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In God's Word this morning, and prepare our hearts for the message. We're going to be in 1 Kings chapter 2. We're going to be studying verses 1 -4. When David's time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son, saying, I'm about to go the way of all the earth.
Be strong and show yourself a man. And keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in His ways and keeping His statutes, His commandments, His rules and His testimonies, as is written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn.
That the Lord may establish His word that He spoke concerning me, saying, if your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.
Our Father and our God, we come to You in Jesus' name. We thank You and we praise You that You've brought us into Your house today to study Your Word. We pray that this study will have a profound impact on the entire congregation, but specifically on the men of the congregation, whether they be fathers or whether they not be fathers or maybe they are young men.
Father, that this message would profoundly confront them with their need for biblical manliness. Lord, help it be that I would preach the truth today. And Lord, I pray that You would keep me from error, as I certainly am capable of preaching error.
I pray that You would keep me from that and protect Your people from that, as we seek to study together. Open the hearts of Your people to the truth. And Lord, if there are those among us who do not know the gospel and do not know their need for Christ, let it be plain to them through this message today.
In Jesus' name we pray and for His sake. Amen. Recently, there has been a revival of sorts regarding all things which might be considered manly. The art of manliness has come to regard anything which might be considered a manly pursuit.
It includes things like grooming a beard or tying a necktie or giving a proper handshake or building a campfire without matches or sharpening a pocket knife. There are books and websites and videos and countless blog articles all devoted to a resurgence of all things manly.
I believe that this has come as a response of the attempt of some to radically feminize young men. I think that it's a rebellion against that feminization of boys which has happened over the past 40 years.
In fact, within the last 40 years, the idea of manly pursuits has fallen on hard times. In fact, some have even considered it to be evil. During the radical feminist movement which sprung up in the 60s and the 70s, men were often portrayed as the enemy.
And masculinity was seen as something which was worthy of contempt and worthy to be stomped out. During the Clinton administration, Duke University law professor Madeline Morris advised the military, now this is the military, to eliminate its masculine attitudes.
And they were as follows. Dominance, assertiveness, aggressiveness, independence, self-sufficiency and the willingness to take risks. This is what our military needs to stifle. Sounds like a plan to me.
But this is obviously an attempt to suppress anything which might be considered manly. Well, this morning I want to share with you an important truth. Manliness is not something which should be stifled or eliminated.
Manliness, masculinity, is a gift from God. God did not create men to be women. He did not create men to act like women or to dress like women. He created men to be men and women to be women. He created us with natural differences which are meant to complement each other.
We're not supposed to have an equal sign. We are supposed to be different. We are supposed to complement one another, not be the same. Back on Mother's Day, I taught a message on biblical motherhood. Well, today is Father's Day.
I've decided to preach on the art of manliness from a biblical perspective. So we're going to address the question, what is biblical manliness? There are a few places and you don't have to turn there.
I'm just going to read a couple of verses to you. There's a couple of places in Scripture, we'll put them up on the screen, that tell us that there's an inherent virtue in manliness. 1 Corinthians 13 .11, the Apostle Paul says this, When I was a child, I spoke like a child.
I thought like a child. I reasoned like a child. But when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. There's something inherently value about becoming a man. And you might say, well, he just means to become an adult.
Well, there's a sense in which that passage does simply mean to grow up. But there's another passage that's very important also in 1 Corinthians 16, verse 13, where the Apostle Paul says, be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men and be strong.
You see, in this reference, he's making reference to manliness. He's making reference to the fact that there's a biblical manliness that should be our pursuit. Job, the Old Testament saint, when he was preparing to speak to the Lord in the whirlwind and the Lord was about to speak to him, he told Job, the Lord said to Job, dress for action like a man.
You see, there's something virtuous about manhood. But the thing is, biblical manhood is much more than what may be seen by the world. Worldly manliness really is sort of superficial. I mean, the proper way to tie a necktie can be important.
A good handshake can be valuable on a social level. And certainly there's value in learning to start a campfire without matches and sharpening a pocketknife. Those can be very valuable skills. But all those things are temporary and external.
And while they do have value, there's something more to biblical manliness that we must understand. Biblical manliness is focused on the inner man. It's focused on the true man. It's focused on the heart of a man.
