The Man God Looks For Jeremiah 4:31-5:1

The Man God Looks For Jeremiah 4:31-5:1 In his book, "Growing Strong In Family Life," Chuck Swindoll asks a series of questions; 1. Remember when men were men? (John Wayne slide) 2. Remember when you could tell by looking? (Frontier slide) 3. Remember when men knew who they were, liked how they were, & didn't want to be anything but what they were? (Texas Rangers slide) 4. Remember when it was the men who boxed & wrestled & bragged about how much they could bench press? (John Sullivan slide) 5. Remember when it was the women who wore the makeup, the earrings & the bikinis? 6. Remember when it was men who initiated the contact, took the lead in relationships, made lifelong commitments, treated all women like a ladies, & modeled a masculinity that displayed security & stability? The image of the manhood presented to us by the media of our day is not at all representative of what God intended it to be. (Homer slide) Granted, in our day, bad examples of men and fathers are not hard to find, however, God still choses to work through the lives of men to affect His purpose in the earth. Title Slide: The Man God Looks For read text The passage that I have chosen as text for our Father s day message comes from a time in Israel s history when the Babylonian army had invaded and surrounded the holy city. The situation is dire yet God in His abundant mercy declares, if He can find one man who will stand for righteousness, do justice and seek for the truth, He will spare the city and its people. The times we find ourselves in today are very similar to those Jeremiah was confronted with in 597BC. The difference however is obvious; a physical army surrounded the ancient Jews and we are facing a spiritual foe not of flesh and blood. Just as in Jeremiah s time, God is looking for a man. A man who will stand up against the flood of iniquity and live in the power and favor of God s grace bringing the Kingdom to earth as it is in heaven. It is time for men to awake from the sleep of apathy and self indulgence and step into the God given destiny that awaits us. It is time to become the men of integrity and grace we were born to be. To love and honor God, serve our families and live our lives as righteous testimonies to the grace and glory of our savior Jesus Christ! President Woodrow Wilson said, No man has ever risen to the real stature of spiritual manhood until he has found that it is finer to serve somebody else than it is to serve himself. The truth is, our families and our children will be just like we are. What we live before them, not what we say carries the greatest influence in their lives. My wife shared a quote with me that speaks concisely to this thought: We Teach out of what we know, but we reproduce what we are! This is a call for us to rise up and become the men of God we were created to be. That is what our families, our communities and this world are waiting for and their future good depends upon it. 1

I. GOD S METHOD IS ALWAYS A MAN John 1:6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. A. God s chosen method to carry out His purpose on this earth has always been a man. It is not methods, ministries or movements that God anoints, but men. 1. Men filled with the life of God, anointed to carrying forth the message of redemption not with words alone, but in the very fabric of their character and being. 2. Men surrendered to His will, anointed with the Holy Spirit, then used mightily as an instruments of His righteousness to affect the world for His purpose. 3. Our God uses men to accomplish His will on this earth, and He still seeks after those who would first seek Him, that He might bestow the riches of His blessings upon and through them. B. As never before, we need to acknowledge the profound weight of responsibility lying upon us to become men of God; spiritual men who fully represent the righteous character of God before our families and to this world in which we live. 1. The declining and morally corrupt culture this generation is in dire need of men that will rise up on the side of righteousness and live boldly for God. C. God s method has always been a man, so let us take courage and be God s men. II. THE MEASURE OF A MAN Psalms 39:4-5 "Lord, make me to know my end, And what is the measure of my days, That I may know how frail I am. 5 Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah A. The culture of our day has many different standards by which manhood and masculinity are measured. 1. For some, masculinity is measured solely by the size of ones biceps and physical strength. How much you can bench press or squat and how defined is your six-pack? 2. For some it by intellectual aptitude and education, the school you graduated from, and the degrees attained. 3. For others it is financial success by how big your house is, or how house large is the salary you are paid, how fat is your retirement portfolio. 4. And then how big is your truck and many toys do we have? I think you get the point. B. Men tend to measure themselves by themselves, the size of their accomplishments; the value of their possessions and mostly by their egos, but God has a completely different standard of measure. 1. Could it be that God is measuring us by our integrity, our honesty, and our character? Perhaps He is looking to our purity or into the depth of our humility? 2. Maybe He is measuring our faithfulness and our ability to persevere in the face of trial, trouble, and stress? 3. Or maybe it is simply by the love and passion we have for the one who saved us. 4. The word of God plainly declares to us in Isaiah that: Isaiah 55:8-9 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord. C. It would serve us well to no longer measure ourselves, by the shallow standards of this world but begin to examine our selves in the light of what God calls manhood. 2

