Act Like Men
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· 516 viewsPastor James preaches on 1st Corintians 16:13-14
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We are in week 2 of a 7 week series on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood…with today’s message focusing on biblical manhood…and not only focusing on manhood…building upon what we saw last week in regards to creation…God creating humans…and even our identity and purpose…
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
And as I said on Wednesday night…if you didn’t listen to last weeks message…I strongly recommend that you do…for at least 3 reasons...
I believe that as believers we need to know, understand, and see why God created us…humans…people…as male and female…for a purpose and with an order...before the fall…we need to see and understand what the enemy attacked…how the fall happened…how sin entered the world…and how that same pattern persists and exists today…even in the church…maybe specifically targeting and trying to infiltrate…the church...
Much of what we will see in regards to how we live as male and female for the Lord, how we serve the Lord as men and women in His church…and how we are to live properly…beautifully…and awesomely…obeying God and His creation order...with one another as men and women…in our lives…sociaety…family…and the church...much of what the NT teaches on manhood and womanhood and our roles and order…in describing these things....Jesus…Paul…Peter…throughout the NT…they refer back to or is even base thier statements...grounded on truth we see in Genesis 1-3...
So please follow along with the whole series so you best understand the reasons given and see the truth of God creating us male and female…with purpose and order…may we see that beautiful and powerful truth in all of its glory...
Another reason to follow along with each message in the series is this...
As we saw last week…the devil…the enemy in his quest for dominion…in his desire to rule over God’s creation…which God has not given him to rule…the enemy attacked us as God’s people…and specifically attacked the roles and order of us as male and female...why? Why was that the point of attack?
Because God created us to have dominion over His creation...
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
So God has given this dominion commission to us both as male and female…and then in order for us to rightly have dominion...
God created man and woman with purpose and order…this is extremely important...
God gave us purpose further laid out in Genesis 1...
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
So we as men and women together are to...
Be fruitful…multiply…fill the earth...
To subdue it...
To have dominion over it...
Then see see this glorious truth in more detail in Genesis 2...
God purposely and with order cultivates a garden for His first people as male and female to live in...
And from the dust of the ground of the land God had made for man…from the ground God created man…male…Adam...
God breathed His breath into man…giving man life...
And before creating woman…God gives man his purpose…his roles..
If man is to have dominion…to rule the kingdom that the Sovereign and Holy King Has given him to rule…for man to properly do that he is given a rule (a command to follow) and man is given his roles…God gives man this rule about the land God had created...
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
So before creating woman…God gives man this command that man will have to teach and lead woman in…then man is given the rest of his roles....
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
So God created us humans to have dominion in being fruitful and multiplying and filling the earth…subduing it for our own provision and purposes under God’s rule and direction...
And in that dominion man (male) is created to...
Lead - created first and given the purpose and rule and direction…created by God from the very ground God created for man to have dominion over…even naming the animals God had created…and the command to follow and teach and lead his wife in...
Provide - to take the lead in subduing and working the land for dominion…and provision.
Protect - to keep the land…to keep guard over it and to protect whatever God has given to man…to protect it from being harmed and to protect it from being used for the wrong purposes…and to protect it from attack of the enemy...
And then in glory we see that man can not do this alone…and animals are not perfectly fit to be the helper that man will need if he is to fulfill the dominion commission...
So...
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
This helper is fit perfectly to complement man…in some way opposite of man…distinct from man…created by God as woman to complement man in his roles…we need to see woman is needed in order for us to have dominion…and in order to do that she is not to be another man…or have the same roles as man....or the same order as man…but woman if we are to have dominion…to be in the will of God and live the way he has created us…then woman must fulfill her roles...if this beautiful dance of manhood and womanhood is to be to the glory of God…then woman is created to help man in her role she will...
Submit- in God’s creation order...the man is to lead and the woman is to help by following man’s lead as they are fruitful…multiply…fill the earth and subdue it…take dominion...
Nurture- as man is to provide woman is to take that provision and care for the home and children with that provision to make it work in a way that is fruitful for the family in their quest for dominion over the little kingdom that God has given them…in His Kingdom...
Respect - as the man is to lead, provide, and protect the woman was created from man and for man as his helper…and therefore is to respect his role as man and be reverent towards her Lord and God and in doing so so (as we will see throughout this series)…Woman is showing this world and her family how good and wise God is…and how we the church are to follow our Lord Jesus...more to come on that in the weeks to come...
But for the next 2 weeks I want to look at these roles and help us see them play out in our lives as men and women of God...
