Is God Calling Our Children Now?

Let me change gears here. In light of the fact that we had the blessing of children or a child today, I wanted to cover something with you I've not covered in a long time. I gave this sermon back in 2002, so it's been a while. So I think it's a good time for us to have a refresher on this. And I think it's important for all of us as parents or grandparents to pay very close attention, because over the years in the church, I've heard parents and grandparents with a very faulty understanding of this issue. The question I want to ask is, are our children, our members of God's church, children, are they being called now? Are they being called now?

Now, the answer to this question affects how parents, we as parents, we as grandparents, view our children or grandchildren. It impacts the expectations we have on our children, and certainly impacts our children, how our children view themselves, the expectations they have about themselves. Now, Eric and his message today went through a little bit of church history. The blessing of children was not something that Mr. Armstrong started. It was something that God started through Moses. Jesus Christ continued that in the New Testament. It's been something that we've done in our church history. It's a valuable part of our tradition and a scriptural one at that. But within the church, we've had a number of ideas over the years as to the status of our kids.

Some feel that our young people are indeed called because the parents or the grandparents, again, as Eric made mention, they are close to God. They're baptized. They've got God's Holy Spirit. They're teaching the children or grandchildren. Because of that, some people think that our children very much are called right now. Others question the term called, wondering if it applies if we've got young people who are born into the church or come into the church with their parents when the parents come, and then turn their back on it.

Are they going to be in the lake of fire? I've got two children. Neither one of my children attends services. Are my two children heading for the lake of fire? Are your children, your grandchildren, who may not attend now heading for the lake of fire? Some people must think that. Additionally, other people who have got grown children, such as myself, you know, my son is 31, my daughter is 28, they're not attending services.

Some people feel guilty about that. Should we feel guilty about that? Well, in some ways that's an individual issue. But just in general, should any of us feel guilty? And all of us feel guilty if our children, after they've been raised in a church, they've been given good, solid teaching, and they turn away from it.

Do we need to feel guilty about that? Yet another group believe the parents are a neutral in this matter. God's the one who calls. And God's going to call whenever he feels like calling. But one of the questions, or one of the statements I made earlier, sometimes I've heard parents say, well, I don't know whether God will call my child or not, since our children may not be attending services.

Now, when our children hear those kinds of statements, they often feel it doesn't matter what they do with the church. Is that the case? Do we want our children to feel it doesn't matter what they do with the church? So what we need is not... I've gone through a number of opinions. What does the Bible say?

Let's forget opinions. I've gone through different opinions, feelings people have. We don't want to be governed by our feelings or our opinions. We want to be governed by what the Bible says. What does the Bible say explicitly about our children? Are our children now being called? Let's start by taking an overview of the whole of mankind. This will only take a couple of moments. Only in a church can you go through a history of mankind in a couple of minutes. We've become used to that. We laugh about it, but we're going to do it. It's important to realize when you go back to the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, that God, when He created Adam and Eve, He offered them the Tree of Life.

That Tree of Life symbolizes access to God's Holy Spirit. It symbolizes them potentially receiving eternal life. But we also know that there was another tree in the Garden, and that our parents partook of that tree, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Because of that, they were driven from the Garden of Eden. God restricted Adam and Eve, and generally speaking, mankind ever since that time, through the 6,000-year history of mankind, man has been restricted in terms of how many people are called, how many people are chosen, and of that number, how many of those people remain faithful and use God's Holy Spirit.

As a matter of fact, I think we would say that mankind in general disobeys God, hides from God, as Adam and Eve did. And of course, the great majority of mankind has never had God's Holy Spirit. So that's an overview, and that's true for every human being. Overview of mankind. Now, let's kind of narrow our focus here. What does it mean to be called? What does it mean to be called? Let's turn our attention to Romans 8, verses 29 and 30.

Romans 8, verses 29 and 30. Romans 8, 29. For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Now, notice here what God's desire is for every human being, every human being who will ever live, no matter Old Testament times, New Testament times, millennium, whenever, last great day. It is always God's desire for each human being to be conformed to the image of his Son.

That's God's will. It's his will throughout all time. Verse 30. Moreover, whom he predestined, these he also called. Whom he called, he also justified. Whom he justified, these he also glorified.

