Let's pray. Most gracious and merciful God, what a precious truth we have just sung together. Also that thou will show thy friendship to those that love and fear thee. What a beautiful expression of thy character, the God of salvation. the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in Thy Son does draw so very near to us, in whom we may draw near to Thee. And we thank Thee, Lord, that we may gather here tonight, and we ask for Thy blessing upon the subject matter that will be discussed, a subject matter of vital importance for us for our children, for our grandchildren. The great and urgent question, what must we do to be saved? Because unless we are saved, unless our children and grandchildren are saved, we will surely perish. Oh, the wonder that thou has given us thy word, that word which unveils to us the glorious plan of redemption, that word which reveals to us thy Son, the Savior, the Redeemer, the Mediator, who came in the fullness of time, and thy word which so clearly articulates the gospel for us, the glad tidings that whoever believes in that Christ will not perish, but have eternal life. For he that believeth the Son hath life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides in him. And so we pray, Lord, that by grace we may know this Christ, that this question may have been or become the urgent question of our life. And so guide and direct us as we listen to thy word tonight. We ask it in Jesus' name, amen. And so as I already announced Sunday, I'm especially concerned with how parents are to communicate to their children the necessity of salvation. Because this is ultimately a matter of extraordinary importance. Because also our children are living on the threshold of eternity, as is true for all of us. And so that awareness, that awareness of that our children, our grandchildren, need to be saved between the moment of their birth and the moment of their death, unless they would perish. And so the salvation of our children, of our grandchildren, should be the highest priority of our parenting and even of our grandparenting. Because as grandparents, we have an incredible opportunity and responsibility to speak to our children, to our grandchildren about the salvation of their soul. So I want to focus here briefly again on a passage that I've preached about some time ago at baptism, the powerful words of Christ. when he rebuked the disciples who thought that Christ could not be bothered with children and who would have chased those mothers and their children away. He was filled with holy anger and holy dismay. And then uttered these remarkable words, suffer little children to come to me and forbid them not. And so that word suffer, is an imperative. It's not a suggestion. It's an imperative. In other words, Christ is giving us a holy command. A command not only for the disciples, but for us as parents and grandparents. And so that means that we have a holy obligation to encourage our children to come to Christ. to encourage them to come to Christ. Because that's what Christ is saying in very simple language. What he is saying here is really the essential truth that we have in Matthew 11, verse 28. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. So Christ is saying to us, You must do everything you can to encourage your children to come to me. And then the important addition, and forbid them not, hinder them not. Make sure that you are not an obstacle in the way. Make sure that you do not prevent them from coming to me. And so with that as our background, I want to immediately highlight the burden that I have in giving this presentation. Because we've all grown up in a tradition, including myself, where it was understood that you tell your children that they should pray for a new heart. So I want to be very careful here what I say. I don't want to be misunderstood. I'm not suggesting for one moment that our children don't need a new heart. They do. They are born with a corrupt heart. They're born with a depraved heart, out of which issue all those sins that Christ enumerates for us in Mark 7. And so yes, it is true what the form for baptism says in its opening paragraph, that unless our children are born again, they cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. And so our children are born dead in sins and in trespasses. And so it is true. Theologically, it is true that our children do need a new heart. But the question that I've grappled with for years, the question is, but is that what we are to tell them? Is that what Christ means when he says, suffer the children to come to me? Have we fulfilled our obligation? Have we obeyed this directive? If all, we ever tell our children that they need to pray for a new heart. And I'll get, later I will deal with it. But this is, I want you to understand why I'm doing this. Because I want to present the case of scripture. I want to listen to the word of God. To see if that advice matches what the scripture would say. If that advice is indeed the biblical counsel that we should give our children and our grandchildren. Because I think it's crystal clear that Christ means something much more than that. When Christ said, suffer the children to come to me. That seems, I think it's very obvious that Christ is saying, you must encourage your children to go to me. You must encourage your children to seek me. You must make it clear to your children. that they need to come to me in order to be saved, that they cannot be saved unless they come to me. Of course, that's a foundational truth of the gospel. So how do we balance God's sovereignty and human responsibility when instructing our children? So we have the biblical truth. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3, verse 3. That's an incontrovertible biblical truth that we may never lose sight of. But there's another biblical truth. What shall be the end, Peter says. of them that obey not the gospel of God." Listen carefully to that language, that obey not the gospel of God. So in other words, what Peter is implying, that when the gospel is preached, and when Christ is offered in the gospel, that's not a leave it or take it proposition. In other words, that the gospel not only is an invitation, it's an imperative. So even in Matthew 11, verse 28, when Christ says, come unto me, that's also an imperative. The gospel is not a suggestion, not a leave it or take it proposition. And so as far as God is concerned, there's only two possible responses to the gospel. Either we obey the gospel, either we surrender to the gospel, or we disobey it. So the last verse of John 3, when John writes in what is probably the concluding statement of his public ministry, he that believeth the Son hath life and he that believeth not the Son. And what's interesting is that the Greek word actually means he that refuses to be persuaded. That's unbelief. He that refuses to be persuaded. And so what this implies, what 1 Peter 4 verse 17 implies, that when we preach the gospel, when we present the gospel also as parents and grandparents, we need to communicate to our children in very wise ways that God does not take no for an answer. We need to understand that ourselves. And so the way they matter for us to deal with tonight, so how do, in instructing our children, even our young children, in instructing our children, how do we avoid two extremes? How do we avoid fostering presumption? I think the last thing that we wanna do is somehow talk our children into salvation. We're leery of that, especially in our background. We are keenly aware of the fact that ultimately salvation is the work of God, is the work of the Holy Spirit. That's true. That's true. But that reality that it is his work does not negate what scripture tells us to do. The other extreme we have to avoid is what we call false passivity, false passivity. In other words, where we foster a situation where our children become completely passive to the Word of God, thinking that all they have to do is pray for a new heart and then just have to wait to see whether it happens. That's what we call false passivity. So those are the two extremes we have to avoid. So what I want to do now is consider how does scripture address sinners? And thus, how does scripture address our children? Because we have to realize, and I don't think there's anybody here who doesn't realize, is that Our children need salvation from the moment they are born. So as early as we possibly can, we must communicate the gospel to our children in simple terms, but we must communicate the gospel to them. That's not something for adults. Christ has suffered the children to come to me. Encourage your children to come to me. So first of all, Ezekiel 33 verse 11, the classic passage from the prophet Ezekiel. Say unto them, as I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? And so God is directing Ezekiel how to address wicked and unrepentant Israelites. That's to whom this is addressed, wicked and unrepentant Israelites. And so then God states what pleases him. So what pleases him when the wicked, and that includes our sinful children, when the wicked turn to him. That's what pleases him. And that's what we need to communicate to our children, that it pleases God when they turn to him, when they seek to him. And so God clearly wants to encourage the wicked. He's clearly saying, let them know who I am. Let them know that it delights me, that it pleases me. when they turn to me. And then, of course, the amazing conclusion of this well-known verse, where God, as it were, pleads with the wicked, pleads with the ungodly. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? And so what does God not say here? He does not say, tell them that they cannot repent. and tell them that they must wait till I give them the grace of repentance. He doesn't say that. He doesn't even remotely imply that. Now, is it not true that we need grace to repent? Of course it's true. But as we will see in the passages that follow, God always addresses us as accountable creatures. God always addresses us a way in which he expects a response to what he says. God never speaks to us with the implication that we can passively sit back and hear what he has to say. So the bottom line is we must plead with our children to turn to the God who has no pleasure in their death. And of course, it takes wisdom, prayerful wisdom, to know how to explain that to your children. But it begins very, very simply by telling them, Christ wants you to come to him. Christ wants you to pray to him. Christ wants you to seek him. Next passage, Mark 1, verses 14 through 15. Jesus came into Galilee. preaching the gospel of the kingdom and saying the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent ye and believe the gospel. Repent ye and believe the gospel. These two essential statements we call the imperatives of the gospel. Again, we need to understand when Christ says this, right? So here is the living word. He is the son of God who begins his public ministry with this opening statement. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe. So the obvious conclusion is that Christ addresses sinners, as I said before, as responsible, as accountable men and women. And that includes our boys and girls. We need to communicate to them as early as we can that when God comes to us in his word, that we have a holy obligation to respond to that word. And now I realize very well that the wonder of the covenant of grace is that God grants what he demands. That Christ has been exalted as a prince and a savior also to give repentance, but that does not take away from the fact that we as preachers and as parents, we must proclaim God's word as he did. We must make it clear to our hearers, we must make it clear to our children that when God speaks to us, especially when he comes to us in the gospel, and when he says, repent and believe, that's exactly what it means. So what's the bottom line? Is that as we instruct our children, we must echo the words of Christ. As we will see in the next passage, Luke 24 verse 47, that Christ's message is consistent also in the instructions he gives to his disciples in the Great Commission. Luke 24, 47, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem. So Christ here concludes his ministry by directing his disciples how they are to proclaim his word to a lost world. He's saying them, so in other words, in Mark 16, it says, go and preach the gospel to every creature. This passage unpacks that for us a little bit. And so he's saying when you go forth, you must call sinners to repent. And you must call them to believe the gospel. And you must tell them that if they do repent, and if they do believe in my name, you must tell them that their sins will be pardoned. And so the two foundational components of that message, repentance, remission of sins, bottom line. Sinners, and thus our children, must be called upon to repent and believe the gospel and the promise of the gospel, namely, that if we do, that God promises us that he will remit our sins. That's why the Apostle Paul, of course, in Acts 13, he ends his sermon with a clear and powerful offer of grace. when he says, be it known unto you, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. And so as early as possible, our children need to be, we need to teach them the foundational, the fundamentals of the gospel. We need to teach them that they are sinners in need of a savior. That if they come to this savior, that he promises that he will receive them. So Acts 2, verse 37, 38. Now when they heard this, Peter's sermon, Peter's convicting sermon, they were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? What shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. And so Peter's response to this urgent question, what must we do? What a blessing it is if your children would come to you with that question. Mom, dad, grandpa, grandma, what must I do to be saved? How then do we respond? I want you to notice what Peter does not say. He does not say to this crowd, there's nothing you can do. He does not say to this crowd, pray as much as you can. He does not say to this crowd, use the means as diligently as you can. He does not say, pray for a new heart. He does not say, wait until the Spirit draws you. He says, none of these things. And so the bottom line is, again, we must respond to this question, what must we do with biblical directives, rather than directives of our own making? Directives, perhaps given with good intention, but ultimately which make the word of God of none effect. Acts 16, verse 30 and 31. And brought them out and said, the jailer did, right? The earthquake has taken place. He's in Macedonia now, Philippi. He said, sirs, again the same question as on the day of Pentecost, sirs, what must I do to be saved? And without any hesitation, the apostle immediately replies and says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house. So the question of the jailer. is the classic question that is posed by troubled and seeking souls. And Paul's unhesitating response, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. To give any other answer would be to be guilty of spiritual malpractice. My friends, Amazing that Paul did not hesitate for one moment to give that answer in all of its simplicity. And you know well that Paul was totally committed to God's sovereignty in salvation. But he knew there was only one appropriate reply to that question. And so some have suggested that Paul must have sensed and perceived that God was at work in this man and therefore gave him that answer, there's nothing in the context that even remotely suggests that. All he saw was a trembling man who was shaking from what had just happened. And he knew that when that question was asked, and I have to tell you, I've grappled with this much during my ministry. And I would not dare, I would not dare to give a different answer. So if your child, your grandchild comes to you and