And as I said last week…not only is this the truth that the enemy attacked in the garden…
This is also part of the curse upon man and women because of sin...
But we know as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ that He has come…that He lived the perfect life and died the death we deserve and rose again to life…to save us from our sin…to crush the woks of the devil…and to change us…to make us new creations…born again....filled with the Holy Spirit of God…so that we can crush sin…put it to death and live sanctified lives for the glory of God…as male and female...
Take dominion back from the devil who continues to attempt to steal it from us…
So for us to love and live in our roles as male and female…obeying the Word of God....we are showing the Spirtual World....that God is good and we trust Him and His word...
By us living and celebrating that God has created us male and female with purpose and order…when we do we are living in the victory we have in Christ...
We will see in the NT we are to be transformed…from sinners to saints…
And if we are to do that we need to see from the Word of God…how does God truly want us to live as man and woman…as husband and wife…and as male and female in the church…as we gather together as His church…we will be exploring these truths in the rest of this series…and I say all that because…the enemy does not want us to see these things clearly…because he wants dominion...
The world…marriages…and within the church this truth has been attacked…changed…mangled…and in many ways it is hard for us to see clearly what God has intended because in our day these truths are ignored…changed…ridiculed…and therefore the worldly ways have blurred our eyes to the glorious ways of God!
We will be exploring truths that will challenge us…and what I ask of you is that you would...with us…go to the Word and ask the Lord to help us see clearly…to wash away falsehood where the world (the ruler of this world the devil) has made us believe things that just are not true and are not found in the Word of God...
Often when these truths are changed in the church…the reasons given are from outside of the Word of God…cultural and worldly logic…but we must stand firm on the Word!
Church I know your heart…you want to know God and live for His glory…may we do that with all of our heart soul mind and strength...
And in order for us to do that...
Let us…(plural)
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
From His Word!
So today…in that quest…we will ask...
What does it look like for man to live out his identify as a man…and his role as the one created by God to initiate…
To lead...
Lead
Provide and
Protect...
Then next week…we will ask the same question for women in their role as women...
Because...
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
Todays text is from 1 Cor 16…13-14...
Let us explore manhood...building on last week...
Our text for today...
Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.
For us men…to look at our roles…in a practical way…for today…to practically equip us men for this battle for dominion...I choose a straight forward text...
Let’s dig in...
I believe we see the roles of men laid out here at the end of this letter to the church in Corinth…a church that was dealing with various issues…a church that may have asked Paul some questions…and a church that like all churches was to be lead by men who were called to lead as elders to pastor the church...
We see in the NT that men are called to...
Lead…provide…protect…not only their women…and children...
But to also lead…provide for…and protect the bride of Christ...
Paul had written in this letter first that the church of God is to be...
To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
So this letter is written to these in Corinth and to us in Wisconsin...
We are to be set apart…saints…unified in truth...
In this leter Paul (by the guiding of the HS) then addresses divisions stirring up in the church throughout the letter…
There are many issues discussed and clarified in 1 Corinthians…some of the issues were not of manhood and womanhood…but among those things written of in this letter…many are issues of proper understanding of the roles and order of men and women…in society…in the home…and in the church...
For example Paul, by the Spirit, discusses...
Divisions and disorder within this church especially when they gather together...
He discusses the proper thinking of sex within marriage…one man and one woman married to each other…
He also discusses sexual immorality…
He discusses issues happening in marriages and even divorces that are happening…
He later in the letter presents the proper roles and order of men and women in the church....including the practice of head coverings and how that is meant to display these roles and order and glory…that God created us male and female…with purpose and order...
He discusses the roles of both men and women when it comes to Spiritual gifts displayed by the gathered church...
So in this letter to the church…to us…who are called to be set apart…Paul addresses many topics of manhood and womanhood in 1 Corinthians...
The Word translated man or husband (same word in the Greek) is used 32 times in this letter alone...
The Word translated woman or wife (also same word in the Greek) is used 41 times in this letter alone...
So in a letter that has much to offer on this eternally important and dominion securing topic of manhood and womanhood…Paul ends the letter with these instructions…to the men...
In the middle of these instructions we see this...
Act like men!
Sometimes this Word is translated...
The word an-dri-zo-mei…meaning male…we get the prefix andro from this word…also meaning male...
1 time in NT...
22 times in the greek OT Septua-gint…sometime translated be courageous...
But truly is
In other greek writings of the time the world is used like this...
