The Making of a Man

[0:00] I can't possibly figure it out or know what it's like, but I know we'll all be there.

[0:20] And all of us here will be there. And the fellowship, it's good here, but it's really going to be good there. And, you know, I like to watch football every once in a while, and I like the pro teams.

[0:33] And I like the pro teams because those men are some of the toughest men in the world, I think. And I know there's some grapplers and some fighters that maybe are tougher, but these guys are so strong and hit so hard, and they do what they do on a professional level.

[0:47] If you're a pro football team, a player, you have been chosen by somebody because you are head and shoulders above everybody else we've ever looked at. And I'm going to pay you $5 million just to catch the ball for us.

[1:01] And, you know, it's fun to watch because one of them will catch a ball when they're supposed to, but they don't just walk back and get back in the huddle. Fifteen guys come over and slap them on the helmet and say, Thank you.

[1:15] You're helping us make our money too. And there's a camaraderie amongst those men. It's a team effort. And they reward each other. They don't say, Oh, I could have done better.

[1:26] You know, they're not competition with each other like a lot of Baptists. They reward each other. Even if they block a pass, half the team goes over, Man, good job.

[1:38] You did it, you know. And I wish we were like that. I wish we were like that. There's some good men here. And they're not all pastors, good men here that are serving Jesus Christ.

[1:48] And they need to be encouraged as much as possible. And I don't, you know, like most of you, I don't like a lot of praise, but encouragement is nice.

[2:00] And we need it these days. All right. Just real quick, I'll start out with a little joke. There was a Sunday school teacher who had a group of kids there.

[2:14] They were just young kids around 10, 12 years old. And she said, I've got $5 for the guy that can tell me the best man that ever lived. And little Glenn, you know, he stood up.

[2:27] I know, I know. And she says, Okay, Glenn, what do you got? And he says, That'd be George Washington. And she says, Oh, first president, yeah, good guy, yeah. But no, that's not what I'm looking for. And little Janie, she says, I know, I know.

[2:40] And she says, Abraham Lincoln. And the teacher said, Well, you know, emancipation proclamation, free the slaves. Yeah, good guy, all that stuff. But no, that's not what I'm looking for. And a little Jewish boy in the back, he raised his hand.

[2:52] He says, I know, I know. And she says, Who's that? And he says, That'd be Jesus Christ. And the teacher was kind of stunned by that, being a Jewish boy and all. And she says, You know, I got the $5.

[3:06] You're right. It is Jesus Christ. It is the greatest man. But she says, Being Jewish and all, why would you say that? And he says, Well, in my heart, I know it's Moses. But business is business. So the preacher was asking about, Who's your favorite?

[3:26] And I know it's Jesus Christ. But I like Moses. And Moses is one of my favorites because he pastored. And what a pastor.

[3:39] Oh, man, what a pastor. And you could go on and on about the first five books and on and on about his faithfulness and all the hardships. But I just, one of these days, I can't wait.

[3:52] After I get done bowing and giving my reverence and love to Jesus Christ, I can't wait to go hunt him down and say, How did you do that? Amen.

[4:03] All right. Lord God, bless our time together. I thank you for these men. I thank you to be numbered with them, Lord. And, God, I am so grateful that you got me into the Baptist church.

[4:14] I'm so grateful that you led me to King James Bible. I'm so grateful, God, for all that you've done. I've seen Christianity in many, many walks all over the world.

[4:24] And, God, I am so glad to be numbered with these men. And I pray you bless the message. I pray the word of God. It means something. I pray it be helpful to them. Encourage them. Challenge them.

[4:35] Whatever you see fit to do, I pray that you would please do that. And I ask it in Jesus' name and for his sake. Amen. Amen. All right. Just try to be real quick here. The making of a man.

[4:48] Just the making of a man. A man is found in the dirt. God looked at the dirt and thought, Hey, that would make a good man. It wasn't an amoeba in pond scum somewhere, but it was dirt.

[5:06] It wasn't from a monkey or from some primate somewhere, but it was dirt. And the Bible says, 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.

[5:22] So, the making of a man starts in the ground. It starts with dirt. And he is of the dirt. When I was a little boy, I loved it. When you were a little boy, you loved it.

[5:37] We played in the dirt. We run our cars through the dirt. We jumped our little motorcycles through the dirt. We made dirt. We threw dirt. We rubbed dirt. We did it all with dirt.

[5:48] I went camping just last week, and we were in the dirt, and I was back home. I liked it. I like being around the ladies.

[5:59] That's great. I like being in my house. That's great. But the dirt is good. Dirt is crude. It's base. I know the ladies don't like it.

