strengthening families, and I must say, and I mean this sincerely, I was excited about being here this evening because of the subject and because of the message that the Lord has given. But as I got here, I got, you know, it's kind of like having ice cream and putting a cherry on top. I looked coming in the side door, and a young man and his wife, and their two children that I used to go to church with, in Brother Swalham's church, and so Neil and Meredith have joined us this evening, and I am really grateful that you guys are here. You've made my night, guys, really. It's encouraging to me to see young people. They drove probably an hour, an hour and 15 minutes to be here tonight, and not to my acknowledgment. I haven't probably spoke to Neil in over a year. And so I am glad that you guys are here, and I'm glad that everybody else is here, and I mean that sincerely. And with all due respect, when I say that, I look around and see some of the people that are a little more aged than I am, and I understand that maybe some of the things we've been speaking on relevant, but maybe not as relevant to you as some of the younger people. So I'm encouraged by your attendance even though maybe some of these things aren't as relevant to you as they are to others. But 1st Corinthians chapter 16 kind of the irony of our scripture reading every week, and I did not plan that this way. As a matter of fact, I did not even realize that to this morning. When I realized we were in 1 Corinthians 15, I realized the scripture reading was going to go right where we were going with the sermon this evening. So ladies, I will give you A little encouragement. This, Lord willing, will be the last sermon on biblical manhood, and then we'll move on to the important things, to the biblical womanhood and other things. But, Lord willing, this will be the last sermon on biblical manhood. 1 Corinthians 16, verse number 13, and the Scripture says, Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit ye like men, be strong. Let your things be done with charity. I beseech you, brethren, you know the house of Stephanus, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints. Can you imagine, we live in a day when drugs are an epidemic. There is an addiction like no other to drugs, to things that Satan has put into this world to cause death, destruction, to steal and to kill and destroy. But I would to God, that we had an addiction to ministering to the saints, and to the people of God, and to people in general. You know, our culture is so self-absorbed, there's very little outlooking and looking out for others. It's all about us. But it says, they were addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints, that ye submit yourselves unto such, and to everyone that helpeth with us and laboreth. I am glad at the coming of Stephanus, Fortunus and Achaeus, for that which was lacking on your part they have supplied. The Lord always supplies the need. And he goes on to say, For they have refreshed my spirit and yours, therefore acknowledge ye them that are such. And I can relate to that, as I mentioned to you just in the introduction. It's been just such an encouragement to me to see them walk in the door. Folks that are a little older than me, you may say, well, I don't have a lot to offer. I can promise you. It's an encouragement to one another and to the pastor and Sister Lydia when you come in to the church building. Because there's nothing no more discouraging, and I'm preaching to the choir here, I realize I miss my fair share of services and stuff, but there's nothing no more discouraging than to come and just be a handful of people. Now they're willing to do that and they're grateful to do that, but it is our duty, if at all possible, to be here not only to be an encouragement to one another, but it is our responsibility to the Lord to do so. And he says, them that are such. The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord with the church that is in their house. All the brethren greet you. Greet ye one another with a holy kiss. The salutation of me, Paul, with mine own hand. If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. My love be with you all. in Christ Jesus. Amen. We're going to take our text from verse 13 when it says, Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit ye like men, be strong. If ever a day in time that we needed men, it's today. There's a lot of males, but very few men. And I'm not talking somebody that drives a big truck and wears camouflage and cowboy boots and all that. Anybody can do that. We see the young girls doing that in our culture. A man, first and foremost, is somebody that loves the Lord Jesus Christ and seeks to serve Him with their whole heart and their whole being. And I would to God that, if nothing else, that Unilife Baptist Church would have men that would watch, that would stand fast, and be strong, not in their own strength, but in the strength and the power of the Holy Spirit and of Jesus Christ. Let us pray. Father in heaven, I realize the very one that will speak these things this evening is guilty of the things that we're instructed to do and will be instructing others to do. Lord, but that does not remove them from your word, neither should we stay away from them. But may we repent, and may we do those things. May we not be hearers only, but doers also. May we put our faith into action, that others may see Christ through us. And not just to be seen of others, and not that others would see Christ, but ultimately, that we would be pleasing to our Father, to you. That you would be satisfied. Never that we could repay you, neither to some degree is that our desire, but let it be out of a desire and just a heart of love that we serve and that we follow you with our whole being. Lord, I pray that you would allow