Why Satan Hates a Godly Father

Brother Jim: Dave. Well, again, as today is Father's Day.

Brother Jim: And I asked you in the

Brother Jim: beginning, what what is a father

Brother Jim: to you?

Brother Jim: What does dad mean to you?

Brother Jim: Daddy.

Brother Jim: Grandpa.

Brother Jim: Pappy.

Brother Jim: Pops.

Brother Jim: El padre.

Brother Jim: Did you ever think about it?

Brother Jim: And if you look at the title,

Brother Jim: why does Satan hate, hate a

Brother Jim: godly father?

Brother Jim: Now, there are many types of fathers in this world.

Brother Jim: And unfortunately, in our

Brother Jim: country today, many fathers are

Brother Jim: men.

Brother Jim: Let me rephrase that.

Brother Jim: Men are stepping away from their responsibility to be a father.

Brother Jim: And then you have the men who are in the family or involved,

Brother Jim: but they are not willing.

Brother Jim: And here's the key word.

Brother Jim: Willing to be a man of God, a father that believes.

Brother Jim: A father that prays kneels to his God.

Brother Jim: Would you not all agree?

Brother Jim: Maybe that's the problem.

Brother Jim: One of the biggest problems in our country today.

Brother Jim: Satan has destroyed the family unit.

Brother Jim: And what better place to start

Brother Jim: than right there at the man, the

Brother Jim: father.

Brother Jim: Because he leads, he sets examples.

Brother Jim: And if we go back to biblical truth, there is a role for each.

Brother Jim: A mother and a father, a husband and a wife.

Brother Jim: What have we become?

Brother Jim: Men?

Brother Jim: Have we let society strip us of our manhood?

Brother Jim: A very good friend of mine, just before service started said, you

Brother Jim: know, Fathers Day services can be brutal because the fathers

Brother Jim: get torn up And I don't want that to be today.

Brother Jim: It's about encouragement.

Brother Jim: It's about questioning.

Brother Jim: AM I doing the job?

Brother Jim: And there's nothing wrong with questioning yourself.

Brother Jim: That's how we grow, is it not?

Brother Jim: That's how we become more mature is by growing.

Brother Jim: But we gotta stop and look and see.

Brother Jim: How many gardens do we have out there today?

Brother Jim: Oh, mine is a mess because the weeds take over.

Brother Jim: All of us, including men and

Brother Jim: women, need to check our gardens

Brother Jim: to make sure we're pulling out

Brother Jim: the weeds.

Brother Jim: Because you know what a weed can do.

Brother Jim: It will strangle the growth.

Brother Jim: It will kill the plant.

Brother Jim: And maybe today that is what has happened.

Brother Jim: Because you know what?

Brother Jim: I'm going to be very honest here this morning.

Brother Jim: How many men just don't feel like anybody cares anymore?

Brother Jim: I'm here to provide.

Brother Jim: I'm here to protect.

Brother Jim: But that's just about it.

Brother Jim: Because dad gets skipped over so many times.

Brother Jim: How many fathers out there today didn't even have a choice in

Brother Jim: what they get to do today on their day, Huh?

Brother Jim: Because we just go along and we're okay with that.

Brother Jim: But there are some things we cannot be okay with.

Brother Jim: And as I said today, we honor fathers, grandfathers,

Brother Jim: stepfathers, adoptive fathers, and every man who has stepped

Brother Jim: into the role of guiding and loving the next generation.

Brother Jim: And that's what we need to

Brother Jim: remember to the next generation

Brother Jim: coming up the Sunday morning, I

Brother Jim: want you and I to understand

Brother Jim: something.

Brother Jim: Many people, especially society,

Brother Jim: our world today, they completely

Brother Jim: forget about it or they ignore

Brother Jim: it.

Brother Jim: The devil is not intimidated by

Brother Jim: a man simply because he has a

Brother Jim: father.

Brother Jim: Did you hear that?

Brother Jim: The devil is not intimidated by a man who is simply a father?

Brother Jim: And again, now, my son, a little harsh this morning, especially

Brother Jim: on Father's Day.

Brother Jim: But it is the truth and nothing but the to truth.

Brother Jim: Satan is threatened by a father who belongs.

Brother Jim: And there's the key word who belongs to Jesus Christ.

Brother Jim: And nothing else belongs to Jesus Christ and nothing else.

