Fathers

By Jerad Allen

Good morning. Happy Father's Day to all the fathers in here. I'm pretty sure there's quite a few of you. I hope everybody's week went well and it wasn't too much hassle.

The other day I was going through YouTube and I saw a channel with things that fathers typically teach children—how to tie a tie, how to change a tire, things like that. The whole purpose of this channel was to teach children without fathers what he wished his father would have taught him if he had a father in his life.

In 2022 estimates were roughly 18.3 million children were growing up in the United States without a father. That is almost one in every four children. It's been three years, but I have a feeling those numbers are still roughly the same. A lot of things can happen without a father in the household. Poverty rates go up, crime rates go up. Life, by all means, gets harder.

That's because the father is an instrumental part of the family. They have a great deal of responsibility and take care of a great deal of things. They are an essential part in growing up. Today we will be going over some lessons and some things the Bible has to say about fatherhood. About what it is and what it should look like.

To start off, if you would turn to Genesis 22, we will go quickly through verses 1-18. You might recognize this if you were here during Bible study because Mark went over it a little bit.

I will read verses 1-3. “And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.”

We are told to do as the Lord commands. We are told to do what He tells us. Abraham was very much willing to do this. He trusted the Lord.
He trusted His ways. When the Lord told him to sacrifice his son, he did not blink. He rose up, and he went.

In Philippians 2:8 it says, “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

This is obviously talking about Jesus. A lot of the time, I see being a Christian and being a follower as trying to imitate the Lord, and trying to act as Christ-like as possible. If Christ himself was obedient to the point of death, then so must we.

We must be willing to put our bodies, our children perhaps, on the line. As fathers, sometimes you must put yourself and your family in harm's way if that's what the Lord commands. That is what Abraham is thinking he is doing here.

Moving on to verses 4-8, it says, “Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.”

Both of them went together. Of course, Abraham knew there wasn't a lamb. He was under the full assumption that he was going to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Though there is another lesson here, I think, in looking at what the Lord will provide us with.

The Lord will provide for us if we are hungry. If we need food, he will make sure we have it. If we are thirsty, he will give us drink. He will give us what we need. He will never put a challenge ahead of us too great for us to handle.

In 1st Corinthians 10:13, it says, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

In Matthew 6:33-34, it says, “But seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and his righteousness, and all of these things will be added unto you. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

How does this relate to Father's Day? As it is the Holy Father's duty to provide for his children, to make sure we have food and water when we need it, to make sure we are not tempted beyond our own capabilities, it is the earthly fathers’ to provide for his family and his children and their needs.

In 1st Timothy 5:8 it says, “but if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

It is the duty of the father and the household to provide for his family, to make sure they are fed, to make sure they have what they need to go on, to make sure that they have the capabilities and ability to walk this world and to walk through life.

Moving on to verses 9-10, it says, “And they came to the place which God had told him of, and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.”

As Christians, we must be willing to put our bodies on the line when serving the Lord. When Jesus and his disciples were traveling, they were often worried that those who they were going to come against, many times Jews were going to bring harm upon them, or crucify them. That eventually did happen. If the Son of God and those who traveled with him were able to put their lives on the line, and put their bodies through physical torment, then we should be able to do the same.

In Romans 12:1- 3 it says, “I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”

In these verses, our bodies are described as living sacrifices. Not as Abraham is about to do to Isaac here and kill his son as a sacrifice to the Lord, but we are to put our bodies as living sacrifices on the line. To follow the Lord's will, to put His will above ours, to cast out these earthly pleasures and sins that we take forth, and to not indulge in them. To sometimes put ourselves in harm's way to complete His will. It is the duty of Christians to do such.

Moving on to verses 11-13 it says, “And an angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Here I am. And he said, Lay not thine hand on the lad, neither do thou anything unto him. For now I know that thou fearest God. Seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his thorns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.”

This was, at the end of the day, a test. It was a test on Abraham's willingness to do what the Lord asked him—a test on his faith in the Lord. A test if he truly believed. He believed that the Lord was righteous and His one true God. Even with something as outlandish as asking him to kill his son, Abraham was positive that there was a reason behind it. That whatever the reason may be, it was holy. It was glorious, and that it would please the Lord. He passed this test because he was willing to do that.

Verses 14-16 say, “And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh (I can't really pronounce that) As it said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. The angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of the heaven the second time. And said, By myself I have sworn, saith the Lord. For because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son.”

