Open your Bibles to John 15:12-17
12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.
God as Judge.
- Deuteronomy 32:4 “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.”
- Everyday God has to make unbearable decisions.
- What to allow or not allow?
- Who breathes today or who takes their last breath?
- Who is guilty or innocent?
- Who goes to Heaven and who goes to Hell?
- Jesus is our Judge
- John 5:22 “For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,”
- Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
- Romans 2:11 “For God shows no partiality.”
- It’s not an easy task. (Invite Gerardo and Chelsie to come up)
- Questions for Gerardo:
- Looking at the congregation who would you send to Heaven and who would you send to Hell?
- What criteria would you use to determine the fate of the people here today?
- God has given us 10 Commandments to follow:
- If we fail at even one…we are guilty of all of them.
- Thou shall have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:3)
- Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images. (Exodus 20:4-6)
- Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. (Exodus 20:7)
- Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. (Exodus 20:8-11)
- Honor your father and mother. (Exodus 20:12)
- Thou shalt not murder. (Exodus 20:13)
- Thou shalt not commit adultery. (Exodus 20:14)
- Thou shalt not steal. (Exodus 20:15)
- Thou shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (Exodus 20:16)
- Thou shall not covet your neighbor. (Exodus 20:17)
- Now Choose…
- Who keeps breathing today and who stops breathing?
- Who is guilty and who is innocent?
- Who goes to Heaven and who goes to Hell?
- You don’t get to not decide…
- Your wife is right there.
- Choose her fate!
- Questions for Chelsie:
- Same questions…
- Who keeps breathing today and who stops breathing?
- Who is guilty and who is innocent?
- Who goes to Heaven and who goes to Hell?
- Youth kids please stand up…
- Choose who goes to Heaven and who goes to Hell!
- Choose their fate!
The Heart of the Father
- Jesus is our Redeemer
- Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
- Romans 8:1-2 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”
- Ephesians 1:7 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,”
- Galatians 3:13 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us”
- 1 Peter 1:18-19 “Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”
A Father’s Love
- Jesus is our Savior
- Sacrificial Love
- Matthew 28:18 “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
- 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
- 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
- Acts 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
- Jesus took our place
- Isiah 53:5 “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”
This is what a good Father does.
What the Father has done for us…What Jesus has done for us…we are to share with our children!
Ephesians 6:4 “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
Deuteronomy 6:5-9 “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.”
John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
We as father’s have been called to this…it is our responsibility, and our honor to lead our children to the One who can do for them what we can’t.
