(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

The verse I want to focus on was there in verse 3 where the Bible read, Honor widows that are widows indeed, but if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to show piety at home and requite their parents. For that is good and acceptable before God. Skip down to verse 7, And these things give in charge that they may be blameless. But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. And the title of this morning's sermon is, Godly Men, Godly Men. There's a lot of problems that we have in this world today. And you say, how could we fix them? How could we make the world a better place? Godly men. That is the solution to every single one of these problems. If men would decide to actually serve the Lord. Because the answer's always the Bible. But then we have to have men actually apply the Bible to their lives, and that's gonna make change in the world that we see today. So I have eight points this morning about what it is to be a godly man. Don't let the world tell you what it means to be a man today. Because unfortunately, the definition of a man has been shifting sands. I mean, it's changing ever rapidly. And today, being a man is not even being a man at all. It's disgusting, it's gross, it's perverted. It has nothing to do with the Bible. And unfortunately, most people today reject the definitions of man and woman according to the Bible. They don't like what the Bible has to say. But you're in church this morning, so I'm gonna tell you what the Bible says about being a godly man. Now the first point that I have is that men ought to provide. Men are to be the sole providers of the home. We notice in verse number four, the widows, if she has children, or notice this, nephews. You say, what's a nephew? It's the son of a sibling. We see even Abraham took Lot, that was his nephew. So it's the men in the family that's not even their direct mother, they're supposed to be taking care of them. And the Bible says very clearly in verse number eight, that if you are not to provide for your family, you're worse than an unbeliever. That's harsh language, that's strong language. Now go to 2 Thessalonians chapter number three. The Bible is very harsh on this topic. God does not like it when a man does not go out and provide for his family. It's not the one that's taking care of his family, that's what he's ordained. That's what God has chosen for men to do, is to be the provider of his family. The Bible says in Exodus 20, six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work. God commanded men to work. He commanded them to work six days in the Old Testament, and then observed the Sabbath, which in the New Testament, the Sabbath is pictured with Jesus Christ. So why don't you just pick up the extra day? No, I'm just kidding, you can take one day to rest. But it says in 2 Thessalonians chapter three verse seven, for yourselves know how ye ought to follow us. For we behave not ourselves disorderly among you. Neither did we eat any man's bread for not, but wrought with labor and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you. Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an example unto you to follow us. For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. You say, if a young man comes to you and he's not willing to work, I'm not gonna feed him. The Bible tells me, it commands me not to feed him, why? Because if his belly is hungry, it'll force him to go out and work. It'll force him to go and do labor, because why? It's a godly attribute of a man to work. Men are designed to work, not to just sit around all day and navel gaze and do whatever they want, be a child. No, they're to go get a job and provide and take care of their own, is what the Bible commands. Go to Genesis chapter number three. We'll get the gender roles assigned from God at the very beginning. The Bible goes on to say in 2 Thessalonians, and if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. You know, it's a shame if a man comes into church begging for food when he's able to go out and get a job. Obviously, if someone was crippled or maimed, I mean, this is pretty much your one exception in the Bible. You just, but even if you were in that case, you could be a radio host. I mean, you could find something to do. You better know that as a man, I'm gonna try with all my might to provide for my own, cuz that's a godly attribute. It's a godly attribute of a man to work. Look at Genesis chapter three, verse 16. And unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow thou shall bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband. And he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, because thou is hearken of the voice of thy wife, and has eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, thou shalt not eat of it. Cursed is the ground for thy sake, and sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles shall bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. And the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground, for out of it wast thou taken. For dost thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. And to Adam also, and to his wife, did the Lord God make coats of skins and clothe them. So God ordains a lot of things here. First of all, that women give birth. Now, according to biology, that's the only way it can happen. So, only women can give birth. And we see, what's the purpose of women? To give birth, to produce children. But what did he say to the man? He said in verse 19, and the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread. What is he saying? Work to eat. Isn't that what we read in the New Testament? Hey, if you want to eat bread, work for it. What did God say in Genesis chapter number three, verse 19, in the sweat of thy face? Look, you don't get in a sweat playing video games. And if you do, that's ridiculous. You get a sweat because you actually do work today. Because you actually use your hands, and you labor, and you rot. You make something, do something. You know, we could solve feminism today with one word, men. Men. You know why we have feminism today? Cuz there isn't any men anymore. Go, go if you would to Deuteronomy chapter 22. And I have a lot of points this morning, so some of these I'm just gonna kinda go pretty quickly through. But men need to go out and provide so that women can do their job. So that they can raise children. So they can bear children. So they can do what God commanded them to do. Hey, you're gonna have a great sorrow in your conception, but you better be conceiving. Be fruitful and multiply is what God had commanded under the man and the woman. And we see the man's part, it's not very much time. But the woman's part's a lot more time. She's a lot more involved in the situation. Why? Cuz the man needs to go out and work while the woman is doing all the hard labor with the child. Not only that, the Bible says in 1 Timothy 5, I'll quote for you. It says, I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. There's a job that God has ordained for women to do. So in order for those women to do that, the man has to go out and provide so that she can. The man has got to work hard so that the wife can fulfill her godly role. And when men do not fulfill their role, their wives can't fulfill their role. We see that's why there's so much gender confusion. There's so much perversion in this world that we live in. There's so much ungodliness because men aren't going out and providing. Now, I know that my wife's not unique to women. My wife wants to be home. My wife wants to bear the children. My wife doesn't wanna have to go and slave at a job. She likes the fact that I'll take care of her. Isn't that what most women desire? I just wanna marry someone rich. I mean, it's called a gold digger for a reason. Look, women desire a guy that's gonna provide for them. That's gonna take care of them so they can fulfill their desires, their God-given desires. Look, girls, they love dolls, don't they? They love to play house. They love to play dress up. They love to play mommy. That's just natural. You don't even have to tell them. They wanna get the babies and tell them how much they love the babies, and they carry them around, and they put them under their shirt. Look, you didn't teach them to do that. They do it because it's their natural desire. And you know what, it takes a bunch of brainwashing to take all these wonderful young little girls and teach them to be a man. But if we had enough men today, we wouldn't need any more men. We could just let the women be women today. So we need some more men to go out and provide. You know what's another attribute of a godly man? He looks like a man too. Look at Deuteronomy 22 verse 5. The woman shall not wear that which retaineth unto a man. Neither shall a man put on a woman's garment, for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God. According to the Bible, men are to dress like men. Put on a pair of pants. And unfortunately today, there's whole countries where men wear dresses and skirts. I mean, talk about the Irish in these kilts. That's disgusting. That's perverted. But even in America today, we already see the celebrities are hard at work. The celebrity guys are dressing like a bunch of queers and fags and all these effeminate type of clothing. And you know what? Culture just takes about 10, 20 years to catch up with the celebrities. Once the celebrities start doing it, man, you watch people do it all day long. But as a godly man, you oughta put your pants on and dress like a man. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter number 11. The Bible condemns being effeminate. What's effeminate? Dressing like a sissy, wearing skinny jeans, pink shirts, skin tight clothing, capri pants. Look, you better not wear capri pants when you come around me. You better just cut them off and make them shorts or something. That's not, I don't wanna look at that. That's disgusting. Soft, delicate clothing with flowers on it. Take that off. Get some manly clothes. Just get a blue shirt. Get a black shirt. Get a brown shirt, okay? Look like a man today. And unfortunately, if you look like a man, you know what? You'll really stick out. But that's in a good way. You'll really stick out because most of the clothing today is getting so effeminate, so faggoty, it's disgusting, it's perverted, it's hard to buy clothes. I can hardly find a pair of pants that don't wanna hug my leg. It's disgusting. I just wanna put my pants on real easy. I don't wanna have to fight them. I'm not trying to put leggings on. I'm not trying to look like Peter Pan, who's an effeminate queer sissy. I'm trying to look like a man, trying to do some work. Look at 1 Corinthians 11, verse 4. Every man praying or prophesying having his head cover dishonereth his head. Now you say, what does that mean, having his head cover? Is that like wearing a hat? It's not what that means. There's a lot of churches that would teach that that means a hat. And I'm not saying that if you had a hat on, that wouldn't be somewhat disrespectful. But we need to get the true biblical teaching cuz guys will take their hat off and let their glorious man fall down. And that is what the sin is. Look at number, verse 14. Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him. The Bible says the covering is your hair. Look at verse 15, it tells you. But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given her for a covering. According to the Bible, there's a difference between men and women. And guess what? It's hair. God said it, in the New Testament. God is making a whole chapter about hair length, because that's how much he cares about it. He wants a distinction between men and women. And so if you teach people, well, just take your hat off when you come in. But then you get a bunch of queer, effeminate Fabios in here, with their glorious hair. That's disgusting, too. I don't want you to look like a little sissy girl. Why don't you cut your hair? Look like a military person. I don't care. Just shave it all off, but don't look like a queer sissy. And the Bible says that you're dishonoring Christ. You know, when you have that long hair, you're making Christ look stupid. You're making Christianity look stupid. You'd make your church look stupid. It's not godly. It's not manly. Nobody looks at that and desires that. It's a lie. Now go if you would to Proverbs chapter 24. The Bible says nature teaches you. I don't even have to open my Bible. It's just obvious. That's why even when many pictures just trying to denote this as men or women, the guys always have short hair. Why? Because nature teaches you that. You don't have to learn. The ungodly, most of them, the unsaved, know that this is true. But unfortunately, because there's so much wickedness abounding right now, that there's a lot of confusion. What's my third point? Well, godly men are strong. They're not weak. They're not sissies, OK? Now, this is a principle that we learn throughout the Bible. We see Jacob. When he comes to the well, they're like, well, we've got to wait for all these guys to show up. Jacob's like, I got it, hun. He just throws off the lid. He gives her a kiss. He's like, I'm a man. You're waiting for all these sissy, effeminate, queer, skinny-wearing gene guys to come pull away this lid. I got it, babe. I'm going to take care of it. Because being a godly man is strong. The men of the Bible are strong. Samson in the Bible was strong. We see all the men of the Bible. They're strong men. Physically, mentally, spirits, every way that you can imagine it. Bible says in Psalms, I'll read for you, it says, which is a bridegroom cometh out of his chamber and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. So the Bible in Psalms chapter 19 is magnifying God and the gospel going out. And he's saying, like, Jesus Christ would be like the bridegroom coming out of his chamber is glorious. And he's saying the rejoicing would be like a strong man in a race, being it's great if you're going to enter in a competition and you're the best. Why? Because strength is a virtue. You know who has the most strength? God. The Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Why? Because God is strong. It's a godly attribute to be strong. It's not a godly attribute to be weak, to be vulnerable, to not be able to provide and protect and guard your family. Look at Proverbs 24, verse 5. A wise man is strong. Yea, a man of knowledge increases strength. So I believe this could apply in multiple ways. It could apply physically. You know, most likely it's also applying just mentally. Just the fact that the guy that has brains is a lot of times going to be stronger than just brute force. So it's important to have both. You need to have both wisdom and brute force. Don't bring a knife to a gunfight. The wise guy, he's strong. Because he's got his sights lasered in on you. He's practiced. He's ready. He's going to even increase his strength. He's got a backup gun underneath his coat that you didn't even know about. Go to John chapter number 10. John chapter number 10. When God heals somebody, when the apostles heal somebody, in Acts chapter number 3, through God, through faith in Jesus Christ, the Bible says, and his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong. So there's a guy who was lame. Then when he got Jesus, he became strong. And look, it's a virtue. It's good when men are strong, not lame. Don't be a lame guy. Be a strong man. Be a godly man who has strength. The Bible says, for bodily exercise profit is little, but godliness is profitable unto all things. Now, we need to keep everything in balance. Obviously, I'm not saying, hey, if you want to be the godliest guy, go hit the gym 24-7. You know what? You need to be hitting the Bible a lot more than you're hitting the gym. But hit the gym, too, because it said it still profits you. And look, being a man is about being strong, about being a leader, about being one who protects others, who guides others, who leads others. Do you want your leader to be the weak one? I mean, have you ever been on a job? Men and your boss is not a good leader. You're better than him. You're stronger than him. You're smarter than him. You know more. You have more experience. You're like, what is this guy doing? Look, it's not a godly attribute. A godly attribute is like, this guy's got it all together. I mean, he's stronger than I am. He's smarter than I am. He's more experienced than I am. He knows where to go. He's a good communicator. He's going to take it. I want to follow this guy. I mean, look, I'm going to go run with this guy. You know, when there's a battle raging, you're not going to have so much pride to say, this guy's a lot better. I'm going to follow him. I'm going to get behind him. He knows what he's doing. You know, when the battle's raging, you're going to follow strong leadership, and leadership will prevail. Look at John 10, verse 27. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give them the eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My father, which gave them me, is greater than all. And no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand. What is that strength? Why? Because God is strong. You can't overcome him. You can't overpower him. He is omnipotent, all powerful. Because strength is a virtue, and it's a godly attribute. Go to 1 Corinthians, chapter 13. The Bible has a lot to say about what it would be to be a godly man. And a godly man, you know what? He's going to be a man. He's going to grow up. He's going to develop. He's going to mature. Look at 1 Corinthians 13, verse 11. When I was a child, I spake as a child. I understood as a child. I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I put away childish things. A godly man grows up. A godly man acts like a man. He doesn't act like a toddler. He doesn't act like a baby who needs his diaper changed at every corner. We see the godly man knows what to do. And he puts away things that are childish. What would be that? How about video games? How about fantasy football? How about just watching sports in general? Now, let me make it clear, I'm not saying that any of those things is a sin. I don't think they're a sin. And I don't think it's wrong for you to enjoy your life. You know what? I'll go to a sporting event every once in a while. I'll play sports with my family. I'll play games with my family every once in a while. But you know what? I'm not controlled by it. I'm not addicted to it to where I can't say no. Now, obviously, if I just let myself get super enthralled and think about it, I could get addicted to all of those. And I have been in the past. And I'm once an addict, always an addict. But you know what? The godly man says, you know what? I have a problem here. So I'm going to put a boundary. I'm going to take control of that situation. I'm going to stop myself from just focusing all my time and energy and mind on these childish, vain things and actually do something manly, do something godly. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 9, but I keep under my body and bring it into subjection, lest by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be cast away. The Bible teaches restraint, self-restraint, self-control, being temperate, striving for the mastery. That means saying no to things. And look, it's not always about sin. The Bible makes it clear, hey, we should obviously always avoid sin. That's not even without question. But there's a lot of things that we just enjoy in this life that are not sin that you still should consider, hey, is that really edifying? Is that really beneficial for me to be doing this? Is it really a sin for me to just play a game with my family? No. But what if that's the only thing we ever did? I don't go to church. I don't read my Bible. I don't even work. We just sit around and play games all day. That's horrible. So obviously, you have to take everything in moderation. And the godly man's temperate. He's going to have balance in his life. He's going to have self-control. He's not going to always be a child. But what do children do? They have no self-control. If you give a kid a video game, he'll play it until he uses the bathroom on himself. I mean, he's got to be in severe physical needs for him to stop. He won't go to sleep. I mean, do children just go to bed naturally on their own? Or do you have to put them to bed? Look, children have no self-control. They have no self-restraint. And we see the man, he can put away the childish thing. He can put away the vain thing. He has control over his own body. Now, I looked at some statistics. It says that in 2016, 27% of all video game users were 50 years old or older. Wow. Not only that, there's 89 million game console users. There are so many men today that they live their life like a child. They're children. Their wives look at them, and all their husband wants to do is just play video games all day. He's ignoring the wife. He's ignoring the children to satisfy his childish, youthful lusts. Wicked. That's not godly. You wouldn't look at this guy and be like, what a great leader. Can I come play video games with you, Pastor Shelley? That sounds like so much fun. Guys night, let's go play video games. Stupid. Go if you would to Isaiah 19, Isaiah chapter 19. Not only that, children complain. They bellyache. They whine. They moan. And children only think of themselves. If you've ever been around a young single guy, many times doesn't get it yet, that you should think about other people. They still a lot of times act like children. Well, I need to go to the bathroom. Well, I need to eat. Well, I'm hungry. Will you take care of me? Will you change my diaper? Look, a man who ends up having children and having a wife, he learns I have to take care of other people. I have to think about other people. He's always thinking about what can I do to help the situation, not what can I take from the situation. But children are only takers by nature. You have to teach them not to be that way. You have to teach and train them to actually help out and think of other people and lay down your life and put other's needs first. This is a godly man that will teach himself and his children to do this. Quit you like men. Don't complain and bellyache. That's not a manly attribute. If I say, hey, we need to get some more tables out here. Oh, I don't want to go all the way to the storage closet. Every time I open the table, I catch my finger on it. It hurts. Do you have a Band-Aid, Pastor Shelley? Can you help me? This is not a man. You're like, what? Go do it. I don't want to sit here and argue with you. Quit complaining and bellyaching. Be a man. Just do it. Shut up and do it. Look at Isaiah 19, verse 16. In that day shall Egypt be like unto women, and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which He shaketh over it. What's the next attribute of a godly man? He likes to fight. He wants to engage in battle. But we see women by nature don't. Women by nature want to avoid a physical conflict, a physical fight. This is why they're not good soldiers, just FYI. Women by nature are not good soldiers. Men are good soldiers. They can a lot of times kill without hesitation. That's a different kind of topic or sermon. But I'm just saying, look, for a woman to get there is very difficult. For a woman to do this type of things because they're different. And we see the Bible saying there's going to be men that are so afraid it's like they become women where they're paralyzed by fear. They can't do anything. They couldn't shoot. They can't defend themselves. They're just going to go into fetal position or something like that. Whereas a man, he's going to say, hey, there's a battle. Let's go. Bring it on. I hope you have a big gun because I got one in my back pocket. That's what the man is like. He likes conflict and war and fighting and struggle. Look at 1 Timothy chapter number 1, 1 Timothy chapter number 1. In the Old Testament, there was a lot of physical battle. There was a lot of war. There was a lot of struggle. And in the New Testament, there's the same type of battle. There's the same type of war raging. But it's not physical. It's spiritual. And so men need to turn on that fighting gear spiritually. You say, hey, I really want to go out and slay some of the enemy. Well, do it spiritually. That's what the Bible commands. That's what the Bible teaches. The Bible says, I'll read for you in 1 Timothy 2. Thou, therefore, endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. I wouldn't want you to do anything hard, would I? No, the godly man, he embraces the hardness. He embraces the difficulty, the struggle. It says, no man that warth entangled himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. The Bible says, when you get saved, you're drafted. Say, I don't want to be drafted. I don't care. You're drafted. You're a soldier. Whether you like it or not, you're a soldier. My question is, how good a soldier are you? The godly man is a great soldier. He's not entangling himself with the affairs of this life. He's thinking about the mission. He's thinking about the battle that's raging. Hey, I'm going to go out there and help my comrades. I see there's only a few people out there. They're struggling. They need some reinforcements. Didn't we sing some good battle songs this morning? Who's on the Lord's side? Who's going to go out and battle with us? Look at 1 Timothy 1, verse 18. This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare. Look, there's a war today. I don't know if you woke up today. If you turn on the TV, or look at the news, or look at anything going on in this world, it's so ungodly. There's a battle. The devil is winning by leaps and bounds. They're pushing every limit, every single statute, blaspheming Jesus Christ, destroying the Bible, destroying Christianity. I don't know if you realize today, there's five churches in this complex. I don't think all of them are preaching the gospel. Why? Because there's not any godly man fighting for the truth, contending for the faith. You think if every man in Houston, Texas was contending for faith alone, we'd have all the churches that we have today? No. We need a bunch of men to stand up and say, the Bible says it's believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. And guess what it also says? And thy house. Why? Because the man has authority and dominion over his house. And he's going to go out and fight. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 11. That's why the Bible said in Genesis chapter 3 that the man was to rule over his wife. What does that mean? Well, let's just get a dictionary definition. What does rule mean? Exercise, ultimate power or authority over. See, I don't like that word rule. How about all power, all authority, ultimate power? The man is 100% in control. You say, I thought it was 50-50. Wrong. What was it, like 75, 25? Nope. 99, 1? 100% man in control, God ordained, according to the Bible. And you know what, this is how it always is. Guess who's 100% in control in our lives, God? Look, men are 100% under the authority of God. And look, the best situation is always a benevolent dictator. But yes, I said dictator. And see, the husband is supposed to be a dictator, but he's supposed to balance that with being benevolent. What, laying down his life, loving his wife? But you know what? You better also pick up that dictator part and be a man and rule your wife. You know how you rule somebody? With rules. If you don't have rules for your wife, here's my question, how are you ruling her? You know the guy that loves his wife has rules for his wife. Adam, maybe you should have thought, hey, Eve, don't go touch that tree. Don't get near to it. Don't talk to the serpents on the tree, Eve, OK? That's weird. That's strange. We see if Adam had some rules for his wife, maybe things would have gone differently, wouldn't they? Look at 1 Corinthians 11, verse 3. But I have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God. God gives you the authority structure. It's got the father, it's got the son, it's the man, and it's the woman. And we see they're all to be subject one to another. Don't get so frustrated, oh, man, if I was the man, I'd be free. You're not free. You're still under Christ. You're still under God. Look, why don't you just accept the level that you're under? Accept the authority structure that God has given. Go over to 1 Timothy chapter number 2 now. 1 Timothy chapter number 2. But we see in Genesis chapter 3, God rebukes Adam. He says, you've hearkened under the voice of thy wife. You know what? She should have hearkened to the voice of him. It should have been him that's giving the sound judgment, him that's giving the sound wisdom. He should have been the one telling her what to do. We see a lot of times in the Bible men let their women lead them by the nose, Ahab and Jezebel. This wicked woman Jezebel, she leads her husband all around town and tells him what to do and causes him to commit great wickedness in the sight of God. He's the king, but his wife's the one that's really in charge. His wife's the one that's wearing the pants. His wife's the one that's telling him what to do. You know, Moses had a disobedient wife, but he still went on to be a great leader. He still was a godly man. And look, a lot of times the reality is women want to try and rule over their husband. When? When the man is weak. When the man lets them. When the man is not godly. If you're godly, you're going to be strong, and you're going to be in charge, and you're going to have rules, and she's going to say, yes, sir. That's just how it works. Women will respond to strong leadership. But when the leadership's gone, they'll try to fill that void. It's just natural. Look at verse Timothy chapter 2, verse 12. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve, and Adam was not deceived. But the woman being deceived was in the transgression. So does the Bible say that they're the same? No. Adam was first formed, then Eve. Adam wasn't even deceived. And a lot of times, because of the differences between men and women, men are so much more of a black and white thinker than a woman, it's easier for them to not be deceived, not be gullible. This is why salesmen for many years, especially in the 1950s and 60s, when women were actually in the home, they would go around when dad's not there, the husband's not there, and sell these women all kinds of gadgets, sell them all kinds of things that were frauds and tricks. Why? Because the women were more gullible. Women are more trusting. Women are more empathetic. That's why they can be taken advantage of by other men, evil men. Evil, wicked, seducers can take advantage of your wife's trusting, empathetic nature. Now why are women so trusting and charitable and empathetic? Because they have to take care of children. They have to take care of children all the time. So they just love their children, want to put empathy on their children, feel bad for their children. Men, they're a little bit more military style parenting. It's just the way they are wired, the way they're natured. And you don't want all your kids to just come out of military school. So they need both. They need the empathizer, the wife, and they need the military style guy who's laying down the law and the charge. They need that good balance so they can be a well-balanced human being. So they don't come out really weird. But notice in verse 12, but I suffer not a woman to teach. So who's the I? Paul. So why is it that women would get up and preach? Because the man of God lets them. Because men let women do these types of things. That's the reason why we have all of this gender confusion, because men allowed them. Husbands allowed their wives to get jobs. Husbands allowed their wives to vote. Husbands allowed their wives to vote for murder. That's why we have so much abortion today. It's disproportionate on voting that women will support the abortion of their children, whereas men won't. So if women were never allowed to vote, we still wouldn't have abortion in this country. Because men are such black and white thinkers, they can look at a baby and say, that's a baby. Wow. It has a heartbeat. That's not just a fetus. It's a baby. It's a life. Don't kill it. I'll take care of it. Men allow women to run for public office. Men allow women to be police officers and firefighters. What a disgrace. Why do I want to have to put a woman in that type of line of work? That's not comely. That's not what's suitable. That's not meat. That's perverted. That's getting confusing. And I don't want to have to deal with you letting your wife be a female cop. I don't want to get pulled over by her and have her harass me. So why don't you tell her to go back into the kitchen and cook you a sandwich? Be a man, a godly man. Go over to Joshua chapter 24. Look, I don't hate women. I love women. And I want my wife to fulfill her godly role and being a mother. You know how women get enjoyment by being a mother, by loving their children, by seeing the smiles of their children, by hugging and loving on their children, by teaching and training their children? I don't want to take that from her because I love her. I want her to have the desires of her heart fulfilled. But unfortunately, when women see a gap, they'll a lot of times stretch themselves and put themselves in a position they shouldn't be in to fulfill that gap. So if you have men filling that gap, then there's no other need. They can just go back to relaxing at home, paying attention to the children, paying attention to the things that God has ordained for them. Now I'll read for you. It says in 1 Corinthians 14, let your women keep silence in the churches, for it is not permitted unto them to speak, but they are committed to be under obedience, as also sayeth the law. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home, for it is a shame for women to speak in church. That means women shouldn't be getting up behind the pulpit and preaching the word of God. I even believe that women shouldn't even say amen. If they're spoken to, they could respond. But when you say amen, that's of your own will. That's of your own volition. And the Bible says the women are not supposed to be speaking of their own volition, of their own will. That's for the men to get up and teach. And it's not men's job to let go of their responsibilities, to just say, well, there's nobody here that knows the Bible, so I'll just sit down. And then the women get frustrated, and they say, isn't somebody going to preach as the Bible? So they just get up, and they do against what the Bible teaches. But if you have a strong man getting up and teaching the Bible, they don't feel the need to come up here and preach the Bible. They feel just comfortable and fine, just hearing all the screaming and yelling and all the hard reaching, OK? It's really great when we're ripping on the men. Don't worry. All the strong men will bring their families back, and we'll talk about the women this evening, all right? But you know, Joel Osteen, he's not a godly man. How's he doing on our list so far? Let's do a little review, OK? Is he providing? Oh, wait, I remember. His wife, Victoria, is the co-pastor of their church. Doesn't sound like he is the sole provider of that house. Check mark. Oh, fail. Looking like a man. How's he doing on that one? The effeminate queer little sissy looks like he came out of a Barbie doll house. He doesn't look like a man. He doesn't dress like a man. His hair is even stretching. I don't know, it's really curly. It's disgusting. I don't like anything about it. He looks super effeminate. He doesn't look like a man. I bet he wears makeup, like a little queer. Is he strong? I don't know. Let's just give him the benefit of the doubt, but I don't think that he can take anybody in an arm wrestling match. I don't think he's going to lead the battle in something strong. And I know he's not strong, because he never likes anything negative. He doesn't endure hardness. Oh, it's all positive. It's all lightness. I don't want to talk about that. I don't want to judge anybody. I'm for everybody, and I love everybody. Ergo, I really hate every single person, and I only like my pocketbook. Will you please line up and just start feeling my pocketbook, please? He's not fighting for anything. He's not championing for anything. He's not strong. You know what, it's not easy to get up and preach things that people are doing wrong. Just FYI, I don't get kicks out of it. I don't like it. I wish we would all just follow what the Bible says. But you know what? I'm going to preach the Bible no matter what, so that way we can be more godly. We can fix the problems in this world. I don't want to make someone feel bad and ashamed. That's not my goal. But you know what? A man that's strong will get up and do that because he loves you, because he wants you to be better, because he wants you to be like Christ. Look, you let go to Joel Osteen's church. Has he stopped being a child? I don't know about that one. Does he like to fight? Obviously not. Does he rule his wife? No, he sits down and lets her come up and preach. You're going to let Victoria Osteen get up and teach you how to be a godly man? You've got some problems there, if that's what's going on. And look, men are not supposed to hand over their responsibilities. A man, a godly man, takes full responsibility for his actions. Not only that, he goes above and beyond what has been required of him and does more. He says, I wasn't even asked to do this, but I see there's a problem. I'm going to fix that too. I'm going to fix this over here. I got it. Because I'm a man, I'm going to take responsibility for not only things I have been told to do, I'm going to do more. That's the godly man. Now, the ungodly man, he complains about all the things he was given. And he was only given one task because they already knew he was a sissy little girl anyways. Look at Joshua chapter 24, verse 15. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve, whether the gods of your father serve that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, and whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Oh, but let me ask my wife real quick. Let me check and make sure that's OK with her. No, the man decides we're going to serve God. I don't care, honey. We're serving God. We're going to follow God's commandments. We see the men of the Bible are men. They're godly men. They rule over their wife. They're not checking to see if that's OK. Is it OK if we go to church this morning, honey? Say, hey, get in the car, we're going to church. That's how it is with the godly man. And look, you say, oh, man, you're trying to turn my husband to something I don't want. Wrong. Every romance novel, every one of these books, what's on the cover? The strongest, most ripped looking dude. And they always have their shirt off. Why? Because it exposes their muscles. You know what muscles represent? Strength. They have all these biceps and triceps, and they've got the abs of steel. And that's what women look at, and they say, I like that. Look, women, like a strong man, women want a guy to come in, sweep them off their feet, and tell them where they're going. Let me take you, honey, to my cave. Let me take you to my castle. I'm going to be your knight in shining armor. That's what women like. So you know what they like when you rule over them? Women ought to embrace the rules of their husband, because that means he loves her. He cares for her. I don't make rules for people that I don't like. I make rules for my kids because I love them, because I want them to obey me and be godly. If I had to have a rule for my family, it's because I love them. If I didn't love them, I could care less. She's like, whatever, just do whatever you want. Just go whatever. And look, your man boobs aren't cutting it. I mean, look, why don't you get a little bit of strength? You say, oh, man, my wife wouldn't like it if I took my shirt off. Well, maybe you should change that, because she likes some strength. She likes the man. She likes the guy that, wow, this guy is going to rule me. I like that. And they look at the soft, soy boy, playing video games with the man boobs, and they're like, you're going to tell me what to do? Why don't you get a job first? Why don't you put on a pair of pants first? Why don't you do one push-up? When she can do more push-ups than you, she's not going to listen to you. But you know what she listens to? The strong guy, the strong man. So if you're going to be effective at ruling your house, you need to follow all the other rules, too. It's not a pick and choose. Well, I want to still play video games and do whatever I want and let her go to work, and then I'll rule her. No, if you want to be a good ruler, you're a benevolent dictator. You're loving. You're satisfying all of her needs, all of her wants, all of her desires. Look, even the lesbians, what do they want? Don't they dress like the most butch-looking dyke dude? I mean, they look as manly as they possibly can. They want to get rid of anything that's feminine. They want to look like somebody coming out of the military. Why? Look, women desire a man. And when you don't give them one, I guess they make themselves into one. It's gross, it's disgusting. Look, the Pillsbury Doughboy needs to go back in the closet. It's time that we have some strong men come over. Being fat and sluggish and man boobs doesn't happen by working hard. If you work hard as a man, you're not going to look like that. You're not going to resemble that spiritually. When you work hard, you're going to look like a man. You know why you don't look like a man? Because you don't work hard. I work a very non-labor-intensive job. I mean, I program computers. I could sit there and eat chips off my chest and do nothing and be lazy. And most programmers, they look like the most out of shape people on the planet. You know what, I don't have to let that define me. I can still go out and run some laps. I can still do some push-ups. I can still be a man. But you know what, the guy that doesn't work hard, he becomes a fat, lazy slob that nobody likes, that nobody wants to be around. You want your wife to respect and honor you and pay reverence to you and listen to your rules? Why don't you lead by example? And you know what, women can struggle with weight. It's much more difficult for a woman to keep figure. But a man that works hard, he's going to look good. That's just how it is. Men that work hard, that put forth effort, will look like a man. That's what the Bible teaches. Now, go if you would to 1 Peter chapter 3. You say, I don't like this kind of preaching. You know who doesn't like this kind of preaching? Weak men. You know who likes this kind of preaching? Godly men. You know what, why don't you just go to Lakewood Church and let Victoria Osteen spiritually dress you? Not in the armor of God. She'll tell you to put on the pink button-up shirt with the matching