1. Remember the words of the prophet Samuel as he sought to anoint the man who would take Saul s place on the throne. 1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." D. Johann Schiller: It is not flesh and blood but the heart, which makes us men. 1. There are many who can excel in business, sports and even in the matters of religion, but what the world truly needs is with a heart for God and for their families. 2. Men who will sacrifice their temporary gratification for the honor of Jesus Christ, the King, and future of their families. III. THE MAN GOD LOOKS FOR 2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him (NLT) A. Our God is looking for men who will reject the fleeting pleasures of this present world and join in the purposes He has ordained. His eyes run to and fro to find those whose hearts are perfect toward Him: B. Our God is looking for faithful men. He is not concerned about your education, socio-economic status, race, color or creed; He is looking for trustworthy men that will be faithful, even unto death. Proverbs 20:6 Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, But who can find a faithful man? 1. He is looking for men who will rise up and boldly proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ and the hope of His salvation and then live it as a light before this world of darkness and despair. 2. Men who will be faithful in the little things, faithful even when no one is watching so that He can entrust them with the greater! C. He is looking for fully surrendered men whose affections are not divided. Mark 14:34 36 Then He said to them, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch. 35 He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. 36 And He said, Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will. 1. We do not need be scholars or CEO s but men that have been surrendered completely to His will and purpose, conformed to the image and willing to follow the example of Christ. 2. There are so many voices today clamoring for our attention and our hearts. There are so many distractions that allure and seduce us away from what God has called to be. 3. And there is only one remedy the cross. 4. We must willingly give our selves to Christ; and it is in death to self that we find new life in the image of Christ; that is the hope of our families. Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 3

D. He is looking for men whose hearts long for justice and truth. Jeremiah 5:1 Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem; See now and know; And seek in her open places If you can find a man, If there is anyone who executes judgment, Who seeks the truth, And I will pardon her. 1. God is looking for men who will live with integrity and righteous character in all the affairs of their lives; men who seek the truth, love the truth and live the truth. 2. Men who are willing to cry out against the rampant injustice of our time and believing God to help them make a difference. 3. And notice also the future good of society rests upon the shoulders of those men that God is seeking after. 4. There is still hope for our beloved nation if we will rise up and be men of God! E. Our God is looking for men that will pray; men that will get on their knees, and stay on their knees in prayer for their families, their community and for their nations. 1. He is looking for men who will stand in the gap for the lost and pray for the advancement of the kingdom of Jesus Christ in this earth. Ezekiel 22:30 So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn t have to destroy the land, but I found no one. (NLT) F. Our God is seeking men that will boldly worship and serve Him in Spirit and in truth through every circumstance of life. Joshua 24:15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." John 4:23-24 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." G. Our God is still looking for men who will rise up seek Him first. Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 1. It is the greatest paradox of all; we all called to give up everything for Christ who in return, gives us more that we could have ever possessed because of His great love for us. 2. The created seek after the creator, who is ever seeking after them. 3. What love, what mercy and blessing are to be found in this marvelous truth, as we surrender our all to Christ, all that is Christ s becomes ours. 4. And the blessing is poured out on our families and future offspring! Isaiah 44:3-6 For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, And floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, And My blessing on your offspring; 4 They will spring up among the grass Like willows by the watercourses.' 5 One will say, 'I am the Lord's'; Another will call himself by the name of Jacob; Another will write with his hand, 'The Lord's,' And name himself by the name of Israel Our families will be blessed as we set our hearts to live for Him, to be loyal, faithful, prayerful and surrendered to Him. And as we make our life to be ever seeking after Him he will return the blessings upon our families. 4

Let me close with the stirring words of a hymn written by William Pierson Merrill in 1909: Rise up, O men of God! Have done with lesser things, Give heart and soul and mind and strength to serve the King of kings. Rise up, O men of God! His kingdom tarries long: Bring in the day of brotherhood and end the night of wrong. Rise up, O men of God! The Church for you doth wait; Her strength unequal to her task; rise up, and make her great! Lift high the cross of Christ! Tread where his feet have trod; As brothers of the Son of Man, Rise up, O men of God! 5