The Godly Man, Part 3

The psalmist said in the 12th chapter, the first verse, Help, Lord, the godly man ceases to be. That has been our theme the last couple of weeks. It wasn't supposed to last this long, but it has. And I promise you, I will finish it next week. I promise, unless the Lord comes again.

But the point is, is that every father in the room, every grandfather in the room, every young man in the room needs to understand that the last thing we would want to have happen is for the psalm to say, Help, Lord. The godly man ceases to be at 143 West Point Avenue. So we're looking at what is a godly man? How do you understand a godly man? A man who truly has a heart for the true and living God, a strong man, a man that truly understands his walk with the Lord.

As fathers, we have an opportunity to impact the next generation. I was thinking about that this past week when I heard these statistics. That twenty-five million children live without a biological father in the home. That's just in America. That kids in school grades one to twelve, forty percent of them live without a biological father in the home. Over 50% of all children that are born are born without a father in the home. Eighty-five percent of prisoners grew up without a father in the home. And ninety percent of youth who run away from home and become homeless, come from a fatherless home.

Those statistics are an epidemic that runs through the United States of America. So of all places that there needs to be a godly man, it's in the church. It's in your home. Men that lead in a way that understand that they have a huge impact on the life of their children and the next generation. And I wonder if you understand that and recognize the impact of a father in his home.

It was John Wesley who said, 18th-century preacher, give me 100 men who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God. And I could care less whether they are clergymen or laymen. Those men will shake hell's gates and bring God's kingdom of heaven to earth. Just a hundred godly men. That's it. If I could find a hundred of them, it's like Paul and Silas in Acts chapter 17. When they went to Thessalonica, we've been in the study of Thessalonica, and I promise we'll get back to chapter five as soon as I'm done with this. But the fact of the matter is that when Paul and Silas went to Thessalonica, the testimony was this: Those who have turned the world upside down have now come here to our city. They had a reputation of turning the world upside down.

I wonder what your reputation's like. I wonder what workplace you're turning upside down. Better yet, I wonder what family you're turning upside down. Has your family changed course? Has your family been uprooted from its past ways to follow the true and living God? Where are the men that turn schools and homes and workplaces and teams upside down because they're godly men? Who love the Lord, who fear nothing but sin, and desire nothing but God. Where are those guys? I know we like to talk about them. Oh, yeah, we got a guy here, we got a guy there, but I'm talking about a true godly man that has revolutionized his environment. His sphere of influence to such a degree that everybody knows he has turned it upside down.

That godly man is the kind of man who goes to God incessantly in prayer. That was point number one. He knows that he must be a man on his knees. That's why the psalmist said these words in Psalm 32. Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to you in time when you may be found. The godly man prays. The godly man lives on his knees. He knows what it means to commune with God, so he goes to God incessantly in prayer.

Number two, he obeys God instantly, without reservation, without hesitation. Psalm 119:62 says that O Lord, I hasten and will not delay to obey your commandments. So many times we're just not that way. As elders, this past week, we had our elder meeting. We were talking about the fact that, you know, for 30 years at Christ Community Church, there's something that never changes, okay? It's that the Word of God is our authority. And so when we counsel people, we only have one book. We don't have a plethora of books, we got one. And we have one Lord who has given us that book. He speaks to us with one voice.

And so for 30 years, we have given the same counsel to everybody who comes to us. It doesn't change with one person to another. It's the same counsel. But we have noticed that over the years, there's one person or one family who hears the counsel and says, Yes, thank you. That's what I need. We give the exact same counsel to another family, to another individual, and they say, No, I don't like that. I don't like you. I'm leaving. And we're like, wait a minute, same book, same verses, same God, same words, same counsel. But one guy says, thank you. That's what I need. The other guy says, I'm out of here. I don't like what you have to say.

