Issues in Biblical Anthropology, Lecture
Key Topics
Biblical Sexuality
Transcript with YouTube timestamps
0:03we pick back up today with sexuality uh we’re going to do a few things
0:09we’re first going to give a quick tour i am of biblical sexuality i mean in
0:16in quick form the sexes that is and then the majority of the class time
0:21we’re going to spend on neo-paganism uh homosexuality and transgenderism
0:29now of course you’re familiar with all these areas i know but we’re not simply going to tread on
0:35ground that we’ve been on you’ve walked on as i said yesterday we’re at the elective level so we’re
0:41trying to press in more than we would even in a survey course and so we’re gonna we’re gonna be diving
0:47into some deep sledding when it comes to sexuality and gender all for the express purpose that you
0:54will as i just prayed take this material and put it to work that’s what i want you to do i don’t
1:01want you to just take this class at tms in january sitting there before your laptop
1:07i pray that the word of god not my words but the word of god will hit you afresh and rev you up to get out
1:16into this big bad world and take the word and the gospel to people who need it
1:22there may be no more controversial statement than this today god made us either a
1:28man or a woman the christian bases this claim in the word of god
1:35which cannot be silenced the word of god cannot be edited what god makes
1:42cannot be undone what god does cannot be overturned what god opens
1:49no man can shut what god shuts no man can open that which we
1:55see with our eyes in terms of the sexes which is a better term than gender right off the bat mark that down
2:03get that in your notes if you don’t hear that anywhere else you heard it from me we all probably are
2:10going to use the term gender just like we’re probably all going to use the term
2:15parents but actually it’s better to use the term sex the sexes it’s better whenever
2:22you’re speaking of parenting as much as you can to use the term
2:27father and the term mother that is better hear me making an objective
2:33claim we are not shy about objective truth claims in a classroom and a
2:39setting like this so as much as you can push people
2:44out of androgynous gender neutral language you hearing me push them out of it
2:52genuinely graciously lovingly push them into biblical language remember how we were
2:57talking about therapeutic categories and i said to you i put on record on video this is going to be
3:03watchable after the class that probably the strongest challenge to the
3:08christian faith today is not militant islam or hard post-modernity or something like this those are serious challenges
3:15we’re not soft on them nonetheless i think the toughest challenge is the challenge that is
3:21hardest to spot my metaphor my analogy of the vine wrapping around the tree slowly
3:26poisoning its psychotherapeutic language and categories fit that bill
3:31and i think relate here it’s not that if you use the term parents you know you’ve forfeited the christian faith
3:37and and angels are gonna you know throw fire at you the next minute or something like this it is that
3:43satan loves to not just openly attack us but subtly attack us doesn’t he and if he
3:49can get us to gender neutralize christianity he’s won a real victory so again
3:56we’ll probably all use the term parents i’m sure i will but as much as you can men use the term
4:03father and mother and use the term the sexes sexes mean something hard and fast sexes
4:10refers to biological identity as a man and a woman gender is softer and more malleable it
4:18refers to your your understanding of yourself as a man or a woman and i want to push you and those
4:26you minister to and those you will train now in in future days and disciple i
4:31want to push you to specificity to objectivity to clarity on these matters
4:39the language you use is the front lines of theology the language you use is the front lines
4:47of theology the terms you employ the words you say in a pulpit
4:54the vocabulary you bring into discipleship that’s the front lines theology
5:01is first philology philology being the study of words theology is first philology
5:09that’s why you guys are doing the hard heavy lifting of studying hebrew and
5:16studying greek it’s not just so you can read sentences it is that of course
5:22you know books and chapters and the whole bible together it’s it’s actually as much that
5:28you can take specific words and phrases and clauses and break them down i’m not telling you
5:35something you don’t know but step back from that study and think about how much
5:41philology matters the study of words and how much individual words matter think about how
5:48much one word in different passages in in a in a biblical verse
5:55mean the definition of a doctrine one word we’re going to be talking about
6:01this in just a few minutes in several places there’s going to be one word deployed by a biblical author
6:08that effectively marks out and outlines and frames a doctrine yes friends there are
6:16doctrines embedded in single words to chios yes just or justification it’s
6:24different cognates there’s a theology there in a single word
6:29and we’re going to be seeing this with ephesians 5 kephaly with head there’s an entire theology
6:36there in one word there is a theology in the word
6:43father isn’t there father at the divine level certainly and
6:49even at the human level much below it what does it mean to be a father
6:56a bunch of you are fathers will be fathers pray to be fathers there guys
7:03there is an entire theology in that word what does it mean to be a
7:09godly or biblical father give people that word the culture is going to
7:16train them to think that they’re a parent they’re not a parent they’re a father
7:23or a mother there’s not progenitor a in progenitor b have you heard this this
7:29is an actual birth certificate uh set of terms in europe
7:34in one country progenitor a and progenitor b can you get more gender neutral than
7:40that everything we are going to be saying in the next
7:45three hours and 50 minutes is going to militate against gender neutral amorphous
7:53androgynous fuzziness and it’s all going to drive at
8:00biblical specificity and clarity the scripture tells us there are men
8:08and women and this is what we see with our eyes in the world before us
8:16the scripture is our authority but it is also the case as many of you
8:23will know that god made this world the world beyond the scripture and so
8:31there are certain realities that we see in the world that god has made that reflect the truths of
8:38his word and that show us in and of themselves divine truth when
8:44when you’re seeing in other words men and women in the world you’re seeing how god made the world you’re seeing a fundamental fact in
8:51reality of human existence that there are men and there are women but all this
8:57is in question today in a secular or neo-pagan culture and here’s what i’m
9:03really interested in because most of us are not going to do public policy out there in the big bad world most of
9:09us are going to apply our trade in the church and so i am especially interested and i
9:14want you to be especially interested in how these trends affect the church
9:23the the way that this manifests in the church our culture’s influence is that it
9:28pushes us in a gender-neutral androgynous direction where we soften biblical
9:35realities we downplay hard-edged biblical truths
9:40and we blend everything into a kind of soft palatable doctrinal smoothie
9:48that you can drink without any effect on you you don’t even have to cut your vegetables
9:54and what i want to do with you is see that we should not smooth out and soften
10:01what god has made concrete and specific
10:06let’s look then at god’s original design of the sexes let’s have that as our
10:13first section this morning as i said to you yesterday this material builds off of yesterday
10:20the first truth of manhood the first truth of humanity that is is that god made it god
10:28made humanity we do not start from an evolutionary starting point we we cannot we start
10:36from a biblical starting point and we believe that genesis 1 is actual historical fact yes it is told
10:44and laid out in a poetic way nonetheless it is actually telling the story of the origin
10:51of all things of creation and that relates to humanity in that god made humanity
10:58and god stamped humanity as we said at some length yesterday
11:04the lord brought order from chaos and made a human being on the sixth day
11:10made the man first with a distinct body the man as you see in genesis 2
11:19genesis 2 7 did not have life in himself he is made by god from the dust of the