Biblical manliness involves our character. Biblical manliness involves our spiritual maturity. Biblical manliness involves our sanctification. By the way, if you don't know what the word sanctification means, it means our being conformed to the image of Christ.
Our Christ likeness. That's biblical manhood. And that's what we're going to focus on today. And we're going to begin our study at the deathbed of one of the greatest saints of the Old Testament, King David.
So let us go back to 1 Kings chapter 2. And let's look at this text and seek to give an exposition of it. The king is about to die. He is about to go the way of all flesh, as he says in chapter 2, verse 1.
It says, when David's time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son, saying, I am about to go the way of all the earth. By the way, that phrase, the way of all the earth, simply indicates that he knows what is about to happen.
He is about to die. It's euphemistic because all of the earth eventually dies. In fact, the earth itself, the Bible says, will ultimately pass away and there will be a new heaven and a new earth. So, as David says, I'm about to go the way of all the earth.
He's saying I'm about to go where everything eventually goes, and that is to the grave. And I want to just sort of reference something here. When a man is on his deathbed, there is nothing superficial about that moment.
Everything is important. Nobody sits on their deathbed and talks about the grocery list. Nobody sits on their deathbed and talks about, you know, the silly things of life, the small things of life, the changing of the oil in the car or something like that.
We don't sit on our deathbed and talk about that. We talk about the things that are most important. We address the things that are most valuable. We address the things that are at the height of our attention.
So what did David address on his deathbed? First, he dealt with his son's character. Verse two, he says, I'm about to be I'm about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong and show yourself a man. He's talking to his son.
He's saying, I'm about to die. And I want to tell you something profound in this. This be a man, be strong, be strong in my death, because in my death you will have pain, but also be strong because you are taking over where I am leaving off.
My life is over. I'm going to be with my God. I'm going to die. But you will live on and you have a job. And that job is to be a man, to be strong. And the word show yourself a man has several implications and we see them in verse three.
He says, and keep the charge of the Lord, your God, and keep the charge of the Lord, your God. Walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn.
What is David's focus for Solomon, his son? The word of God. The word of God. He gives us various ways of saying it. Statues, commandments, rules and testimonies that were written in the law of Moses.
But all of those are simply different ways of saying scripture. And he's saying to his son, be a man, be strong and know the word of God. And walk in the ways of the word of God. And be obedient to the word of God.
And make the word of God the light unto your feet and the lamp unto your path. You want to be a man? You want to be strong? Be a biblical man. Be a scriptural man and you will be a man. All other manliness pales in comparison to the biblical manliness.
And it's his primary focus. In verse 4 he goes on to say that the Lord may establish his word that he spoke concerning me. This is the generational promise that God had given to David. That his sons would carry on his legacy.
But only if they paid close attention to their way to walk before me in the faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul. You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel, David said. So long as the king of Israel were a godly king, he would continue to be on the throne.
So long as the descendant of David was a godly man, he would continue on the throne of David. So David tells his son this. Solomon was not a perfect man. In fact, though he was a wise man, he was given a gift of wisdom by God.
He did have many failures. He failed in the area of the flesh as his father before him had. But yet at the same time God was with him. Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes and he talked about the vanity of life that's lived without God.
And towards the end of his life he saw what he had missed in pursuing the flesh. And he said vanity of vanity is all is vanity. It's all uselessness to pursue flesh and not pursue God. That's useless.
But after Solomon, there was a division in the kingdom. Because Solomon's sons did not follow in the ways of their father and their grandfather. The northern kingdom was Israel. The southern kingdom was Judah.
The northern kingdom never had a righteous king. And they fell to the Assyrians in 722. The southern kingdom had a few righteous kings, but mainly unrighteous kings. And they fell to the Babylonians in 586.
This was the result. In fact, were it not for Jesus Christ coming and fulfilling the promise of being the one who would sit on the throne of David, the throne of David would still be vacant and the promise of God would be nulled.
But the promises of God is not nulled because Jesus Christ came and fulfilled that promise by sitting on the throne of David. But the point is this. David knew what it would be that would bring his descendants blessing.