Why is that? It's not the book, it's not the counsel. It's the heart of the person who is either willing to receive it or unwilling to receive it. It's always the heart. It's always the soil. That's what Matthew 13 is all about: the parable of the sower and the soil, right? The seed is the word of God. It is sown. But for some, it falls on hard hearts. For some, it falls on worldly hearts. For some, it falls on selfish hearts. They're like, I don't want to hear that. I don't want to do that. And others have a very soft heart, a very spongy kind of heart. They say, Wow, that's exactly what I need. Thank you so much, Pastor. Because that's what I need to grow on. That's what my family needs.

You see, it's not the pastor, it's not the book, it's the heart of the person who is either willing to receive it or unwilling to receive it. Never forget that. It's always the way it is, and it will always be that way. And the godly man hastens to obey and never delays to obey the commands of God. He wants to hear the word of God. He wants to follow the word of God. He longs to hear the word of God. He says, Lord, tell me what I need to do. Correct my life. Put me on the right path that I might serve you. He hastens because he obeys the word of God instantly. That's the godly man. Are you that kind of man?

So he goes to God incessantly, he obeys God instantly, and he disciplines himself implicitly. That is, there's something about the spiritual man that's disciplined. And you see it. Because the spiritualness, the spiritual aspect of his life bulges with strength because he loves the Lord. He disciplines himself under prayer. He disciplines himself under the study of God's word. He disciplines himself to say no to sin. He disciplines himself to share the gospel. He lives a life of spiritual discipline, of self-surrender, of self-denial, of self-submission. That he might obey the word of God. He's a disciplined man.

Proverbs 12:27: man's most precious possession is his diligence. That's your most precious possession. It's your diligence, your discipline to be in the Word of God, to listen to the Word of God, to follow the Word of God. To live for the Lord God. It's a discipline that takes place. And that's why Paul says in 1 Timothy 4: train yourself unto godliness. And the word is gymnazo, even the word has a grunt in it. Gymnazo, you know, why? Because it's where we get our English word gymnasium, and we are to be spiritually in the gym every single day. Bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness that's profitable for all things, not just in this life, but in the life to come. The godly man is a disciplined man. He disciplines himself implicitly. There's no doubt. There is no question. There is nothing but absolute surety that when you see him. He is absolutely in tune with the living God. He is disciplined in his spiritual life. That's the godly man.

That's G-O-D. L is that he loathes his sin intensely. He hates it. You can't be a godly man who loves sin. A godly man loathes his sin, he hates his sin. He hates evil. Psalm 97, verse number 10. You who love the Lord, hate evil. Ezekiel says that you, when I come again, and you're born again, and I redeem Israel. You will loathe yourselves because of your sin. You will hate the fact that you sinned against me. You will hate the fact that you are a sinner. And you will grasp onto me. Why? Because a godly man loathes his sin intensely. Doesn't love his sin, he hates his sin. And he seeks to separate himself from that sin. It doesn't mean that he doesn't sin because everybody sins. But when he sins, he hates it. And it causes him to turn from it, to flee the love of money. 1 Timothy 6, verse number 10. Paul says in 1 Corinthians to flee idolatry, to flee immorality. He's a running man. He's always running away from sin and always running to the spiritual virtues that God has for him: faith and peace and gentleness and godliness and long-suffering and patience, because he wants to be God's kind of man.

And then he yields to the Holy Spirit intently. Because he knows he can't do anything without the Lord. He's a dependent man. He's dependent not on another person, not on his wife. He's dependent upon the Lord. So he yields to the Spirit intently. He's controlled by the Spirit. He walks in the Spirit so he doesn't fulfill the lust of the flesh. He understands that the ministry of Jesus was all geared to the ministry of the Spirit. In Jesus, it was the Spirit of God that drove him to the wilderness to be tempted by the devil for 40 days. He was always living in dependence upon the Spirit of God in his life. Well, the godly man recognizes that and wants to live in dependence upon the Spirit of God every single day of his life. He wants to submit himself to a Savior and saturate himself with the Scriptures so that every decision that he makes is under the direction of the Spirit of the living God. That's the godly man.

