Sound of Faith

Sharon Hardy Knotts: Greetings, friends and new listeners, and welcome to this R. G. Hardy Ministries program. I'm Sharon Knotts, and I'm happy you're listening today because we know faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

If you're a lover of God's word, then you know how important it is to not only hide it in our own hearts but to get the word into the hearts of our children and our grandchildren. Today's message is just what we need to succeed. Five Ways to Teach the Word of God.

I love to teach and have a natural propensity for teaching, but God has given five specific tools in Deuteronomy 6 for His people to use to get His word into the hearts of our children. I have subtitled them Teach, Talk, Walk, Write, and Recite. They are Five Ways to Teach the Word of God.

R. G. Hardy: Now, we live in a bad, wicked, ugly world. We've already discussed how bad it is in this generation. We've already talked about that. But he's saying that for us, we can live as though it's heaven on earth. How is that going to happen in this wicked, evil time we live in?

Because when I lie down, and when I get up, and when I sit down, and when I walk, I'm talking about and rehearsing the word of God. How many say amen? And so this is how it's going to happen because I'm taking my energy, I'm focusing it on the word of God, and I'm keeping God's word.

In fact, when I was over there in verse 12 of chapter 10, if I would have went on to verse 13, which I'm going to go ahead and skip back and go to that, he said to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes, which I command thee this day.

And everybody that's already there with me in verse 13, read the last three words with me: "for thy good." Oh, so all of this that he's telling us to do, and we've heard it now at least three times, it all boils down to this. It's for your good that you might have a life of heaven on earth.

Now, I tell you what, I want anything, I want to do anything that's going to turn out good for me. I mean, there's enough bad stuff that happens, it just happens. We live in a fallen world and we live in a world where trouble comes. But I want to do whatever's going to bring good my way. I want to obey the word of God.

So what I need to do is I need to go back and find out how that I can practically, I can do this on an everyday basis. It's fine to sit in church and say amen. But what can I do when I go home tomorrow? How can I apply this to my life? What can I do with my kids so that they don't become rebellious against the word of God?

Kids are going to get rebellious. It's the nature of the beast. Right around 12 years old, 13 years old, they get a shift and all of a sudden their mouth just... they do their shoulders funny and they flip their head funny and they roll their eyes, they get this affliction right about 12 years old.

And it lasts for about five or six years. Some get cured sooner than others. You know, but some for a good while, they're going to be constantly doing this. It's something that happens to them, and you've just got to realize it because when you were a teenager, you did it too. See?

So a certain amount of that you've just got to get through it. But you don't tolerate rebellion against the word of God. When it comes to the word of God, you get the word of God in them. Amen. Because if you get the word of God in them, even while they're going through that afflicted state, they will still have the fear of God on the inside.

They may not be admitting it too much verbally, but you can be sure that the fear of God is upon them. And when they go to do certain things, the fear of God is going to come on them. So we need to get that word in them. How are we going to do it? Are we going to beat it in them?

No, that's not going to work. That's going to cause them to hate the word of God. If you beat them and you mistreat them and you slap them around and then you tell them "the Bible says," they're going to hate the Bible. Hey, anybody can figure that out. Then they're going to end up on Oprah telling the whole world and reproach the name of Jesus. Amen.

So what can we do? How are we going to do this the way God wants us to do it? Now while we were reading this, we found out that God gave them practical ways. Now before we talk about them, I'm going to tell you some of those ways aren't going to work for us today. But that doesn't mean that we can't find other ways to do it.

We read a couple times about putting frontlets on your head and a sign on your hand. So of course, now if you've ever seen a picture of the Orthodox Jewish men, you've seen they have this little brown leather box right here on their forehead and it's got a strap like a belt going around.

And sometimes they have it on their hands and it winds all the way up their arm. Inside that little box are scriptures. Specifically what we just read here, "Hear, O Israel: the Lord thy God is one God. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and all thy soul, and all thy might," which means thy strength or thy body.

They have those scriptures right there. Now, I tell you what, if you walk around with a thing between your eyes and a thing on your hand, you're going to be thinking about that box quite a bit.

