Welcome to this podcast featuring well-known Bible teacher Kevin Conner. For more information, visit kevinconner.org. I would like you to turn your Bibles this morning book of Exodus. And I'd like you to turn to Exodus the 20th chapter, Exodus chapter 20. Let's just bow in a word of prayer and ask the Holy Spirit to help us as we share on this area this morning. Father, we just thank you again for the consciousness of your presence amongst us, just that life of the Holy Spirit ministering, and we just pray Father now as we come to this particular word that you've laid upon my heart to share with the church, pray that the Holy Spirit will just so overshadow us. Lord, I'm always conscious it's not by our might or by our power, or even by our poetry, or by our preaching or teaching, but it's by your spirit. And so we come as a congregation. I come as a speaker. I come, Lord, to you as ministry, and as a congregation, we join our hearts together that the Holy Spirit will minister to us through the inspired word. We ask it in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Everybody say amen. I want to read Exodus chapter 20 through to verse 17, Exodus chapter 20 and verse 17. And here we have Moses up at Mount Sinai in the reception of the 10 commandments, the 10 words, and this is the word that the Lord spoke here. And God spoke all these words saying, "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou should have no other gods before me. Thou should not make unto the any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou should not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them for either Lord thy God, I'm a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children, under the third and fourth generation of them that hate me and showing mercy under thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. Thou should not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless to takeeth his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days thou shalt labor, and do all thy work, seven days the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt not do any work thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day, wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. On thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Thou should not kill. Thou should not commit adultery. Thou should not steal. Thou should not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Thou should not covet thy neighbor's house. Thou should not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's. May the Lord bless that word to our hearts. Last Sunday morning I particularly spoke to the young people, and I want to thank the young people for their response to the word that we shared last Sunday on the danger of selling the birthright, and just appreciate the response. This morning I want to talk again to the young people, but I also want to talk to you as a church, and I want to entitle the message that I want to share with you this morning. I've entitled at beginning a new generation, beginning a new generation. Now over the years I'm sure that all of us go through what shall I say concerns, problems. One of the problems that I've sort of been my life and a lot of us over the years is these scriptures that I've heard preachers quote over the years. As we've looked at situations today, and kids, sometimes children that are born on drugs, and the baby's going to die, and then the doctor has to give the baby drugs because the mother's been on drugs, looking at kids that have deformed, and 101 different things that children suffer. And I've heard preachers over the years say, "Oh well, that's just exactly what the Bible says." It says the sins of the parents, the sins of the fathers will be visited under children under the third and fourth generation. So the kids are just suffering because of that. And as I mentioned last Sunday, I felt for years that I was born under a curse because of not having parents and some of the things I went through, and I thought, "Oh well, it's just the sins of the parents visit on the third and fourth generation, we're just suffering because of that." How many have ever been troubled by that scripture hands up? How many have ever heard the scripture and never read it? All right, I've been one of those scriptures that have really troubled me and bothered me to say that he says, "Oh, a lot of scriptures that bother me, how many find there are scriptures that bother you?" Yes, with Scott hadn't them in the book, but they're there to bother us. Listen to some statistics that I picked up from the Salvation Army war cry a while back, and this concerns our nation of Australia. In Australia, the drug abuse is the second highest killer of young people between the ages of 15 to 25. Road accidents, of course, is number one. 80% of all burglaries in Victoria committed by young people under the age of 21 years. On any given day, 2,000 children just in New South Wales alone have one parent in prison. Approximately 40% of Australian girls between 14 to 19 years become pregnant, 50% of them having abortions this year with its damaging results. Australia has the highest per capita teen age suicide rate in the English-speaking world. The average marriage in Australia lasts about seven years. 