Act Like Men, Part 3

Thank you, David. We've been looking at Acts 16, 13 since Father's Day, and we're going to continue to look at it for just a couple of more weeks as we begin to understand what the Bible says when it says act like men.

We're addressing the men of our church, but it also applies to everybody in the church because when Paul wrote 1 Corinthians, the letter, he wrote it to the entire church. So it talks about spiritual maturity. It talks about how we are to be mature spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally, that we are to grow up and act like adults, act like men. And so we are addressing the men of our church because we want them to understand that they lead the way in this area. They lead their families, their wives, their children.

And so we want them to act like men. And so how do we do that? Well, we said, number one, you live purposefully.

That was number one. You live to the glory and honor of God. Number two, you live proactively, not passively, because those who know God, they are the ones who display strength and take action.

Daniel chapter 11, verse number 32. Knowing that you are to live prayerfully, meaning always to pray and not to faint. And so therefore we live a prayerful kind of life. And then we talked about living last week powerfully and living productively. All that deals with acting like men in terms of your spiritual maturity. We're not going to go back and review all those for you. You can get them by way of tape or CD. If some of you still have cassette players, I don't know if you do or not, but I guess you can still get cassette tapes as well.

I don't know. But for those of you in that category, I guess you can obtain those as well. But we want you to be aware of those things. And so if you've missed them, please go back and review them because they're very, very important. But all of that is negated. If you don't understand point number six, and this is how far we're going to get today. Remember we have 12 points we're going to cover, but this is point number six. All that's negated living productively, powerfully, purposefully living proactively, living prayerfully.

If you don't live purely, if you don't live purely, live in a pure manner, live virtuously, chastely, live in a manner where there is nothing evil mixed in your life. You live a pure and holy life. That is so important. That is of utmost importance. We as men need to live pure and holy lives. I don't think that we can preach on that enough. I don't think we can emphasize that enough. We live in an impure world. We live with all kinds of impurities around us, temptation, and we need to be able to rise above that and stand strong and act like men and to lead the way in our, with our families, to show our wives and our children.

Our children need to live pure and holy lives. We need to be able to model that to them. So let me give you the time that we had this morning, seven points that will help you live purely.

There's so much more to cover on this issue. I know that we're taking some time to go through act 16, 13 in the phrase act like men. You don't know how much I don't say on Sundays. There's so much I want to tell you. There's so much I want to express to you. There's just so much to say on this, on these topics. But how do you live purely? Number one, you must, as an individual, revere the holiness and the purity of Christ and his church.

You must revere, revere deeply the holiness and purity of Christ. The Lord God said we are to be holy as he himself is holy in all of our conduct. The book of Leviticus is about the holiness of God. That's why you don't like to read the book of Leviticus. It's too hard to understand. It's not that it's too hard to understand. It's just it's all about the holiness of God and living a holy life is just so difficult. But Christ, the holy one who reigns within us, wants us to live a holy and pure life.

Be holy as I am holy. Our reverence for the purity of Christ and his church, not just Christ, but his church. You can't separate the two. There is this deep desire to live a pure life for the sake of the bride of Christ. Remember in Ephesians chapter 5, it was our Lord who said these words to the pen of the apostle Paul. He says in verse 28, husbands, I'm sorry, yeah, verse 25, husbands love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her so that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she would be holy and blameless.

Now that is a positional holiness. That is a positional blameless that we have with Christ. And yet there is this practical holiness, this practical blamelessness that is to be lived out every single day. We are to match our practice with our position in Christ. And therefore we revere Christ in his beauty. We revere Christ in his holiness. He is without sin. He is spotless. He is blameless. And we desire to live like Christ. We want to be as holy as he is holy. Matthew 5, 48, be perfect even as your father in heaven is perfect.

Well, that's the high calling of the Christian to be like Christ. So we revere the purity of Christ and in his church, the bride, because we want to be holy and spotless. We want to be without wrinkles when the bridegroom comes. We want to be pure and clean when he arrives from a practical standpoint. Remember in Matthew chapter 16, Christ says, I will build my church upon the confession that Peter made that Christ is the son of the living God.