Brother Jim: Now Satan knows something that many people have forgotten.

Brother Jim: If Satan can weaken the father,

Brother Jim: Satan can often weaken the

Brother Jim: family.

Brother Jim: And how true that is today.

Brother Jim: Now it's just my opinion here.

Brother Jim: But Satan is definitely right in the middle of a very successful

Brother Jim: campaign of sin and evil in our American families today.

Brother Jim: True.

Brother Jim: If Satan can divide and weaken the father, Satan can divide and

Brother Jim: weaken the home again.

Brother Jim: Simple truth there.

Brother Jim: If Satan can silence a father.

Brother Jim: Satan so many times can often

Brother Jim: silence spiritual leadership if

Brother Jim: Satan can.

Brother Jim: Oh, here's a big one.

Brother Jim: If Satan can discourage the

Brother Jim: father, Satan may and will

Brother Jim: influence generations.

Brother Jim: In a nutshell, that is why a godly father.

Brother Jim: Fathers are under constant attack and if you don't believe

Brother Jim: that, pull your dad.

Brother Jim: Pull your husband aside and just ask him.

Brother Jim: Make a little time.

Brother Jim: Say baby, I want to know are you under attack?

Brother Jim: Are you under spiritual attack?

Brother Jim: And tell me about it.

Brother Jim: Put your phones away.

Brother Jim: Sit down and actually ask the man.

Brother Jim: Here's a fact for you.

Brother Jim: Satan hates God's design and that design is the family.

Brother Jim: He hates God's design.

Brother Jim: From the very beginning, God established a family in Eden.

Brother Jim: God created marriage.

Brother Jim: God created the home.

Brother Jim: God created parents.

Brother Jim: God created children.

Brother Jim: The family was not man's idea.

Brother Jim: The family was God's plan.

Brother Jim: The family was God's idea.

Brother Jim: The first institution God established.

Brother Jim: Guess what was not government was not businesses and not even

Brother Jim: the nation of Israel.

Brother Jim: It was the family.

Brother Jim: First thing God established was the family.

Brother Jim: The family is God's training ground for faith.

Brother Jim: So if you are the enemy and you

Brother Jim: really hate God as well as God's

Brother Jim: creation.

Brother Jim: Man, you and I. Why wouldn't

Brother Jim: Satan attack the family unit

Brother Jim: first?

Brother Jim: Good question, isn't it?

Brother Jim: And I think it's proven true today.

Brother Jim: Now, if you go to Ecclesiastes or excuse me, Ephesians six ten

Brother Jim: to twelve out of the NIV.

Brother Jim: Ephesians six ten to twelve.

Brother Jim: I got it up there on the board for you.

Brother Jim: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

Brother Jim: And here's the problem today, friends, I'm going to interrupt

Brother Jim: the scripture just for a minute.

Brother Jim: Men don't even know about the armor of God.

Brother Jim: Men are not willing to put on the armor of God because maybe,

Brother Jim: just maybe, it might shame them because we're men.

Brother Jim: Every guy here pound your chest.

Brother Jim: I'm a man.

Brother Jim: I can do it on my own.

Brother Jim: I don't need help.

Brother Jim: But that's the problem.

Brother Jim: We all do, don't we?

Brother Jim: So first off, put on the full armor of God.

Brother Jim: So that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

Brother Jim: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the

Brother Jim: rulers, the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers

Brother Jim: of this dark world and against.

Brother Jim: And here we go again, what we've

Brother Jim: been talking about against the

Brother Jim: spiritual forces of evil in the

Brother Jim: heavenly realms.

Brother Jim: Now, you don't have to be a

Brother Jim: brain surgeon to figure all this

Brother Jim: out.

Brother Jim: Every attack against the family

Brother Jim: is ultimately an attack against

Brother Jim: God himself.

Brother Jim: Can we agree today?

Brother Jim: Satan is not dumb.

Brother Jim: Satan is not ignorant.

Brother Jim: Satan knows that a healthy

Brother Jim: family produces healthy and

Brother Jim: strong followers of Jesus Christ

Brother Jim: who will produce a healthy

Brother Jim: church body.

Brother Jim: Healthy churches strengthen communities.

Brother Jim: Healthy communities influence nations.

Brother Jim: But hey, the way Satan looks at it.

Brother Jim: Destroy the family and

Brother Jim: everything else becomes easier

Brother Jim: to destroy.

