Paul taught that fathers have several responsibilities toward our children.

1)         We must not “provoke” them. In Paul’s day, the father had supreme authority over the family.

When a baby was born into a Roman family, it was brought out and laid before the father. If he picked the baby up, it meant that he was accepting it into his home. But if he did not pick the baby up, it meant rejection. The baby could be sold into slavery or even killed. And all of this was viewed as legal!

Paul told fathers, “Do not use your authority to abuse the child, but to encourage and build the child.” To the Colossians, Paul wrote, “Fathers, provoke not your children to anger least they be discouraged”(Cl3:21).

So the opposite of “provoke” is ‘encourage.’ Fathers, we provoke our children and discourage them by saying one thing and doing another. We provoke when we always blame and seldom praise. We provoke by being inconsistent and unfair in discipline and by showing favoritism in our homes. We also provoke by making promises and not keeping them.

Men, we need the fullness of the Holy Spirit so we can be sensitive to the needs and problems of our children.

2)         We must “nurture” our children. Fathers nourish our children by sharing love and encouragement in the Lord. It is not enough to nurture them physically by providing food, a home, and clothing. Men, we must also nurture them emotionally and spiritually.

Balanced growth is intellectual, physical, spiritual, and social. And God looks to fathers for this kind of training.

3)         We must discipline our children.  The word “nurture” gives the idea of learning through discipline. “Chastening” is a parallel word. Discipline is a basic principle of life. And an evidence of love!

The purpose of discipline is to help our children grow, not to hurt them or discourage them. Consistent, loving discipline gives assurance.

Our children may not agree with us. But at least they know that we care enough to build some protective walls around them until they can take care of themselves.

4)         We must instruct and encourage our children. This is what “admonition” means. Fathers not only use actions to raise our children, but words too!

The book of Proverbs is an inspired record of a father sharing wise counsel with his son. Our children do not always appreciate our counsel. But that does not eliminate our obligation to instruct and encourage.

Home is the place where children ought to learn about the Lord and the Christian life!!

Daniel and thousands of his countrymen were deported to Babylon after Judah was conquered. Daniel found himself facing a ruling dictator and surrounded by idolatry.

But Daniel was not intimidated by powerful people or frightened by difficult circumstances. Daniel was determined to live for God.

When Daniel and his friends wanted to eat clean food, not food dedicated to idols, they did not stage a hunger strike or argue with those in charge. Daniel knew that any problems they created would reflect on the prince who was in charge of them and only get them all in trouble.

Daniel tactfully asked if they could be tested for ten days, knowing that the Lord would make the test successful. Daniel won the respect and confidence of the prince in charge.

Certainly Daniel did not agree with the theology or the lifestyle of the people in charge. But even if he could not respect the officers, Daniel respected their offices! He spoke respectfully to them and about them.

Too often believers take on a ‘holier than thou’ attitude. And we fail to show proper respect for those we disagree with. This attitude will always hurt the cause of Christ.

We would all do well to learn from Daniel’s example. We must know when to listen and how to speak with tact and courtesy. The best way to disarm an opponent is by treating him with dignity and respect.

Daniel maintained Godly character and conduct. And He became a respected leader. He kept himself pure. And he helped to transform both people and circumstances.

The principles that marked Daniel’s life become examples for us to follow. The same God who used Daniel is the same God who has called us. He is still on His throne! He will never leave us nor forsake us. He is able to make us ‘continue’ until we complete the tasks that He has assigned us to do.

“Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it”(1Th5:24).

Two questions for your consideration.

1)  What does it mean to be lost? Being lost means being out of place, unhappy, useless and in danger.

The sheep belonged in the flock, under the shepherd’s loving care. It was useless wandering in the wilderness. Any hungry predator could have killed it!

God did not create us to be out of place, in danger, useless and unhappy!

2)         What does it mean to be found?  It means to be back in the place of safety, service, enrichment and enjoyment, being and doing what God ordained for us to be and do! It means we are no longer in danger. Instead of wasting our lives and our resources, we are investing ourselves in others and producing good to the glory of God.

But pay special attention to the new element that is introduced when the lost are found – rejoicing!

