(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

All right, so keep your place there in first Kings Chapter 22 we're going to be going back and forth through this story. So this first Kings chapter 22 There's a lot a lot happens in this story and this this story reverberates through generations You know because of what happens here and I'm we're not going to get too deep into all that But basically what I want to focus on this morning is this idea that you know? Jehoshaphat who is a king of Judah. This is where he allies himself with King Ahab in battle against Syria so the story goes that you know Ahab wants to go to war with Syria and he Convinces Jehoshaphat that hey, this is your fight too and we're together and we're one so basically what happens is Jehoshaphat who is a good king in many respects is basically Convinced to ally himself with a wicked king who is King Ahab, right and God obviously is going to judge King Ahab And you know just as an aside, you don't really want to get in the way You know, you don't really want to be standing next to somebody who's under gonna be under the judgment of God So that's the sermon in itself, which is not what we're gonna talk about this morning But basically that's what happens to Jehoshaphat here. He allies himself with a wicked man All right, but we're gonna talk about in this morning sermon is this idea of counsel and And and receiving counsel hearing counsel and actually receiving counsel in your life now Jehoshaphat in this story was provided godly counsel Joseph Joseph at he asked for godly counsel and it was given to him Okay, and but look he didn't listen look down at verse number 30 and we see the consequences of Jehoshaphat not listening to this counsel in a verse number 30 of 1st Kings chapter 22, you know now they've decided to go into the battle that no one has listened to the godly counsel and The Bible says in 1st Kings 22 verse 30 and the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and enter into the battle but put thou on thy robes So, what is he telling Jehoshaphat here he's telling Jehoshaphat he's like, hey, I'm gonna dress, you know King Ahab says I'm gonna dress like all the other soldiers and I'm gonna go into the fight and what I want you to do is put on your ropes you look like a king and Go into the battle. Okay, so basically, you know There's some horrible advice as well because in verse number 31 The the Bible says but the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that rule over his chariots saying fight neither was small Or great nor save save only with the king of Israel so that the Syrian Leader is telling his captains to just go after the king. It's like just kill the king That's what we want to do first now Look, there's lots of rules of war throughout history where you know, you're not supposed to just start shooting the officers Basically, it's it's basically against you know, ethical warfare and you know, that's one of the things that you know that The Patriots in the Revolutionary War would do is that you know, they would just shoot the officers, right? They would shoot the guy that's in the the fanciest coat on the horse and then that helped them win fights, right? Well, that's exactly what the king of Syria is telling his men to do here Hey, let's just cut the head off the snake I mean in war I guess you could say in war in total war is there really any rules? Not really, I guess so that's what the king of Syria says and here Jehoshaphat is the one that is dressed like a king He's wearing his his robes He looks like a king look at verse 32 and it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat they said surely it is the king of Israel and they turned aside to fight against him and Jehoshaphat cried out and it came to pass when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel That they turned back from pursuing him and a certain man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints Of the harness wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot Ahab saying this turn thine hand and carry me out of the host for I am wounded and the battle increased that day and the king Was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians and he died at even he died in the evening and the blood ran out of The wound into the midst of the chariot. So here you see Jehoshaphat almost gets killed and King Ahab does get killed Which is exactly what? Micaiah said what happened? He said look he's like if you do come back if you do make it back He said to King Ahab, he's like then the word of the Lord has not spoken through me He said and of course Ahab doesn't come back. So we know that Micaiah was telling the truth. He was prophesying Good godly counsel. So first let's look at What is counsel? All right, turn to Proverbs chapter 1. Let's look at what is counsel and How we can make sure that in our lives we don't make the same mistake that Jehoshaphat look Jehoshaphat was a godly man Jehoshaphat was one of the best kings of The you know southern kingdom of Judah. He was one of the best kings in the history of that nation So you're saying wow, he made such a foolish mistake Well, let's make sure that we don't make the same mistakes in our lives. Look at Proverbs chapter 1 Look, first of all, the book of Proverbs is counsel the entire book okay, the entire book of Proverbs is Godly counsel for us for everything in our lives for all the relationships in our lives for all the you know Business dealings will have in our lives for all the friendships that we'll have in our lives for how we're to live this Christian life The book of Proverbs pretty much covers it all. All right, but look at Proverbs chapter 1 and verse number 1 The book of Proverbs kind of gives us some direction on how to take this counsel Proverbs 1 in verse 1 the Bible says the Proverbs of Solomon the son of David king of Israel to know wisdom and instruction to perceive the words of understanding and to receive the instruction of wisdom justice and Judgment and equity. So notice how it says number 1 in verse 2 It says to know and then in verse 3 it says to receive Okay, turn to Proverbs 19. You're gonna keep your place in Proverbs throughout the whole sermon We're gonna be going back and forth all over the book of Proverbs. Look