The Godly Man, Part 1

There is an epidemic that has infected every country in the

world. Not only every every country,

but every culture. Not just every culture, but

every community, every class of people.

An epidemic that is infected even the churches across our

country and in the world, it's an epidemic that has not handled

or dealt with will continue to spread from generation to

generation. And it's interesting to note

that that epidemic has been going on for centuries, all

throughout the history of man, and yet so many people don't

seem to listen to take notice as to how to handle that epidemic.

It's summed up very simply in in one verse in the Psalms.

It's our topic for today, and by the time before me it looks like

it'll be our topic for next week as well.

But the psalmist said this in Psalm 12 verse #1 Help Lord, for

the godly man ceases to be, and for the faithful disappear from

among the sons of men. This epidemic that has infected

not just this generation, but subsequent or previous

generations and maybe even subsequent generations.

From here on out, the psalmist cries, Help Lord, for the godly

man ceases to be. Where is the godly man?

Where has he gone? Why can't we find them?

Why are they so difficult to to uncover?

Where is the godly man in our countries, our cultures?

Where? Where's the godly man in our

churches? Where's the godly man in our

families? Where are the godly fathers that

lead their families? The psalmist summed up very

well. Help Lord the godly man.

He ceases to be. He ceases to be.

So not only listen carefully was it difficult for the psalmist to

find a godly man, So too it was difficult for God himself to

find a godly man. Now think about that.

Listen to what the Bible says in the book of Second Chronicles 16

verse #9 For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout

the earth, that He may strongly support those whose heart is

completely His. But you have acted foolishly in

this, that the Lord is looking for, for hearts that are devoted

to Him. His eyes run to and fro

throughout the earth. Where is the man whose heart is

completely devoted to me? Because I'm going to strengthen

that man. To the prophet Ezekiel, the 22nd

chapter, the 30th verse, the Lord says, I search for a man

among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap

before me for the land so that I would not destroy it.

But I found no one. Here is the Lord saying, I I'm

looking for just one man to stand in the gap. 1 godly man to

be strong, one godly man to be steadfast. 1 godly man that will

do for me what only he can do. But I found no one among the

leadership in Israel. If you go back to the the book

of Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter 5, Jeremiah says the same thing,

Jeremiah 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5 verse #1 Rome to and fro through the streets of

Jerusalem. And look now and take note and

seek in her open squares. If you can find a man, if there

is one who does justice, who seeks truth, then I will pardon

her. Just give me one man in

Jerusalem. Find one godly man, Jeremiah.

If you can just find one of them, I will pardon Jerusalem.

All I need is 1 godly man. And although they say as the

Lord lives, surely they swear falsely.

O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth.

You have smitten them, but they did not weaken.

You have consumed them, but they refuse to take correction.

They have made their faces harder than rock.

They have refused to repent. Then I said, they are only the

poor. They are foolish, for they do

not know the way of the Lord or the ordinance of their God.

I will go to the great man. I will and will speak to them,

and they know the way of the Lord and the ordinance of their

God. But they too, with one accord,

have broken the yoke and burst the bonds.

I couldn't find one among the poor.

I couldn't find one among the lowly.

But let me go and find someone among the great men of the city.

Surely there's a godly man who keeps the ordinances of

ordinances of God. Surely is there's a there's a

man in leadership someplace that's a godly man that you will

pardon Jerusalem. But there was none, none to

find. So the psalmist says, help Lord,

the godly man ceases to be. Isaiah chapter 59, verse one.

Isaiah 59 · chapter mention

Behold, the Lord's hand is not short that it cannot save, nor

is his ear so dull that it cannot hear.

But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your

God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that he

does not hear. For your hands are defiled with

blood and your fingers with iniquity.

Your lips have spoken falsehood, your tongue mutters wickedness.

No one soothes righteously, and no one pleads honestly.

They trust in confusion and speak lies.

They can see mischief and bring forth iniquity.

The Lord says, listen, I want to save.

I, I want to redeem. I, I, I, I want to protect you.

My hand is not so short that I cannot save, but your sins have

separated you from me. Verse 15 Now the Lord saw, and

it was displeasing in a sight that there was no justice.

And he saw that there was no man and was astonished that there

was no man to intercede. It's no wonder the psalmist

said, help Lord, the godly man ceases to be.