From the account of the Christian martyr named Polycarp…we get this…
Quote “As Polycarp entered into the stadium, a voice came to him from heaven; ‘Be strong, Polycarp, and play the man.’”
Play the man…play the role of a man…we might say...Man up.
But when the culture we live in says “man up” it could mean many things…in our day who knows what it means…with men playing the role of women at an ever rapidly rising rate...
So when the Bible tells us men to act like men what does it mean? To play the role of a man?
What is the Role of the Man we are to play? Well last week we saw God give it…we are to...
Lead provide protect...
So I want to use to see what Paul says in this text to give us some further direction as to add to our understanding of what that looks like…as I said…2 Sundays from now...Brian manhood in marriage…then a couple weeks later me specifically manhood/womanhood in the church...
Back to our text...
SLIDE
Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.
In or role as leaders…initiators…we men are to lead provide protect…and how? Here Paul tells us..we are to:
SLIDE
Be watchful
God gave Adam…us men the role to protect…to keep watch over the land…creation…women…children…the church…be watchful! This is an active command…be watching…always...
The enemy that attacked manhood and womanhood by going after woman in the garden…that enemy still…right now…is ready to attack us…the church…even through our living out manhood and womanhood…
Peter gives the same command…be watchful…look what he says next
SLIDE
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
And men…as we saw last week…we can not passively stand by and watch him as he does…even twisting the Word of God to do so…we must be watchful!
This call to be watchful has OT connections…the watchman had to be awake…alert…ready…to announce and see and know that if he was not watching people may die!
What are we to be watchful over…as protectors?
Watch over the physical protection of those in our care...
Even more…watch for Spirtual attack…watch for sin entering your own life…your family…friends...the church...
And we are watchful not from a place of fear of the world…or even fear of the enemy…but from a place of victory in Christ...
So in our call to lead we are to protect and in order to do so we must be watchful!
And as we will see next…we must be actively preparing in our watchfulness…so when false gospel…unbiblical doctrines…or deceptive lies of the enemy come at us or those we are called to protect…we stand ready…armed with the Word of God...
So then men are also to...
SLIDE
2. Stand firm in the faith
As the watchfulness is active…so also this standing firm is not passive…it is active…like an offensive lineman holding his ground against a prowling linebacker...
And in order to do that there was much preparation that had to happen...
So we men as we lead are called to stand firm in the faith!
Let me say this with the utmost clarity…and then I will put some action to my call to us men!
Hear me men: Biblical men are men of the Bible.
Manhood includes knowing and loving and studying the word of God…which is...
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
This is why in the armor of God we are to put on…the sword..the offensive weapon…is...
Hear the way Paul in Eph 6 tells us to stand firm…men let’s do this...
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
Men…right before saying act like men Paul tells us…stand firm in the faith…and in order for you to do that…you must know the Word of God…how to read it…not just superficially…but how to use the sword like an expert…a swordmaster…a warrior of the Word...
Remember the point of attack on woman in the garden…did God really say? And then the devil twisted the Word…but Adam was to know the Word given to Him…and yet he passively stood by as the word was falsely taught and applied...
We men must have a singular focus when it comes to God’s Word…that we would know it as God wrote it and apply it to our lives…homes…church…and the World...
Charles Spurgeon
“We shall not adjust our Bible to the age; but before we have done with it, by God’s grace, we shall adjust the age to the Bible.”
Oh how that applies to manhood and womanhood...
As I said last week…this is the example Jesus gave us as he was tempted by the devil in the wilderness…Jesus overcame the devil with the Word of God!
He fights Satan by standing firm in the Word of God!
And to stand in the faith is to be a man of prayer…our faith in God to do what we can not do on our own will lead us to much prayer as we stand firm in the faith!
As we protect our selves from sin…our families and our church…we will pray to God for those things…that we would not be lead into temptation but delivered from evil...
So to stand firm in the faith men must be men of the Word of God…and men of prayer…as we are called to lead provide and protect...
We will then lead rightly…provide the bread of life…and prayerfully protect those in our care...
Here is where I commit to you men as your pastor…this has been on my mind for many years...
In order to better help you be men who lead provide and protect…who can stand firm in the faith by knowing the Word.
1 Sunday a month from 7:30-9 I will be here at the church…it will be a day I am not preaching…and we will open our Bibles together to a text I choose or someone asks me to go through...
And I will simply and practically teach you how to read the word…in a way that you can use it like a 2 edge sword (not a butter knife) and even teach it to someone else as you lead and provide.
This is open to all men…and if any of you men know or think as some point God may call you to be an elder of a church or preach a message…you better be there...