15% of boys under the age of being admitted to getting drunk at least once a week. Alcoholism, it's a curse of our nation. Of 2,000 children who pass through Sydney City Missions Children's Refuge at Kings Cross in 1982, only two parents even bothered to report the missing. Juveniles committed 20% of all murders in New South Wales in 1982. Of 14 juveniles tried for murder, more than one half come from broken homes, had unmarried or separated parents, or with a product of a defunct marriage. Less than 2% of Australians ever attend church services. Australia is the second most godless, English, most second most godless nation in the English-speaking world. Juvenile crime is increasing at alarming proportions. Over 50% of Australian marriages per year end in divorce. Inmorality among teens is a plague as well as adults. Games of youth attack and rape innocent girls. Tremendous moral breakdown. There is a tremendous plague of pornography through video tapes and the media and through literature playboy and all these other pornographic magazines. Venerial diseases are rampant, sexual permissiveness, the alternative lifestyle, pressure, and presented to youth in state education under health and humans relationship under the guise of sex education. I call it sex perversion. Disco, punk, acid rock, and rock plague stabs of youth. In Victoria alone, over 15,000 youth between the ages of 15, 16, and 17 are kicked out of their homes by their parents or leave home just to wander about. Witchcraft, occultism is on the increase and even taught in schools under the guise of education. This is Australia, this is our next generation. Now as I've looked at this scripture over the years, I believe God eventually gave me an answer and I trust that it's going to help us all this morning and so I said I'm continuing to speak to the young people but I'm continuing to speak to you as a church. Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children under the third and fourth generation, now the first thing I want to do, I want to sort of break my message in a twofold part here. The first thing I want to give you is this is for the whole church as well as for the young people. I believe that the Bible gives us all promises of household salvation. Can you say amen? Promises of household salvation, so the first part of my message is I want to go through some of these promises of household salvation. They don't want to look at this situation on the third and fourth generation in the iniquities being visited. What does that really mean? Okay, I'd like you to turn over the book of Acts on promises of household salvation and I'd like to encourage you to take down these scriptures this morning. Let's turn to Acts chapter 16, promises of household salvation. Acts chapter 16 and verse 15 pardon me, Acts 16 and verse 51. I'm sorry, correction again. Better slow down. Acts chapter 16 and verse 15. Leading in from the previous verse, a certain woman named Lydia, a cell of a purple in the city of Thyatira, which worship God heard us, whose heart the Lord opened. I love that. The Lord opened her heart. That she attended under the things which were spoken of Paul and when she was baptized and her household, she was sort of saying, if you've judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there and she constrained us. She was baptized and her household. Verse 31 of the same chapter. Paul and Silas in prison, midnight they sing praises. God said, Amen. And he said, Amen, so loud that he caused an earthquake and busted open the prison. Doors were opened. And in verse 30, the jailer came and fell down before Paul and Silas and brought them out and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Not save from the earthquake, but saved. And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. This was brought out of communion. Believe, take yourself out of your own keeping and give yourself over to the keeping and care and trust of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not a mental assent here, but believe. Trust on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou should be saved and thy house. Promise of household salvation. Acts chapter 18. Acts 18. In the book of Acts, and I would like to see this today, households being saved. Wouldn't you? Households being saved. Acts chapter 18 and verse 8. And Christmas, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house. And many of the Corinthians hearing believed and were baptized. So Christmas believed on the Lord with all his house. Let's go over to John's Gospel chapter 4. John's Gospel chapter 4. John's Gospel chapter 4. Household salvation. John's Gospel chapter 4. Jesus' ministering healing. And so the Father knew that it was at the same hour in the which Jesus said unto him, my son, liveth, and himself believed and his whole house. Himself believed and his whole house. John chapter 4 verse 53 that was. Household salvation. What are the scripture from the Gospels? Luke chapter 19. I've given you one, two, three, four, five promises from the Gospels, from the book of Acts and from the Gospels, from the historical books. Luke 19. And for your own record, verses 5 through to 10. Luke 19 verses 5 through to 10 for your record. Zacchaeus, or Zacchaeus, up the little Sycamore tree. And so Jesus stood. And in verse 9, Jesus said unto him, this day is salvation come to this house. For as much as he also is a son of Abraham, salvation to his house. Household salvation. All right, let's turn over to one particular one from the Old Testament that we're more familiar with. Exodus chapter 12. In the New Testament, we have promises of household salvation. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou should be saved and thy house. And in the Old Testament, we have promises of household salvation. Exodus chapter 12, and we'll pick up in verse 3. Speak unto all the congregation of Israel, say, in the 10th day of this month, they shall take to them every man a lamb. According to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house. A lamb for a house. A lamb for a house. Let's all say it together. A lamb for a house. And again, a lamb for a house. When my wife and I got married 34 years yesterday, we took the lamb for our house. For our children, for Mark and Sharon, they weren't even born, they were yet in my loins. And I always wanted a daughter, I always wanted a son, but we took a lamb for our house. And our kids have experienced the power of that lamb over the years for healing, for salvation, for water baptism, for being spirit filled, for going on with the Lord, a lamb for a house. And hundreds of times, Joyce and I have claimed this promise, Lord, a lamb for our house. I want to say two things here, and this would take a whole session itself, but I want to say two things. Two of the conditions and parents, it's Mother's Day traditionally, but I want to talk to mothers and young people who are going to get married, want to talk about establishing a new generation. But two commandments that the parents were given here, when they took the lamb for the house, they were given two commandments. Number one, there was to be no leaven in the house. In verse 15, verse 15, seven days shall you eat unleavened bread even the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses. For whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day into the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. Verse 19, seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses. For whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger or born in the land, you shall eat nothing leavened. All right, that was the first commandment, no leaven. So when they took the lamb for the house, the custom was that the wife would go through the house and she would deliberately, and the orthodox Jew does it today, she would go through the house and through the kitchen and she would take anything of leaven of yeast. And what she would do, and the custom is still the day for orthodox Jew, she would just put that leaven in the middle of the kitchen floor and then the head of the house, the father, who was to be representative of the priest of the home and the contact between God and his family and the protector of his wife and his children. I've taken the lamb from my house, he would come through the house and he would pick up this leaven and he would walk outside the back door and he would burn it. And as he would burn the leaven, he would say, Lord God of Israel, I have taken the lamb from my house, I have cleansed my house of all leaven, I can now keep the feet and he would go back into the feast and as they do today, which is, as I said, a whole session, as they set the table there with the four cups, the cup-free Elijah's chair, with the door open, still waiting for Elijah to come to proceed the coming, the first coming of Messiah in their mind, no leaven, they would read the Passover. And so the first important thing was take the lamb for the house, a household for the wife, for the children, for the young ones that did not matter what age, take the lamb for a house, but get rid of leaven. I want to leave this question with you. Have you got any leavening influence in your house? If you begin a son, and we're safe to say daughter to, that is a robber, they should not steal, a shadow of blood, they should not kill, they should not murder. And to do with the light to any one of these things and to do with not any of those duties, but he violates the commandments that are spelled out here. Verse 13, "Have given forth upon usury and have taken increase, shall he then live? He shall not live." Now you're saying, "Oh, my dad was a Christian, and because my dad was a Christian, I'm born a Christian. I was born a Christian. Now, being born in a stable doesn't make you a horse. Right? And being born in a Christian home doesn't make you a Christian. Being born in a church doesn't make you a preacher. Being born in a zoo doesn't make you a monkey. You've got to be born again. I know he's living on the previous generation. All right. Verse 13, "He shall not live. He have done all these abominations. He shall surely die. His blood shall be upon him." Okay? So first generation, a Godly man, a just man who keeps the commandments of the Lord, receives life. Second generation, a son who's a wicked man, turns out wicked and violates the commandments. Is he going to live because his father was a Christian? He'll never be able to stand before God and say, "Oh God, my father was a