It is good to be home and it is good to see each and every one of you. We’re glad for your presence, especially for our visitors. We are glad that you are with us today and we hope you will come back and be with us every opportunity you have. It’s father’s day. So to all of the fathers in the audience this morning,
happy father’s day, being a father, something I’ve been doing for about nine years now, Okay. And most days I feel as inadequate now as I felt nine years ago Because being a father is something that comes with a great and awesome responsibility. Individual once said, No, The least close to the quotation, a King realizing his incompetence can delegate or abdicate,
but a father can not. We are to be those fathers. Alright? Who as the passage was just read, train our children, bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And it’s not an easy task. It’s not a task for the faint of heart. It’s a task for those who are willing to endure through difficulties, heartache,
struggles, good times and bad. It’s not a task to be taken lightly, but it is a task that is worth doing.<inaudible> And the individual once said, it’s much easier to become a father than to be one and such is certainly true. So I want to notice a number of examples in scripture this morning concerning fathers that we read about in scripture and Allen want to notice their example.
I want to notice their lives and then ask ourselves as fathers, but of course this applies in many areas to mothers, to Christians, to grandparents, What defines us as we view these fathers and to the fathers in the audience. What defines your fatherhood? We’re going to begin in Genesis chapter three Genesis chapter three we read concerning a man and his wife,
the very first man and the very first wife, the very first father of the very first family. We read concerning Adam and Eve that they were told in Genesis chapter two in Genesis chapter one to be obedient to the commandments of they were given a single Command of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, do not eat. They were given a responsibility to 10 and to keep the garden.
By all indications, they fulfilled that responsibility. And yet we find in Genesis chapter three and the occasion where the serpent, the tempter comes to Eve and temps her to eat. He shows her the fruit, he shows her the value of the fruit, he shows her the benefit of the fruit and she is deceived. We’re told, Well, we don’t want to focus on even,
we don’t want to focus on the serpent. We want to focus on Adam. Genesis chapter three in verse six we read. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes and then a tree to be desirable to make one wise she took of its fruit and ate. And notice this last phrase she also gave to her husband with her and he ate.
If you take the entirety of what scripture says about this event and you bring it all together and you examine it, I believe, at least it’s my judgment that if you examine it closely, you will find that while the serpent, Tim’s Eve, and while all of these events that we read in the first five verses transpire, Adam is present For all of it.
Believe the scriptures indicate that Adam is there when all of this is happening And we see in this example and also in another passage we’ll get to in a minute in a minute in Genesis chapter three that the defining feature of Adam’s fatherhood, Okay Of Adam’s life is a failure to lead, A failure To place God before family. Turn to Genesis chapter three verse nine you’ll notice,
and then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, where are you? So he said, I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. And he said, who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat? Then the man said,
the woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I ate. One of the very first things you recognize about fathers is this. They have an awesome responsibility. They have a great and a significant responsibility in raising their children and in leading their family because God has placed the husband at the head of the household. He has placed the husband in the role of being that leader and in spite of what our society says,
in spite of what our culture wants to do to the home, the reality is God made it that way. And in Genesis chapter three, we find the very first father for the very first time turning over the responsibility of leading the home to the wife. He says, the woman that you gave me, she gave it to me and I ate. It’s her fault,
not mine. But the reality is it was his responsibility. It was his responsibility to lead his home, his family, his wife in righteous behavior, and he failed to do so. We read over in first Timothy chapter two first Timothy chapter two and in verse 14 as Paul discusses certain things concerning husbands and wives, men and women, he says, uh,
notice if I can get in first Timothy chapter two instead of second Timothy. First Timothy chapter two and in verse 14 we read verse 13 for Adam was formed first, then Eve and Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression. Notice here that when the serpent came and beguiled Eve deceived Eve and showed her these things, that Adam wasn’t deceived.
Adam was fully cognizant of the consequences and the rightness and the wrongness of the decision. And he made it anyway. And the indication seems to be he made it because she made it. Yeah, He chose to do what she did because she did it. And we are to be those as fathers who are willing to stand up, who are willing to say within our own homes,
within our own families and within our own lives, we will do what’s right. So many times families and individuals and children have been led astray by influences around them. Because the father won’t stand up. He won’t stand up and be a father. He won’t stand up and say, no, this is what God has said for us to do and this is what we will do.
