Well, as we noted in our last message, there are two commissionings of mankind that appear in the biblical text. In Genesis chapter one, we have one commissioning. And then in Genesis chapter two, we have the second commissioning of mankind. We noted last time that the second commissioning appears first And the first commissioning appears second. that the biblical order is reversed from the historical order. And we know this because in Genesis chapter 1 verses 28 through 30, God commissions Adam and Eve, the man and the woman. However, in Genesis chapter 2 verses 16 and 17, God commissions only Adam because he's the only one who has been created at that point. So the commissioning in chapter 2 precedes historically the commissioning in chapter 1. Now you might say, why would God do something backwards like that? Well, the reason that the commissioning in chapter 1 appears there is because Genesis chapter 1 is an inventory of creation. It simply tells us what God did on each day. Day 1, He did this. Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6. It's a simple inventory of creation. And in that inventory of creation, God describes the physical context that mankind would exist within. For that reason, the second commissioning, which deals with man's physical environment, is given first. Genesis chapter 2 is much different than Genesis chapter 1. In Genesis chapter 2, the focus is not on each day of the creation story. Rather, the focus in Genesis chapter 2 is day 6. What happens on day 6 and day 6 alone? It focuses on mankind. It focuses on humanity. And in that focus, God therefore includes the first commissioning that He ever gave And that was the commissioning given to Adam because in that commissioning, we have an idea or a perspective on what God intends for each individual person to do. Therefore, the first commissioning appears in chapter two. Well, this morning, we're going to look at the spiritual commissioning of mankind. Now, in this spiritual commissioning, God describes for Adam what his life towards God is to be like. Now this is a crucial piece of scripture. Please don't miss the cruciality of this passage. Genesis chapter 2 verses 16 and 17 are the very first words that God communicates to the human race. The very first instructions that God gives the human race appear in Genesis chapter 2 verses 16 and 17. You better believe this is a crucial passage of scripture. Now, let's get the context though to what's happening. Remember, God has just finished in day one through day five to create all of the physical environment except animals and mankind. Then on day six, the first thing God does is create a man, a male, very first thing he does. And then after he creates a male, he gives the male a job, J-O-B. and he plants a garden in the east and puts the mail to work. Men are made to work. And then after he does that, God then gives this series of instructions. Now, it's important that we realize something here. Do you believe that God is omniscient? Do you believe that? I believe it. I believe God knows everything. Do you believe that God is in control? I don't think this world controls itself. Yes, God is in control. Now, follow this. God knew that He was going to create a woman. He knew that. It was His intent. In fact, as we saw in the last message, or two messages ago, the very way He created the male created into this male the need for a companion. In the very creation of the man is a need. Now the man doesn't realize it yet. He's giddy in the garden by himself and don't even know that he's not right yet. But God knew full well his intent was to create a woman. Yet, rather than wait until he creates the woman, He first gives the male some instructions. I don't know if you know how important that is, but it's crucial. God the Omniscient One, God the All-Powerful One, God the Sovereign One, rather than wait just a couple of hours until He has created the female, first gives the male a series of instructions. Keep that in the back of your mind as we work through this passage. Now, as we look at these two verses, Genesis chapter 2 verses 16 through 17, We're going to see two sets of truths. Two sets of truths. The first set of truths deals with mankind in general. That's the first set. The second set of truths deal with males in specific. 2 different sets of truths. The first set, mankind in general. The second set, males in specific. Let's deal with the first set first, mankind in general. Notice what God says. God says to the man, And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, From any tree of the garden you may eat freely. But from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die. God commissions the man. Now, please note with me three points as we work our way through this idea of mankind in general. The first truth regarding mankind in general that we see from this passage is this. Mankind is responsible to God for his behavior. Let me say that again. Mankind is responsible to God for his behavior. It's clear from this passage. Notice what Moses says. God commanded the man. When you use the word command, what