Romans: Sin, Judgment, and Gospel Foundations: Praying Against the Wicked

Christian Manhood

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: New Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2018-05-09

Synopsis: John Weaver preaches on biblical manhood using John the Baptist as the model. He contrasts the world's definition of manhood with God's, emphasizing character, integrity, and maturity. The sermon outlines five characteristics of a godly man: solitary, strong, separated, straightening, and satisfying, all drawn from John 1. Weaver calls for men of courage who stand alone for truth, live holy lives, and point others to Christ.

[John Weaver] 30 messages I want to preach in the next three or four days, so I don't know how I'm going to get them all in, but that's all right, too. Tonight I want you to open your Bibles, if you would please, to the book of John, chapter 1. I want to bring a message tonight which I've entitled Christian Manhood. Look in John chapter 1, if you would, and we're going to read several verses, then I'll explain a couple of things. But notice John chapter 1, and particularly verse 6 to begin with. Notice what the Bible says. John 1 verse 6, there was a man sent from God whose name was John. Now skip down to verse 19. And this is the record of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who art thou?

[John Weaver] And he confessed and denied not, but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, what then? Art thou Elias? He said, I am not. Art thou that prophet? That is from Deuteronomy 18. He answered, no. And they said unto him, who art thou that we may give an answer to them that sent us? What sayest thou thyself? And he said, I'm the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah.

[John Weaver] Now, if you'll skip down to verse thirty five. Again, the next day, after John stood in two of his disciples and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he said, behold, the Lamb of God and the two disciples heard him speak and they followed Jesus. When we think about Christian manhood and let me explain the word manhood, When you look at the Greek text, there are basically two words for man.

[John Weaver] One is Anthropos, which just simply means mankind in general, which would include men and women. That's where we get our English word anthropology from. The second word is the word Aeneir, which means a man and a man only. Not a woman, not a child, but a man. But Christian manhood, of course, we would be talking about anthropos, which would include women as well in that sense of the word. But when you think of manhood, you have to stop and think that the biblical definition of a man or manhood is totally and completely different from that which the world gives us today. In fact, if I had time to go back to the book of Genesis, I could show you that basically talking about a man specifically, that manhood refers to maturity, responsibility, and a work ethic.

[John Weaver] I don't know if you've ever thought about this or not, but when God created Adam, he did not create him a baby. He did not create him a teenager. He created him full grown. mature, responsible, and there was work before the fall. Work is not a product of the fall. There was work before the fall. Certainly our work became onerous because of the fall, but there was work before the fall.

[John Weaver] So manhood or maturity, I could say, I could call this Christian maturity. Christian maturity certainly deals with character. When we think about a man today, just to demonstrate the fact that the world's definition of a man is totally different from a biblical definition. I have two good friends. They are brothers and one of them He was a Marine. And that was not enough for him. And so when he left the Marines, he joined the army and became a ranger.

[John Weaver] And when he got out of bed, he decided to he was going to go to college and study some things. And, and we were in school together. And occasionally what I was gone preaching, my wife would stay with him and his wife and their child. And so one night, he lived at the end of a driveway. And a car came up and parked in front of his house. There were four men in the car. They had been drinking. They were cursing, raising all kind of cane, and he went out and just simply asked him and he said, Would you please move your car from in front of my house? He said, My wife and my child are inside and the pastor's wife is inside. And I just don't appreciate your cursing and your drinking right here in front of my house.

[John Weaver] And they made a very horrible mistake. They cursed my friend and threatened him. And when they did, he jerked open the driver's passenger door, took the driver with one hand, opened the back door, took the other man out with the other hand, slammed their heads together, dropped them down on the pavement and was reaching for the other two when everybody went to apologize. It was time to apologize. Now you say that's a man. Not necessarily.

[John Weaver] Now it is true a man's going to defend his family. But but muscles does not necessarily make a man. His brother was one of the few men that I really began to take karate from many, many years ago, and he studied in Okinawa. And he came home and we were in the same town. And he pulled up at the red light and here came a convertible that had five men in it. And they had the radios up and they were cursing and and and my friend just looked at him, said, Would you please not take God's name in vain and please turn that radio down? And they looked at him and they said, You follow us and we'll show you something. And he looked at him and said, We'll lead the way.

[John Weaver] And so they went to a park. And when they got out, The one man, the leader, the driver got out with a long chain with a ceiling around his neck around his hand, and the others got out with a Coke bottles in their hand. And Ronnie just stood there and looked at him. There were all these men standing there. And Ronnie said, Look, before you start anything, I would ask you and he handed the card.

[John Weaver] Would you please come to my karate school and learn how to fight? And the man with the chain said, Ha! And he drew that chain back to hit Ronnie. And when he did, Ronnie just put his foot right across his mouth, knocked him down, knocked him out, then stepped back and looked at the others and said, Any two at the time, any three at the time, any four at the time, it doesn't matter to me. And so they reached down, picked up their man, drug him, threw him in the car and took off. Now you say that's a man. Not necessarily. Because, you see, muscles do not necessarily make a man. Well, you say, what in the world makes a man? Well, you have to understand that there is a thing that is called character and integrity.

[John Weaver] Didn't you know Robert E. Lee was one of the finest Christians that ever walked? And Robert E. Lee said, a Christian man is always a gentleman. And in Robert E. Lee's mind, he could not distinguish a Christian from a gentleman or a gentleman from a Christian. They were basically one in the same. But you look around today in our society, and we have produced an entire generation of wimps. We've produced a generation of people who've been given everything handed to them.

[John Weaver] They've never really had to work for anything, never earned anything. And they've gotten the mentality that we deserve everything, and you must give it to us, and if you don't give it to us, we'll take it. That's the mentality today. There certainly is not any character. There's certainly not his integrity. We are living literally in desperate times. You may not realize that. We're probably living in the time that Ezekiel lived in, or one very similar. Do you know what God said in the book of Ezekiel chapter 22 and verse 30? Listen, if you read Ezekiel chapter 22, you'll find that God condemned the prophets, he condemned the priests, he condemned the princes, and then he condemned the people in general. And when you get to Ezekiel chapter 22 and verse 30, God says this, and I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before me that I should not destroy the land. But I did not find one. God said, I look for a man, I look for someone who would stand in the hedge and make up the gap that I would not.

[John Weaver] I looked and I could not even find one. And when you look at John 1 in verse 6, the Bible says, there was a man sent from God whose name was John.

[John Weaver] Now understand exactly what that means. But when you read that, you can also think it like this. When God looked at John the Baptist, he said, there was a man. There was a man. And so tonight, what I want to do is this. I want to give you several principles from Christian manhood based upon the life of John the Baptist. If you would look in your Bibles to John 1 in verse 23, notice if you would, John answered, and he said this, You remember the Jews sent to John the Baptist and asked him who he was. Aren't thou the Messiah? No.

[John Weaver] Are you Moses or Elijah? No. Are you that prophet that is the prophet that Moses spoke of in Deuteronomy 18? No. I'm not. Well, who are you? You know what John could have said? John could have said, What do you mean? Who am I? Don't you know who I am? I'm the subject of Old Testament prophecy. Don't you know who I am? I was miraculously and sovereignly born by God's almighty power.

[John Weaver] I was indwelt with the Holy Spirit from my birth. Don't you know who I am? I'm the forerunner of Jesus Christ. He could have answered that way. But he did not. He said, I am the voice of one, which makes this truth known. God's kind of man is a solitary man. That means he is one who stands alone. He was unashamed to stand for what he stood for.

[John Weaver] He was unmoved by peer pressure. He was unmoved by peer approval. He did not sin or did not seek any of that. You remember when the religious leaders of his day came to his baptism? What did he say to them old generation of vipers? Who's warned you to flee from the wrath to come now? That's not really how to make friends and influence enemies, but that's exactly what he said because that was the truth He said you're a generation of vipers who have warned you to flee from the wrath to come don't you know? There's wrath coming look at you and so john was unwilling to compromise the truth.

[John Weaver] He was willing to stand even when no one else stood. You see, it's easy to stand when you have your family around you, when you have your friends around you. It's easy to stand when you have a support group around you. It's easy to stand when you've got a whole bunch of people, an entire congregation. Yes, we're with you. But when you have to stand alone and you have to stand by yourself, that requires a little character. That requires some integrity.

[John Weaver] And John was not trying to be unnoticed. John wanted to be noticed because he wanted to be heard. And he was willing to stand even if he had to stand alone. The more I study history and the more I read the biographies of great men of God, the more I have come to the conclusion that there is a very great dearth of character in our land today. things have changed even since I was a boy.

[John Weaver] And that hasn't been too terribly long ago. But when you stop and think about it, one of the greatest reasons we are in such a desperate state in this society, and in this country in this nation is simply because there is no character, there is no integrity, we have no backbone, we have no intestinal fortitude, or as we used to say in South Georgia on farm, we just don't have any guts.

[John Weaver] And that's the truth, folks. You know, the interesting thing is we've sired a generation of wimps that are spineless jellyfish who like to parade themselves around as men, but who constantly and continually violate the principles of the word of God and violate everything that you and I consider moral. Since there is indeed a dearth of character, you have to understand this, that a man who will not stand for something will fall for anything. And most men today have fallen for that which is not true. Let me tell you something about character.

[John Weaver] I want you to think with me, please. First of all, character is what a man is in the dark. You can tell me everything about yourself and you can tell me what you do and what you don't do. But let me tell you, character is what a man is in the dark. You tell me what you would do if you knew that no one else would ever find out about it. And I'll tell you exactly what you are. You say if I knew no one would ever find out that I would never be discovered, well, I'd go down and I'd rob that bank. Well, you're a thief. Well, if I knew I'd never be found out, I'd run off old sister so and so, well, you're an adulterer. Well, if I knew I'd never be found out, I would take out so and so, well, you're a murderer. See, character's what a man is in the dark. Character's what you are when you are alone and when no one else is around.

[John Weaver] That's when the real you actually shows itself. Moreover, the test of your character is what it takes to stop you. Have you ever stopped to think about that? Do you realize most people today are such quitters? They give in at the drop of a hat and they'll drop the hat. If you really want to stop someone from serving, all you better do is do a little gossiping.

[John Weaver] or say something that hurts their feelings, or imply something that they don't like. And the next thing you know, they're going to take their marbles and they're going to go home. And they're going to say something like this. Well, I'm just not appreciated. Why? Because the test of your character is what it takes to stop you. And it just really doesn't take much today to stop the average individual.

[John Weaver] Because we give in, we give up, we give out, we quit. Not only is character what a man is in the dark, the test of your character is what it takes to stop you. And listen to this. You also have to remember this, that circumstances never make or break a man. They just reveal it. You know, we always try to believe the opposite of that. We'll think about this great battle and we'll say, here's this man who really shone forth and courage and greatness. And we'll say, well, that battle really made him a hero. No. He was already a hero in his heart. The battle just revealed him. Here's a man that ran and hid and turned coward, we would say, in the battle. You say the battle made him a coward? No, he was already a coward in his heart. The battle just revealed him. Circumstances never make or break a man. They just simply reveal him. They let us know what we're really made of. And when people lie and cheat and steal and do all kind of immoral things under the circumstances, you've got to understand that's just their character.

[John Weaver] That's what they are. Because the Bible says in Proverbs 23 and verse 7, as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. You actually end up doing that which you think. Sin does not slip up on you. Sin does not happen accidentally. You think about it, you choose it, you plan it, and you put it into effect. Because that's what you are in your heart. You know, in times past, there were a lot of moral men who were not Christians. In fact, sometimes some of those men were greater in morality than professing Christians.

[John Weaver] One of them was General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Forrest was not converted until after the war, but Forrest's mother was a godly woman and she taught Forrest. Also, his wife was also a Christian and a godly woman as well. And it was General or Major Ellis who came up upon Forrest's tent. And he heard the conversation where Forrest was actually putting one of his bravest officers and one of his finest friends out of his command. because of immorality. Here's what Major Ellis said, listen carefully. He said, on one occasion while approaching his tent, I heard him, that is General Forrest, in tones of great anger, using the most bitter denunciatory language to an officer, who although as a brave a man has served in the war, and was a warm personal friend to Forrest. He said, Forrest had just heard of him being guilty of immoral conduct He denounced him in the severest language that I think I've ever heard, and dismissed him from his command on the spot, saying, I will not have any man about me who will be guilty of such conduct toward a woman.

[John Weaver] The man was a married man and had an affair with another woman. What did Forrest do? He just dismissed him. He said, you're not in my command anymore. I'll not have you around me. And Forrest at that time was just as lost as he could be. Do you understand that many men had to stand and they had to stand alone? Think about the men in the Bible. You remember Daniel in Daniel chapter six, there was a law passed that no man could ask any petition of any God, save the king for 30 days. And if you ask any petition, you're going to be thrown into the den of lions. You know what the Bible says in Daniel chapter six, verses 10, 11. Now, when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, He went into his house and his windows being opened in his chamber toward Jerusalem.

[John Weaver] He kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks unto God as he did aforetime. These men assembled and found Daniel praying and making his supplication before his God. By the way, if you want to know how to pray effectively and successfully when you're in danger, The answer is you're to be used to praying effectively and successfully before you get into danger. Daniel knelt and prayed three times a day as he did a four time. That was his practice.

[John Weaver] And when he had his window open toward Jerusalem, he was not flaunting his rebellion to the king. He was just simply doing What Solomon prayed concerning in first Kings chapter eight, verses 29 through 30, where Solomon prayed that any time that God's people had sinned against him, if they prayed toward Jerusalem and confess their sins, that God would hear and forgive and heal them. And that's exactly what Daniel was doing. And when he knew that the writing was signed, he knelt and prayed three times a day, just like he did before time. He just kept praying. He was the only one in the entire kingdom that prayed. Wow.

[John Weaver] Because he was a solitary man. He stood alone. How about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Do you remember Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter three built that image in the plain of Dura? And he said, one time you hear the sound of the sack bolt, the dustle, the harp, and all these manner of instruments, you kneel down and worship my golden image. Everybody knelt down except Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

[John Weaver] They stuck out like a sore thumb. I've often thought, and I've really gotten tickled at thinking some of this, at how those boys could have really pulled one over on Nebuchadnezzar. You know what they could have done? They could have just sat down on the ground and rested. And probably they would have thought they're either halfway up or halfway down and nobody would have ever noticed. Or one of them could have said, hey, Shad, I got a good idea. Let's just lie down on our face and take a nap. And these silly heathen, they'll think we're just being really dedicated to this false god. They could have done anything like that and gotten away with it. No one would have ever known.

[John Weaver] But they didn't do that. You know what they told the king? Be it known unto you, O king, our God can deliver us. But whether he delivers us or not, that's his business. But be it known unto you, we will not bow down. And you know the story. I don't have to tell you the story. But these young men stood, and they stood alone. You know, the Apostle Paul had to stand by himself at times. In 2 Timothy 4, verse 16, he said, No man stood with me.

[John Weaver] He went on to say it more fully. He said, At my first answer, no man stood with me, but all men forsook me. I pray that God will not lay it to their charge. Can you imagine the Apostle Paul not having anyone to stand with him? They said, John, who are you? He said, I'm the voice of one. I'm the voice of one. John was willing to stand and was willing to stand alone. Here's his attitude. If no one else is going to be honest, I'm going to be honest. If no one else is going to be holy, I'm going to be holy. If no one else is going to be obedient, I'm going to be obedient. If no one else is going to proclaim the truth, I will proclaim the truth. If I'm the only one, I'm the only one. And it takes character to stand alone. It takes character to be a solitary witness and a solitary man standing for righteousness and truth.

[John Weaver] It doesn't matter what the world says. I hear people all the time say, but there are so many on that other side. Have you ever stopped to think about this? What would have happened, do you think, in the book of Genesis had Noah said, Wow, there are so many people that really don't believe it's going to rain, you're going to have a flood. Maybe they're right. Maybe I'll just give in and go with them. Really? No. No. No one knew. Because God had spoken. And just because everybody else is doing it does not make it right. And just because everybody else is saying it does not make it true.

[John Weaver] When you know the truth, you have to stand for the truth if you have to stand alone. John, who are you? I am the voice of one. Christian maturity, Christian manhood, will enable you to stand solitarily. You will stand if you have to stand alone.

[John Weaver] Secondly, I want you to note this. Christian maturity will enable you to stand strongly. Ah. John, who are you? I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. John was not whispering. John was shouting from the rooftops the truth of God. He was not hoping that no one would notice him. He wanted people to notice him because he wanted the truth to be heard. And therefore he was crying.

[John Weaver] You see, these two characteristics really go together. Do you understand that one has to be strong in order to stand solitarily? And secondly, if you're standing solitarily, it has to be an evidence of strength because you're standing there by yourself. Do you realize in Isaiah 58 verse one, what God said? Listen, cry aloud. Cry aloud, spare not lift up your voice like a trumpet and show my people their sins. Cry aloud, lift up your voice like a trumpet. We have to have strength to carry out our convictions. We have to have strength. To apply what we know from the word of God. Do you remember James four verse 17?

