Alright, happy Father's Day to the fathers. I hope you've been spoiled today or this morning,
or maybe later on for lunch or dinner, hopefully. It's always a wonderful time to remember fathers,
I think it's so important. And you know, you know how much I value family and I value fatherhood,
I praise God that has allowed me to have 12 children. Each one of those are special to us,
they're all a blessing. Being a father is not easy, you're the leader of your household,
you're the head of the wife, and you know, you've got to instruct your children. And
when we look at Matthew chapter five, look at how it just ends there in verse 48.
Be therefore perfect, even as your father, which is in heaven is perfect. And so when I think about
fathers, I often think about God, our Father, God, our Heavenly Father. And the Bible tells
me that God the Father is perfect. And the standard by which we are to live is by that
same standard of perfection. And that's a very hard standard to live. And I know that is a
standard that we are all to live by. But of course, the word perfect here does not mean
sinless. Because that is a very difficult milestone to reach, we will not become we will
not be sinless until we go to heaven to be with our Lord. Because we still battle with the flesh
every single day of our lives. But of course, the word perfect means complete, entire, whole,
we are missing any essential elements of our Christian walk. And so what I wanted to do to
this morning is to think of God the Father, and set him as the example that we as fathers are all
to follow, but also wants to also give some instruction to our children, how we are to
glorify our fathers, because here it says in Matthew 516, look at Matthew 516.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father,
which is in heaven. Title of the sermon, as I said, is glorify your Father, glorify
your Father. Now, of course, we're talking about God the Father here. But the reason we have
Father's Day is to glorify fathers, to uphold fatherhood. And one way that we can glorify
our Heavenly Father is to do our good works, right? As we learn the Bible, as we absorb his word,
as we increase in holiness, and we be more like his beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ,
we are glorifying our Father by our good works. Well, when I think about our earthly children,
and today's Father's Day, we ought to glorify our fathers, how can we honor and glorify our fathers
with good works as well in the same manner, we should glorify and of course, you know,
any godly father or mother is, you know, as children are growing, instructing our children
in to do what is right to do that which is well, that is well pleased in that which is good,
and not to do wickedness, not to commit sins. And children, one sure way to glorify your
fathers today, and to glorify your fathers every day of your life is to do what is right,
to do what is good. You know, as fathers, when we see our children doing what is right and well,
it gives us a lot of joy, doesn't it? And when we see our children do that which is wicked,
it gives us a lot of sadness and sorrow. And so you know, this Father's Day, make it your
effort children to do that which is right and glorify your father. And we ought to not just
glorify earthly fathers, we're also thinking about how we ought to glorify, of course, our
Heavenly Father. If we just get the context of verse number 16, let's look at verse number 14
from there, Matthew 5-14. It says, Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill
cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick,
and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. And so we're talking about being light,
we are the light of the world. Then it continues verse number 16. Let your light so shine before
men that they may see your good works. So what is the light that we are to shine our good works?
We are the light of the world as Christians, we ought to be Christ like, we ought to live like
Christ, we ought to show the light of Christ in this dark world. And when we do that, and we stand
out, and people in the darkness see us that we're different, we're of the light and not of the
darkness. The Bible tells me this glorifies our Father in heaven. And so as I said, title of the
sermon this morning is glorify your Father. And I'm using a bit of a play on words here. Yes,
I want to glorify our Heavenly Father, but children, I want you to think about how you
can glorify your earthly fathers today. So follow the instructions that they've given you. You know,
children, if you've not told your father's Happy Father's Day, tell him, glorify him, honor him for
his role that he has in your life. Say, my father doesn't live here. I don't know. Well,
give him a call. Send him an email, right? Give him a call. That's much better than sending an
email, right? Give him a call, right? If you get a hold of your father, even though you may say,
well, my father's not really there in my life. He's not, you know, he's not been the best father.
Yeah, but he's a father that you've been given. And if you can reach out to him and just honor
his office, you know, he might find it a bit unusual. Why is this a strange child calling
me up on Father's Day to glorify and honor me? And who knows that might open his heart for you
to explain, well, I come to glorify my Heavenly Father. And as I glorify my Heavenly Father,
I'm doing my good works. I'm shining the light that I am, and I am to glorify my earthly father
as well as a result of that. So that may open the door for your earthly father who might be
estranged, who may not be even a believer, might not be as Christian to come to know the Lord God
as his savior. If we drop down in the same chapter there in Matthew 5 43, it says, ye have heard that
it had been said, thou shall love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you,
love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you and pray for them,
which despitefully use you and persecute you. If shining a light in this dark world is to do
good works, what's another way we can glorify the Father? By doing good to our enemies. Wow,
that's always a hard one, isn't it? It continues, this is why verse number 45,
that ye may be the children of your father, which is in heaven. For he maketh his son to shine on
the evil and on the good and send of rain on the just and on the unjust. Well, we want to
glorify our father, we want to be known as the children of the heavenly father, we are to do good
to our enemies, not just to love your neighbor, but to do good to your enemies. You know, children,
I'm talking to the earthly children here, one thing that's going to give your earthly fathers
a lot of joy is to see how you conduct yourself in your character. You know, yes, to do good to
your neighbor, to think of others, to be sacrificial, not to be selfish, but to be
selfless. But also children, you know, as much as mom and dad will try to prevent you from being
getting involved in arguments and, and fights and conflicts, that is the reality of the world
that happens. Okay, but you know what's going to give your parents a lot of joy? When they see you
doing your best toward your enemy, when you're trying to do good toward your enemy, when you
reach out to those that are causing you conflicts and arguments, and you still show them love,
and you still do them good. You know, that demonstrates to your parents that you have
great character, that you've learned these skills and qualities that are very unknown to man,
usually very unknown to man. It's very natural to hate your enemy. It's very natural to do wrong
to those that have done wrong to you. But one thing that will give great joy to your fathers
is to do good to your enemies. Show good character about yourself. Dust yourself off,
pick yourself up. All right, and continue doing that which is right, regardless of what everyone
else in this dark world is doing. It says in verse number 46, for if you love them which love you,
what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same? And if you salute your brethren only,
what do ye more than others? Do not even the publican so? Be therefore perfect,
well-rounded, all right, even as your father which is in heaven is perfect.
