From Generation to Generation

Good morning. My name is Matthew Capone, and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church,

and it's my joy to bring God's Word to you today. A special welcome if you're new or visiting with us.

We're glad that you're here, and we're glad that you're here not because we're trying to fill seats,

but because we're following Jesus together as one community.

And as we follow Jesus together, we become convinced there's no one so good, they don't need God's grace,

and no one so bad that they can't have it, which is why we come back week after week to hear what God has to say to us in His Word.

Last week, we started a new series in the book of Judges, and you'll remember that the book of Judges is about many things.

Some of the things the book is about is the need for constant renewal and revival among God's people.

It's also about the need for a faithful and true king, a king who can do what no human king can do,

which is to change the hearts of men. And it's also about the power of leadership that's enabled by the Holy Spirit.

This week, as we come to the second section, we have before us what is a painful and tender topic for many of us

as we look at the challenges that the nation of Israel faced as one generation remained faithful to the Lord

and the next generation fell away.

And I know for us in this congregation, that's a topic that is all too personal.

And for many of us, very, very painful.

Of course, many of you are afraid not just of your children, but the future of your grandchildren.

And so this morning, we're going to try to hold kind of two truths in tension together.

And the first truth is this, that you cannot save your children.

That your children are 100% responsible before God about the decisions that they make

and the ways that they choose to serve Him or not serve Him.

The saying is true that God has no grandchildren.

So that's truth one.

Truth two is this, how we raise the next generation really matters.

It really matters and it has real consequences for their faith.

And so as we come to this passage, there's a variety of mistakes that we could make.

One mistake we could make is assuming that just because someone was raised in the church

and walked away from the faith, well, of course, it's their parents' fault, right?

That would be an incredible mistake to assume that.

Because God has no grandchildren.

The other mistake we could make is to wallow in shame.

As we think about this and maybe you look back and you think about mistakes that you've made as a parent,

places where you've failed,

it's important for us to recognize that God's forgiveness is real.

And it's also important to recognize that the story isn't over.

If you are alive and your child is still alive, you still have a role to play.

There is still great hope.

God is still, in fact, a powerful God.

And He's still able to change hearts and minds.

And so with that, remember that we're going to say, as I often say,

we're going to say something, not everything.

This is the beginning, not the end.

But with all of that in mind, I'm going to invite you to turn with me to God's holy word.

We are going to be in Judges 2, starting at verse 6.

You can read with me in your worship guide.

You can open up your phone.

You can open up your Bible.

No matter where you turn, remember that this is God's word.

And God tells us that His word is more precious than gold, even the finest gold.

And it's sweeter than honey, even honey that comes straight from the honeycomb.

Which is why we read now Judges 2, starting at verse 6.

Verse 9.

And they buried Him within the boundaries of His inheritance in Temnath-Herez,

in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gash.

And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers.

And there arose another generation after them,

who did not know the Lord or the work that He had done for Israel.

Verse 11.

And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals.

And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers,

who had brought them out of the land of Egypt.

They went after other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them

and bowed down to them.

And they provoked the Lord to anger.

They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth.

So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel.

And He gave them over to plunderers who plundered them.

And He sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies,

so that they could no longer withstand their enemies.

Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm,

as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them.

And they were in terrible distress.

I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's Word.

Our Father in Heaven, we thank You once again that You haven't abandoned us,

You haven't forsaken us,

You haven't left us to try to piece things together on our own.

But instead, You've given us Your Word,

and You speak clearly to us through it.

You speak to us every Sunday morning,

and You speak to us as we open it throughout the week.

And we ask that You would continue to do that this morning,

that You would help us,

that we would see our great need for Your grace,

and we'd see how You meet us at that very same point of need,

and that You would convict us of our sin,

and You would encourage us with the hope that we have in Christ.

And we ask these things in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Amen.

When I was in high school,

I took a class or two on U.S. government,

and one of the things that we learned about

was this concept of political socialization.

And political socialization is just a fancy word

for how people come to the political beliefs that they hold,

and especially how they come to those beliefs

based on the people around them.

