Would you stand with me as we read responsively this morning our call to worship from Psalm 8? Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me. For I am poor and needy. Preserve my life, for I am godly. Save your servant who trusts in you.
You are my God. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you I cry altogether. I am the soul of your servant. For to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving.
abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me. All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. For you are great. and do wondrous things.
You alone are God. I've said more times than I can count over the last two or three months, we're living in strange times. These are strange times indeed. And there's a sense in which that's true. There's also a sense, though, isn't there, in which there's nothing new under the sun.
The church has been here before and survived. In fact, we know that the church will survive anything that the gates of hell throw at it because Christ has promised that nothing will prevail against his people. It is wonderful, a wonderful blessing to have one day in seven like this one. where we can gather together and reset our minds, our affections, our hearts, remind ourselves that in this fluctuating, unpredictable, crazy world in which we live, There are some unchanging elements. God never changes.
The gospel never changes. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The Spirit of God indwelling His people never changes. And what a comfort to know that these things will not go away. They never change.
Our citizenship is in heaven. not uh here on this earth. And so we do well to remind ourselves of these things. We have gathered to worship the unchanging, all-faithful God. Let's do that.
Would you pray with me as we prepare our hearts for worship? Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we welcome your presence now. I pray that our worship would be worthy of the God who has created us. and who has redeemed us. I pray that your bride, the church, would be built up, edified, strengthened, nourished.
in our faith. in our souls today as we sing these songs, as we speak to you in prayer. As we hear your word read and proclaimed from this pulpit. Triune God, you are welcome in this place. We desire to fellowship with you now, and we pray it all in Jesus' name.
Amen. Praise the Lord, ye heavens adore him. Let's make much of our God this morning as we sing. Yeah. Praise the Lord, ye heavens adore him.
Praise Him, angels in the heights. Sun and moon rejoice before him. Praise Him, all ye stars of light. Praise the Lord, for he hath spoken. Worlds His mighty voice obey.
Laws which never shall be broken, for their guidance he hath made. Praise the Lord, for he is glorious. Never shall his promise fail. God hath made his Saints victorious, sin and death shall not prevail. Praise the God of our salvation, host on high, his power proclaim.
Heaven, earth, and all creation, bought and magnified his name. Worship, honor, glory, blessing, Lord, we offer unto thee, young and old, thy praise expressing in glad homage and unheed. All the saints in heaven adore thee. We would bow before thy throne as thine angels serve. Before thee, so honor thy will be thine.
Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing, my great Redeemer's praise, the glories of my God and King, the triumphs of his grace, my gracious Master and my God, assist me to proclaim to spread through all the earth abroad, the honors of thy name. Jesus, the name that charms our fears, that bids our sorrow cease. Tis music in the sinner's ears, tis life and health and peace. He breaks the power of reigning sin, he sets the prisoner free. His blood can make the foulest clean, is but a veil for me.
Amen. You can be seated. We just sang that Christ breaks the power of reigning sin. How does this work? Our New Testament reading this morning tells us, Romans chapter 6, verse 1, Yes.
Through eleven. Romans six. Beginning at verse 1, Paul says this: What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace? Grace may abound.
By no means. How can we who died to sin still live? In it. Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized? into Christ Jesus.
We're baptized into Christ. into his death. We were buried, therefore, with him by baptism into death. In order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, We shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
We know that our old self was crucified with him. in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing.
so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.
Now, if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died, he died to sin once for all. But the life he lives, he lives to God.
So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin. and alive to God. in Christ Jesus. This is the word of the Lord. And what a wonderful word it is to be reminded that sin no longer has dominion over us because of the death and resurrection of Christ.
And yet how often do we live as if that's not the case? How often do we convince ourselves in unbelief that sin still has the upper hand? It is good and right in our worship of this Redeeming God to acknowledge our dependence on His grace, on His mercy, on His forgiveness. Let's do that as we pray this morning our prayer of confession. Would you pray with me?
