This is just not a day for the fathers this is also a day for our heavenly father who is here in our midst today.
In search of something that is relevant I ask the Lord in my prayers, “Lord what do you want me to say amidst Covid-19, Fathers Sunday, in the season of Pentecost?
You need to kneel before the Lord and ask: “Father what do you want us to hear?
All the fathers want is to succeed in his role as the head of the family, a husband, an executive, a laborer, a worker or maybe a ‘houseband’ – that is a new role fathers take today.
When a father is confronted with a pandemic where he is paralyzed and feel helpless all his desire is that he is able to protect his family, himself, and still be victorious.
Searching the so-called search engine of the world – Mr. Google – you will also find a variety of answers and suggestions on how a father can be successful, how a father can protect his family, himself amidst the pandemic.
All the suggestions are human attempt to provide answers to a question to an inquiring father how he can possibly succeed and be able to protect his home.
As a believing father, I came to realize to stop searching the world search engine and start searching the Lord’s search engine.
When Adam a father, head of the family, a husband, a steward of all the he has been entrusted by God, when Adam sinned the Scriptures teach us that his sin contaminated the whole of humanity. That is the sad truth. And so we read from Romans Chapter 3:23 (recite). Grabi ang contamination sa isa ka sala (sin), sa isa ka sayop (mistake), sa usa ka amahan.
It contaminated the whole generation, all human race and so all of us come short of before the Glory of God.
The result is that every human being is born spiritually dead.
So God gave the law on the Mount of Sinai to point man, every father to sin. It was not to show the way to salvation. It was an attempt to provide order in a chaotic world because of the contamination of sin. It was not again, I would like to reiterate that, not to point to salvation because as we know any human being is not capable of saving and keeping the law.
The only one who ever kept the law according to the Scripture is our Lord Jesus Christ who the Scripture says though He was God came man to save you and me. To save humanity from the contamination of sin. And so the Scripture says, John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He sent His only son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
Jesus Christ did what the law could not do. He paid the penalty of sin with His own blood. He rescued us. He cleansed the contaminated humanity with His own blood for the wages of sin, the Scripture is telling us, is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul recorded that in Romans Chapter 6:23.
The Holy Spirit according to the Scripture is the seal of our eternal life.
For as in Adam all died. His sin contaminated the world. Even so, in Christ all will be made alive. 1st Corinthians 15:22.
So the Scriptures says, sin of our father, a husband, a head of the family, someone who was entrusted by all creation, they fell and they have committed something that is against the plan of God.
The only way to restore humanity God decided, out of His love, He sent His son. When His son successfully offered a sacrifice for salvation, God in Christ sent the Holy Spirit.
So, the Holy Spirit dwell in every believer to lead them into Christ’s abundant life. 1st Corinthians 6:19 Paul asks,”Are you not aware that the Spirit dwells in you and your body is the temple of God.
From those particular declaration, from Genesis to the Epistle of Paul, we can possibly be refreshed by what the Holy Spirit is: For us Christians, for those who believe in God.
For those who want to live a victorious life beyond a father or a husband. The Holy Spirit, I believe, according to the Scripture is the one that convicts a non-believer of his sin and the need for forgiveness.
The Holy Spirit, my dear brothers and sisters, is here sent and convicting you and me. Allowing us to realize our need for forgiveness and this work of the Holy Spirit goes beyond a father. This conviction work of the Holy Spirit includes mothers and children and all of society because what happened to society was caused by one sin. We remember the sermon of Jesus.
All his focus is to repent and believe and the call of the Lord Jesus Christ when He came is to call for all humanity to come to realize that there is a need for us to repent and believe.
Nahinumdom ko mga igsoon. Adunay Board of Deacons meeting, this probably also happened in your church, and in that meeting they were talking about how we can possibly repair our structure and our church. One deacon said, “The Scripture tells us to repent and therefore I am donating one gallon of ‘Boysen. Humanity tend to cover up sin with repainting, covering. Mao man ni ang hilig sa tawo.
We cover our sin by looking for someone who is accountable. Someone whom we can blame. Someone who must be answerable to our fault. We cover up and so we repaint. But the Scripture calls for repentance. We may not be able to restore ourselves by all our effort, that is why God gave His son by Grace so that whoever believes in Him by faith – not by our own effort, by our capability, by what we can do – but it is because of by grace.
