Biblical Masculinity

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(00:03) Committed. I’m excited this afternoon about speaking to a group of men and women who are committed to kingdom values. You know, sometimes when we talk about kingdom values, people look at us like, “What are you talking about? That’s strange things to our ears.” Our counselor doesn’t talk that way. Uh our pastor doesn’t talk that way.

(00:30) Kingdom values are actually are are actually uh well they’re being challenged in our day for one thing and that’s why we need to have people like this who are digging into the word of God and are saying what does Jesus actually expect of us? What does it mean to be a kingdom Christian in our day? And I just wanted to leave this challenge with you because you’re all you’re all here today because you’re committed to kingdom being a kingdom Christian. That’s why you’re here. But it’s one thing to say, I’m going to commit to being a kingdom Christian. I’m

(01:02) going to go to kingdom fellowship weekend. That’s one thing to say. It is another thing to take kingdom values, the teachings of Jesus and the apostles and apply them to our daily life in real practical ways. And that’s what we want to do this afternoon.

(01:27) We want to delve into uh what does it mean to be a kingdom man? As a matter of fact, as I was listening to Vince last night, I thought I should have titled this Boot Camp for Kingdom Men because we want to delve into some of the real nitty-gritty stuff of what does it mean to be a man of God in a society that is going the other direction and and totally out of touch with kingdom values.

(01:54) And yet here we are as kingdom men trying to live out kingdom values in a world that is averse to kingdom values. So that’s what we want to do this afternoon and sort of to give you an idea of the format of what I want to share. I first of all would like to sort of frame give you a framework for the principles that I want to that I want to uh that I want to bring forth and then I want to follow with four kingdom principles that I believe will define you as a man of God and that will empower you as a man of God to make a difference in the in the kingdom of God.

(02:26) First of all, I want to talk about the influence of one man. The difference that you can make as one man in your family, in your community, in your church community. The difference that one man can make. The Bible is a story of God working through men.

(02:59) And as we read through the Bible, you know, the Bible characters, brother uh Merl had listed some of the Bible characters uh that God used. And the list really is not all that long of the men of God in the Bible who were used by God who made a profound difference who made a profound difference in the working out of God’s plan for humanity. Merle talked about Moses and Daniel and different of them and we’re going to reference some of them as we go along.

(03:24) But be but for now I want I want to impress upon you the significance of one man. And I’d like you to think about stop right now and ponder and think about one man in your life who had such a profound impact upon your life that it changed the course of your life. of course that we we’ve all met Jesus and no one changed our life like Jesus did.

(03:51) But God works through you human instrumentality and God has I’m almost sure that you’re here tonight because some human some man other than Jesus. Jesus was human but I’m talking about some man other than Jesus. You encountered that person and that person challenged you in such a way that your life was turned around and you were turned towards God. It may have been your father. It may have been your pastor. May have been a school teacher.

(04:17) It may have been just someone that that that stepped into your life at a crucial moment in your life. Think about the influence and the impact that one man can have in your life. The eyes of the Lord are running and fro throughout the whole earth that he may show himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are perfect towards him. And if you look that verse up, check the setting.

(04:42) And what is God challenging the king? Was it Asa that you’ve turned to Syria for help? And he said, “Didn’t I help you when uh I don’t remember the country that came against him? Didn’t I did not I help you? And yet now you turn to Syria.” He said, “The eyes of the Lord are look ready to fro throughout the whole earth. He’s looking for men who will trust in him. Men who will p who will commit to following Jesus.

(05:05) ” And then he said, “I’m going to show myself strong on behalf of the one who puts their trust in me.” Researchers tell us that the average person influences 80,000 people in their lifetime for good or for bad. I can’t prove that. And I don’t know how they would ever be able to prove that either. Uh but that’s what you’ll find if you goo Google that. Uh that’s what they’ll tell you. 80,000 people. I don’t know 80,000 people.

(05:34) I don’t know how I would ever influence 80,000 people in my lifetime. And you’re probably thinking the same thing. However, we have a verse in Exodus chapter 20 that I like to reference. Exodus chapter 20 is where the Ten Commandments were given. And God said to Moses, “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.

(05:58) For I, the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.” That’s a lot. Great grandchildren are going to be influenced by your sins. That’s a lot. “And showing mercy unto a thousand generations of them that love me and keep my commandments.” That’s a lot more. I’m saying the influence of godly men is much greater than the influence of ungodly men. God says I’m going.

(06:26) Now, if Exodus chapter 20, it doesn’t say a thousand generations if those of you who are uh the the technocrats out there. But if you will turn to Deuteronomy 7:9, it reads like this. “Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him, and keep his commandments to a thousand generations.”

(06:51) That’s a lot of people. That’s a lot of people. And I’m simply saying today that your life is making a difference. Your life is making a difference in the lives of your children, your grandchildren, your great-grandchildren.

