Leading The Way

Guest (Male): A real-life example of the priesthood of the father. On this episode of Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef.

Dr. Michael Youssef: Three things about the role of the priest in the family. Number one, Job was cultivating commitment. Secondly, Job was cultivating compassion. And thirdly, Job was cultivating consistency. Commitment, compassion, and consistency. These are the three things that Job, the family priest, was modeling to his family.

Guest (Male): Thank you for joining listeners across six continents for Leading the Way. Up next: keys to leading your family and reaching the next generation for God and His word. Please keep in mind that Leading the Way is a listener-supported media ministry made possible through your prayers and generosity.

Learn ways to stand with Dr. Youssef at ltw.org or when you call 866-626-4356. Listen now as Dr. Michael Youssef begins his powerful message, "The Priesthood of the Father."

Dr. Michael Youssef: For several decades, Sam Rayburn was recognized to be the most powerful politician in America. During his unusually long period of time as the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the Congress, he was a very powerful man, to say the least. Presidents came and presidents went, but Sam Rayburn remained at the very center of power.

In fact, historians would tell you that he alone controlled the legislative process in the Congress in Washington, D.C. Not one single bill came to a vote without his approval. There was no president who was seeking success without Sam's support. In later years, when Sam Rayburn looked back on his life, on his illustrious career, he recounted the most influential moment in his life.

One experience stood out above all the other experiences that impacted his life. Let me tell you about it today. In fact, it occurred in a railway station, a tiny railway station in East Texas. Throughout his life and on many occasions, Sam Rayburn would tell this story. He would tell about this life-changing experience, this experience that molded his life to be the man that he was.

He often told the story with great joy. He often told that story with emotions for a tough man. He often told a story with deep reverence. In fact, his biographer Robert A. Caro said the following: "Sam Rayburn told this story every time he faced a crisis in his life. It sustained him as he went through the tough times of life."

He said that in the year 1900, and in the midst of a wind-swept Texas prairie, Sam's dad hitched the buggy and drove his eighteen-year-old son to town. The boy was going off to college and he was going to be leaving the family farm. His father was a poor man who lived on that farm as a dirt farmer who tilled this land for all his life.

While father and son were standing there on the platform waiting for the train to come, experiencing those emotions that only those of us who have been through that experience would understand, without words were spoken, there stood between them Sam's suitcase, which was nothing but a bundle of clothes tied together with a rope.

As the train approached that little train station, as soon as the train arrived and Sam was preparing to get on board of the train, right at that moment, Sam's father reached down deep in his pocket and he pulled out a fistful of single dollar bills. He thrust them into Sam's hands and there were exactly twenty-five single dollar bills.

Later Sam would say only God knows how he saved those dollars. He said we barely had enough to put food on the table. Sam Rayburn continued. He said it broke me up, handing me that fist of twenty-five dollar bills. He said I often wondered what he did without, what sacrifices he and Mother made. With tear-filled eyes, Sam was about to board the train.

But just as he stepped on the train's door, his father reached out and he grasped his hand. He grasped his son's hand and he only said four words. Four words that have changed this young man's life. Four words that have impacted many lives. Four words: "Sam, be a man. Sam, be a man."

From a human perspective, these are the kinds of moments that make history, that can impact the world. From a human perspective, these are the types of thoughtful sacrifices that change lives. Please listen to me very carefully what I'm going to tell you. All social scientists today without exception, social scientists from every stripe and every background, have now concluded that the impact of the father upon their children is incalculable.

Secular and unbelieving social scientists are now convinced, no matter what all the others say, that fathers can make or break the children. But here is the irony. Listen carefully, please. Here is the irony. The Bible has been saying this for 4,000 years. They've just discovered it. In the Hebrew culture, the relationship between the father and son is so intertwined that when God decided to reveal himself in human flesh, he came as the Son of God.

In Bible culture, the relationship between father and son is so intimate that the first word a little Hebrew boy has ever pronounced out of his mouth is the word *Abba*. In the Old Testament, while they had priestly systems where priests stood between God and man and offered sacrifices to God on behalf of repentant sinners, before the system was ever came to existence, God commissioned the father to be the priest of the home. I'm going to come back to that in a minute.

There is no secret that our culture has drifted away from our moral moorings. There is no secret that our culture has drifted away from our biblical roots. There is no secret that our culture has drifted away from our godly anchor. But I want to tell you there is no greater drift than in the area of the priesthood of the husband and the father.

Back in the early sixties, a handful of militant feminists met at Yale University with one item agenda: how to destroy the biblical concept of the fatherhood of God and thus the priesthood of husbands and fathers in the homes and in the churches. I would say they have mightily succeeded. A handful of militants are managing to destroy the biblical authority that is ordained by God himself for the men to be the priests of their homes.