It is by believing in the son of God, Jesus Christ. Thus, making salvation free gift from God. We do not have to do anything to receive it because Jesus Christ has already paid the price of our sin. Christ does not want us to come to Him and then continue to live a life of defeat. A life that is always struggling.
A life that is full of discouragement. He did not save us and leave us alone as orphans. He gave us all that what is necessary for a successful, victorious life. He gave us a promise. He came to us to have a abundant life in the Spirit. So as we live the abundant life in the Holy Spirit we are able to also witness for the goodness of God and the goodness of the Holy Spirit.
So, may I ask, have you received Christ’s gift of salvation? Have you welcomed the Holy Spirit into your life? These are very important questions in your desire to become victorious as a father, as a head of the family.
Probably you have to consider these questions considerably. You see, like the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit also is a person – the Third peron of the Triune God. And when we say the Father deserves relationship, Jesus deserves relationship – the same also with the Holy Spirit who is also a person, third person of the Trinity, deserves relationship because the Holy Spirit is not a force or a thing as some believe.
The Scriptures confirm by the personal way in which he responds and the personal things he does. The Bible also makes it clear that the Holy Spirit is God. Dili pwiding small “G,” capital “G.” And we rightfully speak of God of the Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – this includes the three in one. The Holy Spirit is eternal, the same as the Father, and Son.
Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Omniscient. It is only the Holy Spirit that can only make us feel what Christ feels and see what He sees and knows what He wants. Christ wants us to be lead, the Scripture tells us, Romans Chapter 8. He wants to take the lead in your walk, in your decisions, in all options of our life.
Remember that incident when Jesus was baptized and the Holy Spirit declares that “This is my beloved Son” and immediately after that incident a spirit came and said: “If you are the Son of God” – can you imagine how that particular statement distorted the declaration that Jesus is the “Son of God” and followed by an introduction of doubt immediately as telling Him: “If you are the Son of God turn these stones into bread.
Mura ba’g ni suggest siya “Ikaw ba jud? A person walking with the Spirit will not accept anything that is doubtful, anything that is contrary, anything that is not in alignment with the desire of God in the Spirit. And therefore, you can only know that if the Spirit takes the lead and you listen, you discern things through Him. In the struggle between the flesh and the spirit, who wins? The one we feed. When we feed the desires of the flesh, the flesh wins in the battle.
When we feed the desires of the Spirit for us to know the Word, for us to listen to God, the Spirit wins and we follow the right direction. Who do you feed? Because when you feed the flesh you are going in a direction that is contrary to your goal to be victorious as a father and win over the battle in this pandemic season.
But if you are so desirous to win, then you have to feed the desires of the Spirit. Read the Scripture, maintain the vision, hear the Word of God, and connect with Him in prayer at all times. Breathren in the Lord we can either feed the flesh and that is your choice or feed the spirit and know who wins. Are you a believer who is still is struggling with the dominance of the flesh in life? Or, are you a believer who has been experiencing some victories – little by little – there is victory, there is triumphant experience in life, then you can see that the Spirit is being fed and he is winning the battle.
There are many Christians who are stuck into the infancy of faith. We need to grow in faith. The Scripture tells us the Holy Spirit is only given to those who confess Jesus Christ as savior and Lord and believe in their hearts that God has raised Him from the Dead, Romans 10:8 and 9. May I ask have you received eternal life and God’s gift of the Holy Spirit. Or, have you received the Holy Spirit but are not leaving the abundant life. Still struggling.
Still having difficulty of discerning. Still having difficulty “Am I either in the right path?” Consider this verse: God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,” Ephesians 1:3. Therefore, I believe that it is safe to say that all blessings are spiritual, that is, they are in the spirit and that is where we need to be.
If the blessings are in the Spirit and then that is the place to be if we want those blessings. Believing God’s word and having a way of thinking that is in accordance with God’s word is the secret. Jesus declares the words that I speak to you, they are spirit and they are light and therefore, if you receive Jesus, you receive the spirit and you have certainty with life.
As we celebrate Fathers Day in this Covid-confronted reality, amidst the Season of Pentecost, I’d like to believe there is no greater miracle than the salvation to come to the Savior and let this be the day. Yield your life to Him. Receive the power of the Holy Spirit as promised by God.
Christ sacrificed His life does not want anyone to perish. Come to Him today and partake His spiritual blessing in Him as you walk with the Spirit.
(By Reverend Pastor V. Wenzyl , Fathers’ Day preaching, June 21, 2020)