Christian. Isn't that good enough for me?" No. What this chapter is teaching is everybody is personally responsible and accountable. Every generation, I am not responsible for previous generations. I'm responsible for my generation. And as we'll see this morning, every church has three generations in it. There are three generations always. Sometimes we overlap into the fourth. We've got them here this morning as we're going to see. Okay? So the second generation cannot impose, but every generation is personally responsible and personally accountable to the Lord. All right. Let's go to the third generation, verses 14 to 18. Here now we come to a wicked, but a repentant man or a grandson. This would be third generation, verse 14. Now, though if he be get a son that sees all his father's sins which he had done and considereth and doeth not such like, now what's it saying? Putting it a little bit more modern. Okay. Now, I'm a grandson and I see what my father was like and I'm going to consider that. That's stupid being a drunk and immoral man and living like the devil. I'm going to turn from there. I'm going to break the power of that generation. That's what it's saying. But be read it again, verse 14. Now, lower, if he be get a son, so a wicked son and he's a wicked father and he begets a son, the third generation, and he sees that all his father's sins which he had done and considereth and says, I'm not going to do that by the grace of God and doeth not such that if not eaten upon the mountains, neither flifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, idolatry has not be filed his neighbor's wife, idolatry, and we go through the rest of the commandments. Verse 17, the middle part, he shall not die for the iniquity of his father. Now, see, the the commander has said just a surface reading, the iniquities of the fathers are visited upon the children to the third and fourth generation and through their proverb, they're misinterpreted that as we're going to see. The Bible says here, he shall not die for the iniquity of his father. He shall surely live as for his father because he cruelly oppressed, spoiled his brother by violence and did that which is not good among his people, though even he shall die in his iniquity. All right, so every generation is personally responsible and personally accountable. So here is a godly father and a wicked son. A wicked son becomes a wicked father and has a son, which is the grandson, the third generation, but this wicked grandson, he learns and says, okay, I'm not going to follow my father's footsteps, I'm going to break it. He becomes a just man and lives. Now, going to verse 19, yet say ye, why? Does not the son bear the iniquity of the father, that the iniquities of the fathers are visited on the children third and fourth generation? What about that commandment? That's what they're challenging. When the son hath done that, which is lawful and right and has kept all my statutes and have done them, he shall surely live, the soul that sinners, it shall die personal responsibility, personal accountability. Nobody will be able to stand before the Lord on the judgment day and say, it's my father's fault, it's my mom's fault. Now, everybody is individually responsible and accountable. Now, they blame on the parents, they can be blamed, but there's still individual responsibility. The soul that sinners shall die, the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. Now, listen carefully to verse 21, but if the wicked will turn from all his sins, that he hath committed and keep all my statutes and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. Key there, if the wicked will turn from it, he will surely live, he shall not die. All these transgressions that he has committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him. In his righteousness that he hath done, he shall live. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die, says the Lord, and not that he should return from his ways and live? But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness and commiteth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? Isn't it this terrible language? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned. In his trespass that he had trespassed and in his sin, that he hath sinned, and then shall he die. Yet you say, the way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel, is not my way equal, are not your ways unequal? When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness and commiteth iniquity, and here is the key, and dieeth in them, doesn't sound like eternal security, for his iniquity that done shall he die. Again, when the wicked man turneth away from all his from his wickedness that he has committed and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he considered and turnedeth away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. Yet you say, house of Israel, the way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal, are not your ways unequal? Now, listen carefully as I raise this up a little bit. What they are saying is this, are God's ways are not equal. The father sins, the iniquities of the father that visit upon the children, are his acres saying no. The father is responsible, the sons responsible, third