Full transcript
0:00All right, listen.
0:05>> I know y'all got a belly full of
0:07Chick-fil-A.
0:09I'm the post lunch guy, so you know,
0:12whatever. You're welcome to me. Stay
0:14awake with me for like 40 more minutes.
0:16We'll get you out of here. You going to
0:17take your Father's Day weekend nap. Uh,
0:19but if you have a Bible, grab it. Head
0:20to First Peter chapter 5 with me if you
0:22will.
0:24First Peter chapter 5. Uh, we've been
0:27doing Act Like Men for three years now.
0:30And if I'm being honest, I leave every
0:33year with the same fear that we're going
0:35to send thousands of men out of this
0:37room thinking, "I got it." That you're
0:40going to sit through all these sessions
0:42and be challenged to be the man you're
0:44meant to be. And then you're going to
0:45walk out the doors and you're going to
0:47try to white knuckle this thing. And the
0:49truth is, if you do that, you'll crush
0:51it for about a week. And and here's
0:54what's going to happen. And you know it,
0:55man. At some point, your bride, your
0:56wife's going to look at you and she's
0:57going to go, "Well, uh, why is this year
1:00any different from last year?" Cuz you
1:02came on last year and you said all the
1:04same things and you made all the same
1:05promises and nothing ever changed. And
1:07so, why should I believe you this year?
1:09And that's going to make you real mad.
1:11You know, uh, those little heathen kids
1:13in your house, they're going to be the
1:15same pagan people they are they were
1:17before you came here. They're going to
1:18be the same ones that they're are
1:19waiting on you when you get home. Still
1:21disrespecting, still disobeying. All
1:24your boys who did not come to the
1:26conference with you, they're going to
1:28still be living the same life, man.
1:29Doing all the same things that you have
1:31no business doing. And they're going to
1:32call you up and be like, "Hey, come do
1:34all the things." And men, look at me. If
1:37you leave and try to do everything
1:40you've heard in your own power, you are
1:42in trouble. You're in trouble, man. The
1:46truth is, if if that's your strategy
1:48leaving here, at some point you're going
1:50to get real stressed. You're going to
1:52get exhausted. You're going to start to
1:54wonder, you know, is all the effort
1:56really worth it? And then that slow fade
1:58is going to begin that I know some of
2:00y'all are familiar with. That slow drift
2:03is going to begin and you're going to
2:04revert back just in a few weeks, man.
2:06Revert back to being the same man you
2:08were before you showed up this weekend.
2:10And what I want to do in this closing
2:12session is talk about how to prevent
2:13that. How do you leave here and stand
2:17firm and act like the man you are meant
2:19to be without going back to the man
2:21you've been? And so if your Bibles are
2:24open to First Peter 5, I I want you to
2:25pick up. We're going to read 6
2:27through11. And we're just going to
2:28unpack this. All right. Here's what he
2:29writes. Humble yourselves therefore
2:32under the mighty hand of God so that at
2:35the proper time he may exalt you,
2:37casting all your anxieties on him
2:39because he cares for you. Be sober
2:41minded. Be watchful. Your adversary, the
2:45devil, prowls around like a roaring lion
2:47looking for someone to devour. Resist
2:50him. Firm in your faith. knowing that
2:52the same kinds of suffering are being
2:54experienced by your brotherhood
2:55throughout the world. And after you have
2:58suffered a little while, the God of all
3:00grace, who has called you to his eternal
3:02glory in Christ, he will restore,
3:05confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
3:08To him be the dominion forever and ever.
3:10Amen. So, what I want to do is take this
3:13passage that Peter was writing to
3:15suffering believers back in this day.
3:17And what I want to do is is unpack four
3:20things that every man needs to be the
3:22man we're meant to be. Four things that
3:25every man needs to be the man we're
3:27meant to be. So if you're taking notes,
3:28I'm going to give you four things to
3:30write down. If you want to leave here
3:32and stand up and act like a man, the
3:34first thing you need is the hand of God.
3:38That you need the hand of God resting
3:40upon your life. When when Peter talks
3:42here in the text about the mighty hand
3:44of God, he's pulling language right from
3:46the Old Testament. If you go back to the
3:48book of Exodus and you read the story of
3:50God delivering the nation of Israel out
3:53of Egypt, the Bible says that he did
3:56that by his mighty hand. So his hand,
3:59catch this, it represents his power. It
4:02represents his deliverance. It
4:04represents his salvation. And so for you
4:07as a man to humble yourself under the
4:09mighty hand of God is to admit, I can't
4:12do any of that for me. I can't I can't
4:15save me. I can't fix me. I can't deliver
4:18me. I am completely powerless to do that
4:20work on my own. And the reason it's so
4:23important for you and me to get this
4:25right, it goes back to what he says in
4:27verse uh five. If you read the verse
4:28before this, uh, he quotes Proverbs
4:313:34, that God opposes the proud, but he
4:34gives grace to the humble. Then, please
4:36lean in on this. I need you to
4:38understand that if you are that prideful
4:40man who thinks, "I got it. I don't need
4:44God. I don't need these other dudes. I
4:45can leave here. I can do all of this on
4:47my own." What Peter is teaching is that
4:50God doesn't just ignore you. He goes to
4:53war with you. He doesn't just avoid you.
4:57He goes to war with you. And I would
4:59argue what that looks like often times
5:01is God removing his mighty hand off of
5:04your life. This is Romans 1 kind of
5:07stuff, right? We see this society of
5:09people who are so bent on rejecting God
5:11and ignoring God. They're walking in
5:14pride that God's like, "Hey, no problem.
5:16If you want to do it without me, you can
5:18do it without me. And y'all can
5:19experience all the consequences of your
5:21pride and your sin." And God simply
5:24removes himself and he steps away to
5:26show you as a man that your way ain't
5:29going to work. You dummy. Okay, I'll
5:32give you an example of what I mean. A
5:33few nights ago, I'm I'm putting my
5:34four-year-old daughter to bed. And uh
5:36this girl, she's wild. The the third
5:38ones are built different, y'all. She's a
5:39little feral. She's crazy. And she's at
5:42that age where she wants to do
5:44everything, but she can't do anything.
5:46Do you understand what I mean by that?
5:48So, I'm putting my girl to bed. Just got
5:50her out of the bath. and she's trying to
5:51get her little night gown on and it's
5:53turned inside out. It's all twisted up
5:55and I'm like, "Hey babe, hand me the
5:57night gown." And my daughter's like, "I
5:59I got it. I can do it. I can do it." And
6:00she's sitting there wrestling with the
6:01thing. And I'm like, "Give it to I'm
6:03getting a little frustrated with her
6:04because she's not listening and she's
6:06not giving it." And so eventually I was
6:08like, "Okay, I'll just sit here and
6:09watch her struggle. I'll just let her do
6:11it on her own." And after a minute or
6:14two, she figured out I can't do it and I
6:17need dad to help. And so, do you know
6:19that at times God will do that for you
6:20as a man? That he'll just take his hand
6:23off of your life when you're the
6:25prideful man and he'll let you struggle.
