Help for Faithful Fathers

Rev Kev ~ Cornerstone Baptist Church ~ Sunday AM, June 19^th, 2011

Proverbs 22:1-6 A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold. [2] The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is the maker of them all. [3] A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. [4] By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life. [5] Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them. [6] Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

The most difficult messages I’ve ever preached are on “Father’s Day.” They are always laden with remembrance of personal failures and anxiousness over an uncompleted task. Every year, as I examine the familiar text used for these occasions I'm reminded of the great responsibility God has given me and the certainty of failure if I try to accomplish the task in my own strength. For this reason I offer this advice to father's who struggle as I do.

1.      LOVE YOUR WIFE. Ephesians 5:28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

Your children watch how you treat their mother. They watch and learn and form their concept of marriage from you. You are creating in them a blueprint for their marriage.

2.      DON’T EXPECT MORE FROM YOUR CHILDREN THAN THEY ARE CAPABLE OF. Colossians 3:21 Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

Give your expectations to the Lord. Too many fathers try to live out their own lives through their children. They want their sons to be football stars; they want their daughters to marry into money & success.

Accept your children for who they are – whether they are clumsy or athletic, academically challenged or honor role material, introverted or extraverted, simple or sophisticated.

Instead of criticizing their imperfections, acknowledge their value and love them. You aren’t perfect – don’t expect your children to be.

3.      LISTEN TO YOUR CHILDREN. Proverbs 1:5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels.

Give them your undivided attention – When they have a problem; When they are afraid; When they are emo; When they are lonely. They need YOU!

Listen to them! Be the kind of father that they can talk to. If you listen to them when they’re small and their problems are small, they’ll be more likely to come to you when they’re bigger, and their problems are bigger.

4.      TEACH YOUR CHILDREN. Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

We must teach our children…

1. To respect authority.

2. That freedom has boundaries.

3. To admire women who are virtuous and men who are honorable.

4. The benefits of the “Fear of the Lord.” God’s Provision, Providence, Protection, Promises.

5.      PRAY FOR YOUR CHILDREN. Psalm 55:17 Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.  

You can’t be with your children all the time, but God can.

You can’t protect them wherever they go, but God can.

You can’t always be there when their faith is tested, but God can.

Pray for your children! Lift them up to God and let Him do for them what you cannot. As parents we make many mistakes. If we had it to do it all over again, we would do many things differently.

The bad news: If we’ve done the best we could, and always did what we thought was right, and we raised our children the best we knew how – it would still never be enough because we are sinners and finite.

The good news: God is Righteous and Infinite! He loves our child with a perfect love and He has more experience at parenting than we do. Pray that God will take your well-intended efforts at parenting and use them to bring your children into His loving arms.

6.      BE A POSITIVE ROLE MODEL. Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

You are a role model for your children. Like it or not, good or bad, they will, to one degree or another, pattern their lives after yours. You have inherited some of your father’s characteristics and your children are inheriting some of yours. Whether you know it or not (or mean to or not), you are influencing the lives of your children, and your children’s children.

7.      PREPARE YOUR CHILDREN. Proverbs 23:24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.

Prepare them for Life. You are preparing your children to leave home. Some day, they’ll take what they’ve learned from you, and begin to apply it out in the real world.

Prepare them for Eternity. God didn’t give you your children just to prepare a doctor, a teacher, or a plumber. God gave you children to prepare them for eternity.

CONCLUSION: It’s not easy to be a good father, but it’s not impossible, either. It takes hard work, hard praying, and making hard decisions. You can’t do it alone. God doesn’t expect you to. God doesn’t want you to. Don’t leave Him out of your adventure in fatherhood.

THE JAILER OF PHILIPPI

TEXT: Acts 16:25-34

Introduction: The account of this Jailers conversion will be of special interest to us today as we examine the necessity in the life of the individual to be born again.  In John 3:3 we read, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Two things are obvious to me: 

1. It is obvious that there are many religious people that are not true Christians. Nicodemus is an example of such persons. 

