What if anything is significant about a name. Do you mind if someone mispronounces your name, what if they get it totally wrong? Those of us who have unusual names have gotten use to people not getting our names exactly right, but those who know us best, know our name and get it correct.

The Bible teaches us that God’s name is important and powerful.

The name of the Lord [YHWH] is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. Proverbs 18:10

Our help is in the name of the Lord [YHWH], who made heaven and earth. Psalm 124:8 (ESV)

From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord [YHWH]  is to be praised! Psalm 113:3 (ESV)

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord [YHWH] our God.      Psalm 20:7 (ESV)

Jesus teaches us that it is through His name that we have access to Him and that He will act so that His father will be glorified as we avail ourselves of His name.

13 “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.     John 14:13-14 (NASB)

We all need to understand that:

We have no spiritual power in ourselves.

All spiritual power is God’s.

We only have access to this power through His name.

God revealed His personal name to Moses. God commanded Moses to have the priests place upon his people His name, [YHWH].  I believe that having God’s name[YHWH] put on me is an avenue to my being blessed by Him, therefore I want His blessing.  God did not command Moses to place Elohim, Adonai, El Shaddai or any of the other names by which the Hebrew people referred to Him upon the people for blessing, only [YHWH].  Because God is this precise in His instruction to Moses then it seems obvious to me that we should be precise also, especially when we are asking for His blessing to be upon us and when we are using His name to bless others.

22 The Lord said to Moses, 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: 24“ ‘ “The Lord [YHWH] bless you and keep you; 25the Lord [YHWH]  make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord [YHWH] turn his face toward you and give you peace.” ’27 “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.” Numbers 6:23-27

What about the name Jehovah?

The form Jehovah has arisen through attempting to pronounce the consonants of “The Name” [YHWH] with the vowels of Adonai ( = “Lord”), which the Masorites inserted in the text, to indicate to the Hebrew reader that Adonai was to be read (as a ” Qere perpetuum”) instead of  [YHWH].

When the word Adonai itself precedes [YHWH], to avoid repetition of this name, The Masoretes inserted the vowels of Elohim, to indicate that Elohim is to be read instead of [YHWH].  In acknowledgment of this Masoretic reading the KJV and revised English versions render [YHWH] by the word “Lord” in the great majority of cases. (The American Standard Version of 1901 places the word Jehovah into the text everywhere that Yahweh appears in the OT. This is the only version which I know of that does this with the exception of the Bible the Jehovah’s Witnesses use for obvious reasons).

God’s personal name which he revealed to Moses in Ex 3:14 is [YHWH]. This word appears 6,823 times in the Hebrew OT.  Few Christians, however,  know that this is God’s personal name.  Many well meaning and knowledgeable Christians have depended on the textual work of others who mispronounced and misspelled God’s name.

The word “Jehovah” is a mispronunciation of the Hebrew[YHWH] the (ineffable) name of God arising from pronouncing the vowel pointing of the (Masorites marginal reading for “Adonai”) with the consonants of the (textual-reading for “YHWH”).  The reading “Jehovah” is a comparatively recent invention.

Early Christian commentators who read Philo (20 B.C. – 50A.D.) would have learned this.  From whatever source they learned it is is clear that Origen, (185-254); Jerome (347-420); and Theodoret, (393-457); knew and wrote that [YHWH] was written but not pronounced by the Jews.

How did the name Jehovah came into our vernacular?

The source of this mistake can be traced back to a folio written in 1518 by Peter Galatin for Pope Leo X.  The folio’s title is “De Arcanis Catholicæ Veritatis.” During the reformation Galatin’s mistake was multiplied as various Christian theologians unfamiliar with the Hebrew language quoted his work. In this way the mistake persists until today.
The name [YHWH] is also often referred to as the Tetragrammaton (from the Greek τετραγράμματον meaning “a word having four letters”).

Some people get offended by the idea that God’s personal name has been misinterpreted or misspelled in English since the time of the Reformation.  They believe that the texts of the Masoretes with there vowel pointing  is the inspired or received text of Holy Scripture. While they are well meaning and sincere they are simply wrong.