you're saying is that a superior is giving instructions to an inferior on what that person is to do. God is the superior one, therefore He commands, He instructs, He demands certain behavior from His creation. Because God is the one giving the command God therefore has the right to make sure that man Executes the command according to his will He's the superior one. He is the one who has communicated the command to Adam now We cannot simply pass by the significance of this and The very first thing that God wants humanity to understand is that humanity, mankind, is responsible to Him. The very first words that God gives to the human race are, I command you to do certain things. I'm instructing you to do certain things. God is trying to establish in the mind of humanity that we have boundaries. Very first thing God says you have been I am giving you a command you humans are responsible to me God That's what God is saying He is the superior God is expecting certain behavior from those individuals that he has created and by the way God has a habit of doing this God just expects that his creation obeys him When God wants the sun to stop, guess what He expects the sun to do? Stop! When God wants the storm on the sea stilled, guess what He expects the storm to do? Stop! God has an expectation that that which He has created is going to respond to Him because His creation is responsible to Him. 2 messages ago we concluded that who we are as men, women, and married couples, who we are is basically a theocentric issue. And when we said theocentric, what we meant was God-centered. Who we are is essentially a God-centered issue. This verse reinforces that fact. How you view yourself and the behavior that grows out of that view is not left up to you, to your parents, to your church, to your culture. God doesn't care what your culture says you're supposed to do. God doesn't even care what your church says you're supposed to do. God doesn't even care what your parents tell you you're supposed to do. In fact, God doesn't even care what you say you're supposed to do. The only thing God cares about is that you understand that He is the one who determines what you do. And what, how you view yourself and the behavior that grows out of how you view yourself must come from God. And God commanded Adam. He didn't suggest it to Adam. Adam didn't have a, you know, well, God, can I put my two cents in? No, you can't put your two cents in. God is very clear. He's commanding the man. Mankind, humanity, we, you, me, are responsible to God. Now watch this. Whenever we choose to substitute another perspective on ourselves other than God's, that is idolatry. The minute you start saying, Mama said I'm supposed to behave like this. The minute you say, well, Dad said I should do this, and it's not what God said do, you're in trouble. That's idolatry. You are substituting something else in God's place. Now, let me demonstrate that to be true. Throughout the Old Testament, God had a problem with His people Israel. Had a problem with them. It seems like God was always ticked off of these people. But did you ever consider why? In Exodus 19 verses 5 through 6, God is very specific and He tells Israel who they are. He says, this is God speaking, that they are His own possession among the people. God says that they are a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. God clearly communicates to the people who they are. But something happens. When they go into the promised land, the pressures of culture, society, and economics begin to take their toll on the people. And what happens is they begin to substitute God's view of who they are to the culture's view of who they should be. And what God does is God calls that what? He calls it harlotry and adultery in Deuteronomy 31.16, Jeremiah 3.1-5, and Hosea 1.2. God says you are playing the harlot. You are being adulterous. Now you're saying, why am I being adulterous if I'm adopting just a different perspective on myself? Because the people around us adopt the perspective of themselves based upon the gods that they worship. And when we begin to substitute for our God what the people say we are to be, we are in fact being idolatrous because we are using their God's perspective on them as if it's our God's perspective on us. That is idolatry. That's worshiping false gods. We don't even know it. We don't even realize that by us looking at ourselves unbiblically, we are worshipping false gods. Don't even realize it. Unless you think this is simply an Old Testament phenomenon, notice what James in James chapter 4 verse 4 says. As James is writing these individuals, this group of Christians, who has adopted a worldly perspective both on things and on themselves. They've adopted a worldly perspective on themselves. Listen to what James says. You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility towards God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. It is false worship. It is idolatry. When you begin to think about yourself and behave in ways that contradict scripture, you are substituting for God's view somebody else's