Lord Jesus, I have sinned times without number. and been guilty of pride and unbelief. and of neglect to seek you in my daily life. My sins and shortcomings present me with a list of accusations. But I thank you that they will not stand against me.
For all have been laid on Christ. Deliver me from every evil habit. every interest of former sins. everything that dims the brightness of your grace in me. Everything that prevents me from taking delight in you.
Amen. Take a moment to silently confess your particular sins to the Lord now. Listen now to these words from First John. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father.
Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins. And not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Our God is a merciful God. And he never changes.
in being a merciful God. We're going to respond to what we've just been thinking about, what we've just confessed. by singing the Gloria Patri. These words sound a little antiquated to our modern ears. What does it mean when we sing, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end?
Amen. This is an ancient liturgy that simply is stating the fact that the triune God never changes. the same God who showed mercy to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and And Peter and James and John and Martin Luther and John Calvin and John Knox is the God who shows mercy to you and to me this morning. Let's stand and sing together the Gloria Pacha. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be world without hand.
Amen. Amen. Amen. You can be seated. Ask Eric Schwimm to come up for today's missions moment.
Everyone hear me?
Okay. All right, today's missionary. Um the two of them are the uh Schweitzer in Hauberg. Uh Hill and Kem Schweitzer is serving in with MTW in uh The UK The Schweitzers work as church planners in uh United Kingdom, Bill also teaches systematic theology at the Westminster Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Like everyone else, the Schweitzers and their congregation have been under lockdown as a result of the COVID-19.
Initially, they lacked the equipment to provide live stream services to their church and may do so using a security camera.
However, they have received a gift that allowed them to upgrade their recording equipment significantly, and they've been making their live stream services available on YouTube. For that, they are very thankful. The Schweitzers are also working with a church plant in Zurich, Switzerland. One of the recent seminary graduates that Bill had taught. has been ordained and is making regular trips to Zurich.
for Bible study. When he began in October, he had fifteen people and within three months The Bible study has grown to 20 people. Considering how secular Zurich is, those numbers are very encouraging. Their prayer requests are to pray for continued grace and growth in the church plant in Zurich and for their oldest son, who has a recently reported to training with the United States Marine Corps earlier this month. The second uh Group of missionaries.
Are Aaron and Rachel Halbert? They are serving with MTW in Honduras. The Halberts serve as church planters. In Honduras. with their five young children.
Their prayer requests are pray for continued financial support. Pray for encouragement and strength as they raise their young children and serve on the mission field, and pray that they would see much fruit as a result of their labors. This is our mission's moment. Thank you. And let's keep these and all of our missionaries in prayer as the Lord brings them.
to mind. Let's stand once again. We're going to sing our sermon text today, Psalm 128. Doug's going to come up and explain this psalm and apply it to our lives specifically. Let's begin meditating on it, though, as we sing it together.
Stand with me as we sing. Psalm 128. Um How blessed are all who fear the Lord and walk within His place. Your life within your house will be of kind whose fruits abound. Your children will as olive plants, your table gather round.
Behold, thus shall a man be blessed who truly lives the Lord. Zion gives to you his blessing and reward. Oh, may you see throughout your days some prosperous children see peace beyond Israel. Amen. Let's remain standing in honor of God's word as we read it together this morning.
Don and Esther Carroll are. They have been my friends for 37 years. And this is the longest time we've ever gone without fellowshipping together. Donnis, you and your family, it's great to have you all back with us. If you have your Bibles with you, turn with me to Psalm 128.
And we're going to be looking at verses 1 through 6. Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways. You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands. You shall be blessed. And it shall be well with you.
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house. Your children will be like olive shoots around your table. The whole Thus shall the man be blessed. Who fears the Lord? The Lord bless you from Zion.
May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem. All the days of your life. May you see your children's children. Peace. Be upon Israel.
Yes. Go to our Lord in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, today is Father's Day. Day that we set aside each year to call our dads to a deeper consecration to you. We pray that you will be honored.
