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49:02

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

children, Paul, father, God, teach, fathers, verse, life, gospel, Thessalonians, Lord, warn, integrity, home, encourage, live, conduct, commanding, believers, writes

Table of Contents

Introduction.. - 1 -

1. He lives with integrity. - 3 -
2. He Instructs his Children.. - 4 -
3. He Encourages his Children.. - 7 -
4. He has to warn his children.. - 8 -
5. He needs a goal for his children.. - 10 -

Closing. - 11 -

 

Introduction

The title of this sermon this morning is The Duties of a Faithful Father.

 

In our culture today, the home is under attack. Satan knows that in order to disrupt society, all he has to do is disrupt the home. I was listening to the radio the other day and the host said this, if you want to attack women, if you want to attack children, if you want to attack the home, go after the fathers. And he's right. He's right. Go after the fathers. That's what Satan has been doing. Attacking fathers.

 

Listen to these statistics. According to the US Census Bureau. 18.3 million children (that is 1 in 4) live without a biological, step, or adoptive father in the home. 85% of youth who are currently in prison grew up in a fatherless home. Girls who live in a fatherless home have a higher risk of suffering from obesity than girls who have their father present. Teen girls from fatherless homes are also four times more likely to become mothers before the age of 20.   63% of youth suicides involve a child who is living in a fatherless home when they made their final decision. 85% of children which exhibit some type of a behavioral issue, come from a fatherless home. Now does that sound like a society that's heading in the right direction? It doesn't. It's not.

 

And what's the consistent factor in all of this? It's fatherlessness, fatherlessness. And this morning, we want to talk about fatherhood. The importance of being a father and the duties of a father. We hear a lot about motherhood. Lots of books that are written about motherhood, lots of sermons that are preached about motherhood, but how much do we hear about fatherhood. Especially in a positive light, we usually just hear the statistics above and how bad fathers are, which is true of many fathers.

 

But what is it that God calls fathers to do in order to keep the family together? In order to have a healthy society, and most importantly, to glorify God? That's what we want to know. And that's what we're going to talk about here this morning. You see in your bulletin, we're going to be in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, and we're going to see five duties of a godly father as we look at what God commands fathers to do. And we're going to look at Paul here this morning in 1 Thessalonians 2, who is a spiritual father to the Thessalonians. He's a spiritual father to the Thessalonians. And we're going to learn from his example as a spiritual father. And we're going to take those principles and then apply them to being a physical father.

 

So, follow along with me is a read our passage for us this morning in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2.  We're going to begin in verse 10. Paul says to the Thessalonians, "You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; 11 just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, 12 so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory." (1 Thess 2:10-12)

 

Now Paul comes to this portion of his letter as he's writing to the Thessalonians. He's here defending his apostleship; he's defending his apostleship. The context here is that there were people who had come into the church at Thessalonica, and they had claimed that Paul was a false teacher. They claimed that he was no different than those false teachers who were fakes and frauds, and would come into church into churches, and we're taking people's money and taking advantage of them.

 

And so, Paul has been painted in a bad light by those who are outside of the church. He's a true apostle though. And so, he writes here to his spiritual children in Thessalonica, to remind them of his true apostleship. And his leadership when he was there with them. And he has to make a defense for himself, because there were these false accusations that were coming against him. Paul was a man who was under attack. And so Paul makes his defense.

 

And Paul uses two analogies to remind his spiritual children of his godly character, two analogies. First, he uses the analogy of a gentle, caring mother, look, look up at verse 7. Look what he says there. "But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children." (1 Thess 2:7) He uses this analogy of, of a mother. But then he uses the analogy of a father here in our text in verse 11. And what Paul wants to do here is lay out for the Thessalonians his character, and also the character of Silas and Timothy, who were there with him when he went to Thessalonica, to go and plant the church and preach the gospel. But he wants to remind the Thessalonians of how he acted towards them.

 

So, let's look at Paul's example here of a father, as he writes to them, and see what it was that he did, so that we as fathers might learn what the duties of a godly father are. Five duties. This morning five duties of a father, the first duty is this.

 

1.     He lives with integrity.

 

The first duty of a father is that he lives with integrity. Look at verse 10. "You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behave toward you believers." Paul draws their attention. And he says, You are witnesses Thessalonians. You are witnesses. You saw how we lived before you. You watched everything that we did.  Fathers, our children are watching and they see everything that we do. Paul says, You saw me. You saw the way that I live. You saw everything that I did.

