Hearts of the Fathers
Happy Father’s Day!
Braggin’ ‘bout Dad (by Davon Huss)
Three boys in the schoolyard were bragging about who had the better father: The first boy says, “My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a poem, and they give him $100.”
The second boy says, “That’s nothing. My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a song, and they give him $1000.”
The third boy says, “My Dad is ever better than that. He scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, calls it a sermon, and it takes 6 or 8 men just to collect all the money!”
Please turn to Malachi 4…
Text: And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers…"…Malachi 4:6
Context: "For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up," Says the Lord of hosts, "That will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But to you who fear My Name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; And you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves. 3 You shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet On the day that I do this," Says the Lord of hosts. 4 "Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, With the statutes and judgments. 5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. 6 And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse." Malachi 4:1-6
It would seem appropriate to say the “spirit of antichrist” is in the world today, but few understand that this rebellious, prideful, and opposing spirit toward God is a counterfeit to Jesus and has been in the world long before now. In fact, it has been in the world since the days of John the beloved. In chapter 4 of his first letter, he writes, “…every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world (v. 3).
For every counterfeit, there is an authenticated “real deal”. For every little white lie, there is a full blown truth. John wasn’t speaking of a politically correct machine that prints out cutesy lines for liberal thinkers to spout out, he was speaking about a definite work created by an enemy of our souls who will stop at nothing to uproot the hopes and dreams which God has placed down in our hearts where no man can see and only God has the key.
You see, today, our families are under attack. Our children’s future literally hangs in the balance. When we wake up every morning…
This same “opposite of Christ” kind of power works to steal, kill and destroy every individual and family and has been working throughout our history.
Politically it demands tolerance without truth…
Socially it seeks to have a voice without hearing others…
Physically it perverts sex without adhering to intentional intimacy…
Emotionally it tells us we are okay without owning up to our own mistakes…
Spiritually it blocks the very Way, Truth and Life that each believer must pass through in order to reach the Father...
Ultimately, the spirit of antichrist is working to create widespread defiance, divisiveness and dysfunction in the Body of Christ. Let’s read chapter 4 of 1 John a little more closely.
1 John 4:1-8…1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. 4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are of the world. Therefore, they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
Generationally, this has caused great division in our culture today. Malachi knew something of this war between these two spirits. He had to. He wrote of the prophet Elijah coming to mend these generations back together.
Hearts of the Fathers…
What are the hearts of the fathers like today? Many are abusive, cold, distant and neglectful. However, there is a remnant who are protective, warm, close and supportive. It will take the latter to reach out to a lost and dying generation who is coming up after us.
We need to be good fathers to our biological and adopted children, but beyond that we must take up the mantle of Elijah, which appropriates a double portion of anointing and parent our spiritual children whom the Lord places in our lives. From this point on in this message, every time I speak of the “children” I am speaking of all three types (bio, adopted and spiritual).
We have a responsibility to be…
Mindful of the content in our hearts, for it is out of our hearts, our mouths speak (Matt. 12:34).
Intentional in the love and encouragement we lavish on them so they feel the stability of a generation whose laid a solid foundation for them.
Purposeful in how we speak our values to those the Lord has entrusted to our care.
Hearts of the Children…
There are explicit plans the devil has for the children of each generation. Where God would say He has, plans to prosper and give them a hope…Satan plans to strip them of their hopes, kill their dreams, trivialize their values and abort their purpose.
Our society have fallen in line with the spirit of antichrist from curriculum in our schools to the laws governing our lives. Each generation has become a copy of a copy with all that implies. Our children need to learn how to…
Worship the Father in spirit and truth through their own worship.
Value the Word of God through their own exploration of the Word.
Pray in Jesus’ name at the end of their own prayers.
Application: What does this mean for us this morning? Why does this matter to us on Father’s Day? I think the separation and/or division that divides each generation with the generation before them is a significant, strategic and serious attempt by the enemy to keep the church from being as strong as we can be. If he can keep fathers (the generation before) fighting with their children (the generation after), then he can keep us from reaching the world for Jesus. Today, we must…
Honor one another. Accept our value to each other.
Fathers (mothers) we need our children. Our children bring with them the hope of today in strength, energy and eagerness.
Children, we need our fathers. The excellent heritage our fathers bring us is packed full of wisdom, maturity and love.
Help one another. Appreciate our need for each other. Dedicate ourselves to lifting each other up.
Fathers, our children still need our help as they plan the trajectory of their lives.
Children, our fathers need our help in passing the torch down from their generation to ours and to be certain it will be handed down again to the next.
Have mercy on one another. Acknowledge our mutual need for grace.
Fathers, our children need mercy as they learn to fly on their own
Children, our fathers need mercy as they learn to let go of us.
There are commentators who believe that Elijah is one of the two end-time prophets talked about in Revelations. I am one, who agrees. God said, I will send him to “turn” the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers, after which, he will “strike” the earth with a curse. Moses wrote in the Deuteronomy we should honor our mothers and fathers so our days will be long on this earth. Solomon wrote, we should not exasperate our children. This is not something we should take lightly.
Jesus, said, a house divided against itself cannot stand and yet we see this kind of division every day in our homes, churches and communities. It is time for us to stand up and honor, help and have mercy on one another.
If we were honest with ourselves, and I believe we can be, we would admit faults on both sides of the generational fence. Instead of categorizing all of our failures, why not confess to God and one another our failures and move on together in love? Why should we wait for the end of the age to change, when our families need us now?
