Who will intercede Part 2

Dr. Michael Youssef with an introduction to today's Leading the Way Audio. In the Old Testament, the priests would offer sacrifices to God on behalf of the people. But before the priestly system was ever established, before the priestly system ever existed, God commissioned the fathers to be the priests of their home. Okay, men, can you think of someone who took the time to teach you what it means to be a man, a husband, or a father?

Some of you may have recalled times with your own dad or brother, maybe an uncle or a trusted family friend. Well, the Bible speaks about a man named Job, a guy who took his role as a man seriously. And even more importantly, he took his role as priest of the home seriously, instilling character into the next generation in his family. Up next, Dr. Youssef draws you in for a closer look at Job.

It's part of his challenging series called Who Will Intercede? For many years during the 1900s, the name of Sam Rayburn spelled out that one of the greatest centers of power in Washington, D.C. Some actually have thought that he was more powerful than some of the presidents who came and gone while he was still the speaker of the House of Representatives. In fact, he served a total of 17 years as the speaker of the House.

But not just any speaker. There was not a single bill that came through Congress that had not received his approval first. He was a powerful man. And yet, he would later look back on his illustrious life of power in Washington, D.C. and would say that none of his experiences had ever rivaled what took place on a railway station in East Texas. This was nondescript place that was far removed from the halls of power in Washington, D.C. And yet, it was on that shabby railway station that this man's life was impacted forever.

Let me tell you the story. On one particular day, in the year 1900, in the midst of wind-swept Texas prairie, Sam's father hitched his buggy and drove his 18-year-old son to town. His boy was going to college and leaving behind a small farm that his father was tilling all his life.

Tiny farm, there were poor people literally living from hand to mouth. And while father and son were standing there on the platform waiting for the train to come, both, of course, were experiencing some emotions that you would never understand unless you've been through it and know what it's like to take your baby and leave them in college. And they stood there on the platform and between them was Sam's suitcase, what really was nothing but a bundle of clothes tied together with a rope. Being men of their generation, there was none of this, I love you son, I'm going to miss you son, or I love you dad, I'm going to miss you dad. No, they stood there in absolute silence.

And the only thing that broke that silence was the noise of the arriving train. And as the train arrived on the platform and Sam was ready to board the train, at that very moment, his father reached down deep in his pocket and he kept reaching deep in his pocket and then he pulled out a fist full of dollars. There were 25 single dollar bills and he stretched them in Sam's hand. Sam Rabin later would account that only God in heaven knows how his father and mother saved that much money. He said that we had no money to spare for anything, in fact, his father made just enough money to keep the family alive. And then Sam Rabin continued, he said, it broke me up handing me 25 dollar bills. And he continued, he said, I have often wondered what did he and mother do without so he can save that much money.

How much they have sacrificed, personal sacrifice. And so with tear filled eyes, Sam began to board the train. Right at that moment, his father reached out and grabbed his hand with both hands and looked him and said only four words. Four words, no more. Sam, be a man.

Sam, be a man. Of course from a human perspective, these are the kinds of moments that can make history. Those are the kind of moments that are life altering. Those are the kind of actions that can impact a man and impact his world.

Those are the kind of material sacrifices that change lives and indeed change destinies. And yet, here we are in the 21st century. We live in a time when the media mocks and ridicules husbands and fathers. While social scientists are concluding that fathers make or break families and therefore they make or break society. At a time when commercials and sitcoms are presenting husbands and fathers as imbeciles and bumbling idiots. While secular psychologists are convinced that fathers can make or break children.

The irony is that what psychologists and social scientists are just discovering now has been in the Bible for thousands of years. Why else would God, when he revealed himself to the world, he came in the person of his son? Because in Bible culture, I want you to hear me right on this one. In Bible times, father and child are intertwined. Father and child are inseparable.

They have unique intimacy. In the Old Testament, the priests would offer sacrifices to God on behalf of the people. But before the priestly system was ever established, before the priestly system ever existed, God commissioned the fathers to be the priests of their home.

