This is the Truth Network. Welcome to Ignite the Light Ministry's radio and podcast. It is our mission to help listeners develop a deeper relationship with Jesus by sharing what the Bible says and what it means. We aim to encourage and equip you to serve others, share the gospel, and reflect Christ in every aspect of your life. I'm Pastor Wyatt Cudd.
Thank you for tuning in. Fathers and fatherhood. is a very important topic and frankly could not be more relevant to our culture's current situation. Fathers, I don't think you guys get enough love.
So let me level on you this morning. In our current culture, we have this idea that would argue. A woman Can do everything a man can do, and a man can do everything a woman can do. And frankly, trying to distinguish between the two, as nature has so rudely done, is sexist. Yeah.
We're going to fix you first, and then we're going to fix nature. It's always the progression of thought we see. You know, it's wild for all the progress our culture claims to be making. Really, it's the same sin we see all the way back. in the garden.
Adam was made the spiritual head of him and Eve. Eve was deceived, Adam was not, but still eats the fruit. Why? Because Adam Abandoning his God-given role. He's abandoning his position.
and it led to the complete fall of the human race. How's that for progressivism? And what are we seeing in our culture today?
So I want to give you guys some... Statistics. One in four children in America. Live without a father. Yeah.
71% of high school dropouts are from fatherless homes.
Now this is from a 2007 UNICEF Reports. They found that children with uninvolved fathers report feelings of abandonment, a diminished perception of themselves. 85% of imprisoned youth have Absent fathers. Children are more likely to experience problems with promiscuity, teen pregnancy, when the father is not around. There's a correlation between absent fathers and the drug and alcohol abuse in children.
Children without fathers are constantly overrepresented in a wide range of mental health problems: anxiety, depression, suicide. Why is this?
Now, these are all correlations. It's not a one-for-one causation. I want to be clear on that. Why do we see this? Because the role of the father is irreplaceable in a child's life.
Men and women are not interchangeable as our culture demands us to believe. Uh the father's role is fourfold. The love, to lead, to protect, to provide. LLP. Lovely, protect, provide.
When the father's love is not present, we see the statistics. A child's self-perception is diminished. They might develop mental health problems. Why? Because it's the father's role to love their children, and when that's not there, there's a void that is left.
When the father's leadership is not present, children have more difficulty with social adjustment. Uh It's the father's role to provide for his family. When that's absent, the odds of homelessness and poverty go up for the child.
Now, we live in such a world where we have great stability. A woman can very easily go into the marketplace and out-earn her husband. And man, if you got a girl like that, praise God, you got a Proverbs 31 woman right there. Going out there with her vineyard, working it, man, just ride the gravy train, that's all I can say. Biblical role of provider, however, is not simply about the dollar.
It's more important than that. You are providing for your family's spiritual needs. You are providing for their physical, emotional, and mental needs. You are providing for their practical needs. Uh as well.
providing for their safety. You provide a sense of identity, providing direction and vision for the family. It's not just about the dollars. It includes practical provisions as well. This is a father's role, and God will hold you accountable for the status of your family.
When the father's gone, Uh mother is left to be the mother and the father. Mothers do not make good fathers, and when they have to draw their attention away from being a mother, you know, you do the best you can.
So, why do I say all this? Because I want it to be clear for us that the role of father is vitally important. And when the role is left, Um There are great consequences. And as far as I can tell, fatherlessness is directly connected to many of America's social issues. Couple of names.
Uh transgenderism. Guess what? The primary parent that defines the line between men and women is the father. The father is the primary parent that helps the child understand their gender identity if we want to use that language.
Well what about having a culture of weak men? The father is the first example to the child of what strength ought to be. Fathers, be strong and courageous. Your children need to see what that looks like if they hope to be it themselves. What about having a culture of promiscuity and porn is rampant?
We got this that new app, OnlyFans. I guess it's not new anymore. You got OnlyFans that are snatching up our daughters the moment they turn 18, put themselves on display for a bunch of weak men. Five dollars a month. Fathers, you're the first example to your daughters of what they should be looking for in a man.
And you're the one that tells her what she's worth. But you're worth so much more than this. Fathers, be your daughter's first date. I love that song, Cinderella, because it's this. You be your daughter's first date and set that bar as high as you can for the rest of her life.
