Are Fathers Necessary?

Just before Father's Day in 2010, four years ago, the secular humanist's own Atlantic Monthly magazine, there appeared an article. They asked the question, Are fathers necessary? So we ask you today on the eve of Father's Day, are fathers necessary? Historically, Western culture was developed on Christian assumptions and values. One of the most important assumptions was that each human being is made in the image of God, and we are here as a result of divine creation. Not from evolution, as Charles Krauthammer, or many others, might say, even though Krauthammer might share some of his political views, and so many of the world now, it's the so-called intellectual elite believing that we are descended from a lower life. The God-ordained family structure historically was deeply respected and honored in the Western world for centuries. God is the author of male and female. Let's note Genesis 1, verse 25. Genesis 1, verse 25. I'll be turning to these scriptures with you. Genesis 1, verse 25. God made the beast of the earth after his kind and the cattle. God saw that it was good. Verse 26. God said, Let us make men in our image, after our likeness, and let all them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over the earth, and every creeping thing. Verse 27. God created man in his own image, in the image of God created him. Him, male and female, created he them. God is the author of gender, male and female. Then God is the author of marriage. And God is the author of family. God is the author then of father and mother. In Genesis 2, across the page there, in verse 20, Adam gave names to the various beasts and fowl of the air, but no help meat was found for Adam. Verse 21. He caused deep sleep to fall on Adam, took one of his ribs, and he formed woman. He was created using, as the germinal part of it, a rib from Adam. Verse 23. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife. That word cleave, this word cleave in and of itself, doesn't really capture the total meaning.

Won't let her go. Shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. So God is the author of male-female. He's the author of marriage. He's the author of father, mother, husband, wife. For the past 100 years, Christian values have been under constant assault by evolutionists, feminists, homosexuals, mostly under the guise of enlightenment, equal rights, and freedom. Now LGBT rules the day, it seems, and more and more they are being honored and highlighted, and special favors given to them. LGBT stands for L, lesbian, G, gay, B, bisexual, T, transsexual. And all kinds of special things are being now tailored to meet their demands and to give in to what they want. But in reality, all of this is just a mass for the Satanism that is pervading the culture of all nations and peoples. Specifically, women have been conditioned to see the traditional feminine role of wife, mother as oppressive, and they've been conditioned and led to believe that they really need to usurp the masculine role. And to a large degree, the men have been conditioned, on the other hand, to think that the real measure of a man is how many sexual encounters that they can have, and that they are somehow being a real man if they do the things that are not convenient, the things that are condemned in the Bible. And so they have basically abdicated their positions of responsibility as husbands and as fathers. Now, radical Islam, they fall into the other ditch of suppressing women, basically telling them to stay in the house, and if you go out and make sure that you cover yourself with a tent, we're not going to allow you to be educated. We're not going to allow you to enjoy just nominal freedom in this world.

Satan and the occult have sought to destroy the God-ordained family structure from the Garden of Eden to the present day. Satan went after Eve in the Garden of Eden. He deceived Eve. Why does Satan hate fatherhood so much? The plan and purpose of God hinges on the understanding of who God is, what God is, and what is His purpose. As we shall see from the Scripture, who is God?

God is our Creator and His Father. We've already read that He created them male and female. What is God? God is Spirit, John 4.24. And what is God's great purpose? To bring sons and daughters to glory in His family. And of course, the corollary there is human beings who is man, man made in the image of God, with faculties akin to God. He can think, He can reason, He can have hope of eternal life. What is man? Man is made from the dust of the ground and given a physio-chemical existence, and He's subject to sin and death. His purpose? God created human beings because He wanted to share His being, who He is, and what He is with all of humanity.

God is our Father, He is our Creator, and He wants to share His being with humans and bring them into His family. We hear it over and over again. The God-ordained family structure parallels what God is doing spiritually in bringing sons and daughters to glory in His spiritual family. The so-called psychologists, sociologists, intellectuals, journalists can say anything they want about fatherhood, but don't you dare whisper a critical word about LGBT, about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Oh no! They're untouchables now. They are more and more being protected by what is called hate speech. Several people in Europe have been arrested, and some in Canada. It will eventually come to the United States, and probably the kind of sermon that I give here today I could be arrested for in the near future.

