Preserve us a posterity

I'm a bit sick this evening (have a head cold) but this is a topic I wanted to write upon for a while, especially since last week. I haven't had the chance however. In fact, of the 14 things I wanted to accomplish Saturday (yeah, busy day and very draining), this one was of the five that I didn't get to, and it's much more important than them. All this to say, I really want to make this good, yet I won't have much time to really write it out very well. My apologies in advance but I'm taking advantage of the time I've got this evening.

It has to do with the church and God's means of preserving it. Ordinarily, this is done by natural generation, through the children and grandchildren of believers. Sometimes God does work in revivals and brings people to himself who have had no history of religion but the main means for preserving the church is through descendants. That being said, the church has a problem that has existed for thousands of years.

Take Adam and Eve for example. God was certainly a God to them and to their children (at least Abel and Seth) but Cain was a bad apple (pun), though I'm sure his parents cared dearly for him. After this we find the descendants of Adam quickly multiplying at a fast rate and their apostasy multiplying at an alarming rate. The distinguishing marks are made between the "sons of God" and the seed of the serpent. Think about it: during this time, Adam was still alive, for nearly a millennium. He could lift up his shirt and show he had no belly button. He was the oldest man, undoubtedly the wisest (God endued him with knowledge to name the animals and care for them) and everyone could gain instruction from him. Yet the very large majority forsook the God of their father, Adam, and followed their own pursuits. It became so bad that eventually only Noah and his family was left, and God saved them and destroyed the rest of mankind.

Noah was a godly man, "perfect" in his generation, he offered sacrifices to God and I'm sure instructed his children to do the same. Two of his sons appeared to at least consider their father with honour, the other, Ham, mocked his father's nakedness and was cursed for it. As we read of the generations that come after Noah, it is remarkable how the entire earth so quickly falls away from God, until it appears that none is left except possibly Melchizedek (even Abraham was brought out of an idolatrous nation by God himself).

Abraham served God and his son Isaac seems to have followed closely in his father's footsteps. Thank the Lord for this! Yet Ishmael seems to have followed in his mother's, and mocked the promised seed of God (and thereby God himself). To Isaac was born Jacob and Esau, and both didn't seem to follow their father or grandfather at all, yet God was merciful and brought Jacob to himself and renamed him Israel. Esau was left in his sin, his weeping comes too late.

Of Jacob's 12 sons, I only know of one (Joseph) that seemed to follow God wholeheartedly. Not much is mentioned of the others, though the first four (Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah) certainly have grievous sins mentioned against them.

Yet God is faithful to His people and years later brings them out of the land of Egypt. It says that they cried for rescue (Exo 2:23) and yet I think it's important to note that it doesn't say they cried to the Lord. But the Lord remembers His covenant and rescues them.

Now let's jump forward a year later when they are about to enter the land of Canaan. The don't believe that God can rescue them from the inhabitants. Think about this: they had God's glory dwelling visibly on the tabernacle, most likely behind them. In front of them was the shining face of Moses. That morning they had eaten Manna from heaven, probably last night they had eaten meat that the Lord had provided, they had seen the fire and smoke of Mount Sinai, they had been rescued from the Egyptians, they had water provided out of a rock for them, their clothes had not worn out, God had wrought great miracles in the land of Egypt, all within the previous year! Yet the disbelieved. What a forgetful generation! Was there not one person who stood up and remembered all that God had done?

Fast-forward some more and go to the book of Judges (which is where I'll stop). Judges 2 describes the death of Joshua and the elders that were with him and then comes the sobering statement in verse 10:

"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."

I've contemplated this quite a bit. Was there not a single man who did not take his children upon his knees and explain to them how great Jehovah was and how He had saved the people from their enemies and had given them the law? Assuredly there must have been some, but the general tenor of the people was to apostasy.

The Church has faced a similar crisis all throughout her history. There is a godly generation who rises up and throws of the chains of years of tyranny and bondage. Who holds steadfastly to the Scriptures and staunchly opposes the enemy against all odds. Their children enjoy peace for a time and then, as in the book of judges, there is great darkness once again.