You will be, you'll show her that this is how somebody ought to love you and demand this from the world, demand this from a partner, and all this degrading ourselves for a buck, it becomes virtually impossible. I am more worth more than this. Because of my dad, I I know I'm worth so much more. A young man. If you're not ready to be a father, If you're not ready to accept this grand responsibility, Keep your hands to yourself.
Keep your hands to yourself. Because if we don't, and we make a child we're not ready to accept responsibility for, we're going to be part of the problem that's happening in our culture. Absent, weak fathers directly connect to every major social issue in America, as far as I can tell. Father, you are the linchpin. and your family holds it together.
And when that comes out, you got broken families. Broken families make up a broken culture. All this to say, happy Father's Day. And I'm saying this because it's so important. I think sometimes we'll take a Father's Day message and turn it towards, well, let's talk about our Heavenly Father.
Well, we don't do that on Mother's Day. Fathers, you need to understand when you're not there, the hole that is left. in our lives. We need you. You are so important to your family.
We need you. Society will trivialize and minimize your role. You'll see on TV the father is made to be this dopey figure in the family. Man, but you are so important.
So let's get into some scripture here. If we want to answer the question, man, well, what does a good father look like? How do I be a good father? Man, we can't take this to our culture, not at this point, because it's obvious to me, America's kind of forgotten. Matt Walsh did this documentary a couple years ago titled What is a Woman?
Just in case you want to tune into the insanity going on in our culture, it's on the Daily Wire platform. I recommend it, it was very entertaining. But Matt Walsh, he asks these professors, these gender psychologists, these gender-affirming surgeons and politicians the simple question. What is a woman? The most consistent answer he got: well, a woman is someone who identifies as A woman.
He's like, well wait a minute. They identify as as what? That's what I'm asking. What is this thing? It's like, well, a woman is somebody who identifies as a woman.
It's like, well, let's define what a woman is. What is it? And all I could give is this circular definition. They really don't know, because if you define a woman as an adult human female, this ideology that men and women are interchangeable, it just falls apart. And if they don't know what a woman is, they certainly don't know what a man is.
And if we don't know what a man is, how do we know what a father is?
So when we ask the question, what is a father? How should a man, a father, look? What does it mean to be a good father? We can't take it to our culture. They don't know it.
We have to go to scripture.
So we're going to be today in Matthew chapter 2. Chapter one. Uh starting at verse 18 through 21. Matthew chapter 1, 18 to 21. We are going to be looking at Jesus' earthly father, Joseph.
I'm going to just do a full read-through just so we get a picture of what we're looking at, and we're going to talk about it. Matthew chapter 1, starting here at verse 18. This is how the birth of Jesus The Messiah came about. His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph. But before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.
Because Joseph, her husband, was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace. He had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the LORD appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife. because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
So she will give birth to a son. And you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel, which means God with us. Chapter verse 24, when Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord said, what had commanded him, and took Mary home as his wife.
But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son, and he gave him the name Jesus. Joseph. Uh So there's a couple things we can derive from this guy, Joseph, this figure. First off, The situation Joseph is put in with the birth of Jesus It is one of a kind. Uh Mary Pledged to be married to Joseph, and then through Immaculate Conception, she became pregnant with Jesus.
Now we're looking somewhere between verse 18 and 19 here. There's a good little period of time. Joseph finds out Mary is pregnant. We presume maybe they had a conversation about it, about some of what happened. You know, let's say Mary and Joseph.
Mary's like, hey, honey, you know I love you. You know I'd do anything for you. There's nothing more that I want than to marry you, but. Yeah. I'm pregnant, Joseph.
An angel showed up to me and said, I would give birth to a Messiah. He would rule over the people of Jacob forever. Imagine you're Joseph. Hearing this. And the woman you're about to marry, she's like, Not only am I pregnant, But, like, an angel of the Lord told me I'm giving birth to a messiah.
Are you going to be like.
Sounds great, babe. Can you either like move or sit down? You're blocking the TV. Is that how we're gonna respond? No, no, you're gonna be like, you have got to be kidding me.