view. So the first thing we see about ourselves as human beings is that we, mankind, is responsible to God for his behavior. Number two. Not only is mankind responsible to God for his behavior, Number two, mankind is restricted by God in His behavior. Not only are we responsible to God for our behavior, mankind is restricted by God in His behavior. Folks, this is a natural follow-up to what we just read back in Genesis chapter 2 verse 16. God is very clear. He tells the man what he can eat. He tells him how to eat it. And then he tells them what he can't eat. Those are restrictions. God is placing on Adam boundaries and he gives Adam no room for debate. This is what you can eat. Eat it freely. Don't eat this. Those are boundaries. Restrictions. Sidelines. Saints. The reality of restrictions is that often we misunderstand what they mean. Some of you have already heard me say restrictions just a second ago, and you've already begun throwing up your red flags. You see, often we don't have a proper perspective on what restrictions are. Rather than look at restrictions and boundaries from a biblical perspective, what we do is we adopt a man-made or a satanic perspective on restrictions. For example, some people respond to restrictions with fear of breaking the rules. They have a fear of breaking the rules. And what happens with them is they often digress into legalism and hypocrisy just like the scribes and the pharisees did. For them, living life simply becomes avoiding boundaries. If I haven't done this, I'm okay. and they look at boundaries simply as things to be kept and not things to enhance life. And they digress into legalism, into simple do's and don'ts, and their relationship with God is made up simply of not breaking certain commandments. That's one view of restrictions, and that's wrong. The second view of restrictions is just the opposite. These type of individuals want to test them, want to stretch them, or ignore them. This person says it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission. Say, I'll go ahead and break the thing and come back and ask forgiveness later. But not only are both of these skewed perspectives on restrictions dangerous, but they're unbiblical. You see, the Bible's view on restrictions, saints, is that restrictions are beneficial and are channels for truly enjoying life. See, what we don't realize is that God gives restrictions to enhance life, not degrade life. Restrictions, boundaries are actually positive. They help us to enjoy living life. Let me explain this, because this is countercultural. Let me explain this. I am a football fan. I love football. Never played it, but I love to watch it. My favorite team was the Pittsburgh Steelers. But even if, I know some of that hurt some of y'all, Even if, because some of you are, well I'm not going to get into that. But even if Pittsburgh is not playing, I still watch football. I can watch, I watch pro, I watch college, anything I can get my hands on, I love to watch football. But do you know something? Football is played within boundaries, is it not? In fact, we have so romanticized football that we have this play term called the gridiron. The gridiron. Football is played on the gridiron, the stripes. But what makes football football is this. The teams stay within the boundaries. What would happen if one team decided, you know what? I don't like these sidelines. These sidelines are too restrictive. We want to be able to run plays anywhere we want to, even in the parking lot, so long as we get into the end zone. That is what? A recipe for chaos. What makes football enjoyable is the fact and reality that football is played within the boundaries. If people begin to decide we want to play outside the boundaries, then what happens is football digresses into a chaotic mess. We can watch it and enjoy it because it has boundaries. Now put your seatbelt on for just a second. I'm going to make a radical statement. You don't hear me make many radical statements. I'm going to make a radical statement. Lock yourself down. God's perspective on life is guided by several principles and one of the principles is, are you ready? Party in the box. One of God's principles of life, you don't hear me say this much, but one of God's principles of life is party in the box. What we don't understand about God is that God has granted us tremendous freedom. And when we stay within the box of His freedom, we don't have to worry about judgment. Our problem is this. We start partying in the box, but then we get on the ladder and climb to the top of the box and begin looking at other folks' boxes. and wonder what's it like in that other box. It's hopping over there and we begin to want to go into the other box rather than enjoying ourselves in the box that God gave us. Now let me prove to you that I'm correct. Turn to the book of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes. This is one of the three books that Solomon wrote. It was the last book that he wrote. He wrote, of course, Song of Solomon first, Proverbs second, and Ecclesiastes last. It was a book written in Solomon's