Why is it that that immodesty and and and pervasive, uh, sexual behavior is the way that it is in our country and in our culture. There is no greater responsibility laid at anyone’s feet for that problem than fathers, fathers who will not lead their families in the right path. Fathers who will not be obedient to scripture and fathers who will not say to their family,
to their wives and to their children, no, we’re going to serve the Lord. When the children of Israel came To the edge of the promised land, Okay, Many people disobeyed God, but the group of people that are held directly responsible for that disobedience is the men. Why? Because God told them to lead this in no way devalues a woman or devalues her role.
Instead, it is a responsibility and it is a role that God has given in the home, in the life, in the family to the male. It is so sad and it is so unfortunate that there are so many homes where the man has walked away from his responsibility. Too many times that walking away is while he is still in the household, he’s walking away.
He’s turned his back on his responsibility, and yet he’s still in the home. He’s still reaping all of the benefits of being married. He’s still reaping all the benefits of being the head of the household, and yet he’s not serving his family. It is also sad when husbands and fathers truly physically walk away from their responsibility. They fall into a failure to lead,
but let’s notice Genesis chapter six to the flip side to the contrast of of a father who fails to lead. We find in Genesis chapter six a father who is faithful in Genesis chapter six beginning in verse eight we read concerning Noah, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Noah is one who stands out among his generation, who stands out among the people of his day as one who said,
I won’t live like the world. I won’t live like all those who are around me who are living in sin, who only think of evil continually, I will live faithful to God. We are told that he found grace in the eyes of the Lord, but you’ve noticed verse nine this is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations.
Noah walked with God. There are only a few people in all of scripture of which it is said that they walked with God. It is a statement which declares the sheer effort of their righteousness and faithfulness to God. Say, I won’t depart from you. I won’t turn away from you. I will walk with you and Oh that we would have more fathers.
Okay. Of whom it might be said, they walk with God, Can two walk together unless they be agreed. Here’s the thing that we can know. God’s not changing. God’s not moving. Hebrews chapter 13 verses six through eight declares to us clearly that God is not moving and departing or changing from his course. It is only mankind that we’ll choose to depart.
We are to be those fathers who decide that we will be faithful. If you turn to Hebrews chapter 11 Hebrews chapter 11 we read a little bit more about Noah here in this hall of faith as it’s been described. Hebrews chapter 11 verse seven says, by faith, Noah being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear. Notice first and foremost,
Noah’s relationship to the Lord know his relationship to the Lord was one of reverence of godly fear, not one who was afraid of God and terrified of God to immobility and the inability to be able to serve him instead, one who feared God am there for Oh babe God, He was moved with godly fear and notice it says prepared in art for the saving of his household by which he condemn the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
Turn over to second Peter chapter two second Peter chapter two and in verse five we read this<inaudible> Before God. Verse four did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell, delivered them into the chains of darkness to be reserved for judgment and did not spare the ancient world, but save Noah one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness,
bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly. Here we read concerning Noah, that he was one who was righteous, that he was one who, who brought about the salvation of his house. But if you notice as you bring these two commandments or these two passages together, you find a number of things. Number one, Noah received a command.
Noah was addressed by God and was warn of the destruction to come and he received a command. But notice secondly, not only did Noah receive a command, he obeyed the command and he obeyed it faithfully for the long term. There are those who will say, there are fathers who have said, I will obey God, and they’ll do so for a time.
They’ll do so for a few weeks or a few months or a few years, but then they get interested in something else. Then they want to go their own way. They want to do their own thing. Noah was told by God, you build an arc and for a hundred years, Noah was faithful in that service.<inaudible> So many fathers walk away from their homes and they will claim.
They will say, I just got tired of it. I was bored, So I left to go do something else. Noah was one who feared God. He received a command. He’ll bade the command and he preached righteousness. Now it would be one thing if Noah was like the Pharisees and Noah was one who preached righteousness but lived something else. Number one,
he wouldn’t have found grace in the eyes of the Lord. He wouldn’t have saved his family, but his preaching would have been ineffective. You say, well, Aaron, I, I’ve, I’ve read the passage and he only saved his family. How can you imagine he was an effective preacher if he only saved his family? We have unfortunately many preachers who haven’t saved their own family.
