Act Like A Man I Robert Madu I Social Dallas

I want us to look at this passage of scripture today, and this is where we're going to take our thought from. And let me just set the tone for this. It's in First Kings chapter number two. First Kings chapter number two, and King David, the legend, is about to die. His dynasty, if it were, is coming to an end, and he's passing on a charge to his son, Solomon. How many know last words are important? When hitting the last moments of your life, you are not saying random words. When it is the last moments of your life, you are saying something that you want to resonate in the heart and in the mind of the person that you are saying it to. Last words matter. These are the last words of King David to his son Solomon.

"When the time drew near for David to die, he gave a charge to Solomon his son. 'I'm about to go the way of all the Earth,' he said. 'So be strong, act like a man, and observe what the Lord your God requires. Walk in obedience to him and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go, and that the Lord may may keep his promise to me. If your descendants watch how they live and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.'"

Oh, I don't know if you know how to respond to good scripture, but that right there is good scripture. He says, "Obey the law and his requirements so you can prosper." In what? All you've been trying to prosper by hustling more? You've been trying to prosper by being an entrepreneur and passing out your business card? Not knowing that if you obey his word and his decrees, you prosper in all that you do. But that's not what got me back. That thing up biblically to that first verse. First word out of his mouth is, "Be strong and act like a..." Say it with your chest. Act like a man.

Now, if that wasn't enough, that in the last moments of David's life, he's telling his son Solomon to act like a man. Go with me to 1 Corinthians chapter number 16. As the Apostle Paul is getting ready to conclude his last, his first, rather, letter to the Church of Corinth, he says to them, "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love." If David, in the last moments of his life, and the Apostle Paul, in the last chapter of his letters to the Church of Corinth, feels the need to tell a group of men to act like a man, y'all, I'm going to give you my simple title today: Act Like a Man. Act Like a Man.

I pray you memorize those verses and get that in your heart. I pray that you check another brother next to you when he's not acting like one and say, "Act like a man. Act like a man." Elbow your brother next to you. Say, "Act like a man." Come on. Elbow the other brother. Say, "Act like a man." Yeah, yeah, yeah. Father, speak to us today. Amen. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord.

Here's the question I want to ask you today: Where is your model for manhood coming from? 'Cause you're getting it from somewhere. Perhaps you're getting it from your past. A lot of us get our model for manhood from our past. How our father was, how our uncle was. Hey, this is how my granddaddy did it. This is the way I did it. It's a horrible thing sometimes to get the manhood model from your past, especially if that was not a good model. Some people even have great models, and yet, even in spite of having the great model, they don't become a reflection of the model they had. They're an opposite reaction to the model that they had, and something completely different. Where do you get your model from?

Is it from your past? Is it from your peers, from the people around you? Because I noticed, guys, we will do that. We'll be like, "Hey, especially if remarried, hey, you think you got it bad? You need to talk to Fred. Look at Fred. I mean, sh, I'm telling you, he's worse than me. You think I'm bad? Look at him." We'll love to look at other people. But I want to encourage you today, don't look at your model for manhood from your past, and don't look at your model for manhood from your peers.

God is a God who wants to speak to your potential. That there is a potential on the inside of you. That there is a man that you have not yet become, and that you are stepping into. And God says, "I have a potential that if you will follow my biblical mandate for manhood, you will walk in the potential of what I call, I've called you to be." I want to give you three things from this text, just very simply, of how you can act like a man. You take notes. Write this down. You're not taking notes? Write this down.

Number one, you're going to act like a man, you have to be watchful. On watchful. David says to Solomon, "Observe what the Lord requires." Observe what the Lord requires. Somebody say, "Be watchful." Right in the text, Paul says, "Be watchful." That lets me know that if I'm going to be a man according to the biblical definition of being a man, that is to be watchful. Somebody say, "Be watchful." Be watchful. That is your job as a man to watch.

