Putting your children under the sound of the Word

There's about 10 minutes left on that clock, and we'll see if we can't be done. And if we're not done, we'll get down anyway. Deuteronomy chapter 4. Deuteronomy chapter 4. And verse number 9. Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen.

And lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life. But teach them thy sons and thy sons' sons. Go with me to Judges and chapter 2. Judges and chapter 2. And verse number 10.

And also, and all that generation were gathered unto their fathers. And there arose another generation after them which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which they had done for Israel. Now we know this reading is with the Lord's blessing with all that has gone before.

What I have on my mind simply is the idea, and I know we come to conferences and I'm speaking to the younger ones, and the older ones will know what I mean. I see a lot of children here. And I remember, I just dropped off my daughter, my oldest daughter, to the airport.

And she went back to Virginia. And she had her daughter with her. What I am thinking about when you come to the book of Deuteronomy, know Moses is speaking unto the children of Israel, and he is telling them all that they should do.

When it comes to the word of the Lord, when it comes to the things of the Lord, and he is simply telling them all the statutes and the judgments of God. And all that they ought to do, and all that is expected of them. And he begins to go through that chapter, and he tells them all that their fathers did.

But what I have in mind is just simply this. The first time I set foot in these parts in Iowa, Wisconsin, was in 1977. So that puts me over 30 anyway.

But when I look in the audience, I see that there are young mothers, young fathers with their children. And you likely come to the conference, and it is likely, it is not easy sitting to the conference with children. But I want you to understand that there is great rewards as far as conferences are concerned, as far as sitting under the word of God for this reason.

When you come to Deuteronomy chapter 4, and Moses begins to tell the children of Israel to teach them to thy sons and thy sons' sons, there is a reason for this. You see, as my brother was saying, as far as a vision is concerned, Moses is looking down the road, and Moses sees that the children of Israel, they are going to depart. They are not going to hold true to the statutes and the judgments of God.

But he wants to tell them to teach them. He wants to tell them to hold fast. Because when I come to Joshua chapter 24, I am looking at Joshua, and Joshua is an older man.

And he is ready to pass off the scene, and he begins to tell the children of Israel all what Moses had told him. What I remember is when I was coming to Iowa, Wisconsin, I was an electrician by trade. And I would take my children, and we had a big van.

And I would take my children as soon as I got off from work, and my wife would have them all ready. And we'd pack them in the van, and off to the conferences we'd go. And we'd sit through the conferences, and it was not always easy.

And I have to give my wife the credit because she sat through with four children. And she sat through the conferences, and you know how children, I don't have to tell you how children are. But she sat through, we sat through, and then with the children at the conference, and as the conference was over, and, you know, that was another thing I, when it came to the conferences, I really hated for the conference to end.

It was like spending two days in the glory in heaven with the people of God, and then you come back down to earth, and you have to go back to work, and you face the world. But the reality of the fact that as we put the children in the van, we came to the conference, we sat under the conference, we enjoyed the word of God, and we went back home on the long drive, and the children might have been tired and dragging the next day. But you know what? The next time with the conference, we threw them in the van again, and off we went again.

And my children could tell you to this day, they remember times. We got home late at night, and, of course, we drug them all in the house and put them to bed, and they were sleepy-eyed kind of in the morning, but we did that for a number of years. As I look in the faces of some, I see that I remember some of your parents.

I remember many of the Lord's servants here that I first seen them, and I first sat under the sound of their preaching. And as I revere those days, I think of what Moses told the children of Israel. As they were going to face all the enemies that they were going to be facing.

Because when you come to Leviticus, if Leviticus is the way, if Exodus is the way out, and Leviticus is the way in, and I think of Numbers as the way through, but I look at Deuteronomy as the way on. Because I have a niece in this audience, and she can tell you the many times, as far as the conferences and all that we went through, and our children, they tell us, and they make jokes of it right now, they said, Daddy, y'all drug us to them conferences, and we were tired. And we didn't always want to sit still.

But they look back and they say, it was a reason for that. It was a reason that we taught the Word of God to our sons and our children, our daughters. It was a reason for that.

Why? Because we wanted them, for the number one reason, to get God's salvation. That was number one. Number two, we wanted them, as my brother was suggesting, to make wise choices in this life.

And I haven't time to tell you about when it comes to making wise choices, because sometimes we let different things affect our choices. You see, when it comes to Lot, Lot let the world affect his choice. When it comes to Samson, Samson let the flesh affect his choice for wife.

Sometimes when it comes to making our choices, the devil can kind of give us a little push. That comes in 1 Chronicles, in Chapter 21, when it came to David numbering the people of God. But I wanted them to make wise choices when it comes to the Word of God, so that it can go on in this life.

But unfortunately, when I come to Judges, Chapter 2, and I read these sad words, that there arose a generation that knew not the Lord. And that just simply tells me that somewhere along the line, the people of God stopped teaching their children the statutes and the judgments of God. They stopped taking the Word of God and simply reading it to their children.

My children can tell you, they will tell you of a truth, that even at the age when they were still in college, when they came home, we all prayed. We all got down together and we prayed. Every night before we went to bed, we sat and we read the Word of God before they went to bed.

But sadly enough, when I come to the Book of Judges, and I read these words, that there arose a generation that knew not the Lord. I could be looking at the faces of some, and you might think as well as coming to the conferences, or sitting under the Word of God, and you might take that for granted. But I want to tell you, don't take it for granted.

You see, when it comes to the Word of God, the Word of God is our life, and it should be. The Word of God should set precedence in every one of our lives, while we're on our way to the glory. And regardless of what the world, and all the decisions that the world makes, because the decisions that the world makes, I want to tell you that what they say is right today, will not be right tomorrow.

And what they say is wrong today, will not be wrong tomorrow. But our lives are simply governed by the Word of God. And as I look at my children, and I took my daughter to the airport, and she had her daughter with her, and I see that she's following in the steps of her father and her mother.

And I listen to these words, what Moses told the children of God, teach them diligently, diligently, to thy son and thy son's sons. And that as a result, we won't go through that awful, that awful thought, that there will become a generation that will rise up and know not the Lord. God bless us all.