He was an effective preacher of righteousness for he held his own family, remained faithful in spite of the onslaught of the world around them. Noah was a faithful father. Adam was a failure to lead. But another example comes from the book of Genesis in Genesis chapter 14 Genesis chapter 14 we read concerning lot, lot is the nephew of Abraham. He is one who would depart from the land of Abraham,
Peyton room with Abraham. He will travel with him. He will journey with him. He will go with him in this pilgrimage and he will be faithful with Abraham by all indications. He was a righteous man, But he was a fading father. He was one who began strong and as long as he was with Abraham in all the time that he spent with Abraham,
he remained strong by all indications of scripture. But there comes a time when Abraham and lot are too prosperous. Their wealth is too much. Their flocks in their herds are too many in their herdsmen are fighting over the land. And so as a result of this lot and Abraham, we’ll part ways, they will go opposite directions. They will remain at peace with one another,
but they will depart one another and it seems as though in that departure lot will lose much of the influence on the direction of his life because he will choose to camp toward Sodom in the well water planes of Sodom. He will make his home, he will make his abode and he will remain there for a time. But as we read through Genesis 13 in Genesis 14 in Genesis 18 and 19 we find that over a period of time,
lot goes from being outside Saddam being having his tent pitch towards Saddam to slowly but surely being in Saddam, A city that was wicked, a city that was known for its tremendous wickedness. Genesis chapter 13 verses 10 through 13 we find in this decision making about which direction they will go. That lot chose a path of prosperity. He chose a direction that appeared to bring blessing and wealth and by all indications it did.
How many fathers have sacrificed their homes and their families For prosperity, for wealth, for comfort, And a lot would do exactly that. He may not have done it intentionally and most fathers don’t. But slowly and surely his family will end up in Sodom. Genesis chapter 14 verse 12 and in second Peter chapter two verses seven through nine we read concerning lot that the lifestyle of those in Sodom and the sin of Sodom,
vexed lot’s soul, Just not enough to leave, Just not enough to depart and to take his family with him. And in Genesis chapter 19 we read the sad conclusion about lots life as a father. And Genesis chapter 19 when the two angels had appeared and had come to Sodom and the destruction was guaranteed and was assured and was promised. We read in verse 12 then the men said the lot,
have you, anyone else here, son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in this city, take them out of this place for what we will destroy this place because of the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord. And the Lord has sent us to destroy it so lot went out and spoke to his sons in law who hadn’t married his daughters and said,
get up. Get out of this place for the Lord will destroy this city, but to his sons in law, he seemed to Be joking. Yeah, And here we see the fading of his influence as a father. There probably would have been a time where lat could have said to his children, it’s time to go. We’ve got to get out.
The Lord’s going to destroy the city and his influence would have been such that they would have listened, but by this point sin had crept in so greatly that they thought he was joking And they ignored him. They ignored his warning. They ignore the consequences. They ignored the judgment And they died. Fathers, be careful that your influence through your choices and through those you’re surrounding yourself with isn’t fading in the lives of your children.
That when you speak, when you teach them, when you speak of God’s word to them, they listen. Genesis chapter 19 verse 30 we read Len lot went up out of Xolair and dwelt in the mountains and his two daughters were with him for he was afraid to dwell, Enzo R and he was, and he and his two daughters weld in a cave and we will read the remainder of that passage and find out that not only had lot’s influence faded,
so had his righteous judgment and his decision making for his daughters will get him drunk and we’ll get him to produce seed through them and his morality will fade as well. Lot was one Who was a fading father. Adam was one who was a failing, a failure as a father when it came to leadership. Noah was a faithful father, but I want to notice one last example.
Turn to Joshua chapter 24 Joshua chapter 24 we find a fixed father, a father who would not be moved In Joshua chapter one we read in verse nine where the Lord says to Joshua, be strong and of good courage. He encourages Joshua. You obey the commandments of the Lord. You don’t depart from them to the right hand or to the left. You remain faithful to the law.