He knew what it would be that would bring his descendants failure. And he gave it to his son in a very short and succinct way. He said, if you walk according to God's ways, you will prosper. Now, this does not mean health and wealth, prosperity of the modern garbage that's taught in these health and wealth churches.
It means you will be blessed by God. Sometimes blessings from God is difficulties and trials. We know that. But you will always have God with you. You will always have God there. And you will always walk with God if you walk according to his ways.
And that was what David was trying to get across to his son. Know the word of God. And follow the word of God. And you will walk with God. The Apostle Paul says something similar in Ephesians chapter four.
I want to invite you to turn there. I want to show you something in Ephesians chapter four. And I'll make the connection once we've read the text. I read this text for our call to worship this morning.
But I want to give a short just overview of what Paul is saying here. Because he's talking about the gifts that God has given to the church. And he says in verse 11, he says,. And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.
He's talking about the church. And he said in the church there's these different offices that are given to the church. And they're all giving to the church for the building up of the body. To equip the saints for the work of ministry.
And he goes on in verse 13 to say,. Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. And then here's the word, to mature manhood. He said that's the goal of all this.
Why do we come to church? Why do we ordain elders? Why do we appoint deacons? Why do we have these roles that people play in the church? Because there's an attempt going on within the body to build up the body to be able to minister to itself.
People call me a minister. I'm not a minister. You all are the ministers. I teach, our elders teach, for the purpose that you would minister to one another. The scripture says. It says it right here. It says the goal is that we would equip the saints.
By the way, the saints are you. The ones who have been saved. To equip you for the work of ministry. That's the purpose. And the goal is mature manhood. That's the goal. And he goes on to say. To the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
That's the person goal. When we look at Jesus. What are we striving towards? To be like Jesus. And then in verse 14 it says. So that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves. And carried about by every wind of doctrine.
By human cunning. By craftiness and deceitful schemes. Notice the contrast the apostle gives us. He says there's basically two ways that people are going to be. They're either going to be mature. Or they're going to be children in their faith.
He says you need to work together to grow up to maturity. To a mature manhood. He provides the contrast of mature manhood and being children in our faith. Spiritually immature. And what does he say about the spiritually immature?
He says they're tossed to and fro. By every wind of doctrine. The picture here is a boat. That's a boat without an anchor. I don't know if you've ever been on a boat. But if you're on a boat that's not anchored.
You go everywhere. If you stop the engine. You go where the waves push you. You go where the wind pushes you. Only when you drop your anchor. Do you secure yourself to one place. And that's what the language here the apostle is using.
He's saying if you don't become a mature person in your faith. If you don't grow up to spiritual maturity. Then you're going to be children. And children are like boats without anchors. They just go everywhere.
Maturity in our faith. Means that we have established a doctrinal anchor. So based on that I would say this. If you are seeking biblical manhood. Which is what we all should be seeking. If we are men of God.
If you are seeking biblical manhood. Then what you should be seeking is simple. Doctrinal maturity. Go back to what David said to his son. Be a man. How do you be a man? Follow after God's ways. Know his statutes.
Listen to them and obey them. That's how you be a man. What does Paul say? You can either ascribe to mature manhood. Or you can stay a child. How do you know if you're a child? If you're tossed about by every wind of doctrine.
You have no doctrinal anchor. That's a child. The problem is people can spend 50 years in Christianity. And not grow an inch. Because they have not sought doctrinal maturity. We have the responsibility.
Men. I'm addressing men right now. There's basically three types of men in this room. You're either a father. And if you're a grandfather you're still a father. Because you've got kids. You're a father.
You're either a father. Or you're maybe not yet married. Not yet a father. But you're an adult man. Or you're a boy. Okay? I want to address the first two. And I want the boys to listen. Ladies too. But I want the boys to pay attention.
Because you are going this direction. Because here's the thing. Men. You. Fathers. And men. You have a responsibility. David knew his responsibility. He gave it to his son. What was the responsibility he had?
To pass on his faith to his son. What responsibility do we have as fathers? We have the responsibility to lead our families in the faith. David was concerned. He sought as best as possible to ensure that his son did not fail.