6:28He'll let you experience the
6:30consequences of your bad decision all in
6:33hopes of waking you up to the reality
6:35that you make a terrible God over your
6:38own life. Man, would you hear me on
6:40this? Pride. Ju just let this sit on
6:42you. Pride is an allout assault on the
6:45glory of God.
6:48This is why in the Old Testament he
6:50calls prideful people an abomination.
6:54Proverbs 6:16, there are six things the
6:56Lord hates, seven that are an
6:58abomination. And at the very top of his
7:00list are hotty eyes. Okay? I I ain't
7:03saying hottie. H O T T Y. I don't hear
7:05that. Hotty eyes. And when you have
7:08hotty eyes, what that means is that you
7:11are a man who has much too high a view
7:13of self and you have much too small a
7:16view of God. And because you see
7:18yourself as like this great awesome
7:19thing and you know God's not all that
7:21great, what you do is you position
7:23yourself against him and you put
7:25yourself in his place and you begin to
7:27live a life for your glory and not his.
7:30And hear me, God will go to war with you
7:33over his glory. Man, he ain't going to
7:35share his glory with you. He's not. And
7:38he's not going to assist you as you live
7:40for your own glory. No, he's going to
7:42oppose you and to war against you
7:44because he created you for his glory.
7:47Men, God does not exist for you. You
7:50exist for him. This is the truth.
7:54And you wouldn't be alive and breathing
7:56right now and sitting here listening to
7:58me if it weren't for the fact that God
8:00created you, knit you together in your
8:02mother's womb. The only reason he has
8:04given you breath and life is to live for
8:07his glory. And if you're the man that's
8:09like, "Oh, I feel so offended and
8:11triggered right now." Suck it up,
8:12buttercup, and get over it. Man, I don't
8:14know what to tell you.
8:17Because the truth is, your life does not
8:19belong to you. And living for the glory
8:21of God is what's best for you. That's
8:24the glory you were created to live for.
8:26This is the glory that you exist to live
8:28for. And the best thing you can do is to
8:31live for that glory. It's the only way
8:32to be the man you're meant to be. Uh,
8:34you can choose self glory if you want
8:36to, but it's going to go real bad at
8:38some point.
8:39>> All you got to do is open this book and
8:40read it. You find countless examples of
8:42men who pursued self glory and it went
8:44badly. Uh, read the stories, man. I'll
8:46give you some examples. Lucifer, Adam,
8:49the Israelites, Pharaoh, King Saul,
8:51Nebuchadnezzar, uh, Hezekiah, Uzziah in
8:54the New Testament, the Pharisees, rich
8:56young ruler, the rich fool, Apostle
8:57Peter, King Agria, church at Leosa. I
9:00could go on and on and on with examples,
9:02but but the truth is these were all
9:04prideful people who went to war with God
9:07and they lost. And all of those people
9:10should serve as a wakeup call for us as
9:12men. Let me be real. I don't know about
9:14you. I don't want the God of the
9:17universe warning against me.
9:20>> I don't want my creator looking down on
9:22me and going, "There's a prideful man
9:25who has made life all about himself. So,
9:28what I'm going to do, I'm just going to
9:29take my hand off of James's life. I'm
9:33going to just let him do his thing. I'm
9:35going to let him feel some pain to
9:37suffer the consequences of his prideful,
9:40sinful decisions. No, I want the mighty
9:43hand of God resting upon my life always
9:45because I know that's the only way I can
9:47be the man I'm meant to be. Now, here's
9:49the question. How does that happen? How
9:52do you as a man ensure that his mighty
9:54hand is resting upon you? Well, Peter
9:56says it happens through humility. So, so
9:59catch the language. God opposes the
10:01proud, but he gives grace to who?
10:03>> The humble. God opposes the proud, but
10:06he exalts who?
10:08>> The humble. And Peter gives us an
10:11example right in the text of what
10:12humility looks like. He says that we we
10:16demonstrate this toward God by casting
10:19all of our cares upon him. Now, the word
10:23cast there is very important in the
10:25Greek. It just means to throw something
10:26onto something. And a lot of y'all who
10:28know me know I love to fish. Any
10:30fisherman in the house? Love it. Okay.
10:32Uh caught my PB striper recently with my
10:34guy Justin Trump. 30 pounder. Y'all can
10:35go look at my Instagram. Be jealous. I
10:37love People are like, "Was that AI?"
10:40Like, "What grown man posts fake fish
10:42pictures on his Instagram, man? It's a
10:44real fish." Okay. But
10:47but have you ever thrown a cast net onto
10:49a school of bait fish? You know, there
10:51you are on the boat or on the shore and
10:53you take this net and you throw it onto
10:55a thing. This is the imagery in the
10:58text. Peter is saying here that whatever
11:01has you feeling worried and anxious as a
11:04man, one of the ways you demonstrate
11:06humility is you just take all that and
11:08you throw it upon the Lord. Now, this is
11:11where I want to love you enough to tell
11:12you the truth about some of you. Um, the
11:14reason some of you men are so crippled
11:16by anxiety right now is because you
11:19ain't doing that.
11:20All right, let me be real clear. I do
11:22believe in a clinical form of anxiety. I
11:24know that people's brains can be broken
11:25and chemicals been can be off. Uh need
11:28for doctor's medicine, all the things. I
11:30think for most men, nine out of 10 men,
11:32that ain't the problem. The reason some
11:34of you are crippled by anxiety, it's not
11:36a clinical problem, it is a control
11:38problem. You're the prideful man walking
11:40through life thinking, "I can do it on
11:42my own." But the truth is, you can't.
11:44All the marriage stuff, you're trying to
11:45do it. All the kids stuff, you're trying
11:48to do it. all the work stuff, you're
11:50trying to do it and you can't do it. And
11:53this is why a lot of prideful men always
11:55turn to self-destructive behaviors. You
11:59understand what I mean? You're prideful.
12:01I'm fine. I can do the thing. And then
12:04you don't you're never honest about the
12:05fact that you can't do the thing. And
12:07instead of throwing all OF YOUR CARES
12:08UPON the Lord, you just take them to the
12:10bottle. There's not one bourbon. It's
12:12like three, four bourbons, right?
12:14Instead of throwing all of your cares
12:16upon the Lord, you take it to the
12:18computer screen. No, no, babe. I'll be
12:20to bed in just a little while. I got
12:22some work to do. And the work you're
12:23doing ain't ain't work of integrity.
12:25You're sitting in front of the screen as
12:28as tuning playing with yourself. And
12:30you're doing it because you're like, I
12:31just need a little stress relief. I'm
12:33not going to take my stress to the Lord.
12:35I'm going to take it here to the screen.
12:38And men, listen to me. If you want to be
12:40free from that, at some point you got to
12:42be humble enough to admit, I cannot do
12:45it on my own.
12:47>> I can't I can't carry all the weight and
12:51all the pressures and all the burdens on
12:53my own. And then you go to the Lord and
12:56you throw all of it upon him. Listen,
12:59because Peter says because he cares for
13:00you. Why do you cast your anxieties upon
13:03him? He goes, "Because he cares for
13:06you." This is the beauty of the gospel,
13:09y'all. That 2,000 years ago, God put his
13:13son on a cross to prove the depths of
13:16his care for you. That that he
13:18demonstrated his love for you in this.