Brother Jim: And if we're honest today, we as

Brother Jim: mankind, we've all played a part

Brother Jim: in one way or another of leaving

Brother Jim: the front door wide open for

Brother Jim: destruction.

Brother Jim: Whether you want to admit it or not.

Brother Jim: And I know as a father looking back.

Brother Jim: Oh baby, the mistakes I made.

Brother Jim: I'm embarrassed about the way I

Brother Jim: left all the doors, all the

Brother Jim: windows open.

Brother Jim: Not realizing what Satan hadn't planned.

Brother Jim: Now, church, if we were at war, where is always a good place to

Brother Jim: start with winning the battle.

Brother Jim: If you take out the leaders, your odds become significantly

Brother Jim: better for victory.

Brother Jim: True in saying that Satan hates

Brother Jim: Fathers who lead again, who lead

Brother Jim: spiritually.

Brother Jim: In Joshua twenty four.

Brother Jim: Joshua twenty four fifteen.

Brother Jim: But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose

Brother Jim: for yourselves this day.

Brother Jim: Whom will you serve?

Brother Jim: Whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or

Brother Jim: the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.

Brother Jim: But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.

Brother Jim: We will serve the Lord.

Brother Jim: Now notice Joshua.

Brother Jim: He did not ask permission.

Brother Jim: Joshua.

Brother Jim: Guess what he did?

Brother Jim: He accepted responsibility.

Brother Jim: Satan fears fathers who will lead his family in prayer.

Brother Jim: Who will read God's words.

Brother Jim: Satan fears a father who will show up.

Brother Jim: And bring his family to worship.

Brother Jim: A father, a man who is not

Brother Jim: afraid to talk about his own

Brother Jim: shortcomings and repent of his

Brother Jim: sins.

Brother Jim: Oh, there's a big one there.

Brother Jim: A man, a father who repents of his sins.

Brother Jim: What are we teaching our kids?

Brother Jim: It's okay.

Brother Jim: You need to repent, don't you?

Brother Jim: A father, a man who loves his wife and is willing to teach his

Brother Jim: family biblical truth.

Brother Jim: Not what you read on Instagram.

Brother Jim: Not what you read on social media.

Brother Jim: Teaching.

Brother Jim: Showing loving biblical truth.

Brother Jim: A father who kneels before God becomes very difficult for Satan

Brother Jim: to knock down.

Brother Jim: Church.

Brother Jim: Imagine a lighthouse during a violent storm.

Brother Jim: The waves crashed.

Brother Jim: The winds.

Brother Jim: How the darkness covers the sea.

Brother Jim: Ships survive.

Brother Jim: Think of them big old ships out there.

Brother Jim: Them big freightliners.

Brother Jim: Because the lighthouses, they never stop shining.

Brother Jim: A godly father is meant to be the lighthouse of his home.

Brother Jim: And Satan wants to extinguish that light.

Brother Jim: No matter what.

Brother Jim: God wants it shining brighter

Brother Jim: than ever, especially in our

Brother Jim: world today.

Brother Jim: Thus, there sits dad, the battle raging in his heart, mind, and

Brother Jim: soul, trying so desperately to keep the light on for his family

Brother Jim: while the world, and at times even his own family keep trying

Brother Jim: to put it out.

Brother Jim: Again my friends, that is where

Brother Jim: communication is so important

Brother Jim: between mom and dad, husband and

Brother Jim: wife.

Brother Jim: because usually a man will not

Brother Jim: complain about how he's getting

Brother Jim: stomped, trampled on by the

Brother Jim: world, and even times his own

Brother Jim: family.

Brother Jim: And most of the time they don't even know they're doing it.

Brother Jim: And you know what?

Brother Jim: I'm sorry, women, but on this one, and I'm being dead honest

Brother Jim: from a man's perspective, a father, you have no idea the

Brother Jim: pressure and self-judgment a man is under this day and age.

Brother Jim: Now, I know our women.

Brother Jim: Our moms have their own issues that we don't understand.

Brother Jim: But for a minute, I want you to think about your man's pressure,

Brother Jim: that he is on each and every day that he is under.

Brother Jim: Trying to keep all safe, all well for the people that he

Brother Jim: loves so much.

Brother Jim: And Satan knows fathers.

Brother Jim: He knows this.

