Banning the Best Seller

July 25, 2010 – 6:28 pm


1 Hear now, O Israel, the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you.

Deuteronomy 4:1-2


9 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. 10 Remember the day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when he said to me, “Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children.” 11 You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness. 12 Then the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice. 13 He declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets. 14 And the LORD directed me at that time to teach you the decrees and laws you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

Deuteronomy 9-14

Deuteronomy means ‘2nd Law’.  It is the last book of the “Torah (teaching) in the God directed call of the descendants of Abraham. The need is not for new or additional laws but for a restatement of the same laws. We all learn by repetition so that learning, forgetting learning, forgetting, learning and remembering occurs. Recall that when God called the Hebrews from out of Egypt they had been slaves for 400 years and were carbon copies of the Egyptian culture. As such, it was necessary for the entire congregation to be taught of the God who rescued them. After their God directed escape, they cowered in fear at the foot of Mount Sinai as the Presence of God descended on the mountain top and gave Moses the law that they were to follow. This law contained 613 declarations. 365 were “thou shalt nots” and 248 were “thou shalts.” The general summation and condensation of these laws comes to us centuries later as the 10 Commandments. These are general principles to be followed and are not merely “the 10 Suggestion.” Deuteronomy 4:9 defines for us and the Church of Jesus the Christ our responsibility to following generations.


9 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

Deuteronomy 4:9

Some of these laws are confounding to us and are a product of their own time.

19 “Bring the best of the first fruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God.
“Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

Exodus 23:19

This is puzzling to us but was probably quite clear to the Hebrews. Perhaps the Egyptians or Canaanites used such in their pagan rituals. The importance escapes us now but was obviously worthy of Godly mention at that time. Other issues perhaps qualified then but not now as well.

Important issues are spelled out with great clarity. For example, the 18th chapter of Leviticus details the extent of sexual sin that is not to be tolerated.

Unlawful Sexual Relations

1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘I am the LORD your God. 3 You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. 4 You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the LORD your God. 5 Keep my decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. I am the LORD.

6 “‘No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the LORD.

7 ” ‘Do not dishonor your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; do not have relations with her.

Leviticus 18:1-7

This chapter continues on for a total of thirty verses. What is clear is that sexual intimacy is restricted to God created and blessed marital intimacy. All other classifications are forbidden.

It is these laws which form the foundation for the Judeo Christian ethic that undergirds this country. Christianity is the extension of Judaism which was founded on these laws. Early Christianity parted from Judaism basically because of the acceptance of Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah and the fulfillment of the Old Covenant and its law. The acceptance of Jesus as the Promised Savior removes us from the judgment of the law but we are not free to do as we please, free of moral restraint. We pursue the idea rather than the letter of the law in obedience to the indwelling Holy Spirit of God. The motive for obedience progresses from a situation of judgment and fear to one of love for God and a quest for perfection in the eyes of God the Father.

The charge to those of Moses’ day to keep these laws before the young is as relevant now as when God first gave the personally engraved tablets to their leader. However, the opposition to these laws (10 Commandments) is intense and they have been judged to be dangerous for public view.

What are these commandments and why are they to be hidden from public view?

2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before] me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Exodus 20:2-17

Hearing them read and visualizing them yourself, is there anything overtly offensive in their content?  Surely a guide to the conduct of man before God and man as a neighbor to man is not an affront. But yet in our life-time they have been purged from public view. Not only have these laws provoked ironically, legalistic ire, but the mention of God in the public square has become an offense to sensitive ears. This is in a nation that was founded on the very principles that these laws propose. How has such come about in the past 60 years?

The first argument offered is that the constitution of the United States declares that there must be a separation of “Church and State.” As you read the constitution you encounter no such statement. Previous and perhaps present Supreme Court Justices have declared that the language of the Constitution implies such. From whence comes the implication of a separation of Church and State?

On January 1, 1802, President Thomas Jefferson responded to a concern by the Danbury Baptist Association that a particular Christian denomination would be declared a national religion. In a letter of this date Jefferson declared that the American people had determined that no national religion be established thus building a wall of separation between Church and State. This wall was to separate the church from the power of the state as a protection of religious freedom. What has transpired is the modern day interpretation that the State must be protected from the Church. This clearly restricts the Church to the private arena and does not allow it to speak freely in the public affairs of the nation. Tragically, such has aligned Government with the religion of Humanism whose opinions trump all other.

