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Amen. So 1 Kings chapter 2, a lot going on in that chapter and I just want to look at the first couple of verses for now. 1 Kings chapter 2 and from verse 1 which reads, Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die, and he charged Solomon his son, saying, I go the way of all the earth, be thou strong therefore, and show thyself a man. And the title of my sermon today is just Show Thyself a Man and I'd like to pray before we continue. Father thank you for your word, thank you for the great lessons in the Bible such as this, what it means to show ourself a man and Lord just help me to preach this just clearly now and boldly and accurately and help those here to just have attentive ears and attentive hearts, just help the room to be edified by this and those watching online too Lord and I ask all these things in Jesus Christ's holy name, Amen. So when you think of strong men of the Bible, who do you think of? Any guys here, who do you think of when you think of strong men of the Bible? David, David, we've got some David, say again? Moses, a good one, anyone else? Joshua, Samson, come on, Samson had to come out in the end didn't he? He is a strong person, anyone else? John the Baptist, John the Baptist is a strong man, okay so there's some good names there aren't there? And you can probably think of many others, you know men like Gideon as well and Abraham and many others but where are we often going when we think of strong men of the Bible? The Old Testament, I know we've got a John the Baptist in there, he's a little curveball but really John the Baptist was really the last Old Testament preacher really wasn't he? So we're generally going to the Old Testament aren't we? How about in the New Testament then? How about in the New Testament? Anyone? So again? James and John, Stephen, anyone else? The Apostle Paul, but it starts to get a little bit slow, a little bit quieter, notice that, now it's not because there aren't but they don't automatically spring to mind do they? So when we're thinking about strong men of the Bible we're thinking about usually warriors aren't we? We're thinking about people chopping heads off, you know slaying a thousand men at once and all that good stuff that's in the Bible right? We don't often think of the New Testament men do we? And it is a slower list and obviously you have others on that list, Silas, Bartholomew, Philip, John Mark, Luke, Timothy, Titus, these are mighty men aren't they? These are strong men, these are manly men yeah? Now they weren't running around with swords cutting people's heads off were they? Okay they weren't doing that but perhaps they had to be that little bit stronger because there were people trying to cut their heads off yeah? There were people that wanted to cut their heads off, there were people that wanted to kill them, in fact some of them did get killed didn't they? But look they didn't get a chance to chop their heads off okay? They lived in a time and really under Roman rule where they couldn't run around with swords cutting people's heads off and maybe they had to be that little bit stronger in fact, that's a funny thing to think about isn't it? But maybe there takes an extra bit of strength to be able to live in a time like that when you're getting persecuted and you can't just unsheathe your sword or your bow or anything else and just start killing people. Who's the epitome of manliness in the Bible? Jesus Christ yeah, Jesus Christ he is creator, we're made in his own image aren't we? Jesus Christ is the example, Jesus Christ is the man that we should be, our goal as men should be to follow but did he cut anyone's head off when he was walking this earth? Not that I know of, don't think he did did he? He didn't cut anyone's head off, could he have cut anyone's head off? He sure could have done, in fact he probably could have cut someone's head off with just the side of his hand like some of those kung fu movies I reckon. He could have taken a head off with probably a word out of his mouth couldn't he? In fact we know he could, right? So it wasn't a lack of ability, it was a lack of ability, it's because Jesus Christ came not to condemn the world but the world through him might be saved, right? The world by the way Calvinists but apparently the Greek actually means the elect there. These clown eviscerally getting a bit triggered recently it seems but no, but when he comes back yes he will be handing out a whooping won't he? Okay when he comes back he will be handing out whooping but that's not the criteria for manliness is it? Beating people up isn't the criteria for manliness, killing people isn't the criteria for manliness. So how do you show thyself a man? How do we as men here show ourselves as men? How do the men here? How do the boys here? How will they show themselves as men when they're older? How do the mums here teach their sons to show themselves a man? How do you show thyself a man? Because when you go out into the world you don't see much manliness anymore do you? You don't see much manliness at all when you go out into the world and you just walk down the street here, go into a town centre, go into anywhere where you might have thought you might have seen manly men. You don't seem to see that much anymore do you? Which is for me one of the reasons this stuff needs preaching regularly and I haven't preached this for a little while this sort of subject but being manly has become unfashionable it seems. Okay it has isn't it? The lines have been blurred between the sexes if not completely twisted around and crossed. Look things have massively changed in our society more than ever and yeah there's always been this sort of thing to some degree but right now I can't think of a time when it's anything like it is now. Showing yourself a man, real manning up though is a far cry from how our society depicts it yeah. So you might think well there's still you know they still try and push certain forms of manliness because not everyone's conned by the sort of twisting e for she and you know just just just swapping the sexes around and everything else. There are still men that are looking for male role models aren't there? They're not just looking for female role models. So who are the supposedly male role models of today? Anyone? Anyone? I don't know. Popular culture? No, no because no one no one here has any idea about popular culture because you're so spiritual aren't you? I know you are. Well I was thinking well I'll think back to when I was young. So they were like the action heroes. Arnold Schwarzenegger what a manly man he was wasn't he? Because he literally must have stared himself in the mirror more than almost any other man in the world. He was meant to be this manly guy yet he was so perfectly sculpted and shaved and tanned and symmetrical and everything else. Was he really that manly? Think back to his movies he's got his top off all the time he's wearing speedos in half of them. There's another name for people like that isn't there? And it wasn't manly but that was meant to be a manly guy. I was thinking about that and I was thinking what about all the wrestlers? Because when I was young that was a you know that was big stuff you know WWF it used to be turned into WWE I can't remember why or what the reason was for any of that but these are meant to be manly men. But if you think about it these manly men were running around with knee high boots on and speedos and a lot of the time they were in luminous colours like pink and purples and all these other what we would traditionally call effeminate colours weren't they? But these were like the example of like these manly men they'd be and again perfectly sculpted staring in the mirror too much and the rest of it they were manly men. But what about well okay these are these are these American influences right? These Americans have got a lot to answer wouldn't they? But what about what about the British flavour? What was the British flavour? Good old James Bond wasn't it? James Bond was that what you were just saying there? James Bond what a manly man he was eh? James Bond the fornicating drunkard that we would kick out of this church wouldn't we? We would have him straight out the church good luck ushers. But