 

And when you weren't watching. Well, God was watching. God saw everything that we did. And so, no matter what it was that we did, either you were watching, or God Himself was watching. And in everything that we did, we conducted ourselves with integrity. Notice there are three things that Paul lays out as he describes their integrity, that is the character of their conduct. Look what he says there.

 

1. He says, first that they were devout, they were devout. He says how devoutly and uprightly they were devout. This word means piously or holy, and it has to do with your life before God. Now this doesn't mean that holy here is his holy in the sense that we're perfect. That's not what Paul's talking about when he says, devout here, but it's how they live their life before God. That's what he's talking about. These were devout men who conducted their life in a holy manner before God. And that is why they're able to say as God was their witness, Paul is able to say as God is my witness, He witnessed my life of holiness and devotion to Him.

 

Men - this is how we must live. Fathers - this is how we must live -- totally and completely devoted to Christ. Our first and foremost, primary relationship that we have is our relationship with God. And if our relationship with God isn't right, then the other relationships that we have will suffer. They will and so we must live life lives that are first and foremost devoted to God, we must be devoted to Him.

 

2. Then Paul says that they were upright, they lived up rightly. Another way you could say that is that they, they were righteous. This has to do with how you respond to God's Word, and your relationships with God and other people. It's how you respond to God's Word. They had integrity, and they had a right conduct in their duties in life. These were men who had a standard of what is right, and just. Because it was based upon God's Word, and what God's Word says about what is right and just. That was their standard.

 

But here's the thing, men, here's the thing, fathers -- in order to know what is right, and just, we must know what God's standards are, right? We must know what God's standards are. And how do we know that? How do we know what God's standards are? Not by reading your newsfeed on your phone, not by hanging out and watching the ballgame. Not by spending time doing your favorite hobby. But by reading and knowing God's Word. That's what God calls us to, to read and to know His Words so we can understand what God's standards are.

 

Just as a side note in the Jewish culture that Paul grew up in, there were three things that the Talmud required of every Jewish father to do for his son, three things.

 

• First, they had to circumcise their son, according to the law.
• Second, they had to teach them a trade, and raise their boys to know a trade so that they'd be able to provide.
• And the third thing is they had to teach them the law of Moses. They had to teach them the law of Moses, they had to teach them God's Word. Are you teaching your children the Word of God? Are you teaching your children the Word of God? That is the only way that you are going to know how to live uprightly, and that's the only way that you will be able to then teach your children how to live uprightly...is if you first know God's Word. You must know the standard. We've got to know God's Word and be men who live righteously, uprightly.

 

And so, a man of integrity is devout and he's upright. And then Paul says in verse 10, they were blameless, they were blameless, this speaks of your reputation before other people. It means that no one could bring a charge against you of any kind of false conduct. Not only did they have the relationship with God in order, and they were living righteous lives before the people, but they're also living in such a way that no one could even bring an accusation against them. And so that's why Paul is able to say you are witnesses. You saw how I lived my life.

 

As the false teachers came in and attacked the church, and attacked the Apostle Paul and said, Oh, he's a false and he's a fake, and he's a fraud. And the Apostle Paul is able to say, No, you saw how I lived my life. You saw the conduct, and how I lived blamelessly.

 

Fathers, is this how you are living your life? Blameless? I love what one commentator says about this life of integrity. He says "the lives of the messengers had demonstrated that they not only believe the gospel, but also behaved the gospel." They didn't just believe the gospel, but they lived out the gospel in their life, they behaved it. When you as fathers, say that you believe the gospel, your wife and your children are watching to see if you really do believe it. And they'll know whether you believe it or not by the conduct of your life.

 

One of the ways that you can show your wife and your children that you believe this gospel that you proclaim, is by living in obedience to Christ. To be a man of integrity -- devout, righteous, and blameless. That's what God calls us fathers to do. We need to be men of integrity.

 

2.   He Instructs his Children

 

The second duty of a godly father is that he instructs his children. He not only lives with integrity, but he instructs his children. Look at verse 11, and what Paul says there, "just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you." (1 Thess 2:11) Notice Paul says that, when they were there with the Thessalonians, they were exhorting the believers. Paul was exhorting his spiritual children. As a spiritual father, he was exhorting these believers, his spiritual children.

