Latest / HBCWestminster / June 13, 2018

Transcript

June 13, 2018 · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Watchmen of the church, as our overarching theme of the men's ministry, when we become uncommon men, then we need to think about what are the characteristics that I am exemplifying to my brothers, to my sisters in Christ, but also especially to that next generation behind us, right? And that is, to me, the ultimate why. There is a natural tendency of men to look to each other.
• 0:28
  and see these characteristics and want to emulate them. So I think that situation where that guy starts to jog is kind of a microcosm of our lives. I'm sure you guys can think of different times where you have done something that you didn't intend to do because another guy was doing it. And you're like, oh, I better get a shovel and start digging because he's doing it too. We just naturally follow each other in these things. And Paul, in 1 Corinthians,
• 0:56
  Timothy chapter 4 verses 7 through 12 Paul in 1st Timothy chapter 4 verses 7 through 12 I think calls from us he calls from Timothy this desire for him to be an example in 1st Timothy chapter 4 verses 7 through 12 it says this having nothing to do with irreverent silly myths rather train yourselves for godliness for while bodily training is of some value godliness
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  is of value in every way as it holds promise for this present life and also for the life to come. Command and teach these things. Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Guys, if we emulated those five things, man, we would be men who truly could be examples.
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  Don't get hung up on that statement of don't despise because of your youth. We're all younger than somebody, right? So we're always more youthful than somebody else, even Andy Madsen. But that call at the end in verse 12, believers, that we may be an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Those five things really are going to encapsulate basically everything we're going to talk about this summer.
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  And I believe that's Paul's call to Timothy of how to live as an example. And I believe it sets the stage for us for the summer. Brothers, as we seek out these things, God gives us an immense blessing. God gives us an immense blessing. There's a two-fold thing. God always does two things at once when we act in accordance with his call on our life. One, he blesses us.
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  with peace and joy in our own lives, right? As we walk towards Him, we become more satisfied with who we are in Christ, and then there's this turnaround that also happens, and other people are blessed by our lives. God knows how the body of believers is supposed to function. As we seek these things out, God is going to give us a double blessing. He is going to bless us with peace and joy in our own lives, and He is going to give us opportunity to bless those around us.
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  This leads us to a further thought on the why for tonight and this summer. We are called to live in a way that is to set an example. And I believe that these topics for this study for the summer will encourage and strengthen us along that path. Just as a guy felt compelled to run because he saw me running, so we as Christian brothers can encourage and spur one another on to live out our faith and become uncommon men.
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  You know, the dictionary gives us the definition of what uncommon means. It means exceptional or remarkable. The call then for us through this summer study is to become men who are exceptionally remarkable, unique, to be rare and above ordinary. God does not desire an ordinary life for any one of us. He desires to create in us something unique that He has designed for each of us.
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  So you might ask then, what is an uncommon man? What are some examples maybe from the Bible of people who we might be able to look at that might give us some pictures of what it is to become an uncommon man? Men who lived out their faith uniquely in unique situations. Well, I think you guys on your sheets there, you guys have five different guys. The first of which...
• 4:45
  is Joseph. And as we jump into this, we're going to be in Genesis a little bit on a few different chapters for him. But one important thing that as we go through these five different guys, I want us to focus on not these men, but the characteristics that they present or give examples of. It's easy for us sometimes as men, as people,
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  To get distracted with a person rather than the life of the person that pushes us towards a view towards Christ, right? When we look at somebody like Joseph, it might be easy for us to hold Joseph up on a pedestal and consider him more unique than us when really he just was a man who obeyed. So we look through these five examples. I want us to remember it's not about the men, it's about the characteristics that they display so we don't get distracted.
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  So, Joseph. When you hear the name of Joseph, what do you think of? Huh? Mary and Joseph, okay. If I were to say Old Testament Joseph, if I was to say Old Testament Joseph, what would you guys think of? What are some of the word pictures you guys? Code of many colors. Yep, technical or code. Huh? Unwanted one by his brothers. Say that again?
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  Saved his family. Interpreted dreams. Unfairly treated. Absolutely. Those are all definitely things that I think about. What is the example that Joseph left? What happened to him that's so impactful, that can be so impactful on us? Let's go back to Genesis chapter 37.