Do you know why the serpent was able to deceive Eve? Adam wasn't watching. The enemy was watching. You've heard me teach before that snakes are the only species that never blink. They're always watching. He watched them so good and was so cunning that he knew, "She likes to talk. He don't like to talk. If I can get her, she'll get him." And he knew to come straight to Eve, and Eve got Adam. But Adam wasn't watching his garden. Adam wasn't watching for snakes in the garden.

I want to let you know one of the mandates on your life as a man is to be watchful. To watch for people that are coming in your garden. To watch at what the enemy is trying to do to attack your family. To watch what the enemy is trying to do to mess up your marriage. To watch what the enemy is trying to do to destroy your legacy and generations that are coming after you. You've got to be watchful. In this generation where there are so many things trying to get your attention, one of the mandates of manhood is to say, "I'm going to be watchful." I'm watching.

All throughout the Bible, we get encouragement to be vigilant, to be sober, to not just have our head in the clouds, but to be watching. And the reason we have to watch is because the enemy is watching you. How many of you men know there is a target on your forehead if you are a man? And if the enemy's watching, I'm going to be watching. And I'm going to make sure that I don't fall prey to whatever it is he's trying to get me to fall a trap into. Watchful. This, this, this is where it starts. I, I love this idea of being watchful because it speaks to this biblical idea of being a watchman on the wall. A watchman on the wall.

Often, when we think about the battle, we think about the people that had the swords and had the weapons. But one of the key parts of a battle was to have a watchman on the wall. And the watchman on the wall, guess what his job was to do? To watch. To watch. And to see if an enemy was coming. But here's what I love about it. If you're going to be a watchman on the wall, you cannot be at the same level of the other people who are not watchmen. If I am a watchman, I cannot be down there where the problem is. One of the requirements of being a watchman is being careful of where you position yourself. So the watchman always had to get to a place of elevation so they could actually see from a distance. Oh, yeah. Here they are. They're coming with chariots. Everybody else get ready, get ready, because I see the enemy coming. And the reason why some of us can't see the attacks that are coming is because our life is too low. You are living too low. And that's why God is always trying to call you up higher. Y'all not going to help me preach. God wants to call you to a higher place because if you could get to a higher place of elevation, you can actually see what's coming. You're a watchman on the wall.

If I'm a watchman, I am careful of where I place myself because I cannot have anything stopping my vantage point. I got to see. So a watchman on the wall has to come up higher. And a watchman is careful of where he places himself. I want to ask you, where are you placing yourself? Are you in a position where you can see an attack coming, or are you right next to the enemy? Are you on the same level of the enemy? And God will often come up higher. This is why we need men to pray. This is why we need men to seek God. 'Cause how many know there's something about prayer that calls you up higher? Any man can testify that you've ever gotten into a place of prayer and God gives you a perspective on it that you didn't see before. Watchmen come up higher. Elbow your brother next to you. Say, "Brother, wake up." Come on. Tell them, "Wake up and get on the wall and watch." You've got to come up higher. Come up higher.

If you're going to be a man, you have to be watchful. It wasn't enough for them just to get at the place of elevation and watch. Watch this. Then they had to sound the alarm. If they saw something, they had to say something. If I'm a watchman on the wall and I get up high and I see the enemy, but I don't warn the people that I've been called to protect, I've not done all my job. It's not enough just to see it. You've got to say something when you see it. We need some brothers who will open up their mouth and say something when you see something. It is the trick of the enemy to get us to mumble, to not talk, to have our arms folded. No, open up your mouth and say something when you see something.

Where are all the dads at? If you're a dad, stand to your feet. Dads, all the dads, stand to your feet. All the dads, stand to your feet. My goodness. Come on. Part of your job is to say something when you see something. If your son, "Hey, hey, hey, what's that I smell on you?" Say something when you see it. If your daughter is wearing something crazy, and you especially know how... Say something when you see something. Open up your mouth. It is so easy as a man to recoil and say, "I, I'll let your mama take care of it." No, you're the watchman on the wall. Don't let your wife be the one that says, "Oh, we going to go to church today." No, no, no, no, no. You be the one that says, "Now, we going to church today." Do we have to go? Yes. Just like you don't ask me, "Do we have to go to school?" or "Do we have to go to your baseball or your football game?" In this house, we serve the Lord. As for me and my house, we are going to church. It's not up for debate. I'm a watchman on the wall, and I don't just see stuff, I say stuff. Get in the car, we going on to church. You could be seated.