And all of us dads would take heed. to the call we have on our lives as fathers. Father, here in our own country, we have secular, humanistic, Marxist radicals. They're doing all they can to destroy the nuclear family. They mock your principles on family.
They have created havoc and sadness. hopelessness and depression among Americans. God give us guts. Intestinal fortitude to turn from this wicked culture and to turn to Jesus for guidance. Lord, build in our dads a backbone of steel.
Help us as dads to be men of conviction. Destroy the victim mentality that is spreading like wildfire. And help us to be tough. Godly. Independent fathers.
Fathers who our wives and children can look up to and trust. Help us to train and nurture our kids. Help us to help them to build a foundation in their lives that is Christ. A foundation so strong that all hell can't shake it. We love you, Lord.
Help us to honor you. For it is in the precious and holy name of Jesus that we pray. Amen. You may be seated. If I were to ask you to describe the challenges that fathers have before them in America today, what would you say?
I think I would probably describe it this way: it's like leading your family through a minefield. I look over America today. And the landscape is filled. with broken families. Families who are blown to bits by financial pressure.
families who are devastated by immorality. families who were destroyed by drugs and alcohol. And our kids today, what do they hear? What are they listening to? They're hearing that killing babies is called freedom of choice.
That sodomy is called a sexual preference, and adultery is called an affair. Dads, it's a minefield. And you are called by God To be the protector, the provider, and the role model for your kids.
Well, how's it going? How are you going to lead them through the minefield? Let me ask you this. Is there going to be any opposition that you're going to have to face? Let me answer that.
Yes, there is. The feminist agenda is set to take that role out of your hands. The socialist communist agenda that we see in our own government today. wants to take that out of your hands. The gay lesbian agenda wants to take that out of your hands.
The secular humanistic educational system wants to take that out of your hands. and most of all, primarily, Satan. The one who hates us with a passion. The one whose purpose is to kill, steal, and destroy. It said to take that.
roll out of your hands. Dads, I want to challenge you today. I want to challenge you with all my heart to be strong. to take a stand. to love your kids.
because their lives are in the balance. America is not going to change until homes are changed, and homes are not going to change until dads change. Our problem in America today is failing fathers and dropout dads.
So, I've chosen for my text for Father's Day, Psalm 128, six little verses here, and I've got four points about dads that I want to share with you. Number one, a father's character. Look with me again at verses 1 and 2. Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways. You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands.
You shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you. The word blessed in this verse simply means favored by God. In the Hebrew, the word for blessed or blessed is baruch.
Now I want you to picture this. There's a man back in Jesus' day who's getting ready to move from one town to the next. They didn't have moving vans, so they had to use camels. And so the man would go up, he'd take his stick, he'd hit it on the back of the camel's leg, the camel would drop down to his knees. Then the man would take his precious cargo and he would throw it up on top of the camel, then fasten it together.
He'd hit the camel on the back of the leg, the camel would stand up and then take off to his destination. That action Of the man throwing his precious cargo up on top of the camel was called a Baruch. or a blessing.
So the next time someone sneezes, Instead of saying God bless you, you can say may God load up your camel. They won't have a clue as to what you're talking about, but at least it's biblical.
Now think of where else we see that word blessed in the Scriptures. How about Psalm 1? Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. Think of the Sermon on the Mount.
Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are the pure in heart. Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are those who do hunger and thirst after righteousness. Blessed are those who are persecuted for my sake.
The word blessed means happy. But but it's not happy as as The world would define it. The world's definition of happiness is so much more different. It's happiness that is temporary. Let me give you just a few quick illustrations.
Take this opioid. It'll take care of the pain and you'll be happy. Drown your sorrows with alcohol and drugs. And when you do that, you're going to feel better, and you're going to be, the depression will be gone, and you'll be happy. Uh What else do you need to do?
