Fathers Day 2011 How do you Judge a Father I. Introduction and review A. How do you judge a father? 1. Some say that you judge a father by his accomplishments a. What has he done for his children b. What he provided for his children 2. Others say that you judge him by what he is, that is the type of man that he is a. What kind of character he has developed in his life b. What type of example his life is to his children 3. Still others will claim that you can t really judge a father s true worth until you see the lives of his children lived out a. That s easier to do if you live 900 years b. But is much harder to do now c. Some fathers like this standard because they are gone before you really know B. If I were going to consider what the attributes of a godly father, I would want to find the most righteous man that I could 1. Does the Bible ever provide us with such an evaluation, that is of righteousness 2. It does in Eze.14:13-20 Page 1 of 5
a. Job lost his children at the start of the book and then was given a new set at the end of the book, but we aren t told much about them b. Daniel never had any children c. But Noah did II. Noah and his Sons [Gen. 6-9] A. Gen. 6:7-11 1. Noah found favor in the sight of God 2. It seems that so did Shem, Ham, and Jepheth 3. Why did these three sons find such favor B. Gen 7:1 C. How wicked was it in the time of Noah 1. Consider Matt. 24:37-39 2. As wicked as it will be in the last days of the tribulation period 3. Imagine raising children during a time like that D. Noah and his sons 1. As his sons grew up, they were faced with a significant decision a. Everyone but their father blatantly disregarded God b. Sinfulness was the norm, not the exception c. No one would have condemned Noah s sons for living like the rest of their society d. Except for their father and his God 2. These three, Shem Ham, and Japheth were fortunate to be Noah s sons a. That was true even when their father invited them to spend the next Page 2 of 5
100 years of their life building an ark and gathering animals and the feed they would need to survive b. They may not have fully understood when they accepted that invitation, of the ridicule and mocking they would undergo c. Why did they accept that invitation and continue through with it? d. God did not speak to them, only to their father Noah about the ark and the coming flood E. When a parent passes on to his or her children, God s word, the child has to believe both the original speaker of the word and the messenger that what they say is the truth 1. Who do you believe or trust? a. People who have proven themselves to be truthful b. And people who you know want what is best for you c. People who have chosen not to compromise their integrity, even though everyone else is doing exactly that d. The combination of those three produces the maximum in credibility or believability 2. When the world tries to persuade people to follow its standard, the godly father must stand as a contrasting example of a righteous man a. Your life should convince your children of the wisdom of following your God III. Genesis 22 A. Abraham was told to disown one of his children by God Page 3 of 5
1. He obeyed 2. That left him with only one son, the son of promise 3. How did Abraham view that son? 4. His entire life and legacy was tied up in that son 5. Do you think that he spent any time or energy in teaching, training and preparing that boy for what he was to do? B. If he saw Isaac as his future and his legacy, what do you think he spent his time with Isaac doing 1. What was it that Abraham would have considered it most important for Isaac to know 2. We saw several weeks ago that God had taught Abraham the concepts of: a. Trust God b. Loving God c. Obeying God, and d. Fearing God 3. What would Abraham do with those concepts in relation to Isaac, especially after their experience together on Mount Moriah a. By the way, I believe that Isaac also heard the voice of the Angel of the Lord along with his father, maybe for the first time b. He would seek to build them into his son s life c. How? (1) Pray for himself and his son (2) Teach them to his son Page 4 of 5
C. Deuteronomy 6:6-13 (3) Be a model of these concepts for his son d. Suggested prayer for you and your children [or for your children and their father] (1) Faith that is emphatic (2) Love that is insatiable (3) Obedience that is unquestioning (4) Fear that is pervasive 1. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. 8 "You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 9 "You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. 10 "Then it shall come about when the LORD your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,... "You shall fear only the LORD your God.... Page 5 of 5