When we say that we believe the Bible is the inspired and infallible word of God we are talking about the original texts, known as the autographs.  That is the original text, written by the original author, on the original paper, in the original language.  Sometimes this is known as the received text. The original language of the OT is for the most part Hebrew, with some Aramaic portions in Daniel.  Hebrew is an ancient language which consists entirely of consonants and has no vowels.  The pronunciation of a word was learned over time by the native speakers.  The vowel pointing was added after the diaspora in 70 A.D. as a means to preserve the pronunciation as the Jewish people were scattered across the globe.  During the 5th century A.D. vowel pointing was developed for use in written Hebrew.  Between the 7th and 11th centuries  the Masorites copied the OT scriptures and provided vowel pointing under each word so that the word could be pronounced properly.  Though the Masoretes did invent the graphical symbols of the vowel points, they did not invent the vocalization represented by the vowel points. They only sought to preserve their strain of the traditional vocalization.

The KJV of the Bible did not exist before 1611 A.D.  It is based on the Latin Vulgate.  The KJV is a translation into English of a translation into Latin of the Hebrew and Greek texts.  Modern versions such as the NASB, NIV, ESV, HSB are translations of the Hebrew and Greek texts into English.

And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.  Genesis 1:5

From this text Jews infer that a day begins with evening, or sunset. Therefore 6 p.m. in the evening is the “zero hour” for the following day.

The Jewish calendar is based on the rotation of the Earth on its axis (a day); the revolution of the moon around the Earth (a month); and the revolution of the Earth around the sun (a year). Because these three phenomena are independent of each other, Jewish calendars appear complicated and strange to our Western minds. The moon revolves around the Earth in about 29½ days on average. The Earth revolves around the sun in about 365¼ days.  There are 12.4 lunar months in one year. Months are either 29 or 30 days and the Jewish years may have either 12 or 13 months. Years of 13 months are referred to “a pregnant year.”

Why is all this important? Jesus was Jewish!  The Gospels record the timing of His crucifixion in relation to the Jewish Passover.  To accurately determine the actual time for the Christian holidays of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter we must refer to the Jewish method for measuring time and not our own. Precision in locating the time of Jesus’ death Biblically is further complicitated by a discrepancy between the account of Synoptic (Matthew, Mark, Luke) Gospels and that of John. John gives us the time of Jesus’ betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection most clearly.

1 It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. 2 The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. . . . 12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.    John 13:1–5; 12-16

There is a great difference in ones ability to be ritually pure between the 14th day of Nisan also referred to as the “Day of Preparation” and the 15th day of Nisan. At approximately 10 a.m. on the 14th of Nisan you would have to quit eating or being around any leaven (yeast).

28 Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover.     John 18:28 (ESV)

This delivery of Jesus to Pilate occurred very early on the 14th of Nisan.  That this incident occurs before Passover is evident from Pilate’s offer to release Jesus to them in the future on the day of Passover the 15th of Nisan.

39 But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”     John 18:39 (ESV)

Jesus was sent to be crucified on the “Day of Preparation”or Nissan 14th at the sixth hour or midday.

14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”     John 19:14 (ESV)

How do we determine that the day Jesus was crucified on was also a Friday? The day of Preparation is said to be the day before the Sabbath.  The Jewish Sabbath begins at sundown on Friday and ends at sunset on Saturday.  The rush to get Jesus and those crucified with him off of the cross before the Sabbath lets us know that He died on Friday.

31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35 The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. 36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” 37 and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”    John 19:31–37 (NIV)

The rush to bury Jesus also helps us to place the time of His burial on the Friday, Nisan 14.  His burial would have been a rushed affair, because everyone would have wanted to not be ritually unclean to eat the Passover meal with their families that evening.