So there's the command. We are to be perfect. One way to be perfect is to love our enemies.
If you're lacking in this area of life, you're not being perfect like your father in heaven is
perfect, and you're not glorifying the father in this area of your life. But I want you to notice
that. You say, well, what benefit is there? It's so hard to love and to do good unto my enemies.
But verse number 46 says, if you love them which love you, what reward have ye? You know,
God's going to give you heavenly rewards for doing good to your enemies. That's worth it,
brethren. Rewards in heaven, you know, they last for all eternity. Like I said, the title of the
sermon this morning is glorify your father, though that is not so much the emphasis of my sermon.
It's only my introduction. You know, I often look at the attributes of God the Father,
because he is the best father of all, and he makes no mistakes, and I make plenty of mistakes.
Dads, you too, right? Which dad never makes a mistake? Okay, good. All right. We're on the
same page, right? And so it's good to look at a father that never makes mistakes. And that's,
of course, the only one is the Heavenly Father. And so he ought to be our example of how we ought
to be fathers to our children, to those that God has put us under. And so I really, for the study
this morning, I've looked at the references of God where it says, the father of God, the father,
the father of father of what? And what does that mean? And how can I be a little bit more like my
Heavenly Father, if I compare my life to the attributes that I read about him in the Word.
So we're going to turn away from Matthew five, and come with me to Ephesians chapter one,
come with me to Ephesians chapter one, please.
Ephesians chapter one. Now, if you're not sure what it means to glorify or to give glory,
it means to honour with great praise, distinction or admiration. To honour with great praise,
distinction or admiration. That's the point of Father's Day, to honour fathers with praise,
distinction and admiration. Children, do you admire your father? You say pastor,
you don't get it. My dad makes mistakes and he's got cracks and he's got problems. Yeah,
so does every father on this earth. But it's a father that God has given you. And this is
your chance to honour him, at least for playing a role in giving you life. I mean, being your
biological father, at the very least, he's done that for you. He's given you life. Well, let's
talk about the father of glory here in Ephesians 117. Ephesians 117 says that the God of our Lord,
Jesus Christ, the father of glory, the father of glory, we know we are to glorify our father.
But you know, our father, our heavenly father also bestows glory upon us. In fact, we're about
to read what that glory is. Now, he is a father of glory in that he's glorious in of himself.
But he doesn't retain that glory. He wants to pass it on to others.
You say, well, how does he show his glory toward us? Well, it says here, may give you the spirit
of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. One way that God bestows his glory upon
us as his children is to give us a spirit of wisdom and the revelation of knowledge of him.
So as we are saved, and we've trusted Christ as our Savior, and now we're trying to live
that Christian life, what God is trying to do in our lives is to pass on wisdom to pass on
knowledge. It was the last week that I preached on to be wise as serpents. I've already covered
that topic a little bit. But one way that God bestows his glory upon us is to pass on wisdom
to pass on knowledge. Now earthly fathers, you know, that is your responsibility to your
children to pass on what you've learned. You know, we've lived, I'm 40, I'm in my 40s,
I've lived some 40 years of life. I've got 40 years of experience. I've got 40 years of
knowledge. I've got 40 years of growth. I've got 40 years of making mistakes and trying to fix
them. And instead of waiting for my kids to have the same knowledge after they're 40 years old,
hey, you know what, I can bestow that upon them right now. That gives glory, that passes some
glory that I have onto the children that God has given me. Fathers, are you teaching your children
how to live their lives? You know, how to choose between what is good and what is evil? Are you
showing them the right way to live their lives with great wisdom and knowledge and knowledge of
him, knowledge of our Heavenly Father? Are we teaching them great truths of the Bible?
Are we introducing them to the God of the universe?
It continues in verse 18, not just the wisdom and knowledge. It says, verse 18,
the eyes of your understanding being enlightened. God gives us a greater understanding. He opens
our eyes to the wisdom and knowledge found in his word. Look at this, that you may know
what is the hope of his calling and look at this, and what the riches of the glory
of his inheritance in the saints. So let's break that down a little bit there, that you may know
the hope of his calling. You know, according to God, we have a calling. We have a purpose.