That's all review. See, why do you review so much? I told you that weeks ago. Peter did it. Jesus did it. John did it. Moses did it. Everybody did it. Why? Because we forget. We forget. So here's the one I'm going to cover today. Only one. And that is the M aspect in godly man. He manages his home impressively. He manages his home impressively.

Listen to Psalm 112. Praise the Lord. How blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments. His descendants will be mighty on the earth. The generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. Verse 6: For he will never be shaken, the righteous will be remembered forever. He will not fear evil tidings. His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is upheld. He will not fear.

And then, over in Psalm 128. How blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways. When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands, you will be happy, and it will be well with you. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine within your house, your children like olive plants around your table. Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. See, the godly man has a certain kind of home. He has a wife that clings to him like a vine. She just can't rid herself of that kind of man. She wants to be stuck on that kind of man. That's the godly man who fears the Lord. And his children are like olive plants around his table, a symbol of blessing and abundance in Israel. And so, therefore, there's an abundant life in the life of his children because they live in submission to their parents, especially to the father of the home. It's a godly man, he manages his home impressively.

Not because he's trying to impress anybody, simply because very few men do it. That's why it says of the elder in 1 Timothy chapter 3, these words. He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity. But if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how shall he be able to care for the church of God? If you can't manage your home, you can't manage the church. If you can't lead your wife, you can't lead in a church. If you can't lead your children, you can't lead in a church. Why? Because the church is like a family. And if you can't do it in the small circle of your own home, how do you expect to do it in a bigger circle of the church? That's why the elders must be able to manage your own home well, impressively, so incredibly important.

So, I'm going to give you the way to do that. You're going to be so glad you came. Unless your heart is hard, then you're going to be upset with me because you did come. But if your heart is soft, you're going to be so glad you came. How do I manage my home impressively? Well, the G-O-D-L-Y must come first, okay? The first points of our outline, and then you begin to manage your own home impressively.

But it begins with vision. Vision. Proverbs 29:18. Without a vision, the people are unrestrained. And the word for vision in the Hebrew is chazon. So without a revelation, the people themselves are out of control. They are unrestrained. In other words, in order for you to manage your home well, you must have a vision for your home. And the vision comes from the revelation of the living God. And therefore, the vision is based on what God has already said in His Word about how your home should be and how you should lead in your home. Because if not, without that vision, without that revelation, then the people are unrestrained. They're out of control.

Are your children out of control? Is your wife out of control? That's because they're not given the proper revelation based on the proper vision based on the revelation of God's word to give them a clear path by which our family is going. If you don't have a clear path as the father, as the godly man, how do you expect your children and your wife to have a clear path as to which way they're supposed to be going? And that way comes because of the revelation of the living God. So it begins with vision, Proverbs 29, verse number 18.

From vision, then comes direction, direction. Because without the revelation of God, you have no path to follow. But now, because of the vision you have, based on the revelation of God, now you have a direction by which you are to journey. And the psalmist says in Psalm 32, verse number 8: I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go. I will counsel you with my eye upon you, do not be as a horse, or as the mule which have no understanding, whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check. Otherwise, they will not come near to you. In other words, listen, I'm going to instruct you clearly, I'm going to guide you perfectly, but do not be like a horse and do not be like a mule. Don't be stubborn because I'm going to direct you in the right way.

That's why the Bible says trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him, he will direct your paths, he will make your paths smooth. But if your paths are not smooth, that's because you're leaning on your own understanding. You got to trust in the Lord with all your heart. And he will make your path smooth, but it begins with vision. The vision comes from the revelation of God's holy word, and that vision then leads to direction. So I know, okay. This is where we need to go. Now, this is how we're going to get there.

And then, from direction comes instruction. Instruction. In other words, let me tell you what the Bible says about where we're going. Let me tell you what the Bible says about where we are going. So the Bible says in Proverbs 24, verse number 3, by wisdom the house is built. By understanding, it is established. And by knowledge, all the rooms are filled with precious and pleasant riches. So wisdom applies the truth of God with conviction. Understanding verifies the truth of God through demonstration. And knowledge clarifies the truth of God through instruction.