Is it any wonder that our great nation is in crisis? We have barred God and His Son from all public view championing the idea that such discourse is offensive and hurtful.

So, what are we to do? I suggest that we look at these commandments and decide concerning their relevance, not for this day and time only, but for all time.

 
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Focus on the Prize, Finish the Race

July 19, 2010 – 1:20 pm

Solomon Asks for Wisdom

1 Solomon son of David established himself firmly over his kingdom, for the LORD his God was with him and made him exceedingly great.

2 Then Solomon spoke to all Israel—to the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, to the judges and to all the leaders in Israel, the heads of families- 3 and Solomon and the whole assembly went to the high place at Gibeon, for God’s Tent of Meeting was there, which Moses the LORD’s servant had made in the desert. 4 Now David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim to the place he had prepared for it, because he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem. 5 But the bronze altar that Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made was in Gibeon in front of the tabernacle of the LORD; so Solomon and the assembly inquired of him there. 6 Solomon went up to the bronze altar before the LORD in the Tent of Meeting and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.

7 That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

8 Solomon answered God, “You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made me king in his place. 9 Now, LORD God, let your promise to my father David be confirmed, for you have made me king over a people who are as numerous as the dust of the earth. 10 Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

11 God said to Solomon, “Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, riches or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king, 12 therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, riches and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have.”

2 Chronicles 1:1-12

Years ago Sports Illustrated had a feature article on a high school track athlete who seemed destined for stardom and accolades. His specialties were the dashes of 100 and 200 meters. He was phenomenal in the 100 but curiously his performance in the 200 was not extraordinary. He trained very hard but always seemed to die in the last 15 to 20 meters. His form would seem to break up but no additional conditioning seemed to help. An interested party taped him in both races and just as in the past he faltered badly after 180 meters in the 200. It was then that the videographer made an important discovery and offered some simple advice. He asked, “Don’t you think you should take a breath in the 200?”

Most sprinters take no breath during the 100. Everybody takes a breath in the 200. Focusing on the race itself, he had failed to breath for a spance of about 20 seconds. He invariably developed a desperate need for oxygen that he was not meeting.

Most everyone in the secular and theological worlds has heard of Solomon. His name is associated with both brilliance and physical wealth. The Bible clearly acknowledges that both were gifts from God based, it would seem, on his humility when he became King of Israel. All agree that Israel reached its zenith under his continued rule inherited from his father David. Both his fame and power were commiserate with his wealth. He became an international trader, botanist, writer, poet and judge. His touch was truly golden.

But as time passed, the humility of Solomon seemed to be replaced by a sense of pride. He clearly forgot the source of all his good gifts and he mounted and rode the stately steed of pride.

An old proverb states that if you “play with fire, you may well get burned.”


Solomon’s Wives

1 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2 They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. 4 As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. 5 He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech [a] the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done.

1 Kings 11:1-6

He had 700 wives and 300 concubines who were slaves but otherwise had the marital rights of a free woman. The total number reached a 1000. It appears that he had 999 more wives than God intended. Surely the palace was a battle ground of competition and catty remarks. Did he keep them in a harem or did each and their children have separate quarters? Scripture doesn’t say. Why all the wives? It is contended that this was his major foreign policy. A nearby or distant king was unlikely to attack a land wherein his daughter was Queen. The ploy surely worked from one standpoint for Israel experienced national peace even if such was unlikely in the Royal Palace.

God’s response to Solomon’s behavior is contained in 1 Kings 11:9-11. God had become angry at the attitude of Solomon and as a result a portion of his kingdom would be torn from him and given to others.

The basic issue confronting Solomon was his violation of the first of the 10 Commandments. These commandments are so important that they are listed in two places within the Torah, Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5.

Humanistic thinking is greatly influenced and affronted by these commandments and has gone to great lengths to keep them out of public view. These commandments are general, broad in their sweep, and concise in their presentation. They begin with a declaration of who the True God is.