So that's why we use the word socialization.

And what they found,

if they do studies around these things,

is that there's an incredible impact

that your family of origin has on your political beliefs.

You are not, as some say,

as much of a free thinker as you might fancy yourself to be.

When you have two parents who are both of the same political party,

there is about an 80% chance that their kids are also going to hold to that party.

So if mom and dad are both Democrats,

80% chance the kids are likely going to be Democrats.

Mom and dad are both Republicans.

About an 80% chance kids are going to end up being Republicans.

Mom and dad have no affiliation.

This is where it gets even more interesting.

It's pretty evenly split.

About the same percentage Republicans,

same percentage Democrats,

and then you have your independents in the center.

And this highlights just a basic principle

that you probably know in life.

God has designed the family with incredible influence.

God has created families as the place where people are shaped and formed.

You don't need to look at a study about politics to figure this out.

You talk to any counselor who's worth their money,

and they'll tell you there is no influence more powerful

than someone's family of origin.

And within that, there's no influence more powerful than their parents.

And so that clarifies for us what is actually incredibly shocking

about this passage in Judges 2.

And what's shocking is that there's not just a lack of transmission to a few people.

It's not like we have a few Israelite children in the next generation who walk away.

No, we actually have an entire generation that just abandons things.

You know, we would expect from those numbers I just told you,

on average, one out of five kids are going to choose

a different political affiliation than their parents.

It's okay, that's to be expected.

But here it looks like five out of five of the Israelites decide

they are not going to hold to what their parents believe.

And so that's where we pick up in verse 6 with the death of Joshua.

We're actually having a second introduction to the book here in Judges.

This is not saying that the death of Joshua happened

after everything from chapter 1 and verses 1 through 5 of chapter 2.

No, we're having a second introduction to the book.

And so it's actually recapping what happened at the end of the book of Joshua,

the book that came right before the book of Judges.

In fact, the wording here is almost exactly the same

as some wording we see in Judges chapter 24.

So he's recapping the end of the book of Joshua,

saying, look, this is, remember what happened.

Joshua came into the land.

The people settled it.

Everything was great.

They went to their inheritance.

And then we see that there is a faithful generation

and an unfaithful generation.

Joshua comes in.

Joshua is the leader of the faithful generation.

And that's what we see in verse 7.

The people served the Lord all the days of Joshua

and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua,

who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel.

So great.

Got a generation.

They've seen God's work.

They remain faithful.

They serve the Lord.

They do what they're supposed to do.

Then the turn happens here, verse 10.

And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers.

Faithful generation dies, followed by an unfaithful generation.

And there arose another generation after them

who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.

In fact, we're told it's worse than that.

It's not just that they don't know the Lord.

It's, in fact, that they turn to do not what's good but what's evil.

Verse 11, the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.

Verse 12, they abandoned the God of their fathers.

And so we get a clear picture of what's been happening here.

The older generation has been restraining the younger generation.

The older generation has been providing leadership.

And so they've been holding at bay the influence of the younger generation.

They have been keeping the nation faithful.

When they walk away, there is nothing holding them back.

And so this next generation goes after other gods.

And we're told the exact problem here in verse 10.

They did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.

Now, this is where people try to get creative with this passage and say,

oh, well, we understand what the problem clearly was.

The first generation, they had seen what God had done.

That's what we saw in verse 7.

The second generation, verse 10, had not seen what God had done.

And so there's no connection between these two.

It's just a function of timeline.

First timeline, they just happened to live at the right time.

And so because they lived at the right time, they were faithful.

Oh, it's just kind of a coincidence.

This next generation didn't live at the right time.

So because they didn't live at the right time, they weren't faithful.

That, however, gives us too easy of an explanation.

Because if we look at the rest of Scripture,

what we are told over and over again

is that the works of the Lord are to be remembered

as they're told by one generation to the next.

The older generation is meant to be telling their children

over and over about God's power and his faithfulness.

Remember, we talked last week,

what is it that they forgot when they went into the promised land?

