted love. Will not satisfy. Your wife. And half-hearted love. Will not satisfy. Your children. Well. No. What about God? What about God?

Do you love God? With all of your heart? Do you? That way. We're commanded to love. Our wives. Love our children.

We're commanded to love one another. But Jesus said. The first and greatest commandment. To love God. With all your heart. Soul. Mind. And strength. And so. When you get the priority.

Right. If you love God. With all your heart. Then everyone else. Will get a better deal. Than that. Priority. We're to teach that.

To our children. And this. This is what. This portion of the Shema. Is instructing us. To love God. Fervently. And then second. We're to love God.

Faithfully. We're to love God. Faithfully. It's okay. It's so simple. It's so foundation. You shall love. The Lord your God. With all your soul.

With all your soul. What does that mean? Well the word soul. Is a reference. To the total being. Of a person. Your total being. That is who you are.

And what you are. And therefore. What you do. That is the way. You live your life. And so it's really very simple. We're to love God. To the very core. Of our being.

Before we love anything else. And this then. Affects. Very clearly. Very directly. Everything. We do in life. And so we're to model that.

We're not only to possess that. And live. According to that. To love God faithfully. We're to. We're to model that. To our children. We're to teach that.

To our children. Which is what God says next. And so third. Love God firmly. It's a simple way to. Remember the teachings.

Of this very important passage. Love God firmly. With all your strength. You have the King James. He says. He might.

I prefer that. It sounds strong. All your might. And so the idea is. That all you do physically. That's the thing you do with your hands. And feet. And so forth.

All you do physically. And all you do mentally. That is the way you're thinking. And all you do emotionally. The way you're feeling. What you feel about that.

And all you do spiritually. The way you worship. Should be. All these things. Should be consistent. With a heart. That deeply. Loves God. Deeply.

This ought to be. Obvious. I'm not talking about the truth. I'm talking about the reality. That in the. Life of the father. And life of the mother. It ought to be obvious.

It ought to be observable. Not only to everyone around you. But especially to your children. Like a little boy. Who was asking. His son. His son. Why do you love God?

And he says. Well I don't want to know. Why do you love God? I guess it just runs in the family. God. Amen. And so invite your children.

To receive. Inspire your children. To revere the Lord. Third. Influence your children. To respect the Lord.

Influence your children. To respect. The Lord. You know. Three times. In chapter six. We can read all of this. But in chapter six.

Three times. God tells Israel. To love. Excuse me. Fear the Lord. And you find that. In so many other places. In the Bible. In fact. It's a very. Very common.

Theme. That runs. Throughout scripture. We're to fear the Lord. We're to fear God. And three times. We have that here. In Moses instructions. To his people. Israel.

In preparation. For their going in. To possess their land. In verse two. That you may. Fear the Lord. God. To keep all his statutes.

And his commandments. Which I command you. You. And your son. And your grandson. All the days of your life. And that your days. May be provoked. Verse 13. You shall fear the Lord.

Your God. And serve him. Verse 24. And the Lord. Demanded us. To observe all his statutes. To fear the Lord. Our God. For our good always.

That he might preserve us. Alive. As it is in his name. Fear the Lord. Here's a good definition. Of fearing God.

Fearing the Lord. Get this down. The fear of God. Is the continual awareness.

That I am in the presence. Of a holy. Just. Almighty God. Let me say that part again. There's more. But. Let me say that again.

Fear God. Is the continual awareness. That I am in the presence. Of a holy. Just. Almighty God.

That is. I'm aware of it. Where I am. And what I do. In private. In public. To fear him.

Begins with an awareness. That he is always there. And that. He is holy. And just. And mighty. Here's the rest of it.

And that every thought. You think. Every word. You speak. And every deed.

You do. Is open. Before him. I mean. If you just let this sing. Down deep in your heart. Man.

What. What a difference. This makes. To know. That God. Is always there. He is holy. Just. So every thought.

Every word. Every deed. Is open. Before him. Nothing's hidden. You know. It's open. Before him. And there's one last part.

And. And. Every thought. Every word. Every deed. And. Is being. Judged. Correctly. By him. Think about it.

That's. What it means to fear. God. To fear. Fear God. Is the. Tutorial awareness. That I am in the presence. Of a holy.

Just. Almighty God. And that every thought. Every word. Every deed. Is open. Before him. And is being. Judged. Correctly. By him. That's what it means.

