A. Several of our young men have recently become new dads. It is great to see so many wonderful young families in our congregation and I especially want to thank each of the men of this congregation for striving to be godly men, husbands and fathers. I applaud your desire and with the help of this congregation I hope we men grow closer together and willing to support one another.
B. Today is Father’s Day and many times I preach a lesson aimed at reminding or encouraging fathers to step up and do more than what they are doing. This lesson will follow that thought with some practical ideas of what it mean for us dads to be the one who stands in the gap between our family and God. We need dads whose faith is strong, whose desire is God, whose commitment is to their wife and children and whose example is seen by all.
C. Many families around the world are under attack by the evils of sin. Too many fathers have forsaken their wife and left her to raise children alone. But God teaches us dads to rise up and become men of God. He enables us by giving us everything we need to be a man that our wife can be proud of, our children respect and God says, “well done, good and faithful servant.” It is that man that I want us to strive to become.
D. I want to say that sometime women get a bad rap by us men for not speaking their minds and we guys sometimes feel we have figure out what our wives are saying. But let me be honest, men, we guys are not all that better. I came across a Men’s Thesaurus that I thought might be helpful to a few of the ladies or children with the church family. Let me read an expert.
I. Men Must Learn to Lean
A. Let me come back to the text of Ezekiel. Here is was time when society had turned away from God. A time when the countries leaders no longer respected or worship God. A time when neighbors mistreated neighbors. Yet the people of that day did not see their sins, but continued to practice a sinful lifestyle. God says to Ezekiel that he should prophesy about the sins, but verse 30 is what hurts.
B. Are you the man who will stand in the gap? Are you the man who will rise up and proclaim, “No more” to the sins that are destroying or society and our families? Are you the man who will first learn to lean upon the Lord? That is where it begins.
C. Leaning upon the Lord is difficult, because it is an open statement that we are not in control and need to be have the help of the One who is. Leaning upon the Lord often means that we start with repentance for we have not been what we should be.
D. The most basic building block necessary for building godly character into our lives as men is repentance. It is not until we humble ourselves before God and confess with our mouths that we are not the makers of our own destiny, that we are not the captain of our own ships, that we do not have all the answers, and that we are not God – it is not until this happens that we can be used by God.
We need to recognize our own sin, the horror of our sin, and fall on our faces before God seeking His forgiveness and restoration. We must allow God’s holiness to break us so that His wondrous grace can lift us up to be used in His service.
E. To repent means, “to turn around.” Men, if you are walking in all of the wrong places this morning then I want to urge you to turn around and walk in the ways of Almighty God so we can be agents of His salvation, grace, and mercy. When we repent, reconciliation is free to flow through our lives. Learning to lean upon the Lord is learning that the ONLY way is God’s way. It is not an alternative, it is exclusive. Every Christian needs to understand the need to lean upon the Lord. So if you are going to stand in the gap between God and your family, then start by falling to your knees.
II. Men Must Learn to Lead
A. God says through Paul that the husband is the head of wife as Christ is the head of the church. Headship within the family is the big boss. Let me remind you of Paul statement. We are to be like Christ is to the church. Jesus is the savior of the body. Jesus has a desire to present the body as one that is washed, purified and beautiful. Jesus laid down his life for the church. That is the headship we men are called to. But it doesn’t stop there. Wives are called the “weaker vessel.” Don’t be insulted ladies. It simply means that you are valuable and fragile and need tender leadership.
B. As fathers we are also leaders. It is our God-given role to make sure our children have every opportunity to know the Lord. We are to be discipline our children in a way that helps them, not hurts them. We are the example they have of a father and we fail, think how warped that view of God as a father would be.
C. As men, we are called to be leaders within the church family. The role of the preacher was given to men. Women can make great teachers and often are the best teachers, but the public proclamation of scripture within the church gathering is directed to men. The role of elders is given to men. They are the shepherds of the flock and they way we as Christians see them is similar to fathers. In fact, we can judge their ability to shepherd all of by looking at the way they led their own physical families. While women have a deep and real role within the local church family, the area of leadership is given to the men. There have been many “Esthers” within the church and not enough “Daniels.”
D. If you are going to stand in the gap it will be because you decided to lead and lead as a servant of the Lord whose desire is to bring your family and others to Jesus Christ.
III. Men Must Learn to Love
A. Man who leans upon the Lord and leads as Christ did in his ministry is a man who learns to love. As was said in my class, love difficult word to define. The trait of love that God desires for us men to become is compassionate. We men often seek to carry a rough exterior. We told to not cry like babies. We are told to suck it up and work through the pain. But the truth is, God calls us to compassion. Jesus looked over Jerusalem and wept. He hurt because the people he loved no longer followed God.
B. Learning to love is learning to put others first. Learning to love is seeking someone’s interest instead of your own. Love your wife, it’s not only commanded, it makes for a much better marriage. Love your children, when you are old you will need them to love you. Love the church family, for we might be the only family that sticks by you when all else fail. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbor as yourself. For in doing so you will keep all the commands of God and find rest in his eternal home. Will you be the man who stands in the gap?
