This is a very serious mistake, because in some ways, grandparents are as important as fathers and mothers to a child.
Paul wrote to Timothy and he mentioned his grandmother. Look at 2 Timothy 1:5, we read, “When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.”
All the good qualities that Paul found in Timothy, he traced back to his grandmother Lois. But not only can a lot of good qualities that we find in children be traced back to their grandparents, many bad qualities can be traced back to them.
Look at our text, Judges 2:10-11, we read, “…And there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD”
Some of the horrendous things we see in our society can be traced back to parents and grandparents who are no longer living, but their evil influence is still living in their children and grandchildren.
During their lifetime they sowed bad seeds, and during our lifetime we are reaping the crop from those bad seeds.
There is not a lot we can do about this generation except to live the Christian life before them and pray for them.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE FUTURE GENERATIONS? Our children will soon be filling our places in this life.
Illus: We all have heard that old saying, “The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world.” That is true, and we had better never forget it!
When we fail to teach our children that the Lord should be first in their life, we can quickly lose a whole generation MORALLY and SPIRITUALLY. Some fear that we have already lost this generation to sports, entertainment and materialism. These are the gods they SEEK and SERVE.
HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? When our grandparent came out of the great depression, they had a difficult time surviving. But once they came through this trying time in their lives, they decided their children would not have to suffer the way they suffered. They wanted to give them a life of MATERIAL THINGS, PLEASURES, ENTERTAINMENT, and LUXURY. And they did! They spoiled their children.
They gave them practically anything they wanted. And some thought they were like Noah, so they tried to give them two of everything. They had time for everything but God, and now we are reaping the results.
But what is so sad is that the present generation is making the same mistake that parents and grandparents made in the past. We should learn from mistakes, not duplicate them.
We go through life learning some hard lessons, but when it comes to parenting, it seems like many can never learn from past generations.
To help future generations, look at the instructions God gave to parents and grandparents.
Look at Deuteronomy 6:6-7 we read, “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”
Look at the word “diligently,” this is the Greek word “Shanan,” (Shaw-nan) which means “to point.” As parents and grandparents, we have a duty TO POINT them in the right direction.
Christian parents do not spend enough time talking to their children about the Lord. God’s word says we are to do it:
• When we sit with them
• When we walk with them
• When we lay down with them
Some say, “Preacher, don’t you know children today are smarter than we were when we were children and they do not need all the instructions we had to have?”
Yes, I’ve heard people say that, but I am not sure I believe they are smarter than we were.
Illus: Have you observed that . . .
• Some of these young men seem to have a hard time keeping their trousers up.
• Some of these hair cuts the fellows are wearing are strange. They seem so proud of them, but when I was a teenager, if a barber had cut my hair the way he cut their hair, my parents would have had to beat me to make me go to school.
• Some of these young ladies are not much smarter. They do not have enough sense to know that an ear ring is to be placed in the lobe of the ear, not in their eyelids, tongue, or in their nose.
The reason God still gives children parents and grandparents is because they still need them TO POINT them in the right direction, because they do not know which way to go. When we, as parents and as grandparents, fail to train our children, they will grow up ignorant concerning the things of God.
As parents and grandparents we still have the obligation of Eph. 6:4b, “…Bring them up in the NURTURE and admonition of the Lord.”
Look at that word “nurture.” This is the Greek word, “paideia,” (pahee-di'-ah) which means we are to “discipline them, instruct them, and nurture them.”
Illus: This is the same thing a mother does when her child is born. The mother has within her the nutrition her child needs and she nurtures the child by feeding it.
As parents and grandparents, we are to love them and “nurture” them with good spiritual food.
Let me show you some things about GRANDPARENTS on this special day we call Grandparent’s Sunday. First, let us look at-
I. THE EXCITEMENT OF GRANDPARENTS
Every grandparent knows the excitement of being a grandparent.
Illus: Something we should do on GRAND PARENT’S DAY is line up all of our granddads and see who is the fastest in reaching for their wallet to show you the pictures of their grandchildren. We have some I am sure that are faster on the draw than John Wayne.
Grandparents love to talk about their grandchildren.
Illus: For two solid hours, a lady sitting next to a man on an airplane talked about all eight of her grandchildren. She had pulled out the traditional folder that many grandparents carry around and shown him all eight of them.
After talking for two hours about them, she finally realized that she had dominated the conversation. She said, “Oh, I’ve done all the talking, and I am so sorry. I know you certainly have something to say. Is there any thing you want to ask ABOUT MY GRANDCHILDREN?”
Most grandparents will tell you that they were more excited when their grandchildren were born than when their children were born.
Illus: One grandmother said, “If I had to do all over again - I’d just bypass children and have grandchildren!”
But one reason we enjoy being a grandparent is because when our children came along, most of us were young and we were so caught up in getting married and trying to establish a home, we were not mature enough to understand how blessed we were when our children were born. When our grandchildren came along, we were much more mature and settled down in life, and we could appreciate them a lot more.
Illus: Someone said, “The great thing about being a grandparent it is like having a second chance at being a parent.”
There is another reason we enjoy being grandparents. We can spoil the grandchildren rotten and send them home to their parents to deal with them.