Okay, we're created with purpose and a plan. God wants to work in us so we can be more like Christ.
God is equipping us so we can give him glory in return with all the knowledge and understanding
that he's given us, the great wisdom that he's given us. And the end result of that is
what it said at the end of verse 18, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance
in the saints. You see, as saints, God has an inheritance for us. And this is a glory that he
wants to give to his children, to his saints. And so as we live lives, and again, you say,
look, sometimes when we try to do what is good, and it's very hard to do what is good sometimes,
to choose the right way rather than the wrong way. Sometimes your mind says, why not just give
into the wrong way once in a while? I mean, everyone else in the world seems to get by
and they're okay doing that, which is wrong. So why can't I just do a little bit, dabble a little
bit in what is wrong? The reason is because God's got a great inheritance lined up for us in heaven,
a great glory lined up that is going to be found in us as we work out the wisdom and knowledge that
God has instructed with us. He's going to pass on that inheritance. The Bible tells us that we're
joint heirs with Christ. I mean, that is glorious. That's amazing that God will give everything
that, but that's what an inheritance is, right? If I were to pass away, whatever earthly possessions
I have is going to be bestowed upon my children. Okay. But here's the thing, like I've got 12 kids,
so therefore my poor kids are only going to get a 12th or whatever there is. But here's the thing
with the inheritance that our heavenly father gives us, we're joint heirs. We get a hundred
percent of what Jesus Christ gets given. A hundred percent of the inheritance that Christ receives
from his heavenly father, we receive that because we're joint heirs with, not separate heirs,
joint heirs with Christ Jesus. And this is a great glory. So we ought to be living for what?
We ought to be living for heaven. We ought to be living for eternity. We ought to have a spiritual
mindset of the lives that we live rather than just chasing carnal goods and carnal possessions.
So father, the challenge there is that you are father of glory as well. Do you pass on what you
have to your children? I'm not talking about earthly possessions here. I'm talking about
the experiences, the great truths of God's word, what you've learned in life. You know,
have you taught your children how to avoid making the mistakes that we all have made?
Does that mean our children never make mistakes? Of course they will because they're sinful
creatures like anybody else. But we ought to be passing that knowledge, that wisdom,
that understanding and lightening the eyes of our children so they may know greater truths
of God's word. It continues in verse number 19. And what is the exceeding greatness of his power,
to us who believe according to the working of his mighty power.
So I want you to remember this, that it's the working of God's mighty power
that gives us the wisdom by which we are to live by as we look forward to the inheritance that we
have for us in heaven. And the reason I want to talk about that is because it's God's power
that gives the ability to work for him. Okay. We teach this a lot, right? We're not depending
on our own strength, our own flesh, because we are so limited. You know, if we're going to
serve the Lord the way we ought to, we know that it comes from his power, his ability to
enable us to do something great for him. When I think about that, I think about my responsibility
as an earthly father, to make sure my, especially my sons, as they continue to grow, is that they
would have a direction in life. That I would help them explore the options that are out there,
that we can look at their own personality and their own passions and their own strengths
and weaknesses and determine, hey son, you know, this might be a good course to study.
This might be a good job to get yourself into. You know, this might be one way for you to walk
in your future to make sure you can provide for yourself and have a good job to take care
of family. And that one day you too can be a father of a great example.
So, you know, fathers, we have a lot of responsibilities to teach and to guide,
direct our children, to give them the power, the ability, the know-how to further themselves and
do something great for themselves in their lives. I'm talking both spiritually and also the needs
to one day find a wife, get married and be a father of themselves. All of these things
are like, we see the father of glory passes this on to us.
And so we ought to be equipping our children as well.
If you can come with me to Psalm, come with me to Psalm 68. Psalm 68, please, Psalm 68. I've got
five qualities of God the father. And the first one we looked at was that he is the father of
glory. He's the father of glory. Now we're turning to Psalm 68 and verse number four,
Psalm 68 and verse number four,
Psalm 68 and verse number four. The Bible reads, sing unto God, sing praises to his name,
extol him that write up upon the heavens by his name Jah and rejoice before him.
Look at verse number five, a father of the fatherless, a father of the fatherless. Our God
is a father of the fatherless and a judge of the widows is God in his holy habitation.
Verse number six says, he set off the solitary in families. He bringeth out those which are bound
with chains, but the rebellious dwell in a dry land, a father of the father. I love this quality
about our Lord God. Of course, the first application of this is a potential orphan,
right? Someone who may not have parents or someone who may not have a father, maybe their father has
passed away, or maybe they've got a father that they've never met in their lives, right?