And the Lord said, I'm going to build my church on that confession. And the gates of hell should not prevail against it. And then in Matthew chapter 18, right after that, he talks about the church and the purity of the church. He talks to the disciples about the fact that he's going to build this assembly, these called out ones, he's going to build it. And so in their minds, you're thinking, well, how's he going to build that? Well, that comes to the, the working of the spirit of God based on the word of God and his proclamation.

But the very first instruction that Christ gives to the church before the church is even ever born in Acts chapter two is about the purity of the church because Christ is consumed with the purity of his people.

So he talks in Matthew chapter 18 verses 15 and following how to deal with sin in the church. How you, how you go when you confront your brother on a sin, if he repents, you've won your brother. If not, you take two or three with you and confront him on a sin. If he repents, you've won, you've won your brother. Why? Christ is concerned that people don't live in sin in the church. So when the church is born in Acts two and Acts five, Ananias and Sapphira are killed in the church because they lied in the church.

And they were probably the biggest givers in the church because they gave the proceeds of the land they sold. They just lied about how much they sold the land for. They still gave to the church and Christ killed them in the church because they lied. Why? Christ wanted everybody to know at the outset that when the church is born and all these people, 3000 are coming and 5,000 more added to the church, that purity is the essential element in the church. You must live pure and holy lives. You must revere me as your God who is holy.

And this is exactly why Moses was not able to enter the promised land. And in Numbers chapter 20, remember that? God told him to speak to the rock there at the waters of Meribah, speak to the rock. And Moses became angry. He struck the rock. He struck the rock. And the Lord God says this to him, because you have not believed me to treat me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I've given them.

Wow. Because Moses did not treat God as the holy one of Israel, he did not believe what God said. And when you don't believe what God says, you don't treat him as holy, as distinct and unique for his purity, his blamelessness, his spotlessness.

And God says to Moses, you are the leader of Israel. You are the greatest leader Israel's ever had. But you struck the rock. He didn't speak to the rock, like I said. No promised land for you. Can you imagine that? All he did was strike the rock. And now he doesn't get into the promised land. Because he didn't revere his God as holy. This is where a pure life begins. Revering Christ and his purity and his holiness and the bride of Christ. You can't separate the two. How do you know you revere Christ as holy?

You revere everyone in the church as the bride, and you don't want them to be wrinkled. You don't want them to be filled with sin. You don't want them to be anything but spotless. And so therefore, you will go to them, and you will confront them because you too are a part of the bride of Christ. And the bride, remember, you did not treat me as holy before the sons of Israel. I need to be seen by you, Moses, as the holy God of Israel. You're the leader. You're the leader. Oh, by the way, when you lead, there is so much more responsibility placed on your shoulders.

And fathers, when you lead your families, there's so much more responsibility placed on you than any other member of your family because you're the leader. And so to live purely, you revere the holiness and the purity of Christ and his church. Number two.

Number two. Number two. You recognize your accountability to God. You recognize your accountability to God. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5, 10, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone will receive that which is done in his body, whether it be good or whether it be evil.

Now the judgment seat of Christ is not the great white throne judgment. The great white throne judgment is for the unbeliever. The judgment seat of Christ is for the believer. And 1 Corinthians 3 tells us about how works done in a selfish manner are burned up and those done for the glory and honor of God are tried by fire and to come forth like precious gold and stones. Bible says in Romans chapter 14, verse number 12, each one will give an account of himself to God. Peter said it this way. First Peter chapter four, verse number 17, for it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God.

And if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome of those who do not obey the gospel of God? We are accountable to God because we are the children of the living God. He is our father and therefore we are accountable to him. We must recognize that accountability. That's why over in Hebrews chapter 12, see, I told you I get the Hebrews Hebrew chapter 12, verse 28. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom, which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God an acceptable service, an acceptable worship with reverence and all because of what Christ has done.

We should live a life of reverence and awe. And then it says in verse number 29, for our God is a consuming fire. We must recognize our accountability to God. He sees all, he knows all. Psalm 139, he knows what you're going to say before the words are even on your tongue. That's pretty impressive. He knows my thoughts. He knows where I'm at. He knows what I'm watching because he sees all. Have you recognized your accountability to God? We are accountable. And be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever man sows, that shall he also reap.