11:25ground and then the lord breathes into him and the man comes fully to life this is what we see as i say in
11:33genesis chapter 2. i think there are numerous truths and realities being laid out in
11:40genesis 2 but when you see that the lord god verse 7 formed the man of dust from the ground
11:46and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living creature i think at least one
11:52implication of this is that the man can’t even breathe on his own initially we are
12:00so far from an evolutionary conception of humanity
12:05it’s not funny it’s not that we have autonomously naturalistically
12:11evolved into our form it’s that we can’t even breathe you can’t even
12:16inhale and exhale without god’s help this is showing us that creator
12:23creature distinction isn’t it that we talked about yesterday that i sourced from cornelius van till
12:29we are totally dependent creatures from the start you know there’s a lively
12:35debate in christian circles about free will for example but in genesis 2 the man
12:42doesn’t do a whole lot of free willification does he that’s an actual technical
12:47theological term instead the lord has god yahweh act upon him in numerous ways
12:55and give him numerous decrees and commands and and the man doesn’t negotiate it
13:00does he does he do any kind of arbitrage with the divine and say well
13:06okay you said this specific call but can we soften that can we kind of
13:12work with that a little bit i’d rather i’d rather rearrange that lord and just make it a little more easy for
13:19me to live into no there’s none of this instead the lord shows us who he is
13:27he is the king he is the ruler he is the authority and he is the one
13:32who sets the terms and there there is no free will consideration
13:37in play here in terms of the man making the world as he wishes it to be and that is a
13:44lesson to us as well and that is a lesson for us to take into evangelism and discipleship it is simply
13:51this even in a pre-fall context you take the world as god gives it to you
13:58you’re gonna have some level of agency in your life let’s not miss that of course but you’re playing the board
14:05as god set it up and of course we would confess at a school like this with convictions
14:11like mine as your professor in this class that even when we’re acting with
14:17agency we’re always of course under the total absolute comprehensive sovereignty of god
14:23but just let’s get out of that for just a second you’re playing the board as god set it
14:29up you don’t set up the board you need to help people who are being fed a doctrine
14:37of god-likeness for themselves remember our authenticity expression
14:44affirmation paradigm aea that’s really humanity as we talked about yesterday
14:51trying to be like god trying to be a little god and when you’re doing that you’re convincing
14:57yourself that man you’re really astride the world making happen what you want to make
15:03happen but in truth even in a pre-fall state we are only
15:08playing with the cards that god deals and so you need to help people
15:13understand this because both outside the church and inside the church people believe that they rule
15:20their lives people believe that god owes them things
15:26people believe that if they just believe the secret and read books like this and they
15:32manifest what they want the world will stack up the way they want it
15:39but even adam unfallen in the paradise of eden only receives
15:46what god makes doesn’t he he doesn’t create eden he doesn’t
15:51make his body he doesn’t even breathe on his own
15:56this is all really the gift of god isn’t it it’s all we would say in a form
16:04from god’s kindness from his grace friends there is no one out there who is
16:10sovereign over their life there is no one out there who is their own god there is no one out there who can
16:16function in that role every person needs to be stripped
16:22of that delusion at some level you remember eustis in the chronicles of narnia
16:29who in one of the books becomes a dragon and uh and then painfully
16:36has aslan strip him of his dragonness this is one of those effects that god
16:44has to do with us especially in a self-esteem driven me centered context like ours
16:51we have to be stripped of the delusion that we are our own creator and we set up the
16:57conditions we want and life will go as we desire it know
17:02it won’t and and it’s not just because we’re in a fallen world
17:08god has always been the one who sets the terms god has always been the one who sets up
17:16the board even in pre-fall paradisical eden adam is only playing the hand
17:23he is dealt the first man adam had a had a home isn’t that interesting
17:31god doesn’t just make creation he gives the man a home how hard wired
17:40are we human beings to be home to be in a place
17:46where we belong a place of safety and security a place of rest that is what eden is for
17:53adam off the bat and this is a definite place we see that in genesis 2 8
18:01we see that the lord god has planted this garden in eden in the east and he’s put the man
18:07whom he had formed there note the concreteness of human existence
18:14in the world god has made adam isn’t weirdly inhabiting every
18:19place as a human person he is in one place he is planted here
18:27this is where he is supposed to be this is the garden he is supposed to tend
18:33he wasn’t made even in his pre-fall state to tend everything he himself he is not
18:40made to be god only god can oversee all the creation adam can’t
18:45adam is the vice king adam is the one who was called to take dominion subdue multiply fill the earth absolutely but
18:51adam is not the one who is planted everywhere he’s planted here and then interesting to
18:56think about just jumping ahead we make frequent applications without apology to ministry when you’re in ministry one
19:03of your temptations will be i want to be there i wish i could be there i wish i could have that church i wish i
19:11could have that ministry i should be on that podcast wish i could preach at that conference
19:16i wish i was in a cooler city or a cooler town or one where there was more response
19:23etc and on it goes but remember that even before the fall adam was planted there
19:30he’s planted in eden god put him there intentionally to cultivate that little
19:38plot that garden so it is for us god gives us
19:44the incredible privilege of being in one place you’re not going to be omnipresent in
19:49ministry there’s no button you can press to make that happen you’re only going to be in one place at
19:56any given time and that is the field you should cultivate and you should fight and pray
20:04and repent as you need to do over accepting that place
20:10and being fruitful there the lord calls adam in verse 15
20:17to a two-fold commission that will later be repeated of the priests who
20:24serve the lord in the temple in genesis 2 15 we read again that the
20:30lord has put him in the garden of eden to work it and keep it it could be translated
20:38to cultivate it and guard it to cultivate it and guard it you see
20:45this for example in ray orton’s work in the book recovering biblical manhood and womanhood
20:52that that term keep it is a little bit soft i think in the english it should be
20:58harder it should be more specific it should be more definite adam is the priest guardian
21:06of the initial temple of eden and so adam is the one as the man who
21:13has this commission from god to what work and protect
21:20work and protect we’re learning something about god’s
21:26intentions for humanity right here in genesis 2 in a way that i think a lot of evangelicals reading this
21:32in a devotional moment would pass right over and frankly would not necessarily know
21:38to spot this as really significant for the very foundational understanding of manhood
21:45i am daring to talk on the record about manhood with you even in
21:51evangelical circles you’re not really supposed to define manhood in any strong sense
21:56women are encouraged today in our context to lean in men are not encouraged to do much of
22:01anything and many young men have never had training in manhood even many young men in the church
22:07they’ve never had a man take them aside and say this is what manhood is this is what men do and many young men
22:15are floundering and many young men are from broken homes they many young men haven’t
22:22had a father at all haven’t had a stable father figure or if they had a father they haven’t had a
22:27good relationship with him friends the family is in chaos right now the family in america even extending
22:34into the church is in a state of wreckage increasingly and what that means is
