THE GOD OF OUR FATHERS AND THE GOD OF THE FATHERLESS AND THE GOD OF OUR FAITH
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OUTLINE
A. THE GOD OF OUR FATHERS
B. THE GOD OF THE FATHERLESS
C. THE GOD OF OUR FAITH
THE MESSAGE
THE GOD OF OUR FATHERS AND THE GOD OF THE FATHERLESS AND THE GOD OF OUR FAITH
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A. THE GOD OF OUR FATHERS
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The God we serve is a God is who is faithful from generation to generation. He is the God of Abraham , Isaac and Jacob. He will be with us as we was with our fathers. He will fulfill the promise that He made to our fathers. He will deliver us just as He delivered our fathers. We must cry out to the God of our fathers and rely on Him in order to prevail over our enemies.He will bless us even more than He blessed our fathers and when we obey His commandments He will delight in us just as He delighted in our fathers. He chose us because He loved our fathers and if we are faithful to Him He will bless our children and descendants.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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EXODUS 3:6-8
Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.
So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
1 KINGS 8:57-58
May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our fathers; may he never leave us nor forsake us.
May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep the commands, decrees and regulations he gave our fathers.
LUKE 1:68-75
"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David
(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us—
to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
PSALM 22:4-5
In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.
They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.
DEUTERONOMY 26:7-9
Then we cried out to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression.
So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders.
He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey;
2 CHRONICLES 13:18
The men of Israel were subdued on that occasion, and the men of Judah were victorious because they relied on the LORD, the God of their fathers.
DEUTERONOMY 30: 5, 8-10
He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers.
You will again obey the LORD and follow all his commands I am giving you today.
Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers,
if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
DEUTERONOMY 4:37-40
Because he loved your forefathers and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength,
to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today.
Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.
Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the LORD your God gives you for all time.
B. THE GOD OF THE FATHERLESS
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The God we serve is a God who is a father to the fatherless. He defends the fatherless and the widow. The spirituality that is acceptable to God is to care for the fatherless and the widows. The Lord will protect the fatherless and show compassion on them. He asks the widows to trust in Him. He will not the forget the fatherless . He is their helper. The Lord warns those who afflict the fatherless and widows because it will arouse His anger and bring destruction on them.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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DEUTERONOMY 10:15-18
Yet the LORD set his affection on your forefathers and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations, as it is today.
Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer.
For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.
He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.
PSALM 68:5
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.
JAMES 1:27
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
JEREMIAH 49:11
Leave your orphans; I will protect their lives. Your widows too can trust in me."
HOSEA 14:3
Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount war-horses. We will never again say ’Our gods’ to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion."
PSALM 10:12-18
Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God. Do not forget the helpless.
Why does the wicked man revile God? Why does he say to himself, "He won’t call me to account"?
But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand.The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.
Break the arm of the wicked and evil man; call him to account for his wickedness that would not be found out.
The LORD is King for ever and ever; the nations will perish from his land.
You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,
defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.
PSALM 82:1-4
God presides in the great assembly; he gives judgment among the "gods":
"How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
ISAIAH 1:17
learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
PROVERBS 23:10-11
Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
for their Defender is strong; he will take up their case against you.
EXODUS 22:22-24
"Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan.
If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry.
My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless.
ISAIAH 10:1-3
Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees,
to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.
What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches?
MALACHI 3:5
"So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me," says the LORD Almighty.
C. THE GOD OF OUR FAITH
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The God we serve is a God of our faith. He is our firm foundation in times of trial and tribulation. When we give our lives into the hands of God, He will take control of our life and destiny. He will rule over our live and His plan for our lives will be fulfilled . All things will work together for good in our lives when we love God and are called according to His purpose. Then every situation we face in our life will be under God’s control. Our life cannot be controlled by our enemies or by the devil. Joseph in the Old Testament experienced this in his life . All his brothers hated him and did evil to him. But Joseph realised that they could only do what God had already planned for his life. Jesus experienced this in his life. All the evil that His enemies and the rulers did to Him was already planned by God for his life. God is sovereign and no one can destroy His plan for our lives when we are surrendered to Him. Even our worst enemies can only do what the Lord had already planned for our lives . The Lord will keep everything under His control and will make everything work together for good. He is the firm foundation of our faith as we give our lives into His hands.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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MATTHEW 6:10
your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
ROMANS 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
GENESIS 50:19-20
But Joseph said to them, "Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God?
You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
GENESIS 45:4-8
Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Come close to me." When they had done so, he said, "I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt!
And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.
For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping.
But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
"So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.
JOHN 19:10-11
"Do you refuse to speak to me?" Pilate said. "Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?"
Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin."
ACTS 4:24-28
When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.
You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:" ’Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.
Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.
They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.
JOB 42:2
"I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.
ISAIAH 14: 24, 27
The LORD Almighty has sworn, "Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.
For the LORD Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?
LAMENTATIONS 3:35-37
to deny a man his rights before the Most High,
to deprive a man of justice— would not the Lord see such things?
Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it?
PROVERBS 16:33
The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.
PROVERBS 19:21
Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.
PROVERBS 21:30-31
There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD.
The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD.
JOB 5:8-16
"But if it were I, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him.
He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.
He bestows rain on the earth; he sends water upon the countryside.
The lowly he sets on high,and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success.
He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away.
Darkness comes upon them in the daytime; at noon they grope as in the night.
He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth; he saves them from the clutches of the powerful.
So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.
JEREMIAH 20:11-13
But the LORD is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonor will never be forgotten.
O LORD Almighty, you who examine the righteous and probe the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.
Sing to the LORD! Give praise to the LORD! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked.
PSALM 21:11
Though they plot evil against you and devise wicked schemes, they cannot succeed;
ISAIAH 54:17
no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me," declares the LORD.
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