Talk about the power of commitment. For example, one of their false arguments is this: that we ought never to call God our Father because all of those who have bad fathers are going to assign badness to God, as if they really care about the reputation of God. There is no denying—listen to me very carefully please—there is no denying of the fact that some of husbands and fathers have not lived up to their God-given priesthood.

There is no denying of that. There is no denying of the fact, even in the churches, there is no denying of the fact that some of the husbands and fathers have failed to model their lives the fatherhood of the heavenly Father. There is no denying of that. But I thank God this is changing. For the past several years, hundreds of thousands of fathers and husbands who have been raising up their hands and they are reclaiming their God-given priesthood in the homes.

Hundreds of thousands of husbands and fathers around the globe are standing up and owning up to their priesthood in the home. Hundreds of thousands of husbands and fathers around the world are recommitting themselves afresh to following the model of the heavenly Father. The scripture gives us all kinds of models of fathers.

The one thing about our scripture, it does not take people, wash them out, starch them, clean them, wrap them in cellophane, and present them to us as perfect people. Thank God for that. The Bible is the truth. It tells us everything. They let everything hang out. There are fathers that you don't want to model, but there are fathers that you do.

One of my favorite models is that of Job. Turn with me, please, to the book of Job, chapter one, beginning at verse one to five. The reason Job stands out as a great model of an earthly father is because Job understood the role of the priesthood of the husband and father. Job practiced that priesthood of a husband and father.

Job comprehended that his priesthood is more than just being a family provider, that his priesthood is more than just being the family protector, that his priesthood is more than just being the family disciplinarian. Job understood that the role of the family priest is an all-inclusive sacred duty before God. I think most biblical historians agree that Job probably lived around the time of Abraham, give or take a hundred years.

You say why is that important? It is very significant because I want you to listen carefully. It is very significant because Job's priesthood was established well before God established the priesthood system of Israel. This is very important. Why? Because it tells us that the priesthood of the husband and father was above the priesthood of Israel, that the priesthood of the husband and father is prior to the priesthood of the church.

It tells us that the priesthood of the family is older and higher than the liturgical priesthood. It is very important because it tells us that God's desire all along for husbands and fathers to be the priests of the families. What I'm going to tell you this part was not part of my original message, but the Lord laid it on my heart and it is a message to those single moms.

Will you listen to me, please? Some of you are hurting right now. I know that I'm giving you a message from the Lord because the family priest in your home bailed out on you. I know you're hurting. But let me tell you how to turn your hurts into hallelujahs. Three things very quickly. God will give you a double portion of his blessings. God will give you a double portion of strength when you ask him for it.

And the second thing is this: you can intercede for the men of this country in order that they may turn their hearts to become the priests in their homes better than anyone in America. And the third thing I want to tell you from the Lord is this: be sure to train your sons to grow up to be priests in their families. Be sure to train your daughters that they may marry men who are willing to be priests in their homes.

Job was a righteous man. Job was a man esteemed by his peers. Job was respected by his employees. But above all, Job took his priesthood in the family dead seriously. I want to tell you quickly three things about the role of the priest in the family looking at the model of Job. Three things. If you have a pen, write them down. Number one, Job was cultivating commitment. Secondly, Job was cultivating compassion.

And thirdly, Job was cultivating consistency. Commitment, compassion, and consistency. These are the three things that Job, the family priest, was modeling to his family. Let's look at the commitment. The Bible said that Job rose early in the morning and the first thing he did was what? Read the Wall Street Journal? No. Watch CNN? No. Check his email? No. Check on the stock market? No.

He did all of that later on in the day. There is nothing wrong with that. That is sacred work and I am not putting it down. But he did this later on in the day. Job knew that he must do the urgent after he has done the important. Most of us in this fast-moving, technologically developed society, we have gotten so bogged down in the urgent that we have forgotten the important.

But Job had his priorities right. He did the important things first, then the urgent things later. Now contrast him with Lot, who the Bible said he pitched his tent toward Sodom and the next thing he was in Sodom. Be careful. Here was early in the morning. Why? The Bible said in order that he might offer a sacrifice on behalf of his family.

Now of course we live in the New Testament, and in the New Testament, we don't have a sacrificial system anymore. The Lord Jesus Christ when he hung on the cross of Calvary, he ended up the sacrificial system. He is the full sufficient sacrifice that is offered to God. So what is the equivalent in the New Testament? The equivalent of this commitment for the family priest is to get up and offer God the praises that are due to his name on behalf of your family.