And you know, it's very well researched, very well documented that when a child is born or
lives a life without a father, that they're more likely to end up in poverty, they're more likely
to end up being drug addicted, they're more likely to have their own broken homes, and they're even
more likely to end up in prison. Children that grow up without fathers. I'm not saying they all
do. It's just well documented that they're more likely to get themselves into a bad place in their
lives without directions of their father. That's a really sad place to be. You know, I'm thankful
that I was born in a Christian home and I got a great father. Love him very much. And I'm very
thankful that I'm still around for my children, that the Lord has preserved my life, that my
children are not fatherless, and that I can be an influence in their lives. But some people don't
have that privilege. Some people, like I said, did not know their father, maybe their father
has passed away, maybe they're an orphan, maybe they're a bastard child, right? A mother and
father never got married and they don't even know who their father is. But what I love about this
wonderful truth is that our Father, our God the Father is a father of the fatherless. So truly,
every person here ought to be able to celebrate Father's Day. Even if it's not an earthly father,
you have the Father, the Heavenly Father of the fatherless. And if you haven't got an earthly
father, say Happy Father's Day to say it to our Heavenly Father. Say it to our Lord God Almighty,
Happy Father's Day. Thank you for being a father to the fatherless. That's, of course,
the first application, you know, an orphan, a bastard child, something along those lines.
But we can take this and apply this in other ways, because it says in verse number six,
God set up the solitary in families. You know, God wants us to operate with families.
He doesn't want us to be alone. He doesn't want us to be solitary. You know that? Like, you know,
when God created Adam, he said, it's not good for a man to be alone. Say Medivh, God wants us to
operate as families. You know, it's my heart desire that my children would be in our family
until they're ready to start their own families. You know, it's not good to be solitary.
But, you know, we see the example here that God is always looking out for those that are alone
and is trying to find them a family to get plugged into. Now, there are many ways
that this can be done. For example, maybe there's a widowed mother, you know, and she's got children.
The Lord God may very well lead that widowed mother to find another man, a stepfather for
the children, something like that. You know, that is definitely a blessing of the Lord.
You know, it could be that that child maybe did not have a great house.
Maybe they grew up in a broken home. Maybe they don't really have a good relationship with a
father or their mother. And God may allow that child to find the perfect spouse for their life,
to get married into and be part of a family. And, you know, one of the sad realities is if
you grow up in a broken home, it's very likely that your home will also be broken. But you know
what, with our Heavenly Father helping us, equipping us, passing on his glory and his
wisdom and his knowledge, okay, being a father can be learned by God's Word. Being a father
can be learned by examining God the Father and following the same qualities and characteristics
that he has. And even a fatherless person can be a great father if they follow the example of God
their Father. God can answer this in many, many different ways. You know, a fatherless child,
like I said, could just get married themselves and start a new family. But also the spiritual
application, of course, is the moment that you make Jesus Christ your Savior, you were born as
a child of God and now Heavenly Father becomes your father. And of course, amongst believers,
amongst the church this morning, we have brothers and sisters. Isn't that what we call each other?
Brothers and sisters in the Lord, not physically, but spiritually. This is a family. This is a
church family. And all other brothers that we might meet along the way in our journey of life.
That's a family that God has put us into. You might be the only saved person in your household.
And it is a sad thing when you realize that the rest of my family are not saved. But you know
what, God's given you a spiritual family. God's given you a church to get plugged into and feel
like, hey, I belong somewhere. People love me, people care about me. That's what a family is
supposed to be. And that's what New Life Baptist Church is supposed to be,
a place that we can find a family. So our Lord God is a father of the fatherless as well.
Can you come with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 1?
So our Heavenly Father is the Father of glory. He's also a father of the fatherless.
2 Corinthians chapter 1, this is probably my favorite out of all of them. Okay. Verse number 3.
2 Corinthians chapter 1, verse number 3. The Bible reads,
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies,
and the God of all comfort. I love that. The Father of mercies. The reason that's my favorite
is because I need his mercy. I need God's mercy. Oh boy, I need his mercy. Because I, you know,
man, as much as I've been trying to live that Christian life and following his commandments,
still messing up. You too. Did you know that? You too. And man, I'm so thankful that our gods
just wipe us out as soon as we do wrong. I'm so glad that he's slow to anger. I'm so glad that
he's a father of mercy, mercy. If you don't know what mercy really means, it means to be,
it's compassionate forbearance of an offender, compassionate forbearance of an offender.
It means we offend our father. And he doesn't, he's not so quick to judge us immediately.
He gives us time to repent. He gives us time to get things right. And he does that out of
compassion. He forebears. He puts up with us. Okay. Cause he knows what we are. He knows that
we make mistakes. We offend. And so when I think about the Lord God as a father of mercy, I need
to also consider that as a father, guess what? My children are going to offend. My children are
going to break the rules in the house. And there's nothing wrong with chastisement. There's nothing
wrong with correction. There's nothing wrong with a bit of a sharp rebuke. There's nothing wrong
with the right of correction. If that needs to come out, but one sure. And look, if you're not
doing that, you'll miss an important part of fatherhood, but there's also the need to have
mercy, the need to show compassion, the need to forbear, to put up with and understand that your
children are going to mess up sometimes, just like you've messed up toward God. And he has
shown you mercy so many, so many times. A father of mercy. So what I also love about that, and you
can see the father of mercy is, and then it says, and the God of all comfort. So not only does he
forbear, not only does he put up with us, but he also comforts us. Okay. And he's saying in what,
in what sense? Well, if you continue in verse four, who comfort of us in all our tribulation,
that's all our troubles, that we may be able to comfort them, which are in any trouble,
by the comfort where we've, we ourselves are comforted of God. I don't know how God is
teaching us. He's directing us. The reason God gives us comforts says here, during our tribulations
is so we can comfort others when they go through tribulation. We pass on the comfort that God's
given us when we've had hardships. And then when we see a brother or sister in the Lord,
having a hard time, we come alongside them and say, you know what? Reach out to God. He's a God
of comfort. He's a God of mercy. He has shown me mercy. He has shown me comfort. Let me show you
some comfort. Let me show you some mercy as well through the difficulties that you're going through.
