The Power of A Father's Influence

Cutting off the ham because my mother always did it this way.   It's scary what we inadvertently pass on to our children. Some good things some not so good.   Malachi points out to them that they have a tremendous influence over the direction the life of their children will take. And they can either influence them for good back to the Lord, or for bad, farther away from the Lord. The present course is leading them away from the Lord. Spiritually the Jews of the fifth century had lost the joy of their salvation and their zeal for the Lord, and they were passing this on to their children. If this continues many generations of their children will be lost. They will not know the Lord.   “And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, And the heart of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” (Malachi 4:6) As the last passage says, Elijah will come to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers. “And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1:16–17) Luke in his record of the birth of Christ, identifies John the Baptist as the one who fulfilled this prophecy. John came in the Spirit and Power of Elijah, to the "children" that Malachi spoke of could have a "come to Jesus" experience-   What makes this a good Father’s Day message is that God has the prophet speak to them about Fathers and children as a way to motivate them to repentance. We've already seen the first reference(Malachi 4:6)…There are several more. So, God has Malachi point out the bad habits they have slipped into and pleads with them to repent.   What makes this a good message for the church today, is that God's uses His love for them to draw them to that place of repentance. Read Malachi 1:2-5, 2:11, 4:16-17,   Malachi 3:6- "For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed." God's shows mercy because His is Merciful. That will never change.   So, even though we are not going to be called to do the exact things that God is calling the Jews to do through Malachi, we will be called to respond to the exact same love that God expresses to them.   So, I want to see the Power of a Father’s Influence as demonstrated through God’s message to the Nation of Israel through Malachi. I. A Father Influences His Children Through His Worship of God (1:6-8)  1:6- "O Priest, who despise my name" This is taking God's name in vain. It's not just uttering a profanity. It's proclaiming to believe in God, but in service to Him, you treat Him like He is only worthy of our leftovers. Malachi 1:12-13 The people would bring faulty sacrifices, and the priests would approve them for presentation before God. Religious apathy and skepticism were widespread. Malachi 2:1-6 The Priest’s degenerate They were supposed to the examples of righteousness for the nation but they were indulging in sin themselves. Application to Father: • If the Father pretends to worship and serve God, he will not expect much more from his children. • If the Fathers find the things of the Lord a boring chore to be endured, how much more the children? • If the father doesn't respect the church how much less will the children? • If the Father, as priest of his household is indulging in vice and sin, how far will the children take it?   So, A Father Influences His Children Through His Worship of God. Then II. A Father Influences His Children Through His Love for Their Mother (2:13-16)  Divorce was rampant among them. God saw this as violence against the women. Matthew 19:1-9 Men were divorcing their wives because they didn’t want to be “guilty of adultery.” They wanted to commit adultery, but they wanted to do the sin and still walk around with their head held high. Matthew 5:27-28 God wanted them to know that anything short of Godly love toward their wife was as an act of violence towards her. This will influence the children in how they think about God. And how does this affect the future generations? Just look at our society to see how it affects society. But more than that, it affects a child's understanding of God's love. Father's need to realize how closely children equate the Love of God with the Love they see between their parents. This is God's design. Ephesians 5, "husbands love your wife the way Christ loved the church." It shows the child that covenants made before God can be easily broken, and that without fault or consequence. The corollary to this is the mistaken belief that God Himself views covenants as a light thing. If God cannot be trusted to keep His covenants, then how much harder is it to display the beauty and majesty of God to our children? So, A Father Influences His Children Through His Worship of God. Then A Father Influences His Children Through His Love for Their Mother, Finally III. A Father Influences His Children Through His Commitment to the Work of God. (3:7-12) All of this spiritual apathy, and gross immorality had naturally led to the neglect of the work of God. God showed them this by their unwillingness to pay the tithes that God had commanded.   The Worship of God is tied to the giving of God’s People. Worship is necessary for our sin prone hearts. Proper worship requires the full time effort of those called to lead the people in worship. So, by neglecting to return to God the tithes that He required of them, they were essentially voting to discontinue the worship of God. Or at least, saying, that somebody else could take care of it.   So, here's the problem for the church today. When the Father elects not to support the work of the church with His finances, he is telling his children that the worship of God is not really necessary. IF the children want to learn what their father thinks is necessary, they just have to look around the house, or in the driveway. What the children learn is that the worship of God is not important. And that God is not the source of our provision. But, the opposite is true when the Father gives to faithfully and generously to the work of the Lord.   Conclusion: The people needed a prophet, because they were only listening to each other. And everybody they talked to saw nothing wrong with the situation. So, Into this environment Malachi marched   Do you need a prophet to come into your life today dad?   I could stand here and simply say to you, "Don't do the things, Don't follow this bad example and make the same mistakes they made"   That's fine- But God's motivation for them was Love-   His very first words "I loved thee" Last Passage "Turn the Hearts of the Children and fathers"   It's all about love here. So, the answer isn't just stand here and tell you to do better at this things for your children's sake. This is okay, but not good enough   The answer is: Fathers, if you will respond to God's love, you will leave a great legacy to your children. A legacy that will not require a radical come to Jesus moment for your children and grandchildren.   Like is was for me. (The Story of my Parents and Grandparents. But God sent a "prophet" to me. Which turned my whole family around, and my children. My children know God, and walk with God. How many generation had to pass…?   Fathers think about what you're passing on to your children?   Do you have a love and zeal for Serving the Lord? Do you offer your best to God? Are you investing in eternity? Are you faithful to your covenants? Not just to your wife which is primary, but to everything are you a man of your word?   You're passing these things on to your children? It doesn’t just make a bad society, it drives your children away from God.   Because, what is underlying all of our failure in these areas, is our lack of appreciation and gratitude for God's love for you. Until that gets right, nothing is going to be right.   Dad's honor God and reflect His Glory to their children.   Dad's be encouraged this you. You have a great opportunity to influence your children and grandchildren. That can be for Good and that can be for bad.   *** Give the gift