Fathering

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Introduction

1. Ephesians 6:1-4

2. 1 Kings 2:2

3. Genesis 2:15 – Guide, guard, govern, Prophet, priest, king

Five Things a Father Must Teach His Children

1. The attributes of God.

2. Who Jesus Christ is, what He has done, His promise

3. The nature of man, and his need for a savior

4. The requirements of salvation

5. Reverence for the Word of God

Three Ways a Father Must Love His Children

1. Redemptively, sacrificially, unconditionally

2. Love centers in the will

3. Love must be habitual

Five Things a Father Must Give His Children

1. Acceptance

2. Approval

3. Affection

4. Association

5. Authority

Six Practical Things a Father Can Do for His Children

1. Correct them – Guidance is the rule of correction, and punishment is only the reinforcement of correction.

2. Don’t ignore wrong behavior.

3. Don’t pamper your children.

4. You don’t mold clay when it is dry. Lower their defenses to counsel them.

5. Give your children equal access to you. Give them time.

6. Make learning a joy for your children.

Love Your Children

1. Don’t give gifts that have more value than the love you give them with

2. Don’t give grudgingly

3. Correct them in love

This is a particularly important month because it’s the month that we annually celebrate Father’s Day. I want to talk to you about fathering. I want to talk to you about some very practical matters that deal with us being fathers. And in order to do that, I want to read from the Bible today, so if you’ll just take your Bible and turn with me to Ephesians 6 and let’s just read a few words here:

1Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.

2Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise;

3That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.

And here’s the one I want you to hear:

4And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Now that is a charge that God gives to you and me. It’s interesting in the Bible, when you read about fathers and how they gave charges to their children. King David in the Old Testament, the king of Israel, was a man who dealt in different ways with his children. He dealt differently with Solomon than he did with Adonijah or Absalom or with the others. With Adonijah, the Bible says that he was indulgent with him. He never restrained him at any time, never did discipline him at any time, and as a result of that, Adonijah—the one who rose up and tried to wrest the kingdom from his father, David—was spoiled. He was used to having his own way. With Absalom, because of the way he was, David almost pampered him, and then Absalom, of course, became seditious and tried to steal his father’s kingdom. Solomon, however, was a different matter, and Solomon was the one that inherited David’s throne. David gave him a great legacy, far more than he did his other children. And it’s interesting, too, because the charge that he gave to Solomon is one that he didn’t give to his other children.

And here in I Kings 2:2, it says David said to his son, Solomon:

2I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man;

And what he’s literally saying to his son, Solomon, is, “Grow up and be a man,” or just “Be a man.” That’s what he wanted Solomon to be. The only thing God wants us to be is to be men.

Now, as fathers, however, there are some things that we need to understand, some things that the Bible tells us about, some things that we need to be aware of. So for a moment or two, let me recap for you very briefly some things the Bible teaches:

According to Genesis 2:15, there are three things that every father must do. The father in the home is the Jehovah-Jireh, the “lord who provides.” And the father is to guide, guard, and govern. That means to direct, protect, correct. To nourish, cherish, admonish. To be the prophet, priest, and king. Those are the three things that a father must do.

There are five things that a father must teach his children. The five things that a father must teach his children are:

1. We must teach our children the attributes of God. You and I cannot leave this up to paid professional preachers or to other people. We can’t leave it up to a Sunday school teacher or to a friend or a neighbor. As a father, it is our responsibility to raise our children in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. The first thing we must teach our children are the characteristics or the attributes of God. The very nature of God himself is revealed in His Word.