Tribulations. You know, as, as, as people that commit sin, as people that do wrong,
many times tribulations just self-owned. Like we've done wrong and we've just ripped what we
sold. It's just come back to us in a certain way. And, you know, one thing that I've had to learn
as a father, and I, and I'm not trying to say that I'm, I'm perfect at this, at this stage,
is that understanding the difference when a child has done wrong,
and maybe they're a bit rebellious about it. Maybe they're digging their heels in
and being argumentative or talking back or refusing to admit they're wrong.
And that's a time to rebuke. That is a time to, to, uh, you know, bring that rod of correction
if needed and, and, uh, to chastise. You know, that, that is a time to do such an action. But
there are times that a child will misbehave, will do wrong, and they suffer the consequences
for their mistake. For example, you might tell a little child, you know, don't touch the stove.
Right? Don't touch the kettle. It's hot. And the little child goes, all right, you know,
and goes and touches the stove, touches the kettle or something like that, and they get burnt. Okay.
They suffer tribulation. They suffer pain. You know, I've learned that's not the time to rebuke
them. That's a time to show their mercy. They've already learned their lesson with the pain that
they've brought upon themselves. Now you can softly correct, of course, but usually at that
point in time when the little child is running and they've got some damage that they've done
to themselves because they didn't listen to mum and dad, that's a time to show mercy and comfort,
obviously. Comfort and let's heal that wound. Right? Let's fix the problem. And so that's
generally how I try to be one or the other. You know, if, if there is need for sharp rebuke,
I'll do it. But if I feel that my child has learned their lesson, they've suffered their
own anguish by the mistakes they've made, or they're humble enough to come to dad and say,
dad, I messed up before I find out, right. They, you know, first to admit their mistake before I
have to call it out, then I, you know, I want to be that father of mercy. I want to be like my
heavenly father because I, man, I'm sure there are times that probably needed the rod and he showed
me compassion instead. He showed me mercy instead. He showed me comfort instead. And look,
I'm not saying that if you show the rebuke, if you need to rebuke and the rod of correction,
all that, I'm not saying that's void of mercy and comfort. No, bring that and then give them
the comfort, give them the compassion, show them the love and let's move on from that. Right?
We've learned the mistake. We've learned the, the, um, we've learned the lesson, right? We
fixed the mistake. Now let's move on with it. Let's forget about it. Let's get on with it.
Don't worry about the rest of what's happened in the past. Let's rejoice. Let's show mercy. Let's
show compassion. You know, we see two sides of God. We know that he can be very sharp.
We know that he can be very wrathful. We know that he's angry at the wicked every day,
but we also know the qualities of his mercy and compassion and comfort. And as fathers,
we need to learn that we can't just be all one way and then all the other way. Just,
just mercy all the time. Just mercy, mercy, mercy. Your children aren't going to learn anything
or just rebuke, rebuke, rebuke, rebuke. Your children are going to hate you.
Okay. They're going to grow up rebellious. You need the mix of both of these qualities.
And so our heavenly father is known as the, the father of mercies, the father of mercies.
If we continue in that verse, actually, let's keep reading a little bit there and
Saint Corinthians chapter one, let's continue reading verse number five.
It says, for as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounded by Christ.
And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual
in the enduring of the same sufferings, which we also suffer, or whether we be comforted,
it is for your consolation and salvation. Just very quickly, quick summary of that.
The Bible is saying here that whatever we suffer, like if we suffer greatly,
then we're going to receive a great amount of mercy and comfort in return.
Okay. God will always make sure it's balanced. You know, you know, cause we all have different
levels of sufferings. We all have different, we've made different mistakes in life. You know,
sometimes by our own sins, sometimes we've suffered tribulation simply for standing for Christ,
just simply for being righteous. Well, our Heavenly Father makes sure that whatever
comfort and consolation is needed, it's measured to the same amount of suffering
and persecution that you've suffered. That's how Heavenly Father has got the right balance
all the time. You know, some people might say, well, you don't understand pastor,
you've grown up in a Christian home. I've had a worse life. I've suffered much more than you.
Yeah, you may have suffered much more, but then you also have the blessing of the greater comforts
you've suffered more, but you've also been comforted more by our Heavenly Father.
He knows the exact measure that is needed for your life to show you mercy, to show you comfort.
So that's our Father, our Father of mercies. Can you come with me to Hebrews chapter 12,
Hebrews chapter 12 and verse number nine.
He's the father of glory. He's the father of the fatherless and he's the father of mercies.