They forgot God's power that he had demonstrated in the past.

They refused to believe God's promises in the present.

Of course, we could look at many places.

One is Psalm 145, which says this,

one generation shall commend your works to another

and shall declare your mighty acts.

Psalm 78 says the same thing,

that these things are passed down generation after generation.

And of course, the most famous instruction

comes in Deuteronomy 6, where it says this,

you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart

and with all your soul and with all your might.

And these words that I command you today

shall be on your heart.

And, verse 7,

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.

You shall write them on the doorposts of your house

and on your gates.

And so what's the problem in Judges 2?

Something was dropped between the generations.

The older generation failed to sufficiently tell the next

about the mighty works of the Lord.

The older generation served faithfully,

but they did not pass that on to the next.

This generation should know the Lord, but they don't.

Now, at the very beginning, I said,

one of the mistakes we can make

is to assume that it's the fault of the parents

when a child walks away from the faith, right?

The children are 100% responsible

for what they choose to do before the Lord.

And so did I just contradict myself?

No, and here's why.

What we see here is a shocking percentage.

This is not 20% walking away.

This is not a handful here and there.

This is an entire generation.

When we see an entire generation,

we're able to say, okay, something went wrong.

Something happened between the first and the second.

And so what do we do?

What is Judges 2 meant to teach us this morning?

First, it is a reminder of our responsibility

to train the next generation to know and love the Lord.

That responsibility falls to all of us.

It especially falls upon parents.

You'll notice on pages seven and eight of your worship guide,

there's a quote from research that was done very recently

on how children's faith is formed.

And it basically says this,

there is no influence that is more powerful

than the influence of a parent.

There is nothing more effective

in forming the faith of a child

than for that child's mother and father

to love the Lord

and to talk about the Lord with that child.

In fact, it doesn't say this in the quote,

but it comes from this entire book.

And the book talks about what is effective

in passing on the faith to the next generation.

And it turns out, surprise, surprise,

what's incredibly effective

is to do what Deuteronomy 6 talks about.

The most effective way for parents to pass the faith on

is to have conversations with their children

about what they believe.

To do what Deuteronomy 6 says,

to teach them diligently to your children

and to talk of them in the house

when you walk by the way,

when you lie down,

and when you rise.

Parents that talked about God's faithfulness

in the day-to-day of their lives

were the ones most likely to see their children

grow up to continue to love and follow the Lord.

By the way, the book notes,

and other folks have noted this as well,

when we talk about conversations with your children,

we are not talking about monologues.

We are talking about dialogues.

The author of this book says,

the most effective conversations

were the ones that centered around the questions

that the children themselves had

that they raised in the family.

That heavy-handed lectures

actually have a tendency to backfire.

The other thing that has a tendency to backfire

is if we present ourselves to our children

as if we are always right

and we never make mistakes,

which actually communicates the opposite

of the gospel to them, right?

Because the gospel is the news

that I must change

and I cannot change myself.

And so it's clear also to be careful

in what we're saying

and what we're not saying.

I am not saying you are able to save your children.

I am not saying you are necessarily

or wholly to blame

if your children walk away from the faith.

Again, part of why this passage is so clear

is because an entire generation dropped away.

What I am saying is this.

God uses the family

in a powerful way

as his instrument

in the lives of the next generation.

God uses the family

in a powerful way

as his instrument

in the lives of the next generation.

I am also saying this.

Do not be surprised

if you take your faith casually

that your children take it casually as well

or not at all.

Don't be surprised

if you believe

that it's the church's job

to raise your children in the faith

if it doesn't stick.

Now, you might look back

as we talk about these things

and realize

places you didn't live up

to Deuteronomy chapter six.

And I'll tell you the same thing

that I told you at the beginning.

As long as you are alive

and as long as your child is alive,

there is still tremendous hope.

God is still able

to change hearts and minds.

God does not stop

working in someone's life

when they turn 18.

You still have the opportunity now

to talk about

the mighty works

of the Lord.

You still have a chance

to share

what God has done

in your life.