(07:07) And if you are a godly man, faithful in walking with God, that effect of your life is going to ripple down through generations yet to come that you will never know. Now, I know we have a lot of first generation Christians here and I’m always reluctant to talk about my Christian heritage when I realize that there’s people here who probably are first generation Christians and God bless you.

(07:21) When you are become a Christian and join the Anabaptist movement, you you are adopted into the family of God. So, this is your story as well as mine. But I’ve traced my genealogy back to 16 generations to Switzerland. There was a faithful man in Switzerland by the name of Benedict Brechbill who was a Mennonite bishop. He was imprisoned for his faith.

(07:43) He was exiled from from from Switzerland three times. And I realize that because of the faith of that man who was willing to stand for truth against all odds, was willing to go to prison, was willing to suffer exile, was willing to be buffeted for his faith because of that faith.

(08:06) One man of that one man, I have been a recipient of the benefits of the life that that man lived. And I’m telling you today that your life whether you might feel like that you’re not influencing anybody that you’re you’re such an insignificant person that your influence is so small but your life is influencing other people. That’s the first point that I wanted to make.

(08:21) You are making a difference. Also remember this the influence of salt and light. You know light is more powerful than darkness. You can dispel darkness with light, but you cannot dispel light with darkness. Now, if you have been translated, Vince said, from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light, then you are now a lightgiver. So, everywhere you go, you are like a light bulb.

(08:53) Whether you open your mouth and speak or not, whether you just the influence of your life, you are like a light bulb. And everywhere you go, darkness has to flee because light is more powerful than darkness. And so light dispels darkness. Oh, just just the simple fact that we live in this community, the church is light and salt on the earth.

(09:17) And I think we’re having a much more profound impact in the world than what we would tend to um tend to think. Uh we don’t lobby Congress. We don’t run for political office. We do not fly fighter jets. And sometimes we tend to think that we’re just the quiet of the land doing our minding our own business and doing our own thing.

(09:39) But the fact of the matter is that if you are in the kingdom of God, then you are shaping world history because it is the people of God who have shaped world history. Think about Abraham and Lot in their day. God came to Abraham and said, “I’m going to destroy Sodom.” And all of a sudden, Abraham became alarmed because his nephew Lot was living in Sodom. And so Abraham began to plead for Sodom.

(10:00) And you know the story how he worked God down to 10 people. He said, “If there are 10 righteous people in Sodom, will you spare the city of Sodom for 10 righteous people?” And God said, “I will. I will spare Sodom for 10 righteous people.” But there were not 10 righteous people in Sodom. If God will spare Sodom for 10 righteous people, will God spare America for the multitudes of faithful kingdom Christians in America? I’m not going to say that God will not judge America. Maybe he will.

(10:28) But I believe that the the impact the effect of Bible-believing Christians in America is more powerful than all the fighter jets and all the political lobbling lobbying and all the politicians in Washington because we are the preserving influence of our society. I believe that you are making a difference in our country.

(10:53) Okay. I said I wanted to frame this. I need to be careful I don’t spend the whole time framing it. But I want to talk to you. The reason I’m up here is because I’m old. That’s what Joe told me. They wanted to get some old men in the pulpit this this year. And so they called us up here.

(11:10) I didn’t know I was old, but apparently I’m now officially old. Uh, there’s lots of advantages of being old. One of the advantages of being old is that we can look back over our lifetime and we can see the cycles that happen. The cycles that happen. we could see complete cycles happening and then reoccurring and uh so that’s one of the advantages of being old.

(11:33) I like to torment my grandchildren. Uh I like to say to them, I really like your new glasses. You know these dark plastic frames. I say that that’s exactly the kind of glasses that I wore when I was your age. And their nose kind of goes up in the air and they kind of sniff. Uh they don’t like to hear that, but it’s true. They’re exactly the same as what I wore whenever I was a child whenever I was their age, a teenager.

(11:58) So we see these cycles that go around and around and that’s why Solomon said there’s nothing new under the sun. Uh you know these cycles continue to repeat themselves. Well, I want to talk to you about a cycle that I have observed. And what I’m going to share with you right now is my personal observation.

(12:14) And so that is very limited because I live here along the mountain just 12 miles down the mountain and my world is not that large. Okay. So my personal observations is limited by the size of my world. And yet, as a boy growing up I was very observant, and I grew up in the 60s, as I was born in 1959. So I remember the 60s.

(12:39) I remember the 60s and that was quite an interesting time for a young man that observed what was going on because it was the age of the hippies and the yippies and the hippies were walking around with their glasses down under nose, their bell bottom pants, and bare feet flip-flops, and hair dangling down over their shoulders. Uh and this was a time in the hippies. Uh they would get cut off a box top and they would write San Fran on it and we stand out on the road with their thumb out. They went to go to San Francisco.