generations, each generation is individually responsible, and they say, oh God's ways are not equal. No, now look what he does. Okay, here we have a pair of scales, balances. Now, I'm going to get you on this first. How many know that when the wickedman turns from his wickedness and does that which is lawful and right, none of his wickedness is remembered? Isn't that fantastic? You think of the dying thief, a whole life he lived in sin, and right on the cross at the last minute, a death bed, what sort of a death bed it was, a death bed cross conversion, a death bed conversion. We can think of hundreds and probably thousands of people on the battlefield, just we're being this shot and they're dying, and just they cry out to God, oh God forgive me for the hell of a life I've lived, and God saves him. In all the years of wickedness, none of us remembered, and they go into paradise into heaven, a redeemed person. Isn't the grace of God tremendous? That people can live 90 years in sin, and then at the last moment just have a death bed conversion, and I say God forgive me for the 90 years of sinful life except me through Jesus Christ, and God in his grace does that. Isn't that the grace of God? Can you say a man? But you see, here the opposite is true. If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does iniquity, and here's the key, dies in his iniquity, then none of his righteousness shall be remembered. God's worries equal. So when a righteous man says, oh, if you are sinned, it doesn't matter how long you've lived in sin, what you've done if you turn from your wickedness except Jesus Christ, all your sins will be cleansed. God will only remember your righteousness, all those wasted years, he'll never remember. Oh, isn't that marvelous? But you see, this is the warning of the watchman, and I speak as a watchman to the church this morning. If a righteous man turns from his righteous, so if a young person heard a person, boy or girl, whatever, turn from their righteous and say, oh, well, I'm under the blood, I'm eternal, secure, doesn't matter what I do, once in grace, always in grace. If they die in iniquity, that's why I say the backslider is in a dangerous ground. If they die in their iniquity, are they eternal, secure? No, he says, just as I forget all the wickedness of the wicked man and only return and remember his righteousness, so I will forget all the righteousness of the righteous man. And I only remember his iniquity. He said, oh, that's not fair. Yeah, the way of God is equal. And I don't know whether you believe in eternal security or infernal insecurity. This is blowing a healthy fear to me over the years because I could live. I'm 59 years of age now. And say I turn from the ways of the Lord and live in iniquity and just say, oh, well, tired of being a Christian. And I die in it. All my righteousnesses shall not be remembered. Only my iniquity, the ways of the Lord are equal. Read those three chapters, three chapters he gives to it. It's a good healthy fear of God. All right. So not, not remembered. Now, I want you to, let's see how we're going here. I want you going out to the heart of what I believe is the key to this whole thing. So is everybody with me so far? I know this is a little bit of heavy teaching. I'll be away for so give you rest. First generation, a just man, second generation, a wicked man, third generation, a wicked but repentant man. Each generation individually responsible, individually accountable. And God will wipe away. If the wicked man turns from his wickedness and does that, which is lawful and right, he shall live. And none of his wickedness shall be remembered. But the same true because the scales, God's ways are equal balance. If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does iniquity and dies in his iniquity, his righteousness shall not be remembered. That's why I said, there's any backslides here this morning, you need to come right back to God, come right back to God. I want you to go now to the heart of this. And I want you to turn back to the book of Exodus. I want you to turn back to Exodus and we're going to read it properly. I purposely just surface read it until this point. Exodus 20 and verse 5 and verse 6. Now I want to read it properly now, not just surface reading, which I did before. Exodus 20 and verse 5. Not to have any other gods, that's all linked in it. Not to make any graven image. Not to bow thou should not bow down myself to them nor serve them. For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God. Now listen carefully, may the Holy Spirit write this deep on your hearts. Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them was to say them that hate me. Let's all say it again, there's the key. Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate him. I don't hate him this morning, do you? How many love him? Verse 6. And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love him, love me and what? Keep my commandments. So the sins of the fathers have visited upon the children to the third and fourth generation of them that hate him. But he shows mercy to thousands of them that love him. Let's go over to Exodus chapter 34. Exodus 34 and verse 6 and 7. Exodus 34 and verse 6 and 7. God speaking to Moses again and the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and upon the children's children unto the third and the fourth generation. Let's go to Deuteronomy chapter 5, Deuteronomy chapter 5, where we have the same thing, Deuteronomy chapter 5, Deuteronomy chapter 5 and verse 9 and 10, repeating the same word. "I shall not bow down myself unto them nor serve them for either Lord thy God, I am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them, say it with me, that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that what? Love me and loving him, keeping his commandments, loving him, keeping his commandments." All right, let's just take those verses that we've got here and just spell it out a little bit more. "The Lord God is a merciful, gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness, truth, forgiving sin, transgression, and iniquity to thousands, to the third and fourth generation of them that love him, love him, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and children's children, and on the guilty to the third and fourth generation of them that hate him. Which generation are you in this morning? Which generation are you in this morning?" All right, just a few more minutes. Here is an example from the Old and New Testament of four generations. In the Old Testament, Hezekiah was a godly king, a very godly king, not perfect, but godly. He had a very wicked son, Manasseh, who repented at the end of his long mercy forgave. Then we have Ammon, who was a wicked son of wicked king, Manasseh. He never learned from his father's mistakes. Then we have Josiah, who was the fourth generation, a very godly king. Each generation responsible and accountable to the Lord individually, personally, Hezekiah the first generation, second generation hated God, repented. Third generation hated God, unrepentant. Fourth generation loved God, broke that chain, started a new generation. Paul writes to Timothy. He says, "Timothy, my son in the faith." He said, "The faith that is in you, it was in your grandmother, Lois, a godly generation. It was in your mother, the second generation, Eunice, and on persuaded Timothy, you was the third generation. You've got that same faith in you this morning." What a blessing! I want to read you a tract that I picked up many years ago and that I have occasion to use on on this, and it's a very interesting thing. It's called the Curse of Hereditary, and it gives just a record, just bear with me, I can try to say, reading the whole tract. It gives a record of two families. Mr. Edwards, a godly Englishman married a beautiful godly woman. Their son migrated to America, and there became the progenitor of numerous offspring, of which the careers of 1,344 persons have been traced. Of these 295 were college graduates, 13 college professors, 65 college presidents, 186 ministers of the gospel, 101 more lawyers, 86 state senators, three congressmen, 30 judges, and one was vice president of the US. There were also 75 laymen and Sunday school teachers. In the whole record of the Edgewood's family, none were ever arrested or tried for crime. Now let's look in the opposite direction. In the year 1877 in the state of New York, a very licentious and profane man by the name of Dukes married a woman of light character. From this union, their sprang 1,900 descendants. Of these, 771 were criminals, 250 others were arrested and tried for various crimes, 60 were thieves and spent 120 years in prison, 39 were convicted of murder, 40 of the women were known to have a social disease, 10 only of the Dukes progeny ever learned a trade, and they learnt this in jail. All together, his descendants spent 1,300 years in prison, costing the government $2,700,000 to prosecute and maintain them in prison and the poorhouse. The third and fourth generation. I want you to turn to one final scripture this morning. I'd like you to turn to Psalm 78, Psalm 78, and just before I read it, let me just make a couple of other comments. In my own experience, when the Lord eventually opened this to me, the Lord showed me that I could start a new generation. Whatever my parents were, whatever they were not, whether I wicked or whatever, I have started a new generation, my wife and I. I, with my wife, we are a generation that love the Lord. Mark and Sharon, second generation, love the Lord. When Mark and Nicole get married and have kiddlets, they'll be a generation. I trust that they will love the Lord and keep his commandments. Maybe you're here this morning, you can start a new generation. It doesn't matter what your grandfather or your mother or your father and say, okay, well, they're wicked or whatever. I believe God gave, once he gave me this insight on this, I broke the power of my previous generation and started a new generation. Generation that loves God and keeps his commandments. So we've got the second generation, third and Frank, Sharon, they're doing the same. And there's people here this morning, you can break that power. Young people, I said, I'm talking to you. You're going to get married one day. I don't know all your young people's records. I love you young people. Want to be a spiritual frontier. Whatever your dad and mom may have been, you can start the new generation by the grace of God right this morning. Okay, God, I'm