See, this is an epidemic that has infected every country,

every culture, every community, every church.

Where is the godly man? Not just any man, but the godly

man. And the unique thing about this

is that God for centuries warned his people.

He warned them over and over and over again, but they did not

listen to the words of the Lord. Let me show you.

Go back with me in your Bible to the book of Exodus, Exodus

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

chapter 20. You know about the 10

commandments. You know about what God says

about. There shall be no God than me.

I am the one true God. You should only worship me, and

you should have no other gods before me.

And how you worship me is very, very important because I want

you to worship Me in spirit and in truth.

So the Lord says these words in Exodus chapter 20.

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

He says in verse #5 You shall not worship them or serve them.

For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the

iniquity of the fathers on the children on the 3rd and the 4th

generation. To those who hate me, God makes

it very clear as he gives the 10 commandments to Moses and he and

he proclaims them to the people of Israel.

Listen, there's only one God. I am the true God.

You shall have no other gods before me.

You should only worship me. And when you worship me, you

need to worship me the right way.

Because if you worship me the wrong way, it's going to affect

your children. It will affect the next

generation of children and the following generation of

children. So make sure you worship me the

right way. Why?

Because God is saying listen to worship God the wrong way or to

have another God before the one true God.

To be an idolater is going to affect this generation and the

corruption of the father is going to be an epidemic that

affects the next generation and the following generation.

Why? Because he demonstrated that he

doesn't love me but that he hates me.

Go over to the book of Exodus, same book, the 34th chapter.

And Moses, he wants to, he wants to see the glory of the Lord.

And you, you know this chapter because we've covered it many

times over the years. And, and, and the Lord says,

I'm, I'm not going to show you my full glory because you'd be

incinerated. You, you die.

You just can't see me and live Moses.

So I'm going to hide you in the Cliff of the rock.

I'll let my glory pass by you and let you see the afterglow of

my glory. It says in verse #6 or verse #5

The Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with him as the

Lord called upon the name of the Lord.

Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed the Lord,

the Lord God, compassionate, gracious, slow to anger and

abounding, and loving kindness and truth, who keeps loving

kindness to thousands, Who forgives iniquity, transgression

and sin. Yet he will by no means leave

the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the

children and on the grandchildren to the third and

4th generations. That 2 verses, verses 6 and

seven of Exodus 34 is quoted 27 times in the Old Testament 27

times. Because God says, look, you need

to realize that as fathers, your corruption is going to have a

supreme effect on the succeeding generations.

If you don't live according to my word and follow my word and

understand what I have said, it is going to affect your children

and your children's children on down the line because you've

shown that you will not listen to me, that you will end up

hating me. So turn with me, if you would,

to the book of Zechariah. Zechariah Zechariah comes out of

captivity with some 43,000 Jews from Babylon.

And Zechariah's name means God remembers.

And the book of Zechariah is a unique and and special book of

prophecy. But but the first 6 verses help

us understand Israel's problem and verse #1 gives us the theme

of the book when it says in the eighth month of the second year

of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the prophet,

the son of Berechiah and the son of IDU.

Berechiah was his father. IDU was his grandfather.

Berechiah's name means God will bless.

IDU means at the appointed time. And Zachariah's whole theme is

that God remembers to bless Israel at the appointed time and

he will. That's the theme of the of the

book of Zachariah. It's wrapped up in the names of

the young man Zachariah, his father and his grandfather.

Verse 2 The Lord was very angry with your father's.

Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord of hosts, return to me,

declares the Lord of hosts, That I may return to you, says the

Lord of hosts, Do not be like your father's, to whom the

former prophets proclaimed saying, Thus says the Lord of

hosts, return now from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.

But they did not listen or give heed to me.

God says, I do not want you to be like your Father's.

You can change the course of a generation, You can change the

way things have been by understanding that if you just

return to Me, if you just repent of your sins, I will return to

you and everything will be different.

Do not be like your Father's because their iniquity has has

brought you or did bring you into captivity.

You were there for 70 years, and So what you have before you is a

historical illustration of the sins of the Father being part of

the corruption of the next generation that led them through

the effects of their father's sin into Babylonian captivity.

He says don't be like them. You can be different.

You can return to me. You can repent of your sins.