Then at the end we as men will take some time to pray for this church...
We will start 7:30 and be done at 9 sharp...
3. Act like men
This one seems obvious…right…if we men are to lead and provide and protect…we need to act like me...
So what is Paul saying here…well first off…we live in a world where many if not most men do not act like men...
Either acting and dressing like women…or just not acting like men…not leading but being lead…not providing but slacking…not protecting. but passively ignoring...
This is true in the world and in the church...
Remember it is the church…us…the set apart that Pauls says this to...
We are to expect the world to live in sin and be confused...
But here the Word of God says to us men…act like men...
This is teilling us men…if you are mad and frustrated that the owlrd is full of men who do not act like men…you should be even more worked up about it happening in the church…men acting like women in roles order and authority…and women playing the roles that men are to play...
This is a repeat of what Adam did in the garden…we saw this last week in detail…but he was not deceived…he stood by…and was lead by eve who was deceived by the Devil…using the very Word of God as it was given to Adam...
Men…men of Revival…may we act like me!
Manhood and womanhood is like a dance…2 partners…different authority…roles…order responsibility...otherwise we are stepping on each others feet and the church will fall...
Notice also he does not say…act like boys…no act like men…grow in maturity…physically and spiritually.
To act like a man is to lead…make decisions...
Take responsibility…unlike Adam who blamed Eve and God for his sin...
Men work hard…as providers...
Men do these things together as brothers in Christ…we need more of that Revival...
(Ryan and Dev) Sam?
Act like men!
I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?
Nw that is acting like a man!
SLIDE
4. Be strong
The first thing we often think when we see be strong is physical strength/exercise.
And yes there is some
Healthy as you have dominion over your little kingdom...
This is much more so…spiritual strength that is being called for!
for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
So yes we men should encourge one antoher to be strong and heatly phstically…that has some value...
But oh that we would be strong in godliness!
Be strong in action to be godly…so be set apart…not men like this world but stong in godliness!
Work hard for the gospel...
In this same book Paul had said...
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
Men may we follow Paul’s example here as He was following the example of Christ Jesus!
Are you workign hard by God’s Grace for God’s glory...
Yes to lead and provide for your family…yes!
For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.
You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness,
Let me ask tou a quation here…are you men being strong in your Spritual Work…pouring yourselves out to serve your family and the church? May we be set apart in our strenght in that way!
And I will show you in a minute…the power of this command…that by the grace of God I am not telling you to be ashamed or get stronger…I am telling you be string…because you are strong…because by grace you have Christ in you!
Finally...
5. Lead, Provide, and Protect in love!
You men will hear more on this to come when Brian preaches on manhood and womanhood in marriage from Ephesians 5...
But let me simply say this…we men have a high calling on us…we will need each other to live this way in this world...
And if our leading, providing, and protecting does not come from a place of love…in is not Godly Manhood…it is not what Jesus would have for us men...
Jesus…the God man…so loved us…that He gave his life for us…sacrificed for us…
Jesus with all the power of creation in His hand…used that power to love His people and give Himself for them...
He provided for us a way to be saved…because He loved us first...
He protects us from the ultimate scheme of the devil and had given us…sealed us unto salvation…by His Spirit…because He loves us!
This is the love we now have to offer to others if we are followers of Jesus...
And this kind of love should motivate us men to give our lives to leading, protecting, providing for our wives…the women in our lives…and for the bride of Christ…the church!
SHORTEN THE NEXT PART!
Noah responded by believing God and becoming “a herald of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5). He lived counterculturally in obedience to God’s will and spoke forth his hope, even when he was surely asked what in the world he was doing. It would have betrayed his manhood not to declare the truth. Before his generation would drown in the waters, they first would drown out his life, his warnings, and his pleadings. In his world, as in ours, the masses stood already condemned (John 3:18), and Noah, being the righteous man that he was, still spoke. Will we?
The weight of his message gave him substance. He sought to be taken seriously because he had something critical to say: “Enter the ark or be lost!” It betrayed that message to be dismissed as the town jester. So with us, we have something to say: “Enter the ark who is Christ or be lost!” Billions today eat, drink, and make merry at the foot of an active volcano. Men of substance will point them constantly, audibly to our only hope.
First and formeost...
For any who do not know the love of Christ…this kind of love…repent of your sin and put you faith in Christ who loves those He saves so much…that He died fos us…and that love is so powerful…that by His resurrection…we will live in His love forever!