13:20That while you were still a sinner,
13:22Christ died for you. And if God would
13:24love you enough to put his son on a
13:26cross for you, don't you think you can
13:28trust him with all the other cares of
13:30your life?
13:32Listen, if you want to be a man of God,
13:34you need the hand of [clears throat] God
13:35resting upon you. And this is an issue
13:37of humility. Now, let me give you the
13:39second one. Taking notes. Here's the
13:41next thing to write down. The second
13:43thing that every man needs to stand up
13:45and act like a man is the word of God.
13:48>> So, you need the hand of God and you
13:50need the word of God. In verse 8, when
13:52Peter says to us that we need to be
13:54soberminded and watchful, he's talking
13:57about our mental state as men. Speaking
14:00of how we think, he's going mentally,
14:03fellas, you need to stay awake. I know
14:06your belly's full of Chick-fil-A. Stay
14:07awake. He's going, "Stay alert. You got
14:10to be on guard because as you've already
14:12heard today, we're in a war, man."
14:15>> You know what I love about conferences
14:16like this? I mean, I told Tuning, I told
14:19Howard, Russ, I told all the guys,
14:20Pollock, "Hey, come in and preach
14:22whatever the Lord puts on your heart."
14:24And then we show up and we're all saying
14:26the same things. It's almost like the
14:28Lord knew what you needed to hear.
14:30>> And and it's almost like he knows how
14:32dumb men are. We're slow on the uptake.
14:34We don't need just to hear it once. We
14:35need to hear it a few times if we're
14:37really going to get it. Men, we are in a
14:39war.
14:41>> And we have been called by God to be the
14:44men in the watchtowwer.
14:46Those men who are awake and on guard and
14:48always looking out for the advances of
14:51the enemy. And Peter tells us in the
14:53text, we got an enemy, y'all. His name
14:56is the devil. And he prows around like a
14:59roaring lion looking for someone to
15:01devour. And and would you look me in the
15:03face? I need to know that you're hearing
15:04me say, would you look me in the face?
15:06Your enemy wants not just to devour you.
15:08He wants to devour everything and
15:10everyone that is near and dear to you.
15:13>> He wants to destroy your life.
15:16Wants to destroy your marriage, your
15:18wife. Wants to destroy your kids, your
15:21business. He wants to destroy our
15:23churches, our cities, our communities.
15:25He wants to destroy our nation. And do
15:28you know if we as men do not stay sober
15:30minded and watchful, that is exactly
15:31what he'll do. Uh, a few years ago, I
15:33was in Scotland. I think I was over
15:35there hanging out my boy Jonathan, and
15:38uh, we were on the way home, got to the
15:39airport super early. It's like 7:00 a.m.
15:41in the morning, and my bag got flagged
15:44going through the airport cuz I left my
15:46iPad in my bag. I'm like, would you
15:48airports just decide what you want us to
15:49do and don't do, you know? But they
15:51flagged me because iPad's in there. And
15:53so I'm standing in line behind a guy who
15:56got flagged because he left a full flask
15:59of whiskey in his backpack. Totally
16:01forgot about it. 7:00 a.m. in the
16:03morning, by the way. Did I say that? And
16:05he's in line and and the lady working
16:07the line pulls the flask out and she
16:09says, "Hey, you got one of two options.
16:11You can pour it out or you can drink
16:12it." I don't think that happened in the
16:15USA. In Scotland, they're like, "Go
16:16ahead." Yeah. I mean, you can drink it,
16:17whatever. do you think?
16:20And so this guy's like, "Look, that is
16:2218-year-old whiskey. It's expensive. I
16:24ain't pouring it out. I'm going to drink
16:26it." This was the most savage thing I've
16:28ever seen in my life, y'all. Th this
16:30dude 7:00 a.m. in the morning. I doubt
16:32he had eaten anything. Okay. Sanding in
16:34the airport. I watched this dude down
16:36this whole flask of whiskey. He's taking
16:39big gulps. His f I mean, you just on
16:41fire. And at one point he screws the cap
16:43back on and he hands it to the lady and
16:45she shakes it and goes, "You ain't done
16:48yet."
16:53Took that final sip and off he went. All
16:55right. Well, 30 minutes later, we're
16:57walking through the airport and we
16:59happen upon the guy like we walking
17:01behind him. Brother was struggling.
17:03Okay. He's like shuffling, you know?
17:05He's going real slow. He's leaning on
17:07his carry-on. I, you know, bags falling
17:09off. And I go, "Hey, man. are you okay?
17:12And he stops and he just puts his arm up
17:15and that was it. That was it. I mean,
17:16there's nothing else. I mean, just
17:23And fellas, here's the thing. I don't
17:24know about you, if I'm in a war, that
17:26ain't my guy that I want in the
17:27watchtowwer.
17:29If I'm in a fight, don't don't put drunk
17:31Joe in the watchtower. You with me? Now,
17:34listen. Listen. The here's the issue
17:37that we face. There are a lot of men
17:38today who are in watchtowers and that is
17:41who they are spiritually.
17:44They're the drunk dude in the airport,
17:45man. And and if I can just get real
17:47personal, this is probably true for some
17:49of you who are here this weekend. You
17:51are the man so drunk on the things of
17:53this world that you have completely
17:55missed that you are in a war. It is like
17:58so desensitized to the fight that you're
18:00in that you don't even see it. You are
18:02the man so busy chasing money, stuff,
18:05self- glory, just numbing your mind with
18:08endless scrolling, Netflix, porn, video
18:10games. You are the drunk dude asleep in
18:13the watchtowwer. And it's why the devil
18:15is killing you right now. And man, I I
18:17just want to say it's time for some of
18:19you to sober up and to wake up. Stop
18:23being the drunk dude with the lion on
18:24your neck. It's time for some of you to
18:27sober up and to wake up. And the way you
18:29do that is with the word of God.
18:33>> You want to stay alert. You want to be
18:35watchful. The way you do that as a man
18:38is with the word of God. You see, the
18:40truth is your enemy, the devil, doesn't
18:42have a very deep playbook.
18:44He's been running the same play, like
18:45three plays since the beginning of time.
18:48Um, again, this just proves how dumb we
18:50are as men. We haven't figured it out
18:51yet. He's got three plays, and we still
18:52can't figure it out. Uh, but but this is
18:55what he does, man. number one play that
18:56that he uses to devour you is that he
18:58lies to you. And he first, and you see
19:02it in the garden, he lies to you about
19:03you. He wants you to believe as a man
19:04that your life is going to be so much
19:07better if you're in charge. But then he
19:09lies to you about God. What he wants you
19:11to believe about him is that he doesn't
19:13care about you, that he's holding out on
19:15you, that God cannot be trusted by you.