Well, check out pornography. Check out pornography and it'll give you an endorphin rush. and you'll be happy. Or pad your expense account. Then you'll be able to take some money, extra bills, and put them in your pocket, and that'll make you happy.
You know what you see in each one of those illustrations? You see that there's a temporary element. to each one of them. All of those things promise you happiness. But they give you just a little temporary bit of pleasure.
It's here. and then very quickly it's gone. There's a quick adrenaline rush. Then there's guilt. And sorrow.
And then there's an addictive element that That comes in. And just has you in its clutches. Verse 1 tells us that we can be genuinely blessed. Dads, are you blessed? By that I mean are you happy in the Lord?
Are you satisfied in Jesus? Does your life reveal contentment and peace and joy? Or do your kids and your wife take a look at you and they see a man that's got a black cloud over his head? The man's not satisfied, he's not happy, he's not joyful, he has no contentment. He just is all the time feeling just down.
He doesn't see how the Lord can satisfy him.
Now, if you claim to be a Christian as a dad, and that's what's going on in your life, what do your children think about Christ? I say, well, Jesus can't bring me joy. Jesus can't make me happy. Christianity is just rules and regulations and laws, but it's not about a life-changing relationship.
So Dad, you can feel. in a lot of areas. But you need to be careful not to fail here. You need to be content in the Lord. Joyful in the Lord.
and your kids need to see it.
Now maybe you're here and you're saying, Doug, that's just not me. I'm not that kind of guy. I'm just not happy like that. I don't have that kind of joy. And you say, what can you do about it?
I think we have an answer here in verse 1. Two things. You are to fear the Lord. And you're to walk in God's ways. Fear the Lord and walk in God's ways.
To fear the Lord has to do with your attitude. To walk in His ways has to do with your being. Fear God has to do with attitude. Walking his ways has to do with action.
So what does it mean to fear God?
Well, it doesn't mean cringing in fear every time you think about God or every time you hear his name. It's not a servile fear like a slave would feel fear. Over a taskmaster that's just mean and has got a whip in his hand. It's the exact opposite of that. It's a reverential awe, it's an excitement, it's a joy.
To love God, you can fear God, and it's not a conflict with that, it's a compliment. It complements each other. I remember 13 years ago, I was in a terrible car accident, had three major operations, and I was in the hospital in and out for about three and a half months. During that time, I read a book that was one of the most important books in my life. It was a book called The Joy of Fearing God by Jerry Bridges.
And it sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it? Fear and joy in the same title. It's not an oxymoron at all. It's true. The fear of God leads to obedience, and obedient, submissive children of God are the happiest people on earth.
Let me give you a few verses to just chew on. And um Proverbs 9.10, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. Psalm chapter 2, verse 11, serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Job 28, 28. Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom.
And to turn away from evil is understanding. Psalm 103, verse 13. The Lord shows compassion. to those who fear him. Psalm 147, verse 11, the Lord takes pleasure.
In those who fear him. Let me share something with you that Adrian Rogers said. Your kids need you to fear God. They're facing humanism that tells them that man is the center of everything. Materialism tells them that happiness belongs in things.
Hedonism tells them to live high, wide, and handsome. Relativism tells them that there are no absolutes, no fixed standards of right and wrong. They need a God-fearing Dad. Amen. The man who truly fears God is a man who is going to walk in God's ways.
Dad's what's being said here. I think it's this. God has not called you to be passive. God has called you to be active in your relationship with your children. He has called you to a life of passionate.
passionate, unadulterated Christian action. There are way too many Christian dads in this nation today who think their responsibility as a dad ends when they bring home the paycheck.
Well, it is true that as a dad, you're responsible for being their material provider, but you're responsible for much more than that. You're also responsible for being a spiritual and emotional provider as well. And you can't do that. By sitting down on your blessed assurance with a remote, TV remote in one hand. And watching Sports Center on TV as your wife is gathering the children together and walking them out the door to go to church.
