Psalm 12:1
June 16, 2013 AM – Father’s
Day
Pastor Craig Ledbetter
I.
Introduction (Psalm 12:1)
A.
There is an extinction taking
place that is terrifying!
1.
The Dodo Bird is already extinct
2.
As is The Woolly Mammoth
3.
And The Sabre toothed Tiger
4.
And The Tyrannosaurus Rex!
5.
No. An animal for more important
is headed for extinction…
6.
Fathers!
B.
There is no shortage of “males”
in the population
1.
As a matter of fact, the world is
made up of 51% men and 49% women
2.
In
3.
Plenty of guys to go around
C.
But “Godly men”; “faithful men”,
honourable men are hard to find, AND the ones that are around, are disappearing
fast!
1.
And the whole world is suffering
for it!
2.
Children who grow up without a
father, grow up in an unstable home. With the mother working to provide for
herself and her children she has little time to teach or raise the children. The
Day Care centre or baby sitter becomes the greater influence in their child's
life. And the vicious cycle of ruin continues!
D.
It has happened at different
times throughout history
1.
It happened in Noah’s day – he
was the only godly man around
2.
It was happening in David’s day
(when Psalm 12 was written) – men whom he could count on to be godly, and honest
and faithful, were quitting, and dropping out all around him!
3.
It worried David – listen again
to his words, “Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the
faithful fail from among the children of men.”
4.
Just as it should worry US!
E.
The world doesn’t just need more
“Dad’s” but godly, faithful ones!
II.
Background
A.
God's plan for the training of
children is in the TWO parent family, with BOTH husband and wife present,
both taking the role of an example to the child.
1.
We live in the new enlightened
age where the role of the family is being redefined.
a.
Today it is a single parent
family,
b.
Or Same sex parents
c.
Or children raised by their grand
parents while mom and dad go their separate selfish ways.
d.
Enlightened my foot!
2.
Children are designed to be
taught by their parents – plural – by their mother AND father. They are the role
models that children follow when they grow to adulthood. God says for PARENTS to
"train up and child in the way he should go…"
3.
Both the mother and father are
equally needed to show the child the proper way for them to live.
4.
Both boys and girls need a father
in the home to set the example.
a.
Boys learn to be men from their
fathers, how to treat their wives, the responsibility to make a living, etc.
b.
Girls learn too how to what a man
should be and how to choose their husbands.
c.
The children watch their parents
and learn from them how they should respond to their future husbands and wives.
5.
Sadly, where there is no father
or good relationship between the parents, a destructive pattern is set that most
children will follow in their marriages and relationships. The roots of epidemic
divorce AND homosexuality in our society can be traced to this failure of
mothers and fathers to work together.
B.
It has never been easy to be a
parent; especially being a Father! Note what the Bible says on the matter
(we know it has never been easy being a godly Mom – same with a godly Dad):
1.
We fathers are supposed to
Train UP our children – to a higher level than the world around you! Don’t
leave it to your wife alone, or to the school, or even the church!
a.
"Train up a child in the way
he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." (Proverbs
22:6)
b.
"And, ye fathers, provoke not
your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the
Lord." (Ephesians 6:4)
2.
Discipline and correct your
children – don’t just let them do as they please! "Correct thy son, and
he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul."
(Proverbs 29:17)
3.
Be in charge of your home!
“For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after
him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment...”
(Gen 18:19)
4.
Serve the Lord God as a family
– Don’t live to serve your boss, or your little woman, or your pet sport! “And
if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will
serve; … but as for me and my house (Joshua, the DAD is talking), we will serve
the LORD.” (Jos 24:15)
5.
Worship and obey God! "Thou
shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee
this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and
that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the LORD thy God giveth
thee, for ever." (Deuteronomy 4:40)
6.
Stay with your wife and family
– through every storm! “For the LORD, the God of
7.
And still work and pay all the
bills and hold things together!
“But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own
house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” (1Tim 5:8)
C.