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  Verse 2, it starts out with Joseph being 17 years old, was pastoring the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Belai and Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. Now, Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons because he was the son of his old age and he made him a robe of many colors. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more,
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  than all his other brothers. They hated him and could not speak peacefully to him. It goes on and talks about a dream that he had. And then in verse 12, it says, Now his brothers went to the pasture of their father's flock near Shechem. And Israel said to Joseph, Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them. And he said to him, Here I am. So he said to him, Go now.
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  if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me a word. So he sent him from the valley of Hebron. And he came to Shechem. And a man found him wandering in the fields and asked, What are you seeking? I am seeking my brothers, he said. Tell me, please, where are they pasturing the flock? The man said, They have gone away, for I have heard them say, Let us go to Dothan.
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  So Joseph went up after his brothers. And then down further, it talks about in verse 25. 25 is where he gets sold.
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  So Joseph came to his brothers and they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore. They took him and threw him in the pit. The pit was empty and there was no water in it. Then they sat down to eat and looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilad with camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh on their way to carrying it down to Egypt.
• 8:53
  These men, his brothers, after they throw him in the pit, they end up selling him into slavery, right? And I believe the implication would be that they probably didn't sell him into slavery because they thought he was going to live a long life doing that. I'm thinking they probably were selling him into slavery because they just wanted to get rid of him, right? They didn't want him around. They probably didn't even have the intention that he might die. These were not good intentions of his brothers.
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  So he's stolen the slavery from his brothers. Then chapter 39, Joseph and Potiphar's wife. We know this story, right? Chapter 39 tells us that he became in favor with Potiphar and was given charge of his house and was revered by Potiphar, really, and was completely trusted. And then Potiphar's wife starts to make passes at him, right?
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  What does Joseph do in those situations? Runs, right? He runs away. He runs away. And one time he leaves so hastily that she grabs his cloak and then she screams and blames him for something he did not do. That's what you said, Rich, right? Like unfairly treated multiple times. This is kind of the theme of Joseph's life. He's sold into slavery for no reason. He didn't seek out to become the favorite of his father, right? He didn't seek out to become...
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  chastened by Potiphar's wife. He was trying to honor the man who had brought him out of slavery. And then in Genesis chapter 45, verses 1 through 8, we see the culmination of all of this. So he has been imprisoned. He has interpreted a couple guys' dreams. And because of that, he ends up getting...
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  called up to interpret the Pharaoh's dreams, and he finds favor with him. And as a couple of you guys said, he was given charge and was able to manage the storehouses so that people had food in the case of a famine. And now in chapter 45, verses 1 through 8, it says, Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. This is when his brothers have come back.
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  And he loses it. He starts to cry. He cried, make everyone go from me. So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept aloud so that the Egyptians heard it and the household of Pharaoh heard it. And Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph. Is my father still alive? But his brothers could not answer him for they were just made at his presence. Can you imagine?
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  Going back to chapter 37, selling your brother into slavery with the intention that these aren't good dudes you're selling him to. He's probably not going to last real long. And now you run into him being in charge of storehouses of the Pharaoh. I can imagine this dismay. I can't even imagine and try and comprehend what they're trying to think through as they are now. Wait a second. Joseph, I'm pretty sure we sold you.
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  You weren't going to survive. Now you're all the way up on top and you're telling us. So this dismay that they have in his presence is I would be as well. So Joseph said to his brothers, come near to me. And they came near and he said, I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here for God sent me before to preserve life. After all of that, for all of that.
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  After all of the wrong that Joseph receives in his life. 17 years old, guys. 17 years old is when this happens to him. When he's sold into slavery. Right? Young. I don't think at 17 years old I would have handled things that way. I probably would have become pretty bitter. And I probably would have become resentful. And I don't know.
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  If I would have had the perspective that Joseph has here in chapter 45, where he says that God did this to preserve life. So as I think of Joseph's life and him being sold into slavery by his own brothers at 17 and then being betrayed because he resisted temptation, because he sought to honor God and not disobey his commands.