If you don't think so, when you go home, don't do it when you go out in the store or anything or go to work, but just try getting something tied around your head, tying it on your hand the rest of this day and see if you're not constantly aware of that box being up there.

And somebody's going to say, "Why do you have that box on your head?" And you're going to say, "Because thou shalt love the Lord thy God." Now, we're not going to do that today. But there are ways that we can get the word of God in us.

I mean, there are ways that we can. Now, he talked about putting it on the doorposts of their house. And even today, the Jewish people do that, what they call the mezuzah, and I have one to bring to show you.

The mezuzah is just a little box and it's tall and thin like this because it's got to go on the doorjamb of your door and of course you don't want to close the door on it. So it's got to go when the door closes, you want it right there, right next to that little strip of molding.

And inside of it, inside in the back, are scriptures. And in here, on this one, I put my own scriptures in there. I've got Psalm 91:1, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."

And I've got another scripture in there, "For I will never leave thee nor forsake thee," because when I was going through a very, very tough spot, those scriptures were ones that really brought comfort to my heart. So that's what I have in my little mezuzah that I put on my door.

But this was so that when they would go in and out of their house, remember he said, "when you lie down, when you get up, when you sit, when you walk about"? Going in and out of the door, they look up there and see that mezuzah.

And of course, this right here is the Shin, which is the Hebrew letter Shin, and it is like having an abbreviation for the name of God, El Shaddai. So when they see that on there, that's on all mezuzahs, and when they see that on there, it's telling them God is the protector of this house.

So if any boogeymans want to come in and the devil wants to come in, he knows the people in this house believe God. The people that live in this house are God's children and He's responsible for them, He's going to take care of them.

Now, I happen to have this because I just love things like that and we're not required to have them as Christians, but I have it because I like it. But now think about it. I bet some of you have got some stuff in your house.

I bet you maybe on your refrigerator, you might have a magnet, like I have this magnet on my refrigerator and it says, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." So when I go to the refrigerator, there it is, the word of God is telling me... and how many know you go to the refrigerator quite a bit?

So you want to put a real good one on your refrigerator. Amen. And you know, if you've got trouble in that department, there are some scriptures in Proverbs that would help you out. There's one in there about if your appetite's too great, put a knife to your throat. That's a Proverb, for real.

Or you could go in Philippians where he says, "and my God is not my belly." You could put that on your refrigerator. Whatever it takes to get the word of God in you. I bet some of you might have some magnets on your refrigerator.

Or maybe around your house, you might have pretty little plaques. This is a real good one: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Amen. I remember this was given to us by Sarah, Heidi gave it to us.

This is when Sarah was in elementary school and we were trying to get her into Christian school and they were saying that she had to be tutored and she had to pass a certain test in order to get in.

And the first time she took the test, she didn't pass it and she was very, very discouraged. But Heidi sent this to her to tell her, "Hey, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." And she began to work with her tutor.

When she went back to take that test, she not only passed it, she was up and in some places beyond the grade level in just a short time because the word of God is real and it's light.

And if you've got to have a kid who's having a hard time in school, don't say, "You dummy, when are you going to get it?" You have to keep encouraging them and saying, "You can do all things through Christ. He made your brain. Did God make your brain? Well, He can surely quicken the parts."

And when I used to pray for Sarah, I'd say, "Lord, quicken her brain so that she can remember this stuff so when she takes that test, she can write it down there." And the Lord answers prayer.

And this is actually one that Sarah gave to me one time. And it's the beautiful, beautiful chapter from 1 Corinthians 13. What love is: love is kind, love is patient, love is long-suffering. Everybody needs one of these in their house. Everybody needs one of these in your house.

How many say amen? And you probably need a bigger one than this, like a real big one. Amen. And so we all have all kinds... I didn't bring everything but you know, I even have this one that I really like. I started to bring it but it's kind of bulky.

But I know a lot of people know that I'm known for Maranatha. I put it on the back of my envelopes. I've been doing it for probably 12 years or better. And a lot of people come up to me and say, "What does that mean?" and that gives me an opportunity to tell them what it means.