22:39young men and women alike are not discipled and trained in the christian faith but specifically they’re not trained to
22:46be a godly man and a godly woman and the scripture is not after gender-neutral disciples
22:53the scripture is after godly men and godly women is there significant
23:00overlap between the sexes in their discipleship yes there absolutely is there is not a gospel for men and a
23:05gospel for women or some nonsense like this nonetheless men have a specific call and charge
23:12and commission from god in the biblical text and they will only understand who they
23:17are and are made to be when they go back to the source to the foundation and they understand
23:23that even in pre-fall adam adam pre-fall eden adam had a charge and a commission and a
23:28command a call on his life from almighty god to work and guard
23:36to tend and protect and that i believe is telling us what is
23:42coded into the mind and heart and soul of every man
23:47men will only flourish when they are working hard when they are building
23:55a vocation meaningfully purposefully when they have a great quest to go on when they are protecting
24:04boys will only understand who they are made to be when they are trained and discipled to
24:11be a protector of women and a protector of children did you know
24:18uh that men on average you want to know how much testosterone
24:24men on average have more than women have a thousand percent
24:34let me repeat that men on average this is from science this is scientific
24:39observation it’s not in the bible itself as a footnote men on average the mayo clinic for
24:46example study has shown on average have a thousand percent more testosterone than women
24:56what i think that biological reality physiology is telling us is that men are
25:02hardwired for action men are made
25:07to work men are made to lead in
25:14taking dominion and subduing it’s not that every man is schwarzenegger or something like this
25:19no one’s making that case i certainly don’t measure up to that standard if that is the standard nonetheless it is the case that adam is
25:27called to work and keep or to
25:32cultivate and guard from the start pre-fall
25:39when there is no foe right there underfoot for him to see and i believe
25:46this ancient charge of god is actually a massive key to unlocking
25:54the identity of men and helping men leave the shambles of sin
26:02and decrepitude and personal weakness because men are encouraged at every turn
26:08to be weak by a fallen culture like ours or
26:13to be way too strong and what we need actually is the biblical calibration where men are
26:21called of god to purposeful work vocation i’ll be talking about that
26:28on friday and then to protection especially protection of a wife
26:35and protection of women and children more broadly
26:41in evangelical circles if you put this sort of thing on social media
26:46if you put it on twitter please wear a helmet because the fur
26:52will fly and you will take major incoming
26:58fire because more than we’re even aware our movement
27:04has embraced the culture and our movement cares more
27:10at least some parts of it about what the unbelieving world thinks of it than
27:17about what god’s word teaches plainly there’s a lot to say about that
27:23phenomenon frankly but my burden in my very humble
27:29small teaching ministry is not to train my students including you by proxy here
27:36to care a single solitary drop about what people on social media are
27:43going to say about biblical doctrine but to care tremendously
27:49about real flesh and blood men and women who need biblical training
27:56and biblical discipleship that’s what i care about that’s what i’m here for i’m not here
28:01for a brand i’m not here to manage a reputation or build one even
28:07uh on the internet something like this i could give a rip what i care about
28:13is lining these things out so that especially young men who haven’t had
28:19training who haven’t had a father invest in them who haven’t been in a strong church where these things are
28:25lined out will will rise will rise and hear the call of god
28:30afresh wherever they are whatever state they’re in right now however defeated they feel right now
28:38however they’re failing at this present moment in this present season of their life right now starting now to hear the call
28:45of god from the word of god and rise up and by the grace of god
28:50in jesus christ understood from a new covenant new testamental perspective ultimately linking this up with the new testament
28:57as we will do in coming minutes to then in christ cease to be weak cease to be
29:05a city without walls but instead become in christ by the grace of god not our
29:11own strength something noble and something dignified
29:18a man a man who is strong in god a man who as god leads
29:25works and protects the first man lives under authority
29:33and is not autonomous as i have already said it is very clear that the man is not
29:39made for his own isolary purposes and self-driven existence
29:45we’re talking about divine design we’re not saying there’s not a role first corinthians 7 for singleness there
29:50is there is the gift of chastity for example so we can talk about that at greater length nonetheless we are talking about
29:57genesis 2. we are talking about divine design we are talking about how families are
30:02formed which is the first institution before israel before the church before the state
30:08there is the family the family is the first institution of the bible the family is the first institution
30:16social setting of history of human existence the man is not
30:22isolary we see in two senses first he lives under the lordship of god
30:29he is in the world god has made as i have been at pains to say the man has not made anything
30:35the man has not laid down any command the man has not negotiated any terms
30:41he understands that he is in someone else’s territory but he is welcome here and he has been
30:47placed here and he has a call here and he has purpose here and god wants him to glorify him here
30:55and second the man sees that he is not autonomous in that he is made for
31:02marriage in genesis 2 18 the text identifies the man’s aloneness
31:10as not good not good
31:17the only not good reality of pre-fall eden explicitly identified
31:26in genesis is his aloneness this tells us something profound
31:35about manhood frankly and about humanity more broadly it tells us that we really are made
31:43most of us for marriage and we really will not live the good
31:50life that god wants us to live until we are granted marriage it is still
31:58not good for man to be alone unless there is a specific
32:04call in a first corinthian seventh sense in which case singleness is unto the lord and gives god real
32:11glory and is a real testimony of divine grace we have a strong lane for that
32:17but please note that the original design of god for man is not to be alone
32:25is to find a wife by god’s grace and build a family and that is where a
32:32man finds a tremendous amount of his purpose
32:37and meaning in life in the family specifically
32:42we learn here that the man needs a woman but even more specifically
32:48genesis 2 18 it’s not good that the man should be alone i will make him a
32:54helper fit for him an azer in the hebrew a helper
33:02the woman is identified in terms of what she provides the man
33:09this is counter cultural in 21st century america where women identify themselves
33:16autonomously and are very much encouraged to build an identity irrespective of anyone else including
33:24certainly men first second third and fourth wave feminism have had
33:29tremendous effects on womanhood generally and also women in the church and i would submit
33:36to you today that we are in a fresh wave of feminist rebellion in the church
33:42right now in american evangelicalism including in baptist circles and it is not a small deal
33:50women are encouraged to think of themselves in autonomous terms when the first word we hear about the
33:58woman the first defining characteristic is what what is this from us is this from
34:06hard-edged conservative evangelicals who have created this no this is the
34:12word of god this is good this is good all that the bible
34:17commends is not only true it is good it’s good for us the woman has the
34:23identity of helper helper to the man he needs help you could say
34:32when we say that we’re not saying that the man is an idiot or a goofball we are saying that adam can’t carry out
34:38the dominion mandate on his own he can’t be fruitful and multiply on his own
34:44he needs a wife god has structured the man to need a woman at least in part
34:51to fulfill that aspect of the dominion mandate of genesis 1 28.