38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.     John 19:38–42

John’s timing coincides with the time when the paschal lambs (those slain to be eaten for Passover) were being slain. The male lamb which was to be “without spot or blemish” (Exodus 12:5) was slain on the eve of the Passover, in the afternoon of the 14th of Nisan, at three o’clock, or, if the eve of the Passover fell on Friday,( as it did with Jesus) at two o’clock.  John clearly intends to present Jesus symbolically as the Passover sacrifice.

29 . . . John [the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29

Tomorrow we look at the timing of Jesus’ betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection from the viewpoint of the Synoptic (Matthew, Mark, Luke) Gospels.

We all need to be twice born.  Once “from above,” or a supernatural rebirth.

Christianity at its very core, is about our each having a supernatural rebirth. This rebirth can only be accomplished through a genuine work of God.  God alone can make it happen. This second birth can only be received by faith, and if God does not make it happen after you receive it by faith then it will never happen. Why? Because you and I do not have the ability within ourselves to make it happen. This makes us feel helpless, but the truth is only God can make it happen. All you can do is throw yourself upon His mercy and cry out for His grace.

But as many as received Him, to them He gave 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.     John 1:12-13

In Greek, the word translated “right,”is  ἐξουσία exousia. It means the right or freedom of choice, authority, and ability or power.  It means all three of those things. You and I have the God given right or freedom to choose to receive Him.  We have His authority to choose to receive Him for ourselves, and He has given us the ability to make the choice to receive Him. God has given us the right, the authority, and the power to become children of God.  He gives this right, authority and power to everyone who will believe in His name.

We are not born into God’s kingdom through any natural process.  Our blood does not qualify us, nor our ancestry, only God can initiate this second birth.  People tell me very often that their parents were great Christians, and they somehow assume that their parents faith passed to them genetically.

Unfortunately this is not the case.  Mom and Dad passed down to you a sinful nature known as depravity. They needed to be born again just as you I need to be born again.  God has to work the miracle of salvation deep within you through His Spirit or it will not happen.

A true spiritual rebirth will not occur through religion. It will only happen through a life changing encounter.  You need to know this because you need to tell others that only a life changing encounter with Jesus Christ can forgive sin.  Not only does He forgive your sins, but a genuine rebirth will alter your nature.  Deep within your spirit God will change your inclination to agree with His will forever. You can still sin, but inside your core you will grieve.  You will feel terrible, because God the Holy Spirit will convict you and condemn your sin.

This second birth is a spiritual birth.

5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.    John 3:5–6 (ESV)

Someone recently asked me what being born of the water meant in this text.  The best answer will fit the context of the passage.  This text is an example of Hebrew thought being translated into Greek.  Hebrew often uses parallelism to expand and complete a thought.  Being born of water is to be understood as the parallel for being born of the flesh.  Being born of water or of the flesh parallels being born of the Spirit.  When our mothers water breaks we are born of water, when we exit her womb we are born of the flesh.

The point of this text is to explain the necessity of our being born of the Spirit.  God the Holy Spirit must be the midwife of our being reborn or we will not be truly born again.  While I have the right to choose, God’s Spirit must also be involved.  Many people have walked an aisle, shook hands with their pastor and joined the church, but were not born again.  If God’s Spirit is not involved your nature will not change and sooner or later you will claim that Christianity did not work for you.  The reason for this is that you tried to be born again by your own will in your own power and God’s Spirit was not involved.

This second birth is a spiritual birth or it becomes only an empty religious ritual that has no saving power.

We all “must” be born again or we cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘you must be born again,’    John 3:7

In Greek the word translate “must” is dei.  It means a divine necessity. In other words a spiritual rebirth is a divine necessity.  It is nonnegotiable.  You, me and everyone else who has ever or will ever walk the face of this earth must be born again, there are no exceptions.  Jesus did not say:

• Nicodemus, it’s important for you to be born again, or
• Nicodemus it will help you to be born again, or
• Nicodemus you will achieve your spiritual ambition if you add this component of rebirth to you religion.

