Revelation: Christ and the Churches

Where Are The Real Men - Part 2 of 3

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: New Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2021-08-16

Synopsis: In this sermon, Pastor John Weaver continues his series on biblical manhood, emphasizing that real men are those of honor, character, and integrity who keep their word regardless of consequences. He argues that true manhood is not defined by age or physique but by a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, which enables a man to be complete and courageous. Weaver contends that the Christian life is a warfare requiring a fighting spirit—not belligerence, but a determined commitment to righteousness. He laments the modern emasculation of men, who have abdicated their God-given roles as leaders in the home, church, and society, resulting in women and children ruling over them as a sign of judgment. Using 1 Corinthians 16:13 as his text, he calls men to watch, stand fast in the faith, act like men, and be strong, urging them to reclaim their responsibilities as spiritual heads of their households.

[John Weaver] All right. Well, let's open our Bibles today to 1 Corinthians chapter 16 and verse 13. For those of you who were not here last Sunday, I started a brief series, a three-part message on where are the real men. Some months ago, I preached a message on where are the real women. And I was asked several times by women as well as men when I was going to preach this series. So I was actually going to do it in one message and found out that I could not. So today we're going to be looking at the second part of where are the real men. And it's first Corinthians chapter 16, verse 13, a very simple, straightforward verse where God says, Watch ye stand fast in the faith. Quit you like men, be strong. Now, I have expounded this passage in another message, so I'm not necessarily going to be expounding all of this today, but I do want to take that principle where he said, watch ye stand fast in the faith. And notice this, I'm going to comment on it.

[John Weaver] He says, quit you like men, be strong. Real men are few and far between. And when I talk about real men, I'm talking about men of honor, character, and integrity, men that give their word, men that keep their word, and men that will stay true to their word regardless of the consequences and the situation. One of the characteristics that is mentioned of a godly man is found in Psalm 15 and verse 4, where God said, He sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not. So here's a man who gives his word for his bond, And when he finds out that it's going to hurt him a little bit, he still keeps it anyhow. So written contracts at one time were unnecessary. Men just simply gave their word, they shook hands, the deal was clenched, and it was just simply done. Because they were indeed men of honor, character, and integrity. But today you have very few men like that. In last week's message, I quoted from Joshua Gilbert Holland, And I want to give that again just simply by way of review.

[John Weaver] He wrote this, God give us men. A time like this demands strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and ready hands. Men whom the lust of office does not kill. Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy. Men who possess opinions and a will. Men who have honor. Men who will not lie. men who can stand before demagogue and damn his treacherous flatteries without winking, tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog in public duty and in private thinking, for while the rabble with their thumb-worn creeds, their large professions and their little deeds, mingle in selfish strife, low freedom weeps, wrong rules the land, and waiting justice sleeps." And certainly he is dead on and correct there everything that he said is true and everything certainly is needed today.

[John Weaver] I pointed out last week about John the Baptist and from John 1 in verse 6 where the Bible says there was a man sent from God whose name was John. So I took that phrase there was a man and I pointed out how God used John the Baptist and then the characteristics of him because when they sent to John and asked who he was He said in verse 23, I'm the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah. So I pointed out, first of all, he was indeed a solitary man. He was the voice of one. Secondly, he was a separated man. He was crying out in the wilderness. And thirdly, he was a straightening man. He said, make straight.

[John Weaver] In other words, mere men straighten things out. They do not let problems linger and linger. They try to resolve them in a biblical manner. And then fourthly, I pointed out that he was a saving man, not that he could save anything or anyone of himself. But the Bible says when he spoke, men followed Jesus Christ. And certainly he was able to point them then to the one who was indeed able to save.

[John Weaver] I suppose that one of our greatest failures in modern day society is that we have tried to equate manhood either with age or physique. Maturity does not necessarily come with age I've seen plenty of grown people that acted like little children and I've seen plenty of grown folks that acted like little teenagers or trying to But maturity does not necessarily come with age and neither does wisdom. It was Elihu Who said in Job chapter 32 in verse 9 great men are not always wise listen to this neither do aged and Understand judgment so great men are not always wise and neither Do men always understand judgment that is for sure moreover oftentimes with age You do have some knowledge, but it's usually knowledge and evil and wickedness Let me give you a verse in Jeremiah chapter 4 and verse 22. I want you to listen God said for my people are foolish and They have not known me. They are Soddish children, and they have none understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

[John Weaver] Now it's interesting, God said, for my people are foolish, they have not known me, they are Soddish children. The Hebrew word for Soddish there literally means to have done foolishness, or to turn into foolishness, or to make foolish, or to play the fool. So actually, he says, for my people are foolish, they have not known me, they are playing the fool. And then he says this, they have no understanding, they're wise to do evil, but to do good they have no understanding at all. So, the reason they were sought as children, the reason they were wise to do evil, the reason they were rebellious, This was because he said, they have not known me.

[John Weaver] Now, let me point something out. Israel was in an outward covenant with God. But although they were in an external outward covenant, they certainly were not in an internal personal covenant. That's why I said in Romans nine in verse five, they're not all Israel who are of Israel. And so these people were in an external covenant, but yet not did not have a personal intimate relationship with him.

[John Weaver] Therefore, they were sinful, wicked, and rebellious. May I point out that truth is applicable today. When you look around at most church members, there are a lot of people that are in an external or outward covenant in the sense that they are members of a particular church. I've been in church buildings where they had church creeds and church statements and church covenants on the wall. And when you join that church, you agree to that certain covenant. And yet at the same time, uh, people are not necessarily in a personal, intimate, covenantal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And consequently they're foolish.

[John Weaver] They have no understanding and they continue to sin and commit wickedness as well. So being in an external outward covenant does not save anyone, and it certainly does not make anyone wise to do good.

[John Weaver] Now, there's a bumper sticker that I've seen many, many years ago, and I'm sure they're still around today. But the bumper sticker just simply said this, Real men love Jesus.

[John Weaver] Now, I believe that is absolutely true. But I want you to understand something. When I say that real men love Jesus Christ, I am not saying that an unsaved man cannot be moral, civil, kind, and generous. But I am saying that with every good characteristic and attribute that you find in him, there will always be something missing, and that's something is a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, because it's only the Lord Jesus Christ who is able to make a man whole and complete. It's only the Lord Jesus Christ who can make a man willing to be a man in every area of his life, regardless of the situation and regardless of the circumstances.

[John Weaver] Let me give you an illustration. This was by Lazarus Long. You will see Alice smile, and you will understand it just momentarily. But he's talking about men, and here's what he said. First of all, a man should be able to change a diaper. Well, I've done that one time. So I fulfilled that part, Francis. I tell you what, I can put my hands in a deer, I can pull out blood, guts, and everything.

[John Weaver] It doesn't bother me at all. But the one time I was left alone with our first child, and I had to change that dirty diaper, and I got the dry heaves and gagged, I thought, never ever again will I do this. I'm so thankful the Lord made women, I can assure you. But let me finish this. But I did it one time, okay? But it was a necessity. Alright, here we go. It says a man should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, con a ship, that is control the movements of a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze

[John Weaver] a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, and die gallantly. Isn't that amazing? And while I agree with the basic premise of everything that Lazarus Long has said, I've got to ask this question. What in the world is it that will enable a man to be able to do all of these things? And the answer has to come back It is a man who has been converted and brought into a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ who wants to do everything for the honor and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] So let me put it to you like this as well. It is impossible for a man to fight efficiently and die gallantly without the Lord Jesus Christ. That is certainly true. In fact, there was a Confederate officer by the name of Captain Dabney Carr Harrison. This Confederate officer, Captain Harrison, was a Christian, of course, but he was also a pastor, he was a professor, he was also a chaplain, and he was a soldier. He was the captain of Company K.

[John Weaver] His men respected him greatly and they said to him one day, quote, you should be better and braver than the rest of us. After he had exhibited some fearfulness in battle of fearlessness, I should say in battle. And he asked why so? Because they said you have everything settled for eternity. You have nothing to fear after death. He replied, well, gentlemen, you're right. Everything is settled for eternity, and I have nothing to fear. And he exemplified that fearlessness at Fort Donaldson. At Fort Donaldson, he had four bullets to pass through his hat, one grazed his temple, and the fifth one entered into his lung, from which he eventually died shortly thereafter.

[John Weaver] Before he died on February the 16th, 1862, on Sunday, he wrote in his diary, I die content and happy, trusting in the merits of my Savior, Jesus Christ, committing my wife and my children to their father and mine. Soon thereafter, he dropped off into a very deep sleep. His friends, his family were around him, and all of a sudden, it seemed like, was startled from that sleep, and he sat erect in his bed, and he shouted, Cupid E.K., you have no captain now. Never give up. Never surrender. And with that, someone took him and gently laid him back in bed, and he died just shortly thereafter. But here was a man who died very gallantly. He fought very efficiently. But you cannot do that apart from the Lord Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] Now, there's an interesting book that some of you may have read. And it's called Death Beds of Great Men. And you read about Voltaire, the noted French infidel. And he had gathered all of his friends around so they could watch how a great infidel dies. And he was lying back on that bed and just before he was taking his last breath, he sat straight up in bed with a look of horror in his eyes with screaming horror in his voice, he shouted to the top of his lungs, there is a God, and fell back dead.

[John Weaver] No, he did not die very gallantly. You cannot do these things apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. There may be a false bravado, but there is no real gallantry except through Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to look back at verse 13. I want you to pay close attention to this. The Bible says, watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.

[John Weaver] Now, the word for men in the Greek is a very special word. It's the word andridzomai, and it literally means to make like a man, to make brave, to show oneself a man, and to be brave.

[John Weaver] Now, it should be obvious that everything around verse 13 is couched in military terminology. Watch ye, that's a military command. Stand fast, that's a military command. Quit you like men, that's a military command. Be strong, that's a military command. So over and over, each one of these statements or commands are from the military.

[John Weaver] Now, I don't know if you've ever noticed this or not, but as you read through the Bible, you're going to find that the Christian life is often compared to that of a soldier or a warrior. So I want you to hold 1 Corinthians 16, but look in your Bibles to 2 Timothy chapter 2 at verses 2 and 3. 2 Timothy chapter 2. Notice if you would please verses 2 and 3. Here's what the Bible says. 2 Timothy chapter 2 beginning there with verse 2. Well, let's read verse 3. It's verse 3 and 4, what I want. Watch this. 2 Timothy 2 verse 3, Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that woreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. Now notice it, Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Now the word hardness relates to hardships.

[John Weaver] afflictions, trouble, tribulations, even wounds. Soldiers are often without food, without water, without medication. So he says endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] Now he goes on to say if we're going to be a good soldier we're not going to entangle ourselves with the affairs of this life, that is We're not going to get overly involved. Why? Because we want to please Him who has chosen us to be a good soldier.

[John Weaver] Now, interestingly, when you read through the Bible and you find out here is this picture of a Christian being a soldier and being a warrior, you would have to understand that pacifism is unbiblical. A pacifism or pacifistic attitude means that you're not willing to fight. You're not going to fight. In fact, that's what the Pacific Ocean stands for, peaceful. Years ago, I was preaching in Indiana, and I was dealing with Romans 13 and several other passages like this.

[John Weaver] And when I got through, I had a young man come up to me with his wife and children. And he said, I just wanted you to know I disagree with something you said. I said, well, that's wonderful. What is it that you disagree with maybe maybe you're right. Maybe I'm wrong. What is it? Well, he said I don't think you should ever fight under any circumstances Really? I said well, let me ask you a question If someone broke into your house attempting to rape your wife and or murder your children, what would you do? He said well I'd go off in another room and I'd pray about it. I said sir. I got one thing to say for you I'm so thankful. I'm not your wife and I'm not your child If that's your attitude, fine. No, no, no.

[John Weaver] Did you notice, if you would, in fact, look back in 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 12. Just a page over. 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 12. Look what Paul told Timothy. Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. No, he said fight the good fight of faith. How in the world can you be a pacifist and not fight the good fight of faith I mean obviously there is a spiritual fighting there's a moral fighting there's a mental fighting there's an emotional fighting there's a physical fighting as well but Paul tells him to fight the good fight of faith moreover when you get to Ephesians chapter 6 verses 10 through 18 Paul gives us the armor that God has provided why in the world would God provide armor if he did not expect us to fight obviously We have to understand that in the Bible there is such a thing as a fighting spirit Now let me explain something when I say that in the Bible.

[John Weaver] There is a fighting spirit That doesn't mean that does not mean that one has to be cantankerous onerous Belligerent and with a bullying attitude. That's not what I mean by a fighting spirit And people like that are just wicked and wrong. By a fighting spirit, I mean that one is able, he's willing, and he's determined to do that which is right and to do that which is holy under every circumstance and under every situation.

[John Weaver] Nothing is going to deter him. Nothing is going to stop him. He has a fighting spirit.

[John Weaver] Now, let me show you something. Look in your Bibles to 1 Timothy 3. Because when you get to this passage, you have a passage that relates particularly to elders or to pastors. Without me reading all of it, but I just want to deal with one verse right here. He says in 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 3, we're talking about the pastor. He's not to be given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous. Now, when it says he's not to be given to wine, it means he's not to use wine as an excuse.

[John Weaver] Well, I didn't do this because I had too much to drink. I didn't do this because I had an extra glass of wine and I forgot. In other words, none unknown. Now, that is out. He says, not given to wine, watch, no striker. In other words, striker refers to one that is pugnacious. A prognatious individual is someone that's ready to fight at the drop of a hat and he's willing to drop the hat just so he can fight. And then he goes on to say, look at it in verse 3, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler. Now a brawler is someone who actually goes around looking for a fight. He's a bruiser. He's a fighter. All he wants to do is fight.

[John Weaver] I have known men, still know men, that before they were converted, that was their passion. They just loved to fight. I have one friend now, before he was converted, he used to visit bars regularly. He would drink something every now and then. But he did not go to a bar to drink. He went to a bar to fight. He just loved fighting. And he would always pick on the biggest man in the bar. Always. So, I'm just simply saying, this is what the word brawler means. A brawler is someone who's always just simply looking for a fight.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to look, if you would, in 2 Timothy chapter 2. Here's another thing. 2 Timothy chapter 2. Look at verse 24. Again, we're talking about the pastor. The Bible says, and the servant of the Lord must not strive But be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient." And then here's why in verse 25,"...in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, if God, peradventure, will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth." Now, note if you would,"...and the servant of the Lord must not strive."

[John Weaver] Now the word strive refers to a contentious, angry, and quarrelsome spirit. One who strives is someone who is looking for an argument. He is looking for a contest. He is someone who thinks that I have the upper hand, I have the knowledge, I have the position, and I want to engage someone in this contest just so that I can win. I know many pastors like that. You see, the problem is this. While some of them will say what they're really trying to do is contend for the faith, what they're trying to do is to pick an argument, pick a fight, get a contest going so that they can show their wisdom, their knowledge, so that they can dominate. And if you do not submit to them and if you do not agree with them, they get angry so quickly and cut you off and it's over with.

