Father's Day
June 19, 2022

The Fight part 7 - Father’s Day

SEMPER VIRILIS - Thought to be coined by the Spartans this term simply means “ALWAYS MANLY”. It was a Latin term spoken about fighters, about the men to look up to, about the man everyone knew couldn’t be beat.

WHAT MAKES YOU A MAN HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR ANATOMY!

Genesis 5:2
2
He created them male and female, and he blessed them and called them “human.

HE CREATED, NOT THEY DECIDED.
WE KNOW God created two genders: male and female.
It was NEVER His intention for those genders to be a socially constructed idea.

1 Corinthians 13:11
11
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

How does a MALE become a man? What is “manhood”?

Paul says - WHEN YOU BECOME A MAN, YOU STOP SPEAKING, UNDERSTANDING AND REASONING LIKE A CHILD DOES…

SPEAKING

  • real men don’t curse at their family. Real men can control their words.

UNDERSTANDING

  • I gave up waiting for other people to make decisions for me and started making my own decisions.
  • I gave up putting off important decisions and started tackling them head on.

REASONING

  • I gave up selfish reasoning and started to make decisions based on others first.
  • I gave up reasoning that avoided work and decided to work hard.
  • I gave up reasoning that looked to do the minimum and started deciding to do the maximum.
  • I gave up deciding to quit and started deciding to persevere.
  • I gave up reasoning to please others and started reasoning to please God.
  • I gave up reasoning with my genitalia and started reasoning with my head and heart.
  • I gave up reasoning how to fight for myself and started deciding to fight for those i believe in.
  • I gave up passive reasoning and started to lead.

WHEN I BECAME A MAN…

  • I gave up having to be told what to do and started deciding what to do.
  • I gave up waiting for other people to make decisions for me and started making my own decisions.
  • I gave up putting off important decisions and started tackling them head on.
  • I gave up selfish reasoning and started to make decisions based on others first.
  • I gave up reasoning that avoided work and decided to work hard.
  • I gave up reasoning that looked to do the minimum and started deciding to do the maximum.
  • I gave up deciding to quit and started deciding to persevere.
  • I gave up reasoning to please others and started reasoning to please God.
  • I gave up reasoning with my genitalia and started reasoning with my head and heart.
  • I gave up reasoning how to fight for myself and started deciding to fight for those i believe in.
  • I gave up passive reasoning and started deciding to lead.

Isaiah 59:17
17
For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke.

Vengeance for clothing and CAPE of zeal…

Vengeance = THE AVENGER

  • clothing = underneath the armor…
  • underneath the armor… is the understanding that THESE PEOPLE have been used… they have been in slavery to sin…
  • underneath our armor must be the desire of MERCY and FREEDOM to find every person possible!
  • WITHOUT THE LOVE OF CHRIST MOTIVATING MY FIGHT / I’M JUST AN ANOYING KNOW-IT-ALL!
  • Leading by example.

GOD IS CALLING CHRISTIAN MEN - TO LIVE THEIR

TO BE IN THEIR BELIEFS AND TO MASCULINITY TO THEIR FAMILIES AND THEIR WORLD REAL HEROES WEAR CAPES (their zeal is seen and followed)!

Men are called to be zealous about their

.
To be passionate about things of .

BOYS BECOME MEN WHEN THEY TURN INTO FATHERS (not physically, but spiritually).

1 Corinthians 4:15
15
For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

2 KINDS OF FATHERS: Physical ones and Spiritual ones.

BIGGEST DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A FATHER AND TEACHER

  • it’s not BLOOD. Many people sired kids, but never fathered them.
  • it’s not VICINITY. You can live in the same household as someone and never be fathered.

Do I GIVE

, or do I LIVE AS A ?

1 Corinthians 16:13
13
Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.

1. “WATCH” - vigilance with a readiness to act.

MEN STRUGGLE WITH SELF-DOUBT because we are not watching but looking.
If all we do is LOOK AT CIRCUMSTANCES we would have fear…

A BOY RETREATS IN FEAR - FOCUSES ON ME AND MINE - STEPS OFF

A boy

/ A MAN ! WALKING BY FAITH AND NOT BY SIGHT.

HOW DO I WATCH WELL?

Colossians 4:2
2
Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;

GOD DOES NOT NEED YOUR PRAYERS - YOU DO.

  • Prayer changes things… but most of all prayer changes us!
  • It CHANGES our spiritual sight…
    Real men pray. That’s how we stay alert.
    That’s how we don’t allow the enemy to sneak up in our lives.

Prayer is a lightning rod for the

man

  • ANGER is not ungodly - Bible says BE ANGRY and sin not…
  • Anger BECOMES sin when I SPEAK LIKE A CHILD OR ACT LIKE A CHILD and lash out in fear and anger.
  • When I am angry - PRAYER keeps me watchful FOR THOSE AROUND ME.