34:58so the the woman is going to help the man in all sorts of ways she is formed second she
35:06corresponds to him and she is the one who is going to be
35:12made by god in just a few verses in order to assist the man
35:17this is telling us then that the man is called to lead the man has the leadership role in his
35:23home in his family there is a lot of discussion today about servant leadership
35:28that is a common formulation in evangelical circles reform circles gospel-centered circles choose it and
35:35there are certainly ways that we could talk about that term in a helpful sense
35:41but i just want you to note that when we’re talking about manly leadership in the family we’re not
35:47meaning that the man leads by not leading make sure however you understand manly
35:55leadership it doesn’t mean that the man doesn’t lead
36:00biblical leadership means you lead really genius insight here in issues in
36:07anthropology for you it means that you make decisions
36:12it means that you set the course it means that you take the lead
36:18it means that you take the heat it means that you are the one appointed to give vision and direction i think
36:25this is all embedded in in these biblical realities even in
36:31the creational moment of the man and now the woman the fact that the woman is helper means
36:37that the man is not helper you are not the helper to your wife now are you going to help your wife in
36:42different ways of course you are but she is your helper if you are
36:47married or if you are going to be married in coming days you are looking for a help mate you are
36:54looking for a helper and you are the one who is called of god to give
36:59vision and direction for your family that does not mean looking to her servant leadership if it means i look
37:06over at her and seed my right to lead and she makes the call and because i’m
37:11being servant-minded i receive what she says and do what she wants if that is servant leadership
37:17congratulations that is no longer leadership that is following that you’re being the helper now this
37:25isn’t a hostile reality there’s no hostility between the sexes in these truths
37:32god has set things up to work marvelously in his design he wants men to lead
37:38ephesians 5 in a christ-like direction sacrificing their own interests but that does not mean not leading
37:47it means leading in a gracious godly humble christ-centered way
37:54that kind of leadership though does not mean failing to make decisions set vision take charge take the heat
38:02more to say there let that be said at the outset there is a movement among us
38:09to affirm complementarity to affirm that the sexes are complementary
38:14equal as image bearers the man has the leadership role in the home and the church and yet
38:22it’s a very very soft and basically passive form of leadership and that is
38:28not biblical manhood and if you have been taught that you have been taught
38:34a subordinate form of manly leadership and you need to reject it and you need to embrace biblical manhood
38:41and you need to embrace biblical leadership
38:47the woman does not receive her own set of instructions from god interestingly in genesis 2 she helps the man fulfill
38:56the charge that has already been handed down from the creator and in genesis 3 it’s clear that the man
39:03has communicated to her the commands of god she garbles them she does not get them
39:10exactly right sadly because she steps into his leadership role nonetheless it’s clear that the man
39:17has communicated that to the woman what does that mean he has acted in the the leadership
39:22capacity that i was just talking about he is the one who has been giving marching orders from god and he has
39:28passed them on to the one who helps them moving ahead adam is commissioned to name the new
39:35living beings in genesis 2 19. again this indicates a leadership role over the animal kingdom
39:40it shows that he is superior to the animals please hear me very clearly he is
39:46superior to the animals the animals do not correspond to him there is nothing from
39:51the fields the skies or the seas that can fit with adam to populate the earth
39:56it is only the woman who fits with him and then in verses 21 and 22 the lord
40:01makes the woman from the man’s rib the woman is thus dependent upon the man’s body
40:07for her very existence her body exists because of the man’s body
40:15the lord takes a rib from him and forms her from it bruce ware
40:22the theologian my father-in-law has said this in the very formation of the woman it
40:28was to be clear that her life her constitution her nature was rooted in and derived from the life
40:37constitution and nature of the man god is signaling all this in the making
40:43of the woman he’s made the man from the dust and now he’s made the woman from the man which tells us exactly what
40:51where was saying that she depends on him for her very existence
40:59i think there’s more in play here theologically than just brute facts oh look
41:06the lord took a rib out huh how neat okay the woman’s in other words there’s a whole
41:13there’s a whole theology here of of manly protection every time the man
41:19looks at his wife every time adam looks at eve he is looking at the one who is made from his body he is looking at the
41:27one who he must protect and i think the woman’s formation from
41:34his own body means that he must treat her graciously and lovingly and of course
41:42never abuse her never attack her
41:47the man exalts after the lord has formed the woman when he sees her and he names her isha
41:54woman in the hebrew and genesis 2 23. his naming of the woman indicates that
42:01he has leadership over her authority if you will what the new testament most specifically
42:07will call headship he has headship over the woman
42:12he is her head if we are bringing together genesis 2 and ephesians 5 as we must as we must
42:20we must connect these texts to understand manhood and womanhood she does not name him
42:27she does not have that capacity or that role he has authority in the home to name her he gives her her
42:34name this is not a glancing reality this is
42:39not your culture’s definition of manhood and womanhood to be very sure are you feeling the wind
42:45on your face as i talk are you feeling how alien
42:51christianity increasingly is from what our secular culture teaches
42:56are you feeling that i hope you are if you are good that’s what you should
43:04feel you should feel that christianity is distinct
43:10from the world now we’re glad for common grace when cultures and
43:17societies don’t hate at least at some level
43:22the principles of the word of god but we need to make clear that
43:30the biblical worldview is the true worldview and everything else is a counterfeit
43:37and everyone does not agree with us and when we let go of that delusion when we let go of the idea that if we
43:43are just nice enough when we let go of nisified christianity if i’m just pleasant to unbelievers then
43:51they will receive the doctrine that i am preaching if i just focus on the positives of
43:57biblical christianity then i will get a hearing and everything will go well and and people will stack up at the front
44:03door of the church or on the zoom session or whatever it may be and they will join it in droves
44:08if we give that up i think we’re in a good place and i think we’re actually in the place
44:14not to bar people from the church but to open the doors wide because now we’re offering people not a
44:21softened palatable christianity but the real genuine article
44:26the whole council of god that’s what we’re talking about that’s what we need to present men to
44:33the people around us not a palatable christianity that people like
44:38that pagans naturally gravitate to we want to present the whole council of
44:44god including manhood and womanhood including all the realities including male headship including wifely
44:51submission we want to teach it all because it’s god’s word and god’s word is not only true god’s
44:59word is good god’s word is good and good for us
45:04and so when we get to that place wherever unbelievers in our neighborhood or our community our city our town may
45:09be when we get to that place where we are ready and excited not to sand down biblical
45:17doctrine but to preach it as if it is the very wisdom of almighty god
45:24and when we’re ready therefore to show that it is actually distinct from every other worldview and every
45:30other system it doesn’t fit fluidly with unbelief at
45:35any form at the general level then we’re ready actually to make disciples
45:43did jesus ask you a question did jesus in the book of john the gospel of john
45:50did he do whatever it would take to draw a crowd or did he repeatedly say things
45:58that actually drove people away because they were true
46:03he wasn’t driving them away to drive them away as if that’s an end unto itself was he
46:10telling the truth about himself and about god in order to make true
46:15disciples so in john 6 when he says that he is the bread of life and he calls people to eat
46:20on his flesh and drink his blood was that a church growth method or was
46:28he trying to give definition and clarity and substance and weight and gravity to the christian
46:35faith what we would call again the whole council of god in order that unbelievers would not be
46:43confused about who he was in order that people would not be easily blithely attracted
46:49to his communication and messages no he wanted clarity
46:56he wanted truth he wanted grace absolutely but being gracious and loving never
47:04means promoting palatable doctrine that the world likes are you ready for this
47:13more than just going through classes at masters are you ready to go out and preach the
47:18whole council of god are you getting ready do you want
47:25to do that are you excited about that
47:30do you want to be liked do you want to draw a crowd
47:37do you want to honor god and declare his truth in a world that hates it
47:42and make true disciples i pray you do and i believe you do
47:51well the lord has done a great deal in this chapter there’s a lot to plumb
