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"Wanted: MEN with CONVICTIONS"
Introduction: God was describing for us the sins of the people and leaders of Israel in these words from Ezekiel 22:23-31:
“And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (24) Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. (25) There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof. (26) Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. (27) Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. (28) And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken. (29) The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. (30) And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. (31) Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.”
Now again notice what God sought for in verse 30. "I sought for a man, but I found none.” Throughout history, God has been seeking men that He could trust,
men thoroughly saved by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,
men filled with the Holy Spirit of God in Love, Wisdom, Power, and
men through whom He could accomplish His purpose.
This Sunday being FATHERS DAY, I welcome the opportunity to speak to the men of our church. Even though I will direct all my attention, remarks, and scripture to our men, the application of each point is applicable to all of us.
Before we begin, let me voice a word of caution to the women and wives of our church. Please, don't use this message as a whip over your husband’s head. Remember as men we desperately need your PRAYERS, your ENCOURAGEMENT and your SUPPORT. Your influence in our lives is incalculable, for better or for worse! While we must begin to take full responsibility for our lives, there is so much you can do to help. Please go home and pray for your husband, love him and turn him over to God, allowing God to place convictions and principles in his life to become a man for whom God is looking.
God is looking for men of PURPOSE and men of CONVICTION. You ask, what is a conviction? "A conviction is a basic spiritual principle which we purpose to follow, WHATEVER THE COST."God is looking for:
Men who live under the control of the Holy Spirit.
Men who make their days count for the things of Christ.
Men who have disciplined minds, focused on, sensitive to, and energized by the Word of God.
Men who are more concerned about building God's reputation than their own.
Men who are more concerned about building God's kingdom than their own financial empire.
Men whose focus is to one day hear the Master say to them, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."
As just mentioned, a CONVICTION is a basic spiritual principle which we purpose to follow, WHATEVER THE COST. We have a strange thing happening in our American society, and it has invaded our churches.
We appear to be living by our preferences instead of our convictions.
We are living by the winds of change, and circumstances rather than convictions govern our desire and our actions.
Now every belief you have, your way of life, your faith is either a preference or a conviction.
A PREFERENCE is a belief you hold on to very, very strongly. But it is a belief that you might change, you just prefer it. For example, you believe Sunday is the Lord's Day and you ought to be in the Lord's house. However, there may be times you plan to do other things, rather than being in the house of God.
The court of our land calls that kind of belief suspect.
The world calls that kind of belief hypocritical.
If you might change your belief from day to day, what value is it?
A CONVICTION on the other hand is a belief you hold with such intensity in the fabric of your soul that you will not change or discard it, no matter what the cost. You accept this belief is steadfast, because God demands it of you.
Convictions give us purpose in life. I know what I am living for. I have a purpose, and that purpose is to live to give God the Glory.
Convictions give us direction for making decisions. When you have definite defined convictions, you know where you are headed. Therefore every decision you make will be guided by your convictions.
Convictions give us protection from sin. You will not have to question Right or Wrong, whether an action is moral or immoral. Your convictions will guide you to say this is sin, and I need to stay away from it.
I sincerely believe that a lack of convictions on the part of men is the cause of the increase of SIN in our Nation and the decrease of Holy living on the part of men in our churches. I remind you it is still a SIN to lie, to cheat, to commit adultery, to gossip, to murder and to disobey God's divine laws.
I sincerely believe that the lack of spiritual convictions on the part of fathers is causing rebellion in the lives of their children.
A father with inconsistent standards will cause his children to despise him.
A father with no personal convictions will cause his children to accept situation-ethics and exercise in excess what the father allowed in moderation.
In Proverbs 22:28 we read, "Remove not the ancient landmarks which thy fathers have set." Now a landmark was a boundary line set to mark off property. In the Old Testament it became a phrase used by the Patriarchs to warn people about straying from the ways, laws and precepts of God.
Perhaps the greatest of all the ancient landmarks are the Ten Commandments given first in Exodus 5 then repeated in Deuteronomy 20 and repeated 109 times in the New Testament. These scriptural commandments ought to be ancient landmarks in our lives. They ought to be spiritual convictions by which we live, whatever the cost.
There has been and still is a movement today in our courts, communities and schools to disregard and discredit the importance of the Ten Commandments. However,
If we are going to turn this nation around,
If we are going to see again the power and the Glory of God in our churches, and
If we are going to lead our sons and daughters into holy and righteous living,
WE MUST HAVE MEN WHO HOLD TO THESE ANCIENT LANDMARKS, the Ten Commandments.
Please turn with me to Exodus 20:3-17 and notice again as I read God’s Moral Commandments that He gave to us.
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (4) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: (5) Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; (6) And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. (7) Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. (8) Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. (9) Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: (10) But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: (11) For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. (12) Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. (13) Thou shalt not kill. (14) Thou shalt not commit adultery. (15) Thou shalt not steal. (16) Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. (17) Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.”