So, your house is built by wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. Therefore, if that's the case. There must be implemented in your home some kind of instruction from the scriptures that moves your family in the right direction. Because you know what the Bible says, you have a vision based on the revelation of God, therefore you know which direction you are to go, and as you know that direction, now you give the instruction on what the Bible says, because you want to manage your household impressively. And the only way to do that is to keep it in line with what God's Word actually does say. It's not about the father's opinion. It's about the father's belief in the authority of the Word of God to guide and direct his family. So incredibly important.

So once there's vision, there comes direction, then comes instruction, then comes imitation. I'm going to show you how to do it. Instruction says, I'm going to tell you how to do it. And now, imitation says, I'm going to show you how to do it. Why? Because you want your children to imitate you. Paul said, Follow me as I follow Christ. So you need to tell your children, follow me as I follow Christ. Tell your wife, follow me as I follow Christ. I'm going to imitate Christ to you. I'm going to imitate His Word to you.

Paul and Silas in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. The church of Thessalonica became mimics of Paul and Silas. They became imitators of Paul and Silas. They followed their example. They set the tone. And imitation is so important, is it not? Sure, it is. Your children, watch your children. How do your children speak? What's the tone of your children's voice? Where did they learn that from? Yeah, you. The words they say, the tones they use, the attitudes they portray. Look at your own life. Examine your own life because somewhere or somehow that attitude is being conveyed to them. That tone that you speak to them with. Or you speak to your wife with. Now they're using that tone with you because they heard it with you and your wife. They're imitators of mom and dad. And so, you want to provide the kind of imitation that makes it so that they can follow the Lord and honor the Lord. Manage your household impressively.

Begins with vision, it's based on the revelation of God. That vision leads to the direction in which your family must go. That direction leads to the instruction of the truth of the living God in their lives and the imitation of that truth before their lives, number five. I have a lot of them, so hold on. This one is inspiration. Inspiration. Listen, as a godly man, you inspire, you infuse encouragement, you move your family. There must be some kind of inspiration, some kind of motivation that stems from the godly man. You're inspiring others to move on toward godliness.

Could you imagine coming to church every Sunday and me saying, So glad you guys are here. Take your Bible and let's turn to 1 Thessalonians 5. That's because the elders want me to preach on 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. So let's open it together. You wouldn't come back. I wouldn't even come back. But there's got to be some kind of inspiration as the father, as the husband. You're inspiring your children to move on toward maturity. You're inspiring your wife to move on toward maturity, there's inspiration, it's motivation.

Jeremiah would say, Thy words are found, then I did eat them and they were the joy and the rejoicing of my heart. The psalmist said, I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go to the house of the Lord. I was glad. Your children will be glad to come to church if you are glad to come to church. If you're excited about church, your children will be excited about church. But if you're not, they won't be. If you're excited about church, your wife's going to be excited about church. Because she sees it in you. She sees what moves you. You're inspiring her. You're moving her. You're motivating her. You're moving on toward maturity in Christ. You want her to hear the same voice. Be in the same place, be with the same people that you are there, and she wants to come and be right by your side. Inspiration.

Listen to what the psalmist said. In Psalm 119, he said this: Make me walk in the path of your commandments. For I delight in it. Verse 24, Your testimonies also are my delight. They are my counselors. Verse 47, I shall delight in your commandments, which I love. And then he says over in verse number 70. Their heart is covered with fat, but I delight in your law. Verse 77. For your law is my delight. If your law had not been my delight, verse 92, then I would have perished in my affliction. Listen, Dad, if God's word is your delight, then God's Word becomes your children's delight. It transfers so easily over to your children. But inspiration is important to any leader, right? Are you inspiring your wife toward Christ? Are you inspiring your children to walk with Christ? Are they moving in that direction? You want to manage your home impressively? It will be seen in the lives of your children and your wife. More so than anything else.