19:18And then he lies to you about the
19:20consequences of sin. He wants you to
19:22think that you can just live your life
19:24however you want to live your life and
19:26suffer no pain or no consequences. And
19:28that's why you need this because the
19:31only way to identify and overcome the
19:34lies of the enemy is with the truth of
19:36God's word. The apostle Paul talks about
19:38it in 2 Timothy 3 16 and 17. He says
19:42that this book that I hold in my hands
19:46right now that this is God breathed.
19:49We've been talking a lot just today
19:50about things being God breathed. God
19:53breathed into man. He breathed the
19:55spirit onto the disciples. And God
19:57breathed his words onto the pages of
20:00this book. Man, it grieves me how little
20:04we love this book.
20:08It grieves me how little time we spend
20:11in this book, man. And look, and don't
20:12feed me that crap line of I ain't got
20:14time. Okay, I thought about doing this.
20:16You can do it on your own. Okay, you
20:17want to get convicted at some point
20:19today? Get your iPhone out. If you're an
20:21Android guy, I don't know how to help
20:22you. You just got to figure this out on
20:24your own.
20:26But get your iPhone out, click on the
20:28settings, scroll down to screen time,
20:31click on that, and then look at that
20:33number in the top lefthand corner. Tell
20:35me you ain't got time for the word of
20:37God. Come on, man. I heard Piper say it
20:39recently. If there's one beauty, one
20:41gift that social media has given us, it
20:43reveals that we don't have a lack of
20:45time when it comes to prayerlessness and
20:47things of the word. Man, we're just
20:48making excuses. You got time for the
20:51word of God. And you have to make time
20:53for it. Because Paul says it is
20:54profitable for teaching, rebuke,
20:57correction, and training in
20:58righteousness. Here's why. That the man
21:00of God may be complete and equipped for
21:03every good work. So, think about what
21:06Paul's teaching. This book that I hold
21:08on my hand teaches you how to be a man
21:10of God. You ain't going to know unless
21:12you spend time in this. Paul says, "This
21:14book rebukes you when you're being an
21:16idiot." And we're all idiots at times,
21:18aren't we? Amen. I'm preaching to me,
21:20too. Paul says, "This book, when you're
21:22being an idiot, it corrects you and
21:24redirects you in the way you should go."
21:26And then it also provides ongoing
21:28training in how you live a life of
21:30righteousness, a life that is right
21:32before both God and other people. And so
21:35fellas, here's the simple point. If you
21:37want to be a man of God, you need the
21:39word of God. If you want to be a man of
21:41God, you need the word of God. You have
21:43to love and treasure this book. You got
21:46to spend time saturating your mind in
21:49the pages of this book. But please hear
21:51me. You can't just love it and know it.
21:54You got to do it.
21:56You can't just be a hearer of the word.
21:58You got to be a doer of the word. James
22:001:22, James the brother of Jesus says,
22:02"If you hear it, you don't do it."
22:04You're like the man who looks at your
22:05face in the mirror and then you walk
22:07away and you immediately figure what you
22:08look like. Think about how dumb that guy
22:10is, you know? So imagine you're getting
22:12ready for work on Monday morning and you
22:14go and look in the mirror and you got
22:15drool on your face, you know, food in
22:17your teeth from the steak you ate the
22:18night before. Your hair is all busted.
22:20You got zits ready to pop on your face
22:22and and then you go get ready for work
22:24and you just walk away and you forget
22:25about all this. Well, you walk out the
22:27door busted, man. Messed up. And James
22:30is like, "Yeah, that's who you are. If
22:31you just hear this and you don't do it,
22:34you walk away from this mirror and you
22:36live the same busted life that you've
22:38been living as a man." And so, let me
22:40just say, if you leave here this
22:43afternoon with no intention on doing
22:45this, you've wasted $100 by being here.
22:50Like, you've wasted time and money by
22:52showing up to this conference. Because
22:54James goes on to say in that same
22:56passage that the blessing is in the
22:58doing. It's in that that knowing this
23:01book doesn't change you. Doing this book
23:03is what changes you. You got to do it.
23:06And I'll even add this before I go to
23:07the next point. And you have to use it.
23:10>> Man, look at me. This word is a weapon.
23:14I love this. The Apostle Paul, Ephesians
23:176:17, calls this the sword of the
23:20spirit. It is the one offensive weapon
23:23that we have to use against our enemy,
23:25the devil. Jesus, we see it in his
23:28temptation, Matthew 4, where he's in the
23:30wilderness being tempted and on three
23:32occasions, the devil comes to Jesus and
23:34he starts spouting lies, right? Trying
23:36to get him to give in. And do you
23:37remember the first line out of Jesus's
23:39mouth every time? It is written. He's
23:43like, "Oh, oh, this that's so cute, man.
23:45That's so cute. Love that great lie. It
23:49is written." And what Jesus did on on
23:51each occasion is he picked up this sword
23:54and he stabbed the devil in the face.
23:56And you men need to pick up this sword
23:58and stab the devil in the face. You got
24:00to know it. You got to do it. You got to
24:02use it. To be a man of God, you need
24:04this book. Amen.
24:06>> All right, let me keep going.
24:09Number three, I'mma repreach Tuning's
24:11whole sermon right here. Number three.
24:14>> Thank you for setting me up. If you want
24:16to be a man of God, this is the third
24:17thing every man needs. You need the
24:19spirit of God.
24:21You need the spirit of God in verse 9
24:23when Peter command and this is a
24:25command. It's an imperative in the Greek
24:28when he commands you to resist the
24:30devil. This is not a command to do that
24:33on your own because the truth is you
24:35cannot do that on your own. Please hear
24:38me. The devil is stronger than you.
24:41And if you try to fight that roaring
24:43lion on your own, he will devour you.
24:45But but here's the real good news. He
24:47ain't stronger than the one in you.
24:48>> He's not. First John 4:4, the one who is
24:51in you is greater than the one who is in
24:53the world. And man, I just want to stop
24:54for a moment and remind you of who is in
24:57you. And and let me first say though,
24:59this only applies to those of you who
25:02know Jesus Christ as your savior and
25:03lord.
25:04>> What I'm about to describe, the one who
25:06lives in you, this is only true for you
25:08as a man. If at some point you have
25:10bowed a knee to the lordship of Jesus
25:12Christ, if you've never done this, this
25:14doesn't apply to you. It ain't true for
25:17you right now. The great news is it can
25:19be true for you before you leave. For
25:21some of y'all, the first step in
25:23becoming a man is to bow a knee to King
25:26Jesus. To admit the fact that you're a
25:28sinner who needs a savior and an AU,
25:30man. And then you believe with all of
25:33your heart that everything Jesus did
25:352,000 years ago was for you. His perfect
25:38life for you. His hellish, brutal death
25:41on the cross for you. Resurrection from
25:44the dead for you. And then you use your
25:46mouth to confess him as Lord. Hand the
25:48reigns of your life to him. And the word
25:50of God says he'll save you. And he'll
25:52not just save you, but he will send his
25:55spirit to live inside of you. Some of
25:57you need to do that today. You didn't do
25:59it when Chuning called you to do it. I'm
26:00going to call you to do it again at the
26:02end. So get ready for that. Some of you
26:03need to do it still. But for those of
26:05you who've done it, and and this is
26:07where I always challenge my guys at
26:08Crossway City Church. This is where I
26:10need you to take off your church ears.
