So I'm talking about a man is self-sacrificial, right?
So let's jump right in.
I'm going to look at three different reasons of why a man is self-sacrificial.
Number one, because of the ultimate example of self-sacrificial masculinity, which is
!
Hey, you guys are on tonight, okay?
Jesus, right?
Jesus is the ultimate example of self-sacrificial masculinity.
So we'll start in Genesis once again, as we have a lot of these weeks.
And what is called the Proto-Evangelium, or Gelium, which is basically in Genesis 3.15,
there's the promise of a Messianic sacrifice, okay?
Genesis 3.15, after they sinned, God said, I'll put enmity between you and the woman and
between your offspring and hers.
He will crush your head and he will strike his heel.
He was speaking of the sacrifice that would come.
He was speaking of Jesus coming, the Messiah coming.
And eventually executing one of the greatest sacrifices ever, all right?
And this sacrifice, it says that Jesus was the highly exalted man with the name above
all names because of his sacrifice.
This is in Philippians 2, okay?
Philippians 2, 3-9 says,
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant
than yourself.
Let each one of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
And this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.
Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God with him to be grasped,
but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
And it says,
Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.
Okay, so Jesus' ultimate act of selflessness and sacrifice gave him the name that is above every name
and caused him to be highly exalted, right?
It was quintessential masculinity, quintessential expression of what man was supposed to be.
Jesus embodied that.
Jesus embodied the perfect man.
And so to look at what a man should be, we need to look at the perfect man.
We need to look at the ultimate example of man.
And that is Jesus.
And Jesus emptied himself, taking the form of a servant.
Another NID says he considered himself nothing, taking the form of a servant.
So anytime you think you're something, you have ceased being a servant of Christ.
All right?
Ultimate sacrifice and servanthood is to consider yourself nothing.
It's not to exalt yourself, but to empty yourself.
Okay?
John 10, 11 to 15, Jesus said,
I'm the good shepherd.
The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
He was a hired hand, not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees.
The wolf snatches them and scatters them.
He flees because he's a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
I'm the good shepherd.
I know my own and my own know me.
Just as the father knows me and I know the father and I lay down my life for the sheep.
Okay?
So again, Jesus, the example of laying down his life.
Laying down his life for the sheep.
He's not like a hired hand who cares nothing for the sheep.
Ultimate caring is laying your life down for the other.
And we are to follow and imitate this example.
Ephesians 5, 25 says,
Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.
So when it comes to husband drink, what is the example?
How are we supposed to do it?
As Christ loved the church.
And how did he do it?
He gave himself up for her.
Sacrifice.
Ephesians 5, 1-2 says,
Be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love.
How?
As Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.
A fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
So how do we do this?
We do it like Jesus did.
We become sacrificial.
1 Peter 2, 21.
Christ also suffered for you,
leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps.
Okay?
His example was suffering and sacrifice.
And 1 John 3, 16 says,
By this we know, love, that he laid down his life for us,
and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
Okay?
It's our job to lay down our life for our brothers,
because that's what Jesus did for us.
He laid down his life for us,
and so he says,
Lay down your life for the brothers.
This flies in the face of just thinking that Christianity is about just attending a church.
I mean, that's a joke when you look at a verse like this.
Like, oh, Christianity means I'm just supposed to go to a church and listen to a guy preach?
That's Christianity?
He says,
By this we know, love, that he laid down his life for us,
and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
If our expression of church doesn't include some expression of us laying our lives down for specific people we call brothers,
it's not church as Christ has meant it to be.
And we know it's the way that Christ meant it to be,
number one, because it says it here,
but number two, because he embodied it.
He didn't say,
Hey, I'm going to lay down my life for brothers so that you can just attend church meetings and listen to someone else preach.
He said,
I'm going to lay down my life for brothers so that you can follow my example and lay down your life for the brothers.
And why is that important?
So that church isn't just a show or an attendance, but it's actually a brotherhood.
It's actually a group of people that are committed to one another.
It's actually a group of people that love one another, care for one another,
and experience life together in such a way that you could actually call it family.
Brotherhood is familial language.
Okay.
Do you have a relationship with your church in such a way that you could say,
I have a brotherhood.
I can do what Jesus said to do.
I can lay down my life for the brothers.
And the lack of laying down of life for brothers is what causes church to be lame.
Okay.
We have to have a group of people that we can lay down our life for.
If you don't have friends, brothers who laid on their life for you,
you're missing out on what church was always meant to be.
It was always meant to be self-sacrificial.
That's what men do.
That's what a man is.
So again, let's look at Jesus a little bit more.
What did Jesus sacrifice?
He sacrificed heaven.
He left heaven and came to earth.
Talk about a sacrifice.
Talk about a downgrade, right?
He literally left heaven and came to the earth that was tarnished and broken with sin.
Okay.
He suffered and sacrificed by taking on human form.
He took on flesh.
Again, that's a major sacrifice.
Literally, the creator became one of his creation.