And the kids are screaming: why do we have to go to church when dad gets to stay home and watch TV? Man, what a difference there is in that. And the and the dad Who fears God and walks in God's ways, who delights in the Sabbath day, who gets up on Sunday morning with a song on his lips, goes in and wakes the kids up, says, Kids, get up. This is the greatest day of the week. This is Sunday, this is the Lord's day.
We get to go worship him.
Now get up and let's do it. Proverbs 22:6 says, Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. The word for train up there comes from a root word in the Hebrew for mouth. and has to do with the actions of a midwife. Midwife would be helping the mother in the delivering of the baby, and the baby would be delivered, and she'd take the baby in her hand, she'd wash the baby up, and then she'd wrap the baby up in a blanket.
And then she'd go over to the mom and she would take her finger and get one drop of milk from the mother's breast. She would put it into the mouth of the little baby and rub it in the top of the baby's mouth. The baby would get that taste of the milk in its mouth and start sucking on the finger of the midwife. As soon as that would happen, the midwife would immediately give the baby back to the mom, and the baby would start the nursing process.
So what had she done? She had developed in that child a thirst for the mother's milk. And brothers and sisters, that's exactly what God has called dads to do. He has called you as a dad to develop in your child's heart a thirst for God.
Now listen, that's different than pushing religion down a kid's throat. Legalistic, mean-spirited dads give their children the impression that Christianity is kind of like swallowing castor oil. It's not fun. It doesn't taste good. You're not going to like it.
But do it anyway, grit your teeth and bear it. Because it'll keep you out of trouble. What happens if they see a dad? who's so excited about Jesus that it's contagious. And they see a dad who has family devotions with his kids, and it's a time of fun, a time of joy, and not a time to dread.
Dads, you train up your kids by developing in them A thirst for God. Kids will develop that thirst when they see a dad who loves them. but who loves Jesus more. All right, number two. the father's companion.
Look at verse 3, the first part, verse 3. Yeah. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house. Fathers, if you want to be a good dad, love God, love your. Wife and love your children and do it in that order.
Our kids need security. One of the ways that our kids get security is when they know That That You're going to love them. But you're going to love mom. even more than them. If they don't have to fight for your affection.
Because the wife has already won that battle. She comes before them. And they need to see that. They need to see that. Your kids need to see you being affectionate with your wife.
They need to see that you love her as Jesus loved the church.
so much he was willing to die for it. The kids need to know that you won't side up with them against their mother.
Now, the psalmist refers to the good wife by calling her a vine, a grapevine. And as we look at the grapevine, what does it do? Three things. Number one, it clings.
Now I know the image that Or the word that pops up in our mind when we think of cling, and it's a very negative word. Clinging is not a good thing. People that are clingy, other people run from them. They're manipulative, they're controlling, they depend on other people to make them happy. And if people aren't giving them what they want, if they're not giving them the time, the attention, and the love that they want from them, then they're going to make those people's life miserable.
Clingy people will suck the life out of you. They'll suffocate you. We don't like that word cling. But that's the negative part of cling. What I'm talking about is very positive.
And I'm talking about a dependence. The wife ought to feel dependent. on her husband. Dependent that he is a provider. A protector.
A defender? A lover? and a friend. And when the husband feels that. and knows that, then he's going to feel needed.
He's going to feel respected. He's not going to feel suffocated. In Genesis 2.24, God said. that the man and the woman shall leave their father and mother. and they shall cleave together as husband and wife.
That's a great word. that we are to cleave together. to cleave. Second word is climb. People who grow vineyards will grow a vineyard by putting stakes up or like a lattice.
And the grapevine will climb up through the lattice, get bigger and bigger and bigger, and grow and produce many, many grapes that way. And by putting up that lattice, by doing that, the grapevine is growing, it's maturing. And Dad, you have the responsibility of helping your... wise, mature. You want to help her mature in the faith.