Where did he point him? The Word of God. This should stand as a reminder to all fathers about our responsibility to our children. We have the responsibility to do two things for our children. To teach them the Word of God and model the Word of God.
I want to say something that may sound kind of crazy. But I think most of the fathers in here will understand. As a father, you are a pastor. You are a pastor in your home. Everything the pastor is to the church, you are to the home.
Martin Luther said this. He said, Abraham had in his tent a house of God and a church. Just as today, any godly and pious head of a household instructs his children in godliness. Therefore, such a house is actually a school and church.
And the head of the household is a bishop and priest in his house. You are, if you are a father, you are two things in your house. You are the headmaster of a school and you are the pastor of a church.
In your home, you have that role. The education of your children, the spiritual education of your children is your responsibility. I thought about this this week. Really, honestly, if you wanted to take this message, if you wanted to write one sentence and say, What is the pastor trying to get across to me this week?
One sentence is this. What the pastor is to the church, the husband is to the home. What the pastor is to the church, the father is to the home. That's the one sentence. But as I was thinking about this this week, and I was thinking about David talking to his son, I was thinking about Paul telling us to ascribe to spiritual manhood.
When I was thinking about these things, I got to thinking. There's a lot of bad pastors out there. I'm willing to say it. I'm a pastor, but I'm in a vocation where there's a lot of guys who are not doing it right.
And one of the things I noted while I was thinking about this and I was sort of going over this in my mind, I was thinking a pastor is a father or a father is a pastor in his home. And I got to thinking, you know, there's bad pastors and there's bad fathers.
And here's the deal, folks. A lot of the same badness that pastors have is mirrored by death. I'll give you a couple of examples. I don't want to push this analogy too far, but I want to get you mind thinking.
You ever heard of a prosperity pastor? What's a prosperity pastor? I already mentioned earlier. Health and wealth, man, that's the goal. Why don't we come and praise Jesus so he'll give us health and wealth and wisdom and we can have all this goodness and all this prosperity.
And they're always preaching prosperity, preaching prosperity, right? That's the prosperity pastor? Well, beloved, there's a lot of dads that are like that. You say, what do you mean, pastor? Well, there's a lot of fathers who concern themselves with the physical prosperity of their children.
They're always concerned about, you know, where's my child going to go to school? How much money is he going to make? Is he going to be the best sports star? Is he going to be this? Is he going to be that?
Is he going to be that big? They don't care one iota about whether or not he's in church. They're concerned with the physical prosperity of their children, but not at all concerned with their spiritual prosperity.
You know, when I was a kid, Jennifer and I were talking about this this week, because Jennifer was a big ball player, I was never much of a ball player. But when I was a kid, you know, they didn't have Little League on Sundays because you didn't do it.
But nowadays that ship has sailed, baby, because that's more important. You know, how many parents have you ever heard? Well, I'm not going to force my religion on my children, but they'll force them to go to a certain college because physical prosperity is more important than spiritual prosperity.
Seriously, that computer was letting me know, giddy up, get going. But that's the deal. People get so concerned with this. And that's why I say that the prosperity pastor is a prosperity dad. How about this?
How about the heretical pastor? What is a heretical pastor, really? A heretical pastor is a man who preaches his opinion instead of the word of God. I don't care what the opinion is, but that's a heretical pastor.
A pastor who gets up and preaches his opinion and not the word of God, that is heresy. How does that apply to dads? Well, I know a lot of fathers who teach their children by opinion rather than by Scripture.
They teach their children. You know, I used to work at a school. I still work substitute teaching, but I used to work full time. When I was in seminary, I worked full time at a high school. And I did security.
So I did a lot of things with kids that weren't, you know, weren't in the best situations because these kids would come in and they'd fight and stuff. And I'd have to talk to them and break up fights and whatnot.
And I would sit and talk to them and they would say, well, my daddy told me if he looks at you cross-eyed, you punch him in the nose. Well, your daddy was wrong. Men who lead by opinion and not by the word of God are not godly fathers.
And they're heretical. But what about this? And I think this one is probably the one that breaks my heart the most. The hypocritical pastor. What's a hypocrite? Pastor who says one thing and does something else.