yeah I'll stay up here yeah you don't know what gadgets he's got on you but he would be out this church you probably want to hope that you know he kind of when he turns his car on he just drives off and doesn't do any kind of any skullduggery with the car but yeah that was a so-called manly man but was he really that manly? I don't think he was by the bible standards we'll look at that in a second. What else did you have? The footballers. Footballers you know that was that was a big thing for young boys growing up aspiring to be a footballer and they still do that now don't they? I mean there were kids I was talking about this the other day there were kids when my son was at a previous football club where I mean they were going to every academy in the week they were three four five times a week their parents were chucking every last bit of money they had at these kids to make them into a pro footballer and the vast vast majority never make a pro footballer they just kind of end up getting burnt out at about 13 14 years old and never want to play the sport ever again because they got so killed by it when they were young but but for them they're looking at these pro footballers but what a terrible role model most of those are I mean nowadays nowadays what are they a bunch of lying cheating diving faking effeminate vast majority effeminate like have you seen when they kind of when one of them squares up to the other and they go like dive on the floor like rolling around going like this because someone someone's head touched theirs or something it's amazing isn't it but but that nowadays is a role model for a lot of young boys growing up in this nation and many other nations abusing referees abusing authority the way they talk to them it's unbelievable isn't it well then the alternative when I was young was some beer-swilling big bathtub sharing rugby player really very manly really oh yeah they're real men aren't they the rugby players but they all shared a bath after the game oh they did by the way oh yeah but the rugby players the rugby players who literally are downing point after point of Eastridge and promoting beer the rugby players are all you know huddled together doing all sorts of weird freakery not very manly is it but then it got to the point sadly more recently when even the guys in the fight sports started queering away didn't they next you know that you know that oh well they must be tough because they're throwing punches or because they like wrestling with each other and cuddling on the floor for a long time no they're not and and look they might be good at fighting but the same guy suddenly they're going to press conferences with their sunglasses still on inside at night with no socks and their loafers on which is just completely impractical and and with all the skinny jeans and the skin tight stuff and suddenly they're tanning I remember cuz I was in the fight sports I remember guys who were going to tanning studios before their fights that was more important than that I'll forget the last-minute training forget the kind of you know trying to focus I'm gonna get on the sunbed cuz I gotta look good when I'm in the ring well I'm in no spot that's how sad it's got yeah that's that and it manly men aren't they why cuz I could throw a punch no way but go away from the sports stars the singers sing like girls don't they the singers sing like girls the rappers wear more jewelry than transvestites don't they the rappers are literally covered in jewelry they look like a bunch of queers and their most most film stars are basically camping around when they're meant to be a manly role I mean if and what's the most manly role they try and do it's usually where they go back in time it's like the period stuff isn't it oh well the warrior from whenever it was long hair and miniskirts miniskirts yeah it's really and and usually knee-high boots with them and I mean you get to the point where people like Brad Pitt are meant to be what's that what's his name Achilles you know it's like the guy looks like a fag do me a favor and it's ridiculous isn't it but this is being promoted really isn't it this is being pushed and promoted so then you get all these guys are like yeah I'm gonna be like Game of Thrones real man so I'm gonna grow a ponytail yeah these guys don't grow a ponytail and walk around and talk about Thor and Odin and stuff like I'm a real man that's kind of that's as manly as you get in our society now isn't it oh and I will hang around outside a bit and go camping once once a year and put it on Instagram or whatever they do okay cuz I'm so outdoors man yeah I even went fishing once yeah that's about as manly as it gets isn't it but what is real manliness what is real manliness because I suppose if you went to different cultures it's going to change a lot isn't it where do we go when we want real manliness we go to the Word of God don't we we go to the Word of God and Solomon here is advised by his father King David how to show himself a man so have a look at first Kings and chapter 2 and verse 1 where it says now the days of David drew nigh that he should die and he charged Solomon his son saying I go the way of all the earth be thou strong therefore and show thyself a man so King David the warrior King the guy who they sang about killing his ten thousands is about to die and he's commanding the next on the throne King Solomon his son here he's commanding him to be strong and to show himself a man you would think perhaps that he's going to follow with so design yourself a peck deck yeah I reckon you could probably get the finest minds together and really sculpt those pecked order so weird isn't it that you know weird the weird modern fashion that men are trying to basically look like they have big breasts very strange but no he didn't say that did he say spend hours per day just lifting heavy things because they're there those ago yeah we're not into that sculpting we just lift heavy things I'm not saying that's the end of the world but is that what he said no is he did he say even spend hours training in combat well that would be a worthwhile thing wouldn't it you know it might be a bit of combat to do no grow a beard and spend lots of time outdoors Solomon no what'd he say he said be thou strong therefore and show thyself a man and keep the charge of the Lord thy God to walk in his ways to keep his statutes and his commandments and his judgments and his testimonies as it is written in the law of Moses that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest and with us however thou turnest thyself he said son this is how you'll be strong this is how you'll be a proper man by following this book that's what he said didn't he he said you need to be strong show yourself a man follow the book follow the book he said follow it he said this this is the art of manliness there's a book called the art of manners but this is a real art of manliness he said this is a how to make your son a man book parents he said this is how to be a strong man of a husband single men out there he said follow the book didn't he that's what he said in fact here we have the book with we have the second edition with extra updates because he said there he said and keep the charge of the Lord thy God to walk in his ways keep his statutes and his commandments and his judgments and his testimonies as it is written in the law of Moses so David said you want to be strong you want to be a real man read and keep the commands in Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers and Deuteronomy yeah that's what he said but we have the updated version don't we now but that doesn't mean we discard those things in Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers of Deuteronomy do we yeah we don't discard those things but he said keep the charge of commander God behave how he wants you to keep everything from the rules and commandments that's what he's saying it to the base of judgment and everything in between and like I said yeah we have an updated version it's done away with the meats drinks you know divers washings and carnal ordinances he's added a few extra bits to it but really the rest of it still stands isn't it yeah the rest of it still stands God wants us to be a holy people doesn't he he hasn't