Welcome to a firm foundation presented by Princeton Ministries with Dr. Ken Smith. This is Carol Smith, Ken’s wife. Please enjoy.

Father, we ask now that the words of my mouth, the meditations of our hearts, would be acceptable in your sight. For we ask it in Jesus’s name. Amen. It’s now supper time. And having given her son his supper, it’s now time for mom to begin reading. So Mom begins reading from Doctor Watt’s book. Preservatives from the sins and follies of youth. She asks her five-year-old son this question. What is profaneness? He answers, abusing or despising anything that is holy or that belongs to God. Very good, John. Let me ask you the second question. What is the first instance of profaneness? And five-year-old John answers if I make a mock of God or reproach his name, which is called blasphemy.

Or if I swear or take the name of God in vain or use his name in a trifling or foolish manner. That’s correct. Now, John, what is the second mark of profaneness? And John answers if I spend that time foolishly, which God has appointed for his own worship and service. Mother closes the book. She says, let’s close our day by singing a hymn. And so five year old John and his mother sing quietly in the privacy of his bedroom. A hymn to close the day. And then his mother says, I want to read to you tomorrow’s lesson. And again she opens up Doctor Watts book. And she reads, what is the third mark of profaneness? If I make jest of the word of God or preaching or prayer? And suddenly a sound. She closes the book and she says, it’s your father. He’s home.

As the book is closed, she quickly ends the night ritual. For John’s father was a sea captain who was often away, but for this day was home. He did not like the things of Christ. And so the only instruction that five year old John ever received and the things of Christ was from his mother. Until he was seven years old, John was taught continually by his mother, who taught him the Bible, who taught him hymns, who instructed him in prayer. When he was seven years old, John’s mother became ill and died. She prayed that her son. Son would become a Christian. And that impression never left John. Now you say, well, what happened to John? Did he go to college? Did he go off to university seminary, become a minister? Well, John actually went to sea.

And he followed after the path of his father. John later joined the navy of England. And he served on an English man of war, and he became tired of the military life. And one night, John Newton slipped overboard and deserted to begin a life of 15 years of sailing on the seas. John Newton was known by other seamen as a very vicious and harsh man. He was so disliked by the other men aboard ship that one time he washed overboard as a wave swept him into the sea. And as the crew looked, one of the men took a harpoon and shot it into his leg and pulled him back on board. And for the rest of his life, John Newton would limp as a reminder of his life, John Newton spent the last six years on sea as a slave merchant.

He was the captain of his own ship. And John Newton faced a storm. One night, he saw several members of his crew washed overboard. As the waves began to crash against the side of that ship, Newton cried out for fear that his own life would be taken. In his autobiography, John Newton says, at that moment, there was one thing that came upon me that I couldn’t escape. It was the teaching of my mother. And that night, in the midst of a terrible storm, Newton gave his life to Christ. 18 days would pass before he returned to London. And for those 18 days, he stayed in his cabin and he studied the Bible. He says, though I send away all the advantages of my mother’s training, yet they did restrain me. They returned again and again. I could not shake them off.

When the lord at last opened my eyes, I found great benefit from the teaching of my mother. You and I are exerting each day of our life an influence upon our family, an influence upon those who we work with or live with. The question is, what influence are we placing upon those who are in our care? Solomon, who was the wisest man who ever lived centuries before John Newton, coming to the understanding of the consequence of the training of his parents, of his mother, Solomon wrote in proverbs 620 and 22, my son, keep your father’s commandment. Forsake not your mother’s teaching. Bind them upon your heart. Always tie them about your neck. When you walk, they will lead you. When you lie down, they will watch over you. And when you awaken, they will talk with you.

So we see that Solomon knew that there is a tremendous influence that fathers and mothers have upon their children. Now notice that our text does not say whether that influence is for good or harm. It simply makes the statement that the things that we teach our family will, in the end, reflect upon those who are under our care. And if we give them bad teaching, then it should come as no surprise that when they walk our bad teachings will lead them. And when they lie down, our bad teachings will watch over them. And when they awaken, our bad teachings will talk with them. For there is nothing in this text to tell us whether the consequence of that teaching is for the good or the harm.