[John Weaver] Therefore, to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin. Years ago, Alice and I had a friend, some friends that we call mama and papa. We were not related. In fact, they adopted Alice and I. And their three sons have been lifelong friends of ours. And they had a family get together. And of course, they invited Alice and I, and I came from a meeting.

[John Weaver] And when I got there, Papa's daughter in law just started peppering me with questions, one right after the other. And finally, Papa looked at her and he said, Francis, why don't you leave him alone? Can't you see he's tired? She said, because Papa I don't know the answers to these questions. And it bothers me. And I never will forget what he said. He looked her right in the eye and said, it's not what I don't know that bothers me. It's what I do know.

[John Weaver] James 417, therefore to him that knoweth to do good and do it but not to him, it is sin. You have to have strength to stand for your convictions. And Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. used to say this, you can borrow brains, but you cannot borrow character. Stop and think about that. You can borrow brains, but you cannot borrow character. There are a lot of things I do not know how to do. But I can ask. And I can learn.

[John Weaver] But I'll tell you this, you can give me all the information in the world, you can give me all the books, you can sit down and tell me everything that I need to do. But if I do not have the character, and if I do not have the strength to put it into action, all that knowledge is worthless. You have to have strength. You have to have strength.

[John Weaver] You have to do what you have to do. Christian maturity, Christian manhood comes with not only learning to be a solitary individual, but learning to be a strong individual. My grandson, my youngest grandson was with me one day and I had a cow that was down on the farm. And I looked at him and I said, trip, you're going to have to help me with this cow.

[John Weaver] I can't do it by myself. You'd have to know that young boy. At that time, if he saw blood, he got sick, he turned away. He couldn't stand it. And he said, Papa, I can't do it. I said, Yes, you can. And you will. You just have to do what needs to be done. That's all there is to it, son. I need help. And you're going to help me.

[John Weaver] And we're gonna save this cow. Do you understand? He turned out to be a nurse. You see what I'm saying? You say, but I'm weak in an area. Well, you have to overcome that weakness. You have to learn to be strong. And when someone says, and your children, when they come up with this, well, I can't do that. You always add one word yet. You might not can do it now, but you might can do it tomorrow and you might can do it next month or you might can do it next year. But don't come up and say I can't do that.

[John Weaver] And I'll tell you something, folks. We've got a generation of people who say I can't do it and they never even tried to do it. You got to have strength. Christian maturity deals with being able to stand solitarily and to be able to stand strong. Thirdly, I want you to know this about John Christian maturity and Christian manhood deals with separation. John, who are you? I am the voice of one crying, where? In the wilderness.

[John Weaver] He wasn't in the bar rooms. He wasn't in the saloons. He wasn't in the ecumenical councils. He wasn't in the dance halls. He's in the wilderness. He was separating himself as far as he could get from the sin and the wickedness that surrounded him. You know, I have found it interesting that men, and I'm saying that generally, including women, we like to dabble with sin. We like to play with sin. We tend to think that sin somehow is exciting and it's titillating and that we can get this great pleasure from it. And there is a temporary pleasure in sin. The Bible says so. But what we misunderstand is that temporary pleasure always brings suffering and death. And we think that we can play with it and get away with it.

[John Weaver] We like to sow our wild oats and hope we can leave before harvest time. Galatians 6, 7, 8 says, Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap. You're not going to escape the law of harvest. So if you try to mess around with sin and play with sin and indulge in sin just a little bit, then you're going to be deceived. You know what the Bible says concerning Christ?

[John Weaver] In the book of Hebrews, chapter 7, in verse 26, the Bible tells us, For we have such a high priest who became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. Do you realize that Jesus Christ was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate? If you and I are going to stand for Christ and stand for righteousness and have biblical character, we have to learn to be like Jesus Christ. You know what the Bible says concerning Moses? In the book of Hebrews, chapter 11, verses 24 through 27, now listen to this. By faith, Moses, when he came to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Now, let me stop. He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Remember Pharaoh was the highest officer in the land Moses was in line to become a Pharaoh He could do whatever he wanted to do as a Pharaoh He could have all the pleasure. He could have all the money. He could have whatever he wanted But when he came to years, the Bible said, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.

[John Weaver] Listen, choosing to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. We know that Moses lived to be 120. If he had been a Pharaoh and lived to be 120, it's still just a season. because eternity is long and 120 years is nothing. But the Bible tells us, esteeming the reproach of Christ, greater treasures in all of Egypt. Do you realize none of us will ever turn from sin until we realize the reproaches of Jesus Christ is greater than all the treasures of sin and all the pleasures of sin. Moses, by faith, forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, the Bible says, for he endured, seeing him who is invisible. We'll never escape the pleasures of sin until we esteem and value the reproach of Jesus Christ. Most people like to dabble in sin.

[John Weaver] They really don't want to go all the way. They really don't want to get caught in sin, but they want to dabble in it. Let me give you a principle. Please listen. If you don't learn anything else tonight, please learn this. When God forbids any sin, at the same time, He forbids anything that would lead up to that sin. When God forbids any sin, at the same time, He forbids anything that leads up to that sin. So when God forbids the sin of murder, at the same time, He forbids anger and wrath and bitterness that would lead up to murder. When God forbids theft, at the same time, He forbids covetousness and greediness that would lead up to theft. When God forbids adultery and fornication, at the same time He forbids lustfulness and pornography and anything that would lead up to that. When God forbids cheating, at the same time He forbids laziness and sloth that would lead up to cheating. In other words, whatever God forbids as sin, at the same time, He forbids anything and everything that would lead up to that sin.

[John Weaver] You see, the Bible tells us in Romans chapter 13 and verse 14, But put you on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. Put you on the Lord Jesus Christ. You're to put on Jesus Christ. And as you put on Jesus Christ, you're not to make provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof. Now, how do you make provision for the flesh? You make provision for the flesh by thinking and desiring and planning and wishing. How do you put on the Lord Jesus Christ?

[John Weaver] By putting off all of those thoughts that are wicked and contrary to him and contrary to his words. You cannot have two thoughts in your mind at one time. You can only have one thought at one time. And so when an evil thought comes in your mind, you must instantly replace it with a godly thought, with a biblical thought. You're putting on the Lord Jesus Christ. And when you replace it with that godly thought, you're not making provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. If you continue to think evilly, then you're making provision for your flesh. The Bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 22, abstain from all appearances of evil. It's not just that we're to abstain from evil, but anything that appears evil. Stop and think about that. A mature individual in Jesus Christ is willing to abstain from anything that would appear evil. May not necessarily be evil, but if it would appear evil, we're not going to do it. Do you remember?

[John Weaver] What David said in Psalm 119 verses nine through 11 there. I love that passage, and I would encourage every young man, every young father. To memorize this passage. Or David asked where with all shallow young men cleansed his way. by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee. Oh, let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. And when a thought of sin or wickedness comes in your mind, you must immediately think of his word. If that word is in your heart, if that word is in your mind, it's going to come out and say, this is wrong. This is wicked. You can't think like this. You can't act like this. This is violations of God's word. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse this way by taking heed thereto according by word. With my whole heart have I sought thee.

[John Weaver] Oh, let me not wander from my commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee. Do you realize that as God's people were to be clean, not only from the filthiness of the flesh. But also the filthiness of the spirit.

[John Weaver] Second Corinthians seven, verse one, the Bible says, having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. You see, most of God's people are not going to wallow around in drunken vomit. They're not going to get drunk. They may not even be whoremongers. They may not even be thieves. You shouldn't be, especially if you're God's people.

[John Weaver] But while we would abstain from those grosser violations that we would call them, we will still engage in the sin of bitterness, resentment, unforgiving spirits, hardheartedness, stiff neck rebellious. Yeah. And those are sins of the spirit. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filth into the flesh and of the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. You cannot be holy unless you are pure in body as well as in spirit. And your spirit is just as important as your body. God not only wants you to abstain from the grosser and viler sins, but even from those sins of the spirit that aggravate us and demonstrate our wickedness.

[John Weaver] You know, the apostle said it like this. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 33, be not deceived, evil communications corrupt good manners. It's impossible to live a holy, godly life inwardly and outwardly if we align ourselves with wickedness. We can't do that. God's kind of man is not only a solitary man, a strong man, but he's a separated man. I read years ago of an extremely wealthy man who lived on a mountain in Tennessee, 100 years back, four cars particularly, and his buggy driver had died. So he placed an advertisement in the paper for a new buggy driver. And of course, everyone knew this man that he was extreme, exceedingly rich and well often, it would be a good job. And three men came and applied for the job. The rich man looked at the first one and said, Well, there's the edge of the mountain. I want to know how fast you can run those horses. and swing this buggy around without going over the edge of that mountain. The man said, I'm so good, I can do this and come within 12 inches and never go over the edge.

[John Weaver] He said, Well, let me see you do it. And the man got in the buggy got the horses running. The rich man looked at the second applicant and said, Well, how close can you come to that? Well, he said, I'm such an excellent driver, I can do it within six inches. Well, he said, Let me see. So he got in the buggy, got the horses running. Sure enough, he slid that buggy around and came within six inches and everyone over the edge. Rich man looked at the third one and said, How close can you come to it? And not go over? The third man said, I don't know. And I'm not stupid enough to try it to find out. The rich man says, you're hired. The man that drives my buggy, I want him to stay as far away from the edge of that cliff as he can.

[John Weaver] Do you realize the same principle is true? God is going to use us as long as we stay as far away from sin as we can by his grace. Young people listen to me. God may use you on credit the first years of your life. After that, he'll use you on character. And if you don't have any character, you can mark it down. God's not going to use you. You have to have character to be a solitary individual, a strong individual, you have to have character.

[John Weaver] to stand and be separate. Here's John. John, who are you? He said, here's my answer. I'm the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the ways of the Lord. Hopefully God's kind of man is a straightening man. Do you realize that's what we're supposed to do? We're to straighten out those things that are crooked. We need men and we need women who are godly enough and holy enough and strong enough and bold enough to confess their own sins and acknowledge their own weakness and their own failures.

[John Weaver] We blame everything on everything else and everybody else. We are the sinners. If we fail to keep our heart, we have sinned. If we fail to think biblically, we have sinned. If we fail to act biblically, we have sinned. You don't make me sin, I make me sin. I can't make you sin unless you allow me to make you sin. The truth of the matter is, We have to make things right, whether it's our fault or not.

[John Weaver] You say, what are you talking about? Well, let me show you. I want you to turn to two passages. I want you to turn to Matthew chapter 5 and Matthew chapter 18. Look at Matthew chapter 5, and then we'll go to Matthew chapter 18. Here's laid out for us very plainly, very clearly. Matthew chapter 5 and let's begin reading their verse 23 Look what our lord says. Matthew 5 verse 23 He says therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar And there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee Leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way First be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift Now I want to call your attention to the fact in verse 23 He said if you bring your gift to the altar and there remembers that thy brother hath all against thee.

[John Weaver] You don't have anything against him You're not mad at him. You're not upset at him But he's got something against you What does God say you leave your gift? And you go and be reconciled to him and then you come back and offer the gift Now look in Matthew chapter 18, if you would. Matthew 18, and notice if you would please, verse 15. Matthew 18, verse 15.

[John Weaver] Now our Lord says this. Moreover, if thy brother trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt gain thy brother.

[John Weaver] Now, your brother's trespassing against you. He may not have known it. He may not have realized it. What's God say? It's your turn. You go to him. If he's got something against you, you go to him. If you've got something against him, you go to him. In other words, it doesn't matter which way you go. You can't get out of it. It doesn't matter who started it. God said his kind of man is a straightening man.

[John Weaver] What a responsibility we have and whose responsibility it is our responsibility. It's our responsibility to make things right, to straighten it. If we've lied, we need to straighten it out. If we've cheated, we need to straighten it out. If we've done wrong, we need to straighten it out. If we've slandered a friend, we need to straighten it out. If we've gossiped, we need to straighten it out. If we lied, we need to straighten it out. If we've insulted, if we've used unkind remarks, we need to straighten it out.

[John Weaver] God's kind of man is a straightening man. God said thou shalt not suffer rebuke upon or thou shalt not suffer sin upon my neighbor. Thou shalt in any wise rebuke him. We have a responsibility ourselves and also have a responsibility to our neighbors. And one of the things that God hates, according to Proverbs 6 and verse 19, is a false witness that speaketh lies and one that soweth discord among the brethren.

[John Weaver] I have two messages on General Nathan Bedford Forrest. And let me tell you this about Forrest. I wish I had time not only to preach those two messages but tell you about his conversion. But he was under such conviction and he met one of his old officers on the street who was a preacher. And Forrest confessed to him his concern for his soul. And the preacher said, well, we need to get that straight even now, since you're obviously concerned and God's dealing with your heart.

[John Weaver] But they were on the sidewalk and there's not any room to do anything. And so the pastor said, let's go into the bank building. And they went in the bank building and both of them knelt on the floor. And Forrest cried out to God for mercy and forgiveness in a public place, publicly. Years ago, I told you that to tell you this. Years ago, I was at a flea market with a Christian friend and we saw all of these shirts, t-shirts that were for sale. One of them had a picture of General Nathan Bedford Forrest and had a quote.

[John Weaver] written under it in big bold letters. And the quote said this, no damn man kills me and lives. And I looked at that shirt and my friend said, you're not going to buy that shirt, are you? I said, I am. He said, you're not going to wear that shirt, are you? I said, I am. He said, How can you do that? I said, Because I know the story and you don't know the story. I said, I will tell you the story. And by the way, I wore that shirt until I wore it out. And every time I wore the shirt, every time I had an opportunity to tell what I'm about to tell you now, one of them was to a judge.

[John Weaver] Because the judge asked me And then from that day forward, when we were in the same restaurant together, he would call me and say preacher, come over and sit. And let's talk about forest. Lieutenant wills ghoul was head of the artillery, or under another officer, but he was in the artillery division, the Battle of Sand Mountain. First cannon were gotten by the enemy.

[John Weaver] Now, eventually, they got them back. But Forrest was upset because a ghoul had lost his cannon. And so he dismissed Lieutenant ghoul from his ranks. He didn't want him around him. And Lieutenant ghoul, of course, did not want to be dismissed. And he knew that Forrest was upset with him and that he was going to go on his record that Forrest was upset with him. And so he asked Forrest for a meeting. And Forrest said, yes, I'll meet with you.

[John Weaver] And so Gould came into the building in town. Forrest was tied out front. And Forrest had a little pocket knife, and he was twirling it around his finger like this. And they talked, and Forrest told Gould, he said, you'll never serve under my command again. He said, I'm not going to retract the dismissal, and that's it. Lieutenant Gould was so upset, he pulled out a pistol and shot Forrest in the stomach. And when he did, Forrest took one hand, knocked the pistol away, opened his knife with his mouth, and came across Gould's stomach and slashed him. Gould then turned and ran out. Forrest went to a doctor, which was in the next building, and the doctor actually pronounced the wound fatal, which it was not. And that's when Forrest stormed out from the doctor's office to his horse to get his pistol, and that's when he said, no damn man kills me and lives. And he took that pistol and he went after Lieutenant Gould. Lieutenant Gould had gone into a tailor shop and was lying down and Forrest came storming in.

[John Weaver] Of course, people were all around and they hollered and said, Forrest is here. Forrest said, Get out of my way. Get out of my way. He said, I'm going to kill him. And of course, Gould then jumps up off the table and he jumps out the window and Forrest shoots. But he misses. And Gould is on the ground, unconscious, and they hollered, You killed him, General Forrest. You killed him, General Forrest. Which he didn't. They got Gould, took him to a doctor. Then Forrest went to another doctor. And the doctor looked at him and said, well, it's bad, but it's not necessarily fatal.

[John Weaver] He said, you'll have to lie over here and let me cut it out. Oh, he said, it's just a little bullet. I'm not about to let you cut it out and leave it alone. Lieutenant ghoul here tonight is sitting and he was dying. Word came to forest. Lieutenant ghoul is requesting that you come and visit him. Forest said, make me a bed next to his. And Forrest was taken to Lieutenant Gould. Lieutenant Gould reached over and grabbed Forrest's hand. He said, General Forrest, he said, I'm thankful for the sake of the Confederacy that it's me dying and not you.

[John Weaver] He said, I acted in such haste and such anger. He said, please forgive me. I am so sorry. that I shot you and I acted so wickedly. Forrest reached over and fell on his neck and wept and cried like a baby and said, son, I forgive you and I hope that you do live. But Lieutenant Gould died. But you see, here was a man who not even yet was willing to straighten things out. You know why?

[John Weaver] Because he did have some character. He did have some character. The truth of the matter is this folks, we have to have character to straighten things out.

[John Weaver] Now private sin is different from a public sin. If you've sinned privately against someone, you can confess and make things right privately. But if you've sinned openly and publicly and rebelliously, you need to make things right openly and publicly. We need to learn to just straighten things out. God's men, God's people ought to have courage to straighten things out in their lives. If you're going to be God's man, you're going to have to only be a solitary man and a strong man and a separated man and a straightening man. Only then can you become a satisfying man.