us here at New Life Baptist Church to be a people that become addicted to Jesus Christ, to your love, and that that outpouring would be shown in ministering to others. We see that in many ways. We've seen that here this evening. Not that the people don't have a heart to love and to serve and to minister to others, but Lord, may we have a greater capacity to do so. Lord, I pray that you would give me the strength, the umption, that you would have me to speak the words that would be pleasing to you. May you be glorified and honored with what's said and done here this evening. May you take charge of this service. Remove me from behind this pulpit and speak only the words that you would have to be spoken. And that your will would be done with that. And we'll give you the praise and the glory for it. In Jesus' name I pray. And amen. You know, we live in a day and time as I said, that is trying to destroy masculinity, manhood. But from the text here, he says, Watch ye stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. We realize just from the simple text here that there's a difference in men and women, regardless of what the world may try to tell you, regardless of what the culture may tell you, or the experts, or the educators, or whoever, God says, There's men and there's women, and they have their designed roles. So it's not that one is greater than the other, but we have roles, and we need to see fit, if we're going to accomplish the purpose that God has for us, that we fulfill that role to the best of our ability. So men, young boys, men, we must pattern ourselves after Scripture and what God has said. But our culture today speaks against this. Our culture today, to me, look with me real quickly in Isaiah chapter three, I believe lines up more with this text than what we've been saying it should be. Isaiah chapter three, we see what happens when God judges a nation, when God judges a culture here in Isaiah three. He says, Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water. You know, one of the first things that happens when God starts to judge a nation, to judge a people or a culture, He takes away their prosperity. That's what He said. And look throughout the history of the Scriptures, you'll see this to be true. You can look at any nation that God has judged, and you can kind of see that coming upon our nation. You know, the economy of the world is balanced on a needle right now. We're in a very vulnerable state. And I'm not sitting here trying to put people on pins and needles or put you on edge. If our faith and trust is in Jesus Christ, it really doesn't matter what happens in the economy. But it is a point of judgment upon a nation when their prosperity is taken away. God is the one that blesses. He's the giver. He's the taker. But not only that, he removes prosperity, but look in verse 2, the mighty man and the man of war, the judge and the prophet, and the prudent and the ancient. So he not only removes their prosperity, he removes all the noble, wise, valiant men from that culture. And you look around, what's happening in our culture? Folks, we're not going to be judged, and I'm not trying to play a broken record, but we're under judgment of God for turning our backs on Him. And so our message this evening is not a message of just damnation, condemnation, but with every message of judgment there's a message of hope. You know what that hope is? The same message Jesus Christ and the disciples came preaching. Repent. Repent. Let's turn back. That's where we failed in a great way. We went through a lot of things. It's bad enough to go through judgment and have the hand of God against us, but it's even worse not to learn from that. We live in a day and time when people, the leaders of this nation, the men, the noble, God has removed. You know what should be happening? There should be godly men, representatives, and congressmen, senators, that should be calling the nation to prayer and repentance. But you know why they're not doing that? Because the average church and pastor is not calling the nation to prayer and repentance. It is a sign of the judgment of God upon a nation when the men are removed from it. Do I need to tell you where we're at this evening? were right where Jerusalem was. And he goes on here, he says, the captain of 50, and the honorable man, and the counselor, and the cunning architect, and the eloquent orator. But notice what he puts in their place when he removes prosperity, he removes the men, he says, and I will give the children to be their princes, and the babes shall rule over them. Sound familiar? And even worse than that, and we're all guilty of it. I have been guilty of giving in to my children far too often. But even worse than the lost, the heathen, the nation doing that, do you know a lot of times who runs the average Christian home? It's not the dad that God has appointed over it. It's not the husband. It's not even the wife, the mother oftentimes. make the decision, but the kids manipulate the decisions. The children. Skip down to verse 12 for the sake of time, or verse 11. Woe unto the wicked, it shall be ill with him, for the reward of his hand shall be given him. As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee, cause thee to err and destroy the way of thy paths. He said, oh, my people, children are their oppressors, and the women are the leadership. And like I said, this is not derogatory toward women. It's not that women can't do certain things. We've seen that they can do a great many things, but it's not the design of it. And you see this huge push from the feminist movement for the women to be equal, and it's just not that way. I mean, I watched the Olympics, and I told Rebecca the other night, I was watching a swimming event, and they had some mixed medley, meaning that they had two men