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Pick My Brain

June 19, 2005

 “Suck it up and be a Man (of God)”

Galatians 5:16-26

 

Fatherhood in the Bible…

-         Their last names were actually, I am Matt son of Herbert

-         They did not come from a region as much as they came from “their father’s house” or “the house of…” or “Jesus son of…”

-         When referring back to previous generations, it was almost always in the name of the “forefathers”

-         Lineage almost always came through the father

 

The most important concept from the Bible is that of the father being the spiritual leader of his family

 

Joshua called all the leaders of Israel to either serve God or serve other gods

He did not want them to partly serve God and partly serve others

          Revelation 3:15-16.  I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!  So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

He wanted them to make a stand as to who was Lord of their life and their nation. 

 

Joshua 24:15

But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

 

-         Joshua was making a stand for not only himself, but his whole family

-         the entire household would fall under the spiritual direction of the father

-         fathers, regardless of what the world around us is saying, we have a right, a responsibility to lead our families spiritually (to put our feet down)

 

In 1 Timothy 3:1-12, Paul lists the requirements for a Pastor or Deacon

He is setting the standard for leadership in the church, a standard we are all to strive for, not just the Pastor or the Deacons

 

(4-5)  He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect.  (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?)

 

 

 

Ephesians 5:22-27

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.  Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing  her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

 

-         to come under the authority of your husband, but also the protection and guidance

-         who would not want to come under the protection of someone who was going to treat you as Christ treats the church?

 

Ephesians 6:4.  Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

 

The Lord has given Fathers, husbands, men a great amount of responsibility

-         the are to lead their families

-         lead the church

-         love their wives as Christ would love them by leading them how Christ would lead them

-         assist in the training of the children

 

Every man by virtue of being a man has been given the role of leader. 

 

 

          This does not give you permission to be the dictator of your family

         

Hebrews 13:17.  Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account.

 

It is not a “look at me I’m the king of my castle” attitude

 

If anything, we are to be the lead servants.

 

You see,

 

We as men (as fathers) need to know that who we are effects all of those under us. 

 

Men do not have the preference to take a passive role in leading their family. 

 

Men do not have the option of sitting back and just moving through life, living for ourselves.

 

God holds us accountable for how we have led our family and our church. 

 

We need to realize our responsibility and step up to the plate. 

 

We need to suck it up and be men of God. 

 

 

How is a man (a father) to lead his entire household spiritually?

How is he to manage his family and lead the church well?

How is he to be the kind of husband that his wife would want to follow?

 

Turn to Galatians 5:16-25 and follow along as I read it.

 

There are two ways we can lead our families.  (two ways we can live our lives)

 

We can let the desires of the sinful nature control us

 

Or

 

We can live by the Spirit

 

When we live by the desires of the sinful nature…

 

…we are living like the person we used to be before we came to Jesus. 

or

…we are not striving to be the person God wants us to be.

 

A person led by the sinful nature is like… (19-21)

          Sexual immorality/adultery…union with the world is spiritual adultery

          Debauchery….unbridled lust, eagerness for lustful pleasure

          Discord…strife, quarreling, bickering

          Dissensions…divisions, to separate yourself from the greater group        

Factions…to get people on your side, a desire to have things your way

 

(What are you like when you are not walking with the Lord?)

 

Most importantly, we are not letting the Lord be in control of our lives

 

(When we decided to put our faith in Jesus we were deciding to put Him in control of our lives)

 

We are letting the old us control our lives.  We are operating from a bad point of view/ a shipwrecked state.

 

When we are letting the things that are contrary to the Spirit control our lives, we are in the dark trying to lead our family and do what is best for our family.

 

Our desires, our natural instincts, our human nature is not enough to lead those under us. 

If we do, we will be leading from emptiness.

 

2 Corinthians 5:17.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

 

Galatians 2:20.  I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

 

We cannot just put our faith in Jesus and then continue to function the way we always have.