 

This word exhort here means "to come alongside" and "to move someone toward a specific line of conduct." It means to make a strong appeal towards something. And this happens through giving instructions, and happens through teaching. What is it that a father is to teach his children? Well, let me just quickly give you five of them. Five things that a father should teach his children.

 

1. 1. First, teach them to fear God. Teach your children to fear God. Listen to Solomon's words in Proverbs 3:7, he says, "Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and turn away from evil." We want our children to run from evil, right? Isn't that what we desire? Is that what we want for our children? We want them to run away and turn away from evil. Well, how does that happen? How is that done? It happens when they fear God. When they fear God, it goes hand in hand, if you teach them to fear God, then they will run from evil. How do you teach them to fear God? Teach them about God. Teach them about God. Tell them about God's attributes. Tell them who God is. And tell them Yes, that God is love, and God is mercy, and God is grace, but also teach them that God has wrath, and God has anger, and that He is angry with the wicked every day.

 

We must teach our children who God is. And teach them to fear God. The more that they come to know who God is, the greater fear they will have of Him. Our job is to teach our children the fear of God. And in doing that, we also teach them the gospel. We share the gospel with them. The gospel should be central in our homes, and everything that we do everything that we teach our children, it all comes back to the gospel. We should have gospel-centered homes. We need to tell our children that they are sinners. Tell them that they are sinners. That's the only way that they're going to recognize and realize their need for a Savior -- is if they know that they are a sinner. Tell your children that they are sinners, and that they need a savior and then point them to Christ. And tell them listen, I know son, I know daughter, you are a sinner. But let me tell you the answer to your sin. His name is Jesus Christ. You share the gospel with your children, and teach them to fear God.

 

2. Second, we should teach them to obey. We need to teach them to obey. Did you know that the only command that is given directly to children in the Bible is this command right here, in Ephesians 6:1 "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right." We put that song or that verse to song for the kids so that they remember it. It's the only thing that you need to do, that God commands you to do children, the one thing that God specifically says for you to do children, is to obey your parents. Because that is right -- and obey them in the Lord. Sadly, 85% of youth are in prison because they did not obey the law. And you know why they didn't obey the law? Because they didn't have a father in the home teaching them obedience. Teach them to live righteously, teach them obedience.

 

And what goes along with teaching obedience is also practicing discipline. We must discipline our children. Part of teaching obedience is discipline. Listen to Proverbs 22:15, "Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will remove it far from him."   And yes, Solomon there is talking about spanking your children. That is biblical. That is what God commands. Sadly, the world is out there telling us No, we just need to count to five, and we need to put them in a corner, we need to take something away from them. And God says, No, you need to use the rod and you need to spank your children, you must discipline your children. Why? Because there's rebellion in their heart, rebellion against God. But that rod will teach them that No, that's not what you do. That's not the direction that you go. And you need to go in this direction. And it's the rod out of love. When you come to your children, and discipline them, that will drive out that rebellion in their heart. 85% of youth are imprisoned because they were not disciplined. They were not taught obedience. We need to discipline our children, teach them obedience. And we do it all in love, because we love them. A father who loves his children will discipline his children, and will teach them obedience. Fathers we are called to teach them to obey.

 

3. Third, we are to teach them hard work, we are to teach our children hard work. A lot of people think that work was the result of the fall. But that's not true. Work is not the result of the fall, Adam was created to work. He was created to tend the garden, to work there in the garden. He was working before the fall, it just got a lot harder after the fall, right? All of a sudden, now he's working by the sweat of his brow. Work is now difficult. It's hard because of the fall. But Adam was created to work. Eve was created to work. God created them to work. We are created to work, and we're to teach our children to work hard.

 

In fact, look at what Paul says in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 back up in verse 9. Look at what he says there. He says, "For you recall, Brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God." What's Paul saying there? You saw the hard work that we did. You saw the hard work in our lives. Paul was an example of a hard worker, working night and day. He was a tent maker by trade. It's most likely what his father taught him as a boy. That was the trade that his father most likely taught him -- to be a tent maker. And so he's able to come into Thessalonica and go and preach the gospel there and not be dependent upon them, but to work hard night and day, to provide for himself. And he modeled this hard work for the Thessalonians.