47:58in genesis chapter 2 is there not the lord’s design of the man and of the woman is good
48:04the lord’s design of marriage which this chapter concludes with the union of one man and one woman is
48:10good friends there is no other conception of marriage known to scripture marriage is defined
48:18in the bible it is the lifelong covenantal union of one man and one woman that is what
48:24marriage is marriage is not a state set up for anybody to
48:31enter into who wants to enter into it marriage is already defined by god just
48:36like manhood is defined by god just like womanhood is defined by god in this very
48:41chapter and the man has the leadership role according to genesis 2 24 informing a
48:47marriage therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother
48:53and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh there’s a lot there there’s a
48:59whole sermon there there’s a sermon series there a man leaves father and mother he’s no
49:06longer a boy it’s time to grow up he has to having been trained
49:12having been raised in a godly family he has to go make another one he has to make a new one a new family
49:20the man leaves the man takes the initiative what is this showing us it’s showing us
49:26again that the man is the leader he has the call from god
49:32to break apart from father and mother and then what does he do as god gives
49:39him a wife who holds fast in the marriage who is the one who keeps the marriage together
49:45who is the one who sets the emotional temperature of the marriage it’s the man he is the one who holds
49:51fast to his wife you see that in the text it is not her it’s not the woman who
49:58holds fast to him he’s over here on his phone he’s out playing golf
50:03he’s out with his buddies he’s on his computer all hours of the day and night doing
50:09who knows what and she’s pursuing him pursuing him honey please help me honey i don’t know
50:14what to do with the kids honey what are we doing honey what is our vision in marriage it’s not that form
50:21it’s he it’s him who holds fast to her the opposite
50:29of modern marriage as practiced by a good number of people outside of the
50:34church inside of the church it’s the man who holds fast and never
50:40lets her go what does that indicate if you’re
50:47reading carefully and closely in the text it indicates i think that there will be
50:54the temptation to not hold fast to what
51:00let go to let go of her to walk away which is
51:08uh an epidemic in our time fatherlessness in america
51:16something like five or six out of ten children born in america today are born
51:22without a father in the home
51:28we’ve got to make the bible relevant we’ve got to make the bible speak to our situation the bible does
51:34the bible tells us exactly what is needed today in the 21st century the era of ipads and
51:42iphones and fast cars and on it goes what marriages and families and homes
51:48need is men who hold fast and never let their wife their god-given
51:57wife go are you a man who is going to hold fast
52:04to your wife are you holding fast to your wife now this is one of those biblical phrases
52:11don’t you love the dynamite the gold that is in the clauses and phrases and again
52:19single words of the scripture don’t you love it this doesn’t mean walk around the house
52:26holding her that’d be a little awkward uh you know the entire honey
52:31i am holding you fast i’m not letting you go this entire day then the next day honey i am holding you
52:37fast and you just walk around the house together as a unit not quite what the bible is saying there
52:44the bible’s saying so much more though isn’t it holding fast it’s not a mere physical holding fast
52:50it’s a whole life it’s a whole life ordered to
52:55lead protect and provide for this woman and any
53:02children the lord would give you it’s a life that comprehensively is ordered
53:08to maintaining the covenant of marriage and and to making sure that your sin
53:15does not rise up in you and destroy this covenant and cause you to break it and walk away
53:23a whole life order to that even in a time like ours when our
53:30society and culture in many respects at least seems bent on getting us
53:37to burn up our marriage and walk away from our wife and our children
53:44the temptations the visual temptations the lustful culture we are in
53:50the promotion of sin and movies and entertainment as liberation and release and authenticity
53:57is everywhere and that is all i believe at some level a satanic strategy
54:04to have us not hold fast and you can think of examples i
54:12know you can in your own personal life and then at the public level
54:18of not only men but christian leaders pastors who have the
54:24extra calling to not only hold fast to their wife but train others to hold fast to their
54:31wife and be strong for the men in their congregation now they’re not christ but to be strong as an example in their
54:38congregation so that young men and other men will hold fast and you know the examples and so do i
54:45of men who are burning their marriages down and the biblical call the ancient
54:50word still obtains and you must hold fast by the grace of god
54:57only the grace of god is sufficient for this call but the grace of god
55:04is fully sufficient for this call and there is no excuse you have no
55:09excuse not to hold fast you have every resource heaven can give you
55:17in jesus christ to hold fast to that woman that god gave you everything you need everything you could
55:24ever call upon god for in order that you would not break the covenant of marriage is yours
55:30in christ jesus and instagram and facebook and twitter and movies and netflix and
55:37walking at the beach and whatever it is cannot overcome all the resources you
55:42have in christ jesus to hold her fast
55:48and that is really one of the great quests of your life
55:54don’t think of your sustenance and maintenance of your marriage as a pro
56:00forma reality sure i’m married i’m just going to stay married i’ve got other things to do that are really important i’ll just stay married that way i can
56:05stay in ministry yeah yeah she’s my wife i like her but i’m just this is what i’m really no think of your holding fast to your
56:12wife as one of the great callings upon you
56:17a quest a call a duty given you from god and then convey this
56:24to men in your church would you please convey this to young men who are being
56:30raised in a pornified culture convey this to those who have not been
56:35trained and discipled in these things not in an angry way as if you’re attacking them but to help
56:41them to to build back in the rubble like nehemiah
56:47to build this back as satan seeks to light marriage on fire and burn
56:52up the family we are building in the rubble afresh be part of it be part of this
56:59movement in christ and then the two become one flesh they
57:05become one flesh here at the end of genesis 2 not in the sense that they lose their distinctiveness and become
57:11gender amorphous blobs but in the sense that they become one family
57:18the lord the lord has given us the blueprint for his design
57:25for men and women in genesis 2. there is so much to reap
57:32here now all of this is targeted in genesis 3. i can’t go into into
57:38genesis 3 at great length but we will simply note a few things okay what i want you to understand is
57:44that the fall contra what you may have seen on the flannel graph growing up in sunday school is not simply the
57:51eating of the forbidden fruit it’s not just that ah stink man adam and
57:57eve ate an apple they weren’t supposed to eat that’s unfortunate they committed a discreet abstract
58:03random sin how how sad that is not actually a fully biblical
58:11understanding of depravity and the fall what happens in genesis 3 again i’m just
58:17going to skim the surface of it is actually an attack on creation order
58:22can i write that on the board i think i can i’ll give my myself permission to do so
58:29one of the most important phrases i can give you in a class on anthropology
58:34thank you for taking my elective by the way is creation order
58:40there is an order to creation creation is not a jumble as made by god
58:45there is an order to the world god has made god has structured things what i have
58:51been talking about already in terms of manly headship and manly leadership and even in a genesis 2 sense is part of
58:58creation order there’s a there’s a beautiful order to to be played out here that we can just
59:03quickly talk about there’s god and under god there is uh the man who’s called to this
59:11position of of headship as the new testament will call it there’s the woman underneath him there are the animals
59:19underneath them this in very brief form is creation order
59:25now what we are not saying in this part of creation order the paradigm is that
59:31the man is better than the woman he is not better than the woman he is not more human
59:36than the woman do not misunderstand the man and the woman alike i believe are the image of god as we talked about
59:42yesterday you may have heard that i have a few thoughts on the image of god so the man is not better than the woman
59:47he’s not superior to the woman don’t ever think that certainly don’t preach and teach that however he has a position he has a role
59:54of authority he is the one who is called to lead in this relationship this is what we
1:00:02call creation order creation order does not equal creation superiority something like this
1:00:09it simply means the structure that god has built into the cosmos for his glory
1:00:14and he is indeed glorified by this order what satan does then is satan upends
1:00:22creation order and reverses it what happens well ideally in god’s
1:00:28design according to creation order the man follows the commands of god to
1:00:34eat of every tree of of eden but not the tree of the knowledge of good and evil yes in genesis 2
1:00:40so the man follows god and then the woman follows the man and they have dominion over and rule
1:00:46over the animals and and the created the created world okay i guess we can put that
1:00:52as well the animals have a certain form of dominion in in the world