senior years, after he had had an opportunity to thoroughly investigate life and its consequences. And one of the reoccurring themes throughout the book of Ecclesiastes comes up time and time again is this. based on the fact that life many times seems to play us a hand that's backwards. Based upon that reality, Solomon says the response of the righteous should be to eat, drink, and be merry, and they should enjoy the labor and fruit of their hands. All throughout Proverbs. But turn with me specifically to chapter 9. Because this is one of the fullest explanations of this. And the context of this is so important. In verses 1 through 3, Solomon talks about the uncertainties of what the future may bring. Sometimes it brings adversity, sometimes it brings prosperity. In verses 4 through 6, he then talks about the certainty of death. death is a certainty. And when death comes, you will have no opportunity whatsoever for physical earthly enjoyment. It'll be over by then. Now in light of that fact, notice what Solomon says. He says, go then, eat your bread in happiness, Drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved your works. Let your clothes be white all the time, and let no oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life, which He has given you under the sun. For this is your reward in life, and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun. Solomon's basic point is very simple. He says freely. freely Enjoy the basic necessities of life and the few luxuries God gives you enjoy them You only gonna get a few You only gonna get a little Enjoy it Allow yourself to enjoy the fruit of your labor what your hands have done enjoy that We've lost this in our culture See, in our culture, we want to enjoy the labor of our kids' labor. We're getting so much debt that our kids will be in our debt paying it off. We don't know how to enjoy the labor of our immediate hands. We're so used to charging it. Everything gets charged. We put it off, put it off, put it off. That's not Solomon's point. Solomon says, look, you are given basic necessities in life, food and drink. God is going to grant you a few luxuries, just a few. Enjoy them. And enjoy them with your spouse. Enjoy each other. Enjoy the basic necessities of life. This is all thought ecclesiastes. Look at chapter 11. Listen to what he says in verse 9. Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of your young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you into judgment for all these things. Solomon's point is simple. Young man, enjoy yourself. Party, but do it in the box. Don't step out of God's boundaries, because when you step out of God's boundaries, you step into judgment. It's going to happen. That should make life more pleasant, because I know this. As long as I stay in the box of God's will as revealed in His Word, I won't be judged. You can have real fun that way. Just imagine. Just imagine now, I can throw myself into life and know as long as I stay in the box of God's revealed will, I'm okay. Why would I want to go outside of God's will in His Word and try to find enjoyment when I know the minute I step over the boundary, judgment going to hit me? That's a fool right there. One more verse, chapter 12, Ecclesiastes, talking about party in the box. Listen to what Solomon says is the conclusion. He says, the conclusion when all has been heard is fear God and keep his commandments because this applies to every person for God will bring every act to judgment everything which has been hidden whether it is good or evil. Solomon says this, fear God and keep his commandments. Notice what he doesn't say, fear God and keep man's commandments. Fear God and keep man's restrictions. Fear God and keep man's do's and don'ts. He doesn't say that. He says fear God and keep His commandments. When you have feared God and kept His commandments, you're okay. You're okay. You have freedom within that box. Don't allow your freedom to be taken away either by the legalist who tries to draw the box tighter than God draws it, they think God's a little too loose with His boundaries. We need to tighten God up a little bit. Don't allow yourself to be restricted by the legalist who tries to shrink God's box tighter than it is, but also don't allow yourself to be trapped by the liberalist who tries to expand God's box beyond the limits God has expanded it. You stay within God's Word and you'll be fine. Stay within God's Word and you'll be fine. And that's God's Word to Adam. God tells Adam, look, you're responsible to Me. You're Mine. You're responsible to Me. Therefore, I'm giving you certain instructions. But Adam, those instructions are bad because guess what? You can eat sparingly. Is that what God says? You can eat in a limited manner. Is that what God says? Come on now. What does the text say? You can eat freely. As long as you stay within the box, Adam, pig out if you want to pig out. You can eat freely of it. Some of us wouldn't be satisfied with that. We start going through the trees and saying, which one he can't eat? And we're not satisfied with the trees. What we would do