Being a Father Who Leads by Example

Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 5 is where we will

Deuteronomy 6:5

begin this morning. Just a few short verses today.

Sometimes on Father's Day I get all the men of

the church to do different jobs, make them work,

but this year we're giving the year off. Usually

we let different people preach and lead the music

and all men's choir, but we didn't do that this

year. However, if you really feel led to preach

this morning, come on up. We'll let you go. I

don't see any takers, so I guess I'll follow

through then. All right, Deuteronomy chapter

Deuteronomy 6:5

6, verse 5. Let's pray, and then we'll get started.

God, we come to you. We thank you for your good

word. I thank you that we have the freedom today

to come and to hear your word. I pray, God, that

you just would bless our time together. We thank

you for our fathers. We thank you for fatherhood.

We thank you for what you call... Men too, dear

Lord. What you call fathers too. What you call

husbands too, dear Lord. It's a big responsibility.

It's an important responsibility. But God, it's

one that I pray that you would help men not to

shy away from, dear Lord. That we would be men

who are founded in your words. We would be fathers

who are established by your word, dear Lord.

And we allow that to lead and guide us. As we

bring up the next generation, dear Lord. So I

pray for all the men, all the fathers who are

here today. And I pray that you just bless our

time together. In Jesus' name, I pray it. Amen.

I had somebody tell me last year after Father's

Day, they said, you know, for Mother's Day, every

year, it's all mothers are so good, happy. We're

so happy about our mothers. And then for Father's

Day, it's always toughen up. You guys got to

do a good job and get to work. And that's true,

and I think that that's important. I think that

that's what God calls men to. It's a big responsibility,

men, to be the head of the household, to be a

husband, to be a father. And it's something that

does not need to be taken lightly. And we need

more good men in our world. And for there to

be good men. There has to be good fathers. There

has to be good grandfathers. There has to be

the generation before bringing up these boys,

these children that we see. That's the only way

they're going to learn how to be a man, how to

be a father. And we see this idea of the importance

of passing down the instructions of God, the

ways of God in Scripture. In Deuteronomy chapter

Deuteronomy 6:5–9

6, verse 5 through 9, we see Moses kind of reiterating

God's command to the people. Now, God's people

were led out of Egypt, and they were on their

way to the promised land, and that was short

-lived because they were disobedient. They complained

all the time, and God said, okay, if you're going

to complain, if you don't want to go into the

promised land, which they didn't because they

were afraid, they got all the way right there

at the doorstep of the promised land. They sent

some folks in to scope it out. The folks come

back. Most of them said, well, we can't go in

there. That's way too scary. Those people there

are big. They're strong. They're scary. We can't

go up against them. And Joshua and Caleb said,

hold up now. Wait a minute. God brought us here.

God said he's going to give us this land. He's

going to give it to us. Let's go in there and

get it. But the people complained, and they were

afraid, oh, it would have been better if we had

just died out here in the wilderness, or if we

had just died in Egypt. We'd have been better

off. Here we are. We got all this way, and nothing's

going to come of it. Well, God was not happy

about what had taken place. And as a result of

that, that generation did not get to enter the

promised land. God said, okay, you say it'd be

better to die in the wilderness, then so be it.

You will die in the wilderness. And God said,

all of these of this generation, except for Joshua

and Caleb, will not get to see the promised land.

Only the younger ones who were coming up. And

so for 40 years, God's people wandered into wilderness,

not able to enter into the promised land. And

the time finally came that that generation had

passed away, and the generation who was to inherit

the land had come and... God was ready to allow

Joshua to lead them into the promised land. Even

Moses didn't get to lead them in because of his

disobedience. And so before this time comes that

they're going to get to go into the promised

land, Moses is kind of reiterating some of the

words and the commands of God. Now, the previous

generation didn't do too good of following those

commands, and they paid the price. But in Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6 here, Moses says, let me reiterate

for you. Let me help you, this new generation.

It's up to you. It's your turn now. The baton

has been handed to you. You have to run the race.

You have to follow the commands of God and pass

them down. And this is what he says in Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 6:5

6, verse 5. Love the Lord your God with all your

heart, with all your soul, and with all your

strength. All right? Most important command.