Now, the term here called in the Greek is kaleo, K-A-L-E-O, kaleo. From it, from the root there, k-a-l, or call, is where we get our word call, or our word clamor. It's used to call someone, to invite someone. That's a very important distinction, to invite somebody. When God calls, he invites. But, you know, brethren, in our lives, each and every one of us, all of us in this room have been invited to various functions over the years. Just because you've been invited doesn't mean you're going to do something about it. Just because you've been invited, say you're invited to somebody's home for dinner. Well, there may be a conflict. Maybe you can't go. And so there are times when we are invited, we simply don't respond in a way that the person who invited us would like us to respond.

So the word call here means to be called. It means to invite. It means to be summoned. And here in verse 30, we're seeing a process. Not that everyone's going to accept this process. Those who are predestined, they also call. So people, they receive a calling from God. And then if they accept that calling, they are justified. Their sins are forgiven. Their names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. And it says, in whom He justified these, He also glorified. So when Christ returns, if our name is still in that Book of Life, whether living or dead, we will be resurrected and glorified. So verse 30 is talking about the process of salvation. And obviously not everybody is going to fulfill that process. There is a lake of fire. There will be some people that God will have to march into that lake of fire. People who would spit on the sacrifice of Christ. People who do not want to repent. Want nothing to do with Jesus Christ or the Kingdom of God. And God's not going to force Himself on anybody. People don't want it. After they have had a saving knowledge of the truth. And that is a very key issue. What is a saving knowledge? We'll talk about that as we go through the sermon today. But if people have a saving knowledge of God's truth and then turn from it, then they will be in that lake of fire. And if you want to turn there and you know somebody want to jot down Malachi 4. We went through that last Sabbath in our last sermon talking about the critics of those who say we should not be keeping the Sabbath. And we covered an aspect of that last week. So here in Romans chapter 8, verses 29 and 30, we're looking at the process of salvation. And part of that process is a calling. Let's further understand this idea of calling. So let's look at 2 Peter chapter 1. 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 10. So Peter chapter 1 and verse 10. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never stumble. So whatever this calling is, you know, God invites us. But we're also told to make the calling, this calling an election sure. Make it sure. Now the word calling here in 1 Peter chapter 1 is a little different word. It's klesis, K-L-E-S-I-S. It still means a calling. It means the destiny that our Heavenly Father wants for us. It's especially used of God to invite mankind to the benefit of salvation. So once again, we get this idea of an invitation, a calling, an invitation. What is a calling? We're seeing the Bible calls a calling, an invitation from God. The word election here in 2 Peter 1.10, where it says make your election sure, your calling election sure. Election comes from the word which means picking out or selecting, selection. So God is picking out certain individuals now. He's hand picking certain ones. He's selecting certain ones now. The reason you are in this room is because God has picked you out. God has selected you. We've all come in different ways. Some of you were born into the faith. Others of us were not born into the faith. We'll talk more about that as the sermon goes ahead. But for whatever reason, however God worked with you, you're here. You've been invited. And at this point, you seem to be doing something with that invitation, you and I, all of us.

Matthew 22.

Matthew 22. We've got the parable here of the wedding feast. I'm not going to take the time for time's sake to go through the whole first 14 verses of Matthew 22.

But there's another aspect of this invitation we want to look at. So we've seen that from the Bible's perspective, a calling is an invitation. It can be accepted. It can be rejected.

But notice here in this parable of the wedding feast, the very last verse of this section, verse 14. Matthew 22, verse 14. For many are called, but few are chosen.

Many are called, few are chosen.

So many are invited. But the word chosen here comes from the word where we pick something out. And we see where God has picked something out, but the chosen, those who are being called, they have an opportunity to do. They have an opportunity to accept or reject. They can choose or not choose to accept this invitation.

And through the course of these first 14 verses of Matthew 22, we see the words called and invited nearly interchangeable in their use.

The concept of the invitation is particularly important because it carries the notion that the invitees are welcomed and their presence is desired. God welcomes us when He calls us. He desires us to take up that calling. But we have a choice.

Brethren, here in recent times we've had Kingdom of God seminars.

Most of the churches in the United Church of God have conducted these. And what we did, what we did here locally, what many churches, probably all churches did, is we found some way to communicate to the public. In our case, we send out a letter to all those who receive our magazine and one other piece of literature to see people who've shown some interest.

