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”!
They got tired of telling it.....they became curious, attracted to the religion of the heathens.....
v.11 did evil...forsook the Lord God...served the BAALS
v.17....played the harlot with other gods..
Telling the story about how God led them out of Egypt GOT OLD! THE PLAGUES IN EGYPT........ THE RED SEA EXPERIENCE......THE WILDERNESS EXPERIENCE....CROSSING JORDAN....THE BATTLE AT JERICHO....THE MANNA.....THE SERPENT ON THE POLE....
THE GIVING OF 10 COMMANDMENTS....THE DAY THE SUN STOOD STILL...They got tired of telling the old, old story.
They did not passionately proclaim their story.....their testimony meant very little to them.
The New Testament church eagerly told their story...They told how Jesus had made a
difference in their life.....PASSIONATELY PROCLAIMED IT.
"...we must speak that which we have seen and heard..” Acts 4:20
IN Judges 2:7 They had seen all the great works...they next generation heard about
it...but they failed to tell it to their next generation.
How about your Testimony! ........do you have one? We need to give it...tell it..share it..
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God....Romans 10:17 If faith is to come alive in the heart of our folks, we must proclaim God’s Word..
A faith that is worth passing down, is one that is
1....personally possessed
2....passionately proclaimed
3. A FAITH THAT IS PRACTICED.....vv1-4
...but you have not OBEYED my voice...
They did not drive out the inhabitants of the land. THEY ADOPTED THEIR LIFESTYLE. They followed after their false gods. They became worldly in their
thinking.
vv.11,12 They Forsook the Lord! v.17 They turned quickly from the way in which their Fathers walked.
Your children are watching you! To see if your lifestyle matches up to what you say you believe. THEY WON’T DO AS WE SAY, THEY WILL DO AS WE DO!!!!
Our talk, talks, and our walk, talks;
But our Walk talks more than our talk talks...
The key is CONSISTENT living for the Lord. Living for Jesus every day.
Example: Reading the Bible one day.........Reading from a questionable magazine the next. Inconsistent. Talking about Jesus one day and then Talking using bad language the next day.
Granted, we are NOT PERFECT. We should make apologies to our children. We should say "I blew it" Children need to see us being humble, and show that we don’t always do it right.....We are persistently demonstrating the right kind of VALUES....holding up the right kind of behaviour.
Day after Day.....Week after Week....Month after Month....Year after Year..persisitently..consistently praciticing our faith in front of our children.
vv.18-19....they reverted back.....They did not consistently walk with the Lord....
They kept on going back into sin.
A Faith that is Worth passing on down to your children...is one that is
1----Personally possessed
2----Passionately proclaimed
3----Persistently practiced
4. It is also one that is Powerfully Proven vv. 20-23
to test Israel...The heathens were called "thorns" (v.3)
The people with their false gods, false beliefs were there to challenge the faith of the children of Israel. They forsook the Lord and went after the pagan gods.
We are surrounded by atheism, Buddhist, Muslims, New Age, and Indifferent Folks!
It is a challenge to our Faith in Christ....Will we be Obedient, or Compromise?
Go out into the community and you can see. We are surrounded by different nationalities....
Korean, Japanese, Hispanic....Many folks come bringing their religions with them.
Close by we have a group of Buddhist. There shrines to Buddha are in their yard.
We are surrounded by Mormons, Jehovah Witnesse....and other CULTS....no such thing as a
church of later day Saints.....it is a false church....they don’t believe Jesus is eternally the
Son of God... Psychics on TV claim to know God....palm readers claim to be spiritual.
WHAT KIND OF FAITH DO YOU HAVE?
Is it for real? That’s what the next generation is asking. They are up against incredible odds.This whole world is not against Muslims.....Buddhas...new age...Mormonisms....
THIS WHOLE WORLD IS AGAINST CHRIST.....
OUR FAITH IS PUT TO THE TEST IN A DIVERSE
SOCIETY......
JESUS WILL WORK FOR EVERY GENERATION....EVERY CULTURE....
JESUS works for the Black man...the white man....the hispanic...the Korean...Japanese...
The Foreign Mission Field....is coming to us!!!!
What will we do? Be silent? Play Quiet Mouse?
Has your faith been proven true? Is your faith in church membership? It won’t stand the test. Is your faith in your denomination? It won’t stand the test.
Is your faith in your good deeds? It won’t stand the test.
The only faith that will prove to be true, is faith in the Living Lord...Lord Jesus!!!
It will Prove true....when the money is gone...(Stock Market crashes)
Prove true....when those friends desert you...
Prove true....when you lose a job
Prove true....when your health is failing....
Prove true...when you need wisdom in making important life-changing decisions
Prove true...when you come down to the end of life....you need some assurance about the
hereafter...
What will you pass down to the next generation?
