Father’s Day 2003 - Malachi 4:1-6
It
would be very hard to overstate the role that God has given fathers in the
Churches
and states are comprised of various families.
Families are not comprised of various churches or states. So, when you have a break down in the family
government, you will necessarily see problems downstream in the church and
state governments. So, we can see why
Malachi can say that the Elijah (John the Baptist) will save the earth from a
curse by turning the hearts of the fathers toward the children and the hearts
of children toward their fathers.
Children
Honor (obedience) equals blessing – For children, the principle command of scripture with
regard to your father is very straightforward. - Honor your Father – Deuteronomy
Corollary – Dishonor equals an awful
curse – Proverbs 30:17 There is a corollary here as well that should not be
overlooked – if you do choose to scorn obedience to your father – the eagles
and crows will pick the meat from the eyes of your dead body. This is not an empty warning – children die
daily in the world due to foolish rebellion.
God commands to bless – All of God’s commands are intended to bless, protect
and generally cause us to live life fully.
Proverbs
Perfect Holiness – the Standard Your
Father Must Prepare you for - Maybe you struggle with a sense that it is
very hard to please your father. You
want to honor him, but feel that you will never attain to the standard that
your father has set for you. And when
you do feel this, it is important to remember several things. I - that when your father is urging you on to
perfection, he is only preparing you for the same standard that you are
ultimately accountable to before God and His word. (2 Corinthians 7:1)
II - Standard of Perfection is
not Contempt For Your Life - The temptation on your part will be to
misread your father’s duty to urge you on to this standard with contempt,
condemnation or absence of joy in you. But,
by the Word of God, you must understand that this does not follow. Holding you to a standard of perfection
before God is not contempt for your life but rather the cherishing of it. (Proverbs
3:11-12). The Apostle Paul cherished
those to whom he required the standard. III - Do Not Be Discouraged by Chastening The
third thing to remember (that is, to do) is to resist the urge to become
discouraged. It is natural to be tempted
to be discouraged by correction or chastening.
Hebrews
12:1-14 Chastening
is never pleasant – it is always painful.
The point is not to deny the reality of pain. The point of Hebrews 12 is to prevent you
from missing the fruit that is the goal of chastening. If you allow yourself to go from the pain of
the chastening to discouragement, then, in a figure, what is lame will become
dislocated. IV – Come to your father (your earthly one) through Jesus Christ Finally, ultimately, if you want
to please your father, your must do so by coming to him through your Lord Jesus
Christ. John 14:1-6 Your father’s duty is to train you up
in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
The only way you can come to your father in a manner that demonstrates
that to him that he has discharged his duty before God is to come to your
earthly father in the same fashion that you must approach your heavenly father
– through Jesus Christ.
Wives
Sarah’s
Example – Helpmeet to Abraham (great father of all Christians and great man of
faith) 1 Peter 3:1- The larger point is that her husband was Abraham, the great man of
faith who is declared to be the father of all Christians. Sarah is the mother of all Christian women
who share her faith and demeanor and Abraham was the father of all Christians who share his faith. Sarah’s greatness was here role in the making
of Abraham. She was (and is) a great
woman because she did a great work. She
made a great man. And in order to make a
great man, she needed to submit graciously to him. She needed to honor him. What Did Sarah’s Honor Look Like - The Honor of A Gracious and Quite Spirit. Sarah was one of the most beautiful women
that ever lived. But her reverence for
her husband (here stated as fear) manifested in her gentle and quiet spirit is
the beauty she is commended for – it is the only incorruptible beauty she possesses.
This is not a denigration of her physical beauty. It is an elevation of the greater beauty -
what Peter calls the hidden person of the heart.
Without
Terror - The second part of this text
(1st Peter 3:1-6) is also important.
Sarah’s submission (or honor) of her husband was fearless. And this is possibly more important than her
gentle and quiet spirit. Now think about
Sarah again. Think of the tremendous
fear and uncertainty she must have felt when she heard about Abraham’s big
idea. To leave everything
to travel to a foreign land. How
important do you think it was that Abraham had a wife who would submit
graciously to him – even in the face of something as daunting as this must have
been for them? How important do you
think it was that she strengthen his faith and not
flame his own doubts or fears? Moving
Wasn’t the Worst of It for Sarah.
She was to endure something far more troubling before her works were completed (being taken in for a wife by the Pharaoh in
Father’s
To
the husbands and fathers here today, this is your day of honor in our
culture. And this is a good thing that
you should be grateful for. But
everything that we can do on this day pales in comparison to the honor that the
bible gives you. To the husbands and
fathers here today, you have heard the charge to your children and to your
wives and you should be deeply humbled the place that God has given you in your
home and in His kingdom.