Church…what we have seen today and last week is this!
Our Lord and God has…through the Words of the apostle Paul has called us men…you men…to
Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.
And why is this so important to us the church? Because...
IF us men do not lead…do not provide…do not protect…there will be disorder…the enemy will take dominion...
So let me say...more thing about these 5 commands that help us men see how we lead provide and protect...
This is a how to read the word...sword sharpening truth!
The form of the Words used is present imperative...
That means these are not things we do in the past or the future…these are commands on us men in the present...
Do them…now…if have not in the past…do them..be doing them…wont in the future unless we are doing them now...
Define who we are our role and identity in our leading providing and protecting…be doing them...
Active voice commands…
you be watchful...
You stand firm...
Middle voice commands...
You act like men…(middle voice)
You let all you do be in love...
But the word used for be strong…is passive...
Be strong passively...
How do we passively be strong...
That means we need to be strong…but get our strength to do all of these things not from our own strength…that strength has to come from outside of us...
This is a battle for dominion…and we need to see that the battle is not man versus woman…although the world makes it seems as it is…this is a result of the curse…this is a battle because of sin…when Jesus returns this battle for dominion will be no more…therefore to properly fight this battle we must...
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
The same schemes from the same devil that attacked manhood and womanhood in the garden by changing the word of God asking…dod God really say?
So..since...
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
And where does the strength come from for us to be strong???to passively be strong by getting our strength from outside ourselves?
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
OR
Back to 1 Corinthians…Paul tells us...
1 Corinthians 15:10 (ESV)
I (He)worked harder than any (one) of them,
Paul where did you get the strength to do that?
though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
Men...
If you have failed in these areas in your life…or are not giving your life to acting like a man of God even right now…
Let me say this…failure is never a good excuse for continued failure…but a reminder…that we can not do this on our own…we are all fallen men…but also a reminder we are called to do this…together…and we can…by the strength of God in us!
Men...Dominion is at stake...
Men may we obey God…go back to God for our identity…may we in Christ lead many to live for God…to truly obey God in our roles as men and women of God...
May we as people of God allow God to be our truth…to love be deceived by the devil to fall for the tricks he has been using since the garden....
May we have no shame of the God we serve and the ways he has called us to serve…by His rules not the rules of man...
May we find our identity as image bearer in the way he has created us in Him…and created us as male and female...
And today to the men...
The roles we have been given are clear...
Lead
Provide
Protect
The call on us is to therefore act like men...
Have no shame if this is new to you…if there are obstacles you have to overcome to be able to do this…we are here for you as men...
We are commited to you...
There is no guilt or shame in Christ…no condemnation...
And in Christ is also found the power…as Christ in us…to reverse…to redeem…to live as men...
To look at any obstacle to us taking dominion in the kingdom God has given us and say…nope…my God my King is stronger…and he has called me to this...
To look at all the people God has put in your life and say to them…I got this…because God has given me His Spirit in me…and surrounded me with brother who are for me...
May we set this forth men…for us and for the young men…sons…around us…for generations to come...
May we live and think and believe the command King David gave...
“I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn, that the Lord may establish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’
We all…male and female are...
Image bearers…in the image of God…both male and female as male and female…distinct but both in the likeness...
This has not changed...
So may we trust in the God who…made us...
Male and female…he created us…and to the men...
As men…made…created to lead, provide, protect...
To Act like men…to be strong in our roles…to stand firm in the faith…to be watchful in our protecting...
Ann to do all of this in love...
Through the strength of God…Christ in us!
Men of Revival church…may we act like men.
We can read, as of an alien species, about men who “through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight” (Hebrews 11:33–34). Men who actively sought for glory, honor, and immortality. Men of faith who hoped for a better country than the one they had. Men who risked much, lost much, and gained more. Men who lived by faith in the living God.
Lukewarm religion, let’s never forget, makes for lukewarm masculinity. And lukewarm masculinity allows too many men to pass by church doors in favor of Islam, Jordan Peterson, or simply ESPN on the road to destruction.
We have seen creation…men in general…brain in marriage…then me more specifically how these roles play out in the church...
And may we remember all this is not for our glory but...
For the glory of God...
Our society and the Church have never been more in need of Christian men who are ready to “man up,” to stop acting and thinking and prioritizing like little boys.
If you are big enough to read these words, then you are big enough to heed this call! My prayer for each of us, as Christian men, is that we will take our rightful, responsible place as mature and able spiritual leaders in our homes, in the Church, and in society.
Amen!
Announcement again @ End.