[John Weaver] But the Bible says, not a striver. Now it's interesting that although the Bible says the pastor is not to be a striker, not to be a brawler, not one that strives, yet the Apostle Paul tells us that we are to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul tells us that we are to fight the good fight of faith. So evidently it is possible to have a fighting spirit without being quarrelsome and contentious, and belligerent, and bullying, and hateful, and ugly, and angry.

[John Weaver] Now, may I remind you of some of the message that I preached last week about John the Baptist. Because John the Baptist certainly had a fighting spirit. Because when those Sadducees and Pharisees and Herodians came to his baptism, he called them a generation of vipers. He said, oh generation of vipers, who have warned you to flee from the wrath to come? So he called out the religious denominations, the religious leaders. He called out the political leaders.

[John Weaver] That's why he said to Herod, to his face, it's not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife. Now, the point I'm trying to make, we're so different today. We're so different from a man of 100 years ago. We have become emasculated, feminized, subsidized, and horrified into inaction and displaying any courage whatsoever. We are fearful, we're unbelieving, we're cowardly, we're timorous, we're chicken-hearted, we're gutless, we're pusillanimous, we're spineless, we're lily-livered, we're quaking jellyfish with no backbone, and we refuse to stand for anything. That's modern-day males.

[John Weaver] Do not try to tell me that all fighting is wrong. It is not. Do not try to tell me that all war is wrong. It is not. Certainly there is an unbiblical warfare. And certainly there is an unbiblical fighting. But in Psalm 94 and verse 16, God asks, Who will rise up for me against the workers of iniquity? Who will stand up for me against the evildoers? Who's going to rise up? Who's going to stand? And then he asks in Amos 5 in verse 15, hate the evil and love the good and establish justice in the gate. And may I remind you that in Exodus chapter 15 and verse 3, God, the sovereign, holy, righteous God of the universe is called a man of war. The Bible says in Exodus 15 and verse 3, the Lord a man of war the Lord is his name and may I remind you of something else it was by war that God delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt Deuteronomy chapter 4 in verse 34 the Bible says this or hath God

[John Weaver] a say to go and take him a nation from a midst of another nation by temptations by signs by wonders and by war and and by a mighty hand, and a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes." But notice he said he brought them out by war. So one could spend hours just going through the Bible looking at the doctrine of war. In fact, some of you will remember I have 15 messages on the biblical doctrine of war. Read through the Bible and you will see how God has used war constantly. It was through war that Abraham brought Lot back and delivered him and conquered the enemy. It was through war that God delivered Israel from Egypt. It was through war that Canaan land was conquered. It was through war that David conquered all the enemies round about. And it's going to be by war that our Lord Jesus Christ is totally, completely victorious and successful For I hope you'll remember in Revelation 19 and verse 11, the Bible said, And I saw heaven open, listen, and behold a white horse, and him that sat upon him is called faithful and true, and

[John Weaver] in righteousness doth he judge and make war. Jesus Christ makes war. Our God is a man of war. Yes. There is some fighting that is unbiblical. There is some war that is unbiblical. But fighting and war are not necessarily unbiblical in and of themselves. So if we fight, and if we have a fighting spirit, if we war, if we are warriors, if we are soldiers, we must do so in accordance with the Word of God, with the rules, with the standards, with the principles that God has laid down. So let me just say this very plainly, we need a fighting spirit. It was a fighting spirit that conquered the wilderness. It was a fighting spirit that civilized the heathen. It was a fighting spirit that built civilization. It was a fighting spirit that established institutions of learning, orphanages and hospitals.

[John Weaver] If you don't believe this, just read biographies of men like George Muller, if you would, George Whitfield, David Libeson, William Carey, Adoniram Justin, and a host of others, because these were fighting men. They were men of determination, men of grit, men of courage, and they were not going to give in, and they were not going to give up, and they were not going to give out. When you look around today, there are very few men around that would be able to conquer a frontier. There are very few men around that will be able to change the course of society. There are very few men around that would be able to lead an army. Are you listening? There are very few men around who are able even to control their own homes, to lead their wives and their children. Men today have ceased to be men because we have abdicated our responsibilities, our obligations, and our duties. We have allowed our wives to run our homes, women to run our churches, and women and children to run our government.

[John Weaver] And when you stop and think about this, Women control practically every aspect of society today. Let me show you a verse. I want you to hold 1 Corinthians, but I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Isaiah chapter 3. I want to read verse 12. And then I want to go back and show you the context of Isaiah 3. I want you to watch this. This is very telling.

[John Weaver] It is where Israel was. It is where we are. Look at Isaiah 3 and verse 12. God says, As for My people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O My people, they which lead thee cause thee to err. That's women. in this context, and destroy the way of thy paths.

[John Weaver] Now, let me point something out. Verse 12 is in the context of judgment. To show you that, look in your Bibles, beginning there with verse 1 in Isaiah 3. I'm not against women. Please understand that. My wife is a woman. My mother was a woman. My daughters are women. But here it is. Look in Isaiah 3 verse 1, for behold the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay in the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water. Now what else is he going to take away?

[John Weaver] The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, the captain of fifty, and the honorable man, and the counselor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator, and I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. Now let me just stop right there. There may be aged men and women in Congress, but they are children.

[John Weaver] They have no understanding of biblical principles. They have no understanding of constitutional principles. Watch it. He said, And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. And by the way, usually it's the children who rule in the home. Verse 5, And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbor. The child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honorable.

[John Weaver] When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Now as clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand. And that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be a healer, for in my house is neither bread nor clothing. Make me not a ruler of the people, for Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen, because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory.

[John Weaver] The sure of their countenance doth witness against them, And they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul, for they have rewarded evil unto themselves. Say ye to the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked, it shall be ill with them, for the reward of his hand shall be given unto them.

[John Weaver] As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths." So this passage in verse 12 deals with judgment. When you have a society, when you have a church, where women and children are ruling over the men, it is the judgment of God. Why does that happen? And the answer is, because men refuse to be men. They refuse to fulfill their duties, their roles, their responsibilities. I could point out, because I have been there, done this all my life, but if you will observe the black communities, the black communities are a matriarchal society. If you want something done from a black family, You speak to the woman because she's in charge.

[John Weaver] It's what it amounts to. It's gotten like that in the white community as well. Because men have ceased to be men.

[John Weaver] Now let me show you. I want you to turn with me to 1 Corinthians 11. I'm going to show you some principles. I want you to mark them down in your Bibles as well as in your mind and heart. Look in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Here is God's orderly way. Here is what God has designed. Here is God's hierarchy. 1 Corinthians 11 in verse 3. But I would have you to know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God.

[John Weaver] So let me put it to you like this. Watch my hand. Here it is. Here is God. Here is Christ. Here is man, here is woman. So the head of the woman is the man, and the head of the man is Christ, and the head of Christ would be God the Father.

[John Weaver] Now, let me show you. We understand that. Look, if you would, at verses 4 and 5. Watch verse 4 and 5. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head. Well, who is the head of man? Christ. Verse 5. But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoreth her head. Who is that? That's her husband. For that is even all one as if she were shaven. For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. So in Bible times, if you were a prostitute, you shaved your head. So, he said, if it's a shame, Do not dishonor your head, and ladies, your husband is your head, and men, Jesus Christ is your head. That's what the Bible says.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to 1 Timothy, and as you turn there, I want to make a statement. A man may dishonor his head, who is the Lord Jesus Christ, and the woman may dishonor her head, who is her husband, and we do dishonor our heads when we deviate from God's orderly way. A rebellious and recalcitrant woman dishonors her husband. A rebellious and recalcitrant husband dishonors Jesus Christ. A rebellious and recalcitrant child dishonors his parents. who are His head. Now, I want you to look in 1 Timothy chapter 3, and notice if you would please, verse 15 to begin with. Because this is the theme of 1 Timothy.

[John Weaver] It is how to behave yourself in the house of God. Okay? Look at it. 1 Timothy 3 verse 15. He said, But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of truth. So Paul wrote this passage to Timothy, who was a pastor. So that everybody there would know how to behave themselves in church, in the house of God. Now, we need to know how to behave ourselves in church. So, look if you would in 1 Timothy chapter 2. Let's begin reading there with verse 8, and we'll read through verse 15. I'll cover some of this more next week, but look now. 1 Timothy chapter 2, verse 8.

[John Weaver] I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting. In a like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety, not with broidered hair or gold or pearls or costly ray, but which becometh women professing godliness with good works. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

[John Weaver] For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding, she shall be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith and charity with holiness and sobriety." Now, here's some questions. I want you to look at this. He said in verse 11, let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. Then he said, but I suffer not a woman to teach nor usurp authority over the man who would be in silence. Remember 1 Timothy 3 verse 15.

[John Weaver] how to behave yourself in the house of God. So here's my questions. How can a woman pastor, teach, or lead in the church when she is to be in silence? How can she be in subjection if she is leading men? How can she teach, preach, or lead without usurping authority over men? It's impossible.

[John Weaver] Now we're talking about the church of Jesus Christ. That does not mean that I can't listen to Effie in her home or in my home and listen to the things that she could teach me. I could listen to her all day long. She's at least two weeks older than I am. I'm sure she knows a little more than I do about some things. You see, she could teach me. I'm not too stupid not to listen to someone who knows what they're talking about. But there's a big difference between me listening to her in her home or in my home or in somewhere else than in church. A big difference. So he says no.

[John Weaver] Now I want you to look in 1 Timothy because Paul gives three reasons as to why women should not have positions of authority in church. The very first one is because of the creation order. Look at it if you would please in verse 13. For Adam was created, or first, or first formed, than Eve." That's the creation order. By the way, if you go back to 1 Corinthians 11, don't turn there, I'm just going to mention this. The Bible tells you very pointedly that the man was not created for the woman, but the woman was created for the man. God created Adam first, that's what he's saying. That's why the man should lead. The man is God's first creation. God created the man to lead and He created the woman to follow. It's just that simple.

[John Weaver] And by the way, when the roles got reversed in the Garden of Eden, we had the fall. Okay?

[John Weaver] Now, here's the second reason. Look at it in verse 14. For Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. So, here's the second reason then women were not to a rule in church and have authority in church, etc. Not only because of the creation order, but because the woman was deceived.

[John Weaver] Now it is true that sin came into the world by man, because God had entered into the covenant with Adam. And although Eve did sin first, and then thirdly, he points out in verse 15, that the woman's role is in the home, in obedience, in holiness, in childbearing, living in faith and sobriety. And incidentally, The word sobriety has absolutely nothing to do with drinking alcohol. The word sobriety refers to soundness of mind and self-control. Are you listening? So therefore, according to 1 Timothy, a woman then who wants to rule in the church, and run the church, and rule in the home, and run the home, is normally out of control. She's out of her mind.

[John Weaver] That's what the Bible says. She is to live with sobriety.

[John Weaver] Now let me show you something else. Turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 14. Look at it. 1 Corinthians chapter 14 at verses 34 and 35. I'll deal with this in a few minutes, but look at it. 1 Corinthians 14 verse 34. I don't see how it could get any plainer. Let your women keep silence in the churches, for it is not permitted unto them to speak.

[John Weaver] But their commandment to be under obedience has also set the law. Now watch this. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home, for it is a shame for a woman to speak in the church.

[John Weaver] Now, why in the world would God say this? Because he wants the man to be the head of the house. Man, the man has the responsibility to study, to learn, and to teach his wife, and to teach his children. I've had men come to me and say, my wife asked me this question, I don't know the answer. I said, well, I'll tell you the answer. And you tell your wife. Let me tell you something.

[John Weaver] All this means is this. Alice has asked me some things in times past, and I would have to say, I don't know. But I'll find out. I can do the research. I can do the study. And I can come back and tell her the answer. All the Lord is trying to do is saying, look, men, you are to be the leaders in your home. It's your responsibility to teach your wives, to lead your wives, and teach your children, and to lead your children.

[John Weaver] So, here are some questions. In light of these, where are the men that are willing to fight? Where are the men that are willing to stand and exercise courage and determination in order to get our churches, our homes, our society, and our governments under biblical control? Hmm. Where are the men that are willing to be the heads of their homes? Where are the men that are willing to lead, to love, and to care for their wives and their children? Where are the men that are willing to take the time to learn so that they can educate their wives and their children? Where are the men that are ready, willing, and able to fight for that which is right and holy?

[John Weaver] Where is our warrior spirit? Where is our soldierly spirit? Let me show you. Look in your Bibles one more time here to Ephesians chapter 5. Watch this carefully. Ephesians chapter 5. Beginning there with verse 22 Most of you know this passage, but look at it in this light Ephesians 5 verse 22 the Bible says wives Submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord Why should a wife submit herself to her husband? For the husband is the head of the wife there it is again a Even as Christ is the head of the church and he's the savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so that the wives will be their own husbands and everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. So the wife then, in her marital role is to picture the church and the church's submission to her head to Jesus Christ. The husband, in the marital role, is to picture the love of Jesus Christ for his bride in sacrificing himself for her.

[John Weaver] Skip down, if you would, to verse 33. After he tells you all of this, he says, Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself. And the wives see that she reverence her husband. So where are the men then that will love their wives as Christ loved the church? Where are the men that will love their wives as they love themselves? Where are the men that will love their wives in such a way that it will be easy and desirable for the wife to submit to them? Where are the men that will live their lives and love their wives in such a way that it will be easy for the wife to reverence her husband? Where are the real men? Where are the men that are ready to defend their wives, their children, their families, and their homes? We're the men that will be ready to fight, to provide and produce holy, godly, and obedient families. In Nehemiah chapter 4 and verse 14, when the enemy was about to attack, here's what Nehemiah said.

[John Weaver] He gave this command concerning the enemies. He said, Be not ye afraid of them. Remember the Lord. which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses. Fight. You have to have a fighting spirit.

[John Weaver] Now, let me make some applications. I want you to think with me. If you as a man would fight physically for the defense of your wife and your children, why would you not fight spiritually for your wife and your children. Do not send them to church. Take them to church. Do not tell them to pray. You teach them to pray and pray with them. Do not tell them to read the Bible. You read the Bible with them. Do not wait for someone else to teach them the Word of God. You teach them the Word of God. That is why As we read earlier in 1 Corinthians 14 verse 35, if the woman wants to know anything, let her ask the husband. It is his responsibility to know and to learn. If he does not have the answer, he can get the answer and teach his wife and teach his children. Here's another one. Listen to me carefully. Do not give your children to Molar. Do not give your children to governmental indoctrination.

[John Weaver] I don't care how many times you call it a public school. It is not a public school. It is a governmental indoctrination center. I just watched again last night. I see it every week. Here are some parents standing up. This lady happened to be, I think, in New York. And she was standing before the school board and she, I could not help but agree with her, she called the school board members liars and traitors.