He created man and then he became the same flesh that he created.
That's an incredible thought to think of the degree of sacrifice that Jesus did just in becoming a man.
Okay.
He sacrificed independence because he didn't just become a man.
He became first a baby.
Right?
And a baby cannot feed himself.
A baby cannot even survive on his own.
God himself became a baby dependent on a mother for milk, for sustenance, for life.
I mean, that is the most quintessential, most perfect picture of emptying yourself.
God emptying himself and not just becoming a man, but becoming a baby.
Okay.
He sacrificed safety.
Obviously, he came to a very dangerous, hostile environment for him.
Right?
That ultimately murdered him.
All right?
He sacrificed his reputation.
He was called a drunkard.
He was called a glutton.
He was crucified as a criminal, even though he was innocent.
All right?
He sacrificed his reputation.
He lost friends and family to death.
Right?
His cousin John had his life taken from him.
Okay?
He came into this world, lost friends, lost family to death.
He sacrificed money and possessions.
The Bible says he had no place to lay his head.
He sacrificed wife and kids.
He stayed single.
He didn't get married.
He lost his family.
He lost his disciples.
And he ultimately sacrificed his life.
Jesus lived a sacrificial life from day one all the way through.
His life was marked by sacrifice.
And true masculinity is marked by sacrifice.
At the end of the day, Jesus didn't blame.
He bled.
Okay?
That was marked by that.
What do we do?
We like to blame.
We like to be like Adam.
Right?
And blame all these other things.
Jesus didn't blame.
He bled.
He took responsibility for things that weren't his fault.
And said, I will take them upon myself.
I will sacrifice for the sake of a lost people.
I will sacrifice to restore a planet that came underneath sin.
Okay?
Number two.
Man is self-sacrificial because it's the greatest love.
John 15, 13 says,
Greater love is no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
Okay?
If we're talking about a masculinity that is most loving,
it has to be one that sacrifices its very life and lays down his life for his friends.
If it's not a loving version of masculinity, it's not true masculinity.
God didn't create men to be unloving.
Of course he created them to be loving.
Well, what is the ultimate act of love for another?
It's that he lays down his life for his friends.
If you think about all the different attributes of masculinity,
self-sacrifice is required to be everything a man is.
Self-sacrifice is required to be confident, to be responsible,
to be strong, to be the glory of God,
to be a fighter, to be a worker, to be a leader,
to be any of these things, you must also be self-sacrificial.
Every real-life responsibility requires some level of self-sacrifice to cultivate it.
Here's a great story that embodies this.
Marcus Brotherton tells an amazing story
of self-sacrifice involving prisoners of the Imperial Japanese Army
in the jungles of Thailand during World War II.
Okay?
It goes like this.
The supreme example of a different way of living
came to a climax one horrific evening
after a long day of hard labor.
That night when the tools were counted,
a Japanese guard announced that one shovel was missing.
One of the prisoners had stolen the shovel
to sell in the black market, it was assumed.
The crime was heinous.
The guard railed.
The perpetrator had maligned the Emperor himself
and acted punishable by death.
The guard lined up the men in the work party
and demanded that whoever took the shovel confess.
No one did.
The guard ranted and screamed,
denouncing the men for their wickedness.
His rage reached a new level.
All die! All die!
The guard shrieked.
He pointed his rifle at the crowd
and set his finger on the trigger.
Prisoners knew he was serious.
Calmly, quietly,
from the back of the work party,
one solitary man stepped forward.
I did it, the man said.
The guard unleashed his fury on the man.
In front of the rest of the prisoners,
a contingent of armed guards standing by,
he beat the man bloody with the butt of his rifle,
crushing the man's skull.
When the tools were counted again,
it was found that all the shovels were there.
The guard had miscounted.
One man died in the dust and dirt
of the death camp by the River Kwai.
One man died so that others might live.
What a story, huh?
It's a picture of ultimate sacrifice.
It's a picture of someone taking responsibility,
even for things that weren't his fault.
He didn't steal the shovel.
But he sacrificed his life so that others could live.
And this is what men do.
You hear a story like that and you don't think,
man, what an effeminate slacker.
You know?
You think, wow, what a man.
Do you not?
You not think, man, that's the man I want to be.
That's the kind of man that I look up to.
That's the kind of man I respect.
Right?
And there's something inherently in us
that knows that that's true masculinity.
That knows intrinsically that self-sacrifice
equates to masculinity.
We respect this kind of behavior.
Which leads me to number three.
Man is self-sacrificial because of what we observe
in life and art.
Okay?
You know, because who we are as a man
is built into our nature,
and who a woman is is built into her nature,
even an unbeliever can observe things
that are true about men and women
without ever reading the Bible
just by observing through history
how men and women behave in certain circumstances.
Because, and this points to God,
because our masculinity is hardwired into our nature.
It's not something that is pressed down upon us
by our culture,
as the world would tell us.
It's just not true.