Dad's. Do you fear God? Moms. Singles. People.

You fear God. If you are. Father. Or mother. How do you teach that to your children? What are the main ways?

How do you personally show that? Display that. Emissary that. To your children. Well. We either. Teach it.

Or we contradict it. In a million. Different ways. Say. Just remember. You cannot. Teach. What you do not live.

It must be demonstrated. Two more. Number four. Instruct. Your children. To reflect. Upon the Lord. Instruct.

Your children. To reflect. Upon the Lord. Verses. Six. Through. Nine. And these words. Which I command you today. Shall be in your heart. You shall teach them. Diligently. To your children.

And shall talk of them. When we sit in your house. When you walk by the way. When you lie down. When you rise up. You shall bind them. As a sign. In your hand.

And they shall be. As frontlets. Between your eyes. You shall write them. On the doorposts. Of your house. And on your gates. In short. It's interesting. The home.

Is to be the Christian. University. For your kids. Christian. University. You want to enroll them. In a Christian. University. Well they've been enrolled in it. Since they were born.

It's Christian. Dads. Moms. And professors. Children. On the students. Of course. Unless the curriculum. It's the word of God. It's the word of God.

Simple. Foundation. Christian. And we need to know. That the home. Is where the next generation. Decides what they believe. About God.

Or whether they're going to believe. About God. It's not their peers. I know a lot of times. We think that. It's their peers. That make those decisions. It's what they're going to believe. How they're going to live. It's not the schools.

That we have this. I think. Inordinate fear. About the school. Making the difference. About the direction. Of life of my kids. No. It's the home. It's not the government.

The village. As some famous person. Said a number of years ago. Might be running for president. I think she already was president.

Let's not get any talk of this. I tell you. Look at the instructions here. First of all. We're to teach.

Our children. Diligent. Teach our children. Diligent. Verse 7. Says. You shall teach them. Diligent. I just. Got to write out. What?

Teach. Them. That is. His precepts. Diligently. To your children. The word. Diligent. Not just simply. Hard work. It actually. Is a. Sculpturing. Term. And it means.

A cutting. Or an engraving. That's interesting. And so guess what parents. We're sculptors. Now that's our business.

And the. The. Engraving tool. Is the word of God. And the. Hammer. Is our diligence.

Our diligence. Diligently. Engraving. In God's word. Hearts. Minds. Lives. And. And. Lives. What's great.

Is. There are others. That God. Is raised up. In the church. May or may not. Be married. May or may not. Obviously. Be parents. Who.

Can participate. And come. On the side. Of parents. To help them. In. Chiseling. Cutting. God's word. In the hearts. And minds. Of their children. Some school teachers.

Deacons. Elders. Other leaders. BBS. Time. This can be done. So we must teach our children.

Billigant. Second. We must. Teach our children. Daily. Daily. You shall talk of them. When you sit in your house. When you walk by the way. When you. When you lie down.

And you rise up. And the short of it is. We. We're. You know. We're never separate. From. Separated from the context. And influence. Of the word of God. We should never ever be outside.

Of that environment. Or context. Where everything. That pertains. Or is connected. Or is guided by. Or is sanctioned by. The word of God. Everything that takes place.

In the home. God. And his word. Are the saturn of the home. I don't mean. That you're. Preaching. And always teaching. You know.

You know. You've got. The Bible. I'm always quoting scripture. I mean. There's a place. Of that. Honestly. I mean. Everything. We do. It. Is. Within.

The. The. Sphere. Of. The. The. The truth. So. We are to. Teach them. David. And then. Finally.

We are to teach. Our children. Diligently. Diligently. I already said that. Deliberately. How about that one? Different. D word. We are to teach them.

Deliberately. Verse 8. You shall bind them. That is God's word. As a sign. On your hand. And they shall be as frontlets. Between your eyes. Now. Now.

How are we supposed to do that? That's a prayer. Well. This is meant to be figurative. Okay. And. And. And it's meant. To. To be.

You know. Revealing. In. Tangible ways. Your commitment. To God's word. And yet. The Jews. Took this very literally. By the way.

They wore. Phylacteries. You may have heard of those. Phylacteries. On their foreheads. And on their hands. And a phylactery. It was simply.