[John Weaver] And she was attacking the critical race theory and the LGBT program and all of this other stuff that they were teaching. My fault was this lady. Why in the world do you have your children in that school anyhow? Get them out! I've got news for you folks. I may not be the brightest individual in the world, but I know enough to teach my children. I know enough to teach my grandchildren. I know enough to teach my great-grandchildren.

[John Weaver] And I'll be honest with you. What we have done today in the public school system is we have sired a generation of functional illiterates. They can't read, they can't reason, they can't think, they can't count. Years ago, I went to a hardware store to buy something and here's this young man, he had this big graduation ring on his hand. I bought some little something, I don't know what it was.

[John Weaver] I gave him a $20 bill and he gave me my change. And he gave me two bucks too much. And I looked at it and said, son, that's not right. He said, oh, I'm sorry. And he handed me two more bucks. I said, no, you don't understand. You gave me two bucks too much to begin with. He couldn't even count. He could not make change. You remember some years ago in California, there was a young man who sued the state of California and the public school system, because they graduated him from high school and he couldn't even read. I just read where one young man graduated. He graduated, I think, in the top one-third of his class. He couldn't read, he couldn't do anything.

[John Weaver] Finally, they started him back somewhere in the ninth grade, I think. All I'm saying is, look, folks, You can teach your children biblical principles. You can teach them what's right. You can teach them to work. You can teach them what they need in life. I'm not saying that you're never going to need algebra. You might need algebra. I'm not going to say that you never need geometry. You may need it sometime, depending on what you're going to do. But the truth of the matter is this, most people can function and live and work and never use some of the subjects that's crammed down your throat.

[John Weaver] in a public school anyhow. All I'm saying is I had rather have my child grow up with common sense and common decency and biblical knowledge and principles than to have 40 PhDs hanging out his ear from some institute that does not teach anything. Don't give your kids to Moloch. Here's the last one. Remember that any trash can float downstream. It takes something with a backbone to go against the current. We cannot just give in. We cannot give up.

[John Weaver] We have to learn to think. We have to learn to plan. We have to learn to prepare. We have to learn to be real men. And listen, men, your wives and your children need a role model and it should be you. It should be you. That young man should say, I want to be just like my daddy. And that young daughter ought to say, I want to marry a man just like daddy. Be a real man.

[John Weaver] And I'm going to tell you something. We will never take back our society. We will never take back our churches. We will never take back our government until we take back our homes. You have to have a starting point. And that starting point has to be the home. In today's society and political correctness, they're trying to destroy the home, the man, the head, the family. Don't let it happen. Be a real man. Do what is right and holy and godly and be a man of your word.

[John Weaver] Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. And we ask, Lord, that You would indeed build us up in the most holy faith. Help us, Lord, to be holy and godly. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

[John Weaver] so so

Where Are The Real Men - Part 2 of 3

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	p8bmWp5wjDY
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Revelation: Christ and the Churches
Genre	Sermon
Date	2021-08-16
Dictation Name
Book	Book 177: Where Are The Real Men — Chapter 2
Source Timed Segments	85

Formatted Transcript

Introduction and Review

Weaver introduces the second part of his series on real men, reviewing the text 1 Corinthians 16:13 and the characteristics of John the Baptist as a solitary, separated, straightening, and saving man.

All right. Well, let's open our Bibles today to 1 Corinthians chapter 16 and verse 13. For those of you who were not here last Sunday, I started a brief series, a three-part message on where are the real men. Some months ago, I preached a message on where are the real women. And I was asked several times by women as well as men when I was going to preach this series. So I was actually going to do it in one message and found out that I could not. So today we're going to be looking at the second part of where are the real men. And it's 1 Corinthians chapter 16, verse 13, a very simple, straightforward verse where God says,

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 16:13

"Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong."

Now, I have expounded this passage in another message, so I'm not necessarily going to be expounding all of this today, but I do want to take that principle where he said,

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 16:13

"Watch ye, stand fast in the faith."

And notice this, I'm going to comment on it.

He says, "Quit you like men, be strong." Real men are few and far between. And when I talk about real men, I'm talking about men of honor, character, and integrity, men that give their word, men that keep their word, and men that will stay true to their word regardless of the consequences and the situation. One of the characteristics that is mentioned of a godly man is found in Psalm 15 and verse 4, where God said,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 15:4

"He sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not."

So here's a man who gives his word for his bond, and when he finds out that it's going to hurt him a little bit, he still keeps it anyhow. So written contracts at one time were unnecessary. Men just simply gave their word, they shook hands, the deal was clenched, and it was just simply done. Because they were indeed men of honor, character, and integrity. But today you have very few men like that. In last week's message, I quoted from Joshua Gilbert Holland, and I want to give that again just simply by way of review.

He wrote this: "God give us men. A time like this demands strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and ready hands. Men whom the lust of office does not kill. Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy. Men who possess opinions and a will. Men who have honor. Men who will not lie. Men who can stand before demagogue and damn his treacherous flatteries without winking, tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog in public duty and in private thinking, for while the rabble with their thumb-worn creeds, their large professions and their little deeds, mingle in selfish strife, low freedom weeps, wrong rules the land, and waiting justice sleeps." And certainly he is dead on and correct there. Everything that he said is true and everything certainly is needed today.

I pointed out last week about John the Baptist and from John 1 in verse 6 where the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — John 1:6, 23

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

So I took that phrase "there was a man" and I pointed out how God used John the Baptist and then the characteristics of him because when they sent to John and asked who he was, he said in verse 23, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah." So I pointed out, first of all, he was indeed a solitary man. He was the voice of one. Secondly, he was a separated man. He was crying out in the wilderness. And thirdly, he was a straightening man. He said, "Make straight." In other words, real men straighten things out. They do not let problems linger and linger. They try to resolve them in a biblical manner. And then fourthly, I pointed out that he was a saving man, not that he could save anything or anyone of himself. But the Bible says when he spoke, men followed Jesus Christ. And certainly he was able to point them then to the one who was indeed able to save.

Manhood Not Defined by Age or Physique

Maturity and wisdom do not automatically come with age; many aged people are foolish and wise only in evil, lacking a personal knowledge of God.

I suppose that one of our greatest failures in modern day society is that we have tried to equate manhood either with age or physique. Maturity does not necessarily come with age. I've seen plenty of grown people that acted like little children and I've seen plenty of grown folks that acted like little teenagers or trying to. But maturity does not necessarily come with age and neither does wisdom. It was Elihu who said in Job chapter 32 in verse 9,

Scripture Reading — Job 32:9

"Great men are not always wise."

Listen to this:

Scripture Reading — Job 32:9

"Neither do the aged understand judgment."

So great men are not always wise and neither do men always understand judgment. That is for sure. Moreover, oftentimes with age you do have some knowledge, but it's usually knowledge in evil and wickedness. Let me give you a verse in Jeremiah chapter 4 and verse 22. I want you to listen. God said, "For my people are foolish, and they have not known me. They are sottish children, and they have none understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge."

Now it's interesting, God said, "For my people are foolish, they have not known me, they are sottish children." The Hebrew word for "sottish" there literally means to have done foolishness, or to turn into foolishness, or to make foolish, or to play the fool. So actually, he says, "For my people are foolish, they have not known me, they are playing the fool." And then he says this, "They have no understanding, they're wise to do evil, but to do good they have no understanding at all." So, the reason they were sottish children, the reason they were wise to do evil, the reason they were rebellious, this was because he said, "They have not known me." Now, let me point something out. Israel was in an outward covenant with God. But although they were in an external outward covenant, they certainly were not in an internal personal covenant. That's why I said in Romans 9 in verse 5, "They are not all Israel who are of Israel." And so these people were in an external covenant, but yet did not have a personal intimate relationship with him.

Therefore, they were sinful, wicked, and rebellious. May I point out that truth is applicable today. When you look around at most church members, there are a lot of people that are in an external or outward covenant in the sense that they are members of a particular church. I've been in church buildings where they had church creeds and church statements and church covenants on the wall. And when you join that church, you agree to that certain covenant. And yet at the same time, people are not necessarily in a personal, intimate, covenantal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And consequently they're foolish.

They have no understanding and they continue to sin and commit wickedness as well. So being in an external outward covenant does not save anyone, and it certainly does not make anyone wise to do good. Now, there's a bumper sticker that I've seen many, many years ago, and I'm sure they're still around today. But the bumper sticker just simply said this: "Real men love Jesus."

Real Men Love Jesus

While unsaved men can be moral, only a personal relationship with Christ makes a man whole and willing to be a man in every area of life, enabling true gallantry.

Now, I believe that is absolutely true. But I want you to understand something. When I say that real men love Jesus Christ, I am not saying that an unsaved man cannot be moral, civil, kind, and generous. But I am saying that with every good characteristic and attribute that you find in him, there will always be something missing, and that something is a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, because it's only the Lord Jesus Christ who is able to make a man whole and complete. It's only the Lord Jesus Christ who can make a man willing to be a man in every area of his life, regardless of the situation and regardless of the circumstances. Let me give you an illustration. This was by Lazarus Long. You will see Alice smile, and you will understand it just momentarily. But he's talking about men, and here's what he said. First of all, a man should be able to change a diaper. Well, I've done that one time. So I fulfilled that part, Francis. I tell you what, I can put my hands in a deer, I can pull out blood, guts, and everything.

It doesn't bother me at all. But the one time I was left alone with our first child, and I had to change that dirty diaper, and I got the dry heaves and gagged, I thought, never ever again will I do this. I'm so thankful the Lord made women, I can assure you. But let me finish this. But I did it one time, okay? But it was a necessity. Alright, here we go. It says a man should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, con a ship, that is control the movements of a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze

a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, and die gallantly. Isn't that amazing? And while I agree with the basic premise of everything that Lazarus Long has said, I've got to ask this question. What in the world is it that will enable a man to be able to do all of these things? And the answer has to come back: It is a man who has been converted and brought into a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ who wants to do everything for the honor and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So let me put it to you like this as well. It is impossible for a man to fight efficiently and die gallantly without the Lord Jesus Christ. That is certainly true. In fact, there was a Confederate officer by the name of Captain Dabney Carr Harrison. This Confederate officer, Captain Harrison, was a Christian, of course, but he was also a pastor, he was a professor, he was also a chaplain, and he was a soldier. He was the captain of Company K. His men respected him greatly and they said to him one day, quote, "You should be better and braver than the rest of us." After he had exhibited some fearlessness in battle, I should say, in battle. And he asked why so? Because they said, "You have everything settled for eternity. You have nothing to fear after death." He replied, "Well, gentlemen, you're right. Everything is settled for eternity, and I have nothing to fear." And he exemplified that fearlessness at Fort Donaldson. At Fort Donaldson, he had four bullets to pass through his hat, one grazed his temple, and the fifth one entered into his lung, from which he eventually died shortly thereafter.

Before he died on February the 16th, 1862, on Sunday, he wrote in his diary, "I die content and happy, trusting in the merits of my Savior, Jesus Christ, committing my wife and my children to their father and mine." Soon thereafter, he dropped off into a very deep sleep. His friends, his family were around him, and all of a sudden, it seemed like, was startled from that sleep, and he sat erect in his bed, and he shouted, "Company K, you have no captain now. Never give up. Never surrender." And with that, someone took him and gently laid him back in bed, and he died just shortly thereafter. But here was a man who died very gallantly. He fought very efficiently. But you cannot do that apart from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, there's an interesting book that some of you may have read. And it's called "Death Beds of Great Men." And you read about Voltaire, the noted French infidel. And he had gathered all of his friends around so they could watch how a great infidel dies. And he was lying back on that bed and just before he was taking his last breath, he sat straight up in bed with a look of horror in his eyes. With screaming horror in his voice, he shouted to the top of his lungs, "There is a God!" and fell back dead. No, he did not die very gallantly. You cannot do these things apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. There may be a false bravado, but there is no real gallantry except through Jesus Christ.

Now, I want you to look back at verse 13. I want you to pay close attention to this. The Bible says, "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong."

The Christian as a Soldier

The Christian life is compared to a soldier's; believers are called to endure hardness and fight the good fight of faith, possessing a fighting spirit that is not quarrelsome but determined to do right.

Now, the word for "men" in the Greek is a very special word. It's the word "andridzomai," and it literally means to make like a man, to make brave, to show oneself a man, and to be brave. Now, it should be obvious that everything around verse 13 is couched in military terminology. "Watch ye," that's a military command. "Stand fast," that's a military command. "Quit you like men," that's a military command. "Be strong," that's a military command. So over and over, each one of these statements or commands are from the military.

Now, I don't know if you've ever noticed this or not, but as you read through the Bible, you're going to find that the Christian life is often compared to that of a soldier or a warrior. So I want you to hold 1 Corinthians 16, but look in your Bibles to 2 Timothy chapter 2 at verses 2 and 3. 2 Timothy chapter 2. Notice if you would please verses 2 and 3. Here's what the Bible says. 2 Timothy chapter 2 beginning there with verse 2. Well, let's read verse 3. It's verse 3 and 4, what I want. Watch this. 2 Timothy 2 verse 3, "Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier." Now notice it, "Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." Now the word "hardness" relates to hardships.

afflictions, trouble, tribulations, even wounds. Soldiers are often without food, without water, without medication. So he says endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Now he goes on to say if we're going to be a good soldier we're not going to entangle ourselves with the affairs of this life, that is we're not going to get overly involved. Why? Because we want to please Him who has chosen us to be a good soldier.

Now, interestingly, when you read through the Bible and you find out here is this picture of a Christian being a soldier and being a warrior, you would have to understand that pacifism is unbiblical. A pacifism or pacifistic attitude means that you're not willing to fight. You're not going to fight. In fact, that's what the Pacific Ocean stands for, peaceful. Years ago, I was preaching in Indiana, and I was dealing with Romans 13 and several other passages like this. And when I got through, I had a young man come up to me with his wife and children. And he said, "I just wanted you to know I disagree with something you said." I said, "Well, that's wonderful. What is it that you disagree with? Maybe maybe you're right. Maybe I'm wrong. What is it?" Well, he said, "I don't think you should ever fight under any circumstances." "Really?" I said, "Well, let me ask you a question. If someone broke into your house attempting to rape your wife and or murder your children, what would you do?" He said, "Well, I'd go off in another room and I'd pray about it." I said, "Sir, I got one thing to say for you. I'm so thankful I'm not your wife and I'm not your child. If that's your attitude, fine. No, no, no."

Did you notice, if you would, in fact, look back in 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 12. Just a page over. 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 12. Look what Paul told Timothy.

Scripture Reading — 1 Timothy 6:12

"Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses."