going to love you. Keep your commandments. You can break it. Older people, whatever. Listen to Psalm 78 as we finish. Give a year, oh, my people, to my law. In Klanya, ears to the words of my mouth, I will open my mouth in the parable. I will add a dark sayings of all which we have heard and known as 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 had done for you have 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 shall arise and declare them to their children. See, three generations, four generations here that they might set their hope in God and not forget the works of God but keep his commandments and might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that set not there harder right and whose spirit was not steadfast with God. So why does God allow these things? Let me just conclude with some practical things here. Number one, and maybe we could just do this right here before I finish. Just taking a rough estimate here, how many young people up to the age of 20 are here? First generation, would you stand morning? All those just up to the age of 20, would you stand? Okay, first generation. All right, sit down, all those from 20 to 40. Let's take the next generation. I could have broken it up a bit more but that's in the marriage bracket, you know. Look at that, second generation. Okay, thank you, you can be seated. All those from 40 upwards. Wow, look at that, eh? And there's powerful. All right, and I look at, well, I went blank there. Help me. Ian, how many generations you got here, grandmother? One, two, three, four generations. God be lying. Alleluia, thank you, maybe you said. All right, from 60 upwards. Now, what did I say? 40 to, I said, 20 to 40, 40 to 60, 40 to 60. Let's break that up again, 40 to 60. Let's just do that again. Come on, thank you. I'm standing on this like just. Look at that. Now, 60 upwards. Look at this. Joyce, what are you doing there? Thank you. Wow, thank you. You may be seated. How many realize what I'm saying this morning? I read to you those tragic statistics. It's going out there. In this church, we have four generations. And what is God's will? That the parents and the fathers and mothers have a personal relationship with the Lord. Recognize that there is a generation gap. People talk about it, but God has made the generation gap. Do you know why? That's why you can't have kids when you get married to a certain age. God's made the generation gap. Don't care what other preachers say on this one. He has made the generation gap. Do you know why? That this generation will learn from the older generation, and that each generation will learn from the generations that have gone before. First generation here, you should be learning from the previous generation. There was generation above you. We should be learning from the next generation, the next. That's what this whole thing is about. God's generation gaps so that each generation may learn. In the time of the book of Judges, it says, "All that generation Joshua died and all that generation, then all the elders had served the Lord and that generation died, then third generation says another generation arose that knew not the Lord." Young people, I appeal to you as your generation. You have to know God for yourself. You can't live on my experience or anyone else's experience. Each generation is accountable for knowing God themselves. How many want to be a God-be generation? But the generation to come might know the Lord. I want you to stand this morning. And I'd like us just to sing one chorus as we close. I know this has been a heavy word this morning, but I trust we've communicated. Mark, could we come and just sing one chorus as we close here? And just in our closing moments, I am going to open the front here. And maybe there's some young people or maybe whatever generation you're in. Maybe you might be in that first generation, the younger generation, the second or the third or the fourth that I picked out. We could go through people this morning, Pierre, godly mom and dad, is the second generation. Third generation, third generation, your children, fourth generation. That's just fantastic. How many others here have a sort of three or four generation godly heritage here? It's tremendous. But I'm preaching particularly for those others here. You feel you're under a curse. You want to blake it this morning. You can. I've done it by the grace of God. You can do it. So as we sing this chorus, I'm not going to delay the meeting much longer. I want you to come out out the front. I want the elders to come and stand in the front here, facing you, and just come right out and respond. So, Kevin, I want to start a new generation. It's a young person when I get married, start a godly generation. I didn't have a mom and dad. I had a bad mom and dad or whatever the case may be. Well, I've been depending on my mom and dad, scooting through on their righteousness. And I want to be given a new generation this morning. As we sing this chorus, I want you to come out immediately. As we sing this chorus, just in response to the word of the smile, yeah man. To learn more about Kevin Conner's own story, be sure to get a copy of his autobiography entitled "This is My Story." Visit kevinconner.org for more information.