The shepherd rejoiced at finding the sheep. He put it on his shoulders, took it home and invited his friends and neighbors to celebrate with him.

Jesus said that when the lost are found and experience a new beginning, there is even joy in heaven!

Why would the angels in heaven rejoice when people repent, trust Jesus and experience a new beginning(Lk15:10)? Because they know what we are saved for in the wonderful plan of God – to serve Him on earth and then one day to share in His glorious home in heaven!

They also know what we are saved from – the terrible judgment of “everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels”(Mt25:41).

Now the angels have never experienced God’s saving grace personally of course. But as they have watched God’s plan unfolding on earth, they see in the life of every believer what it means to be a new creature in Jesus Christ and to share the very life of God.

Christians are brand new people on the inside. We are not reformed. We are not rehabilitated. We are not reeducated. We are new creations!, living in vital union with Jesus Christ. We do not merely turn over a new leaf. We begin a new life under a new Master!

Jesus Christ left heaven and came to earth to provide our salvation. And anyone who accepts Him becomes a new creature. We enjoy a new beginning!

A Christian servant owed complete obedience to his master, as a ministry to the Lord. To “obey in all things” refers to continuous, uninterrupted submission. The only exception would be in regard to a command that violated God’s Word.

“Eyeservice” meant working well only when being watched by the master, rather than recognizing that God is always watching, and how our work concerns Him. Being “men-pleasures” would suggest working only to promote one’s own welfare, rather than to honor the master and the Lord, whose servants we really are.

Paul’s advice here was not anything new. And there was nothing really unique about this message for servants. The new element in the Christian servant’s work was his heart attitude – “in singleness of heart, fearing God.”

The slave owner could demand physical service. And he could force obedience to his orders. But he could not command the servant’s heart!

But a Christian servant was motivated by his heart. The Christian servant worked to do a better job because he was a Christian.

We do not have slaves today of course. But we can apply these principles to any kind of honest employment. As I have said many times, a Christian worker ought to be the best worker on any job!

We ought to obey orders and not argue. We ought to serve Jesus and not the boss only. And we ought to work whether anybody is watching us or not.

If we follow these principles, we will receive our reward from Jesus Christ even if our earthly master, or boss, does not recognize us or reward us.

In today’s complex, competitive world, it is sometimes difficult for a Christian to obey God and hold on to his job. But we must obey the Lord just the same and trust Him for what we need.

Unsaved fellow employees may try to take advantage of Christian workers. But this can even be an opportunity for us to witness and back up our witness with our lives. It is far more important to win a lost soul than it is to make a few extra dollars!

Can the people we work with detect that we are filled with the Spirit and seeking to live our lives in obedience to God and to His Word?!

Jesus Christ is alive! That is what Easter Sunday is all about. God’s people, saved by His marvelous grace, know the truth!

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the very heart beat of our faith! The resurrection proves that Jesus Christ is God. It proves that His atoning work on the cross has been completed.

The empty cross and the empty tomb are God’s ‘receipts’ telling us that the sin debt has been paid in full. We can live in fellowship with Almighty God, for Jesus Christ lives as Savior and Lord.

From the beginning, the enemies of Jesus tried to deny this historic fact of His resurrection. The Jewish religious leaders claimed that Jesus’ body was stolen from the tomb by His followers.

That statement is virtually impossible. If the body was stolen by Jesus’ follower, how did they do it?

The Roman soldiers guarded the tomb. The stone covering the entrance to the tomb was sealed by an official Roman seal.

Something else, the disciples did not believe that Jesus would rise from the dead. It was Jesus’ enemies who remembered His words! And they certainly would not have taken the body! The last thing they wanted was anyone believing that Jesus had risen from the dead.

If Jesus’ friends could not steal His body and His enemies would not, then who took it?!

The only logical answer to the question “Who took Jesus’ body?” is that Jesus kept His promise and arose from the dead!!

It is vital that we base our faith on solid evidence. But then the evidence should lead us to God’s Word. And God’s Word should lead us to our Savior.

