Fathers day 2007

1) The outline made available today has a different appearance that previous ones.

2) This one mainly has verses on it, and each of these passages has something in common.

3) Every citation referenced this morning will somehow deal with the word “fatherless.”

a) In the ASV the term fatherless occurs 43 times.

b) If we look at this word in several of the places where it is used, we can learn some lessons about fathers.

c) This may be an unusual way to study about fathers, but it is certainly a Biblical way.

d) The first time we find fatherless used in the Bible (ASV) is Ex. 22:22.

e) God said there were certain people who should not be “afflicted.”

f) God said it was wrong to afflict a widow. He said it was also wrong to afflict a fatherless child.

4) Here is how Ex. 22:22 reads – READ.

5) If this is all God had said, it would have probably been enough.

6) In verse 23 God said that He would hear the cry of a fatherless child.

7) God said if the fatherless were afflicted “at all,” He would hear their cries.

8) God is interested in children who do not have a father in their lives.

9) This passage implies that one of a father’s most important roles is being a father to his children.

10) If a man is not able to do that for some reason, God is especially concerned about his children.

a) Later in the first five books of the Old Testament we come to Deut. 10:18.

b) Here God is a God of justice and He said He would “execute justice” for some people.

c) God said He would execute justice for the widow as well as the “fatherless.”

d) Heaven has been so interested in the fatherless a special provision was put into the law for them.

e) God gave a law and the fatherless were integrated into various parts of this covenant.

f) In Deut. 24:17 God said that if a sheaf were forgotten in the field, it was to be left.

g) The food was to be left for a sojourner, a widow, or an orphan (the fatherless).

h) If people left food for these groups of people, God said He would bless His people in return.

i) A similar point was made about olive trees (verse 20).

j) After the people “beat” olives from a tree, they were not to repeat the process.

k) They were to leave what remained for widows, orphans, and migrants.

l) God even applied this law to the Hebrew’s grape vines (Deut. 24:21).

m) The people were allowed to pick grapes, but they were to leave what remained.

11) After all these references we come move forward in our Bible and come to the book of Job.

12) Job was a man who had some friends; most of the book we call Job consists of conversations.

13) Job and his special friends had lots of discussions, and these discussions involve many things.

a) Job and his friends knew about the fatherless; they had seen them and likely helped them.

b) In Job 6 we have one of Job’s replies to his friends.

c) He begins by saying that things were so bad he wished his troubles could be weighed.

d) He claimed his troubles were heavier than the sand of many seashores (verse 3).

e) His life looked so bleak he wished God would crush him (verse 9).

f) Job responded to the criticism his friends had offered (verses 24-26) and then spoke of orphans.

g) Verse 27 is the part of the text we want – READ.

h) Job said his friends were so harsh they would sell a fatherless child into slavery.

i) This was a way of saying his friends were not being nice.

j) They had not been kind to Job in what they were saying, and was getting fed up with their comments.

k) He used a terrible illustration – a child has lots its father and then was sold into slavery.

14) As we look at the references just given we begin to see an important point.

a) A father is a very important person, especially in a child’s life.

b) We have a day called Father’s Day to honor men, and that is good.

c) A dad’s work is not limited to just one or two days per year.

d) There is an old expression that says, “a woman’s work is never done.”

e) Such is also true for father’s; they have on-going duties and responsibilities.

f) Before a child is born dads have some responsibilities.

g) After a child is out of the house, dad is still not always going to be completely off the hook.

h) Men have an important place in life, and especially in the home.

i) When a child does not have a father to rise, protect, and help them, there will be problems.

i) In the Old Testament God tried to prevent some of these problems with some special laws.

j) Job and his friends knew that orphans could be easily victimized and this is used as an illustration.

15) All these passages tell us that it is a sad thing to not have a father.

16) Our world also knows that it is a sad thing to be without a father.

a) Television producers have used a Bible theme at times to produce shows about the fatherless.

b) Whether the producers knew they had a Biblical theme or not, I do not know.

c) Job 22:9 has been the basis for some television shows and perhaps some movies.

d) This passage refers to the “arms of the fatherless” and when it is read the meaning should be clear.

e) READ Job 22:9.

