A Man and His God
A Man and His God
-We spent over a decade having Saturday morning men’s breakfasts. That is significant because men are and have been such an integral part of this church and the Body of Christ as a whole.
-I believe men are the thermostat of both their families and the church.
-In spite of that, our culture has often times neglected to tell us how important our roles are and how to do it.
Acts 13
22 /After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ [1]/
1. A godly man isn’t feminine
-Jesus wasn’t feminine. Neither was David, Abraham, Jonathan, Paul or any other man I find in Scripture.
-Our culture has often emasculated godly men by just picturing them in a little chapel somewhere singing hymns and wearing a monk’s gown.
-The truth is, as godly men we are called to take the reality of who Jesus really is out into the marketplace. We interact with wild people in this world.
-It takes a godly man to have the courage to stand for Jesus in a world that doesn’t know or understand Him.
-I not only want to present Biblical truths to you by preaching, guest speakers, and videos; I want you to interact with other men who are living in the same situations as you.
Proverbs 27
17 As iron sharpens iron,
/so one man sharpens another.[2]/
2. A godly man is a worshipper
1 Timothy 2
8 /I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing. [3]/
-If there is anything you think of when you think of King David it is that he worshipped his God unashamedly.
-He wasn’t ashamed of God or being seen worshipping Him.
-It takes courage to do that. You have top be able to live above peer pressure.
John 4
/23 But the time is coming and is already here when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for anyone who will worship him that way. 24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”[4]/
-This simply means to worship in sincerity and with all of your heart.
-This goes way beyond the worship service.
-This is leading a grateful life in which you are expressing your heartfelt thanks to God.
3. A godly man lives in simple obedience
-Being a godly man isn’t easy but the instructions are simple.
Deuteronomy 6
“These are all the commands, laws, and regulations that the Lord your God told me to teach you so you may obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy, 2 and so you and your children and grandchildren might fear the Lord your God as long as you live. If you obey all his laws and commands, you will enjoy a long life. 3 Listen closely, Israel, to everything I say. Be careful to obey. Then all will go well with you, and you will have many children in the land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.
4 “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.* 5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away on a journey, when you are lying down and when you are getting up again.
/[5]/
-We sometimes believe we can take out children and families somewhere that we haven’t been.
-The most dramatic thing you can do to turn your family around is to live it and do it yourself.
-Jesus said to go into all the world and make disciples by teaching them to obey everything He had commanded them.
-You can’t pass on to your children what you don’t have in your heart first.
4. A godly man prays
-I think of people like Daniel who was known as a man of prayer.
-He didn’t stop even when it was politically incorrect and even illegal.
-Edwin Louis Cole used to say, “Don’t talk to your children about God until you talk to God about your children.”
-We don’t pray simply because we don’t believe it helps.
-It is sometimes our first impulse to work harder and make it happen ourselves.
James 5
/16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results. 17 Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for the next three and a half years! 18 Then he prayed for rain, and down it poured. The grass turned green, and the crops began to grow again.[6]/
-You are called to bring your life and the lives of your family before God.
-If you don’t pray in front of your children, start today!
-They need to see your dependence upon God.
4. A godly man is a leader
Ephesians 5 – The Message
Out of respect for Christ, be courteously reverent to one another.
Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing. So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewise submit to their husbands.
Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ’s love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They’re really doing themselves a favor—since they’re already “one” in marriage.
/[7]/
-Again, as a Christian man you are to be the thermostat in every situation.
-Jesus said we are salt and light.
-In school, in the home, on the job or wherever….don’t follow the crowd.
-The crowd is usually wrong.
Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president of the U.S said,
“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”
-My conclusion is, be a radically sold out man of God.
Pray and then have them discuss at each table for a while.
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[1]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Ac 13:22). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[2]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Pr 27:17). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[3]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (1 Ti 2:8). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[4]Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 (Jn 4:22-24). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House.
*
Deuteronomy 6:4
Or The Lord our God is one Lord, or The Lord our God, the Lord is one, or The Lord is our God, the Lord is one.
[5]Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 (Dt 6:1-7). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House.
[6]Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 (Jas 5:15-18). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House.
[7]Peterson, E. H. (1995). The message : New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs (Eph 5:1). Colorado Springs, Colo.: NavPress.