So therefore we must recognize our accountability to God. If you revere, if you revere the holiness and purity of Christ and his church, you want to be accountable for your actions. You want to be accountable for your words. You want to be accountable for your life because you stand before the living God. See? Very important. Number three, you must reflect on the consequences of sin.

You must reflect on the consequences of sin from a biblical perspective. I don't think we spend enough time looking at what the Bible says concerning the consequences of sin.

We gave the illustration of Moses, who out of disobedience struck the rock instead of spoke to the rock. And God said, no promised land for you. And we think that's a little harsh. Couldn't the Lord be a little bit more graceful to Moses? A little bit more loving to Moses? Why would God be so harsh to Moses? Because the rock is Christ. And to strike the rock when he'd already struck the rock earlier because God said so would misrepresent Christ the rock to Israel, the one who would suffer and die and be stricken once, not twice.

You see, not only did he misrepresent the holiness of Christ, he misrepresented Christ himself to Israel. We talked about Ananias and Sapphira and all he did was lie, but they gave to the church. They gave a lot of money to the church, but they lied. And God said, that's it. Wow. And Paul would say, before you partake of the Lord's table, make sure you examine your life because there are many among you who are sick and some have died. And we read that and we think, well, that was the Corinthian church.

They were bad already. We're not like the Corinthian church. We're a 21st century church. We don't get sick and die because we don't examine our lives and confess our sin and make sure we're right before God. God doesn't do that anymore. Really? Really? He doesn't do that anymore? How do you know that? How do you know that? That doesn't mean because you're sick and you're dying that you did not examine your life and you weren't taking the Lord's table in an appropriate manner. But it could be that some have.

I take God's word literally for what it says. I think back of Achan, back in Joshua chapter seven, when God said, don't take the spoils, don't take the spoils from Jericho. Jeremiah, they did. He robbed God, hid them under his tent. And so there was a lot of spoils from Jericho. Would it really matter if someone just took a little bit of what was there? Is that such a big deal? Well, evidently it was because Israel went to battle against AI and lost. How do you lose against a weaker team, a weaker army with only a few people?

There was sin in the camp. And God told him that Israel had sinned. And Joshua says, how have we sinned? He realized that someone had stolen from the spoils of Jericho. And when it was recovered under Achan's tent, they took him, his wife, his children, and they stoned them with stones and set them on fire. Little unloving, a little unmerciful. Wow. Can you imagine if we were to take those of you who had stolen out behind the church and stoned you with stones and burned you with fire? What kind of church is that?

But that's what happened. You see, God takes sin seriously. We don't. That's why we need to reflect back on the consequences of sin. Think about it this way. Isaac and Rebekah and Jacob and Esau. And God had already said that the older would serve the younger. It was part of God's plan. Isaac and Rebekah knew the plan. God had told them the plan. But Rebekah had heard her husband tell Esau, the firstborn, that he was going to receive the blessing. And she couldn't let that happen, even though she knew what God said.

So she deceived and contrived this plan for her son Jacob to receive the blessing and lie to his father so that God's plan would be enacted. That's what Jacob did. But Rebekah, who loved Jacob so much, would never see her son alive again. She would die. She'd never see him again. He'd have to flee and run away. And God worked through all that. We know the story. But even Jacob, he was deceived. Was he not? Sure he was. What goes around comes around. And he was deceived. And he experienced what he did to his father.

You see, the consequences of sin come around. It's not that God doesn't forgive. Oh, God forgives. King David. Have you ever examined the consequences of King David? Are you with us in our study of David's life? The consequences with him stayed forever. The sword, God said, will never depart from your house because of his sin with Bathsheba. And yet God had promised there would be a son that would come before he ever met Bathsheba. There would be a son that would come that would sit on my throne forever.

And through Bathsheba came that son, Solomon. And yet the sword never departed from David's house. He lost credibility with his family. He lost all authority with his family. He had it, and it's real. He lost credibility and authority with his family. It was devastating. The consequences of sin. We don't ever take time to reflect on that. It's so negative. Who wants to reflect on that which is negative? Let's look at the positive things in the Bible.