lowered his standards just because our sick and twisted world has yeah he hasn't loaded standards so the title is show thyself a man and it all rests really on this first point number one is by keep his commandments that's how you show yourself a man by keep his commandments he said and keep the charge of the Lord thy God to walk in his ways to keep his statutes and his commandments and his judgments and his testimonies as it is written in the law of Moses that our mayor's prosper in all that thou do's and whithersoever thou turnest thyself basically saying a rebellious teen isn't manly yeah he's not cool he's a fool he's saying the beer belly chain smoking lout isn't manly he's an estrogen filled emotional wreck that's what he is the guy sitting at home staring at the TV with his feet up staring at back-to-back football matches or whatever it is isn't manly he's a lazy slob that's what he's saying he's saying a real man follows God's commandments that's what a real man does a real man follows God's commandments because that actually takes backbone doesn't it that takes grit that takes a real spine doesn't it to follow the commandments of God to try your best to follow everything God says actually takes the manliness sitting at home with your feet up staring at the TV is not manly it's actually easy did you know that hanging around the gym pumping your guns yeah that is very easy it's not difficult it's easy to booze and do drugs yeah and to like swear a lot so you look a bit harder than other people it's easy actually to beat up drunken idiots do you know that they're actually very easy to beat up staggering around drunk that's all that's all the easy stuff but it's not easy to turn up at church three times a week week in week out month after month year after year that takes some sort of spine that takes a manliness to do that to soul win week in week out month after month year after year that takes manliness that takes grit that takes perseverance that takes a strength of character doesn't it to try your best to resist the sin that does so easily beset us that's difficult yeah that takes some strength that takes some some that takes something in you to say no I'm gonna do my best I'm gonna try and follow what God says the easy part is hanging around with the losers the easy part is hanging around with wannabe tough guys easy part is whatever your version in your culture and you are growing up of a manly man was that's easy doing the things of God that's a hard bit and look that is real strength that's a real man who does that and you women out there any of you women out there that have a man striving to be like that better count yourself lucky you better count yourself lucky and if you women there that maybe might feel like saying sometimes or maybe I do we have to go to church today can't we have one week off or can't we maybe whatever it is you might say yes you do yes you do have to go to church today because you got a man that wants to go to church and thank God that's what you got you women out there any of you women watching online any of you you ladies who are single when you have a man like that you better count yourself lucky or would you prefer some clown sitting at home playing computer games all day some worthless clown would you prefer some cheating porn addict because there's a lot of them about some drug addict that's going to leave you even more penniless when he dies at 50 years old some adulterer that treats you like he's trading in an old car when he divorces you as soon as that spark in your marriage goes some degenerate covetous gambler that will lose your savings in one spin of some idiotic rigged game which everyone knows you're gonna lose eventually I mean they're the options out there aren't they that's what I see when I went up when I see when I look at family friends old people I used to know in the world like that they're the options but if that applies to any of you Christian men though shame on you yes shame on you if that's any of you of any of those descriptions or any of you men out there then that is a shame isn't it that's a shame to the name of Christ and if it is you need to strengthen up yeah you need to show you thyself a man and follow God's commandments and if you're sitting there thinking to yourself oh but I do like a beer though because I'm a bit of a geezer I do like a beer and you need to man up you little estrogen filled sissy because that's what they are really aren't they they're just walking hormones these men I don't like following warmside brother in yeah because I'm a rebel deep down toughen up you little spoiled brat you big baby because we train kids out of that fairly early don't we yeah it's just showing that you're a baby that's all it is you need a man up how about this one well I fell out of love with my wife yeah how about that one you hear around the world nowadays how about toughen up toughen up you little spoiled brat how about fall back into love like God commanded you to and stop reading your little romance novels and watching your chick flicks you mushy loser yeah because that's not what it's about is it that's not what it's about show thyself a man and keep the charge of the Lord thy God that's what God told us to do didn't he yeah and sometimes we just have to take a check on ourselves and go yeah we need to man up don't we men yeah we need to be different to the rest of this world we don't need to be following the the junk that comes out of their mouth we only be following the effeminate garbage that comes out of Emma and we need to man up and go no I'm gonna follow God's commandments because a straight back clean living God-fearing man is much more manly is much more manly than the hairiest biggest truck driving loudest snoring I don't know you name it man are they they're not manly they're a joke they're a joke in God's eyes but sadly the world kind of has its own versions and gives us these different versions of manliness but what's real strength what is real strength do what God says however hard it is not being a quitter not bit that strength isn't it okay it doesn't matter it look it doesn't matter how much you can bench press how about if you quit every time something comes along that's hard some sort of challenge you're not strong it doesn't matter what you can squat what you can deadlift what you can either know whatever the the latest fashion is with that because it changes every every 10 years or so whatever the cool exercise is as real strength it doesn't matter if you quit if you can't just do as God tells you to do you ain't strong you ain't strong getting up in the morning reading your Bible how about that how many men fail at that oh yeah they can get up and go down the gym but can they get up and read their Bible day in day out in his word that he meditate day and night yeah should we not be doing that that takes a real man then going to work after that because the boxes if any would not work neither should he eat how about that how about get up read your Bible and go to work that cancels out most men in this country doesn't it most men around the world but that's being a real man isn't it putting the things of God first going out and providing for your family walking in his ways however tough that gets whatever the opposition have a tiring that gets because it can get tiring got it walking in the ways of God it can get tiring being a Christian it can get tiring being at church every service being at the soul winning times going out doing the things of God reading your Bible trying to resist the same trying to get that sin out you like it can be tiring but that's what a real man does he keeps his statutes his commandments his judgments his testimonies that's the whole lot isn't it that's well I like that bit I don't know about that bit well you know I kind of I'm up with the Bible reading bit but I know about that soul winning part I'm up for the soul winning that bit I've got that bit down but yeah I don't know I mean there's certain certain thing leading a family well you know just let my wife lead it you know she does a good enough job look that means a whole lot that means learning it studying it following it doing your utmost to behave how God wants you to not making excuses not turning up with a