You, you can follow me. But he says your father's didn't

listen. I said the exact same thing to

them. The same message was given to

them that I'm given to you, but they did not listen.

They would not listen. So I love, love Psalm 81 so much

because in Psalm 81, the Lord says in verse #8 here, O my

people, and I will admonish you, O Israel, if you would just

listen to me. He says, let there be no strange

God among you, nor shall you worship any foreign God.

He goes all the way back to Exodus chapter, chapter 20.

There's only one God. There ought to be no foreign

gods. You're the only worship me.

You're not to be an idolater. You're not to involve yourself

in iniquity. I the Lord am your God who

brought you up from the land of Egypt.

Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.

But my people did not listen to my voice, and Israel did not

obey me. So I gave them over to the

stubbornness of their own heart to walk in their own devices.

Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in

my ways. I would quickly subdue their

enemies and turn my hand against their adversaries.

Those who hate the Lord would pretend obedience to Him, and

their punishment or time of punishment would be forever.

But I would feed you with the finest of wheat and with honey

from the rock. I would satisfy you.

But they did not listen. They would not listen.

So God says to the prophet Zechariah, tell my people to

return to me. Tell My people not to be like

their fathers. They can turn the course of a

generation by following Me, by being godly people, by obeying

My word. That's all they need to do.

Return to me and I will return to you.

Just listen to my voice, because your father's did not listen.

They did not heed. They did not obey that.

That's why we're spending time with your children on stage.

Why? Because what you're doing right

now is the highest participation of your worship ever.

You're listening and are you listening well to what God says?

Are you listening quickly? Are you listening expectantly?

Are you, are you, are you listening for God to to speak to

you today? Because his word speaks

profoundly to every single one of us in the auditorium.

And God is saying, if you just listen to me, if you just return

to me, if you just repent of your sins, that's all I'm asking

you to do. That's all He ever asked Israel

to do for centuries, warning them over and over again that if

you continue in sin, you show that you hate me.

And that corruption will be passed to the next generation

because they will feel the effects of your sin against me,

and they will bear the consequences of your sin against

me. And not just that generation,

but succeeding generations. So the Lord says these words,

verse 5 of Zechariah one, your father's, where are they?

Great question. God doesn't need an answer.

He knows the answer. He's asking Israel, do you know

who your father's are? They're dead.

They're all dead. I mean, if they didn't die when

Nebuchadnezzar came in and sacked Jerusalem and

slaughtered, and then they probably died in Babylonian

captivity. And therefore understand this,

ask yourself what happened to your father's if they didn't

die? They went into captivity.

Why? I warned them over and over

again. I warned them if I could find

one godly man in Jerusalem. I'll pardon your iniquity.

I'll protect you from from the invasion if I just find one.

But I found none. Found none.

Where are your Father's? This is this.

And the prophets, do they live forever?

No, nobody lives forever, but God is talking about the

impartiality of his judgement. Think of think of Moses the

great, the great leader of Israel, Israel's quintessential

leader. They look to to Moses as the

leader of Israel, the man, right.

But God said to Moses, listen, you speak to the rock, do not

strike it, you speak to the rock.

And Moses out of anger struck the rock, and water still gushed

out. God still took care of his

people. But God said to Moses, didn't

listen to me. I told you to speak to the rock,

not strike the rock. But you decided not to speak,

but to strike. No promised land for you.

You're done. I said.

Why? That's just so harsh.

It was like you committed immorality, adultery, some kind

of fornication, some kind of idolatry.

Come on, Lord, give Moses a break.

You see, Moses is the leader, and leadership requires

godliness. Leadership requires listening

and obeying the Lord. And leadership requires a higher

accountability than anything else.

And if you fail in your leadership, you lead the people

the wrong way. Moses, if you don't listen to

me, then why should the people listen to me?

And because you didn't listen to my word, no promised land for

you. That's the way it goes.

And Moses felt the consequences of his own sin.

So God through the pin of Zacharias says, where are your

father's? Where are the prophets?

You know they're all going to die because everybody dies.

But how will you die? So he says verse 6.

But did not my words and my statutes, which I commanded, my

servants, the prophets, overtake your father's?

That's just such a great phrase. Overtake your father's.

It's a phrase that describes being suddenly overtaken by that

which is pursuing you, but you weren't aware of it.