[John Weaver] You say, what are you talking about? Well, look down in your Bibles again to the book of John chapter 1. Notice, if you would, verse 35. Again, the next day after John stood in two of his disciples, and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he said, Behold, the Lamb of God. And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. You know, that has just always been an absolute astounding blessing to me. They heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Look in John 1 and verse 29. The next day, John sees Jesus coming unto him and says, Behold, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. They heard John speak. They followed Jesus. John could not save, but he could point people to the one that could save. John could not do anything himself. They could tell people about the Lord Jesus Christ who could correct all problems.

[John Weaver] And I want you to note something. John never had to plead. He never had to beg. He never had to conjole. He never had to coerce. He just simply spoke. And they followed Jesus. So here's a good question. Do folks follow the Lord Jesus Christ when you speak? If someone follows you, will they find Jesus Christ? If someone emulates your character and your conduct, would they be sinful or would they be holy? Do you want your children to turn out the way you are? And the truth is, our children usually turn out just the way we are. Whether it's good or whether it's bad. Does your conversation build up Jesus Christ? Does it edify others?

[John Weaver] Or is it self centered? If you'll look in john chapter three, Pastor quoted this passage earlier, but I want you to see it. John 3 beginning there verse 26. John 3 verse 26. And they came unto John and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou bearest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. And John answered, A man can receive nothing except be given him from heaven. You yourselves bear witness that I said I am not the Christ, but I am sent before him.

[John Weaver] He that hath the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom which standeth and heareth him rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase. I must decrease. So the question is, is Christ increasing in your life? And are you decreasing? You see, it really doesn't matter the situation, it really doesn't matter the circumstances. I mentioned earlier that General Robert E.

[John Weaver] Lee and Stonewall Jackson were two of the godliest men that ever lived. they really were. If you've never studied their lives, you should study their lives. I ran across some time ago, a testimony from a wounded northern soldier. And here is his own testimony concerning General Lee. I'm quoting. He says long after the war, He wrote this because he was at Gettysburg when General Lee was retreating.

[John Weaver] And he said this, I had been a most bitter anti-South man and fought and cursed the Confederates desperately. I could see nothing good in any of them. The last day of the fight, I was badly wounded. A ball shattered my left leg, and I lay on the ground not far from Cemetery Ridge, and as General Lee ordered his retreat, he and his officers rode past me. As they came along, I recognized him, and though faint from exposure and loss of blood, I raised my hands and I looked General Lee in the face and shouted as loud as I could, Hoorah for the Union! Hoorah for the Union! The general heard me, looked, stopped his horse, dismounted, and came toward me.

[John Weaver] I confess at first I thought he meant to kill me. But as he came up, he looked down at me with such a sad expression upon his face that all fear left me. And I wondered what he was about. He extended His hand to me, grasping mine firmly, and looking right into my eyes said, My son, I hope you will soon be well. If I live a thousand years, I shall never forget the expression on General Lee's face.

[John Weaver] There he was, defeated, retiring from a field that had cost him his cause and almost their last hope, and yet he stopped to say words like these to a wounded soldier of the opposition who had taunted him as he passed by. As soon as the general had left me, I cried myself to sleep there on the bloody ground. It doesn't matter the circumstances. You have to do what's right.

[John Weaver] Billy Sunday preached a message. The message he entitled, The Measure of a Man. And he said there are five ways that you can measure a man. You measure a man by his character. That's what he is. You measure a man by his conduct. That's what he does. You measure a man by his contribution. That's what he gives. You measure a man by his creed. That's what he believes. And you measure a man by his companions. That's who he associates with.

[John Weaver] And you can take those measures. And you can measure yourself and others as well.

[John Weaver] Now, let me tell you, I've told you about John. He was indeed a solitary man, a strong man, a separated man, a straightening man, and a satisfying man. I want to tell you, all five of these are tied together. And you cannot have one without having the others. You can't say, well, I'm just going to be strong. You can't say I'm just going to be solitary. No, you can't just say, well, I'm just going to be separated. Or you can't say, I'll just be straight. No, no. You can't say, I'll just be satisfied. No, they're all tied together. You will never be a satisfying man and point folks to the Lord Jesus Christ until you learn to be solitary, strong, separated and straightening. What did God say in Ezekiel 22 and verse 30?

[John Weaver] And I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before me that I should not destroy the land. But I found none. Not one. Not one. You say, I don't think manhood is that important. Really? I believe everyone in this room would acknowledge with me that we are wicked as a nation. All you've got to do is check on the abortion, the socialism, the Marxism, the Sodomy. Look at it! And have you ever stopped to think, as wicked and vile and filthy as Sodom and Gomorrah were, God was willing to spare those cities if he found 10 righteous. We have more than 10 in this room.

[John Weaver] We just need to be God's kind of man and have the character and the courage and the integrity and the intestinal fortitude and the guts just to live and be obedient and do what's right. God, give us men. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee. We ask for your grace, your mercy, your goodness, your kindness. Lord, we do ask and we pray, Father, that you would be so kind, Lord, as to deal with our hearts and help us, Father, to love thee, to live for thee, to serve thee, Lord, to be men and women who would bring honor and glory to your name. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

Christian Manhood

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	613181956529
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Romans: Sin, Judgment, and Gospel Foundations: Praying Against the Wicked
Genre	Sermon
Date	2018-05-09
Dictation Name
Book	Book 136: Romans: Sin, Judgment, and Gospel Foundations - Volume 1 — Chapter 20
Source Timed Segments	93

Formatted Transcript

Introduction: The World's Definition vs. Biblical Manhood

Weaver introduces the topic by contrasting the world's view of manhood with the biblical definition, which involves maturity, responsibility, and a work ethic. He uses personal stories to illustrate that physical strength does not equate to true manhood.

30 messages I want to preach in the next three or four days, so I don't know how I'm going to get them all in, but that's all right, too. Tonight I want you to open your Bibles, if you would please, to the book of John, chapter 1. I want to bring a message tonight which I've entitled Christian Manhood. Look in John chapter 1, if you would, and we're going to read several verses, then I'll explain a couple of things. But notice John chapter 1, and particularly verse 6 to begin with. Notice what the Bible says. John 1 verse 6,

Scripture Reading — John 1:6

"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John."

Now skip down to verse 19. "And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?"

"And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? He saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet?" That is from Deuteronomy 18. "He answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias."

Now, if you'll skip down to verse 35. "Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus." When we think about Christian manhood—and let me explain the word manhood. When you look at the Greek text, there are basically two words for man. One is anthropos, which just simply means mankind in general, which would include men and women. That's where we get our English word anthropology from. The second word is the word aner, which means a man and a man only. Not a woman, not a child, but a man. But Christian manhood, of course, we would be talking about anthropos, which would include women as well in that sense of the word. But when you think of manhood, you have to stop and think that the biblical definition of a man or manhood is totally and completely different from that which the world gives us today. In fact, if I had time to go back to the book of Genesis, I could show you that basically talking about a man specifically, that manhood refers to maturity, responsibility, and a work ethic.

I don't know if you've ever thought about this or not, but when God created Adam, He did not create him a baby. He did not create him a teenager. He created him full grown, mature, responsible, and there was work before the fall. Work is not a product of the fall. There was work before the fall. Certainly our work became onerous because of the fall, but there was work before the fall.

So manhood or maturity, I could say, I could call this Christian maturity. Christian maturity certainly deals with character. When we think about a man today, just to demonstrate the fact that the world's definition of a man is totally different from a biblical definition. I have two good friends. They are brothers and one of them—he was a Marine. And that was not enough for him. And so when he left the Marines, he joined the army and became a Ranger.

And when he got out of that, he decided he was going to go to college and study some things. And we were in school together. And occasionally when I was gone preaching, my wife would stay with him and his wife and their child. And so one night, he lived at the end of a driveway. And a car came up and parked in front of his house. There were four men in the car. They had been drinking. They were cursing, raising all kind of cane, and he went out and just simply asked him and he said, "Would you please move your car from in front of my house?" He said, "My wife and my child are inside and the pastor's wife is inside. And I just don't appreciate your cursing and your drinking right here in front of my house."

And they made a very horrible mistake. They cursed my friend and threatened him. And when they did, he jerked open the driver's passenger door, took the driver with one hand, opened the back door, took the other man out with the other hand, slammed their heads together, dropped them down on the pavement and was reaching for the other two when everybody went to apologize. It was time to apologize. Now you say that's a man. Not necessarily.

Now it is true a man's going to defend his family. But muscles does not necessarily make a man. His brother was one of the few men that I really began to take karate from many, many years ago, and he studied in Okinawa. And he came home and we were in the same town. And he pulled up at the red light and here came a convertible that had five men in it. And they had the radios up and they were cursing and—and my friend just looked at him, said, "Would you please not take God's name in vain and please turn that radio down?" And they looked at him and they said, "You follow us and we'll show you something." And he looked at him and said, "We'll lead the way."

And so they went to a park. And when they got out, the one man, the leader, the driver got out with a long chain with a—ceiling around his neck around his hand, and the others got out with Coke bottles in their hand. And Ronnie just stood there and looked at him. There were all these men standing there. And Ronnie said, "Look, before you start anything, I would ask you"—and he handed the card. "Would you please come to my karate school and learn how to fight?" And the man with the chain said, "Ha!" And he drew that chain back to hit Ronnie. And when he did, Ronnie just put his foot right across his mouth, knocked him down, knocked him out, then stepped back and looked at the others and said, "Any two at the time, any three at the time, any four at the time, it doesn't matter to me." And so they reached down, picked up their man, drug him, threw him in the car and took off. Now you say that's a man. Not necessarily. Because, you see, muscles do not necessarily make a man. Well, you say, what in the world makes a man? Well, you have to understand that there is a thing that is called character and integrity.

The Need for Character and Integrity

Weaver laments the lack of character in modern society, citing Ezekiel 22:30 where God sought a man to stand in the gap but found none. He emphasizes that character is what a man is in the dark and that circumstances reveal character.

Didn't you know Robert E. Lee was one of the finest Christians that ever walked? And Robert E. Lee said, a Christian man is always a gentleman. And in Robert E. Lee's mind, he could not distinguish a Christian from a gentleman or a gentleman from a Christian. They were basically one and the same. But you look around today in our society, and we have produced an entire generation of wimps. We've produced a generation of people who've been given everything handed to them.

They've never really had to work for anything, never earned anything. And they've gotten the mentality that we deserve everything, and you must give it to us, and if you don't give it to us, we'll take it. That's the mentality today. There certainly is not any character. There's certainly not any integrity. We are living literally in desperate times. You may not realize that. We're probably living in the time that Ezekiel lived in, or one very similar. Do you know what God said in the book of Ezekiel chapter 22 and verse 30? Listen, if you read Ezekiel chapter 22, you'll find that God condemned the prophets, He condemned the priests, He condemned the princes, and then He condemned the people in general. And when you get to Ezekiel chapter 22 and verse 30, God says this,

Scripture Reading — Ezekiel 22:30

"And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none."

God said, I look for a man, I look for someone who would stand in the hedge and make up the gap that I would not—

I looked and I could not even find one. And when you look at John 1 in verse 6, the Bible says, "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John." Now understand exactly what that means. But when you read that, you can also think it like this. When God looked at John the Baptist, He said, "There was a man." There was a man. And so tonight, what I want to do is this. I want to give you several principles from Christian manhood based upon the life of John the Baptist. If you would look in your Bibles to John 1 in verse 23, notice if you would, John answered, and he said this, You remember the Jews sent to John the Baptist and asked him who he was. "Art thou the Messiah?" "No."

"Are you Moses or Elijah?" "No." "Are you that prophet?" that is the prophet that Moses spoke of in Deuteronomy 18. "No. I'm not." "Well, who are you?" You know what John could have said? John could have said, "What do you mean, who am I? Don't you know who I am? I'm the subject of Old Testament prophecy. Don't you know who I am? I was miraculously and sovereignly born by God's almighty power.

I was indwelt with the Holy Spirit from my birth. Don't you know who I am? I'm the forerunner of Jesus Christ." He could have answered that way. But he did not. He said, "I am the voice of one," which makes this truth known. God's kind of man is a solitary man. That means he is one who stands alone. He was unashamed to stand for what he stood for.

He was unmoved by peer pressure. He was unmoved by peer approval. He did not sin or did not seek any of that. You remember when the religious leaders of his day came to his baptism? What did he say to them? "O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" Now that's not really how to make friends and influence enemies, but that's exactly what he said because that was the truth. He said, "You're a generation of vipers. Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" Don't you know there's wrath coming? Look at you. And so John was unwilling to compromise the truth.

He was willing to stand even when no one else stood. You see, it's easy to stand when you have your family around you, when you have your friends around you. It's easy to stand when you have a support group around you. It's easy to stand when you've got a whole bunch of people, an entire congregation. "Yes, we're with you." But when you have to stand alone and you have to stand by yourself, that requires a little character. That requires some integrity. And John was not trying to be unnoticed. John wanted to be noticed because he wanted to be heard. And he was willing to stand even if he had to stand alone. The more I study history and the more I read the biographies of great men of God, the more I have come to the conclusion that there is a very great dearth of character in our land today. Things have changed even since I was a boy.

And that hasn't been too terribly long ago. But when you stop and think about it, one of the greatest reasons we are in such a desperate state in this society, and in this country, in this nation, is simply because there is no character, there is no integrity, we have no backbone, we have no intestinal fortitude, or as we used to say in South Georgia on the farm, we just don't have any guts. And that's the truth, folks. You know, the interesting thing is we've sired a generation of wimps that are spineless jellyfish who like to parade themselves around as men, but who constantly and continually violate the principles of the Word of God and violate everything that you and I consider moral. Since there is indeed a dearth of character, you have to understand this, that a man who will not stand for something will fall for anything. And most men today have fallen for that which is not true. Let me tell you something about character.

I want you to think with me, please. First of all, character is what a man is in the dark. You can tell me everything about yourself and you can tell me what you do and what you don't do. But let me tell you, character is what a man is in the dark. You tell me what you would do if you knew that no one else would ever find out about it. And I'll tell you exactly what you are. You say, "If I knew no one would ever find out, that I would never be discovered, well, I'd go down and I'd rob that bank." Well, you're a thief. "Well, if I knew I'd never be found out, I'd run off old sister so and so." Well, you're an adulterer. "Well, if I knew I'd never be found out, I would take out so and so." Well, you're a murderer. See, character's what a man is in the dark. Character's what you are when you are alone and when no one else is around.

That's when the real you actually shows itself. Moreover, the test of your character is what it takes to stop you. Have you ever stopped to think about that? Do you realize most people today are such quitters? They give in at the drop of a hat and they'll drop the hat. If you really want to stop someone from serving, all you better do is do a little gossiping. or say something that hurts their feelings, or imply something that they don't like. And the next thing you know, they're going to take their marbles and they're going to go home. And they're going to say something like this, "Well, I'm just not appreciated." Why? Because the test of your character is what it takes to stop you. And it just really doesn't take much today to stop the average individual.

Because we give in, we give up, we give out, we quit. Not only is character what a man is in the dark, the test of your character is what it takes to stop you. And listen to this. You also have to remember this, that circumstances never make or break a man. They just reveal it. You know, we always try to believe the opposite of that. We'll think about this great battle and we'll say, "Here's this man who really shone forth in courage and greatness." And we'll say, "Well, that battle really made him a hero." No. He was already a hero in his heart. The battle just revealed him. Here's a man that ran and hid and turned coward, we would say, in the battle. You say the battle made him a coward? No, he was already a coward in his heart. The battle just revealed him. Circumstances never make or break a man. They just simply reveal him. They let us know what we're really made of. And when people lie and cheat and steal and do all kind of immoral things under the circumstances, you've got to understand that's just their character.

That's what they are. Because the Bible says in Proverbs 23 and verse 7,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 23:7

"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he."

You actually end up doing that which you think. Sin does not slip up on you. Sin does not happen accidentally. You think about it, you choose it, you plan it, and you put it into effect. Because that's what you are in your heart. You know, in times past, there were a lot of moral men who were not Christians. In fact, sometimes some of those men were greater in morality than professing Christians.

A Solitary Man: Standing Alone

John the Baptist is presented as a solitary man who stood alone for truth, unashamed and unmoved by peer pressure. Weaver cites Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Paul as examples of those who stood alone.

One of them was General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Forrest was not converted until after the war, but Forrest's mother was a godly woman and she taught Forrest. Also, his wife was also a Christian and a godly woman as well. And it was General or Major Ellis who came up upon Forrest's tent. And he heard the conversation where Forrest was actually putting one of his bravest officers and one of his finest friends out of his command because of immorality. Here's what Major Ellis said, listen carefully. He said, "On one occasion while approaching his tent, I heard him, that is General Forrest, in tones of great anger, using the most bitter denunciatory language to an officer, who although as brave a man as served in the war, and was a warm personal friend to Forrest. He said, Forrest had just heard of him being guilty of immoral conduct. He denounced him in the severest language that I think I've ever heard, and dismissed him from his command on the spot, saying, 'I will not have any man about me who will be guilty of such conduct toward a woman.'"

