The Attack on Men

Welcome to God First with Brian C. Thomas, a program committed to encouraging you to put God first while viewing life through the window of the Bible. Now, in honor of the one and only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, let's join Brian C. Thomas for today's message. Welcome to the program.

My name is Brian Thomas. I greet you in the name of our great Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And as always, it is a joy and honor and a privilege to join you each week.

I want to thank you for tuning in. Well, there are many movements that are taking place throughout the world and in the United States of America that are antithetical to the Christian faith. And if you are a discerning person, you have noticed that one of those movements is the attack on men. What we're finding in society is that there is an undermining of the importance of men in society, and in particular within the family.

And I've noticed throughout my lifetime that when you see sitcoms, when you see television commercials, oftentimes the dad, the man of the house, the husband is portrayed as a bumbling, fumbling numbskull, who the wife is always having to clean up behind him and tell him what to do. And so there is this devaluing this undermining of men. So what I want to share with you today is Pastor Richard Ellis gave a sermon in which he really laid this out so beautifully. And again, this the spirit that we see throughout the world in which we see these movements that are antithetical to the faith. These are all things that are driven by the spirit of Antichrist. And we're going to see these movements increase and ramp up as we get closer to our Lord's return. So without further delay, let us join Pastor Richard Ellis concerning the attack against men.

I'm going to read you a few quotes and then we'll jump into this. Norman Mailer said, if I am a soldier and a woman is in trouble, I will give my life trying to protect the woman and get killed myself. A man with any honor is going to protect a woman.

That used to be a thing. Men used to step up and say, no, you can't treat a woman that way. But when honor goes away, masculinity, well that stuff's not a thing anymore. Thomas Carlisle, show me the man you honor and I will know what kind of man you are.

Now think about that. Show me the man you honor and I will know what kind of man you are. Ralph Waldo Emerson, society everywhere is in a conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. And if you don't know who Elizabeth Elliott is, I'll read you a couple of quotes from her. One is a missionary with her husband who was killed serving the Alka Indians. And she had like four or five husbands die on her, be killed or die. And wrote a truth called The Mark of a Man.

And I met Elizabeth Elliott years ago and she was, she was a tough old, anyhow, she had been through it. Stand true to your calling to be a man. Real women will always be relieved and grateful when men are willing to be men. And then she says, a man must at times be hard as nails, willing to face up to the truth about himself and about the woman he loves, refusing compromise when compromise is wrong. But he must also be tender. And then listen to this, she says, no weapon will breach the armor of a woman's resentment like tenderness. Christianity is simply the ideal form of manhood represented to us by Jesus Christ. And then John Wayne said, you have to be a man before you can be a gentleman.

Not crazy about everything John Wayne ever did or said, but I like that. Not many gentlemen left in the world. I still stop and hold doors for women and I've actually been not cussed out maybe, but women get upset with me. I don't need you to hold a door for me. I'm like, ma'am, I'm holding the door for you no matter what.

And then they're upset you call them ma'am and then it's, that's when the fight started, so. Genesis chapter five, verse two. Now before, and as we get into all this, this is not just to men but to all of us. At some point, you have to process your convictions, you have to process Scripture, you have to process the truth, and you have to figure out, OK, I live in this world, I live in this culture, and whatever's going on, how can I winsomely communicate what I believe, not belligerently, not in an angry, combative way, but just state what you believe, hold your ground, and see what the consequences are, and go from there. But if you don't know what you believe, you have a hard time saying what you believe and just holding that ground. Because if something is true, it's just true.

And you don't have to defend the truth, you speak the truth and let the truth defend itself. Genesis five, two. He created them male and female and blessed them and called them mankind in the day they were created. So originally, there were only two genders. Contrary to popular belief, that continues to be true. OK? Now people get nervous saying, oh my gosh, but there's more genders. Let me tell you something, there's only two biological genders, that's it. Stop being nervous about truth.

There we go. And this ties into manning on through your life. You say, well if I say stuff like this in our culture, I'm going to be fired. But you have to make decisions before you get to these points.