That's how far and how fast we are falling. So-called scientific studies are conducted trying to prove that children being reared by homosexual couples are better adjusted, perform better academically, and are happier. That points to the fact that these propaganda lies are published in leading magazines, and it underscores Satan's agenda. But no matter how hard they try to subvert fatherhood, even children who were born from anonymous sperm donors are desperately looking for their fathers.

They want to know who my father is. Where did I come from? What is he like? What do we have in common? Am I anything like him? Apparently, their mother's lesbian partners do not fulfill the father role in their lives. Actually, research shows that if children have to be reared in a single parent home, they are better off with their father than with their mother. The destruction of gender and the family is part of the process of changing Christian assumptions to those inspired by the devil.

Generally, Christian assumptions are based on what is natural and healthy. Satanic assumptions are designed to defy what even nature teaches us. You just look at the birds and the bees, as they say, and nature teaches us some profound lessons. The so-called progressive secularists want to rob 98% of the population, heterosexuals, of the meaning and independence derived from their family roles so they can re-engineer us to serve them and for them to control society.

There's a person making the rounds now on a book tour. Her name is Hillary Clinton. She had quite an interview with several different people, Benghazi being one. Another one gave marriage. She was pretty hard-pressed in her defense. Satanism wants to prove that man is merely an animal and can be slaughtered without compunction. I was watching a documentary the other day on the disappearance of mountain gorillas, but now they are through a conservation program, have increased the population.

They talk about some of the diseases that plague the mountain gorillas, same as those that plague humans, because after all, they share 98% of human DNA. And of course, the assumption would be made. That's where you came from.

Satanism wants to prove that God's way doesn't work. And that's why media is constantly attacking institutions like family and degrading us using sex and obscenity. How far have we come? How far have we fallen? How fast? It's very mind-boggling. Let's try a little exercise. Are whites necessary? Could the world survive with no white people? Well, you know the answer. Are blacks necessary? Are women necessary? Are Asians necessary? Are Jews necessary? Are children necessary? Are writers necessary? Is the Atlantic Monthly magazine necessary?

Is the author of the Atlantic Monthly article necessary? So when you ask it, those questions are not as witty when you change the nouns around. With that backdrop, when you think of your Heavenly Father, what thoughts run through your mind? And when you think of your earthly father or your husband, what do you think of?

The focal point of the Fall Festival season, beginning with trumpets and return of Christ, first resurrection, the binding of Satan and the rule and reign of the saints over the earth, and the second resurrection? God the Father is the one who will deliver us through Christ and His Spirit. Sometimes we tend to forget the role of our Heavenly Father. The Father places all things under Christ and the saints. The Father will give us the kingdom. In nominal Christianity today, the Father is basically a forgotten figure in the background, only occasionally referenced. Look at Luke 12, verse 32.

Who was it that raised Jesus Christ from the dead? Who is it that is going to give us the kingdom? In Luke 12, verse 32.

It is the Father. In Biblical Hebrew and Greek, Father is used in various senses. Or, you could say in various ways, senses is S-E-N-S-E-S, as begetter, as progenitor. Progenitor of a family, or progenitor of an individual, progenitor of a tribe, presented as the Father of a nation. We talked about George Washington being the Father of the nation, as protector, as the head of the household. And it should be a term of deep respect. It is the first word in Strong's Bible Concordance, and it's spelled A-V, and it's pronounced AB. And what is the baby's first mimetic sound? Imitative sound. A-V-A-V-A-V-A, you begin to ku. Here's the Strong's definition. Father, the Hebrew word for Father is AV. It is a mementic or imitative word taken from the first and simplest sounds of infant's lips. The first word of a child, A-V-A-V-A, of course, they don't know what they're saying. And then in the English language, it eventually becomes DA-DA-DA and MA-MA-MA. Listen to this. University of California psychologist Nicholas Christenfeld found that infants tend to resemble their fathers at birth. In a test, he conducted participants pick the correct mom and infant from photographs 30% of the time, but picked the correct dad 50% of the time from the photographs. One hypothesis is that nature encourages paternal investments by having the infant to resemble the father. Eventually, however, the father-infant resemblance is outgrown.