The strength of any man's ministry is not in the number of people that attend his church, his Bible study, or his Sunday school class. It's whether or not his wife and children are following his leadership. That's what makes the godly man the godly man. That's it. Because there are a lot of men who preach. You have a lot of people coming to church on Sunday, but they're not godly men. Are their wives inspired to follow the Lord and serve the Lord and honor the Lord? Are their children following in their footsteps?

Next comes evaluation. Want to manage your own home well? Evaluate it. How are we doing? How are we moving? Are we growing? Are we stagnant? Are we excited? Are we bored? What do we like? What don't we like? That's why Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:21, examine everything. Everything. Put it under a microscope. And from evaluation, then comes correction. Once you evaluate it, correct it. Because nobody does it perfect. So once you evaluate it, you can correct it by putting it on the right path.

James says in James chapter 1. That the man of God is blessed, he looks into the perfect law of liberty, he sees the blemish, he doesn't turn away and keep the blemish on his face. No. He removes the blemish because he saw that it was there. He removes it because he knows it's a hindrance. This man is blessed in what he does. Same is true for the godly man as he evaluates his family, his children, his relationship to his wife. There needs to be correction. He corrects it. Puts it on the right path.

And then comes. I'll put all three of these together. Protection, provision, and purification. Because as a shepherd, you're a protector. As a shepherd, you're a provider. You want what's best for your children. You're going to say to them, I take care of you. I'll watch out for you. I'm concerned about your purity and your holiness. That's why I say no to this and yes to that. I'm concerned about your alone time. So I say yes to this and no to that. I'm concerned about your purity. I'm concerned about how you are protected. More so than anything else, you need to know that. So, protection, provision, and purification. And as a husband, you want to sanctify your wife. Ephesians chapter 5, right? You want to set her apart unto godliness, you want to purify your wife. And therefore, it becomes a major aspect in managing your home impressively.

Let me give you just two more. Recognition. It's a recognition that God is sovereign, he rules over all, and God's in charge, and you are not. And that all things will work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. You need to recognize that as a godly man. Want to manage your home impressively? Recognize that you're a steward of God's family. A steward of God's woman, who's your wife. A steward of God's children who have been given to you as a gift, and you're a household manager of them. They're God's children. So you want to manage them properly. And therefore, you recognize that within God's sovereign plan, he gave you specifically your wife. And not somebody else's wife. He gave you your children, not somebody else's children, in his sovereign plan. And you know that all things will work together for good to those who love God. And are called according to his purpose.

And the last word is appreciation. A life of thankfulness to God for what he's done. That's what a godly man does, Isaiah chapter 43, verse number 21. My people who I have formed for myself, they will declare my praise. And so you praise God, you thank him because you want to honor him.

Having said that, the psalmist says in Psalm 78 these words. Listen, O my people, to my instruction. Incline your ear to the words of my mouth. Are you listening? Turn your ears toward the words of my mouth. Make sure you are listening to everything I'm going to tell you. I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not conceal them from their children, but tell to the generation to come the praises of the Lord and His strength and His wondrous works that He has done. We're not going to conceal this from our children. No, we're going to tell our children. We're going to make sure our children understand the wondrous works of God. We're going to make sure our children understand who God is. We're going to inform them about everything that God has done. So that they are without excuse. We're going to do that.

For he established the testimony in Jacob, verse five. And appointed a law in Israel which he commanded our fathers, our fathers, that they should teach them to their children. So you have generation number one, our fathers teach them to their children, generation number two. That the generation to come might know even the children yet to be born, generation number three. That they may arise and tell them to their children, generation number four. So you have four generations. So our fathers have told us that we might tell our children, that they might be able to one day tell the children not yet even born. Said that when they hear about the Lord God and one of his works, they will tell them to their children who are a long way down the road.

That's a vision based on the revelation of God. That's direction onto what you should be doing. It's the instruction of the truth of God and His wondrous works and praise. That should inspire you to say, man, look what God has done. This is so great. So many times, as fathers, we're like a bump on a log. We just are immovable. There's no joy, there's no passion, there's no motivation, there's no inspiration. That's not the way we should be.

