"What Is a Real Man?" By Kirk Orelup June 25th,
2017
Thank you. Please be seated; you make me nervous if you stand. Since this is Men's Month, our topic for today, of course, is going to be about men. It sort of seemed appropriate. And, I thought I would talk about, what is a real man? I was thinking about this question, it occurred to me, that, if you're asking, “What is a real man?” if you're asking the question, it's equivalent to saying, “What am I?” and then trying to answer the question ourselves. If we knew the answer, we wouldn't be asking the question. If we want the right answer, we must ask the One who created man. For only the Creator can truly explain His creation. So, if we're going to ask, “What is a man?” then we need to ask God. So, let's look at Genesis two, verse seven, for starters. If you want to start, you start at the top, right? so, Genesis is the first book about the creation of man, let's see what it has to say. We're actually going to spend a lot of time in Genesis, the first few chapters, for my portion, and then Malcolm's going to...
Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
And, then, let's jump back, actually, to Genesis one, twenty-seven and twenty-eight. It tells us a little more about it. I'm reversing the order, because there's two different ways the story is related to us, here. In Twenty-seven and twenty-eight, it says:
Genesis 1:27-28 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
And, we see that God formed man out of the dust of the Earth. In scientific terms, or, maybe, in Star Trek terms, we might say, God made mankind a carbon-based life-form, okay? And, since man is like every other animal on the planet, every other carbon-based life-form on the planet—we have something in common with the animals, okay? But, then, God did something unique: He breathed into man the breath of life, and he became a living soul, which the animals don't have, they don't have a soul. We are a soul; we have a body, as somebody else put it. So, a common feature that we share with all the animals is instinct. Animals are driven by their hunger, and their desire; they survive by killing others before others kill them. They take what they want when they want it because they want it; this is the law of survival when you're an animal. After all, it is a dog-eat-dog world out there, as they say. The study of evolutionary biology, if you've heard of it, is a field of study that seeks to explain human behavior by finding its roots in the behavior of animals; look at animals, see how they behave, to explain why we do what we do. However, there is no rational excuse for a person to behave like an animal. We cannot do as we please and then say, “Well, I'm only human.” Although we've heard lots of people use that expression; maybe we've even used that expression ourselves. But man has been given the charge to have dominion over every living thing that moves upon the Earth and to subdue it, we must conclude that we first have to have dominion over ourselves. We are created in the image, in that sense, we have the carbon-based life-form, we have the same essence they have. How are we going to subdue them, who are this instinctual animal, and, yet, we have that same body. We have a soul; so, how we are going to have dominion over the animals, if we don't even have dominion over our own selves and our own fleshly nature, that's my point. Should we say, “I'm only human,” as an excuse, we are admitting, first of all, we are obeying our animalistic nature, rather than our God-given spiritual nature. If we say this, we are denying ourselves our responsibility, as men and women, and our identity as God-like creatures. We are denying that we are souls, made in the image of God, and, in fact, we're really denying God, so we can't use that excuse. When I was a boy, my dad had a pit-bull dog, his name was Pirate, and, one day, the neighbor lady, who complained a bit, came over to complain. And, as my dad was opening the door, Pirate sat in the living room, on the floor. And, it just so happened that, that day, the neighbor lady, she had a cat, and this cat decided to follow her over to the house. And, my dad opened the door to the house; I don't need to explain to you what happened next. The dog acted on its instinct, and, there was a—in a flash. Right? In a fury, in a flurry of fur—feline fur, okay? So, man, on the other hand, man is accountable for his actions in society. If my dad had run out, bit the woman across her back, and shaken her side-to-side, and dropped her dead on the doorstep, he'd have been guilty of murder, right? But, Pirate, he was merely being a dog. So, anyone knows that a man would be accountable for his actions, but an animal is not. So, let's consider Cain and Abel. Before Cain had slew his brother Abel, they both offered sacrifices. And, Abel's sacrifice to God was accepted by God, but Cain's was not. So, Cain was envious; he looked over at Abel's sacrifice, and was like, “What gives? Mine's not...” And he began to be envious, and think evil. And he hadn't actually acted on any of this thought process, he just thought it when God spoke to him, in Genesis four, six through seven. It says:
Genesis 4:6-7 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