Well, in Hebrews chapter 12, verse number nine, and this kind of continues the same thought a
little bit with what we read there in second Corinthians, but in Hebrews 12, nine, it says,
furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh, which corrected us. Yep, that's the right thing
for fathers to correct their children. And we gave them reverence and we gave them mercy.
And in reference, shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the father of spirits and live.
So our father, our Heavenly Father was also known as what? The father of spirits,
a father of spirits and live. Now I'll just be honest with you guys when I used to read this,
just because you know, when we read the Bible, we're not always focused and fully, you know,
learning every single sentence or every single point of a verse, but I used to just read about
that. I used to read the father of spirits and be like, Oh, okay, what does that mean? I guess
he's the father of the angels, even though I know our Heavenly Father is not a father of the angels.
But I used to just kind of read that and go, oh, it's father of the spirit. I guess that's
talking about angels or something like that. And it's funny how you can kind of hold a view
on a, on a verse, but not actually believe it. So I don't know if it's just like a misunderstanding
that I've developed over the years. I don't know if it's just a sermon that I've heard that kind
of got stuck in my head and I just kind of viewed that verse in that way. But I'll show you in a
moment, you know, obviously being a father of spirits is definitely not talking about angels,
but it's talking about the spirits of men. And it is particular, of course, the spirits of
saved men, because an unsaved man has a dead spirit within them. They're spiritually dead.
Someone that has not trusted Christ as a savior is spiritually dead. But the moment you put your
trust on Christ alone, okay, his sacrifice alone, his death, burial, resurrection, his payment for
sin, and you don't trust your works, your own abilities to be saved, you're trusting Christ alone,
you're made a child of the father, the Bible says, we're born again, we're born of the spirits.
And the dead spirit that we once had is revived. And we now have a living spirit. And so when he
refers to as the father of spirits, as we continue to see, it's speaking of the spirit of man.
And that's why it says in verse number 10, for they verily for they, that's the earthly fathers,
for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but he for our profit that we might
be partakers of his holiness. Now, no chastening of the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous,
nevertheless, afterward, due to the peaceful fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised
thereby. We know in order for us to bring forth the fruit of righteousness in our lives,
in order for us to be, to be partakers of his holiness, you know, we've all the other
Bible that we know, we know that we cannot achieve that as we walk in the flesh. We can only do that
by walking in the spirits by walking in the new man, which is that born against spirit that God
has given us. And so in light of this, when it says the father of spirits, of course,
he's talking about the father of that new man born again, born of God, you know, that spiritual
life that we have within us that belongs to the father, okay, that is what makes us children of
God. If you can come with me to Romans 8, please come with me to Romans 8, Romans 8. So like I said,
the fourth reference or the fourth quality that we see of God is that he is the father of spirits.
And we know that means, of course, the father of saved men. And so when I take this and say,
how do we relate to that then as an earthly father? Well, with the children that God has
given us, we understand that there's going to come a time, okay, when they're going to find
themselves to be sinners before God, you know, they're going to start comprehending what Jesus
Christ has done on the cross. They're going to start understanding that there's an eternity
of hellfire for those that reject Christ, or an eternity of heaven for those that have trusted
Christ as their savior. And so for us fathers, for us parents, we need to, of course, teach our
children the wonderful gospel message, you know, to bring them into being born again of the spirits,
that not only would we have, not only would our children have us as their father, they would have
God the father as their father. I like that, I like that they, my children have God the father
as their father. Because as the children grow up, and they become teenagers, you know, they start
to notice, they start to notice the defects of the dad. I tell my daughters that, you know,
you got you got a fat, ugly old dad. And they're like, no, Dad, you're handsome, and skinny,
and young. My daughters, they think I'm like, you know, the best in the world. But don't worry,
my daughters will be teenagers soon. And they'll start to realize all the issues that I have. And
my dad's not that wonderful. After all, that's not that perfect. After all, my dad is a bit of
a hypocrite. After all, they're gonna start to notice the defects. But at that point,
I would have expected them to have known God as their father. And instead of putting their earthly
father as a standard, now the standard becomes the Heavenly Father, the perfect father. And the
one that we're all looking to. And we can definitely say, well, Lord, I've got a lot to grow
a lot to become more like Christ and become more as a father as my Heavenly Father is.
So that the takeaway from this, our Father is the Father of spirits. And fathers, we need to teach
our children the wonderful gospel message. You know, I've never I just, I've never forced my kids
to believe in Christ. It's never been something, kids, you got to do this. Just growing up in a
Christian home, even before I was a pastor, just growing up in a Christian home, going to church,
hearing us talk, you know, they start to at some point go, I want to be sure I'm going to heaven
too. You know, and some of my little, you know, some of the kids have gone to their siblings,
older siblings, what must I do to be saved, pretty much. And the older kids have tired of telling
because they were young themselves. And they're like, you know, you better talk to mum and dad.
And, you know, praise God for the times that my wife and I have been able to give the gospel.
You know, getting anybody saved is amazing. Going door to door and seeing someone saved is amazing.