God is love, and from his love flows all things, all good things. Love is the most powerful motivating force in the universe. As a doer, God is first and foremost a Creator, both physical and spiritual, and as a Creator and as a Father. But he, as a Creator, I believe he is foremost a Father. Let's look at Isaiah 63. Isaiah 63 verse 16. Who is God? Isaiah 63. 16. Doubtless you art our Father. Doubtless you art our Father. Doubtless you art our Father. And it's talking in the spiritual sense, because you notice the next words here, which are to some degree an anomaly. Doubtless you art our Father. Though Abraham be ignorant of us, an Israel that is in the flesh acknowledge us not. You, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer. Your name is from everlasting. Who is God? He tells you very clearly there. Look at chapter 64, across the page, verse 8. But now, O eternal, you art our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter, and we are all the work of your hand. Of course, that's in the spiritual sense as well.

Note this, and note it well. Let's go to Ephesians chapter 3. Ephesians chapter 3. To some degree, these two verses here is a summary of what we've just said. Ephesians chapter 3 verse 14. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. See, the Word humbled Himself under the hand of the Father, gave up His glory, was made flesh, that He might pay for the sins of humanity so that we can be reconciled to whom? To the Father. So the Father then would view us as sinless and beget us with His Spirit, the very essence of God. Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. Now, in view of that, here's something that people really don't understand to a large degree. By creation, that is the physical creation where we read in Genesis 1.26 that we are all created from Adam and Eve, male and female created He them. So by creation, all of humanity is called a son or daughter of God, by creation in the physical sense. But, now we go to John 1. But in the spiritual sense, we are the children of God through how? Through a spiritual begettle. Has He begotten every person on the face of the earth with His Spirit? Of course not. Only a very few in the comparative sense. I would estimate, and of course this is just an estimate, there are over 7 billion people on the face of the earth today. I would estimate there are less than 150,000 people in the world who have been begotten by God's Spirit that are alive today. I don't know how accurate that is. I would say it's in the ballpark, as they say. Now, note this in John 1, verse 12.

John 1, verse 12. He gave to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name, which were born not of blood, it's not a physical begettle or birth, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. See, that's how you become a son of God or a daughter of God in the spiritual sense.

The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. This is a very important point here, and a very important distinction. Yes, all of humanity is a son of God by creation. To be a son or daughter of God in the spiritual sense, this is the beginning point. You have to believe God, be called by the Father, repent, exercise faith in the sacrifice of Christ, be baptized, and receive the laying of hands in the Holy Spirit to be a spiritual son or daughter of God. Who is it that begets us with His Spirit? In fact, the world of difference is the great gulf that exists between our physiochemical existence and eternal life. When we pray, as in Matthew 6 and verse 9, the model prayer, the disciples ask Jesus to teach us how to pray. What did Jesus say? Pray after this manner. Our Father who art in heaven, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. There's no deeper, closer, respectful relationship that can exist than Father, Father's son, Father's daughter, Romans 8-15. Romans 8-15 is the Aramaic derivation of the Hebrew av in Romans 15. Romans 8, I don't know what I said, Romans 8 and verse 15. Romans 8 and verse 15, For we have not received the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but we have received the Spirit of sonship. We, O Thessia, sonship, literally the essence of God comes into our being, as we talked about on Pentecost. The essence of our being, we ask, do you think about the essence of God actually dwelling in you? But we have received the Spirit of sonship whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Abba, Father. That's as close of a relationship as you can get in the human sense.

God and Christ are unconditional givers of themselves initially. John 3, 16, which so much of the world can quote in the Western world, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever should believe in him, should not perish but have everlasting life. Now look at Romans 5 and verse 8, back a page or so. In Romans 5, let's start in verse 6. Romans 5, 6.

For when we were yet without strength, when we were in our sins, when the death penalty was on our head, For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die yet per venture for a good man, some would even dare to die. That's in the physical sense. But God commended his love toward us. God the Father commended his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Why? Because God so loved the world. Or further, why is why? Because he wants to share his being with us. Much more now being justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son. Much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. The life essence, the very essence of God dwelling within us.