We've invited many people, hundreds of people, to come to our lectures. They were invited. Only a dozen of the four lectures we had, we had a total of four new people come. So we had twelve who were invited who came. Many were called, few chose.

Now in this case, they chose just to come to a seminar. They didn't choose to follow this way of life. But I'm using the example so we understand. I'm not going to turn there, but in your notes you might want to jot down Matthew 13, which is the parable of the sower.

In the parable of the sower, we see how the seed is sown. Some don't give God's truth any opportunity to take root. They quickly let go. Others start responding, but when they face opposition, they give up. Others are fruitful, and they grow and they develop. They bear good fruit that endures to the end.

So the reason I quote this parable of the sower is to show some will respond in a negative fashion. Some will respond in a positive fashion.

Let's take a look at a tremendously important scripture here in John 6 and verse 44 and verse 45.

John 6 and verse 44.

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. The word draw here means to attract. God attracted everyone in this room to be here. That's why we're here in this room. I was attracted as a young 15-year-old kid. My parents weren't attracted. No one in my family was attracted. Nobody I knew was attracted. But God attracted me. He flipped a switch out of my heart and my mind, and I wanted to come to church. Some of us in the room grew up in a church. We're of age where we could stop coming to church. But some of us in this room have decided we're going to still come to church. There's something about being here that attracts you, and you want to be here. But notice here in verse 44, nothing is said where when God calls, you have to respond positively to the call. Nothing is said about that there. God draws, verse 45, and it's written in the prophets, and they shall all be taught by God. God will call, but we've got to choose. And if we choose, then God will teach us. And that's why we are here. Now, another important scripture, it's right here in John, Chapter 14. Let's take a look at that.

We're still looking at this whole idea of a calling. We see it's an invitation. We've seen where the invitation could be accepted or rejected. It's important for us to notice. John, Chapter 14, verses 15 through 17. If you love me, keep my commandments, and I will pray the Father, and He will give you another help, or that He may abide with you forever. Referring to the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of verse 17. The Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him nor knows Him, but you know Him, for He dwells with you. This is where those who first are being called with God, this is how God works with those who are being called. God works with them. In this case, we're looking at the very disciples themselves. The ones who would be the apostles, the ones who would write portions of the Bible, the ones who would help establish the New Testament church on the foundation of Jesus Christ. At the very beginning, God just dwelt with them. And we all go through that stage. But notice, and He will be in you. So there comes a point where we can only go so far on our own. Generally speaking, when God's Spirit is with a person for a while, and every person is different, there comes a point in their life when they say, you know, I kind of hit a wall here. I can only go so far the way I am. God's Spirit is with me. I need God's Spirit in me. I need the fullness of God's Spirit working with me. So here we see, again, a differentiation between how God works with some people. Some people accept, some people don't. Some people only have God's Spirit working with them. In some cases, they never go beyond that point. They never go beyond that point. Other people want to go beyond that point, and they seek counseling, they're baptized, and they receive God's Holy Spirit. Now, our calling is a necessity for baptism. We have to be called if we're going to be properly baptized and have God's Holy Spirit working in us. On the other hand, we can see, and we've seen through the various Scriptures we've read, that being called is an invitation, but it's not something that invites a positive response, and God is not going to force a Spirit upon us. So we understand now. We ask the question, what does it mean to be called? To be called is to receive an invitation from God. It's very positive. God wants us to accept it. God wants us to do something with it. But that choice is up to us. We're free moral agents. Let's move to the next step. Let's understand what it means to be chosen. We took a look at what our calling is. What does it mean to be chosen? God makes the determination, as we've seen in John 6, who He's going to call. Then those who He calls must decide whether and when to accept that invitation. Those who repent and live by faith become chosen. So who are the chosen? Those who accept the calling and move forward with it. They're not, as we've brought out in the opening prayer, they're not just hearers of the Word. They are doers of the Word. They're going to do something with the call, with the invitation God has given them. Let's turn to 1 Peter 2.

1 Peter 2 and verse 9.

By the way, brethren, if you're... I don't know how many of you like to take notes or how much notes you'd like to take, but we've got a study paper on this topic. Basically, the information I'm giving you comes from our study paper, which we'd find on our members' site, members.ucg.org. Our children are being called. That's the name of the article. So it's all right there for you. I'm just reviewing this here for you, because I think it would be good for us to go through this today. 1 Peter 2 and verse 9.