 

Solomon in Proverbs 6 tells his son to go and examine the ant. "Go son, and examine the ant. The ant works hard, even when no one is watching. She gathers in her food during the harvest and she never goes hungry."  Because the ant works hard. This father is teaching his son to always work hard, even when no one is watching.  We are to teach our children hard work. And we should be continually reiterating to our children 1 Corinthians 10:31 "Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of" who? "God". To do all to the glory of God. All of your work is to be done to the glory of God. We must teach our children to work and to work hard.

 

4. Number four, teach them to love their spouse. Teach your children to love their spouse. Listen to Proverbs 5:18. "Let your fountain be blessed and rejoice in the life of your youth." We must teach our children with God Word has to say about marriage and about sexual purity. Don't let them learn this from the world. Don't let them learn this from the world. The world will lie to them. We must teach them what God's Word has to say about marriage and purity. One of the ways that our children can love their spouse is to remain pure before marriage, teach them that. That's what God's Word says. Teach them what God's Word has to say about marriage. We must teach our children how God has ordained the marriage relationship. We must teach our daughters to love their husbands and be submitted to them, as Titus 2 tells the wives. And we must teach our sons to love their wives, and to lead their wives and provide for their wives as Ephesians 5 tells the husbands. Men we need to urge our children to love their spouse. And listen, one of the ways that we can do that -- one of the greatest ways that we can do that -- is to model that ourselves. To model that ourselves. Love your wife, show your children, that you love your wife. Model that for them, so that they can see what a loving and a godly marriage looks like they're watching. Model it for them.

 

5. The fifth thing that you should teach your children is to guard their mind. To guard their mind. There are so many images, and social media, and all the stuff that's going on today that is bombarding our children. It's bombarding them, the world is bombarding them with all kinds of garbage with all kinds of stuff. We need to teach our children to guard their minds. Listen to Proverbs 4:23. "Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flows the springs of life." In the Hebrew world, the the heart and mind are one. They're representative of the inner person. And Solomon is saying here, watch over your mind, watch over your heart, watch over your inner person. Be careful what you allow in there. Children, you've got to be careful what you allow into your mind.  Fathers, we need to teach our children that they need to be careful what they allow in their mind. Even as adults, we're called to guard our minds, right? We're called to guard our minds. But we should start this guarding with our children, when they are young. Guard their minds, teach them to guard their minds. Because what is in there will come out. And if we allow our children's minds to be filled with wrong thoughts and wrong actions, then that's what's going to come out of them. That's what will come out.

 

Fathers, we must teach our children to guard their minds and help them as parents to guard it for them. Children are foolish, and they need someone to come alongside them and say, I am here to guard and protect you. Because there's dangers out there. And I love you. And I want you to keep your mind and your heart pure. And I want you to know that you need to guard it. Father's teach your children to guard their minds.

 

3.   He Encourages his Children

 

Warren Wiersbe says a father must not pamper a child. Rather, he must encourage the child to go right back and try over again. Encourage them, don't pamper them. Encourage them to keep going. Motivate them. We need to help them to get back on the right course when they fall. And the course of action that we're inspiring our children towards is the path of righteousness, right? That's the path that we want them on. Psalm 1 says that there are two paths, either the path of the wicked or the path of the righteous. We need to be motivating our children to go down the right path, the path of righteousness, point them down the path that leads to life, and encourage them towards that path. That's the path that we want our children to stay on. When they swerve off of that path, we need to teach them and encourage them to get back on. Get back on the right path.

 

So the duties of a father that we've looked at so far, that he lives with integrity. The second that he instructs his children. The third duty of a father is that he encourages his children. He encourages his children. Look at what he, Paul, says again in verse 11, "just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging. " (1 Thess 2:11) They were exhorting and encouraging. Paul encouraged these new believers as they walked with Christ. Now they obviously had struggles and hardships as new believers. Paul has gone and he's established this church there. He's preached the gospel. These are new believers. And there are struggles and hardships that come along with anyone who becomes a new believer. But he encouraged them to keep going. He was an encouragement to his spiritual children.

 

The word encouraging means to comfort or console, it has the idea of inspiring someone to continue with a certain action. As fathers, we do not just stop with the teaching. But there needs to be motivation that comes alongside of that teaching. This is the compassionate side of fatherhood, the compassionate side of a father that encourages them to move forward, coming alongside of your children, to teach them -- knowing that they are going to fail. 

