The NECESSITY For GODLY FATHERS-I(2023)—Malachi 4:4(4-6)
Attention/Need:
Our society lives under the mistaken belief that there is no realistic need for fathers & that a home is just fine without them.
Generally, on a secular level, men themselves have ‘bought into the belief that they are no more than ‘baby makers’...having no impact & no responsibility. They have become convinced that they can enter & leave a relationship at will, with no harm done—but no good done either. So tentative relationships are rampant, accepted & even sought out.
‘Living together’ before marriage has become so commonplace that it is accepted & even expected by a great majority of our country’s citizens. It has grown so commonplace, that even some within the Church have come to accept it....
I know of one woman who was single, had always been single but wanted a child. She had no designs on getting married, seeing no need for the presence of a father in the home. She was perfectly confident that she could raise a child in a home with no fatherly input or support! And her ‘Christian’ mother was proudly supportive of her ‘brave’ daughter’s choice!...
However, just the opposite is true! Godly Fathers are absolutely necessary for a family to grow & prosper with minimal damaging effects.
Now, even some secular psychological professionals are admitting that a lack of committed fatherly influence in the home is severely detrimental to families, which in turn is severely detrimental to our society as a whole! We are reaping the ‘benefits’/whirlwind of our irresponsibilities. And that is something the Church has known & proclaimed since the beginning, because godly fathers are a vital part of God’s design!!
The prophet Malachi linked the importance of godly fathers to a positive outcome for mankind’s existence.
Godly fathers are vital to our existence.
What makes godly fathers so vital for our existence?
3 validations that godly fathers are vital for our very existence.
1—Godly Fathers are vital as Those Who...
REMEMBER GOD’s WORD & WILL(4:4)
Explanation: (4:4)
:4—“Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, With the statutes & judgments.”
The faithful, & all who will ‘listen’, are called upon to “remember” that which was committed to Israel’s charge thru Moses at Mt. Sinai(Mt. Horeb =‘desert’ or ‘desolate’) where they received the Law.
Obviously, you can’t “remember” anything that you have not first familiarized yourself with!
OR--
•?How can a person “remember” what they do not ‘know’?
The faithful—those who revere YHWH God—were responsible individually for “remembering” “the” Mosaic “Law”(the law given thru Moses)...
They were to “remember” that “Law” so that the entire ‘nation’ of God’s people Israel, & thus the world(:6c), would benefit from God’s blessing(Gen. 12:1-3; Acts 3:25-26; Gal. 3:5-9).
Gen. 12:1-3—“Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Acts 3:25-26—Peter, to those in Jerusalem, after the arrival of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost—“You are sons of the prophets, & of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ “To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.””
Gal. 3:5-9—“Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you & works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?-- just as Abraham “believed God, & it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.”
“Moses” was uniquely YHWH’s “servant”, being YHWH’s prophet & mouthpiece(Ex. 4:12, 15-16), along with his brother Aaron.
Ex. 4:12, 15-16—YHWH to Moses—“Now therefore, go, & I will be with your mouth & teach you what you shall say.”.....“Now you shall speak to him[Aaron] & put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth & with his mouth, & I will teach you what you shall do. So he shall be your spokesman to the people. And he himself shall be as a mouth for you, & you shall be to him as God.”
•So any “servant” of YHWH, who is of similar prophetic caliber, should be explicitly heeded, because as a “servant” “Moses” voiced & recorded, the “statutes” & corresponding “judgments” of YHWH!...
•As with Israel, so God’s people today, are NOT to BLINDLY ‘follow’ the directives of anybody claiming to speak for God.
•Instead, God’s people are to follow God’s direction, when it is genuinely God’s direction!
•We recognize the Christian Bible as the accepted & finalized compilation of writings that come to us thru the true & genuine “servants” of the ever-existent, ever-living God, YHWH. “Moses” is one of those “servant” prophets!
