WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.240 If you're well, the faces of the boys that God has entrusted to us in the boys brigade across our down battalion. 00:00:11.200 --> 00:00:18.655 The pressures they face differ by age, and yet all of them need faithful officers who will point them to Christ. 00:00:19.055 --> 00:00:38.940 Anchor boys often encounter unstable or father absent homes, early and unfiltered screen time, confused messages about right and wrong, a lack of secure godly role models at the very stage when the foundations of trust and identity and obedience are being led. 00:00:39.420 --> 00:00:56.275 Junior section faced growing peer pressure, the first waves of social media and online influence, increasing anxiety around school performance and belonging, and the early erosion of biblical literacy in a culture that rarely speaks about God. 00:00:57.300 --> 00:01:18.995 The company section boys wrestled with deeper confusion about identity and masculinity, the aggressive pool of pornography and social media, mental health struggles and loneliness, academic and performance pressure, and in some communities the real danger of influence with drugs and violence. 00:01:19.475 --> 00:01:25.980 All the while, many have never heard a clear compelling account of the living God. 00:01:25.980 --> 00:01:32.940 We don't know generally the boys that come to us each company night. 00:01:32.940 --> 00:01:35.500 We don't know what goes on behind closed doors. 00:01:35.820 --> 00:01:45.235 And into this multi aged mix, God still calls officers, ordinary men and women like yourselves, to serve a future generation. 00:01:45.555 --> 00:01:52.435 And that's why I read to you from Psalm 78, and in particular, I want to think about verses four to seven. 00:01:53.350 --> 00:01:56.630 Because verses four to seven is not soft nostalgia. 00:01:56.950 --> 00:01:59.270 It's a solemn, hopeful charge. 00:01:59.270 --> 00:02:01.830 It's a charge for each of us this evening. 00:02:01.830 --> 00:02:05.430 The psalmist recounts Israel's history of forgetfulness. 00:02:05.735 --> 00:02:11.495 It recounts God's faithfulness and then issues a multigenerational mandate. 00:02:11.735 --> 00:02:18.295 And that's really the title of this message this evening, a multigenerational mandate. 00:02:18.455 --> 00:02:28.240 So as we dedicate ourselves afresh to that multigenerational mandate, there are three duties that we have gotta perform. 00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:33.520 Three duties that are set out in Psalm 78 verses 78. 00:02:34.565 --> 00:02:38.405 First duty, we will not hide the Lord's deeds. 00:02:39.605 --> 00:02:42.805 The second duty, we will teach his word. 00:02:43.285 --> 00:02:47.280 The third duty, we will labor for the Lord. 00:02:47.600 --> 00:02:51.280 And let's look at each of these duties one by one. 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:55.040 So first of all, we will not hide the Lord's deeds. 00:02:55.120 --> 00:02:57.200 We will not hide the Lord's deeds. 00:02:57.200 --> 00:03:01.405 Note what we're told here in Psalm 78 and verse four. 00:03:01.405 --> 00:03:11.485 We will not hide them from their children but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord and his might and the wonders that he has done. 00:03:11.565 --> 00:03:13.485 And the verbs are very deliberate here. 00:03:14.830 --> 00:03:16.030 They're corporate. 00:03:17.150 --> 00:03:20.830 We will not hide, but we will tell. 00:03:22.110 --> 00:03:24.510 And that content is specific. 00:03:24.510 --> 00:03:29.955 God's praiseworthy deeds, power, and wonders, That's what we're to come. 00:03:29.955 --> 00:03:33.635 That's what we're to bring to the boys each parade night. 00:03:34.115 --> 00:03:37.235 Not vague moralisms, not self help. 00:03:37.715 --> 00:03:48.280 Asaph, who was the great musician of David roots, the command, and redemptive history as he writes here the exodus, the the wilderness, the the great covenant. 