You want to help her by encouraging her in her responsibilities with the kid. And if she is overcome with trials and sufferings, and she's going through a tough time, she needs. your shoulder to lean on. What does the husband do? The husband helps her to grow up.
He helps her emotionally, spiritually, and socially. But how many husbands are doing the exact opposite? Why are they doing the exact opposite? Why aren't they helping their wife to mature? Because they're not mature themselves.
And because they think they married their mother. And they want to treat her like they would mama. They want to take all those things that God has ordained for us to do, responsibilities that He's given us, and just push them to the wife. And say, hey, you be the provider. You take care of the finances.
You take care of the family devotions. You take the children to church. Because I want to live my life just like I was living it when I was in high school. Husbands, it's your responsibility to help your wife to climb. to mature her into a godly, stable lady.
How do you do that? Let me make a few suggestions. I think you have a date night. That means like one night out of the week. It's hernide.
You take her out, no kids, nobody else, no friends, just you and her. Where there can be romance. where you can look into her eyes. When you can get into her heart. when you can listen to what she's got to say.
Then help her if she wants to go to a Bible study, keep the kids. Help her to grow in the Lord. The third word is cluster. Verse 3a says, Your wife will be like a fruitful vine. That primarily has to do with bearing children, but it's much more than that.
It's helping your wife to have a productive, productive, fruitful life. And the Bible teaches us that the wife is to be submissive. She is to be submissive to her husband, and it takes it further than that. It says she's to be submissive to her husband in the same way she is submissive to the Lord. Wow.
When she does that, Her husband feels respected. and her children feel uh secure. It's amazing what that will do. And she's not weighed down. with the responsibilities that God never intended her to have.
But, husbands, you can destroy your wife's fruitfulness by taking advantage of her submission. The command to the husband is to love his wife, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her. That means that he is to love her in the way Jesus loved the church. And how much did Jesus love the church? He loved us so much, he died for us.
What if your wife knew that you love her so much that if necessary, you would die for her? Is she going to mind being submissive to you? No. because she knows you're always going to have her best interest in mind. That's the command.
But how many husbands think submission means bullying? Submission means demanding. Submission means totally controlling.
Some men even take it further and get abusive with their wives, so the wives are fearful that they're going to get hurt. In his book, Each for the Other, Brian Chappell said this. God's word in the hands of a religious fool. can do immense harm. I have seen couch potatoes who order their wives and children around like the Grand Sultan of Morocco.
adulterous misogynist with the domestic ethics of Jobba the Hutt. Who cow their wives around with Bible verses about submission, insecure men whose wives do not dare go to the grocery store without permission? who even tell their wives how to dress. But the fact that evil, disordered men have perverted God's word. is no reason to throw it out.
Evie Hill, the great pastor. Out of Watts, California, who a few years ago passed away, went on to be at the Lord, grew up in a little town in Texas called Sweet Home, Texas. He went to a church where they took these principles of marriage very, very seriously. And one day in that church while he was there, A lady came in with her little five-year-old son. She walked in, her eye was swollen, her lip was cut.
The deacons ran over to her and said, What in the world happened to you? Are you okay? And she said, Oh, it was an accident. It was nothing, nothing. It's okay.
And the little boy piped in. And he said it was not an accident. Dad got drunk and hit Mama, and I tried to get him to stop, and he wouldn't do it. After the service was over, the deacons went to pay this man a visit. And they walked into his house.
He was lying back in his recliner. And they said, Sir, God has called you. to love your wife as Christ loved the church. And they say, Do not hit her again. If you do, we're going to come back over here and we're going to lay hands on you.
And um They weren't talking uh about an ordination.
Well, about two weeks later, the man got drunk again, hit his wife again. The deacons came over. And uh he was in his recliner again. They grabbed him, pulled him up out of the recliner, took him out back behind the barn, and wore him out. It was a needed attitude adjustment.
And that that man Uh quit drinking that day. And he never beat his wife again. Started coming to church, heard the gospel, and came to know Christ as his Lord and Savior.