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  and then be able to stand there years and years later in front of those same brothers who sold you to be a slave, and really with the idea that you would die in slavery, to stand before those same men and say that God did it, not them. It was God's plan. When I consider all of this, the characteristic I see in Joseph is obeying God when we don't feel like it. Brothers,
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  It is so very true so often that obeying God does not come at convenient times, does it? I mean, often when God calls from us, obedience is when it's the heart, like when we really see the call on our lives to obey. It's when there's two very contrasting options before us, right? Joseph, over and over and over again, in spite of the fact that it was not convenient, it was not probably what he naturally wanted to do,
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  to obey God no matter what. He chose to obey God even when obeying Him cost Him everything. Right? He did not allow this to become resentful. We need to seek to obey God no matter the cost. Because it often can cost us some of the things that we can come to value the most in our lives. Right? Sometimes God calls us to set things that we consider important.
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  a side that we might truly rely on him alone. But as we do that, there is peace and joy even in the hardest times. And Joseph's life certainly displayed that, that obeying God even when it's hard, there can be peace and joy. So that's Joseph, a man who chose to obey God even when he didn't feel like it. The next we have is Peter. Peter, many of us,
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  Many of us are aware of Peter's failures, right? What are, if you were to think of Peter, what are some of the things that come to your mind when you consider Peter? Huh? Denied Christ? Three times, yep, absolutely. Emphatically on the third, right? Walked on water? What else about walking on water? Stopped walking on water. Started sinking. Yep, yep. Impulsive, absolutely. Man, the guy was impulsive.
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  Yes, the man with the sword. Yes, cutting off somebody's ear. What about his successes? You guys think about some of Peter's successes? Walking on water. I actually have both of those. Walking on water as a failure and a success. Absolutely, walking on water was a success in his life. The rock. Absolutely, part of the foundation of the church. Absolutely, Acts 2.
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  Who is the man who steps up when everybody is freaked out about the fact that a bunch of people are talking in weird languages? Of all the disciples who were there, who stood up? Peter. That's right. The life of Peter is an amazing example of a man who simply refused to stop. No matter what, he always refused to end on that last and latest failure. Because, as I'm going to give you guys a few that we're going to go through here, we will see.
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  that even kind of almost up until the end, he was still screwing up. But he never, ever stopped. Peter many times could have allowed his latest failure to pull him away from the Lord and to discourage him from answering the call God had on his life. But Peter continually and repeatedly gets up, dusts himself off, and starts to walk once again. He is such an encouragement, should be such an encouragement to each of us as we consider this.
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  Let's consider some of his failures that we looked at. But one of them, let's go to Matthew chapter 17. Not Mark, Matthew, there we go. Mount of Transfiguration, right? This amazing thing happens. Peter is in awe. And he, let's see here. Get to my verse. So they're up on the Mount of Transfiguration. And Peter asks Christ.
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  let's just stay up here forever, right? And what does Christ respond to him and say? He says, get behind me, Satan, and tells him that ain't going to happen. This is not what it's about. The mountaintop experience is not where we stay. These are experiences that lead us to discipling and ministering to people. So Peter...
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  fails as he goes through this mountaintop experience. The Peter walking on water, that's a success and a failure in his life, right? He's the only one who got out of the boat. He's the only one who stepped out on the water. But then what does he do? He takes his eyes off of Christ and he begins to sink. He fails there. So it's a success and a failure. A success in Peter's life is, you know, if you guys go through the book of Acts and then you follow it up with,
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  Paul, at the end, when Paul is in prison, they're going through Acts together, right? And Peter and, or I'm sorry, that's Barnabas. My bad. I'm stepping ahead here. Peter's success was also, he was the first to confess Christ as the living God, Matthew chapter 16.
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  Verse 16-17 tells us this. He's the first to recognize who Christ is. Simon Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of God, the living God. And Jesus answered him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you. That's a powerful moment in the disciples' ministry together, in their time together. As Peter confesses this out loud, he is the first to recognize Christ.
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  for who he truly was, and that is a success in his life. Acts chapter 2, him speaking up as the people start to speak in tongues, and everybody's confused as the Holy Spirit comes down. He preaches the first sermon, right? And that is a success in his life. Acts is filled with several moments of Peter's powerful ministry, but then we get to Galatians.