[6:11] They're always trying to get rid of it. I'm always trying to get in it. Men find a way to get in the dirt and everything. And the ladies are trying everything they can do to get rid of it. And the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15, the first man is of the earth, earthy.

[6:28] And he is told to work in that dirt. He's told to plow in that dirt. He's told to grow in that dirt. The making of a man is from the dirt. That is you. You are a base creature.

[6:40] You are a simple creature. You are a, you are given to, you're given to, God made you from the dirt and you're to work with that dirt.

[6:53] And that's what he was said to do. You're made from the dirt to let you know that if you're going to be clean and have to be God to do it. And life comes from the dirt.

[7:04] So, so life comes from man and from the seed of man. And man's first job was a garden. Dirt is really strong. It's powerful. It's heavy.

[7:15] It does not compact very much. It's very durable. And that's the way you need to be. My brother was talking about being a man and standing. And when nobody else will stand, you stand.

[7:26] And I'm going to, I'm going to amen that right now. I believe that's right. Those were right words, good words. And very much needed today. Men are, are trying to be pretty when they're not.

[7:40] You are not, you are not pretty. The girls are pretty. You're ugly. Own it. Live with it. The girls like you. They don't like you because of the way you look.

[7:51] They probably like you because of the way you talk or the way you act maybe. But we go by sight. We go by what we see. We like the pretty, pretty stuff. But, but, but they don't look. I asked my wife just yesterday, said, do women think men are handsome or, or good looking?

[8:06] And she goes, no, really we're more attracted by what they say. And their attitude. Stuff like that. And so we're different than the ladies very much. But act like what you are.

[8:18] You're strong. You're base. Be, be that man. Spiritually, it shows us that we're unclean. Dirt, dirt is the thing that's unclean.

[8:29] And, and we're made from that. God didn't make us unclean, but it's a picture of what we are. That's the way God found us. All men have sinned. And sin's picture is dirt.

[8:41] In the book of Psalms, it says, they are all gone aside. They are all together become filthy. There is none that doeth good, no, not one. And so all men are, are filthy.

[8:52] The man's body is strong and it's dense as compared to the ladies. They are soft and they are tender. And they, and they are much weaker than we are.

[9:02] We're much stronger than, than they are. I remember, I guess I was about, well, I don't know, maybe 10 or 11 years old. And I was, I was the third child of my mom and dad. My mom, I had two older sisters.

[9:15] Karen and Sue, they were both older than me. And my oldest sister was three years older than me. And my youngest sister, about a year and a half older than me. And they beat me up all the time. And I'm the little guy, you know.

[9:26] So they pushed me around and they just had their way. Until I got about 10. And I got about 10 or 9 years old. And my, my younger sister, Sue, started pushing me around one day.

[9:38] And I found out what this would do. And I, I balled it up. And she got in my, and Ben, I clocked her. And I, I hit her square on the jaw. And she went down screaming.

[9:49] And I went, all right. All right. This is cool. No more. These women are not going to run over me no more. Until my dad came home.

[10:03] And my, and my mom told my dad what I had done. And he pulled me aside and he taught me a lesson that day. A very good lesson. And the lesson was this. And he, my dad had a way about him.

[10:14] He'd always get down on his knee real close. So he could be eyeball to eyeball with me. And he said, son, let me tell you something. You're a boy. And you're going to grow to a young man. And you will always be stronger than the girls.

[10:28] If they ever get on you, you'll be able to hold them back. You'll be able to restrain them. Because you will be stronger than they are. Therefore, you will never, ever have to hit one.

[10:40] And I don't ever want to hear of you hitting one again. This is the first and last one you ever hit. Because you don't need to. If they get in your face or get in wet, you'll be able to restrain them.

[10:53] It'll always be like that. And then, of course, he bent me over and enforced that lesson very well. But that is the truth about men.

[11:05] He thinks the way he is. He's a very dominant creature. He likes to run things. Even his own life. He has a tendency to put stock in his abilities.

[11:18] And for the Christian man, that has to turn. That has to. You have to get out of number one slot and take number two slot. And put God on the top. Even if you think you're cool.

[11:29] Even if you think you've got a lot of money. Got a lot of smarts. Got a lot of strength. Whatever you think you've got. You've got to take second place to Jesus Christ. A real man has to be not just a man, fleshly speaking.

[11:40] But a man that loves God. A man that will serve God. And use the things that God gave him to do that. And to do it well. Amen. He does not have tender feelings like the ladies have.

[11:54] He can war and he can kill. Ladies are not given to that. He can build and provide. And he can protect. And he can do those things.