The man was a married man and had an affair with another woman. What did Forrest do? He just dismissed him. He said, "You're not in my command anymore. I'll not have you around me." And Forrest at that time was just as lost as he could be. Do you understand that many men had to stand and they had to stand alone? Think about the men in the Bible. You remember Daniel in Daniel chapter 6, there was a law passed that no man could ask any petition of any God, save the king for 30 days. And if you ask any petition, you're going to be thrown into the den of lions. You know what the Bible says in Daniel chapter 6, verses 10 and 11. "Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem,

he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God." By the way, if you want to know how to pray effectively and successfully when you're in danger, the answer is you're to be used to praying effectively and successfully before you get into danger. Daniel knelt and prayed three times a day as he did aforetime. That was his practice. And when he had his window open toward Jerusalem, he was not flaunting his rebellion to the king. He was just simply doing what Solomon prayed concerning in 1 Kings chapter 8, verses 29 through 30, where Solomon prayed that any time that God's people had sinned against Him, if they prayed toward Jerusalem and confess their sins, that God would hear and forgive and heal them. And that's exactly what Daniel was doing. And when he knew that the writing was signed, he knelt and prayed three times a day, just like he did before time. He just kept praying. He was the only one in the entire kingdom that prayed. Wow.

Because he was a solitary man. He stood alone. How about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Do you remember Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter 3 built that image in the plain of Dura? And he said, "At the time you hear the sound of the sackbut, the psaltery, the harp, and all these manner of instruments, you kneel down and worship my golden image." Everybody knelt down except Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They stuck out like a sore thumb. I've often thought, and I've really gotten tickled at thinking some of this, at how those boys could have really pulled one over on Nebuchadnezzar. You know what they could have done? They could have just sat down on the ground and rested. And probably they would have thought they're either halfway up or halfway down and nobody would have ever noticed. Or one of them could have said, "Hey, Shad, I got a good idea. Let's just lie down on our face and take a nap. And these silly heathen, they'll think we're just being really dedicated to this false god." They could have done anything like that and gotten away with it. No one would have ever known.

But they didn't do that. You know what they told the king? "Be it known unto thee, O king, our God can deliver us. But whether he delivers us or not, that's his business. But be it known unto thee, we will not bow down." And you know the story. I don't have to tell you the story. But these young men stood, and they stood alone. You know, the Apostle Paul had to stand by himself at times. In 2 Timothy 4, verse 16, he said, "No man stood with me."

He went on to say it more fully. He said, "At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge." Can you imagine the Apostle Paul not having anyone to stand with him? They said, "John, who are you?" He said, "I'm the voice of one. I'm the voice of one." John was willing to stand and was willing to stand alone. Here's his attitude. If no one else is going to be honest, I'm going to be honest. If no one else is going to be holy, I'm going to be holy. If no one else is going to be obedient, I'm going to be obedient. If no one else is going to proclaim the truth, I will proclaim the truth. If I'm the only one, I'm the only one. And it takes character to stand alone. It takes character to be a solitary witness and a solitary man standing for righteousness and truth.

It doesn't matter what the world says. I hear people all the time say, "But there are so many on that other side." Have you ever stopped to think about this? What would have happened, do you think, in the book of Genesis had Noah said, "Wow, there are so many people that really don't believe it's going to rain, you're going to have a flood. Maybe they're right. Maybe I'll just give in and go with them." Really? No. No. No one knew. Because God had spoken. And just because everybody else is doing it does not make it right. And just because everybody else is saying it does not make it true.

When you know the truth, you have to stand for the truth if you have to stand alone. "John, who are you?" "I am the voice of one." Christian maturity, Christian manhood, will enable you to stand solitarily. You will stand if you have to stand alone.

A Strong Man: Crying in the Wilderness

John the Baptist was not whispering but crying out the truth. Weaver stresses the need for strength to carry out convictions, referencing James 4:17 and the importance of character over mere knowledge.

Secondly, I want you to note this. Christian maturity will enable you to stand strongly. Ah. "John, who are you?" "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness." John was not whispering. John was shouting from the rooftops the truth of God. He was not hoping that no one would notice him. He wanted people to notice him because he wanted the truth to be heard. And therefore he was crying.

You see, these two characteristics really go together. Do you understand that one has to be strong in order to stand solitarily? And secondly, if you're standing solitarily, it has to be an evidence of strength because you're standing there by yourself. Do you realize in Isaiah 58 verse 1, what God said? Listen,

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 58:1

"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression."

Cry aloud, lift up your voice like a trumpet. We have to have strength to carry out our convictions. We have to have strength to apply what we know from the Word of God. Do you remember James 4 verse 17?

"Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." Years ago, Alice and I had a friend, some friends that we call Mama and Papa. We were not related. In fact, they adopted Alice and I. And their three sons have been lifelong friends of ours. And they had a family get together. And of course, they invited Alice and I, and I came from a meeting. And when I got there, Papa's daughter-in-law just started peppering me with questions, one right after the other. And finally, Papa looked at her and he said, "Francis, why don't you leave him alone? Can't you see he's tired?" She said, "Because, Papa, I don't know the answers to these questions. And it bothers me." And I never will forget what he said. He looked her right in the eye and said, "It's not what I don't know that bothers me. It's what I do know."

James 4:17, "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." You have to have strength to stand for your convictions. And Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. used to say this, "You can borrow brains, but you cannot borrow character." Stop and think about that. You can borrow brains, but you cannot borrow character. There are a lot of things I do not know how to do. But I can ask. And I can learn.

But I'll tell you this, you can give me all the information in the world, you can give me all the books, you can sit down and tell me everything that I need to do. But if I do not have the character, and if I do not have the strength to put it into action, all that knowledge is worthless. You have to have strength. You have to have strength. You have to do what you have to do. Christian maturity, Christian manhood comes with not only learning to be a solitary individual, but learning to be a strong individual. My grandson, my youngest grandson was with me one day and I had a cow that was down on the farm. And I looked at him and I said, "Trip, you're going to have to help me with this cow.

I can't do it by myself." You'd have to know that young boy. At that time, if he saw blood, he got sick, he turned away. He couldn't stand it. And he said, "Papa, I can't do it." I said, "Yes, you can. And you will. You just have to do what needs to be done. That's all there is to it, son. I need help. And you're going to help me."

And we're gonna save this cow. Do you understand? He turned out to be a nurse. You see what I'm saying? You say, "But I'm weak in an area." Well, you have to overcome that weakness. You have to learn to be strong. And when someone says—and your children, when they come up with this, "Well, I can't do that." You always add one word: yet. You might not can do it now, but you might can do it tomorrow and you might can do it next month or you might can do it next year. But don't come up and say, "I can't do that."

And I'll tell you something, folks. We've got a generation of people who say, "I can't do it," and they never even tried to do it. You got to have strength. Christian maturity deals with being able to stand solitarily and to be able to stand strong. Thirdly, I want you to know this about John: Christian maturity and Christian manhood deals with separation. "John, who are you?" "I am the voice of one crying"—where? "In the wilderness."

A Separated Man: In the Wilderness

John was in the wilderness, separated from sin. Weaver teaches that God forbids not only sin but anything leading to it, urging believers to abstain from all appearance of evil and to put on Christ.

He wasn't in the bar rooms. He wasn't in the saloons. He wasn't in the ecumenical councils. He wasn't in the dance halls. He's in the wilderness. He was separating himself as far as he could get from the sin and the wickedness that surrounded him. You know, I have found it interesting that men, and I'm saying that generally, including women, we like to dabble with sin. We like to play with sin. We tend to think that sin somehow is exciting and it's titillating and that we can get this great pleasure from it. And there is a temporary pleasure in sin. The Bible says so. But what we misunderstand is that temporary pleasure always brings suffering and death. And we think that we can play with it and get away with it.

We like to sow our wild oats and hope we can leave before harvest time. Galatians 6:7-8 says, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." You're not going to escape the law of harvest. So if you try to mess around with sin and play with sin and indulge in sin just a little bit, then you're going to be deceived. You know what the Bible says concerning Christ? In the book of Hebrews, chapter 7, in verse 26, the Bible tells us,

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 7:26

"For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens."

Do you realize that Jesus Christ was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate? If you and I are going to stand for Christ and stand for righteousness and have biblical character, we have to learn to be like Jesus Christ. You know what the Bible says concerning Moses? In the book of Hebrews, chapter 11, verses 24 through 27, now listen to this. "By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter." Now, let me stop. He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Remember Pharaoh was the highest officer in the land. Moses was in line to become a Pharaoh. He could do whatever he wanted to do as a Pharaoh. He could have all the pleasure. He could have all the money. He could have whatever he wanted. But when he came to years, the Bible said, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.

Listen, "Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." We know that Moses lived to be 120. If he had been a Pharaoh and lived to be 120, it's still just a season. Because eternity is long and 120 years is nothing. But the Bible tells us, "Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt." Do you realize none of us will ever turn from sin until we realize the reproaches of Jesus Christ is greater than all the treasures of sin and all the pleasures of sin. Moses, by faith, forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, the Bible says, "for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible." We'll never escape the pleasures of sin until we esteem and value the reproach of Jesus Christ. Most people like to dabble in sin.

They really don't want to go all the way. They really don't want to get caught in sin, but they want to dabble in it. Let me give you a principle. Please listen. If you don't learn anything else tonight, please learn this. When God forbids any sin, at the same time, He forbids anything that would lead up to that sin. When God forbids any sin, at the same time, He forbids anything that leads up to that sin. So when God forbids the sin of murder, at the same time, He forbids anger and wrath and bitterness that would lead up to murder. When God forbids theft, at the same time, He forbids covetousness and greediness that would lead up to theft. When God forbids adultery and fornication, at the same time He forbids lustfulness and pornography and anything that would lead up to that. When God forbids cheating, at the same time He forbids laziness and sloth that would lead up to cheating. In other words, whatever God forbids as sin, at the same time, He forbids anything and everything that would lead up to that sin.

You see, the Bible tells us in Romans chapter 13 and verse 14,

Scripture Reading — Romans 13:14

"But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof."

Put you on the Lord Jesus Christ. You're to put on Jesus Christ. And as you put on Jesus Christ, you're not to make provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof. Now, how do you make provision for the flesh? You make provision for the flesh by thinking and desiring and planning and wishing. How do you put on the Lord Jesus Christ? By putting off all of those thoughts that are wicked and contrary to Him and contrary to His words. You cannot have two thoughts in your mind at one time. You can only have one thought at one time. And so when an evil thought comes in your mind, you must instantly replace it with a godly thought, with a biblical thought. You're putting on the Lord Jesus Christ. And when you replace it with that godly thought, you're not making provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. If you continue to think evilly, then you're making provision for your flesh. The Bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 22, "Abstain from all appearance of evil." It's not just that we're to abstain from evil, but anything that appears evil. Stop and think about that. A mature individual in Jesus Christ is willing to abstain from anything that would appear evil. May not necessarily be evil, but if it would appear evil, we're not going to do it. Do you remember?

What David said in Psalm 119 verses 9 through 11 there. I love that passage, and I would encourage every young man, every young father to memorize this passage. Or David asked, "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. And when a thought of sin or wickedness comes in your mind, you must immediately think of His word. If that word is in your heart, if that word is in your mind, it's going to come out and say, "This is wrong. This is wicked. You can't think like this. You can't act like this. This is violations of God's word." "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee.

O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 7:1

" Do you realize that as God's people we're to be clean, not only from the filthiness of the flesh, but also the filthiness of the spirit. 2 Corinthians 7, verse 1, the Bible says, "

Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." You see, most of God's people are not going to wallow around in drunken vomit. They're not going to get drunk. They may not even be whoremongers. They may not even be thieves. You shouldn't be, especially if you're God's people.

But while we would abstain from those grosser violations that we would call them, we will still engage in the sin of bitterness, resentment, unforgiving spirits, hardheartedness, stiff neck, rebellious. Yeah. And those are sins of the spirit. "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." You cannot be holy unless you are pure in body as well as in spirit. And your spirit is just as important as your body. God not only wants you to abstain from the grosser and viler sins, but even from those sins of the spirit that aggravate us and demonstrate our wickedness. You know, the apostle said it like this. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 33,

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 15:33

"Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners."

It's impossible to live a holy, godly life inwardly and outwardly if we align ourselves with wickedness. We can't do that. God's kind of man is not only a solitary man, a strong man, but he's a separated man. I read years ago of an extremely wealthy man who lived on a mountain in Tennessee, 100 years back, four cars particularly, and his buggy driver had died. So he placed an advertisement in the paper for a new buggy driver. And of course, everyone knew this man, that he was extreme, exceedingly rich and well off, it would be a good job. And three men came and applied for the job. The rich man looked at the first one and said, "Well, there's the edge of the mountain. I want to know how fast you can run those horses and swing this buggy around without going over the edge of that mountain." The man said, "I'm so good, I can do this and come within 12 inches and never go over the edge."

He said, "Well, let me see you do it." And the man got in the buggy, got the horses running. The rich man looked at the second applicant and said, "Well, how close can you come to that?" Well, he said, "I'm such an excellent driver, I can do it within six inches." Well, he said, "Let me see." So he got in the buggy, got the horses running. Sure enough, he slid that buggy around and came within six inches and never went over the edge. Rich man looked at the third one and said, "How close can you come to it and not go over?" The third man said, "I don't know. And I'm not stupid enough to try it to find out." The rich man says, "You're hired. The man that drives my buggy, I want him to stay as far away from the edge of that cliff as he can."

Do you realize the same principle is true? God is going to use us as long as we stay as far away from sin as we can by His grace. Young people listen to me. God may use you on credit the first years of your life. After that, He'll use you on character. And if you don't have any character, you can mark it down. God's not going to use you. You have to have character to be a solitary individual, a strong individual, you have to have character

A Straightening Man: Make Straight the Way

God's man straightens out crooked things, including personal relationships. Weaver explains from Matthew 5 and 18 that believers must take initiative to reconcile, regardless of fault, and confess sins publicly if needed.

to stand and be separate. Here's John. "John, who are you?" He said, "Here's my answer. I'm the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord." Hopefully God's kind of man is a straightening man. Do you realize that's what we're supposed to do? We're to straighten out those things that are crooked. We need men and we need women who are godly enough and holy enough and strong enough and bold enough to confess their own sins and acknowledge their own weakness and their own failures.

We blame everything on everything else and everybody else. We are the sinners. If we fail to keep our heart, we have sinned. If we fail to think biblically, we have sinned. If we fail to act biblically, we have sinned. You don't make me sin, I make me sin. I can't make you sin unless you allow me to make you sin. The truth of the matter is, we have to make things right, whether it's our fault or not.

You say, "What are you talking about?" Well, let me show you. I want you to turn to two passages. I want you to turn to Matthew chapter 5 and Matthew chapter 18. Look at Matthew chapter 5, and then we'll go to Matthew chapter 18. Here's laid out for us very plainly, very clearly. Matthew chapter 5 and let's begin reading there verse 23. Look what our Lord says. Matthew 5 verse 23, He says,

Scripture Reading — Matthew 5:23-24

"Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."

Now I want to call your attention to the fact in verse 23 He said,

Scripture Reading — Matthew 5:23-24

"If you bring your gift to the altar and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee."

You don't have anything against him. You're not mad at him. You're not upset at him. But he's got something against you. What does God say? You leave your gift. And you go and be reconciled to him and then you come back and offer the gift. Now look in Matthew chapter 18, if you would. Matthew 18, and notice if you would please, verse 15. Matthew 18, verse 15.

Now our Lord says this. "Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother." Now, your brother's trespassing against you. He may not have known it. He may not have realized it. What's God say? It's your turn. You go to him. If he's got something against you, you go to him. If you've got something against him, you go to him. In other words, it doesn't matter which way you go. You can't get out of it. It doesn't matter who started it. God said His kind of man is a straightening man.

What a responsibility we have and whose responsibility it is—it's our responsibility. It's our responsibility to make things right, to straighten it. If we've lied, we need to straighten it out. If we've cheated, we need to straighten it out. If we've done wrong, we need to straighten it out. If we've slandered a friend, we need to straighten it out. If we've gossiped, we need to straighten it out. If we lied, we need to straighten it out. If we've insulted, if we've used unkind remarks, we need to straighten it out.

God's kind of man is a straightening man. God said, "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him." We have a responsibility ourselves and also have a responsibility to our neighbors. And one of the things that God hates, according to Proverbs 6 and verse 19, is a false witness that speaketh lies and one that soweth discord among the brethren. I have two messages on General Nathan Bedford Forrest. And let me tell you this about Forrest. I wish I had time not only to preach those two messages but tell you about his conversion. But he was under such conviction and he met one of his old officers on the street who was a preacher. And Forrest confessed to him his concern for his soul. And the preacher said, "Well, we need to get that straight even now, since you're obviously concerned and God's dealing with your heart."