This, this is a powerful but very simple thing to do, that when you see something, say something. I, I just have to shout out my dad because I believe in honor. My dad is here, and I, I had an incredible model. And one of the things that I love about this Nigerian man sitting right here on the second row is he would say something. He would say something, almost to the point that, woo, it was too much. But anything he saw, he would have to let me know. If there was somebody I was hanging with, "You cannot hang out with them." "Why?" "Because I said so." I would be the only kid they have sleepovers. My dad'd be like, "I'm picking you up. You don't need to sleepover. Come over to the house." And then I'd hear the next day at school, "What happened at the sleepover?" And I was so thankful that I had a watchman on the wall that said, "No, no, no, no, no. Not for me. Not for my family. I'm watching, and I'm not just watching, I will open up my mouth and say something." Because it is my job as a man to protect. It is my job as a man to secure. This is what our families want. They want safety. And we have to say something when we see something. You're a watchman on the wall. Elbow your brother. Say, "Be watchful."

Not only do you have to watch those that God has put under your care and under your responsibility, hear me. You got to watch yourself. I got to watch me. Because the same enemy that's coming to attack the city, the family that I'm trying to protect, is the same enemy that's trying to attack me. So I've got to be watchful of myself. Some of the strongest men I know are the men who are fully aware of their weaknesses, and they watch themselves. The weakest man I know right now are the men who are like, "Nah, I'm good. I ain't got to watch out for that." Those are the weakest men I know, and those are the men that I see fall. The men that I see that are strong are the ones who say, "I know my kryptonite. I know what will take me out." So yes, I'm watching those that God has put under my responsibility, but I'm watching myself. I got to watch myself.

And who I want to know today, in a very practical way, are you watching yourself? Do you know you? Do you know what traps the enemy has put in front of you? 'Cause he got the same tricks. They don't change from 13 to 35. Has anybody noticed? It might come in a different package, but it's the same trick. And I've got to watch myself. Here's one of the ways you watch yourself. You watch yourself by what I call moving up the line. Because there's like a line, right? Imagine a line right here. There's actually a line on this stage. And let's say that on the other side of this line is sin. It's the things that are not God-honoring. That's on the other side of this line. And do you know what a lot of men do because they don't watch themselves? They try to say, "I mean, I, I, I, I'm not sleeping with her. I just followed her on Instagram." Wow. "I mean, I didn't did that. She's my friend. At just, I'm, I'm not cheating all the way. I mean, I'm just, you know, if we, if we, if we, you know, rearrange the finances here, you know, maybe I can give more. You know, Pastor said I need to, you know, give more." And so they try to see how close they can get to the line. And any guy that is doing that is not watching themselves. I've learned, if you're going to watch yourself, if that's the line, you got to be back here. I don't even give myself an opportunity to get close to the line. I've got to move the line up here. If that's the line, I got to come right here. And I want to ask you, in a very practical sense, very practical sense, what do you have in place to watch yourself on? Right? Do you have anything in place where you're watching yourself? Because to be a man is to be watchful.

Oh, man, I don't need all that. Okay. Uh, Matthew chapter 18. Look at this real quick. Matthew chapter 18. It says, these are the words of Jesus. He says, "If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell." Okay, real quick, before we just go straight church and say amen, what in the world is Jesus talking about right there? Is he literally saying cut off your foot and gouge out your eye? Is that, is that the meaning of that text? Is that, are we supposed to come to church and see some of y'all with eye patches saying, "Man, I'm telling you, man, it's, what's wrong with you, man? I couldn't, the porn, I had to stop." So you know, Matthew 18, is that what he's saying? Are we supposed to see you come in with a foot gone, tell about, "Where you going, man? You know, I kept going to the liquor store. I just, I had you." Matthew 18. Surely he is not talking about physically harming yourself. This is not what he's saying.