Brother Jim: As I said, he's no dummy Me father's shape.

Brother Jim: Generations.

Brother Jim: Fathers have the ability, if

Brother Jim: they choose, to mold their

Brother Jim: family, and especially those

Brother Jim: sweet little babies, the little

Brother Jim: ones who watch, listen and

Brother Jim: imitate them.

Brother Jim: Does that not make a man's heart so good?

Brother Jim: When you see the little one come

Brother Jim: out, grab his little plastic or

Brother Jim: rubber tools and start

Brother Jim: pretending to work imitating

Brother Jim: you.

Brother Jim: Out baling hay.

Brother Jim: That made my day.

Brother Jim: Seeing your little boys.

Brother Jim: Todd out there trying to push these square bales.

Brother Jim: And they were trying as hard as they could to get the job done.

Brother Jim: Imitating daddy.

Brother Jim: Father's shape.

Brother Jim: Generations.

Brother Jim: When dad forgives, they understand grace.

Brother Jim: When dad serves, they see humility.

Brother Jim: When dad prays, they learn dependence on God.

Brother Jim: When dad loves mom, They witnessed Christ like love.

Brother Jim: Let's be honest today.

Brother Jim: No father is perfect.

Brother Jim: Especially the man who stands before you today.

Brother Jim: But faithful fathers leave footprints worth following.

Brother Jim: Satan knows today's fathers, shapes tomorrow's adults, shapes

Brother Jim: the future generations.

Brother Jim: One faithful father can influence children,

Brother Jim: grandchildren, great grandchildren, and generations

Brother Jim: beyond that, my friends.

Brother Jim: And that is exactly why Satan fights so stinking hard.

Brother Jim: To keep a father, a man down.

Brother Jim: For all men as well as fathers.

Brother Jim: Today, how many of us can say

Brother Jim: that Satan attacks fathers

Brother Jim: through discouragement?

Brother Jim: Discouragement?

Brother Jim: One of the greatest, one of the

Brother Jim: greatest weapons Satan has in

Brother Jim: his arsenal is not always

Brother Jim: temptation.

Brother Jim: Sometimes one of the greatest

Brother Jim: weapons Satan uses is

Brother Jim: discouragement.

Brother Jim: And if we're honest this morning, Satan can and will

Brother Jim: whisper in a man's ear, Jim, you are not good enough.

Brother Jim: Bob, you've already failed.

Brother Jim: Chris, your kids just don't listen to you.

Brother Jim: Todd you've messed up so much.

Brother Jim: And Larry, just give up.

Brother Jim: My friends, my brothers.

Brother Jim: Those lies are not the voice of God.

Brother Jim: No matter how hard he tries to

Brother Jim: whisper, that is not the voice

Brother Jim: of God.

Brother Jim: God convicts, Satan condemns.

Brother Jim: And yes, church, there is a difference.

Brother Jim: The gospel says failure is never final.

Brother Jim: When grace is what?

Brother Jim: When grace is available.

Brother Jim: I cannot speak for fathers from other generations, but I sure

Brother Jim: can speak of it today.

Brother Jim: Satan attacks fathers through distraction as well.

Brother Jim: Never before have fathers been

Brother Jim: surrounded by so many

Brother Jim: distractions careers, money,

Brother Jim: recreation, phones, social

Brother Jim: media, entertainment and we

Brother Jim: cannot forget.

Brother Jim: Busy busy busy.

Brother Jim: I know mamas who you're running all the time, but the fathers

Brother Jim: are there too.

Brother Jim: Trying to keep the home front up.

Brother Jim: Who's going to mow the yard when

Brother Jim: mom's gotta go here, here and

Brother Jim: here?

Brother Jim: Who's gotta do this?

Brother Jim: Need tires?

Brother Jim: Don't worry babe, I'll take the car in to get the tires.

Brother Jim: Here, you take my car.

Brother Jim: We miss out on so much because

Brother Jim: we have to take care of all the

Brother Jim: little things.

Brother Jim: And again, I'm not saying mamas don't, but didn't God give us

Brother Jim: each jobs to work together?

Brother Jim: But again, Satan destroys that

Brother Jim: fundamental o the family unit

Brother Jim: that he wants, that God wants by

Brother Jim: dividing our time, distracting

Brother Jim: us.

Brother Jim: I need to provide my.

