Strength at the core level of the Church are families and more specifically men standing in the place that God has purposed and assigned for them to stand; leading their families in all that God has for them. In return, this brings a strengthening.
Culture is currently against all things male. There is an all-out attack against masculinity from our gender neutral culture that goes straight to the core of the strength of the church—men—who have been robbed either knowingly or unknowingly, stripped of their God given manhood creating confusion and instability with no clear definition of what it means to be a real man. In addition, we have allowed culture to penetrate the Church causing men to abandon the values, standards and principles of God’s Word regarding their identity, role, function and purpose—exchanging power for powerlessness.
Culture has brought us to a place where men are relatively silent.
1 Samual 17
1 Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Sokoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Sokoh and Azekah. 2 Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. 3 The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them.
4 A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span. 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels 6 on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. 7 His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him.
8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” 10 Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” 11 On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.
[/well]One of the reasons a man would remain silent is a direct result of an act of warfare and desperation. Men have grown faint hearted and given up because they have listened to the wrong voice forsaking honor and duty settling for a life sub par to the fullness for what God has for them; leaving legacies unfulfilled.
We must have a will to stand not accepting the defining power of culture, but with resolve, tenacity and determination overcome the enemy and reclaim masculinity and manhood as defined by God and how we do that is not to remain silent. We must stand up and use our voices.
Goliath was large enough to strike fear into any man. He was 6’9” up to 11’. Some would say right at 9’6”. His armor weight 125lbs and his spear tip weighed more than 15lbs. But the remarkable thing is that what struck fear into the Israelites were his words (Verse 11).
His words silenced an entire army. There are a lot of men who are silent who should not be silent. There are too many things at stake to allow silence. Silence brings:
- Insecurity
- Fear
- Despair
- Isolation
- Passivity
- Withdrawal
- Mediocrity
- Creates a Vacuum
- Guilt
“Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for war! Wake up the mighty men, Let all the men draw near, Let them come up.” Joel 3:9
“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest! “Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” Luke 19:38-40 NIV
“Hear, O Lord, and have mercy on me; Lord, be my helper!” You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,
To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.” Psalm 30:10-12
Revelation 12:7-12 “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.”
Accuser of the Brethren: Satan is bringing about accusations and we are treating it like he has read us our Miranda rights.
Sound is a powerful thing. They overcome by the word of their testimony. Not the silence but by their words. Sound:
- Has power.
- Creates.
- Fills.
- Destroys.
- Words spoken fill the darkness.
Proverbs 18:21 “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
Joel 2:11 “The LORD gives voice before His army, For His camp is very great; For strong is the One who executes His word. For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; Who can endure it?”
1 Chronicles 14:15 “And it shall be, when you hear a sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall go out to battle, for God has gone out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.”
You need to raise your voice of:
- Manhood
- Leadership
- Prayer
- Warfare
- Surrender
- Humility
- Agreement
- Authority
- Righteousness (Purity and against carnality)