sick note as to why your sin is okay how many how many people do that always got an excuse always got a reason there's so many Christians out there that it's like well for me though well because of my issues with this because of that how about get your sick note rip it up throw it in the bin and go I'm gonna be a man I'm gonna man up I'm gonna stop making excuses and I'm going to do my utmost behavior God wants me to that's what a real man should do right that's what a real man should be and that's what the Bible says the Bible says a real man is someone that follows his statutes his commandments his judgments his testimonies his ways that's what David's telling him to do what does he say after that he says in verse 4 that the Lord may continue his word which he spake concerning me saying if thy children take heed to their way to walk before me in truth with all their heart with all their soul there shall not fail thee said he a man on the throne of Israel the totally show thyself a man number one is by keep his commandments it really it all rests upon keep his commandments okay because when you keep his commandments the other the other pieces should fall into place as well but let's be a bit more specific and number two is by instructing your family by instructing your family David said to Solomon that if you keep his commandments so you and your children take heed to their way walk in truth with all their heart and soul the line of Kings will continue that's what he's telling him right the line of Kings will continue and we want our line of Kings to continue to now I've turned in Revelation 1 6 says of Christ and it made us kings and priests unto God and his father to him be glory and Dominion forever and ever amen if you're saved you're a king did you know that you're a king if you're saved you're a king you're a priest and if you want your children their children their children to be kings do you better show yourself a man instruct your family okay we should like I said the other week we should care about our line further down the line we all want to be like the rest of these selfish narcissistic losers in this world and only care about the here and now and care about ourselves there's most men in this world don't even care about their kids they're alone their kids kids their kids kids kids that haven't even been born yet but we should care about that that's an example we're given in Scripture isn't it we should care about that line that comes from us because we have a big responsibility to them what we do in our lives now will affect generations and generations of your line your seed further down the line did you know that so we had better show ourselves a man and instruct our families because a real man leads teaches commands his family doesn't he okay that's what a real man does that's not what a man maybe does in the world that's not what their so-called manly man does in the world who just doesn't give a damn about anyone but a real man a real man of God cares about his family now you might be sitting there thinking or you might be watching online thinking oh it's okay brother in my children are saved job done but is that job done is that job done my children are saved are you showing them how to serve the Lord are you showing them how to serve the Lord will their kids get saved and will their kids kids get saved because if we fail here now yeah they might be saved praise God they're saved but are they gonna go to church when they're older and they gonna be zealous for the things of God and be learning how to get their kids saved are they gonna be at least zealous enough that their kids will be zealous enough to get their kids saved we have to instill that in our kids how do we do that we do that by instructing them we do that by leading them we do that by by showing them how they should live we do that by being example in the home because if they end up with a broken family the chances are there's more chance that further down the line there's going to be less of your seed less of your line getting saved now like I said it's not enough to just get them saved we have to instruct them to how do we instruct our kids is it just bringing them to church is that enough no that's not enough yeah that's that's the start they should be at church but what else what else should our kids be doing or what else should we be doing with our kids regular teaching yeah you know when you when you got married yeah when you got married men out there you became the spiritual head of that woman and you you then when you had children became the spiritual head of all those kids you are the spiritual boss of your house I'm not the spiritual boss of your house pastor Thompson's not the spiritual boss of your house no other pastor is don't just sit your kids in front of sermons you need to teach them you need to teach your children you need to teach your kids You need to sit down with them and teach them the word of God. And look, there are different opinions as to how often, how much you do that. But you need to make sure you're doing that on a regular basis. Yeah, sit down for me after dinner, teach them a chapter of the Bible. Go through the Bible with your kids. Do it. Look, I spoke about this the other week. What for yourself, just for yourself, if it's just for a selfish point of view, how much more will you think about that chapter when you're teaching your family it? So much more than when you read through it in your Bible reading, when you're teaching verse after verse, trying to explain those verses, trying to make sense, trying to apply it to your lives and everything else. What a great thing to be doing. But do that. Do that, men. That's the responsibility you have to your children. Oh, but my wife won't listen. There are men out there, there are Christians out there that might say that. My wife won't listen. Maybe my kids won't listen to me. My kids won't listen. They won't sit down. They won't hear the word of God. Then walk in his ways, walk in his ways, follow his statutes, follow his commandments. And part of that is to instruct your family. That's to lead your family. Be an example and they will have to listen to you. They will eventually want to listen to you. Be that example. And until they do, make them listen to you. Make them listen to you. Teach them the word of God, because that is your responsibility. That's your job. That's what God has ordained you to do as a husband and as a father. We have to instruct our children. We have to teach them the things of God. One of those commandments is to teach them diligently unto thy children from Deuteronomy six, isn't it? Yeah, we have to teach all those things diligently. That's putting effort in. That's trying our utmost to do it properly with our kids. It's not enough. They're just in church. It's not enough that they're getting homeschooled and your wife is maybe, you know, singing a nice, nice Jesus song to them in the morning. It's not enough that they start the day and you make your kids read their Bible. Do you really know how much they're focusing on what they're reading? Really? Do you know how much they're taking? We don't know that, do we? But you do know when you sit there and you teach them the Bible and you're asking questions about the Bible, you have to instruct your children. And for those of you that are in families that maybe that doesn't work. And look, this obviously this is mainly to the men in this sermon today, but it is to mums as well to understand the role of the husband. It is to young young ladies here is to the singles as well for what they should be looking for and what they should be encouraging in a man in the future. But if you are, if you don't, if there's not a man in the house and mums, you need to be taking on that role as well. You need to be taking on that role as well and teach your children. The workaholic isn't manly. Did you know that? The workaholic is not manly. The sports addict isn't manly. That's not manliness in God's eyes. I don't see it mentioned once in the Bible that being a sports addict is somehow manly. The pub goer isn't manly. Oh, well, I, you know, I nurse a beer every night with the boys down the pub. You're not manly. Yeah, and in fact, you're going to become more and more sissified. The