This FATHER'S DAY I would like to share with you TEN SCRIPTURAL CONVICTIONS gleaned from these TEN COMMANDMENTS.
Every man must hold these in the fabric of his soul to live by.
Every man must teach these to his family by word and practice, in order to protect them from the destructive influences of wrong desires, false philosophies, and Satanic temptations.
CONVICTION #1 God alone is sovereign, and the Bible is His inspired, infallible word and final authority for my life. This is from the FIRST Commandment found in Exodus 20:3, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." It must be understood that the rejection of the inspiration of the Word of God will make a god out of your intellect.
David said in Psalm 138:2, "…Thou hast magnified Thy word above Thy name."
Jesus said, in Matthew 4:4, "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
Let me ask you, as I must ask myself, how firm is your conviction about the Word of God you are holding in your hands?
Is it your conviction that it is the inerrant and infallible Word of God?
Is it your conviction that the Bible is the absolute and final authority for your life?
Or, do you by life and practice DISPUTE its claims, ARGUE its principles, and DISOBEY its commands?
Is this commandment a conviction or preference in your life as you live it before your family? Before you answer, let me ask you:
How often do you read the Bible in private and before your family?
How often do you go to your Bible for answers in life?
Do you carry your Bible to church?
In this past year, how much on your own did you study the Word of God?
CONVICTION #2: My purpose in life is to seek God with my whole heart and to build my goals around His purposes. This is from the SECOND commandment found in Exodus 20:4-5, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: (5) Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God…”
David said in Psalm 119:2, "Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart."
Jesus said, in Matthew 6:33, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you."
The Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:8, "… I count all things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ …"
Men with this conviction have set their WILLS, MINDS, and AFFECTIONS on one supreme objective, "To know, love, obey, and serve God with all their heart." Such wholehearted love for God:
will not flirt with the love of money;
will not flirt with the love of self;
will not flirt with the love of this present world;
will not flirt with the love of pleasure;
will not flirt with the love of the praise of men.
Charles Wesley expressed a longing for God when he wrote:
Oh, for a heart to praise God, A heart from sin set free,
A heart that always feels thy blood, so freely shed for me.
A heart resigned, submissive, meek, My redeemer's throne;
Where only Christ is heard to speak, Where Jesus reigns alone.
A heart in every thought renewed, and full of love divine;
Perfect, and right, and pure and good, a copy, Lord, of Thine!
CONVICTION #3: My body is the living temple of God and must not be defiled by the lust of the world. This is expressed in the THIRD Commandment found in Exodus 20:7, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain…" Here it must be understood you can damage His name by your immorality.
Jesus said in Mark 7:21-23, "… from within out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornication…and defile a man."
Paul said in I Corinthians 3:16-17, "Know ye not that you are the temple of God … if any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy …"
God is looking for men of purity, men whose lives are blameless, men who are beyond reproach. Men of conviction take seriously the commands of God's Word from II Corinthians 7:1, to "Cleanse ourselves of all filthiness of the flesh and spirit." Oh, my prayer for my life as well as my sons is that we will be holy men of God.
It is important to remember purity begins in the heart, and in the thoughts. The man who has a conviction to maintain purity will flee from every impure influence. The man of convictions will flee from TV movies and prime time shows that flaunt immorality, you will not surf the internet for pornography in the secret of your room. Rather:
You will vow to follow Psalm 101:3, "I will set no wicked thing before my eyes."
You will obey the Word of I Timothy 5:22 "keep thyself pure."
Gentlemen, we must never forget, you and I will never arrive at a point during which we can afford to let down our spiritual guard or indulge in our flesh for even a moment.
CONVICTION #4: My church must teach the foundational truths of scripture and reinforce my basic convictions. This is expressed in the FOURTH Commandment of Exodus 20:8 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."
David said this in Psalms 29:2, "Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness."
Paul said in Hebrews, and Peter said in Hebrews 10:24-25, “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: (25) Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another…”
I Peter 4:17, "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God…"
Is recognition of the Lord's Day profound conviction within your soul, or just a preference to you? Is it important that you and your family be in the house of God starting with Sunday School and ending with the evening service? Or, if something else comes along, will you will forsake the house of God and participate in that?
CONVICTION #5: My children and grandchildren belong to God, and it is my responsibility to teach them scriptural principles, Godly character and basic convictions from the Word of God. This is given to us in the FIFTH Commandment of Exodus 20:12 "Honor thy father and thy mother…"
God's instruction in Deuteronomy 6:6-7 reads, "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children…"
Jesus taught us in Matthew 19:14, "…suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven."
Paul reminded us in Ephesians 6:4, "And, ye father, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture (discipline) and admonition (teaching or instruction) of the Lord."
If you believe those verses in the very fabric of your soul, if that is your conviction, then
Do you teach your children the Word of God in your home?
Do you see to it that your children are in the house of God even for Sunday School, and you attend with them?
Do you see that your children's activities are Christ-centered and do you support them?
