CAPITAL BIBLE CHURCH June 27, The One Perfect Father. Matthew 5:48

Transcription

1 CAPITAL BIBLE CHURCH June 27, 2010 SERMON NOTES PASTOR BILL HAKEN The One Perfect Father Matthew 5:48 Intro: PRECIOUS DAD MOMENT #1 As ham sandwiches go, it was perfection. A thick slab of ham, a fresh bun, crisp lettuce and plenty of expensive, light brown, gourmet mustard. The corners of my jaw were aching in anticipation, I carried it to the picnic table in our backyard, picked it up with both hands but was stopped by my wife suddenly at my side. "Hold Johnny, (our six-week-old son), while I get my sandwich," she said. I had him balanced between my left elbow and shoulder and was reaching again for the ham sandwich when I noticed a streak of mustard on my fingers. I love mustard. And I had no napkin. So I licked it off. It was NOT mustard. No man ever put a baby down faster. It was the first and only time I have sprinted with my tongue protruding. With a washcloth in each hand I did the sort of routine shoeshine guys do, only I did it on my tongue. Later my wife said, "Now you know why they call that mustard Poupon. " Now obviously, it s not easy being a father, is it? I read about a father who went to his doctor who told him You sir, are in terrible shape, and unless something is done you re going to die. You re under too much stress, and you re not eating right. Tell your wife that she must start cooking more nutritious meals. And to help reduce the stress, have her keep the kids off your back so you can relax. Then make a budget, and tell her she has to stick to it. If she ll do all this, you should recover completely. Otherwise, you ll be dead in a month. Obviously shaken, the patient said, Doc, would you call my wife before I get home and give her those instructions? When he got home, his wife rushed to him. I just talked to the doctor, she wailed. Poor man, she cried, the doctor said you only have 30 days to live!

2 You know what day of the year the most phone calls are made on don t you? Of course, Mother s Day. On Mothers Day everyone wants to call home and talk to mom Guess what happens on Father s Day? The most collect Calls!!. That s ok though. Dads like to be needed It s all good. What comes around goes around. Just wait till we re in the retirement home calling YOU collect all the time, kids But despite all the jokes, Fathers hold a very special place in society A much higher place than they are given credit for today. For instance, how many of you have seen a commercial that actually makes dads look intelligent lately? Most commercials cast fathers as the family idiot, who can t figure out how to take care of the kids alone, how to run a load of laundry or clean the toilets without specific instructions from mom. American society seems to see fathers as expendable parts of the family unit: as nothing more than sperm donors and dead beats. In courtrooms, divorced dads hardly have a fighting chance of obtaining custody of their kids, or even being allowed to be a significant part of their kid s lives, much less have the opportunity to be the spiritual leader of their household. Sadly, many men today also neglect to see the importance of their role as a father themselves, which is why the term dead-beat dad was originally coined. As a result, their kids are growing up in unbalanced and dysfunctional households. In fact 39.6 % of the children in America are going to bed every night without their biological father in the home. Fathers need to be reinstated to the level of importance that God intended for them! In fact, very strong evidence points to the fact that the reason American morality and spiritual integrity is at such an all time low is because of the declining value placed on the role of the father in today s society. When dad is undervalued, so is a right relationship with Abba, our Father in Heaven. Today, I don t want to just remind the dads of their duties and responsibilities so much as to encourage and remind us all of their importance: to honor them and the extremely important and vital role they play in our families and in our nation today.

3 Now to be a good father you need a model, an example of a father that you can pattern yourself after. Where do you find such a ather? Where do you look? Is there such a thing as a perfect father? Yes, there is, and by looking at God, the perfect Father we can see how God wants all of us who are His children, both men and women to live. God loves his children. We love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19) But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) God did not wait for us to meet His expectations. He did not wait for us to make Him proud. He did not wait until we measured up to His standards. He simply loved us and He loved us first. God s love for us is complete, constant, and unconditional. We cannot earn it. We cannot escape it. We cannot erase it. He may be angry when we disobey Him, or saddened when we stray from Him, or sorrowful when we sin, but He never, ever stops loving us. Listen to the apostle Paul, I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels or demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39) ILL. Erma Bombeck wrote something that is rather intriguing. She wrote: When the Lord was creating fathers he started with a tall frame. An angel standing nearby said, What kind of father is that? If you re going to make children so close to the ground, why have you put fathers up so high? He won t be able to shoot marbles without kneeling. He won t be able to tuck a child into bed without bending. He won t even be able to kiss a child without stooping. God smiled and said, Yes, but if I make him child size, who will the children have to look up to? And when God made the father s hands, they were large. The angel shook his head and said, I don t think you want to make hands like that. Large hands are clumsy. They can t manage diaper pins, small buttons, rubber bands on pony tails, or even remove splinters caused by baseball bats.