The Law, with its specific “statutes” & corresponding “judgments” was granted to the nation of Israel in Joshua’s day, after they had conquered the land promised to them by YHWH. Thru Joshua, they judicially agreed to the “Law of Moses”(Jos. 24:14-28). I invite you to LISTEN to what they agreed to in regard to ‘serving the LORD!...
•Josh. 24:14-28—Joshua to Israel—“Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity & in truth, & put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River & in Egypt. Serve the LORD! And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me & my house, we will serve the LORD.” So the people answered & said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods; “for the LORD our God is He who brought us & our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, & preserved us in all the way that we went & among all the people through whom we passed. And the LORD drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. We also will serve the LORD, for He is our God.” But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. If you forsake the LORD & serve foreign gods, then He will turn & do you harm & consume you, after He has done you good.” And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the LORD!” So Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD for yourselves, to serve Him.” And they said, “We are witnesses!” “Now therefore,” he said, “put away the foreign gods which are among you, & incline your heart to the LORD God of Israel.” And the people said to Joshua, “The LORD our God we will serve, & His voice we will obey!” So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, & made for them a statute & an ordinance in Shechem. Then Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And he took a large stone, & set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the LORD. And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness to us, for it has heard all the words of the LORD which He spoke to us. It shall therefore be a witness to you, lest you deny your God.” So Joshua let the people depart, each to his own inheritance.”
In Malachi’s day, Israel is told to: ““Remember the law,” for in the absence of living prophets, they were likely to forget it.”—JFB
Jn. 20:29—“Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen & yet have believed.””
“Remember”—rkz zaw-kar’—Qal Imperative 2nd Masc. Plural—1) To remember, recall, call to mind—1a) (Qal)--To remember, recall, 1b) (Niphal)--To be brought to remembrance, be remembered, be thought of, be brought to mind, 1c) (Hiphil)—1c1) To cause to remember, remind, 1c2) To cause to be remembered, keep in remembrance, 1c3) To mention, 1c4) To record, 1c5) To make a memorial, make remembrance. Strong—properly--To mark(so as to be recognized), i.e. To remember; by implication--To mention; also(as denominative from rkz[Noun Masc./Adj.])--To be male; a primitive root.
“Law”—hrwt towrah to-raw' OR hrt torah to-raw’—Noun Common Fem. Sing. Construct—1) Law, direction, instruction—1a) Instruction, direction(human or divine)—1a1) Body of prophetic teaching, 1a2) Instruction in Messianic age, 1a3) Body of priestly direction or instruction, 1a4) Body of legal directives, 1b) Law—1b1) Law of the burnt offering, 1b2) Of special law, codes of law, 1c) Custom, manner, 1d) The Deuteronomic or Mosaic Law. Strong—A precept or statute, especially the Decalogue or Pentateuch.?From—hry yaw-raw'; OR--(2Ch 26:15) ary yara’ yaw-raw'—properly--To flow as water(i.e. to rain); transitively--To lay or throw(especially an arrow, i.e. to shoot); figuratively--To point out(as if by aiming the finger), to teach.
“Servant”—dbe eh’-bed—Noun Common Masc. Sing. Construct—1) Slave, servant—1a) Slave, servant, man-servant, 1b) Subjects, 1c) Servants, worshippers(of God), 1d) Servant(in special sense as prophets, Levites etc.), 1e) Servant(of Israel), 1f) Servant(as form of address between equals). Strong—A servant.?From—dbe aw-bad’—Verb—To work(in any sense); To serve, till; Enslave, etc.; a primitive root.
“Commanded”—hwu tsaw-vaw’—Piel(intensive/intentional/resultative/repeated/extended) Perfect 1st Common Sing.—1) To command, charge, give orders, lay charge, give charge to, order—1a) (Piel)--1a1) To lay charge upon, 1a2) To give charge to, give command to, 1a3) To give charge unto, 1a4) To give charge over, appoint, 1a5) To give charge, command, 1a6) To charge, command, 1a7) To charge, commission, 1a8) To command, appoint, ordain(of divine act). Strong—intensively--To constitute, enjoin; a primitive root.