No, he said fight the good fight of faith. How in the world can you be a pacifist and not fight the good fight of faith? I mean obviously there is a spiritual fighting, there's a moral fighting, there's a mental fighting, there's an emotional fighting, there's a physical fighting as well. But Paul tells him to fight the good fight of faith. Moreover, when you get to Ephesians chapter 6 verses 10 through 18, Paul gives us the armor that God has provided. Why in the world would God provide armor if he did not expect us to fight? Obviously we have to understand that in the Bible there is such a thing as a fighting spirit. Now let me explain something. When I say that in the Bible

there is a fighting spirit, that doesn't mean that one has to be cantankerous, onerous, belligerent, and with a bullying attitude. That's not what I mean by a fighting spirit. And people like that are just wicked and wrong. By a fighting spirit, I mean that one is able, he's willing, and he's determined to do that which is right and to do that which is holy under every circumstance and under every situation. Nothing is going to deter him. Nothing is going to stop him. He has a fighting spirit.

Now, let me show you something. Look in your Bibles to 1 Timothy 3. Because when you get to this passage, you have a passage that relates particularly to elders or to pastors. Without me reading all of it, but I just want to deal with one verse right here. He says in 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 3, we're talking about the pastor. He's not to be given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous. Now, when it says he's not to be given to wine, it means he's not to use wine as an excuse.

"Well, I didn't do this because I had too much to drink. I didn't do this because I had an extra glass of wine and I forgot." In other words, none unknown. Now, that is out. He says, "Not given to wine," watch, "no striker." In other words, "striker" refers to one that is pugnacious. A pugnacious individual is someone that's ready to fight at the drop of a hat and he's willing to drop the hat just so he can fight. And then he goes on to say, look at it in verse 3, "no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler." Now a brawler is someone who actually goes around looking for a fight. He's a bruiser. He's a fighter. All he wants to do is fight.

I have known men, still know men, that before they were converted, that was their passion. They just loved to fight. I have one friend now, before he was converted, he used to visit bars regularly. He would drink something every now and then. But he did not go to a bar to drink. He went to a bar to fight. He just loved fighting. And he would always pick on the biggest man in the bar. Always. So, I'm just simply saying, this is what the word "brawler" means. A brawler is someone who's always just simply looking for a fight.

Now, I want you to look, if you would, in 2 Timothy chapter 2. Here's another thing. 2 Timothy chapter 2. Look at verse 24. Again, we're talking about the pastor. The Bible says, "And the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient." And then here's why in verse 25, "...in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, if God, peradventure, will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth." Now, note if you would, "...and the servant of the Lord must not strive."

Now the word "strive" refers to a contentious, angry, and quarrelsome spirit. One who strives is someone who is looking for an argument. He is looking for a contest. He is someone who thinks that I have the upper hand, I have the knowledge, I have the position, and I want to engage someone in this contest just so that I can win. I know many pastors like that. You see, the problem is this. While some of them will say what they're really trying to do is contend for the faith, what they're trying to do is to pick an argument, pick a fight, get a contest going so that they can show their wisdom, their knowledge, so that they can dominate. And if you do not submit to them and if you do not agree with them, they get angry so quickly and cut you off and it's over with.

But the Bible says, "not a striver." Now it's interesting that although the Bible says the pastor is not to be a striker, not to be a brawler, not one that strives, yet the Apostle Paul tells us that we are to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul tells us that we are to fight the good fight of faith. So evidently it is possible to have a fighting spirit without being quarrelsome and contentious, and belligerent, and bullying, and hateful, and ugly, and angry. Now, may I remind you of some of the message that I preached last week about John the Baptist. Because John the Baptist certainly had a fighting spirit. Because when those Sadducees and Pharisees and Herodians came to his baptism, he called them a generation of vipers. He said, "O generation of vipers, who have warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" So he called out the religious denominations, the religious leaders. He called out the political leaders.

Biblical Warfare and a Fighting Spirit

Not all fighting or war is unbiblical; God is called a man of war, and He has used war throughout Scripture. A fighting spirit is necessary to conquer evil and establish righteousness.

That's why he said to Herod, to his face, "It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife." Now, the point I'm trying to make, we're so different today. We're so different from a man of 100 years ago. We have become emasculated, feminized, subsidized, and horrified into inaction and displaying any courage whatsoever. We are fearful, we're unbelieving, we're cowardly, we're timorous, we're chicken-hearted, we're gutless, we're pusillanimous, we're spineless, we're lily-livered, we're quaking jellyfish with no backbone, and we refuse to stand for anything. That's modern-day males. Do not try to tell me that all fighting is wrong. It is not. Do not try to tell me that all war is wrong. It is not. Certainly there is an unbiblical warfare. And certainly there is an unbiblical fighting. But in Psalm 94 and verse 16, God asks,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 94:16

"Who will rise up for me against the workers of iniquity? Who will stand up for me against the evildoers?"

Who's going to rise up? Who's going to stand? And then he asks in Amos 5 in verse 15, "Hate the evil and love the good and establish justice in the gate." And may I remind you that in Exodus chapter 15 and verse 3, God, the sovereign, holy, righteous God of the universe is called a man of war. The Bible says in Exodus 15 and verse 3, "The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name." And may I remind you of something else: it was by war that God delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt. Deuteronomy chapter 4 in verse 34 the Bible says this: "Or hath God

assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes." But notice he said he brought them out by war. So one could spend hours just going through the Bible looking at the doctrine of war. In fact, some of you will remember I have 15 messages on the biblical doctrine of war. Read through the Bible and you will see how God has used war constantly. It was through war that Abraham brought Lot back and delivered him and conquered the enemy. It was through war that God delivered Israel from Egypt. It was through war that Canaan land was conquered. It was through war that David conquered all the enemies round about. And it's going to be by war that our Lord Jesus Christ is totally, completely victorious and successful. For I hope you'll remember in Revelation 19 and verse 11, the Bible said, "And I saw heaven open, listen, and behold a white horse, and him that sat upon him is called faithful and true, and

in righteousness doth he judge and make war." Jesus Christ makes war. Our God is a man of war. Yes. There is some fighting that is unbiblical. There is some war that is unbiblical. But fighting and war are not necessarily unbiblical in and of themselves. So if we fight, and if we have a fighting spirit, if we war, if we are warriors, if we are soldiers, we must do so in accordance with the Word of God, with the rules, with the standards, with the principles that God has laid down. So let me just say this very plainly, we need a fighting spirit. It was a fighting spirit that conquered the wilderness. It was a fighting spirit that civilized the heathen. It was a fighting spirit that built civilization. It was a fighting spirit that established institutions of learning, orphanages and hospitals.

If you don't believe this, just read biographies of men like George Muller, if you would, George Whitfield, David Livingstone, William Carey, Adoniram Judson, and a host of others, because these were fighting men. They were men of determination, men of grit, men of courage, and they were not going to give in, and they were not going to give up, and they were not going to give out. When you look around today, there are very few men around that would be able to conquer a frontier. There are very few men around that will be able to change the course of society. There are very few men around that would be able to lead an army. Are you listening? There are very few men around who are able even to control their own homes, to lead their wives and their children. Men today have ceased to be men because we have abdicated our responsibilities, our obligations, and our duties. We have allowed our wives to run our homes, women to run our churches, and women and children to run our government.

The Abdication of Male Leadership

Men have ceased to be men by abdicating their responsibilities, allowing women and children to rule in homes, churches, and government, which is a sign of God's judgment.

And when you stop and think about this, women control practically every aspect of society today. Let me show you a verse. I want you to hold 1 Corinthians, but I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Isaiah chapter 3. I want to read verse 12. And then I want to go back and show you the context of Isaiah 3. I want you to watch this. This is very telling.

It is where Israel was. It is where we are. Look at Isaiah 3 and verse 12. God says,

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 3:1-12

"As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err."

That's women in this context,

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 3:1-12

"and destroy the way of thy paths."

Now, let me point something out. Verse 12 is in the context of judgment. To show you that, look in your Bibles, beginning there with verse 1 in Isaiah 3. I'm not against women. Please understand that. My wife is a woman. My mother was a woman. My daughters are women. But here it is. Look in Isaiah 3 verse 1,

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 3:1-12

"For behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water."

Now what else is he going to take away?

"The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, the captain of fifty, and the honorable man, and the counselor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator, and I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them." Now let me just stop right there. There may be aged men and women in Congress, but they are children. They have no understanding of biblical principles. They have no understanding of constitutional principles. Watch it. He said, "And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them." And by the way, usually it's the children who rule in the home. Verse 5, "And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbor. The child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honorable."

"When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand. And that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be a healer, for in my house is neither bread nor clothing. Make me not a ruler of the people, for Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen, because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory." "The show of their countenance doth witness against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul, for they have rewarded evil unto themselves. Say ye to the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked, it shall be ill with them, for the reward of his hand shall be given unto them."

"As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths." So this passage in verse 12 deals with judgment. When you have a society, when you have a church, where women and children are ruling over the men, it is the judgment of God. Why does that happen? And the answer is, because men refuse to be men. They refuse to fulfill their duties, their roles, their responsibilities. I could point out, because I have been there, done this all my life, but if you will observe the black communities, the black communities are a matriarchal society. If you want something done from a black family, you speak to the woman because she's in charge.

It's what it amounts to. It's gotten like that in the white community as well. Because men have ceased to be men. Now let me show you. I want you to turn with me to 1 Corinthians 11. I'm going to show you some principles. I want you to mark them down in your Bibles as well as in your mind and heart. Look in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Here is God's orderly way. Here is what God has designed. Here is God's hierarchy. 1 Corinthians 11 in verse 3. "But I would have you to know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God."

God's Orderly Hierarchy

Scripture establishes a clear hierarchy: God, Christ, man, woman. Men are to lead in the home and church; women are to be in subjection and silence in the church assembly.

So let me put it to you like this. Watch my hand. Here it is. Here is God. Here is Christ. Here is man, here is woman. So the head of the woman is the man, and the head of the man is Christ, and the head of Christ would be God the Father.

Now, let me show you. We understand that. Look, if you would, at verses 4 and 5. Watch verse 4 and 5. "Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head." Well, who is the head of man? Christ. Verse 5. "But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoreth her head." Who is that? That's her husband. "For that is even all one as if she were shaven. For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered." So in Bible times, if you were a prostitute, you shaved your head. So, he said, if it's a shame, do not dishonor your head, and ladies, your husband is your head, and men, Jesus Christ is your head. That's what the Bible says.

Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to 1 Timothy, and as you turn there, I want to make a statement. A man may dishonor his head, who is the Lord Jesus Christ, and the woman may dishonor her head, who is her husband, and we do dishonor our heads when we deviate from God's orderly way. A rebellious and recalcitrant woman dishonors her husband. A rebellious and recalcitrant husband dishonors Jesus Christ. A rebellious and recalcitrant child dishonors his parents, who are his head. Now, I want you to look in 1 Timothy chapter 3, and notice if you would please, verse 15 to begin with. Because this is the theme of 1 Timothy.

It is how to behave yourself in the house of God. Okay? Look at it. 1 Timothy 3 verse 15. He said,

Scripture Reading — 1 Timothy 3:15

"But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of truth."

So Paul wrote this passage to Timothy, who was a pastor, so that everybody there would know how to behave themselves in church, in the house of God. Now, we need to know how to behave ourselves in church. So, look if you would in 1 Timothy chapter 2. Let's begin reading there with verse 8, and we'll read through verse 15. I'll cover some of this more next week, but look now. 1 Timothy chapter 2, verse 8.

Scripture Reading — 1 Timothy 2:8-15

"I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting. In like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety, not with broidered hair or gold or pearls or costly array, but which becometh women professing godliness with good works. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence." "For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding, she shall be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith and charity with holiness and sobriety."

Now, here's some questions. I want you to look at this. He said in verse 11,

Scripture Reading — 1 Timothy 2:8-15

"Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection."

Then he said,

Scripture Reading — 1 Timothy 2:8-15

"But I suffer not a woman to teach nor usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence."

Remember 1 Timothy 3 verse 15.

how to behave yourself in the house of God. So here's my questions. How can a woman pastor, teach, or lead in the church when she is to be in silence? How can she be in subjection if she is leading men? How can she teach, preach, or lead without usurping authority over men? It's impossible.

Now we're talking about the church of Jesus Christ. That does not mean that I can't listen to Effie in her home or in my home and listen to the things that she could teach me. I could listen to her all day long. She's at least two weeks older than I am. I'm sure she knows a little more than I do about some things. You see, she could teach me. I'm not too stupid not to listen to someone who knows what they're talking about. But there's a big difference between me listening to her in her home or in my home or in somewhere else than in church. A big difference. So he says no.

Now I want you to look in 1 Timothy because Paul gives three reasons as to why women should not have positions of authority in church. The very first one is because of the creation order. Look at it if you would please in verse 13.

Scripture Reading — 1 Timothy 2:8-15

"For Adam was first formed, then Eve."

That's the creation order. By the way, if you go back to 1 Corinthians 11, don't turn there, I'm just going to mention this. The Bible tells you very pointedly that the man was not created for the woman, but the woman was created for the man. God created Adam first, that's what he's saying. That's why the man should lead. The man is God's first creation. God created the man to lead and He created the woman to follow. It's just that simple.

And by the way, when the roles got reversed in the Garden of Eden, we had the fall. Okay? Now, here's the second reason. Look at it in verse 14. "For Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." So, here's the second reason then women were not to rule in church and have authority in church, etc. Not only because of the creation order, but because the woman was deceived.

Scripture Reading — 1 Timothy 2:8-15

Now it is true that sin came into the world by man, because God had entered into the covenant with Adam. And although Eve did sin first, and then thirdly, he points out in verse 15, that the woman's role is in the home, in obedience, in holiness, in childbearing, living in faith and sobriety. And incidentally, the word "sobriety" has absolutely nothing to do with drinking alcohol. The word "sobriety" refers to soundness of mind and self-control. Are you listening? So therefore, according to 1 Timothy, a woman then who wants to rule in the church, and run the church, and rule in the home, and run the home, is normally out of control. She's out of her mind.

That's what the Bible says. She is to live with sobriety. Now let me show you something else. Turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 14. Look at it. 1 Corinthians chapter 14 at verses 34 and 35. I'll deal with this in a few minutes, but look at it. 1 Corinthians 14 verse 34. I don't see how it could get any plainer. "Let your women keep silence in the churches, for it is not permitted unto them to speak."

"But they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. Now watch this. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home, for it is a shame for a woman to speak in the church." Now, why in the world would God say this? Because he wants the man to be the head of the house. Man, the man has the responsibility to study, to learn, and to teach his wife, and to teach his children. I've had men come to me and say, "My wife asked me this question, I don't know the answer." I said, "Well, I'll tell you the answer. And you tell your wife." Let me tell you something.

All this means is this. Alice has asked me some things in times past, and I would have to say, "I don't know. But I'll find out." I can do the research. I can do the study. And I can come back and tell her the answer. All the Lord is trying to do is saying, look, men, you are to be the leaders in your home. It's your responsibility to teach your wives, to lead your wives, and teach your children, and to lead your children.