[12:05] That's pretty good for dirt. Pretty good. But those qualities that God hath instilled in us. Now that we're saved. Need to be used for God.

[12:17] When he said play the man. The word play is like say act like one. We're going to battle now. You've got to stand up and act like what you are.

[12:27] And that's my challenge today. As far as Christian men. You don't have to be big brawn. And burly. And be able to whip other men. To live and be strong for Jesus Christ.

[12:38] You can be faithful to Jesus. I know some great spiritual men. Lester Roloff wasn't a big powerful man. But boy spiritually he was. Man you find his equal very quickly.

[12:51] He was hard to find somebody. That walked and lived a godly life like he did. But the message tonight is for us as men. To be able to live our lives as men.

[13:05] But not just run our families and run our lives. But to do it for God. God has to be in that thing. We are here. We are here to live for him.

[13:17] To serve him. To love him. To worship him. To praise him. To work hard for him. He's our number one guy. And the rest of it falls into place.

[13:29] He said if you put me first. I'll let all things. I'll take care of the rest of the stuff. It's found in Matthew chapter 6. Talking about putting God first. And God give him life.

[13:40] In Genesis 2.7. He said he found. He made out of the dust of the ground. And breathed into him his nostrils. And man became a living soul. And the spirit that is in man.

[13:51] He got from his maker. And the spirit causes man to have a connection to God. That's how you knew. When the gospel came. It bothered your conscience.

[14:03] That's a spiritual thing. It bothered you. And it led you somewhere. That spiritual thing. And the Bible says that man is made of a body. A soul. And a spirit.

[14:14] And that spirit is connected to your soul. It's connected to your body. And it lets you understand. Or at least come into contact with spiritual things.

[14:25] Even though you don't understand them very well. Amen. When God said sin is going to kill you. And put you in hell. You believed it. And your spirit was in assistance there.

[14:37] And a woman has. Like a woman has a connection to her children. We have a connection to God through that spirit. A real man will seek God.

[14:49] And you know God already. But you don't know him well. So you'll have to seek him. I think it was John the Baptist said. He was born among you. And you know him not.

[15:00] How is that? How is that? He's here. The one who made you. The one who made the world. And you don't know who he is. I got to say. And I know a lot of Christians. Been around a lot of Christians for a long time. And a lot of them don't know him very well.

[15:12] I want to know him better. I don't know him as good as I'd like to know him. The more I learn about him. The more I love him. The more I learn about him. The more I like him. Amen.

[15:23] The more. I've seen men like that. I get around men every once in a while. I see a guy. He kind of thinks like I do. Him and I get along real good. And then the more I get around him. The more I like him. And the friendship will build.

[15:34] And you get to the place where you love the brother. His good brother. And you give your life for some of them. You love them that much. And Jesus Christ is like that. And some of you need to know him better.

[15:45] And you'll serve him better if you know him better. You'll worship him more if you know him better. You've just got to learn to know him. But to do that you'll have to seek him out. You should seek the Lord.

[15:56] It is God that give us our lives. He should. The man that made this dirt man should surrender.

[16:07] Surrender to Jesus Christ. He should consider Jesus Christ when decisions have to be made. The dirt man should appreciate him. Serve him and love him.

[16:19] The Bible says. But there is a spirit in man. And the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding. The spirit of God hath made me. And the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.

[16:32] It should be a most natural thing for a man to love his God. It should be. But when it comes time to read his word. Sometimes it doesn't take first place.

[16:44] When it comes time to pray. Sometimes it doesn't take first place. When it comes time to come to church. The Bible said that he gave his blood for the church. Come time to be in church.

[16:57] You should be in the church. You say well you know I got a lot to do. Now you don't have that much to do. I mean where's your priorities? Get your priorities where they're supposed to be. You say why?

[17:08] Because we're talking about knowing him. And seeking him. Amen. And I get around. You know I got guys in my church. And some of them are young guys you know.

[17:18] And some of them haven't preached very much you know. And every once in a while they get up and they'll preach. Brother I tell you preach me under conviction. Dumb little old kid get up 19 years old and start preaching the Bible.

[17:30] It's not him. It's the book. It's the spirit that comes with the book. And there are times when I go to the altar with these young guys preaching. Amen.

[17:41] Amen. It should be a most natural thing for a man to love his God. The Bible says but nay old man who art thou that replies against God. Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it and why hast thou made me thus?

[17:55] Question mark. Does not a man love his father? We all love our father. How much more should we love our God? Amen. Man should love his God.

[18:07] The man's life started with God and it will end with God. And our lives need to be lived and consumed with him, with God. A lump of clay which has use.