It's an interesting word choice, actually, when I look at it: “...unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.” He's telling us that, if Cain were to do well, then all would just be well. Simply that. If he starts to not do well, if he's not giving his best to God; if he's not serving God with everything he has to offer God, he's opening the door to sin, and, then, he has to, then, have dominion over himself. He can't just react to people. If he doesn't have dominion over himself, then, you know, sin lies at the door, and he's going to fall to that. He has to master that sinful nature. In terms of manhood, adolescents, young people, often don't understand this, when a teen male aspires for manhood, he often equates the actions of adults with adult-hood. Okay? So, in a way, I would say, “If I wanted to be a man, I understand how men act, so, if I just act like a man, I'm going to be a man.” And that's the way most teens perceive it. If he is taught not to drink, smoke, swear, whatever it would be, yet he sees adults do these things without getting spanked, he thinks he can do it. Or, maybe, in today's terms, without getting blocked off the wi-fi, you know. Then he thinks he can get away with it, too. He assumes that he can earn his rite of passage if he does these things. But, being a man isn't achieved by giving in to our desires, but by mastering them. For instance, giving in to your desires creates babies, okay? Mastering our drives creates husbands and then fathers and this is the true path to manhood. So, let's look at First Corinthians thirteen eleven; it simply reads:
1 Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
Let me just add that a real man will treat all men as creations of God, because, by doing so, he honors God, who created all men. If we are cursing and swearing against our human being brothers and sisters, whether we know them personally, or they are the person who just cut us off in traffic, or, even if they are the president of the United States, we must speak of them with the respect we would give anyone who is created in the image of God. When we do this, we reminds them of their creator and their charge, which the image of God gives them. And, if we bite back, after we are bitten, we are reinforcing that animalistic nature and we are denying our own Godly man. So, we see that the only way to truly be a man is to master ourselves. Anything less is simply being inept. I claim to know something about children—I don't know a lot of things, but I know something about children, having two young children in the house, and, I also was once a child, and, I'm still in touch with my child-like nature—I can't seem to shake that one—and, it gives me a little bit of insight, I guess, but I must choose to be a man by putting away the childish ways. As that says, I must speak and understand as a man, I must act as a man, this helps me to not only be okay with God, but it also helps me to be a proper role model to my children. And that's another thing: A man, of course he can't be an animal, he also has to be a proper role model. My three year old has a knowledge of good and evil; he knows the right from the wrong, but he must be taught to choose right from wrong, and that's a different thing; that's what it takes to become a man. Sure, we all fall short and we all make mistakes, but we are not going to use the excuse, “I'm only human,” anymore, right? And, we're also not going to exemplify excuses. Instead, I think it would be best if we exemplify confession and repentance. And, people know that we've truly done this, because we're not going to be repeat offenders in whatever it is we've done. And, when we do that, God is able to exemplify grace and mercy upon us. And all these things reinforce what it takes to be real man. They say that it takes one to know one, you've heard the expression, but, it also takes one to make one. If we want our children to grow into adults, men or women of God, we must teach them. A common thought of society is, “Can we really teach our children what man is? Isn't this something they must define for themselves, after their own self-discovery?” There's a preacher named John Piper who said something I like; he said, “No one would criticize you if you poke holes in ugly stereotypes of manhood and womanhood. This is a very safe and customary pastime. But a hundred people will wait to be your judge if you try to develop a positive vision for your daughters of what it means to be feminine, or for your sons of what it means to be masculine. And, so, by and large, we don't do it, and, we leave them confused, telling them what it is not, but not telling them what it is.” I recently posted this quote on Facebook and immediately got a reply: “What exactly is the masculine or feminine standard for children? How does one select it? Aren't those largely culturally and socially determined? What if one's child does not fit one set?” As I said, that is really what a lot of people feel, is to think, “Let them discover it for themselves. Why should we tell them what it is? How do we know we're right?” that kind of thing. Well, it is true that our culture and society have much to say about the definition of masculinity and femininity, so, if we do not teach our children ourselves, guess what? culture and society is going to teach them for us, by default. The two greatest cultural influences in our society today, for our youth, are the media and the education system. And I find it ironic that our culture tells us to let our children determine their identity for themselves while our culture crams it into their heads what the definition of masculinity and femininity is. So the first question is, in response to the post, and to you, is, “Who do you want to teach your children?” How is a child supposed to discover how to reflect the image of God from what he learns from a godless culture and society and in the absence of a Godly example and instruction? According to Deuteronomy chapter six, which we won't read the chapter, the