Going to Fiji is amazing, Philippines, seeing salvation in different places in the world is
amazing. But it's more precious when your own kids call upon their Lord. It's just,
it's so beautiful. You know, and now you have spiritual children, not only are your children
now, if they're saved, that's your brother or sister in the Lord. We're now part of a
spiritual family together, not just an earthly family. So I've just found that, and again,
it depends from four to probably seven, that's been the age of my kids when they've been
inquisitive. And they've, what do I have to do? You know, and again, different levels of
understanding, different personalities, at different ages, they've come to know Christ as
their Saviour. But our Father is the Father of spirits. You're there in Romans 8 and verse 15,
Romans 8 15, for ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear.
So we did have the spirit of bondage, okay, but we've not received that again. You know,
the moment you die, you know, you die spiritually, you know, you're a lost sinner without Jesus as
your Saviour, you're in bondage. And Christ has freed us from that bondage. He says here,
but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father, Abba means Father.
We can go to God and call him Father, how beautiful. You know, what else I learned
about this is that our children ought to be able to come to Dad and say, Abba, Father,
Abba, when our kids have a need, you know, they ought not to be embarrassed or afraid.
And dads, we need to be open, we need to let our children know they can come to us.
And sometimes they don't come to us because they probably think the chastisement is going to come.
I tell my kids right now, if you come to me before any wrong, I'm going to be open and I'm going to
be merciful. Because I want to see that self reflection. Man, I've done wrong, I better tell
Dad. I need some help, I better go ask Dad. There's something I need, I need to go ask Dad.
Dad, that's what we're here for, to provide for our families, right? To do good unto them.
Well, we can go to our Heavenly Father, we can cry Abba, Father. It says in verse 16,
the Spirit, that's the Holy Spirit, itself bear witness with our spirit, that living spirit that
we now have, right? Father of spirits, it says here, that we are the children of God.
We are the children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,
if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.
Wow, God's going to glorify us together with His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ,
in heaven in eternity, we can cry to Abba, Father. We don't have to wait for eternity,
we don't have to wait for the inheritance at this point in time,
we can cry to Him right now, Abba, Father. And what's good about our Heavenly Father,
He knows what we need before we even ask of Him. He's waiting for us to go and ask.
Why don't you ask? You know, God's like, I know what you need, why don't you ask?
And for some stubborn, prideful reason, we refuse to ask many times. I don't really understand that.
The nature of man, we're kind of weird sometimes, right? But then I think about myself as a father,
and I think, my kids, why don't you ask? You know, that's my role as a dad to love and to care
and to provide for my children. So I hope we can learn some great lessons here.
And we've got one more reference. Let's go to James chapter one. Let's go to James chapter one,
please. So we've seen that our Heavenly Father is the Father of glory. He's a father of the
fatherless. He's the father of mercies. He's the father of spirits. And now we're going to turn to
verse number three. Actually, let's read verse number 17. James 1 17 says,
every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the father of lights,
with whom is no variableness near the shadow of turning. The final reference that I have,
the fifth reference of our Heavenly Father is that he's the father of lights. He's the father
of lights. What does that mean, the father of light? We kind of come full circle with what we
started with. We saw in Matthew 5 16, when the reading was, let your light so shine before men,
that we are the lights of the world. Well, that makes sense. If we're the light of the world,
that's because our father is the father of lights, the father of lights.
So what do we learn about our father of lights? It continues with whom is no variableness
near the shadow of turning. Our Lord God is not like,
he's not like a gray area, a shadow of turning, like is not shadowy. He's always on show.
Our Lord God is always transparent. He's always clear. His judgments are always clear in the
Bible. He's a God of what is right. He's a God of righteousness. He's a father of lights. He's
not a father of darkness. You know, when God created the heavens and the earth, the first
thing he created was lights. And the reason he created a light was to separate light from
darkness. So if our Lord God is the father of lights, he's definitely not a father of darkness,
is he? He's lights. And that's why we are the light of this world, because we have our father
of lights. And what I want you to notice about the lights, because, you know, when God created
light, he said that it is good, right? Every day that he created something, he said that it is
good. And so when we understand what does that mean, the father of lights? Well,
that's why verse 17, let's look at it again. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.
You know, when God gives us something, when he gives us gifts, it's always good and it's always
perfect. Always good light. It's not harmful to us. It's not darkness. Okay. He's a good God,
a father of lights, and he makes sure whatever he gives to us is for our good. It's a perfect gift
that comes from above. Now, parents, we need to also understand that we as fathers, especially
today, Father's Day, we also give gifts to our kids. We also not just give them rewards when
they do right, but give them gifts. You know, the sure gifts that we always give our children,
of course, is the very basic things, food, clothing, house. Okay. These are things that
they don't work for. But every now and again, you know, their birthdays, we give them some gifts.