Brother Jim: So my family can have all that I never had.

Brother Jim: How many daddies have said that in the course of their life?

Brother Jim: Yes.

Brother Jim: Guilty as charged.

Brother Jim: Never had what I had when I was young.

Brother Jim: I need to be there to support my children in their activities,

Brother Jim: because all other men are there on the bleachers.

Brother Jim: Even though I'm running on three

Brother Jim: hours of sleep and I got a shift

Brother Jim: coming up here in about five

Brother Jim: hours.

Brother Jim: And again, none of these are necessarily sinful.

Brother Jim: But if Satan cannot make a

Brother Jim: father evil, Satan will try so

Brother Jim: many other ways today to keep

Brother Jim: him busy.

Brother Jim: Busy enough to stop praying, busy enough to stop bleeding,

Brother Jim: busy enough to stop talking.

Brother Jim: You ever run into a father?

Brother Jim: A man who just doesn't talk anymore?

Brother Jim: Ever asked that man why?

Brother Jim: Busy enough to stop noticing.

Brother Jim: And I'm going to add this one here.

Brother Jim: Busy enough because nobody cares.

Brother Jim: And I'm speaking today.

Brother Jim: Nobody cares how you ask how

Brother Jim: many men at the end of the day,

Brother Jim: who do you got to talk to,

Brother Jim: brother Tim.

Brother Jim: Who you got to talk to, Dave.

Brother Jim: Who you got to talk to.

Brother Jim: It's true, isn't it?

Brother Jim: Because if we talk, we show weakness.

Brother Jim: If we talk, we show that we are

Brother Jim: not as manly as we're supposed

Brother Jim: to be.

Brother Jim: Guess what, folks?

Brother Jim: Men got feelings, don't we?

Brother Jim: We hurt, we cry.

Brother Jim: We grieve.

Brother Jim: We worry.

Brother Jim: But again, we're a man.

Brother Jim: So that.

Brother Jim: Gotta push that to the side.

Brother Jim: Put your big boy boots on.

Brother Jim: Right, Todd.

Brother Jim: Man up.

Brother Jim: Get through it.

Brother Jim: Sometimes.

Brother Jim: Satan's greatest victories happen not through rebellion,

Brother Jim: but through distractions.

Brother Jim: And here's another one for you.

Brother Jim: Satan attacks fathers through division.

Brother Jim: Jesus said, A house divided cannot stand.

Brother Jim: Satan delights in that.

Brother Jim: Material conflicts, marital conflicts, broken

Brother Jim: communications, bitterness, resentment, and unforgiveness.

Brother Jim: Why?

Brother Jim: Because divided parents and divided homes often create.

Brother Jim: You know what they create

Brother Jim: confused children who do not

Brother Jim: feel loved.

Brother Jim: Children who don't know.

Brother Jim: Where am I going to spend the night tonight?

Brother Jim: AM I going to daddy's.

Brother Jim: AM I going to mommy's?

Brother Jim: Or I'm sleeping on Grandma and Grandpa's couch?

Brother Jim: Or even worse situations?

Brother Jim: I don't know where I'll be tonight.

Brother Jim: If we go to Mark three twenty three to twenty six.

Brother Jim: So Jesus called them over to him

Brother Jim: and began to speak to them in

Brother Jim: parables.

Brother Jim: How can Satan drive out Satan if

Brother Jim: a kingdom against is against

Brother Jim: itself is divided against

Brother Jim: itself, that kingdom cannot

Brother Jim: stand.

Brother Jim: If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

Brother Jim: And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand, his

Brother Jim: end has come.

Brother Jim: In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house without first

Brother Jim: tying him up.

Brother Jim: Then he can plunder the strong man's house.

Brother Jim: Truly, I tell you, people can be forgiven of all their sins and

Brother Jim: every slander they utter.

Brother Jim: But whoever blasphemies against

Brother Jim: the Holy Spirit will never be

Brother Jim: forgiven.

Brother Jim: They are guilty of an eternal sin.

Brother Jim: And I want to throw that in just a little extra bonus today.

Brother Jim: God calls fathers to be peacemakers, not perfect men,

Brother Jim: but humble men willing to apologize, willing to forgive.

Brother Jim: Men willing to love.

Brother Jim: First, Satan fears a father who prays.

Brother Jim: And let me tell you something, my friends.

Brother Jim: There is nothing.