responsibility to teach a child lies squarely on the who? The parents. Even more so than any elder or mentor or any other teacher in the church, the responsibility falls on the shoulders of the parents. So, now, I think there can be little argument that our society conveys that the real sign of maturity is sexuality. That's what we see. I mean, in the movies, the hero always gets the girl, at least, in the old movies. In today's movies, the hero or heroine, somebody's always getting somebody, that's just the way movies are going these days. And, young people, if he's a young man, he's awkward, lanky, uncoordinated, asymmetrical, a.k.a. going through puberty, he may feel wholly inadequate for manhood and look for an alternative identity. And, so, society steps in and suggests that maybe he should be a woman, which is what we see is happening today. So, my second question is, if a young man feels that he cannot measure up to society's portrayal of manhood, how much more difficult of a time is he, being a male, going to have trying to fulfill the role of womanhood, which is anatomically, biologically, and physiologically unprepared to do? Perhaps this is another reason why we are given the charge to train, “Train up a child in the way you would have it to go.” which is Proverbs 22:6, for those of you taking notes. Have any of you been to basic training? Many of you have, right? You know it isn't basic suggesting. It isn't even basic exemplifying. It is called basic training, because it is a concentrated program specifically designed to train high school graduates to become military men and women so that they can survive mortal combat. They have clear, concise, uncompromising training, which is quite effective. What is your program for training your child? If you're just hoping your good example will be enough, I'm going to tell you, you're wrong. Sure, we're all called to exemplify godliness, as I said, we do need to be those role models, but, we're also called to train up our child. My third question is, who is more qualified to know what masculinity is, more than the one who created man? As we mentioned before, we've got to ask the Creator. We don't need to hesitate to train our children, because we are not showing what we think is best, after our own judgments, and our own opinions. Which is why a lot of people don't, they say, “Why would I go and do this? What if I'm wrong? They need to discover for themselves.” Okay? But, we're telling them what God's Word is, and designed for them. But people still say, “Well, how do you know your interpretation of the Bible is correct?” Well, first of all, we believe in a living God who guides and directs His people. Secondly, I think we don't want to to state the obvious; laying aside all of the world views our culture cycles through, the one thing that is constant is that the product of man and woman is children. Else none of us would be here. Therefore, it is important that any definition of masculinity and femininity encompasses those characteristics that aid a man in his function a a husband and a father, and aid a woman in her function as a wife and a mother. Okay? Even in evolution, we see that a woman is more involved with child-bearing than a man is, therefore, it makes no sense for the woman to be providing for the family, defending the home, working the field, et cetera, responsibilities that she is far less capable then a man while she is pregnant or nursing children. So, even from an evolutionary standpoint, it still stands up. Albeit the feminist movement made some favorable contributions and organized the concept; I think a lot of people have gotten duped into thinking that the feminists desire both curses. A man has to go out and work by the sweat of his brow, now a woman has to go out and work, too, and, she also has the labor and pain of child-bearing. Why would you want to take both curses? I would really like to talk more about this, but we need to move on to our next topic, which actually kind of follows along. Our next topic is, man is not a woman. Okay? By creating man and woman, God created a distinction, a measurable difference between them. He could have said, “It is not good for man to be alone, I will give him a friend to help him,” and made another man. It would make sense, actually, if you thought about it, if we thought about it, “Yeah, I need somebody. Just make a whole 'nother me.” I always wanted to duplicate me. If I had another me, what would I do? I'd do more hiking... But, actually, God made something else. Something from man, something that, in many ways, is different than man, and, we could say, completes man. So, God created a woman. The answer is that it is obvious that man and woman are different, they are not the same, therefore they cannot be equal in every way. Just like an apple and an orange are different; they may be equally good fruit, but they're not the same fruit. Therefore, when people discuss gender inequality, it must first be noted that they're comparing apples to oranges; that's the truth. People will take this argument, and they'll run with it, until somebody says, “Wait a minute. You really are comparing apples to oranges.” A soul is a soul, so, in his regard, men and women are equal. In fact, the Bible says that we share an equal inheritance in Heaven for this reason. But, in the flesh, we're not the same, so let's examine some differences; back to Genesis chapter two. I'm going to read fifteen to eighteen, and just jump down to verses twenty-one and twenty-two. So, first, fifteen to eighteen, and then I'm going to jump down. The Bible says 'man' actually means, 'Kirk,' right?