How many knows what it means? It means "our Lord cometh." It was the word of greeting that the early church, when they greeted one another, said, "Maranatha." That's like saying, "Stay on the fireline, Jesus is coming. Stay prayed up, stay ready."

And so I love that. And one day I was at a yard sale, this is way, way back, and I could not believe it because who many people walk around saying Maranatha? I mean, honestly, I'm the only person I know that says it. Maybe there's, I'm not saying there's not other people.

But I went to this yard sale and there was this wooden plaque and it had this gold ribbon with a wooden dove with a gold ribbon and he was holding this wooden plaque and on the wooden plaque it said Maranatha.

And I thought, I couldn't have... if I would have tried to buy one at a gospel bookstore, I wouldn't have been able to find it. Here I got it for a dollar. So I got it on my door when you go in and outside. So that is something that's very special to me.

And so I don't want Benny when he goes out on his boat, I want to have a scripture with him. So I had this made for his boat. He just got it, so he hasn't put it on there yet, that's why I have it. "Maranatha."

Because I told him when he got his boat, I said, "You've got to name it Maranatha." He says, "I'm not naming that boat Maranatha." But you see how many people when you're out there on that boat, Benny, people will say, "What does that Maranatha mean?" and you can say to them, "Our Lord's coming back."

So there are ways that we can get the word of God constantly. And when I've been through some of my really severe trials, I'm not lying to you, I had scriptures all over my bathroom wall.

So every time I went in there, I had to look at those scriptures and I had to say them over and over again when I was really struggling at different times, which I won't go into, most of you know about that.

So here are five ways that we just read in here that we are to get the scriptures and the word of God in us and in our children. Five ways. Okay, we read about some of the things he told us to do. And there's so many ways that you can do this, even on your screensaver on your computer.

When you turn it on, why not have it come up with a scripture? How many say amen? I know I remember a testimony when a family was facing a crisis. Their 10-year-old daughter was going to die with a brain tumor, inoperable, no hope, a year or less to live.

And they went through that struggle of believing God for their daughter to be healed. She got progressively worse and worse till her eye was closing and she was beginning really to have all kinds of problems.

But she put on her screensaver when she'd go to work every day, it would come up Psalm 118:6, "The Lord is for me, I will not fear: what can man do to me?" And of course, they put scriptures all over their house.

There are ways that you can fight the lying devil that comes and sits on your shoulder. And you've got to find ways to fight him with the word of God. So what we basically saw is all these places that we read boils down to these five things: Teach, Talk, Walk, Write, and Recite.

You got it? Teach, Talk, Walk, Write, and Recite. Now first of all, he said we got to teach them diligently. Do you know why that God chose Abraham out of all of the people that were on the earth at that time? At that time, God was not speaking to men. Men had become so wicked and evil.

But the Bible says in Genesis 18:19, the reason why God chose Abraham, He said, "For I know he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment."

He says that's why He chose him. And Psalm 34:11 says, "Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord." The fear of the Lord is something we have to teach our children.

And I don't have time to go into that, but you just get out your Bible and get out a concordance and begin to look at all the verses about the fear of the Lord and the Holy Ghost will show you how to teach your children.

Psalm 145:4, "One generation shall praise thy works to another generation, and shall declare thy mighty acts." Psalm 78:1-7, "What our fathers told us, we will not hide from our children to the generation to come, we will tell them the praises of the Lord."

He goes on to say in the verses following, quoting from Psalm 78, "We will teach them the Lord's strength and His wonderful works. We will teach them and we will make known to our children that they should declare them to their children that they might set their hope in God and not forget His works."

We've got to give our children a hope. One day they're going to grow up and leave your home. They're going to go out into the world. Are you sending them out there with a hope in God because you have instilled in them the word of God?

That we will teach them to keep His commandments, that they might not be like our fathers were, stubborn and rebellious. Now here is a beautiful verse I want you to see, you can turn with me if you want in 2 Timothy 1:5.