more of that filth that you drink. The man that puts time into his family is manly. He's showing himself a man. What about you men here without a family? May as well get the computer games out. The endless sports, the social life in whilst you can is, you know, just just quickly put it to bed now and then hopefully by the time you have a family, you will have got it out your system. Well, first off, that stuff can be addictive, can't it? OK, a lot of that stuff is highly addictive. I wasted, I wasted many hours of my life playing just pointless computer games, watching pointless stuff on TV and the rest of it. But do you think you're just going to flick a switch? Once you're married and have a family, will you just go right now? I'm married. Switch off. Now I'm a man. Now I'm ready to lead. Now I'm ready to guide. Now I can take on that responsibility of leading a wife, of leading children. I don't think that happens. And also something I've been saying to a few singles recently that I've been talking to. You want to find a good wife, yeah? You want to find a good wife. Who ultimately could help you with that? God, right? Yeah. You want to pray to God? You want to pray to him to help you find that right wife? OK, I'd imagine that he's going to be the best person to pray to for that. If that's, if that's what you're seeking. But you need to make yourself the right man, don't you? Oh, God's just going to provide me that because my will is I'm going to be a good dad. I'm going to be a good husband. I'm going to be a good man. I'm going to. But but is that really the case? Do you know that? What do you do? I'll tell you what you do is you start qualifying yourself now. You start acting like a man. You start putting away those childish things like the verse on the front of our bulletin says. And you start and you start acting like a man. You start acting like a man and qualifying yourself in God's eyes to be able to lead one of his precious children, to lead one of his precious daughters, to eventually lead his precious young children, because low children are heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward. Yeah, you want to do it properly. You want to be you want it. You want God to provide you with the ideal Christian woman and you want to make sure that you're the ideal Christian man. Make yourself the right man. Be ready to lead a wife, a family. Let's carry on. Look down at verse five. Moreover, thou knowest also what Joab, the son of Zeruiah did to me and what he did to the two captains of the host of Israel, unto Abner, the son of Nur and unto Amasa, the son of Jetha, whom he slew and shed the blood of war in peace and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins and his shoes that were on his feet. Do therefore, according to thy wisdom, and let not his whore head go down to the grave in peace. The title is Show Thyself a Man. Number one was by keepiest commandments. And more specifically, that is by instructing your family. And number three, by dealing with tough situations. Yep, as men, you have to deal with tough situations. You just told him, be strong, show yourself a man, follow his commandments. Yeah, make sure, basically, in as many words that your children as well are raised properly and are raised as Christians. Then he says to him, right, now you're going to have to deal with something difficult here. Now you're going to have to deal with something tough, with someone tough. Joab was a tough guy, wasn't he? Joab was a tough guy and had seemingly got away with literal murder on more than one occasion, hadn't he? He killed Abner and Massa, not in battle, by the way. This wasn't like killing them in battle. It was pretty sly the way he'd killed them, really come up like he wants to kiss one of them and killing them. Yeah, that's the way he killed them. He'd also, by the way, killed Absalom after King David had given clear specific instructions not to kill him. And he didn't have to kill him, but he killed him. And he was a guy, this guy was a law unto himself, wasn't he? He was a law unto himself. And he was a pretty well connected law unto himself as well. Yeah, he was, you know, this is quite a big scout to have to take on. You've just been made king. You feel like a child. You're about to take over from the mighty King David as king of all Israel. And now you've got to deal with Joab. Joab, who's basically been part of the furniture for a long time, isn't he? Joab, who is going to have high and strong friends in strong places. Joab has got away with a lot. He'd served David for decades, didn't he? So one of his first jobs as king was to bring judgment upon Joab. And if you men here want to show yourself a man, sometimes you've got to do uncomfortable things, don't you? Sometimes as men, we have to do uncomfortable things. We have to deal with uncomfortable situation because being a real man isn't all a big jolly. It's not all just banter, comedy and dad jokes. Yeah. And I love a dad joke. OK, no one can pull off a dad joke like a dad here. Yeah, but it's not all about that sort of thing. Now, some of it is about that. OK, don't don't discard all the dad jokes, OK? Because something about being a dad means that you're qualified to make bad jokes. Yeah. But in your own areas of leadership as men here, in a church, in a church, for example, yeah, that can be that can be official church discipline. Yeah, and that's not just the leader of a church that could be coming forward to the leader of the church and saying, look, this is an uncomfortable situation. Someone in the church was acting like this, was behaving like this, was doing this, and I'm going to come and tell you that. And I know this could be awkward. I know that if you end up having to kick that person out, I'm going to have to say, yeah, I was a witness to that. But part of being a man is doing that, isn't it? Is doing things uncomfortable, is doing things difficult and coming forward and saying, look, I'm willing to come forward as that because because being a being a man, being a real man means you have to sometimes deal with uncomfortable things, not just baring your head or turn the other cheek. Well, I just I just don't deal with any of it. Then I'll be all right. Yeah. Well, if if when the people are getting kicked out, I just, you know, just just pretend like nothing's happening. That's like, no, no. Get involved. Yeah. Yeah. Get involved. Be a man. Be a man. Yeah. Be a man and say, no, look, look, I'm responsible for what goes on in this church as well. Yeah. And I'm going to come forward when I need to come forward with things. But it's not just that, is it? How about in other areas? How about how about a home? Could be reproving your children. Some dads just like to leave it to the mums, don't they? Sometimes it can be easier just to put your feet up and be the best friend dad. And look, it can be nice sometimes being the best friend dad, can't it? But sometimes it can be a little too easy not to get involved and not to deal with the discipline. But we as dads have to deal with the awkward stuff sometimes, don't we? You know, it shouldn't be all the time either. It shouldn't be dad's just a punishment guy and mum's the best friend. Yeah, there should be somewhere in between there. But look, sometimes as dads, you have to deal with difficult situations. You have to take them head on. You have to go, yup, I've got to deal with this. It might be your wife. It might be that you have to sit your wife down and tell her, look, you're wrong here. You're doing this wrong. You're acting wrong. You're behaving wrong. This is wrong. And you might be thinking, I'm going to be in the doghouse for a while if I do this. But sometimes you have to do it, don't you? You have to do it. Men, you have to do it. You have to man up. You have to show thyself a man. How about at work? That can be having a deal with awkward, awkward colleagues. Maybe you're in a position of authority and work. Again, look, what happens with the best friend that never says anything that needs to be saying the non-straight talking boss at work? He gets walked all over, doesn't he? Walked all over. He ends up really never making it in his career or anything else because he won't just man up, stand there and deal with difficult