Fatherhood: A Fortress For The Family, Part 10

I want to welcome you back for this last time that I'm going to be speaking to you this summer concerning fathers. how they're a fortress for the family Before I do, just a reminder about Sundays Sundays was great This past Sunday was better than the first Sunday back. I don't know what it was about the excitement that people had about seeing one another and being able to communicate face to face It was a great Sunday And I hope that you'll be able to join us soon as we gather together to worship the Lord each and every Sunday

This week I'm going back into ab anxiety. I want to finish that up. I don't think I'm going to finish it this week because there's so much to say, especially concerning how it fits into what's going on in our country already And so I want to be able to tie those things together And as we do that, we want to be able to help you understand How you help others Because a lot of people are anxious. A lot of people are nervous. A lot of people are concerned about what's going on

So because we know have the truth because we have the truth and are able to explain the truth to people, that will enable you to be able to do so with your family, your friends, that kind of stuff So we're going to give all that to you and give you enough to equip you to Help exhort and encourage other people to follow the Lord But today, we want to finish up a fortress for the family You've been with us, and we have spelled out fatherhood for you. F-A-T-O-D

Trying to give you the principles that are easy for you to follow, that you can go back and review, that you can pick up on, that you can be able to digest As you look at them, once again, but they are principles that help you build that fortress to make you that father That stands strong for your family So good. I've had a great time doing this. I hope you've enjoyed it You know, starting next week, our staff and elders are going to pick up. and do a psalm each Wednesday with you for throughout the rest of the summer Psalms that mean much to them and be able to articulate that to you

But as we go through this, we're trying just to help you understand what it means to be a defender, what it means to be a shield, what it means to be a rampart, a bulwark, a fortress That protection for your family is so important And fathers are to do that And that's why fatherhood is the fortress for the family And as we go through this, we're trying to look at what the Bible says concerning the Lord, a defender, a shield, a fortress And because we as fathers are to portray to our children, to our wives, the fatherhood of God, we then pick up on those analogies and apply them to our lives

So we can be strong for the Lord Just a few verses to take you back to that In the book of Zach, as the Lord prophesies about the end, he talks about how he's going to defend Israel. I think it's so good because he says in verse 15, the Lord of hosts will defend them Who's going to protect Israel in the last days? The Lord of hosts is their defe It says in verse sixteen And the Lord their God will save them in that day, as the flock of his people for they are as the stones of a crown, sparkling In his land That's how God sees Israel

And that's how we as fathers see our children, our wife, as the great crown jewels that we possess That we want to protect them and save them And then later on in Zechariah chapter 12, it says in verse number 8, that the Messiah in that day, the day of the Lord, will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem He is a defender And that leads us to our last point And that is, our Lord is a defender of us We are a defender of our people But even more so than that We defend the faith rel That's our last principle Remember, as we went through them, we talked about how we're to focus on life's priority

Having focused on last priority, we abstain from all iniquity Then we treasure our legacy Honor our family, embrace God's sovereignty, renew our spirituality, hold fast our integrity And then we not only own and understand our own inadequ But we are able to deal with Him because we obey God fully That's the double O We obey God fully And then today, the last one, I want to defend the faith relentlessly Because as we defend the faith, we are giving our family The tools to strengthen their defense mechanisms as well And as we as fathers are strong in the Lord and the power of his might

We want to defend the truth more than anything That's our battleground It's the truth of God's holy word And our Lord is a defender of us And as he defends us, remember the church is the pillar and foundation of the truth, we defend that truth We guard the truth. 1 Timothy 6, Paul talks about Timothy Oh, guard the truth that's been entrusted to you. 2 Timothy 1, verses 13 and 14, retain the standard, guard the standard We are guardians of the truth We are defenders of the truth We do it relentlessly, tenaciously, vigorously That's how we do it