And of course,

those mighty works

include your failures

and your mistakes

and the way God's met you

and shown you grace

in the midst of that.

So I asked,

what do we do with this?

The responsibility is first

and primarily to parents.

However,

it's not simply to parents.

This study that's referenced

in your worship guide

also goes on

to talk about

the incredible power

of grandparents.

He says,

grandparents can play,

and I quote,

a surrogate role

in instilling religion.

In fact,

grandparents can have

a powerful impact

in the lives

of their grandchildren

even when the parents

don't have faith.

And I say this

for many of you

in this room.

You are walking a road

as a grandparent,

but actually,

many of you

are functioning as parents.

God is using you

in a powerful way

in the lives

of your grandchildren.

Never underestimate

your ability

to influence

the next generation.

Never underestimate

the power

of a grandmother

or a grandfather.

In fact,

that's why

our New Testament reading

came from Timothy.

Remember,

Timothy,

this is on page three

of your worship guide,

2 Timothy chapter one.

Timothy's dad

was not a Christian.

Timothy's mom was,

you know who else was?

Timothy's grandmother.

So what does Paul

tell Timothy?

I'm reminded

of your sincere faith,

a faith that dwelt

first in your grandmother,

Lois,

and your mother,

Eunice,

and now,

I am sure,

dwells in you

as well.

Many of you

still have the opportunity

to be

a Lois

or a Eunice.

God doesn't just

use parents.

He uses

grandparents.

Now,

to say that parents

are the most powerful

and to say that

grandparents

are the second most powerful

is not to say

that the rest of us

don't matter in any way.

It means those

are the most influential.

It does not mean

that the rest of us

lack influence.

In fact,

if I said before

when we baptize children,

it takes a church

to raise a child.

You do not have

to be married

and you do not

have to have children

to tell the next generation

about the mighty

works of the Lord.

That's our hope

for this community

that parents

would not be

the only ones

telling their children

but that they would

be hearing it

from older

and younger members.

They would be hearing it

in Sunday school

and in youth group

that they would know

over and over

from a variety

of people

from an entire community

about God's grace

and His power.

And so all of us,

this entire church,

we have a role

to play in this.

Everyone

has a part

to play

in raising up

the next generation.

Now,

who cares

if our children

grow up to follow the Lord?

In fact,

if you're a non-Christian,

you might be thinking,

man,

these people

are like really uptight

about their children

becoming Christians

and don't you know

that not everyone,

you know,

religion's not for everyone

and maybe your child

just makes the choice

that religion's

not for them

and why should you

worry about that?

I mean,

why don't you just

set your child free

to make their own choices

about the world

and not try to influence them?

First of all,

no one actually

lives that out consistently.

Anyone who says that

has things

that they hope

are not true

for their child.

I remember hearing

a story about someone

who went off on that

and the person

sitting with them

said,

well,

would you want your kids

to join the Taliban?

Is that an open choice

for them?

And that person

realized in that moment,

no,

there are actually things

I want for my children

no matter what.

The second answer

is this,

everyone

is religious.

you will

worship

something.

Your children

will

worship

something.

In fact,

that's what we see

here in verse 12.

It's not simply

that Israel

stopped serving

the Lord

and then went on

with their lives.

No,

what did they do?

They had to fill that void.

They found something

else to worship.

Verse 12,

they abandoned the Lord,

the God of their fathers

who brought them

out of the land of Egypt.

they went after

other gods

and bowed down

to them.

The next generation

will worship

something.

The next generation

will love

something.

The next generation

will be religious

in some sense.

The question is

whether Deuteronomy 6

will be true

that they will love

the Lord their God

with all their heart

and with all their soul

and with all

their might.

Israel

went on

to worship

the gods

of the nations

around them.

Christian,

our nation

has many gods

as well.

We have the God

of sexual anarchy.

We have the God

of radical individualism.

we have the God

of consumerism.

And then there are

the gods

of every age,

the gods

of sex

and money

and power.

And we're reminded

in this passage,

all false gods

do

is enslave.

All false gods

put us

in bondage.