situations. As men, we have to do that sometimes. We have to do that all the time. OK, don't take this the wrong way and just start telling everyone what's what the second you come out of it. But we do have to deal with awkward situations because it is much easier being everyone's best friend, isn't it? It's much easier. Nothing, nothing easier than that. Just just smile and laugh and pat everyone on the back. Tell them all they're great. Never say a thing to anyone. But that's not what being a man is. King Solomon, I'm sure, would have loved to have come onto that throne and not have had to deal with Joab straight away. And it's not just Joab he has to deal with. Now, here's the thing. Did David say rush in with anger and force to be a man? Is that what he said? Did he say, right, you need to deal with Joab and you need to stand toe to toe with that old warrior. You need to get you need to show yourself a man like that. Did he say that? No, he didn't. He said, do, therefore, in verse six, according to thy wisdom. He said, do, therefore, according to thy wisdom and let not his whore head go down to the grave in peace. And by the way, in case you're wondering, this is before God makes Solomon the wisest man ever. So where did David expect this wisdom to come from? Well, it all hinges on verse three again. And keep the charge of the Lord thy God to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes and his commandments and his judgments and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself. And that would include dealing with scumbags like Joab, dealing with murderers like Joab, dealing with people that are sneaking around doing their own thing behind the leader's back like Joab. Showing thyself a man means dealing with tough decisions. But that's to be done with with the wisdom that comes from being a man of God. Yeah, that's that's not to be done as a hothead. That doesn't make you more manly if you're a hothead. It doesn't make you more manly if you just go and just kind of forget, you know, forget safety, forget anything else, and you just go and deal with it because you're such a man. No, it's to be done with wisdom, isn't it? Verse seven says, but show kindness unto the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those that eat at thy table, for so they they came to me when I fled because of Absalom, thy brother. The title is Show Thyself a Man. Number one is by keeping his commandments. Number two is by instructing your family. Number three is by dealing with tough situations. And number four is by showing generosity, by showing generosity. Barzillai the Gileadite came and provided David and his men with food and supplies, even beds, by the way, when they were fleeing Absalom. OK, so they're fleeing Absalom, the rebellion was in full swing. He's having to depart out of Jerusalem and Barzillai comes and provides them with some other guys as well, with supplies, with food, some nice food as well. By the looks of it, even with beds, even with pots and pans and things like that. Now, when David is then returning to Jerusalem after defeating Absalom, he tries to bring this old man with him, Barzillai, to repay him. But he basically says, David, you owe me nothing. He says, you don't owe me anything. I don't need to get anything back from you. Now, David could have left it at that, couldn't he? Yeah, most people would have gone, well, fine. He's happy. We're done calling it quits. He's just happy that I've returned. He didn't want to go anywhere. He actually just pleaded. He said, I just want to stay where I am. I don't want to go anywhere. I'm 80 something years old. OK, but instead, David now wants to bless Barzillai's family. So he said, OK, well, I'm still going to bless your family. I still want to reward you good for what you did to me, because a real man is generous, isn't he? A real man is generous. He wants to help others. When he has excess, he wants to bless those around him. He wants to do good to people. He wants to give his time to people. He wants to give what he has to others to help those. Not because he has to, but because he wants to. And that's what we see David commanding his son Solomon to do. Now, turn to 1 Corinthians 16, because manliness and generosity, love, charity go hand in hand. So in 1 Corinthians 16, Paul's finishing off his letter to the Corinthians and he gives these commands to them. So 1 Corinthians chapter 16. We will be coming back to 1 Kings 2. 1 Corinthians 16 and from verse 13 says this, Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. So he's basically saying keep his commandments. Yeah, that includes instruct your families, deal with tough situations, behave like men, show thyself men. And then he says, let all your things be done with charity. Verse 14 says, let all your things be done with charity. So forget the stereotypical self-centered man. Forget the self-driven. I get my own way because I'm a man. Yeah. I get what I want because I'm the man. Yeah. The sort of nonsense that we see out there. Forget all that. Being strong, being manly means doing things for others, doesn't it? Yeah, straight after. Quit you like men, be strong. Let all your things be done with charity. Now, the world would have you think, at least the world with its kind of previous version of manliness, would have you think that this is some sort of contradiction here. Talking about being strong, quitting, which is behaving, acting like men. Then it says that all your things be done with charity. No, because that is being a man. Being a real man is being benevolent. Being a real man is doing things for others. Being a real man is wanting to give to others, wanting to do things for others. The selfish, well, I just get get what I want and go type man isn't a man in God's eyes. He isn't a real man in God's eyes. He's not showing himself a man putting others first, doing things with charity. Charity is just just giving its love, isn't it? It's love, but it's love in the real sense of the word, not in the mushy, you know, lovey dovey chick flick sense of the word. No, it's just wanting to give to others, wanting the best for others, wanting to do things for others, wanting to give to those around you. That's the sort of charity we should have as men. That's what we should want. And some of us sometimes you have to push yourself for that, because some men will maybe be more inherently selfish than most women. But it's something that we have to we have to make sure we work on and make sure that we're trying our utmost to give to do for others. Go back to First Kings Chapter two. First Kings Chapter two and verse eight reads, And behold, thou has with thee Shimei, the son of Geirah, a Benjamite of Bahurim, which cursed me with a grievous curse in a day when I went to Mahaneim. But he came down to meet me at Jordan, and I swear to him by the Lord, saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword. Now, therefore, hold him not guiltless, for thou art a wise man, and knowest what thou ought'st to do unto him, but his whorehead. Bring thou down to the grave with blood. The title is Show Thyself a Man. Number one is by keepiest commandments. Number two is by instruct to your family. Number three is by dealing with tough situation. Number four is by showing generosity. And number five is by fighting God's enemies, by fighting God's enemies. Right now, you might be thinking, here we go. Now it's fight time. Now it's a war. Now it's fight time. Now we're talking manliness. We got there in the end, brother Ian. Good introduction. OK, and I want to hear some chopping. I want to hear some fighting. Well, who was Shimei? Let's have a look who Shimei was before we get into the choppy and the cutting. Well, he was of the House of Saul, yeah, and was cursing the king, by the way, the King David, because he was still the king. Yeah. And he still is the king at this point here. When he fled Absalom, he's throwing stones. He's calling him a man of Belial. OK, right, which basically is calling him a reprobate. He's calling him a child of the devil. OK, now when Absalom was defeated and David returned, Shimei then claims to be sorry. Oh, lovely. You know, at least he claimed to be sorry. But saying sorry and being sorry are two different things. You understand