What are you going to allow around you and in your life before you go, I'm not doing this anymore? You're just a hired gun and you're being paid off for compromise at some level. I know men and women both who have jobs and in their jobs, they'll be asked to do something unethical, change some numbers, don't report this, whatever. Some people go, well, but what am I going to do if I lose my job? You're going to get another job. And the same person is going to take care of you that took care of you before that happened. He's either going to take care of you or he's not.

And he can and he will. So you take a stand and you say, I'm not comfortable with this, I cannot — I'm not going to change these numbers. Then you're fired. Then I'm fired. Don't spend so much time trying to figure out what you're going to do. Decide what you're going to do before you get there.

Who are you? What do you believe? What is right?

What is wrong? Then when you get there, you say, no, this isn't right, I'm out. In the Old Testament, the word effeminate is not just used for homosexuality, it is used for male prostitutes. So let me read you a couple of verses about that. Deuteronomy 23, 17. And by the way, you don't have to be nervous if you believe in God and you're a believer in Jesus and you trust the Scriptures. Read the Scriptures.

Tell people what the Scripture says. Well, I don't like that. I think that's — and you know, it's worn out. That's from way back when. That doesn't apply anymore.

Let them say what they want to say. The truth stands. Deuteronomy 23, 17. And I'll get here in a minute to what this effeminate thing is. 1 Kings 22, 46. And the rest of the perverted persons who remained in the days of his father Asa, he banished from the land.

So there were these people, these men specifically who were effeminate. Stay with me. And just for the sake of tracking in order, let me get you to read Proverbs 16, 18 with me. Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Be really careful being proud of sin.

So our culture is set up entire months for pride. Do I get to be proud that I'm straight? I'm not going around saying anything about that. If you're gay, just be gay.

What else do you want? Time for treating people like they are all created in the image of God. But we are not going to celebrate your sin. I'm not required to do that.

Who started this? Well I want a law passed that when people see me and my shirt says straight pride, you've got to come up and say something about my beautiful wife. Dude, just be what you are. But the Scripture will help you be what God intended for you to be, not just what you dreamed up. We're getting here. It's all in the Scriptures. Some of your hearts are beating really hard.

New Testament, the Greek word translated effeminate means soft and delicate. Go to 1 Corinthians 6. I actually enjoy this stuff. I'm so tired of all this mess. I'm so tired of dancing around and tiptoeing around conversations. You ask me what I believe, I'll tell you what I believe.

If you don't like it, I don't like what you believe either maybe, but when you shake hands and go have lunch. That used to be a thing. Right?

But now I've got to hate you, you've got to hate me. I'm not playing that game. Now I thought those were the same thing. Isn't a homosexual a sodomite? Let me read it to you in the amplified version.

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor — and they've identified it as perversely effeminate nor homosexual. So, perversely effeminate.

I'm going to read you a little bit from an article I found that says it better than I can say it. The word is listed separately from homosexuality, indicating that they are not synonymous. An effeminate man in this verse is one who has rejected his masculinity and identifies as a female. He may or not be sexually active, but he has chosen to live intentionally as a soft and delicate person.

Rather than embrace his God-given identity as a man, he takes on the characteristics of a female and relates to other males much like women do. Now, our culture says, well that's a thing. The Scripture says it's a thing.

It's just a wrong thing. I've been wondering what it would take to clear this place out. This might be it right here. Romans 1. Now I'm going to read this stuff to us slowly out of Romans 1 and help you understand how this goes down.

And I get, as you're looking for Romans 1, I get this piece of it. You say, well my uncle, my cousin, my brother, my sister, they — they're gay, they're whatever they are. Don't start with the person and try to make your way to God. Start with God and try to make your way to the person.

See, when you start telling yourself rational lies to rationalize your behavior, then you can get yourself in all kind of squirrely spots where you're safe but everybody else is done. So, we love people. You say, well if I love this person, I don't want to offend them. I want to be sensitive to their choices and their lifestyle. If their choices and lifestyle are rooted in sin, it's going to destroy the person you claim to love.

Help them already. Well, they don't want to hear what I have to say. I got plenty of people that don't want to hear what I have to say either.

But when people are hurting and they want answers, then all of a sudden they do want to hear what you say if what you say is true. Romans 1, go down to verse 20. For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. No one can say, there's no proof there's a God, I'm an atheist, I don't believe in God.