He says, I want to remind you about the commands

of God. Here's what I want to tell you. Put God

first. Love God more than anything. Now that's

still the most important command. You flip all

the way to the New Testament and you see that

that's still the most important command. We talked

about that a little bit last week. There is nothing

more important in our life than recognizing that

there is a God, one God, who created everything,

that God in all of his wisdom and his knowledge

and his power, that God spoke into existence

everything we see, that God has created humanity,

that God has established everything. We have

one God, and he is the one that we are called

to worship. He is the only one that has our best

interest in mind. Now, there are a lot of false

gods. There are a lot of idols. There are a lot

of things that compete for our mind and for our

attention. And all of these things don't care

about us. God cares about you. He loves you.

He wants what's good for you. Now, there are

bad things that happen. There are bad things

that happen in our world and in this life, but

we cannot forget. You need to know today that

God cares about you, and He's the one. that we

need to follow when we start seeking things of

the world and all these other false teachings

they are going to leave us in a desperate and

desolate place where we are just we are in bad

shape but god's desire from the get -go for his

people was to provide for them and to care for

them and give them all that they needed and protect

them From everything else. We see that from the

Garden of Eden. We even see that in this story

of Moses and the Israelites that God's desire

was to take them to a beautiful, beautiful place

that he would provide for their needs and he

would help them to overcome their enemies if

they would just seek him and listen to him and

put him first in everything. And they failed

to do that. And as a result, they didn't get

to experience all the blessings that God wanted

to give them. They had a lot of hard times that

they brought on their self because they worshiped

false idols and they worshiped false gods. And

they just did some detestable acts. And it left

them in a bad place. And whenever we don't put

God first in our lives, it leaves us in a bad

place. And so when Moses is reiterating God's

commands here, he says, Here's where you need

to start. You need to know that God is in control.

He is one. He is the creator. He is the only

God there is. And you need to love him and worship

him and serve him above all else. You need to

devote all your mind and all of your strength

to knowing God and following him. Let's listen

to what he says as he continues on. Verse 6.

These words I am giving you today. are to be

in your heart repeat them to your children talk

about them when you sit in your house and when

you walk along the road when you lie down and

when you get up bind them as a sign on your hand

and let them be a symbol on your forehead write

them on the doorpost of your house and on your

gates All right, so he says, look, you need to

know that God is the one that we are to serve.

You need to know what God's commands say. Now,

we have lots of commands throughout the scriptures

and lots of laws, but we can really boil those

down to two things. We talked about that last

week. I mention it often. The most important

two things we can do is love God, and the second

is like it, love your neighbor as yourself. Most

everything we see in the Old Testament that really

matters, Boils down to those two things. And

so Moses says you need to know what really matters.

You need to know about God. You need to know

about the instructions of God. And what does

he say to do? He says you need to pass them on.

You need to pass them on to another generation.

We see that throughout the scripture. This is

what's important. That we are to know God's word.

That we are to know God's instruction. That we

are to live that out. And that we are to pass

that on to the next generation. It says repeat

them to your children. When you're in your house,

when you're on the road, when you get up, when

you lay down. That is God's word should permeate

your life. It should be in every part of your

life. And you should repeat these words to your

children. That is you need to know what God's

word says. And those children who are... Coming

after you. The ones that you were raising need

to know what God's word says. Now why does God

want his people to know his word? Because he

doesn't want them to fall into the same predicament

they were just in. They were in the predicament

of wandering around in the wilderness and all

those folks dying because they were disobedient.

Because they knew the word of God. They had heard

the word of God, but they refused to live by

the word of God. And God says this is the most

important thing. is that you know my word and

live by it, and you have to teach the next generation

these things too. Now God had given plenty of

great stories and great examples for God's people

to pass on, that they crossed through dry land

on the Red Sea, that they crossed through the

Jordan River on dry land. And at the end of that

story, we just saw it in Sunday school. That

this story was to be told to the generations

to come, to the children who were to come, that

these stories were to be a reminder of the power

and the greatness and the deliverance of God.