It is one thing to accept a doctrine and defend it. It is something else to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Peter and John were the first disciples to believe that Jesus is alive. But it was not until  Sunday evening after His resurrection that morning that they met the risen Lord in person along with the other disciples.

Evidence that does not lead to experience is nothing but a dead principle. The key is faith in God’s Word.

Historical faith says, “Jesus lives!” Saving faith says, “Jesus lives in me!”

You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart!!

What practical expressions of holiness! These are God’s requirements to express our new life in Jesus Christ.

1)         Be honest. To “execute true judgment” is simply to deal honestly with all people. The New Testament statement is given in Romans 12:17: “Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.”

That is a practical requirement we can all live by! Be honest!!

2)         Be merciful. “Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man”(Pr3:3-4).

Mercy and compassion involve actions and attitudes. A merciful person not only feels love. He also acts responsibly and faithfully. A compassionate person not only cares for others in his heart. He also helps them.

Thoughts and words are not enough! Our lives reveal whether we are truly merciful and compassionate.

People have tried all kinds of ways to please God. But God has made His wishes clear: God wants His people to be merciful and compassionate.

3)         Be benevolent. God has a special sympathy toward those in need. He exercises a special watch-care over widows and children.

The good thing God commands us to do is stated in Isaiah 1:17: “Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.”

Those who need help find special assistance in God. And they ought to also find it in the people of God!

4)         Be pure. Remember the words of James: “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world”(Jm1:27).

To be “unspotted from the world” means to be unstained, to be uncontaminated. Be pure!

It literally means to be free from the smut of the present evil world. This is the lifestyle expected of a Christian!

All of this is possible if we will faithfully obey the principles given in God’s Word.

As we conclude our study of the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, let me offer three statements that declare and describe how we are to fulfill our role as servants.

1)         We are different!  Probably the greatest tragedy of Christianity throughout history has been our tendency to become like the world rather than different from the world!

Servants are to be different. As different as salt is from rotten meat. And as different as light is from the darkest night. Not a manmade difference, but a God-made difference.

2)         We are responsible!  If I read Jesus’ words correctly, I see more than being salt and light. I am responsible for my salt not losing its taste or its bite. And I am responsible for my light not becoming hidden.

True servants do more than talk. For salt to be tasted and for light to be seen, we must make contact. We touch our personal world every day. Are we will answer to God for whether or not we have been salty and bright!!

3)         We are influential!  The very fact that we belong to Jesus Christ through personal saving faith, that we do not adopt this world system all around us, that we march to the beat of a divine Drummer!, gives us influence in our world.

We are influencing others, even though we are not trying to act ‘religious’ or preaching from a soapbox. Our lives have an impact on other people.

There is a price to pay for being authentic servants of our Master. Jesus stated that the world is not a friend of God’s grace, nor of His children.

But, nevertheless, without our influence this old world would soon begin to realize our absence. Even though it may not admit it, society needs both salt and light.

Will we commit ourselves to God as true servants and provide it?!

Every Christian who seeks to live a God-honoring life will experience some persecution. On the job, at school, in our neighborhoods, maybe even within our own families, there are people who resist the truth and oppose the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jesus explained to His disciples that they should expect opposition and persecution from the world. But He also gave them an encouraging promise: “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world”(Jn16:33).

In spite of the inevitable struggles they would face, the disciples were not alone. And neither are we! The ultimate victory has already been won. It was through His death on the cross of Calvary, plus His resurrection, that Jesus overcame sin and the world.

And so, when we are suffering in the will of God, we can commit ourselves to the care of God. Everything else that we do as Christians depends on this. This commitment is not a single act but rather a constant attitude. “Be constantly committing” is the real meaning.

How? By means of “well-doing.” As we return good for evil and do good even though we suffer for it, we are committing ourselves to God so He can care for us. This involves every area of our lives every day!

If we really have hope, and believe that Jesus is coming again, then we will obey God’s Word and start laying up treasures and glory in heaven. Unsaved people have a present that is controlled by their past. But we have a present that is controlled by our future! In our very serving, we are committing ourselves to God and making investments for the future.