But they were on the sidewalk and there's not any room to do anything. And so the pastor said, "Let's go into the bank building." And they went in the bank building and both of them knelt on the floor. And Forrest cried out to God for mercy and forgiveness in a public place, publicly. Years ago, I told you that to tell you this. Years ago, I was at a flea market with a Christian friend and we saw all of these shirts, t-shirts that were for sale. One of them had a picture of General Nathan Bedford Forrest and had a quote written under it in big bold letters. And the quote said this, "No damn man kills me and lives." And I looked at that shirt and my friend said, "You're not going to buy that shirt, are you?" I said, "I am." He said, "You're not going to wear that shirt, are you?" I said, "I am." He said, "How can you do that?" I said, "Because I know the story and you don't know the story." I said, "I will tell you the story." And by the way, I wore that shirt until I wore it out. And every time I wore the shirt, every time I had an opportunity to tell what I'm about to tell you now, one of them was to a judge.

Because the judge asked me. And then from that day forward, when we were in the same restaurant together, he would call me and say, "Preacher, come over and sit. And let's talk about Forrest." Lieutenant Wills Gould was head of the artillery, or under another officer, but he was in the artillery division, the Battle of Sand Mountain. First cannon were gotten by the enemy.

Now, eventually, they got them back. But Forrest was upset because Gould had lost his cannon. And so he dismissed Lieutenant Gould from his ranks. He didn't want him around him. And Lieutenant Gould, of course, did not want to be dismissed. And he knew that Forrest was upset with him and that he was going to go on his record that Forrest was upset with him. And so he asked Forrest for a meeting. And Forrest said, "Yes, I'll meet with you."

And so Gould came into the building in town. Forrest was tied out front. And Forrest had a little pocket knife, and he was twirling it around his finger like this. And they talked, and Forrest told Gould, he said, "You'll never serve under my command again." He said, "I'm not going to retract the dismissal, and that's it." Lieutenant Gould was so upset, he pulled out a pistol and shot Forrest in the stomach. And when he did, Forrest took one hand, knocked the pistol away, opened his knife with his mouth, and came across Gould's stomach and slashed him. Gould then turned and ran out. Forrest went to a doctor, which was in the next building, and the doctor actually pronounced the wound fatal, which it was not. And that's when Forrest stormed out from the doctor's office to his horse to get his pistol, and that's when he said, "No damn man kills me and lives." And he took that pistol and he went after Lieutenant Gould. Lieutenant Gould had gone into a tailor shop and was lying down and Forrest came storming in.

Of course, people were all around and they hollered and said, "Forrest is here." Forrest said, "Get out of my way. Get out of my way." He said, "I'm going to kill him." And of course, Gould then jumps up off the table and he jumps out the window and Forrest shoots. But he misses. And Gould is on the ground, unconscious, and they hollered, "You killed him, General Forrest. You killed him, General Forrest." Which he didn't. They got Gould, took him to a doctor. Then Forrest went to another doctor. And the doctor looked at him and said, "Well, it's bad, but it's not necessarily fatal."

He said, "You'll have to lie over here and let me cut it out." Oh, he said, "It's just a little bullet. I'm not about to let you cut it out and leave it alone." Lieutenant Gould here tonight is sitting and he was dying. Word came to Forrest. Lieutenant Gould is requesting that you come and visit him. Forrest said, "Make me a bed next to his." And Forrest was taken to Lieutenant Gould. Lieutenant Gould reached over and grabbed Forrest's hand. He said, "General Forrest," he said, "I'm thankful for the sake of the Confederacy that it's me dying and not you."

He said, "I acted in such haste and such anger." He said, "Please forgive me. I am so sorry that I shot you and I acted so wickedly." Forrest reached over and fell on his neck and wept and cried like a baby and said, "Son, I forgive you and I hope that you do live." But Lieutenant Gould died. But you see, here was a man who not even yet was willing to straighten things out. You know why? Because he did have some character. He did have some character. The truth of the matter is this, folks, we have to have character to straighten things out.

Now private sin is different from a public sin. If you've sinned privately against someone, you can confess and make things right privately. But if you've sinned openly and publicly and rebelliously, you need to make things right openly and publicly. We need to learn to just straighten things out. God's men, God's people ought to have courage to straighten things out in their lives. If you're going to be God's man, you're going to have to only be a solitary man and a strong man and a separated man and a straightening man. Only then can you become a satisfying man.

A Satisfying Man: Pointing to Christ

John pointed others to Jesus, and they followed. Weaver challenges listeners to examine whether their lives lead others to Christ, emphasizing that Christ must increase and self must decrease.

You say, "What are you talking about?" Well, look down in your Bibles again to the book of John chapter 1. Notice, if you would, verse 35. "Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus." You know, that has just always been an absolute astounding blessing to me. They heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Look in John 1 and verse 29. "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." They heard John speak. They followed Jesus. John could not save, but he could point people to the One that could save. John could not do anything himself. He could tell people about the Lord Jesus Christ who could correct all problems.

And I want you to note something. John never had to plead. He never had to beg. He never had to cajole. He never had to coerce. He just simply spoke. And they followed Jesus. So here's a good question. Do folks follow the Lord Jesus Christ when you speak? If someone follows you, will they find Jesus Christ? If someone emulates your character and your conduct, would they be sinful or would they be holy? Do you want your children to turn out the way you are? And the truth is, our children usually turn out just the way we are. Whether it's good or whether it's bad. Does your conversation build up Jesus Christ? Does it edify others?

Or is it self-centered? If you'll look in John chapter 3, Pastor quoted this passage earlier, but I want you to see it. John 3 beginning there verse 26. John 3 verse 26. "And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him."

"He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease." So the question is, is Christ increasing in your life? And are you decreasing? You see, it really doesn't matter the situation, it really doesn't matter the circumstances. I mentioned earlier that General Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson were two of the godliest men that ever lived. They really were. If you've never studied their lives, you should study their lives. I ran across some time ago, a testimony from a wounded northern soldier. And here is his own testimony concerning General Lee. I'm quoting. He says long after the war, he wrote this because he was at Gettysburg when General Lee was retreating.

And he said this, "I had been a most bitter anti-South man and fought and cursed the Confederates desperately. I could see nothing good in any of them. The last day of the fight, I was badly wounded. A ball shattered my left leg, and I lay on the ground not far from Cemetery Ridge, and as General Lee ordered his retreat, he and his officers rode past me. As they came along, I recognized him, and though faint from exposure and loss of blood, I raised my hands and I looked General Lee in the face and shouted as loud as I could, 'Hurrah for the Union! Hurrah for the Union!' The general heard me, looked, stopped his horse, dismounted, and came toward me." "I confess at first I thought he meant to kill me. But as he came up, he looked down at me with such a sad expression upon his face that all fear left me. And I wondered what he was about. He extended his hand to me, grasping mine firmly, and looking right into my eyes said, 'My son, I hope you will soon be well.' If I live a thousand years, I shall never forget the expression on General Lee's face."

"There he was, defeated, retiring from a field that had cost him his cause and almost their last hope, and yet he stopped to say words like these to a wounded soldier of the opposition who had taunted him as he passed by. As soon as the general had left me, I cried myself to sleep there on the bloody ground." It doesn't matter the circumstances. You have to do what's right. Billy Sunday preached a message. The message he entitled, "The Measure of a Man." And he said there are five ways that you can measure a man. You measure a man by his character. That's what he is. You measure a man by his conduct. That's what he does. You measure a man by his contribution. That's what he gives. You measure a man by his creed. That's what he believes. And you measure a man by his companions. That's who he associates with.

Conclusion: The Call for God's Men

Weaver ties all five characteristics together, stating they are inseparable. He returns to Ezekiel 22:30, urging men to have character and courage to live obediently and do right, closing with a prayer.

And you can take those measures. And you can measure yourself and others as well. Now, let me tell you, I've told you about John. He was indeed a solitary man, a strong man, a separated man, a straightening man, and a satisfying man. I want to tell you, all five of these are tied together. And you cannot have one without having the others. You can't say, "Well, I'm just going to be strong." You can't say, "I'm just going to be solitary." No, you can't just say, "Well, I'm just going to be separated." Or you can't say, "I'll just be straight." No, no. You can't say, "I'll just be satisfied." No, they're all tied together. You will never be a satisfying man and point folks to the Lord Jesus Christ until you learn to be solitary, strong, separated and straightening. What did God say in Ezekiel 22 and verse 30?

"And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none." Not one. Not one. You say, "I don't think manhood is that important." Really? I believe everyone in this room would acknowledge with me that we are wicked as a nation. All you've got to do is check on the abortion, the socialism, the Marxism, the sodomy. Look at it! And have you ever stopped to think, as wicked and vile and filthy as Sodom and Gomorrah were, God was willing to spare those cities if He found 10 righteous. We have more than 10 in this room.

We just need to be God's kind of man and have the character and the courage and the integrity and the intestinal fortitude and the guts just to live and be obedient and do what's right. God, give us men. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We ask for Your grace, Your mercy, Your goodness, Your kindness. Lord, we do ask and we pray, Father, that You would be so kind, Lord, as to deal with our hearts and help us, Father, to love Thee, to live for Thee, to serve Thee, Lord, to be men and women who would bring honor and glory to Your name. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Biblical Manhood vs. Worldly Manhood

Summary: True manhood is defined by character, integrity, and maturity, not physical strength or worldly achievements.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'the biblical definition of a man or manhood is totally and completely different from that which the world gives us today' and illustrates with stories of physically strong men who lacked character.

The Scarcity of Character

Summary: There is a great dearth of character in the land, and God seeks men who will stand in the gap.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Ezekiel 22:30, 'I sought for a man among them... but I found none,' and laments a generation of 'wimps' and 'spineless jellyfish.'

Standing Alone for Truth

Summary: A godly man must be willing to stand solitarily for righteousness, even when no one else does.

Evidence: John the Baptist said, 'I am the voice of one,' and Weaver cites Daniel, the three Hebrews, and Paul as examples of solitary witnesses.

Strength to Live Out Convictions

Summary: Christian maturity requires strength to act on what one knows, not just knowledge.

Evidence: Weaver references James 4:17 and says, 'You have to have strength to stand for your convictions... you cannot borrow character.'

Separation from Sin

Summary: Believers must separate from sin and anything that leads to it, abstaining from all appearance of evil.

Evidence: John was 'in the wilderness,' and Weaver explains, 'When God forbids any sin, at the same time, He forbids anything that would lead up to that sin.'

Reconciliation and Making Things Right

Summary: God's man takes initiative to straighten out wrongs, whether he is the offender or the offended.

Evidence: Weaver expounds Matthew 5:23-24 and 18:15, emphasizing that we must go to our brother to be reconciled.

Pointing Others to Christ

Summary: The ultimate goal of a godly man is to direct others to Jesus, not to himself.

Evidence: John said, 'Behold the Lamb of God,' and the disciples followed Jesus. Weaver asks, 'Do folks follow the Lord Jesus Christ when you speak?'

The Interconnectedness of Godly Character Traits

Summary: The five characteristics of a godly man are inseparable; one cannot have one without the others.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'all five of these are tied together. And you cannot have one without having the others.'

Key Arguments

Character is revealed, not created, by circumstances.

Summary: Circumstances do not make or break a man; they merely reveal his existing character.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'circumstances never make or break a man. They just reveal it.'

True character is what a man is when no one is watching.

Summary: A man's real self is shown by what he does in secret, not by his public persona.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'character is what a man is in the dark... You tell me what you would do if you knew that no one else would ever find out about it. And I'll tell you exactly what you are.'

God forbids not only sin but everything that leads to sin.

Summary: To avoid sin, one must avoid the thoughts, desires, and situations that lead to it.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'When God forbids any sin, at the same time, He forbids anything that would lead up to that sin.'

Reconciliation is the responsibility of both parties.

Summary: Whether you have something against your brother or he has something against you, you must take the initiative to make things right.

Evidence: Weaver contrasts Matthew 5:23-24 and 18:15, concluding, 'It doesn't matter which way you go. You can't get out of it.'

A satisfying life points others to Christ, not self.

Summary: The measure of a godly man is whether his influence leads others to follow Jesus.

Evidence: Weaver asks, 'If someone follows you, will they find Jesus Christ?' and cites John 1:35-37.

Knowledge without character is worthless.

Summary: Having information or knowing what is right is useless without the strength of character to act on it.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'if I do not have the character, and if I do not have the strength to put it into action, all that knowledge is worthless.'

Public sin requires public confession.

Summary: While private sins can be dealt with privately, open and rebellious sins must be confessed openly.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'if you've sinned openly and publicly and rebelliously, you need to make things right openly and publicly.'

God uses men on credit early, then on character.

Summary: Young people may be used by God initially, but lasting usefulness depends on developed character.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'God may use you on credit the first years of your life. After that, He'll use you on character.'

Scripture References

John 1:6

Context: Introduction of John the Baptist as a man sent from God, used as the model for Christian manhood.

John 1:19-23

Context: John the Baptist's testimony that he is not the Christ but the voice crying in the wilderness, illustrating solitary and strong witness.

John 1:35-37

Context: John points his disciples to Jesus, demonstrating a satisfying man who directs others to Christ.

Ezekiel 22:30

Context: God sought a man to stand in the gap but found none, highlighting the scarcity of godly character.

Proverbs 23:7

Context: As a man thinks in his heart, so is he, supporting that sin originates from within.

Daniel 6:10-11

Context: Daniel prayed alone despite the king's decree, exemplifying a solitary man of character.

Daniel 3

Context: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow to the image, standing alone for God.

2 Timothy 4:16

Context: Paul said no man stood with him at his first defense, illustrating solitary witness.

Isaiah 58:1

Context: Command to cry aloud and show God's people their transgression, supporting strong proclamation.

James 4:17

Context: To him who knows to do good and does not do it, it is sin, emphasizing the need for strength to act.

Galatians 6:7-8

Context: Whatever a man sows he will reap, warning against dabbling in sin.

Hebrews 7:26

Context: Christ is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, as our example of separation.

Hebrews 11:24-27

Context: Moses chose affliction with God's people over the pleasures of sin, esteeming reproach greater than treasures.

Romans 13:14

Context: Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh, teaching separation from sin.

1 Thessalonians 5:22

Context: Abstain from all appearance of evil, reinforcing the call to separation.

Psalm 119:9-11

Context: Hiding God's word in the heart to avoid sin, a key to holy living.

2 Corinthians 7:1

Context: Cleanse from filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness, addressing both outward and inward sin.

1 Corinthians 15:33

Context: Evil communications corrupt good manners, warning against aligning with wickedness.

Matthew 5:23-24

Context: If your brother has something against you, leave your gift and be reconciled, teaching straightening relationships.

Matthew 18:15

Context: If your brother trespasses against you, go and tell him his fault, emphasizing personal responsibility in reconciliation.

Historical References

General Nathan Bedford Forrest

Context: Used as an example of a moral man who dismissed an officer for immorality and later reconciled with a man who shot him, illustrating character and straightening.

Robert E. Lee

Context: Cited as a Christian gentleman who could not distinguish a Christian from a gentleman; also his compassion to a wounded Union soldier at Gettysburg.

Stonewall Jackson

Context: Mentioned alongside Lee as one of the godliest men who ever lived.

Billy Sunday

Context: His sermon 'The Measure of a Man' is referenced, outlining five ways to measure a man: character, conduct, contribution, creed, companions.

Dr. Bob Jones, Sr.

Context: Quoted: 'You can borrow brains, but you cannot borrow character.'

Lieutenant Wills Gould

Context: The officer who shot Nathan Bedford Forrest and later sought forgiveness, illustrating reconciliation.

Major Ellis

Context: Provided testimony about Forrest's dismissal of an immoral officer.

Important Quotes

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

Significance: Sets the theme of the sermon: God's definition of a man as exemplified by John the Baptist.

I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord.

Significance: John's self-description, which Weaver uses to outline the five characteristics of a godly man.

And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

Significance: Highlights the desperate need for men of character in every generation.

Character is what a man is in the dark.

Significance: Defines true character as what one does when no one is watching.

Circumstances never make or break a man. They just reveal it.

Significance: Emphasizes that character is inherent and exposed by trials, not created by them.

When God forbids any sin, at the same time, He forbids anything that would lead up to that sin.

Significance: A key principle for holy living: avoid not just sin but its precursors.

He must increase, but I must decrease.

Significance: The ultimate goal of a godly man: to magnify Christ and diminish self.

You can borrow brains, but you cannot borrow character.

Significance: Stresses that character is personal and cannot be acquired from others.

Discussion Questions

How does the world's definition of manhood differ from the biblical definition presented in this sermon?

Context: Weaver contrasts physical strength and worldly success with character, integrity, and maturity.

In what areas of your life are you tempted to compromise when you have to stand alone?

Context: The sermon emphasizes being a solitary witness like John the Baptist, Daniel, and Paul.

What does it mean to 'make provision for the flesh,' and how can we practically avoid it?