Genesis 2:15-18 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
I will make a helper suitable for him. And then twenty-one:
Genesis 2:21-22 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
So, the first observation is simple: Man was created first. Okay? Genesis three, one, and then down to six:
Genesis 3:1, 6 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? [and then in six:] And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
So, man was created first. Second observation: Woman was deceived first.
Genesis 3:8-9 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
So, our third observation is that man was held accountable to sin first. Okay? So, man was created first, woman was deceived first, but man was the one who was held accountable. You might think, “Why is that?” Well, go back to observation number one: Man was created first. We see from this that there is not a mere physical distinction between a man and a woman, but also an distinction of order between a man and a woman, and an accountability distinction between a man and a woman, and a vulnerability distinction between a man and a woman. So, being created first, man was given a commandment, and, when he was given the commandment, he was expected to pass this along to his wife. And, since she was able to repeat the commandment back to the serpent, we can conclude that he passed the commandment along to her. By speaking to the woman first, we see that the serpent did not deceive the man, but, through the woman, yet, man was the first one called into judgment. So, we can add to our list of observations and note that God created man first, gave him the commandment and the responsibility to pass it to the woman, He gave him the greater accountability. In addition, the woman was created second, received the commandment from the man, was more vulnerable to deception, which was the means the serpent deceived man, and, though, equally accountable for sin, was not the first person God called to account for sin. So, right here, then, we see that man is, then, to be the head of the house, responsible for his family's education of God's commandments, and accountable for sin in the house; these three things. Now, if you ask most men, “Say, are you the head of the house?” they're going to huff and gruff and go, “Yeah, I'm the head; I'm the head.” Because most people do. I mean, you see them, and they talk like they're the man. But, when it comes down to being a man, if you were to say to them next, “Well, are you educating your family in the Word of God?” then, most people would say, “Well, I'll leave that to those who are more qualified, at church.” Right? And, then, if you say, “Are you accountable for the sin in your house?” they're not even going to understand the question. “What do you mean, am I accountable for the sins in my house? I can't control what they do, or how am I supposed to know what they do, or keep them from doing the things that they do? It's just their choice to do what to do; they're free-will creatures of their own.” But, that's really not the way that the Lord God puts it. Do you know that even a pastor, an elder, or a deacon, however you want to term them, they can be dutifully serving the church, but they can be unfit for service if their children are ungodly or their wife is ungodly. That's what happened to Eli, if you remember, back in the Old Testament (1 Samuel 2:12-18, 1 Samuel 3:9-14). So, back to Genesis. Consider the defense of both the man and the woman, in Genesis three, twelve and thirteen:
Genesis 3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
So, God turned to the woman:
Genesis 3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
So, the man blamed the woman, and the woman blamed the serpent. And, some would say that the man blamed God for giving him the woman, but we'll talk about that another time, okay? But it's true. The point, though, that I want to make is that everybody—everybody!—passed the buck. And the serpent was sitting there going, “What?” All right? But, God passed judgment, then, on who first? on the serpent. He went to the source of the sin, the source of the sin. He passed judgment on the serpent first: He said, you know, “You're going to go on your belly all your days and eat the dust of the Earth.” And, then, the next was the woman, who was the first to be deceived, and who actually deceived man. Then, onto the man for his own deception. So, God started with the source of the sin, and followed its trail to its end. So, as punishment for the woman, Genesis three sixteen. Now, of course, I said that man was accountable, but judgment started from sin, and that's what we'll—okay:
Genesis 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception [as we mentioned before]; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; [and then He goes on:] and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
Because of the first sin, the woman's desire shall be to her husband, drawn to the man, and he will rule over her. This verse, of course, draws a lot of contention and debate in today's world. We talked about the feminist movement making some positive changes; I know people who have abused these verses, as well. Okay, so, notwithstanding that, let me just talk about what it's talking about. I would say, actually, that a woman's desire to have the protection and capability of a man, a strong, capable, godly man, but, actually, today, a lot of women would say, “No, I don't.” This is new thing. But, I would suggest, first find a godly man, and then see how you feel about the question. First, if you are a godly woman, and you find a godly man, I believe you will be drawn to him, and, he, in is own way, will be drawn to you. Unfortunately, the lack of godly men in our society, or, rather, the abundance of ungodly men, have tainted any image of this knight in shining armor that we're talking about. If you don't understand the first