Amen. Thank you, men. I appreciate that. It is good to be here with you today. I'm sure glad you showed up. I'm not feeling the greatest, so I'm not trying to be antisocial, but I don't want to give anybody whatever I have, so I'm not shaking anybody's hands. Don't take it personal, okay? Brother House mentioned our woke culture, reminded me of a quote I saw recently. This guy said, I used to be woke. I was constantly getting triggered. I had numerous meltdowns. I protested everything that offended me and demanded that it be canceled. Finally, I grew out of it and went to preschool. Deuteronomy chapter four, this morning. Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verse 1, Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments which I teach you for to do them. that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal Peor. For all the men that follow Baal Peor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you. But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day. Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations. Which shall hear all these statutes and say, surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon Him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day? 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, especially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb. When the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children. Title of the message this morning, Make the Most of It, Make the Most of It. Let's pray. Father, thank you for the opportunity to be here. Thank you for these men. Lord, I pray that you would bless them, that you would guide them. Thank you for all the churches represented. Pray that you bless the services tomorrow. And Lord, guide and direct now as we look at your word, we ask in Jesus' name, amen. I wanna know my audience this morning. So if you are a grandfather, would you please stand up? If you are a grandfather. All right. If you reasonably expect, and you guys stay standing, but if you reasonably expect that there's a good chance that you may be a grandfather in the next five years, please stand. Boy, nobody's owning up to that. Okay, if you reasonably expect you may be a grandfather in the next 10 years, stand up. This is the natural order of life here, you know? All right, the next 20 years. Okay, all right, you can be seated, thank you, thank you. Some of you had to think about that, huh? You're thinking, ugh. Verse 9 of our text this morning, "'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.'" If you have spent much time in good Bible preaching churches then you have heard teaching and preaching on the responsibility of parents to instruct their children in the things of God. How that their God-given obligation is to raise their children according to biblical principles. You don't hear as much about the responsibility of grandparents usually. So today I want to consider the role of grandparents, grandfathers. Maybe great grandfathers and uncles and extended family make application however it may apply to you. I'll preach it to grandfathers, you plug in the principles however they best fit. It turns out from a biblical perspective that God has some expectations of grandfathers. And it's more than to just sit around in rocking chairs and to spoil their grandkids. Oh, the life lessons that are taught for good or for bad by fathers and by grandfathers. The writer Channing Pollock tells of the influence his father had upon him. His father, while a young man, died heroically at his post of duty. When Channing was 14 years old, His father was U.S. consul at a place where the yellow fever was raging. His vacation was due. He had bought the steamship tickets to travel home, but he refused to use them. Pollock says that when his mother learned of the decision, she pleaded desperately for him to leave. She asked, have you no fear? His father answered, yes, but none so great as the fear of not doing what I believe to be right. He said that very day, his father contracted yellow fever. Pollock says, because I remember what he said, I hope I might do that thing where it's equivalent under equivalent circumstances, and that my son might, and my son's son. In his book, Father Love, Bruce Lockerbie recalled a time from his childhood. He said, when I was just 11 years old, our family drove from Toronto to Eastern Ontario, to the region north of the St. Lawrence River, where my father had been born. We reached the little villages of Ventnor and Spencerville just before midnight. The residents had long since gone to bed, but Dad needed directions to find the old homestead where we were to spend the night. Reluctantly, he stopped at a darkened house and knocked on the door. After several minutes of waiting, the yard light came on and an older man opened the door. I could hear my father apologizing for the inconvenience. And then he identified himself as the son of Pearson Lockerbie, my grandfather, dead for more than a score of years. Oh, come in, come in, said the old man. No trouble at all. We knew your father. And Bruce Lockerbie went on to write of the great legacy that had been handed down from his grandfather. Grandchildren are a blessing. I never knew my grandparents. I never met them. Both sets of grandparents died before I was ever born. So I never had a grandfather. But I can tell you on the other side of the equation, it's a joy to be a grandfather. And it doesn't seem quite fair to everyone else, but for some reason the Lord has given me the 14 cutest, smartest, most talented grandchildren in the world. I don't understand that, but I'm good with it. It's a great joy, but it's also a great responsibility. God expects some things from me. Deuteronomy 6, verses one and two, now, these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land whither you go to possess it, that thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments which I command thee, thou and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life, and that thy days may be prolonged. Exodus 10, verse one, the Lord said unto Moses, go in unto Pharaoh. For I have hardened his heart, the heart of his servants, that I might show these my signs before him, and that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son's son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them, that ye may know how that I am the Lord. Tell your sons, and tell your sons' sons, and tell your grandchildren what I have done. Deuteronomy 32, 7, remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations. Ask thy father, and he will show thee thy elders, and they will tell thee. In Psalm 78, says, Give ear, O my people, to my law, and cline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength, and His wonderful works that He hath done. For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children, that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born, who should arise, declare them to their children. Why? That they might set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments. Many years ago, a little boy went to live with his grandparents when he was just one year old. They were determined to have a godly influence on this young grandson that now they bore the responsibility for. Under their tutelage, the tutelage of grandpa, that young boy would eventually get saved and fall in love with God, and ultimately with the work of God, with the ministry and with preaching. Grandma got involved, too. Years later, that young boy, by then a grown man, would speak fondly of his memories of his grandparents and sitting by the fireplace with Bibles in their laps and talking about the Lord. The grandparents were good-hearted and kind and taught him many life lessons. And how well did that investment pay off? Their time and their influence with their grandson became the most important thing they ever did for the Lord. For that young boy grew up to become England's greatest preacher, Charles Spurgeon. Oh, the impact that grandparents can have. 2 Timothy 1, 3, I thank God, whom I serve for my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy 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 the greatest inheritance that you can give to your kids, that you can give to your grandkids isn't money. It's a good name. It's a good legacy. Proverbs 22.1, a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches and loving favor rather than silver and gold. Proverbs 16.31, the hoary head is a crown of glory if, if it be found in the way of righteousness. For some men, being a grandfather is, in some ways, kind of a second chance. Maybe you weren't even saved when you had your own kids, raised them. Maybe you weren't living for God. Maybe you weren't a very good parent. Maybe you had to learn everything the hard way. Willie Keith in the book The Cain Mutiny by Herman Waukes on the minesweeper Cain when he receives a letter from his doctor father. conveying the information that when the letter is received, the father will already be dead from an incurable disease. The father offers to his son three bits of advice. First, he said, there is nothing, nothing more precious than time. Wasted hours destroy your life just as surely at the beginning as at the end. Second, religion. I'm afraid we haven't given you much, not having had much ourselves. But I think after all I will mail you a Bible before I go into the hospital get familiar with the words You'll never regret it. I came to the Bible as I did to everything else in life too late Third think of me and what of what I might have been Willie at the times in your life when you come to crossroads For my sake for the sake of the father who took the wrong turns Take the right ones Goodbye, my son. Be a man, Dad. Maybe the lessons that you've learned came a day late and a dollar short as far as your own children were concerned. As a grandfather, you can maybe now put into the lives of your grandchildren that which you wish you would have known when your own kids were young. I think a lot of parents would like a do-over. Sometimes God gives us that with our grandkids. If you don't have grandkids, then adopt somebody else's. Not literally or officially, but just choose a bus kid or somebody to be a blessing to. Choose a young kid that you can pour your life into and be responsible for. If he doesn't show up for church, you're gonna find out. Just be a blessing, be a help to them. If you're an unofficial grandparent to a bus kid, you might be the greatest male influence in his life. You might make the difference between him going bad or going good. The Bible tells about a wicked king in Judah by the name of Manasseh. He took the throne at the age of 12, and he reigned for 55 years. Manasseh was 12 years old when he began to reign. He reigned 50 and 5 years in Jerusalem. But did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. Also he built altars in the house of the Lord, whereof the Lord had said, In Jerusalem shall be my name forever, And he built altars for all the hosts of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom. Also he observed times and used enchantments and used witchcraft and dealt with a familiar spirit and with wizards. He wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. And he set a carved image, the idol, which he had made in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon, his son, in this house and in Jerusalem, which I've chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever? And the Lord spake to Manasseh and to his people, but they would not hearken. So get the picture. This king is about as wicked and as evil as evil can be. Towards the end of his life, When Manasseh only had a few years left, God finally got a hold of his heart. 2 Chronicles 33, 11, Wherefore, the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Syria, which took Manasseh among the Thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto him. And he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord, he was God. Now after this, he built a wall without the city of David on the west side of Gihon in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height, and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah. And he took away the strange gods. This is the king that had put in the strange gods in the house of the Lord. But now God's got a hold of his life. He repented of his sin. He took away the strange gods and the idol out of the house of the Lord and all the altars that he built in the mount of the house of the Lord. And in Jerusalem, he cast them out of the city and he repaired the altar of the Lord and sacrificed there on peace offerings and thank offerings and commended Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. And so he's gonna end well. Manasseh, the evil king of Judah, he's gonna end well. Verse 18, in his stead. Now here's a tragic side note. Before Manasseh got right with God, he'd raised his own children to be wicked. He trained his own children to be idolatrous and immoral. When Manasseh died at age 67, his son Amon was 22. Sometime long about Amon's teenage years, Manasseh got right with God, but Amon didn't. Are you following the timeline here? The teenage son had been trained to be evil all of his growing up years, and then dad gets right with God. The last few years of Amon's life, dad lives for God. But not Amon. He fathered a child at 16. He lived a wicked life. Dad died at 67. Amon the son was 22, and he became king. Amon was two and 20 years old when he began to reign, and reigned two years in Jerusalem. But he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as did Manasseh his father. For Amon sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them, and humbled not himself before the Lord, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself. But Amon trespassed more and more. and his servants conspired against him and slew him in his own house. But the people of the land slew all of them that had conspired against King Amon. Amon was so wicked, his own servants assassinated him after two years. And now his son comes on the throne. The son that he had fathered at 16, Now ordinarily you would assume that there wouldn't be much hope for this new king. Grandpa was wicked for most of his 67 years. Dad was wicked for all 24 years of his life. But we read this concerning the next king. He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not his side to the right hand or to the left. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, go ye, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us. 2 Kings 23, 2, and the king went up into the house of the Lord and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him and the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great. And he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant, which was found in the house of the Lord. The king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the Lord to walk after the Lord, to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes. with all their heart, all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant, and the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal." and for the grove and for all the host of heaven. And he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel. And he put down the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places round about Jerusalem. Them also that burned incense unto Baal to the sun and to the moon and to the planets and to all the host of heaven. and he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord without Jerusalem into the brook Kidron and burned it at the brook Kidron and stamped it small to powder and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people. He break down the houses of the sodomites. They were by the house of the Lord where the women hung hangings for the grove. And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense from Geba to Beersheba, and break down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua, the governor of the city. And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech. It took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun at the entering into the house of the Lord by the chamber of Nathan Melek, the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire. And the altars that were on top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, did the king beat down and break them down from fence and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon, the king of Israel, had built for Ashtoreth, the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh, the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom, the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile. and he break in pieces the images and cut down the groves and filled their places with the bones of men. Moreover, the altar that was at Bethel in the high places, which Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel a sin, had made both that altar and the high place, he break down and burned the high place and stamped it small to powder and burned the grove." A wicked king with an extraordinarily righteous son to take his place? How could that be? Here's the really neat part of the story. And if you messed up with your own kids, pay close attention. Grandpa and grandson, their lives only overlap six years. Six years. The last years of Manasseh's life. He was a different man. He was a different man. That's the only Manasseh this little boy knew. Oh, the grace of God. Amen wasn't interested in his father's recently found God. He wanted wine, women, and song. So I think that Manasseh, knowing that it was too late to influence his own son, made up for it with his grandson, a grandson who would one day assume the throne at the tender age of only eight and go on to become Judah's greatest king. Josiah was his name. The second Kings 23 and verse 25 says, And like unto him was there no king before him that turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his might, according to all the law of Moses. Neither after him arose there any like him. He's saying Josiah was like no other king Judah ever had. Under his reign, Judah had revival. The temple was restored. Idolatry was destroyed. 2 Chronicles 34, 5 said he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. He cleansed the city. 2 Chronicles 34, verse 31 says, and the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the Lord to walk after the Lord, to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart, with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in his book, and He caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. Josiah took away all the abominations out of the countries that pertained to the children of Israel and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the Lord their God. In all His days, they departed not from following the Lord, the God of their fathers. I believe that the story of Josiah's life is a story of a grandfather's influence. I can picture Manasseh saying, grandson, come here. The old man took Josiah in his lap, perhaps only three or four years old, and said, Josiah, someday you'll probably be king of this land. Don't do what I did. Don't do what I did. Grandson, I wasted my life. I led the nation into idolatry and immorality. I wasted my life. Much like Solomon would come down to the end and say, remember, now thy creator and the days of thy youth. Grandson, I blew it, I wish I could go back, I wish I could do it all over again, but I can't, and tears streamed down his cheeks. And in that six years that he could influence that boy, I believe he did everything he could to be a positive influence. Amen was busy out sowing his wild oats. I don't know for sure, but I think that maybe Manasseh said, son, I'll watch little Josiah for you if you want me to. I'll watch him. I think that they probably had some good long conversations. Listen to me, granddad, listen to me. Your main purpose in life is not to take your nieces, your grandkids, or your nieces, or nephews, or your granddaughters, or whatever, out for happy meals and ice cream. It's not. Nothing wrong with those things. Nothing wrong with those things. But that's not your main purpose in life. God says, these things that you tell to your sons, you say, well, I can't tell them to my sons, because I wasn't even saved when they were growing up. But he says, your sons' sons. Your sons' sons. And if things didn't go well with your own children, but you have a chance now with your grandchildren, I think I'd tell my kids, hey, I'll watch your kids anytime you want me to. Try to be the best influence you possibly can be. Exodus 10 verse two, and that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son and of thy son's son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them, that ye may know how that I am the Lord. Psalm 103, 17 says, but the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him and his righteousness unto children's children to such as keep his covenant to those that remember his commandments to do them. You know, we often quote Joshua in regards to Christian fathers. You're probably familiar with the verse. It's on plaques and on doorposts sometimes. And if it seemed evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose ye this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your father served that were on the other side of the flood or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Here's the thing about that verse. Do you know how old Joshua was when he said that? He was 110. He was 110. And so that's probably more of a verse for grandfathers and great-grandfathers. Proverbs 17, six, children's children are the crown of old men. I suppose every father that's saved can look at things, even if you raised your kids in church and tried to raise them the best you can, you can look back and say, I wish we wouldn't have done that, and I wish we would have done this, and I wish I could have done this differently. But you can't bring anything back, you can't change the past. But God sometimes gives you a do-over. gives you another opportunity. And maybe it's not with grandkids, maybe it's with nieces and nephews, maybe it's with other relatives. Like I said, maybe it's with bus kids in your church or people that don't have a good male role model. Now do something in your church, be something in your church. Don't just sit soaking sour. Find a ministry, do something, be an influence. You might wish you could have a do-over. Maybe God has given you that with your grandkids. Make the most of it. Make the most of it. What are the odds that Josiah would ever serve God? Manasseh was an evil man. Amon was an evil man. But Manasseh got right with God. And for six years, the only time that Josiah would know him, He was right with God. And he made the most of it. I'm sure he could have looked back with plenty of regrets. Sits down with little Josiah. Grandson, I blew it. I ruined my life. I ruined the nation. You got a chance to do something great for God. You got a chance to make a mark for God. And I think Josiah turned out to be the king that he was, the greatest king that Judah ever knew. because of a grandfather, said I'm gonna be the influence that I can be. Lord, thank you for your word this morning. I pray you'd help us to learn the lessons you'd have us learn. Lord, every one of us in this room, we have influence with other people. May we purpose to use that influence for you. May we purpose to use that influence for right. And Lord, every one of us in here, we could look back on times in our life and say, I'd like to go back and make that decision over. I'd make it differently, but we can't. We can't go back. All we can do is go forward. May we learn, may we purpose to make the most of the opportunities that you give us. In Jesus' name, amen. Heads bowed.