17) Someone of us have gone to a store because it offered an item we wanted at a deeply discounted price.

a) We went with payment in hand, but we “came away empty” (Job 22:9).

b) Widows who “went away empty” were women who needed help but did not receive it.

c) A similar point is made about the fatherless (orphans).

d) They had “broken arms.” The speaker did not mean someone was busting the arms of orphans.

e) This is figurative speech to say a child had hopes, dreams, and desires but they were shattered.

f) There are a lot of ways to shatter the hopes of a fatherless child.

g) The media has produced programs that demonstrate one of these ways.

18) Imagine a movie or t.v. show where a boy or girl without a father finally thinks that will happen.

19) It seems like tomorrow will be the day when they will be adopted and finally get a dad.

20) Tomorrow comes and that mother or father chooses not to follow through or is prohibited from doing so.

21) The arms of the child are crushed. There are certainly other ways to crush a fatherless child.

22) Job 22 reminds us that it is a very sad thing to not have a father.

23) Job seems to have understood this so he was a man who helped the fatherless.

a) In Job 29:12 he claims he “delivered the poor that cried” and helped the fatherless.

b) Job said those without a father had “none to help him” so he came to their rescue.

c) Imagine needing help, perhaps absolutely desperate to find help, and no one is available.

d) Even now a child without a father can suffer that plight.

e) How blessed a child is to have a father who will love and cherish them.

f) Today, if you have a father who has loved you, you are very fortunate. Let him know if you can.

g) If you cannot, then thank the God of heaven for a blessing untold thousands have never had.

24) Not having a father is a very serious matter.

a) Job speaks of this again in Job 31.

b) He asks if he “raised his hand” against an orphan and was not stopped because he knew the judges.

c) Job said if he had abused the fatherless and not been stopped his shoulder should be torn from its place.

d) He said his arm should be ripped out of its socket.

e) He used these illustrations because he knew God would punish a man who opposes the fatherless.

25) Not having a father is so important to God we find the matter referred to in Ps. 68:5.

a) According to the Psalmist, God is a “father of the fatherless.”

b) At times we find people who are indeed fatherless.

c) Others did have a father but dad was a great disappointment for one reason or another.

d) A child may remember dad as being mean, hard, unkind, or just a bad dad.

e) To people who have experienced these types of things, the Bible has some good news.

f) There is a perfect father and His name is God.

g) God is ready to be a Father to all, but that is especially true for the fatherless.

h) If we never had a father or never had a good father, there is one waiting to receive us.

i) Another verse related to this idea is Ps. 146:9.

j) God “upholds the fatherless.”

k) No one has to go through life without a father.

l) If we become a Christian we have the best Father in the world.

26) Someone might say all these references are Old Testament passages, and this is true.

27) We are under the New Testament; does the Bible say anything about the fatherless in it?

28) Yes. The word “fatherless” is equivalent to our word “orphan.”

a) I want to spell for you a word from the Greek New Testament; Jesus used this term in Jn. 14:18.

b) This term is spelled orphanos. Jesus said “I will not leave you desolate” (orphanos).

c) Jesus was talking the His apostles, but the principles He gave still applies to us.

d) If we are a Christian, we are not an orphan.

e) God’s apostles were given the Holy Spirit when Jesus left.

f) The apostles are gone and the Holy Spirit has given us His word.

g) God is still with His people; not one of His children is an orphan.

29) We may not know of or have much contact with our biological father or mother.

30) God recognizes that from a human standpoint we can lack a physical connection.

31) Jas. 1:27 uses orphanos to say, “visit the fatherless.”

32) If we lack a physical father, God can fulfill this need in our life.

33) God is big enough and strong enough to serve in place of a missing father or mother.

34) If we are a Christian, we can work hand in hand with Him.

a) As we go through life we will find people who are without a father or mother..

b) A person may not know who their father is.

c) They may know who their father is and their dad abandoned them.

d) Or, they may know who their father is and there is a bad relationship.

e) Christians can often serve as a stand-in father.

f) It is often possible for us to, as it were, “share a dad.”

g) A man can be a father figure not only to his own family, but to others.

35) It is a wonderful thing to have a great dad.

36) The very best thing is to have a great dad who is also a Christian.

37) We hope that is true for all the men who are here this morning.

38) We also hope it is true for the ladies who are here – you are a Christian woman.