And as our children watch us, as our wife sees us do this, They become stronger and stronger and stronger because the fortress is doing that And we're doing it for the glory of the Lord We're doing it for His honor And we're teaching our children How to do that because they need to know how to do that They're going off to school each day They're going to grow up and go off to college and go off to work They need to be able to know how to defend the faith Relentlessly You know, when John said, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth, that's the great joy The great joy

And as I've watched my children grow up, especially my sons, I've seen how Drew is a defender of the faith How he grew up in our home and watched his mother and I grew up in our church And now he has gone off to get his doctorate and he defends The faith He's a defender of the faith He loves apologetics And when he was here as a youth guy, he was taking our youth to Temple Square That they might be able to speak to Mormons about their faith and show them the true God

They took them to Cal Berkeley to sit down in a classroom with an atheist. and teaching our children, our high school students, how to defend the faith in front of a professor who's an atheist It was all about the truth and how we're guardians of the truth And now he's gotten his doctorate and he wants to do the same thing on the college level, the seminary level, teaching men to defend the truth, that which has been entrusted to us Just last night, my son, A, was trying to deal with a young man who has now taken over fellowship of Christian Athletes at Seven High School

The organization that Cade brought to the school, and then A picked up the torch after Cade, and they were having speakers come in and speak the truth And now he's speaking to a young man who is Now taken over for that, and the direction they're going with Black Lives Matter, and how AJ is trying to instruct them in the truth of God And watch him defend the truth Watching Cade talk to the pastor of the high school football team and learning to confront him about how he had misappropriated the truth Of God's word, and how the man needed to turn and do the right thing

And it was probably one of the high points in Cade's coaching career Just a great thing, watching my sons defend the faith No greater joy Than to see that your children walk in truth. I want that for your children. I want that for your family. I watch my wife and how she's grown over the years and being strong in the faith And it's been such a joy to me to watch that. I tell you, it's just a great thing And I know you want that for your wives. I know you want that for your children. I even see it now, even in my sons-in-law

With Tim and with Franco and with Dustin, and watching how it is they're interacting with their families and their friends and their workplaces and how they're defending the faith That's just a great thing And we want to see that in your families And I know you do too So the father is that fortress for the family Follow the principles of fatherhood, and you will watch and see what God does in your children, in your wife She'll be that like that vine that clings and climbs

Your children will be like olive plants around your table because they have gr and demonstrated great fruit because they love the Word of God And that's so, so important You have the advantage of being a part of a really great church Christ's community is a great place to be We have great staff We have great elders who want to teach you We have good, great men in leadership who want to impart to you the truth So that you will be able to be equipped to teach your family You know, we're not here to supplant your responsibility, we're here to support you in all that you do

For the work of the Lord That's why we're here We want to see that with your family And so God has blessed us with some great people and leadership And we want you to take advantage of those opportunities so that you can grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord and be used In your family So important So, as we defend the faith relentlessly, and that's where I want to end this because everything begins and ends with the truth, right? We began with focusing on life's priority, which is what? For me to live as Christ, to die as gain, you're living for Christ

Well, if you're living for Christ, living to honor and glorify His name, well, part of that is clinging to the truth Defending the truth because his name is the Word of God, right? Revelation 19, that's his name, the Word of God He's given us His Word Because the inc word gave us the inspired word, now we are to instruct others in that word And that's what we do And as we defend faith relentlessly We realize there are certain principles by which we follow And the first one is you defend it fervently Fervently There's a ferven about your defense

And that's found over in the book of Jude, third verse Jude says this: Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly Fervently, vigorously for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints Why? For certain persons have crept in unnoticed those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentious, and deny our only Master and Lord Jes Christ Christ

We forget that Satan is a master deceiver and he is going to use people who claim to be followers of Christ To creep in unaware Not in your family necessarily, but in your church, in your school, in your workplace Jude's particularly referring to the church because that's how the church is destroyed, not from the outside, it's from those who creep in on the ins