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  If you go to Galatians chapter 2, God's eternal power company, right? You guys know that? Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians. That's how you remember the order. God's eternal power company. Sorry. Galatians chapter 2. But when Cephas, now Cephas was Peter, came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned for before certain men came from John.
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  For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles, but then when they came, he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party and the rest of the Jews and acted hypocritically along with him. So that even Barnabas was led astray into their hypocrisy. Even all the way into the book of Galatians, Peter is still kind of this back and forth of success and failure, success and failure in his life.
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  And again, the thing as I look at Peter in his life, if I could sum up Peter in a short sentence, it would be this. A man who didn't let his failures define him. A man who didn't let his failures define him. What an encouragement to us, what a challenge to us as men. I mean, if we all raise our hands, if we ask if we failed even this week in our walk with Christ, if we were honest, we would all be raising our hands, right? Peter is a man that we can look to.
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  had the characteristic of not allowing his failures, his shortcomings, define him. Daniel. When you think of Daniel, what are some of the stories or the things that you think about from Daniel? The lion's den? Yep. Huh? Visions. Yep. Visions. You interpreted visions. Man of God. Faithful to God. Absolutely. Absolutely. Why would you say he was faithful to God?
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  Yep, absolutely. He grew up in slavery. He grew up in Babylon as a slave. But Daniel was eventually promoted to a position of authority under the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar. It was through the influence of Daniel that the kingdom was able to see some godliness brought to a godless time. Later, King Darius befriended Daniel.
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  there were men who were jealous of this friendship with Darius, right? And because of their jealousy over the influence and position that he held, they convinced the king to make a law. As Butch was saying, they made a law that people could only worship the king and they could not pray or worship any other god, right? Well, what does the book of Daniel tell us about what Daniel did basically every single day? He prayed. He prayed and...
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  in front of his window, even before this law was in place, right? So what did he do after the law was in place? Pray, right? He continued to pray. Daniel continued to pray as he always had, in the same position and placement that he always had. He didn't hide. He didn't change and become confrontational. He didn't go pray in the streets. He prayed in the same position and place that he always had before. The punishment for disobedience of the law.
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  was to be thrown in the lion's den, right? That's what we remember of him. And these men came and tattled on Daniel. The king didn't see it, but they tattled on him. Daniel, the unique thing about what you see with Daniel with this too is, did Daniel do anything wrong in God's eyes? Did nothing wrong. Absolutely nothing wrong. Could Daniel have actually tried to fight against this punishment? Probably could have. I mean, he had a pretty high position.
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  He probably could have gotten a little cantankerous. I mean, if I had the choice of being thrown in a lion's den, I think I might have been a little bit emphatic about this being wrong. We never see that in Daniel's response to the situation, do we? He never fought the law, even though Darius did, and he was powerless to change. Daniel accepted the consequences of his decision peacefully and without worry.
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  Right? And he actually never even called for judgment on these guys who had wronged him. The king was furious with them the next morning and he threw them in. Right? So they got theirs, but it never came from Daniel. Daniel never sought retribution for the wrong that was done to him. When I consider the life of Daniel, I see a man who was courageous in his faith.
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  and yet accepting of all the consequences of that faith. As we live our lives courageously for Christ, there will be things that might negatively affect us. The world doesn't like that, right? People in the workplace might not like that. As we live out our lives for Christ, there may be consequences. But he never complained. He did not plead for mercy. And he did not ask for the king to change the law. He faithfully...
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  and courageously followed God's call on his life no matter the consequences. He faithfully and courageously followed God's call. Which I think your statement of he was faithful is extremely accurate of Daniel's life. I see a faithful man and a courageous man who followed after God's call no matter what. The last two guys are Barnabas and David.
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  As you guys think of Barnabas, this may be a little bit harder, but as you guys think of Barnabas, what are some of the things that you guys know about him? An encourager? Why would you say encourager? Yes, yes. What did Barnabas do? Mark, yep, I gave that away when I was talking about Peter. But when Paul, when he goes from Saul to Paul, right, at his conversion,
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  Was the church accepting of Paul at first? They were pretty freaked out, right? They were like, uh-uh. This guy, we know he's just trying to get his way into the church so he can do more damage. We don't trust him. We want no part of him. First dude who goes and accepts Paul and brings him in is Barnabas. He's the first guy who reaches out to him. He played a large role.