He said, Nicodemus You Must Be Born Again!  If you are NOT born again you, the CEO of religion in Jerusalem, will not see the kingdom of God.  This concept is at the very heart of Christianity. There is no substitute. You cannot substitute church for this rebirth.  You cannot substitute your parents relationship with Christ for your own.  You will not get a pass because of your denominations understanding of salvation.  You, each and everyone must be born again!

Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Him by night and said to Him, Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him. Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old?  He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered. “Truly, truly I say to you unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit, Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said to Him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not understand these things?    John 3: 1-10

Nicodemus was a Pharisee who was a ruler of the Jews. In Greek the presence of the definite article “the” is very important.  Sometimes it is left off for the purpose of adding emphasis. It is absent for this purpose in this text, to say to us that Nicodemus is “THE” most prominent person.  In Greek, we can understand this to read “there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, ruler of the Jews.” He was the CEO of religion in Jerusalem.

Nicodemus asks Jesus a question “Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”  Jesus didn’t answer his question.  He did not say, yes, I am from God. Instead he said “Nicodemus do you want to know where you really stand in your relationship with God?  I want you to know that unless you are born again you, the CEO of religion in Jerusalem, will not see the kingdom of God.”

This answer baffled Nicodemus.  We mistakenly think this is the first time Nicodemus had heard the term, “born again,” but it was a common phrase among the Jews.

When you were circumcised on the eighth day you were said to have been born again. When you went through the rite of  your bar mitzvah you were said to have been born again.  When you were married, you were said to have been born again.  When you turned forty, you were said to have been born again.  Were you to become a Rabbi you were said to have been born again.

Nicodemus understood the term “born again” as it related to his practice of Judaism. What he did not understand was Jesus telling him that he must be born again, again. He was thinking I am a Jew, I have been circumcised, I have been bar mitzvahed, I am married, I am now over forty and I am a Rabbi, in fact I am “The Rabbi” in Israel. In other words, Nicodemus is saying “I have had all of the born again experiences in Judaism and you, Jesus, are telling me that I must be born again!”

He is totally shocked. Nicodemus was confused: thinking “How can I do that, when I have already done it all.”

Many Christians who grew up in church are like Nicodemus.  They think “I grew up with Christian parents, I have gone to church all of my life.  I have gone through catechism class, I have learned all of the liturgies and rituals.  I was in the choir, or I was in the youth group.  So when they hear  Jesus is saying, “you to must be born again.”  Some church people who have done their religious duty all of their life, do not truly understand that they must also be born again.  Religious people also need to be changed from within by regeneration.

Nicodemus did synagogue, just like some people today, do church.  Doing church doesn’t save anyone!

. . . unless one is born of water and spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, You must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.

Jesus is saying the Spirit is not something you can predict.  He is not a formula, He is God, He is the movement of God.  Nicodemus throws up his hands and says, “how can these things be?”  Jesus ask him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and you don’t understand these things?” Nicodemus is totally confused when it comes to really talking about the things of the Spirit of God.

When Jesus wants to talk about spiritual things, Nicodemus wants to talk about church attendance. Nicodemus can only talk about duty, the law.  Nicodemus wants to talk in terms of the outside of man while Jesus’ language is about the inner man.

A. T. Robertson, a great theological scholar said: “this well known authorized teacher of Israel was told by Jesus that his theology had made him immune to spiritual apprehension.”

Are you like Nicodemus?  Are you trusting in the outer signs of your religion to save you and forgoing asking God to re-create you from the inside, through His Spirit as you call on the name of His Son, Jesus.

Please for the sake of your eternal soul ask Jesus Christ to give you the spiritual new birth!

2 God [Elohim] spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord [Yahweh]. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God [El] Almighty [Shaddai] , but by my name the Lord [Yahweh] I did not make myself known to them. 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. Exodus 6:2–4 (ESV)

Originally God revealed Himself to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as God Almighty [El Shaddai].  He further reveals Himself to Moses, however, by His personal name Yahweh.  Why did God do this?  He needs no reason and He owes us no explanation, because He is God.  God is sovereign!

19 . . . I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.”   Exodus 33:19b (NASB)

We know God’s name only because he chose to reveal it to Moses. God’s name is only known to those whom He favors and loves.