But you are a chosen generation. Now, he's talking to Christians here. You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. So here we see people who have been called out of darkness. They now have accepted that. They are now a chosen generation, a chosen people, a holy people who have been specially set apart by God. So these are people who are chosen. We've got a Scripture here that shows us what that means. They do the work of God. Again, they're not just hearers of the Word, they're doers of the Word and the work. Revelation 17 also bears on this.

Revelation 17.

And verse 14.

These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them. Talking about the end of the age and the people fighting against Christ that has returned. For he is Lord of lords and king of kings, and those who are with him are called. They've been given an invitation. They're chosen. They've accepted that calling. They have been baptized.

They've received God's Holy Spirit. And they are faithful. Called, chosen, and faithful. We understand what a calling is. It's an invitation. We understand what it means to be chosen. It means we choose to live God's way. You're baptized. You receive God's Holy Spirit. But, brethren, after we've all done that, after we've been called, after we've accepted that calling, and we've chosen to become Christians, we still can walk away from the faith. That's what the lake of fire is all about.

We've got to remain faithful. If we don't remain faithful, we will be in that lake of fire. So we must be called. We must choose. We must be faithful to the things of God. Again, just as a person can choose not to take part in the calling, people can choose not to follow up with being chosen. How many people do you know over the years who were in the church and then left the church?

Back in 1995, we lost 80-90% of our people. Now, I have no idea what's going to happen to those people who left the church, who knew the faith, and died. That's up to God. I'm glad that's up to him. But in terms of those who are left, those of my friends, your friends, relatives in some cases, who knew the truth and who've left, I sometimes wonder, well, the Bible talks about the end of the age.

A great innumerable multitude will come out of the great tribulation. Maybe God will do something with those people that we hold very dear and we love very much. And that when the two witnesses are proclaiming the truth of God, and they've got the beast and the false prophet proclaiming Satan's message, people are going to have to get off that fence. They're going to have to make a decision one way or another. Maybe so many of the people we've known in the past will finally make the proper decision, get off that fence or cross the fence into God's side, and they will give their life and martyrdom, but you're giving your life right now.

So that's the thought that I've got. Okay, so we understand a calling. We understand being chosen. Now we're getting to the real nitty-gritty of the subject. Can a child be called? We don't baptize children, but can a child be called? We're not talking about being baptizing children, we're talking about being called. We've seen the overview. We understand what a calling is. It's an imitation. We understand a person must choose that calling.

Brethren, let me just say this very succinctly. Children can, and children should, have a knowledge and grasp of spiritual issues. From one end of the Bible to another, we see where the children in God's church, whether we're talking about the church in the wilderness in Old Testament times, or the church in New Testament times or current-day church, young people, children, should have a grasp of spiritual issues. That's why we hold up our children on the days when they are blessed. That's when we talk about the responsibility the ministry has, the responsibility you have, the responsibility the parents have, the responsibility God has, four parts of that responsibility.

Now, I'm just going to go through this fairly briefly. In your notes, again, you might want to just refer to this, but in 1 Samuel 2, I'm not going to turn there. It says, the child Samuel grew in stature and in favor both with the Lord and men. That's 1 Samuel 2.18. It says, Samuel as a child grew in favor with the Lord. You don't have to be 30 years old to grow in favor with God.

Josiah 2 Chronicles 34.3. I'm not going to turn there. While he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father, David. Two years ago, I think it was two years ago, I was all set to go to the winter weekend there in Cincinnati or Lexington, wherever we had it that year, and give a lecture to the teens about Josiah, a 16-year-old who rocked the nation because of his devotion to God, finding out that the nation hadn't been worshiping God. Here's a 16-year-old kid who's now king, became king when he was 8 years old. He's 16 years old now. He sees that the nation is not obeying God.

He's found the book of the law, and as a 16-year-old, he rocked the nation. I was all set to give a seminar, too. Then my appendix exploded inside of me. I wasn't able to go down there. So, little thing like that shouldn't stop anybody, should it? Taking your appendix out, taking your organ's out, cleaning him up, putting him back in your body. It shouldn't stop anybody.

