To love the Lord our God

with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

And that should be something

that is set before us daily.

As we see in Deuteronomy chapter 6,

it’s something that should be written

on the doorpost of our house.

That when we leave, when we come in,

we are constantly reminded

that the great thing we are about

is to love the Lord our God.

That when it all comes down

to the basic root of everything,

I’m to love the Lord my God,

and I must be reminded

that this is the thing I’m to do.

I’m to have one great love,

and then again, I’m to have one great passion.

We listen to Matthew 6:33,

that kind of sums it all up:

"But seek first His kingdom

and His righteousness

and all these things will be added to you."

Men.

How different would we be

if only these two verses were taken seriously?

If only these two verses

were brought before our eyes

two or three times a day?

And as I said this morning,

is it not true,

that you and I can go weeks

without being reminded

of the most important things in the Christian life?

The things that God Himself incarnate

set out for us

are forgotten.

In all our activity

and all our busyness.

And everything we do

we are to do because it is the will of God,

and because it brings glory to God.

Even the most menial tasks.

Something that I often ask myself:

'When was the last time

you drank a glass of water

to the glory of God?'

'That you relished a glass of water

to the glory of God?'

'When you drank it knowing

it is a gift

from God?'

It comes from Him

and is to return to Him in praise.

In a sense we are to be reminded of Him

every time we think,

every time we look down at our hands and feet,

every time we attempt any endeavor

we are to do it to the glory of God.

There has never been a time

in the life of Paul Washer

that I have loved God

as He ought to be loved.

And there has never been a time

in the life of Paul Washer

that I have glorified God

as He ought to be glorified.

You see it changes everything doesn’t it.

Now it’s not just a knit picky little legalistic system

that you can check off and say,

'I’m a righteous man.'

You see holiness,

when it comes down to it,

is separation from the things that displease God,

in order to be separated unto the person of God.

To esteem God above all things,

infinitely above all things His value,

and to live in accordance with that estimation.

So as men

our goal

is to learn,

is to grow in this truth

that everything we do

we're to do for the glory of God.

I have met men in the world

that were not only consumed by passions,

but were controlled by them.

Men who are controlled by singular passion.

I’ll give you a perfect example, it's about to come upon us here

and it’s the Olympics.

I in no way want to speak on this in a negative light,

but I want to use it as an example.

There are men

who since they were six years old

have done nothing

but run down a 100 meter track.

Every day of their life

since they were six years old.

They have gone without sleep.

They have gone without hobbies.

They have gone without lives.

They have gone without dating.

They have gone with absolutely everything in their life,

for one purpose;

to run down a 100 meter track and get a medal.

Is that not true?

Look at the gymnasts,

they're absolutely amazing,

their bodies.

Many of them since they were three

and four years old,

all they have ever done

is eat and sleep

this passion.

And then there’s us.

It’s not some gold medal

to be hung around the neck

or some wreath that will be put on our heads

that will last only for a day.

But you and I.

You and I are called

to be controlled

by one singular passion;

the doing of the will of God

and for a crown, that does not perish.

We must strive

to be in the center of God’s will.

Now, another thing that He has given us,

not just one great love,

not just one great passion,

but He’s also given us a great commission.

Men,

we were not made

to live like most men.

We were made to fight.

We were made to strive.

We were made to work.

We were made to conquer.

We were made to give ourselves for something that is eternal.

Adam was given the command to do what?

To go out and subdue.

To bring everything in creation

in harmony with the will of God.

To do all his governing,

all his things

within the context of God’s will.

Now we live in a fallen world

that lives in darkness

and death.

The kingdom of the evil one

spread abroad throughout the land.

You and I were not called to play video games.

We were not called

to sit in front of a television set.

We were not called to give ourselves to trifles.

We were called to advance a kingdom!

To live with a passion,

to fight for Him!

And to only every once in a while

drop our swords and look up for a smile.

I want to fight!

I don’t want comfort!

I don’t want ease in Zion!

Because the kingdom of God

is built

not by those who rest easily in Zion,

but by those who go out into the streets and fight.

And the weapons of our warfare are not carnal.

They are mighty.

Intercessory prayer,

the proclamation of the Gospel,

and sacrificial love.

Men.

Rise up O men of God.

Do what you were called to do!

Be valiant and strong!

And know

that it’s going to cost you.

You take your stand beside Jesus Christ and His cause,

and you watch the devil come after you

buffeting you from the outside and from the inside.

But that’s what war is about.

And so He has given us

a great commission.

To pace a room at night saying,

"There Is a place, there is a place

where He is not worshiped,

where He is not worshiped.

There is a place where He is not worshiped."

"I can not sleep."

"There is a place where He is not worshiped."

"There is a place where the flag of Zion does not fly."

That’s what we were made for,

to set aside

our little temporal causes,

and to give ourselves

to this one great battle.

And so if we set aside

these basic principle difficult things,

in order to jump out there

and do something public

and something great.

Then we prove ourselves to be hypocrites.

What is the most important trait in a man,

is it giftedness?

Absolutely not!

Some of the most gifted men in the world

are self destructive,

and destroy others.

What does your wife need?

What do your children need?

What do your children need?

What does the world need from you?

Christ-likeness.

This is what were are to strive toward

and it breaks my heart.

Sometimes you know,

I don’t like to go to conferences,

I don’t like to preach in them.

Sometimes in the middle

of all the stuff being said

all the time,

I just want to stand up and say,

"Enough!"

"I’ve already got more truth

than I know how to obey."

I don’t just want to 'know!'

I want to 'change!'

And I don’t want to change on the so called 'spiritual level.'

That at 'public' level, (maybe is a better word.)

I want to change

in the inner chambers of my heart.

That even His thoughts,

-the deepest expression of who He is-

it was His desire that they be according

to the will of almighty God.

The freest man on the face of the earth

is the one who makes himself

a slave to a perfect master.

Where has God been wrong,

and where has He wronged you?

Has there ever been a time when you've listened to Him,

when you've obeyed Him,

when you've sought out His will,

that He has misled you somehow?

Never!

But have you ever followed your own ways

and been misled by your own devices?

Always.

It is extreme.

It is deliberate.

1st Timothy 4:7-8

"But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women,

on the other hand discipline yourself

for the purpose of godliness."

Now here’s an extremely important question.

When I go to an Olympic athlete

and I watch him,

it is obvious

what he eats,

what he drinks.

He gets up early in the morning, he trains.

He goes to school, he comes back,

he trains some more.

He eats right, he goes to bed, he gets up.

He reads journals on his particular sport.

He is constantly working to be better.

And we admire them for that.

But look what he says here to you,

"Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness."

And again I want to just put this

where we can understand it.

The people who most observe your life.

Would they see you