Context: Weaver explains that making provision includes thinking, desiring, and planning for sin, and we must replace evil thoughts with godly ones.

Why is it important to abstain from all appearance of evil, not just evil itself?

Context: Based on 1 Thessalonians 5:22, Weaver argues that mature believers avoid anything that could appear evil to others.

How should we handle situations where someone has something against us, even if we feel we are not at fault?

Context: Weaver expounds Matthew 5:23-24, teaching that we must take the initiative to reconcile regardless of who is to blame.

What are some 'sins of the spirit' that believers often overlook, and how can we cleanse ourselves from them?

Context: Weaver mentions bitterness, resentment, unforgiving spirits, and hardheartedness as sins of the spirit that need cleansing.

How can we ensure that our influence leads others to follow Jesus rather than ourselves?

Context: John the Baptist pointed to Christ, and Weaver asks whether people find Jesus when they follow us.

In what ways are the five characteristics of a godly man (solitary, strong, separated, straightening, satisfying) interconnected in your life?

Context: Weaver concludes that these traits are inseparable and must be developed together.

Applications

Examine your character in private.

Summary: Evaluate what you do when no one is watching, as that reveals your true character.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'character is what a man is in the dark... You tell me what you would do if you knew that no one else would ever find out about it. And I'll tell you exactly what you are.'

Stand alone for truth when necessary.

Summary: Be willing to uphold biblical truth even if you are the only one doing so.

Evidence: John the Baptist said, 'I am the voice of one,' and Weaver cites Daniel and others who stood alone.

Act on what you know is right.

Summary: Do not merely know the truth; have the strength to put it into practice.

Evidence: Weaver references James 4:17 and says, 'if I do not have the character... all that knowledge is worthless.'

Separate from sin and its precursors.

Summary: Avoid not only sinful acts but also thoughts, desires, and situations that lead to sin.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'When God forbids any sin, at the same time, He forbids anything that would lead up to that sin.'

Take initiative to reconcile relationships.

Summary: Whether you have wronged someone or they have something against you, go and make things right.

Evidence: Weaver explains Matthew 5:23-24 and 18:15, saying, 'It doesn't matter which way you go. You can't get out of it.'

Point others to Christ through your life and words.

Summary: Live in such a way that people who follow you will find Jesus.

Evidence: Weaver asks, 'If someone follows you, will they find Jesus Christ?' and cites John 1:35-37.

Confess public sins publicly.

Summary: If you have sinned openly, make your confession open to match the offense.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'if you've sinned openly and publicly and rebelliously, you need to make things right openly and publicly.'

Develop all aspects of godly character together.

Summary: Recognize that solitary, strong, separated, straightening, and satisfying traits are interconnected and must be cultivated as a whole.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'all five of these are tied together. And you cannot have one without having the others.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T03:40:38Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T16:25:03Z