Timothy, 2 Timothy 3, verses 14 and 15, it says, Paul said, "...continuing things which you have learned, that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures." From childhood. Let's not sell our young people short. Let's not just say, well, let's kind of put them off into the background. Our young people can very much have a relationship with God. And they should have a relationship with God. And we, as parents, grandparents, ministry, members of the local congregation, we all have a responsibility in all of that.

In Genesis, chapter 18, God talked about Abraham. And God stressed, for I have known him, in order that he may command his children, it says. That's Genesis, chapter 18, verse 19. Abraham, in order that he may command his children. Deuteronomy, chapter 4, verses 9 and 10, in Moses' time, Moses taught the people to teach these things diligently to your children and to your grandchildren. Talking about the laws and statutes of God.

In David's time, he wrote, In Solomon's time, he wrote the proverb, So I think we've proven that God does work with young people. God works with children in a very special way.

In a very special way. Let's now turn our attention to Acts, chapter 2.

Here we've got Peter on the day of Pentecost giving a very inspired sermon. When he comes to the nitty-gritty part of the sermon.

Acts, chapter 2, verse 37.

Now, when they heard this, who was they? The people who were assembling in Jerusalem. Jewish people from all walks of life from many different nations. Many different languages and so forth. When those people, these were believers. These are believers. They didn't have God's Holy Spirit in them, but they were believers. God's Spirit was working with them at the time. Now, when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and he said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?

And brethren, I am always encouraged by the fact that over the course of my ministry, I should have kept track, I've never kept track of how many people I've baptized. Quite a few. But it's almost always the same. Somebody will come up to me and say, Mr. D, I want to be baptized. What do I do? You know, it's God's hand, it's God's mind working in all of us. Because as the mind of God works in us, we ask the same question. What do I have to do? That's what they asked 2,000 years ago. We're asking it today. We're asking it today. What shall we do? Verse 38, then Peter said to them, Repent. You know, you've got to choose this way of life. Let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness, for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you, to your children, and to all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call. You know, every minister who baptizes people, counsels people, they've all got their own thing they do. I know some fellows, they make the candidate for baptism read all sorts of booklets and literature and write study papers, and there's certainly nothing wrong with that. Over the years, I've come to see, I've taken these three verses, 37, 38, 39, and I've seen where it talks about three things. It talks about a calling. It talks about repentance. It talks about baptism. Baptism is a symbol of our faith. So I just go through three sessions with people, how they know they've been called, how they know if they're repentant, and what kind of faith they need for salvation. If they feel they've got those things, I leave it up to them. If they feel they have been called, if they are repentant, and we go through scriptural examples as to what all that means, if they have proper faith, then we're going to baptize them. But here, in these verses, we see God confirming His intent to work with people in three groups. He says, the promise is to you, to those people who are living right there and then, specifically those repentant Jews.

Three thousand people were baptized that day.

But another very special category, and to your children, to your children, those descendants, who even though they may not have had the spiritual maturity at that point, you know, they may have been five or six or twelve or thirteen or eighteen, didn't have the spiritual maturity at that point to fully commit. They maybe were not able to count the cost at that point. Some, by the way, some eighteen-year-olds do.

I'm not trying to set a limit on that.

Every individual is different. Some people are not mature at forty.

Some people are very mature at sixteen or seventeen.

That's where an individual decision has to be made by the minister as well as the candidate for baptism.

But the promise was to the children, to those who would follow. And then also, the promise was certainly to all who are far off, meaning you and I today.

Meaning you and I today.

In the Old Testament, and I don't have time to go through all these scriptures here, but in the Old Testament, we see we're under the Old Covenant. The children were always included with the covenants of God. Whether you take a look at the Old Covenant, whether you take a look at the covenant that God had with Abraham, we made mention about that a few moments ago. The children were always covered in the covenants of God.

When the covenant was renewed in Deuteronomy, the children were included. Whenever there were religious assemblies, the children were included.

Whenever promises were given, the children were included. So God is an all-inclusive God, and He doesn't leave the kids out.

Now, when the New Testament church began, it began primarily with Jews.

They understood the blessings to the children, as outlined in the Old Covenant, the Old Testament. But a logical question for the New Testament Jews, well, how about our kids?

How about our kids today? Let's turn to 1 Corinthians 7.

1 Corinthians 7. 1 Corinthians 8.

Verse 14, For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, by the believing wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.