Everyone that has ever lived or ever will live is without excuse. The creation screams that He exists. Because though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful and became futile in their thoughts, futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. So this is the progression. If you are not going to acknowledge the God that you know, you know there's a God, you don't glorify Him as God and you're not thankful, you become futile in your thoughts and your foolish hearts are darkened.

And then when that goes down, it goes down. Professing to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore, God also gave them up to uncleanness in the lust of their hearts to dishonor their bodies among themselves. So if that's the choice you make, this is what God will allow to happen. This is what He does.

He turns you over. Gave them over to uncleanness, lust of their hearts to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator who was blessed forever, amen. For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. Now I can't say everything that I've said in private to people, but I had a lady come see me and her family member was gay and she was all upset with me. And so she, she's like, well I just don't understand and I love this guy.

You know, I get all that. I said, but what you are, you are telling me that you are comfortable, and I said something else to her, but for the sake of children I will say this. I said, you are, you are telling me that you are comfortable with two men sodomizing each other. That's what you're telling me. She was like, oh no, and I used, you know, the body parts to describe this.

She got all nervous. I said, we're not getting nervous. That's what you're saying. And if you believe that's what God intended for human beings to do to each other in the procreative process, then show me the verses for that.

It's not in there. Well, but people have feelings. They have perverted feelings. They've been turned over to darkness and we've let this thing slide so far, even believers won't call it. Want me to keep going or are we done?

Keep going. God gave them up to uncleanness and the lust of their hearts to dishonor their bodies among themselves. Verse 26, for this reason He gave them up to vile passions, for even their women exchange the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men have leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lust for one another.

In other words, men with men. Men with men committing what is shameful and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind. It basically just means a worthless mind to do things which are not fitting. Being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness. They are whisperers, backbiters, haters of parents, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful. Look at our society. Turns us over to a debased mind. This is America.

Who knowing that the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. So yeah, that's what I'm gonna do and I encourage you to keep doing that too. And nobody will call it out. I'm saying nobody will but it's getting harder and harder to find people who will call it out like it says in here. You say well dude, you should let this go.

My gosh, you really have nothing left. I'm gonna have to stand before a holy God and give an answer for why I didn't warn the culture I lived in and the church I served. And help you not go down this path and me not go down this path but also the people that we interact with try to help them and say look, this is not gonna go well.

In fact it's already not going well. It doesn't work. It's not what was intended.

Just something as simple as this. You can't — two men cannot make a baby by themselves. Two women cannot make a baby by themselves.

You think that the logic of that would be pretty self-explanatory. The reproductive organs are here and here. We put reproductive organs together and children are born.

You put the wrong parts in the wrong places, you don't get any kids, you get perversion. But we thought well I don't, you know, I've got some stuff going on with me so I don't want to call anybody out. Get your stuff together so you can call somebody else out and help them. Well, I got my struggles. Dude, it's time to man up, man on, get with the program.

Deal with your struggles so you can do what you were put here and left here to do. Same article, let me read you a little bit more out of this. Perversion escalates when women and men abandon their God-ordained identities and try to adopt the characteristics of the opposite gender. Men become like women, women become like men.

The sin lies in our choices, not our natural differences. We must be careful not to assign certain traits to each gender based upon our own cultural norms. In some cultures, men holding hands or kissing on the cheek is a sign of friendship. So it's not an indication of femininity or homosexuality. In Jesus' day, men were robes and reclined at the table, lying upon each other's chest.

You should look at the Lord's Supper, John on Jesus' chest. But these ritual differences in no way indicate a rejection of masculinity. He goes on to say, the phenomenon of gender reversals is escalating in our day with the sex-change surgeries and demands that the transgendered be accommodated. People are abandoning their natural identities and mentally identifying as any gender they choose. Society is indulging this craziness, which leads to even more confusion. For those struggling with gender confusion, the answer lies not in altering their physical bodies but in allowing the Holy Spirit to change their hearts. When we submit ourselves fully to the lordship of Jesus, we desire to follow His design for us rather than choose our own design.

When you get right down to it, it is an issue of authority. I do not want to be under God's authority. I'm going to do what I want to do when I want to do it. I'll be who I want to be. I don't care what God thinks.