Brother Jim: Remember how I asked a couple Sundays ago?

Brother Jim: Are you feeling dangerous?

Brother Jim: Are you feeling dangerous?

Brother Jim: Well, there.

Brother Jim: There may be nothing more

Brother Jim: dangerous to the kingdom of

Brother Jim: darkness than a father on his

Brother Jim: knees.

Brother Jim: Let me repeat that.

Brother Jim: A father on his knees.

Brother Jim: Now, how many people have seen that personally?

Brother Jim: A father on his knees.

Brother Jim: Praying.

Brother Jim: Prayer changes.

Brother Jim: Fathers.

Brother Jim: Prayer changes.

Brother Jim: Marriages.

Brother Jim: Prayer changes.

Brother Jim: Children.

Brother Jim: Prayer changes.

Brother Jim: Homes.

Brother Jim: Prayer changes, churches and prayers.

Brother Jim: It can change communities and countries.

Brother Jim: Satan trembles to the core.

Brother Jim: When fathers and men stop relying on themselves.

Brother Jim: are, as I said earlier, and begin to rely on God.

Brother Jim: And here's some good news on Satan.

Brother Jim: Satan cannot stop a father fully surrendered to Jesus Christ.

Brother Jim: I'd like to think of a mule.

Brother Jim: Stubborn, hard headed.

Brother Jim: But you know what?

Brother Jim: He's got a nasty kick, don't he?

Brother Jim: Yes, you can.

Brother Jim: Come on, Satan.

Brother Jim: But you know what you're going to get.

Brother Jim: Come on at me.

Brother Jim: If we go back to Ephesians, the second part.

Brother Jim: Excuse me.

Brother Jim: Ephesians six thirteen to eighteen, therefore put on the

Brother Jim: full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may

Brother Jim: be able to stand your ground.

Brother Jim: And after you have done everything to stand, stand firm.

Brother Jim: Then, with the belt of truth

Brother Jim: buckled around your waist with

Brother Jim: the breastplate of righteousness

Brother Jim: in place and with your feet

Brother Jim: lifted.

Brother Jim: Excuse me.

Brother Jim: Fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

Brother Jim: In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith.

Brother Jim: There you go.

Brother Jim: The shield of faith, which with

Brother Jim: which you can extinguish all,

Brother Jim: all the flaming arrows of the

Brother Jim: evil one.

Brother Jim: And yes, yes, yes, my friends, you don't think the devil

Brother Jim: doesn't know Scripture?

Brother Jim: Oh, trust me, the devil knows scripture.

Brother Jim: Satan knows history.

Brother Jim: Satan knows what happened when ordinary men surrender to God.

Brother Jim: Ordinary men surrender to God.

Brother Jim: Noah saved his family.

Brother Jim: Through obedience.

Brother Jim: Abraham became the father of nations.

Brother Jim: Through faith, Joshua led an entire nation toward God.

Brother Jim: Joseph protected his family

Brother Jim: during famine because he

Brother Jim: trusted.

Brother Jim: He trusted God's plan.

Brother Jim: Throughout history, God has

Brother Jim: changed our world through

Brother Jim: ordinary men.

Brother Jim: And why is that?

Brother Jim: Because they obeyed him.

Brother Jim: And here's another fact.

Brother Jim: Satan fears ordinary fathers who

Brother Jim: become extraordinary because of

Brother Jim: God's power.

Brother Jim: So, church, let me ask you something as if I sometimes when

Brother Jim: I say, let's flip the script, what does Satan want?

Brother Jim: What does Satan want?

Brother Jim: Have you ever taken the time to think about that?

Brother Jim: What Satan desires fathers to do?

Brother Jim: And it is so easy in our world today, a father who will quit, a

Brother Jim: father who will compromise, a father who will stay silent.

Brother Jim: A father who will neglect

Brother Jim: prayer, neglect his family, a

Brother Jim: father who chooses to ignore the

Brother Jim: Scripture.

Brother Jim: And here's the biggest one.

Brother Jim: And I've said this and it plays right in to Satan's plan.

Brother Jim: The one that kills a father's heart, his mind, his spirit.

Brother Jim: A father who believes he does not matter.

Brother Jim: A father who believes.

Brother Jim: They just don't matter.

Brother Jim: And I'm going to be honest here for a second.