say, mom, dad, grandpa, grandma, what must I do to be saved? And this is the answer. This is the biblical answer. Now, in the context of what follows, it's clear that Paul and Silas spent some time unpacking this. what this all meant, opening the scriptures to make sure that the jailer understood what he meant. And of course, we would have to do likewise. So what does that mean to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? That means that we go to him, that we take him at his word, that we explain to our children, this is the savior who wants you to come to him. This is the Savior who has said that he that comes to me, I will in no wise cast out. And as little as you are, you may go to this Savior and you may say to him, my mommy and daddy have told me that I may come to thee. I'm a sinful boy or girl, but I may come. And I realized that. Also, given our background, that we're somewhat uneasy about all this. And we need to come to grips with it. Acts 20, verse 21 and 21. And this is where Paul is addressing the Ephesian elders on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. And this is where he summarizes his whole ministry. He says, and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. So Paul is saying, the bottom line of my entire ministry, both in private homes and in public, boils down to this. What I have preached is repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And so that's why his conclusion of his sermon in Athens on the Areopagus, a very unique sermon, a sermon preached to Gentiles, to philosophers, but he ends his sermon by saying, God now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. Again, crystal clear language. And of course, and I will come back to it later, is that there is, of course, the passage in 1 John 3, that God commands us to believe in the name of his only begotten son. Two scripture passages clearly emphasizing the two imperatives of the gospel. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 11. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. But we are made manifest unto God, and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences." It's a bit unfortunate that the English text misses what is obvious in the Greek and the Dutch text. And so the Dutch text reads, we persuade men to believe. So Paul preached with the intent to persuade. He preached persuasively. He bound the gospel upon the hearts of those who heard him, knowing full well that without the work of the Holy Spirit, his persuasion would not bear fruit. Of course, he understood it very well. That doesn't take away from the fact that Paul understood the urgency of the gospel. And so he spoke persuasively. He preached as if he were capable of persuading his hearers. And what's moved him to preach persuasively? He says, well, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord. And so Paul had this deep awareness of what happens to men and women who do not repent and believe. What happens to boys and girls who do not repent and believe? Paul had this deep conviction about the judgment of God that awaits the sinner who dies unrepentant and unbelieving and who will face the terror of God because they did not repent and because they did not believe. That's why in John 12, Christ says so crystal clear. He says, he that rejecteth me hath one that judges him. The word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. He that rejecteth me. And so the bottom line is that our message must be Paul's inspired message if we are to be pure from the blood of our children. That's why Paul could say in Acts 20 that I am pure of the blood of my hearers. And why could he say that? because he knew he had a clear conscience before God that this is what he had done. He had preached repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then 2 Corinthians 5 verse 20, now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. Be you reconciled to God. So that's what our children need to understand as early as possible. And so when they sin, when they do wrong, what an opportunity for you to talk about the fact that they are sinners and what that means before God. They need to be told that they need to be reconciled with God. And how are we reconciled with God? We are reconciled with God by repentance and faith in Christ. That is the divinely ordained way whereby we are reconciled with God. So the bottom line is, that the God who beseeches our children in the gospel is the God of Ezekiel 33 11. The God who has no pleasure in their death. So we need to make sure our children understand that God means what he says. They need to understand that they are welcome. That if they seek him in all simplicity, if they come confessing their sins, if they come beseeching him to be merciful for Christ's sake, that he delights in that. He delights in that. So also in this respect, God loves to hear the echo of his own word. So what are the implications in light of all this of instructing our children to pray for a new heart? Number one. This well-intended exhortation to ask for a new heart is not consistent with Scripture. So I'm not saying that the prayer itself is necessarily wrong, if it's prayed in the right context. But the question is, Is that the answer we give to our children if they say, what must I do to be saved? Is that the biblical answer to tell them to pray for a new heart? That's the point. Because neither the prophets, nor Christ, nor the apostles ever exhorted their hearers to pray for a new heart. So what is the unintended peril? What is the unintended peril of doing that? It fails to impress upon the child that God demands repentance and faith. And so when you tell, if all you tell your children or grandchildren, you must pray for a new heart, it completely misses the point. By saying that, you have not in any way explained the gospel to them. You have not addressed the reality of their sinnership. Instead, our children need to be told they need a Savior. They need to pray to be saved by this Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so if that's all we tell our children, and they grow up, Only thinking that all they have to do is pray for a new heart. We have missed the point. We have not explained, we have not, we have failed to explain the gospel to them. And what an opportunity. And I've also been slow in learning this. I understood it better with my second child, who came 12 years later. that when your child does something wrong, part of disciplining that child is not just correcting that misbehavior, but what an opportunity to talk about your child about his or her sinnership, in all simplicity. You did this because you're a sinner. And so not only have you made mommy and daddy upset by what you did, but God is upset with you because of what you did. You have, you've sinned. And then you can talk to them about a savior, that as early as possible, that because they are sinners, that the reason they do wrong is because they are sinners, and therefore they need a savior. And we need to tell them about this savior, this willing and able savior. And that's why there you have the two passages that I just referred to. Now command us all men everywhere to repent that this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his son, Jesus Christ. So when we do this, we unwittingly teach our children that they have fulfilled their obligation toward God. That there's nothing more they can do. They cannot convert themselves. And so if they pray for a new heart, they have fulfilled their obligation. And it will make them passive towards the imperatives of the gospel. I've known people who under deathbed were bitter, bitter, I remember standing at the deathbed of a deacon who had been a faithful, loyal member of the church, and who bitterly said, it all did me no good. I prayed for a new heart every day, and here I am. It didn't do me any good. Happened to me more than once. And I know of a young woman who turned her back Radically on the church. She said it's a bunch of nonsense She said I've been told my whole life and I've done it. I've never skipped it. I prayed for a new heart and Nothing has happened Now you may say that's a lousy excuse, of course in a way it is But the point I'm making is that that girl had not received biblical guidance and That's what so greatly concerns me. And so it fosters a passivity and creates an environment in which they can be comfortably unconverted. After all, I've done my part. I pray for a new heart. There's nothing else I can do about it. And so I find it so troubling when I meet people, and when you try to talk to them about the gospel, say, well, it has to be given. It has to be given. Hiding themselves behind their inability. And so what it does, it can foster a fatalistic attitude toward the salvation of their soul. And so what we're teaching them, is that we have to experience something to be saved. And the Bible says we have to believe something to be saved. Now, let me hasten to add, I am not suggesting that true salvation is not experiential. I'm not suggesting that for a moment. And when the Holy Spirit works savingly, we do experience the reality of God's truth. All of that is true. But the question is, what do I say to my child when it says, what must I do to be saved? Then the wrong answer is to simply say, well, something has to happen to you, or you have to experience something. And so what that does, by telling them to pray for a new heart, it shifts the emphasis towards regeneration rather than towards faith. And it shifts the whole emphasis towards the idea that as long as I somehow know that I have a new heart, then the rest will follow. That's that whole thinking. That's that whole thinking that we have to go through a whole series of experiences to ultimately arrive at Christ. So it ultimately doesn't matter whether you really get there. If all of those initial steps, if they all fall in place, then all is well. That's not what scripture teaches. Scripture impresses upon us the imperative of the gospel. God's word says, and Christ sent his disciples into the world, saying, you need to tell sinners to repent. and to believe the gospel. That's my message. That's what Paul said. That's what I preached my whole life. I preached it from the pulpit and I counseled it in the home. Our children need to understand that they will not be saved and cannot be saved unless they believe in Christ. So we have to make sure that we do not make the Word of God of none effect. As I said, it shifts the focus to getting a new heart rather than being reconciled with God. That's what God's ambassadors say. In Christ's name, be ye reconciled with