But if you want to live purely, you will reflect on the consequences of sin because they're devastating. Read Proverbs 6 when you have time. I was going to read it to you today. I don't have the time. But Proverbs 6 and Proverbs 7 about following the instruction of your father and your mother, how it keeps you from the evil woman, the seductress. It talks about can a man take fire in his bosom and not be burned? Of course not. Can a man go into a woman and not suffer the consequences of a sin? Of course not.

There are always consequences. Is there forgiveness? Yes, God will forgive, but the consequences will still remain. And you must learn to live with those consequences for the glory and honor of the Christ. To live purely, you must revere the holiness and purity of the Christ and his church. You must recognize your accountability before God. You must reflect on the consequences of sin as recorded in Scripture. You must respond, number four, to the authority of Scripture. You must respond to the authority of Scripture.

Second Timothy chapter two, verse number 19 says this, nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands having the seal.

The Lord knows those who are his and everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness. We are to respond to the authority of Scripture. The Bible says that we are to be holy and pure in body, in spirit, in heart, in speech, in our habits.

That's why Paul said in first Corinthians nine, I buffet my body. I discipline my body unless I'd be disqualified because he knew about the purity and holiness of the body. The Bible says in second Corinthians seven, verse number one, these words, therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all the filament of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

We are to be pure in spirit. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. We are to be pure in heart. We are to be pure in speech. Ephesians 4, 29, let no corrupt communication proceed from your mouth. We are to be pure in our habits. Romans chapter 13, Paul says these words, do this knowing the time that it is already the hour for you to awaken from your sleep. For now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone. The day is near. Therefore, let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. We are to respond to the authority of scripture. When the Bible says you are to repent from your sin, you repent.

The Bible says you to confess your sin before God, you confess your sin. And that's when the new life begins. You begin by saying, Lord, I was wrong. Please forgive me. And you begin to move on David in Psalm 32. Oh, read Psalm 32 and understand that blessed is the man to whom the Lord has forgiven all of his transgressions. It talks about how his eyes were filled with tears. He drenched his couch because God's hand was heavy upon him until he confessed his sin. And when he did, God forgave him not just of a sin, but of the guilt of a sin.

See, by responding to the authority of scripture, you say, Lord, I have sinned. I don't want to do that anymore. I want to do the right thing where I want to honor you. I want to revere your purity and holiness. I want to do that. I recognize, Lord, I'm accountable to you. And therefore, as I reflect on my own sinfulness, as it relates to what the scriptures say, Lord, I want to respond to the authority of scripture and I want to repent of my sins. That's why the Lord came to the church of Ephesus and said, repent, repent, go back and repeat your deeds and rejoice in what I will do.

But you got to repent. That's where it begins by recognizing the authority of scripture in our lives. Next, Lord, do you revere the holiness and purity of the Christ and recognize your accountability before God and reflect on the consequences of sin as recorded in scripture and respond to the authority of the word of God? You realize, you realize that you will have to make difficult decisions because the easy decision is to sin. The difficult decision is to obey God and not sin. That's the difficult one.

And you're going to have to make some hard choices. You're going to have to decide to make the right choice. I love what it says in Hebrews 11. And see there again, we're in the book of Hebrews. See, so we're never going to be out of Hebrews, even though we've taken a break for a while. Hebrews chapter 11, remember this? It says about Moses, by faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to endure ill treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.

That was a difficult decision. He chose to endure ill treatment rather than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. That was a difficult choice. Considering the reproach of greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward by faith. He left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king for he endured as seeing him who is unseen. That's just a beautiful statement. He left Egypt. He fled Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king. Uh, how did he do that? Listen carefully to verse number 23.

If he was 11 by faith, Moses, when he was born was hidden for three months by his parents because they saw he was a beautiful child and they, his parents were not afraid of the king's edict. See that the parents were not afraid that was passed down to the son. So now he is not afraid of the king. All parents, you got to realize every decision you make is passed down to your children. They're watching. They're looking. Moses was a newborn baby. What did he know about fearing anything? It was passed down to him and he began to understand the importance of making the right choices based on his parents, not fearing the king.

