Respectable Men, Part 4

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. Today, Pastor Rich unpacks God's call on men within a marriage relationship. 1 Peter 3.7 says, Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered. A man faithfully following Jesus with a tender heart toward his Savior is a gift to his family.

Let's listen in to this message titled Respectable Men from the series Live as People Who Are Free. And be complementary. And God's design is good.

You know why? Because God is good. Everything He does is good.

There's never a time that He's not good. God is good. So we come then to the end of the verse, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. Hindered prayers. If your prayers are hindered, it only means one thing. It means your walk with God is hindered.

We come back to that again. Paramount in all of this is your walk with God. Are you following, as a man of God, are you following in the steps of Christ? I'm not talking about what you do.

I'm talking about what kind of man are you. Are you demonstrating the character, the purpose, the faithfulness of Christ? We are called to that. Here's a tough statement, guys. You ready for this? I've said a few of them today. If you neglect being a godly husband, you sabotage your ability to realize God's purpose for you.

Seen it too many times. Guys are so busy for God, they marginalized their marriage. That is not God's design. She is your co-heir in the grace of life. She is your co-heir in Christ.

She is your equal partner. If you neglect being a godly husband, you sabotage your ability to realize God's purpose for you. So lastly, today, men, we are called, you and I are called to be a godly man. We're called to be a godly man.

Whittle it down, distilling that down, comes down to two things. Number one, lead. Lead, referencing chapter 3 verse 1. Lead how? Lead intelligently, faithfully, courageously, sacrificially. Yeah, that's a tall order, isn't it? And if you leave here today going out that door and say, you know, I just need to be a better leader in my life and I need to leave, you know, intelligently and faithfully and courageously and sacrificially, I just need to do this.

And if that's what you've taken from this, you have missed the point. What's paramount? What is priority for you in all of this?

What is it? Follow Christ. Men, you can't do this on your own. And Nathan brought that out perfectly in his prayer, didn't he?

I didn't write that prayer for him. You can't do this on your own, men. This is a call for Christian men to be godly men, the godly husbands. And you cannot do this if you are not yourself following Christ, pursuing Christ passionately.

That's what I'm calling you to this morning, men. Lead intelligently, faithfully, courageously, sacrificially, as Christ did. So as you follow him, as you walk in his steps, you will start to do this. You lead by following Christ. Your walk with God is paramount. In other words, your godly leadership as a husband in the marriage unit is the outflow of your passionate pursuit of Christ. That's how the grace of God works. I'm not giving you orders going out and saying, oh, you just need to be better husbands.

That's not what this is about. It is about you rising up to follow Christ, and your wife will reap the benefits of that. I'm calling you to that this morning, men. And if you lead intelligently, faithfully, courageously, sacrificially, by following Christ, I think I have the authority of the Word of God to say this. She will joyfully follow you by God's design. None of us is intended to do this alone. So as we are called to be godly men, the first point in conclusion here is to lead.

The second point is to seek. Seek a godly man to walk with you, to rise to the call, to follow the steps of Christ with manly courage. You want to see a healthy church? You want to see a healthy church? Look for a church where the men of the church are a band of brothers following Christ.

That will be a healthy church, because the family unit will thrive as we're following Christ. And I'm not calling anybody here, out here today, and myself, anybody, I'm not calling you to be a spiritual lone ranger. Anybody who might hear this, and they're not here just simply because they don't want to be here, you are a lone ranger, you are in disobedience to Christ. Godly men are called to be a band of brothers following Christ for the sake of the church, for the sake of the family, for the sake of the church, for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of God's kingdom. So if some of you might be struggling in this area, say, oh man, I just, you know, I need somebody, I need accountability, I need somebody to walk with me, somebody to encourage me.

Yeah, okay, follow Christ, find a brother, a godly man, to walk with you in this direction. Abandon the idol of rugged individualism. I'm not saying being a rugged individual is a sin, but it can become an idol.

Oh, I do it my way, I just, you know, aren't you glad Jesus didn't do that? You're not gonna find a greater, more rugged man than he. Men, we are called to be godly men. Some of you may say, Rich, I think we need to talk about this.

Let's talk. But there's a high vision here, men. This was radical in first century Roman Empire. You would never hear this anywhere outside of the church. You know what, I think it's the truest here in today's world, too.

You're not gonna hear this anywhere outside of the church. But this is what we're called to. Let me say one last statement here this morning. Gentlemen, are you listening to me? Are you listening to me? I am not speaking to you today in simply ideal terms.

This is not a recommendation. You are called to this. You need to rise up to the call. Our world is hurting.

There are many families in this church that are hurting because men have checked out. And I call you men to rise up. Father, you are the creator of life. You are the infinite sovereign. You are the one of whom it is written, of him, through him, and to him are all things. You are the very point of our existence. And so, Father, we are grateful and we rejoice today that you have turned your light on into our darkness. Our world is a world full of lies because the world lies under the sway of the wicked one. Father, what you have presented to us today, penned by the Apostle Peter under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is truth.

It is a call. It is a mandate upon the men in the kingdom of God. So, Father, challenge us this morning. May we rise up to follow the steps of Christ in his obedience, in his faithfulness, in his sacrifice. Father, help your church to be the church, and may it begin here. May we be a people who in all of our endeavors and every aspect of our lives pursue Christ and thereby live with the mind of Christ. For the sake of Christ in his church and the glory of God, we pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. We're so glad you've joined us for Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You can hear this message and others anytime by visiting our website, www.delightingrace.com. You can also check out Pastor Rich's book, Seven Words That Can Change Your Life, where he unpacks from God's Word the very purpose for which you were designed. Seven Words That Can Change Your Life is available wherever books are sold. As always, tune in to Delight in Grace weekdays at 10 a.m.