Now, we all have to battle hypocrisy in some sense or another, but there are guys out there who straight up say one thing and do the opposite. And we all know that. And we hate it in pastors, don't we?
We hate it when we hear about a pastor who's hard-line preaching on greed and then you find out he was skimming money off the church books or something. You hate that. You just can't stand it. But what about the dad who tells his kid, do this, do this, do this, and then models something totally different?
Don't drink. Gets drunk all the time. Don't do this. Don't be promiscuous. Has three or four girlfriends. Don't do this. Don't do that. And yet his life is lived different than what he says. Beloved, we see that in the world.
It's a shame because the reality is your children will conform to what they see much faster than they will conform to what they hear. Hear that again. I want to make sure you don't miss that. Your children will conform to what they see faster than they will conform to what they hear.
The father's role in the home is a pastoral role. And what type of pastor does the Bible command? The Bible commands a pastor who loves Christ and seeks to be conformed to him. The Bible commands a pastor to be one who studies the Scripture and seeks to lead in accord with its precepts.
The Bible commands a pastor to be one who is mature in his behavior and is above reproach in his relationships. That is what the Bible commands the pastor to be. And guess what? Fathers, it's the same thing that you're required.
It's the absolute same thing that's required of you. In fact, I want to add something. The Bible gives us qualifications for a pastor, but it never gives us necessarily the qualifications for manhood.
But I want to challenge you for this thought. The same qualifications that the Bible gives for the pastor are the qualifications for biblical manhood. Turn with me to 1 Timothy 3. I think I can prove this from the text.
1 Timothy 3. Turn with me. The qualification here is for the word overseer. The Greek word episkopos means bishop or elder. The word presbyteros means elder, but they are synonymous in Titus 2, so we know that the word here can mean elder, bishop, overseer, or pastor.
But it says, If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore, verse 2, An overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
He must manage his own household well, with all dignity, keeping his children submissive. For if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert or he will become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.
Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders so that he will not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. Beloved, there is nothing in that list that could not be made applicable to all men.
All Christian men. In fact, I'll go through the list. Which one of these do you think doesn't apply to you men? Above reproach? That doesn't apply to you? How about faithful to your wife? I'm waiting.
Tell me why that doesn't apply to you as a Christian man. Sober thinking, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach. Oh, ding, ding. Well, that doesn't really apply to me. Able to teach.
No, I will say this. As far as on a pastoral level, among the people of God, not everyone has that particular responsibility. There is a gift that accompanies that. But you do have the responsibility to teach and lead your family.
So, back to the drawing board. That one does not apply to you either. Does it not? Is it double negative? It means it does. It does apply to you. Likewise, all Christian men should avoid drunkenness, quarrelsomeness, greed and conceit.
This is a biblical man. Beloved, we should not have problems finding elders in the church. Because every man in this church should strive toward this. We should be overflowing with elders in this church in the sense that every man should qualify.
You might say, Pastor, that's too hard. You're asking too much. I learned something a long time ago and I believe it remains true that if you find something a man wants to do, he'll figure it out. I've been learning this a lot with Mike lately.
Mike Ward is an Internet genius compared to me. But, I've been learning how to redo our website. And, you know what? I didn't know anything about it. Chris was there the day I was introduced to the new format.
Had no idea how to do it. So, I've stayed up late, watched Internet videos, done a lot of things wrong to learn. And, beloved, men are that way. If it's something you want to do, you'll do it. If you want to get better at golf, if you want to take a couple strokes off your game, you'll watch videos, you'll read books, and you'll go and you'll swing that club until you get better.
If you want to become a better marksman, you'll watch videos, you'll read books, you'll get on YouTube, you'll buy the best scope, you'll spend time at the range until you get better. If you want to be a better cook, you'll go and you'll buy all the necessary stuff.
You'll buy the videos, you'll get the tapes, you'll watch them, you'll stand in front of that... What do you cook on? A stove? You'll do it! You can tell I don't cook a lot. What's that to me? The point is, you will find a way if you want to.
And if you don't, you will find an excuse. For some reason, when I tell a man, and I challenge a man, that he needs to learn the Scripture so that he can be better at leading his family, he comes to me with all kinds of reasons why that's an insurmountable task.