You see a lot, a lot like us today.

We think that the consequences of our sin are way behind us,

that they're not going to catch up to us, that we can sin and

get away with it, that we can sin and everything will be OK.

That way behind us are the consequences.

They're not going to catch us and then all of a sudden they

overtake us and we experience the consequences of our sin.

Israel. Israel's leaders, the nation

itself, the fathers, he says. I told him I was coming.

I warned them over and over again.

I warned them about their iniquity.

I warned them about the consequence of sin.

But you know what? They didn't believe me.

They didn't think I was serious. They didn't think that I would

do what I said I was going to do.

And in His mercy and his patience and His loving

kindness, He allowed them to continue in their sin.

He gave them over to their stubborn heart.

He allowed them to continue going down the wrong path by His

grace and by His mercy. But he warned them, judgements

coming, you need to follow, need to repent.

And they didn't. And it overtook them and it

gobbled them up because they didn't think that God was going

to do what God said He was going to do.

And so it says these words. Then they Israel repented,

repented and said as the Lord of hosts purpose to do to us in

accordance with our ways and our deeds, so he has dealt with us.

They said the Lord is sovereign. This is how the Lord's chosen to

deal with us. This is how he is dealt with us.

He they're they're claiming the sovereignty of God, the

Providence of God in in orchestrating all the events

that have taken place in their lives.

And and I know you were your Bible says repent, but but the

word really should be returned. It should be.

Then they returned and said why? It's a play on words.

If you go back to verse #3 and verse #4 God says return to me

and I will return to you. Return to me.

So it's a play on words. Return to me.

He says, why? I want you to return to me

physically from Babylon, which they had done.

Now I want you to return to me spiritually and repent of your

sins and follow me and serve me. It's a play on words.

And he says, I need you to return back to me.

And they said we return, we repent because what you did was

true, what you did was right. God, you are sovereign.

You warned us and we did not obey, we did not listen.

And we need to follow you. And the book of Zachariah is all

about how God remembers, remembers to bless his people,

Israel at the appointed time. The unfortunate thing is this is

that what they said did not hold true over time and they continue

to depart from the true and living God.

Oh yeah, they went back to Jerusalem and they rebuild the

walls around the city and they rebuilt the temple and they were

back there. But when the Messiah came, they

they completely missed him and they just did not want that king

to rule over them. So they crucified him.

And so they continued in their non repentant state, but God had

warned them over and over again. Today I ask you this question on

this Father's Day 2025, are you a godly man?

If God was to search our church, would he find a godly man?

If you was to search your family, would you as a father be

a godly father? Would you be a godly man in your

workplace? Would you be a godly man in your

school, in your classroom? Would you be that godly man that

if God searched for, he'd say, that's the one whose heart I

want to strengthen. That's the one who will stand in

the gap for me. That's the one who intercede on

behalf of his family, on behalf of his people.

To me, that's the man, the hope. The hope is that a generation

can be turned by 1 godly man following Christ and honoring

him. I I've told the story a numerous

times of of my father who was raised by an alcoholic father

and mother. And so he very easily followed

in his father's footsteps and became an alcoholic and became a

train smoker like his father was.

In fact, he he drank so much that on the eve of his wedding

to my mom, he was so drunk that my mother had to take him home

and almost decided not to marry him.

Glad she didn't make that decision.

I wouldn't be here. But they got married the next

day anyway. And soon after they were

married, my my father realized that in order to change the

course of a generation, something had to change his

life. He was called overseas during

the Vietnam War. He gave his life to Christ in a

charismatic camp in Thailand led by two women pastors believe it

or not, who took him aside and said you need to know the Lord.

He gave his life to Christ, came back from the Vietnam War,

changed man. At the same time.

My mom was in in Washington, KS, small town, about two hours from

Topeka, KS. If you wanted to know.

If you don't care, that's OK too.

And she was giving her life to the Lord by a Baptist preacher.

You can imagine the conflict that arised when my father came

back with all these charismatic ideas and my mom was saved by a

Baptist preacher. Nonetheless, it all worked

itself out and God was good. So in case you want to know, my

roots are in the charismatic church.

All that being said is that my father knew that he had to

change the course of a generation to do so.

He gave his life to Christ. And you know, I think of my dad

and I think of, wow, what a, what a godly man.

