Proverbs 22:28 (KJV)
Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.
Faith of our fathers, living still
In spite of dungeon, fire and sword,
O how our hearts beat high with joy
Whene’er we hear that glorious word!
Faith of our fathers! holy faith!
We will be true to thee till death!
Our fathers, chained in prisons dark,
Were still in heart and conscience free;
And blest would be their children’s fate,
If they, like them should die for thee:
Faith of our fathers! holy faith!
We will be true to thee till death!
Faith of our fathers, we will strive
To win all nations unto thee;
And through the truth that comes from God
Mankind shall then indeed be free.
Faith of our fathers! holy faith!
We will be true to thee till death!
Faith of our fathers, we will love
Both friend and foe in all our strife,
And preach thee, too, as love knows how
By kindly words and virtuous life.
Faith of our fathers! holy faith!
We will be true to thee till death!
When the children of Israel had moved into the Promised Land and began to conquer it, under divine guidance, Joshua divided the land according to the twelve tribes and their families.
• There was a particular portion of the land that was for the tribe of Dan
• There was a particular portion for the tribe of Judah and
so forth
Now there were tens of thousands of families in each of these tribes so once Joshua had divided the land according to the tribes, then the families began to divide that into portions for each family.
Each time these divisions were made, landmarks were set out to mark whose property belonged to whom.
These were the landmarks “their fathers had set.”
And God said that the children who came after these fathers, should NOT remove those landmarks.
The properties were to stay with the families who had received it – forever.
• It was not to be sold
• It was not to be traded off
it was to stay in the family.
The fathers were not there to make them keep their landmarks.
But God was there to see when they removed them.
I want to preach to you on the importance of our fathers.
I. WITH RESPECT TO OUR PARENTS
I am certain that one of the most important applications we can make concerning this passage is to respect our father.
The Bible tells us Exodus 20:12 (KJV)
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
And goes on to say of that verse Ephesians 6:2 (KJV)
Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)
Nobody here is under the illusion that our parents are perfect people.
During my childhood years I had three different men assume the roll of my dad.
• My biological father – but I can’t remember anything (good) about him being in the home.
• My step-dad – the man whose last name my family bears and
• Will Martin – a man who might have given me some of my favorite memories of childhood
None of those men were perfect.
I am certain had I grown up with my father, I would have been an entirely different sort of person.
• He was very athletic and I have been told had my brother and I in boxing gloves as soon as we were able to stand.
• He was not a cowboy in any sense of the word, and I doubt that he would have given me enough time around my Grandpa Tiwater for his cowboy to rub off.
Because I didn’t grow up with my dad, there was always tension revolving him for me.
It was obvious that my mom didn’t like for us to say anything nice about him.
As I got older, it became much easier to avoid him than to cause the blow-up that would be in the house if we had
• Visited him or
• Called him and
• Mentioned him in any way
That may seem terrible but once I graduated High School and got to know him, I learned he pretty much was as bad as mom said he was.
Dad died a,
• Terrible death surrounded by
• Terrible things and his funeral (such as it was) brought on
• Terrible feelings
But
• I loved my dad.
• I prayed for my dad
• I tried my best to take care of him and honor him in his last days
And until his dying day, I secretly wished my Mom and Dad would get back together.
• I knew it was impossible
• I knew also it was Biblically not right
But he was my dad.
I would just like to say to the young people here, honor your father and mother.
• You may think they do things you wish they did not do.
• You may be right that they have made mistakes.
Regardless, love your mom and dad.
Honor them and respect them in every way you possibly can.
Obey them, pay attention to the instructions they give you.
As you get older, take in their counsel and follow it to the best of your ability.
The importance of our fathers,
II. WITH RESPECT TO OUR HERITAGE
I am pretty sure that the deepest application for this passage relates not to our biological fathers as much as it does to our spiritual ones.
Paul called Timothy, “… my own son in the faith.”
That’s interesting because Paul obviously knew Timothy’s grandmother, mother and that his father was a Greek.