Brother Jim: How many men have had the

Brother Jim: thought, I'm worth more when I'm

Brother Jim: dead?

Brother Jim: At least my families get a big check.

Brother Jim: We're out of debt.

Brother Jim: They can be happy.

Brother Jim: How many fathers?

Brother Jim: And I don't know how many men.

Brother Jim: You'll get an actual answer from a truthful answer.

Brother Jim: But I've thought that I'm worth more dead than alive.

Brother Jim: That's a sad statement, isn't it?

Brother Jim: But let me tell you something.

Brother Jim: It's true.

Brother Jim: But every one of those things I just mentioned is a lie that

Brother Jim: collapses before God's truth.

Brother Jim: So church, what does God really want from a father?

Brother Jim: God wants a father who loves their wives.

Brother Jim: A father who leads with

Brother Jim: humility, a father who protects

Brother Jim: their families.

Brother Jim: A father who will teach the word and nothing but the word.

Brother Jim: A father who models forgiveness.

Brother Jim: A father who will serve and sacrifice.

Brother Jim: A father who will walk faithfully, and a father who

Brother Jim: will finish well.

Brother Jim: A father who does not give up.

Brother Jim: This morning, maybe, just maybe,

Brother Jim: some fathers, men who are

Brother Jim: sitting here in this sanctuary

Brother Jim: thinking I've made too many

Brother Jim: mistakes.

Brother Jim: Brother Jim, guess what?

Brother Jim: So have I and every other father man sitting here today.

Brother Jim: Welcome to the club.

Brother Jim: The Bible is filled with imperfect fathers.

Brother Jim: Yet God redeemed them.

Brother Jim: God restored them, and yes, God used them.

Brother Jim: The cross reminds you and I that

Brother Jim: our failures do not have the

Brother Jim: final word.

Brother Jim: Jesus has.

Brother Jim: Jesus Christ has the final word.

Brother Jim: No matter what your past is, brothers, today can be the

Brother Jim: beginning of a new legacy.

Brother Jim: Men, never underestimate your influence.

Brother Jim: Your family may not remember

Brother Jim: every sermon you preached, but

Brother Jim: your family will remember how

Brother Jim: you lived.

Brother Jim: Men, your family will remember your prayers, your kindness,

Brother Jim: your courage, and yes, even your forgiveness, your integrity,

Brother Jim: your faith, your humility.

Brother Jim: Satan knows the power of a godly father, and that's why Satan

Brother Jim: attacks so fiercely.

Brother Jim: Remember this, brothers and sisters.

Brother Jim: Satan has already been defeated.

Brother Jim: Remember that Satan has already

Brother Jim: been defeated through the death

Brother Jim: and the resurrection of Jesus

Brother Jim: Christ.

Brother Jim: So men, fathers, you stand firm.

Brother Jim: You love deeply, you lead courageously, you pray

Brother Jim: continually, and you finish.

Brother Jim: You finish this journey here on earth faithfully.

Brother Jim: That is a legacy, my friends.

Brother Jim: Men, allow your greatest legacy

Brother Jim: not to be what you leave to your

Brother Jim: children, your four hundred one,

Brother Jim: your life insurance, your tools,

Brother Jim: your guns, your boats, your

Brother Jim: fishing equipment.

Brother Jim: But what you leave in your

Brother Jim: children a living faith in Jesus

Brother Jim: Christ.

Brother Jim: Men, fathers, ask yourself today, am I?

Brother Jim: Is my family closer to Christ because of my example?

Brother Jim: AM I fighting the spiritual battles today that truly matter?

Brother Jim: AM I spending more time building

Brother Jim: my career than building my

Brother Jim: children?

Brother Jim: If Satan were looking for a threat to his kingdom, would my

Brother Jim: life be one?

Brother Jim: Would my life be a threat?

Brother Jim: May God raise up fathers who refuse to surrender, who stand

Brother Jim: on His Word and who leave a legacy of faith that echoes

Brother Jim: through generations to come.

Brother Jim: Fathers, men, I want you to hear me on this.

Brother Jim: You do have meaning.

Brother Jim: You do have value.

Brother Jim: And brothers, you are loved.

Brother Jim: Plus a bonus.

Brother Jim: My men, you are never alone in this battle.

Brother Jim: You've got a lot of good godly men here.

Brother Jim: But most of all, you got Jesus.

Brother Jim: Amen.