Clean Transcript

Christian Manhood

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

30 messages I want to preach in the next three or four days, so I don't know how I'm going to get them all in, but that's all right, too. Tonight I want you to open your Bibles, if you would please, to the book of John, chapter 1. I want to bring a message tonight which I've entitled Christian Manhood. Look in John chapter 1, if you would, and we're going to read several verses, then I'll explain a couple of things. But notice John chapter 1, and particularly verse 6 to begin with. Notice what the Bible says. John 1 verse 6, "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John." Now skip down to verse 19. "And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?"
#1 | 0:00 to 0:46 | cleaned
"And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? He saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet?" That is from Deuteronomy 18. "He answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias."
#2 | 0:47 to 1:16 | cleaned
Now, if you'll skip down to verse 35. "Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus." When we think about Christian manhood—and let me explain the word manhood. When you look at the Greek text, there are basically two words for man.
#3 | 1:16 to 1:42 | cleaned
One is anthropos, which just simply means mankind in general, which would include men and women. That's where we get our English word anthropology from. The second word is the word aner, which means a man and a man only. Not a woman, not a child, but a man. But Christian manhood, of course, we would be talking about anthropos, which would include women as well in that sense of the word. But when you think of manhood, you have to stop and think that the biblical definition of a man or manhood is totally and completely different from that which the world gives us today. In fact, if I had time to go back to the book of Genesis, I could show you that basically talking about a man specifically, that manhood refers to maturity, responsibility, and a work ethic.
#4 | 1:43 to 2:32 | cleaned
I don't know if you've ever thought about this or not, but when God created Adam, He did not create him a baby. He did not create him a teenager. He created him full grown, mature, responsible, and there was work before the fall. Work is not a product of the fall. There was work before the fall. Certainly our work became onerous because of the fall, but there was work before the fall.
#5 | 2:32 to 3:01 | cleaned
So manhood or maturity, I could say, I could call this Christian maturity. Christian maturity certainly deals with character. When we think about a man today, just to demonstrate the fact that the world's definition of a man is totally different from a biblical definition. I have two good friends. They are brothers and one of them—he was a Marine. And that was not enough for him. And so when he left the Marines, he joined the army and became a Ranger.
#6 | 3:02 to 3:34 | cleaned
And when he got out of that, he decided he was going to go to college and study some things. And we were in school together. And occasionally when I was gone preaching, my wife would stay with him and his wife and their child. And so one night, he lived at the end of a driveway. And a car came up and parked in front of his house. There were four men in the car. They had been drinking. They were cursing, raising all kind of cane, and he went out and just simply asked him and he said, "Would you please move your car from in front of my house?" He said, "My wife and my child are inside and the pastor's wife is inside. And I just don't appreciate your cursing and your drinking right here in front of my house."
#7 | 3:35 to 4:24 | cleaned
And they made a very horrible mistake. They cursed my friend and threatened him. And when they did, he jerked open the driver's passenger door, took the driver with one hand, opened the back door, took the other man out with the other hand, slammed their heads together, dropped them down on the pavement and was reaching for the other two when everybody went to apologize. It was time to apologize. Now you say that's a man. Not necessarily.
#8 | 4:26 to 5:01 | cleaned
Now it is true a man's going to defend his family. But muscles does not necessarily make a man. His brother was one of the few men that I really began to take karate from many, many years ago, and he studied in Okinawa. And he came home and we were in the same town. And he pulled up at the red light and here came a convertible that had five men in it. And they had the radios up and they were cursing and—and my friend just looked at him, said, "Would you please not take God's name in vain and please turn that radio down?" And they looked at him and they said, "You follow us and we'll show you something." And he looked at him and said, "We'll lead the way."
#9 | 5:01 to 5:46 | cleaned
And so they went to a park. And when they got out, the one man, the leader, the driver got out with a long chain with a—ceiling around his neck around his hand, and the others got out with Coke bottles in their hand. And Ronnie just stood there and looked at him. There were all these men standing there. And Ronnie said, "Look, before you start anything, I would ask you"—and he handed the card.
#10 | 5:47 to 6:11 | cleaned
"Would you please come to my karate school and learn how to fight?" And the man with the chain said, "Ha!" And he drew that chain back to hit Ronnie. And when he did, Ronnie just put his foot right across his mouth, knocked him down, knocked him out, then stepped back and looked at the others and said, "Any two at the time, any three at the time, any four at the time, it doesn't matter to me." And so they reached down, picked up their man, drug him, threw him in the car and took off. Now you say that's a man. Not necessarily. Because, you see, muscles do not necessarily make a man. Well, you say, what in the world makes a man? Well, you have to understand that there is a thing that is called character and integrity.
#11 | 6:12 to 6:58 | cleaned
Didn't you know Robert E. Lee was one of the finest Christians that ever walked? And Robert E. Lee said, a Christian man is always a gentleman. And in Robert E. Lee's mind, he could not distinguish a Christian from a gentleman or a gentleman from a Christian. They were basically one and the same. But you look around today in our society, and we have produced an entire generation of wimps. We've produced a generation of people who've been given everything handed to them.
#12 | 6:59 to 7:29 | cleaned
They've never really had to work for anything, never earned anything. And they've gotten the mentality that we deserve everything, and you must give it to us, and if you don't give it to us, we'll take it. That's the mentality today. There certainly is not any character. There's certainly not any integrity. We are living literally in desperate times. You may not realize that. We're probably living in the time that Ezekiel lived in, or one very similar. Do you know what God said in the book of Ezekiel chapter 22 and verse 30? Listen, if you read Ezekiel chapter 22, you'll find that God condemned the prophets, He condemned the priests, He condemned the princes, and then He condemned the people in general. And when you get to Ezekiel chapter 22 and verse 30, God says this, "And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none." God said, I look for a man, I look for someone who would stand in the hedge and make up the gap that I would not—
#13 | 7:30 to 8:41 | cleaned
I looked and I could not even find one. And when you look at John 1 in verse 6, the Bible says, "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John."
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Now understand exactly what that means. But when you read that, you can also think it like this. When God looked at John the Baptist, He said, "There was a man." There was a man. And so tonight, what I want to do is this. I want to give you several principles from Christian manhood based upon the life of John the Baptist. If you would look in your Bibles to John 1 in verse 23, notice if you would, John answered, and he said this, You remember the Jews sent to John the Baptist and asked him who he was. "Art thou the Messiah?" "No."
#15 | 8:54 to 9:28 | cleaned
"Are you Moses or Elijah?" "No." "Are you that prophet?" that is the prophet that Moses spoke of in Deuteronomy 18. "No. I'm not." "Well, who are you?" You know what John could have said? John could have said, "What do you mean, who am I? Don't you know who I am? I'm the subject of Old Testament prophecy. Don't you know who I am? I was miraculously and sovereignly born by God's almighty power.
#16 | 9:28 to 10:07 | cleaned
I was indwelt with the Holy Spirit from my birth. Don't you know who I am? I'm the forerunner of Jesus Christ." He could have answered that way. But he did not. He said, "I am the voice of one," which makes this truth known. God's kind of man is a solitary man. That means he is one who stands alone. He was unashamed to stand for what he stood for.
#17 | 10:08 to 10:43 | cleaned
He was unmoved by peer pressure. He was unmoved by peer approval. He did not sin or did not seek any of that. You remember when the religious leaders of his day came to his baptism? What did he say to them? "O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" Now that's not really how to make friends and influence enemies, but that's exactly what he said because that was the truth. He said, "You're a generation of vipers. Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" Don't you know there's wrath coming? Look at you. And so John was unwilling to compromise the truth.
#18 | 10:43 to 11:21 | cleaned
He was willing to stand even when no one else stood. You see, it's easy to stand when you have your family around you, when you have your friends around you. It's easy to stand when you have a support group around you. It's easy to stand when you've got a whole bunch of people, an entire congregation. "Yes, we're with you." But when you have to stand alone and you have to stand by yourself, that requires a little character. That requires some integrity.
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And John was not trying to be unnoticed. John wanted to be noticed because he wanted to be heard. And he was willing to stand even if he had to stand alone. The more I study history and the more I read the biographies of great men of God, the more I have come to the conclusion that there is a very great dearth of character in our land today. Things have changed even since I was a boy.
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And that hasn't been too terribly long ago. But when you stop and think about it, one of the greatest reasons we are in such a desperate state in this society, and in this country, in this nation, is simply because there is no character, there is no integrity, we have no backbone, we have no intestinal fortitude, or as we used to say in South Georgia on the farm, we just don't have any guts.
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And that's the truth, folks. You know, the interesting thing is we've sired a generation of wimps that are spineless jellyfish who like to parade themselves around as men, but who constantly and continually violate the principles of the Word of God and violate everything that you and I consider moral. Since there is indeed a dearth of character, you have to understand this, that a man who will not stand for something will fall for anything. And most men today have fallen for that which is not true. Let me tell you something about character.
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I want you to think with me, please. First of all, character is what a man is in the dark. You can tell me everything about yourself and you can tell me what you do and what you don't do. But let me tell you, character is what a man is in the dark. You tell me what you would do if you knew that no one else would ever find out about it. And I'll tell you exactly what you are. You say, "If I knew no one would ever find out, that I would never be discovered, well, I'd go down and I'd rob that bank." Well, you're a thief. "Well, if I knew I'd never be found out, I'd run off old sister so and so." Well, you're an adulterer. "Well, if I knew I'd never be found out, I would take out so and so." Well, you're a murderer. See, character's what a man is in the dark. Character's what you are when you are alone and when no one else is around.
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That's when the real you actually shows itself. Moreover, the test of your character is what it takes to stop you. Have you ever stopped to think about that? Do you realize most people today are such quitters? They give in at the drop of a hat and they'll drop the hat. If you really want to stop someone from serving, all you better do is do a little gossiping.
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or say something that hurts their feelings, or imply something that they don't like. And the next thing you know, they're going to take their marbles and they're going to go home. And they're going to say something like this, "Well, I'm just not appreciated." Why? Because the test of your character is what it takes to stop you. And it just really doesn't take much today to stop the average individual.
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Because we give in, we give up, we give out, we quit. Not only is character what a man is in the dark, the test of your character is what it takes to stop you. And listen to this. You also have to remember this, that circumstances never make or break a man. They just reveal it. You know, we always try to believe the opposite of that. We'll think about this great battle and we'll say, "Here's this man who really shone forth in courage and greatness." And we'll say, "Well, that battle really made him a hero." No. He was already a hero in his heart. The battle just revealed him. Here's a man that ran and hid and turned coward, we would say, in the battle. You say the battle made him a coward? No, he was already a coward in his heart. The battle just revealed him. Circumstances never make or break a man. They just simply reveal him. They let us know what we're really made of. And when people lie and cheat and steal and do all kind of immoral things under the circumstances, you've got to understand that's just their character.
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That's what they are. Because the Bible says in Proverbs 23 and verse 7, "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he." You actually end up doing that which you think. Sin does not slip up on you. Sin does not happen accidentally. You think about it, you choose it, you plan it, and you put it into effect. Because that's what you are in your heart. You know, in times past, there were a lot of moral men who were not Christians. In fact, sometimes some of those men were greater in morality than professing Christians.
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One of them was General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Forrest was not converted until after the war, but Forrest's mother was a godly woman and she taught Forrest. Also, his wife was also a Christian and a godly woman as well. And it was General or Major Ellis who came up upon Forrest's tent. And he heard the conversation where Forrest was actually putting one of his bravest officers and one of his finest friends out of his command because of immorality. Here's what Major Ellis said, listen carefully. He said, "On one occasion while approaching his tent, I heard him, that is General Forrest, in tones of great anger, using the most bitter denunciatory language to an officer, who although as brave a man as served in the war, and was a warm personal friend to Forrest. He said, Forrest had just heard of him being guilty of immoral conduct. He denounced him in the severest language that I think I've ever heard, and dismissed him from his command on the spot, saying, 'I will not have any man about me who will be guilty of such conduct toward a woman.'"
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The man was a married man and had an affair with another woman. What did Forrest do? He just dismissed him. He said, "You're not in my command anymore. I'll not have you around me." And Forrest at that time was just as lost as he could be. Do you understand that many men had to stand and they had to stand alone? Think about the men in the Bible. You remember Daniel in Daniel chapter 6, there was a law passed that no man could ask any petition of any God, save the king for 30 days. And if you ask any petition, you're going to be thrown into the den of lions. You know what the Bible says in Daniel chapter 6, verses 10 and 11. "Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem,
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he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God." By the way, if you want to know how to pray effectively and successfully when you're in danger, the answer is you're to be used to praying effectively and successfully before you get into danger. Daniel knelt and prayed three times a day as he did aforetime. That was his practice.
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And when he had his window open toward Jerusalem, he was not flaunting his rebellion to the king. He was just simply doing what Solomon prayed concerning in 1 Kings chapter 8, verses 29 through 30, where Solomon prayed that any time that God's people had sinned against Him, if they prayed toward Jerusalem and confess their sins, that God would hear and forgive and heal them. And that's exactly what Daniel was doing. And when he knew that the writing was signed, he knelt and prayed three times a day, just like he did before time. He just kept praying. He was the only one in the entire kingdom that prayed. Wow.
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Because he was a solitary man. He stood alone. How about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Do you remember Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter 3 built that image in the plain of Dura? And he said, "At the time you hear the sound of the sackbut, the psaltery, the harp, and all these manner of instruments, you kneel down and worship my golden image." Everybody knelt down except Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
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They stuck out like a sore thumb. I've often thought, and I've really gotten tickled at thinking some of this, at how those boys could have really pulled one over on Nebuchadnezzar. You know what they could have done? They could have just sat down on the ground and rested. And probably they would have thought they're either halfway up or halfway down and nobody would have ever noticed. Or one of them could have said, "Hey, Shad, I got a good idea. Let's just lie down on our face and take a nap. And these silly heathen, they'll think we're just being really dedicated to this false god." They could have done anything like that and gotten away with it. No one would have ever known.
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But they didn't do that. You know what they told the king? "Be it known unto thee, O king, our God can deliver us. But whether he delivers us or not, that's his business. But be it known unto thee, we will not bow down." And you know the story. I don't have to tell you the story. But these young men stood, and they stood alone. You know, the Apostle Paul had to stand by himself at times. In 2 Timothy 4, verse 16, he said, "No man stood with me."
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He went on to say it more fully. He said, "At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge." Can you imagine the Apostle Paul not having anyone to stand with him? They said, "John, who are you?" He said, "I'm the voice of one. I'm the voice of one." John was willing to stand and was willing to stand alone. Here's his attitude. If no one else is going to be honest, I'm going to be honest. If no one else is going to be holy, I'm going to be holy. If no one else is going to be obedient, I'm going to be obedient. If no one else is going to proclaim the truth, I will proclaim the truth. If I'm the only one, I'm the only one. And it takes character to stand alone. It takes character to be a solitary witness and a solitary man standing for righteousness and truth.
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It doesn't matter what the world says. I hear people all the time say, "But there are so many on that other side." Have you ever stopped to think about this? What would have happened, do you think, in the book of Genesis had Noah said, "Wow, there are so many people that really don't believe it's going to rain, you're going to have a flood. Maybe they're right. Maybe I'll just give in and go with them." Really? No. No. No one knew. Because God had spoken. And just because everybody else is doing it does not make it right. And just because everybody else is saying it does not make it true.
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When you know the truth, you have to stand for the truth if you have to stand alone. "John, who are you?" "I am the voice of one." Christian maturity, Christian manhood, will enable you to stand solitarily. You will stand if you have to stand alone.
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Secondly, I want you to note this. Christian maturity will enable you to stand strongly. Ah. "John, who are you?" "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness." John was not whispering. John was shouting from the rooftops the truth of God. He was not hoping that no one would notice him. He wanted people to notice him because he wanted the truth to be heard. And therefore he was crying.
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You see, these two characteristics really go together. Do you understand that one has to be strong in order to stand solitarily? And secondly, if you're standing solitarily, it has to be an evidence of strength because you're standing there by yourself. Do you realize in Isaiah 58 verse 1, what God said? Listen, "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression." Cry aloud, lift up your voice like a trumpet. We have to have strength to carry out our convictions. We have to have strength to apply what we know from the Word of God. Do you remember James 4 verse 17?
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"Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." Years ago, Alice and I had a friend, some friends that we call Mama and Papa. We were not related. In fact, they adopted Alice and I. And their three sons have been lifelong friends of ours. And they had a family get together. And of course, they invited Alice and I, and I came from a meeting.
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And when I got there, Papa's daughter-in-law just started peppering me with questions, one right after the other. And finally, Papa looked at her and he said, "Francis, why don't you leave him alone? Can't you see he's tired?" She said, "Because, Papa, I don't know the answers to these questions. And it bothers me." And I never will forget what he said. He looked her right in the eye and said, "It's not what I don't know that bothers me. It's what I do know."
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James 4:17, "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." You have to have strength to stand for your convictions. And Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. used to say this, "You can borrow brains, but you cannot borrow character." Stop and think about that. You can borrow brains, but you cannot borrow character. There are a lot of things I do not know how to do. But I can ask. And I can learn.
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But I'll tell you this, you can give me all the information in the world, you can give me all the books, you can sit down and tell me everything that I need to do. But if I do not have the character, and if I do not have the strength to put it into action, all that knowledge is worthless. You have to have strength. You have to have strength.
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You have to do what you have to do. Christian maturity, Christian manhood comes with not only learning to be a solitary individual, but learning to be a strong individual. My grandson, my youngest grandson was with me one day and I had a cow that was down on the farm. And I looked at him and I said, "Trip, you're going to have to help me with this cow.
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I can't do it by myself." You'd have to know that young boy. At that time, if he saw blood, he got sick, he turned away. He couldn't stand it. And he said, "Papa, I can't do it." I said, "Yes, you can. And you will. You just have to do what needs to be done. That's all there is to it, son. I need help. And you're going to help me."
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And we're gonna save this cow. Do you understand? He turned out to be a nurse. You see what I'm saying? You say, "But I'm weak in an area." Well, you have to overcome that weakness. You have to learn to be strong. And when someone says—and your children, when they come up with this, "Well, I can't do that." You always add one word: yet. You might not can do it now, but you might can do it tomorrow and you might can do it next month or you might can do it next year. But don't come up and say, "I can't do that."
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And I'll tell you something, folks. We've got a generation of people who say, "I can't do it," and they never even tried to do it. You got to have strength. Christian maturity deals with being able to stand solitarily and to be able to stand strong. Thirdly, I want you to know this about John: Christian maturity and Christian manhood deals with separation. "John, who are you?" "I am the voice of one crying"—where? "In the wilderness."
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He wasn't in the bar rooms. He wasn't in the saloons. He wasn't in the ecumenical councils. He wasn't in the dance halls. He's in the wilderness. He was separating himself as far as he could get from the sin and the wickedness that surrounded him. You know, I have found it interesting that men, and I'm saying that generally, including women, we like to dabble with sin. We like to play with sin. We tend to think that sin somehow is exciting and it's titillating and that we can get this great pleasure from it. And there is a temporary pleasure in sin. The Bible says so. But what we misunderstand is that temporary pleasure always brings suffering and death. And we think that we can play with it and get away with it.
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We like to sow our wild oats and hope we can leave before harvest time. Galatians 6:7-8 says, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." You're not going to escape the law of harvest. So if you try to mess around with sin and play with sin and indulge in sin just a little bit, then you're going to be deceived. You know what the Bible says concerning Christ?
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In the book of Hebrews, chapter 7, in verse 26, the Bible tells us, "For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens." Do you realize that Jesus Christ was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate? If you and I are going to stand for Christ and stand for righteousness and have biblical character, we have to learn to be like Jesus Christ. You know what the Bible says concerning Moses? In the book of Hebrews, chapter 11, verses 24 through 27, now listen to this. "By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter." Now, let me stop. He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Remember Pharaoh was the highest officer in the land. Moses was in line to become a Pharaoh. He could do whatever he wanted to do as a Pharaoh. He could have all the pleasure. He could have all the money. He could have whatever he wanted. But when he came to years, the Bible said, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.
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Listen, "Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." We know that Moses lived to be 120. If he had been a Pharaoh and lived to be 120, it's still just a season. Because eternity is long and 120 years is nothing. But the Bible tells us, "Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt." Do you realize none of us will ever turn from sin until we realize the reproaches of Jesus Christ is greater than all the treasures of sin and all the pleasures of sin. Moses, by faith, forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, the Bible says, "for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible." We'll never escape the pleasures of sin until we esteem and value the reproach of Jesus Christ. Most people like to dabble in sin.
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They really don't want to go all the way. They really don't want to get caught in sin, but they want to dabble in it. Let me give you a principle. Please listen. If you don't learn anything else tonight, please learn this. When God forbids any sin, at the same time, He forbids anything that would lead up to that sin. When God forbids any sin, at the same time, He forbids anything that leads up to that sin. So when God forbids the sin of murder, at the same time, He forbids anger and wrath and bitterness that would lead up to murder. When God forbids theft, at the same time, He forbids covetousness and greediness that would lead up to theft. When God forbids adultery and fornication, at the same time He forbids lustfulness and pornography and anything that would lead up to that. When God forbids cheating, at the same time He forbids laziness and sloth that would lead up to cheating. In other words, whatever God forbids as sin, at the same time, He forbids anything and everything that would lead up to that sin.
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You see, the Bible tells us in Romans chapter 13 and verse 14, "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof." Put you on the Lord Jesus Christ. You're to put on Jesus Christ. And as you put on Jesus Christ, you're not to make provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof. Now, how do you make provision for the flesh? You make provision for the flesh by thinking and desiring and planning and wishing. How do you put on the Lord Jesus Christ?
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By putting off all of those thoughts that are wicked and contrary to Him and contrary to His words. You cannot have two thoughts in your mind at one time. You can only have one thought at one time. And so when an evil thought comes in your mind, you must instantly replace it with a godly thought, with a biblical thought. You're putting on the Lord Jesus Christ. And when you replace it with that godly thought, you're not making provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. If you continue to think evilly, then you're making provision for your flesh. The Bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 22, "Abstain from all appearance of evil." It's not just that we're to abstain from evil, but anything that appears evil. Stop and think about that. A mature individual in Jesus Christ is willing to abstain from anything that would appear evil. May not necessarily be evil, but if it would appear evil, we're not going to do it. Do you remember?
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What David said in Psalm 119 verses 9 through 11 there. I love that passage, and I would encourage every young man, every young father to memorize this passage. Or David asked, "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. And when a thought of sin or wickedness comes in your mind, you must immediately think of His word. If that word is in your heart, if that word is in your mind, it's going to come out and say, "This is wrong. This is wicked. You can't think like this. You can't act like this. This is violations of God's word." "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee.
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O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." Do you realize that as God's people we're to be clean, not only from the filthiness of the flesh, but also the filthiness of the spirit.
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2 Corinthians 7, verse 1, the Bible says, "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." You see, most of God's people are not going to wallow around in drunken vomit. They're not going to get drunk. They may not even be whoremongers. They may not even be thieves. You shouldn't be, especially if you're God's people.
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But while we would abstain from those grosser violations that we would call them, we will still engage in the sin of bitterness, resentment, unforgiving spirits, hardheartedness, stiff neck, rebellious. Yeah. And those are sins of the spirit. "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." You cannot be holy unless you are pure in body as well as in spirit. And your spirit is just as important as your body. God not only wants you to abstain from the grosser and viler sins, but even from those sins of the spirit that aggravate us and demonstrate our wickedness.
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You know, the apostle said it like this. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 33, "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners." It's impossible to live a holy, godly life inwardly and outwardly if we align ourselves with wickedness. We can't do that. God's kind of man is not only a solitary man, a strong man, but he's a separated man. I read years ago of an extremely wealthy man who lived on a mountain in Tennessee, 100 years back, four cars particularly, and his buggy driver had died. So he placed an advertisement in the paper for a new buggy driver. And of course, everyone knew this man, that he was extreme, exceedingly rich and well off, it would be a good job. And three men came and applied for the job. The rich man looked at the first one and said, "Well, there's the edge of the mountain. I want to know how fast you can run those horses and swing this buggy around without going over the edge of that mountain." The man said, "I'm so good, I can do this and come within 12 inches and never go over the edge."
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He said, "Well, let me see you do it." And the man got in the buggy, got the horses running. The rich man looked at the second applicant and said, "Well, how close can you come to that?" Well, he said, "I'm such an excellent driver, I can do it within six inches." Well, he said, "Let me see." So he got in the buggy, got the horses running. Sure enough, he slid that buggy around and came within six inches and never went over the edge. Rich man looked at the third one and said, "How close can you come to it and not go over?" The third man said, "I don't know. And I'm not stupid enough to try it to find out." The rich man says, "You're hired. The man that drives my buggy, I want him to stay as far away from the edge of that cliff as he can."
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Do you realize the same principle is true? God is going to use us as long as we stay as far away from sin as we can by His grace. Young people listen to me. God may use you on credit the first years of your life. After that, He'll use you on character. And if you don't have any character, you can mark it down. God's not going to use you. You have to have character to be a solitary individual, a strong individual, you have to have character
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to stand and be separate. Here's John. "John, who are you?" He said, "Here's my answer. I'm the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord." Hopefully God's kind of man is a straightening man. Do you realize that's what we're supposed to do? We're to straighten out those things that are crooked. We need men and we need women who are godly enough and holy enough and strong enough and bold enough to confess their own sins and acknowledge their own weakness and their own failures.
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We blame everything on everything else and everybody else. We are the sinners. If we fail to keep our heart, we have sinned. If we fail to think biblically, we have sinned. If we fail to act biblically, we have sinned. You don't make me sin, I make me sin. I can't make you sin unless you allow me to make you sin. The truth of the matter is, we have to make things right, whether it's our fault or not.
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You say, "What are you talking about?" Well, let me show you. I want you to turn to two passages. I want you to turn to Matthew chapter 5 and Matthew chapter 18. Look at Matthew chapter 5, and then we'll go to Matthew chapter 18. Here's laid out for us very plainly, very clearly. Matthew chapter 5 and let's begin reading there verse 23. Look what our Lord says. Matthew 5 verse 23, He says, "Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." Now I want to call your attention to the fact in verse 23 He said, "If you bring your gift to the altar and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee."
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You don't have anything against him. You're not mad at him. You're not upset at him. But he's got something against you. What does God say? You leave your gift. And you go and be reconciled to him and then you come back and offer the gift. Now look in Matthew chapter 18, if you would. Matthew 18, and notice if you would please, verse 15. Matthew 18, verse 15.
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Now our Lord says this. "Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother."
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Now, your brother's trespassing against you. He may not have known it. He may not have realized it. What's God say? It's your turn. You go to him. If he's got something against you, you go to him. If you've got something against him, you go to him. In other words, it doesn't matter which way you go. You can't get out of it. It doesn't matter who started it. God said His kind of man is a straightening man.
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What a responsibility we have and whose responsibility it is—it's our responsibility. It's our responsibility to make things right, to straighten it. If we've lied, we need to straighten it out. If we've cheated, we need to straighten it out. If we've done wrong, we need to straighten it out. If we've slandered a friend, we need to straighten it out. If we've gossiped, we need to straighten it out. If we lied, we need to straighten it out. If we've insulted, if we've used unkind remarks, we need to straighten it out.
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God's kind of man is a straightening man. God said, "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him." We have a responsibility ourselves and also have a responsibility to our neighbors. And one of the things that God hates, according to Proverbs 6 and verse 19, is a false witness that speaketh lies and one that soweth discord among the brethren.
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I have two messages on General Nathan Bedford Forrest. And let me tell you this about Forrest. I wish I had time not only to preach those two messages but tell you about his conversion. But he was under such conviction and he met one of his old officers on the street who was a preacher. And Forrest confessed to him his concern for his soul. And the preacher said, "Well, we need to get that straight even now, since you're obviously concerned and God's dealing with your heart."
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But they were on the sidewalk and there's not any room to do anything. And so the pastor said, "Let's go into the bank building." And they went in the bank building and both of them knelt on the floor. And Forrest cried out to God for mercy and forgiveness in a public place, publicly. Years ago, I told you that to tell you this. Years ago, I was at a flea market with a Christian friend and we saw all of these shirts, t-shirts that were for sale. One of them had a picture of General Nathan Bedford Forrest and had a quote
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written under it in big bold letters. And the quote said this, "No damn man kills me and lives." And I looked at that shirt and my friend said, "You're not going to buy that shirt, are you?" I said, "I am." He said, "You're not going to wear that shirt, are you?" I said, "I am." He said, "How can you do that?" I said, "Because I know the story and you don't know the story." I said, "I will tell you the story." And by the way, I wore that shirt until I wore it out. And every time I wore the shirt, every time I had an opportunity to tell what I'm about to tell you now, one of them was to a judge.
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Because the judge asked me. And then from that day forward, when we were in the same restaurant together, he would call me and say, "Preacher, come over and sit. And let's talk about Forrest." Lieutenant Wills Gould was head of the artillery, or under another officer, but he was in the artillery division, the Battle of Sand Mountain. First cannon were gotten by the enemy.
#73 | 50:54 to 51:23 | cleaned
Now, eventually, they got them back. But Forrest was upset because Gould had lost his cannon. And so he dismissed Lieutenant Gould from his ranks. He didn't want him around him. And Lieutenant Gould, of course, did not want to be dismissed. And he knew that Forrest was upset with him and that he was going to go on his record that Forrest was upset with him. And so he asked Forrest for a meeting. And Forrest said, "Yes, I'll meet with you."
#74 | 51:25 to 52:00 | cleaned
And so Gould came into the building in town. Forrest was tied out front. And Forrest had a little pocket knife, and he was twirling it around his finger like this. And they talked, and Forrest told Gould, he said, "You'll never serve under my command again." He said, "I'm not going to retract the dismissal, and that's it." Lieutenant Gould was so upset, he pulled out a pistol and shot Forrest in the stomach. And when he did, Forrest took one hand, knocked the pistol away, opened his knife with his mouth, and came across Gould's stomach and slashed him. Gould then turned and ran out. Forrest went to a doctor, which was in the next building, and the doctor actually pronounced the wound fatal, which it was not. And that's when Forrest stormed out from the doctor's office to his horse to get his pistol, and that's when he said, "No damn man kills me and lives." And he took that pistol and he went after Lieutenant Gould. Lieutenant Gould had gone into a tailor shop and was lying down and Forrest came storming in.
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Of course, people were all around and they hollered and said, "Forrest is here." Forrest said, "Get out of my way. Get out of my way." He said, "I'm going to kill him." And of course, Gould then jumps up off the table and he jumps out the window and Forrest shoots. But he misses. And Gould is on the ground, unconscious, and they hollered, "You killed him, General Forrest. You killed him, General Forrest." Which he didn't. They got Gould, took him to a doctor. Then Forrest went to another doctor. And the doctor looked at him and said, "Well, it's bad, but it's not necessarily fatal."
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He said, "You'll have to lie over here and let me cut it out." Oh, he said, "It's just a little bullet. I'm not about to let you cut it out and leave it alone." Lieutenant Gould here tonight is sitting and he was dying. Word came to Forrest. Lieutenant Gould is requesting that you come and visit him. Forrest said, "Make me a bed next to his." And Forrest was taken to Lieutenant Gould. Lieutenant Gould reached over and grabbed Forrest's hand. He said, "General Forrest," he said, "I'm thankful for the sake of the Confederacy that it's me dying and not you."
#77 | 54:08 to 55:05 | cleaned
He said, "I acted in such haste and such anger." He said, "Please forgive me. I am so sorry that I shot you and I acted so wickedly." Forrest reached over and fell on his neck and wept and cried like a baby and said, "Son, I forgive you and I hope that you do live." But Lieutenant Gould died. But you see, here was a man who not even yet was willing to straighten things out. You know why?
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Because he did have some character. He did have some character. The truth of the matter is this, folks, we have to have character to straighten things out.
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Now private sin is different from a public sin. If you've sinned privately against someone, you can confess and make things right privately. But if you've sinned openly and publicly and rebelliously, you need to make things right openly and publicly. We need to learn to just straighten things out. God's men, God's people ought to have courage to straighten things out in their lives. If you're going to be God's man, you're going to have to only be a solitary man and a strong man and a separated man and a straightening man. Only then can you become a satisfying man.
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You say, "What are you talking about?" Well, look down in your Bibles again to the book of John chapter 1. Notice, if you would, verse 35. "Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus." You know, that has just always been an absolute astounding blessing to me. They heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Look in John 1 and verse 29. "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." They heard John speak. They followed Jesus. John could not save, but he could point people to the One that could save. John could not do anything himself. He could tell people about the Lord Jesus Christ who could correct all problems.
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And I want you to note something. John never had to plead. He never had to beg. He never had to cajole. He never had to coerce. He just simply spoke. And they followed Jesus. So here's a good question. Do folks follow the Lord Jesus Christ when you speak? If someone follows you, will they find Jesus Christ? If someone emulates your character and your conduct, would they be sinful or would they be holy? Do you want your children to turn out the way you are? And the truth is, our children usually turn out just the way we are. Whether it's good or whether it's bad. Does your conversation build up Jesus Christ? Does it edify others?
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Or is it self-centered? If you'll look in John chapter 3, Pastor quoted this passage earlier, but I want you to see it. John 3 beginning there verse 26. John 3 verse 26. "And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him."
#83 | 59:19 to 1:00:01 | cleaned
"He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease." So the question is, is Christ increasing in your life? And are you decreasing? You see, it really doesn't matter the situation, it really doesn't matter the circumstances. I mentioned earlier that General Robert E.
#84 | 1:00:02 to 1:00:46 | cleaned
Lee and Stonewall Jackson were two of the godliest men that ever lived. They really were. If you've never studied their lives, you should study their lives. I ran across some time ago, a testimony from a wounded northern soldier. And here is his own testimony concerning General Lee. I'm quoting. He says long after the war, he wrote this because he was at Gettysburg when General Lee was retreating.
#85 | 1:00:46 to 1:01:30 | cleaned
And he said this, "I had been a most bitter anti-South man and fought and cursed the Confederates desperately. I could see nothing good in any of them. The last day of the fight, I was badly wounded. A ball shattered my left leg, and I lay on the ground not far from Cemetery Ridge, and as General Lee ordered his retreat, he and his officers rode past me. As they came along, I recognized him, and though faint from exposure and loss of blood, I raised my hands and I looked General Lee in the face and shouted as loud as I could, 'Hurrah for the Union! Hurrah for the Union!' The general heard me, looked, stopped his horse, dismounted, and came toward me."
#86 | 1:01:31 to 1:02:24 | cleaned
"I confess at first I thought he meant to kill me. But as he came up, he looked down at me with such a sad expression upon his face that all fear left me. And I wondered what he was about. He extended his hand to me, grasping mine firmly, and looking right into my eyes said, 'My son, I hope you will soon be well.' If I live a thousand years, I shall never forget the expression on General Lee's face."
#87 | 1:02:26 to 1:02:59 | cleaned
"There he was, defeated, retiring from a field that had cost him his cause and almost their last hope, and yet he stopped to say words like these to a wounded soldier of the opposition who had taunted him as he passed by. As soon as the general had left me, I cried myself to sleep there on the bloody ground." It doesn't matter the circumstances. You have to do what's right.
#88 | 1:03:00 to 1:03:29 | cleaned
Billy Sunday preached a message. The message he entitled, "The Measure of a Man." And he said there are five ways that you can measure a man. You measure a man by his character. That's what he is. You measure a man by his conduct. That's what he does. You measure a man by his contribution. That's what he gives. You measure a man by his creed. That's what he believes. And you measure a man by his companions. That's who he associates with.
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And you can take those measures. And you can measure yourself and others as well.
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Now, let me tell you, I've told you about John. He was indeed a solitary man, a strong man, a separated man, a straightening man, and a satisfying man. I want to tell you, all five of these are tied together. And you cannot have one without having the others. You can't say, "Well, I'm just going to be strong." You can't say, "I'm just going to be solitary." No, you can't just say, "Well, I'm just going to be separated." Or you can't say, "I'll just be straight." No, no. You can't say, "I'll just be satisfied." No, they're all tied together. You will never be a satisfying man and point folks to the Lord Jesus Christ until you learn to be solitary, strong, separated and straightening. What did God say in Ezekiel 22 and verse 30?
#91 | 1:04:16 to 1:05:12 | cleaned
"And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none." Not one. Not one. You say, "I don't think manhood is that important." Really? I believe everyone in this room would acknowledge with me that we are wicked as a nation. All you've got to do is check on the abortion, the socialism, the Marxism, the sodomy. Look at it! And have you ever stopped to think, as wicked and vile and filthy as Sodom and Gomorrah were, God was willing to spare those cities if He found 10 righteous. We have more than 10 in this room.
#92 | 1:05:15 to 1:06:28 | cleaned
We just need to be God's kind of man and have the character and the courage and the integrity and the intestinal fortitude and the guts just to live and be obedient and do what's right. God, give us men. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We ask for Your grace, Your mercy, Your goodness, Your kindness. Lord, we do ask and we pray, Father, that You would be so kind, Lord, as to deal with our hearts and help us, Father, to love Thee, to live for Thee, to serve Thee, Lord, to be men and women who would bring honor and glory to Your name. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.
#93 | 1:06:31 to 1:07:23 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T03:40:38Z