It's almost as if he would rather try to figure out a way to climb Mount Everest than to simply learn the Word of God so that he can lead his family. Men say this, well, my wife knows more than I do. I want to address that directly because I've heard it a lot.
I haven't just heard it from one person. I've heard that for however many years I've been preaching here. Well, my wife knows more than I do. Well, let me tell you two things. Number one, that does not negate your responsibility to lead your home.
If your wife knows more about the Bible than you do, that does not negate your position of leadership. But number two, there is a solution. Do I have to spell it out? Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.
That's the solution. There is too much good information out there right now for any man to remain ignorant of the Word of God. There are too many good videos. There are too many good sermons. There are too many good books.
There are too many good things that you can invest your life in for you to remain ignorant. You have a job, husbands. You have a job, fathers. It is more than putting food on your table. It is more than keeping a roof over their heads.
You have the task of filling your children and wives' spiritual soul with the Word of God. Every husband is a small group minister. Every father is a children's minister. Somebody says, well, Sovereign Grace doesn't have a children's minister.
Yes, we do. We've got a lot of them. Every father in this room is a children's minister. One of my favorite passages of Scripture is 1 Corinthians 14, 33 -35. Ladies don't always like this one, but let me read it first.
1 Corinthians 14, 33,. For God is not a God of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. The women should keep silent in the churches. That's the part that's usually not popular. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the law also says.
If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. Now, there's a lot of contention about this verse and there's a lot of misunderstanding about this verse because the Apostle Paul is specifically talking about the gift of prophecy and the gift of tongues, and particularly the role of the pastor in the church who is not supposed to be a woman.
By the way, churches who have women pastors are wrong. They're not a little bit wrong. They're not halfway wrong. They're not somewhat right. They're wrong because the Scripture says they're wrong. So we'll just get that out of the way.
They are not correct. They are in rebellion to the Word of God. 1 Timothy chapter 2 tells us very clearly. They are in rebellion to the Word of God. So, that is not the point I'm trying to make. That's a point for another sermon.
Here's the point I'm trying to make. What does it say to the woman, and why this is one of my favorite passages of Scripture, what does it say to the woman who has a question? Your husband... Just stop there.
It says ask your husband at home, but let's just stop. The explicit teaching of this verse is referring to the role of men and women in the church and the role that the woman is not supposed to usurp in the church.
That's the explicit teaching. But the implicit teaching is this. Men should know the answers. The implicit teaching is that your wife should have the confidence to ask you questions and you answer them.
You should be able to come home and say, I don't understand this. And you say, sweetheart, let's take the Word of God and let's turn off the Everybody Loves Raymond or whatever it is you watch. You turn that off.
And we're going to come around the Word of God and I'm going to teach you as your husband the Word of God. Somebody says, what if a woman doesn't have a husband? Well, that's what elders are for. That's what the church is for.
This is why the Bible tells the church to take care of the widows and the orphans. Those who don't have the man in the house. The church is supposed to do that. It's not supposed to be the government.
It's not supposed to be the state. It's supposed to be the church. And we need to do better at that. We need to do better to be there for those who don't have husbands, who don't have fathers. But that being said, that's the answer to that because I know that question comes up.
When David was preparing for his deathbed, his commission to his son was very clear. And if you boil it down, it can be boiled down to this. Know and obey the Word of God. The Word of God was the concern of David's heart and the Word of God should be the concern of our heart.
Because biblical manliness comes from being a biblical man. That's the simplest thing in the world, but it's the most profound truth. Biblical manliness comes from being a biblical man. So I want to give you three things.
This is our final. I'm bringing it to a close. I'm landing the plane. But as I do, I want you to write down three things. If you're a father, husband, or whatever, here are three practical applications that you can take away from this.
These are three things that you should be doing if you're not already doing them. If you are doing them, God bless you to continuance. But if you're not, here's three things. To cultivate your own biblical manliness, to cultivate your role as the spiritual leader, father of your home, here's three things that you need to be doing.
Number one, you need to make a commitment to private prayer. We need to be on our knees before God, for our family, every single day. We need to pray with our wives. We need to pray for our wives. We need to get off our feet.