And here you go. And you wonder why you get turned over and it just turns into chaos. It's not an issue — this thing about being a man is not an issue of biceps and triceps.

It's an issue of precepts. Are you teachable? When I was 14 years old, I was five foot two.

I never am knocking this. I'm just telling you a story. I got my driver's lights at 14. I could have an adult in the car when I drove. I was driving somewhere — I don't remember where I was — in Maryland somewhere and got pulled over. And the officer — I looked so small in the car — the officer went around to my dad's window, my mom's window, rolled that window down and said, excuse me miss, can I see your license?

That's how bad it was. I had long hair over my ears and he thought I was a woman. Not the proudest moment for a 14-year-old driving. When my father was 14, he was six foot five. I was five foot two.

Nothing wrong with being five foot two, but when your dad's six foot nine, eventually you think this is it. But we get all these things about masculinity, thinking oh, if I'm not big and strong and can do certain things. God makes men, builds them differently. You don't have to be someone you're not, but you do have to be a man.

If you are a man, be a man. What does that mean? It means you say OK God, teach me. If you go look in Proverbs, it's Proverbs, almost any of these early chapters. Chapter two, my son. Chapter three, my son. Four, my children, the instruction of a father. Chapter five, my son. Chapter six, my son.

Seven, my son. All these chapters, Solomon writing and speaking to his sons, his sons saying look, this is what it's about. About women, about life, about all these issues. Find out what God says being a man is and be that. You can be physically weak and not be effeminate, but you could even be slightly effeminate and not be the effeminate described in Scripture. That's just how you are, but you can be a man on the inside, interact with the world the way God intended. God made men for a reason and women for a reason.

And the lines are getting blurred and more blurred and more blurred. And I make no apologies, people say in these churches, start ordaining women as elders in churches. That is a bunch of garbage. There are two places on the planet where women, where men are supposed to lead, in the church and in a home. No excuses for that. You don't have to apologize for Scripture.

Well I think that women are just as good — I didn't write this stuff. Read your Bible, don't tell me what you think, tell me what it says. Defend your position with Scripture.

There's a reason for these things. You say, but the culture's changed. I don't care, the culture's changed for 2,000 years. And look what's happened to us getting away from Scripture.

How's that worked out for us? You say, well I need to find a church where it's not so animated and, you know, and so can, you know, this is too much. They're everywhere.

Go get your ears scratched wherever you want to get them scratched. But that won't change you or the world. And see, for me, I end up by myself in rooms with people who've made horrible choices about sexuality, all these issues, and they got talked into it. No, they got lied to by the enemy and the culture, and they made those choices, and now they're lonely, depressed, suicidal.

They don't know what to do. And then I get to tell them about Jesus, and if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things are passed away, all things are new. All the people, you know, I sit down with people and say, well I'm gay. I was born that way. I said, OK, I'll yield on that.

They say, what? Yeah, OK, I'll yield. You were born that way. This is a two-birth deal.

With one birth screwed up, the second birth can clean up. Now, a person — this actually is a thing. So you're saying that you believe that my lifestyle is a sin. According to Scripture, yes. So I would have to make a decision to admit that it's sin and be saved, but then I would end up a new person and spend eternity in Heaven with God.

Yes. And they say, I'm out. I am not willing to give — I would rather end up in Hell than give up my sexual preference. That's a price.

Now I actually have some respect for that. You love your sin more than anything you got, man, if you ever did come around, you'd be, you'd be something. But just, just be aware of the trade-off you're making. See, if these things are not sin, you can't call them out. And then you get nervous in these conversations.

So let me just give you kind of a walkthrough on maybe a way to do this. You're in a conversation and somebody says, well, whatever, whatever, whatever, something about homosexuality, say, oh, you know, I'm out on that. I am for, I am for gay rights in terms of, you know, being treated humanely and not — no violence, you know, I'm — everybody's made in the image of God. I'm for protecting those rights. But I don't believe that's right. What? You are all — you're homophobic, boom. You say, no, nobody said anything about that.

I just don't agree that that's what's intended. And then let them rant and rave and fire you, whatever they're going to do. You either believe something or you don't, and if you're going to ride that train, you're going nowhere. You will never get anywhere. You will be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctors.