So, here are some questions. In light of these, where are the men that are willing to fight? Where are the men that are willing to stand and exercise courage and determination in order to get our churches, our homes, our society, and our governments under biblical control? Hmm. Where are the men that are willing to be the heads of their homes? Where are the men that are willing to lead, to love, and to care for their wives and their children? Where are the men that are willing to take the time to learn so that they can educate their wives and their children? Where are the men that are ready, willing, and able to fight for that which is right and holy?

Practical Applications for Men

Men must fight spiritually for their families, teach them God's Word, avoid sending children to godless schools, and be role models of godly manhood, starting with reclaiming the home.

Where is our warrior spirit? Where is our soldierly spirit? Let me show you. Look in your Bibles one more time here to Ephesians chapter 5. Watch this carefully. Ephesians chapter 5. Beginning there with verse 22. Most of you know this passage, but look at it in this light. Ephesians 5 verse 22 the Bible says, "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord." Why should a wife submit herself to her husband? "For the husband is the head of the wife," there it is again, "even as Christ is the head of the church and he's the savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it." So the wife then, in her marital role, is to picture the church and the church's submission to her head, to Jesus Christ. The husband, in the marital role, is to picture the love of Jesus Christ for his bride in sacrificing himself for her.

Skip down, if you would, to verse 33. After he tells you all of this, he says, "Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself. And the wife see that she reverence her husband." So where are the men then that will love their wives as Christ loved the church? Where are the men that will love their wives as they love themselves? Where are the men that will love their wives in such a way that it will be easy and desirable for the wife to submit to them? Where are the men that will live their lives and love their wives in such a way that it will be easy for the wife to reverence her husband? Where are the real men? Where are the men that are ready to defend their wives, their children, their families, and their homes? Where are the men that will be ready to fight, to provide and produce holy, godly, and obedient families? In Nehemiah chapter 4 and verse 14, when the enemy was about to attack, here's what Nehemiah said.

He gave this command concerning the enemies. He said, "Be not ye afraid of them. Remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses." Fight. You have to have a fighting spirit.

Now, let me make some applications. I want you to think with me. If you as a man would fight physically for the defense of your wife and your children, why would you not fight spiritually for your wife and your children? Do not send them to church. Take them to church. Do not tell them to pray. You teach them to pray and pray with them. Do not tell them to read the Bible. You read the Bible with them. Do not wait for someone else to teach them the Word of God. You teach them the Word of God. That is why, as we read earlier in 1 Corinthians 14 verse 35, if the woman wants to know anything, let her ask the husband. It is his responsibility to know and to learn. If he does not have the answer, he can get the answer and teach his wife and teach his children. Here's another one. Listen to me carefully. Do not give your children to Moloch. Do not give your children to governmental indoctrination.

I don't care how many times you call it a public school. It is not a public school. It is a governmental indoctrination center. I just watched again last night. I see it every week. Here are some parents standing up. This lady happened to be, I think, in New York. And she was standing before the school board and she, I could not help but agree with her, she called the school board members liars and traitors.

And she was attacking the critical race theory and the LGBT program and all of this other stuff that they were teaching. My fault was this lady. Why in the world do you have your children in that school anyhow? Get them out! I've got news for you folks. I may not be the brightest individual in the world, but I know enough to teach my children. I know enough to teach my grandchildren. I know enough to teach my great-grandchildren.

And I'll be honest with you. What we have done today in the public school system is we have sired a generation of functional illiterates. They can't read, they can't reason, they can't think, they can't count. Years ago, I went to a hardware store to buy something and here's this young man, he had this big graduation ring on his hand. I bought some little something, I don't know what it was. I gave him a $20 bill and he gave me my change. And he gave me two bucks too much. And I looked at it and said, "Son, that's not right." He said, "Oh, I'm sorry." And he handed me two more bucks. I said, "No, you don't understand. You gave me two bucks too much to begin with." He couldn't even count. He could not make change. You remember some years ago in California, there was a young man who sued the state of California and the public school system, because they graduated him from high school and he couldn't even read. I just read where one young man graduated. He graduated, I think, in the top one-third of his class. He couldn't read, he couldn't do anything.

Finally, they started him back somewhere in the ninth grade, I think. All I'm saying is, look, folks, you can teach your children biblical principles. You can teach them what's right. You can teach them to work. You can teach them what they need in life. I'm not saying that you're never going to need algebra. You might need algebra. I'm not going to say that you never need geometry. You may need it sometime, depending on what you're going to do. But the truth of the matter is this, most people can function and live and work and never use some of the subjects that's crammed down your throat

in a public school anyhow. All I'm saying is I had rather have my child grow up with common sense and common decency and biblical knowledge and principles than to have 40 PhDs hanging out his ear from some institute that does not teach anything. Don't give your kids to Moloch. Here's the last one. Remember that any trash can float downstream. It takes something with a backbone to go against the current. We cannot just give in. We cannot give up.

We have to learn to think. We have to learn to plan. We have to learn to prepare. We have to learn to be real men. And listen, men, your wives and your children need a role model and it should be you. It should be you. That young man should say, "I want to be just like my daddy." And that young daughter ought to say, "I want to marry a man just like daddy." Be a real man.

And I'm going to tell you something. We will never take back our society. We will never take back our churches. We will never take back our government until we take back our homes. You have to have a starting point. And that starting point has to be the home. In today's society and political correctness, they're trying to destroy the home, the man, the head, the family. Don't let it happen. Be a real man. Do what is right and holy and godly and be a man of your word.

Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. And we ask, Lord, that You would indeed build us up in the most holy faith. Help us, Lord, to be holy and godly. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Biblical Manhood

Summary: Real men are defined by honor, character, integrity, and keeping their word, not by age or physical strength.

Evidence: He says, 'Real men are few and far between. And when I talk about real men, I'm talking about men of honor, character, and integrity, men that give their word, men that keep their word, and men that will stay true to their word regardless of the consequences and the situation.'

Necessity of a Personal Relationship with Christ

Summary: Only a personal relationship with Jesus Christ can make a man whole, complete, and willing to be a man in every situation.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'It's only the Lord Jesus Christ who is able to make a man whole and complete. It's only the Lord Jesus Christ who can make a man willing to be a man in every area of his life, regardless of the situation and regardless of the circumstances.'

The Christian Life as Warfare

Summary: Believers are called to be soldiers who endure hardship and fight the good fight of faith with a determined, non-belligerent fighting spirit.

Evidence: He cites 2 Timothy 2:3-4 and 1 Timothy 6:12, saying, 'Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ... Fight the good fight of faith.'

Male Leadership and God's Hierarchy

Summary: God has ordained a hierarchy of authority: God, Christ, man, woman. Men are to lead in the home and church, and women are to be in subjection.

Evidence: He references 1 Corinthians 11:3, 'But I would have you to know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God.'

Judgment Through Female and Child Rule

Summary: When women and children rule over men in society and the church, it is a sign of God's judgment due to men's failure to lead.

Evidence: He reads Isaiah 3:12, 'As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.'

Reclaiming the Home as the Starting Point

Summary: Men must first reclaim their homes by leading, teaching, and protecting their families before they can reclaim the church and society.

Evidence: He says, 'We will never take back our society. We will never take back our churches. We will never take back our government until we take back our homes.'

Key Arguments

Manhood is not automatic with age

Summary: Maturity and wisdom do not necessarily come with age; many older people are foolish and only wise in doing evil.

Evidence: He quotes Job 32:9 and Jeremiah 4:22, saying, 'Great men are not always wise... They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.'

True gallantry requires Christ

Summary: One cannot fight efficiently or die gallantly without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, as illustrated by the contrasting deaths of Captain Harrison and Voltaire.

Evidence: He says, 'It is impossible for a man to fight efficiently and die gallantly without the Lord Jesus Christ.'

A fighting spirit is biblical and necessary

Summary: The Bible commands believers to fight the good fight of faith and endure hardness as soldiers; a fighting spirit is not belligerence but determination to do right.

Evidence: He explains, 'By a fighting spirit, I mean that one is able, he's willing, and he's determined to do that which is right and to do that which is holy under every circumstance and under every situation.'

God is a man of war

Summary: Scripture portrays God as a warrior who delivers His people through war, and Jesus Christ will make war in righteousness.

Evidence: He cites Exodus 15:3, 'The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name,' and Revelation 19:11.

Women ruling over men is a sign of judgment

Summary: Isaiah 3:12 shows that when women and children rule, it is because men have abdicated their God-given roles, resulting in societal decay.

Evidence: He states, 'When you have a society, when you have a church, where women and children are ruling over the men, it is the judgment of God.'

Women are prohibited from teaching or having authority in the church

Summary: 1 Timothy 2:11-14 and 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 clearly teach that women are to be silent in the church and not usurp authority over men.

Evidence: He reads, 'Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.'

Men must teach their families

Summary: Men are responsible to learn and teach their wives and children God's Word, rather than delegating that duty to the church or others.

Evidence: He says, 'Do not tell them to read the Bible. You read the Bible with them. Do not wait for someone else to teach them the Word of God. You teach them the Word of God.'

Public schools are indoctrination centers

Summary: Parents should not send their children to public schools, which he calls 'governmental indoctrination centers' that teach ungodly ideologies.

Evidence: He warns, 'Do not give your children to Moloch. Do not give your children to governmental indoctrination.'

Scripture References

1 Corinthians 16:13

Context: The primary text for the series: 'Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.'

Psalm 15:4

Context: Describes a godly man who 'sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not,' illustrating integrity.

John 1:6, 23

Context: John the Baptist as an example of a man sent from God, solitary, separated, and straightening.

Job 32:9

Context: Great men are not always wise, nor do the aged always understand judgment.

Jeremiah 4:22

Context: God's people are foolish, wise to do evil but have no knowledge to do good, because they do not know Him.

Romans 9:6

Context: Not all Israel are of Israel; outward covenant without personal relationship leads to wickedness.

2 Timothy 2:3-4

Context: Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ; do not entangle with affairs of this life.

1 Timothy 6:12

Context: Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life.

Ephesians 6:10-18

Context: The armor of God provided for spiritual warfare.

1 Timothy 3:3

Context: A pastor must not be a striker or brawler, but patient.

2 Timothy 2:24-25

Context: The servant of the Lord must not strive but be gentle, apt to teach, patient.

Psalm 94:16

Context: Who will rise up for me against the evildoers?

Amos 5:15

Context: Hate the evil, love the good, and establish justice in the gate.

Exodus 15:3

Context: The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name.

Deuteronomy 4:34

Context: God brought Israel out of Egypt by war, signs, and wonders.

Revelation 19:11

Context: Christ makes war in righteousness.

Isaiah 3:1-12

Context: Judgment on Judah: children oppress, women rule, because men have failed.

1 Corinthians 11:3-5

Context: The head of every man is Christ, the head of the woman is the man, the head of Christ is God.

1 Timothy 3:15

Context: The theme of 1 Timothy: how to behave in the house of God.

1 Timothy 2:8-15

Context: Men to pray; women to learn in silence, not teach or usurp authority; reasons from creation order and deception.

Historical References

Joshua Gilbert Holland

Context: Quoted his poem 'God Give Us Men' as a call for men of honor and integrity.

Captain Dabney Carr Harrison

Context: Confederate officer, pastor, and chaplain who died gallantly at Fort Donaldson, exemplifying fearlessness in death because of his faith in Christ.

Voltaire

Context: Noted French infidel who died in horror, crying 'There is a God!' contrasting with the gallant death of a believer.

George Muller, George Whitfield, David Livingstone, William Carey, Adoniram Judson

Context: Examples of fighting men of determination and courage who built institutions and advanced civilization.

Important Quotes

Real men are few and far between. And when I talk about real men, I'm talking about men of honor, character, and integrity, men that give their word, men that keep their word, and men that will stay true to their word regardless of the consequences and the situation.

Significance: Defines the core attributes of biblical manhood that the sermon seeks to restore.

It's only the Lord Jesus Christ who is able to make a man whole and complete. It's only the Lord Jesus Christ who can make a man willing to be a man in every area of his life, regardless of the situation and regardless of the circumstances.

Significance: Emphasizes that true manhood is impossible without a personal relationship with Christ.

By a fighting spirit, I mean that one is able, he's willing, and he's determined to do that which is right and to do that which is holy under every circumstance and under every situation.

Significance: Clarifies the biblical concept of a fighting spirit as righteous determination, not belligerence.

We have become emasculated, feminized, subsidized, and horrified into inaction and displaying any courage whatsoever. We are fearful, we're unbelieving, we're cowardly, we're timorous, we're chicken-hearted, we're gutless, we're pusillanimous, we're spineless, we're lily-livered, we're quaking jellyfish with no backbone, and we refuse to stand for anything.

Significance: A strong lament over the modern condition of men who have lost their courage and conviction.

When you have a society, when you have a church, where women and children are ruling over the men, it is the judgment of God.

Significance: Interprets the societal shift in gender roles as a direct consequence of divine judgment for male abdication.

We will never take back our society. We will never take back our churches. We will never take back our government until we take back our homes.

Significance: Identifies the home as the foundational battleground for cultural and spiritual reformation.

Do not give your children to Moloch. Do not give your children to governmental indoctrination.

Significance: A stark warning against sending children to public schools, equating it with pagan child sacrifice.

Discussion Questions

How does the definition of a 'real man' in this sermon (honor, character, integrity, keeping one's word) challenge or affirm your own understanding of manhood?

Context: Weaver defines real men as those who keep their word even to their own hurt, citing Psalm 15:4.

In what ways does a personal relationship with Jesus Christ enable a man to be 'whole and complete' and to act with courage in all areas of life?

Context: Weaver argues that only Christ can make a man willing to be a man in every situation.

What is the difference between a biblical 'fighting spirit' and being quarrelsome or belligerent? How can we cultivate the former without falling into the latter?

Context: Weaver distinguishes between a determined commitment to righteousness and a contentious attitude.

How should the biblical hierarchy of God-Christ-man-woman (1 Corinthians 11:3) practically shape relationships in the home and church today?

Context: Weaver expounds on the headship principle and its implications for male leadership and female submission.

Do you agree that the prevalence of women and children ruling over men in society is a sign of God's judgment? Why or why not?

Context: Weaver interprets Isaiah 3:12 as a judgment passage applicable to modern times.

What are some practical steps men can take to reclaim their role as spiritual leaders in their homes, especially in teaching their wives and children?

Context: Weaver urges men to personally teach their families the Bible rather than delegating that responsibility.

How should Christians evaluate the public school system in light of Weaver's warning against 'governmental indoctrination'? What alternatives might be considered?

Context: Weaver calls public schools indoctrination centers and warns against giving children to Moloch.

Applications

Cultivate Personal Integrity

Summary: Men should be men of their word, keeping promises even when it is costly, reflecting the character of a godly man.

Evidence: He says, 'He sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not' (Psalm 15:4) and emphasizes that real men keep their word regardless of consequences.

Develop a Fighting Spirit for Righteousness

Summary: Men must be determined to do what is right and holy in every situation, not giving in to pressure or fear.