(13:04) They’re in Chambersburg and they want to go to San Francisco. Like, how’s that going to work? Well, they get there. They actually were able to cross the whole country with no money. The difference between the hippies and the Yippies were the the the the hippies had no money. The Yippies did have money. That was the difference. And that’s how they got around.

(13:23) Well, the 60s are noted also for a sharp decline in morality because it was not only a cultural revolution, it was a sexual revolution as well. They were they were trying to cast off all moral restraints and our society went into a sharp decline in the 60s as young people slept around with whoever was available and lived very loose lives.

(13:49) That was part of the hippie culture and part of the 60s uh 60s generation is sometimes referred to as a sexual revolution because it was it was a it was a time when our nation uh slid morally. There was a major landslide moral landslide in our culture. That was part of the 60s.

(14:16) Then we move into the 70s and in the 70s girls especially began to wake up and they began to realize that if these guys are not going to take care of us, if they are going to just use us and abandon us, if they are not going to take care of us, then we are going to have to take care of ourselves. And so guess what happened in the 70s? In the 70s we have the um not the beginnings of but the expan explosion of uh feminism. Even fathers were telling their daughters, you’ve got to get an education.

(14:47) You’ve got to get a vocation. You’ve got to get a job. You can’t rely on the men. They’re not going to take care of you. You need to take care of yourself. And so we have the rise of feminism in the 70s. And now we have got the genders at war with one another. um rejecting one another, at war with one another.

(15:12) And so, do you want to guess what happens in the 80s and 90s? Now, we have the outburst of homosexuality where homosexuality comes out of the closet and becomes onto the public forum. Okay? We have this cycle. And I would like to make this statement that when men fail to defend the virtue of women and rather exploit them, women turn to other women for emotional and spiritual support. I saw that cycle lived out in my lifetime.

(15:49) Why are we talking about that? Because he’s an old man and he’s stuck in history. No. The reason we’re talking about that tonight or today is that unfortunately I see that same cycle repeating itself in our Anababaptist churches. And that’s why I’m talking to you men about that. When men fail to defend the virtue of women and rather exploit them, women turn away from male leadership and they turn to other women, women’s groups, women’s support groups for their spiritual and their emotional support. What are we going to do about that? Rail against the women? How about becoming a godly man?

(16:30) How about becoming the kind of man that a woman is going to look up to? She is going to respect him. She is going to want to follow him. She is going to want him to be her leader. How about becoming that kind of a man? I’m saying we’re men. What? Rise up, oh man of God.

(16:55) What should our response be in a society that is that is militating against masculinity and male leadership? What should our response be? Well, we can fight back on the same plane that they are. No, we’re men. We’re going to defend our masculinity. We’re going to defend our rights as a man. We are going to fight for our freedom as a man.

(17:15) We can fight back on the same at on this and and what you’re going to have? You’re going to have a war. That’s what you’re going to have. Or we could turn to the word of God and prayerfully ask God, what does it mean to be a man of God in our day? And that’s what I want that’s where I want to take you here shortly. But before I do that, I want to share this with you because this shook me to the core when I realized what’s going on in our world today.

(17:46) My wife found this online. It’s a um it’s the meet the the minutes of a meeting that was held in New York City in 1969. It was called a conscious raising exercise to advance the goals of communism and Marxism. They were a group of people gathered around a table.

(18:18) They had one person as their leader and they were going through this litany in a lurggical manner. It was almost like lurggical worship because that’s really what it was. So imagine a group of people sitting around a table with one person at the head of the table leading out in this exercise. And here’s what they did. The leader would ask a question and then the group would respond with the answer.

(18:43) Okay? So here’s how this lurggical worship went. Why are we here today? To make a revolution. What kind of a revolution? A cultural revolution. How do we make a cultural revolution? By destroying the American family. How do we destroy the American family? By destroying the patriarchs. How do we destroy the American patriarch? By taking away his power.

(19:22) How do we take away his power? By destroying monogamy. How do we destroy monogamy? Listen. By promoting promiscuity, eroticism, prostitution, and homosexuality. They proposed to advance these goals by establishing the National Organization of Women. They desired nothing less than the utter deconstruction of Western society.

(19:54) But the only way to do this was by invading every institution of America. the media, the educational system, high schools, school boards, the judiciary, the legislature, and even the library system. This was 1969. I’ve observed them invading every one of those institutions of America. Feminism has invaded our country like a cancer and it is undermining the strength of our nation.

(20:37) How do we resist this? By being the men that God has called us to be. And that’s what we need to do. I need to keep moving or I’m going to run out of time. Oh, another thought that I want to share with you yet. No, I’m going to skip over that. Okay, we’re going to talk about uh what does it mean to be a man of God in our country? And I just want to tell you that I don’t know what you’re expecting me to say.

(21:07) But biblical principles are so averse to our carnal nature and so averse to our natural man and so averse to what we the the the the vibes that we get from our society in general. Uh and and so as we go as we go through this, think about that. Okay, I’m committed to being a kingdom Christian. So I’m going to apply this. I’m not going to look out there to figure out how to be a man.