Who wants to turn people away, who deny Christ as their master, who turn the grace of God into licentiousness, meaning that they live as if there's no law and they can just live as they want because God's grace will forgive them at anything they do But that's not what God's grace does God's grace teaches you to deny ungodliness and worldly lust Paul tells Titus in Titus chapter 2 And so you need to be able to fervently defend the faith Jude would write a book so that people would know how to discern false teachers And it begins with us knowing the truth of God's word So important

So you defend the word of God Fervently You defend the Word of God faithfully Faithfully Remember over in Second Timothy? It's 2 Timothy chapter 4 when Paul says these words about his life He tells Timothy, he says, For I am already being poured out as a drink offerings This is 2 Timothy 4:6 He says, And the time of my departure has come, and I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the f

Faith in the future, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing He says, I have fought the faith. I've been faithful to the fight. I've been faithful to the faith. I've been faithful to the finish He's faithful to the You have to be faithful to the truth of God's word You defend it not just fervently, but faithfully, day in, day out This is the battleground

Whenever you're making decisions with your children about dating, about going to school, where they work, all those things, who they're going to marry How they're going to get married, all those things, you have a source, and the source is scripture And so you have to be faithful to the word of the Lord Thus saith the Lord, thus we do And so you are to defend it faithfully, fervently, in all that you say and do And then, on top of that, number three, fully defend it not just faithfully, but fully You can't be faithful to parts of it And un to other parts of it You have to defend it fully

Remember what the Lord says

Through the pen of the Apostle Paul in Colossians chapter 1, when he says in verse number 28, and we proclaim him. ad every man, and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ and for this purpose also I labour, striving according to his power which mightily works within me. for I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf, and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not person see my face, that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understand resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery that is Christ Himself in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge

You are teaching every man so that every man will be complete You are doing this to the full extent of all that God says You are doing this absolutely Fully This is everything And I just want to encourage you: this is how we defend the faith We don't pick and choose the parts we're going to defend, we defend all of it So important So you defend it fervently, faithfully, fully, and then you defend it fearlessly. fearlessly You have no fear of what others might say

If you were to go to the Bible and look at Acts chapter five and see how the the apostles were beaten because they would not stop preaching to Christ, Defending the fact that Jesus is the Messiah And they came back rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer for his sake, right? But they didn't stop preaching They kept preaching They kept preaching Because they did it fearlessly, faithfully, fully Fervently, fearlessly Then you move on to Acts chapter 7 What do you have? You have Stephen, the stoning of Stephen And he was fearless in his preaching the gospel

And they took him and they took him outside the city gates to stone him But he kept teaching the truth because it was his def And then you move from that to Acts chapter 8, and you have Peter with Simon the magician, and how he defends the faith fully, fearlessly Fervently, relentlessly, he wasn't going to let a false teacher lead people astray He condemned him in his unworthy lifestyle And so it is so good to see that in the scriptures we have these men The Apostle Paul was the same way You can go all throughout the scriptures

And look at the judges who were righteous judges in the Old Testament, how they were fearless They were faultless in the defense And that's where we need to be And then, on top of that, you have to defend the Word of God fact Not just fervently, not just faithfully, fully, and fearlessly, but fact That is, you have to know the facts of Scripture That's why you preach the word in season and out of season, right? Reprove and rebuke You got to know what the word of the Lord says

And then you go over to 2 Timothy 2, verse number 15: stud to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, right? You've got to study the Word of God You've got to cut the Word straight That's what it means when it says to study to show yourself approved unto God You are cutting a straight path so people know where to go because you know the truth That's why I love our TC program because it's training men to know the truth It's training men to cut it straight It's training men to know the Word of God and how it's interwoven in all that we say and do

And so, as we have gone through our second year and about to embark on our third year, come the fall, we see that we're teaching men to cut the word of God accurately because you want to do it factually Do it the right way And so you go over to 1 Peter 3, verse number 15: how we're to give an account, right, to any man who asks About the hope that's within So important And then you do it for Forbearingly, you defend the Word of God forbearingly It takes a lot of patience. 2 Timothy 4, verse number 2: You do it, you reprove, you rebuke with all long su and patience You got to do it forbearingly

