SPEAKER_00 0:31

Happy Father's Day to all of our dads this morning. What a privilege it is to be a dad. It's a blessing to be a father. And I suspect that all of you fathers like me today are are thinking about your father. You're thinking about memories that you have with him, things that you shared together. When I think about my dad, I think about the things that he gave me. Dad was always there for me. Dad was a blue-collar guy. He's a machinist. His hands were always kind of nicked because he was worked with a metal lathe all the time, you know, constructing things, fabricating things and whatnot. And uh somebody asked me this morning and they said, Well, where's your jeans and boots? I said, Well, today's a special day. It's it's it's it's Father's Day, and and um, but that's not really the biggest reason. Uh I'm in a suit today because of my dad, and I'll get to that. But uh dad gave me some some neat things. Uh dad gave me this pocket knife. He bought two alike. I gave this one to Chris Elkins not long ago, and he cleaned it up and sharpened it for me. He's got the other one right now uh going to work on it. Um got two identical knives. He bought this knife, I'm gonna say probably bought it, I don't know, 40 years ago. It's an old timer, still in good shape. When dad graduated high school, he he bought two class rings. They had two different designs that year, and he couldn't make up his mind, so he bought one of each. But you know, it's just kind of the thing about dad. He had no idea that he would have twin grandsons years into the future. And those, the knives and and the rings are things that my guys are gonna get when the time comes. I wear boots, dad wore boots. Um to Texas, I got a couple of pairs of his boots. Um, and uh it's it's just something special. Be wearing those here before too long. And a bolo tie. That may not be a big thing in in Alabama, uh, but in Texas, a bolo tie is eh, it's pretty standard equipment for a Texan. Um and you'll probably see me in those. But I'm in a suit today, and we had a tradition, Dad and I. Every birthday, on my birthday, at some point in time around my birthday, dad would call up and say, son, I'm coming by to pick you up. We're gonna go buy you a new suit. And we'd go, and he'd buy me a suit for my birthday for several years. He was a blue-collar guy. If if Dickies made it, he wore it for work clothes, and there are no bright colors with that. It's it's pretty much gray and black and brown and things that hide stains really well. And so that's the kind of thing you wore, steel-toed shoes. But when Sunday came around, Dad liked to dress up. It's the only day he got to wear something nice, and dad was a snappy dresser, and that was just something that he really, really enjoyed. But of all those memories I have of my father, there's one that stands out above all the others. There wasn't a day that went by in my life that I can remember that my father did not hug me, kiss me, and tell me that he loved me. Not one. Now, being born in 1932, he was from a generation that's just something you didn't do. Those rules did not apply to him. He didn't care. If you were his kid, he wanted to make sure that you knew that he loved you. And I think about how wonderful a life I had with my father. And I'm sure that many of many of you did. But it's only a reflection of the love of our Heavenly Father. And that's what I want to look at today, the love of our Father. And so John shares with us some beautiful words in 1 John chapter 3. And before we get into the message this morning, let's let's go to God, our Heavenly Father, in prayer together, if you'll join me. Our God and our Heavenly Father, we we are so grateful that you are not only our God, but that you have adopted us as your sons and daughters to be our Heavenly Father. And as we try to wrap our mind around what that means, we we fail, we come up short. Um, the closest that we can possibly come to that is the love of our earthly father. And for those of us that were blessed to have incredible earthly fathers, it's it's still hard to close the gap because you're so much more, and you've chosen us. As we take a look at what John has to say today and try to encompass the love that you have for us, Spirit, I just pray that today's message is yours, that you will speak to our hearts in a way that that is so clear, especially for those who have not known the love of a father that you intended. Not everyone was privileged to have a great earthly father. But we know from your word that you have adopted all of us to be your children. Lord, we we love you so very much, but it it doesn't compare to your love for us. And we pray, Lord, that as we come to know you better, that we will come to know your love for us and to share that love with all those around us. That love that comes through your sacrifice of Jesus to save us. And it's in his gracious, wonderful, and powerful name we pray together. Amen. One night a house caught fire, and everybody got out, and it was the dad's responsibility to make sure that everybody was out of the house. But he couldn't account for his seven-year-old son. And so he's looking outside, he's counting everybody, and his son can't find him. Then he hears his son, Dad, Dad, I'm up here, I'm up here. And his seven-year-old son had crawled out of his window onto the roof, and and the fire was beginning to pick up uh some momentum, and it was there, there's flames coming out of the house all around. But he was safe on the roof at the moment, but there was