 

 

The alternative is to live by the Spirit

A person who lives by the Spirit is like…(22-23)

 

So how are we to do this?

 

We are to (16) “live by the Spirit”

a.     Not just to be under the control of, but...

b.     to make it habit- part of your way of life

c.      not just specific instances

d.     every aspect of our life is guided by the Holy Spirit

 

When we live by the spirit, we will not gratify the desires of our sinful man!

 

This is a promise.

 

Walking each moment under the Spirit’s control assures absolute victory over the desires of our sinful nature.

 

The only consistent way to overcome the sinful desires of our human nature is to consistently live under the direction and the power of the Holy Spirit

 

The more you walk in the Spirit the less your fleshly desires are evident.

          (most of us have not gone very far from the dangers of our old self.  We have yet to take a stand, as Joshua did, and run with the Truth)

 

lets see how the Spirit helps us in that matter

 

We are to (18) be “led by the Spirit”

 (to give control- total surrender and obedience)

 

-         to lead, take with one.

-         to lead by laying hold of, and this way to bring to the point of destination

-         to lead by accompanying to (into) a place

(as if you put a bag over your head and someone guided you somewhwere)

 

Some of you are saying, how do I let the Holy Spirit lead me so I can lead others?

 

When we accept Christ, we are not born knowing how be led by the Spirit

 

We need to (25)“keep in step with the Spirit”

Keep in step= learn to walk.   how do we learn to walk?

 

Just as we learned to walk physically by the trial and error method, so are we to begin to walk by the Spirit—it is a learning process.

 

We must learn to walk in the Spirit.

How did you learn to walk? Were you given a lecture on the subject? Did you go to a school and take a course in learning to walk?.

Once in a while, you’ll fell down hard

You’ll fell many times,

 

 

What are some things we can do that will teach us how to follow the Spirit?

 

          Read the Bible, learn from others, Christian music, unlimited resources.

 

Galatians 5:18 says that you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law. 

 

Please do not be the kind of person who wants to be told what to do because you are unwilling to do the work yourself. 

 

God does not want to surround us by a bunch of rules to guide our lives. 

 

He wants a relationship where we do what we are supposed to do, regardless of the Laws. 

 

Some of you may feel comfortable with Laws, rules, guides you are told to live by. 

 

Stop living within that box and start letting the Spirit guide you. 

(When you let rules guide your life, you are no better than the religious rulers of Jesus’ days)   

 

There is a freedom, a creativity, a relationship when you live by the Spirit.

 

There is no substitute for taking the time and effort to learn for yourself. 

 

We cannot learn to follow the Lord if we do not spend time with him and learn from him.

 

We live in a society were we want something for nothing. 

 

You cannot learn to walk in the spirit if you as an individual does not put forth the effort. 

(discipleship: help others, be helped by others)

 

Basically, it is a decision you have to make

A decision to know the Lord and walk in his ways

Spend time with Him, learn from Him.

 

Turn to John 15

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes  so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

 

Jesus is the vine.  We must stay in Him.  We must become more like Him

 

We have a responsibility to lead those under us.  They are going to eat our fruit.  What kind of fruit are you producing?

 

Life led by the Spirit is uneasy.  It is a life that is not under your control.  It is a life that requires us to learn the language of the One who is in control and then to follow His directions.

 

Lets take time to learn.  Let’s realize our responsibilities, get off our recliners and starting leading.

 

Closing

 

Maybe you said the prayer but never put Jesus in control of your life…are you really saved, did you really understand what it means to give your life to Jesus.

 

Maybe you need to let go of the steering wheel and give it to God this morning.

 

Maybe you have not been leading your family as God has called you to do and you want to make a commitment to begin doing that today.  You want to begin leading by letting the Holy Spirit lead you.

 

Maybe you know God is calling you to commit to this church, to become a member so you can help lead this church and you want to speak with me about that.

 

Maybe you need to ask God to help you follow the leadership of your husband, your pastor, those God has placed in leadership over you.