Evidence: He defines a fighting spirit as being 'able, willing, and determined to do that which is right and to do that which is holy under every circumstance.'

Lead Your Family Spiritually

Summary: Men should take the initiative to teach their wives and children the Bible, pray with them, and lead them to church rather than sending them.

Evidence: He commands, 'Do not send them to church. Take them to church... You teach them the Word of God.'

Reclaim the Home as the Foundation

Summary: Men must start by taking back their homes through godly leadership before they can influence the church and society.

Evidence: He states, 'We will never take back our society... until we take back our homes.'

Protect Children from Ungodly Influences

Summary: Parents should remove their children from public schools that promote anti-biblical ideologies and instead teach them at home or in godly environments.

Evidence: He warns, 'Do not give your children to Moloch. Do not give your children to governmental indoctrination.'

Be a Role Model of Godly Manhood

Summary: Men should live in such a way that their sons want to be like them and their daughters want to marry men like them.

Evidence: He says, 'That young man should say, I want to be just like my daddy. And that young daughter ought to say, I want to marry a man just like daddy.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T21:34:25Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T13:29:24Z

Clean Transcript

Where Are The Real Men - Part 2 of 3

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

All right. Well, let's open our Bibles today to 1 Corinthians chapter 16 and verse 13. For those of you who were not here last Sunday, I started a brief series, a three-part message on where are the real men. Some months ago, I preached a message on where are the real women. And I was asked several times by women as well as men when I was going to preach this series. So I was actually going to do it in one message and found out that I could not. So today we're going to be looking at the second part of where are the real men. And it's 1 Corinthians chapter 16, verse 13, a very simple, straightforward verse where God says, "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong." Now, I have expounded this passage in another message, so I'm not necessarily going to be expounding all of this today, but I do want to take that principle where he said, "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith." And notice this, I'm going to comment on it.
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He says, "Quit you like men, be strong." Real men are few and far between. And when I talk about real men, I'm talking about men of honor, character, and integrity, men that give their word, men that keep their word, and men that will stay true to their word regardless of the consequences and the situation. One of the characteristics that is mentioned of a godly man is found in Psalm 15 and verse 4, where God said, "He sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not." So here's a man who gives his word for his bond, and when he finds out that it's going to hurt him a little bit, he still keeps it anyhow. So written contracts at one time were unnecessary. Men just simply gave their word, they shook hands, the deal was clenched, and it was just simply done. Because they were indeed men of honor, character, and integrity. But today you have very few men like that. In last week's message, I quoted from Joshua Gilbert Holland, and I want to give that again just simply by way of review.
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He wrote this: "God give us men. A time like this demands strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and ready hands. Men whom the lust of office does not kill. Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy. Men who possess opinions and a will. Men who have honor. Men who will not lie. Men who can stand before demagogue and damn his treacherous flatteries without winking, tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog in public duty and in private thinking, for while the rabble with their thumb-worn creeds, their large professions and their little deeds, mingle in selfish strife, low freedom weeps, wrong rules the land, and waiting justice sleeps." And certainly he is dead on and correct there. Everything that he said is true and everything certainly is needed today.
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I pointed out last week about John the Baptist and from John 1 in verse 6 where the Bible says, "There was a man sent from God whose name was John." So I took that phrase "there was a man" and I pointed out how God used John the Baptist and then the characteristics of him because when they sent to John and asked who he was, he said in verse 23, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah." So I pointed out, first of all, he was indeed a solitary man. He was the voice of one. Secondly, he was a separated man. He was crying out in the wilderness. And thirdly, he was a straightening man. He said, "Make straight."
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In other words, real men straighten things out. They do not let problems linger and linger. They try to resolve them in a biblical manner. And then fourthly, I pointed out that he was a saving man, not that he could save anything or anyone of himself. But the Bible says when he spoke, men followed Jesus Christ. And certainly he was able to point them then to the one who was indeed able to save.
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I suppose that one of our greatest failures in modern day society is that we have tried to equate manhood either with age or physique. Maturity does not necessarily come with age. I've seen plenty of grown people that acted like little children and I've seen plenty of grown folks that acted like little teenagers or trying to. But maturity does not necessarily come with age and neither does wisdom. It was Elihu who said in Job chapter 32 in verse 9, "Great men are not always wise." Listen to this: "Neither do the aged understand judgment." So great men are not always wise and neither do men always understand judgment. That is for sure. Moreover, oftentimes with age you do have some knowledge, but it's usually knowledge in evil and wickedness. Let me give you a verse in Jeremiah chapter 4 and verse 22. I want you to listen. God said, "For my people are foolish, and they have not known me. They are sottish children, and they have none understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge."
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Now it's interesting, God said, "For my people are foolish, they have not known me, they are sottish children." The Hebrew word for "sottish" there literally means to have done foolishness, or to turn into foolishness, or to make foolish, or to play the fool. So actually, he says, "For my people are foolish, they have not known me, they are playing the fool." And then he says this, "They have no understanding, they're wise to do evil, but to do good they have no understanding at all." So, the reason they were sottish children, the reason they were wise to do evil, the reason they were rebellious, this was because he said, "They have not known me."
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Now, let me point something out. Israel was in an outward covenant with God. But although they were in an external outward covenant, they certainly were not in an internal personal covenant. That's why I said in Romans 9 in verse 5, "They are not all Israel who are of Israel." And so these people were in an external covenant, but yet did not have a personal intimate relationship with him.
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Therefore, they were sinful, wicked, and rebellious. May I point out that truth is applicable today. When you look around at most church members, there are a lot of people that are in an external or outward covenant in the sense that they are members of a particular church. I've been in church buildings where they had church creeds and church statements and church covenants on the wall. And when you join that church, you agree to that certain covenant. And yet at the same time, people are not necessarily in a personal, intimate, covenantal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And consequently they're foolish.
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They have no understanding and they continue to sin and commit wickedness as well. So being in an external outward covenant does not save anyone, and it certainly does not make anyone wise to do good.
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Now, there's a bumper sticker that I've seen many, many years ago, and I'm sure they're still around today. But the bumper sticker just simply said this: "Real men love Jesus."
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Now, I believe that is absolutely true. But I want you to understand something. When I say that real men love Jesus Christ, I am not saying that an unsaved man cannot be moral, civil, kind, and generous. But I am saying that with every good characteristic and attribute that you find in him, there will always be something missing, and that something is a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, because it's only the Lord Jesus Christ who is able to make a man whole and complete. It's only the Lord Jesus Christ who can make a man willing to be a man in every area of his life, regardless of the situation and regardless of the circumstances.
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Let me give you an illustration. This was by Lazarus Long. You will see Alice smile, and you will understand it just momentarily. But he's talking about men, and here's what he said. First of all, a man should be able to change a diaper. Well, I've done that one time. So I fulfilled that part, Francis. I tell you what, I can put my hands in a deer, I can pull out blood, guts, and everything.
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It doesn't bother me at all. But the one time I was left alone with our first child, and I had to change that dirty diaper, and I got the dry heaves and gagged, I thought, never ever again will I do this. I'm so thankful the Lord made women, I can assure you. But let me finish this. But I did it one time, okay? But it was a necessity. Alright, here we go. It says a man should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, con a ship, that is control the movements of a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze
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a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, and die gallantly. Isn't that amazing? And while I agree with the basic premise of everything that Lazarus Long has said, I've got to ask this question. What in the world is it that will enable a man to be able to do all of these things? And the answer has to come back: It is a man who has been converted and brought into a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ who wants to do everything for the honor and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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So let me put it to you like this as well. It is impossible for a man to fight efficiently and die gallantly without the Lord Jesus Christ. That is certainly true. In fact, there was a Confederate officer by the name of Captain Dabney Carr Harrison. This Confederate officer, Captain Harrison, was a Christian, of course, but he was also a pastor, he was a professor, he was also a chaplain, and he was a soldier. He was the captain of Company K.
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His men respected him greatly and they said to him one day, quote, "You should be better and braver than the rest of us." After he had exhibited some fearlessness in battle, I should say, in battle. And he asked why so? Because they said, "You have everything settled for eternity. You have nothing to fear after death." He replied, "Well, gentlemen, you're right. Everything is settled for eternity, and I have nothing to fear." And he exemplified that fearlessness at Fort Donaldson. At Fort Donaldson, he had four bullets to pass through his hat, one grazed his temple, and the fifth one entered into his lung, from which he eventually died shortly thereafter.
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Before he died on February the 16th, 1862, on Sunday, he wrote in his diary, "I die content and happy, trusting in the merits of my Savior, Jesus Christ, committing my wife and my children to their father and mine." Soon thereafter, he dropped off into a very deep sleep. His friends, his family were around him, and all of a sudden, it seemed like, was startled from that sleep, and he sat erect in his bed, and he shouted, "Company K, you have no captain now. Never give up. Never surrender." And with that, someone took him and gently laid him back in bed, and he died just shortly thereafter. But here was a man who died very gallantly. He fought very efficiently. But you cannot do that apart from the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Now, there's an interesting book that some of you may have read. And it's called "Death Beds of Great Men." And you read about Voltaire, the noted French infidel. And he had gathered all of his friends around so they could watch how a great infidel dies. And he was lying back on that bed and just before he was taking his last breath, he sat straight up in bed with a look of horror in his eyes. With screaming horror in his voice, he shouted to the top of his lungs, "There is a God!" and fell back dead.
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No, he did not die very gallantly. You cannot do these things apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. There may be a false bravado, but there is no real gallantry except through Jesus Christ.
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Now, I want you to look back at verse 13. I want you to pay close attention to this. The Bible says, "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong."
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Now, the word for "men" in the Greek is a very special word. It's the word "andridzomai," and it literally means to make like a man, to make brave, to show oneself a man, and to be brave.
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Now, it should be obvious that everything around verse 13 is couched in military terminology. "Watch ye," that's a military command. "Stand fast," that's a military command. "Quit you like men," that's a military command. "Be strong," that's a military command. So over and over, each one of these statements or commands are from the military.
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Now, I don't know if you've ever noticed this or not, but as you read through the Bible, you're going to find that the Christian life is often compared to that of a soldier or a warrior. So I want you to hold 1 Corinthians 16, but look in your Bibles to 2 Timothy chapter 2 at verses 2 and 3. 2 Timothy chapter 2. Notice if you would please verses 2 and 3. Here's what the Bible says. 2 Timothy chapter 2 beginning there with verse 2. Well, let's read verse 3. It's verse 3 and 4, what I want. Watch this. 2 Timothy 2 verse 3, "Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier." Now notice it, "Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." Now the word "hardness" relates to hardships.
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afflictions, trouble, tribulations, even wounds. Soldiers are often without food, without water, without medication. So he says endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
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Now he goes on to say if we're going to be a good soldier we're not going to entangle ourselves with the affairs of this life, that is we're not going to get overly involved. Why? Because we want to please Him who has chosen us to be a good soldier.
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Now, interestingly, when you read through the Bible and you find out here is this picture of a Christian being a soldier and being a warrior, you would have to understand that pacifism is unbiblical. A pacifism or pacifistic attitude means that you're not willing to fight. You're not going to fight. In fact, that's what the Pacific Ocean stands for, peaceful. Years ago, I was preaching in Indiana, and I was dealing with Romans 13 and several other passages like this.
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And when I got through, I had a young man come up to me with his wife and children. And he said, "I just wanted you to know I disagree with something you said." I said, "Well, that's wonderful. What is it that you disagree with? Maybe maybe you're right. Maybe I'm wrong. What is it?" Well, he said, "I don't think you should ever fight under any circumstances." "Really?" I said, "Well, let me ask you a question. If someone broke into your house attempting to rape your wife and or murder your children, what would you do?" He said, "Well, I'd go off in another room and I'd pray about it." I said, "Sir, I got one thing to say for you. I'm so thankful I'm not your wife and I'm not your child. If that's your attitude, fine. No, no, no."
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Did you notice, if you would, in fact, look back in 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 12. Just a page over. 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 12. Look what Paul told Timothy. "Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses." No, he said fight the good fight of faith. How in the world can you be a pacifist and not fight the good fight of faith? I mean obviously there is a spiritual fighting, there's a moral fighting, there's a mental fighting, there's an emotional fighting, there's a physical fighting as well. But Paul tells him to fight the good fight of faith. Moreover, when you get to Ephesians chapter 6 verses 10 through 18, Paul gives us the armor that God has provided. Why in the world would God provide armor if he did not expect us to fight? Obviously we have to understand that in the Bible there is such a thing as a fighting spirit. Now let me explain something. When I say that in the Bible
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there is a fighting spirit, that doesn't mean that one has to be cantankerous, onerous, belligerent, and with a bullying attitude. That's not what I mean by a fighting spirit. And people like that are just wicked and wrong. By a fighting spirit, I mean that one is able, he's willing, and he's determined to do that which is right and to do that which is holy under every circumstance and under every situation.
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Nothing is going to deter him. Nothing is going to stop him. He has a fighting spirit.
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Now, let me show you something. Look in your Bibles to 1 Timothy 3. Because when you get to this passage, you have a passage that relates particularly to elders or to pastors. Without me reading all of it, but I just want to deal with one verse right here. He says in 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 3, we're talking about the pastor. He's not to be given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous. Now, when it says he's not to be given to wine, it means he's not to use wine as an excuse.
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"Well, I didn't do this because I had too much to drink. I didn't do this because I had an extra glass of wine and I forgot." In other words, none unknown. Now, that is out. He says, "Not given to wine," watch, "no striker." In other words, "striker" refers to one that is pugnacious. A pugnacious individual is someone that's ready to fight at the drop of a hat and he's willing to drop the hat just so he can fight. And then he goes on to say, look at it in verse 3, "no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler." Now a brawler is someone who actually goes around looking for a fight. He's a bruiser. He's a fighter. All he wants to do is fight.
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I have known men, still know men, that before they were converted, that was their passion. They just loved to fight. I have one friend now, before he was converted, he used to visit bars regularly. He would drink something every now and then. But he did not go to a bar to drink. He went to a bar to fight. He just loved fighting. And he would always pick on the biggest man in the bar. Always. So, I'm just simply saying, this is what the word "brawler" means. A brawler is someone who's always just simply looking for a fight.
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Now, I want you to look, if you would, in 2 Timothy chapter 2. Here's another thing. 2 Timothy chapter 2. Look at verse 24. Again, we're talking about the pastor. The Bible says, "And the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient." And then here's why in verse 25, "...in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, if God, peradventure, will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth." Now, note if you would, "...and the servant of the Lord must not strive."
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Now the word "strive" refers to a contentious, angry, and quarrelsome spirit. One who strives is someone who is looking for an argument. He is looking for a contest. He is someone who thinks that I have the upper hand, I have the knowledge, I have the position, and I want to engage someone in this contest just so that I can win. I know many pastors like that. You see, the problem is this. While some of them will say what they're really trying to do is contend for the faith, what they're trying to do is to pick an argument, pick a fight, get a contest going so that they can show their wisdom, their knowledge, so that they can dominate. And if you do not submit to them and if you do not agree with them, they get angry so quickly and cut you off and it's over with.
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But the Bible says, "not a striver." Now it's interesting that although the Bible says the pastor is not to be a striker, not to be a brawler, not one that strives, yet the Apostle Paul tells us that we are to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul tells us that we are to fight the good fight of faith. So evidently it is possible to have a fighting spirit without being quarrelsome and contentious, and belligerent, and bullying, and hateful, and ugly, and angry.
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Now, may I remind you of some of the message that I preached last week about John the Baptist. Because John the Baptist certainly had a fighting spirit. Because when those Sadducees and Pharisees and Herodians came to his baptism, he called them a generation of vipers. He said, "O generation of vipers, who have warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" So he called out the religious denominations, the religious leaders. He called out the political leaders.
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That's why he said to Herod, to his face, "It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife." Now, the point I'm trying to make, we're so different today. We're so different from a man of 100 years ago. We have become emasculated, feminized, subsidized, and horrified into inaction and displaying any courage whatsoever. We are fearful, we're unbelieving, we're cowardly, we're timorous, we're chicken-hearted, we're gutless, we're pusillanimous, we're spineless, we're lily-livered, we're quaking jellyfish with no backbone, and we refuse to stand for anything. That's modern-day males.