13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.          Exodus 3:13-15

God’s personal name is not Elohim, or El Shaddai but is Yahweh.  This progressive revelation of God to man ends in Jesus Christ.  Jesus is the perfect and complete representation of God to man.  He is the Word living.  The Bible is the Word written.  Jesus is telling us this when he states:

16 . . . blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly, I say to you, 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.  Matthew 13:16–17

All the prophets longed to know what we know about God through Christ.  Many people who loved God and lived righteously before Him would have given their fortunes to have access to the knowledge about God which we have at our fingertips in the Bible.  Do we understand what a privileged position we occupy?  I am afraid we take the special revelation we have concerning God for granted.

What precisely do we see and hear which so many others longed to see and hear? The good news about Jesus.  After being confronted about their message Peter and John explained to the rulers in Jerusalem that:

19 . . . “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” Acts 4:19b–20 (ESV)

What have you seen or heard?  For the special revelation which God has given to us to have any saving effect for others it must be shared. You and I as recipients of this special knowledge concerning Jesus are to bear witness of this truth to others. Before you can be a witness you have to have seen or heard something.  Do have any knowledge about God or experience with God about which you can personally testify?

The special revelation which God has given us is given to us for a purpose.  This revelation is to be used by us to personally experience God.  With this experience of God we are to inform others of this special revelation about God in Christ.

• Do you know about God and Christ?
• Have you experienced God through Christ?
• Are you sharing your knowledge of God and experience of Christ with others?

As a father it is my responsibility to give my children biblical instruction. Unfortunately the average Dad does not know how to teach scriptural truth to his children.  Fortunately for us, God gave Moses some simple directions which all of us can follow.

4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:4–9 (ESV)

As a Dad I must first instruct my children about spiritual truth by loving God myself. Christianity is better caught than taught.  For too long too many have told our children about God, instead of showing them how we love God.  How do I do this?  By being real!  God’s word must be in my heart.  I must have my own personal relationship with Christ before I try and teach my children about Christ.

Kid’s are wired from birth to spot all of our inconsistencies.  What father has not had one of his children in their innocence tell on us because of something we said or did in their presence.   How did you react to their observation?  Did you apologize or did you lie?  Did you scold them and tell them to mind their own business?  Our kid’s know us and before they will take any of our spiritual instruction seriously they must see that we love God and are living for Him.

Next, we are told teach God’s commandments to our children with diligence.  How is this done?  By talking about the things of God throughout our day.  We are to be talking with them about God’s word and the things of God as we go to work, as we have breakfast, and as we go about living our lives with our children.  One cannot be an absentee father and a spiritual leader to your children.

Finally, when our children see our hands or look us in the eye they should see authenticity. Culturally we have trouble understanding these verses.  A few years ago there was a popular song Daddy’s Hands, by Holly Dunn which can help us understand the point of these verses.  As a Dad the legacy I leave my kid’s should include memories of my loving God and living for Him.

Dad when you are die what sort of eulogy could your children give concerning you were they to speak at your funeral.  Would they talk of how your were a fan of some sports team?  Would they speak of how much money you made?  Could they say that you loved and served God? Could they say that they had caught a love for Christ from you?

May God help us to raise our children in a way which honors Him, and teaches them to love Him also.

Children learn much more from our example than from our speech. It is very easy to tell them what is right but much more difficult to live correctly before them. The best example of this difficulty is the irony of the following quote from former President Bill Clinton.  He said “people the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power.”  He was talking about the nation but he could just as easily have been speaking of the power of fathers in their own home.

Children learn from watching and then imitating their parents.  When you truly understand the fact that your children are watching how you live, so as to imitate you, you should be frightened.  This awareness should motivate us to be a better example.  Someone has written;  “One night a father overheard his son pray: Dear God, Make me the kind of man my Daddy is. Later that night, the Father prayed, Dear God, Make me the kind of man my son wants me to be.”

According to the Scripture the way I raise my children will impact them for their entire life.