You know this is true just because
if you have little kids,
you know that you can press on
all kinds of things onto your boy,
and you can ban all guns from him,
and he will take his pink butter and jelly sandwich,
and he will bite it with his mouth
and make it into a gun.
Right?
That's what he does.
Why?
Because it's built,
there are certain things built into his nature
that no outside forces can undo.
God made men and women,
and he made them not as some outward thing,
it's from inside.
Okay?
And so we can observe some of these things
through life and art,
and we can see certain things that are masculine.
Okay?
And at the end of the day,
we hate the coward and respect self-sacrifice.
All right?
You know this when you see it in real life,
you know this when you see it in a movie.
Right?
We hate the coward.
We don't, we,
where it's like,
no one tells you to hate the coward,
but you do.
No one tells you to love the guy
who's self-sacrificial,
but you do.
Right?
The definition of heroic
is this,
supremely noble or self-sacrificing.
All right?
When we think of someone who's a hero,
you can't think of a hero
without self-sacrifice.
The very definition of heroic
is someone supremely noble
or self-sacrificing.
Self-sacrifice is heroic.
Okay?
Think of,
think of all the best movies you've seen.
How many of them have self-sacrificing?
I mean, how many?
All.
Most of them, right?
Maybe all.
Well, I don't know.
That's just,
whenever that's there,
there's just something different, right?
There's something that grips you as a man.
You're like,
what is that?
Well, it's because it's hardwired
and you buy God himself.
Some of you may have seen
Band of Brothers.
There's a scene in Band of Brothers
where a guy by the name of Spears
and a guy by the name of Blythe.
Most people who watch Band of Brothers
love Spears and they hate Blythe.
Why?
Well, here's a scene in one of the movies.
You have this scene where
they're,
it's nighttime,
they're kind of
crouched behind some
protection
because the enemy lines
on the other side
and they're going to
probably attack him the next day.
There's bombs going off
and Blythe is scared
in a foxhole
just sitting there.
And Spears goes and checks on him
and he says to Blythe,
he says,
you know why you hid in that ditch, Blythe?
Blythe says,
I was scared.
Spears says,
we're all scared.
You hid in that ditch
because you think there's still hope.
Blythe,
the only hope you have
is to accept the fact
that you're already dead.
And the sooner you accept that,
the sooner you'll be able to function
as a soldier's supposed to function.
Okay?
And if you've ever,
if you've ever seen Band of Brothers,
Spears embodied that
and it's based on a true story.
I mean,
he just had no regard
for his own life
and because of that
he was one of the most heroic guys
in that band of men.
He sacrificed all the time
and all the men
respected him towards.
The opposite of self-sacrifice
is selfishness.
It's self-preservation.
It's self-seeking.
It's self-absorption.
It's being stingy and cheap.
Blythe was a coward
because he was trying to save his life.
Spears was a hero
because he saw himself as already dead.
How do you see yourself?
Are you self-preserving?
Are you already dead?
It's much easier to lose
what you've already lost.
Mark 8.35 says,
Whoever would save his life
will lose it.
Whoever loses his life
for my sake and the Gospels
will save it.
Luke 17.33,
Whoever seeks to preserve his life
will lose it.
Whoever loses his life
will keep it.
Whoever loves his life,
John 12.25 says,
Whoever loves his life
loses it.
Whoever hates his life
in this world
will keep it for eternal life.
Galatians 5.24 says,
Those who belong to Christ Jesus
have crucified the flesh
with its passions and desires.
This is why Paul says
in 1 Corinthians 2.2,
I decided to know nothing
except Jesus Christ
and him crucified.
The masculine life,
especially for a Christian,
is one where you've lost your life.
You're not trying to find it.
I moved to Colorado.
What for?
I was trying to find myself.
Okay?
Well, find yourself.
You can't find yourself
by looking for yourself.
You find yourself
by losing yourself.
You find yourself
by losing your life.
You have to sacrifice your life.
You can't be trying to save it,
preserve it, find it.
Okay?
A lot of men,
they don't know who they are.
Right?
You know?
They're still answering the question
that God asked in the garden.
Adam, where are you?
Still not self-aware.
They still don't know
where they are.
God didn't ask that question
because he was really wondering
where Adam was.
God knew where Adam was.
That question was for Adam
and the same question is for you.
Where are you?
Trying to find yourself?
Trying to find identity
in all these other things?
Or have you lost yourself?
Have you said,
I got a plan to lose it all?
Right?
I am going to sacrifice
everything I have
because I'm living
for something bigger than myself.
I'm living for eternity.
I'm living for Christ.
I have the ultimate example.
I've found the secret
and it's through loss.
Through losing my life,
I find my life.
Courage is brave action
in the face of danger.
It's brave action
in the face of adversity,
sacrifice, or risk.
The more danger,
adversity, risk,
or sacrifice
involved in the action,
the more courageous it is.
Okay?