And so it becomes very important for each of us to see that we have a responsibility of teaching those things which will be for the good of our children and for the good of our families. And yet, I’m afraid, so often we are captured in the whirlwind of activities where we mean to do that, but we never get around to it. There was a song written and sung entitled Cats in the cradle. It goes like my child arrived just the other day. He came to the world in the usual way but there were planes to catch and bills to pay he learned to walk, but I was away he was talking before I knew it and as he grew, he’d say, I’m going to grow up to be just like you, dad. You know I’m going to be just like you.

And the cats in the cradle and the silver moon little boy blue and the man on the moon when you coming home, dad? I don’t know when, son, but we’ll get together then. You know we’ll have a good time then. My son turned ten just the other day he said, thanks for the ball, dad. Come on, let’s play. Can you teach me to throw? And I said, not today. I got a lot to do. He said, that’s okay. And he walked away, but his smile never dimmed and he said, I’m going to be just like him. I’m going to be just like him. And the cats in the cradle and the silver moon little boy blue and the man on the moon when you coming home, Dad? I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then. You know we’ll have a good time then.

Well, he came home from college just the other day so much like a man, I had to say, son, I’m proud of you. Can’t you sit for a while? He shook his head and said with a smile, what I’d really like, dad, is to borrow the car keys. See you later. Can I have them, please? And the cats in the cradle and the silver spoon little boy blue and the man on the moon when you coming home, Dad? I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then. You know we’ll have a good time then. Well, I’ve long since retired. My son, he’s moved away. I called him up just the other day, I said, I’d like to see you, if you don’t mind. He said, I’d love to, dad, if I can find the time.

You see, my new job’s a hassle and the kids have the flu. But it’s sure nice talking to you, dad. It’s sure nice talking to you. And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me he’d grown up just like me. My boy was just like me. And how often are we caught up in the activity of the day? If you were asked what’s important, say, well, to teach my children the things of Christ, to have time of prayer with my husband, with my wife, to share that word of testimony about Christ, that’s important, and I’m going to get to it someday, but not today. Solomon knew that the influence that we place upon our children has a consequence, and they grow up just like us. Well, what is it that we ought to be teaching as fathers and mothers to our children?

Well, let me give you a few suggestions. One thing that we ought to be teaching within our families is that each of us has sinned and fallen short of what God expects. And in that falling from God’s expectation that he has placed Jesus Christ as a remedy, that Christ died on the cross, that we might experience that new life. And if we would teach anything in our families, that we would teach the person of Christ his example, his death on the cross, his resurrection, and his coming again, that our families would know the truth of Christ. But secondly, that we would teach within our families the lesson of humility. How many well meaning parents are instructing their children in exactly the opposite pride to exalt themselves? And the scriptures say that the Lord opposes the proud, but exalts and lifts up the humble.

Our example within our homes will either show an example of great pride and arrogance and defiance to the things of Christ, or we will be teaching by our example a humility, that when we know that our conscience has been pricked by God’s word, that our children would know that we have an allegiance to Christ, and that we, too, will humble ourselves as parents to teach that example to our children, but also that we would teach dependence upon God in our families. How often do you pray as a family? How often do you pray with your children? Susannah Wesley, the mother of John and Charles Wesley, who are instruments in the great awakening. Susanna Wesley gave birth to 19 children for whom she washed and fed and instructed in the things of Christ.

She says that every day she spent 1 hour in prayer to Christ on behalf of her responsibilities as a mother. How many mothers are there who commit in prayer their children, their spouses, and show by that example a dependence upon the living God? Fourth, that we would teach our children and our families forgiveness when we are wrong. Do we hold ourselves up and never give in or have your children, your husband, your wife heard you say, I was wrong, please forgive me. That in that act of forgiveness that our children would see the example of Christ and that they would learn by that example. Fifth, that we would teach our families the love for God’s word, the scripture. Nancy Hanks, the mother of Abraham Lincoln, in fact loved the Bible, in fact was a committed Christian.

And one of the only volumes in that home was the Bible. She read continually from that book to Lincoln as he was a young boy. He says it was one of the few books that heard read continually. He committed to memory large portions of the Bible, many chapters. And his mother, when he was ten years old, was dying of a prolonged illness. One of the last acts that was performed was the asking of her son Lincoln to come. And for many days he did nothing but read the Bible to his mother. The last words that Lincoln remembers coming from his mother on her deathbed were these, I am going away from you Abraham, and I shall not return.