Look at 1 John 4, verse 10. 1 John 4, verse 10. Herein is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propituation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. See, God made the first step toward us.

So once again we ask the question, when you think of your heavenly or your physical Father, what do you think of? Do you view him negatively? With a sense of guilt because you feel that you never quite measure up? That is when you think of God the Father.

You might think that God is never pleased with you, and thus you don't really feel close to God the Father. You may have thought that same way about your physical Father. Well, Dad was just really never pleased with me. I seem never to be able to please him. See, God does not want us on a perpetual guilt trip. He doesn't want us on a perpetual I'm not worthy trip. He has clearly instructed us on how we can always be in a reconciled position with him. We just read it. You go to God, you confess your sins, He is faithful and just, to forgive us of all unrighteousness. Let's go to Psalm 103. To me, these passages that I'm about to read here, Psalm 103, these passages are among the most comforting in the whole Bible as far as I'm concerned, because it shows us that God realizes He knows what we are. He knows our frame. He knows our weaknesses.

In Psalm 103, verse 8, The eternal is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. Psalm 103, verse 9, He will not always chide, neither will He keep his anger forever. He has not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. You see, if the wages of sin is death, the first time we'd sinned, if He just executed judgment on the spot, we'd be dead. But that's not what He's done. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far as He removed our transgressions from us, I mean, He views us as sinless when we exercise faith in the sacrifice of Christ and repent. Like as a father pities his children. So the eternal pities them that fear Him, for He knows our frame. He remembers that we're dust, and for man his days are as grass as a flower of the field, so he flourishes, for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and the place thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the eternal is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him. You know, you just consider in the span of time, even if you live to be a hundred, how short that is. Is that all there is? Oh no, you can live forever. To such as keep His covenant, and to those that remember His commandments to do them. To some degree, we do view our Heavenly Father as we view our physical Father, or viewed our physical Father, until we learn differently. You know that your physical Father begets you to physical life, but did you discern from Him that He loved you, had your best interests at heart, and taught you how to live your life?

I did from my dad. He wasn't a highly educated person, but He was a person of sincerity, a hard worker, who put His family first, who was willing always to go the extra mile. I knew that if I called on Him any time, day or night, that He would come, if He possibly could. As the old saying goes, He would climb any mountain, He would for it any stream, He would do whatever is necessary. You know, it's like that scripture, if your child asks you for a fish, will you give him a serpent? You know, if we know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more shall the Father give His Spirit to those who ask Him?

God is bringing sons and daughters to glory in His family. So, fatherhood has to do with begetting. There was some point, of course, that you were begotten by your father and your mother's womb. So, fatherhood has to do with begetting, with loving, with nurturing, with teaching and disciplining. God ordained marriage and family so we could see in a concrete way what He's doing on the spiritual plane. The Father's position is absolutely essential to all things spiritual. Let me say that again. The Father's position is absolutely essential to all things spiritual. I'm talking about our Heavenly Father.

Let's look at those briefly here. Look at John 15.26. We talk about the Holy Spirit. Where does the Holy Spirit come from? From whom does it proceed? And John 15.26. But when the comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, where does the Holy Spirit come from? Whom I will send to you from where? From the Father. Even the Spirit of Truth which proceeds from the Father, it shall testify of me.

Back in John 6, verse 44, which I would imagine most could quote, John 6.44, how do we come to the knowledge of the truth? How are we able to understand the truth? It is the Father who draws us. Jesus Christ Himself says here, that no man can come to me except the Father draw him. No man can come to me except the Father which has sent me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day. We look now at James chapter 1, verse 17. The good things that we have in life, where do they come from?

We had a man I remember so well in the Ruston congregation, who occasionally would give the opening and closing prayer, most of the time just closing, and he would say something like this in every prayer, Thank you, Father, that things are as well with us as they are. I mean, some people say, well, I don't think things could get a lot worse. Oh, yes, they can get a lot worse. They can get a lot worse. So thank you that things are as well with us as they are. So we read James 1, verse 17.

Then you look at verse 18.