1:00:59that we could talk about what happens though is that in the fall in genesis 3
1:01:05an animal i believe satan taking the form of a serpent
1:01:10takes dominion over the woman and the woman takes dominion over her husband and the
1:01:18man and the woman together set themselves up
1:01:24against god so the fall please hear me the fall is not simply
1:01:31eating an apple or pear or whatever it may have been that they shouldn’t have eaten that is
1:01:37not a fully biblical understanding of the fall i don’t really think it’s that serious
1:01:45of an understanding of the fall to be honest with you the fall is an attack on creation order
1:01:53it is a direct attack on divine design it is a complete subversion of the order
1:02:00that god made god made this trajectory
1:02:06and satan a serpent
1:02:11makes the reverse trajectory he targets the woman the woman leads the
1:02:17man it’s very clear the man was with her genesis 3 says
1:02:22she is the one who speaks she is the one who acts what was the man called to do in genesis
1:02:282 15. guard protect crush the head of the
1:02:34serpent that was his call he has failed in his charge the fall is an utter breakdown of
1:02:42creation order the woman leads the man as she is not called to do
1:02:48she is not called to have headship and authority over him and then they together as a couple
1:02:55reject the wisdom and plan and design of god and the rebellion the revolution is
1:03:02complete i hope if this is new to you and it may
1:03:07not be but i hope you will never preach genesis 2 and genesis 3 the same way again and i
1:03:16hope you will lead people to see just how high the stakes are with creation order
1:03:21and just what satan is actually up to he’s targeting he’s targeting god he’s
1:03:30targeting humanity yes in eden absolutely but he’s targeting the design
1:03:35of god for men and women right off the bat that which god has made is beautiful but
1:03:41satan hates it satan hates the image of god and satan hates god’s beautiful design
1:03:50satan hates the world god has made satan hates the way god has set it up
1:03:56satan hates that there is a man who who names his wife and a wife who’s the
1:04:02helper of her husband he hates it all he’s not impartial to this
1:04:07and he’s not impartial still do you understand he’s still attacking creation order and
1:04:13he’s attacking it in the church over and over and over and over again and he will until the end of the age
1:04:19he will continue doing this he is trying to break it down he is trying to confuse
1:04:26us he’s trying to foment confusion certainly in in the broader world but he
1:04:33especially hates the church and he especially hates the
1:04:38church living according to divine design slash
1:04:43creation order which means that as i have been at pains to say you and i
1:04:50give special glory to god when we preach it when we teach it when we show that god’s
1:04:58design is beautiful and is right everything satan attacked
1:05:05we seek to promote and defend i’m so thankful even with recent
1:05:12challenges and baptist circles and evangelicalism in the last couple of years that
1:05:18the head of tms and grace community church dr macarthur has been very clear about
1:05:24these things and has spoken clear and direct decisive
1:05:30words about how men must lead and women must not and how men must preach and teach in the
1:05:36local church and lead the local church and women must not he is
1:05:42right to line those things out to take those stands and he has taken
1:05:48serious heat as i have much less than he has but in my little corner of things for biblical
1:05:54complementarity and creation order let the world do its worst
1:06:00let satan do his worst to us here we stand
1:06:06we can do no other we must contend for the faith and we must contend for divine design
1:06:12even if no one else wants to so in all this satan
1:06:18shows us what he’s going to try to do over and over again the fall of genesis 3 1-13 is not simply
1:06:26an interesting historical incident it is it’s satan tipping his hand
1:06:31it’s satan showing us that he’s going to try to have women lead men
1:06:38and men abdicate their leadership and the whole thing blow up this is a
1:06:44major strategy it’s not the only strategy of satan but it is a major strategy of satan and so when you reject satanic
1:06:53anti-wisdom you are striking a blow man you are striking a blow against the
1:06:59kingdom of darkness and that matters and god sees it and god
1:07:04knows that the world despises your embrace of creation order you and your wives god knows this and
1:07:11you will be rewarded on the last day you will be rewarded all who are godly
1:07:18and faithful in christ jesus will be rewarded for every moment every
1:07:23second of faithfulness to the king nothing is being missed do you know this nothing is
1:07:31unseen by god all your your grace driven obedience
1:07:38is seen by god and will be rewarded by god on the last day all of it matters
1:07:45every man men every time you work to bring resolution of
1:07:53conflict in your home because conflicts will arise between husbands and wives
1:07:59every time you work to mend back the fence
1:08:04god sees it every time you choke and swallow a bitter
1:08:10harsh word you could say against your wife god sees it every time you reject
1:08:16passivity and step up and lead in your home and open the bible and do family
1:08:22devotions with her with her and your children whoever it may be god sees it
1:08:27every every action in the home and outside of it that you undertake for the glory of god
1:08:34according to the word of god god sees and god will reward
1:08:40we’re going to take a break in a minute here but suffice it to say that after the fall after the eating of the forbidden fruit
1:08:48as the outcome the outcome of the attack on creation order and divine design the
1:08:55lord does not destroy adam and eve he doesn’t destroy marriage he doesn’t destroy the family
1:09:01what he does is he pronounces a curse upon the very bodies
1:09:08and the very institution that he has created the ma the woman will bear her children
1:09:15in pain and will vie to lead her husband
1:09:20this role as i have said is not given her by god her desire will be for her
1:09:27husband in genesis 3 16 language in genesis 3 16 that is strikingly
1:09:33similar to genesis 4 7 where sin is is is for cain it’s crouching against
1:09:39cain it’s desire is to master cain so in the same way that sin wants to rule over cain the
1:09:46lord says to cain in genesis 4 the woman wants to rule over her husband this is a
1:09:52this is a curse cursed dynamic a fallen dynamic that is in the home and
1:09:58the man will correspondingly not lead in a godly way as a result of
1:10:03his fall this is the this is the effect of the fall upon him he will not treat his wife as he should
1:10:11god has allowed the fall to take place ordained
1:10:16that the fall would take place and now god has ordained that the race that has rejected him
1:10:22humanity will now suffer the effects of its decision god has pronounced
1:10:28judgment upon humanity and specifically upon the sexes as a result
1:10:35of their rebellion and this leads to tremendous pain and sadness and
1:10:42suffering and we see the effects of the fall
1:10:47playing out all around us we feel them the woman bears children in
1:10:53pain we see that we men work and provide by the sweat of our
1:11:00brow in other words it’s difficult it’s taxing for us that’s an effect of the curse an effect
1:11:06of the fall nonetheless nonetheless god’s design
1:11:13stands even though satan has attacked it
1:11:18god’s design holds steady manhood and womanhood do not disappear men
1:11:25later in the old testament serve as the key figures in the nation of israel
1:11:31men are the kings priests prophets of israel and men
1:11:39call one another in scripture repeatedly to a high standard and a high
1:11:45bar turn with me please or open up to first kings 2.
1:11:53this is when david the king is about to die and he gives solomon his son his dying
1:12:01charge his last words first kings 2 verse 1 when david’s time
1:12:07to drop to die drew near he commanded solomon his son saying i am about to go the way of all
1:12:13the earth be strong and show yourself
1:12:18a man and keep the charge of the lord your god walking in his ways and keeping his
1:12:24statutes his commandments his rules and his testimonies as it is written in the law of moses
1:12:30that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn that the lord may establish his word that he spoke
1:12:36concerning me saying if your sons pay close attention to their way
1:12:45to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul
1:12:50you shall not lack a man on the throne of israel the phrase here
1:12:59show yourself a man stands out to us doesn’t it it signals to us that there is indeed a
1:13:06high call upon men people today mock the phrase man up
1:13:12for example but essentially that is what david is saying to his son solomon be strong show yourself a godly man
1:13:22keep the charge of the lord how does david especially define being strong
1:13:29well here it looks most specifically like obeying god doesn’t it
1:13:37walking in his ways keeping his statutes and so on the man who is strongest is
1:13:45the man who is walking with the lord by divine grace that is the very apex and epitome
1:13:54of godly strength of a man biblical manhood is obedient
1:14:02manhood obedient to god it’s not rebellious manhood it’s not bad
1:14:08boy manhood like our culture still at some level esteems in different ways biblical
1:14:15manhood is defined first and foremost by godliness and so the strength david is calling
1:14:22solomon to is not first and foremost physical strength or administrative strength
1:14:28or intellectual strength though these things i think are entailed in his call to be sure the the core
1:14:36of strong manhood is godliness you are never stronger as a man than
1:14:42when you are devotedly doggedly pursuing god that is when
1:14:50as a man you are most strong not in your own strength of course in
1:14:56the strength of god think of apollos think of apollos in acts 18.