part, though, 'and thy desire shall be to thy husband,' then you won't understand the second part, 'and he shall rule over you.' If he is to rule over her, as it says, he must be a godly man, because to rule means to have dominion over. As you recall, in the very beginning we talked about mankind is given dominion over all the animals. As you recall, mankind must also have dominion over himself. Man and woman, now, both have failed to have dominion over themselves, and, since the woman was first deceived, and the one who brought deception to man, God gave man dominion over the woman. And the serpent, an animal that should have been subject to the woman and her seed, is now an ongoing source of hostility. So, now, we see, here, man is supposed to have dominion over all the animals; to do that, he has to have dominion over his animal nature. They failed to do that because of sin that came to the woman by the serpent. Because they failed to do that, now they are losing dominion over the serpent. If you had, like, two people working a job, and you were both assigned to a project, as equals, and, then, one of you did something totally wrong, and then, kind of hid it, but, then, it was found out, his partner figured it out, and then, he decided to hide it, too, because he figured it was better to, you know, than both getting clobbered by the boss, but, then, the boss found out; what's the boss going to do? “All right, from now on,” he may fire them both, but he may say, “You didn't do this thing wrong; you hid it. So, I'm going to put you in charge, next time. You're going to watch over this other person. They have to go to you to make sure they don't do anything wrong.” So, that's kind of what it was. “Man and woman, you're supposed to do this, the woman doesn't do it, okay, man, you're going to have more dominion there.” And that is how it happened, okay? So, now you have an explanation for why this is going forth with God; I hope that makes sense to you. Okay? Meanwhile, the serpent crawls in the dust, and eats the dust of the Earth, which man is made of, by the way. So, isn't that interesting how that cycles around. While man labors to feed himself from the dust of the Earth, he must battle thorns and thistles until he is consumed by the dust. So, it's a cycle. Why? because man listened to the voice of the woman, not because man listened to the voice of the woman, period, but, we're supposed to understand, because he listened to the voice of the woman when she contradicted the voice of God. Okay? And that was why, so we can't take that and use that to say, “We never listen to women for anything.” When she contradicted the voice of God, he had a choice, and he was supposed let God be supreme, and he did not. So, all that disrupts God's original garden of paradise are the inner workings of sin. It may seem like an endless cycle of dust, thorns, enmity, dominion, and death, but there is One who lived with perfect dominion, and conquered sin and death. He is the One who gives man the perfect example. We need to allow Jesus to have dominion over us. When you do that, you conquer sin. Therefore, join us for Ephesians four and five. How do we want to do this? Actually, Jesse, can you help me with this? This is a two chapter area where Paul just lays out what it means to be a man. I think you've heard me enough, but, I'm going to have Jesse read the verse part of it, and I'm going to give you a quick summary part of it. And, it goes for a few verses, so, let's go ahead and start.
Ephesians 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
A real man must be born again.
Ephesians 4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
A real man is honest.
Ephesians 4:26-27 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil.
A real man doesn't hold grudges, but has self-control.
Ephesians 4:28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
A real man works, so that he can be a provider, and is charitable.
Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
A real man speaks edification and grace. He's not a cynic, critic, or mocker.
Ephesians 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
A real man listens and obeys the Holy Spirit, and has a clear conscience before God.
Ephesians 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
A real man is not driven by anger and does not inflict others with his anger.
Ephesians 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
A real man forgives completely.
Ephesians 5:1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
A real man leads others by following God.
Ephesians 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
A real man lays down his life for others, even his enemies.
Ephesians 5:3-5 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
A real man has a blameless testimony and speech.
Ephesians 5:6-7 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
A real man is not deceived to pursue ambitions that have no eternal value.
Ephesians 5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
Ephesians 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
A real man does not fellowship with the ungodly, and is not afraid to call sin, sin.
Ephesians 5:15-17 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
A real man watches everything around him, and uses every opportunity to further God's will.
Ephesians 5:18-20 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
A real man does not turn to worldly vices to lift his spirit, but finds his peace in worship, in the presence of God.
Ephesians 5:21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
A real man learns from other men of God.
Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Lastly, a real man loves his wife sacrificially. Now, thank you for your time, and I'd like to turn this pulpit, this microphone, this water bottle, your ears, and your hearts to Brother Malcolm.
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