Why did Peter refer to God as “a faithful Creator” instead of a faithful Judge or even a faithful Savior? Because God the Creator meets the needs of His people. It is the Creator who provides food and clothing, and who protects us in time of danger.

God created the world. And He has faithfully ordered it and kept it since the creation. Because we know God is faithful, we can count on Him to fulfill His promises to us. If God can oversee the forces of nature, (and He does, by the way!!) surely He can see us through the trials that we face.

Our heavenly Father is “Lord of heaven and earth”(Lk10:21). With that kind of Father, we have no need to worry! He is the faithful Creator. And His faithfulness will not fail.

There is nothing to fear if we are suffering in the will of God. Our Father/Creator has promised to victoriously see us through!

God commanded Aaron and his sons to offer this benediction of blessing upon the children of Israel. This ancient blessing conveys the hope that God would (1) bless and protect, (2) be gracious, and (3) give peace.

When we ask God to bless others, or you and me for that matter!, we are asking God to do these things. Included in the list is peace.

Peace – real, lasting peace – comes from God alone. Period! And it comes from God through personal, saving faith in Jesus Christ!

The ministry of Jesus Christ is summed up in Peter’s statement: “The work which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all)”(Ac10:36).

True peace is directly related to Jesus Christ. Jesus promised us: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid”(Jn14:27).

What was the legacy of peace that Jesus promised? First, this is a spiritual peace. The peace that Jesus enjoyed with God the Father is the peace that He makes available to us.

When we believe and are saved, permanent, everlasting peace with God is established. Such peace is found only through saving faith in Jesus Christ!

The second feature of the peace that Jesus promised is an inward contentment. This peace is the result of being rightly related to God through Jesus.

This peace is not based on favorable conditions or good and happy circumstances. Jesus promised ‘trouble’ in the world but ‘peace’ with Him.

You see, and please get this!, Jesus offers peace not based on the changing circumstances of our lives but on our unchanging relationship with God through personal, saving faith in Him. And so, one result of the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives is deep and lasting peace.

Unlike worldly peace, that is usually defined as the absence of conflict, this peace is confident assurance regardless of any circumstances. With God’s peace, we have no need to fear the present or the future.

Sin, fear, uncertainty, doubt, and a multitude of other forces are at war within us. The peace of God moves into our hearts and lives to restrain these hostile forces and offer comfort in place of this conflict.

The peace that the world offers is temporary and partial. And it can never bring satisfaction. Jesus gives a peace that will be sufficient all the way into eternity!

God’s purpose for Israel was that the nation be “a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation”(Ex19:6).

Everything in the life of the Old Testament Israelite was either “holy” and thus set apart for God’s exclusive use, or “common.” And the “common” things were either “clean,” meaning that the people could use them, or they were “unclean” and forbidden to be used.

The Israelites had to be careful to avoid what was unclean. Otherwise, they would find themselves “cut off from the people” until they had gone through the proper ceremony to be made clean again. Because they were God’s chosen people, the Israelites had to learn to “put [a] difference between holy and unholy, and between clean and unclean”(Lv10:10).

God’s true churches today are supposed to be “a holy nation” in their present world, to “shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light”(1Pt2:9). To “shew forth” means ‘to tell out, to advertise.’

Israel revealed to the pagan nations around her the glories and excellencies of Jehovah, the true and living God. Churches today have the same privilege and responsibility. When Israel started to live like the pagans, they robbed God of His glory. And the Lord had to chasten them!

When churches get the false idea that we must become like the world around us to reach the world, we have missed our calling and command from God!

Paul severely rebuked the church at Corinth for this practice. And then he gave them God’s command:

“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty”(2Co6:17-18).

God desires absolute obedience in motives as well as in practice. Though we do not observe all of the worship practices of Israel, we are to have the same spirit of preparation and devotion.

On Sunday morning, January 24, 1861, Charles Hadden Spurgeon closed his sermon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle with these pointed words:

“An unholy church! It is of no use to the world, and of no esteem among men. Oh, it is an abomination!…The worst evils which have ever come upon the world, have been brought upon her by an unholy church!”

Heed God’s call to purity!

“But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy”(1Pt1:15-16).