It was a little box. That contained in it. Portions of the Torah. Written portions of the Torah. That is the law of God. And then you had verse 9.

You shall write them on the doorposts. Of your house. On your gates. And again. The Jews took this very literally. Too bad they didn't take it spiritually. Too bad we don't. As we ought to.

But they took it very literally. So they placed it. In small metallic. Receptacles. On their doors. Beside their doors. You might remember. If you have watched.

Ben Hur. Remember. That movie. Great movie. Charlton Heston. He played the great Ben Hur. Played great Moses too. Didn't he? And you remember. He came to the door of his house. And there.

Inside was a little. Kind of little opening. And inside. There were some scriptures. He took them out. I think he even kissed them. They had kind of original. And this is what.

What the Jews did. Literally. And so these little. Septacles. That they had. At their doors. And at their gates. They contained. By the way. Portions of the very passage. We were studying this morning.

The Shema. Deuteronomy. Jezus. And so. The idea is. A very deliberate way. Looking for. Very deliberate ways. In the home. To teach. The word of God.

To our children. To have some. Constant vision. Some. Constant. Reminder. Let me ask you something. You get a little bit.

Concerned. Upset. When you hear about. The Ten Commandments. Being removed. Through the walls. In our schools. In government buildings. In public places. You get a little concerned. About that.

Don't you? A little upset. About that. And even angry. Does me. Of course it does. Do you have a copy of the Ten Commandments. Displayed prominently.

In your home. Hmm. Something to think. So invite your children. Receive the Lord. Inspire your children. To rever the Lord.

Love God. Influence your children. To respect the Lord. Fear them. And instruct your children. To reflect upon the Lord. Constant. Visual reminder.

Of God's word. And then one more. Invoke. Your children. To remember the Lord. To remember the Lord. But you listen very carefully.

As I read the. Warning. Starting with verse 10. So it shall be. When the Lord your God. Brings you into the land.

Which he swore to your fathers. Abraham. Isaac. And Abraham. Give you large and beautiful cities. Which you did not build. Houses. Full of all good things.

Which you did not fill. Hewn out wells. Or cisterns. Which you did not dig. Vineyards. And all the trees. Which you did not plant. And you have eaten.

And are full. He's talking about. The. Incredible blessing. God. You're getting the land. And you. You're receiving. You know. Receiving all this. Blessing.

God. And beware. Lest you forget. The Lord. Lest you forget. Beware. Lest you forget. The Lord.

Brought you out. Of the land of Egypt. From the house. Of the Bible. You shall fear. The Lord your God. And serve him. And shall take oaths.

In his name. You shall not. Go after other gods. The gods and peoples. Who are all around you. For the Lord your God. Is a jealous God. Among you.

Lest the anger. Of the Lord your God. Be aroused against you. Destroy you. From the face of the earth. You shall not. Tempt the Lord your God. As you tempted him. And I saw. There are two warnings.

In this passage. There's a whole lot there. When I'm going to dig into all of this. There are two warnings. For every dad. For every mom. Every believer. Two warnings.

For getting down. And for saving. For getting him. And for saving. And our success.

Or failure. At this point. Will have. A permanent. Effect. On. Our Christian legacy. As a father.

As a parents. As a family. But also in the church. And therefore also in the nation. In our country. Where we.

Succeed or fail. Will impact. Everything. Spiritually. From home. To the nation. It's crucial.

And here's what I mean. When a generation of fathers. Forgets. The Lord. When fathers forget the Lord.

The next generation. Asks. Who is God? Who is he? And when a generation of fathers.

Forget the Lord. They will eventually. Forsake the Lord. And the next generation. Asks. Who needs God? I ask you.

Is that where we are with it? I think so. So dads. Let's make sure. That it stops with them.

Beyond dads here. Future dads. Make sure that it stops with you. These generations.

Coming. Who ask. Who is God? Who needs him? Invite your children. To receive the Lord. He's the Lord.

Our God. Inspire your children. To revere the Lord. Love God. With all your heart. All your soul. All your strength.

Influence your children. To respect the Lord. The Lord. Fear you. He's always present. Everything is open to you. And he judges correctly.

Instruct your children. To reflect upon the Lord. Always. Be thinking about. Have a visual. Reminders. Automatic reminders.

Of who God is. His word. And invoke your children. Remember the Lord. Never forget Him. Never forsake Him.

Amen.