So Moses says, you need to know what God's word

says, you need to trust God, and you need to

pass it on down to the next generation. Now the

question I want to ask you fathers, especially

today, is what have you and what are you passing

down to your children? Are you passing anything

down to them? Well, I've got news for you. You're

passing something down to them. Now, whether

or not it's good or whether or not it's bad,

you're going to have to decide that. Children

that we raise watch everything that we do. They

listen to everything that we say. They do everything

that we do. They do everything that we do more

than they do everything that we say. You can

tell a kid all day, this is what's right, don't

do this, don't do this, but if you do what you're

telling them not to do, guess which one's going

to win out? They're going to do what they see

you do for better or for worse. If you're going

to be a good father, you've got to be grounded

in the word of God. If you in your own life aren't

grounded in the word of God, if you don't seek

the word of God, if you don't seek to follow

God's commands and live by them, then it's going

to be hard for you to raise a child and teach

a child the ways of God. And so as a father,

you have to test yourself. You have to say, okay,

what does God's word say? What are some of the

commands? that are in God's Word. You don't have

to know all the Bible. It's not like a test,

like you have to know everything, but read the

Bible. What you understand, okay, take what you

understand, what you know, like these are the

things that I know God really wants me to do,

and maybe there's some others I don't know, but

what you do know, you need to take that, and

you need to say, am I doing what God's Word says?

Is my life founded on God? Am I seeking God?

Am I trusting Him for my strength? So that's

the starting place as a father. Or maybe some

of you are fathers -to -be. That's the starting

place. It's never too early or it's never too

late to start seeking God's Word and establishing

your life on God. And once we do that, that's

when the real test comes. Once the child comes

into the world, you've got to start teaching

them. You've got to raise them. You've got to

raise them. You've got to teach them. Now, I

hear people say it all the time. I've said it.

You've probably said it. You've probably heard

it. People will say, I don't know what's wrong

with this generation. I don't know what's wrong

with these kids these days. I can tell you exactly

what's wrong. Nobody raised them. Kids will only

know what they are taught. They will only know

what they are taught. They'll know what they

see in your house. But you know the scary part

and the sad part? is that a lot of parents today

don't raise their kids. They give them a smartphone

or a tablet and say, here you go. And you know

who raises their kids? TikTok and Instagram and

Facebook and Snapchat and whatever else there

is. I don't even know. I'm out of the loop. I'm

old. There's probably a lot of stuff that's cooler

than that that kids do. But I'm going to tell

you right now, you don't want TikTok to raise

your kid. That's what's wrong with a lot of kids

today. They were raised on TikTok and what they

saw and all these social influences, and that's

who raised them. That's been their example. And

that's why they do the things that they do. If

we want to change our world, it's got to start

at home. If we want to change our world, it has

to start with fathers, being fathers. It has

to start with fathers disciplining their kids,

instructing their kids. It has to start with

fathers being a good example. Not just fathers

sending the kids to church saying, go to church

today, daughter. Go to church today, son. It's

got to be fathers that show their kids that God

is important. It starts with fathers. It's a

big responsibility to teach your kids and to

lead your kids and to guide your kids. I don't

have a kid. I don't know. I would imagine it's

probably pretty hard. I'd imagine it's probably

really, really tough, and it's a big responsibility,

but it is so important. Because who loves your

kid more than you do? Who's going to take care

of your kid better than you are? Who can teach

your kid better than you? There's a lot of people

that can teach your kids, but they ain't going

to teach them good stuff. You have to be at the

forefront of that, Father. That's what's important

in our world. Man, I think a lot of people, I

think a lot of people, if fathers would raise

their children and mothers and fathers would

stay together and be that example, that role

model of their children, I think our world, so

many of our world's problems could be fixed in

a generation. I think so many of our world's

problems could be fixed if fathers would be fathers

and lead their households in the way of God.

I think that's why God gives this command. That's

why Moses is reiterating these words like, okay,

you know what God's word says, you know what's

important, you need to pass it down to the next

generation. God's word needs to be everywhere

in your life. Everything you do, when you do

something, you need to let that be an example

for your children. You pull over, you help somebody

on the side of your road, use that as a teaching

point and say, son, We're going to stop and help

this person because God wants us to be a neighbor

to people and to help people and to love people.