And of course, John 6, 63 says, You see, it begins, this germinal seed for the first fruits that we talk about on Pentecost, begins with God the Father, begetting us with His Spirit. And of course, if we didn't have that take place, we would never be a part of the first fruits. Note what the Apostle Peter writes in 1 Peter. Go forward a few pages. 1 Peter chapter 1.

Remember, Peter was the one who denied Christ three times. That night when He was betrayed and brought before the high priest and all of that. But then the one who was the bold one on Pentecost and after Pentecost, the one who was told He'd be crucified, that was the way He would get out of this life. 1 Peter 1, 16, because it is written, Be you holy, for I am holy.

And if you call on the Father, if you call on the Father, who without respect of persons, judges according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. For as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, from your vain conduct received by tradition from your earthly fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as a belem without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained, meaning known beforehand before the foundation of the world, before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in these last times for you, who by Him do believe in God, that raised Him from the dead, who raised Christ from the dead, the Father, and gave Him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God, God the Father. Of course, your faith and hope is also in Christ. God intended and commanded that fathers be the head of the wife and children. God intended and commanded that fathers be highly respected. Look at 1 Corinthians 11. Why is the world going the way it's going? Because what I'm talking about here today, the essential part of communicating the way of God and God's government and His structure, was given to the fathers of the land, and because of their failure, in whatever way we want to explain it in the sociological, psychological realm, whatever way, it's still the responsibility of the fathers. Is it too late? As far as the world is concerned, I would say probably it is. Is it too late in the Church of God? You know the Matthew 24? Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall grow cold. What does that really mean? It just means that because of the spirit of the times and the way it is and the total surround, it's going to be very difficult not to cave in. I have seen so many cave in. It is so sad.

It is so sad you could just break out crying. In 1 Corinthians 11, verse 1, Be you followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. Now beseech you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the ordinances I delivered them to you, as I delivered them to you. But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God. That is God's structure. Now he put it in the hierarchical order that it's really in. It is God, it is Christ, it is man, it is woman, it is children. Now in the spiritual realm, of course, God the Father is paramount. Jesus Christ is in subjection to Him. We're to be, all of us, in subjection to Christ in the family structure. The Father is supposed to lead, and we're supposed to be in subjection to Him. The children are supposed to be in subjection to their father and mother. And that is God's structure. That's the only structure that will really work. Oh, you say, well, I know so and so, and they're happy and they're working, and blah, blah, blah, yes. But in the end, what really counts, what about where you're going to be after you die? Where are you going to be when Christ returns and the graves are open? Or where are you going to be if you're alive and Christ returns? Since World War II, and especially with the advent of television, you know, I remember the first time I walked into that Western auto in Laurel, Mississippi, sometime in the 40s, I guess the late 40s. And here was this little bitty screen about yea big and mainly white static. What's that? Oh, that's television! How has television changed the world? How has media changed the world? And by the early 50s, and I was surprised, once again, my parents didn't have a lot, but before I was three years old, they bought a radio. And by the early 50s, somewhere around 52-53, I was watching the Chicago Bears play the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday afternoon on television. Absolutely astounding. So after World War II, with the advent of television, fathers have been characterized as bumbling idiots. To some degree, it started with Dagwood and Blundie. Is it an accident that his name is Dagwood Bumstead, with emphasis on bum?

Fathers are portrayed as somewhat mentally deranged, not able to manage his own affairs, let alone take care of a wife and family. He is viewed somewhat to be pitied, to be tolerated. And really, they're saying, if it were not for the fathers of the world, it would be a great place to live. In about 75 years or less, we've gone from deep respect for fathers to asking the question, Are fathers really necessary in a mass circulation publication? Are fathers necessary? You're led to believe that he's out of touch with the modern world. In fact, we're in the post-modern world, but modern stuff. We're post-modern. He hasn't been enlightened. He just doesn't seem to understand that the world belongs to women and children. Well, did Isaiah prophesy? I know this prophecy is not comforting to a lot of people, but we're supposed to declare the whole counsel of God. In Isaiah 3, verse 12, To a large degree, it is because men have abdicated their God-given role that we read about for the pleasures of the flesh. O my people, they who lead you cause you to err.