Some of these I'm going to hurry through and if you just take notes you can look at them later. But this is beautiful. Paul is writing to Timothy. And he says, "When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee."

In other words, when Paul thought about Timothy, his heart was just filled with joy and gratitude. He says, "When I think about Timothy, I think about a man who's got pure faith." What a testimony.

He says, "Timothy, your faith is real. There's no sham in it. You've got unfeigned faith, there's no hypocrisy in you. Your faith is the real deal." But listen what he says: "When I think about the unfeigned faith that is in thee, that first dwelt in thy grandmother Lois, and in thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded is also in thee."

Timothy had a legacy. He had a grandmother who knew the word of God and instilled that word of God in him. He had a mother that taught him the word of God. And so he goes on and he tells him in 2 Timothy chapter 3, verse 14, "But continue in the things which thou hast learned and been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them."

Who did he learn them from? Grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. He said, "Be assured of these things that you have been taught and that from a child, you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

For all scripture is inspired of God, and it is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."

God wants us to instill all of this in our children. Doctrine: why do you believe what you believe? And if you don't know why you believe what you believe, that's not good enough today just to believe.

We're getting ready to be bombarded with the Da Vinci film that's going to be coming out. And people that don't know the Bible, they're going to be convinced because of that film. That film is saying that certain things in the Bible are not true. And that film is saying certain things are true that are not true, not only in the Bible but in history.

And you're going to have people on your job that are going to start scoffing at you because they go see that film. You've got to know why you know and believe what you believe. In doctrine, in reproof, in correction, in instruction in righteousness.

You've got to be well-balanced in all those areas because you reprove one way and you instruct another. How many know there's a difference between correcting and reproving and instructing, even though they all dovetail?

So he says, "I am persuaded that you have got this in you and that it has been passed down to you from your grandmother to your mother and on down, that you can be perfect." And that word means mature and developed. That doesn't mean that you're walking around with a halo. Excuse me while I adjust mine.

No, it means you're mature for where you are because the word of God... there's nothing worse than somebody that's been saved for a while and they're still so shallow, immature when they shouldn't be. How many say amen?

So that you can have the word of God in you. And then the second thing is, so we've got to teach them. Okay, we have to teach them and we don't just say, don't just tell your kids, "Because I said so."

Because that pushes a button in there. They've got this button, once you say, "Because I said so," then they don't hear anything else you say. That's right. You tell them because God's word says so. Let me show you why. Let me show you where.

And let's back up a few pages because all of it is for what? Thy good, that you might have a life of heaven on earth. So you can tell them that. Doesn't that sound a whole lot nicer when somebody tells it to you like that than "Because I said so"?

How many say amen? So that you can tell them this is why God gave these commandments. Not so He can make your life miserable and take all your party and joy and fun away. No, so He can spare you the hook that the devil's got under there. That you don't see until it gets you hooked. How many say amen?

So we're to teach them. Number two, we're to talk of them. When we sit down. That's why it's so important that you sit down as a family at the dinner table. I mean, sometimes things come up and you can't all sit down, but if that's the way your family operates, you've got a big problem.

You should be sitting down together at that table. It shouldn't be you running and you grab a sandwich and she runs in and she grabs this, or he's running a McDonald's. No, even if you are buying McDonald's for supper, and I hope you're not, but even if you are, you should be sitting down at the table eating your Big Mac.

Because the Bible says when you sit down, talk about the word of God. And when you have those times together as a family, that it begins to knit you together. How many say amen?

When you go to bed at night, especially when they're little, you tuck them into bed, you give them a Bible story, you give them a verse, you give them a scripture. You should be able to speak into their need when they come home from school because somebody's been all over their case or somebody's really wounded them and you see your child is hurting.

You should be able to minister to them from the word of God. Or when they're facing some problem, they should hear you talking about the goodness of the Lord and the word of God.

When you're in the car taking them to their soccer practice, their football game, the mall to shop, you should be talking about the word of God. When you leave out of here this morning on the way home, on the way to the restaurant, you should be rehearsing the word of God. Not talking about Sister Susie and Brother Jojo and what this one did and that one did.