So he says this, what are you going to tell them? That they should put their confidence in God and not forget the works of God. But keep his commandments. It's not a whole manual on what to do. It's just simply this: don't put your confidence in anybody else but God and make sure you keep his commandments. How hard is that? Don't trust in anyone else but God. And keep his commandments. God just narrows it down to bare bones, makes it so simple. That's all you got to do. That's it.

Verse 8 and not be like their fathers. A stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not prepare its heart and whose spirit was not faithful to God. Not like their fathers, who, by the way, heard the same words from the same voice, from the same God, from the same prophet. But they didn't like what they heard. They were stubborn and rebellious. They turned away. Don't be like that. Have that soft, supple, spongy kind of heart that soaks it in and says, Yes, I hear your voice, Lord. I hear what you're saying, Lord. Yes, that's what I want to do, Lord.

I think here's an illustration: The sons of Ephraim. Joseph's second son. The sons of Ephraim were archers equipped with bows, yet they turned back in the day of battle. Really? They were the largest leading tribe in Israel, in their northern kingdom. And they were archers. They were specialists at what they did, unlike anybody else. But in the day of battle, they turned back. Turned back. Verse 10, they did not keep the covenant of God and refused to walk in his law. They forgot his deeds and his miracles that he had shown them.

Oh, they were prepared. They were prepared when it came to their physicality. They were prepared when it came to their knowledge and education. They were prepared when it came to their expertise. But in the day of battle, when push came to shove, they had no confidence in God. Why? Because they weren't walking with God. And let me tell you something: I don't care how smart you are. How creative you are, how intelligent you are, how physical you are. Without God, you can't accomplish anything. It must be totally upon the truth of the living God. Following him and serving him and loving him.

That's why you take your children, you sit them down, and you teach them. The truth of the word of God that they in turn would teach them to their children, that they in turn will teach them to the children yet to be born, and then the children way beyond that. There's a generation of people who need to know the truth, and it begins with us right now today. This very hour, saying, Today's the day, I'm going to manage my home impressively. It's all going to be based on the vision because without that vision or the revelation of what God says, my home's going to be chaotic. My wife's going to be doing this, my kids are going to be over there, and I got to bring them all together. It's based on the revelation of the living God.

And that revelation is going to give me the direction I need to make sure I fulfill God's plan for my wife and for my children. And then I'm going to instruct them in the ways of God, teach them the truth of God. And then I'm going to say, As I teach you, follow me. Follow me. There are a lot of men today who are really good teachers, but you don't want to imitate them because their character is so bad. If your wife's not following you, your children aren't following you, the very first question you must always ask. What am I doing that's hindering them from following me? What is it about my life? That does not inspire and motivate my wife and my children to follow my God. Are you a hindrance to that? Are you a block to that? God is sovereign, God rules over all, God's in charge, but you always got to ask the self-evaluation question first.

So, my prayer for me, for you, for our church, is that the godly man would not cease to be among us. That we would strive to be the kind of men God wants us to be for the glory of his kingdom. That people would say, those who went to that church. Have turned our school upside down. Those who went to that church have turned their families upside down. Those who went to that church have turned their workplace completely upside down. Not because of anything that they do or are, but simply because of God working in and through them for the glory of his kingdom.

Let me pray with you. Father, thank you for today. Thank you for our children who have been with us this last month. They've been so good. Thank you, Lord, that they have been here to worship with their parents. Thank you, Father, for a chance to look into the Word of God, to be challenged. I know I'm challenged. I know I'm held into account. And I realize, Lord, that there are many faults in my own life that I need to deal with personally that I might be able to lead my wife and my children. And even though my children are grown and out of the house, except for one, I still have to provide a model of imitation they can follow. Still have to instruct. Still have to be able to evaluate, correct, inspire. Pray, Father, that all of us as men would recognize the great responsibility before us. It's not impossible. It's not an impossible mission. It's a very possible mission. Because you gave it to us. Go before us, Lord. Use us mightily for your glory and for your kingdom. Until you come again, as you most surely will. In Jesus' name, amen.