Now I don't know about you, but I call that church discipline. I don't see it quite that way in Scripture, but boy, it worked in that situation. Husbands need to be respected. But they don't need to be feared. Number three, the Father's leadership.
Verse 3b through 4. Your children will be like olive sheets around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. The psalmist compares our children to olive shoots.
Now Olive tree is a very strange tree. For the first seven years of its existence, it doesn't produce any olives at all. From year 7 to year 15, it produces a few olives. But then after that it gets very productive. And it has a a long lifespan.
Olive trees can last millennia. They're kind of like the California redwood trees. I was over in Israel. about 40 years ago, and I was there in the Garden of Gethsemane. And our guide told us that the olive trees that were there, that several of them were there and growing when Jesus Christ walked the earth 2,000 years ago.
So what's the message here? I think the message is this. You can grow a corn stalk in a few weeks. But it takes years to grow an olive tree. It takes a lot of work.
A lot of preparation. A lot of uh of caring. to put into a chow. In those Formative years. to help them to grow into what God would have them to be.
The Roman Catholic Church used to have a saying: Give us a child until he's seven years old and we've got him for life. I think there's some truth to that. I think there's some truth to that. As the twig is bent, So grows the tree. And Proverbs 22, verse 6, we were looking at that a minute ago.
It says, train up a child the way he should go. When he is old, he will not depart from it. Notice it says in the way he should go. Not necessarily in the way that you as a parent might think he should go.
So you don't live your unfulfilled dreams through your children. But you see what his bents are. What are his talents? What are his gifts? What order the things that he likes and things that he dislikes?
And then help him by the power of the Spirit of God to move him. into what God wants him to be. Dads, don't force your unfulfilled dreams on your kids. Another great verse, Ephesians 6:4. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, but train them up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord.
We see a negative and a positive here. First of all, the negative. Don't provoke your children. And wh what does that mean? It means don't drive them nuts.
We can do that as parents, can't we? Don't exasperate, frustrate, wound them, badger them. humiliate them. Here are three ways that dads provoke their kids. Number one, by underdiscipline.
That is, by letting them get away with murder. just giving them everything they demand. That's not good for your children. Number two is inconsistency. That's making empty threats.
that that you don't fulfill, that you don't carry out. Then number three, overdiscipline. That's when a father is a bully. He's a leader. He's making the decisions, but he might make a bad decision.
And he's going to bully the child, and the child can't do anything about it because he's bigger and stronger than the child. That's the negative thing about raising children. Don't provoke your children. The key, I think, is working toward the right balance. All rules and no relationship equal rebellion.
All relationship and no rules equals chaos. But what about the positive side? The positive side is nurture or cultivation. This word nurture comes from, or we get the word nurtury from that word for nurture.
So what does Bauckham's nursery do? Balcombe's nursery. Cultivates plants.
So you can go over, you can get a plant from there, a tree, and take it back to your house, plant it, and they will have helped you to cultivate that plant for your house.
So farmers will tell you what it takes to nurture. It takes time, patience, training, good soil, good water.
Well sunlight. and weeding. That is, removing the bad influences from the plant. Dance. Teach your sons.
to be men. Teach your sons to be men. Teach them character. and morals. in ethics.
Teach them to be adventurous. Teach them to be bold. Teach them to protect The weak. Teach them to stand against evil. But most of all, Teach them to love Jesus.
and a glory in the cross. What if you got daughters? Doctors you handle a little differently. Dads love your daughters. Be affectionate with them.
And then hold them when they're little. Hug 'em when they get big. A daughter needs male affection. And if she's not getting male affection from her dad, the chances are she's going to get it from another source. Point four.
is the contribution he leaves. Look at verse five and six. The Lord bless you from Zion. May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. May you see your children's children.