Parents, your decisions affect your children in ways you can't even begin to imagine. Every decision you make for your family, every decision you make financially, every decision you make spiritually, every decision you make about where you go to church, where you worship affect your children. Every decision you make is passed down in some way or another to your children is going to affect their lives and cause them to figure out a way they're going to make their decisions. How you handle conflict today is how your children will handle conflict tomorrow.

Mark it down. If you run from conflict, they will run from conflict. If you stand strong amidst conflict and handle it in a biblical way, your children will learn from that, stand strong in conflict and handle it in a biblical way. You pass that down to your children. You can't underestimate the power of the influence of the parents. It far surpasses the influence of your children's peers far surpasses that because Moses was raised in Pharaoh's house. Moses was educated in the world system, the finest educational system of its time.

And yet when it came time to make the choice, made the right choice, the difficult decision. That's why the Bible says, flee immorality.

First Corinthians six, flee idolatry. First Corinthians 10, flee youthful lust. Second, typically two 22, flee the love of money.

First Timothy chapter six, verse number 11, flee those things, run away from those things. Don't sit and wait. Don't even pray about those things. You don't have to pray about them. You got to run away from them. That's what you got to do. You got to make the tough choice rather than to enjoy what the passing pleasures of sin. They're eternal consequences for the glory of his name. Live purely. Oh, so much more to say on that point. Next, relish the coming of Christ. Relish the coming of Christ. You know, the verse, first John three, beloved.

Now we are the children of God. It has not appeared as yet, but we will be. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him just as he is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on him purifies himself just as he is pure. Relish the coming of Christ because he's the bridegroom. We're the bride. The bride lives in anticipation of the bridegroom's coming. That's why Peter said it this way in second Peter chapter three, talking about the coming of the day of the Lord and how this present earth and universe is going to be consumed with fervent heat.

There's going to be a new heaven and a new earth. He says, since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what manner of people ought you to be in holy conduct and in godliness? Because all this that you see is going to burn. It's not going to last. What kind of people are you to be? Another worldly kind of people. Because you're from a different dimension. You're from a heavenly dimension and everything is focused above. When you relish the coming of Christ, it helps you live purely. And then number seven, if you've been counting, it's number seven, even if you haven't been counting.

Remember, remember that God always honors those who honor him. First Samuel 2 30. Remember, God always honors those who honor him. And that was in the context of Eli, the priest who did not honor God, but honored his sons above God. And therefore he was killed along with his sons because he valued the relationship he had with his sons more, the value, the relationship he had with the living God. He was the priest in Israel to represent the holiness of God. And he misrepresented the holiness of God.

And God took his life. Remember, God honors those who honor him. Joseph, he's the guy. Joseph's the guy. He would flee immorality and part of his wife came upon him when no one would know because it was a secret, but God would know. And because of that, he made the difficult decision. He would land himself in prison. It would be a long time before he got out of prison, but he honored God. He honored God. First of all, by telling his brothers about the dreams he had, they threw him in a pit, sold him to slavery, but God was bigger than all that.

And God would honor him. And he became the key man of Potiphar's house until his wife lied about him and then he was thrown in the prison. But Joseph became a type of Christ in the Old Testament, unlike any other character there. There is no sin recorded of Joseph's life, not that he didn't sin. I'm sure he did. But there is no sin ever recorded in this man's life in Scripture. But God elevated him to the highest position in the land of Egypt. Yes, he was even higher than Pharaoh because he was the man.

He honored God and God honored him. That's the way it ought to be. You want to live a pure and holy life? Just remember to honor God and he will one day honor you. Let me pray with you.

Father, we thank you for today. A chance to be in your Word. What a blessing. What a joy. A chance to be able to explore once again the testimony of Scripture. So much we did not say. But yet, Lord, that's the beauty of the Scriptures. It will never be fully uncovered in this life because there is so much to see. May you grant us the grace and the mercy to live for the glory of our King. In Jesus' name. Amen.