God, because that Well-intentioned directive fails to focus on the gospel and ultimately furnishes our children with an excuse not to repent and believe. Worst of all, it will enable them to keep God and his word at bay until they receive a new heart. I remember when I was an elder in New Jersey, I met with a young man who was living a sinful life. You know, he just coldly said to me, well, he said, nothing I can do about it. He said, I'll just wait till I'm stopped. He said, I'll wait till I'm stopped. In other words, as long as I'm not stopped, I will just continue because there's nothing I can do about it anyway. It gave me the shivers when I heard him say that so coldly. But that's what this fosters. It fosters the idea that And I remember another, a young married woman who came out of the world, married one of the boys in New Jersey. And one of her friends once asked her, well, what did they preach in that church? She says, well, what I'm getting is that either you're picked or you're not picked. That was her summary of what she understood. Either you're picked or not picked. In other words, because of an unhealthy emphasis on election. I want to make sure that I'm not misunderstood here. I am not in any way suggesting that the work of the Holy Spirit is not necessary. It is. But it's His ordained way that I'm convinced of. It's His ordained way that applies to us too. is when we take our responsibilities seriously, that's when God works sovereignly. He wants us to take his word seriously. He wants our children. And when we do, we will discover that we need the grace of God to do what God commands us to do. But the point of my message tonight is And I do not want to mitigate that in any way. What should be the biblical answer to that question? And so what are some of the biblical and practical directions in instructing our children to seek the Lord? First of all, in light of their covenant privileges, God has a right to demand repentance and faith. God has a right to demand that of our children, who from the moment of their birth have literally been surrounded with the Word of God. In other words, our children need to understand that they cannot be neutral toward God and His Word. So when Isaiah 55, verse six through eight, this wonderful passage, There we have the urgent and sincere invitation of the God in whose triune name they have been baptized. Again, listen to the language of scripture here. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, and call ye upon him while he is near. These are all imperatives. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, return, repent, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." That's the language of scripture. And then the words that follow that, they're often quoted out of context. It says here, for my thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways. So God is saying here, this is my way of thinking. Put your own way of thinking aside and submit yourself to my way of thinking. My thoughts are not your thoughts. These are my thoughts. This is how I think. This is what I want communicated. And so that's what we may and must do. We must encourage our children to seek the Lord, to actively seek him, to call upon him, to take hold of his word, to teach them early on, to plead upon those precious words of Christ. He that comes to me, I will in no wise cast out. Lord Jesus, thou hast said that if I come to thee, thou wouldst not cast me out. That's a prayer that pleases Him. That's a prayer that honors Him. So as did the mothers, we must lead them to the feet of Christ. We must urge them to flee to Christ in prayer for the salvation of their souls, which as you said, we must urge them to plead the promises of the gospel, especially that Christ will in no wise cast them out. And so we need to teach our children the foundational promises of the gospel. Because God is so honored when we take hold of his own word. He is so honored when we come to him with his own promises. He loves to be reminded of his own word. And so therefore, we must repeatedly reinforce the fundamental message of the gospel. Bottom line, we must teach them to respond to God's word and take his calling and gospel invitation seriously. And what is our encouragement as parents? What encourages us to do this? Well, first of all, it's because God's word says it. We are echoing God's word. That's our first encouragement. We have God's word, but also, That if we prayerfully seek to train our children this way, that God will bless it. And I've been in the ministry long enough now. Also in my previous churches where I've seen this shift. I've seen also because of young families taking family worship seriously and really faithfully instructing them and teaching them the gospel. I've seen evidence of God saving work in children, in young teenagers. That's God's normal way. Now we have the promise of Psalm 22, a seed shall serve him. It shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born that he has done this. And so God has to do his part. It is ultimately God's work. But God is a God who works in the way of means. God is a God who works by means of his revealed will. And that's our obligation, as early as we can, to communicate to our children and grandchildren God's revealed will. We must speak the language of Scripture.