And the reason our culture is so adrift today, the reason our culture has lost its mooring, the reason our culture sometimes feels like it's a plant that has been plucked out by its roots is because we have lost sight of the priesthood of the fathers and the husbands. And the Bible gives us a number of roles that a husband and a father are supposed to play, but none of these roles are more important than the role of being the priest of the house. In fact, there are a number of role models in the Bible, but today I'm going to choose Job as a role model of a priesthood in the home. Job took his role as a family priest very, very seriously. He practiced his role as a family priest faithfully. He placed his role as a family priest above all other roles. He valued his role as a family priest. He cherished his priesthood in the family. Job saw his role not just as the material provider of his family, but also the spiritual one. Not just as a physical protector of his family, but also the spiritual one. And not just as a family disciplinarian, but also spiritual one. Job saw his role not just as the head of his household, but also as the family priest.

In fact, most historians would place Job in terms of the time he lived either before Abraham or around the time of Abraham. You say, Michael, what's so big about that? Oh, it's very, very big.

I'm going to show you why. You say, what's that important? Very important. Because it tells us that Job's fatherly priesthood was established well before God had established the priesthood in Israel.

You say, so what is important about that? The priesthood of the husband and the father was above the priesthood of Israel. The priesthood of the husband and the father was prior to the priesthood of the church. The priesthood of the husband and the father was higher than the liturgical priesthood. That God's desire all along for the husband and father to be the priest in his family.

That is why it's important. You see, the priest in the Old Testament was a man who stood between God and the people. He would bring the message of forgiveness from God to the people.

He will take the offer of sacrifice of repentance to God. Job was a righteous man. Job was a highly esteemed man in society. Job was highly respected by his employees. Job was a role model in society. But above all of that, he passionately was the priest of his family.

You say, Michael, how do you know that? Well, Job chapter 1, the first five verses, Job chapter 1, the Word of God tells us that early in the morning, he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of his children. Remember, he had 10 children, seven boys and three girls. And here's what he said as he offered that sacrifice.

Perhaps my children have sinned and curse God in their hearts. And here's the key point. It says this was Job's regular custom. This was Job's regular practice. I want to focus my thoughts in three points. The role of the family priest. In the home, his role is to cultivate commitment to God. Secondly, his role is to cultivate caring for others. And thirdly, he saw his role as to cultivate consistency in his life and modeling for his children.

First, the family priest's role is to cultivate commitment to God. It says he rose early in the morning, meaning that was his very first activity of the day. I want you to think about this.

Think about this. The moment he woke up, his first activity of the day was not to read the Wall Street Journal. Nothing wrong with that. But it wasn't the first activity of the day. It wasn't watching the news.

There's nothing wrong with that. But it wasn't the first thing of the day. It was not checking his emails. It was not checking his cell phone and see if there were messages there. Well, I'm sure he did the equivalent of all that.

Counting camels and counting sheep or whatever they did back then. But he did all of that. But not the first thing in the morning.

Why? Because Job understood that the most urgent need, that the most desperate need, that the most important need, that the most pertinent need was his family's spiritual life. He knew that if he did not cultivate commitment to God in their hearts, that if he did not cultivate depth of relationship with God in their life, he did not prepare them spiritually to walk with God. All the trinkets in the world that he can give them will do them no good.

He understood that. You see, in the Old Testament, the priest offered the sacrifice on behalf of others. In the New Testament, all the believers are priests. We have nobody come between us and God.

They're the priesthood of all believers. And therefore, we are in that privileged position to stand in prayer for others. And the family priest's first responsibility. And the family priest's first call. The family priest's first charge is to intercede daily on behalf of his family.

Is to stand in the gap. Sam Rabin was so impacted by the monetary sacrifice that his parents made. But listen to me, beloved, please listen to me. That is not anywhere near as impactful and important as the sacrifice of praise and prayer and intercession on behalf of the family. Rabin's father sacrificed so that his son may become a real man.

But when you pray and intercede on behalf of your children, you're going to have a real man of God and a real woman of God. Before Job could even think of his business, before he can think of his needs, before he can think of his own challenges that he may be facing at the time, he was interceding on behalf of his family. He was praying. He was sacrificing on behalf of his family. He stood in the gap on behalf of his family.

The second thing is to cultivate caring. Look at verse 2. Job had seven sons and three daughters. And the Bible said that the sons took turn of hosting the entire family. Question.

Question. Where do you think these boys learned to care for one another? How did they know to do that? They were emulating the family priest. They were emulating the family priest. They were emulating dad's compassion.