(Pay attention to the wording here.) Hast not withheld thy son, thine only son. This sounds familiar, right? It's kind of how the Lord sent down his only son to be sacrificed for the remission of our sins. It sounds exactly like that, right? The Lord was not asking him to do something that the Lord himself would not do here. He is asking him to do something he hasn't done yet.

The Lord will send down his son to be a sacrifice that will save us. The ram is a burnt offering, but it is still an animal. Christ's sacrifice gave us something more. It gave us salvation.
In John 3:16 it said, “God so loved the world that he gave his only son. That whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

He loves us so much that he would give His only son. It is the duty of fathers everywhere to love Him so much that if the day asks, they will put Him above anyone else.

I think here we can see that yes, while fathers have a duty to their families, to their children. First and foremost, your duty is to the Lord as it is for all of us. He takes priority. He takes all because he is greater than the rest of us.

Verses 17-18 say, “that in blessing I will bless thee. And in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven. And as the sand which is upon the sea shore. And thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because thou hast obeyed my voice.”

Later in Galatians 3:16 it says, “now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say and to offsprings, referring to many, but referring to one and to your offspring who is Christ.”

We can all receive this blessing by following in Abraham's footsteps, by obeying the Lord. We can receive the grace God has given us by following his commandments and obeying him, by confessing that Jesus, the seed of Abraham, is the Son of God and our Savior.

By looking Ephesians 6:1-4. We can see how fathers are supposed to nurture their children.

These verses say, “children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise. That it may be well with thee and that thou mayest live long on the earth. And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonishment of the Lord.”

Children at the end of the day are the next of kin. They are the ones who will take your place, who will continue your work. We have a duty to the Lord and that means that we need to make sure things are in place for when we are gone as well. That it is good if we ourselves are obedient and spread the word of God, but we are only here temporary. Fathers must bring up their children, must bring up the next generation, to continue the work when they are gone.

In Proverbs 2, it says, "train up a child in the way he should go. Even when he is old, he will not depart from it."

A father has a big responsibility here to train their children to do right by the Lord, to train and educate their children on what is right and what is holy. No wonder crime and poverty rise when fathers are out of the picture. No wonder children are lost and confused ever more so when fathers are out of the picture because it is a father's duty to help them learn these things, to help them find their way, to train and nurture them.

Moving on to Joshua 24:15, It says, “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.”

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. It is the duty of the father to choose the direction in which their house will go. Will they live in sin? Will they choose earth? Will they choose worldly pleasures? Or will they follow the path of God? It is the father's responsibility to steer this ship. It is the father's responsibility to make sure and correct it if it sways, if it varies, if it moves. This is one of the roles of the father.

In Colossians 3:19-21, it says, “Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is pleasing unto the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.”

Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged. It can be a little tough for fathers, right? They control the ship, but they can very easily make it sway as well. If the father is not kind, if the father angers their children, they may be discouraged, and they may lose their path. The father has a vital role. Their presence can very much aid in this. At the same time, if a father fails, that could be worse. That could sway those children into a life of sin.

Moving on to Luke 15:20-22, it says, “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.”

This is the parable of the prodigal son. In here, we are shown a father whose son had lost their way, who had sinned against them, but cursed their name and left. And when he returns, this father did not shoo him away. He did not yell at him. He welcomed him back with open arms to his family. No hesitation. No matter how much he wronged him, it is the father's duty to welcome back his children. This is because the Heavenly Father does the same with us.

In Romans 10:9 it says, “Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Despite our sins, despite our failures, fathers, mothers, children, everyone's, despite all of these things, despite everything we have done, there is still a way we can be saved. If we turn to the Lord, follow in the steps Jesus has laid out for us, and follow in his path, the Lord will welcome us back like the father in this parable—with open arms, with joy, with thunderous screams of happiness.

That should be the same for fathers. As the Lord does, so should we. If He is willing to welcome us back, then we should be able to do the same with our family members, with our children, with our mothers and fathers. No matter how much they have wronged us, when they return, we should open our arms.

To close this out, I just want to repeat this. Romans 10:9. “Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

If you have not done that, I just must ask, why? Why wait? Death's knocking at any given moment. It will not wait for you. So why wait? Confess, repent, be baptized for the remissions of your sins, and walk with the Lord as commander.

Happy Father's Day, and thank you.