If we are able to survive to 2016, who will be the President of the United States? Who will be the leading candidates from the Democratic Party? Who will be the leading candidates from the Republican Party? O my people, they who lead you cause you to err and destroy the way of your paths. The Eternal stands up to plead and judge the people. Of course, Judgment is coming. Judgment is coming upon this nation and Judgment is coming upon the whole world. Fathers are viewed by the so-called Progressives as the last stick in the mud to be overcome, so the world can really move forward into a new age of enlightenment and fun in the sun. Progressive. Progressive.

One dad won a door prize drawing, and he called his five children together and asked them to help decide which one of them should get the prize. So he asked the family, the five children, who is the most obedient? Who never talks back to his mother? Who does everything she says? The five children answered in unison, you do, dad! You get the prize! One senior adult who was celebrating his 50th anniversary was asked the secret of the long marriage. He replied, I learned a long time ago you can be right or you can be happy. David Tansy writes, most dads understand that the best gift they can give their children is to love their mother, but some are slow to catch on. A husband and a wife were attending a marriage seminar dealing with communication, and the instructor asked the husbands, what is your wife's favorite flower?

The well-meaning husband, who wanted to show that he was really turned in on her needs, responded and he leaned over to her and gently stroked her arm and said, it's Pillsbury.

You can be dusted with that one for a while, but so many husbands and fathers are so out of it. So here, once again, we come to the reasons kind of thing, abdication. They're just not with it. They don't really realize what they have been delegated to do. They're so out of it, that no wonder they're viewed by some the way they are. We see a world in which people are running to and fro, wringing their hands, wondering what to do about the behavior that now terrifies the world. Another mass shooting there, a school shooting there almost every week now.

Suicide bombers, and it goes on and on and on. And much of the confusion, the unrest, the lawlessness, the fear and terrorists, stem from the fact that fathers have not and are not fulfilling their roles. Today's terrorists are not just found in Al Qaeda or Al Qaeda. The Taliban, the Hezbollah, they are family members who live next door. Almost every week we hear some father or mother killing their young children. Or the reverse. Ten-year-olds have killed their parents in recent times. I doubt that most of these people had been properly fathered. Some years ago, Dr. Alberto Segal, professor of psychology at Stanford University, wrote in a Stanford Observer, the Stanford Observer, when it comes to rearing children, every society is only 20 years away from barbarianism. He went on to say, 20 years is all we have to accomplish the task of civilizing the infants who are born into our midst each year. The innocent bundles of joy know nothing of our language, our culture, our religion, our values, our customs, or our interpersonal relationships. The infant is totally ignorant about communism, fascism, democracy, civil liberties, respect, decency, honesty, customs, conventions, and manners. The barbarian must be tamed if civilization is to survive. The barbarians are now ruling the house. Our news is now dominated by barbarianism. That's how the news comes on. We have lost it. One comedian noted recently that most crimes of violence occur in the family. Then he stated, so don't lock your doors, he says. You may have to escape in a hurry. The world desperately needs men who will exercise true fatherhood and manhood. As we have seen through the example of God the Father, a physical father's leadership role is, first and foremost, spiritual. And I think we don't really understand it. Of course, you have to provide physically as well. To provide spiritual leadership, you have to be a good communicator. God is so concerned about communicating with us that he sent the Word to communicate His will and His way to us. Just think about that. You look at John 1.17, the Gospel of John, chapter 1, verse 17. We'll chain here in John this communication role. One of the things that, of course, I suppose the greatest weakness of my father was lack of communication. And I'm sure he felt in some ways incapable because he didn't have much education. He could barely read. He could barely write his name. And I'm sure he felt, on the other hand, my mother was valedictorian of her class. And so there was a great gap in that sense. He's not a great communicator. But when he talked, he meant what he said, but not a lot of communication. Whereas God wants us to communicate, and the strong, silent type had been viewed by some as, well, that's really a man. The Clint Eastwoods, or whatever is portrayed in the movies as the great stone-faced, silent types are the ones, those are the real men. No, those are the real weaklings in some ways. In John 1.17, For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. John 1.18, No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. So Jesus Christ came and revealed the Father. You look at John 5, John 5.