2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

Exodus 20:2-3

At the time of this declaration by God, the world was filled with false worship much as it is now. At the heart of this declaration is understanding that there is only One God, the Great I Am. He has always existed and in His singular nature, He is unwilling to allow honor to be given to anyone but Himself. The problem is not that man doesn’t worship for he always has. The point is that his worship is generally misguided and is devoted to multiple gods or to himself. The latter problem of self worship is the rage at the present time and is the result of modern reasoning. The idea of absolute truth that is eternal and unbending has been replaced by relativism that accepts no certainty or dependable and unswerving truth. This has produced a setting in our time of hyper-individualism so that everyone’s ideas must be honored despite their lack of merit.

God says clearly to all that would listen, the Great Solomon included, that He will tolerate no rivals. He declares that He is the Winner and there are no second or third place finishers. He is solitary and must be worshipped as such.

Despite his wisdom and prosperity, Solomon forgot their source. They were gifts of God based on God’s love and Solomon’s initial attitude of humility. The same basic understanding applies to us. All good gifts come from God. He is the controller of days past, present and all to come. He not only expects worship but demands such. We are free to pick and choose as a portion of our makeup. Our choices do have consequences however.

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Good News, Bad News

July 11, 2010 – 9:19 pm


The Fall of Man

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ”

“You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Genesis 3:1-7

“Good News, Bad News” jokes abound. They are ordinarily brief, easily understood and with a readily comprehended punch line. We are all aware of the “Bearden Clan” that fills the pews of this church. On occasion they invite others of their number to meet with them here for a party or get-to-gather. These are friends of, dare I say, fifty years. It has been my experience that the closest of friends in any educational environment are those that you make in high school.

They had been friends and teammates since high school. They no longer suited up for football or basketball but over the years they had found age group softball leagues and teams on which they could compete as members. Jim lost his best friend Bill. Jim was usually the pitcher and Bill the sure-handed shortstop. The two friends had often wondered if and hoped that there would be softball in heaven. A few nights after Bills’ death, Jim had a very vivid dream in which Bill comforted him. Bill was obviously in heaven and Jim asked of its beauty. “Unimaginable” replied Bill. Jim then asked “Is there softball in heaven?” Bill said, “I have good news and bad news. The good news is yes, there is softball in heaven.” Jim was elated but then he asked, “What is the bad news?” Bill answered, “You are slated to pitch next Tuesday.”

The Bible begins with the good news of creation. All that God creates is good. There is no mention that He shares this effort with chance and time. God declares that the state of man’s loneness is not good so God creates woman from man and establishes the basis for the whole of society and human life. The sacred God blessed union of woman and man serves as the foundation of society. Opposition to this basic concept places all who attempt to undermine marriage as being opposed to the wishes of God.

The bad news arrives in Genesis 3 with the disobedience of God’s created. As a result, we are introduced to and become a part of sin. The concept is that of Original Sin. Some chafe at this but I believe the concept is easy to follow. From this point forward, all born of the union of all Adams and Eves come as sinners. The explanations offered are two. First, their sinful natures are passed to us since they serve as the representatives of mankind. Or secondly, the concept has a seminal basis relying on our descendance from common ancestors.

This is the doctrine of sin that emerges from the Bible. This separates Creator from created.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”

He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

Genesis 3:8-11

More bad news is revealed as God requires an explanation. Implied is the revelation that God was in fellowship with man and woman and spent time with them in Eden’s Garden. This willful disobedience broke the fellowship between them and as a result, God expelled them from the garden and a death sentence became operative from that point forward. An important concept arises. God is the teller of truth and Satan is a liar.

Although not explained at this time but implied is the concept that God desired to teach them of His character to provide the proper basis for their fellowship. They would have known the true nature of God from personal experience but their disobedience caused a separation. So thwarted, God chooses to reveal His true nature through inspired individuals and as a result we have this revelation as the Bible. Contained therein are the laws of God that begin the revelation of the character of God.

Mankind’s trek through time is a rather sordid story and left to our own devises, there is no good news. And the Bible exposes all our warts and blemishes. Murder, hatred, incest, adultery, greed and the list of sins goes on and on. Left to our own efforts we have no way to resume fellowship with God and are separated from Him for eternity.

