You Have Many Guides —

But Few Fathers

A Sermon on Spiritual Fatherhood

·        Today, along with honoring fathers, I want to honor the spiritual fathers we have had.

1 Corinthians 4:15 (ESV) For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

·        Spiritual Fathers have a profound effect in the lives of others, leading with relational depth, not just instruction.

I. A Spiritual Father Imitates the Heart of the Heavenly Father

·        Ultimately, a spiritual father reflects God the Father, the source of all spiritual life

·        Today is  Trinity Sunday. We have believed since the earliest days of the church that

God is One in Being, Three in Persons

·         Being: The quality or essence that makes something what it is

·        Personhood is the quality or essence that makes someone who they are

o   A table has being, but not personhood

§  It’s a WHAT, but not a WHO

§  I don’t ask the table’s permission to set a candle on it

o   I am a human being – that’s my WHAT

§  I have personhood – A WHO – there’s nobody else exactly like me

o   God’s Being/WHAT: God is the Holy, Almighty Yahweh God

o   God has 3 WHOs: God the Father is the Holy, Almighty Yahweh God

o   God the Son is the Holy, Almighty Yahweh God

o   God the Holy Spirit is the Holy, Almighty Yahweh God

·        God is Three in Person. He has personhood.

All three persons of the Trinity are involved in our salvation. The Father calls us into a relationship with Him through the Son, whom He sent; the Son creates that relationship by dying to break down the barrier of rebellion that has separated us from the Father; and the Holy Spirit works within us to trust in the Son and to worship the Father according to the truth of the gospel. When we are brought into the Christian faith, this is why we are baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19 NIV).

–        Nabeel Qureshi,

a devout Muslim who became a Christian

Hebrews 12:5-9 (NLT2) ⁵  And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children?He said,

“My child, don’t make light of the LORD’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you. ⁶  For the LORD disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.” [Proverbs 3:11-12]

⁷  As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? ⁸  If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. ⁹  Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever?

3 John 1:4 (NLT2)  I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth.

(BTW – if you have children, they need you to be a spiritual father.  You don’t have to be a spiritual superman. Just be a man who starts to imitate others in the way they imitate Jesus)

II. A Spiritual Father Models Christlike Behavior

·        It’s hard to see an unseen God to know how he Fathers us, how he teaches us, but we can see the Father in the Son.

Colossians 1:15a (NLT) Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.

·        Jesus himself knew he was giving us an example to follow,.

John 13:13–15 (NLT) ¹³ You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am.¹⁴ And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet.¹⁵ I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.”

·        Paul also set an example

1 Corinthians 11:1 (NIV) Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

·        Timothy, to whom Paul was a spiritual father, followed Paul’s example

Philippians 2:22 (NLT) But you know how Timothy has proved himself. Like a son with his father, he has served with me in preaching the Good News.

·     We should follow the example of the spiritual fathers in our lives. And if you want to follow his example, then like Paul and Jesus you should SET an example, even if you’re young.

1 Timothy 4:12-13 (NLT2) ¹²  Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. ¹³  Until I get there, focus on reading the Scriptures to the church, encouraging the believers, and teaching them.

III. A Spiritual Father Encourages Spiritual Growth and Maturity

1 Thessalonians 2:11-12 (NLT2) ¹¹  And you know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children. ¹²  We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. For he called you to share in his Kingdom and glory.

·        Like a father with his children, Paul exhorted, encouraged, and charged believers to walk in a manner worthy of God. Fathers affirm and challenge, not just correct.

Galatians 4:19 (MSG) Do you know how I feel right now, and will feel until Christ’s life becomes visible in your lives? Like a mother in the pain of childbirth.

Ephesians 4:13-14 (NLT2) ¹³  This (equipping God’s people to do his work and building up the church, the body of Christ) will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. ¹⁴  Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.

·        Today, along with honoring fathers, I want to honor the spiritual fathers we have had, and exhort those of you who have been walking with the Lord to make a decision to imitate those you’ve seen imitating Jesus. Become a spiritual father to those who would follow in your footsteps.