Paul did not take Timothy from his biological parents but he did assume the role of his spiritual father.
In this regard we might all be able to claim a number of fathers in the faith.
• There is the one who led us to the Lord
• There is the one who faithfully pastors us weekly
• There is the one who equips us spiritually for our ministry
Nobody ever said that any of these men were perfect.
But they are those men God put in our lives to
• Build us and
• Train us; to
• Pray for us and to
• Watch over us
There are those fathers who passed down the faith we believe today.
Christians who sacrificed, suffered and in many instances died, rather than to remove the landmarks that had been given them.
Christians who would not bend on:
• The Bible as the sole rule of faith
• The autonomy of each local church
• The priesthood of every believer
• The two simple ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper
• The individual soul liberty of the believer
• The saved and Scriptural baptism of the members of the church
• The two and only two offices in a church; Pastor and Deacon and
• The Separation of Church and State
For more than 1500 years it was illegal to do what we are doing in this church right now.
In the European countries, the government had become controlled by Roman Catholicism.
Kings and Countries came and went.
The one constant was Catholicism – and it had the power to turn any Monarch against it’s own people.
Of course there were parts of the world that were not ruled by Catholicism:
• India, with Hinduism
• The Orient with Buddism
• The Middle East with Islam
Christians were no more welcome to worship according to the dictates of their own conscience in those countries either.
During the Reformation, Catholicism lost some of its grip on Europe, but what sprung out of the Protests were no better.
• They still believed in using the government to make people worship the way they wanted them to so
• They still persecuted anyone who believed what we believe in this church tonight
They hid the best they could
They obeyed the laws in every other way they could
But they just could not go along with:
• Baptizing their babies
• Worshipping where Jesus wasn’t the head or
• Refusing to assemble with born again believers
None of them were perfect.
I am sure that if any of them came to our church today we would find some things with which to disagree.
But it’s because they would not move off the landmark doctrines they were taught that we have a church like this one today.
The importance of our fathers,
III. WITH RESPECT TO THE TRUTH
Zechariah 1:2-4 (KJV)
The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers.
Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.
Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD.
I met a family in Astoria who became very dear to my family.
My boys considered their grandson their best friend.
I was there when two other of their grandchildren were born.
They were such a blessing to us in so many ways.
But they were not saved.
And when their son and daughter in law became solid Christians, dedicated to the things of the Lord, it became a problem for them.
I don’t know how to describe this and I am not always sure I think it is a great thing, but over time, we sort of won their son’s affection over them.
They would come to our house every Sunday and stay until Sunday night services just so they would not be pressured by his parents to skip Sunday night church.
Mom and Dad began to lose their grip on their son, daughter in law and grandchildren.
Eventually their son surrendered to preach.
This man called me on the phone and said – in an almost defeated tone, “You’ve taken my family from me.”
You want to talk about feeling guilty.
I hadn’t taken their son away.
He had turned to the Lord and was no longer like his father.
• He still loved his parents
• He still honored his parents and
• He still cared for his parents
But his heart belonged to Jesus.
A couple of years later, mom and dad got saved and baptized.
The dad is now gone to but their son still takes care of their precious mother.
You see, what happened was that their son found the old landmarks that his mom and dad had lost.
The greatest honor anyone can give to their father, whether dad believes it or not, is to honor our Heavenly Father and stand by HIS landmarks.
Conclusion
I heard an story many years ago about a Civil War battle where the flag bearer was shot and killed.
A brave young soldier picked up the flag as his unit fell back in panicked retreat.
Someone yelled out to him “Quick, bring the standard back to the men.”
This soldier held his flag high and yelled back, “No, never, bring the men back to the standard.”
• We need to honor our parents and
• We need to respect our heritage but
• We need most to bring the men back to the standard – the landmarks which our Heavenly Father has set.
[1] 1 Timothy 1:2 (KJV)
Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
[2] Ephesians 4:11–12 (KJV)
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