00:03:48.280 --> 00:03:55.080 And when we think of, the deeds of the Lord, silence in relation to those is disobedience. 00:03:55.080 --> 00:03:58.600 Proclamation, of course, is obedience. 00:04:00.305 --> 00:04:11.105 A BB company that only runs games and badges and camps without ever speaking of Christ's cross and resurrection is like a lighthouse with a lamp switched off. 00:04:11.425 --> 00:04:15.585 The structure looks very impressive, but the ships are still being wrecked. 00:04:16.360 --> 00:04:31.905 And conversely, an officer who simply and regularly recounts what God has done, whether it be talking about creation or the fall, the great promise, the incarnation, the atonement, the empty tomb, the spirit's power, He lights the way. 00:04:31.905 --> 00:04:33.185 She lights the way. 00:04:35.425 --> 00:04:38.385 And what story are we telling? 00:04:38.865 --> 00:04:48.730 On company nights, camps, quiet conversations, do the boys hear the mighty acts of God or only activity schedules. 00:04:49.290 --> 00:04:57.930 Dedication means refusing to hide Christ and speaking of him naturally, speaking of him warmly, speaking of him clearly. 00:04:59.995 --> 00:05:02.395 Your life and your lip agree. 00:05:03.195 --> 00:05:11.115 In his book, Center Church, Tim Keller wrote, the gospel is not just the ABCs of the Christian life, but it's the a to z. 00:05:11.355 --> 00:05:13.355 We never move on from it. 00:05:13.355 --> 00:05:15.115 We move deeper into it. 00:05:15.650 --> 00:05:24.530 And we must tell the deeds of the Lord until the boys see that Jesus is the center of every story worth telling. 00:05:25.010 --> 00:05:34.125 We must tell the deeds of the Lord until the boys see that Jesus is the center of every story worth telling. 00:05:34.765 --> 00:05:38.045 We will not hide the Lord's deeds. 00:05:38.365 --> 00:05:42.845 But then let's move on to the second duty that's set out in this particular psalm. 00:05:42.845 --> 00:05:44.125 We will teach his word. 00:05:44.670 --> 00:05:46.110 We will teach his word. 00:05:46.110 --> 00:05:52.510 We must teach the next generation passing on God's statutes and God's law. 00:05:52.830 --> 00:06:13.365 If you look at Psalm 78 again, notice here in verses five and six what it says, he established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, and the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children. 00:06:14.740 --> 00:06:17.300 God himself decreed the content. 00:06:18.100 --> 00:06:20.340 God himself decreed the method. 00:06:20.820 --> 00:06:24.900 Speaks about fathers here, which he commanded our fathers. 00:06:25.220 --> 00:06:40.885 Fathers, and, yes, by extension, as we bring it into the context of the baby, spiritual fathers, spiritual mothers are commanded to teach so that the knowledge multiplies across generations even to those yet unborn. 00:06:41.330 --> 00:06:48.290 The goal is not merely information, but a living of real transformation. 00:06:48.850 --> 00:06:55.810 And we all know about the idea of the relay race and the button as the apostolic gospel and the whole council of God. 00:06:56.905 --> 00:07:08.665 And, you know, if an officer drops it through neglect of scripture, maybe through embarrassment about a doctrine or substitution of of entertainment, the next runner has nothing to carry. 00:07:09.190 --> 00:07:21.350 And boys brigade has always thrived when officers treated drill and uniform and adventure as vehicles, as a means to disciplining boys in the fear and in the knowledge of the Lord. 00:07:22.615 --> 00:07:30.775 And you know dedication tonight includes a fresh resolve to open the Bible with the boys and we have scripture courses. 00:07:31.335 --> 00:07:33.975 But how do we teach those scripture courses? 00:07:35.815 --> 00:07:45.710 Short, clear teaching, memorization of key verses, applying the commandments to honesty and purity and courage and brotherly love. 00:07:46.110 --> 00:07:56.315 You're not asked to be a professional theologian, you know that there, but we're commanded to be faithful transmitters of the gospel. 