(21:32) I’m going to look in here to figure out how to be a man. Okay? We need to have that perspective if we’re going to be a kingdom man. So, those of you who are committed to being a kingdom man, listen closely because we’re going to look in here to the word of God to discover the principles that kingdom men live by. The first principal talk about is that kingdom men live by kingdom principles.

(21:55) Okay, that’s pretty that’s pretty uh basic. That’s kind of assumed. But what do we mean by that? What do we mean by kingdom principles? Well, I’m going to turn to Philippians chapter 2 to answer that question. What do we mean by kingdom principles? Philippians chapter 2, uh, verse 5, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.

(22:23) That would be a kingdom value, wouldn’t it? To have the mind of Christ, to think like Christ thinks. Paul said, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” This was the mind of Jesus Christ, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, took upon himself the form of a servant, was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

(22:55) Oh, I thought it was going to be something exciting. I thought it was be something noble. I thought it was going to be something that I could use my strength and prove myself. This is noble. This is noble. This is where the power comes from. Because of this, God has highly exalted him and given him a name that is greater than any name.

(23:13) That is the name of Jesus. Every knee should bow and every tongue should confess with God. If you want to have power with God, if you want the power of God to be real in your life, manifested in your life, then this is the journey that we need to go under. This is the journey that we need to take. We need to humble ourselves. We need to learn to serve others.

(23:36) We need to set aside our reputation. How much energy do you spend defending your reputation? How much energy do you spend building an empire so that you have a good name? so that people look up to you and so that you appear to be someone great in this world. You want to be a kingdom Christian.

(23:59) How about choosing another path? How about humbling ourselves and choosing a life of humility and brokenness? Jesus said in John 12, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone.” And that’s what’s going to happen if you’re going to try to build an empire for yourself. You might make a name for yourself.

(24:23) You might be able to accomplish your goals in life and you might be able to build an empire, but it will just be you. It’ll just be your empire. It won’t be building the kingdom of God. I want to share with you an experience that I had. And again, I’m not sharing this. I’m I’m sharing this in all humility because this was this was one I’ve said it this way. I’ve been a tough nut to crack.

(24:53) God has had to use some really difficult uh things in my life to bring me to brokenness. And I’m always afraid that he’s not done yet. Uh you know, it’s like what’s he going to bring? What’s what what next is going to happen? But I would like to take you back to 2012 one evening one event uh when I was uh at the bottom I was I was overcome I was experiencing it’s like three major crisis in my life converged into one uh ma big crisis and I was at the bottom. I was like, God, I can’t handle this anymore.

(25:27) I am tired of this. This is this is I please deliver me from this. Uh I can’t go on this way. I want peace. I want peace at all costs. Just take away these crises in my life and give me peace. And you know, God responds in such a gracious, mild manner. And God began to speak to me.

(25:50) Did God ever speak to you? Does God speak to you? If you have the Holy Spirit living within you, God will speak to you. God began speaking to me in that still small voice. And he said to me, “Oh, you want peace, do you?” “Well, would you be willing? Would you be willing to put your dreams for the future? Would you be willing to lay that on the altar and I was sitting there lying there.

(26:15) I was on a recliner right beside the uh wood stove. And the wood stove became my altar. And God said to me, would you be willing to place your dreams for the future on the altar?” And it was like my dreams for the future. Well, if I do that, I won’t have a future, but God, I want peace at all costs. So, if that’s the path to peace, I put my dreams for the future on the altar.

(26:38) And then God spoke to me again. He said, “You want peace? Would you be willing to put your vision for the church? Would you be willing to lay that on the altar?” You see, the three crisis that I was experiencing, I’m going to tell you what they were. And I’ve never done this before, but I’ll tell you what they were. One of them was a was a business failure.

(26:59) One of them was having been passed over for administrative role in the church, and another one was a relationship that I could not fix. And uh so God said, “Will you put your vision for the church on the altar?” I’m like, “God, but you gave that to me. If it wasn’t my vision, it’s your vision. You gave it to me, but will you be willing to put it on the church on the altar?” And so I said, “God, I want peace. I am tired of this struggle.

(27:22) ” Yes, I put my vision for the church onto the altar. Whatever you have for us, that’s what it will be. I put my vision, my vision on the altar. Then God said to me, he continued to speak to me. And I don’t know that I recall all of the things. But I remember he asked me to lay my reputation on the altar. My reputation.

(27:41) But God, that’s what people think about me. If I lay my reputation on the altar, please take good care of it because I’m on the altar. On the altar. We lay it on the altar. And you know what I discovered? You cannot defend your reputation and God’s reputation at the same time. It’s one or the other. You can’t do both.

(28:04) And so I said, “God, my reputation is on the altar. It’s on the altar. Do with it as you will.” God had said, “Will you be willing to put your ministry on the altar?” But God, you called me to this. This was a good work. Why do you want me to put that on the And I discovered, you know, I discovered you can hold a very, very good thing in a very, very bad way.

(28:22) You can hold a good thing in a bad way. God said, “Will you put your ministry on the altar?” Okay, God. I put my ministry on the altar. Until God was done with me that night, I was empty. This word, this passage in uh Philippians chapter 2 is sometimes called the kinosis of Christ. And the word kinosis means the emptying out of himself.

(28:44) Just the total emptying out of himself. So that uh so that there was nothing in Christ’s life or ministry that was that was intended to exalt or glorify himself. When they came to make him a king, he he ran away. uh he he was totally he totally poured himself out for the kingdom of kingdom of God. Uh when after I had gone through this, I was sharing this experience with a brother one time and he said, “Yes, yes, God does that for to us.

(29:19) When we get serious about walking with God, serious about serving God, he will ask us to put things on the altar.” And this brother went on to say that when we put things on the altar, God does with that one of two thing, one of three things. Sometimes he will keep it.

(29:42) Sometimes he will give it back in a sanctified form and sometimes he will give it to somebody else. Ouch. But that I have found that that is exactly what happened. Some of the things God kept. Some of the things God gave back in a sanctified form. And some of the things God gave to somebody else. But you know what? It’s all good.

(30:08) After I had experienced that that that after I had that experience, I felt very very empty. I felt depleted. I felt like a nobody after I’d experienced that. And it took some time until God until faith replaced all of that self-centered stuff. And God began to work in my life a fresh and a new in fresh and new ways. And he gets all of the glory because there’s nothing in me that is worthy of any glory. So men of the kingdom live by kingdom principles.

(30:42) Men of the kingdom uh live by kingdom principles. And and I like to take people back to the sermon on the mount where where Jesus said this is the words of Jesus. Love your enemies. Bless them that do that that curse you. Do good to them that hate you. Pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you, that ye may be the children of your father which is in heaven. For he sends rain on the evil and the good and causes his son to shine on the on the just and on the unjust.

(31:06) God does that. So he says we are supposed to love our enemies. Uh and we we read that verse. We said, “Oh yes, that’s a kingdom principle. We’re all for it. We’re all for it.

(31:23) If China ever invades America and we’ve got Chinese soldiers swarming around to these mountains, we’re going to put food out for them and we’re going to love them and we’re just going to do like Jesus said, right? We have the all these brave kingdom commitments that we have. But what about if your enemy is a brother in the church? What about if your enemy is your wife? Do these principles apply? Then all of a sudden this comes home, doesn’t it? When we have to take these principles and apply them right within our own home or right within our own church community, suddenly we realize that, oh, this is what Jesus was talking about. But you know what? Men of the kingdom are going to do it and women of

(32:04) the kingdom are going to do it too. This these are principles that turn into um shoe leather in our relationships. Okay, we need to hurry on. Men of the kingdom are also men of covenant. And for this I want to turn to uh Ephesians chapter 5. And I’m not going to bother reading it because I don’t have time.

(32:28) But Ephesians chapter 5, we have uh this is this is the greatest text on on marriage. And we have this verse where it says in verse 23 is where I want to begin. The husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church. And he is the savior of the body. And that’s a verse that is written to wives. So we husbands don’t need to read that.

(32:50) But for uh your sake because I know that you most of you have already memorized it. I’m going to uh expound on it. Okay. The husband is the head of the wife. So we all have a head, don’t we? So we should understand what that means. Uh our head is the center of the of the central nervous system of our body. Uh all of the nerves in our body uh are connected to our brain.

(33:13) Unless there’s some doctors here who explain that reflexes do not go through the brain, but we’re not going to talk about that. Uh it messes up the analogy. Uh so all of the nerves in our body are connected to our brain. And so let’s assume if you have any contractors here, uh remember back in the old days, contractors used to drive 20 penny ring shanks with a 24 or 30 ounce hammer. And let’s assume that you’re a contractor driving 20 penny ring shanks with a 30 ounce hammer on a cold January morning.

(33:37) It’s a single-digit temperatures. It’s cold. You’ve got your gloves on because your fingers are cold. And uh you’re trying to keep warm. So you’re really going at it. And you’re driving these deals, driving these deals, driving these deals. And all of a sudden, it happens. The hammer slips off of the nail.

(33:53) It comes crashing down on the wrong nail. Now, what happens? Well, your thumb, left thumb, sends out an SOS signal to your head and it goes something like this. I have been smashed and I’m hurting very, very badly. Please send help. And so, your head processes this information very, very quickly and sends out a message to your right hand and says to your right hand, “Left thumb is throbbing.