smoke everywhere. And and he said, Dad, I'm up here. And and the father said, Son, hang on just a second. I'll be right there. And he goes over to where his son is on top of the house, and he says, Son, jump, I'll catch you. And the little boy says, Daddy, I can't see you. I'm afraid. He says, son, just trust me. Jump. I promise I'll catch you. And that seven-year-old boy, he was he was scared, and and and he said, Daddy, I'm really scared. I can't see you. But his dad said, son, it's okay. I can see you. And that's all that matters. You see, family, there's times in life when we can't see clearly. We go through difficult times, we go through struggles. It seems like the flames are all around us, and we we feel like that little boy, don't we? And we just want to jump. We want to jump into safety. We want to jump to where we can be away from that which feels like it's burning us. A lot of times we don't feel like we have anyone or any place to jump to, and our father says, Come to me. I can see you. And that's all that matters. That's all that matters. Church, no doubt the love of a father is a wonderful thing. But the love of our Heavenly Father is far greater. Paul prays for the Ephesians in chapter 3, verses 17 to 19, and he says this, that you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Church, this morning, as we recognize and as we show love to our fathers, and we remember the great fathers of our lives, we need to recognize that the love of any father is a reflection of the love of our heavenly Father. The Apostle John says in 1 John 2, verse 29, he says, if you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of him. Church, the thought, the thought that we have been born of God causes John to exclaim in chapter 3, verse 1 of our passage today, to say, see how great a love the Father has bestowed on us that we, you and I, would be called children of God such as we are. For this reason, the world does not know us because it did not know him. Family John's point is both simple and powerful. The Father's great love has made us his children. God's love for you has made you his child today. And it distinguishes us from the world. And the first thing we see is that the Father's great love has been bestowed upon us. Church, the Apostle John has been blessed more than most men in the history of the world. The prophets desired to see what John got to see. The prophets desired to hear what John was privileged to hear, according to Jesus in Matthew chapter 13, verses 16 and 17. Jesus says, Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it. John spent three years as one of the closest disciples of Jesus. He's referred to as the one that Jesus loved, and he heard Jesus' profound teaching. He had seen Jesus perform dozens of miracles. He had witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus in his glory. He had seen Jesus resurrected from the dead, and he stood in awe with the others as they watched Jesus ascend bodily into heaven. And so here, as he writes, as an old man, I think that we would have to ask John, John, as you think back over your life, what stands out? What motivates you? What gives you hope based upon all that you've seen and all that you've heard, all that you've witnessed at this stage of your life, what gives you hope and what motivates you? He replies in chapter 3, verse 1. He says, See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us that we, that you and I would be called children of God. And such we are. Such we are. Church's word shows us a number of things. First, John shows us that the Father's love is both astounding and instructional. The word see is often translated as behold. That may be what's in your translation this morning. And it's both an exclamation and a command. As an exclamation, family, it shows that the Father's great love should astound us and amaze us. And we need to be reminded of this. Because some things grow commonplace over time. How many times this week did you just step back and think to yourself, wow, I am a child of God. Sometimes some things grow commonplace over time. Family, the realization of the Father's great love for us is the kind of experience that should grow stronger and stronger over the years. It should inhabit our thoughts. It should guide our behavior. It should motivate us to serve God more and to live godly lives. It should give us comfort in our trials. And it should fill us with anticipation of being with Him. And with all we love who are in heaven. Church, it should fill us with amazement that He, the holy and sovereign God of the universe, would choose to love us. He would choose to love you and me. But how often do we stop and think about that? Family, we should never hear of or be reminded of our Father's great love for us and not be anything less than astounded and amazed. It should blow our mind every time we're reminded of that. God loves me. God died for me, and God wants me to be with him forever in heaven when this life is over. But also John tells us that the love God has bestowed on us is a command. This shows that the Father's great love should instruct us. The word translated as how great is literally what kind. It originally means of what country. And it always implies astonishment. And the only conclusion is it must be from heaven. Because there's nothing like it in this world. Family, the Father's love also teaches us about our relationships with one another. And this is Paul's thought in Ephesians chapter 5, verses 1 and 2. He says, Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children, and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. Church, look at Paul's encouragement. Imitate God by walking in love, with Christ's sacrifice on the cross as our great example. We can see more specifics about what walking in love really looks like. In Paul's great chapter on love to the Corinthians, look at what he says. He says, love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous. Love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly, it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. Can we substitute our name in the place of love in that passage? Those qualities should increasingly describe our relationships with others, beginning with those that we live with. I remember when Kimmy and I found out that we were having twin boys, she was in the fifth, the fifth month. Cullen was hiding. He was hiding. He was up high. Trevor was down low. We didn't find out until the fifth month that we were having twins. And when I called my dad and told him, hey, dad, we're going to have twins, there was a long silence. And then Dad said, Well, that'll sure wake you up in the morning, son. Yeah, it'll wake me up in the morning. You're going to be sound asleep while I'm up feeding a kid at, you know, 3.37 in the morning with another one on deck waiting. Let me tell you something. Look at what Paul writes on the screen. Look at what he says. When we insert our name and take responsibility for it, it changes the way we look at things. Love is patient. Love is kind. Devin is patient. Devin is kind. Let me tell you something. Devin is not always patient. And Devin is not always kind either. I need that. As a father, as a husband, as a Christian, as a human being, I need that. I need to apply that to me. How about you? John's words in our passage today also apply to how we as earthly fathers relate to our children. All of biblical parenting can be summed up in one statement. Love your children as your heavenly father loves you. Of course, this kind of love involves proper correction and discipline. But honestly, I think that the most Christian parents fall short. If they're going to fall short somewhere, they're primarily going to fall short in the realm of love, not discipline. Family, God lavished his love and grace on us through Jesus. And as Christian parents, especially as fathers, we need to lavish grace and we need to lavish love on our children. Because it will motivate them to follow Christ. It should. Far more than strict rules ever will. Church John shows us that the Father's great love should both amaze us and instruct us. And we should stop and behold it often. But he also shows us that the love of the Father has bestowed on us is a lavish gift. The word bestowed means that something has been given. And lavish means to be unrestrained. And so it points to the fact that God's unrestrained love that he lavishes on us is not earned and it's not deserved. But rather it's purely a gift that comes from his undeserved grace. Paul puts it this way in Ephesians chapter 2, verses 4 to 7. He says, But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he has loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you've been saved and raised up with him and seated with us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the surpassing riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Family, take a good long look at that. Look at what he says. Church, what we see is that God is under no obligation whatsoever to save any of us. But what we also see is that his great love is demonstrated and that he sent his son to die for us. While we were at our worst. And even more than that, he made us, he made you, he made me his beloved children. Through the new birth that comes through the immersion into the blood of his Son. Oh, how much God loves you, and how much he loves me. Paul highlights this in Romans chapter 6, verses 1 to 4. He says, What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning that grace may increase by no means? We are those who have died to sin. How can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Church, take a good look at that. It's very important that we understand that and not only understand it, but be obedient to it and to experience it. Because if we don't, then we will never experience the love of God that Paul speaks of. At the end of chapter 8, in chapter 8, verses 38 and 39. Listen to what he says there. He says, For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Family, the love of our Father is a gift that we can either accept or reject. He leaves the choice to you and to me. What will you do with that love today? Will your gift to your heavenly Father today be a life given to him, in acceptance of his love for you. Church John also points out that the Father's great love has made us his children. Church, because God has bestowed his great love on us, we're now called children of God. And John adds in 1 John chapter 3, verse 1, and that is what we are. Family, the idea that we not only have the name or title of children of God, but we also have an identity. We have an identity that reflects our true condition. Yeah, I'm a minister. Yeah, I'm a husband. Of course I'm a father. I try to be a good friend to people. I try to be a good citizen. But above all else, I am a son of God. I'm a child of God. And that identity and that reality determines everything else. That's the way we've been called to live. Through his power, God causes us to be born again through his Holy