6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6 (ESV)

Many of the problems in our society today can be traced to a failure in our parenting.  A generation is now being raised who not only do not know God, they know very little about anything else.  In 2008 a book was written by Mark Bauerlein entitled: The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don’t Trust Anyone Under 30).  Many of us complain when someone cannot make change, or is rude or vulgar.  Guess what, each of those individuals about whom we complain had parents!  Government, schools, and the church cannot become a substitute for the God given role of parent.  Bad parents are a problem for all of society.  It is easy to complain about other parents, but the only parents over which we have any control is ourselves. Unfortunately, as a general rule it is usually the Dad who is the most negligent of parents. Scripture seems to recognize this fact.

21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. Colossians 3:20–21 (ESV)

Dad’s have incredible power over their child’s emotional well being.  A father who can never be satisfied can raise a son who refuses to try.  A Dad who is emotionally distant can raise a daughter who becomes promiscuous as she seeks to find that emotional connection.  Dad the bottom line is that your role as a parent to your children is vitally important.  Society will never give you credit, but eventually your children will.  You will make mistakes.  From time to time you will have to go to your son or daughter and apologize but that is o.k.  Will Rogers famously said “Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.”  I have always heard that “If you never make any mistakes, then your not trying.”

Dad, please get in the game!  Your sons and daughters need you more than they know or will ever admit.

You have an enemy in this world and it is not your spouse, it is Satan.

8 Be sober! Be on the alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. 9 Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are being experienced by your brothers in the world. 1 Peter 5:8–9 (HCSB)

The chief means for resisting Satan as a godly man is to obey Christ.  In particular every married Christian man needs to obey the command to love your wife as Christ loved the Church.

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, ²⁶ that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, ²⁷ so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. ²⁸ In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, ³⁰ because we are members of his body. ³¹ “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” ³² This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. ³³ However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. Ephesians 5:22–33 (ESV)

Did you get that? You are to love your wife and the pattern for your love of her is Christ’s love for His church.  Wow!  Does Christ ever quit loving His bride the church?  No!  So I am to keep loving my bride.  I am to love her as I love myself.  If you do not love yourself then you are also disobeying the second part of the second commandment.

36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”37 He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and most important commandment. 39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36–40 (HCSB)

Unfortunately many men whose life does not turn out as they had planned become bitter.  This bitterness will sometime turn inward and develop into self loathing.  Other times this bitterness is directed outward and poisons all other relationships.  Men in particular need to know that they are much more than the sum of their 401k or of the things they have accumulated.  True success is measured by submitting to God’s will for your life.

If you are married, you can rest assured that one part of God’s perfect and permissive will for you life is that you love your wife.  Love is a choice.  You can choose to be in love or out of love.  Satan wants you to believe the lie that people fall in and out of love and that there is nothing you can do about it.  That is asinine (extremely stupid or foolish)!  You chose, courted and proposed to your wife.  During the course of your courtship you loved her.  Any negative changes to your feelings are within your and her power to alter. Your feelings are certainly under God’s authority.  If you find yourself feeling less love for your wife than you once did, then confess.  Ask God to increase your love for your wife.  Ask God to protect your marriage from Satan’s attack.

As a Christian man you need to understand that by loving and supporting your wife you are giving your children a godly example. Satan knows this and he is fighting you, and will to continue to fight you on the home front.  He always seeks to divide then conquer.  If he can keep you preferring to be away working, because you think providing things for your family is how you love them, then he wins.  Please understand that your wife and kids need less stuff and more of you!  There is no substitute for quality time and you can never know when quality time will occur, you cannot schedule it.  Therefore give your wife and children quantity time and the quality time will take care of itself.

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. ¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. ¹⁴ Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; ¹⁷ and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, ¹⁸ praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, Ephesians 6:10–18 (ESV)

We should pray on this spiritual armor every morning.  This is also an excellent means to conduct a spiritual inventory each day also.  As I pray on the belt of truth I examine my own honesty, as I pray on the breastplate of righteousness I consider my own personal righteousness, etc.