This is why ultimately
in these movies
a lot of times
we look at it and think,
oh, that's really admirable
or that's really noble
or that's something
I want to be or do
because the movie
stood to dramatize
the degree of adversity
and sacrifice and risk
and it just amplifies
how much we think
that's cool,
that's admirable,
that's noble.
Okay?
The more danger,
adversity, risk,
or sacrifice involved
in the action,
the more courageous it is.
The more sacrifice
in an action,
the more we respect it.
The more selfishness,
the more we despise it.
Martin Luther King said,
if a man hasn't discovered
something he will die for,
he isn't fit to live.
That's pretty strong words.
But again,
if you think of a man
as self-sacrificial,
if someone hasn't
discovered something
he will die for,
then he isn't fit to live
because he isn't a man.
He isn't a man.
Let me ask you the question,
question.
How much sacrifice
does the life
you currently live
require?
How much sacrifice
does the life
you are currently living,
how much does it require?
The life you've chosen
to live,
the life that you are
choosing to live,
the responsibilities
you've chosen to take on,
the job you have,
the relationships you have,
the church you have,
how much sacrifice
does your life require?
And have you curated
your life to avoid sacrifice?
Have you set up your life
to sow
to your selfish,
fleshly comforts,
wondering why you
continually reap destruction?
What about your church?
Have you avoided churches
that ask a lot of you
that require sacrifice?
What is,
how is your life
currently set up?
If sacrifice
is quintessential masculine,
if sacrifice is
the embodiment of masculinity
on so many levels,
how are we setting up
our lives?
Are we setting our lives
to be men?
Are we setting up
our lives
to avoid masculinity,
to avoid that
which is manly
by avoiding sacrifice?
Avoiding sacrifice
is avoiding your manhood.
Avoiding sacrifice
is avoiding
what it truly means
to be a man.
This is boyhood behavior.
Little boys avoid sacrifice.
They run from it.
They make excuses from it.
Again,
Jesus didn't make excuses.
Jesus bled.
He sacrificed.
Josiah Strong
says,
There's not enough
of effort,
of struggle
in the typical church life
of today
to win young men
to the church.
A flowery bed of ease
does not appeal
to a fellow
who has any manhood
in him.
The prevailing religion
is too comfortable
to attract young men
who love the heroic.
We cannot,
we must not be
a church like this.
We must be a church
that expects sacrifice
for men.
Women as well.
But of course the men.
To be a part of a church
that does not expect
sacrifice for men.
To complain about a church
that asks you too much.
This is far below
your manhood.
This is far below
the God who
called you,
who created you.
The prevailing religion
is too comfortable
to attract young men
who love the heroic.
We must create churches
that draw men
because men need
to be saved.
And men aren't
going to be saved.
And men aren't
going to be saved
if they don't see
the true Jesus.
They're not going to see
the true Jesus
until they see men
who act like Jesus
and look like Jesus
and have the substance
of Jesus.
And the substance
of Jesus is sacrifice.
Teddy Roosevelt said,
I wish to preach
not the doctrine
of ignoble ease,
but the doctrine
of the strenuous life,
the life of toil
and effort,
of labor and strife,
to preach that highest
form of success
which comes
not to the man
who desires mere
easy peace,
but to the man
who does not shrink
from danger,
from hardship,
or from bitter toil,
who out of these
wins the splendid
ultimate triumph.
I wish to preach
not the doctrine
of ignoble ease.
A life of ease
is ignoble.
A life of ease
constantly looking
for the easier route,
constantly avoiding
sacrifice.
Again,
this is not
who you are.
This is not
who God has called
you to be.
Are you avoiding
difficulty
and sacrifice?
And are you settling
for a life
of ignoble ease?
This is not
what God has for you.
This is not
what God has called
you to.
Men,
it's time to rise up.
It's time to repent
of avoiding
that which God
has called us to
because it's hard.
You bet it's hard.
Okay?
But those broad
shoulders he gave you,
he gave you for a reason.
There's a reason
you have those shoulders.
God created you
to do hard things.
God created you
to carry heavy burdens.
God created you
to sacrifice.
And ignoble ease
is below you.
So how do we be
a self-sacrificial man?
Let's look at
the definitions.
The definition
of sacrifice
is to forfeit
something for
something else
considered to have
a greater value.
To forfeit something
for something else
considered to have
a greater value.
You will never
sacrifice what you have
for something you
believe to be
of lesser value
than what you are
sacrificing.
This is super
important.
This is key.
And it's a fact.
This is how
the world goes around.
Alright?
You will never
sacrifice what you have
for something you
believe to be
of lesser value
than what you are
sacrificing.
If you think that
what you are being
called to sacrifice
is of higher value,
you will not
sacrifice it.
You think it's
more pleasurable?
You won't sacrifice it.
You must have
a higher pleasure.
Paul said in
St. Corinthians 12, 15,
I will most gladly
spend and be spent
for your souls.
He didn't just
say, I'll spend.
He wasn't some
ascetic leader.