 

Fathers, your children are going to fail. Don't expect them to be perfect. Because they're not, they're going to fail. And they're going to have struggles and they're going to go through hardships. But they need someone to motivate them to keep going to encourage, encourage them to stay the course. And that's our duty as fathers to encourage them, to inspire them to keep going, even when times get tough.

 

Babe Ruth, who held the homerun record for 40 years, struck out 1330 times. Did you know that? So a lot of strikeouts. But he also hit a lot of homeruns. Why? Because he kept swinging. We need to encourage our children to keep going and pursue what is right.

 

4.   He has to warn his children

We must warn our children. And in this imploring that he did, he gave it from personal experience. It's like a father sitting down with his child and saying, Listen, I don't want you to go down the same path that I went down, right? Listen son, listen daughter, I don't want you going down that path. I know where that path leads to. We need to warn them. As fathers we are to warn our children about the dangers of going down the wrong path. Not only do we encourage them to get back on the right path and stay on the right path, but we also caution them about the dangers of going down the wrong path. It's the father who sits down with his son and says son if you continue hanging out with those kids, who will lead you to trouble and probably jail. Choose your friends wisely. Warn them. It's your duty. It's our job as fathers to do that. Warn them about the consequences of going down the wrong path, and about living in disobedience to God's Word.

 

Moses did this with Israel in Deuteronomy chapter 11. Turn over with me to Deuteronomy chapter 11, because I want to show you this, and what Moses did, as he's reiterating the law to the Israelites in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 11. Moses is going to lay this out for the Israelites, he's been teaching them all along the way as, as God has been revealing things to him. He then goes in teaches it to the Israelites. And he reiterates the law in Deuteronomy. And in Deuteronomy 11, beginning of verse 13. Look at what he says there. He says,

 

And so a father's duty is not only to live with integrity, and instruct his children and encourages children but fourth, he has to warn his children. A father has to warn his children. Look what Paul says again in verse 11. "Just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you." They were imploring. Paul was imploring each one of them individually, as believers, in Thessalonica. That word "implore" there means to make a serious declaration on the basis of presumed personal knowledge, and has the idea of a warning, and laying out the serious consequences. It carries with it, an authoritative tone like a father would give. And it has an earnest appeal in the exhortation given. Paul was warning them of the consequences for disobedience to the will of God.

 

13 “It shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul, 14 that He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early and late rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil. 15 He will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied." (Deut 11:13-15)

 

Look at verse 16. "16 Beware that your hearts are not deceived, and that you do not turn away and serve other gods and worship them. 17 Or the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and He will shut up the heavens so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its fruit; and you will perish quickly from the good land which the LORD is giving you." (Deut 11:16-17) Beware, watch yourselves. And then he continues on in verse 18. Look what he says there.

 

18 “You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 19 You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. 20 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your sons may be multiplied on the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens remain above the earth. 22 For if you are careful to keep all this commandment which I am commanding you to do, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and hold fast to Him, 23 then the LORD will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than you. 24 Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours; your border will be from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the river, the river Euphrates, as far as the western sea. 25 No man will be able to stand before you; the LORD your God will lay the dread of you and the fear of you on all the land on which you set foot, as He has spoken to you." (Deut 11:18-25)

 

Look what he says in verse 26. "See, I'm setting before you today, a blessing and a curse: the blessing," (you'll get the blessing.) Verse 27, "if you listen to the commandments of the Lord, your God, which I'm commanding you today;” But the curse, you'll receive the curse in verse 28. "If you do not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I'm commanding you today by following other gods which you have not known." (Deut 11:28) 

 

What does Moses do there? He lays out before Israel, he says, blessings and curse. He warns them and says, Don't go down the road of following after other gods. If you do that, that will lead to a curse. But he says, I want for you blessing.

 

Fathers, isn't that what we want for our children? We want blessing for you, therefore don't go down that road, go down the path of righteousness. We have to warn them. God made it very clear to His children as to what they are to do, right? He made it very clear to them. And he warned them of the consequences of not obeying Him. Fathers, we must warn our children. We must warn them of the consequences of disobeying God. And so, a father's duty is to live with integrity and instruct his children, encourages children and warn his children.