He was just such a godly guy. He wasn't a great man.

He wasn't a popular man. He wasn't a prominent man.

He was a faithful, godly man who wanted his family to know the

Lord. That's it.

He had two kids, one daughter, one son.

That's it. And his greatest joy was to know

that his children walked in truth, that was that was

everything to him. That's what he wanted.

He changed the course of a generation.

He would go back and, and witness to his father and before

his father died that that that man who was an alcoholic, that

man who was a train smoker for for 60 plus years, 70 plus

years, gave his life to Christ before he died.

His mother, she never did, but his stepmother did.

She gave life to Christ. But he was so bound and

determined to change the course of a generation that he, he

wanted to do whatever he could possibly do to, to make sure his

children knew the Lord and followed the Lord and honored

the Lord. And I praise the Lord for a

father who was a who was a godly father.

I didn't know him very well when he was ungodly because I was too

young. Only memory I have of my father

is sitting with him in church and him singing at the top of

his lungs. And my dad had a good voice.

And I was asking, why do you sing so loud?

Dad, why do you sing so loud? He was leaning over sick because

I love the Lord. Start singing son.

And and he would sing loud, but he changed the course of

regeneration. I say that because so can you.

There's always hope, and the hope to cure that which infects

churches, countries, cultures, and communities is a godly man.

Just one, Just one. And I wonder if you're that kind

of man. I have an outline.

I not going to get through it today.

I'll do it next week. But let me give you the point #1

because I do have a couple of minutes left.

Ask yourself, am IA godly man? I'm going to give you the

characteristics of a godly man. Number one.

He goes to God incessantly in prayer.

He goes to God incessantly in prayer.

Listen to what the psalmist said in Psalm 4, verse 3.

Psalms 4:3

But know that the Lord has set apart the godly man for himself.

Isn't that great? God has set apart the godly man

for himself and the Lord years when the godly man calls to him.

Nick great, the Lord hears when the godly man calls to him.

How about Psalm 32 verse #6 Therefore let everyone who's

godly pray to you in a time when you may be found surely in a

flood of great waters, they will not reach him.

You are my hiding place. You preserve me from trouble.

You surround me with songs of deliverance.

Let everyone who is godly come to you in a time of need.

See, the godly man knows that in order to maintain his godliness,

there is a a communion with God that needs to be present, that

he wants to commune with his God on a daily basis.

He wants to to pray without ceasing.

First Thessalonians 516, Ephesians chapter 5, James

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention James 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5. The effectual fervent prayer of

a righteous man availeth much there there's a fervency there

there's a, there's a, a tenacity that's there.

There's a, a commitment to prayer.

Oh, prayer is such a, a taxing work.

It's not easy. Satan wants to keep you off of

your knees because if he keeps you off of your knees, he can,

He can tempt you in ways that will cause you to fall greatly.

And our Lord wanted his men to pray, so he taught them how to

pray. He always was praying.

And a godly man is one who who goes to God incessantly in

prayer. Job was a godly man.

Job was a unique man. He was unlike others.

Job was the kind of guy that that understood godliness, It

says in Job one there was a man in the land of us that the man

was not an ordinary man. The man was an extraordinary

man. There was a man in the land of

us, and the whole book of Job was about this man, Job, and how

God is sovereign over his life, whose name was Job.

And that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning

away from evil. That's a godly man.

Seven sons and three daughters were born to him.

His possessions were also or also were 7000 sheep, 3000

camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and very many

servants. And that man was the greatest of

all the men of the East. The great man sons used to go

hold a feast in the House of each one on his day, and they

would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink

with them. And when the days of feasting

had completed their cycle, Job would send and consecrate them,

rising up early in the morning and offering burnt offerings

according to the number of them. All.

For Job said, Perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in

their hearts. Thus Job did continually he

would OfferUp burnt offerings on behalf of his children.

He would pray for his children. Burnt offering symbolize a a

total surrender. In other words, he was he was

surrendering all of his children to the Lord.

These are your children. God, you gave it to me.

I'm going to offer these burnt offerings because the offering

is going to be totally consumed because I have totally giving my

children to you. Little did he know that God

would take and snatch his children from him in an horrific

store. Didn't know that in advance.

We know because we read the story.