2. It is obvious that there is a gross misuse of the term “born again.”

To be “Born again” implies a change takes place in us – 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

This is true of every real conversion recorded in the Bible! Some examples:

·        The Maniac of Gedara (Luke 8:35).

·        The Adulterous Woman (John 8:11).

·        The Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:39).

·        The Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 1:6-10).

·        Paul’s life testified of this change (Galatians 1:23).

 

I want us to take a look at the conversion experience of the Philippian Jailer. In it we will see a clear example of God’s simple plan of salvation.

1. HE WAS AWAKEN OUT OF HIS SLEEP (v 27). And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.

·        Most people are spiritually asleep. They are living in a dream world where REALITY is ignored. A Covenant with death (Isaiah 28:14-18). Hebrews 9:27 It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

·        They need to be awaken out of spiritual sleep.

It may take an earth shattering experience (accident, illness, death, trouble, etc).

It may come very quietly and simply (gospel tract, revival, gentle witness, etc).

Ephesians 5:14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.   

2. HE CALLED FOR A LIGHT (v 29).

·        There are many false lights in the world (Matthew 24:24; 2 Corinthians 4:3-4).

·        Jesus is the light of the world (Psalm 119:105; John 8:12; 12:35, 36).

3. HE CAME TREMBLING AND FELL DOWN BEFORE THEM – v 29. This mans response shows evidence of repentance.

·        There is a connection between spiritual light and true repentance (Acts 26:18).

Paul’s message (Acts 20:21).

John the Baptist’s message (Matthew 3:1-2).

Christ’s message (Matthew 4:17).

·        Repentance defined. What is true repentance?

2 Corinthians 7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. ¹¹ For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort,..

what carefulness it wrought in you,.. [earnest care]

yea, what clearing of yourselves,.. [apologian = humbling apology]

yea, what indignation,.. [righteous regret]

yea, what fear,..  [dread, terror]

yea, what vehement desire,.. [longing for restoration to favour through change]

yea, what zeal,.. [passion, eagerness]

yea, what revenge!  [ekdikesis - vindication]

In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

4. HE ASKED “What Must I Do To Be Saved?” (v 31).  This is the most important question you’ll ever consider in life! Gods Simple Plan of Salvation

·         You Need To Be Saved (Romans 3:10, 23).

·         You Cannot Save Himself (Titus 3:5).

·         You Need A Saviour (John 3:16).

·         Jesus Is The Only Way of Salvation (John 14:6).

·         You must turn To God And Ask To Be Forgiven (Romans 10:9-13).

THE BLOOD OF CHRIST – #3

Hebrews 9:19-28  “When Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, ²⁰ Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. ²¹ Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. ²² And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. ²³ It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴ For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: ²⁵ Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; ²⁶ For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷ And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: ²⁸ So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”

When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden, God met them with the skins of an innocent slain animal as sacrifice for man’s sin. From that point on the significance of “The Blood” would be seen continuously; there is a scarlet thread that runs throughout the ages.

From Genesis to Revelation, “The Blood” is a central theme in expressing God’s love for man and the necessity of a sacrifice to redeem man back to God. It was offered…

• To Cain as the only choice for obtaining salvation.
• To the Israelites in Egypt on the eve of the Exodus to appease the wrath of the Angel of Death.
• To Moses on Mt. Sinai as the seal of the First Covenant with blood.
• To the High Priest as the yearly sacrifice for the sins of the people.
• Throughout the O.T. there is the anticipation of a better sacrifice for man’s sin.

They had the wrong idea: Isaiah 1:11 speaks of the weariness God experienced in the observance of “Ritual without Worship.”

“To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats…¹³ Bring no more vain oblations;…it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting…¹⁴ …they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. ¹⁶ Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; ¹⁷ Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. ¹⁸ Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

Throughout the OT God was painting a picture that would ultimately reveal the magnificence of the “Better Sacrifice.” God had, “before the foundation of the world” prepared Himself a “Better Sacrifice.”

The Blood of that Sacrifice is that of God’s own Dear Son – Jesus Christ. It pleased God to surrender Him, according to the prophet Isaiah (53). God, the Father, knew that the atonement for sin could not take place without the offering of His Blood on the Cross.