lavender tie and the matching pants and the matching man purse and the matching shoes. And you can have your cute little outfit. And you can go home and obey your wife and listen to her. And she'll change her diaper later. And then your wife can just tell you how to live your life. Go to that church. Look, women want you to tell them what to do. Let me help you out with restaurant picking. I've struggled with this in my life, all right? Women don't know where they want to eat. You just tell them where they're going to eat, all right? You just pick the right, you say, hey, I already made plans. I got reservations. This is where we're going. They say, I like that. Now, obviously, what does the benevolent dictator do? He keeps in mind what she likes. He knows what she likes. He studies and observes his wife and realizes, she likes this place, guess what, that's where we're going. Obviously, the non-benevolent dictator, he's like, well, we're just going to my place. We're just going where I like to eat. But obviously, she wants the plan. She likes it, she'll embrace it, she'll love it. I'm not saying be a jerk. Some people hear this preaching, especially false prophets and wicked heretics. They hear this kind of preaching and they think, oh, green light, I got a slave girl at my disposal. I'll just make her bow down to all my wishes and desires and wants. Now look, the Bible makes it clear that the woman should obey and submit to her husband, period, even if he is a jerk. But that does not give license to men to be jerks. They ought to be benevolent in their decisions. But you know what? You got to keep the balance of having rule over your house with also laying down your life for your spouse. Look at 1 Peter 3 verse 7. Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life that your prayers be not hindered. So according to the Bible, we have to realize our wives are different. Our wives have differences. They're stronger in some areas, they're weaker in other areas. And generally speaking, they're weaker, just in general. In general, a woman is physically weaker, she's mentally weaker, she's not supposed to be the spiritual leader, she's just a weaker vessel. That doesn't make her less important. We have the same importance to Christ. According to the Bible, there is neither male nor female. We're all one in Christ Jesus. So according to God, just because someone is physically weaker does not mean they're less important, but it's just an obvious fact. Look, men are stronger than women. I know it seems so radical today. You know, you turn on the TV, there's no difference between men and women. Okay, I could name a thousand. Look, men and women are different, and women have a special role in society. Men have a special role. And as men, ordained by God, we're supposed to do the strong things. And the women are supposed to do the children things. Why? That's what he said in Genesis chapter three, is it not? There's a difference between men and women, and men need to keep that in mind so that when he makes rules or when he makes decisions, he's realizing, hey, she might not think exactly like I do. She might not respond to the same situations I do. Here's one that's pretty common. Men are usually don't struggle with their emotions very much, okay? Someone dies in the family, you see a horrible loss, you have something bad happen, I can get over it pretty quick. I'm not trying to say I'm calloused, but just as a man, I can compartmentalize those things, I can get over it. I shouldn't expect that upon my wife, though. I shouldn't put that kind of a burden on my wife. The Bible talks about Jacob, how when they were traveling, he was gonna lead on softly for the children, for the women. So understanding, just because you can push yourself to certain limits, you may not be able to push your wife and your children to the same limits. So you have to keep that in mind and say, hey, I'm gonna have patience, be long suffering. I'm gonna be the one to nurture and provide and protect and guide. Now, we're gonna talk about, I have two more points, okay? So we're almost done. Go to Deuteronomy chapter 17, as far as points go. But the last point is the most important. But because there's these differences between men and women, because we see them, women struggle to put away evil. They struggle with things like the death penalty. I looked at a study, it says six in ten men in America are in favor of the death penalty. So again, if women weren't allowed to vote, we'd still have the death penalty, it sounds like. And we'd get rid of all those weak men who said they didn't like it. And it says women are only 46% in favor, though. So women struggle with wanting to put someone to death. They struggle with this type of enforcing of the law. It's better for men because they're more objective. Men are more black and white. They look at the rapist and they say, put him to death. The woman somehow listens to the sob story and she's like, well, maybe he was okay. They empathize with disgusting perverts, disgusting people. People that are deserving of death, that are even less worse than a rapist, just someone that murdered. It's kind of an accident. He probably didn't mean to bludgeon him in the head 20 times with the ax. I mean, he seems like a really nice guy. I'm not saying every woman, but just by nature, women are more empathetic. Men are like, put him to death. This guy's wicked, this guy's evil. And that's because men are different. I'll give you an example of how they're different. Over the last 50 years, men have been proven to be better at math. So the SAT scores of men versus women, for the last 50 years, men have always done better. You say, what about this other, always, and that's when they were tracking. It's not like in 1949 they didn't. It's just saying they've tracked it from 1950, they tracked it from like 19, what is it, 72. So for 50 years that they've been tracking this, men always score much higher, period. You say, what about race? Well, every race, the American Indian more, the Asian more, the black more, the Mexican, the Puerto Rican, the Hispanics, the whites, every single race. Why? Because men have a different brain than women. It's not to say they're better, it's just to say that they have differences. And men are objectively better at math. That doesn't mean that I couldn't find one woman who's better than one man at math. It's talking generally speaking, we see that men are wired different than women. By biology, by God, they're more objective in their minds. Look at Deuteronomy 17 verse 5. Then shalt thou bring forth the man or that woman which have committed that wicked thing unto thy gates. Even that man or that woman, and shall stone them with stones till they die. At the mouth of two witnesses or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death. But at the mouth of one witness, he shall not be put to death. The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death. And afterward, the hands of all the people. So, thou shalt put the evil away from among you. So the Bible says, when someone do something worthy of death, put him to death. But unfortunately, it's difficult for women to do this. That's why we need strong men to pick up that stone and throw it right at his face. Kill him. Put the rapist to death. Amen. Put the murderer to death. Put the sodomite to death. Man, get rid of all these wicked, evil people today. We need some godly man to stand up and say we need to put evil away from among us. I love the death penalty. I wish we could enact it today. I wish we could round up all the people violating these commandments and put them to death today. Amen. Go to the prison house and put everybody to death that deserves it and let everybody else free. Give them a beating or something if they needed it. But the society we live in today is weak. Women say, well, let's lock them up. Let's just put them in there. If I threw a stone at them, it probably wouldn't hurt. You're right. We need some men to stand up and throw the stones. Go to 2 Chronicles 15. So this is my last point. A godly man, most importantly, is gonna be a spiritual leader. And the reality is, if you want to be a spiritual leader, you can't ignore all the other points that I gave you. Some guys wanna think, well, I'm just a great spiritual leader. But I'm weak, I don't dress like a man, I don't provide for my family. I'm not willing to put people to death to put evil away. You're not godly. You have to have all of those things. If you wanna be a great spiritual leader, get all the physical things right too. A man that can't get a haircut is