that, OK? And it's something we might have to deal with in the future with this church. Saying sorry and actually being sorry are two different things. Yeah. Saying I repent and actually repenting are two different things. Yeah. Well, this guy was cursing the Lord's anointed, calling him a man of Belial. Solomon is told to deal with him, and he does that later in the chapter. Look at verse 44. Look at verse 44, where it says, The king said moreover to Shimei, Thou knowest all the wickedness which thine heart is privy to, that thou didst to David my father. Therefore, the Lord shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head. So did Solomon ride around there and angrily cut his head off? Is that what he did? No. Do you know what he did? Yeah. And I don't know if you remembered when the Bible reading happened, because this is all in this chapter, but he gave him conditions that he knew he would eventually break. So he gave him some conditions and then dealt with him when he broke those conditions. Now, he dealt with him wisely, didn't he? Which is no no surprise, because David said to Solomon in verse nine. Now, therefore, hold him not guiltless, for thou art a wise man and knowest what thou ought'st to do unto him, but his whole head bring thou down to the grave with blood. Now, he did something wiser. He gave him certain conditions. I've heard recently, I heard a church leader talking about doing this with people that he knows are just faking, pretending that because some people play the repentance game. Oh, well, let's all repent and come back. So he'd just give them conditions to being in the church, knowing full well they're going to break those conditions. Then when they break those conditions, you're out. You were never repentant, because if you're really repentant, you're going to do as you're told, aren't you? You're really repentant for cursing that the Lord's anointed, throwing stones at King David. You're going to stay in Jerusalem when you're told to stay in Jerusalem, aren't you? You're just going to do it. You're going to go, look, I was bang out of order. I don't want to cross that line. But the wicked aren't. They're fake. He was a fake. Shimmi, I was a fake. And but if we're going to show ourselves as men, we have to deal with God's enemies wisely, don't we? OK, we have to deal with God's enemies wisely in church life. That could be waiting for them to hang themselves when it comes to the false prophet infiltrator. Sometimes you just have to wait. And that can be tough. You know, that can be tough. And you're going to have like it's not just I'm not just talking about myself here, because in time, there's going to be people here that will just know someone is a problem, know that someone's an issue. But they have to be patient. They have to put up with that. They have to wait because there's a right time. There's a right way of dealing with things. Maybe it will be waiting for the sodomite protesters to eventually get bored or get God's chastisement because it's going to take some toughness that might come here. Yeah, that could come here where they'll take some toughness of people to keep coming, to keep dealing with it, to keep having to deal with these people where maybe you would love to just to just draw the sword and start chopping heads off. That'd be tempting, won't it? Yeah, that'd be very tempting, won't it? But that's not what we're called to do, because that's only going to cause more trouble, isn't it? And there's a certain toughness when you can't do that sort of thing. Maybe sometimes the easy way is just to lash out, isn't it? The easy way is just to give someone a verbal. The easy way is just go, I know what you are, when you don't have your two witnesses, when you don't have your three witnesses, when the easy way is maybe to just go out and start punching, punching protesters in the face, dragging them off, going, you little scrawny little sodomite, you think you're going to stand outside our church. You don't call yourself a man. But is that really going to, is that going to benefit us? Is that going to benefit our church? No. That's the easy way of doing it. The hard bit sometimes is to persevere, isn't it? The hard bit is to persevere. Maybe in home life, that could be putting some sort of conditions on some wicked family member, some family member that you know is a problem. But you're going to have the rest of your family turn on you if you just go, no, it's just because I don't, I know there's a problem. So you say you give them a condition. Maybe the condition is right. You're not to talk to my children about about your latest, whatever it is. You're not to talk to my children about going out and boozing, because there are certain family members that want to do that, don't they? They want to talk to your kids about something they feel your kids are missing out on, something they do it. I put the condition, I warned you, I told you, you do that. You're not seeing my kids anymore because you know they're going to break it because they can't do as they're told. Because they can't, they can't respect the authority in life, even if that's the authority of a parent and their child. How many wicked family members cross that line day in, day out, and then they'll try and gaslight you. Well, I didn't know that was one. Well, tell them it's a problem then. Tell them these are the conditions you want it. Yeah, you want to see my kids. You want to be, you want me to come to the family party. These are the conditions. Yeah, no sodomites in my family's face. They're there. They're the condition. We're not coming because the Bible says we should not even know a wicked person, should we? We don't want to be around him. Maybe it's patiently waiting for the workplace psycho to expose themselves. Maybe it's that. Yeah, that could take some, that could take some strength. You're in a work, look, you've got to provide for your family. You're at work. It's not just going to magic another job like that. And you've got some sick psycho in your workplace. Maybe they're persecuting you. Maybe they're doing all sorts of wicked stuff. Sometimes you've got to persevere, don't you? Sometimes, yeah, you don't mean buddy up with them and start hanging around with them and going for coffees with them. But sometimes you've just got to, you've got to last it out. Sometimes you've got to keep going. Sometimes you've got to keep strong. Sometimes you've got to deal with some persecution. And then ultimately, eventually God deals with it, right? You've got to deal wisely with things. It all requires self-control, using wisdom, a toughness to keep waiting out while they're sitting in Jerusalem for three years. He was there for three, three years, should be. Now, Solomon wasn't the man he was. He might have maybe got impatient after a year or so and just gone over and just, oh, I'll put you to death anyway. Now, what was the problem with that? What was the problem? Because people are constantly trying to find a fault with leadership, aren't they? Well, David said it was right. David said he wouldn't kill you today. David didn't at the time. He didn't want any bloodshed. It was a day of victory. They were just returned after the rebellion. He didn't kill him. He said, OK, I'm not going to kill you. But ultimately, this guy was wicked. This guy was a problem. This guy needed dealing with. Solomon had to have that strength to be patient, to wait that three years. But he was wise and he knew eventually he would give him the reason. He'd give him the excuse. And sometimes I think and someone said this to me a while back. I think it was brother John said to me a while back that sometimes you think actually it's easy. It was easier in the Old Testament because you could just draw your sword and chop people's heads off. Well, Solomon maybe couldn't here because he was trying to deal with things wisely, but maybe in other situations you could. And look, as a man, sometimes maybe maybe most of you here don't carry around swords, but maybe it would be easier just to start throwing fists at someone. Maybe that's not your style. Maybe it would be easier just to give some verbal to someone, just to let them know exactly what you think of them. But sometimes being a man, sometimes it's harder. Sometimes