When God chose to pen this statement in Hebrews 9:22, He used a word that would only be used once in the Word of God. The phrase “shedding of blood” means “to rush forth.” God needs for us to understand “without the shedding of His Blood, there is no remission”

(freedom, pardon, deliverance, forgiveness, liberty).

The Cross was a grotesque, brutal and bloody event. Jesus Christ, our Saviour, was beaten and mocked; His beard was torn from his face by ruthless soldiers who forcibly beat a crown of thorns into His scalp until the three inch barbs were lodged between His skull and His skin. üHe was tortured and beaten with a Roman whip that tore His flesh and exposed His muscle, bone and blood. üI believe it was Satan’s desire to kill Jesus before the Cross, but the Father’s plan required that the Blood of His dear Son be shed on the Cross to remind us of the awful price and penalty of sin.

The Blood of Christ…

^#1. PROVIDES FOR OUR POWER: Revelation 12:11 “..they overcame Satan by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.”

It provides the power we need to overcome Satan. To attempt to enter the arena of spiritual warfare without the “Power of the Blood” is foolish and futile. “The Blood of Christ” is the Life giving flow of true Christianity.

We often sing of its Power in our songs…Would you be free from the burden of sin? Would you o’er evil a victory win? Would you be free from your passion and pride? Come for a cleansing to Calvary’s tide; Would you be whiter, much whiter than snow? üSin stains are lost in its life giving flow. There’s wonderful power in the blood.

^#2. PROVIDES FOR OUR PURGING: Hebrews 9:14 “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

By His Blood we are presented as clean before our Father.

Purge [Gr. kathakizo] to cleanse, make clean.

Conscience [Gr. suneidesis] the witness borne to one's conduct by conscience; that faculty by which we apprehend the will of God, as that which is designed to govern our lives; hence (a) the sense of guiltiness before God; (b) that process of thought which disting-uishes what it considers morally good or bad, commending the good, condemning the bad.

1 John 1:7 “..if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

^#3. PROVIDES FOR OUR PURPOSE: It’s the Blood of Jesus Christ that has provided us with access to God. Once we realize this, it becomes our focus and message to a lost and dying world.

Hebrews 9:12-14 “..by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. ¹³ For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: ¹⁴ How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

^#4. PROVIDES FOR OUR PEACE: Colossians 1:19-21 “For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; ²⁰ And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. ²¹ And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled.”

When you trust Jesus as your Savior, you become reconciled to God and are commissioned as a peacemaker in your world of influence. God's peace in believers' hearts is to be a present reality.

John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” [16:33] “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” [20:19] “Peace be unto you… ²¹ Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. ²⁶…then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.”

It is God’s will that you experience Peace.

Romans 14:19 “Follow after the things which make for peace.”

1 Corinthians 7:15 “For God has called us to peace.”

2 Corinthians 13:11 “Live in peace.”

Colossians 3:15 “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts…”

^#5. PROVIDES FOR OUR PROPITIATION: Romans 3:24-26 “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: ²⁵ Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; ²⁶ To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”

Propitiate (Websters) To cause to become favorably inclined; to win or regain the good will of; appease or conciliate.

Propitiate (Vines) [Gr. hilasterion] The cover of the ark of the covenant, signifies the Propitiatory, so called on account of the expiation made once a year on the great Day of Atonement.

Jesus ascended into Heaven to present His Blood as an offering before Almighty God on the Mercy Seat to make the Propitiation; So that we can have daily access to the Holy of Holies, which we now have in Christ Jesus through His Blood.

^#6. PROVIDES FOR OUR PURCHASE: Acts 20:28 “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”

He has redeemed us and paid the price with His own Blood. The debt that was owed could only be paid with a Sinless Atonement, and only God’s Son could meet the requirements of a Sinless Sacrifice. His Blood was the only medium of exchange that a Holy God could accept for the sins of a lost world. And He freely chose to do so while we were still yet enemies of God, so that we might be ransomed as the sons of God.