Now for some welcomed good news.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

John 3:16-18

God provides a way for mankind’s’ restoration of fellowship by the incarnation of His Son in human flesh to meet the requirements of justice and deemed by God. This activity encompasses the Doctrine of Salvation. The need for being saved (salvation) must be preceded by an understanding of the Doctrine of Sin. Simply, you must grasp that sin, defined by God and not man, causes a separation of God and man. Only God can rectify this. This is the Good News, the Gospel.

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What Happened?

July 6, 2010 – 8:58 am

Saul’s Conversion

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

Acts 9:1-9

The New York City Police responded to a 911 call concerning an incident in Central Park. When they arrived on the scene they discovered a helpless turtle upside down, resting on his shell with his feet pointing upward. He had been mugged. The officers gently turned him over and asked him what had happened. The turtle then told them he had been mugged by a large number of snails. When asked for other details, he remarked that it all “happened so fast that he couldn’t give any details.”

Before us this morning is the critical 9th chapter of Acts wherein Saul of Tarsus is ultimately transformed into Paul the Christian Evangelist. He simply goes from the primary persecutor of the early church to the greatest proponent of Jesus of Nazareth to be the true Messiah of God. Key for our understanding is to note that Saul must ask Jesus who He is. (Acts 9:5_“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. ) He has absolutely no understanding of who Jesus truly is. It is not that he has never heard the good news for he was there when Stephen testified before the Sanhedrin of his faith in Jesus. He has been instrumental in the deaths of many believers in Jesus and surely heard their testimonies for which they were willing to die. How and why did the transformation occur?

Acts 9:10-19 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.

The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”

“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”

But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.6I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

This tells us that Saul was changed but does not clearly define the process by which it occurs. We perceive that this transformation is by the power of the Holy Spirit but why Saul and not others who continue to deny Jesus as Lord and Savior? We all know them and they often arise in our closest friends or even in our own families.

Mark 3:20-21

Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

Clearly, Jesus’ own family thought Him insane and deranged and came to take Him home. Scan the listing of the books of the New Testament and you find that one is named ‘James’ and another ‘Jude.’ Both are thought to be brothers of Jesus who once considered Him to be mad but now declare Him to be God. Did they merely intellectually figure out who Jesus is and then come to faith? The Bible gives us no details about these 2 and perhaps others but Luke as the author of Acts allows us to be in the company of Saul for three days as his zeal is transformed from persecutor to believer.

All of God’s created humanity have eternal souls. Your soul as a creation of God cannot be destroyed. Our souls consist of mind, memory, will, conscience and affection. Have you ever been alone with your conscience and become party to tough love? Saul was as if dead for three days not eating or drinking. His world has been totally shattered. Rather than serving God, he was clearly in opposition to God. When Jesus interrogates Saul, he must ask “Who are you, Lord?” In the next 72 hours does Saul merely figure out who Jesus is and say “I believe!” No, scripture gives no hint that Saul figures out who Jesus is on his own.

In the doctrine of salvation is the critical realization that faith in Jesus comes not from analysis of who Jesus is but rather who we are in contrast. Quite simply, we are sinners who oppose God in the direction and leading of our lives. The necessity is that we not dismiss our sin as being trivial but we are crushed by it so we are no longer filled with pride. Key is

Ephesians 2:8

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

Did you hear that faith in Jesus is a gift and not the result of human effort? Because God loves us, He willingly by the Holy Spirit gives us faith to believe who Jesus is, not because we figure it out intellectually but because we are crushed by that which separates us from God. Faith is gifted because God independently loves us and provides the means for us to accept Jesus for who He truly is. This is the true mercy of God. God supplies us the faith to believe who Jesus is. Coming to grips with the critical nature of sin is at the heart of the issue.

Coming to Christ is gifted and depends upon recognizing who I am in contrast to who God is. He is Holy, the Eternal and Great I Am. I am earth and totally beholden to God to be otherwise. We don’t figure out who Jesus is on our own as the key to salvation. We do come to mourn our sin that separates us from God and then God in His mercy gifts us salvific faith.