Children can be holy before God. Now, in what way are they holy? What does holy mean? Well, holy means to be set apart for God's special purposes. And our children can be set apart, and they are set apart by the teachings of mom or dad or both, or as Eric correctly pointed out, perhaps by an older sibling that may raise the child, or a grandparent or grandparents who may raise the child.

And, brethren, this is a very important point. Eric touched on it in his message. But over the years, I've had to refuse some who wanted to have a child blessed. People will think, well, aren't you being hard-hearted? Well, no. As Eric pointed out, many times it happens to be a grandparent. A grandparent will have a grandchild, a lot of times living in another state, a lovely child, a beautiful child, a child to be loved, and so forth.

But the parents don't go to church, ridicule the church, want nothing to do with the teachings of the church. That child, if it were blessed, will be taken back to a home where the things of God would be impugned, where the child would learn how to keep Christmas and Easter and Sunday and all those things. So, no. We don't ask a blessing on that. But we ask a blessing for children in the church. You know, when Eric was going through the passage in Numbers, in Numbers, the blessing was on the children of Israel, talking about the children of the church.

All I ask, all the church asks, and I'm not alone in this, all the church asks is that whoever the caregiver is, that they be able to teach the child God's way. Because the real blessing is in following God's way. It's not some words that the minister says behind a microphone up here. The real blessing is as people follow the truth of God, whether they be taught by grandparents, a grandparent, parents, older siblings.

Sometimes you've got older brothers and sisters who raise their siblings. But it's got to be somebody who has an impact on that child. 1 Peter 3 helps show that. Let's take a look at 1 Peter 3, verses 1 and 2. Here's a tremendous principle. 1 Peter 3, verse 1, Likewise, wives, likewise be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they without a word may be won by the conduct of their wives.

So here we see the importance of a godly Christian example. Wives with husbands, husbands with wives. Works both ways. When they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear. Now, if that is the case, where just an example, which an example doesn't have to have any words attached to it, if a godly example will do something that greatly benefits the spouse, wouldn't it be also true that when a parent or grandparent teaches the children?

They set the example, letter A, letter B, then they teach. That's why so many times in the Scriptures, especially in the Old Testament, where Moses is talking to the children of Israel, he said, teach the children when you go here, when you do this, when you're in the way, when you're... it's to be a teaching opportunity in every opportunity in life. Teach the children. Here we see that same principle where if somebody who's a godly person, their example can be of great influence.

If their example can be of great influence, so can the teaching. Let's take a look at the factors that affect the outcome of this invitation. A called person is invited to understand God's way. They're called to accept God's authority in their life, to surrender to God, to be baptized, to receive God's Holy Spirit, and to prepare for the Kingdom of God. Now, when I'm counseling people who are growing up in a church, that's a different kind of a counseling session than somebody who grew up like me.

I came in through the back door. The kids who grew up in a church, they're coming in the way God designed, through the front door. There's a different way that you would counsel somebody like that. A dull counseling is so much different. It's more abrupt. It's more dramatic in so many ways. Whereas a child that's grown up in a church, their calling is somewhat gradual. Their calling becomes more personal as they grow and mature into faith.

Basically, they have a decision to make. Are they going to accept this or not? Of course, everyone does. It's no longer like in my case, do I accept God's way? For the child growing up in a church, do I accept God's way and not just my parents' way? I don't want to just be in my parents' coattails. I'm accepting God's way. In children who grow up in a church, you have to understand that approach. But looking at the children, there's questions we can ask here.

Experience shows that not all people who are called accept that calling. When we're talking about children, are we talking about just biological children of a converted member? What about a stepchild? What about a foster child? A grandchild? A niece or a nephew? Family members that are people who are brought up in an adopted child? The Bible doesn't give explicit understanding on all this, but the principles are there. If those individuals are raised with somebody who is a believer, then that believer has great influence on that person's life.

That person can receive a calling. There are other influences, and we need to take note of this, because we as parents and grandparents and people of influence need to be aware of this in terms of the calling of our children or grandchildren. Age has a significant factor to the calling of an individual. We've got any number of people who have come into the church later in life. Their children may already be grown out of the home when their parents come into the church. Well, that's going to be one set of issues, versus somebody who comes into the church and their parents are just little tiny ones.