is we would take all of the trees around the one tree and say, look, Adam, just so you don't bump into the other tree, don't eat from these ones either. And then someone else would come along and say, well, no, no, I think we need to draw the circle a little bit wider because Adam might trip and fall on the tree. It's ridiculous. You stay within the revealed will of God. fear God and keep His commandments. That's the second point. Mankind is responsible to God for His behavior. Number two, mankind is restricted by God in His behavior. But guess what, saints? God's restrictions ain't bad. They're supposed to benefit your life. Number three, not only is mankind responsible to God for His behavior, Not only is mankind restricted by God in his behavior, but number three, mankind experiences ramifications from God because of his behavior. We will experience ramifications from God because of our behavior. That's the message God has for Adam. Adam, you're responsible to me. You have certain restrictions, but you have freedom within those restrictions. But Adam, if you feel like you ever want to step over the line, let me tell you what's going to happen. Genesis chapter 2 verse 17. God tells Adam, for in the day that you eat from it, you shall surely die. God gives Adam a promise. Now, I don't ever hear anybody quoting these type of promises. But he gives them a promise here. Adam, step over the line, you're dead. It's very simple. And if that sounds like a threat, it's because it is. I mean, I can't candy-coat anything. God is threatening Adam. Saying, Adam, you're responsible to me. You have restrictions. You have freedom within those restrictions, but you have restrictions. And Adam, just in case you start feeling good about yourself, step over the line, and that day you're dead. You see, Saints, what we have to understand is that we experience ramifications from God because of our behavior. Now, some of us as adults have experienced some serious ramifications. Children, please listen to us. Kids, please. You see, we have already gone past what you're getting ready to go through. And to save yourself a lot of trouble, you ought to listen to your elders. Now, some of you are kind of thick-headed and say, well, I've got to experience it myself. Fine. Fine. I'm not going to beg you. But for those of you who are wise, listen. You will experience ramifications for your behavior. And as much as you want those ramifications to go away, some of them will never go away. No matter how much you wish them, no matter how much you pray, they will not go away. And God tells Adam, Adam, watch it. You have freedom. But because you're responsible to me, I will make sure that you experience ramifications when you step over the line. Now, we've spent some time looking at mankind in general. But I hope you haven't missed something here. Notice Eve is nowhere to be found. These instructions are given to Eve. She hasn't been created yet. Now God knows she's going to be created. In fact, God has planned to create her. In fact, there are certain instructions that He plans to give both of them, because in Genesis 1, verses 28-30, He gives instructions to both Adam and Eve. But these instructions here God gives specifically and directly to the male. Now, what in the world does God want us to learn from that reality? Well, there are three things that we ought to learn about males from the reality of God's instruction here in Genesis chapter 2 verses 16 through 17. Number one, oversight falls on the husband oversight falls on the husband number two communication comes from the husband man unless you get too cocky number three judgment begins with the husband oh we we did we have levels first two but number three judgment judgment begins with the husband let's look at these three principles first one oversight falls on the husband now it's very clear that God has given to Adam these instructions Eve as I said is nowhere around she hasn't come on the scene yet God knows that she's coming God intends to create her but he has not created her yet yet before he creates her he gives Adam instructions on his behavior now a key thing you have to understand here is this Although these commands are not given to Eve, God expects Eve to adhere to them. Follow me. Stay with me. Eve is nowhere to be found. God gives these instructions to the male, but God's expectation is that Eve also is going to adhere to these instructions. How do we know this? 2 reasons. In Genesis chapter 2 verses 16 and 17, you can't see this in English, but these verbs that are here are in the singular. God is giving them in the singular, you. In the English language, you is the same whether it's singular or plural, correct? Nod your head yes. okay so in the Hebrew in Hebrew in Genesis chapter 2 verses 16 and 17 these verses are in the singular you Adam you you you you individual however when the serpent and when Eve repeat the commandment they repeat it in the plural Genesis chapter 3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Indeed has God said you, plural, shall not eat from the tree of the garden. the