26:12Please don't sit in your seat and look
26:13at me and go, "Oh, I know. I know. I
26:14know. I know. I need you to hear this
26:17with some fresh ears right now. Men, if
26:20you know Jesus Christ, if you've bowed a
26:21knee to his lordship, the spirit of the
26:25living God lives in you.
26:29The third person of the Trinity, the
26:32Godhead, lives in you.
26:34>> The same spirit that raised Jesus Christ
26:37from the dead lives inside of you. Which
26:41is why you have no excuse for living a
26:43weak, powerless life. Dude, it wears me
26:47out when I hear Christian men moping
26:49around in defeat. Wears me out, man. Oh,
26:53I'm still struggling with the thing. Oh,
26:54I'm still battling the Oh, I just can't
26:56overcome the thing. Would you I I just
26:59want to speak some encouragement to you.
27:00Look at me. You are not a powerless man.
27:03If you belong to Jesus,
27:05>> you're not
27:07you're not a weak man. You're not a
27:09powerless man because Jesus Christ died
27:12to save you from the power of both sin
27:14and the devil. And then he sent the Holy
27:16Spirit to live in you and to come upon
27:18you to give you power over sin and the
27:21devil. And so, let let me just break it
27:22down and get a little practical if I
27:24can. Here's how this works. When the
27:26devil, your enemy, is accusing you, the
27:28spirit of God is assuring you of who you
27:30are in him. This is Romans 8:15-16. The
27:33devil's lying to you. You should be
27:34ashamed of yourself. Can't believe you
27:37would do something like that. or you
27:38should be in charge, whatever. And
27:39here's the spirit of God testifying to
27:41your spirit as a man. Oh, no, no, no.
27:43You're a love son in his family.
27:45>> Don't Don't you dare question your
27:47identity. And he's there to assure you
27:49of who you are. Uh when the devil's
27:51lying to you, the spirit's guiding you.
27:52John 16:13, Jesus says, "When I send
27:55him, he's going to guide you into all
27:57truth." And so, the devil's spouting
27:58lies. And because you're a man who's
28:00been in the word of God, he is bringing
28:02the spirit's bringing this to uh
28:04remembrance and going, "Don't believe
28:06the lies. Take this. Use the truth
28:09against him." When the devil is tempting
28:11you to do the thing that you know you
28:13have no business doing, the spirit of
28:16God is empowering you. Galatians 5:16,
28:18you heard it earlier that if you walk by
28:20the spirit, you will not gratify the
28:22desires of the flesh. And then listen to
28:24this. When the devil is shaming you, the
28:26Holy Spirit is praying for you. Romans
28:298:26. Think about that. You ever felt
28:30shame as a man? I'm gonna talk about it
28:32in just a moment. You did the thing
28:34again and you're so ashamed or or you
28:36ever been in a season of suffering as a
28:38man and you don't even know how to talk
28:41to God in those. Have you ever been
28:42there?
28:43>> Okay, there's like three of us nodding.
28:45I Okay, if if you've never been there,
28:47you will be at some point. I know I have
28:49been so ashamed, in such pain. I'm like,
28:52"God, I don't even know how to talk to
28:53you right now." And here's Paul going,
28:55"Hey, no problem. The spirit of God is
28:57doing it."
28:59>> The Holy Spirit who lives in you is
29:00praying to the father. And Jesus is
29:03praying as well. But the spirit is going
29:05to God and asking him for what you need.
29:07And and all of this matters because
29:10there's this beautiful promise in James
29:114:7 that if you will stand in the power
29:14of the spirit of God and submit to him
29:16and resist the devil, the devil runs
29:19from you. Think about that. Here you are
29:23standing firm against your enemy and the
29:25power of the spirit and the devil flees.
29:28No, I know who I am and I know the truth
29:31and you're not going to shame me and I'm
29:32not giving into my flesh. The word of
29:34God says when you stand, he runs. And
29:37so, men, please know the only power your
29:40enemy has over you is the power that you
29:42give him.
29:43>> And can I love you enough to say some of
29:44y'all are giving him way too much power
29:46in your life right now.
29:47Some of y'all give the devil way too
29:50much credit. Stop giving him credit.
29:53Stop letting him handle you. Stop giving
29:56him power over you that has already been
29:58stripped from him. And so with that
30:00said, I want to talk for a moment about
30:02how to access and stand in that power.
30:04Uh Tuning talked about some of this, but
30:06I'm just going to repeat a little bit.
30:07Okay? It's one thing to know that the
30:09power is there. It's a whole different
30:11thing to access it and to stand in it.
30:13So So how do you do it? I'm going to
30:14give you just two quick things. Number
30:16one, you need to actively pursue the
30:18spirit.
30:20>> If you want to stand in the power of the
30:21spirit, you need to actively pursue the
30:23spirit. You men are meant to walk in
30:26relationship with the spirit of God
30:27>> because he's a person. He's not just a
30:30power to be used. He is a person to be
30:31loved. We are meant to walk in
30:33relationship with him. And the way we do
30:36that is through the spiritual
30:37disciplines. Man, a lot of y'all know
30:39I'm a church kid. Grew up in church.
30:40Great parents raised me in church. Uh my
30:42mom went into labor with me sitting in a
30:44church service. So, I've been in church
30:45my whole life. No joke. And I used to
30:48think when it came to the spiritual
30:50disciplines, prayer, reading the word,
30:53going to church, fasting, all these
30:55things. I used to think that these were
30:57just things uh good Christians do. I do
31:00it to check the box and to show God how
31:02serious I am and all those things. And
31:03it took me a while to figure out, oh,
31:05no, no, no. These are the means of grace
31:08that God has provided by which I open my
31:10life up to the work of the Holy Spirit.
31:12So, why do I read the word? Why do I
31:14pray? Why do I go to church? Why do I
31:15fast? Why do I do these things? Because
31:17this is this is literally me putting my
31:20life at the feet of the spirit of God
31:22and saying to him, "Work on me.
31:26Change me. I can't fix me. I can't save.
31:28I can't deliver me. I can't make make
31:30myself more like Jesus, the one who
31:32saved me." And so, Holy Spirit, I'm
31:34going to be in the word. I'm going to
31:35pray. I'm going to get in your presence
31:37because I know only you can do that work
31:39in me. If you want him to empower you,
31:43you have to pursue him each and every
31:44day. But then the second thing you have
31:46to do is actively submit to the spirit.
31:50So you have to pursue him. You have to
31:51walk in relationship. But then you have
31:54to actively submit to him. Now uh I
31:56would say there are two ways you need to
31:57do it. You need to be proactive in your
31:59submission, which looks like you as a
32:02man getting out of bed every day,
32:03humbling yourself before the spirit and
32:05yielding to him and admitting, "I need
32:08you today." Amen.
32:10>> If you don't show up my life today,
32:11I'mma fall on my face, man. I will
32:14revert back to being the man I've been.