So age has got a factor. The influence of friends and peers is very much a factor. Some of us in the room, our children no longer attend with us. In many cases, the influence of friends and peers, especially for the generations that are now growing up, that is highly significant. You know, my generation, the generation of the older folks in this congregation, parents meant everything. I'm not saying that younger people don't believe that, but to our younger generation, friends are basically in the same power as parents and so forth. So their friends have a great influence upon whether they're going to accept the invitation. Popular culture, what they see in TV and movies, what they hear in music is going to affect their calling, their personality, their aptitudes, their interests, their temperament.

The example of the parents, the example of the congregation. How many young people do I know who no longer come to church because they say, well, the church is a bunch of hypocrites. I came to church. I was a part of Y.O.U. I saw how the adults acted. I saw the men who were giving opening and closing prayers and sermons and sermonettes, how they would get drunk or this or that or the other. How many times over the years have I been in homes where young people would say, I don't want anything to do with your church.

I've seen what your church has to offer. On the other hand, I've also talked with any number of young people who've been very positively impacted by the church, and they would say, this is the only place I want to be. I've seen the loving example. I've seen the self-sacrifice. I've seen the beauty of the faith of the people of God, and I want that.

That's why it's so important when we have the blessing of children. It's done before the congregation. We all have our responsibility, each and every one of us, with those children. Let's move into the last areas. Let's see if my time is flying here. Proverbs 22. Proverbs 22 and in verse 6, How can you give a sermon talking about children and not quote this scripture?

Proverbs 22 and verse 6, Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Some people thought that was an ironclad promise from God, that if our children are raised in the faith, they will never leave. Well, that takes free moral agency right out of the equation. People are always free to make a choice. But it's interesting. I want to quote from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, quoting this particular scripture, and the word trained.

It says, train up a child in the way he should go. Here's what that encyclopedia says. Train up a child means more than to teach, and includes everything that pertains to the proper development of the child, especially in its moral and spiritual nature. That's why I ask, whenever I'm blessing a child, for the home to be a nurturing home.

That's one of the great blessings that a child has, to be in a nurturing home. Matter of fact, let's turn to John 21 here. John 21. We see this is on the mind of Christ on many occasions and at many levels. John 21, verse 15 through 17. John 21, 15. So when they had eaten breakfast, he said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?

He said to him, yes, Lord, you know I love you. And he said, feed my lambs. Verse 16, he said to him a second time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said, tend my sheep. So in verse 15, he's talking about lambs. In verse 16, he's talking about sheep. Verse 17, he said a third time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, do you love me?

He said to him, Lord, you know all things. You know I love you. And she sent him, feed my sheep. James and Fawcett and Brown, in their commentary, think there is a differentiation between lambs and sheep. Lambs representing the young, the tender, the little, the children, the sheep representing the older people in the congregation. So Jesus Christ wanted to make sure that His church taught the young people.

Last area I want to cover with you. I'm going to go over here a few minutes. What about children who do not respond to God's calling? My kids, some of your kids, what do we do with children who do not respond to God's calling?

In other words, they're not attending church right now. They've known that we as parents or grandparents have taught them the truth of God, and they've made a choice now to go some other direction. Does that mean they are going to be in the lake of fire? Can they pursue God at a later time? Brethren, I would simply say this. Those who do not respond to God's calling now have not necessarily forfeited their only opportunity to receive eternal life.

God's not done with them. God is not done with us. He's not done with them. He's not done with us. Only God knows the heart and mind of each individual, and when each individual person has had enough exposure to understand God's way of life. And only God knows that. I can't know that. You can't know that. We as human beings simply can't know that only God knows how much is enough. And under what circumstances was enough given? God the Father and Jesus Christ are the ones who make those decisions. And of course, God the Father and Jesus Christ, they love everyone. They want everybody to have their opportunity. Let's take a look at 2 Peter 3.

2 Peter 3 and verse 9, where it says, The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long suffering toward us. Long suffering. Patient. Very patient with us. Not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance. Brethren, it's simply true that some do not, whether they be young people or older people.

You can be 60 or 70 or 80 years of age and come into a knowledge, be invited by God, called by God, and not accept the calling. Maybe the person in question, maybe many of those who left back in 1995, even though they were baptized, again, I would say from personal experience, some of our people who are baptized are baptized into prophecy. Sometimes some of our people are baptized into, well, we had a great children's program back in the day.