What are you talking about? You went and you got pregnant with somebody else's kid right before we get married? Do you have an ounce of respect for me at all? How could you do this to me, Mary? On top of that, you think I'm stupid?
Like, you're lying to me that an angel of the Lord got you pregnant. Are you kidding? It's not even a good line. You sound like you sound nuts and you sound like you think I'm stupid. That doesn't happen.
And if it did, Why would it happen to you? I imagine there would have been a wild conversation before the angel of the Lord appears to Joseph. It sounds like something you'd see on one of those trashy sitcoms that I definitely don't watch every Friday night at 6 p.m. You know? But I gotta say, I actually really like.
Joseph was not about to put up with this. He was going to divorce, he was going to do it quietly, but he was going to divorce her. Which brings me to my first point. Joseph hit a backbone. He was a real man.
And he demanded respect. We see verse 19: he had in mind to divorce her. We get the sense that. You know, this was his plan. Up until if we limit our understanding of the story to what Joseph knows.
My fiancé has been unfaithful to me. She's gone out, gotten herself into all kinds of trouble.
Now, not only is my fiancé done this, but now she is lying about it. Uh That's what Joseph knows between verses 18 to 19.
Now God doesn't leave Joseph hanging by any means. But this is what we know about Joseph, um Joseph, what Joseph knew before he was about to make this decision. Um Joseph isn't a pushover. He isn't going to be disrespected. Joseph can see the writing on the wall, and he's not going to lie to himself, pretend everything is okay.
This is not my child. And that's why I say Joseph is a real man. He's got a spine.
Now we see verse 19. the method Joseph was going to divorce Mary with. It says, Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, And yet, he did not want to expose her to public disgrace. He had in mind to divorce her. quietly.
So he Had a spine. I'm not going to be disrespected. He was a real man. But he was also a righteous man. The NIV says faithful to the law, but the Greek uses the word diakos, righteous.
Joseph was a righteous man.
So, verse 19, from Joseph's perspective, he had been deeply wronged. He knows the law, and he's not going to be pushed over, but he also knows the culture he's in and the consequences that are going to follow for Mary. He knows: man, if I make a public display out of this, they might stone her. I have been wronged. But I can't do that to her.
So we do have the law, Deuteronomy 22, 22 through 24. If a man is caught sleeping with another man's wife, or if a man sleeps with a woman pledged to be married, Uh there there are grave consequences.
Now This is to convey the seriousness Of sexual immorality. But while God is perfectly just and will not tolerate sin, He is also forgiving. He is loving. He is compassionate. We have the story in John 8.
Of the Pharisees bringing a woman before Jesus, caught in adultery. And they say, This woman's been caught in adultery.
Now, in the law, Moses commands her to stone this such woman. What say you, Jesus? And Jesus says, Let him who is without sin be the first to throw a stone. Nobody throws a stone. They all walk away.
Because Though we look at the law, And the consec the wages of sin is death, as we put it. God is compassionate. God is forgiving. God is just.
So we go back to Mary and Joseph. Mary, from Joseph's perspective, Angel has not come yet. From Joseph's perspective, Mary seems guilty of a similar sin. Joseph being a righteous man, not only does he know the law, he knows God's heart for us. Even though I've been disrespected, I'm going to treat this with a soft hand.
Joseph was a real man. Joseph was a righteous man.
Okay.
Now, that word righteous means to aim up, to aim towards God. Righteousness is a bent towards godliness. I am aiming towards God. It's the exact opposite of iniquity. Iniquity is: I am aiming away from God, I am aiming down into the dirt.
Um Now the word itself, righteousness, does not denote perfection. We don't have to be perfect to be aiming up. Abraham believed in God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. And we know full well, Abraham was not perfect. Fathers You don't have to be perfect.
Just keep aiming up. Aim towards God. Keep striving to be the best version of yourself you can possibly muster. You ask yourself: if I was the best version of myself, what would I look like? and then you aim towards that.
You will fall, you will make mistakes. It's okay, we all do, but never stop aiming. towards God. and your righteousness will spill over into the lives. of others to their great delight.
Joseph was a righteous man.