“Statutes”—qx khoke—Noun Common Masc. Plural Absolute—1) Statute, ordinance, limit, something prescribed, due—1a) Prescribed task, 1b) Prescribed portion, 1c) Action prescribed(for oneself), resolve, 1d) Prescribed due, 1e) Prescribed limit, boundary, 1f) Enactment, decree, ordinance—1f1) Specific decree, 1f2) Law in general, 1g) Enactments, statutes—1g1) Conditions, 1g2) Enactments, 1g3) Decrees, 1g4) Civil enactments prescribed by God. Strong—An enactment; hence--An appointment(of time, space, quantity, labor or usage).
“Judgments/Ordinances/Commandments”—jpvm mish-pawt’—Noun Common Masc. Plural Absolute—1) Judgment, justice, ordinance—1a) Judgment—1a1) Act of deciding a case, 1a2) Place, court, seat of judgment, 1a3) Process, procedure, litigation(before judges), 1a4) Case, cause(presented for judgment), 1a5) Sentence, decision(of judgment), 1a6) Execution(of judgment), 1a7) Time(of judgment), 1b) Justice, right, rectitude(attributes of God or man), 1c) Ordinance, 1d) Decision(in law), 1e) Right, privilege, due(legal), 1f) Proper, fitting, measure, fitness, custom, manner, plan. Strong—properly--A verdict(favorable or unfavorable) pronounced judicially, especially a sentence or formal decree(human or [participant's] divine law, individual or collective), including the act, the place, the suit, the crime, & the penalty; abstractly--Justice, including a participant's right or privilege(statutory or customary), or even a style.
Argumentation:
Ex. 20:3-7—““You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third & fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me & keep My commandments. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.”
Isa. 8:19-20—“And when they say to you, “Seek those who are mediums & wizards, who whisper & mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? To the law & to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”
Mat. 22:35-40—“Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, & saying, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him,” ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, & with all your mind.’ “This is the first & great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ “On these two commandments hang all the Law & the Prophets.”
Mat. 5:17-20—Jesus said,—““Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven & earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, & teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does & teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes & Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Rom. 12:1-2—“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good & acceptable & perfect will of God.”
Jn. 7:7—earlier in the disciple’s ministry Jesus said,—“The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.”....
Jn. 15:18-19—But later, just before He would go to the Cross, Jesus told His disciples,—“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
1Cor. 3:19—“For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God...”
Rom. 8:5-9—“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life & peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.”
1Jn. 5:2-5—“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God & keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”
Illustration:
Friday, I attempted to change-out a lightbulb in our car. It uses two separate lightbulbs for each side of the front of the car. One bulb is for the low beam & one for the high beam. They are very easy to access & change-out, so that even someone with my lack of mechanical ability can do it! HOWEVER, wouldn’t you know it...The one bulb that needed changing-out was the one that was the most difficult to access! I became so frustrated, not being able to change-out the bulb, that I lost my self-control, & was really down on myself!
Long story short—I came in to the office & one of the deacons happened to be there. He was a great source of encouragement to me! He helped me REMEMBER that God was in control, & that it wasn’t the end of the world! Godly Fathers are vital as Those Who...REMEMBER God’s WORD & WILL
Hallelujah Addendum: The next day, another deacon was able to change out the bulb for us!
Application:
?Are YOU Meeting the challenge of REMEMBERING God’s will for the sake of your Children/Family?
?Are YOU committed to being a Christ-honoring GODLY Father?
?Will YOU be a GODLY example for your entire family?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
The world’s misdirected belief that there is no realistic need for fathers.
Action:
Godly Fathers are vital as Those Who...
1. REMEMBER GOD’s WORD & WILL(4:4)
Pt# 1 only! Presented 06/18/2023am(Father’s Day) to:
Salem Baptist Church
1618 Salem Rd.
Bennettsville, SC 29512