All right. We might take them out and have some a good time here or there, and we'll make sure
we pay for it. There are times my kids go out and they spend their money and I'm like,
how much did you spend? And they tell me, I'm like, okay, I'll send, I'll reimburse you. Here
you go. I want that to be a gift from me. And we ought to be given as fathers. But you know,
one mistake that we make, you know, at least in Western society, is that we can spoil our children
with too many gifts, or gifts that are not good for them. Spoilt children, you know, you go to
the supermarket and you hear some little kid screaming because they want this object or they
want the packet of chips or they want the chocolate. And mum says no, and they're yelling
and they're throwing a tantrum on the floor. It's because you've given them dark gifts. Let's put
that way. You've not been a father of lights. You spoil your children. They don't appreciate
even the most basic gifts that you give them. Our father is wonderful. He always makes sure
that the gifts he gives us will not spoil us. They're not harmful for us. He's our father of
lights. Let's get a bit of context in verse number 13. James 1 13, let no man say when he is tempted,
I am tempted of God for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempted be any man.
You know, if we do evil, if we do harm, if we do wickedness, we can't turn around and say,
well, God, you made me do that. Isn't that what the Calvinists believe? That even the wickedness
and the sins you commit, that was already pre-programmed by God before you were even born.
Truly Calvinists believe that. Not only they believe that God wants you to do what is right,
but even the wrong, the evil, the sin that you do, God wanted you to do that as well.
No, no. God cannot tempt us with evil. Okay. He's a father of lights. The gifts what he gives us
is good and perfect. Verse number 14, but every man is tempted when he is drawn away
of his own lust, not the father's lust, our own lust and entice and when lust have conceived,
it bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Do not err my beloved brethren. Don't make a mistake and think God made you do that error.
God made you sin. Don't err. Don't be an error in this area. That's why he says
every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. Hey, God gives us good things.
Brethren, our families are a good gift. New Life Baptist Church is a good gift.
You know, every brother and sister in this church who's a spiritual family is a good gift from the
father above. If you had breakfast this morning, it's a good gift. If you have jobs to go to on
Monday to provide for your needs, it's a good gift. These are things that are given to us by
our father. You know what, if you were able to able to drive, okay, with a car to church this
morning, that was a good gift, a perfect gift that came from your father of lights.
That's who our father is and when I think about this, I think, wow, I need to be given as a father
but I better make sure it's good and perfect for my children. I don't want to spoil them,
Watson. I don't want to give them wicked things, you know, to destroy their life or
damage their lives and sometimes, I don't know, you know, kids grow up, I'm not saying my kids,
I'm just saying in general, kids growing up in a Christian home might feel like they're missing
out on things that, you know, the kids, the children of the world do but I want you to
understand, children, those things may very well be harmful for you and your parents are trying
to protect you from damaging your lives. Just like God, he's a father of lights. He wants to
make sure that what he gives you is wonderful, beautiful, perfect, pure and good. That's what
makes him a father of lights. I also like the reference in verse number 17, again,
every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the father of lights
with whom is no variableness near the shadow of turning. Like again, I said, we know who God is,
he tells us in his word who he is and fathers, we need to be able to tell our kids, they ought to
know us. Like they ought to know that this pleases dad and this pleases dad. They ought to know these
are the rules in the house and these are not the rules like, you know, this is me obeying the rules
and this is me disobeying the rules. The kids ought to know with clarity, with light, how to
please, how to obey mum and dad and part of the challenge of course is because mum and dad, two
people who are not the same though God wants us to be one flesh of one mind and one thing that
confuses children when they're growing up is when dad says yes and mum says no or mum says yes and
dad says no, you know, and I'm sure all parents have done this, okay, because we're not perfect
and our kids start to notice the inconsistencies but one thing as fathers who's the head of the
wife, we need to make sure that as a married couple we're on the same page on everything,
okay, that it's very clear what our children expect or expected to live by. The rules and
the commandments, clarity, light, not darkness, not confusion, not shadow of turning, which way,
I don't know, you know, what the dad's, I don't know, I can't remember what, you know, what the
instructions are. We need to be just like our heavenly father, we need to be a father who is
very transparent and very clear to our children. The bible says in 1st John 1 5, God is light
and in him is no darkness at all. I wish I could say that to my children, that is always light,
there's no dark, no, there's plenty of darkness in here. I'm sad about that. It's a constant battle,
we're trying to be more Christ-like but, you know, children, when your parents fail you,
I want you to remember that there is a father you have that is always light and no darkness
and that's your heavenly father. You know, if you don't have clear instructions of life,
open up his word and there are those clear instructions of light for you to know.
That's his wonderful gift to you, that's his good and perfect gift to you, his holy word,
the instructions that God has given us. The bible also says in Ephesians 5 8,
for you are sometimes darkness but now are you light in the Lord, walk as children of light.
Children, walk in the light that your mum and dad have passed on, the instructions,
the wisdom. Glorify your father is the title for the sermon this morning and children,
one way to glorify your father, not just happy father's day but do what your dad wants you to do.
Follow the directions of life that he wants to live by, don't disobey the commandments
and instructions that are found in the house. The bible also says in 1 Thessalonians 5 5,
ye are all children of light and the children of the day, we are not of the night nor of darkness.
So we as God's children are children of the light, children of the day and what was the instruction
once again, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify
your father which is in heaven. Title for the sermon as I said was glorify your father.
So children, just being father's day, do your best to glorify your earthly father and for the
rest of us to walk away from the sermon that we can apply this week, let's do what we can
to shine our light, to do good works and glorify our heavenly father. Okay, glorify your father.
Let's pray.