32:16It ain't going to go great if you don't
32:18show up and empower me to be the man
32:19that I I'm meant to be. And so, you need
32:21to be proactive. Give me power to resist
32:24the devil. Give me power to walk in
32:26holiness. Give me power to be a man of
32:29God. But then I would also say, and this
32:31is so important, that you need to submit
32:33to him reactively,
32:35that in the very moments that the lion
32:38comes, that roaring lion, when he comes
32:40to attack you and to devour you, you
32:43need to ask for the power of the Holy
32:45Spirit in that moment. As men, we're
32:49terrible about this ter and it's why we
32:51spend more time repenting than we do
32:53walking in power because we don't ask
32:55for power in the moments we need it. And
32:57I think one of the reasons we do it is
32:59because our enemy is very crafty. Come
33:01on, man. You've experienced it. It's
33:03like, man, maybe just one more drink.
33:05One more drink. One more drink. And
33:06you're like, I shouldn't have the other
33:07drink. And here's the enemy in you lying
33:08to you going, "Hey, bro, you can't talk
33:10to God right now if you want to pick
33:11that up again." Who Who are you to go
33:14into the presence of God right now if
33:15you want to do something like that?
33:17You're you're you're pulling the website
33:18up again. You know, I know I don't need
33:20to do it. I know I don't need to do it.
33:21And you don't ask the spirit for help to
33:23stop. And here's the enemy lying to you.
33:25If you want to look at that again, you
33:26should be ashamed of yourself. God
33:28doesn't want to hear from a guy like you
33:30in a moment like this. But, but do you
33:32know that's exactly when God wants to
33:34hear from you? God's like, "No, no, you
33:36need to call on me in those moments,
33:39man. When the devil is on your neck
33:41trying to kill you, it's like I got
33:43three daughters at home, uh, 15, 11, and
33:45four. Y'all pray for me. The teenager,
33:47and toddler are trying to kill us all
33:49the time, okay? But they're great. And,
33:51and as a dad who loves my daughters,
33:53here's what I can tell you. Anytime I
33:55hear this word out of my daughter's
33:57mouth, I come running. Help.
34:01If any one of them, "Dad, help." I come
34:05running. I don't go slow. I don't take
34:07my time. It's not, "Hey, give me 10
34:09minutes." No. If I hear that out of
34:11their mouth, it is immediate. I'm
34:12showing up. I'm I'm stepping in. And do
34:14you know in those moments when the
34:16devil's trying to kill you, the Holy
34:17Spirit is just waiting on you to go,
34:19"Help.
34:20I need you now. I need your power right
34:24now. Because if you don't show up now,
34:26I'm going to do the thing again right
34:27now. Spirit of God, I'm calling on you
34:30now,
34:31man. You got to call on him when you
34:33need him. And do you know that is a
34:35prayer he answers every single time.
34:37Every time. If you want to be a man of
34:39God, you need the spirit of God. Now,
34:42let me give you the last one. Number
34:44four, the final thing that every man
34:47needs is the people of God.
34:50You need his hand. You need his word.
34:52You need his spirit and you need his
34:54people. Fellas, did you catch in verse 9
34:56that Peter says here that hey uh your
34:58brothers all over the world are
35:00experiencing the same thing as you. Did
35:03you see that language, fellas? Let me
35:05apply that to us. Every single man in
35:08this room carries the same weights. We
35:11carry the same pressures. We carry the
35:13same burden. It it might look a little
35:15bit different for different men in the
35:16room, but the truth is we're all
35:18carrying the same things, man. Again, it
35:20looks different. Uh, some of you you're
35:21drinking too much. There are other dudes
35:22in the room drink too much. Some of
35:24y'all still battling against the porn
35:26thing. There are other dudes in this
35:27room battling against the porn thing.
35:28Some of you, you know that when you
35:30leave, you're going to go back to a home
35:31with a wife and the marriage ain't
35:32great. There are other dudes in this
35:34room whose marriages ain't great. Some
35:36of y'all got prodigal kids, other men,
35:37they have prodigal kids. Some of you
35:39still struggling to forgive. There are
35:40other men in this room struggling to
35:41forgive. Guys, you're not the only one.
35:45You're not. first Tim or 1 Corinthians
35:4710:13. There is no temptation that is
35:50uncommon to man. We're all facing and
35:53carrying the same things. But the lie
35:55the enemy wants you to believe is that
35:58you're the only one.
36:00The lie he wants you to believe is that
36:02your struggle is somehow unique when it
36:04ain't unique. Because when you believe
36:06that lie, you hide. It's what Adam did
36:09in the garden right after he and Eve
36:10sinned against God. Uh, dude goes into
36:13hiding and God comes looking, not
36:15because he didn't know where Adam was.
36:16He's just trying to give him a chance to
36:18come clean. He says,"Adam, where are
36:19you?" And, and here was his line. This
36:22is one you need to memorize, fellas. He
36:24says to God, "I was afraid because I was
36:26naked, so I hid.
36:29>> I was afraid because I was naked, so I
36:32hid." Man, that is a picture of shame.
36:36You see, shame by its very definition is
36:38when you believe you are something
36:40wrong. Guilt is I've done something
36:43wrong. Shame is I am something wrong.
36:46And when you live under shame and you
36:48believe that you are something wrong,
36:50you hide and you isolate from both God
36:53and people. And do you know that
36:54isolated men are a whole lot easier to
36:56devour? Like man, you ever seen a lion
36:59hunt? You ever watch one of those
37:01national if uh Chun's going to go on a
37:03lion hunt soon? If you want to see him
37:04kill a lion, you can go and you can
37:06watch it. But
37:08but have you ever seen a lion hunt? You
37:10ever seen this? You know, you watch TV
37:12and and and what the lion typically does
37:14is he will hunker down in that tall
37:16grass and he moves real slow and he's
37:19real quiet. And what he does not do is
37:21rush into the pack of zebras to take one
37:24out. No. And he just waits like really
37:26quietly and he's real patient and he
37:29waits on that lone zebra with add to the
37:33David Pollock to wander off from the
37:35rest of the pack.
37:37Love that guy. And then the lion goes
37:40after that one. And here's what I'm
37:42saying, men. If you are walking alone
37:43right now, if you're isolated, if you
37:45are in hiding, you are the lone zebra
37:47with ADD. And and can I just tell you,
37:49if you stay that way, the devil will
37:51kill you. He'll kill you. Dietrich
37:53Bonhaofer talks about this in his book
37:55Life Together. He writes, "Sin demands
37:58to have a man by himself. It withdraws
38:01him from the community. The more
38:03isolated a person is, the more
38:05destructive will be the power of sin
38:07over him. And the more deeply he becomes
38:09involved in it, the more disastrous is
38:11his isolation. Here's Bon Hopper's
38:14point, man. You want to blow your life
38:15up, walk alone.
38:17You want to blow your life up, keep
38:18hiding, keep isolating, keep pretending,
38:21because all you're doing is putting a
38:22big old target on your back for the
38:24enemy. And isolation is an invitation
38:26for him to devour you. And that is an
38:29invitation he will gladly take you up
38:30upon. But but let me go a step further
38:32and also say to some of you, if you want
38:35to blow your life up, walk with fools.
