"As we cannot but with grief of soul lament those multitudes of errors, blasphemies, and all kinds of profaneness, which have in this last age, like a mighty deluge, overflown this nation; so, among several other sins which have helped to open the flood-gates of all these impieties, we cannot but esteem the disuse of family instruction one of the greatest. The two great pillars upon which the kingdom of Satan is erected, and by which it is upheld, are ignorance and error; the first step of our manumission from this spiritual thralldom consists in having our eyes opened, and being turned from darkness to light. Acts 26:18 '... to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.' " (Quotation from Assembly at Edinburgh, August, 1643).

In our current Sunday evening worship sermon series we have been covering "How to Disciple Your Family and Others" in our day. The Christian faith never changes, but cultures, trends, ideas, and dominant worldviews do. The push in American culture away from anything true, good, or beautiful according to Scripture has been accelerating rapidly in our day. The Christian church has, very sadly, capitulated to much of the insanity that swirls around us in media and entertainment. Now more than ever, heads of households in particular and parents in general must take up the godly weapons of Scripture, prayer, and catechism to fight for the souls of their children and for the future of the church in the rising generations. What all of us must do is ask ourselves the question: How will the young people in our congregation fare in the face of the rising hostility among those outside the church and the rising doctrinal indifference among those inside the church? Will our young men be as Titus 2:6-8 says? Hear this passage carefully: Titus 2:6-8 "[6] Likewise exhort the young men to be sober-minded, [7] in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, [8] sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you." Think of the young men in your church. Are they "sober-minded, in all things a pattern of good works?" If called upon to do so, can they defend sound doctrine? In their doctrine do the young men show integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned..."? If parents and grandparents do not ground their children, grandchildren, and the church's children in sound doctrine and in good works (i.e. living the Christian life distinct and different from the world with the priorities of Scripture), then those same children and grandchildren will have nowhere to go to church when they grow up and begin their own families.

Psalm 144:11-12 "[11] Rescue me and deliver me from the hand of foreigners, Whose mouth speaks lying words, And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood-- [12] That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; That our daughters may be as pillars, Sculptured in palace style;"

Will our sons be as plants grown up in their youth? Will our daughters be as pillars, sculptured in palace style? Only if we obey these passages:

Deut. 4:9 "Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren,
Deut. 6:1-2 [1] "Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, [2] that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.
Deut. 6:6-7 [6] "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. [7] You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
Deut. 11:18-19 [18] "Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. [19] You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
Genesis 18:17-19 [17] And the Lord said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, [18] since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? [19] For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him."

Always remember, it only took one generation of fathers who failed to teach their children the Word of God for the next generation to serve Baal:

Judges 2:10-12 [10] When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel. [11] Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals; [12] and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger.