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Biblical Masculinity · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

0:00
I got to be home.
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Wes and I got off the airplane and we could finally control what was going on.
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And so we walked so quickly.
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And I think we were about to break into a run trying to get to baggage claim in time.
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Because we could finally control the pace at which things were happening.
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We saw people who rode the tram beat us to the baggage claim.
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But at least we felt like we were in control of making it happen.
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And I told Wes on the way home, we're not going to get home if I wreck.
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So I got to slow down.
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So I'm so eager to be back with my family.
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As a husband and a father.
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So I kind of foolishly took on the task of preaching this morning.
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Being on this trip and being busy, busy and going, going.
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And I decided at the beginning of the trip that I was going to preach a Father's Day sermon this morning.
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But the scope of what I want to talk about today is larger than that.
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Certainly includes being a father, but is bigger than that.
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What I want to talk about this morning is masculinity.
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What does it mean to be a man?
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Now ladies, I know that the temptation now will be to check out.
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There's lots of things going on in your life.
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You can begin to work through some of those things now.
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But if you are single, you should pay attention this morning.
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Because this is what you want to look for in a man.
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If you're not, you need to know how to pray for your men.
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Because the task that's been given to us, the special role that we've been given as men in this world is a huge one.
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And we need your prayers.
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So what does it mean to be masculine?
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What does that look like?
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Culture gives us some definition of that.
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We look around at fallen men.
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Culture gives us some idea of what that might look like.
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The car you drive.
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How muscly you are.
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How well groomed you are.
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The clothes you wear.
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The power job that you have.
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But ultimately, all these things are a shadow of what once was.
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Before the fall, Adam, the first man, was masculine in completion.
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He was a planetary king.
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He was given the world to rule.
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And then he sinned.
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And sin totally corrupted that nature.
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And in all of us men, there is this desire to get back to that place.
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We all carry the burden of sin.
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Which says to us, you are a failure.
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We all know that if we were set on the scale of masculinity, we would be found wanting.
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So all the things we do, the things that culture defines as masculine, are an attempt to get back to that place.
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That's why we love competition.
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Right?
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Because we want to be kings.
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We want to rule.
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We want to dominate over others.
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That's why we get so into sports.
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Because we want to even just relate to a team that's winning.
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Very few diehard fans stick with a team when they're losing.
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Right?
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We want to flip-flop to the team that's winning.
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Because we want to be in charge.
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We want jobs where we call the shots.
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We want to drive cars that make it look like we're in charge.
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And it's all trying to get back to that Adamic nature.
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We're all trying to get back to that place where we are planetary kings once again.
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Invincible ruling the world.
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Since corrupted it, hasn't it?
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Unfortunately, we have a way back to that place, which we'll get to soon.
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But for us to really understand what masculinity looks like, we have to go back pre-corruption.
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We have to go back before the fall and look at the creation of Adam and Eve and the way they were meant to operate together.
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So turn with me to Genesis chapter 1.
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Moses wrote the book of Genesis under the inspiration of the Spirit.
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In chapter 1, he gives us an account of the creation.
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And then he repeats that account in chapter 2 with varying detail.
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In chapter 1, verse 27, he kind of zooms in a bit on what's going on on the sixth day.
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He says,
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So God created man in his own image.
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In the image of God, he created him.
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Male and female, he created them.
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So he zooms in to say something very important to us about man and woman.
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And that is that they are equal.
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They're both created in the image of God.
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Both with the same rights, the same responsibilities, the same things we must answer to God for.
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In chapter 2, he gives us another account of the creation.
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Not that it happened again, but he's re-explaining some things for us.
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And once again, he zooms in.
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He zooms in tight.
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He gives us some details, which I believe that he was inspired to do for some specific reasons.
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Look at Genesis chapter 2, verse 7.
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Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.
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And the man became a living creature.
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And then verse 15.
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The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and to keep it.
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And the Lord God commanded the man, saying,
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You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat.
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For in the day you eat of it you shall surely die.
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Then the Lord God said,
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It is not good that the man should be alone.
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I will make a helper fit for him.
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Verse 20.
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But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.
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So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man.
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And while he slept, took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.
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And the ribs of the Lord God had taken from the man he made into woman and brought her to man.
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Then the man said,
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This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.
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She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man.
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So this account has purpose.
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The reason it was recorded for us, once again, we've seen that they were created as equals.
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But now we're seeing something else.
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We're seeing that man was created first and then woman.
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Why is that?
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Man was created first and then woman.
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It's to show that men are to be the leaders in our relationships.
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Paul certainly understood that as he wrote his letter to Timothy.
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His first letter to Timothy, under the inspiration of the Spirit.
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So let me give you a definition of mature masculinity to help us wrap our minds around what we're going to talk about.
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And this is stolen from John Piper.
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I'll give him credit where credit is due.
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At the heart of mature masculinity.
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I catch that.
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Mature masculinity.
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The heart of mature masculinity is a sense of a benevolent responsibility to lead, provide for, and protect women in ways appropriate to a man's varying relationships.
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I'll repeat that for you again.
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You don't have to write it down.
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Just kind of wrap your mind around it.
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At the heart of mature masculinity is a sense of a benevolent responsibility to lead, provide for, and protect women in ways appropriate to a man's varying relationships.
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So catch what Piper is saying.
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And I think it's entirely biblically founded.
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Our masculinity is measured by how we relate to women.
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Who we are as men is measured by how we relate to the opposite sex.
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The control group.
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The fixed thing.
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The comparison thereof is what makes us masculine.
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Otherwise, we're a closed group of men, right?
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What makes us men?
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Our bodies.
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The way we were created.
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That makes us men.
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What makes us masculine is how we relate to women.
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And the first way that we relate to women that's so key is that we are to lead.
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Ladies, this in no way takes away what Genesis 127 says.
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It's just a different role.
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And a man who leads properly is a man you will gladly follow.
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So mature masculinity leads spiritually.
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Now we saw up in 2.16.
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God gives Adam a command.
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You may surely eat of every tree of the garden.
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Verse 17.
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But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat.
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From the day you eat of it, you shall surely die.
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So God gives Adam the moral code of the garden.
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And he's told Adam, work the garden, live in the garden, be fed by the garden.
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There's just one thing you're not supposed to do.
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He gives that command to Adam.
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Once we see Eve created, God doesn't repeat that command.
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He gives the command to Adam.
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And the assumption there is that Adam was responsible to pass the command on to his bride.
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We get some further evidencing of that in Genesis 3, 9 and 11.
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After the fall.
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Who does God go to first?
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Not to Eve, the originator of the sin, but to Adam.
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He holds Adam accountable.
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He says,
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But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, where are you?
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And in verse 11, he said, who told you that you were naked?
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Have you eaten of the tree which I commanded you not to eat?
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So here Adam is given a command and he's held fully accountable for it, even though Eve was the one that sinned first.
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And why do you think Satan tempted Eve first?
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Why do you think that he went after Eve instead of Adam?
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Some have said it's because she was weaker.
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She was the weaker of the sexes.
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I don't believe that to be true at all.
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I think that Satan went after it that way because he was intending to corrupt the order that God had set aside.
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He was intending to go after the very thing that God had already ordered in the world.
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That man came first and then woman.
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He flipped it on its head and he stood back and laughed and said, boy, now they're never going to be able to sort this mess out.
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Man's going to constantly try to lord over women and then blame them for everything.
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And isn't that what happens?
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Isn't that exactly what happens?
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Adam says, the woman told me to do it.
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In all that moment, we see the whole thing reversed.
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Rather than leading as he ought to, he just listened to her and did what she said.
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So Satan knew exactly what he was doing.
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So mature masculinity leads spiritually.
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Do we do that, men?
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Do we lead our wives?
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The other women around us, that definition I read, spoke of varying relationships.
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Single men, do you lead those around you?
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Are you an example for the women around you in spiritual matters?
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I'm afraid that we're not.
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I'm so thankful that I get to preach from the word of God and I don't have to stand up here and show you my life.
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Except myself as the example.
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Because I failed in so many of these things.
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Do you lead your family spiritually?
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Are you on the front edge of leading?
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I doubt it.
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Mature masculinity also leads selflessly.
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Our definition says that man has a sense of a benevolent responsibility.
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Jesus says in Luke chapter 22, verse 26.
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Let the greatest among you become as the youngest and the leader as one who serves.
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So mature masculinity does not assume authority, but advocates it through love.
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Mature masculinity does not assume authority, but advocates it through love.
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Ephesians chapter 5, verse 23 and 25.
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For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church.
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His body and himself its savior.
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Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.
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Do we follow Christ because he's commanded it so?
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That ought to be enough, shouldn't it?
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That should be it.
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Rule of the universe said to do it.
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We should do it.
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But we follow Christ because he loves us so much.
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The way he laid his life down for us.
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The sacrifices he gives.
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The provision he gives in our lives.
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That's why we follow Christ.
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And men, we should be the same way.
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Benevolent.
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Encouraging and leading the women around us to follow us.
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They will gladly follow the man that leads in this way.
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Mature masculinity also leads to Christ.
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Now, the man does not stand in the position of Christ in the church quite the way Christ does.
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Because he's not Christ, is he?
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We're kind of a caretaker.
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Christ has put us in a position to lead our wives and the women around us.
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Not to ourselves, lest we set ourselves up as Christ, but to Christ himself.
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So the relationship isn't exactly the same because we're not the supreme ruler.
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Our job is to lead the women around us to Christ.
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Mature masculinity leads in discipline.
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Fathers, do you leave the responsibility of disciplining your children to your wives?
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Do you stand by while they whine and complain, waiting for your wife to do something about it?
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Are you first in that?
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Do you lead in that?
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Do your children look at you and say,
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Hey, my dad's in charge around here.
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My dad is setting the moral code around here.
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I better not transgress the law of this household or else I'll receive the wrath of my father.
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That's a hard job, man.
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I've got one that just turned one.
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And we're getting to that constant discipline stage.
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And it is hard.
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And I don't want to do it sometimes.
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He breaks my heart.
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Pokes that little bottom lip out.
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But it is my responsibility.
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And I pray that I'm not sure of that responsibility at all.
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Mature masculinity not only provides, which we'll get to in a second, but it also leads financially.
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Men, are we an example to the women around us on how we ought to deal with our finances?
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I think a lot of Christian households, there's a strain.
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Men trying to be Adamic, trying to gain for themselves the stuff that makes them men amass things for their hobbies.
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And the wives who say, but honey, we can't afford that.
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The opposite should be true.
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James Dobson wrote in a book called Straight Talk to Men and Their Wives.
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A Christian man is obligated to lead his family to the best of his ability.
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If his family has purchased too many items on credit, then the financial crunch is ultimately his fault.
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If the family never reads the Bible or seldom goes to church on Sunday, God holds the man to blame.
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If the children are disrespectful and disobedient, the primary responsibility lies with the father, not his wife.
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In my view, says Dobson, America's greatest need is for husbands to begin guiding their families rather than pouring every physical and emotional resource into the mere acquisition of money.
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And then it's our responsibility to provide.
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It's our responsibility.
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We ought to be providing for our households.
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But it's not the only responsibility.
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In our provision, we must be good stewards with what we're given.
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Mature masculinity is sensitive to cultural expressions of masculinity.
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Mature masculinity is sensitive to cultural expressions of masculinity.
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This applies to all of us, married or not.
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In any relationship we take on with any woman.
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I have co-workers that are female.
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What is appropriate?
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What is the appropriate way for a man to act?
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Men, do you know which side of a female you're supposed to walk on down the road?
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Are you aware of where you're supposed to be when you're walking down the street?
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Which side of her do you walk on?
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It changes.
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Should you open the door?
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Yes, you should.
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Our culture may change.
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That may become an offensive thing someday.
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At which time you should stop.
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But are the things you do appropriately communicating to women, I'm a man and I would like to relate to you as a woman.
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So, my masculinity and your femininity are going to relate on a healthy level.
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How we dress matters.
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Dressing overly aggressive communicates something.
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I would suggest that none of you wear your tight clubbing shirts.
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Just not appropriate for that.
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I don't know if you have this.
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But it communicates an aggressive thing.
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On the flip side of that, you might not want to wear skinny jeans, guys.
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Because what does that communicate?
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Do you want to relate to women as a woman?
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You're saying, I want to dress like you.
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I want to relate like you.
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Swoopy bang hairdos?
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Probably not appropriate for a mature masculine male.
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Think about what you're trying to communicate.
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All of those things that we're seeing now, you know where that all comes from?
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The emo rock movement.
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You know where that comes from?
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Japan.
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You know what they're trying to do in Japan right now, young people?
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They're trying to de-gender society.
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There's an actual overt attempt to de-gender society.
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And that's where that is birthed out of.
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Think about those actions.
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What you do communicate to the women around you.
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I am a male.
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And therefore, we can interact that way.
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Or does it do the opposite?
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It's important.
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It matters.
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Mature masculinity is sensitive to cultural expressions of masculinity.
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All right.
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Secondly,
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mature masculine men provide.
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In Genesis chapter 3,
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we see post-fall that Adam is going to work the ground.
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That wasn't something given to him as a result of sin.
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Right?
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He was told prior to the fall that he was going to work the garden.
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Wasn't he?
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That was his task to do,
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was to work the garden
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and to pick fruit from the trees
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and provide food.
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It was just going to be really easy then.
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He was never going to grow tired.
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He was going to live forever.
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He was just going to be a gardener
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and he was going to love it.
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After the fall,
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what we see in chapter 3
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is that it's going to become hard.
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It's going to become a toil.
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It's going to become so difficult to do.
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So that charge is still here for us as men.
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Now, I think that Piper's definition
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is really appropriate.
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He says that the man has a sense
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of his benevolent responsibility to provide.
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Because we can't always do that.
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Am I right?
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Some of us are not particularly gifted
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and therefore don't hold jobs
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that are very high paying.
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But we still should know
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that it's our responsibility.
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We should do everything we can
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to climb the ladder
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and make the money to provide for our families.
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I'm in a situation like that now.
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I don't quite make the ends meet.
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Fortunately, my wife is gifted
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and can do graphic art from home
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and be home with Cade.
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But the burden of providing lies with me.
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And I'm working on it.
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I'm finding ways to advance myself,
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my job,
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so that I can provide fully for my family.
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So there's a sense
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that that responsibility is yours.
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Not that you necessarily do.
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Or how about a man who's disabled,
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who can't?
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Just it's impossible
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for him to go to work.
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Not that he's required to,
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but that he should have
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this sense of the responsibility
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to do so.
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A mature masculine man
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also protects
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in the same way
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when he can,
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when he's able
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to do so.
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I think the
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unfortunate picture
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often of marriage
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is this 50-50 relationship.
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And that seems to apply
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to all things.
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So I'll get out of bed
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and check the strange noise
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50% of the time.
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You get out the other 50%
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of the time.
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A mature masculine man
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gets up every time.
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Right?
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In Genesis chapter 34,
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a super cool story
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of Hamor,
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the Hivite,
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and he sees
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Dinah,
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the sister of Simeon
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and Levi,
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and he rapes her.
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And Simeon and Levi
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exact revenge
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by
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pretending
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that he's going to allow
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this tribe of men,
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these non-Jewish men,
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to marry
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with the
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Jewish women.
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But the
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thing they must do
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in order to do that
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is to all be circumcised.
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So they're all
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circumcised
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and
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they wait until
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they're incredibly sore
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and they go to the town
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and they kill
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all the men.
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They just wipe them all out.
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And
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that's the revenge
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that they exact
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for the serious crime
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of
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offending
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their sister.
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I'm not advocating
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that we go kill people.
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But
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we ought to have
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that sense of protection.
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Not just with our wives,
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but with
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women
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in general
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around us.
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Do we
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protect
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women?
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And we should.
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On this
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trip that we were just on,
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Wes and I were getting
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ready to fly out
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yesterday,
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actually.
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And we were sitting
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in the little
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lobby of the hotel
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getting breakfast.
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And I had already
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sat down
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because I had nothing
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gluten-free,
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so I was drinking
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orange juice.
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And all of a sudden
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I saw Wes just
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grab this old lady's arm.
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She's like
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over here
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and just grabbed her arm.
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It was the weirdest
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kind of out of the corner
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of my eye
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bizarre thing
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to see him do.
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And then I realized
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that what she was
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about to do
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was hit the hot water
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spout on the coffee thing
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with her cup
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under where the coffee
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comes out.
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So the spout's up here.
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She's going to hit the tab
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with the spout right here.
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It didn't make any sense
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at all.
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But she had her
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arm up under here
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and Wes saved her
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from scalding her arm
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with hot water.
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He didn't even think
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twice about it.
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He just smashed her arm
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out of the way.
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And she was so appreciative.
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Thank you so much.
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Thank you so much.
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I mean,
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he like manhandled her.
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But she was very thankful
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for what he had done.
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I don't like to toot
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my own horn.
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I don't have many examples
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of mature masculinity,
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so I'm going to give you
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this one.
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I shared the story
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with you guys
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of being in Gainesville
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a number of months ago
23:05
and a woman was being
23:07
kind of assaulted
23:08
by a guy
23:09
that she knew
23:10
and she said,
23:11
stop,
23:11
you're hurting me.
23:12
And I didn't even
23:13
hesitate.
23:14
I was talking with
23:15
John Overton.
23:16
We're walking down
23:16
one side of the sidewalk
23:17
and it was like
23:18
something clicked in me
23:19
and I beelined
23:20
across the street
23:21
to intervene
23:21
in that situation.
23:23
That's mature masculinity.
23:25
We ought to have
23:25
a sense about us
23:26
to protect women.
23:30
There you go.
23:32
My examples.
23:33
Let's wait.
23:33
Me and Wes.
23:35
Manly men.
23:39
So ultimately,
23:41
masculinity
23:43
is living like Christ
23:46
in relation to women.
23:49
We're all called
23:50
to be Christian.
23:53
Masculinity is living
23:55
like Christ
23:55
in relation to women.
23:58
Begin to filter
23:59
everything you do
24:00
through that.
24:02
The things that you
24:03
even do
24:04
when you're not
24:05
around women.
24:07
Wes and I
24:08
were on a backpacking
24:09
trip together
24:09
this trip.
24:10
Thursday and Friday
24:11
we were off in the woods.
24:12
No women around.
24:14
Me and Wes
24:15
off in the woods.
24:16
But we could have
24:18
emasculated ourselves
24:19
by talking
24:21
coarsely
24:22
about our lives.
24:23
Right?
24:25
But we didn't.
24:26
When we spoke
24:26
with our wives
24:27
we spoke with them
24:27
respectfully.
24:29
Which is
24:30
masculine.
24:31
You see how that
24:32
works?
24:33
Begin to filter
24:34
the things you do men
24:35
through this lens
24:36
of my masculinity
24:37
hinges
24:39
on how I relate
24:41
to women.
24:43
And if we're not
24:44
masculine
24:45
what are we?
24:48
I'd say we're boys.
24:49
some of us
24:50
need to do some
24:51
growing up.
24:53
So if we're to be
24:54
Christ
24:55
in relation
24:55
to women
24:56
then
24:57
we probably
24:59
ought to look
24:59
at Christ
25:00
the ultimate
25:01
expression
25:01
of masculinity
25:03
and in his life
25:04
the culmination
25:05
of his masculinity
25:06
which was his death
25:07
on the cross
25:07
which is so
25:09
offensive
25:10
to the world's
25:11
idea of masculinity.
25:14
Right?
25:14
We all
25:15
as I talked
25:16
before
25:16
we all
25:16
want to
25:17
get back
25:17
to this
25:18
Adamic
25:19
nature.
25:19
We all
25:20
want to
25:20
be this
25:21
planetary
25:22
king
25:23
and we
25:23
seek that
25:24
by trying
25:24
to rule
25:25
over other
25:25
men
25:26
which isn't
25:27
at all
25:27
what Christ
25:29
who was God
25:29
himself
25:30
did.
25:30
He humbled
25:30
himself
25:31
to death
25:32
on a cross.
25:34
Jay
25:34
Wetger
25:35
writes
25:35
the cross
25:36
is an offense
25:37
because of
25:37
its abject
25:38
weakness.
25:39
For in the
25:40
spectacle of the
25:40
cross we see
25:41
a victim
25:41
perishing
25:42
in weakness
25:43
shame
25:43
ignominy
25:44
and dereliction.
25:48
It's an offense
25:49
to what we
25:49
think masculinity
25:51
should look like.
25:52
Right?
25:52
Our Savior
25:53
should have
25:53
come on a
25:54
big giant
25:54
horse
25:55
and he
25:55
should have
25:55
been the
25:55
most muscly
25:56
guy around
25:57
and wielded
25:57
large weapons
25:58
and he
25:59
should have
25:59
obliterated
26:00
the Roman
26:01
guard
26:01
and he
26:02
should have
26:02
rescued
26:03
his church.
26:06
But the
26:06
picture we're
26:07
given is
26:07
quite the
26:08
opposite of
26:08
that.
26:10
Silent
26:10
like a
26:11
lamb
26:11
led to
26:12
slaughter.
26:12
Christ
26:14
flips all
26:17
that around
26:17
for us
26:19
doesn't it?
26:19
Turn to
26:20
1 Corinthians
26:20
chapter 1.
26:35
I'm going to
26:36
read to you
26:36
verses 18
26:37
through 15
26:38
or 25
26:39
of chapter 1.
26:40
For the
26:47
word of the
26:47
cross is
26:48
folly to
26:49
those who
26:50
are perishing
26:50
but to us
26:52
who are being
26:52
saved it is
26:53
the power
26:54
of God.
26:55
For it is
26:56
written I
26:56
will destroy
26:57
the wisdom
26:57
of the wise
26:58
and the
26:59
discernment
26:59
of the
27:00
discerning
27:00
I will
27:01
thwart.
27:02
The
27:03
philosophies
27:03
of this
27:04
world
27:04
who seek
27:05
to conquer
27:06
to get
27:06
back to
27:07
that
27:07
nature
27:08
that
27:08
endemic
27:08
nature.
27:10
I'm going
27:11
to make
27:11
that seem
27:11
crazy.
27:13
Verse 20
27:14
Where is the
27:15
one who is
27:15
wise?
27:16
Where is the
27:17
scribe?
27:17
Where is the
27:18
debater of
27:18
this age?
27:19
Has not
27:20
God made
27:20
foolish the
27:21
wisdom of
27:21
the world?
27:22
For since
27:23
in the
27:23
wisdom of
27:24
God the
27:24
world did
27:24
not know
27:25
God
27:25
through
27:25
wisdom
27:26
it pleased
27:27
God
27:27
through the
27:28
folly
27:28
of what
27:28
we preach
27:29
to save
27:29
those
27:30
who believe.
27:32
For Jews
27:32
demand signs
27:33
and Greeks
27:34
seek wisdom
27:34
but we
27:35
preach Christ
27:36
crucified
27:36
a stumbling
27:37
block to
27:37
Jews and
27:38
folly to
27:38
Gentiles.
27:39
But to
27:40
those who
27:40
are called
27:41
both Jews
27:41
and Greeks
27:42
Christ the
27:43
power of
27:43
God and
27:44
the wisdom
27:44
of God.
27:45
For the
27:46
foolishness of
27:46
God is
27:46
wiser than
27:47
men and
27:48
the weakness
27:48
of God
27:49
is stronger
27:50
than men.
27:52
Isn't that
27:52
awesome?
27:55
That says to
27:55
me that when
27:56
I'm willing to
27:57
humble myself
27:57
to the point
27:59
of death
27:59
to give
28:00
myself
28:00
in my
28:02
masculinity
28:02
to serve
28:04
the women
28:05
in my life
28:06
power of
28:07
God.
28:12
What a
28:12
task,
28:13
right?
28:14
What an
28:14
overwhelming
28:15
task
28:16
that's been
28:17
given to
28:18
us.
28:22
Fortunately,
28:22
we have
28:23
Christ.
28:23
He is our
28:24
way back.
28:26
We can
28:27
rule.
28:27
We can
28:28
be that
28:28
planetary
28:29
king.
28:29
It just
28:30
looks
28:30
differently
28:30
than the
28:32
world
28:32
thinks.
28:34
2 Corinthians
28:34
5.16.
28:35
Paul says,
28:36
Therefore,
28:37
if anyone
28:37
is in
28:38
Christ,
28:39
he is a
28:39
new
28:39
creation.
28:41
The old
28:41
has passed
28:42
away.
28:42
Behold,
28:43
the new
28:43
has come.
28:44
We've been
28:44
restored.
28:45
Our
28:46
masculinity
28:46
has been
28:48
restored
28:48
in Christ.
28:51
We've not
28:51
been given
28:52
the ability
28:52
to be
28:53
appropriate,
28:54
to be
28:54
mature,
28:56
masculine
28:56
men.
28:57
But it's
28:58
hard.
28:59
Ladies,
28:59
it's a
29:00
challenge.
29:01
Guys,
29:01
I know
29:02
how hard
29:03
it is.
29:05
Jesus
29:05
says in
29:05
Matthew
29:06
chapter
29:06
11,
29:07
Come to
29:08
me,
29:08
all who
29:08
labor and
29:09
are heavy
29:10
laden,
29:10
and I
29:10
will give
29:11
you rest.
29:12
Take
29:12
my yoke
29:13
upon you
29:15
and learn
29:16
from me,
29:17
for I am
29:17
gentle and
29:18
lowly in
29:18
heart,
29:19
and you
29:19
will find
29:19
rest for
29:20
your souls.
29:21
For my
29:22
yoke is
29:22
easy,
29:23
and my
29:23
burden
29:24
is light.
29:25
So how
29:27
do we
29:27
live as
29:27
mature,
29:29
masculine
29:29
men?
29:30
We abide
29:31
in Christ.
29:32
We tarry
29:32
with Him.
29:33
We look
29:34
to Him
29:34
for the
29:35
power we
29:36
need in
29:37
order to
29:38
do so.
29:39
And
29:40
humility is
29:40
required to
29:42
see that
29:43
happen.
29:44
In the
29:45
book,
29:45
We're
29:45
covering
29:45
biblical
29:46
manhood
29:46
and
29:46
womanhood.
29:48
Piper
29:49
gives a
29:50
challenge and
29:51
shares his
29:52
prayer for
29:53
the men of
29:53
Bethlehem
29:54
Baptist
29:54
Church.
29:54
And I
29:55
think that
29:55
we should
29:55
echo this
29:56
here at
29:57
Christ
29:57
Family
29:57
Church.
29:58
And there's
29:58
15 points,
29:59
and I want
30:00
to read
30:00
them carefully
30:00
for you,
30:01
and I want
30:01
you to
30:01
bear with
30:01
me.
30:03
And we're
30:03
going to
30:03
close with
30:03
this.
30:05
Number
30:06
one,
30:07
that all
30:08
your life,
30:09
in whatever
30:10
calling,
30:11
be devoted to
30:12
the glory of
30:13
God.
30:15
Number
30:15
two,
30:16
that the
30:16
promises of
30:18
Christ be
30:18
trusted so
30:19
fully that
30:19
peace and
30:20
joy and
30:21
strength fill
30:22
your soul to
30:23
overflowing.
30:24
number
30:26
three,
30:27
that this
30:27
fullness of
30:28
God overflow
30:29
in daily
30:30
acts of
30:30
love so
30:31
that people
30:32
might see
30:32
your good
30:33
deeds and
30:33
give glory to
30:34
your Father
30:35
in heaven.
30:37
Number
30:37
four,
30:38
that you be
30:38
men of the
30:39
book who
30:40
love and
30:40
study and
30:41
obey the
30:41
Bible in
30:42
every area
30:42
of its
30:43
teaching,
30:43
that meditation
30:44
on biblical
30:45
truth be the
30:46
source of
30:48
hope and
30:48
faith,
30:49
that you
30:49
continue to
30:50
grow in
30:51
understanding
30:51
through all the
30:52
chapters of
30:52
your life,
30:53
never thinking
30:54
that study and
30:55
growth are
30:55
only for
30:56
others.
30:58
Number
30:59
five,
31:00
that you
31:00
be men of
31:00
prayer so
31:01
that the
31:02
word of
31:02
God will
31:02
be open
31:03
to you,
31:03
so the
31:04
power of
31:04
faith and
31:05
holiness will
31:05
descend upon
31:06
you,
31:06
that your
31:07
spiritual
31:07
influence may
31:08
increase at
31:08
home and
31:09
at church
31:10
and in the
31:11
world.
31:12
Number
31:13
six,
31:14
that you
31:14
be men
31:15
who have a
31:15
deep grasp
31:16
of the
31:16
sovereign grace
31:17
of God,
31:17
which undergirds
31:18
all these
31:19
spiritual
31:19
processes,
31:20
that you
31:21
be deep
31:21
thinkers about
31:22
the doctrines
31:22
of grace
31:23
and even
31:23
deeper
31:24
lovers of
31:25
these
31:25
things.
31:27
Number
31:28
seven,
31:29
that you
31:29
be totally
31:30
committed to
31:30
ministry,
31:31
whatever your
31:31
specific calling,
31:33
that you
31:33
not fritter
31:33
away your
31:34
time on
31:34
excessive
31:35
sports and
31:35
recreation or
31:37
unimportant
31:37
hobbies or
31:39
aimless
31:39
diddling in
31:40
the garage,
31:41
but that you
31:41
redeem the
31:42
time for
31:42
Christ and
31:43
his kingdom.
31:45
Number
31:46
eight,
31:47
that if you
31:48
are single,
31:49
you exploit your
31:49
singleness to
31:50
the fullness in
31:51
devotion to
31:51
God and
31:52
not be
31:53
paralyzed by
31:54
the desire
31:54
to be
31:54
married.
31:56
Number
31:57
nine,
31:58
that if you
31:58
are married,
31:59
you love
31:59
your life the
32:00
way Christ
32:00
loved the
32:00
church and
32:01
gave himself
32:01
for her,
32:02
that you
32:03
be a
32:03
humble,
32:04
self-denying,
32:05
up-building,
32:05
happy spiritual
32:06
leader,
32:07
that you
32:07
consistently
32:08
grow in
32:08
grace and
32:09
knowledge so
32:09
as never to
32:10
quench the
32:11
aspirations of
32:11
your wife for
32:12
spiritual
32:12
advancement,
32:14
that you
32:14
cultivate
32:14
tenderness and
32:15
strength,
32:16
a pattern of
32:17
initiative and a
32:18
listening ear,
32:19
that you accept the
32:20
responsibility of
32:21
provision and
32:22
protection in the
32:22
family, however you
32:24
and your wife share
32:25
the labor.
32:27
Number
32:27
ten,
32:28
that if you have
32:28
children, you
32:29
accept primary
32:30
responsibility in
32:31
partnership with your
32:32
wife to raise up
32:34
children in the
32:34
discipline and
32:35
instruction of the
32:36
Lord, children who
32:37
hope in the triumph
32:38
of God that you
32:39
establish a pattern of
32:40
teaching and discipline
32:41
that is not solely
32:43
dependent on the
32:43
church or school to
32:45
impart Bible knowledge
32:46
and spiritual values to
32:47
the children, that you
32:48
give your children the
32:49
time and attention and
32:50
affection that
32:51
communicates the true
32:51
nature of our
32:52
father in heaven.
32:55
Number eleven, that
32:57
you not assume
32:58
advancement and pure
32:59
approval in your
33:00
gainful employment are
33:02
the highest values in
33:03
life, but that you
33:04
ponder the eternal
33:05
significance of faithful
33:06
fatherhood and time
33:08
spent with your wife,
33:09
that you repeatedly
33:10
consider the new
33:11
possibilities each age
33:12
of your life for
33:13
maximizing your
33:14
energies for the
33:16
glory of God in
33:17
ministry, that you
33:18
pose the question
33:19
often.
33:20
Is our family molded
33:21
by the culture or do
33:22
we embody the values
33:23
of the kingdom of
33:24
God, that you lead
33:26
the family in making
33:26
choices not on the
33:28
basis of secular
33:29
trends or upward
33:30
lifestyle expectations,
33:31
but on the basis of
33:32
what will strengthen the
33:33
faith of the family and
33:35
advance the cause of
33:36
Christ.
33:38
Number twelve, that you
33:42
step back, plan the
33:44
various form of your
33:46
life's ministry in
33:47
chapters.
33:48
Chapters are divided by
33:49
various things, age,
33:51
strength, singleness,
33:53
marriage, employment,
33:55
children at home,
33:56
children in college,
33:57
grandchildren, retirement,
33:59
et cetera.
34:00
No chapter has all the
34:02
joys.
34:03
Finite life is a series
34:04
of trade-offs.
34:06
Finding God's will and
34:07
living for the glory of
34:08
Christ to the full in
34:10
every chapter is what
34:11
makes it a success, not
34:13
whether it reads like
34:14
somebody else's chapter,
34:15
whether it has in it
34:17
what only another
34:17
chapter will bring.
34:21
Number thirteen, that
34:23
you develop a wartime
34:24
mentality and lifestyle,
34:25
that you never forget
34:26
that life is short, that
34:27
billions of people hang
34:28
in the balance of heaven
34:29
and hell every day, that
34:31
the love of money is
34:32
spiritual suicide, that
34:34
the goals of upper
34:35
mobility, nicer clothes,
34:37
cars, houses,
34:38
vacations, food, hobbies
34:40
are a poor and a
34:41
dangerous substitute for
34:42
the goals of living for
34:43
Christ with all your
34:44
might and maximizing
34:45
your joy and ministry to
34:47
people's needs.
34:49
Number fourteen, that in
34:51
all your relationships with
34:52
women, not just in
34:53
marriage, you seek the
34:55
guidance of the Holy
34:56
Spirit in applying the
34:57
biblical vision of
34:58
manhood and womanhood,
34:59
that you develop a
35:00
lifestyle and demeanor
35:01
that expresses your God
35:02
given responsibility for
35:04
humble strength and
35:05
leadership and for
35:06
self-sacrificing
35:07
provision and protection,
35:08
that you think
35:10
creatively and with
35:11
cultural sensitivity,
35:12
sensitivity, just as she
35:14
must do, and shaping the
35:15
style and setting, the
35:16
tone of your interactions
35:17
with women.
35:20
Number fifteen, that you
35:22
see the biblical guidelines
35:23
for what is appropriate and
35:24
inappropriate for men and
35:26
women, not as licensed for
35:27
domination or bossive
35:29
passivity, but as a call to
35:31
servant leadership that
35:32
thinks in terms of
35:33
responsibilities, not
35:35
rights, that you see these
35:36
principles as wise and
35:37
gracious prescriptions for
35:39
how to discover the true
35:40
freedom of God's ideal of
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complementarity, that you
35:44
encourage the fruitful
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encouragement of women in
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the countless ministry
35:47
roles that are biblically
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appropriate and deeply
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needed.
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Guys, I think it's time that
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we stop being boys and start
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being mature, masculine men.
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Let's pray together.