Christian Manhood

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

John Weaver preaches on biblical manhood using John the Baptist as the model. He contrasts the world's definition of manhood with God's, emphasizing character, integrity, and maturity. The sermon outlines five characteristics of a godly man: solitary, strong, separated, straightening, and satisfying, all drawn from John 1. Weaver calls for men of courage who stand alone for truth, live holy lives, and point others to Christ.

Introduction: The World's Definition vs. Biblical Manhood

Scripture Reading — John 1:6

"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John."

Now skip down to verse 19. "And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?"

The Need for Character and Integrity

Scripture Reading — Ezekiel 22:30

"And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none."

God said, I look for a man, I look for someone who would stand in the hedge and make up the gap that I would not—

That's what they are. Because the Bible says in Proverbs 23 and verse 7,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 23:7

"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he."

A Solitary Man: Standing Alone

A Strong Man: Crying in the Wilderness

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 58:1

"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression."

A Separated Man: In the Wilderness

John was in the wilderness, separated from sin. Weaver teaches that God forbids not only sin but anything leading to it, urging believers to abstain from all appearance of evil and to put on Christ.

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 7:26

"For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens."

You see, the Bible tells us in Romans chapter 13 and verse 14,

Scripture Reading — Romans 13:14

"But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof."

O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 7:1

" Do you realize that as God's people we're to be clean, not only from the filthiness of the flesh, but also the filthiness of the spirit. 2 Corinthians 7, verse 1, the Bible says, "

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 15:33

"Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners."

A Straightening Man: Make Straight the Way

Scripture Reading — Matthew 5:23-24

"Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."

Now I want to call your attention to the fact in verse 23 He said,

Scripture Reading — Matthew 5:23-24

"If you bring your gift to the altar and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee."

A Satisfying Man: Pointing to Christ

John pointed others to Jesus, and they followed. Weaver challenges listeners to examine whether their lives lead others to Christ, emphasizing that Christ must increase and self must decrease.

Conclusion: The Call for God's Men

Christian Manhood

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	613181956529
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Romans: Sin, Judgment, and Gospel Foundations: Praying Against the Wicked
Genre	Sermon
Date	2018-05-09
Dictation Name
Book	Book 136: Romans: Sin, Judgment, and Gospel Foundations - Volume 1 — Chapter 20
Source Timed Segments	93

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: The World's Definition vs. Biblical Manhood: Weaver introduces the topic by contrasting the world's view of manhood with the biblical definition, which involves maturity, responsibility, and a work ethic. He uses personal stories to illustrate that physical strength does not equate to true manhood.
The Need for Character and Integrity: Weaver laments the lack of character in modern society, citing Ezekiel 22:30 where God sought a man to stand in the gap but found none. He emphasizes that character is what a man is in the dark and that circumstances reveal character.
A Solitary Man: Standing Alone: John the Baptist is presented as a solitary man who stood alone for truth, unashamed and unmoved by peer pressure. Weaver cites Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Paul as examples of those who stood alone.
A Strong Man: Crying in the Wilderness: John the Baptist was not whispering but crying out the truth. Weaver stresses the need for strength to carry out convictions, referencing James 4:17 and the importance of character over mere knowledge.
A Separated Man: In the Wilderness: John was in the wilderness, separated from sin. Weaver teaches that God forbids not only sin but anything leading to it, urging believers to abstain from all appearance of evil and to put on Christ.
A Straightening Man: Make Straight the Way: God's man straightens out crooked things, including personal relationships. Weaver explains from Matthew 5 and 18 that believers must take initiative to reconcile, regardless of fault, and confess sins publicly if needed.
A Satisfying Man: Pointing to Christ: John pointed others to Jesus, and they followed. Weaver challenges listeners to examine whether their lives lead others to Christ, emphasizing that Christ must increase and self must decrease.
Conclusion: The Call for God's Men: Weaver ties all five characteristics together, stating they are inseparable. He returns to Ezekiel 22:30, urging men to have character and courage to live obediently and do right, closing with a prayer.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Character is revealed, not created, by circumstances.

Circumstances do not make or break a man; they merely reveal his existing character.

Weaver says, 'circumstances never make or break a man. They just reveal it.'

True character is what a man is when no one is watching.

A man's real self is shown by what he does in secret, not by his public persona.

Weaver states, 'character is what a man is in the dark... You tell me what you would do if you knew that no one else would ever find out about it. And I'll tell you exactly what you are.'

God forbids not only sin but everything that leads to sin.

To avoid sin, one must avoid the thoughts, desires, and situations that lead to it.

Weaver says, 'When God forbids any sin, at the same time, He forbids anything that would lead up to that sin.'

Reconciliation is the responsibility of both parties.

Whether you have something against your brother or he has something against you, you must take the initiative to make things right.

Weaver contrasts Matthew 5:23-24 and 18:15, concluding, 'It doesn't matter which way you go. You can't get out of it.'

A satisfying life points others to Christ, not self.

The measure of a godly man is whether his influence leads others to follow Jesus.

Weaver asks, 'If someone follows you, will they find Jesus Christ?' and cites John 1:35-37.

Knowledge without character is worthless.

Having information or knowing what is right is useless without the strength of character to act on it.

Weaver says, 'if I do not have the character, and if I do not have the strength to put it into action, all that knowledge is worthless.'

Public sin requires public confession.

While private sins can be dealt with privately, open and rebellious sins must be confessed openly.

Weaver states, 'if you've sinned openly and publicly and rebelliously, you need to make things right openly and publicly.'

God uses men on credit early, then on character.

Young people may be used by God initially, but lasting usefulness depends on developed character.

Weaver says, 'God may use you on credit the first years of your life. After that, He'll use you on character.'

Scripture References

John 1:6: Introduction of John the Baptist as a man sent from God, used as the model for Christian manhood.
John 1:19-23: John the Baptist's testimony that he is not the Christ but the voice crying in the wilderness, illustrating solitary and strong witness.
John 1:35-37: John points his disciples to Jesus, demonstrating a satisfying man who directs others to Christ.
Ezekiel 22:30: God sought a man to stand in the gap but found none, highlighting the scarcity of godly character.
Proverbs 23:7: As a man thinks in his heart, so is he, supporting that sin originates from within.
Daniel 6:10-11: Daniel prayed alone despite the king's decree, exemplifying a solitary man of character.
Daniel 3: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow to the image, standing alone for God.
2 Timothy 4:16: Paul said no man stood with him at his first defense, illustrating solitary witness.
Isaiah 58:1: Command to cry aloud and show God's people their transgression, supporting strong proclamation.
James 4:17: To him who knows to do good and does not do it, it is sin, emphasizing the need for strength to act.
Galatians 6:7-8: Whatever a man sows he will reap, warning against dabbling in sin.
Hebrews 7:26: Christ is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, as our example of separation.
Hebrews 11:24-27: Moses chose affliction with God's people over the pleasures of sin, esteeming reproach greater than treasures.
Romans 13:14: Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh, teaching separation from sin.
1 Thessalonians 5:22: Abstain from all appearance of evil, reinforcing the call to separation.
Psalm 119:9-11: Hiding God's word in the heart to avoid sin, a key to holy living.
2 Corinthians 7:1: Cleanse from filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness, addressing both outward and inward sin.
1 Corinthians 15:33: Evil communications corrupt good manners, warning against aligning with wickedness.
Matthew 5:23-24: If your brother has something against you, leave your gift and be reconciled, teaching straightening relationships.
Matthew 18:15: If your brother trespasses against you, go and tell him his fault, emphasizing personal responsibility in reconciliation.

Historical References

General Nathan Bedford Forrest: Used as an example of a moral man who dismissed an officer for immorality and later reconciled with a man who shot him, illustrating character and straightening.
Robert E. Lee: Cited as a Christian gentleman who could not distinguish a Christian from a gentleman; also his compassion to a wounded Union soldier at Gettysburg.
Stonewall Jackson: Mentioned alongside Lee as one of the godliest men who ever lived.
Billy Sunday: His sermon 'The Measure of a Man' is referenced, outlining five ways to measure a man: character, conduct, contribution, creed, companions.
Dr. Bob Jones, Sr.: Quoted: 'You can borrow brains, but you cannot borrow character.'
Lieutenant Wills Gould: The officer who shot Nathan Bedford Forrest and later sought forgiveness, illustrating reconciliation.
Major Ellis: Provided testimony about Forrest's dismissal of an immoral officer.

Important Quotes

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

Sets the theme of the sermon: God's definition of a man as exemplified by John the Baptist.

I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord.

John's self-description, which Weaver uses to outline the five characteristics of a godly man.

And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

Highlights the desperate need for men of character in every generation.

Character is what a man is in the dark.

Defines true character as what one does when no one is watching.

Circumstances never make or break a man. They just reveal it.

Emphasizes that character is inherent and exposed by trials, not created by them.

When God forbids any sin, at the same time, He forbids anything that would lead up to that sin.

A key principle for holy living: avoid not just sin but its precursors.

He must increase, but I must decrease.

The ultimate goal of a godly man: to magnify Christ and diminish self.

You can borrow brains, but you cannot borrow character.

Stresses that character is personal and cannot be acquired from others.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How does the world's definition of manhood differ from the biblical definition presented in this sermon?

[Context]

Weaver contrasts physical strength and worldly success with character, integrity, and maturity.

[Question]

In what areas of your life are you tempted to compromise when you have to stand alone?

[Context]

The sermon emphasizes being a solitary witness like John the Baptist, Daniel, and Paul.

[Question]

What does it mean to 'make provision for the flesh,' and how can we practically avoid it?

[Context]

Weaver explains that making provision includes thinking, desiring, and planning for sin, and we must replace evil thoughts with godly ones.

[Question]

Why is it important to abstain from all appearance of evil, not just evil itself?

[Context]

Based on 1 Thessalonians 5:22, Weaver argues that mature believers avoid anything that could appear evil to others.

[Question]

How should we handle situations where someone has something against us, even if we feel we are not at fault?

[Context]

Weaver expounds Matthew 5:23-24, teaching that we must take the initiative to reconcile regardless of who is to blame.

[Question]

What are some 'sins of the spirit' that believers often overlook, and how can we cleanse ourselves from them?

[Context]

Weaver mentions bitterness, resentment, unforgiving spirits, and hardheartedness as sins of the spirit that need cleansing.

[Question]

How can we ensure that our influence leads others to follow Jesus rather than ourselves?

[Context]

John the Baptist pointed to Christ, and Weaver asks whether people find Jesus when they follow us.

[Question]

In what ways are the five characteristics of a godly man (solitary, strong, separated, straightening, satisfying) interconnected in your life?

[Context]

Weaver concludes that these traits are inseparable and must be developed together.

Applications

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