We need to get down on our knees, if we're able. I know some of you aren't able to get down on your knees. Get on the knees of your heart. Get in a position of privacy with God and pray for your wives.
Pray for your families. Your grandfather, pray for your grandchildren. Pray for your great-grandchildren. I don't think anybody in the room goes, great, great. Not yet, Jack? Maybe? No? Okay. But we pray for them.
We make their lives our focus in prayer. Number two, family worship. Family worship. We need to lead our families in the reading of Scripture, in times of devotion, in times of praising God, and in prayer.
Your children need to know what it's like to hear you pray for their salvation. They need to know what it's like to hear you tell them how desperately they need Christ. And not just as an accessory to life, as the modern church has made Him.
But they need Christ to be their life. The very foundation upon which everything is built. And finally, you need private prayer. You need family worship. And I can't stress family worship enough. I cannot stress how important it is for you to bring your children around and worship with them.
And I just can't. But number three, I can't leave this out either, and that is Bible study. I'm not giving you hard things to remember. Bible study. We need to be in the Word. You need to be listening to good preaching.
You need to be seeking learned men to help you better understand the Word. As Jesus mentored His apostles, you need to be mentored as well. This week we're starting a program here at the church called Dads and Dudes.
And basically what it is is twice a month I'm offering a time for any man who wants to come and learn the Word of God better so you can better teach your kids and your wife. Because I want you to know and I want you to be confident that you're the spiritual leader of your home.
I'll tell you more about it at the announcement time, but this is what it's for. It's to give a time of mentoring. The world says this, and I'll end with this, the world says this, a good father is a man who keeps his children fed and keeps a roof above their head and ensures that they have a proper education.
And all those things are commendable, but they lack one thing. All of those things can be done devoid of the Word of God. And I will tell you this, it is better to be a pauper and obey the Word of God than to be the king of a thousand nations and die and go to hell.
What does it profit a man that he should gain the whole world and yet forfeit his soul? Consider your family, fathers. Young men who are not yet fathers, consider the kind of father you want to be. Because what good would it be to raise your children to be a doctor, a sports star, or some other highly paid professional and yet have no knowledge of the Word of God?
So I challenge you. I challenge you as men to take up the cause of biblical manliness. It's not about having a nice beard or a nice tie or a nice handshake. It's about knowing the Word of God. There's nothing wrong with a nice beard, a nice tie, and a nice handshake.
But it is all not enough. We need to know the Word of God. And it might be this morning that it is impossible that you could fulfill anything that I've said. Because it might be this morning that you have come and you yourself do not know Christ.
And it's impossible to pass on what you don't possess. So at this moment, I want to simply challenge you. If you're here today and you're a father or a mother or a kid or whatever you are, if you've come here today and you came here devoid of Jesus Christ, if you came here today devoid of the Gospel, I want to end with this.
And hear me now because this is the most important thing you will ever hear. You are a sinner. And you're not a little sinner. You're a sinner who deserves to go to hell. I don't believe that. Well, the Bible says you're wrong.
And the Bible says that if we remain devoid of Jesus Christ, we will go to hell. And if you think it's hot in here, nowhere close. The only way to be saved from hell is through Jesus Christ. And the Bible says everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
So I tell you today, if you came here a devoid of Christ, repent. Trust in Him. And pray that He would lead you out of your sin and into new life. And if you're a father, into a new life of godliness for your family.
And if you're a mother, into a new life of godliness for your family. And if you're a child, a new life of godliness that you will get to live your life in Him. And with that, let's pray. Our Father and our God, we thank You.
We thank You for biblical fatherhood and what it means. We pray now that as we prepare to leave this place, that You would lead us away from this place convicted of what we need to do better. For the believers today, Lord, I pray that there would be a conviction.
For women who are married, to support their husbands in the leadership of their home. For men who are husbands and fathers, that they would be convicted to lead their homes better as men of God. For children, that they would have fathers and mothers that are godly that they could look up to and be led by and be nurtured by.
And Lord, for the unbeliever who has come to us today, any one Lord, that they would be convicted of sin and converted to Christ. For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved than the matchless name of Jesus.
And it is in His name we pray, Amen. Let's stand.