Society and our western
culture has demoted fatherhood to that of a dork, a drunk, a hot head, or a
wimp!
1.
Girls only give attention to the
most vile and obnoxious guys
2.
Seek to have guys as docile as
possible – never getting their fingers dirty and never risking their lives for
anything
3.
Promote a woman’s body constantly
so that boys think girls are only a sex object
4.
Its shows only extremes of men on
TV and in movies –
a.
Ones who have no families – only
sex partners – like James Bond
b.
Ones who are stupid and worthless
like Homer Simpson
5.
AND THEN EVERYONE WONDERS WHY MEN
AREN’T GODLY!
D.
It is getting harder and harder
to be a godly, faithful father in this world!
E.
How Did This Happen?
1.
Men got used to living without
God (Psalm 14:1) believing that there is no god, or that He just doesn’t matter
anymore!
a.
Men have been convinced that they
can be good and do well without God in their lives!
b.
But the absolute truth is, Men
cannot be good without God
c.
Not talking about religion (even
though at least that helps people be moral), but talking about the Creator God!
1)
Modern men need to know Him
2)
Read His words, every day – like
we eat breakfast, lunch and supper
3)
Learn of Him – Jesus said,
“Follow me!” “Learn of me!”
4)
Praying and begging God for
wisdom, and for the needs that he himself cannot supply for his family
d.
Unless you men make the effort to
WALK with God, live each day conscious of God’s presence, and obedient to God’s
will, then you will fail this generation, just as your father failed the last!
2.
Men have been taught that life is
all about THEM, and not others. It’s all about THINGS and pleasures and
selfishness now!
a.
Luk 12:15
“And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a
man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”
b.
Unhappy men abound – depression
because they don’t HAVE things
c.
No sacrificial faithfulness to a
cause or to an ideal anymore
d.
We have several generations of
selfish quitters who are never happy because life didn’t turn out like they
wanted! Boo hoo!
3.
Men stopped having Biblical
convictions / no real limits on their lives – believe limits are wrong!
a.
Dad’s are supposed to have limits
– not just on them, but upon those in their family as well
b.
Modern men say…
1)
If it is legal, then no one
should stop me for doing what I want
2)
AND, if I want to do something,
and I don’t think it is wrong, then I should be allowed to just go ahead and do
it anyway
c.
Convictions are beliefs about
right and wrong that we will not cross – that we will not ignore
d.
Modern men now just act and live
like the world they are surrounded by
1)
They no longer influence the
world around them
2)
But instead are moulded by the
world’s pressures
e.
Conformed to the world – the
pressure of the world shapes these guys into wearing
1)
Earrings and piercings
2)
Tattoos
3)
Goatees
4)
Trashed looking
5)
Wimpy looking
f.
Pressures have caused fathers to
not control the music in their home, the TV, the TV’s in the rooms, the friends,
the attitudes…
g.
So, because sin just grows and
grows, love in the home actually dies (Mt 24:12)
4.
Fatigue due to Multiple attacks
against them and their home
a.
There is a unified effort to
systematically destroy your home!
b.
There are vicious attacks from
Outside the home
1)
The culture – ever changing world
– new questions and ideas about what is acceptable
2)
Bills and debts constantly coming
at us
3)
The economy pulling everyone down
c.
From within the home
1)
Arguing – unhappiness - strife
2)
Resentments
3)
Regrets
4)
Carnality - apathy
d.
From hell itself
1)
Spiritual attacks
2)
Demonic attacks
e.
Men are worn out from all the
fighting (2Cor 11:29)
5.
Fatherhood suffers! Godly,
faithful, honourable fatherhood!
6.
And so our homes suffer – listen
to the testimony of someone writing about how much they hate Father’s Day:
“I think that there should be ANTI
Fathers Day cards because I am sick to death of all the sappy cards showing kids
with these UNREAL representations of fathers - not like any father I EVER had.