The equivalent of this is to get up early in the morning and intercede on behalf of your family, to get up in the morning and to pray for your family, is to get up in the morning and stand in the gap for your family. I am convinced in my own heart, and I will not give up my conviction until I am convinced otherwise, that if fathers in America would do that on behalf of their children, we would have a revival like the world has ever seen.

Listen to me. God wants godly fathers to make the sacrifice of praise and intercession and prayer on behalf of their family day in and day out, month in and month out, week in and week out, year in and year out. Why? Because he wants us to have godly men for sons and godly daughters for women. Before Job thought of himself, before he thought of his problems, before he thought of all the things that going on in his life, before he thought of his needs, Job offered the sacrifice of praise.

He offered the sacrifice of confession, offered the sacrifice of repentance, offered the sacrifice of asking for forgiveness on behalf of his family. That is a commitment. I pray God that the fathers and husbands would do that. Cultivating commitment. But Job also was cultivating compassion. Look with me, please, at verse two of chapter one. We are told that Job had seven sons and three daughters.

And the Bible goes on to say that the boys took turns in hosting the whole family. Where do you think they got the idea? Where do you think they've learned this? How did they know to do that? They were modeling their father's compassion. Listen to me, please. Job trained his sons to be generous. Job trained his sons to be gentlemen. Job trained his sons to be hospitable.

Job trained his sons to be responsible. And Job trained his sons to be leaders. He taught them to model his compassion and the boys grew up to be compassionate. They took turns, the Bible said, to do what? To bring the family together in fellowship. They took turns to do what? To build up the bonds between family members. Took turns to do what? To break down the barriers and miscommunication in the family.

To do what? To build up the harmony that God wants to see in the homes. Please hear me right. To be compassionate, it does not mean that you have to be a compromiser. There are some people who think that. It couldn't be further from the truth. To be compassionate does not mean that you have to forsake your principles. Absolutely not. On the contrary, to be compassionate means that you try to be magnanimous.

Job cultivated commitment in his family. Job the priest of the family cultivated compassion in his family. Then thirdly, Job cultivated consistency in the family. Job obviously valued spending time with his family. Job obviously valued listening to his family. Job obviously valued being there for his family. But above all, his family saw with their eyes—listen to me, this is the most important part of this whole message—they saw with their own eyes his intercession on behalf of the family.

They saw that he's a man who's able to repent and ask for forgiveness, that he's a man who's willing to confess his weaknesses, that he's a man who's willing to confess his shortcomings and ask for God's forgiveness. And that impacted them as greatly as anything else. Consistency—listen to me—consistency does not mean perfection. There's no such thing as perfection.

But what Job's children saw in his life in the offering of sacrifice to the Lord was a man who was willing to repent. They saw in him a man who was willing to confess his sins. They saw in him as a man who is not too big to ask for forgiveness of God. Let me tell you something, dads and moms too. More than memorizing the scripture, and you know how I feel about that, more than teaching and instructing your children, and you know how important I believe in that.

More than helping your children, and you know how I believe in that, more than sending them to the right schools, more than sending them to Sunday schools, your children want to see in you how you apply the word of God in your life. And applying the word of God in your life includes asking for forgiveness of the Lord and asking of their forgiveness when you wrong them.

Some of the hardest words when you ask somebody to forgive you. That's why Jesus talks about it again and again, gives us example after example. Because consistency doesn't mean perfection, but it means knowing how to repent and ask for forgiveness when you blow it. Some of you are going through guilt and pain right now as I'm talking. I know that. Listen to me, please.

If you listen to nothing else, I want you to listen what I'm going to tell you. Remember that our God is a God of new beginnings. Don't ever look back and keep regretting in the past and everything else. Whatever happened in your life, put it behind you. This day is the first day for the rest of your life. And today you can begin, whatever your shortcomings were, whatever happened in the past, you can put that under the blood of Jesus Christ and begin this day saying, "God, I want to be a priest in my home."

Job's consistency was manifested in his sacrifice, in his repentance, in his confession, in his asking God for forgiveness. He was cultivating commitment. He was cultivating compassion. He was cultivating consistency. But let me tell you, there may be some here who this message to whom is premature because you have never committed your life to Jesus Christ. You cannot be the priest until you have surrendered your life to the high priest. This is your opportunity to say, "Lord Jesus, come into my life. Save me eternally. Save me from my sins. I confess to you. I begin to walk with you." You begin to walk with God and you'll become the priest of your family.

Guest (Male): Dr. Michael Youssef with encouragement to grow in commitment, compassion, and consistency as you lead your home. Thank you for being a part of this Leading the Way. And as you listen today, perhaps spiritual questions came to mind. We would like to invite you to speak with a Leading the Way pastor or counselor to explore those questions, and you can begin that conversation today by filling out a short contact form at ltw.org/jesus.

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