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  in the establishment of the new churches to the Greeks of the day. Barnabas was the man who took Paul under his wing when no one else wanted to trust Paul. This was because Paul was most known for being the great persecutor of the Christian church. It was natural for the church to be distrusting. After all, he had been part of killing many. But Barnabas trusted Christ, trusted the Holy Spirit that was revealing to him that he needed to befriend Paul.
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  trained Paul, and accompanied Paul on his early missionary travels. Later, these two men split up over an argument over Mark, right? John Mark did something that made Paul upset. What does Barnabas do again? The man who is rejected, Barnabas welcomes in, loves him, encourages him. And what happens later when Paul is in prison? He writes a letter and he says,
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  Bring John Mark to me who is of great encouragement. Right? This is a man who answered God's call in his life to love people who a lot of other people wouldn't have chosen to do. Considering the ministry of Barnabas and what God used him to do as he accepted and loved a man who was not welcome in the church at the time, through the support and love he shows Paul, God uses the two men together greatly.
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  And enables Paul to go on on his own as he establishes many, many churches and writes scriptures such importance as Colossians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Romans, and many others. Books that are of paramount importance to the church. Yet, if you think about what it took to get Paul's entrance into the church, a man simply to love him and accept him and trust the conversion of his heart.
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  When I look at Barnabas, I see a man who loved well. A man who loved people because God called him to, not because it was convenient. A man who loved people because God called him to, not because it was convenient. Paul was not a convenient man to love at the time, was he not? John Mark had messed up so bad that Paul wanted nothing to do with him, and yet Barnabas loved him well and walked with him and trained him well for the ministry.
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  Barnabas' life is filled with these examples of encouragement, of loving people even when it wasn't convenient. And lastly, when we look at David, when you think of David, this one's probably a little bit easier, but when you think of David, what do you think of? This is a guy that we all kind of know well, but what are some of the things that you think about when you hear the name David? Man over God's own heart. King David. Passionate.
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  Mighty warrior. Bathsheba. Yep, I was waiting for somebody. Somebody's got to say it. Bathsheba. A man who wrote numerous psalms, right, that are of great encouragement to us. Multiple times in the Bible, David is recognized as a man who followed God and was sensitive to the leadership of God in his life. We first learn about who David would become when God rejects...
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  Saul's reign and said to him that he would give his kingdom to a neighbor of Saul's who was a better man. We see that in 1 Samuel chapter 15. At the time God said this to Saul through Samuel, David was only a boy of somewhere between 8 and 12 years old. Quite young. God had already chosen him. God knew that though David was young, he would grow up to be a man in tune with God's heart and plan for Israel.
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  As many of you guys know, David wrote many of the psalms that we cherish and love. I want to go to two of those. Turn to Psalm chapter 22. To the choir master according to the dough of the dawn, a psalm of David. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me? From the words of my groaning, oh my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer. And by night, but I find no rest.
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  You are holy, enthroned on praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted. They trusted and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued. In you they trusted and were not put to shame. But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by people. All who see me mock me. They make mouths at me.
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  They wag their heads. He trusts in the Lord. Let him deliver him. Let him rescue him. For he delights in him. Yet you are he who took me from the womb. You made me trust at my mother's breast. On you was I cast from my birth. And from my mother's womb you have been my God. Be not far from me. For my trouble is near and there is none to help.
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  Many bulls encompass me. Strong bulls of Bashan surround me. They open wide their mouths at me like a raving and roaring lion. I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted within my breast. My strength is dried up like a posture and my tongue sticks to my jaws. You lay me in the dust of death.
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  For dogs encompass me. A company of evildoers encircles me. They have pierced my hands, feet. I can count all my bones. And it goes on. This is both a prophetic psalm of what the Messiah, the coming Messiah is going to experience. But then he follows that up with Psalm 23. Right? The Lord is my shepherd. David's life was not...
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  Filled with ease. Right? And yet as he writes those things. If you can hear the distress in his heart. That he is feeling left by himself. I mean there's times where he's writing this in caves. Right? Alone. Wondering if there's going to be an army coming to destroy him at any time. And yet he follows those words up with chapter 23. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.