(34:18) lay that hammer down and get over there as quickly as possible because left thumb is having an emergency.” And so the right hand lays the hammer down, rushes over to left field and gives left thumb a big squeeze and left thumb is greatly comforted. Now the husband is the head of the wife and he is the savior of the body. That means that he is responsible for her health and well-being.

(34:50) You’re the head. That means that you need to be constantly monitoring her health and her well-being, spiritual, emotional, physical, financial, everything. You you’re supposed to be constantly monitoring that. And as her head, you’re going to be responding to her needs accordingly because you are the savior of the body.

(35:18) Just as Christ constantly is monitoring his bride and is constantly uh responding in ways to help and ensure the health and the and the and the and and the success of his bride. In that same way, you are responsible for the health and the well-being of your wife. Okay, moving on. Husbands, love your wives. Verse 25 in this chapter. Husbands, love your wives even as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it.

(35:51) This is one of the most profound verses in the Bible to husbands because it calls us to a calling that is beyond us. Okay, we we read that verse and we’re like, “Yeah, that’s that’s what I want to do.” Uh but what does that mean? What does that mean? How can I love my wife the way Jesus loved his bride? And I’m running out of time, so I don’t have time to open this up like I would like to. But I would like to suggest four things that Jesus did. Jesus loved his bride sacrificially.

(36:20) He laid down his life for his bride. And let me just say this. Women are called to submit. Men are called to lay down their lives for their wife. Tell me which is the greater sacrifice? To submit to a godly leader or to lay down your life for your beautiful wife? Which is the greater sacrifice? You see, they kind of counterbalance each other, don’t they? the it’s not like God hasn’t called women into some sort of subs sub subservative uh role where she’s just constantly let doing for her husband and and gets no return for it. Husbands are called to lay down their lives for their wife.

(36:53) We’re talking about kingdom concepts here. Uh Jesus loved his bride redemptively. His bride was not this good glowing radiant bride who loved him. Actually, he came unto his own. His own received him not. uh and yet he provided redemption for her. Uh if you find in your wife that there she has spots and wrinkles, she has uh areas of fears, insecurities, then you’re going to love her accordingly.

(37:26) You’re going to love her uh so that she is able to rise above that and become the uh the ultimate what what God has called her to be. And we’ll probably have more on that tonight. He loved his bride purposefully. He came he came for the intent of winning her and wooing her and drawing her unto herself. And today the love of Christ constrains us. The love of Christ is what motivates us to w to live this life and to walk this life.

(37:52) It’s because of our love relationship with Jesus Christ that we’re here today. It’s because of our love with love relationship with Jesus Christ that we turn our back on the world. The love of Christ constrains us. And uh Jesus loved his bride faithfully or purposefully. He also loved his bride faithfully. Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.

(38:11) I want you to move next to the sec the third my third point is that men men kingdom men are men of integrity. Men of integrity. A man a man who is of integrity is the man who is the same on the inside as he on the outside. And you know it is a wonderful freedom. As a matter of fact, I don’t think you’re going to become the man of God that God wants you to be if you’re living a double life.

(38:36) If you’re trying to cover up some sort of secret sin in your life and and yet you’re trying to pose as this kingdom Christian, uh you’ve got a tough road to hoe. That is very very difficult. Men of faith are men of integrity. They are on the inside what they are on the outside. They are committed to living a life of integrity. When I think of this, I think of uh the of the prophet Daniel.

(39:00) I love the prophet Daniel, the example that he gave us. Uh remember it says that he purposed in his heart. He’s not going to defile himself with the king’s meat. Now, Daniel was a young Jewish boy. He had every opportunity. He was chosen out of all of these captives. He was chosen for the king’s court.

(39:17) And he could have he could have been like, “Wow, this is my chance to become great in the uh in the nation of Babylon.” I mean, Babylon is the most powerful nation on earth. and I’ve been chosen to serve in the king’s court. But Daniel knew who he was and he would not defile himself with the king’s meat. He would not he he refused to allow himself to be assimilated to Babylonian culture. He refused to worship Babylonian gods. He refused to eat Babylonian food. He knew who he was.

(39:46) And that’s my point to you today. Know who you are. Do you know who you are? Do you know your Do you have that identity? Does is that identity with Christ? Your identity with Christ is that what drives everything in your life? Is that the primary motivation of your life that you know who you are? Daniel knew who he was.

(40:11) The interesting thing that I one one of the things that’s very interesting about Daniel is that Daniel served the king of Babylon. He served Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel served under — if my history is my research is correct — six kings. Three Babylonian kings and three kings of Medo-Persia. He served under Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzer, and there was a king in there that we don’t read much about, Evil-Merodach, which would have Daniel would have served through him. And then the whole world power shifts. The the Medes and the Persians invade Babylon.

(40:43) Belshazzer is killed and the Medes and the Persians take over the city of Babylon. Does that disturb Daniel? Is that the end of Daniel’s career? No. He goes on serving in the Medo-Persian empire. He now is serving under Darius the Mede and then Ahasuerus and then Cyrus. He continues to serve. It’s like this guy’s living on a different kingdom.

(41:08) He’s surviving all of these the kingdoms of the world, rise and fall, but Daniel keeps on, he keeps on prospering. He keeps on serving. It’s like this guy’s disconnected to the national calamities. He’s disconnected from the things that are going on in the world. Why am I saying that? Because sometimes we men get caught up. We think, “Oh, we got to get the right man in office. We got to go out there and vote. We got to lobby Congress.

(41:34) We got to we got to do this. We got to do that relying on the political system of this world thinking that it’s going to advance the kingdom of God.” No, it’s the other way around. It is the kingdom of God that influences and impacts the kingdoms of this world. We see that in the life of Daniel and we can see that throughout history. The kingdom of God impacts the kingdoms of this world.

(41:57) If you want to make a difference for America, then you be a man of God and be committed to kingdom values. And that will have more of an impact than going out there and and and running for Congress or Okay. I don’t know if I should do this or not because I am running out of time, but I’m going to do it anyway.

(42:22) Uh, my wife has a friend who was on a search to know who she was and so she went through the Bible and she printed this document, all the verses in the Bible, and there’s only one verse per line. all the verses in the Bible where God talks about she wanted to she her question was what does God think about me? What does God say about me? And so she went through the Bible and she wrote out all of the verses that talk about what God says about me. You are a saint if sanctified in Christ. You are my son and daughter. You are sanctified by my word of truth. You are the house of God.

(43:01) You are given my glory. You are siblings of Christ. You’re a partaker of Christ. You are mine belonging to me. All of these verses about what God says about me. Now, you will not find this in the Apocrypha or in the writings of the early church fathers. This is God speak. This is the word of God. And you’re going to have to turn to the word of God to find this.

(43:23) If you want to know what God thinks about you, open your Bible and read the Bible and you will find out what God says about you. This was so encouraging and uh we have blessed this young lady tremendously and uh find this to be constant a constant encouragement. Do you know who you are in Christ Jesus? Is your position in Christ secure? Um you know who you are in Christ. If you know who you are, it’s going to direct it’s going to impact your life. It’s going to shape your life.

(43:54) Okay, moving on because I think I have another one. Oh yes, men of the kingdom are men who exercise their kingdom authority, their dominion authority. You were created to have dominion authority. You were not created to live in bondage. You were not created to be a slave. You were created to be a free man. We have in Genesis, 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 fowl of the air.

(44:34) ” You were created to have dominion. You were not created to be in bondage. You were created to have dominion. What happened? Well, we have the fall where Adam was standing there by the tree of knowledge of good and evil and he watched his wife reach out and partake of the forbidden fruit and he didn’t open his mouth. He said nothing.

(44:56) He was more concerned about his relationship with this beautiful being than he was about his relationship with God. And so he forfeited dominion authority for the benefit of his connection with this beautiful being which God had brought to him.

(45:21) He forfeited dominion authority and as a result we’ve lost we lost dominion authority through the fall. That’s not the end of the story. Believe me, we serve a redemptive God. Fast forward fast forward 4,000 years to the Garden of Gethsemane. And there we have Jesus praying in the garden and uh prayed not my will but thine be done. And he chose to embrace his humanity and suppress his divinity. He was both God and man. 100% God, 100% man.

(45:50) He chose to suppress his divinity, embrace his humanity, and he allowed mankind to bind him. Can you bind God with ropes? No. So Jesus allowed himself to be bound with ropes. He allowed himself to be led away. He allowed himself to be tried in a in in kisa court and again in pilot’s court. He stood still. He didn’t open his mouth. He didn’t defend himself. He allowed himself to be tried uh wrongfully tried.

(46:22) He allowed himself to be tied to a uh pillery. uh he allowed himself to be whipping whipped nine. Uh he allowed himself he he w he took upon himself the cross. He willfully he chose to bear his cross to Calvary. He laid down on the cross. Allowed himself to be nailed to the cross. Allowed them to lift the cross.

(46:49) He remained on the cross. Even though the crowd was saying, “If you’re the son of God, come down for the cross.” Mocking him. He allowed himself he he he chose to remain on the cross. He he died. He was buried. And Peter tells us that whenever he was buried, he went and he preached unto the spirits in prison.

(47:09) And I wish I could have been there to hear what he said. Uh and I believe what that means is that he went into the place of the dead. And if you want to know more about that, read Luke 15 where we had the story of Lazarus and the rich man. And you see both of them are in places of the dead.

(47:23) Jesus went into Hades and he preached to the spirits in the prison and he I would like to think that this is what he said to them. I am here. I am your Messiah. Get ready. In three days, we are out of here. And three days later, the morning of the third day, the earth began to tremble and the iron bars burst open.