They were emulating dad's careful cultivation of concern for others. They saw how the family priest was generous, so they became generous. They saw how the family priest was hospitable, so they become hospitable. They saw how the family priest was a leader and therefore they rose up to be leaders. They saw how the family priest was engaged with his family and they became engaged with one another. They saw the family priest welcoming and therefore they become welcoming of one another. They saw the family priest concerned to bring the family in fellowship with one another, so they took turns in building the bonds of relationship between family members. They took turns in breaking down the barriers in the family. They took turns in building up harmony in the family. The family priest cultivates commitment.

He cultivates caring and thirdly, he cultivates consistency. Job did not only take his role as family priest very seriously, but obviously he listened to the family. He inquired of the family. He knew what's going on in their lives.

How else would he specifically pray and intercede for them? And the family saw Job's consistency. He was not one person in public and another person in private. Now my friend, I want you to listen very carefully please. Consistency is not, is not, is not, is not perfection.

That's not what we're talking about. I say, well I'm not perfect. No, you're not perfect and neither am I. Nobody's perfect, that's true. Only one is Jesus Christ. But consistency is different from perfection.

Don't get those two mixed up. But as the children watch the family priest day after day, never getting tired, never getting bored, never getting disinterested in interceding on behalf of his family, they valued consistency. His family saw him as a man who is consistently repenting of his own sins. They saw him consistently asking for forgiveness.

They saw him consistently confessing his sins and they learned consistency. Listen I, I can testify to you of all the challenges that I faced as a dad and all dads, you know the challenges you face and we, and I faced them all with you and ahead of you for those of you who are young dads, I faced all the same challenges. But there was no greater challenge to me. There was the most incredible challenge I've ever faced as a family priest.

Can you guess it? It was not to come across to my children as preaching at them. That was my greatest challenge. Did I succeed 100%?

Absolutely not. My kids know I didn't succeed 100%. I failed many times. So what I did is basically I resorted to the one thing that I knew I can do 100% with 100% success. The one thing I was sure of that I can do with 100% success, namely get on my knees and intercede on behalf of my family.

I want to tell you a story as I conclude that will hopefully make my point and illustrate what I'm trying to say. Paul Moody was a wonderful Presbyterian pastor. He was the son of the famed evangelist, D.L. Moody, of whom the Moody Bible Institute is named and Moody Church in Chicago. And Paul was a wonderful preacher of his own right and he grew up.

But he tells a story and he describes it as, and I'm going to quote, the most memorable event of my life. No, it wasn't the throng of people pressing in to get into the meeting place to hear his famous father. It wasn't some of his father's great preaching. None of that.

No. It was an event that took place, he said, when I was 10 years old. He was lying on his bed and his father there kneeling beside his bed with tears streaming down his rugged face. He was asking his son to forgive him.

What obviously evangelist D.L. Moody did, he punished his son wrongly for something that the son did not do. And he became aware of that. And the moment he became aware of that, he was there kneeling by his son's bed and with tears asking for his son's forgiveness.

Paul would grow up to say, that was the most memorable event of my life. Beloved, being consistent does not mean perfection. I want to repeat it again. Being consistent doesn't mean perfection, but it means knowing how to repent. Knowing how to repent.

Father, the world is telling us exactly 180 degree opposite things from your word. But Lord, we know that the secret of blessing, that the secret of joy, that the secret of peace and life is obedience to your word. And so father, we come in repentance. We turn our hearts to you. We ask for the strength of the Holy Spirit. That we would walk in faith. That we would walk in the spirit.

That we walk in obedience. Above all father, I again lift a single mom. I pray father in the name of Jesus, give them double portion of your blessings.

Give them double strength. Father, let them feel your presence in a way they have never felt it before today. And we thank you that you are a forgiving father. That you are a loving father. You are welcoming father. For that we give you thanks and we give you praise in Jesus name.

Amen. Challenging words from leading the way and Dr. Michael Yusef. Have today's words from Dr. Yusef sparked spiritual questions? And if so, consider speaking with one of Leading the Way's pastors or counselors.

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That's awakeamerica.com. Leading the Way is a listener supported media ministry featuring the teaching of pastor and author, Dr. Michael Yusef. Passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth across six continents in 28 languages. Before we run out of time for today, as an encouragement to our fellow listeners, I would like to invite you to share how God is using this program to encourage you in your walk of faith. You can call our testimony line at 877-941-7934. Now I want to hear all about it and we just might share it on the program that is 877-941-7934. Do it today. Thank you in advance and God bless. This program is furnished by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Yusef.