Your kids aren't always going to get it the first time around Your wife might not get it the first time around You got to be patient with them To methodically walk them through the process Listen, I've been at the church for 25 years. 25 years, right? And there's a lot of people I'm still being patient with Because they still haven't gotten it You just keep plugging them in, teaching the truth, and slowly but surely it begins to seek in And I've seen it happen over the years That's the great thing about being a pastor at the same place for a long time

You get to see the effects of the Word of God in people's lives And if you defend the faith fervently, if you defend it faithfully and fully, if you defend it factually, if you defend it fearlessly, You have to defend it forbearingly Because with some people, it takes a lot of time But you trust the Lord to work in their lives And then lastly, you do it fearfully You say, well, wait a minute. I thought you did it fearlessly You do You fear no man But you always do it fearfully Why? Because you do it in the fear of the Lord

The Bible says in 1 Peter 1, verse number 17, that we are to conduct ourselves in the fear of God It says in Proverbs 23, verse number 17, that we are to be in the fear of God all day long Isaiah 8 tells us that it's the fear of God that is to be our dread, living in the fear of the Lord That's the end of man That sums up man's existence Solomon says in the book of Ecclesiastes: Fear God, keep his commandments That's it And so you do it fearfully You do it because you fear the true living God That's why you do it So important

Listen, we're facing this whole issue on Black Lives Matter, right? It's becoming predominant It's a predominant theme of the last two weeks And it's probably going to carry on into the month of June And it's going to become more and more predominant So much so that if you don't side with the Black Lives Matter organization and what they stand for You're going to be shunned Your students who are going to high school in junior high, they're going to be shunned on Facebook and Instagram by their friends and face to face You're either with them or you're against them

And if you're against them, you're racist But if you're for them, then you're not racist But you have to understand what Black Lives Matter stands for, the organization We know that black lives matter, like white lives matter, like any life matters We understand that Man is made in the image of God He's an image-bearer We get that But we don't look at men and women by the color of their skin Talk about this on Sunday, right? We regard no one according to the flesh We don't see man's face We don't see man's clothes We don't see man's ethnicity We see man's heart

How it's deceived and desperately wicked and need of a Savior That's how we see people That's how a Christian sees people And that's how we need to see people And so as we defend the faith, we realize that if you're supporting Black Lives Matter, you're supporting that they are the new moral compass because they have said In their own words, that they are the moral compass for society So you have to ask yourself, what's their authority? Well, it's not God's word And God's Word's our authority God's Word is our moral compass

But Black Lives Matter in their organization say they're the moral comp And they're the ones who want to destroy the family unit They make it very clear They want to rearrange the family unit, tear down the Western culture nuclear family Is that what you want for your family? Is that what you want to do? We're trying to build up the family And yet we know that what black people need and white people need and people from Asia and people in the Middle East These strong families Families that honor the Lord and serve the Lord and follow God's word when it comes to families

But the organization wants to destroy the family unit, it wants to destroy The authority of police, the governing authority So they're going against what Romans 13 says because they're there for your protection There's certainly what Deuteronomy 6 says about the family unit and the authority of the family unit and how the family unit prescribes the moral compass for the family And then they want to promote the trans philosophy, and they want to uphold homosexuality And if you're a true believer, you're not in favor of that That's not the moral compass you want to abide by

You want to abide by the moral compass of Scripture So they're distorting scripture by wanting to defund the police, rearrange the authority structure Destroy the family unit and promote homosexuality, transgenderism You see, you got to be very careful what bandwagon you get on Because we are called to de the faith That's what we're called to do There's a battle for truth out there And we as fathers, if we don't lead the way in defending the truth, battling for the truth, that fortress in our family is going to begin to break down