Spirit, as we saw a moment ago in Romans chapter 6, verses 1 to 4. Brothers and sisters, he gives new life to us so that we're raised from spiritual death to spiritual life as a part of his family. That's why arguments and divisions in the church never cease to amaze me. I am floored by it every time I come across it. We're children of God. We're brothers and sisters in the Lord. How can we allow anything to divide us? That goes through my mind all the time. And it has for years. And the reason why is because we've been more committed to ourselves and our preferences and what we want and getting our way than we have been to being children of God. And brothers and sisters in Christ. We're children of God. We're a part of the family. In the Gospel of John chapter 1, verses 12 and 13, we read these words But as many as received him to them, he gave them the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Family, the fact that God's love has made us his children should also cause us to feel his love, to love him in return, and to share his love with others around us. You know, as a father, you really never fully appreciate how much your dad loves you until you hold your firstborn in your arms. And that appreciation is by no means diminished when you hold your other children in your arms, you know, either. But it's reinforced. It's reinforced. And I can remember when I held my firstborn, my daughter Rebecca. She was eight weeks premature. But when I held her in my arms and I looked at Rebecca, helpless, dependent. She was early enough that she still had that fuzz, you know what I'm saying? Didn't last long. Try not to remind her of that. But as I held her there and I looked at you know, I can't dads, we do this, don't we? We count fingers and we count toes. She had all her fingers and toes. But as I looked at her and how beautifully she was made by God, it hit me. My dad loves me as much as I love her. And here's the thing that's so hard to fathom. It's hard to wrap our head around. God loves us even more than that. Far more than we can possibly imagine. Church, what a privilege it is to be born into God's family. However, in addition, John adds another thought. The love of our Father identifies us in this world. Church, the greatest tragedy of those in this world is that they do not know God as their father. You work with people, go to school with people, you live next door to people who do not know God as their heavenly Father. And this is what John has in mind at the end of 1 John 3, verse 1, where he writes these words, for this reason the world does not know us because it did not know him. Let me ask you a question. Do you know the Lord? I don't mean do you know his word. Do you know the Lord? Do you know him? Do you have a relationship with him? Because one of the distinguishing marks of God's children is that they know him. If you remember, I believe it's in Matthew chapter 25, when the day of judgment comes and Jesus says, Depart from me, I never knew you. And there's people there, lots of people, Christian people, believing people, who say, Well, didn't we do this, this, this, this, and this in your name? And Jesus says, Depart from me, I never knew you. Do you know him this morning? Family, by the way we live, the world sees and the world knows that we know the love of our Heavenly Father. Proverbs chapter 21, 22, verse 1 says, A good name is more desirable than great riches. To be esteemed is better than silver or gold. You know, something I remember sharing with my father is the spirit of what Solomon says on the screen there. Fellas, you may have had a similar talk with your dad. I suspect that you probably did. He said, son, always be careful about what you say. Be careful about what you do and how you treat other people. And the reason why is because your name is my name. Ull abey. Don't forget that. And if you ever meet anybody else with the same name, you're related. And he said, I don't say that, son, because you're better than anyone else, but because I've given you a good name. And I expect you to maintain that good name and to pass it on. Family, a lot of things can happen in this life. And there are a few things that are more valuable than a good name. Revelation chapter 2, verse 17. We see at the judgment. Where Jesus says to those who overcome, I will give a white stone with a new name. Now that may not mean a whole lot to us, but this is what it meant in that culture. If you were given a stone with something inscribed on it, your name, in that culture, it was an invitation to a banquet. Jesus says, at the judgment, to those who overcome, I will give a white stone with a new name. That new name doesn't tell us what that name is. But I think by implication, it lets us know that we belong. That we've received the invitation to the eternal banquet, that that will be given to us, that we hand over and say, Welcome home. Are you going to receive a new name? Are you going to receive that white stone when this life is over? Do you know the love of our Father? And will that love carry you through the end of this life and into eternity? Dads, thank you so much for all that you do for us. Happy Father's Day. But let me ask you this as we close. Will your gift to the Father today be a life dedicated to him? Because there's nothing that he wants more than that. In fact, he was willing to give Jesus for that. If you have a need, let us pray with you. If you need prayers, let us pray with you. If you're looking for a church home, we want you here. Let's stand in.