Pastor Marco: Theme: Fathers And Sons
It begins at the end of the Old Testament.
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”Malachi 4:5-6
Pastor Marco shares an approach of studying the Bible: ‘What, When, Where, Who’. This established a foundation for us to study the aforementioned Scripture… but for purposes of his message he chooses to focus on the ‘What’.
What was being discussed here? It was the return on Elijah, as we know now as John the Baptist. The ‘great and awesome day’ is also described as a ‘terrible’ day, for some reason. But it may be because of that following verse, because it comes with a condition and an effect: “turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”
We take a look at the Ministry of John the Baptist, in Luke 1:16-17: And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
…And Matthew 3:1-3 – In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’”
John is preparing the hearts of the people to enter the Kingdom – because they had the wrong mindset, they needed to repent; not necessarily remorse, but changing the way they think. How? As it was in the final words of the Old Testament, so John would do: To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children.
John the Baptist was probably an Essene, which explains why his approach involved water baptism. But while the Essenes were baptizing 7 times a day, John would accommodate folks to baptize, for only once to count in their lives.
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.Matthew 3:7-9
And who would John baptize? Pastor Marco suggests, that it was mostly, if not all fathers – these same fathers would say that they were born into the ‘family’, following all the rules and confessing the same sins. He also points out that this sounds very familiar to how Roman Catholics act, just as he used to do.
So with that in mind… who were the ‘Children’? Pastor Marco would have us consider that the Children were those of us with the New Testament thinking – whose who believe in Faith that saves. What were the fruits?
And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” 11 And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.” Luke 3:10-14
Pastor Marco goes on by sharing: The fathers needed to repent to have the New Testament Mindset of the children. Now, our own being a Christian is a Two-Step process: (1) Repenting of our sins and (2) Accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
But why wasn’t turning the Children to the hearts of the Fathers mentioned? Well, Pastor Marco goes back to defining ‘Children’ – These are the Children who were born into Christian families. We’re talking about the children who were born into grace. Raised in an environment of Grace. Shielded from the world’s ways by their parents – and these same parents would strive to give their children a taste of heaven in their homes.
Adam and Eve were created in what we could say was a perfect environment… but they were the ones who made the decision to leave that grace. Just like Christian children brought to explore the possibilities of life outside the garden. // I feel the same way about Pastors kids. What is this leading to? //
The Story of the Prodigal Son was not a story about unbelievers. It’s a story about a son who willingly dishonored and left his father and brother(s). He already tasted the joys of the Kingdom but still wanted to leave. Take note that the Father didn’t do anything to prevent his son from leaving. Instead, He did the opposite – He gave him his outrageous request of giving his inheritance while he was still alive.
In turning the hearts of the children, we remember these words of Christ in Revelation 2:4-5: But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.
What is this ‘first love’?
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.Psalms 51:12-13
// The dividing line between the Father’s mindset and the Children’s mindset… is DESTROYED by the joy of salvation. // Fathers need to tell the Children the joy of their salvation. They conquer, by their testimony and the blood of the Lamb. WE conquer, by our testimony and the blood of the Lamb. Christ, and his finished work.
Fellowship. Testifying. Recalling our Salvation.
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