Passing Your Faith On Down

What will you leave behind when you are gone? We come into this world with a clutched fist, and we leave this life with open hands. When we leave, we leave it all behind.

I saw a bumper sticker that read, “We are spending our children’s inheritance.”

What do you desire to leave behind for your children? Young people, what would you desire to leave behind for others to remember you?

Some folks will hand down property to their next of kin. Some will leave money in the bank for their loved ones. I heard of one couple who got a divorce. The husband had a very wealthy Dad. The Dad was also in excellent health. One day the wife said to her

husband, “I want a divorce, you’re Dad is not dying quick enough for me.” It is a tragedy that we have placed so much emphasis on earthly possessions.

Many people think the most important thing to leave behind is wealth, but the most important thing to leave behind is a SOLID FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

The message is this....HOW TO PASS DOWN YOUR FAITH.

It is the most important thing to leave behind for your children, and grandchildren.

Money, wealth, houses, and property will not do a person good in the next life. Death will take all that away. A RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST IS GOOD IN THIS

LIFE, AND IN THE LIFE TO COME! Your Faith in Christ is something money can’t buy, and death can’t take away!

Joshua left behind a spiritual heritage. His children followed the Lord. Joshua made a commitment to pass down his faith to his children.

“And if it seems evil to you to serve the lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the

other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15

In Judges, chapters 1,2 a transition takes place....Joshua (according to 2:8) dies at the age

of 110. His generation dies.

Note: Judges 2:10 “When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, (died) another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel.”

SOMETHING WENT WRONG.......HOW IS IT THAT AN ENTIRE GENERATION COMES UP NOT KNOWING THE LORD? The previous generation failed to pass down their faith in God. In our communities today, there are mothers and dads who have decided to raise their children outside of the influence of a Bible believing church.

They have chosen another path....it is the path called “Do As You Please”!

The study of the book of Judges is important because it describes what happens to any nation who turns from God. When you look at the last chapter, last verse in Judges it describes the problem. It is the problem of America today.

Judges 21: 25 “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

Baptist Reflector, March 21, 2001

Billy Kim, Korean Pastor speaking at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary gave this information:

96% Americans say they believe in God.

80% say they are Christians.

Yet every 22 seconds a major crime is committed in U.S.

A murder every 34 minutes. 125,000 high school girls beome pregnant every year. 100,000 high school students carry guns to shcool every day.

How can we turn it around? I don’t want my children, grandchildren and their children to go the way of the world! I want their life to count for God! I want them to have a faith that is unwavering, dynamic, and solid in the Lord Jesus Christ.

HOW CAN WE PASS ON OUR FAITH TO THE NEXT GENERATION?

The Faith we pass on, must be

1. A Faith That is Possessed

We can’t pass on what we don’t possess. v.7

Joshua possessed faith in God. He had experienced the goodness of God. He passed it on. 2Timothy 1:5 Timothy was influenced by his grandmother, Lois, and his mother,Eunice.

My faith in Christ began with the influence of parents who were personally possessed of this faith. They were influenced by their parents.

That doesn’t mean every child will grow up following Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. Every child can be influenced, but being a Christian is a personal matter. They are responsible personally before God what they will do with Jesus. They are more likely

to follow the Lord, if parents personally are committed to Christ.

So, we must have a faith that is PERSONALLY POSSESSED.

2. A FAITH THAT IS PROCLAIMED. V.7 “seen all the great works...”

They had seen...........but failed to “tell it”!