woman said to the serpent from the fruit of the trees of the garden we plural may eat but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden God has said you plural shall not eat from it or touch it lest you plural die both the serpent and Eve transposed the singular into plural they understood something They understood something. They understood that although the command was given to the male, God's expectation was both the male and the female would adhere to the same command. We also know this because in Genesis chapter 3 verse 13, Eve also gets judged for eating the fruit. See that? Adam isn't the only one who gets judged now, y'all. He also gets just because she wasn't supposed to eat it either Now Saints don't miss that God's expectation Was that Adam would see to it that he and Eve Followed through on the command Both of them had a responsibility to it, but God only gave him the one He gave the command the one, but that one was to guarantee the behavior of the two. Oversight is given to the husband. But oversight includes something. It includes communication. And gentlemen, this is where we drop the ball. There are too many Christian men acting like Rambo. All they know how to do is grunt a few times and they expect their spouse to jump. That's not what God intended. You see, we have to communicate to our wives. As much as we fault Adam for messing up in the garden, one thing Adam did do was communicate. He might have done what else he was supposed to do. But the one thing he did was he stepped up to the plate and communicated as God intended him to communicate. And it's absolutely clear from this that God expects the husband to be involved in communication with his wife. Let's look at what happens here. Adam, Eve, and the devil, all three of them, know and realize that Adam and Eve are responsible to the same command. God intended for Eve to also adhere to the instructions. However, Eve was not going to hear these instructions from the voice of God. God wasn't going to tell her them. God gave it to Adam with the expectation that Adam would communicate from him to his wife. This is important. Understand something. We're not dealing with days here. We're dealing with hours. God could easily have waited until Eve was created and tell them both what they were supposed to do. They were created on the same day in a matter of hours between it. That's it. Not days, hours. Yet God doesn't wait. He communicates to Adam, then creates the animals, puts Adam to sleep, creates Eve, and then communicates to both of them. Well, why didn't He communicate to both of them this fact? Because when it comes to the behavior that God wants communicated regarding humanity, God has given a hierarchy of order. God communicates to the husband, the husband communicates it to the wife, and they together communicate it to the children. That is God's hierarchy. God is setting in Adam's mind how he is going to run his universe. We see this saints all through out the Bible. Now, I don't have time to blow this thing up, but let me just, let me just give you some summarization here. Priests were always men, always. We have no record. Now watch this. We have no record of God calling and sending to his people any female prophet. We have female prophetesses, but we have no record of God ever calling one and sending one to His people, ever. We have no record or indication. In fact, just the opposite is true, because even in the New Testament, eldership is restricted to men. You see, saints, what we have to understand is this. God has a divine order. Our God has got an order. God does not work in human history haphazardly. He has an order. And His order is divine, because it comes from Him. He will communicate to the male, and the male will then communicate to the female, and together they will communicate to the children. We see all for the Bible Abraham Genesis chapter 18 verse 19. What did God say for I have chosen him Abraham in order that he might command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice Numbers chapter 30. Look at that one important numbers chapter 30 in that in that chapter God gives husbands authority to regulate the spiritual behavior of those in their household and God gives the man that responsibility. Look at Numbers 30, verses 6 through 8. God says this of the single girl here, He said, "...which she has bound herself shall stand. But if on the day her husband hears of it, he forbids her, then she shall annul her vow which she is under, and the rash statement of her lips by which she has bound herself, and the Lord will forgive her." Wow! I don't know if that rocks your socks, but that rocks my socks. God says He will recognize the annulling of a spiritual vow made by a wife to Him. If the husband overhears the vow and says, no, no, no, we cannot do that, God will recognize that authority and will forgive her of the vow. Wow! God is serious about this thing. He's serious about it. Look at 1 Corinthians 14, 34 through 35. Paul says this, let the women keep silent in the church. Now he's not talking about not talking in church, not talking