This past summer I had the opportunity to go down to an RP mission which had been abandoned during the last century. It was sobering to think of the thriving community that had once been there and to realize the same thing was happening right under our noses around the country. RP churches that were down to a few, even a dozen or so, old members who couldn't even support a pastor. Where will these congregations be in 10 years? Deceased with their members? Vacant and forgotten as the mission down at Cache Creek? What had happened to their children and their grandchildren? Doubtless many of them moved on from those locations and went to other congregations, in our society it is much easier than it used to be, to go from place to place and spread out across the country. But as a general rule, the membership in churches is declining (not just RP churches) and as the old generation dies off, the new comes along that does not know God.

An example from my own experience is some of the Baptist churches around here. The older members seem to be from an intermediate generation. Their parents fought and held firmly to their beliefs, their children (the ones who are now dying out) basked in the freedom their parents had won, but it wasn't necessarily their own religion, it was the religion of their parents and when things started to waver and to become watered down, they didn't care so much as the things they remembered as being "essential" were held to. Their children tend to be even less discerning and to have wandered into various churches, seeking fulfillment, looking for something that pleased them.

The generation that fights and defends has much more of a personal understanding, they realize how much there is at stake and how much of it is precious. They pass this down to their children, who accept it upon the testimony of their parents but unfortunately, sometimes it doesn't necessarily become their own, but something they hold to simply because they've always held to it. Their children see no strength in the faith of their elders.


There is a lot of important things I want to say in here, but I'm afraid if I get to wordy then I'll lose whoever may be reading it.

This is something that is strongly on my heart. God give us the wisdom to train our children, not just so they may train their children, but that they may train their children to train their children to love the Lord! An instruction of a son or daughter cannot be merely to the end of having them stay true to the Lord all their life but must be more foundational, more far-reaching. There must be a bringing up in the fear and admonition of the Lord, an explanation of doctrines and the enemies that lie without. Their children must take up the Bible as something precious not to their parents, but to them! God must not just be a God of their father and mother, but their God, and a God to their children after them.

Where does it start? A very important place is Family Worship and training: catechizing of children, or in other words, instruction of children. Children who see their parents and grandparents following the Lord whole-heartedly will be able to see that as a visible manifestation of God's power and presence. Their religion cannot be merely accepting the facts because it has been told them so, but they should be shown where it is in the Bible, what the Bible teaches, and what men will try to say to oppose them. First of all, there has to be information to process and that must be taught. Pro 22:6 says to train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it, but I dare say there is more to that verse than appears on the surface.

Training. Do not deceive yourself by thinking Satan has no interest in your child. Can he but turn that one child and he has turned the generations that will come from him (should the Lord not intervene). That is why this training is so vital, and the training must also encompass instructions on how to train their children, and to train their children to give instructions to their children to train their children (the flow of that "sentence" is hideous). Training is incredibly important.

The responsibility of the head of a household is enormous. He is responsible for doing his duty towards his wife and towards his children, he is accountable, in some measure or other, for the safety of their souls! If like the watchman in Ezekiel 36, he "blows his horn" in training his family, being diligent to pray for, instruct them, and help them grow, then he is guiltless. But if he should not fulfill every bit of his duty, their blood, in some measure, is on his head. What a tremendous responsibility belongs to the head! To a lesser extent it belongs to the mother as well, for she will most likely have the most influence upon her children by her manner, character, and instructions.

It is my contention that it is the failure to live up to responsibilities which has resulted in the mass turning away from God that we have seen, both in times past and in times present. O Lord, who can withstand the burden of so great a responsibility!

Well, there is one last, very important thing, and that is God's promise and His working. We can work and labour but unless the Lord builds the house, we labour in vain (Psa 127:1). God has promised to be a God to us and to our seed (Gen 17:7) and we should pray that He might fulfill that promise. Not that we should be slack in our doings, but it is a comfort to realize that after we have laboured all we can, it is God who gives the increase.

May we convey this responsibility to our children. May God impress upon them the fervour we have for them. May He keep not only us, but our children and our children's children. May He preserve a godly seed and remember His promises. May He give us the strength and wisdom to instruct our own children that they may cling to Him as their God, and to His promises as being made to them. May He quicken our hearts and the hearts of our children and may our generations never grow cold. May the children even be more godly than their parents, even unto the end of the world.

Amen.