00:07:57.355 --> 00:07:58.955 We have to prepare. 00:07:58.955 --> 00:08:00.155 We have to pray. 00:08:00.395 --> 00:08:01.995 We have to open the word. 00:08:02.635 --> 00:08:11.860 Sinclair Ferguson observes, true Christian education is not merely the transfer of information, but the formation of a life under the lordship of Christ. 00:08:12.340 --> 00:08:18.580 Kevin De Jong adds that we must give the next generation a faith that is both deep and clear. 00:08:19.355 --> 00:08:21.675 And that's our calling in company nights. 00:08:21.835 --> 00:08:24.875 That's our calling when we take the boys away on weekends. 00:08:25.435 --> 00:08:30.795 That's our calling as we meet them at competitions and take them to competitions or whatever. 00:08:31.550 --> 00:08:55.555 We will teach His word, we will live His word but then our third and final duty we will labor for the Lord we will labor for the Lord and we will labor for the Lord that He might be glorified because when the Lord is glorified, the Lord blesses and the boys are set in a hope toward God. 00:08:55.555 --> 00:09:05.380 If you look at what we're told here in verse seven, it's so it says there, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God but keep his commandments. 00:09:05.620 --> 00:09:08.740 And you know the purpose clause here is vital. 00:09:08.740 --> 00:09:11.540 Information serves transformation. 00:09:11.540 --> 00:09:19.015 Hope or trust in God, remembrance of his works, and obedient keeping of his commandments. 00:09:19.175 --> 00:09:20.615 And the three belong together. 00:09:20.615 --> 00:09:23.015 Forgetfulness produces unbelief. 00:09:23.015 --> 00:09:24.775 It produces disobedience. 00:09:24.775 --> 00:09:26.695 Remembering fuels faith and holiness. 00:09:26.930 --> 00:09:35.650 And the ultimate aim is that boys who become men who trust Christ, recall his faithfulness, walk in his ways, and then teach their own children. 00:09:36.050 --> 00:09:38.290 We're not just teaching this generation. 00:09:38.290 --> 00:09:40.610 We're teaching the generation that is yet to come. 00:09:43.225 --> 00:09:59.340 A former BB boy, now a father and officer himself, told me the turning point in his life was when an officer who not only taught the commandments but lived them with quiet consistency and pointed every failure and every victory back to the grace of the cross. 00:09:59.740 --> 00:10:06.620 And years later, that boy could still quote the verses, and more importantly, he had set his hope in the Lord. 00:10:06.620 --> 00:10:09.020 He had been saved, born again. 00:10:09.715 --> 00:10:15.235 And you know that's the harvest that's really envisaged here in Psalm 78. 00:10:15.235 --> 00:10:42.065 Our task is not merely to promote attendance and badges and smart drill, and those are good, But by faithful witness, those are to be used as a means to an end because faithful witness is used within them to urge boys to trust Christ, remember what he has done, remember what Christ has done for them, and by the power of the Holy Spirit to come as sinners to the cross and trust Jesus. 00:10:43.425 --> 00:10:48.065 And when they feel and they will feel, we point them back again to the savior. 00:10:49.760 --> 00:11:01.200 Your own hope, your own memory, your own obedience will either authenticate or undermine the message, and tonight's dedication is therefore first a rededication of your heart. 00:11:03.635 --> 00:11:12.275 Paul Tripp reminds leaders that we are instruments in the Redeemer's hands called to help the next generation find their hope in Him alone. 00:11:13.075 --> 00:11:21.100 And Alastair Begg puts it so well, He says, preach the word and keep the main thing the main thing. 00:11:21.420 --> 00:11:23.420 And you know that's what we have gotta do. 00:11:23.420 --> 00:11:29.100 We've gotta keep the main thing the main thing, the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:11:30.165 --> 00:11:40.005 So to draw this all to a closer, a multigenerational mandate, we have three linked duties as they're set out here in Psalm 78 and verses four to seven. 