But Joe didn't know said God, these children are yours.

I'm offering up to you are offering them up to you because

if they have sinned, Lord, I I want to, I want to plead with

them. I want to intercede on their

behalf, as was told in the prophet Isaiah.

Is there anyone to intercede on behalf of those who commit

iniquity? Job says I'll intercede.

Is there a man who was standing in the gap whose heart I was

strengthened? Job says I'll be that guy.

I'll do that. I'll live an upright life, a God

fearing life, a blameless life. And I'm going to turn away from

evil and I'm going to pray for my family.

I'm going to pray that God raises them up and strengthens

them. And little did he know that God

would take them all away. But in all this, Job did not

sin. Nobody turned his back on the

Lord Jesus because he was a godly man, a man of prayer.

Interesting that that nobody who came to to minister to Job ever

prayed with Job before Job. They came to give him a counsel,

but they were miserable counselors.

But none of them sat and held his hand, mainly because it's

too full of sores and pus and and nasty stuff.

They didn't want to hold his hand for fear that they might

get what he had. Then we get too close to Job.

But none of them offered a prayer for Job.

But at the very end of the the Book of Job, it says.

And Job prayed for his friends. And when Job prayed for his

friends, God turned the captivity of Job.

God turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his miserable

comforters, when Job got his eyes off of himself.

Because that's what godly men do.

They get their eyes off of themselves.

They get their eyes on everybody else around them.

They forget about their needs, their pain, their problems, and

they pray for others. And that's what Job did.

And God turned everything in Job's life around when he prayed

for his friends. That's just a great testimony.

It's just speak volumes to us not to be so consumed about our

problems and our pain. And believe me, none of you had

the pain that Job had. None of you have the isolation

that Job had. None of you had the problems

that Job had. None of you have lost everything

like Job did. None of you have.

And yet Job got his eyes off his own self and said I need to pray

for my friends. And boy, God turned all that

around and said, Job, you're the man because he prayed

incessantly. What a godly man.

How about you, do you go to God incessantly in prayer on behalf

of your wife, your children, your family?

We, we gathered together on Sunday mornings and we, we bow

together on our knees. And you have your children

bowing together with you. You have your wives bowing

together with you in the Pew as you go and beseech the Lord of

mercy. Well, what a great opportunity

when it comes to worship to have your family together in church,

bowing down before the throne of God and praying to God, asking

God to do a great and mighty work.

But that's just the beginning. That's just the impetus.

That's the trampoline that leads you into more prayer with your

family and for your family. That's what the godly man does.

He prays incessantly because he knows that prayer is everything.

He can't change his children, can't change his marriage.

He can't change his work environment.

He can't change anything. He can influence some things,

but he can't change. And only God can change.

God doesn't. So the godly man recognizes

that, says so he goes to God, says, Lord, you know how to do

this, You can do it. So I'm going to let you do it,

but I need you to do what only you can do.

And he prays to God. That's a godly man.

He goes to God incessantly in prayer #2 got to come back next

week. So if you brought your Father on

Father's Day, bring him back again next week.

If he was with your other brother or sister today, you can

bring him back next week. But let me pray with you.

Can I do that, Father? I pray for the men of our

church. They'd be godly men.

I pray, Lord, that they would recognize that their ungodliness

only infects their children negatively, but their godliness

will affect them positively. So I pray for every man that's

here today, men who are fathers, men who are grandfathers, men

who want to be fathers. I pray, Father, that you would

raise up godly men. Job was a godly man.

He attended no church. He attended no men's ministries.

He read no books on ministry for your family.

All he had was you. He listened and obeyed and

follow through. His accountability was you.

It wasn't another person or another group of people or a

church. His accountability was you, and

he was blameless, upright, God fearing and turning away from

evil. They prayed for his children.

Lord, I pray for the men of our church.

You'd raise them up to be strong men of God, men who who don't

back down from those who would come against their God.

Men who would stand strong amidst adversity and conflict,

men who would be pure and holy before you.

Lord, you're a great God, and you warned Israel over and over

again about the sins of the fathers.

They just did not listen. Lord, we have in illustration

all throughout the Old Testament that tells us beware, listen to

the words of the Lord, return to him, follow him, obey him, and

see what God will do. That's my prayer for for every

Man today.