Salvation is of God. The gift of faith by the Holy Spirit is given in response to humility and confession. Sin is the separating issue. Confrontation, realization, confession, repentance and the mourning of sin are necessary to receive the gift. God is willing to gift faith in the Savior based on His terms and not ours.

 
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The Challenge

June 20, 2010 – 10:12 am

“If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”

John 14:15-21

John’s Gospel places Jesus in the upper room with His disciples. By the 14th chapter, Judas has departed to inform on Jesus to His opponents so He may be captured without the threat of an uprising by the people. Chapters 14 through 17 are concerned with His will and testimony to the remaining 11 who have followed Him for 3 years. This is an emotion filled revelation by Jesus to those who are called upon to finish the work of bringing salvation to the world. Much depends upon their faithfulness and willingness to serve as witnesses to the cause of Christ. With their performance up until this time, Jesus would certainly be justified in harboring anxiety about how well they would do. His general tone is not one of anxiety but is more clearly one of assurance for when He departs He will send the Spirit of truth to bolster, teach and lead them in their efforts to free the world from sin. This is a fulfillment of Jeremiah 31:31-34:

“The time is coming,” declares the LORD,
“when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.

It will not be like the covenant
I made with their forefathers
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to] them, ”
declares the LORD.

“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time,” declares the LORD.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.

No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the LORD.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”

This is the basis of the New Covenant that will come to bear on a believing man’s soul which is enacted by the very Spirit of God. It is not that God’s Spirit will rest upon an individual as was the case up until this time but that God the Spirit would reside within His very soul. The purpose was to rule upon the throne of the believer’s heart to direct life in a particular way. The goal of this arrangement was to create a new humanity that looked like Adam but thought and behaved as did Jesus the Christ.

Jesus concludes His prayerfulness with an appeal directed to all who follow Him as Savior and God. John 17:24-26

“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”     Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

He makes both of these appeals directly to God the Father. His desire is that we will know God as Father as Jesus has known Him and that we will make this salvation known to the world. The power that propels this is the indwelling Holy Spirit as well as the love of God that serves as the catalyst for making this news known.

Today is Father’s Day and just as was Mother’s Day, we make no special provision in the church calendar for the recognition of either day. I see this as a mistake for both roles of motherhood and fatherhood seem lessened in the eyes of society and perhaps the plight of modern day society seems to reflect the neglect of the importance of both. No one can deny that public and private morals, speech and purposes seem to have begun the descent on the slippery slope of humanism rather than the Spirit-led climb that leads to the Throne of God. We live in a time when that which is secular professes a need to be protected from religious thoughts and practices. Could it be that we have become educated beyond our basic intelligence?

No one denies the importance of a good mother and the love that she imparts to her offspring. Such is a taste of Heaven in an earthly setting. Fatherhood has been reduced to biology in many settings. Certain segments of our current society feel that the importance of fatherhood ends with conception. A casual look at society belies such a thought. Children who fail in the scholastic realm generally come from fatherless homes. Our prisons are filled with fatherless inmates. The monetary and social costs are staggering.

So, what constitutes a good father? A father gives a son a role model and a daughter a hero. Little girls are to be given a chance to enjoy a childhood. Little boys were never meant to become little girls. The sexes were God’s idea and are as they are for purpose. Children need and search for discipline. They are always checking boundaries. Their question is “Do you love me enough to guard and look out for me?” Sometimes their behavior is to determine if you care enough to watch out for them.

Just as motherhood is demanding and time consuming, fatherhood is always being observed by the father’s children or grandchildren. If your character is not consistent, children quickly discover it. They analyze your manner, your work ethic and your habits.

Long ago God installed the father of the household as the spiritual leader. Unfortunately, few of us have done as well as we should. If your children sense that God is important to you, they will take a very careful look at the circumstances. If not, they are much less likely to seek Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Fatherhood and motherhood are both difficult. There are no perfect fathers or mothers. However, that understanding does not excuse anyone from pursuing such a standard. It is important to accept the understanding that diligence in effort is no guarantee of a favorable outcome as a result.

What should our focus be fixed upon as we strive to be a good father? Our quest should be that our sons and daughters can sense and see who we desire to be. Our goal should be to resemble Christ. If successful, our rewards are potentially great. We have no greater challenge.

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