swimming in this race and two women, and you could put them at whatever interval you wanted. And the United States put their man last, and everybody else put their ladies last. They did not win, but you know what happened? That man made up seven seconds in the same swim that that lady did. It's not demeaning to women, it's just God has designed our bodies differently. And yet, the culture is trying to make everything the same, everything equal. We're equal in the sight of God as being people and as a soul, but different in our gender and in our roles. But he says here, where are the godly men, the valiant men in our culture? Where are the godly men in our government? And I would ask you, where are the godly men in the churches? Where are the godly men in our families? Men that will stand against the culture, even though the culture and even maybe some people you think that are your friends would hate you. despise you. But where are those men? Turn to back to 1 Corinthians 16, 13. It says, watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit ye like men. That word watch means to be on alert. He says to behave like men, act like men. And be on the alert against all things that would damage your soul, that would damage your family, that would damage your children, that would damage your church, that would damage your nation. But be on guard. Men are called to be on guard, to be alert, to be on watch. I remember there was severe punishment in the military if you were given guard duty, given the responsibility to be on the lookout if you fell asleep or did not fulfill those duties. Why? Because you were putting everyone at risk. So young men, aged men, middle-aged men, if you and I are not on guard this evening, we are putting those that we love the most at a great risk. And I'm not talking physically. I'm talking spiritually. We're in a spiritual battle. We're in a spiritual warfare. So when I talk about biblical manhood, it's not so much, you know, going to the gym and lifting weights and being great big like me. I'm talking about Spirituality, not physicality. You look at Paul, we don't know exactly what he looked like. A lot of these great men of God, they weren't necessarily your bodybuilders of their day, but they were the men of their day. We need to be on guard, we need to be watching. We're in a spiritual battle that is far more deadly than any earthly battle, far more deadly than the war on terrorism, far more deadly than any World War II, any battle that has been fought or will be fought. Why? Because not only is it, you know what wars do? Battles like that, they destroy the flesh. The spiritual battle destroys the soul. We're in a battle for the souls of people. Eternity's in the balance, not just here and now, but eternity's in the balance. And we must be on guard because we do have an adversary. 1 Peter 5, 8 tells us, oh, that you have an adversary. going about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. And Satan, he seeks to kill, steal, and destroy. He wants to destroy you. He wants to destroy your wife. He wants to destroy your children. He wants to destroy your family. He wants to destroy the church. He wants to destroy the nation. And sadly, he's doing a pretty good job of it. Do you know why? Because men are not being men, according to what Scripture has called them to do. And ladies likewise. You share in some of the responsibility too, but ultimately I'm putting it on the men. Now when I say this, we think of strength. Young boys like to show off their strength and it's within their nature. And this is an encouraging verse to me when he says, Watch ye stand fast in the faith, quit ye like men, be strong. We all desire to be strong, but I don't want to give you the false impression of just strength without any wisdom or any tact in implementing that strength. The Bible teaches courageousness, but it also teaches cautiousness. So I'm not talking about just carelessness and saying, well, God is on our side, we'll just do this, do that without any prayer, without any thought or anything. Turn with me, and I've shared this with you some before, but turn with me to judges real quick. Men are called to be cautious, but yet at the same time courageous. And I think we see this in the story of Gideon. Judges chapter six, chapter seven, verse number one. Then Jerubabbel, who is Gideon, and all the people that are with him, rose up early and pitched beside the well of Herod, so that the host, or the army, of the Midianites were on the north side of them by the hill of Moriah in the valley. And the Lord said to Gideon, the people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, mine own hand hath saved me. So the Lord has told the children of Israel, hey, I'm gonna give you this land. Now you gotta go fight for it, but I'm gonna win the battle for you. And the same He has done for us. And He tells them. But if I do this now and I win the battle for you, he said, Israel will vaunt and brag and boast and say, hey, look what we did. We fought this battle and won it. He said, there's too many of them. So he's gonna weed some of them out. Notice what he says, verse three. Now therefore go to proclaim in the ears of the people saying, whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from the Mount Gilead. And there returned of the people 20 and 2,000 and there remained 10,000. So you took $32,000 and just by him saying, hey, if you're afraid, go home. Fear kills. And regardless of where you stand on politics, current events, none of that, but I can tell you the media, and the wicked people that are trying to destroy this nation and destroy Christianity, they are thriving off of fear today. Now, we're not talking about, and like I said, I'm not talking just throwing caution to the wind, but if you're afraid, you're controlled