[18:22] A clay is not much use, just clay as itself. But it can be made into many useful things. And so a man is that way. A clay has almost no use.

[18:33] It's unmolded. But the master can mold it and make it to be useful and helpful. As iron is found in the earth, it has no use in its natural state very much at all.

[18:47] But a little heat, a little hammer, a little molding, and it can come into something very great and very useful and very helpful. But not too many people like the heat and not too many people like the hammer.

[18:59] But those things are necessary to mold the man. And without it, he cannot be molded. And a lot of men run when the hammer strikes. A lot of men run when the heat is poured on.

[19:10] But that's what makes the man. If you could talk to Job, he could tell us all about it. If you talk to Paul, he could tell us all about it. Those men were greatly used of God.

[19:21] But not just pulled up and go. They had to go through a lot of things. But the hardship is what made them the men that they were. And so never shriek at the hardship. Never shriek when the hammer comes or the heat comes.

[19:34] The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Arise and go down to the potter's house. And there will I cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter's house.

[19:46] And behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessels he made clay was marred in the hand of the potter. So he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

[19:56] Yielded it to the master's hand. And let him mold and shape the man. The making of a man has much to do with this idea. Imagine a potter or a blacksmith shaping something.

[20:09] The Bible says that God is trying to mold us into the image of his dear son. We are to be more and more like him. Amen. And we haven't seen him.

[20:21] And we're not going to get to see him until we pass on from this earth. But we can read about him. And we can learn about him in there. We learn to talk like him. Learn to act like him. Amen.

[20:32] He's a very impressive individual. That item to be used must go through a molding process. And so when you come to church, it's a molding process.

[20:45] And I want to say, and I know when you get home, and I know when you read your Bible, God speaks to your heart through that Bible. It encourages you. It gives you strength for the day.

[20:56] I understand all that stuff. But I don't know why God has done it. But God has chosen a preacher. I don't know why he wants to do it. But he has chosen a preacher.

[21:07] Brother Walski, if you're a pastor, that is what God wants to use to mold you. You just need to get under it. You need to come. You need to come.

[21:18] You need to get under it. It's not him. It's God's choice. It's God's choice. God said, hey, are you willing to preach for me? And I don't know what it took for him to yield.

[21:29] I know what it took for me to yield. And it wasn't easy. God had to do a lot to get my attention because I'm not real smart. It took me a little, you know, some push. And when I finally realized it, I surrendered.

[21:42] But when I surrendered, it took years and years before I ever got to where I was preaching or got to be a pastor. It was God's doing. And I don't know what it took for Brother Walski to get where he's at.

[21:54] But God had chosen him to be the pastor here. And you need to surrender to what God is doing. I'm not saying about him. He knows better. We all know better than that. But God has chosen.

[22:07] And God has put some things on his heart to say. And he might not even say it real well. I've seen preachers that weren't real good. But if you listen real carefully and pray, you can usually get the message.

[22:18] Even if he's doing a lousy job. And I'm not saying he does. He's a great preacher. I've heard him preach a little bit. But I've heard God. I remember a guy got up to preach one time. And he did a horrible job. But he gave the title.

[22:30] And when he gave the title, I knew where he was headed. I got the idea. Because he gave me the title. And as he preached, I thought, well, I see what he's trying to say. I get it. I see. Now, you're not doing a good job. But I'm trying to get the message.

[22:43] And I can get the message. Amen. I've been around preaching long enough to kind of see how it goes. Amen. But I want the message. Why? Because God put it on his heart. Why would he do that?

[22:55] Well, because you're going to get him preached to me. That's why he did it. Because he's going to preach to me. So come to church. And be faithful to church. Be a man.

[23:06] Be a man. It's Sunday. It's God's day. The whole day. It's God's day. Amen. For the Jews, it was the Sabbath.

[23:17] It was the whole day. Wasn't a partial day. It wasn't three hours of Sabbath. It was the whole day. Our day is Sunday. First day of the week they came.

[23:28] They gathered together. And they gave God their day. Give God his day. I go to church on Sunday night. And it's half crowd. Where are the men?

[23:41] Hey, we're dirt. We're dense. We're base. We're strong. We're men. Amen. We can take it. We can do it. If God is our number one guy, let's put him number one.

[23:56] But we've got to get under him. Hard training for the soldier makes him ready to be used. As the hands push and pound the clay, as the hammer hits the red-hot iron, so does God's hand mold the man that is to be used for him.

[24:15] It's a molding process. Some run when the furnace comes. But it is the furnace that makes him ready. The best lessons are taught in the furnace.

[24:26] For a man to stand for God in this old world and be a good testimony for him, his faith will be tested. He needs to pass the test.

