Sermon Tone Analysis

*A GODLY FATHER*

*Psalm 1*

 

When Billy Crystal’s daughter turned eleven, he was in New York filming a movie.

He called her long-distance and apologized for his heavy work schedule and promised that a big package would be delivered to her soon.

Later that day he flew from New York to Los Angeles, and when his daughter, Lindsey, opened the door, a six-foot high carton greeted her.

She began ripping it open on the spot and discovered that dad was inside the carton.

Billy says, /“She hugged me for five minutes.

It was unbelievable!”/

He went on to say, /“I missed twenty-five birthdays with my dad.

I’m not going to let that happen with my girls.”/

Billy Crystal was fifteen when his father died of a heart attack.

It seems to me that I see a lot of fathers making a concerted effort to be exceptional fathers today.

Maybe it’s because their fathers weren’t around much when they were growing up, and they’re determined to do better.

Maybe it’s because their wives are more outspoken and are insisting that dad help with the diapers and feeding and nurturing the child.

But I think it’s primarily because dads are frightened about the moral decay of our culture.

They hear about the violence at school, the drug addictions, the teenage pregnancies, the suicides - and they are determined to insulate their children against those threats.

Christian fathers know that the answer is not really teen-curfews and gun laws and drug penalties and metal detectors at the entrances of schools.

*Christian fathers know that the ultimate solution for the children is God’s will, building a home according to God’s way so that it’ll be a /shelter/ in the time of storm.*

That’s why the Bible says, *“Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it.”

*

 

That’s why I’d like for us to consider what it takes for us to be a /godly/ man and a /godly/ father as it is described in Psalm 1.

The qualities mentioned here are timeless and they’re so needed in this era.

I want us to see three characteristics of a godly father.

Hopefully, every man in this room will aspire to these lofty goals, and every other member of the family will seek to reinforce these values so that our homes can be havens of joy and peace.

*I.**

LIVES UNDER GOD’S AUTHORITY*

* *

The first responsibility of a godly father is to live under God’s authority, to live under God’s umbrella of authority.

The first two verses read, *“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”*

Now, men, there are two worldviews that are vying for your allegiance.

On the one hand is the counsel of this world; on the other hand is the counsel of the Word of God.* *They’re becoming more and more opposed to one another.

The world’s counsel contends that you are here by an accident of evolution.

Nothing really matters except the physical and your personal desires.

You are absolutely free to determine what is right and wrong for you because this world is all there is.

But the counsel of the Word of God says that you are here by God’s creation, and that your life has a purpose.

What really matters are the things of the Spirit, the things that can’t be seen.

Ultimately, you’re accountable to God for obedience to his commands.

And instead of mocking God’s law, the man of God /meditates/ on God’s law.

*“He delights in it,”* the Scripture says, because he sees in it a blueprint for happy living.

The Psalmist said, *“Great peace have they who love your Law and nothing can make them stumble.”

*

 

Now these two sources of authority—the counsel of the world, the Word of God—give contradictory advice to fathers today.

* On the one hand, the world will tell you your child is dispensable.

If you don’t want the child, go ahead and abort it.

But the Word of God counsels you that life is formed in the mother’s womb and we are fearfully and wonderfully made.

* The world counsels you that children are a financial burden on you and on the culture; therefore, limit yourself to just one or two children.

But the Word of God teaches *“Sons are a heritage from the Lord.

Children are a reward from him.

Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth.

Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.”*

* The world counsels you /“Don’t try to impose your values on your child.

You’ll turn them off.

Let them choose for themselves.

Eventually, they’ll choose what is right for them.”/

But God’s Word counsels you in Proverbs 29, *“A child left to himself disgraces his mother.

Discipline your son and he will give you peace and he will bring delight to your soul”*.

* The world counsels you /“Don’t spank your child.

That teaches violence.

That’s abuse/.”

But God’s Word teaches in Proverbs 31, *“He who spares the rod hates his son.

He who loves him is careful to discipline him”.*

* The world counsels you, /“The government is ultimately responsible for your child.

We’ll determine what your child should be taught in school.

We’ll determine whether it’s right to distribute condoms to your child.

We’ll determine whether your child has to inform you before she has an abortion or not.”

/But God’s Word teaches, */“Fathers, you’re the ones who are gonna have to stand before God and give an account of your family not the government.”/*

Ephesians 6 says, *“Fathers, bring your children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

*

 

Now if a man seeks to be a godly father, other members of the family have a responsibility to be supportive.

/ Teenagers,/ let’s say you ask your dad for permission to take the weekend with some of your friends, and your father said, /“Well, I don’t really trust your friends, and I don’t think there’s enough adult supervision.

You can’t go.”/

What’s your reaction?

Do you whine about how strict your father is and complain that he doesn’t trust you and pout?...and finally you storm out of the room and slam the door to your room and turn up the CD as loud as it can go?...and your dad knocks on the door and you say, /“Go away!

I don’t care to ever see you again the rest of my life!”/?

Well, you make his life miserable.

Maybe that’s your intent…but the Bible says you’re gonna reap what you sow some day.

You have a responsibility to live under God’s authority too.

Ephesians 6 says, *“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

Honor your father and mother—which is the first commandment with a promise —  that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."

*

 

Let’s say that you ask your dad for permission to go the weekend and he says, /“No, I don’t really trust your friends, and I don’t think there’s enough adult supervision,”/ and you say, /“Well, Dad, thanks for caring about me.

I understand.

I’ll go along.”/

What’ll happen?

Right, he’ll have a heart attack right there.

It’ll be all over.

No, he’ll think you’re the greatest kid.

He thinks he’s the greatest father.

And the next time you go and ask, /“Can I go?”/ he’ll say, /“Sure!

Your attitude has been so great.

Here’s $500.

You stay a week.

I don’t care how long you’re gone.”/

Maybe it won’t go quite that well, but the Bible promises that it’ll go well with you.

Proverbs 13:1 says, *“A wise son heeds his father's instruction, but a mocker does not listen to rebuke.”*

/Wives,/ if you have a husband who seeks to be a godly father, it is so important that you be supportive and reinforcing.

Ephesians 5:33 says, *“The wife must respect her husband.”*

Do you remember the stir the Southern Baptist Convention created a few years ago when they endorsed the traditional family, which included the ideas that wives should graciously submit to their husbands?

Counselors of this world went crazy over the idea and suggested that the Baptists wanted to keep the women barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen.

One columnist who identified herself as a feminist-Christian said, /“No matter how you try to explain that, it is hateful language.”/

Larry King interviewed Jerry Falwell challenging him on his archaic ideas.

/Newsweek Magazine/ quoted Kathy Rogers, Executive Director of the National Organization for Women’s Legal Defense Fund saying, /“We don’t think any human being should have to submit to any other human being.”

/

 

But you know the principle of leadership and submission to leadership is best illustrated in Jesus Christ.

Philippians 2 says Christ was equal with God but he humbled himself and became submissive to the Father, saying, *“Not my will, but Yours be done.”*