by whoever you're afraid of or whatever you're afraid of. If I'm afraid of Brother Steve that he's told me next time I see you I'm going to whip you, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to stay away from wherever I think he may be. Now, it may be a place I would like to go, but I won't go because I'm afraid of him. He controls me. And that's what they're doing. They're controlling people through fear. But the Bible tells us that if we fear God, what do we have to fear? And like I said, I'm not talking just total foolishness. We'll see that here. But he said, if you're afraid, fear is contagious. Fear is destructive and fear will cause others to get killed. You need to go on home. And 22,000 of them went home. Verse 4, And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are yet too many, bring them down unto the water, and I will try them. for thee, and it shall be that of whom I say unto thee, this shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee, and of whomsoever I shall say, go unto thee, this shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. So the Lord said, hey, there's still too many. We've taken it from 32,000 down to 10,000, but there's still too many. They're gonna boast and brag and say, look what we did. He said, so you take them down here to the brook, to the water. And he said, I'm gonna try them, and we're gonna weed out some more. And this is where I believe, that you can see the illustration of cautiousness but courageous come to fruition here. He says, so he brought them down, verse 5, under the water, and the Lord said unto Gideon, Everyone that lappeth of the water with his tongue as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself. Likewise, everyone that boweth upon his knees to drink, And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men, but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand, and let all the other people go, every man unto his place. So what he tells them was, Hey, you go out here, and all of them that get down and drink just like a dog on all fours and lap it up like that, he said, you send them home. But those that kind of kneel down and cup the water and bring it to their mouth and drink it that way, he said, you, that's who's going to fight the battle. That's who I'm going to use to win this. What is he saying there? Think of how vulnerable you are when you're knelt down, your head down. You're not able to be alert. You're not able to watch. staying fast, like that. But when you're like this, you can still drink and be. So he's talking about being courageous, but being cautious, using common sense. And that's what I think has been thrown out in our day and time. We just have to work with it. So like I said, we're not talking utter foolishness, but yet courageousness. And you know what God did? You know the rest of the story. He used those 300 men, 1%, to win the battle and destroy the Midianites. Somebody said God plus one is the majority. I'd say God is the majority. But you know, God doesn't need us, but he uses us. God will fight for us just as he did the children of Israel. God has not changed. What has changed is us. He says, men, so watch men, and I'm not talking about physical battles here, but a man who would watch over his heart, watch over his mind, watch over where he goes, what he does. The Bible tells us that we're to walk what? Circumspectly. You know why? Men, your wives, our wives, our children, they're watching our every move. And the world is watching our every move. But more importantly, God sees it. But they're learning our good habits and our bad habits. And I want my posterity to be greater Christians and greater men and greater young ladies in this instance than their dad was. Hopefully they can be a greater lady than their dad was. If not, I'm in trouble. But you get what I'm saying. I'm talking as a person, as a Christian. That should be our desire. And it is our duty and our responsibility to mold them into that. But we must be alert. How do we do that? Number one, and you're going to hear this several times through the next 10-15 minutes, but by studying the Word of God. By studying the Word of God. Number two, by guarding your hearts and your minds. Watching what you put into your mind and your heart. You know, unlike a computer, and you all know this all too well, But what goes in through the eye gate, the ear gate, into the mind, there's no delete button. Those things will stay with you for a lifetime. And that's why God has told us to be careful, to watch what we watch, watch what we listen to, watch where we go. And I'm not talking about the do's and don'ts of legalism that has permeated our land, but ultimately there is some caution that God has said, hey, all things are lawful, but not all things are expedient. Not everything should a Christian do just because they can do it and it won't be good for them. But he goes, but number three, Number one, by studying the word of God, we are staying alert. Number two, by guarding our hearts and minds. And number three, through prayer. Because we can't do it in and of ourselves. We must ask God for the strength, the ability, and even the very breath to do it. Looking at Ephesians 6. Just seen there, he says, be strong. Ephesians 6, verse number 10, familiar passage to most people here. He says, finally, my brethren, what? Be strong in the Lord and the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Be strong in the Lord. You know, man, and I've failed at this far too often, but the Bible talks about ladies being the weaker vessel. It doesn't mean that they're just puny and, hey, you've got to baby them and all this. But it does mean that we have to use some wisdom. So they don't need to know all your stresses, all your troubles. Rebecca's kind of looking at me like, hey, you