the strength comes from not doing that strength comes from waiting and dealing with things as God wants us to deal with it as New Testament Christians. That's being is being a man, isn't it? Showing thyself a man. No. No, showing yourself a man has got nothing to do with how much weight you can lift up. Showing yourself a man's really got nothing to do with, you know, how well you can throw a punch or a knee or choke someone on the floor or any of the rest of that. Showing yourself a man in God's eyes has got nothing to do with, you know, how many beers you can sink in in the space of a couple of hours or whatever the worldly version of it. And by the way, in case anyone's wondering, no, that is definitely not manly. That is the most foolish sort of thing you can get into. But showing yourself a man is none of that, is it? Showing yourself a man in God's eyes for me is keeping his commandments. And that's really kind of covers all of it, really. But keep his commandments instructing, leading your family. And that can be that could be your wife. That can be that can be just just being ready to lead a family. If if that's something that eventually happens in your life, that can be dealing with tough situations. I think showing yourself a man is by dealing with tough situations, by showing generosity. A real man is generous. A real man is loving a real man is kind to those around him, not worrying that they're not going to look manly enough if they like do something a bit, you know, a bit submissive. Oh, well, I won't look like a man if I like did something for someone or made them a cup of tea or did some cleaning or something around the church, whatever it is. No, that is being a man. Being a man is giving. Being a man is doing things for others. And number five, by fighting God's enemies. And we're all called into a fight here, aren't we? And you know, I believe, yeah, as much as people find the excuse, oh, it gives them all hypocrites. Yeah, everyone's a hypocrite in life. All right. Yeah. It's not just churches full of hypocrites. Everywhere's full of hypocrites. Yeah. Oh, well, well, I don't go to church because, you know, I don't like the way that, you know, they say this and then that person sinned or I don't like the way that whatever it is, I don't go to church because, you know, I just feel that, you know, I can have a close relationship with God at home. No, the real reason that most Christian men don't go to church because they're not man enough. They're not man enough to be in a proper church. And the men here and the men here in church are man enough to be in church. That's why they're here to be in a church where, you know, when you live right and you try and live for God in a church like this, you're going to get persecuted. You're going to have struggles. You're going to have troubles. You're going to have problems in life. You're going to have to fight. You're going to be around wicked people. You are going to be around some of the wickedest, vilest people ever in this country. They're going to flock to this church. Did you know that? Yeah, that is a weird thing to think about, isn't it? Yeah, they're going to be out there when you soul win. Yeah, the wickedest people in the area are going to, like a beacon to the light, are going to come out there. They're going to light the nastiest bugs around, are going to come to that light in the dark place because you're out there preaching the gospel. Never thought about it like that. We were talking about this the other day. I say this is such a crazy thing because when you're in a real church, forget that the lame church is doing nothing. When you're in a real church going out soul winning, it's going to attract the worst. Like these are worse. These are worse than the most flaming sodomite out there, apart from the ones that actually come and protest church because they're probably on the level. But people that come into churches to destroy churches are literally the vilest people around. Infiltrators, people that try and destroy churches of God are literally the worst type. They're the devil's best people. And they're people that we have to deal with. We have to fight. The men of this church and the women and the children have to deal with these people. It's a fight that we all have. But I hope everyone's man enough for that fight. Everyone's man enough to deal with that. And it's not by beating them up and throwing them out, as much as that would be great. And I hope one day we might get a chance there. But did I say that? Sorry, it's Freudian slip. Freud's a queer. Sorry. Slip. But what is it? But look, really, it's by being patient, isn't it? It's by being strong. It's by protecting our families. It's by persevering through that and knowing and having the faith and the strength, the character to say, no, God's going to deal with that. God's going to deal with these people. I'm going to keep serving God, no matter what I have to deal with, yeah? And we're going to get it inside. We're going to get it outside the church. We're going to get it around. And I hope everyone here is man enough for that. I hope children here growing up here are man enough to take that beacon and continue it. Because it's no good. Oh, well, we've got some good men in here right now. We've got some strong men in this church. We've got some men ready for the fight, but then it all just fizzles out because we didn't raise our kids properly. They're the next generation, aren't they? Because it's not. So I'm on one here. I've got a couple more minutes, yeah? Because it's not. It's not just, well, you know, someone will take over. Someone will just go, look, we're getting people saved. How many people who get saved are willing to be part of Gideon's 300? How many? Most of them went home scared, didn't they? How many come here? Most of those men don't come here really, really truthfully because they're scared of serving God. That's not because they really understand. Most people here didn't understand the real truth of what you're going to end up having to deal with in a real church. But you know what? Many people are just scared of just being a godly Christian, scared of the mockery of their friends and family, scared of maybe the distance that will create with other family members, scared of maybe having a light shined on them in their life by God. Whatever it is, so most saved people will not serve God in a church really because they're not manly enough. The men there, it's because they haven't got it in them. They haven't got the spine. And everyone here, and look, I'm not trying to say we're all so amazing. Look, praise God that we read the word of God because ultimately that's what it comes from. And it's a funny kind of revolving circle where you need the word of God to be like that, but it's the word of God that makes it like that, isn't it? Because before any of you men here read the word of God, you were all as sissified as the rest of them. Truthfully, every single one of us here was like the rest of those sissies out there on the street, the rest of those wannabe tough guys who couldn't even hang around to look after a family, couldn't even turn up at church and try and fight, couldn't even have the backbone to try and keep even a couple of God's commandments. We're all the same, but it's the word of God that's made us like that and it's the word of God that will keep us like that. Praise God for the word of God, right? On now, let's pray. Father, thank you for the great examples in the Bible and the great lessons we can learn. And right now, that lesson we've just been looking at of showing ourselves as men and being manly, basically, trying to be, but manly according to the word of God, not manly according to this wicked world that we live in. Well, I don't even know what they try and say is manly anymore, but to me, it's all some sort of sick joke. But Lord, we thank you that you make it clear, that your word of God makes it clear that we have the ability through your word, through the Holy Spirit, to be how you want us to be. Please help us to strive to be like that. Help us not to quit, Lord. Help us not to give up. Help us not to back down. Help us to just be those men that you want us to be. In Jesus' name, we pray all of this, amen.