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Do not try to tell me that all fighting is wrong. It is not. Do not try to tell me that all war is wrong. It is not. Certainly there is an unbiblical warfare. And certainly there is an unbiblical fighting. But in Psalm 94 and verse 16, God asks, "Who will rise up for me against the workers of iniquity? Who will stand up for me against the evildoers?" Who's going to rise up? Who's going to stand? And then he asks in Amos 5 in verse 15, "Hate the evil and love the good and establish justice in the gate." And may I remind you that in Exodus chapter 15 and verse 3, God, the sovereign, holy, righteous God of the universe is called a man of war. The Bible says in Exodus 15 and verse 3, "The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name." And may I remind you of something else: it was by war that God delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt. Deuteronomy chapter 4 in verse 34 the Bible says this: "Or hath God
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assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes." But notice he said he brought them out by war. So one could spend hours just going through the Bible looking at the doctrine of war. In fact, some of you will remember I have 15 messages on the biblical doctrine of war. Read through the Bible and you will see how God has used war constantly. It was through war that Abraham brought Lot back and delivered him and conquered the enemy. It was through war that God delivered Israel from Egypt. It was through war that Canaan land was conquered. It was through war that David conquered all the enemies round about. And it's going to be by war that our Lord Jesus Christ is totally, completely victorious and successful. For I hope you'll remember in Revelation 19 and verse 11, the Bible said, "And I saw heaven open, listen, and behold a white horse, and him that sat upon him is called faithful and true, and
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in righteousness doth he judge and make war." Jesus Christ makes war. Our God is a man of war. Yes. There is some fighting that is unbiblical. There is some war that is unbiblical. But fighting and war are not necessarily unbiblical in and of themselves. So if we fight, and if we have a fighting spirit, if we war, if we are warriors, if we are soldiers, we must do so in accordance with the Word of God, with the rules, with the standards, with the principles that God has laid down. So let me just say this very plainly, we need a fighting spirit. It was a fighting spirit that conquered the wilderness. It was a fighting spirit that civilized the heathen. It was a fighting spirit that built civilization. It was a fighting spirit that established institutions of learning, orphanages and hospitals.
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If you don't believe this, just read biographies of men like George Muller, if you would, George Whitfield, David Livingstone, William Carey, Adoniram Judson, and a host of others, because these were fighting men. They were men of determination, men of grit, men of courage, and they were not going to give in, and they were not going to give up, and they were not going to give out. When you look around today, there are very few men around that would be able to conquer a frontier. There are very few men around that will be able to change the course of society. There are very few men around that would be able to lead an army. Are you listening? There are very few men around who are able even to control their own homes, to lead their wives and their children. Men today have ceased to be men because we have abdicated our responsibilities, our obligations, and our duties. We have allowed our wives to run our homes, women to run our churches, and women and children to run our government.
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And when you stop and think about this, women control practically every aspect of society today. Let me show you a verse. I want you to hold 1 Corinthians, but I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Isaiah chapter 3. I want to read verse 12. And then I want to go back and show you the context of Isaiah 3. I want you to watch this. This is very telling.
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It is where Israel was. It is where we are. Look at Isaiah 3 and verse 12. God says, "As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err." That's women in this context, "and destroy the way of thy paths."
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Now, let me point something out. Verse 12 is in the context of judgment. To show you that, look in your Bibles, beginning there with verse 1 in Isaiah 3. I'm not against women. Please understand that. My wife is a woman. My mother was a woman. My daughters are women. But here it is. Look in Isaiah 3 verse 1, "For behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water." Now what else is he going to take away?
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"The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, the captain of fifty, and the honorable man, and the counselor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator, and I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them." Now let me just stop right there. There may be aged men and women in Congress, but they are children.
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They have no understanding of biblical principles. They have no understanding of constitutional principles. Watch it. He said, "And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them." And by the way, usually it's the children who rule in the home. Verse 5, "And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbor. The child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honorable."
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"When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand. And that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be a healer, for in my house is neither bread nor clothing. Make me not a ruler of the people, for Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen, because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory."
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"The show of their countenance doth witness against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul, for they have rewarded evil unto themselves. Say ye to the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked, it shall be ill with them, for the reward of his hand shall be given unto them."
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"As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths." So this passage in verse 12 deals with judgment. When you have a society, when you have a church, where women and children are ruling over the men, it is the judgment of God. Why does that happen? And the answer is, because men refuse to be men. They refuse to fulfill their duties, their roles, their responsibilities. I could point out, because I have been there, done this all my life, but if you will observe the black communities, the black communities are a matriarchal society. If you want something done from a black family, you speak to the woman because she's in charge.
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It's what it amounts to. It's gotten like that in the white community as well. Because men have ceased to be men.
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Now let me show you. I want you to turn with me to 1 Corinthians 11. I'm going to show you some principles. I want you to mark them down in your Bibles as well as in your mind and heart. Look in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Here is God's orderly way. Here is what God has designed. Here is God's hierarchy. 1 Corinthians 11 in verse 3. "But I would have you to know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God."
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So let me put it to you like this. Watch my hand. Here it is. Here is God. Here is Christ. Here is man, here is woman. So the head of the woman is the man, and the head of the man is Christ, and the head of Christ would be God the Father.
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Now, let me show you. We understand that. Look, if you would, at verses 4 and 5. Watch verse 4 and 5. "Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head." Well, who is the head of man? Christ. Verse 5. "But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoreth her head." Who is that? That's her husband. "For that is even all one as if she were shaven. For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered." So in Bible times, if you were a prostitute, you shaved your head. So, he said, if it's a shame, do not dishonor your head, and ladies, your husband is your head, and men, Jesus Christ is your head. That's what the Bible says.
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Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to 1 Timothy, and as you turn there, I want to make a statement. A man may dishonor his head, who is the Lord Jesus Christ, and the woman may dishonor her head, who is her husband, and we do dishonor our heads when we deviate from God's orderly way. A rebellious and recalcitrant woman dishonors her husband. A rebellious and recalcitrant husband dishonors Jesus Christ. A rebellious and recalcitrant child dishonors his parents, who are his head. Now, I want you to look in 1 Timothy chapter 3, and notice if you would please, verse 15 to begin with. Because this is the theme of 1 Timothy.
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It is how to behave yourself in the house of God. Okay? Look at it. 1 Timothy 3 verse 15. He said, "But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of truth." So Paul wrote this passage to Timothy, who was a pastor, so that everybody there would know how to behave themselves in church, in the house of God. Now, we need to know how to behave ourselves in church. So, look if you would in 1 Timothy chapter 2. Let's begin reading there with verse 8, and we'll read through verse 15. I'll cover some of this more next week, but look now. 1 Timothy chapter 2, verse 8.
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"I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting. In like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety, not with broidered hair or gold or pearls or costly array, but which becometh women professing godliness with good works. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence."
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"For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding, she shall be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith and charity with holiness and sobriety." Now, here's some questions. I want you to look at this. He said in verse 11, "Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection." Then he said, "But I suffer not a woman to teach nor usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence." Remember 1 Timothy 3 verse 15.
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how to behave yourself in the house of God. So here's my questions. How can a woman pastor, teach, or lead in the church when she is to be in silence? How can she be in subjection if she is leading men? How can she teach, preach, or lead without usurping authority over men? It's impossible.
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Now we're talking about the church of Jesus Christ. That does not mean that I can't listen to Effie in her home or in my home and listen to the things that she could teach me. I could listen to her all day long. She's at least two weeks older than I am. I'm sure she knows a little more than I do about some things. You see, she could teach me. I'm not too stupid not to listen to someone who knows what they're talking about. But there's a big difference between me listening to her in her home or in my home or in somewhere else than in church. A big difference. So he says no.
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Now I want you to look in 1 Timothy because Paul gives three reasons as to why women should not have positions of authority in church. The very first one is because of the creation order. Look at it if you would please in verse 13. "For Adam was first formed, then Eve." That's the creation order. By the way, if you go back to 1 Corinthians 11, don't turn there, I'm just going to mention this. The Bible tells you very pointedly that the man was not created for the woman, but the woman was created for the man. God created Adam first, that's what he's saying. That's why the man should lead. The man is God's first creation. God created the man to lead and He created the woman to follow. It's just that simple.
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And by the way, when the roles got reversed in the Garden of Eden, we had the fall. Okay?
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Now, here's the second reason. Look at it in verse 14. "For Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." So, here's the second reason then women were not to rule in church and have authority in church, etc. Not only because of the creation order, but because the woman was deceived.
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Now it is true that sin came into the world by man, because God had entered into the covenant with Adam. And although Eve did sin first, and then thirdly, he points out in verse 15, that the woman's role is in the home, in obedience, in holiness, in childbearing, living in faith and sobriety. And incidentally, the word "sobriety" has absolutely nothing to do with drinking alcohol. The word "sobriety" refers to soundness of mind and self-control. Are you listening? So therefore, according to 1 Timothy, a woman then who wants to rule in the church, and run the church, and rule in the home, and run the home, is normally out of control. She's out of her mind.
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That's what the Bible says. She is to live with sobriety.
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Now let me show you something else. Turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 14. Look at it. 1 Corinthians chapter 14 at verses 34 and 35. I'll deal with this in a few minutes, but look at it. 1 Corinthians 14 verse 34. I don't see how it could get any plainer. "Let your women keep silence in the churches, for it is not permitted unto them to speak."
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"But they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. Now watch this. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home, for it is a shame for a woman to speak in the church."
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Now, why in the world would God say this? Because he wants the man to be the head of the house. Man, the man has the responsibility to study, to learn, and to teach his wife, and to teach his children. I've had men come to me and say, "My wife asked me this question, I don't know the answer." I said, "Well, I'll tell you the answer. And you tell your wife." Let me tell you something.
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All this means is this. Alice has asked me some things in times past, and I would have to say, "I don't know. But I'll find out." I can do the research. I can do the study. And I can come back and tell her the answer. All the Lord is trying to do is saying, look, men, you are to be the leaders in your home. It's your responsibility to teach your wives, to lead your wives, and teach your children, and to lead your children.
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So, here are some questions. In light of these, where are the men that are willing to fight? Where are the men that are willing to stand and exercise courage and determination in order to get our churches, our homes, our society, and our governments under biblical control? Hmm. Where are the men that are willing to be the heads of their homes? Where are the men that are willing to lead, to love, and to care for their wives and their children? Where are the men that are willing to take the time to learn so that they can educate their wives and their children? Where are the men that are ready, willing, and able to fight for that which is right and holy?
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Where is our warrior spirit? Where is our soldierly spirit? Let me show you. Look in your Bibles one more time here to Ephesians chapter 5. Watch this carefully. Ephesians chapter 5. Beginning there with verse 22. Most of you know this passage, but look at it in this light. Ephesians 5 verse 22 the Bible says, "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord." Why should a wife submit herself to her husband? "For the husband is the head of the wife," there it is again, "even as Christ is the head of the church and he's the savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it." So the wife then, in her marital role, is to picture the church and the church's submission to her head, to Jesus Christ. The husband, in the marital role, is to picture the love of Jesus Christ for his bride in sacrificing himself for her.
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Skip down, if you would, to verse 33. After he tells you all of this, he says, "Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself. And the wife see that she reverence her husband." So where are the men then that will love their wives as Christ loved the church? Where are the men that will love their wives as they love themselves? Where are the men that will love their wives in such a way that it will be easy and desirable for the wife to submit to them? Where are the men that will live their lives and love their wives in such a way that it will be easy for the wife to reverence her husband? Where are the real men? Where are the men that are ready to defend their wives, their children, their families, and their homes? Where are the men that will be ready to fight, to provide and produce holy, godly, and obedient families? In Nehemiah chapter 4 and verse 14, when the enemy was about to attack, here's what Nehemiah said.
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He gave this command concerning the enemies. He said, "Be not ye afraid of them. Remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses." Fight. You have to have a fighting spirit.
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Now, let me make some applications. I want you to think with me. If you as a man would fight physically for the defense of your wife and your children, why would you not fight spiritually for your wife and your children? Do not send them to church. Take them to church. Do not tell them to pray. You teach them to pray and pray with them. Do not tell them to read the Bible. You read the Bible with them. Do not wait for someone else to teach them the Word of God. You teach them the Word of God. That is why, as we read earlier in 1 Corinthians 14 verse 35, if the woman wants to know anything, let her ask the husband. It is his responsibility to know and to learn. If he does not have the answer, he can get the answer and teach his wife and teach his children. Here's another one. Listen to me carefully. Do not give your children to Moloch. Do not give your children to governmental indoctrination.
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I don't care how many times you call it a public school. It is not a public school. It is a governmental indoctrination center. I just watched again last night. I see it every week. Here are some parents standing up. This lady happened to be, I think, in New York. And she was standing before the school board and she, I could not help but agree with her, she called the school board members liars and traitors.
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And she was attacking the critical race theory and the LGBT program and all of this other stuff that they were teaching. My fault was this lady. Why in the world do you have your children in that school anyhow? Get them out! I've got news for you folks. I may not be the brightest individual in the world, but I know enough to teach my children. I know enough to teach my grandchildren. I know enough to teach my great-grandchildren.
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And I'll be honest with you. What we have done today in the public school system is we have sired a generation of functional illiterates. They can't read, they can't reason, they can't think, they can't count. Years ago, I went to a hardware store to buy something and here's this young man, he had this big graduation ring on his hand. I bought some little something, I don't know what it was.
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I gave him a $20 bill and he gave me my change. And he gave me two bucks too much. And I looked at it and said, "Son, that's not right." He said, "Oh, I'm sorry." And he handed me two more bucks. I said, "No, you don't understand. You gave me two bucks too much to begin with." He couldn't even count. He could not make change. You remember some years ago in California, there was a young man who sued the state of California and the public school system, because they graduated him from high school and he couldn't even read. I just read where one young man graduated. He graduated, I think, in the top one-third of his class. He couldn't read, he couldn't do anything.
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Finally, they started him back somewhere in the ninth grade, I think. All I'm saying is, look, folks, you can teach your children biblical principles. You can teach them what's right. You can teach them to work. You can teach them what they need in life. I'm not saying that you're never going to need algebra. You might need algebra. I'm not going to say that you never need geometry. You may need it sometime, depending on what you're going to do. But the truth of the matter is this, most people can function and live and work and never use some of the subjects that's crammed down your throat
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in a public school anyhow. All I'm saying is I had rather have my child grow up with common sense and common decency and biblical knowledge and principles than to have 40 PhDs hanging out his ear from some institute that does not teach anything. Don't give your kids to Moloch. Here's the last one. Remember that any trash can float downstream. It takes something with a backbone to go against the current. We cannot just give in. We cannot give up.
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We have to learn to think. We have to learn to plan. We have to learn to prepare. We have to learn to be real men. And listen, men, your wives and your children need a role model and it should be you. It should be you. That young man should say, "I want to be just like my daddy." And that young daughter ought to say, "I want to marry a man just like daddy." Be a real man.
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And I'm going to tell you something. We will never take back our society. We will never take back our churches. We will never take back our government until we take back our homes. You have to have a starting point. And that starting point has to be the home. In today's society and political correctness, they're trying to destroy the home, the man, the head, the family. Don't let it happen. Be a real man. Do what is right and holy and godly and be a man of your word.
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Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. And we ask, Lord, that You would indeed build us up in the most holy faith. Help us, Lord, to be holy and godly. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.
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so so
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T21:34:25Z