need to listen to what you're preaching. And she's absolutely correct. But you know, they weren't designed, our children weren't designed to carry some of the burdens that's placed on them. Oftentimes in a broken home, you know what people do? And it happens even in a home that's intact, they put burdens on those children that those children weren't meant to bear. Men, it's our duty to carry the load that God has given us. It's okay to talk things over with your spouse, but they don't need to know all the problems that you've had at work or all the issues that's going on in your life. God is that friend. God is the one that we need to take all those things to. Not that I'm saying hide things, but they're not designed to do that. And man, it's not a time to show fear. Doesn't mean we're not afraid. Now, I'm not talking about being fake, but fear paralyzes. I remember being in the military, the first time we got into battle, the leader of our group couldn't be found, couldn't be heard on the radio, and the boys that were in his truck, he ended up being a 19-year-old kid that took charge of that vehicle and started getting radio communications so we knew what was going on because the leader was tucked up underneath the dash of a bulletproof truck in fear. So I don't want to be harsh with you, but I want to be real with you. You know one reason our nation is in the shape it's in, and we talk about it, we say amen, but some of our fathers, our grandfathers, they were men. They were afraid, but they didn't let that paralyze them. they still knew that they served a risen Savior, they served a God that was on the throne, and they knew His Word, and they prayed to Him, and they were obedient to Him, and they followed on even if it cost them their very life. So for the lack of better words, I'm speaking to you and speaking to myself. Suck it up. Deal with it. And not alone. You know what my prayer would be? That I tell you that, and you know what happens? We hear this adage, God will never put more on you than you can bear. In one sense that's a true statement, in another sense it's false. God will put more on us than we can bear, but never more than He can bear. And may that burden take us to the Lord. So my prayer is that God would put enough on me, enough on you men, that you can go nowhere but to your knees. Because that's where you learn to stand, is on your knees. Because then you are strong. When we are weak, In the flesh and in ourself, we're strong in the things of the Lord. And I would that men would learn that, and if that's what it takes, then may God put us there. And I say that with all due respect and reverence. So how do we do that? By abiding in His Word, by abiding in prayer. And another thing that God has given us, He's not left us alone. He's given us the Holy Spirit as our comforter. He has come along to be a friend of ours. And He's also given us fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. You know, the Scripture talks about, iron sharpeneth iron. That's the importance of the church. One of the important things of the church that we can come and help one another. You don't have to carry those burdens alone. You've seen that just depicted here this evening. Got a family here that's sick, not capable to really feel like cooking, and the brothers and sisters in Christ acknowledge that and say, hey, let's help them. So God has given us the resources. He's put the things in our lives. He's given us his word, he's given us the Holy Spirit, he's given us prayer, and he's given us fellow believers to do this. But verse 11 of Ephesians 6, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. That word wiles is the tricks. The devil is scheming against us and our families. Man, I would tell you, young men especially, young ladies, Use this time to prepare yourself, because you don't know what, none of us know what tomorrow holds. You know, you think about going men, we think about going hunting, what do we put on a rifle oftentimes? We put a scope on there, and what's in that scope? A set of crosshairs. And you know what happens? You put that scope right on that chest cavity of that animal, that deer, or whatever you're hunting, and he doesn't even know what's about to happen. And you know what? That may be where you or I are at this evening, that we have an adversary. We're fighting a spiritual warfare. There's demonic activity, satanic activity. Satan seeks to kill and destroy. We may be in the very crosshairs of Satan this very evening. It is important that we're alert, we're aware, and on guard and watching for that. That he shoots them fiery darts at us, that we may be ready. But he goes on in verse 12, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of darkness of this world, against the spiritual wickedness in high places. So we're not talking about physically fighting. When we talk about men, you know, and being strong and tough, we're not talking about going out here and, you know, getting guns and shooting up one another. And we're not talking about fist fighting, but we're talking about a spiritual battle. We fight not against Now oftentimes we come at people that have a very different view than we do. We can't fight this battle in the flesh. We're destined to lose because it's not a physical battle. We must fight it through the word of God and through prayer and through a godly sacrificial life. Verse 13, Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand, stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness. Notice he says, we're going to take you the whole armor of day that on that day you may be able to stand. You know, there's some days that are just tougher than others. Some days we're attacked more than we're attacked. You know, in one sense, we're always in the crosshairs of Satan. But in another