No, he said,
I will gladly
spend and be spent.
He didn't say,
I'll just spend
and be spent
because that's
what I'm supposed
to do and I'm a
Christian and I
don't really want
to do it,
but I just have
to do this.
He said,
I will most gladly
spend and be spent.
And the greatest
sacrifice,
the only real
sustaining sacrifice
is one that
comes from joy.
It's one that
comes from a
place of gladness.
Why?
Where do we get
this from?
Acts 20,
this is also
Paul,
20, 22 to 25.
Paul says,
and I'll hold
and go into
Jerusalem,
constrained by
the Spirit,
not knowing
what will happen
to me there,
except that the
Holy Spirit
testifies to me
in every city
that imprisonment
and afflictions
await me.
Okay?
So,
hardships,
things he will
have to sacrifice.
Again,
no one's making
him do this.
He is choosing
to go into
places that the
Holy Spirit
is telling him
where he knows
what is awaiting
in there is
imprisonment
and affliction.
That's what he
says.
He's choosing
that.
How does he
do that?
How does he
choose to do
that?
Verse 24,
but I do
not account my
life of any
value nor as
precious to
myself.
If only I may
finish my course
in the ministry
that I received
from the Lord
Jesus to testify
to the gospel
of the grace
of God.
Behold,
I know that
none of you
among whom I
have gone about
proclaiming the
kingdom will
see my face
again.
Okay?
The key was
that he didn't
count his life
of any value
nor as precious
to himself
because he
had a greater
reward.
He had something
bigger,
more pleasurable.
He was able
to withstand
and endure
great hardship,
almost unparalleled
you could say,
right?
Because he had
a greater reward.
And so it
became something
he did gladly.
Why would you
give up when he
gave up?
He gave up so
much.
And how could he
do it gladly?
Only if he had
something better.
Doug Wilson
says,
masculinity is
the glad
assumption of
sacrificial
responsibility.
You see this
in Matthew 13,
the ultimate
picture of this
principle.
Matthew 13,
I'm sure you're
familiar with it.
The treasure
hidden in the
field,
pearl of great
price,
right?
It says,
the kingdom
of heaven
is like
treasure
hidden in
a field
which a
man found
and covered
up.
Then in
his joy,
he goes and
sells all that
he has and
buys that
field.
You notice
that?
It says,
in his joy.
What's so
joyful about
him?
Well,
you know
what's joyful
about it.
You know
what's joyful
about it
because he
sold all
he had to
get it.
Why is it
joyful?
Because what
he was getting
was worth
more than
what he sold.
You would
never sell
all you have
for something
of lesser
value than
all you have.
Right?
If Jesus
is saying,
hey,
sell everything
you have,
give up
everything you
have for
something way
worse and
do it with
joy.
You know?
He's not
saying that.
He's not
saying,
give it all
up.
And if you
do,
I promise
you much
worse.
He didn't
do that.
But is
not that
what we
think?
I mean,
you have to
do a little
gut check
here.
Is that
not the
way we
think?
It has
to be.
Otherwise,
you do it
gladly.
If you're
not doing
it,
why aren't
you doing
it?
Is it that
you don't
believe that
what you get
is better than
what you give?
Is it that you
don't believe that
what you would
receive in
exchange for
selling all is
actually worth more
than all you have
to sell?
And so,
therefore,
your Christianity
is a burden to
you.
Your masculinity
is a burden to
you.
And at the end
of the day,
you still keep
looking at porn
because you love
your porn.
And you love
it more than
Jesus.
And if you love
your sin and
your lust more
than Jesus,
guess what?
You're going to
keep doing it.
You can try all
your little tricks
and you can use
your software and
you can have
your accountability
buddies,
but at the end
of the day,
none of it's
going to work.
Because you're
trying to do
something against
the way God
created things.
You're trying to
do something that
the Bible says
is not true.
But you added
on all these
little Christian
accessories,
quote unquote,
and have all
these little groups
and all the
software and
all these little
tricks of the
trade.
And you're
doing push-ups
and you're
taking cold
showers.
And at the
end of the
day,
you're not
doing the
one thing
that Jesus
said to do.
And that is
to see that
he is greater
than all these
things.
And that what
you get with
him is greater
than all.
And so you
sell your life
of sin and
you repent of
it and you
turn from it
and you give
it up.
And in
exchange,
you get
Jesus,
your very great
reward.
And he's
better.
But if you
don't believe
he's better and
you love your
sin more,
then you will
continue to do
your sin no
matter all the
other things
you will try
to do.
No matter all
the things you
put on your
phone and all
these other
things,
you must see
that Jesus is
the treasure of
him on the
field.
Then in your
joy,
you'll go and
sell all that
you have and
buy it in the
field.
Again,
the kingdom of
heaven is like
a merchant in
search of
fine pearls.
When finding
one pearl of
great value,
went and sold
all that he
had and bought
it.
Do you see
that Jesus is
of great value?