All right, so we've been in verse 18 to 19. Uh before the angel of the Lord comes, let's go to verse 20 now. Joseph is hit with this hard situation. He's not going to be pushed around in the situation, but he is righteous. He's faithful to God, and he plans to allow Mary to leave quietly.
He's treating this with a soft hand. From Joseph's perspective, I think he's done everything right up until this point. But we have the whole story. We know Mary is telling the truth.
So what happens next? Joseph receives a word from the Lord. Verse 20. But after he had considered this, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. It's a beautiful thing we see about God here in our trials, in our tribulations, in our hard times.
God does not leave us hanging. We get the sense it's not long enough. Uh after uh it it's not long after um Joseph's consideration: do I divorce her or do I not? It's not long after this consideration, God speaks to him. God is with us in our trials.
Now Joseph takes this And he course corrects accordingly. Verse 24, the moment he wakes up, He does what the angel of the Lord commanded him to do. He takes Mary home as his wife. He's got new information, he course corrects. Happy Father's Day, Joseph.
Joseph is a real man, he's a righteous man, and then this is the third point. He receives a word from the Lord. Fathers You are the spiritual head of your family. How are you going to fulfill that role if you don't receive a word? From the board.
God's anointed us, you, I'm not a father, God's anointed you to this position. It's a big responsibility. How will your family be spiritually led? if you are not being spiritually fed. How will your family be spiritually led if you are not being spiritually fed?
Joseph receives a word from the Lord. as does a good father.
So it's especially important we go and we meet with God. Show up to meet with the Lord. Pray for wisdom. Pray for insight. And then get real quiet.
And listen. God gave us two ears. And one mouth. For a reason. You gotta listen.
I know some people that walk around like they got five mouths and like half an ear. You guys know them people? Man, shut up. Yeah. This is not my therapy session, so.
Yeah. So this is half of it. We show up and we listen. Then the second half is when God speaks to us. Act on it.
Now, if God speaks to us and we don't listen, we fail to course correct, then we've messed up.
Now, God, if we listen and you really ask God, like, what do I do here? He might call you, he might give you a course. And it's got some risks. It's got some. Oh, I gotta be courageous in order to engage with this.
Do not be afraid. If God gives you a direction that it looks scary, if you've received a word from the Lord, following God is the safest place you can be. Chase it. Chase it. Now you might think, man, I'm not equipped for this.
I don't have what it takes. I'm not good enough, God. I don't think I'm strong enough. God I don't know if I'm smart enough for this, God. I don't know if I'm brave enough to do this, God.
But God has picked You. And fathers. We need you. We need you. Joshua 1.9, Be strong and courageous.
Do not tremble or be dismayed. Why? Because the Lord your God is with you. We can be strong because God is with us. We do not do this.
Alone. Just keep showing up, and sometimes spiritual leadership is hey. Anything good you see in me, it's because of Jesus. Is because he grabbed a hold of me when I was in a mess. You see my shortcomings?
I'm a fallen, broken person. I can't save you. Look at Jesus. Jesus can save you. I'm not perfect, but you know who is?
Jesus is perfect.
Sometimes spiritual leadership is as simple as that. Don't look at me. Anything good you see in me is from him. Anything that you see shortcomings in me, look to him. I can't save you, Jesus can.
Now I want to touch on one last thing. Congregation, we gotta love our fathers. When we're children, we still have deep spiritual needs, even as adults. We have deep spiritual needs as children, and we look to our father. We look to our dad to play a bigger role than he can, a bigger role that only God can.
Now, our fathers can say, Don't look at me, look at Jesus. Let me teach you about him, let me lead you to him. But man, it's on the king to listen. Fathers, as your children are growing up, they will mistakenly look to you to fill that deep spiritual need in them. And you're not going to have it in you to do that.
You're not designed for that, and it's not. Your fault. It's not your fault. It's not a shortcoming when it's done right. It's part of your child's journey to knowing their heavenly Father.
Hey there, I hope this sermon has enriched your day. If you like this message, I want to personally invite you to join us for Sunday worship. We have two locations in Virginia, Trinity Methodist Church in Concord and Mount Comfort Methodist Church in Appomattox. Come join us Sunday morning at 9.45 and we will help you get connected. As always, I'm Pastor Wyatt Hudd.
Thank you for tuning in.