But what he is saying is, I want you to go to the extreme in cutting off access to a temptation rather than trying to fight the temptation. It is better to go to the extremity of cutting off the access point to the temptation than it is to live with fighting the temptation. Oh, I'm telling you, if this don't bless nobody else, it's blessing me. I'm trying to tell you how to win in life. When the enemy comes at you with all kinds of stuff, it's not about you trying to just fight the temptation. Sometimes you got to cut off the access point to the temptation. I can't tell you how many guys I've talked to. I said, "Bro, where you are in life, you don't need to be on no social media." That just might be a real practical question to ask you. Can your soul handle social media? Can you? Can we talk real? Since it's just got, let's just start this, this precedent of us being real. Can you handle? Can you handle the access point of them coming straight to your DMs, right? Can you handle that? Can you handle having the internet in your house? Well, I got to do my work. We got public libraries. See, this is what people, people think it's crazy to cut off the access. But God is telling you right there, I would rather you cut off the access point than try to fight the temptation.

You just see all kinds of stuff. I, I got Covenant Eyes on my phone. I access my sister. She's here somewhere. She looks at, she looks at my DMs. My wife looks at my DMs. I'm speaking about social media because everybody I talk to that's falling, it's started on social media. Any person that's not been faithful to the wife, it started with a conversation through a digital device. And I'm saying, if that is a place of access for you, cut it off. Cut it off. Because it's better to cut off the access point than to be there trying to fight it. Ain't nothing worse than living two blocks on the Krispy Kreme donuts, and then the red light's on, and you're like, "I'm not going to go in." You are going to go in. I promise you. This is the challenge. It's not just to watch other people, but to watch myself.

Number two, you're going to act like a man. You got to, number one, what? Be watchful. Number two, you got to be strong. Be strong. And boy, your brother, say, "Be strong." Be strong. David says to his son Solomon, he says, "Be strong." Paul says, "Be strong." Both of them echo the same thing: Be strong. Now, this is what most of us were told as kids, right? The moment that we, we lost the football game, we tried to tear up. They're like, "Hey, don't cry. Be strong." And we took that, not showing our emotions is being strong. And some guys are still doing that today. It's like, "Oh, strong is, I don't show my emotions." That is not manhood. To not show your emotions, that's not the definition of being strong. To not show your emotions. Now, I should say, if you are more emotional than a woman, act like a man. And I have seen that. If, if you freak out more than your woman, then we, we got to pray. We got to do something because you're supposed to be the steady one. You're supposed to be the strong one. But I can still show my emotion and still be a man. I can still be a man. If, if, if being strong is not showing my emotion, then Jesus failed the test. This is a Savior who wept over a dude he was about to raise from the dead. Come on, y'all. Imagine you got that, you got the power to raise somebody from the dead. How many about to cry before you raise the dude from the dead? You are not going to shed one tear. You're going to be like, "Me? You going to roll up your sleeve, say, 'Hey, I'm gonna get your phones out, 'cause it's about to be live.'" Watch this. Watch this. Why does he weep? Because God showed him emotion. He's in the Garden of Gethsemane. He's like, "Yo, I need, I need my brothers with me. I don't want to go to this cross, but I got to. And I don't want to be by myself. I need some people around me." He showed emotion. So that can't be what the Bible means by being strong, that you don't show emotion.

What does it mean to be biblically strong? Here's another thing that blew my mind. Is God commands you to be strong. He commands it. He says, "Be strong." To me, it should be, "Get strong." How you going to command me to be strong? I'm training for a marathon right now. And, uh, if any of y'all want to join me so I don't die by myself, I'm training for a marathon. And, and I, I'm, I'm going, and I'm, I'm in relatively good shape. And it's not, it's not the lung power that's killing me. It's my legs. I skipped too many leg days. And so I'm trying to get my legs strong enough. And every day, I've been like, the most I've done already is like four miles. This marathon is 26.2. Okay, I got 14 weeks. Don't do that. Don't make that face. I got 14 weeks. But, but I've been trying to get, I've been trying to get strong. Get my legs strong. Can you imagine somebody telling me today, "Go run the 26. Now, be strong, bro." How am I gonna be? I'm getting strong. But God says, "I want you to be strong." He says to Joshua, "I've commanded you to be strong." That means biblical strength must be something different than this masculine strength we're talking about.