Or are you
still convinced
that those
pixels on the
screen,
that woman on
the screen is
of greater value
than Christ and
the riches of
your inheritance
in him?
Which is it?
In that moment,
you know darn well
what you're thinking.
You're thinking
this is better.
And that's your
problem.
You don't believe
that Jesus is
better.
And it's not that
you have to make
yourself believe it.
It's true.
He is better.
And this is why
all the people you've
seen, who've
forsaken all,
all the people
you've seen that
you admire, who
sacrifice, you
say, that's a
man.
The reason they
do it is because
they found
something better.
His name is
Jesus.
Hebrews 10
34 speaks of
this kind of
person.
It says, you
joyfully accepted
the plundering of
your property,
since you knew
that you yourselves
had a better
possession and
an abiding one.
What kind of
manner of man is
this?
Joyfully accepting
the plundering of
your property?
Have you ever
anything stolen
from you?
Joyfully accepting
the plundering of
your property.
Why?
Since you knew
that you yourselves
had a better
possession and
an abiding one.
Do you have a
better possession?
Do you possess
something better
than your sin?
Do you possess
something better
than what you
have?
Do you possess
something better
than your time,
your talents,
and your treasure?
That's the only
way you'll
sacrifice.
The only way
you'll sacrifice.
Supreme pleasure
is the key.
Okay?
What do you
believe gives
you the most
pleasure?
Some of the
greatest sacrifices
I've seen
were for sin.
Sacrificing
marriages,
children,
jobs,
time,
friendships for
the love of
sin.
And I've sat
across from a
man who was
literally willing
to give up his
wife and his
children just
because he
loved smoking
weed.
And he was
tearing his
marriage apart.
He was
separated from
his spouse.
I'm appealing
to him to
not throw
away his
marriage and
his children
just because he
wanted to smoke
weed.
As goofy as
that is,
of all things.
Beautiful wife,
beautiful kids,
and he was
literally entertaining
this and was
having a hard
time making the
decision.
And I'm
thinking,
oh my,
what are you
thinking?
I know exactly
the same.
He loved the
pleasure he got
from that
addiction more
than his own
kid,
more than his
own wife,
more than his
God.
In that moment,
he had to
repent and
seek pleasure
in Christ.
Thankfully,
he did.
His marriage
is restored.
But boy,
I didn't know
which way it
was going to
go for a
while.
I've seen,
you know,
it's not that
men don't know
how to sacrifice,
it's that men
sacrifice for the
wrong things all
the time.
It's just like,
I don't know
how to do
this sacrifice.
I'm like,
no,
no.
You are
really good
at sacrificing.
You have
given up so
much for your
sin.
It's actually
amazing.
I have talked
to men who
have an
incredible
ability to
sacrifice so
much for
their loss.
Willing to
sacrifice even
their own job
because they
have to look
at these images
so badly
they're willing
to do it
even on a
company computer
or a company
phone.
I don't
even care
about my
job.
I just
care about
this immediate
gratification.
It's not
that we don't
know how to
sacrifice,
that we
sacrifice for
the wrong
things.
The reason
we sacrifice
for them is
because we
believe those
things and
things that
give us
most pleasure.
Do you
believe that
Jesus is
God?
If he's
God,
he's supreme.
If he's
God,
he's better.
If he's
God,
he's highly
lifted up and
exalted over
all their
pleasures.
That's what
it means to
believe Jesus
is God.
He's not
one God
among many.
He is the
only God,
the true
God,
supremely
greater than
all things.
That is what
faith in
Christ requires,
is to believe
that he's
greater.
This is
saving faith.
This is the
faith that
saves you,
not just
from hell,
but from
the power
of your
sin.
Do you
understand?
Your
quote-unquote
faith that
you think
that saves
you from
hell,
if it
doesn't have
enough power
to save
you from
your sin
and the
power of
your sin,
do you
really think
it has
enough power
to save
you from
hell?
What kind
of delusion
are you
living in
if you
think that
that's
true?
The same
power that
saves you
from the
punishment of
your sin
is the
same power
that is
accessible to
the Christian
to save
you from
the power
of your
sin.
If you
profess
Christ but
you are
not saved
from the
power of
your sin,
why in the
world do you
think that
God has
saved you
from the
penalty of
your sin?
And why
in the
world do you
have future
hope that
he will
save you
from the
presence of
sin?
It ain't
going to
happen.
That's not
saving faith.
One of the
indicators that
you have
saving faith
and believe
that he
saved you
from the
penalty of
your sin
is that
you have
present power
to resist
sin in your
life.
He is saving
you from
the power
of your
sin as
well.
It doesn't
mean you're
perfect.
You have
a fleshly
sinful body,
but sin
no longer
reigns over
you.
Sin no longer
rules over
you.
This is
what the
word of
God
teaches.
That's the
kind of
faith we
need.
That Jesus
is supreme,
Jesus is
better.
Hebrews 12
2 says
that Jesus
who for
the joy
that was
set before
him endured
the cross.