sense, there's certain days that Satan has really got it out for us. Those battles are a little harder than they are other days. We're bombarded with temptations, trials, an all out onslaught. And we're not gonna be ready just with a five minute little devotion in the morning. We're not gonna be ready by setting up watching TV all the time. We're not gonna be ready by being on the internet all the time and on Facebook. There's nothing wrong with those things. And ultimately, man, I'll tell you this, this is a trap that many get caught into and we can all do. Something that God has commanded us to do is to provide for our house, but you realize you will not be ready for the spiritual battle if you let the love of money and providing physically for your family dominate your life. it will destroy your family. Yeah, they may have a roof over their head and a really nice one and nice cars to drive and all that, but you are failing as a man and as a husband and as a father, if that is all that you're providing, because that is really, when you think of it in a spiritual sense, one of the most minute things. Their spiritual warfare is more important than their physical needs. and you won't be ready without training. We didn't just go into battle. You know what happened when, really, and I mean this, people have asked me about some of those things. What did you do when that happened? The first time, the very first time that I was being shot at, I was on a 50-caliber machine gun. Bullets started bouncing off the truck. I guess 15 rounds. Maybe 15 rounds into it, I took an AK-47 around in here and out up here. But it wasn't even a thought, Brother Danny. It wasn't even, I didn't have to think, oh, do this, push this. You know what? My training kicked in, and I automatically done those things. And that's what I'm instructing the young men, the young ladies, all of us here this evening. Now is the time to be training. Don't wait for the battle because if you do, that time and thinking, Satan will destroy you. You remember Daniel? What did it say? He had purposed in his heart, what? That he would not defile himself with the king's meat. If he had waited for that moment, he knew his own weakness that there was a chance he would have failed in that. Young people, There's some things you need to purpose in your heart now that you will keep yourself pure, that you will abstain from drugs, alcohol, things that the world places in your path that aren't good for you. But if you wait for that moment, say, hey, well, I'm not going to do that, you may just fall in that area. Put some guards up now. Purpose in your heart now, saying, I will not defile myself with the things that God said we should not do. And God will honor it, God will bless it, and God will give you the strength and the moment of temptation to do just that. But hurrying along here, he says here, when you've done everything possible, then stand. Look how many times he says stand here. We must. Be prepared to stand. How do we do that? As I said, I cannot tell you enough. Prayer, scripture, and with the fellowship of one another. You must get up early. It's gonna cost you. It's gonna cost me. But I don't know what that day withholds, but it's necessary that I get up. and spend time with the Lord, and not that I always do this. Like I said, I'm preaching to myself just as I'm preaching to you, but you must get up and prepare yourself. More importantly, I think it was Paul Washer said that he doesn't necessarily get up in the mornings when he knows he's got to preach and prepare himself in prayer and study because he's preparing for a sermon because he's got to preach. He's preparing himself because he knows himself and he knows that Satan is out to seek to destroy him. So not just preparing for a lesson, not just preparing for this, but preparing ourselves and asking God to strengthen us that we can stand and do everything possible to stand. And he just, it gets repeated here. He goes on and talks about the low, their lowings girded about with truth. You remember the, in this day and time that they, They wore like a tunic, and it hindered their movement. So they would tie that up to where they could maneuver easily. What is it that allows us to do that, that ties that on? It's that belt of truth. It's the word of God that will enable us. to be able to function as we're told to do so. And how are you gonna do that if you don't know scripture? The breastplate of righteousness, and you have positional righteousness and you have personal righteousness. What I mean by that, positionally means, are you saved? Do you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Because if not, no matter how good, no matter how much you've done, you are not righteous in God's sight. But if you have been saved, then you know what Satan will still seek to do? He'll still seek to do with every man, boy, girl, lady in here, he will seek to lie to you, to tell you, oh, you're not right with God. Satan can never steal your positional righteousness. Now, our personal righteousness being right at that very moment with God, living right, yes, we can get out of line, but we can never lose our righteousness with God because it doesn't depend upon our works or what we're doing or not doing. It depends on what Jesus Christ has already done. But Satan will steal. Hey, Brother Danny, you have failed. You didn't do this, you didn't do that. There's no use. God couldn't use you. You know what God says? Confess that, repent, turn from it, and come serve me. Follow me. The Bible says in Proverbs 28 1 that the righteous man is as bold as a lion, but he said the wicked flee even when there is no adversary. Stand firm against the lies of Satan. And how do we do that? Romans 12 2, by renewing your mind. How do we do that? Through the Word of God. Sound