about not talking. He's talking about both teaching and interrupting meetings. He says, for they are not permitted to speak, but let them subject themselves, just as the law also says. And if they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home, for it is improper for a woman to speak in church. Now, it's clear, saints. God has set a clear boundary here. He has not stammered. God has given the male the responsibility to communicate. And men, I don't want to hear, well, it's hard for me to communicate how I feel to my wife. It's hard to communicate my thoughts. I don't care how hard it is to communicate. I don't care that it's hard to communicate your thoughts. You have the responsibility to communicate with your spouse. And when we don't communicate to our spouse effectively, we don't do what God wants in our household, the third reality will become ours. And that is judgment begins with the mail. You know, our head kind of popped up when I said oversight is given to the mail. And then, you know, when we said the communication comes with the mail, you know, we kind of started feeling kind of good about ourselves. But man, that ain't nothing to feel good about. You see, because what you need to realize is this. When God comes knocking on the door of your house, He's not looking for the missus. He ain't looking for her. He's calling you out. You see, we want to send our wife to the door. Answer that, honey. You know what Adam did? Adam sent Eve to the door. The woman you gave me, he sent Eve to the door. Go answer that. And God said, I don't want to talk to Eve. I'll talk to you. Judgment begins with the male. Let's spend a little time on this one. Why does judgment begin with the male? Well, there is a biblical principle I want to spend just a few moments articulating to you. The biblical principle is this. The greater the responsibility, the greater the judgment. The greater the responsibility, the greater the judgment. Turn to Matthew chapter 11. Matthew chapter 11. Beginning in Matthew chapter 11 verse 2, Matthew records the progressive opposition towards Jesus by both the leaders and the masses. they were rejecting Christ. And Matthew records it in order to demonstrate the need for faith. Because all the people seemed to be rejecting Christ, the true followers of Christ, the true people who wanted to be saved, needed to exercise faith and separate themselves from the masses. In chapter 11 verses 2 through 6, it's a story that we all know, when John's disciples come and ask Jesus, are you the one? Jesus of course tells him yes, I am and and and he gives them why he's the one and then Jesus uses that as an opportunity to to talk about John and Talks about how great John was and pays a tribute to him, but he doesn't just pay a tribute to Johnny also warns the people he he tells them they cannot continue to stand on the outside looking in and Let's see what Christ is going to do. You can't do that. You've got to commit yourself in faith to Christ, separate yourself from the world, take up your cross and follow Me. That's the mindset. You've got to separate yourself from the world. Stop looking from the outside in. Come in. Then after saying that and after giving a call for them to turn in faith, to stop questioning who He is, We have one of the most well-known passages of Scripture, verses 20 through 24. Then he began to reproach the cities in which most of his miracles were done, because they did not repent. Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon, which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless, I say to you it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted in heaven, will you? You shall descend to Hades. For if the miracles had occurred in Sodom, which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless, I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in that day of judgment than for you." Jesus' point here is clear. While Tyre and Sodom received judgment, and they received it justly, their judgment will not be nearly as extensive and nearly as intense as the judgment of the cities who experienced Jesus' ministry. Why is that? More light meant more responsibility. More responsibility meant more judgment. Listen to what God says, Jesus says in Luke 12, 48. He says, and from everyone who has been given much shall much be required, and to whom they entrusted much of him they will ask all the more. Men, here's your challenge. You are not given any more skill than your wife is given. You're not given any more brain power than your wife is given. You're not any more human than your wife is human. You aren't any more special than your wife is special. You have no capabilities that exceed her capabilities. Yet God will hold you accountable. Better get to work. Better get to work. Got some serious ground to cover up. You have just as many weaknesses as she has. You better work hard, because God won't come knocking. And judgment begins with the male. And not only does it begin with the male, it's more extensive on the male. So this isn't anything to pop your chest out over. This is something to