We saw THE EXCITEMENT OF GRANDPARENTS, now look at -
II. THE EXAMPLE OF GRAND PARENTS
Grandparents hold a very unique position in life. They are parents by title only, they have no authority except the authority the parents give them.
So why does God give children grandparents? God has a very special purpose in having grandparents around. What is it? To teach the valuable lessons of honor.
One of the best ways to teach a child is by example. You can teach them all day long with words, and they might not comprehend what you are telling them. But if you can SHOW THEM BY EXAMPLE, that is the best way to teach them.
The Bible tells a child to honor his parents.
Illus: What better way to teach a child to honor their mother and father than by fathers and mothers honoring their own parents.
When children grow up seeing how they honor their own parents, then the child can easily understand what it means to honor their own mother and father. Children first learn about AUTHORITY and RESPECT in the home.
The reason we see such little respect for school teachers, policemen, pastors and etc., is because parents are not teaching their children respect at home. The first authority figures a child has to be taught to honor are their parents.
God placed grandparents here to be an example of honor.
We see THE EXCITEMENT OF GRANDPARENTS and THE EXAMPLE OF GRANDPARENTS, now look at -
III. THE EXHORTATION OF GRAND PARENTS
One of the problems with parenting is that you only get one chance at it. Many grandparents can look back and they can see all the mistakes they made as parents. Since we have come to know the Lord and matured through the years, if we could, we would go back and do some things differently.
We can’t go back! Those days have been SUBTRACTED from our life and never again will they be repeated. But what we can do as Christian grandparents, is this; we can EXHORT our children not to make the same mistakes we made.
WHAT KIND OF MISTAKES HAVE GRANDPARENTS MADE?
(1) WE MADE PRIORITY MISTAKES
Many grandparents got married and got so busy trying to establish a home, buy a home, and acquire things, that we put God on the back burner. We were not atheists, we believed in God, but we lived our lives as if there was no God.
What can we do about what we have done in the past? We can do two things:
(a) We can repent and ask God to forgive us for not allowing Him to be Lord of our life. Ask Him to forgive us for placing business, sports, entertainment and friends ahead of Him.
(b) We can EXHORT our children not to make the same mistake we made of putting God on the back burner while raising their own children.
Something every PARENT and GRANDPARENT needs to do is to look at their children and grandchildren through the eyes of God. While they are looking at them through the eyes of God, they will realize those children and grandchildren will die and spend eternity in HEAVEN or HELL without salvation.
PARENTS and GRANDPARENTS have more to do with where they are going to spend eternity than anyone else on the face of the earth. WE ARE THE GREATEST INFLUENCES IN THEIR LIVES. We need to EXHORT them not to make the same priority mistakes that many grandparents have made.
(2) WE MADE SPIRITUAL MISTAKES
We need to exhort our children to have strong spiritual families, where the Lord is the silent listener in every conversation and the guest at every meal.
Illus: Several years ago, Judge Sam Davis Tatum, of the Davidson County Tennessee Juvenile Court, said, “I have tried approximately 14,500 youngsters under the age of seventeen for violating the law in this jurisdiction. Of that great host of children: In only two instances (Out of 14,500 youngster) did the father and mother go to Sunday school and church regularly at the time they came into Juvenile Court.”
Doesn't that tell us something? THERE IS A CAUSE AND EFFECT IN THIS. A great society cannot exist where the home fails. The building blocks of a nation are it’s families.
Illus: William Lyon Phelps, once president of Yale University, wrote, “The highest happiness on earth is in marriage. Every man who is happily married is a successful man even if he has failed at everything else. And every man whose marriage is a failure is not a successful man even if he has succeeded in everything else.”
If we want children to be the way they used to be, we are going to have to start raising children the way they used to raise them - IN CHURCH UNDER THE PREACHING AND TEACHINGS OF GOD’S WORD!
If we do not EXHORT our children to have this kind of home, then our grandchildren and great grandchildren will continue to be a problem in this society and one day they all will die and go to a Christ-less eternity.
Conclusion:
Illus: Many years ago, a preacher startled his congregation. He rushed into church one Sunday morning with excitement in his voice screaming, “We’re being invaded! Our country is being invaded!” He continued, “Already the invaders are moving into Washington D.C. Within a short time they will be in control of radio, television, newspapers, every major means of transportation, and even business and industry. Soon they will have taken over everything in our country. And what’s more, we are completely powerless to prevent it” Then he asked, “Who are these invaders?” After a dramatic paused he answered, “THEY ARE OUR CHILDREN.”
I want you to think about:
• All the ungodliness we hear about in our schools
• All the filth that is on television today
• All the killings we hear about today
• All the rapes we hear about today
• All the stealing we hear about today
• All the child molesting we hear about today
• All the rebellion we hear about today
• All the unwed mothers we hear about today
• All the problems with drugs and alcohol we hear about today
• All the problems with gambling and pornography we hear about today
• All the evil politicians we read about today
All these people that we hear so much about are the children of parents and grandparents who raised them.
God still has a job for you to do. If He was through with you in this life He would have removed you from the face of the earth. We love our CHILDREN and our GRANDCHILDREN, and with the few days we have left on earth, we need to be doing the things God has placed us here to do.
I. THE EXCITEMENT OF GRAND PARENTS
II. THE EXAMPLE OF GRAND PARENTS
III. THE EXHORTATION OF GRAND PARENTS