like a broken record? It is. But I'm telling you, that's the key. We wonder why we walk around feeble, weak, not strong men. Because we're not in the word of God like we should be. We're not praying like we should be. And we're forsaking the assembling of ourselves oftentimes, as God has instructed us to do. Bringing it to a close here, verse 15. And your feet shall with the preparation of the gospel of peace above all taking the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching there into with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. He says, having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel. You think about our feet, that's where we get our stability. You know, if I'm fighting a guy that's a lot bigger than me, if I can take his feet out, I gain the advantage. So a proper understanding of the gospel will give you a good foundation for life. And not only just a proper understanding of the gospel, putting feet to the gospel. It is our duty, men, to see that our wives, ourselves, our children, are saturated with the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's not his duty. It is his responsibility to declare the whole counsel of God, but it is our duty to see that our friends, our loved ones, our coworkers, and everybody that we come in contact with hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. Many of them may not even come to the church to hear him. the swiftness of our feet in sharing the gospel. He gives the impression of being so busy with the gospel that he doesn't have time to be distracted. We must be busy with the gospel to ourself, our children, our coworkers, and others. He says, quenching the fiery darts. How are you gonna do that? Well, you must know the promises of God. How are you gonna know the promises of God? Must be in scripture. Must know the word of God. It was said in this day and time that the Roman army, and remember they fought back then a little different than the way we do today, Pastor, you're talking about fire and how culture has changed and things are a lot different with electricity, but so was combat, much, much different. It was done on foot, it was done hand to hand, it was done with swords and spears. We do it with a lot of equipment and technology today, but it was said of the Roman army in that day and time that they would march into battle and they would take their shields and they would lock them together all the way around that they would be protected, that they would protect one another. Do you know that's part of what the umbrella of the church that God has given us? It's not just a duty and a responsibility, but it's a great privilege and it's a great protection for our lives that we join together in this, to stand in the gap for our family and our church. And the helmet, as you already know, I don't have to go through it, but protects your head. If the devil gets in your mind, he's got a great advantage. And that's what they've used. You look at any world tyrant, look at Hitler, what'd he do? He started in the education system with the children. He slowly changed the mind, he changed the culture, changed the whole, what's happened in our country? The education system in the government-run schools today is not what it was when many of you were in school. They've changed it. Satan's at work, folks. We must be busy in learning the word of God, studying the word of God, praying to God, and strengthening one another, encouraging one another. Be strong. Servant leaders, man. That's what we're talking about. We're not talking about dictators. Hey, me man, you woman, I say do, no, no, no. We're talking about like Jesus Christ. He came to what? Minister, not to be minister to. Strength, clothed in love. In closing, back to our open text. I promise you I'll give you about two to three minutes. In Corinthians there. Says, watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit ye like men, be strong. What's he saying? Let all your things be done with charity. You know what keeps a man from being a tyrant, being just like a brute beast? Love. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. Pastor, you mentioned that bridal. Man left to himself is just like a brute beast. He is destructive. He will do whatever it takes to have what he wants. But you know what keeps him from doing that? First and foremost, the love of Jesus Christ and love for others. So he says, be strong, quit ye like men, but let it be done. Just like that bridle is in that horse's mouth, that little bitty bridle that controls that big beast, that's what love will do to you and I. It will keep us from being tyrants and brute beasts and destroying our families, because we can do a great deal of damage to our families. And that's one thing that's happened from an improper teaching of biblical manhood and things from even from churches. So where are the men at that will lovingly lead as servants of the most high God? We owe you and I be those men that the world needs and these ladies in this church need. May we be strong and courageous, but not in and of ourselves, but in the power and the might of Jesus Christ. Father in heaven, thank you for your word. I pray that you would impart these things to our hearts. Lord, that you would remind us of it, that we would put them into practice. Lord, that we would raise families that would bring glory and honor to your name. And Lord, that you would use us to reach the lost, to reach our community here in Lexington and those that we work with on a daily basis. and Lord, that they may see Jesus Christ through us. Thank you for that, Lord. I thank you for Jesus Christ and giving us the ability, the power, and even the wisdom of how to do so. May we not lean on our own understanding, but follow you in all of our ways. In Jesus' name I pray, and amen. Pastor.