Like there are so many teaching opportunities,

just small everyday thing that we can do. Just

speaking to people that others might pass up

and saying, son, we spoke to that person. We

helped that person because God wants us to do

that. He doesn't want us to look down on people

or to judge people. Pass people by. Just doing

those things. And telling your kids why you do

those things. Say, daughter, this is why we do

this. This is what God's word says. And that

needs to be in every part of our life if we're

Christians, especially if you're a father. It

says at the end of this verse, verse 8, he says,

Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them

be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the

doorpost of your house and on your gates. Now,

some would take these quite literally, and maybe

they're intended to be literal. I think that

this is symbolic language. I don't know that

God literally intends for us to hang scriptures

from our body, bind them to our hands. Now, the

Jewish people would certainly take that literally.

They have little boxes, even still today, I think,

somewhere that have scriptures in them. know

that we need to physically make a symbol on our

forehead. I think it's symbolic language. I think

maybe the language here is to imply that the

fact that we're living by God's word should be

evident through our actions and in our thoughts.

That through our hands, the work of our hands

should show that we are God's people. In our

minds, in our heads, our thoughts should show

that we are God's people. Not necessarily that

we're supposed to just go home today with a sharpie

and write some scriptures on your doorpost, if

you want to, so be it. But I think that it's

symbolic language, that it should be established,

that people should be able to see by your actions

that you are one of God's. That they can see

from your house, that your household, not from

scriptures written on a doorpost, but through

the way you raise your household and to the way

you live, that people would look at... You and

your family and they would know that through

your actions you're saying, but as for me and

my house, we will serve the Lord. I think that's

what God's trying to get across to us here. That

God's word is to be right at the center of our

life and it should dictate how we live. And it

should be evident to all around us that we are

God's people. Now maybe you're a father today

and... Maybe you think back at your life and

you think, I don't know that that's evident in

my life, and that's okay. And so, I mean, we

just want to be honest. We're not here to pretend

today. We're just here to be honest. That's why

we read God's Word. Sometimes it cuts through

the quick, and we read it, and we say, golly,

I'm not where I need to be. God has not been

first, and I have not done a good job of passing

down to the next generation the things of God,

and I need to do better at that. Praise the Lord

if the Holy Spirit convicts us in that way today.

That's what we come to church for, is to read

the Word of God. Let it work on us. In Psalm

Psalms 78:5

78, verse 5, it says very similarly, it says,

He established the testimony in Jacob and set

up a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers

to teach their children, so that a future generation,

children yet to be born, might know they were

to rise and tell their children, so that they

might put their confidence in God and not forget

God's works, but keep his command. Isn't that

something to think about? Same idea here. God

gave the instructions to those in the past that

they would pass them down to the next generation

so that children yet to be born will know about

God and all of his mighty works. Children yet

to be born. Now this is important for you to

realize, fathers. The things that you say and

do do not just affect you. They do not just affect

your kids. They're going to affect your kids.

They're going to affect your grandchildren. They're

going to affect your great -grandchildren. They're

going to affect your great -great -grandchildren.

And let that sink in. Descendants that you will

have that will probably never even know your

name, the very actions you commit today may impact

their life. So you've got a big responsibility

if you've got a child. Or you think one day you're

going to have a child. Like, it's a pretty big

deal. Because how you raise them and what you

teach them and how you lead them is going to

make a difference. Because one day, they're going

to have a child of their own, Lord willing. And

you know how they're going to raise that child?

The way you raise them. It's a big deal. You

can pass down a bunch of junk for generations

to come. You can pass down anger and bitterness

and addiction and hatred and abuse. You can pass

that for generations to come. You can establish

your life on the word of God, on Jesus Christ.

You can allow God to work in your heart, start

to change you. And you can start taking what

God's put in you. And you can start teaching

that little boy and you can start teaching that

little girl. And you can say, let me tell you

why God is good. Maybe you can't tell them everything

when they're young, but maybe one day they get

to a point where you can really tell them. Let

me tell you what daddy was like one day. Let

me tell you how I used to be. Let me tell you

what I used to do. And let me tell you how God

changed my life. And let me tell you, son. Let

me tell you, daughter. Don't do that. Don't do

that. God doesn't want that. You be better than

that. You teach your kids through the ways that

God works in your life. And you teach your kids

to teach their kids. The things that you do and

say now, they will have an impact for generations

to come. And do not take that lightly. Don't

take it lightly. You may have a small child right

now and one day they're going to grow up and

they're going to leave and they're going to go

into the world. And the world's going to chew

them up and they're going to spit them out. And

the world ain't going to care about their feelings

and the world ain't going to cater to their needs.