38:40>> I know some of you listening to this
38:41right now and you're like, I'm I'm good,
38:43bro. I got friends. Yeah, but the
38:45problem is your friends are idiots.
38:48They are. They're complete morons.
38:52Like you're running around with dudes
38:53who don't love Jesus, who aren't
38:54following Jesus. to quote my guy Matt
38:57Chandler who I wish was here to quote
38:59they're boys who can shave.
39:01They've never grown up. They're grown
39:03men still acting like they're in middle
39:05school and those are your friends.
39:06They're idiots, man. And and and let me
39:08just say I love you. If you're walking
39:10with fools, you're a fool. And at some
39:12point all those friends you call fools
39:14are going to help you blow your life up.
39:16If you want to see what I mean, just go
39:18read the book of Proverbs, my friend.
39:19There's a lot to say about fools in that
39:21book. Uh, a few weeks ago I was in the
39:23Barto County Jail, not far from here,
39:25hanging with some dudes and and I was
39:27talking to them about this. By the way,
39:30those men are joining us right now for
39:32the Egglike Man Conference. Can we just
39:33say welcome to those zoos at the BTO
39:35County Jail. Glad you'all are with us.
39:38So good. [applause]
39:42But but these are a bunch of dudes
39:44who've been putting in work over the
39:45last several months. Uh, they're about
39:46to get out of jail at the end of this
39:48month. And what I told him, I said,
39:50'Fellas, if you leave here and go back
39:53to your old friends, you go back to your
39:54old life.
39:56>> You can't go back to the fools you've
39:58been running with. Because if you go
39:59back to those friendships, you're going
40:00to go back to your old life. And then I
40:02told him a story about my
40:03brother-in-law. My brother-in-law at 18
40:05years old started running around with
40:06fools. And he started doing a lot of
40:09dumb stuff he had no business doing.
40:10Fell into drug addiction. Uh was not
40:12only using drugs, but was selling drugs,
40:15in and out of jail, you know, overdose,
40:18the whole thing. the whole thing. Well,
40:19at 23 years old, he ended up in jail on
40:22drug possession charges. And he was
40:24several months in and I went to see him
40:26shortly before he was going to get out.
40:28And my brother-in-law was a stud, by the
40:30way. Just incredible athlete, greatl
40:32looking kid, could have dated any girl
40:34he wanted. Got all the prettiest girls,
40:35you know. And I'm sitting across from
40:37him, and when he was sober, he was
40:39awesome. And I'm talking to him and and
40:41I'm like, "Hey man, when you get out of
40:42here, you got to call me. You can't go
40:45back to your old life." And he's across
40:46the glass just pleading, "I need help. I
40:48don't want to be that man I I've been
40:50anymore. I want my life to change. I
40:51want to be different." And I looked at
40:53him and I said, "Austin, you cannot go
40:56back to those fools you've been running
40:58with." And he said, "I won't. I pro.
41:00Call me, man. I'll call you." Well, he
41:03got out on a Wednesday and I didn't know
41:04because he didn't call me. And by
41:06Friday, he was running around with all
41:08those fools again. By Saturday, he was
41:11using again.
41:13And then Sunday afternoon, I got one of
41:15the hardest phone calls I've ever gotten
41:17in my life. My wife, who's his sister,
41:22seven months pregnant with my oldest
41:23daughter, is this is the brother-in-law.
41:26I got the call Sunday afternoon that my
41:28brother-in-law died of a drug overdose
41:30in a hotel room with his full idiot
41:33friends laying in the bed next to him.
41:36And I looked at those men at that Barto
41:38County Jail and I said, "Look at me. If
41:39you go back to your old friends, you
41:40will go back to your old life." And and
41:42men, look, the same is true for some of
41:44y'all, men. I mean, the reality is, you
41:47know, it might not be the drug thing or
41:48something that you think is serious, but
41:50if you leave this conference today and
41:52you go back to your old friends, you
41:54will go back to your old life. And I
41:56ain't suggesting that you leave here and
41:58you give them the finger and just write
41:59them off. That ain't what I'm saying.
42:01What I am saying is that you need to
42:03create some distance between them and
42:05you. And one of the best ways that you
42:07can love them is by praying for them.
42:09And some of you need to find some true
42:11men of God to begin walking with. You
42:14see, the point I'm making is this, and
42:15this applies to us all. It doesn't
42:16matter if you're isolated or walking
42:18with fools. If you want to be a man of
42:19God, you need other men of God.
42:22>> You need men of your of God in your life
42:24who know you. And not the fake you, but
42:27the real you. They know all the worst
42:29parts of you. You need men in your life
42:31who love Jesus more than they love you.
42:34men who are willing to call you out on
42:36your crap, to tell you the truth, to be
42:38up in your business, to follow him. And
42:40and so the next step for some of you is
42:42you got to leave here and find those
42:44men. This ain't enough, man. Big room's
42:46great. It's awesome. Okay, great. You
42:48need to leave here and find some men.
42:50And for some of you, what that means is
42:52you need to leave and find a church.
42:54Some of y'all ain't even a part of a
42:56local church.
42:58>> [applause]
42:58>> And you got to go and plug into a church
43:00and find some men of God to begin
43:02walking with. And then to steal a line
43:04from my buddy Joby Martin, you then need
43:06to deputize those men. You need to look
43:09those godly men in the face and go,
43:10"Here's what I need from you. Okay? Uh,
43:12these are all my pain points. This is
43:14what I struggle with. Here are the
43:15questions I need you to be asking. Dude,
43:17if I call you at 3:00 a.m. in the
43:18morning, I just need you to pick up the
43:19phone. This is who I need you to be."
43:21Because when you walk with other men of
43:23God, your enemy has less of an
43:25opportunity to take you out. There's
43:28safety in numbers. There is no safety in
43:30isolation. There is no safety in walking
43:32with fools. There is only safety in
43:35godly community. And to be a man of God,
43:37you need other men of God walking with
43:39you.
43:40>> All right. With all that said, let me
43:41tell you how we're going to close. I'm
43:42going to land the plane. Um on your way
43:45out in just a few moments, uh we're
43:48going to give you one of these. We we've
43:50done this every single year. I got one
43:51in my pocket. It's just a challenge
43:52coin. And so this is the third one. If
43:54you've been here every year, this will
43:55be your third one. Uh, but on your way
43:58out, we're going to hand every single
43:59man one of these challenge coins. And
44:01what I want you to do with this is put
44:03it somewhere where you're going to see
44:04this thing every single day. So, if you
44:07want, carry it in your pocket, put it in
44:08your truck, put it on your desk at work,
44:10whatever, but somewhere where you're
44:12going to have to see this and touch it
44:14and look at it every single day. And
44:16what I want for you, I want this to
44:18serve as your daily reminder [music]
44:20that I cannot be the man I am meant to
44:22be on my own. I can't like every time
44:25you look at this thing, [music] you
44:26touch this thing, I just want you to
44:28remember I need the hand of God, the
44:30word of God, the spirit of God, and the
44:32people of God to be the man I am meant
44:34to be. And and I want this to [music]
44:37provoke you to just humble yourself
44:40before the Lord as a man. God, would you
44:42let your mighty hand rest upon [music]
44:44me today? I want this to provoke you to
44:47pick up this book and to go, man, even I
44:49got five minutes today, man. I'm I'm
44:51going to bury my face in this book. I
44:52want this to [music] provoke you to
44:54pursue the spirit of God, to submit to
44:56the spirit of God, and to be open and
44:58honest with [music] men of with with
45:00other men of God. And fellas, let me
45:02just say, we got to get this right
45:05because we only got one shot to get it
45:06right. One. Did you notice what Peter
45:09did where he landed in verse 10? He
45:12points us to this future reality when we
45:15as men who belong to Jesus will be with
45:18him. Think about that. you. It's coming
45:20today if you know that you're going to
45:21be with him in glory.