In John 5, verse 36, But I have greater witness than that of John, For the works which the Father hath given me to finish, The same works that I do bear witness of me, That the Father hath sent me, And the Father himself which has sent me hath borne witness of me, You have neither heard his voice at any time, Nor seen his shape. But Jesus Christ came and revealed the Father. Now you look at John 15. John 15, what does Christ say about communication and revealing the Father? You know, a lot of husbands, fathers, They maybe don't in the course of a week, maybe say less than 50 words to their children or to their wife.

In John 15, we'll begin in verse 12, This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. How as I have loved you. The Bible describes how Christ loved us. Greater love hath no man than this, That a man lay down his life for his friends. As we'll read in just a moment, communication is viewed as a great sacrifice. You are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants, For the servant knows not what his Lord does, But I have called you friends for all things, For all things that I have heard of my Father, I have made known unto you. He communicated them to us.

Now should we communicate? In Hebrews 13.

Hebrews 13. You know in various studies that they have done with regard to marital difficulties and why people wind up getting divorced.

Ranked among the top three, not necessarily in this order. One is lack of communication. Two is sexual problems. Three, finances. Not necessarily in that exact order, obviously in every case. In Hebrews 13.

Verse 12. Verse 12. Verse 12. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people, Set them apart with his own blood, Suffered without the gate, Let us go therefore unto him, Without the camp, Bearing his reproach. For here we have no continuing city, But we seek one to come. By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice And praise to God continually, That is the fruit of our lips, Giving thanks to his name. So God expects us to communicate with him.

You know, if I go back to my earthly father, I don't remember exactly when. In the early years of my life, We would sit down at the table, And Mother would ask the blessing. Eventually, Daddy began to offer the blessing. He was the same words every time, Probably ten or fifteen, Which you basically could not understand. If he were to be called on, Which he was a couple of times, To give the closing prayer at church, They didn't ask you to come up on the stage, And just wherever you were standing, To give the closing prayer, He would point to my mother, Or I guess he would nudge her. She would give the closing prayer. But he never gave a public prayer like that. By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise To God continually. That is, the fruit of our lips, Giving thanks to his name. But to do good, And to communicate, Forget not. For with such sacrifices, God is well pleased.

Research shows that two of the principal ways Whereby love is perceived is through The spoken word, The great three words, I love you, And by touch. By touch. By physical contact. But perhaps the number one way That love is perceived By children in some stages in their life Is the time spent. How much time do you spend with your children? One person wrote, Dad's know that love is spelled T, small t, T, small t, Small t, Uppercase capital I, M.E. One corporate executive who said his five-year-old daughter Was the most important part of his life Realized that he usually went to work Before she got up in the morning And often returned home After she was in bed at night. So to spend time with her, He took her to the office with him one Saturday. After looking around the office, she said, Daddy, is this where you live? And we know Kat Stevens' haunting song, Cats in the Cradle, Very much aptly describes What an absentee father results in. You know the conclusion, My boy grew up just like me In which, in essence, I was an absentee father And now my boy is an absentee son. There will be a lot of fathers tomorrow Who would love to see their children. But their children, as the saying goes, Will have more important fish to fry. There will be more important things to do. Oh, we'll probably give Dad a call If we think about it. Maybe we have sent him a card. You know, I don't know what it was, but When I was a child, I liked to go to my grandparents' house. My grandfather was pretty much like my dad. If you got a few uggugs out of him in the course of a week, You're doing pretty good. And he was justice of the peace of the county there. Well, the counties were divided into what they call beats.

Annas Ninne, Annas, A-N-A-I-S, Annas Ninne once wrote, quote, Love never dies of a natural death. It dies because we don't know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illnesses and wounds. It dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings. And what I would say, in addition to what's written here, I would say that if love dies, it mainly dies of neglect and taking others for granted. It requires work. It is a choice. So when will fathers ever learn that the most masculine activity in this life is to become spiritually mature? I believe the most spiritually mature words ever uttered. Maybe there's more with Jesus Christ on the stake. And when he prayed to his father, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. I would say the greatest masculine activity in following is to follow Christ's example in all things. For fathers, mothers, husbands, and wives. I would say the second greatest masculine activity is being a husband as God gave commandment. Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it. Sacrificial love. I would say the third greatest masculine activity is fathering our children as God instructed. So let's turn to Ephesians 5. Ephesians 5.