Do you encourage your grandchildren in the things of Christ?
CONVICTION #6: My activities must never weaken the scriptural convictions of another Christian. This is expressed in the SIXTH Commandment found in Exodus 20:13, "Thou shalt not kill." Literally, "thou shalt not premeditate murder." Remember, Jesus said in the New Testament even if you hate your brother in your mind it is the same as murder by your hand. This can also be applied in a spiritual sense.
Jesus warned in Matthew 18:6 about us weakening the lives of children by our actions, "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."
The Apostle Paul warned us in Romans 14:13 "…But judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way."
CONVICTION #7: My marriage is a life-long commitment to God and to my marriage partner. This is reflected in the SEVENTH Commandment of Exodus 20:14, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
God's purpose for one man-one woman relationships is found in Genesis 2:24, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."
In Proverbs 6:32 we read, "Whoso committed adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul."
Jesus taught in Matthew 19:6, "…What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."
Based upon this conviction, God is looking for men who are committed to their wives in a life-long marriage. The word divorce should not be in your vocabulary, and this ought to be conveyed by word and action to each other and to your children.
CONVICTION #8: My money is a trust from God and must be earned and managed according to Scriptural principle. This is found in the EIGHTH Commandment of Exodus 20:15, “Thou shalt not steal.”
Jesus said in Luke 16:11, "If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous riches, who will commit to your trust the true riches?"
The Apostle Paul said, in I Timothy 6:10, "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
CONVICTION #9: My words must be in harmony with scripture especially when rejoicing and restoring a Christian brother. We see this from the NINTH Commandment in Exodus 20:16 which reads, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.”
Jesus said in Matthew 12:27, "For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."
Then in Matthew 18:15 Jesus said, "Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone."
CONVICTION #10: My affection must be set on things above not on things on the earth. Herein is the TENTH Commandment from Exodus 20:17, God said, “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.”
Jesus taught us in Matthew 6:20-21, "But lay up for yourself treasures in heaven … or where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
The Apostle Paul said in Colossians 3:2, "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth."
If a man is going to build convictions into the fiber of his spiritual life to become the man God wants for him to be, he must hold these truths as absolutes within his very soul.
In a speech given to the Press Club of Washington, former Senator Frank Carlson of Kansas spoke on "Wanted: a man, a man who will stand." On a number of occasions, this speech was printed as an editorial page in the US News and World Report Magazine. Using the text of Ezekiel 22:30, Senator Carlson said in conclusion, God is looking for:
Men who are not “For Sale;”
Men who are honest, sound from center to circumference, true to the heart's core;
Men who will stand for the right even if the earth reels;
Men who will tell the truth and look the world right in the eye;
Men who will neither brag, nor run away, nor flinch;
Men in whom the courage of everlasting life still runs deep and strong;
Men who know their place and fill it;
Men who are not too lazy to work nor too proud to be poor;
Men who are willing to eat what they have earned and wear what they have paid for;
God is looking for men, who have come to the kingdom for such a time as this. God give us men.
From our Ezekiel passage, God is looking for men of principle, whose lives are governed not by preferences but by convictions.
God is looking for men who do not do what comes naturally or what is expedient or easiest for the flesh, but who live by “Godly Righteousness.”
God is looking for men who deny themselves and there fleshly appetites to take up the cross and follow Jesus Christ.
God is looking for men whose conscience is sensitive and knows how to distinguish between right and wrong. They, "Abhor that which is evil, and cleave to that which is good." Romans 12:9
God is looking for men who are willing to risk their reputation and what others may think of them, in order to take a stand for what they know is right.
God is looking for men whose principles commit them to build their homes on a Godly foundation, and to take responsibility for maintaining a climate of holiness in their homes.
God is looking for men whose priorities are spiritual and whose values are eternal.
These men are willing to say "NO" to many things that may be GOOD, so that they can say "YES" to those things that are BEST! “Will YOU be such a man of CONVICTIONS?
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If God has spoken to your heart after reading the sermon "Wanted: MEN with CONVICTIONS," then right now talk to God about what He has spoken to you.
Do you have the assurance one day you will go to heaven? If you have no assurance that you know Jesus Christ, then I trust you will decide to accept Him as you personal Savior. The Bible tells us in
Acts 16:31, “…Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved…”
Romans 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
This prayer is here for those who need to ask Jesus to be your personal Savior. “I do want to go to Heaven. I know I am a sinner, and I do believe Jesus Christ died for me. I realize I cannot buy this great salvation, nor can I earn it. Knowing Jesus died on the cross and arose from the grave to pay my sin debt and to purchase my salvation, I do now trust Him as my Savior, and from this moment on I am completely depending on Him for my salvation.”
If you made the decision to accept Jesus Christ as you personal Savior would you let me know. Fill out the information below and e-mail me, pdmikBBM@aol.com. I will send you some literature that will help you in your Christian life.
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In His Amazing Grace,
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