 

5.   He needs a goal for his children

 

And finally, number five, the fifth duty of a father is that he needs a goal for his children. He needs a goal for his children. Turn back to 1st Thessalonians chapter 2 and look at verse 12. What Paul says there in verse 12, "so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into his own kingdom, and glory." (1 Thess 2:12) And notice what Paul does there at the beginning of verse 12. He says, "so that" circle that, underline that. So that. That's a purpose statement there. Anytime you see so that in the Bible, take note.  It's a purpose statement. It's the goal of the imperative that's being given. As he gives an imperative, it's the goal of the command. Here's what I want you to do. Here is the goal of me telling you all of this.

 

And what is Paul's goal for his spiritual children in Thessalonica? That they would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls them. He has a goal for his children. It was Paul's goal for them. As a spiritual father, he had a goal for his spiritual children. Paul wanted them to walk as believers, not as unbelievers, but as believers. And he wanted them to live lives that would bring glory to God. And isn't that what we want for all of our children? That's what we want. That's what we desire. We need to point them to that goal. We need to have that goal for our children, and point them in that direction. John wrote in 2 John 4, "for I was very glad to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we have received commandment to do from the Father." John was writing there to the chosen lady, this chosen lady, and he had heard that some of her children were walking in the truth. And so he tells her, I have heard that some of your children are walking in the truth. Think about the joy that that brought to that woman. Because that's the goal that she had for her children, that they would be walking in the truth. That's what we want for our children, they will be walking in the truth.

 

And fathers, this starts when they're young.  Men who are going to be fathers, this starts when they are young. We've got to point our children to Christ, we've got to do these duties, and point them to the truth of Christ. Because that's the goal, right? That's what we want for our children. We want them to be walking with Christ, and living a life that pleases Him. So start this now. Start this now. And be a father who lives with integrity, who instructs his children in truth, who encourages them towards the truth, who warns them about disobeying the truth. And make it your goal to see that they are walking in the truth? That's what God has called us to do. As Men, as fathers.

 

Closing

 

In closing, what kind of impact did Paul, this spiritual father, have on his spiritual children? Turn over to chapter 3. Turn over to 1 Thessalonians chapter 3. Look what Paul says here. He writes to them, and he says,

 

3:1 Therefore when we could endure it no longer, we thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone, 2 and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith, 3 so that no one would be disturbed by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this. 4 For indeed when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction; and so it came to pass, as you know. 5 For this reason, when I could endure it no longer, I also sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter might have tempted you, and our labor would be in vain. 6 But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always think kindly of us, longing to see us just as we also long to see you, 7 for this reason, brethren, in all our distress and affliction we were comforted about you through your faith; 8 for now we really live, if you stand firm in the Lord." (1 Thes 3 1-8)

 

Paul, as a spiritual father, was concerned for his spiritual children. And Paul was concerned that they had walked away from the faith. So he sends Timothy to go and find out. Timothy, I need to know. These are my spiritual children. How are they doing? I know that they've gone through hardships and afflictions, I know that they've gone through persecution, are they still walking with the Lord? I want to know that.

 

Paul was concerned for his children. But here's the thing. Paul, as a spiritual father, had poured into his spiritual children, day after day, after day, after day. And when Timothy comes back and brings this report to him, you know what Paul says? Boy, it was hard. But it was all worth it. Because my children are walking in the Lord.

 

Fathers, I know it's hard work. I know it's a heavy responsibility. But this is what God has called us to do. We be men who live with integrity, and point our children to the truth. Share the gospel with them, point them to Christ, and have that goal for them, that they will always be walking with the Lord.

 

Let's pray. Father, thank You. Thank You for our time in Your Word this morning. What an amazing Father You are to us. Lord, I pray for every father who is here. I pray that you would help us as fathers to, to honor You, in these ways. To do these duties that you have called us to do as fathers, that we would bring glory and honor to Your name. Father, I pray for every child who is represented here this morning. Father, I pray that You would use us as fathers, and as mothers, to share the gospel with them. And I pray that they would come to saving faith in You. I pray that You would draw them to Yourself. And that we would be able to say as parents, we know our children are walking with the Lord. Father, give us boldness. Give us endurance. Even when it's difficult, when it's hard, when we don't have the energy, when we struggle. Father help us as fathers to be godly fathers, and to do all that You've commanded us to do, to bring glory to Your name. We thank You for Your time and Your Word this morning. And how You teach us to live. We leave from here this morning. Living this out in obedience to You. We pray in Christ's name Amen.