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  He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. And I want to read chapter 51, Psalm 51, since Chris brought up Bathsheba. We see in chapter 51,
• 36:41
  A psalm of David when Nathan the prophet went to him after he had gone to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy. Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. He goes on and he just confesses deep.
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  heartfelt confession before the Lord as he is presented with the sin of his life, right? When you consider these Psalms, when you consider the situations that David found himself in, and yet, as Andy said, one of the first things that we think about when we consider David is what? What does the Bible tell us about David? A man after God's own heart. As I consider David, his life,
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  the words that God inspired him to write, and the things God wrote about David, I see a man who displayed the characteristics of a deep longing for God. A man who yearned for a deep relationship with the Lord, no matter the circumstances. That deep yearning extended to places, like I said, of him being alone in a cave, despised by basically everyone around him, abandoned by many who he considered friends.
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  And guys, it also encompassed a heartfelt confession of his sin when presented with it, right? He desired so fervently a relationship with Christ that when he was presented with the sin of Bathsheba, he confessed it to the Lord because he desired that relationship with him so deeply. A man who yearned for a deep relationship with the Lord. May that be true of us.
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  As we consider these traits and characteristics of these men, it might be easy for us to look at these men and consider them men who are of great faith, right? I mean, I'm not Barnabas. I'm not David. I'm not Peter. I'm not these great men of faith. I'm certainly not Joseph. It's easy for us to look at these examples through Scripture and say, well, I'm not those guys. I can't possibly live that way. When we look around us in this church,
• 39:14
  We are extremely blessed. We have men who are great examples of living out their faith. Do we not? When we look around us, we have men who give us, show us characteristics of what it looks like to follow after God, to live out our faith. Men like Dale Jackson, right? I'm sure as you think about different men in the church, Dale Jackson is probably on several of your minds.
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  who understands what it is, what it means to see Christ in every aspect of life. Dale Jackson closes up an electrical box and everything goes well and he says, praise Jesus. Because God is part of everything to that man. A man like Gary Buss, who can teach us and encourage us, each one of us, to love the lost, to weep over lost souls, what it means to truly care for the salvation of those who don't know Christ.
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  A man like Henry Salia who can teach us what it means to serve no matter the cost, no matter how inconvenient it is. When he and Lance Thompson are out there in dress shoes fixing the heater on a Sunday morning, not seeking praise from anybody. A man who some of you who were privileged to know, some of you did not. Don Bergman. A man who served faithfully at this church, quietly and unassumingly, seeking only that the church...
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  have what it needed, when it needed it, and never seeking any recognition for all he did. Highland is truly a blessed people. Brothers, we are blessed men to have men that we can look to and see living out their faith right in front of us. Men who we can say, God, help me to have some of that characteristic in my life. May it be true of me. So as we look at these men in Scripture, there are men...
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  in front of us, doing these very things, living out the characteristics of becoming an uncommon man right before us. Going back to the beginning, remembering that guy who started to jog when he saw me jogging towards him and then stopping and then not jogging again right when I came back for the second lap. There is a warning in all of this. There is a natural response to us as we see people, as we see other men living their lives.
• 41:48
  in an exemplary way, looking at these characteristics and these things that we see that we want to emulate in our lives. But that will only last so long, right? Being spurred to do something because somebody else is doing it will only last so long. We must, as Paul says to Timothy, train ourselves in godliness so that we might stand firm. I hope that this is what this study is for us.
• 42:21
  This summer. That we will walk away. With tools. The tools on your table. Are not just. Because it's a men's Bible study. At the end here. What I want you guys to do. We're going to do this every single week. And the goal of this. Is that we would have something. That we might use in our daily lives. That's going to remind us. About some of the lessons. That we've learned through this study. So every week.
• 42:51
  As we end, you guys are going to pick a different tool from your table and you're going to come up and you're going to put it in the toolbox. The idea is that each week we are getting more tools in our toolbox that we might become more of what God wants us to be. That we might live out our faith more and more the way God calls us to. That we might become men of 1 Corinthians 16, 13. Men who stand firm in the faith and act like men and not
• 43:20
  the men of Ezekiel chapter 22, verse 30, that there was none who would stand up.