A Father's Influence
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1 And God spake all these words, saying,
2 I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
13 Thou shalt not kill.
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15 Thou shalt not steal.
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
Notice verse 5:
Exodus 20:5 (KJV 1900)
5 …for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
Introduction
Introduction
1. Being a good father is one of the greatest challenges a man may face in life.
2. Many of us who are fathers may look back upon our days spent parenting our children and think of the mistakes we have made.
3. None of us are perfect. Each of us struggle in our own attempts to guide our children into adulthood.
4. For some of us, our children seem to turn out well in spite of our mistakes.
5. Others of us have children who drift away from the God we love despite our best efforts.
6. There are two things I believe are true of each father here this morning:
a. Each of us wants our sons and daughters to turn out the best they possibly can.
b. Each of us wants our children to become sharers with us in eternal life.
6. That being said, let me say . . .
a. Our children are not our possessions or our property. God has loaned them to us for a brief period of time.
b. There are no short cuts to being a good father. It takes time and consistent effort.
c. While providing for the basic needs of our children is important (i.e., food, clothing and shelter), - You know…The Bible says in 2 Thess. 3:10 that if you won’t work, you shouldn’t eat…We are to provide for our families men! But being a godly father involves the spiritual well-being of our children as well.
In our text today, it is obvious that responsibility for the children’s culture rests heavily upon fathers.
But
The warning of this text, however, concerns “the iniquities of the fathers.”
This reminds us of the words of Solomon: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6).
Verse 5 in our text tells us that Idolatrous people are enemies, not only to their own souls, but also to their children. God will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation.
Iniquity is not simply “sin” - God makes a distinction in His Word - When you study it out, you’ll find that when we do these things in our own will, instead of according to God’s will, they are iniquity. Iniquity is doing my own will even though it may be something that is good. Iniquity is going our own way, doing our own thing, disobeying God’s will.
How are children affected by the iniquity of their fathers and forefathers? Even though children are not responsible or guilty for their father’s iniquity, they are influenced and affected by it.
Sons and remote descendants inherit the consequences of their fathers’ sins, in disease, poverty, captivity, with all the influences of bad example and evil communications.
Let me give you an example...The deception that Abraham practiced was picked up by his son and grandson. With each generation, the deception increased.
2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.
7 And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.
32 And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn Esau.
What a father does in moderation, his kids may do in excess or extremes. Our kids amplify our weaknesses and compromises. The crack in the door that we give to sin, our children will open completely. The Bible stresses the importance of acknowledging the iniquities of forefathers.
SOME “INIQUITIES” OF MODERN FATHERS:
SOME “INIQUITIES” OF MODERN FATHERS:
Approximately 20 million children have been abandoned by there father. That’s 10 million shy of the population of Canada.
What I mean by abandon is, a lack of spiritual, financial and emotional support.
They are not there to love them and take care of them, because they are too busy living for the moment.
And it’s affecting our society. Kids need their father and father’s need to show there kids they are loved and wanted.
There are some Fathers today that...
Never find praise for a child’s endeavors.
Demand that your child out-do all other children.
Give a child everything—except some of your time.
Go all-out for the child’s popularity, but ignore his spiritual life.
There is a 0.0296% chance your child will become a professional athlete, but there is a 100% chance they will meet Jesus!
SOME FACTS ALL FATHERS SHOULD RECOGNIZE:
SOME FACTS ALL FATHERS SHOULD RECOGNIZE:
1. Children are in need of instruction,
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
The importance and influence of the Word of God should never be underestimated! If we expect to raise Godly children, there must first be godly parents!
2. Discipline:
The rod and reproof give wisdom:
But a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.
Some people falsely think, “I just love my children too much to discipline them.” However, if you do not discipline your children, it is because you do not really love them. In fact, Proverbs says that you hate them:
24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son: But he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.
3. “Bring them up … in the Lord, …and don’t provoke them to wrath:
And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
If left to themselves, children will be rebels, so it is necessary for the parents to train their children.
Years ago, the then Duke of Windsor said, “Everything in the American home is controlled by switches—except the children!”
The Bible records the sad results of parents neglecting their children, either by being bad examples to them or failing to discipline them properly.
David pampered Absalom and set him a bad example, and the results were tragic.
Eli failed to discipline his sons and they brought disgrace to his name and defeat to the nation of Israel.
In his latter years, even Isaac pampered Esau, while his wife showed favoritism to Jacob; and the result was a divided home.
Jacob was showing favoritism to Joseph when God providentially rescued the lad and made a man out of him in Egypt.
Paul tells us that the father has several responsibilities toward his children.
There is more to raising children than merely working, providing, giving material things, being a true father involves time with the children, training them.
4. Make your life an example of your own teaching.
5. A father’s influence is a sacred trust—use it well!
6. Fathers should not expect the church or minister to succeed in patching up parental failures...
God holds parents responsible,
Conclusion
Conclusion
A GODLY FATHER’S RESOLUTION:
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
- Each believer must continually choose whom he or she will serve.
- We can say as fathers that we want to raise our children in the fear of the Lord, but with that statement comes fruit.
A. Some examples of fruit is this: We won’t send our kids to Sunday School, we will bring them.
B. We will teach our kids to pray, and not leave it up to the church to do it.
C. There will be an inner desire to see my kids at the altar receiving from God.
- I pray my kids go under the power of God at an early age and receive from God all that God has for them.
- But in order to see those things happen in my family I have to lead them to those things.
- I have to go to the altar, I must give to the Lord in tithes and offerings, and I must desire to pray so that my kids will see that God is important to me.
- God is looking to you and me as the Priest of our home, to lead the home into the things of God.