And they accepted a calling to those things, but they really were not converted or they really weren't accepting Christ as Christ probably wanted to be accepted. But only God knows that. Only God knows who can truly comprehend the value of His way. God is kind, God is merciful, and God is long suffering. Years ago, when I was an elder, not in the employee of the church, I was just an elder serving here locally in the Detroit area.

I was, you know, my kids were just, well, my kids at that point were nonexistent. I didn't have kids at that point. But there was an elder that we had, his name was Bob, over in the Detroit East Church. And we got to talking one day, he and I, and he was an interesting fellow. You never knew what he did for a living. You thought he worked for the CIA because every time he talked about his work, he always pulled back like his own. Well, if I tell you, I've got to kill you. But he was just a really fascinating fellow. But I'll never forget something he told me once. He said, you know, Randy, he says, you know, we've got a lot of people who've left the church. He said, our responsibility is to make sure that when those people come back, we are there to greet them. And I've never forgotten that because that's really a warning to all of us. You know, any one of us, if we walk away from prayer and study and our spiritual pursuits, we can find ourselves in great spiritual harm and walk away.

And then God can work with those who, for whatever reason, were like Jonah. They come to their senses. They come back to church. And where are we? So we've got to make sure that we're there to greet people when they come back. Okay, lastly, some conclusions. Conclusions and implications. I'll letter these for you. Letter A. Are the children of the members of God's church called now?

With the understanding that being called means being invited by God, the answer is yes. God is inviting our children now. Letter B. Whether those children eventually choose to respond to His calling depends upon many factors. But it is their choice. It's their choice. Not our choice. We can't will people into the church. From time to time, people come to me and they're very passionate and they're very zealous in some ways. And they want to be baptized. But I come to find out in counseling that they want to be baptized because they want to join the church. Well, you don't join the church. God puts you in the church. You've got to have the right view of what's happening. Letter C.

Just because people don't respond immediately doesn't preclude them from responding later.

You know, God is still...you know, all of us are a work in progress.

Letter D.

A converted parent, and please listen, a converted parent or grandparent, has one course of action. We must follow Abraham's example of teaching our children God's truth with the expectation they will understand and choose it. We don't want to be negative about the truth. We want to be positive. We want to be encouraging. We want to do everything we possibly can to put the truth of God in the proper light. Now, I'm not talking about organizations here. I'm talking about the truth of God. We want to put the truth of God in the proper light for our children and not say, well, you can accept or not accept. That's true. They can accept or not accept. But we want to make it so inviting, so appetizing, they want to accept it.

Letter E.

Parents and all members of the church must view children as respected participants of the congregation.

In the Bible...not the Bible, the world would say children should be seen and not heard. We don't believe that. Now, our children aren't going to be giving sermonettes or leading songs or anything like that. But they are well-respected members of the congregation, and we need to treat them as such.

Letter F.

The biblical perspective is always to encourage God's people to answer God's calling.

Abraham commanded his children. I'm sure he did that in a positive way.

We can see that by the people in his family that came and were faithful members of the church, the fathers.

That's where we should be coming from, not just taking this ambivalent approach. Well, you know, we go to church, you can make up your own mind. Well, we need to be teaching our children what the truth of God is and be real dogmatic about that. We let them make up their own mind, but we teach them the truth. We don't say, well, some in the world do this. Now, some in the world do do that, but we don't want that. That's not good for us.

Letter G.

God's calling represents the best life available, and children should be kept well aware of that fact.

This is not, you know, again, kids, well, I want to play basketball. I want to play football. I want to do this with my friends on Friday night. Well, those things are alluring. Satan and his society wants to make those things alluring. But God's lifestyle is the best there is. Bar none. And we need to make sure we're teaching our children that.

And lastly, letter H.

Children are told to obey their parents in the Lord. That means both parents need to be doing the right thing. Where possible, where you've got two parents in the church, if it's just one parent, that one parent needs to be doing the right thing.

To strongly encourage our young people to value and to walk, value God and to walk with God.

So the bottom line is, are our children being called now? The answer is a resounding yes. We can't force them into the church, but we need to do everything we possibly can to make the church as appetizing to them as at all possible.