So you've got to get them ready for that. If

you don't get them ready for that, they're in

big trouble. There's a lot of kids, sadly, that

are in big trouble because they didn't have anybody

that taught them and led them, cared enough to

let them know what was important. You got to

teach them what matters. You got to teach them

about the word of God, the commands of God. You

got to teach them about Jesus Christ. For God

so loved the world that he gave his only begotten

son that whosoever believeth in him shall not

perish but have everlasting life. Talk about

a pretty incredible story about a father and

a son. Jesus Christ is why we have hope today.

That's why we have hope for you fathers that

say, man, I really blew it. Well, praise the

Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has died

on the cross so that you could be forgiven today.

Praise the Lord for that. Yeah, you might have

blown it. It's not good, but praise the Lord,

there's grace. You might have failed as a father

yesterday and last year and the last ten years,

but praise the Lord, today is a new day. Today

is a new day that you can... Put your faith and

trust in Jesus Christ. Ask Him to forgive your

sins and become your Lord and Savior and live

for Him and establish your life on God and then

begin to soak up the Word of God and the teachings

of God and say, God, help me to be a better parent.

I don't understand all this stuff in the Bible,

but I know I want to be a better father. So God,

help me just to understand what I need to know

and God, just help me to do it the best I can.

Help me just to lead my boy or lead my girl.

The best I can. Now I'm not a father. So I don't

know. But I don't think any father would disagree.

That there's probably no better feeling. In the

world. Than to see your children succeed. Than

to see your children. Know the truth. And to

live by the truth. I can't imagine that for any

Christian father. That there's a greater feeling.

Than seeing their child. Come. To trust Jesus

Christ as our Lord and Savior. To come to know

the truth. I can't imagine that there is a better

feeling in this world. John says so in 3 John

3 John 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1. That's toward the back of the Bible.

3 John chapter 1 verse 4. He's talking to a guy

3 John 1:4

he's writing to here. Talking about a child in

Christ if we can call it that. Nevertheless,

I think the words of this verse are applicable

to fathers of literal children as well. He says,

I have no greater joy than this, to hear that

my children are walking in the truth. That's

got to be a pretty good feeling as a father,

to know that your child is walking in the truth,

to know that your child is doing good. That they're

not led astray, that they're not deceived, that

they're not involved in a bunch of junk that's

not good for them. But to know that they have

a firm foundation, that they are grounded in

the Lord, and that they are doing good. There's

got to be great joy in that. And fathers, you

have a role in seeing that come to fruition.

If you want your children to grow and walk in

the truth, And you've got to teach them truth.

It's not just telling them truth. It's about

showing them the truth. So how are you living,

Father? What kind of example are you being? Is

it a good one? If so, praise the Lord. If it's

a bad one, hey, today's a good day to change.

Today's a good day to pour out your heart to

the Lord and say, God, man, I haven't done so

good, but God, I want you to help me. Nobody's

going to lead and teach your kids better than

you, Father. They're going to be what you teach

them to be. So teach them to be something good.

Let's pray. God, we come to you. We thank you

for your good word. I pray, God, that you would

just be with any fathers in here, any fathers,

maybe fathers -to -be, dear Lord, that you help

them to understand the significance of what it

means to be a father. God, maybe there are some

fathers today and they're struggling and they

know that they failed in some way. I pray that

you just would let them find your grace today,

that they would seek you and trust you and follow

you, dear Lord. Maybe there are some fathers

in here that don't know Jesus Christ. Maybe there

are some mothers, maybe there are some children

in here today, dear Lord, they don't know Jesus

Christ. And maybe today they just feel that conviction

that they just need to repent. I pray that even

now that they would ask you to forgive them.

God, I pray that you would help these men of

this church, these fathers of this church to

be strong, to be planted in you, and to be an

example to their sons and daughters. And I ask

these things in Jesus' name. Amen.