You remain faithful to the commandments and I will give you prosperity and good and good wherever you go. Just simply obey, just simply be faithful. And in Joshua chapter 24 as Joshua stands before the people as his life and leadership is coming to a close, he says, verse 14 now, therefore fear the Lord. Serve him in sincerity and in truth,
and put away the gods which your father served on the other side of the river. And then Egypt serve the Lord. Notice first and foremost, he calls upon them. He calls upon that generation, those Israelites to change from their father’s behavior. He says, don’t live the way your fathers did. Don’t worship the idols, your father’s worship. Do not pursue the path that they chose.
You decide to live different. And here’s the message to every father who is here. It doesn’t matter what your father was. It doesn’t matter what your father was when he was alive or when he was present or when he was in your home, or when you were growing up. You don’t have to follow his path if it wasn’t a path of righteousness.
No parent sets an unchangeable course for their children. When it comes to the obedience of God, They might set them on the wrong path, but it is up to every individual to correct that path, to serve the Lord. But he says, now serve him in sincerity and truth. Then he says, serve the Lord. Verse 14 and if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord,
choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served was you’re on the other side of the river or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you’d well, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. So the people answered and said far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods for the Lord.
Our God is he who brought us and our fathers out up out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we win. And among all the people through whom we passed, and the Lord drove out from before us, all the people, including the Amorites who dwelled in the land,
we will serve the Lord for he is our God. But Joshua said to the people, you cannot serve the Lord, for he is a Holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you after he has done you good.
And the people said to Joshua, no, but we will serve the Lord. Joshua puts before the my choice. He says, choose you this day. Make a determination. Determine the path that you will Lead your lives and your children and your families on choose. Will you serve the Lord or not? And when they say yes, we will serve the Lord.
And yes, we fear the Lord. He will tell them, you better understand what you’re saying Because if you claim to serve the Lord but then turn back to these other gods, he will bring you judgment. He will destroy you from this land as quickly as he destroyed those who were in it before you. So we see Joshua a fixed father, one who said,
I will serve the Lord and so will my family. We need more fathers like that. We need more fathers that not only know enough to make that statement but believe it and we’ll do it for the long term. We’ll remain faithful throughout their lives. Proverbs chapter 22 verse six says, train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old,
he will not depart from it. Here’s something I know about fathers. Sons will always remember what their fathers did and what their fathers said. They will know if their father lived something other than what he said. They will know if a father lives one way but tells him to do something else. It is so sad when you hear individuals, and I’ve heard it many times in my life where fathers or or grown men or old men will look to youngsters and say,
don’t live your life the way I did. Now, that may be good advice based upon how they had lived their lives, but it’s the wrong advice. The advice isn’t don’t live the way I live. The advice is live the way God commands you. Why is it so important to have the fathers that God says we ought to have? I do believe a little bit of it comes down to this.
When God decided how he would describe himself, He described himself as a father. When Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, he began with our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy may. We need fathers who we can look to, who are pictures of God, whose example we see through and see the Lord whose works we can follow after and serve the Lord and whose deeds match their lives and their words and their teaching.
We need more fathers like Noah and Joshua and many others in scripture. Sometimes we’re not that fathers. And when we’re not that we need to be the kind of fathers who repent. We need to be the kind of fathers who say, I’ve done wrong and corrected. One last example of a father in scripture is Cornelius. Cornelius was one who was striving to do what was right.
He was striving to be obedient to God to the best of his knowledge and the best of his understanding. He was one who was doing good and one who was praying, but it wasn’t enough. And God told Cornelius to send to Joppa to one Peter who would come and tell him what he needed to do. And you know, when Peter arrived and Peter saw what was happening there in Cornelius’s house,
and when Peter declared to them the gospel, that would save them the gospel of Jesus Christ. Cornelius didn’t say, you know what? But that’s not what my father did. That’s not how my father lived. That’s not what my father did. And if it was good enough for him, it’s good enough for me. No. Cornelius was the head of his household,
and we read that Cornelius and all of his house were converted. They heard the word of God. They heard concerning Jesus the Christ, and they were baptized for the remission of their sins that same hour. Why? Because Cornelius was a father who could admit when he was doing it wrong and was willing to hear the word of God to correct his life.
Are you that kind of father today? Are you that kind of husband? Are you that kind of man for the women in the audience? Are you that kind of wife, that kind of spouse, that kind of mother, that kind of woman, one who will hear the word of God and obey it? If you have need of the invitation, the invitation is open,
why not come forward as we stand and as we sing.