Some fathers do not deserve to be called anything more than a SPERM DONOR. They
create families - leave/divorce - without care for the deep emotional damage it
inflicts - then they go and create new families – [LYING] to all of their new
friends and DENY[ING] the fact that you are their children. Hallmark makes me
feel sick & inadequate around Father's Day - because I did not get a Hallmark
Father! Not all fathers play ball with you - some may have beat you - some may
have ignored you - some even deny you! Where is the REALITY BASED CARDS for
these jokers? There are plenty of them out there - Hallmark would make a BILLION
dollars on this genre of card. "Crappy Fathers Day …
- Thanks for abandoning our family & my brothers & sisters so you could
go sow your wild oats & marry a younger woman! Glad that you never remember my
birthday & say that you only have ONE child when you have fathered FOUR!! YOU
are the typical … DAD - not the Hallmark [kind]." That is what my Fathers Day
card would say! Alas, we live in a fantasy, dream land where every father wants
& loves ALL of his children he brought onto this Earth. No one would have the
[guts] to put out a card that speaks the truth about 50%+ of the male …
population that have psychologically scarred over 50% of the children in this
country !! Congrats if you have a Hallmark Father - realize that you are in the
minority!”
F.
God has a way to reverse the
decline. Try any other way, and it will fail! Try things God’s way, and
countless generations can be saved!
III.
Message - Stopping the Inevitable
Decline – Saving the Species
A.
Personal Repentance –
starting over again (Prov 28:13; 2Chron 7:14)
1.
And all men need to spend SERIOUS
time alone with God, personally repenting of all our failures as Dads
2.
Men look to other men too much –
comparing ourselves amongst ourselves
3.
We need to turn back to God –
humble ourselves before Him
4.
It will be a constant effort of
humbling ourselves before God, and begging of God to help us get back what we
have lost!
5.
Make the effort to start over
with God every day. He starts over with YOU!
6.
A lot of men have only had
religion all their lives. Never had any real encounter with God, and definitely
have no fear of God!
7.
Yet Acts 17:30
declares, “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now
commandeth all men every where to repent.”
8.
All men need to be born again.
Are YOU saved from the wrath to come?
9.
If you are, then it should show
by your softness towards GOD and His words!
10.
If you are NOT, then today you
need to repent and get born again!
B.
Stand Your Ground – no
more compromises with the world’s culture
1.
Be men again!
a.
That means show some
determination – put on some PANTS!
b.
Make some decisions about your
home – what it is going to be like
c.
Quit quitting! 1Cor 16:13
“Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men (that means
FINISH LIKE A MAN), be strong.”
d.
Ladies, leave your man alone for
a while! Let him lead! Help him lead! Pray for him instead of slamming him!
2.
Go ahead and be peculiar (2Peter
2:9) – strange looking to the world
a.
The world will mock a man who
starts over and gets saved and has his sins forgiven by faith in Jesus Christ.
b.
The world in scorn proclaims a
man who seeks God is “weak” and afraid. What utter foolishness is the wisdom of
the world, who say it is a sign of weakness to believe truth and be in
fellowship with the God who created us!
c.
Was Christ weak? He showed such
love for the mankind that He suffered for our sins that we might have
forgiveness and eternal life!
d.
What a perverted view the world
has of what is a real man.
1)
They praise the selfish, immoral
father who has sold his soul to living the "gusto life," who shirks is
responsibility to his wife and children.
2)
They then ridicule and make fun
of the father who shoulders his responsibility, boldly proclaims his love and
devotion to God and to his wife and children. What sick and perverted idea most
men have.
3.
Get some convictions! Biblical
convictions:
a.
Like what you will watch and not
watch!
1)
Psalm 101:3 I will set no
wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall
not cleave to me.
2)
Job 31:1
I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?
(A “maid” is a young lady who is not your wife)
3)
Mat 5:28
But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after
her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
b.
Like who your friends are going
to be
1)
Psa 26:4
I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with
dissemblers (liars).