00:11:40.005 --> 00:11:40.885 Don't hide. 00:11:41.045 --> 00:11:44.325 Declare the glorious deeds and power and wonders of the Lord. 00:11:45.190 --> 00:11:59.350 Teach diligently the statutes and the gospel so that generations yet unborn may be affected by what we do in God with God's help and in the power of the Holy Spirit now in this day and generation. 00:12:00.485 --> 00:12:02.165 And labor for the goal. 00:12:02.645 --> 00:12:08.405 The goal to glorify God, that boys set their hope in God. 00:12:08.725 --> 00:12:12.165 Remember his works and keep his commandments. 00:12:12.805 --> 00:12:14.965 And these are not suggestions for the king. 00:12:16.560 --> 00:12:33.975 They're a biblical pattern for serving a future generation, and the issues facing facing boys in the boys brigade from the youngest anger boys to the oldest company section members are serious, but the God of Psalm 78 is greater. 00:12:35.015 --> 00:12:38.455 He has already acted mightily in Christ Jesus. 00:12:38.455 --> 00:12:43.495 He still appoints ordinary people like you and me to stand in the gap. 00:12:44.330 --> 00:12:46.570 And will we tonight refuse to hide Christ? 00:12:46.570 --> 00:12:52.330 Will we commit to open the word and pass on, the faith once delivered to the saints? 00:12:52.330 --> 00:13:00.565 Will we labor for God's glory that boys would trust, remember, and obey who will one day tell their own children? 00:13:01.525 --> 00:13:05.205 And if so, then let's dedicate ourselves afresh. 00:13:05.925 --> 00:13:15.880 Serve the boys in in front of us, whether they're four or whether they're 18, and do it with courage and patience and joy. 00:13:16.360 --> 00:13:29.505 Do it in the strength of God's supply, fixing your eyes, fixing our eyes on the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, and trust that the Lord who commanded this transmission will also give the increase. 00:13:29.505 --> 00:13:36.625 And may the next generation rise up and call them blessed because we were faithful in our day. 00:13:37.985 --> 00:13:45.240 Before we finish, there's a question that reaches beyond duty and service, a question for you. 00:13:45.960 --> 00:13:54.360 And we have spoken tonight of passing on the faith, but you can't pass on the faith if you've never received it. 00:13:55.160 --> 00:14:00.075 You cannot point boys to a savior you do not know yourself. 00:14:00.955 --> 00:14:08.795 And I say to you, all the good works, the years of service, all the badges and honors in the world will not save your soul. 00:14:09.195 --> 00:14:16.290 Psalm 78 tells the story of a generation that saw the works of God and yet whose hearts were not right with him. 00:14:16.290 --> 00:14:29.335 We're told that in verses eight and thirty seven, and it's possible to be surrounded by the things of God, to sit under the word of God, to wear the uniform, to stand in the ranks, and still be lost. 00:14:29.895 --> 00:14:35.255 So the question comes to you tonight, have you set your own hope in God? 00:14:35.255 --> 00:14:55.785 The same God who acted mightily in history has acted mightily in Christ, who came and lived the life that you could not live, who died the death that you deserved, and who rose again in triumph over sin and the grave, and he offers you freely this evening forgiveness and eternal life. 00:14:56.265 --> 00:15:02.185 But you must come to him, and you must come from your sin and trust in him alone. 00:15:02.745 --> 00:15:04.905 And I say to you tonight, don't put it off. 00:15:05.945 --> 00:15:14.500 Don't assume in another day, and let this be the night you stop hiding from him and perhaps trusting in him. 00:15:15.700 --> 00:15:28.285 For then you too will have something worth passing on, and one day you will join the great throng of every generation who rise up and call him blessed. 00:15:29.245 --> 00:15:33.645 I say to you tonight, come to Christ. 00:15:35.405 --> 00:15:37.325 Let's