Prayer is a release valve for the

man

  • When I’m stressed out about everything in life and I start LOOKING at the world & problems prayer can be a release valve so that I can be more like Jesus.

Prayer is a gas pedal for the

man, and a brake for the man

  • If I find myself shy, afraid and pausing - PRAYER MOTIVATES ME TO ACTION.
  • If I find myself upset and acting immediately - PRAYER REMINDS ME OF HIS TIMING AND HEART.
  • IT allows us to correct things before we need to be corrected.

Prayer is talking to God, and it’s listening to God when He’s talking to us.
Real men have an active prayer life and show it to their wife and children.
Our cape of zeal is shown in watchfulness, when our kids see and hear us pray.

2.

IN FAITH

  • Boys will start something and then give up.
  • Boys will say they believe in something, but not live what they believe.
  • Boys will do something until it gets uncomfortable.

FATHERS STAND IN FAITH SAYING, “HOW CAN I USE MY FAITH TO INCREASE THE KINGDOM?”

Jesus signed your emancipation proclamation with his blood ~
BUT SATAN IS TRYING TO KEEP IT A SECRET FROM THE WORLD & the CHURCH!
Galatians 5:1
1
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

LITERAL GREEK for FREEDOM = Christ set us free. Refuse to settle for anything less…

1 Corinthians 15:58
58
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

DEFINITIONS IN THIS SCRIPTURE:
STEDFAST
- sedentary… like a rock.
UNMOVEABLE - immovable..
ALWAYS ABOUNDING IN…. WORK (of the Lord) - ergon means a work or worker who accomplishes something.

FATHERS have GRIT…

MEN are Courageous when boys are cowards.
MEN keep going Strong when boys keep giving in.
MEN Demand excellence, when boys demand a break.
MEN SHOW UP with passion when boys sleep in with excuses.

Men do what God called them to do and don’t give up.

3.

LIKE MEN -
This is an old English phrase…It’s a WORD OF COMMAND | A WORD OF CHALLENGE | MEANS… STEP UP AND “SHOW THAT YOU ARE PHSYICALLY A MAN”

FATHERS ARE LOOKING FOR SONS AND DAUGHTERS TO FOLLOW THEIR EXAMPLE OF COURAGEOUS FAITH!

Philippians 4:9
9
Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me,

IF YOU FOLLOW ME IN COURAGEOUS FAITH then YOU WILL HAVE PEACE.
NOT because the situation is peaceful, but because the Holy Spirit is in the action!

MEN don’t look for who can do what needs to be done.
MEN STEP UP TO THE TASK AT HAND ~ and call helpers alongside!

4. BE

Strength is not being able to lift something.

BOYS WHO PRETEND TO BE MEN HAVE A “Messiah complex” - that is not strength… it’s being an egomaniac.

REAL STRENGTH doesn’t come from your muscles. = it is found from an inner fortitude that cannot be challenged or shaken.

Ephesians 6:10 - 11
10
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

MY STRENGTH IS NOT IN MY SINEWS - MY STRENGTH IS IN SOLIDARITY!
It is in my UNION with God…my seeking God…and MY DESIRE TO SEE OTHERS SHINE through HIS STRENGTH!

BE STRONG - IN - THE LORD! (not FOR the Lord, not WITH the Lord) ~

  • my strength is only equal to my time in His presence.
  • my ability to deal with the fight and the challenges is gained through time in prayer and worship.

POWER of His might ~
- Not my ability. Not my prowess. Not my knowledge.
- HIS MIGHT! ~ I want HIS hands to be under mine. I want HIS STRENGTH to see me through.

Philippians 4:13
13
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
A real man doesn’t have to act tough. A real man knows Christ is enough.

It’s not about your muscles, it’s not about your skills,
It’s about your attitude and your lifestyle.

MOTHERS - Let’s speak this over our sons. Confess the Word over the man he is called to be. Demand that they live that way. You are shaping a man.
FATHERS - Let us live this life in front of our sons and daughters that they see manhood through our actions.
SINGLE LADIES - Do not give into a boy who is pretending to be a man.
Demand manliness! Require true manhood.
MARRIED LADIES - Confess this over your husband

:: ROYAL | WARRIOR | PRIEST This is our call…

ROYAL - you are a part of the kingdom of Heaven.
You demand that Heaven’s ways show up where you go.
WARRIOR - you are a fighter. You may get hit, but you get back up.
You stand with a cape of zeal and vengeance as a shirt. I’ll fight for others until they can.
PRIEST - we serve the people on behalf of God.
We stand as supernatural leaders, speaking the Word and praying on their behalf.

To all men of our church:

  • God is calling us to character
  • He’s calling us to bear greater responsibility
  • He’s calling us to become stewards of these instincts
  • And to work them with skill, and wisdom, and determination into something better
  • Too much is at stake:
    Our churches
    Our families
    Our communities

We desperately need a movement of men determined to become more like Christ.