Verse 21. Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. What does that mean? It means that as God has instructed, let us submit to one another.

Now, just because the father, and we've offered this caveat, just because the father is in the leadership role and head of the family, does not mean that you are obligated to do something that is against the law of God, or that you are obligated to be the proverbial doormat, or that you cannot go to your husband as you would go to your neighbor or any other person and say, I don't understand what you're doing. I don't understand what you just said. I don't know why you're behaving the way you're behaving, whatever it might be, so that reconciliation can be sought. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the savior of our body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, let wives be to their own husbands and everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself forth. Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. The sacrificial love. Now we look there at Ephesians 6. Children, obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. But honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.

And fathers, provoke, not your children to wrath, bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. I want to focus on the word nurture. The word nurture. It is pahidia. Pahidia. P-A-I-D-E-I-A. Pahidia.

And here's what the Concordance says. The whole training and education of children, which relates to the cultivation of mind and morals, and employs for this purpose commands and admonitions, reproof and punishment. It also includes the training and care of the body. Whatever in adults also cultivates the inner person by correcting mistakes and curbing passions. Instructions which aim at increasing virtue. Chastisement. Chastening. So God sets the discipline, and He chastens every son He loves. You turn back now to Hebrews 12. What does God the Father do with each one of us? Should we do any less with our children? You know, I have nephews and I have others that I know. They do not believe you should ever spank a child. I mean, it's all by this, and it's amazing, and I watch various people manipulate their children. Even some, well, you know, if you don't do that, the police are going to come get you and lock you up. I mean, there's all kinds of stupid stuff. And they manipulate the child various ways, and they don't spank them. They don't use the kind of nurturing that God says to do. In Hebrews 12 and verse 6, well, let's start in 5. And you have forgotten the exhortations which speak unto you as unto children. My son despises not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked of him, for whom the Lord loves, he chastens and scourges every son whom he receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chastens not? But if you be without chastisement, whereof all our protectors, all of us have made mistakes, all of us have disobeyed, all of us have done things wrong. If there was not some way to bring us back, where would we be? If you be without chastisement, whereof all our protectors, then are you illegitimate and not sons? Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh who corrected us, and we gave them reference. Shall we not much rather be subject to the father of spirits and live? So the example that God has set is that he chastens every son that he loves. We too, in like manner, should do the same. We should nurture all the aspects that I read here relating to the cultivation of mind, morals, the whole training and education of a child. Fathers, bring up your children and nurture an admonition of the Lord.

So as we close here today, with the eve of Father's Day tomorrow, and I hope all of you have a wonderful Father's Day, and that your children, grandchildren, your great-grandchildren, whomever, will be able to make contact with you.

God the Father cares for us in so many different ways. Provenance means looking out for your best interests, years in advance. And fathers do the same thing if they're truly following God. From the time that that child is conceived all the way through, what's the next year going to bring? What are they going to be like here? How can I prepare for their future? What can I do? And it goes on and on. You know the story of the prodigal son. That the father, when the prodigal son turned around, went out, fell on his neck. They embraced each other. They killed a fatted calf. They made Mary. But the father, but the son that stayed at home and who did everything right, he was very upset. Of course, it shows the jealousy that exists even in families. Instead of rejoicing with his father over the return of his brother, he was upset because no one had ever made over him like that. And here's this guy that's wasted all of his father's goods that he gave him. He comes home and look what they do. So there's a lesson for both sides of the street, as they say. But as we have read from Psalm 103, God knows our frame. He's plenty of mercy. And he's there ever to receive us. And so we must be as physical fathers. Fathers must be long suffering, never giving up, and never abdicating and fulfilling their role as loving fathers. One final scripture, Romans 8, verse 14, through 17. Romans 8, verse 14. We'll read through 17. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you not receive the Spirit of bondage again to fear that you, but you have received the Spirit of sonship. Whereby we cry, Abba, Father. And if children then heirs, heirs of God, and join heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together. So I ask you, are fathers necessary?