My relationship with my wife is a vital part of my being a godly man.  I am her leader and protector.  I should put forth all my energy in maintaining this relationship.  My relationship with my wife has great impact upon my relationship with Christ.

For example the effectiveness of my prayers can be hindered if my relationship with my wife is not right.

⁷ Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. 1 Peter 3:7 (ESV)

As a godly man I am to live with my wife in an understanding way.  It is easy for men to become demanding and domineering over time.  Think of the character Archie Bunker.  I am to be understanding of my wife. and not overbearing.  Godly men will honor their wife.  Think how you would handle a valuable and delicate object such as a Stradivarius violin were it placed in your hands.  Think about how you would instruct your young son to handle it were it in his hands.  Your wife is far more valuable, and her spirit is much more delicate.  She is the weaker vessel.  This text is not implying nor teaching that husbands are superior to their wives, but that men and women are different.

Adrian Rogers once helped me to better understand this comparison.  He said men are like denim and women like silk.  Denim is tougher than silk but not more valuable.  Silk is far more valuable than denim.  Husbands your wife is fine silk, she is delicate and you can severely and easily damage her spirit by being inconsiderate, and dictatorial.

As a Christian man I am commanded to love my wife.  I must be aware that Satan also knows how important it is for me to do this and that He will do everything in his power to attack this relationship.  This is why divorce is such a personal tragedy for the families who suffer it and also why so many marriages today suffer this tragic end.

If you have a desire to be a godly man you need to take notice of how you are living with your wife, and acknowledge that Satan is also taking notice and waiting for the most opportune time to attack.

For Christmas that year my girlfriend (now my wife) gave me a Bible.  I remember receiving this gift with disappointment.  I thought that while the gift was certainly well intentioned it was not something which I would use.  Apparently my face revealed my thoughts, because Pam issued the following challenge: “You think you’re so smart, but no one who has never read this book can claim to have any intelligence at all.”

As I went home I could not decide whether or not I had been given a gift, assigned homework, or called stupid.  I believe anyone who knows me would agree that I have never considered myself to be stupid.  Her challenge stung me and over a period of weeks and months I found myself reading the Bible she had given me almost daily.  I started reading in the beginning, Genesis.  To be honest I did not comprehend everything.  To be brutally honest I did not comprehend much, but I was determined and kept reading.

Eventually I began praying and asking the Holy Spirit to help me understand what I read.  Each days reading did not lead me to an epiphany, however, gradually over time my understanding increased.  I remember days when my Bible reading was dry and required the exertion of my own personal discipline (while I was reading through the “begats”) in various parts of the Old Testament.

Then it happened, I came across a passage which caused my spirit to leap within me and brain to finally fully engage the biblical text.  I read in Isaiah:

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. Isaiah 51:6 (KJV)

This passage leapt off of the page.  In an instant I understood that all my ambition was for naught.  Only one thing mattered in my life and in the life of every other person on the planet.  The only thing that mattered was God’s salvation.  In an instant the ambiguity of life was for me clarified.

That was twenty-eight years ago.  Since that time I have read through the Bible more times than I know.  I wish I had thought to keep count.  I went to seminary and learned to read Hebrew and Greek so I could better understand it.  I think it is accurate to say that I have committed my life to studying this book I did not want.

It is truly amazing how God works.  On occasion I wonder what my life would have been like had I not been given both the gift of that Bible and the challenge to read it.  Such thoughts are not profitable, however, because I was given it and I did read it.  What I did not understand at the time was that each passage of the Scriptures are a gift.  They contain deep and living waters for our soul.  Many people seek for answers to life’s questions from many other sources.  Unfortunately these other sources cannot lead us to salvation but instead lead us away from God and His salvation.

I would like to challenge you to pick up your Bible and read it.  Read it regularly and read it seriously.  Ask God the Holy Spirit to teach the truth of what you read.  Read until its passages leap off of the page into your understanding. My hope and prayer is that like me you will find within the Bible a gift unwanted that will become treasured by you always.