Gen. 17:15 The Marks of a Godly Father
Intro: Today is a special day of the year, set aside to honor someone special in each of our lives.., our fathers….
Today, I want to talk to you about one of the great fathers in the Bible – Abraham. His name means "father of a multitude". He is the first in a long line of several great "fathers". He is the first great Patriarch of ancient Israel.
Isa. 41:8 "But thou, Israel, [art] my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend."
Jas 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
Prop. We need Godly father’s in the home.
What are the marks of a godly father?
I. A godly father will be a believer (Gen . 15:1-7).
A. Believe in spite of upbringing
Abraham didn’t grow up in a "Christian nation"
Abraham grew up in Ur of Chaldees (modern day Iraq).
It was a part of the pagan, Idolatrous nation of Babylon.
Abraham didn’t grow up in "Christian Home."
Joshua 24:2 "And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, [even] Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods."
He didn’t have the advantages of having a Christian dad & mom or siblings...
Dads, we need to be careful not to make excuses for our not having a godly home.
Most all of us have had far more advantages that Abraham did….
B. Believe in spite of hardships
When Abraham took his nephew Lot and moved to the land of Canaan it was populated with Canaanites…. This was a war hardened group of people. When Abraham settled in this area, it was an act of faith that God would someday give this land to him and his descendants. It was a hard land in a hard time, but Abraham believed God.
He went through times of famine….
Two times he went down to Egypt due to severe famine….
C. Believe in spite of human limitations
He was about 75 years old when God first told him he would have a son. His wife Sarah
was childless (Gen. 11:30; 17:15-19).
II. A godly father will teach & guide his children (Gen. 18:19).
A. A father should teach his family to live in complete obedience to God.
"keep the way of the Lord" = the idea of exercising great care
over, to perform carefully, to give careful heed to God’s way. This is not only an
external obedience, but is also obeying and keeping God’s way in the heart (Prov.
4:21).
In the Hebrew this is in the Qal Perfect which speaks of the certainty of the event
in the mind of the speaker. In God’s mind there is no doubt. Because He "knew"
Abraham, Abraham would lead his family and his family would live according to
His ways. In God’s mind it was a done deal. It will happen.
Fathers – can God say it is a done deal with you? Will you lead your family and live according to God’s ways?
It is interesting to note that Abraham really took his relationship with God seriously.
Abraham gave tithes to Melchisdeck.
Abraham offered sacrifices to God.
Abraham prayed to God – over and over "called on the name of the Lord".
Fathers – you are the leader in your home. You are responsible for the spiritual tone in your family, you need to ensure your family is worshipping God on a regular basis…
Fathers – for you to teach your family God’s ways, means you need to know them…
B. A father should teach his family to live right before others.
To live in accordance to God’s ways involves doing "justice and judgment".
This phrase expresses your relationship with others. When a person is "keeping
the way to the Lord" his relationships and his behavior will be affected. He will
live a righteous, moral, ethical life. He will see the equality of all, rich or poor,
before the law and treat others equally.
It is the same old story -- we are not saved by our works -- but our works are an indication that we are right before God.
It is interesting to not how Abraham interacted with other people.
I am talking with those in and outside of his family.
It doesn’t seem to matter who we look at, Abraham was above reproach.
Lot – he let him choose land first
King Abimelech – Abraham didn’t fight over water rights, swore to treat fairly.
Fathers—your family, kids, others see how you deal with others.
Do you demand your rights? take advantage of others?
III. A godly father will be brave (Gen. 14).
Four kings fought against the city of Sodom and surrounding cities.
They captured Lot, Abraham’s nephew…
Abraham armed his servants and went a rescued Lot…
Abraham willing risked his own life to protect those that he loved.
A dad has to do things like kill bugs, kill bees, go out in the middle of the night and investigate a strange noise….
Men, we need to take a stand for right and protect those that we love. It is doubtful that our lives are at risk, but people may make fun of us or ridicule us in so manner for taking a stand for right to protect our family and our loved ones….
Take a stand – decide where to go or not go
decide what to watch or not to watch…
IV. A godly father will be patient
God made three promises to Abraham.
- a country
- a posterity, his descendents would become as the stars of heaven…
- a blessing would come through him to all the families of the earth….
It was many years from the time that these promises were made until Abraham had a son.
As mentioned earlier, Abraham was @75 when God first made those promises to him.
Fifteen years later, at age 90 God reaffirmed those promises to Abraham (Gen. 17:24).
Finally, when Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90, God gave them a son, Isaac (Gen. 21:1-6).
That took 25 years for God’s promise of a son to be fulfilled.
Abraham never did get to see the his descendents become "as the stars of heaven…"
Abraham was patient… when he got impatient that is when he got into trouble (Ishmael).
F.B. Meyer wrote the following:
"God has His set times. It is not for us to know them. Indeed, we cannot know them. We must wait for them. If God had told Abraham in Haran that he must wait all those years until he pressed the promised child to his bosom, his heart would have failed him. So in gracious love, the length of the weary years was hidden. And only as they were nearly spent and there were only a few more months to wait, God told him, according to the time of life, "Sarah shall have a son."
If God told you on the front end how long you would wait to find the fulfillment of your desire or pleasure or dream, you’d lose heart. You’d grow weary in well doing. So would I. But He doesn’t. He just says, "Wait. I keep My word. I’m in not hurry. In the process of time I’m developing you to be ready for the promise."
F.B. Meyer, Abraham (Tale of Tardy Ox Cart, p.428).
Read the story Spurgeon told of young missionary candidate… (Tale of Tardy Ox Cart, p. 428-429).
God can us a father that is patient.
Impatience is a dangerous thing.
I wonder how many testimonies and lives have been ruined by impatient fathers?
Conclusion: We see Abraham, father of Isaac and father of the Hebrews.
We need more godly fathers like Abraham:
We need fathers that:
1. Are true & faithful believers in God.
2. teach & guide their families.
3. Are brave and do the right things.
4. Are patiently trusting God to fulfill all of His promises.