45:24All the struggles, all the battles, all
45:26the burdens, all the pain. It's it's
45:28going to be over once and for all.
45:30[music] Praise God. But men, don't miss
45:32that on that day when you step into
45:34glory with him. There will be a moment
45:36where you as an individual will [music]
45:39stand before King Jesus and you will
45:41answer for how you spent the one life
45:43that he gave you. The one life. You're
45:46going to lock eyes with the one who
45:48still wears the scars that paid for your
45:50sins and you're going to answer, "Were
45:53you a man of God or were you not? Were
45:56you a lover, a leader, a protector, a
45:58provider, or were you a lazy, passive,
46:01cowardly man who wasted your life on a
46:03bunch of earthly crap that does not
46:05matter and will not last?" And I don't
46:07know about you, the last thing I want in
46:09that moment is for King Jesus to look at
46:11me and go, "Bro, what [music] were you
46:13doing?
46:17You know who I [music] called you to be.
46:20>> You know why I put you there. You know
46:23whose glory you were meant to live for.
46:25You know what kind of husband and dad I
46:27called you to be. You know how I called
46:30you to live your What were you doing?
46:34Like I want to stand before Jesus and
46:36hear those words. [music] Well done,
46:38good and faithful servant. You get right
46:42all the time, man. But you never quit
46:44and you never gave up. You kept putting
46:47in effort. You stayed humble. You stayed
46:48in my word. You relied on my spirit. You
46:50walked with other men of God. Welcome
46:52in, my brother. Well done, good [music]
46:54and faithful servant. That's what I
46:56want. And that's what I want for you,
46:58man. [applause]
46:59It's the dream. [music]
47:06So, let me go back to where I was just
47:08several minutes ago. For some of you,
47:10the first step in becoming that man is
47:12[music] bowing a knee to the lordship of
47:14Jesus. This little coin, everything else
47:16we talked about doesn't matter if you
47:18have never bowed a knee to the lordship
47:19of Jesus [music] Christ. Some of you
47:20have never done that. And I believe God
47:22brought you here into this room this
47:24week into this conference [music] to do
47:25it. To wake you up to the reality that
47:27you need a savior and it ain't you. And
47:29I believe God is calling you right now
47:31in this moment to turn from sin, turn in
47:33faith to Jesus, bow and knee to his
47:35lordship and to make a decision from
47:37this day forward to follow him by the
47:39power of his spirit because it is the
47:41only way you will be the man you are
47:43meant to be. [music] And so if you need
47:45to do that, I want to give you the
47:47chance to do it right now. Can we just
47:48bow all over this room? Let's just bow
47:50together.
47:54And if you are the man in the room who
47:56would say, "I need to bow a knee [music]
48:00to the lordship of Jesus Christ."
48:03And for the very first time in your
48:04life, you would say, "I admit I'm a
48:06sinner. I need a savior." And it's him.
48:10I believe that what he came to do 2,000
48:12years ago was for me. He lived. He died.
48:16He resurrected from the dead for me. And
48:19today, I confess him as Lord. I choose
48:23to hand the reigns of my life over to
48:24him to bow a knee and I want to be the
48:27man I am meant to be. And so I'm going
48:29to follow the greatest man who's ever
48:30lived from this day forward, Jesus
48:32Christ. [music]
48:32If you are that man as a declaration of
48:34your faith before God, would you just
48:36lift a hand toward heaven right now
48:37where you sit? Would you just lift a
48:38hand toward heaven? Just lift it up.
48:40Okay. All right. Just lift it up. Keep
48:41it up. Keep it up. Keep it up. Keep it
48:43up. Hands going up. Hands going up.
48:44Hands going up. Keep it up. Keep it up.
48:48[music] All right. All of you dudes. And
48:50I know you're all over the room, so I
48:51can't see you like you can see me, but
48:52but would [music] you put your hand
48:54down? Just look at me for a moment. Just
48:55look at me for a m Look at me. Okay, I'm
48:58going to give you your next step.
48:59[music] All right, I'm going to put you
49:00on the spot right now. We already did
49:01that. But I'm going to give you your
49:02next step. Okay, here's what I need you
49:04to do. One of two things. Number one, I
49:07need you to either tell somebody what
49:08you did before you leave today. We're
49:10going to have a bunch of dudes down
49:12front waiting to pray for people before
49:13we go. Just come and tell one of them.
49:15You can tell me. Tell a friend who's
49:17with you. [music] Um, your other option
49:18is I need you to go find a church
49:20tomorrow and I need you to walk into a
49:22local church and if you need help, we'll
49:24help you find one. And I need you to
49:26tell somebody in that church, this
49:27[music] is what God did in my life
49:29yesterday because you cannot follow
49:31Jesus on your own. You need to plug in
49:34and find some men so you can follow him.
49:35So fellas, tell somebody today before
49:37you leave. Find a church. Tell somebody
49:39tomorrow. But look, I'm going to pray
49:41for you and then we're going to take
49:43some time to sing [music] and we're just
49:44going to open the front of this room as
49:46an altar again before the Lord like we
49:47did. And some of you men need to come
49:50and cast some cares [music] upon the
49:51Lord. Some of you men need to come and
49:53pray and ask for a hunger for the word
49:56of God. Some of you need to come and you
49:58need to submit yourself to the Holy
50:00Spirit today. I need power. And then
50:02some of you need to pray for courage
50:04[music] to come out of hiding and
50:06isolation and to start walking with some
50:08other men after today.
50:11Father, would you meet us here? God, we
50:13know you're here. Meet us here. We
50:14[music] don't want to miss you. God,
50:17over the next several moments, I just
50:18pray that you'd meet us here. Thank you
50:19for all these men who just surrendered
50:21their lives in faith to Jesus. Give them
50:23the courage they need to tell [music]
50:24somebody. God, we rejoice that in this
50:26room, men just went from death to life.
50:29We praise you, God.
50:31And over the next several moments, I
50:33pray continue changing us, continue
50:35transforming us. God, meet us here in
50:37this place. We love you and we pray this
50:39[music] in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Hey,
50:42let's stand to our feet. We're going to
50:43sing. If you want to come and pray, man,
50:45you can come and pray.