1:15:02how did apollos who needed some some theological shaping admittedly
1:15:09he needed to understand baptism better specifically there’s a few people in evangelicalism
1:15:14like that that we can think of theology dad joke alert what did apollos
1:15:21what did apollos possess how is apollo strong
1:15:26the old king james version has him mighty in the scriptures it’s now been softened to competent in
1:15:33the scriptures in several more modern translations but i like the old translation
1:15:40because i think it fits apollos doesn’t it apollos was strong in the scriptures and as a result
1:15:47after his time of of tutoring apollo’s strengthened many let’s just let’s just
1:15:53go there real quick acts 18 what is what does this say about
1:15:59apollos how does this speak to us well again as i said in verse 24 he was
1:16:05an eloquent man competent or mighty in the scriptures
1:16:11and then in verse 27 when he wished to cross to acaiah the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to
1:16:17welcome him when he arrived what happens what happens with this man who is mighty in the scriptures
1:16:23what effect does it have no effect right he’s just solitarily strong
1:16:29absolutely not he greatly helped those who through grace had believed
1:16:37for he powerfully refuted the jews in public showing by the scriptures that the
1:16:42christ was jesus this is exactly what we were talking about there’s a kind of sub thread in
1:16:48this class where we’re talking about the distinctiveness of christianity and christian theology and that’s what we present not a
1:16:55reasonable nicified christianity that’s what apollos did apollos was
1:17:00mighty in the scriptures and so the people of god were mightily strengthened do you understand that
1:17:06get that trajectory this is vital this is tremendously encouraging from the scripture if you are mighty in
1:17:13the scriptures as god blesses people under your ministry will be mightily strengthened
1:17:20in god if you are weak in the scriptures
1:17:27we should probably expect outside of some miraculous working of god
1:17:32that churches will be weak it’s not that we’re denying the
1:17:37sovereignty of god but this is how this is the world god has made god has made the world such that his people
1:17:44would be strengthened by men who are strong by divine grace
1:17:50men who claim all the resources from a new testamental new covenantal perspective of the gospel know that they are weak
1:17:58in themselves know that they need god’s help call upon god for help avail themselves
1:18:05of the scripture get up in the morning devotionally to read the bible
1:18:10set aside time to pray set aside time to confess sin
1:18:16do pursue the church do serve the church are faithful in the small things right
1:18:24those are the men who are going to end up all by god’s grace being mighty
1:18:32mighty in the scriptures for they are feasting on the scriptures how can you be strong in the scriptures if you’re
1:18:37not reading them how can you be strong in the scriptures if you have no devotional time
1:18:43how can you strengthen others when you are weak we’re not talking about there’s two
1:18:49forms of weakness here there’s a form of weakness which is true
1:18:54of everybody we are all as creatures
1:19:00weak compared to god that is not only okay to affirm we must affirm
1:19:06that but there is a second biblical understanding of weakness isn’t there
1:19:12and it is not an excusable or acceptable form of weakness it is a voluntary weakness it is a
1:19:19weakness that flows from not pursuing god do you understand
1:19:27that you are called to pursue god and that a big gospel and big grace
1:19:34theology in no way calls off or softens your zealous
1:19:41dogged like a dog chasing a truck bumper pursuit of the living god
1:19:50turn with me now to proverbs 4 23.
1:19:56what does proverbs 4 23 say this is all basically just unfurling
1:20:03unpacking what david says in first kings 2 to his son this all related for proverbs 4 23
1:20:11excuse me keep your heart with all
1:20:16vigilance for from it flow the springs
1:20:23of life what is your approach to be where when it comes to
1:20:30your walk with god it is to be a vigilant walk
1:20:37this this term this concept of vigilance obtains in times of warfare when an
1:20:46enemy is just outside reach of your archers and your artillery
1:20:53and they are poised for attack at any moment and they are going to come into
1:21:00the camp or the city the first moment they sense they can they are
1:21:07they are here the enemy is at the gate they are coming it is certain
1:21:15that is a set of affairs that calls for a posture you could call
1:21:22vigilance doesn’t it you don’t want centuries appointed on the walls of the city
1:21:28or around the perimeter of the camp who are lackadaisical who are
1:21:34intermittently paying attention to the border you need sentries who are constantly
1:21:41scanning the horizon don’t you who are looking for any sign of
1:21:47encroachment who are going to ring the bell and light the beacons
1:21:53yes that’s a tolkien reference any second they sense the enemy is moving forward it is a
1:22:00posture of military condition vigilance that is how
1:22:09the bible calls you every christian to approach your spiritual life
1:22:17keep your heart with all vigilance because there is an enemy
1:22:24just like we referenced with cain a few minutes ago crouching for you there is an enemy
1:22:32who wants your skull on his belt there is a foe who wants to take down
1:22:40your purity there is an adversary who wants to blow up your marriage
1:22:48there is a divider a diabolos who wants to separate
1:22:53you from your children so they are not raised in the christian faith in a godly
1:22:58home and he can more easily package them up and send them off to hell
1:23:04all of this is true for you every last one of you on in this class and all of this is true
1:23:10for me so you and i need to hear the ancient call and we
1:23:17need to not dismiss in any solitary sense david saying be strong and show
1:23:25yourself a man and we need to recognize that we are not called as the culture says we are
1:23:31to be weak we are called to be vigilant bringing these things
1:23:38together and we are called to be strong in god to cry which means crying out to god
1:23:46to protect you and strengthen you and help you and give you a hunger and thirst for the
1:23:52word listen you have your days when you struggle to get into the word and to your devotions to pray
1:23:57you have weeks that are better than others you have months that are better than others and so do i we have much to repent of we all stumble
1:24:04in many ways you do and i do and yet solomon’s charge
1:24:10given by david echoes don’t be weak be strong manhood in the bible
1:24:17is called to be strong strong in god no matter what the culture says
1:24:24so the ancient call still rings in our ears and men in ancient israel
1:24:32compressing matters men in ancient israel had to had to actually put into practice in
1:24:38very visceral terms oftentimes the the calls and the charges that we have already discussed protecting your
1:24:44family wasn’t a matter of putting uh pornography cancelling software on your computer that’s a significant thing
1:24:51there were often pagan tribes that wanted to kill the israelites ancient israel went to
1:25:00war over and over and over and over again didn’t it men really did have to be ready to fight
1:25:05and die physically the man had the duty of keeping his family fed
1:25:12when there was a war when there was a battle it wasn’t men who looked to women to go out and fight for them
1:25:17men didn’t stay back home with the children there’s no such thing as the dad mom in ancient israel where an able-bodied
1:25:25man sits at home and sends his wife to fight the foe that’s a failure of manhood it’s a
1:25:31failure of manhood in israel it’s a failure of manhood today men had to be strong yes in the lord but
1:25:37then that strength poured out into every facet of their life just as it must today
1:25:43and men were called to be strong in righteousness in their dealings there’s so many instances of of the old
1:25:49testament we could go to you think for example of the godly patriarch named boaz in the book of ruth boaz is such a