Anything that comes along, you'll just adjust and adapt to whatever's going on. Are you going to have an affair because two guys at the office are having affairs? Well, that seems to be the thing. Well, she's cute.

Okay, I guess I'll have one too. Serve me up. You think, well that's crazy. The whole thing's gone crazy. There are lines. Back to the soccer game, there's in and out. There's boundaries. God gives us boundaries. There are boundaries.

You get outside of those boundaries, it's going to be chaos. I got more verses. You want more verses? Just a few more.

This is probably a heavy dosage of something. By the way, when you're going fishing and you catch a fish, what do you hear somebody say? Fish on.

That doesn't mean keep fishing. That means you got one on. Now listen to me closely, the young women out there who are very frustrated out there and in here. And you say, there are no men left. My question to girls always is this, how many are you looking for?

Let's do it one at a time. How hard can it be for God to come up with one man? Now, if you find one and God gives you permission, man on.

And don't sleep with him because you think he'll sneak away because part of the reason you picked him is you don't think he's going to do that. And I have gone over this before, we are all attracting ourselves. It's unfortunate and I hate to use strong words like this, but whores tend to attract whores.

That's a fact. And godly men and women have a tendency to attract godly men and women or something has gone terribly wrong. So you say, well I'm tired of waiting. I'd rather get one year with the right person than 20 years with hell on earth.

Right? And a lot of people just throw up their hands and say, I'm tired of waiting, I'm just going to grab me one. I got a man on right here and I'm going to do it and here we go. I'm going to land this man. So what are you saying? I thought being a man was getting all the women you can get. Being a man is about keeping yourself to one woman. That's what being a man is about.

There is nothing like marrying a couple who have waited for each other. I cannot explain this to you. Oh my gosh, it's something else. 1 Corinthians 13, a couple more and we'll shut her down. I love that this little thing is in here, in the middle of a chapter about love. 13, 11, when I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, which by the way, that's all perfectly normal. But when I became a man, I put away childish things.

So what does that mean? I don't speak like a child anymore. I don't understand like a child anymore.

I don't think like a child anymore. I put those things away because I became a man. It is really not hard to figure out who the men are on the planet. Now you're saying, oh yeah, the tough guys. You don't have to be a tough guy to be a godly man. You have to have character. You have to not just believe in God, you have to walk with God. You have to trust God.

You have to let the fruit of the Spirit manifest so that in your life, there is patience, there is long suffering. There are all the things that are necessary to be a Christian, but in some cases, specifically a man. And you man on, no matter what comes your way. Now some people I encounter, they have no parent, no man, no dad in their lives.

And so they're just kind of winging it. Get around some godly men who can pick up where your father, if he flaked out or just abandoned you, where he left off, and let them show you what being a man is. It can be done. And let those men be on your team on trying to shore you up. Well, I praise God for pastors like Richard Ellis who have the boldness to speak in this way. That is what I love.

That is what I am a seeker of. It's the truth. I don't care about how well you can rhythm and rhyme. I don't care about how well you can give a cadence when you preach. I just simply want the truth. I don't care how eloquently you speak, even though Pastor Ellis does speak eloquently, but I simply want the truth because I am a lover of truth because I am a lover of Jesus Christ. So it is my prayer that all pastors have this level of boldness and conviction to speak the truth. And not only pastors, it is my desire that all Christians have that desire to seek the truth and also speak it. So whether you're in the pulpit or in the pew, we should be bold to speak the truth of God's holy word. So again, I hope this message was a blessing to you and has encouraged you to also be willing to again stand for what the truth of God's holy word tells us. And let's be in prayer for men like Pastor Richard Ellis because spiritual attacks come upon those who are willing to speak up and speak out. So please keep him in prayer. Well, that is going to do it for this week, but please come back and join us next time as we continue to encourage you to put God first while viewing life through the window of the Bible. Until then, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, bless God's great nation of Israel, and to the only wise God, be glory through Jesus Christ forever.

Amen. You've been listening to the Bible teacher Brian C. Thomas, founder and president of God First. Brian and God First reserve all copyright protection under applicable law. Our copyright policy is available at our website, GodFirst.org. Until next time, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, bless God's great nation of Israel, and seek first the kingdom of God.