Even
Jesus
endured the
cross because
of what?
Joy,
pleasure.
Jesus was
motivated by
pleasure?
Yes!
If Jesus
needed pleasure
to be motivated,
how much more
do you need
it?
It was the
joy set before
him that he
endured the
cross.
If you
would endure
the cross
resisting sin
and resisting
temptation,
you must see
the joy set
before you.
That obedience
to God
is better.
You can say
like Joseph,
how could I
do such a
wicked thing
and sin
against God?
God is
better.
Philippians 3,
7,
11,
this is why
Paul said,
whatever gain
I had,
I counted
as loss
for the
sake of
Christ.
Indeed,
I count
everything
as loss
because of
the surpassing
worth of
knowing Christ
Jesus my
Lord.
For his
sake I
have suffered
the loss
of all
things and
count them
as rubbish
in order that
I may gain
Christ and
be found in
him, not
having a
righteousness
of my own
that comes
from the
law, but
that which
comes through
faith in
Christ, the
righteousness
from God
that depends
on faith,
that I may
know him
and the
power of
his
resurrection
and may
share his
sufferings
becoming like
him in
his death,
that by any
means possible
I may attain
the resurrection
from the
dead.
To profess
believing in
a God who
resurrected from
the dead and
not believe that
God can't
resurrect us
from our own
sin,
ludicrous.
It's laughable.
It's hypocritical.
If we profess
the risen Lord,
he should have
the power to
be evident in
our life that
sin doesn't
reign over us
anymore.
This should be
the mark of
his people.
Sacrifice without
joy is a false
religion.
The false
religion.
It sure is
that being
Christianity.
Sacrifice without
joy is a false
religion.
A Christianity
that's all
burden and
no joy.
And here,
let me tell you
this, it'll
never last.
Mark my words,
it will not
last.
If your
Christianity is
all burden and
no joy,
it might be
getting you
through right
now, it is
not one that
will last you
through the end.
It will not
one that will
last you
through persecution
and hardship.
It will
know that.
Some people
have stronger
wills than
others, but
you don't
have a strong
will enough
to do that
in your whole
life.
Until your
perceived value
and pleasure
in Christ,
the kingdom,
your wife,
your kids,
other people
in the church
exceeds your
perceived value
and pleasure
of your life,
your comfort,
your sin,
and what you
have, then
you'll never
live a truly
consistent,
sacrificial life,
and no one
will really
respect you as a
man.
So by
Romans 8,
18 says,
I consider
that the
sufferings of
this present
time are
not worth
comparing with
the glory that
is to be
revealed.
Not worth
comparing.
2 Corinthians 4,
16, 18 says,
we don't lose
heart.
Though our
outer self is
wasting away,
our inner self
is being renewed
day by day.
For this
light momentary
affliction is
preparing for
us an eternal
weight of glory
beyond all
comparison.
It's not just
that Jesus is
better.
It's that it's
beyond all
comparison.
There's no
competition.
There's no
comparison.
There's no
debate.
He is the
undisputed king
of the earth.
Uncontested
ruler.
Nobody
greater.
And if you're
still having a
conversation with
your flesh about
whether Jesus is
greatest, you
need to get
saved.
cry out to
him that he
might save
you from
your unbelief.
We look not
to the things
that are seen
but to the
things that are
unseen.
The things that
are seen are
transient.
The things that
are unseen are
eternal.
You have to
believe that
saving is
losing and
losing is
saving.
Gain is
loss and
loss is
gain.
It's an
upside down
kingdom.
Loss is
joyfully
pursued when
loss is
gain.
You hear me
on that?
You won't
pursue loss
until you
believe that
loss is
gain.
You won't
pursue sacrifice
until you
believe that
sacrifice is
gain.
Loss is
consistently
avoided when
loss is
loss.
You
understand what
I'm saying?
If you think
that loss is
just death
unto death
instead of
death unto
life, you
avoid it.
Some of you
are avoiding
it.
I'm telling
you why
you're avoiding
it.
Do you
hear me?
I'm telling
you why
you're avoiding
sacrifice.
It's because
you think
it's loss.
It's because
you don't
think it's
gain.
You haven't
believed what
Jesus said.
Jesus said
that loss is
gain.
Sacrifice is
gain.
When you
believe that,
you pursue
it.
If you
don't think
it's gain,
you'll never
pursue it.
David Livingston,
a missionary to
Africa, said,
for my own
part, I've
never ceased to
rejoice that God
has appointed me to
such an office.
People talk of the
sacrifice I've
made when spending
so much of my
life in Africa.
Is that a
sacrifice which
brings its own
blessed reward and
helpful activity,
the consciousness of
doing good, peace of
mind, and a bright
hope of a glorious
destiny thereafter?
Away with the word
sacrifice, he says.
Say rather, it is a
privilege.