4 God smiled again and said, I know, but they re large enough to hold everything a small boy empties from his pockets at the end of the day yet small enough to cup a child s face in his hands. Then God molded long, slim legs and broad shoulders. The angel nearly had a heart attack. Boy, this is the end of the week, all right! he said. How s he going to pull a child close to him without the kid falling between his legs? God smiled and said, A mother needs a lap but a father needs strong shoulders to pull a sled, balance a boy on a bicycle, or hold a sleepy head on the way home from the circus. God was in the middle of creating two of the largest feet anyone had ever seen when the angel could not be contained any longer. That s not fair, he said. Do you honestly think that those large boats are going to get out of bed early in the morning when the baby cries? Or walk though a small birthday party without crushing at least 3 of the guests? Again God smiled, and He said, They ll work. You ll see. They ll scare off mice at a summer cabin, or leave footprints that will be a challenge to follow. God worked throughout the night, giving the father few words, but a firm voice and eyes that saw everything. Finally, almost as an afterthought, he added tears. Then He turned to the angel and said, Now are you satisfied that he can love as much as a mother? And the angel was silent! (From Bruce Howell on SC) SUM. Yes, God does love His children - and so should we! God encourages his children. ILL. A psychologist tells about going to school as a little boy and failing a test in math. So the teacher wrote a note and sent it home with him. It said, Your son doesn t have an aptitude for mathematics. He just can t handle math. Well, his mom and dad sat him down and told him, I guess you just don t have an aptitude for math. So from then on I flunked every test in math, he said. I never could do anything in math. Then one day the teacher put a problem on the board and asked the class to solve it. But nobody could figure out the answer. I looked at the problem and suddenly realized that I knew the answer. So I held up my hand and everybody laughed because they knew I couldn t solve it.

5 But I walked up to the blackboard, worked the problem, and came up with the right answer. Then I realized that it wasn t my lack of aptitude at all. It was just that everybody had told me I couldn t do math, and because I believed that I didn t even try. Now contrast that with how God throughout Scripture encouraged his children. He encouraged Moses at the burning bush when He told him to deliver the nation of Israel. He encouraged Joshua as Joshua set out to conquer the Promised Land. He not only encouraged them with His words, but with His presence, and with His help. His words, His presence, His help Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9) Psalm 118:6 The LORD is for me, so I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? 7 Yes, the LORD is for me; he will help me. I will look in triumph at those who hate me. 8 It is better to trust the LORD than to put confidence in people. 9 It is better to trust the LORD than to put confidence in princes. God saw the things his children could do and He encouraged them to go out and do them. Sadly, many parents, no matter how spiritual or conscientious, are more prone to send messages laced with criticism than with encouragement. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. (Eph. 4:29) God loves spending time with His children. Psalm 100: Serve the LORD with joy; come before him with singing. 3 Know that the LORD is God. He made us, and we belong to him; we are his people, the sheep he tends. 4 Come into his city with songs of thanksgiving and into his courtyards with songs of praise. Thank him and praise his name. Psalm 16:5 the LORD is all I need. He takes care of me. 6 My share in life has been pleasant; my part has been beautiful. 7 I praise the LORD because he advises me. Even at night, I feel his leading.

6 8 I know the LORD is always with me. Because he is close by my side, I will not be hurt. 9 So I rejoice and am glad Jeremiah 33:3 Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know. One night a wife found her husband standing over their newborn baby s crib. Silently she watched him. As he stood looking down at the sleeping infant, she saw on his face a mixture of emotions: disbelief, doubt, delight, amazement, enchantment, skepticism. He would stand back, shake his head and say, "Amazing," while smiling from ear to ear. Touched by his unusual display of sensitivity and the deep emotions it aroused, her eyes glistened as she slipped her arms around him. "A penny for your thoughts," she whispered in his ear. "Isn t it amazing!" he replied. "When you take the time and really look close, how can anyone make a crib like that for only $89.99!" God tenderly disciplines his children. ILL. Recently I heard a story about triplets, 3 young boys who got along well. They saw everything alike. They were loyal to each other. If somebody got into trouble they wouldn t tattle on each other. A neighbor asked the father, How in the world do you know which one to punish if there s trouble? He said, It s easy. I just send all 3 to bed without their supper. And the next morning I spank the one with the black eye. Now I don t know about his method of determining the guilty party. But I do know this: God is good. He is a loving father. He is a perfect father. His intentions and actions are never evil or unloving. Yet He disciplines His children. He does not discipline in spite of His goodness, He disciplines because of His goodness. He does not discipline in spite of His love, He disciplines because of His love. Deuteronomy 8:5 says, Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you. Proverbs 3:12 says, The Lord disciplines those He loves, as a father the son he delights in.

7 Hebrews 12:10-11 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. How do I respond to my Heavenly Father? Psalm 116:12 What can I give the LORD for all the good things he has given to me? 13 I will lift up the cup of salvation, and I will pray to the LORD. 14 I will give the LORD what I promised in front of all his people. 17 I will give you an offering to show thanks to you, and I will pray to the LORD. 18 I will give the LORD what I promised in front of all his people, God wants our time, our talent, our treasure, our commitment to Him.