INTRO.- ILL.- A father and his son were having a conversation one day. The son said, “Dad, here’s my report card and here’s one of your old report cards that I found.”
The father replied, “Well, son you’re right. This old report card of mine you found isn’t any better than yours. I guess the only thing to do is give you what my father gave me.”’
Eph. 6:4 “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” Most people believe that for a father to raise a child in the Lord he must also use some discipline.
ILL.- There was a farmer who sold a mule to another person down the road. He explained carefully: “This old mule is a good mule, but you must be gentle with him, ever so gentle.”
The next day about ten o’clock, the purchaser appeared at the door of the seller, most irate, demanding his money back.
“What’s wrong?” the seller asked. “That mule is sitting in the middle of the barn and will not move. I have been ever so gentle...” “Oh, let me help you.”
They went down to the mule, the seller got a big stick and hit it as hard as he could on its rear. The mule got up. “But I thought you said to be ever so gentle.” “Yes, but first you got to get his attention.”
When children are little you have to first get their attention. And often it doesn’t quit in the toddler stage!
Prov. 13:24 “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.”
When a father loves his children enough to discipline them he will give them other things in life as well. He will provide for them as best he can materially and he will give them his time as well, which may be one of the best things a father can give to his children.
ILL.- In the Diary of Brooks Adams is a note about a special day when he was eight-years-old. He wrote, “went fishing with my father; the most glorious day of my life,” and through the next forty years there were constant references to that day and the influence it had on his life.
Brook’s father was Charles Francis Adams, Abraham Lincoln’s ambassador to Great Britain. He also had a note in his diary about the same day. It simply said, “went fishing with my son: a day wasted.”
That father was dead wrong. Time devoted to your children is never wasted.
ILL.- Dr. James Dobson of FOCUS ON THE FAMILY said one time, “The Western world stands at a great crossroads in its history. It is my opinion that our very survival as a people will depend upon the presence or absence of masculine leadership in millions of homes...I believe, with everything within me, that husbands hold the keys to the preservation of the family.” Fathers are vitally important to the family. And without a heavenly Father where would we be?
Matt. 7:11 “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”
We have a loving, giving Father in heaven. He is far more giving than any of us humans. All we have to do is ask and sometimes He gives even when we don’t ask! What a Father!
PROP.- Our text reveals some of what our heavenly Father gives to us in this life.
1- Hidden wisdom
2- Chosen relationship
3- Comforting Rest
I. HIDDEN WISDOM
Matt. 11:25-26 “At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.”
I’ve got a secret. Well, we all have our own little secrets. These secrets may deal with family matters or something negative that we prefer to keep hush.
ILL.- The Coca Cola syrup is made in only one place; Atlanta, Georgia, in the Coca Cola plant. The formula is not registered with the patent office because the owners didn’t want anyone to know about it. That formula has been kept secret for about 120 years. The formula must be good if people around the world guzzle 705 million drinks a day.
Coke is the world’s most recognized trademark in the World! It is recognized by 94% of the world’s population.
A good thing should not be kept a secret! Someone said that God is like Coke, He’s the real thing! No, He’s better than Coke, HE IS THE REAL THING! And we should not keep silent about Him!
ILL.- I was thrilled to see the Fox network interview Rick Warren author of the PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE on Sunday, 8/20, for an hour. Rick Warren is trying to see what can be done for the poor and diseased people of the world. He said the reason for this is because Jesus did this.
In the interview he was not ashamed of the gospel and pointed people to Christ as the only answer in life! And this is the wisdom of God that must not be hidden!
Matt. 11:25-26 “At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children…”
What is hidden from the wise and the learned? It is the truth of the gospel of Christ, that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world. This truth is hidden from the so-called wise of the world only because they don’t want to know it.
Eph. 3:2-4 “Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ.”
In reading this you will be able to understand. But the problem is people don’t want to read the Book and discover the wisdom and the power of God! But this wisdom has been revealed to little children who seem to understand very well and to those who humble themselves like little children.
ILL.- I graduated from high school in 1962 in a class of approximately 90. My twin sister made it in the top 10 and I graduated. I was somewhere around 50, but I’m now at the top of the class! That is, as far as the Lord is concerned. And you are too. Why? Because the Father has given us to us His wisdom in His gospel and His Word. We are the enlightened people of God!
Ps. 119:99 “I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes.”
We do have more insight that most people in the world. It’s because we know the Lord and it’s because we know His Word. What a Father we have!