not gonna be a great spiritual leader, FYI. That's easy. It's easy to walk into the barber shop and say, hey, here's ten bucks. Give me a guy's haircut. Cut it off. Make it short. Make me look like a military dude. And I'm not saying that you have to have a buzz cut, okay? I'm just saying there should be an obvious difference between short hair and long hair for men. And the thing is, if you wanna do great things for God, look, all the other things are super easy. Compared to the spiritual applications. Men are supposed to be the leaders. That's evident by the pastors and deacons. The qualifications say it's a man. If a man desired the office of a bishop, he desired the good work. The Bible says the husband of one wife. Look, men are the ones to lead. And if men would lead in this country, things would change. You say, what would change this country? Godly men. Men deciding to be spiritual leaders. We're gonna read about how godly men actually change their culture. Look at verse one. And the spirit of God came upon Azariah, the son of Oded. And he went out to meet Asa and said to him, here you meet Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you be with him. And if you seek him, he will be found of you. But if you forsake him, he will forsake you. Now for a long season, Israel had been without the true God and without a teaching priest and without law. But when they were in trouble, but when they were in their trouble, they'd turn on the Lord God of Israel and sought him, he was found of them. So according to the Bible, they're in a time where there's not much godliness. They don't have the true God. They don't have the teaching priest. They look spiritually and they're like, whoa, there's a famine. There's nobody preaching the Bible. Isn't that a little bit reminiscent of something you look at today? Hey, go find me all these teaching priests today. Go round up for me ten pastors that believe the gospel in this city. Go find me ten guys that only use the King James Bible, that rip hard on sin. I don't think you can find it. Maybe, but you'd have to look for a long time. Out of eight million people, seven, eight million people that live in this area? It's a famine out there. It's a wilderness out there. You say, how are we gonna fix it? Some godly men. We need some more godly men. The world is not following God. There's many adversaries. It's a time to restore the true worship of God, to restore the true worship of the Lord, going back to the Bible, going back to the King James Bible, going back to the fundamentals, going back to the soul winning, going back to the old paths, wherein is the good way, is what the Bible says. Look at verse seven, be ye strong, therefore, and let not your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded. He's saying, I need some strong guys. I can't use weak men. I need some strength. And he tells the leader, the man, not to be weak, serve God, serve the Lord. Look at verse eight, and when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from Mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the Lord that was before the porch of the Lord. So we see Asa, he hears this great prophecy. He hears the great preaching of God's word, where the guy's saying, hey, be strong for God, he'll be strong for you. But if you forsake him, it's gonna be bad. He says, you know what? I'm gonna serve God. I'm gonna get rid of these idols. I'm gonna take action. And you know what's good for a godly man? When he hears God's word, he says, I'm gonna take action. He doesn't go home and think about it and wonder and forget. He's not a forgetful hearer, but he's a doer of the work, as James chapter one says. As soon as he sees it, hey, I'm gonna do it. Hey, as soon as God's word says it, I'm gonna make change. That's a godly man. A godly man sees, oh, there's something wrong, fix it right away. I'm not gonna let it fester and sit and be lazy. Look at verse 12, and they entered a new covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul. That whosoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. They say, you know what? We're not gonna just kinda seek God. We're gonna seek him with all we got, all of our might, all of our strength. And if you don't, we're gonna put you to death. You think they showed up to Sunday night church? Hey, if you don't follow God with all your heart, you're gonna be put to death, buddy. Church is at 630 this evening. I'll see you there. Wednesday night Bible study, you're gonna be there, aren't you? I mean, what do you think that this has really happened? This isn't fictional. This isn't like a good idea. They literally are saying, we are gonna serve God with all our lives. And if you don't, we're gonna put you to death. I bet they showed up for church service. I bet they opened their Bible. I bet they went soul winning. I bet they did the commandments of God in this chapter. Why? Cuz they were strong. A strong man can say, you know what, I know I'm gonna serve God. And I don't wanna live my life if I'm not, so just put me to death. They agreed to it. They thought this is great. I need some motivation. I need a kick in the pants. Look at verse 14, and they swear to the Lord of the loud voice and with shouting and with trumpets and with coordinates. So they're singing loud. You know what's a godly attribute? A man who sings loud, who sings to God with all of his might, with all of his strength. I'll read for you. Actually, go if you would to Psalms 149. I had a whole bunch more in my sermon, but I had to cut it out. Look, Psalms reiterates the fact that men sing loud. You know what's a godly attribute? Being loud. You know what's a manly attribute? Being loud. Not being weak and soft and effeminate and queer and sissy. No, being a man, being able to lift up thy voice, being strong. Psalms 33 says, sing unto them a new song, play skillfully with a loud noise. Psalms 51 verse 14, deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. Psalms 66 verse 2, sing forth the honor of his name, make his praise glorious. Now let me give you a caveat to this, okay? Some people hear this preaching, and then men start screaming. I didn't say scream loud, I said sing loud, okay? So obviously, we want the worship of the Lord to be gracious. We want it to be glorious. It's not glorious when you're just screaming. To God be the glory. Like, sing it, okay? To God be the glory. Great, you know, we sing praises to him. You can be loud and still sing. So I don't want to have a bunch of people just screaming, okay? But I am saying the Bible says godly men will sing loud. They're going to let their voice be known. And look, your wife doesn't want to be overshadowing your voice. Your wife does not want to be singing louder than you. So often, they'll match your level or less. So wherever the man's at, that's where the wife's going to be. So if the guy's down here, the wife's like, you know, just as a natural tendency. I'm not saying that a woman wouldn't still decide to sing. But if the man's up here, she's like, okay, I can, you know, just find a comfortable range for me wherever I'm at. Look, be a godly man, be a leader. Be the one by example. Look at Psalms 149 verse 5. Let the saints be joyful in glory. Let them sing aloud upon their beds. You know what the godly man does? He not only sings in church, he sings at home. He sings on his bed. Wherever he's at, he's praising God. He's not singing to be seen of men. He's singing because he loves God. He's singing because he's like, wow, all the things that God's given me, a great wonderful wife and my children and my job and my house and my church and the King James Bible. I could just read the King James Bible and get so excited about what God's given me. So if I go to jail, at least if they hand me this, man, I can sing some praises. We could be like Paul and Silas singing at midnight, praises of God. And then what happens? An earthquake opens. Then they get the most receptive guy in the world. Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. What a great story because they were singing. They were singing loud at midnight. That wasn't church service. That was them loving God and singing with all their might. A godly man will sing and praise God. You know who is the man after God's own heart? David. Who wrote pretty much all the Psalms? David. Oh yeah, he was a great singer. He loved to sing to God. He loved to praise God. Wouldn't have God we had some men today that would sing and praise God today. They wouldn't be singing Metallica and death metal and destruction and singing about how much they're going to, you know, lie with this hoe and the next hoe and I got hoes in different area codes. No, you know what they're singing about? They're singing about God and worshiping the Lord and loving him. That's the godly man. Men should be loud. They should be strong. They should be rugged. Look at verse 15. And all Judah rejoiced at the oath for they had sworn with all their heart and sought him with their whole desire and he was found with them. The Lord gave them rest round about and also concerning Medica, the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen because she had made an idol in a grove and Asa cut down her idol and stamped it and burned it at the brook Kidron. So see, the godly man's not a mama's boy. When mom does something bad, he's like, you're not queen anymore. You're wicked. And you know what? If you're a godly man, you're going to have family members who are going to resist you, who are going to do wicked things, who are not going to be godly. And it's the man's job to stand up and say, well, you know what? I don't care if you're blood, we're going to serve God. And I don't care what you do as for me, my house, we're going to serve the Lord and take a stand. So you know what? I'm not going to go to that family member's house. I don't care. I'm not going to go worship the idols with them. I don't want to be around them because they're ungodly, because they're drunkards, because they're extortioners, because they're wicked, because they won't eat or they won't work. Neither should they eat. I'm not going to come over and bring you dinner when you won't work, buddy. I'm going to teach you to be ashamed so that you can fix the problem. Be a man today. And you know what? It takes a man to stand up to his own family. It's a little easier to the in-laws, but I'm just saying to your own mother, to your own parents, stand up. Be a man. Look at verse 17. We're almost finished. But the high places were not taken away out of Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was perfect all his days, and he brought in the house of God the things that his father had dedicated and that he himself had dedicated, silver and gold and vessels. And there was no more war under the five and 30th year of the reign of Asa. So go if you would to James chapter number five, last place I'll return, James chapter five. You see, what's the result of getting right with God? No more war. Look, when you have strong men who fight for truth, who are doing what God says, they're going to have peace. You want to have peace in this country, you want to have prosperity in this country, godly men. Godly men will bring resolution to all the problems. Godly men is what God wants to bless, what God wants to, you know, keep going on. And the Bible even said in Acts chapter 16, I read for you, but we know that says, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved. And guess what? And thy house, the men should be the spiritual leaders. And if you can get the man of the house saved, he can get the family saved. He's going to get the rest of them saved because the man is to be the spiritual leader. He's supposed to lead by example. He's supposed to be the guide. He's supposed to be the one that's knowledgeable. When we learn women, if they have a question, they're supposed to ask who? The husband at home. That means if your wife asks me a question that's not a straight Bible question, I will not answer. Ask your husband. If it's a preference, if it's something that your husband would decide, ask your husband. Let your husband tell you what you would do in that situation. Obviously if they say, hey, what do I have to do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved. But there's a lot of things that aren't covered, that are your preference, your rules. Hey Adam, of all the trees of the garden, thou mayest freely eat. He says, Eve, I don't want you to eat oranges. That's his decision. I don't care. He says, I don't want you to have oranges, all right? Your mouth starts looking orange and it's weird, you know. I don't know. He just has a rule. I'm not going to tell your wife not to eat oranges. I'm going to do my best to teach you what the Bible says. And then you, as the man of the house, as the priest of your own home, you make the decisions for your family. So who's the authority in your home? The husband. Not Pastor Shelley, not me. I don't rule your home. I don't make any rules in your home, zero. I make the rules here. This is the house that I'm going to make the rules in and they're all going to be in line with this. And if I make a mistake, you show me and I'll fix it. I'm always ready to be corrected by God's word. Isn't that an attribute I already said about a guy that, as soon as he sees a problem, fix it. As soon as he sees there's something I need to change, fix it. You say, how am I doing on all eight? How am I doing? Am I providing? Am I looking like a man? Am I strong? Have I stopped being a child? Do I like to fight? Am I ruling my wife? Am I putting away evil? Am I the spiritual leader? Maybe you have some work to do. And look, we all have work to do. This is not a thing that I've arrived. No, this is something we're constantly working on, maintaining, striving for. And if you're going to be a godly man, we need to lead by example. Let's look at James chapter 5 verse 16. Confess your faults one to another and pray one for another that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Why are you trying to tell me to be godly, Pastor Shelley? Because I want your prayers to work. I want when you to pray, God's ears are perked and listening and he says, of course, I want to, of course I'm going to grant that position. It's according to my will. Look what you're doing. You're trying to follow God's commandments. You're doing that which is right. And you know why men have so many problems? Because they're not following any of these rules. You know what God's answer is to most of your problems? Get all these right. If you get all these right, you'll, wow, all my problems disappeared. All those things that I thought I was asking God to, you know, help me with, they were just in the Bible. He already told me. And then you can worry about other things. You know, how many people are going to get saved at soul winning or something like that? Something really spiritual, something really godly. Oh, my wife won't listen to me. Hey, why don't you actually start looking like a man, acting like a man, providing for your family, having godly rules, being a benevolent dictator, and then she'll listen to you. Then she'll actually want to follow you. She's like, I like where this guy's going. And obviously it's not women's decision to say, well, I'll follow my husband as long as he's doing right. She's supposed to follow him when he's doing wrong too. As long as it's not violating God's word. Even when she doesn't agree, even when she doesn't like it, she's still doing it. Just like I'm supposed to do to my boss at work. Just like I'm supposed to do to the Bible. Just like all the authorities in my life. I do the same. You know, there's a lot of things that government tell me to do that I don't want to do. And I still submit to those too, like paying taxes, observing, you know, well, some people give me observing some of the driving statutes. I might tease the line on that one a little bit. Okay. But obviously I should. But the Bible says, last verse I'll read for you, it says, I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting. So the godly man he's praying, he's seeking God. He's the spiritual leader of his home. He has strength physically, but most importantly, spiritually. Let's close in prayer. Thank you father so much for your word. Thank you for your great example that you've given us and your clear commandments. I pray that every man in this room would have a strong desire to be a godly man would have a strong desire to serve you, to lead his family, to fulfill the role and desire that you put on his life. You've ordained him to be a great priest and a great leader of his home. I pray that we would fulfill this role that we would not look at as unimportant, but we'd see the great impact that we have in this world. That as our job to lead this world, we see that there's so many people turned to wickedness. There's so many people that are unsaved. There's so many babies being murdered. There's so much wickedness and ungodliness in this country. I pray that men's hearts would care today, that we would praise God, that we get on our knees and pray, that we would seek him with all that we have. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.