Anxiety, sickness,
suffering, or danger
now and then, with
the foregoing of the
common conveniences and
charities of this
life, may make us
pause and cause the
spirit to waver and
the soul to sink.
We'll let this only be
for a moment.
All these are
nothing when
compared with the
glory which shall be
revealed in and for
us.
He then concludes
and says, I
never made a
sacrifice.
I never made a
sacrifice.
He also says,
David Livingston
says, if a
commission by an
earthly king is
considered an honor,
how can a
commission by a
heavenly king be
considered a
sacrifice?
C.S. Lewis in the
book, The Horse and
His Boy said, for
this is what it
means to be a king,
to be first in
every desperate
attack and last in
every desperate
retreat.
And when there's
hunger in the land,
as must be now and
then in bad years,
to wear finer
clothes and laugh
louder over a
scantier meal than
any man in our
land.
It's a joyful
sacrifice and it's
leading a joyful
sacrifice.
First one on the
attack, first one,
last one on the
retreat.
And when there's a
scant meal, you
laugh as you eat
it.
What do you need to
sacrifice to be a
better man?
What do we need to
sacrifice to be a
better man?
We need to
sacrifice our
selfishness.
We need to
sacrifice our
self-absorption.
If any of these
things are, there's
things coming to
mind with this.
Don't just listen.
Like, repentance is
required.
We need to
sacrifice our
selfishness.
We need to
sacrifice our
self-absorption.
We need to
sacrifice self-preservation,
self-seeking, being
stingy and cheap,
laziness, passivity.
Mark Manson said,
most of your
problems are not
actually problems.
They are
discomforts.
Discomfort is not
the problem.
On the contrary, it's
usually the cost of
the solution.
Are we willing to
embrace discomfort to
get into the place
where God has called
us to be as men?
Being a man requires
us to embrace
discomfort, to
embrace sacrifice.
Gaining anything
worth having without
sacrifice is a
fantasy.
Masculinity that
doesn't cost you is
no masculinity at
all.
Porn, social media,
video games, and
watching sports all
revolve around
yourself and don't
require sacrifice.
Okay?
And some of these
there's nothing wrong
with them.
Porn, obviously,
there is.
But there's nothing
wrong with them in
and of themselves.
But you've got to
ask yourself, the
things you're filling
your life with, do
they all revolve
around yourself and
do they require
sacrifice?
If the majority of
the activities in
your free time all
revolve around
yourself and don't
require sacrifice,
we've got a
problem.
We've got a big
problem.
It's a masculinity
problem.
It's a manhood
problem.
We should be
filling our lives
with things that
revolve around
others and require
sacrifice.
That's what a man
does.
That's what a man
does.
Eric Mason says,
men in extended
childhood treat their
lives like one, like
one big fantasy world.
They engage others
through artificial means
like pornography,
social media, and
video games instead
of real life.
In their fantasy world,
everything revolves
around them.
So they're incapable of
contributing to a
family, church, or
community because all
of those things require
sacrifice.
Deriving most of your
pleasure from things
that don't cost you
anything is a
masturbatory lifestyle.
It's good to think of it
that way.
I know that's graphic,
it's extreme, but it's
true.
Is your life a
masturbatory lifestyle?
I'm not talking about
the actual sexual act,
I'm talking about the
way you live.
Toby Sumter says,
the New Testament
repeatedly points back
to this fact, that man
was made first.
And why was man made
first?
Man was made first in
order to be cut first,
in order to bleed first,
in order to lay down
his life first.
And so he did, and God
put him into a deep
sleep, cut him open,
broke out one of his
ribs, and closed the
womb back up.
And from that bloody
rib, God formed the
first woman and brought
her to the man.
Before sin entered the
world, before there was
any curse, any death,
God showed Adam that
the way to glory was
through obedience,
suffering, and
sacrifice.
There was no glory
bride apart from Adam's
pierced side.
And many centuries
later, when Jesus came
as the new Adam, he
was crucified for his
bride, and the
Christian church was
formed from his
bloody side.
For we are members of
his body, of his flesh,
and of his bones.
Ephesians 5.30.
So putting these
things together, we
insist that the glory
of man is his strength,
but it is particularly
the glory of using his
strength sacrificially.
In closing, I read
2 Samuel 24.24,
that says David, when he
was required to offer a
sacrifice because he had
made a choice that was
causing the angel of death
to kill a bunch of
people because he called
a sentence when he
wasn't supposed to, and
someone was offering to
give him the threshing
floor and the sacrifice
needed for the sacrifice,
and David says an
interesting thing to him.
He says, I will not
offer offerings to the
Lord my God that cost me
nothing.
Or in other words, I
will not offer a
sacrifice that cost me
nothing.
Don't offer to God that
which costs you nothing.
Don't have your life
marked by something that
doesn't cost you anything.
That is filled with
yourself.
You're filled with
things that don't
require sacrifice.
Don't offer it to God.
Don't offer it to other
people.
Be a man.
Be self-sacrificial.
Amen?
Amen.
Thank you.