And you're going to see it break down in your wife and your children And then they're going to grow up and get married and have their children And that family is going to become a weaker and weaker un We want to build strong families Build strong families that defend the faith relentlessly Because that is what enables the fortress Listen, a fortress is only as good as its defense mechanisms, right? If there's a fortress that can easily be broken into, the family unit will be destroyed

If you're defending the faith, the one thing that governs our lives, that we stand by, that we die for, because it's the scriptures themselves, your family will be strong Let me leave you with this There's going to be a day when you're going to die. I'm going to die And there's going to be a eulogy read at your funeral What will that eulogy say? Ask yourself that question Elijah and Elisha had a eulogy And Elish gave the eulogy for Elijah in 2 Kings chapter 2 And when Elijah was caught up into heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah said these words, My f, my father

The chariot of Israel and its horsemen What a great eulogy My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen In that eulogy, he summed up He summed up your ministry and mine He summed up the affection And the direction of leadership My father, my father What do fathers do? They're providers Right? What do chariots and horsemen do? They're protectors And chariots and horsemen were symbols of authority and strength and protection and defense in Israel

That's why the Lord says in Psalm 20, verse number 7: Some trust in chariots and some trust in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God They shall be brought down and fall, but we shall rise up and stand firm Because chariots and horses are signs of protection But if you trust in them and not God, You're in trouble But Elijah, because he was a spokesperson for God, was that defense, that chariot, that horseman in Israel They called him my father because what do fathers do? They are providers for their family

And Elijah took Elisha when he was young and trained him and taught him the ways of God My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen Boy, I would hope that my children would say that about me My father, my father, the chariot of our family and its horsemen You want your children to say that about you Because if they don't say that, they're going to say the eulogy that Saul gave for himself when he told David. I have played the fool. I have played the fool Listen, you're either going to be a fortress Or you're going to be a fool, and there's no in-between Choice is yours

You made that choice You might have been a fool like Saul was, and Saul was a fool He'd be given all the gifts, but he misused them and abused them And he was a fool He finally admitted that, but he didn't repent It didn't change If you've played the fool up to now, you can repent You can turn from your wicked ways and you can serve the Lord, follow the Lord You can do that right now

Just repent and say, Lord, I'm going be a fortress for my family. I'm done playing the fool. I'm going to stand strong for you, Lord. I'm not going to back down. I'm going to defend the faith. I'm going to make sure that I focus on life's priority. I'm going to abstain from iniquity Lord, help me to turn my eye away from sin And Lord, I want to make sure that I treasure my legacy and honor my family and embrace your sovereignty Renew my spirituality every single day Hold fast my integrity Make sure that I own my inade and overcome my inade by obeying God fully and defend the faith relentlessly

You can do that Then you can hear those words, but you won't hear them because you'll be dead But your children will say them: My father, my father The chariot of our family and its horsemen What a great eulogy. I would trust that my children would say that when I go home to be with the Lord And I know you want your children to say that about you as well That's my prayer. I hope you enjoy this study It's been so good for me It's refreshed my thinking It's redirected some of my actions. I'm so excited about ministering to my family It's a great, great thing

But you know what? I am my family's fortress. I know that God is all of our fortress because He says so His Word, but I picture to my family strength Stability, security. I want you to picture that to your family. I really do And we're here to help you do that That's what you want to see happen in your life We trust that you'll be with us this Sunday as we continue to study God's Word and impart it to you so that you can grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord It's just this is it There is nothing better in all the world Than the truth of God's word

And as you defend it relentlessly, you become that fortress for your family That's what fatherhood does Let's pray Father, thank you for this opportunity The last ten weeks have been great. I am so grateful that you have given me this opportunity through social media to teach our men And I pray, Lord, that they would take to heart the things they've learned And that they would be used by you in the life of their children, their wives, and all those they come in contact with

And that, Lord, if there are some men that have played the fool, help them to turn from their foolishness and be a fortress for their family In the fear of God Pray this in Jesus' name Amen.