1:25:57beautiful demonstration of biblical manhood it’s not macho chest puffed out manhood
1:26:03but it is strong decisional leading manhood and it’s a man who cares for this woman
1:26:09who he doesn’t know who protects her who sets up conditions such that she is not
1:26:14taken advantage of listen the greatest dread threat
1:26:19to the abuse of women and sexual predation is godly manhood don’t believe
1:26:26what journalists want you to believe in some cases that if people accept complementarity
1:26:32and strong biblical manhood they’re going to turn around and start praying on women no they’re not they’re going to turn around
1:26:38and leave behind preying on women and start protecting women and blessing women and treating them as
1:26:44sisters for example in the context of the local church
1:26:50boaz cares for ruth helps her even outside of marriage and takes her as his wife a godly hebrew
1:26:57man in some was a leader protector and provider and this call is not
1:27:03softened in the new testament in fact it is ramped up in first corinthians 16 13
1:27:08please look with me at this verse first corinthians 16 13 be
1:27:16watchful vigilant looking at the perimeter at all times
1:27:23be watchful gregoretta and the greek you could
1:27:29translate it more simply watch out watch out
1:27:35stand firm in the faith act like men andrzestha
1:27:42in the greek paul coins a word zesta act like men
1:27:49be strong what are we seeing we are seeing that we have no grounds
1:27:55for dismissing the call to strong manhood in new covenantal terms
1:28:01oh ancient israel used to have warriors in it and they used to fight and they used to
1:28:08have to go to battle and they used to be patriarchal and we’ve put all that behind
1:28:14us now you see gospel-centered christianity or reformational christianity or
1:28:19whatever you want to call it it softens manhood we’re still leaders but we’re servant leaders
1:28:24and we don’t say things like you know be strong and be a man anymore in the new testament
1:28:31really first corinthians 16 13 be watchful stand firm
1:28:39act like men be strong act like men
1:28:47should not be translated first and foremost be courageous that’s what it means
1:28:57but that is actually showing you something desperately vital about manhood about biblical manhood
1:29:04we’re doing a theology of manhood and womanhood here in concise form and it looks like
1:29:12courage what did what did churchill and others say
1:29:18courage is not the only virtue but it is the virtue that guarantees all
1:29:24the others if you have courage if if a man has
1:29:30has shown that he will be courageous he is queued up to demonstrate and live
1:29:36according to all virtues but if he does not have courage
1:29:42he is not going to display much virtue at all because virtue must often be
1:29:48deployed with wind in your face if there is
1:29:53courage in a man if i see courage in a young man i am training for ministry
1:30:00just in natural terms i am so thankful and i am so hopeful
1:30:07and expectant if i do not see courage that’s a shaky proposition
1:30:15paul is telling a church interestingly the corinthian church to act like men
1:30:22so he is saying to them to be courageous but his definition of manhood is very simply courage
1:30:30to act like men is to stand up it is to
1:30:37take ownership of the situation it is to be decisional
1:30:43and it is to act that’s at least some
1:30:50of what act like men is supposed to look like some of you may have seen the movie
1:30:56greyhound i i am careful about trying to bring in cultural references and tie
1:31:02things in my preaching and teaching ministry is not one that has a lot of you know pop culture references
1:31:10[Music] there’s no horse power in them and i
1:31:16don’t want to ground my people when i preach i don’t want them to think i’m cool because i quote all these movies or
1:31:21whatever i do want to commend though the movie greyhound to you it has a little bit of language in it so note that
1:31:29but in general it is a stunning study it’s like an hour and 15 minutes
1:31:35it’s really short it’s on apple tv of this ship commander played by tom
1:31:40hanks who just makes one decision after another has one difficult situation after another as a nazi wolf pack
1:31:48in the atlantic ocean targets his convoy that he is leading and trying to get to safety to britain
1:31:53and it is a stunning uh little portrait of courage under fire and decisional
1:32:00manhood and this is the kind of man i think of course in a much elevated sense that
1:32:06the apostle paul is calling for in first corinthians 16 13.
1:32:13all right to sum up all these things and then we’ll take our break
1:32:18men throughout the bible are called by the grace of god to be strong
1:32:26so i am challenging you to be strong every one of us when we hear
1:32:33these ancient words whether old or new testament the summons to courage the summons to strength
1:32:39every one of us fails along these lines every one of us fails to measure up in
1:32:44different respects you do and i do every one of us hears these calls and has things that come to mind
1:32:50in terms of repentance we may not be leading in a in a
1:32:56righteously strong way in devotions for our family we don’t have a we don’t have a command that
1:33:02every night you have to have family worship or something but we are those ephesians five are supposed to wash our wife with the water of the
1:33:08word every one of us fails in some respect to feed on the word of god for ourselves forget our wife
1:33:14us every one of us fails to be strong in prayer do you pray enough do you pray as christ
1:33:20prayed do you pray without ceasing every one of us fails we all stumble in many ways none of us
1:33:27is courageous as we should none of us takes all the opportunities to share the gospel that we should take
1:33:33just does anything call for more courage than evangelism is anything more awkward than evangelism
1:33:38more scary than evangelism we all feel that you feel that and i feel that we could go on
1:33:44i could go on and on and on about your failings and mine but what we must not do is dismiss
1:33:51or get snarky at the call to strong manhood and sneer at it as is very common even
1:33:58in evangelical circles today instead where the word acts as a hammer to you and where the word searches you
1:34:05out and exposes your sins and your weaknesses
1:34:10we should respond in biblical terms not with the pride of biting back or
1:34:17dismissiveness or sneering but with genuine repentance and faith
1:34:23afresh recognizing that we’re going to be failing and sinning
1:34:28sadly until the day we go to glory it is a grace of god that he exposes how we are
1:34:36not the warrior king christ jesus the true man we’re not him
1:34:44we do all fail in many ways and yet his grace is sufficient for us and where he exposes our weakness
1:34:52in our sin he will bind us up and he will make us strong so don’t make excuses where god exposes
1:35:01your sin your failure to be biblically strong as a man no excuses
1:35:08no whining instead what we all must do is confess our sins afresh to god repent
1:35:16and pray for strength to get stronger that’s an appropriate response
1:35:23to the convicting work of god’s spirit operating through god’s word all of us
1:35:32are indicted no one bats a thousand
1:35:37no one is the man they should be but there is an upward call in christ jesus and
1:35:44if you will embrace humility and growth you will be stunned at
1:35:52what an instrument what a weapon of the kingdom you can become
1:36:00not because you’re great but because god is at work in you think of the apostle paul what a weapon
1:36:07he was by god’s grace in the hand of the king
1:36:12what damage what ferocious damage he did to the anti-kingdom of satan
1:36:18who hates god and attacks creation order and you can be that kind of man too and
1:36:23the men you disciple and train and the churches you serve in the future and even now
1:36:30they can be weapons in the hands of god they don’t need an mdiv they don’t need
1:36:35a phd they don’t need to go to conferences they don’t need to be interviewed on podcasts
1:36:40they simply need to be men of the word to hear the call of god to receive it and to trust god
1:36:47to make them strong by the power of christ
Standing Before God, This We Are and No More 