[24:37] He needs to go forward. His heart will be tested. His testimony, his walk. But a man that loves God and knows God is in for the duration.

[24:53] It's in. I'm going to live by the grace. I am going to live the Christian life all of my days. I am planning in my heart and determining in my heart to live the Christian life all of my days.

[25:13] And if I falter and fall, I still know that my God's alive. I still know that I will face him someday. So I will get up by the grace of God and I will continue to live the Christian life.

[25:27] I will continue to go to church. I will support the church. I will be there not just with my money, but my mouth will be in the crowd singing. My voice will be heard with your voices.

[25:40] I will support the church with my presence. Amen. Amen. It's a good thing, brother. It's a great thing, brother. It's a great thing.

[25:50] This crowd that we have is a very, very, very great thing. Amen. And it needs to be looked at that way. Encouragement to each other.

[26:02] Fight together. Going to go street preaching? Get in that group. Prayer meeting. Get in that group. Be what God made you to be.

[26:13] You're the man. You can do it. Amen. You're the strong one. God made us that way. Made us from the dirt. And we can use all the attributes.

[26:25] And I'll close this. I'm going to put this way. But I'm going to close with this. I remember reading about Lucifer. And it said about Lucifer that he had all these gems and jewels for clothing.

[26:38] And he was most gorgeous. The diamond, the pearl, the jasper, and the emerald, and all this beautiful clothing. The Bible said he was a cherubim. And he was a covering cherubim.

[26:50] He was the number one cherubim. He was the best cherubim. And God gave him everything that he needed to be the best cherubim. And in one place he said, as if he were a little better than the other cherubim.

[27:04] And he says, thou hast walked on the mountain of God. Thou hast walked amongst the stones of fire as if it was a special thing to do.

[27:15] Not all the cherubim got to walk on the mountain, holy mountain of God. Not all the cherubim got to walk on the stones of fire. But he did. Why was he so blessed? Because God had given him everything to work with.

[27:27] And he was not satisfied. What is your problem, sir? You have everything that God has given you. And more so.

[27:38] I remember David was king of Israel. And got used to that position. And could have all the women he wanted in the whole kingdom. Even when he needed heat.

[27:50] They found Abishag who was one of the fairest in the whole kingdom. Just because he needed heat. Oh no. I'm not satisfied. I want Bathsheba too.

[28:00] What is your problem? You cannot be satisfied where you are. When God has given you everything you need to be the man. That you need to be for God. Why do you have to go beyond that and seek for something better?

[28:13] You know when Satan stepped out of those parameters that God put him in. And said I want to be like you. I want that throne. I want to go above where you have given me.

[28:25] God says I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God. I will lay you before men. I will. Brother. God was so ticked off. At that man that was not satisfied with his position.

[28:40] Ladies need to stop fighting their men. Stay in the parameters of good wife. Children need to stop sassing mom and dad. And stay in the parameters as a children.

[28:51] You will be given everything you need to do a good job as a child. Everything you need to be a good wife to your husband. Everything you need to be a godly man and live for God.

[29:02] And to get out of that parameter is a gross horribleness. Never get out of that. You're not God. Don't act like it. I'm not going to run my life.

[29:15] God going to run my life. Amen. My job is to yield. Like it or not. You know this old body you carry around. He don't like the stuff. Spiritual stuff.

[29:25] He don't like it. He don't like church. He don't like prayer. He don't like giving time to the Bible. He likes beaches and shotguns. Amen. He likes skateboards.

[29:37] He likes all kinds of sports. He likes all kinds of worldly stuff. He's just as carnal as he can be. Spiritual man, you know, it's a good fight. It's a good fight.

[29:48] But this is the guy you fight. But a spiritual man will be a man for God. So my message this morning is take all the attributes that God has given you to be a good man.

[30:01] And use them for God. Use them for God. Put them in that first place. And don't never get out of that perimeter. Never be the captain of your own ship. Amen.

[30:11] It will be a gross error. It will be a gross error. Amen. Amen. All right. Lord God, thank you for the Bible. Thank you for these men, Lord.

[30:21] What a hard to express how I feel coming in here and seeing my friends. And seeing these men that love you. These are my brothers.

[30:33] Some of them I know well. Some I don't know real well. But all of them love you. And they're my brothers. And I am proud to be numbered with them. I'm glad to be with them. God, help me help them if I can, Lord.

[30:47] Bless them. Use the preaching that's to follow God. Get in these men and guide their mouths and their thoughts. Help them lift you up where you belong, Lord. And we thank you for it. And we pray it in Jesus' name.

[30:59] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[31:10] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[31:24] Amen. Amen.