(47:51) And Jesus came forth as a victorious conqueror, victorious over death, hell, and the grave. He came forth in power and in great victory. He fully embraced his divinity and suppressed his humanity and came forth in great power and victory. And that’s not the end of the story. That’s not the end of the story. That’s actually only the beginning.

(48:12) We read in Romans that if we are dead with Christ, we can also live with him. We read that the the power that raised Jesus forth, the spirit that brought Jesus out of the grave. If that spirit is dwelling within you, that spirit is going to empower you so that you’re going to be able to do things that you can’t normally do. Like go to Roxbury and preach to 1500 people.

(48:33) The spirit of God will empower you to do things above and beyond what your natural carnal man is able to do. And I’m out of time, but I want to read from Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. Because it is such a glorious text. Romans chapter 8. There is therefore, and I what what I’m saying is some of you are here and you are struggling against the flesh. You you you have allowed yourself to come into bondage.

(48:58) That is not the will of God for you. The will of God for you is that you will rise to newness of life. The will of God for you is that you will live in victory over sin and victory over the flesh. And just notice what Paul says in Romans chapter 8. There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

(49:24) The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus is more powerful than and has delivered me from the law of sin and death. Because what the law couldn’t do that it was weak through the flesh. The law was limited to what the flesh was able to do. Uh so it was weak.

(49:41) “God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin judge sin and flesh so that the righteous of the law” might become a living reality in our lives. Those of us who are living not according to the flesh but according to the spirit. You have to have the holy spirit living within you in order to experience that.

(49:59) But it is a supernatural power that is given to those who are living in the spirit. Those who are living, those who are walking with Jesus, those who are those who are born again and walking with Jesus. For they that are after the flesh, they bind the things of the flesh. The people that are after the flesh, all they can think of is how can I overcome this problem? How can I fix this problem? I need to go and see my counselor uh who uh is uh the professional in uh in popular psychology and he will give me the tools and the methods that that’s after the flesh.

(50:32) Okay, that’s after the flesh. Uh that that the that the uh they that are after the flesh, they mind the things of the flesh. They have to go to their they have to go to their psychologist to get uh tools to help them. But they that are after the spirit, they mind the things of the spirit. And I’m here to tell you that the spirit of God is able to transform your life.

(50:56) The spirit of God is able to lift you up above the things that you’re experiencing, the things that are pulling you down, bogging you down. Be it sin, be it depression, be it fear, whatever it is that is withhold that is preventing you from becoming everything that God wants you to be.

(51:12) The spirit of God is able to bring you into the victory that is ours in Christ Jesus. “The carnal mind’s enmity against God, for it’s not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh that cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if the so be the spirit of God dwelleth in you.

(51:26) Now if any man have not that spirit of Christ, he is none of his. If Christ be in you, the body is dead regarding sin. The body does not respond to sin. But the spirit is life regarding righteousness.” I don’t have time for that. “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh to live after the flesh. For if you live after the flesh, it’s going to lead to death,” spiritual death, and all kinds of bad stuff. If you live after the flesh, it’s going to drag you down.

(51:53) It’s going to destroy you. But if you through the spirit do mortify, reckon the deeds of the body to be dead, then you shall experience life. For as many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God. You have not received the spirit of bondage. God did not create you to be in bondage. You did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear. He did not save you to live in bondage.

(52:18) “But you have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father.” That’s about a relationship. We can have a relationship with our creator, a relationship with holy God. We can know what God thinks about us and we can live in that reality. “As many as are led by the spirit of you have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father because the spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.

(52:41) And if children then heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ if so be that we suffer with him that we may be glorified together. So we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ that we may be glorified together.” I’ll comment on that briefly then I will take my seat.

(53:02) You know, whenever there’s an inheritance to be divided, you have $100,000 inheritance and you have five children, every child gets $20,000 and everybody’s happy. However, if you’re a joint heir, that means and you have $100,000 inheritance and you have five children, then that means that every child gets $100,000. And you say, “That’s not mathematical possible.” Well, in the kingdom of God, we operate by different principles.

(53:24) And in the kingdom of God, it is possible for every person, every heir to inherit the entire uh inheritance. We can experience all of the power. There is no limit to the power of God. There is no limit to the grace of God. God is not limited by your limitations. God is not limited in any way. All of us can get to enjoy all of it. So remember these three concepts.

(53:48) Men of the kingdom are men who live by biblical principles even if they don’t make sense in the world that we live. Men of the kingdom are men of integrity. They are men who are solid through and through. Men of the kingdom are men of um uh of covenant. They understand covenant love. They understand the nature of covenant. That covenant cannot be broken. Covenant endures.

(54:11) They’re they’re covenant-keeping people. Men of the kingdom are men of dominion. They do not allow themselves to be brought into bondage. They are men who live in freedom. They experience the power of God in their lives in real and life-changing ways. And if we can live that way, then we can change our family and we can have a powerful impact on our church. And I believe that we can have a powerful impact on our nation.

(54:37) God bless you.