What does God mean when he says, "I want you to be strong"? He says, "I want you to understand that your strength is not in your ability. Your strength is in me." Amen. Be strong in what? In the Lord. Be strong in Him. My strength is not in my intellect. My strength is not in my gifting. My strength has to be found in Him. And can I tell you, brothers, if Sunday is the only time you ever get in His presence or you ever open up the word of God, that's why you don't have the strength that you need. There needs to be an understanding of your dependency on Him. That's where your strength comes from. My strength is in Him. That's how you build your strength. You know how else you're strong in the Lord? When you trust and obey Him. That's, I'm just talking as simple as I can talk. Trust and obedience prove your strength in the Lord. You're only as strong as your obedience. You're only as strong as your obedience. Joshua, "What do you want me to do?" "I'll cut off the head." "I got the skill to do it." "No, but that's how I want you to do it. Walk around the wall and shout." And he did it and got the victory. Why? Because of his muscles? Because of his obedience?

Some of you are at a place right now where the thing that God is asking you to do makes no sense at all. And because it doesn't make sense to you, you're not doing it. And you wonder why you don't have strength. The strength comes as you obey. The strength comes when He tells you to do it and you say, "God, this is crazy. Why am I going to lift up my staff? I've never seen water part." But since You told me, "Me too." "God, this doesn't make sense. This giant is taller than me." But you know what? "I'm just going to work with what you already gave me. And I got five rocks in case this first one don't work." But let me, let me just trust. Yes. And obey. Can I tell you, it made no sense to plant a church when we planted this church? Y'all, I was comfortable. I was chilling. I was traveling to different churches, preaching. God had opened up so many doors. I could have kept on doing it. And God said, "I want you to stop. Plant a church." I canceled Sunday morning services and stepped out in faith. And it didn't make sense. And it wasn't like we had thousands of people coming. But there's something in the obedience. Build your strength. You think you big because you can throw up 225 on the bench press? No, no, no, no, no. I'll show you strength is when He tells you to do something makes absolutely no logical sense, and you obey Him. That's when you know you're getting strong in the kingdom of God. Be strong. Be strong. You're going to be a man. What do you got to do? First, do what? Secondly, got to do what? Be strong. Be strong. Be strong, even when you don't feel like it. Be strong. You lead the prayer at the house. Be strong. You tell your wife, "We're gonna pray today." Be strong. It don't matter if you feel it. You know how many times I don't feel like I'm a pastor? You know many times I don't feel like I'm a leader? Here's my trick. Oh, I'm giving y'all my good stuff. Here's what, because often times we don't see our potential. We don't see who we really are. So here's a little hack. I tell myself, "What would a great leader do in this moment?" That's good. Because the enemy tries to play in my mind about leadership. So I'll ask myself, "What would a great leader do?" And when you ask those questions, you step into the greatness of who you are. What would a husband do who wants to be truly pure and holy and faithful, not just in action of what I've done, but also an attitude of heart? What would a faithful husband do in this moment? He would switch. [Applause] Gems. He would go to that company party and say, "Bro, I need you right here next to me this whole time. And if she comes over here, let me know. And then let's run and go. Let's have an exit strategy." Can we talk real? What, what, what, what would a great father do? What would a great father do? No, but my son, he... No, no, but what would a great father do? What text would a great father send? Amen. Wow. What would a great husband do? No, but you want to worship? No, no, but what would a great husband do? He'd probably say he was sorry. Do that. Do that. When you do that, your strength comes. Your strength. That's not weakness to apologize. That's strength. That's not weakness to say, "I messed up. I failed you." That's strength. Be strong. Be strong.