Peace. Be upon Israel. I want to close this message with a challenge. I saw a movie. About eight years ago, that just touched my heart.
movie was entitled Courageous. It was a movie about a policeman. It was a group of policemen that were just buddies, they were good friends, they loved each other. The main character was a policeman whose nine-year-old daughter got killed in an automobile accident. And through his suffering with that, and through the trials that he had to go through, and through all the pain of that loss.
the Lord led him to become a responsible and godly daddy. And um Several months later, after he began to grow as a dad and after he began to take that responsibility seriously, his pastor asked him to come on Father's Day and to give a challenge to his to the people in that church, to the dads in that church. I want to take just a minute and read you that challenge, and I'll close with this. A father should love his children. And seek to win their hearts.
He should protect them, discipline them, and teach them about God. He should model how to walk with integrity. and treat others with respect. And should call out his His children to become responsible men and women who live their lives for what matters in eternity.
Some men will hear this and mock it or ignore it. But I tell you that as a father, you are accountable to God for the position of influence He has given you. You can't fall asleep at the wheel only to wake up one day and realize that your job or your hobbies have no eternal value. But the souls of your children do.
Some men will hear this and agree with it, but have no resolve to live it out. Instead, they will live for themselves and waste the opportunity to leave a godly legacy. for the next generation. But there are some men who, regardless of the mistakes we've made in the past, regardless of what our fathers did not do for us, will give the strength of our arms and the rest of our days to loving God with all that we are. and to teach our children to do the same.
And whenever possible, to love and mentor others who have no father in their lives. but who desperately need help and direction. And we're inviting any man. whose heart is willing and courageous to to join us in this resolution. In my home, the decision has already been made.
You don't have to ask who will guide my family. Because by God's grace, I will. You don't have to ask, who will teach my son to follow Christ. Because I will. Who will accept the responsibility of providing for and protecting my family?
I will. Who will ask God to break the chain of destructive patterns in my family's history? I will. Who will pray for and bless my children to boldly pursue whatever God calls them to do? I am their father.
I will. I accept this responsibility. and it is my privilege to embrace it. I want the favor of God and His blessing on my home. Any good man does.
So where are you? Men of courage. Where are you fathers? who fear the Lord. It's time to rise up.
And answer the call. God has given you. And to say I will. I will. I will.
Let's pray. Heavenly Father, may every dad, granddad, and great-granddad that are here today. Take the challenge to heart. The chaos, the lies, the destructions, the mayhem that is going on in America. could stop if you would bring revival to our land.
We know we don't deserve revival. Because this country delves deeper into anti-God foolishness each day. Our children's minds are pounded with acceptance of sexual perversion. of the destruction of the Puritan work ethic, and the mocking of Holy Scripture. Heavenly Father, it's time for dads to take a stand.
It is time for dads to quit being effeminate and cowardly and become loving and strong. We deserve judgment. But we need mercy. Open our hearts. Cleanse our souls.
and help us reach our kids. Our grandkids, and our great-grandkids with your gospel. For it is in the holy and precious name of Jesus that we pray. Amen. The blessings of Psalm one twenty eight are.
predicated upon the blessed man fearing The lore. Let's think about that as we respond to the truth we've heard this morning. Stand with me and let's sing together Song of Moses. Uh Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God almighty, just and true are thy ways, thou keep of saints, who shall not fear thee, who shall not fear thee, who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name. And marvelous are thy works, Lord, God almighty, just and true are thy ways, thou king of saints, who shall not fear thee, who shall not fear thee, shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name.
Encourage you to be back with us. Uh Wednesday night. Wednesday night. Jim Lawford is teaching us the Chris Lingrod Yeah. The Enemy Within, and it's just a great, great book.
We're having a great study. a prayer meeting and Bible study Wednesday night. And let me encourage you to be here with us.
Now let me encourage you with these words. For God has highly exalted him. and given him a name that is above every name. That have the name of Jesus. Every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess.
That Jesus Christ is Lord. To the glory of God the Father. And all God's children said. Mm-hmm. Two times just good, I think it's rough to do otherwise.