II. CHOSEN RELATIONSHIP
Matt. 11:27 "All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
ILL.- I know somebody you don’t know. I know Gerald Ford. It’s true. I know Gerald/Jerry Ford. He’s 69 years old but of course, our former Pres. is 93 years old and not the same Ford. This Gerald Ford is a Southern Baptist preacher in Marion, IL. And he’s a great man of God and I wish you knew him too. It’s kind of nice to know someone whom you consider to be very special.
All of us who claim the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior not only know Him but also His Father. Some people may claim to know the Father, but there’s only one way to know Him and that’s through Christ.
I John 2:22-23 “Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”
Eph. 1:3-5 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.”
Before the world was created God predestined or predetermined that those who would accept His Son Jesus would be His chosen people! WE ARE SPECIAL BECAUSE WE CHOSE CHRIST! We are first class people and citizens because of our faith in Christ.
ILL.- A man named Herman Felton said, “For years I’ve been getting a terrific rotisserie chicken from a nearby restaurant. One night as I placed an order to go, I told the girl behind the counter, ‘I’ll pick it up later. Do you want my name?’ ‘Oh, no,’ she said. ‘I’ve seen you come in here a lot.’ Then she scribbled something on a piece of paper. Feeling flattered, I did my errands. When I grabbed my order, I glanced at her note on the bag: ‘Old man in the pink shirt.’”
Brothers and sisters, you are more to God than just someone in a pink shirt. He knows you! He knows your name, the house where you live, your phone number, your cell number, your likes and dislikes, your goodness and your evil, He knows every hair on your head and even has them numbered! YOU ARE SPECIAL! He knows all about us and yet He still loves us! What a Father we have!
III. COMFORTING REST
Matt. 11:28-30 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
ILL.- A husband and wife were getting ready for bed. The wife was standing in front of a full-length mirror taking a hard look at herself. "You know, dear," she said, "I look in the mirror, and I see an old woman. My face is all wrinkled, my hair is grey, my shoulders are hunched over, I’ve got fat legs, and my arms are all flabby."
She turned to her husband and said, "Tell me something positive to make me feel better about myself."
He thought hard for a moment thinking about it and then said in a soft, thoughtful voice, "Well, there’s nothing wrong with your eyesight." Aging does make a person wrinkled and weary.
ILL.- A man was filling an accident report for his insurance company and wrote, “I had to back out of the driveway and by the time I had backed out far enough to see what was coming, it already had.”
Ever have one of those days? They can make a person very weary and burdened. But the nice thing is this: We have someone very special to lean on and receive help from!
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
II Cor. 1:3-4 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”
ILL.- Dwight Morrow, the father of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, once held a dinner party to which Calvin Coolidge had been invited. After Coolidge left, Morrow told the remaining guests that Coolidge would make a good president. The others disagreed. They felt Coolidge was too quiet, that he lacked color and personality. No one would like him. Anne, then age six, spoke up: "I like him," she said. Then she displayed a finger with a small bandage around it. "He was the only one at the party who asked about my sore finger." "And that’s why he would make a good president," added Morrow.
Brothers and sisters, we just don’t find sympathy everywhere or in every person. But even if it seems that no one cares there is someone who cares.
Heb. 4:15-16 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” I love this text!
Jesus knows all about being weary and burdened since He lived in the flesh. While in Gethsemane He said to His disciples (Matt. 26:38) "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."
Jesus knew all about weariness, therefore, he understands everything that we go through in this life and HE IS NOT WITHOUT COMPASSION OR SYMPATHY. This is why we can lay any burden on Him and He’ll shoulder it with us or He may even take it from us completely. But we have to trust Him to care for us. Someone said, “YOUR PAIN IS IN HIS HEART.” What a Savior we have! What a Father we have!
CONCLUSION-----------------------------
ILL.- Tim Hansel in the book Holy Sweat, wrote, “One day, while my son Zac and I were out in the country, climbing around in some cliffs. I heard a voice from above me yell, ‘Hey Dad! Catch me!’ I turned around to see Zac joyfully jumping off a rock straight at me.
“He had jumped and then yelled ‘Hey Dad!’ I became an instant circus act, catching him. We both fell to the ground. For a moment after I caught him I could hardly talk.
“When I found my voice again I gasped in exasperation: ‘Zac! Can you give me one good reason why you did that???’
“He responded with remarkable calmness: ‘Sure...because you’re my Dad.’ His whole assurance was based in the fact that his father was trustworthy. He could live life to the hilt because I could be trusted.”
Hansel wrote, “Isn’t this even more true for a Christian?”
I am not so sure that we can live life to the hilt, but we can live better than most people because we do have a wonderful, loving Heavenly Father who is with us and on our side no matter what we face in life. What a father we have!