Verse 14,

the anger of the Lord

was kindled

against Israel

and he gave them

over to plunderers

who plundered them.

Any God

that you worship

besides the true

and living God

will be a plunderer

who plunders you.

If you worship

sexual anarchy,

you will be plundered.

If you worship

radical individualism,

you will be plundered.

If you worship

consumerism

and experiences,

you will be plundered.

If you worship

sex

and money

and power,

they will plunder

you as well.

And so,

where does this leave us?

It leaves us

with a reminder.

It leaves us

with a reminder

of what matters most

in this life.

It leaves us

with a reminder

of what matters most

for the next generation.

It is still true

that the next generation

is our greatest legacy.

It is still true

that the hand

that rocks the cradle

rules the world.

and it is true

that we are not here

at church

to be good moral people.

Notice that nothing

in this passage says

they forgot

the Ten Commandments.

No,

what is it that they happened?

They did not know

the Lord

or His work.

Why is it that we are here

gathered together?

It is not primarily

because we want

to be good moral people.

It is not primarily

because we want

our kids to live

in a certain way.

The hope

of the next generation

is not to live

by the Ten Commandments.

Although,

I hope they do.

the hope

of the next generation

is that they

would know

the mighty works

of the Lord.

The hope

of the next generation

is that they would know

God's mighty work,

that He holds

the world together.

That they don't live

in a universe

governed by chance

or fate,

but in fact,

there is a personal God

who sees

and holds together

everything.

The hope

of the next generation

is that they would know

the mighty works

of the Lord

in reigning

and ruling

over this earth

that we do not give

our ultimate allegiance

or fear

to politicians

or influences

or businessmen.

The hope

of the next generation

is that they would know

the mighty work

of the Lord

that He changes

hearts of stone

into hearts

of flesh.

The mighty work

of the Lord

in the Old Testament

was delivering

God's people

from Egypt.

The mighty work

of the Lord

in the New Testament

is not deliverance

from slavery

in Egypt.

It's deliverance

from slavery

and bondage

to sin.

mighty work

of the Lord

is no longer

the parting

of the Red Sea.

It is Jesus

in His life

and His death

and His resurrection.

The mighty work

of the Lord

is not

the fighting

of the Egyptians

or the taking

of the promised land.

The mighty work

of the Lord

is that Jesus

has come

and won the victory

once and for all.

Our hope

is not

that church

would be a place

for our children

to learn good

and right behavior.

Our hope

is that they

would learn

and know

the Lord

and His mighty works.

John Newton

was a man

who lived

mostly in the 1700s

and a little bit

in the 1800s

and he's famous

for writing the hymn

Amazing Grace.

He became a pastor

but before he was a pastor

he was actually

a slave trader.

After his conversion

to Christianity

he switched teams

completely.

Not only did he leave

the slave trade

he actually became

an abolitionist.

He made it his goal

to eradicate it

and he worked

with William Wilberforce

to be able to do that.

By the way

Newton's mother

taught him

about the faith

growing up.

So his conversion

did not completely

come out of left field.

He abandoned it

for a time

and then he returned.

And as Newton

came to the end

of his life

and he was shortly

to die

he said this

Although my memory

is fading

I remember two things

very clearly.

I am a great sinner

and Christ

is a great Savior.

Brothers and sisters

that

is our testimony

of the Lord's

great work.

it's our testimony

of his great work

to us

and it's the testimony

that we give

to the next generation.

I am a great sinner

and Christ

is a great Savior.

Let's pray.

Our Father in heaven

we

praise you

and thank you

that you work

powerfully

in families

and you've also

worked powerfully

in our lives.

we ask

that as we

examine

our hearts

that you would

not just challenge us

but encourage us

you'd remind us

of your grace

and your power

and that would give us

courage

and strength

to tell the next generation

about your mighty works.

We ask

that you would use

this church

in a powerful way

to raise up

men

and women

who till the very end

of their lives

are committed to you

and are committed

to your church.

We ask these things

in the mighty name

of Jesus Christ.

Amen.