be humble about. and beseeching God that you would be the type of husband that he can get a proper account from. Because he's coming. He'll knock and you will have to open the door. Now we don't have time this morning and we're going to get to Genesis chapter 3. But these points are clear from Genesis chapter 3. Eve talked with the serpent. Eve eyed the tree. Eve contemplated taking the fruit. Eve touched the fruit first. Eve took the fruit off the tree. Eve ate of the fruit. Eve gave the fruit to Adam. And when God came looking, He said, where's Adam? That don't make sense. All this stuff Eve been doing, and when God come knocking, who does He come knocking for? Adam. And we're playing with our families. When God comes to mete out judgment on your family and my family, He's coming to us first. You know, it would seem that the smart thing to do is to get our house personal house, not the house we live in, not our family. But man, it would seem that for us the important thing is to get our house together. Some of us here are playing God. Some of us are playing Christianity, and we're not serious. And what we don't realize is that there's coming a day of reckoning. It would seem that if I'm not sounding the Scriptures, I'd be trying to do whatever I could do to get sound in the Scriptures. If I'm just sending my wife to church and not coming myself, it would seem that I'd be busting the door of the church out. Because when God comes to give, to get an account, He's coming to our doors first. And you young men, you better be getting ready for this. It starts when you're young. Don't wait till you're married and figure out, oh, I'm accountable. It's too late then. You'll have to do double time, triple time, quadruple time. Get yourselves ready now. God is very clear. Mankind is responsible to him for his behavior. We are restricted by God in our behavior and we all will experience ramifications from our behavior. And then there's some very specific implications for us as men. We are given oversight. We have a responsibility to make sure that our male-female relationships function and operate as God intended them to function and operate. God gives us the command and He expects us that we are going to regulate our household in order to fulfill those things. In order to regulate your household effectively, you've got to communicate, say something, be involved with your household. Because if you don't, judgment is surely coming. the greater the responsibility, the greater the judgment. What applications should we take from this? Well, several applications, but I think two that I want to focus on. The first is that we must be careful as people, men and women, Christian men and women, to make sure that we are regulating our lives not by man-made rules and do's and don'ts, but God's rules. Make as a priority in your life doing what God commands you to do. Make that a priority in your life. And then number two, for the men. I want to encourage you to get serious about your walk with the Lord. You know, man, every second Saturday we have men's prayer breakfast. I see two or three of you there every Saturday. Two or three of you. Now, either you know all there is to know about Scripture, all there is to know about being a man, now you don't need nobody to tell you nothing, or you're like me and you need as much help as you can get. I don't see you. I don't see you at prayer time. I don't see you back Sunday evening. Where are you? You fall out the face of the earth? God is going to hold you and I accountable for our households. As much as we would like it to be different, it's not going to be different. Let me encourage you. Begin the process of taking your walk with the Lord as a serious matter. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we as your people are not satisfied just to play church. We're not satisfied to play Christianity. We know that we have some very serious responsibilities. All of us do. Because all of us, Lord God, are commanded and directed by you. We cannot get over it. We cannot get under it. We cannot get around it. You have given us certain restrictions and within those restrictions You've granted us freedom, but we cannot go outside of those restrictions without consequences Help us Lord God To realize just how gracious and merciful you truly are Just how glorious you are that you would give us boundaries and then give us freedom within those boundaries That is a gift Lord God, help us to revel in your gift. Revel in your gifts. And then, Heavenly Father, for those men here under the sound of my voice, I pray for us, Lord God. So often we leave the important matters of the household to our wives, and we're not involved. Or we are so heavy-handed. so much control freaks that our wives have no freedom within the boundaries God has given them. Lord God, help us to realize your balance as loving leaders who communicate effectively with our wives and lead them in a way that would bring you glory. Lord God, we as men have a lot of growth that we need to do. Help us, Lord God, to be serious about that growth. In Jesus' name, amen.