They hear you talking about the preacher and then you wonder why they don't want to come and sit and hear the preaching. We should be talking about the word of God, our conversations because faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

So first we teach and then we talk, and then we walk. And walk is, it's a broader sense than just talking. You know how we say, do you walk the talk? You know, a lot of people can talk it but they can't walk it.

So do your children see you doing and living what you preach? That's right. Do the people on your job see you living when you get in a place where you're put in a position where the natural man wants to get ugly? And retaliate and get even.

But instead, you smile and you pray for them that despitefully use you and you bless and you don't curse. That's walking the talk. How many say amen? Not saying, "That devil, I hope he falls and breaks his leg." What kind of talk is that for a Christian?

That sounds like when James and John got upset and he said, "Jesus, shall we call fire down on the Samaritans and burn them all up because they didn't like your message?" Jesus looked at them and said, "Brothers, you don't know what spirit you're of. I didn't come to destroy men's lives, I came to save them."

And when people got the devil in them, they're going to talk like the devil talks. You're not supposed to talk like them. You're supposed to talk like your Father. So do you walk it out? Do they see that you apply the word of God in your everyday life?

In your finances? Do they see that you are disciplined? Do they see you pay your tithes? And then do they see the blessing of God on your life? Do they see that before you go out and make a major purchase that's going to be thousands of dollars, maybe for years that you've got to pay something back, do they see you agree in prayer and say, "Lord, lead us and guide us, help us to get the right car at the right price, that we don't get somebody's junker, that we don't get bamboozled by some sharp-talking salesman"?

Lord, just lead us and guide us, give us favor, give us favor before we get there, give us favor with the bank, give us favor with... do your children see you do that? Or do they see you just run out there and say, "Today we're buying a car. We don't know anything about what kind of car, how much we can afford, we just going to buy one and we'll worry about paying it later"?

And then you can't make the payments. And then you've got bad credit. How many say amen? Do they see you live it out? Do they see that you say, "Lord, you said in Proverbs 3:5 and 6, in all thy ways acknowledge him and he will direct thy path. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding."

Do they see you quote James 1:5, "If any man lack wisdom, all he's got to do is ask God and it shall be given unto him." Amen. Do they see you do that in your life? How many say amen? So if they see that, then you're walking out what you're talking.

Sharon Hardy Knotts: Amen. What a helpful and insightful message, Five Ways to Teach the Word of God, which are Teach, Talk, Walk, Write, and Recite. God is going to hold us responsible for getting His word into our children's hearts, to train them in the way they should go, the way of the Lord.

It is amazing to me that when God chose one man on the face of the earth to bless and entrust His plan of redemption to, He chose Abraham and said, "Because I know he will command his children and they shall keep the ways of the Lord." The Jewish people exist today in spite of satanic attacks to destroy them because they are the people of the book, the Bible.

And the Bible teaches that since the time of Noah, iniquity has increased in the earth and with every generation, iniquity gets worse. This is an evil law that compels unsaved people to do worse than their parents and is why we have come to our day when men call good evil and evil good, when sin and deceivers and evil workers shall wax worse and worse.

And Jesus said of these last days, "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." This is why it is imperative that we teach our children the wisdom and precepts that scriptures teach and plant the seeds of God's word in their hearts while they are young.

They are not going to get it in public schools, and by the time they get to college and universities, they are bombarded with humanism and atheism, evolution, and a blatant disdain for the Bible. We have to teach and preach to them, but then we have to walk the talk and let them see the reality of God's truth in our lives, and not just when we go to church.

I hope you will order this CD, Five Ways to Teach the Word of God, for a love gift of $10 or more for the radio ministry. Request offer SK128, that's S as in Sharon, K as in Knotts, 1-2-8. Our mailing address is Brother Hardy, PO Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland 21203, or go online at rghardy.org. That's rghardy.org.

Again, to order Five Ways to Teach the Word of God, request offer SK128, send a love gift of at least $10 to PO Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland 21203. Until next time, this is Sharon Knotts saying, Maranatha.