Number three, y'all can come play. You're going to be a man. You got to be watchful. You got to be strong. And then lastly, you got to stand firm. Got to stand firm. Paul says so plainly. Look how simple this is. He says, "Stand firm in the faith." David says in verse four, that if you keep God's commandments, Solomon, God is gonna keep his promise to me. What's the promise? You got David, if somebody say, "If." If that's a conditional promise. "If your descendants watch how they live and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel." If, if you'll stand firm, and if those coming after you will stand firm, your throne is going to last forever. Your legacy will be set. Hear me, brothers. Standing firm has more to do with the future than it does with the present. Stand firm. The reason I got to stand firm is because this is not just about me. It's about who's coming after me. That's right. I got to stand firm. Can I tell you what keeps me up at night? [Music] Lord, I see what you're doing in our church. I see what you're doing in my life, and I'm thankful. But God, I want to stand firm. Yes. Right. I want to finish well. The older I get, I am not impressed with people who start well. Anybody can start well. Anybody can start with passion. Anybody can plant a church and have people show up. Get out that sound system, devil. But to finish well, to say like Paul, "I fought the good fight. I finished the race." To stand firm in your marriage. To stand firm in your integrity. That's what I applaud. And anytime I see a brother that's standing firm and has been standing firm, I want to get close to him 'cause that's what I want to do. I don't want to start things well. I want to stand firm and finish well. So He'll say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." Not because I was perfect, but at least I stood firm.

What do you think Ephesians chapter 6 is about? You ever noticed you putting on all that armor to do what? To stand. Read it when you get to the crib. To stand. Put on the helmet of salvation, breastplate of righteousness, all this stuff. And it tells you all this army. You think I'm about to fight? No. Stand. Who can stand the longest? It's a fight to stand. It's a fight to finish well, right? Because if I fall and I don't stand firm, there is a generation coming after me that is watching what I'm doing. I've got to stand firm. Oh, I wish you could see who's watching you stand. I wish you could see who's watching you stand firm. I promise you wouldn't throw in the towel so easily if you knew which eyes were looking up to you, watching how you stand. God, give us the strength to stand. Let us act like men and not cower away, but to stand. And not just stand, stand firm. Stand firm.

Heard this story this week of a man who was a professional mountain climber. It's a true story. This professional mountain climber took four of his friends up this mountain. And the way they climbed it, with all their equipment, they stayed tied together, 35 feet apart. And they start going up this mountain. This professional mountain climber leading the way. They get all the way up to the top of the mountain. They had a celebration, did a victory dance, they're giving each other high fives. And now it's time to descend. They start descending towards the mountain. And the professional mountain climber lost his footing on the descent. As he's connected by rope to the other four guys, when he lost his footing, he slipped and fell and starts cascading down this mountain, dragging the other four of his friends with him. Here's what blew my mind. As he's coming down the mountain fast, not only did he kill three of the friends who were with him, there were some other people who were coming up the mountain. And because they're sliding so fast, he ran into them and killed two of the people that were coming up the mountain. Not only that, down the mountain, there were some other people coming up the mountain. They ran and slid into them. There was all this carnage because of one person who lost his footing and who was connected to his rope.

What am I trying to tell you? Do you understand who is connected to your rope? Do you know why your integrity matters? Do you know why what you do in the dark matters? It's because there's generations that are connected to you. If you don't have kids yet, there are kids that are coming that are watching you. That's why we have to stand firm. Because of who is connected. Because of who's going to tell the story in the future. And I don't know about you, social man, but I want to be a man that says, "God, I will stand firm." I don't want to act like an animal. I don't want to act like a boy. I want to act like a man. Even if I don't feel it, I will act like a man. Even if I got tears coming down my face, I'll act like a man. Even if I get punched and I fall down, I got to get back up again and act like a man. Generations are waiting for me. Generations are coming after me. I don't know who's connected to my rope. I don't know who could go down if I go down. I got to stand firm. I got to be watchful. I got to be strong. [Applause] [Music]