I know you will be a good boy and I want you to live as I have taught you, to love your heavenly father and keep his commandments. It would be many years later, after Gettysburg, that Lincoln himself would talk about his trusted in the living Christ. And on many occasions Lincoln, when asked what is the source of your ability to withstand the many bribes that come your way, the many attempts to change your opinion, Lincoln said, all that I am I owe to my angel mother. Lincoln says that the reason that he never accepted those bribes, that he is known to us as honest Abe, was because of a scripture that had been tucked away in his heart. That scripture I am the Lord thy God and thou shalt have no other gods before me. And Lincoln spoke often.

And if you look at his speeches, they are simply a movement of God’s word. The taking of chapters and verses and knitting them together into the speeches that we see as the great Lincoln. That we would teach our children to love the Bible. 6th that we would teach our children to serve others, that they would learn that it is more blessed to give than to receive, that they are called into this world not to receive but to serve. And tied into that teaching is the teaching of discipline. Larry Christensen, in a book about Christian families says that one of the aspects that is often missing from Christian families is this of discipline, of teaching our children that nothing comes freely, and instructing them in disciplining their lives. Susanna Wesley, in raising her 19 children, had this rule along with others.

But this is pointed when she said, no child of mine is to receive anything because he cried for it. And simply walk through the shopping centres of our nation and watch mothers and fathers who indulge their children as they cry. And one of the rules, not as they cry, but as they learn to serve others as they learn the discipline that those things which we will receive will come as a consequence of the way that we live our life and the disciplined exercise of our life. Finally, that we would teach our children to love the church of Jesus Christ. Christ died for the church. I read recently about a church in Kansas, and outside of that church is a cement walk. And in that walk are two little footprints of an infant.

And the story is told that 20 years before, when that sidewalk was being laid, a committed Christian mother took her little baby and ask permission to place his feet in the cement. And where are those feet pointed? Directly at the church. And they say that on occasion she would take her boy, who is now 20 years old, and show him his little footprints and remind him that he was dedicated by that family to serve Christ and to learn about Christ within the context of Christ’s church and to love that church, to serve through that church, not only within the church, but outside of the church. The scriptures teach that the teachings that we give to our children will be with them for a lifetime.

Jonathan Edwards is known as one of the great men who was instrumental in the great awakening that swept through New England. Edwards had a father who was a minister, and his wife’s father was a minister. Someone has gone to the trouble of tracing out the descendants of Jonathan Edwards, and they have found some 400 of those descendants. The teaching within the family of Edwards was always to teach about the things of Christ, the love for the scripture, a love for the church, a love to serve, a love to be humble in the service of God. And what was the consequence of that family? Well, of the 400 descendants of Jonathan Edwards, 14 became college presidents. 100 of his descendants became professors at the universities around this nation. There were 100 ministers, missionaries, or theological teachers. There were an additional 100 lawyers and judges.

There were 60 doctors and an assortment of journalists and politicians and authors. And Edward speaks about the teaching that he received from his father and his mother and the consequence upon that teaching, not only in that family, but upon subsequent generations. Solomon tells us very clearly keep your father’s command. Do not forsake the law of your mother. Bind them continually upon your heart. Tie them around your neck. When you roam, they will lead you. When you sleep, they will keep you. And when you awake, they will speak with you. Let us pray. Our God and our Father, we thank you for families, the influence of fathers and mothers. Lord, we would ask this day that you would help us anew to see the privilege we have of training, instructing not only our family, but those who are outside of the family.

By our example, in our words and our deeds. Help us to see that we are not an island unto ourselves, but our teachings influence our families, and that next generation, and even the second and third and fifth generation, help us to see that all that we do should be directed at the cross of Christ to the end that he might be honoured. We give you thanks in Jesus’s name. Amen.

Thank you for listening to Affirm Foundation presented by Princeton ministries. This programming is supported by you, the listener. You may go to our website, princetonministries.org, or send your donation to Princeton Ministries Post Office Box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 08543. That’s Princeton Ministries Post Office Box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 08543. The Lord bless you and Doctor Smith looks forward to hearing from you.