Where Are The Real Men - Part 2 of 3

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

In this sermon, Pastor John Weaver continues his series on biblical manhood, emphasizing that real men are those of honor, character, and integrity who keep their word regardless of consequences. He argues that true manhood is not defined by age or physique but by a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, which enables a man to be complete and courageous. Weaver contends that the Christian life is a warfare requiring a fighting spirit—not belligerence, but a determined commitment to righteousness. He laments the modern emasculation of men, who have abdicated their God-given roles as leaders in the home, church, and society, resulting in women and children ruling over them as a sign of judgment. Using 1 Corinthians 16:13 as his text, he calls men to watch, stand fast in the faith, act like men, and be strong, urging them to reclaim their responsibilities as spiritual heads of their households.

Introduction and Review

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 16:13

"Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong."

Now, I have expounded this passage in another message, so I'm not necessarily going to be expounding all of this today, but I do want to take that principle where he said,

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 16:13

"Watch ye, stand fast in the faith."

And notice this, I'm going to comment on it.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 15:4

"He sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not."

I pointed out last week about John the Baptist and from John 1 in verse 6 where the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — John 1:6, 23

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

Manhood Not Defined by Age or Physique

Maturity and wisdom do not automatically come with age; many aged people are foolish and wise only in evil, lacking a personal knowledge of God.

Scripture Reading — Job 32:9

"Great men are not always wise."

Listen to this:

Scripture Reading — Job 32:9

"Neither do the aged understand judgment."

Real Men Love Jesus

While unsaved men can be moral, only a personal relationship with Christ makes a man whole and willing to be a man in every area of life, enabling true gallantry.

Now, I want you to look back at verse 13. I want you to pay close attention to this. The Bible says, "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong."

The Christian as a Soldier

Did you notice, if you would, in fact, look back in 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 12. Just a page over. 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 12. Look what Paul told Timothy.

Scripture Reading — 1 Timothy 6:12

"Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses."

Biblical Warfare and a Fighting Spirit

Not all fighting or war is unbiblical; God is called a man of war, and He has used war throughout Scripture. A fighting spirit is necessary to conquer evil and establish righteousness.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 94:16

"Who will rise up for me against the workers of iniquity? Who will stand up for me against the evildoers?"

The Abdication of Male Leadership

Men have ceased to be men by abdicating their responsibilities, allowing women and children to rule in homes, churches, and government, which is a sign of God's judgment.

It is where Israel was. It is where we are. Look at Isaiah 3 and verse 12. God says,

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 3:1-12

"As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err."

That's women in this context,

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 3:1-12

"and destroy the way of thy paths."

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 3:1-12

"For behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water."

Now what else is he going to take away?

God's Orderly Hierarchy

Scripture establishes a clear hierarchy: God, Christ, man, woman. Men are to lead in the home and church; women are to be in subjection and silence in the church assembly.

It is how to behave yourself in the house of God. Okay? Look at it. 1 Timothy 3 verse 15. He said,

Scripture Reading — 1 Timothy 3:15

"But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of truth."

Scripture Reading — 1 Timothy 2:8-15

"I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting. In like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety, not with broidered hair or gold or pearls or costly array, but which becometh women professing godliness with good works. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence." "For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding, she shall be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith and charity with holiness and sobriety."

Now, here's some questions. I want you to look at this. He said in verse 11,

Scripture Reading — 1 Timothy 2:8-15

"Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection."

Then he said,

Scripture Reading — 1 Timothy 2:8-15

"But I suffer not a woman to teach nor usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence."

Remember 1 Timothy 3 verse 15.

Scripture Reading — 1 Timothy 2:8-15

"For Adam was first formed, then Eve."

Scripture Reading — 1 Timothy 2:8-15

Now it is true that sin came into the world by man, because God had entered into the covenant with Adam. And although Eve did sin first, and then thirdly, he points out in verse 15, that the woman's role is in the home, in obedience, in holiness, in childbearing, living in faith and sobriety. And incidentally, the word "sobriety" has absolutely nothing to do with drinking alcohol. The word "sobriety" refers to soundness of mind and self-control. Are you listening? So therefore, according to 1 Timothy, a woman then who wants to rule in the church, and run the church, and rule in the home, and run the home, is normally out of control. She's out of her mind.

Practical Applications for Men

Men must fight spiritually for their families, teach them God's Word, avoid sending children to godless schools, and be role models of godly manhood, starting with reclaiming the home.

Where Are The Real Men - Part 2 of 3

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	p8bmWp5wjDY
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Revelation: Christ and the Churches
Genre	Sermon
Date	2021-08-16
Dictation Name
Book	Book 177: Where Are The Real Men — Chapter 2
Source Timed Segments	85

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction and Review: Weaver introduces the second part of his series on real men, reviewing the text 1 Corinthians 16:13 and the characteristics of John the Baptist as a solitary, separated, straightening, and saving man.
Manhood Not Defined by Age or Physique: Maturity and wisdom do not automatically come with age; many aged people are foolish and wise only in evil, lacking a personal knowledge of God.
Real Men Love Jesus: While unsaved men can be moral, only a personal relationship with Christ makes a man whole and willing to be a man in every area of life, enabling true gallantry.
The Christian as a Soldier: The Christian life is compared to a soldier's; believers are called to endure hardness and fight the good fight of faith, possessing a fighting spirit that is not quarrelsome but determined to do right.
Biblical Warfare and a Fighting Spirit: Not all fighting or war is unbiblical; God is called a man of war, and He has used war throughout Scripture. A fighting spirit is necessary to conquer evil and establish righteousness.
The Abdication of Male Leadership: Men have ceased to be men by abdicating their responsibilities, allowing women and children to rule in homes, churches, and government, which is a sign of God's judgment.
God's Orderly Hierarchy: Scripture establishes a clear hierarchy: God, Christ, man, woman. Men are to lead in the home and church; women are to be in subjection and silence in the church assembly.
Practical Applications for Men: Men must fight spiritually for their families, teach them God's Word, avoid sending children to godless schools, and be role models of godly manhood, starting with reclaiming the home.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Manhood is not automatic with age

Maturity and wisdom do not necessarily come with age; many older people are foolish and only wise in doing evil.

He quotes Job 32:9 and Jeremiah 4:22, saying, 'Great men are not always wise... They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.'

True gallantry requires Christ

One cannot fight efficiently or die gallantly without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, as illustrated by the contrasting deaths of Captain Harrison and Voltaire.

He says, 'It is impossible for a man to fight efficiently and die gallantly without the Lord Jesus Christ.'

A fighting spirit is biblical and necessary

The Bible commands believers to fight the good fight of faith and endure hardness as soldiers; a fighting spirit is not belligerence but determination to do right.

He explains, 'By a fighting spirit, I mean that one is able, he's willing, and he's determined to do that which is right and to do that which is holy under every circumstance and under every situation.'

God is a man of war

Scripture portrays God as a warrior who delivers His people through war, and Jesus Christ will make war in righteousness.

He cites Exodus 15:3, 'The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name,' and Revelation 19:11.

Women ruling over men is a sign of judgment

Isaiah 3:12 shows that when women and children rule, it is because men have abdicated their God-given roles, resulting in societal decay.

He states, 'When you have a society, when you have a church, where women and children are ruling over the men, it is the judgment of God.'

Women are prohibited from teaching or having authority in the church

1 Timothy 2:11-14 and 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 clearly teach that women are to be silent in the church and not usurp authority over men.

He reads, 'Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.'

Men must teach their families

Men are responsible to learn and teach their wives and children God's Word, rather than delegating that duty to the church or others.

He says, 'Do not tell them to read the Bible. You read the Bible with them. Do not wait for someone else to teach them the Word of God. You teach them the Word of God.'

Public schools are indoctrination centers

Parents should not send their children to public schools, which he calls 'governmental indoctrination centers' that teach ungodly ideologies.

He warns, 'Do not give your children to Moloch. Do not give your children to governmental indoctrination.'

Scripture References

1 Corinthians 16:13: The primary text for the series: 'Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.'
Psalm 15:4: Describes a godly man who 'sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not,' illustrating integrity.
John 1:6, 23: John the Baptist as an example of a man sent from God, solitary, separated, and straightening.
Job 32:9: Great men are not always wise, nor do the aged always understand judgment.
Jeremiah 4:22: God's people are foolish, wise to do evil but have no knowledge to do good, because they do not know Him.
Romans 9:6: Not all Israel are of Israel; outward covenant without personal relationship leads to wickedness.
2 Timothy 2:3-4: Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ; do not entangle with affairs of this life.
1 Timothy 6:12: Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life.
Ephesians 6:10-18: The armor of God provided for spiritual warfare.
1 Timothy 3:3: A pastor must not be a striker or brawler, but patient.
2 Timothy 2:24-25: The servant of the Lord must not strive but be gentle, apt to teach, patient.
Psalm 94:16: Who will rise up for me against the evildoers?
Amos 5:15: Hate the evil, love the good, and establish justice in the gate.
Exodus 15:3: The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name.
Deuteronomy 4:34: God brought Israel out of Egypt by war, signs, and wonders.
Revelation 19:11: Christ makes war in righteousness.
Isaiah 3:1-12: Judgment on Judah: children oppress, women rule, because men have failed.
1 Corinthians 11:3-5: The head of every man is Christ, the head of the woman is the man, the head of Christ is God.
1 Timothy 3:15: The theme of 1 Timothy: how to behave in the house of God.
1 Timothy 2:8-15: Men to pray; women to learn in silence, not teach or usurp authority; reasons from creation order and deception.

Historical References

Joshua Gilbert Holland: Quoted his poem 'God Give Us Men' as a call for men of honor and integrity.
Captain Dabney Carr Harrison: Confederate officer, pastor, and chaplain who died gallantly at Fort Donaldson, exemplifying fearlessness in death because of his faith in Christ.
Voltaire: Noted French infidel who died in horror, crying 'There is a God!' contrasting with the gallant death of a believer.
George Muller, George Whitfield, David Livingstone, William Carey, Adoniram Judson: Examples of fighting men of determination and courage who built institutions and advanced civilization.

Important Quotes

Real men are few and far between. And when I talk about real men, I'm talking about men of honor, character, and integrity, men that give their word, men that keep their word, and men that will stay true to their word regardless of the consequences and the situation.

Defines the core attributes of biblical manhood that the sermon seeks to restore.

It's only the Lord Jesus Christ who is able to make a man whole and complete. It's only the Lord Jesus Christ who can make a man willing to be a man in every area of his life, regardless of the situation and regardless of the circumstances.

Emphasizes that true manhood is impossible without a personal relationship with Christ.

By a fighting spirit, I mean that one is able, he's willing, and he's determined to do that which is right and to do that which is holy under every circumstance and under every situation.

Clarifies the biblical concept of a fighting spirit as righteous determination, not belligerence.

We have become emasculated, feminized, subsidized, and horrified into inaction and displaying any courage whatsoever. We are fearful, we're unbelieving, we're cowardly, we're timorous, we're chicken-hearted, we're gutless, we're pusillanimous, we're spineless, we're lily-livered, we're quaking jellyfish with no backbone, and we refuse to stand for anything.

A strong lament over the modern condition of men who have lost their courage and conviction.

When you have a society, when you have a church, where women and children are ruling over the men, it is the judgment of God.

Interprets the societal shift in gender roles as a direct consequence of divine judgment for male abdication.

We will never take back our society. We will never take back our churches. We will never take back our government until we take back our homes.

Identifies the home as the foundational battleground for cultural and spiritual reformation.

Do not give your children to Moloch. Do not give your children to governmental indoctrination.

A stark warning against sending children to public schools, equating it with pagan child sacrifice.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How does the definition of a 'real man' in this sermon (honor, character, integrity, keeping one's word) challenge or affirm your own understanding of manhood?

[Context]

Weaver defines real men as those who keep their word even to their own hurt, citing Psalm 15:4.

[Question]

In what ways does a personal relationship with Jesus Christ enable a man to be 'whole and complete' and to act with courage in all areas of life?

[Context]

Weaver argues that only Christ can make a man willing to be a man in every situation.

[Question]

What is the difference between a biblical 'fighting spirit' and being quarrelsome or belligerent? How can we cultivate the former without falling into the latter?

[Context]

Weaver distinguishes between a determined commitment to righteousness and a contentious attitude.

[Question]

How should the biblical hierarchy of God-Christ-man-woman (1 Corinthians 11:3) practically shape relationships in the home and church today?

[Context]

Weaver expounds on the headship principle and its implications for male leadership and female submission.

[Question]

Do you agree that the prevalence of women and children ruling over men in society is a sign of God's judgment? Why or why not?

[Context]

Weaver interprets Isaiah 3:12 as a judgment passage applicable to modern times.

[Question]

What are some practical steps men can take to reclaim their role as spiritual leaders in their homes, especially in teaching their wives and children?

[Context]

Weaver urges men to personally teach their families the Bible rather than delegating that responsibility.

[Question]

How should Christians evaluate the public school system in light of Weaver's warning against 'governmental indoctrination'? What alternatives might be considered?

[Context]

Weaver calls public schools indoctrination centers and warns against giving children to Moloch.

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