The Marks Of A Godly Father

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.