2)
Psa 26:5
I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the
wicked.
3)
Psa_122:1
I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the
LORD.
c.
Like what you will ever allow
your mouth to say! Psa 39:1 I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin
not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is
before me.
d.
Like, that you will not even LOOK
at a glass of wine or a beer! Pro 23:31
Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour
in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
e.
Like what you will do on a
Sunday, EVERY Sunday! Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves
together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the
more, as ye see the day approaching.
C.
Fight the Right Fights
(Eph 6:12)
1.
Most men are fighting all the
wrong fights. Caught up in fights with the very people he wants to love and
protect.
2.
God says we are to “fight the
GOOD fight!”
3.
Fight the Spiritual fights –
wrestling against stronger powers than you can imagine. Jas_4:7
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee
from you.
4.
Fight for the heart of your
family! Don’t let the world win! Don’t let sin win. Don’t let the devil win!
5.
Fight to stay balanced – hardest
part – work hard at it
a.
You HAVE to work
b.
You need to sleep
c.
You need to have time to yourself
and hobbies and sports
d.
BUT you HAVE to be godly, and
faithful, and present in the home to make the difference!
e.
Make time just for your wife
f.
Make time to train your children
and grandchildren
g.
Make time for God
h.
Don’t let anything in this world
put you out of balance!
i.
It is THAT important!
D.
Encourage yourself in the Lord
(1Sam 30:6)
1.
Your wife may not encourage you –
shame on you ladies!
2.
Your children may not ever care
what you are trying to do for them
3.
People may abandon you – and they
will
4.
But the Lord is there, ready to
strengthen, ready to use you to do the impossible
5.
Remind yourself just how worthy
the Lord Jesus is of your efforts
6.
Remember how powerful HE is
7.
Believe that he is working
everything out for good!
E.
Pray like you haven’t in a
long time! (LukE 18:1) And he
spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to
faint;
1.
That was what David was doing in
Psalm 12!
2.
Pray for wisdom
3.
Pray for courage
4.
Pray for your sons and your
daughters
5.
Pray for your wife
6.
Pray against the devil
7.
Pray for victory and success
against the devil’s work
8.
Be praying men!
F.
Ignore what’s happening right
now – trust God to make it all work out – if you will just do what YOU are
supposed to do. That goes for you wives too!
1.
Faith is doing what is right to
do, and leaving the results up to God
2.
Do you not believe God enough to
just stay at doing the right things?
3.
Ignore the fact that doing right
doesn’t seem to be working in your favour right now
4.
Just trust in the Lord still,
with all thine heart!
5.
That’s real, biblical, steadfast
faith!
6.
And we men need a good does of
it!
IV.
Conclusion
A.
There is a Remnant of godly men –
there are still some around today!
B.
But, what if they continue to
disappear? What will be left in 10 years?
1.
More kids raised without their
father – stands at almost 20% of all children have no father at home! That is
nearly 1 out of 5! How far do you want that to go on?
2.
We will have another generation
that does not know God!
3.
A generation that is full of
LIARS
4.
Thieves
5.
Brutal animals that aren’t even
human, and they are proud of it
6.
Homosexuals and Lesbians rampant
7.
Feminists, angry at men when they
never grow up
8.
More Drunkards
9.
More Drug addicts
10.
Is THAT what you want for your
daughters, and for your grandchildren?
C.
We all need to protect the ideal
of a godly man. We need to honour Biblical fatherhood, and manliness, and
faithfulness
1.
Yes, we will be odd to the world
2.
We will be seen as going
backwards
3.
But we will have our homes back
and our children back, and best of all, we will have God back in our society!
D.
How can any one of us men do it?
1.
By Personal Repentance
2.
By Standing Your Ground
3.
By Fighting the Right Fights
4.
By Encouraging yourself in the
Lord
5.
By Praying like you haven’t in
a long time!
6.
By Ignoring what’s happening
right now – trust God to make it all work out