at Proverbs chapter 19 and look at verse number 20 So in Proverbs 1 it says that there's two steps. It says to know and then it says to receive, right? So there's two steps here to counsel, right? Look at Proverbs 19 in verse number 20 Again, we see this repeated. It says here counsel. There's here and Receive Instruction that thou mayest be wise in thy ladder end So look, there's two steps to proper you properly utilizing counsel in your life The first is is you know hearing it or knowing it and the second is actually receiving it Right. So we're gonna look at this in more detail these two steps at the end But first let's look at what the benefits of counsel are in our life You're saying why would I want somebody telling me something giving me advice on something? Why would I want that? Well, let's look at it turn to Proverbs 24 Proverbs chapter 24 The first point is this the first point is on counsel is this Counsel keeps you safe. The Bible says okay in Proverbs 24. Look at verse number 6 The Bible says for by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war and in the multitude of counselors There is safety now doesn't this apply to our story? We just saw we just read it says for by why count wise counsel Thou shalt make thy war. Is that how they made their war by wise counsel? No, they ignored why wise counsel So what happened, you know, it was a disaster Right and in the multitude of counselors there is what there is safety. So look, here's the thing turn to Proverbs chapter 11 You don't have to know everything You know when you think about the situations in your life, you know, you really don't have to know Everything all you have to do is know who to take counsel from You know, I mean that's that's kind of a comfort. Look at Proverbs 11 in verse number 14 The Bible says this it says where no counsel is the people fall But in the multitude of counselors there is safety turn to Proverbs 21 So we see that this counsel this counsel where there's counselors the Bible says that there is literal safety Okay, there's literal safety. Look at Proverbs 21. Look at verse 31 The Bible says the horse is prepared against the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord so we see that counsel equal safety and Safety is of the Lord So we're kind of in this a equals B and B equals C. So a must equal C situation you see what I'm saying, basically what I'm saying is is if counsel equals safety and Safety is of the Lord then good counsel is of the Lord Okay, so look there's two ways to learn in life. Right? There's two ways to learn things one way is the safe way Right one way is the safe way, you know, you avoid falling you avoid, you know sin you avoid Disasters like a have and Jehoshaphat found themselves in you avoid the consequences of all these different sins You know, that's the beauty of Proverbs, right? That's the beauty of Proverbs is that it's it's a safe book if you read Proverbs and you follow Proverbs There's a lot of safety there for you. There's a lot of safety in your life Now one way so that's one way to learn right? That's one way to operate your life But the other way is not safe. Look there's other ways to learn Right. There's other ways to learn things Right. There's a safe way is what the Bible is saying then there's a way that's not safe Look, you could learn everything the hard way many people do this Many people do this you could fall into sin You know You could just ignore all sorts of counsel on alcohol and drugs and fornication And whatever else and you know, you could just bear all the consequences of that sin. I mean, that's one way to learn Right. That's one way to learn you can bear the scars of that sin. You could have all kinds of health effects You could have disease Damaged relationships some of these effects could last for your whole life You know, you could drink your whole life and you could just destroy your body and then you know That that could just last for the rest of your life. You could destroy your mind With drugs and alcohol, but look it is one way to learn. I Mean if you do finally learn Right, it's it's one way to go. But look some people will never learn I Mean like these people sleeping under bridges and out here on the sidewalks and just going to the bathroom in public These are people that will just never learn These are people that have taken counsel in their life and they just they've not taken any of it You say how do I know because I'm sure that there was somebody in their life at one set point that said hey Don't don't do don't drink alcohol. That's not good Hey, don't do drugs what everybody has heard that at least once in their life And look some people that just ignore that and ignore that and ignore that and ignore that they're just gonna They're just gonna bear the consequences of that until eventually look eventually they're just gonna die It's just gonna kill them Okay, so like some people never learn but you know if you if you do learn I would prefer to learn the Safeway and not by just damaging myself and my family and my Relationships and all those types of things and learning the hard way look because I mean these people I mean you could see the marks That they bear on their bodies From you know not learning Lessons right where they could just read the book of Proverbs and everything would be fine They wouldn't have to learn all these hard lessons, right? So how do we utilize counsel in our life? That's the question All right, because here Jehoshaphat one of the wisest, you know Most righteous kings in the kingdom of Judah. He he failed at this So, how can we not fail at this? So I want to give you two steps on how to utilize counsel in your life this morning All right, the first step is this the first step to Utilizing counsel in your life is seeking counsel. I mean basically Recognizing that you need it, right? I mean many people will go through life and they'll just be having all these problems and they won't you know They won't recognize that they even need counsel, right? Because look, I mean most people aren't going to just hunt you down and just start giving you orders on how to run your life I mean you need to seek counsel Jehoshaphat look Jehoshaphat Turn back to first Kings chapter 22. Look he got this part, right? He knew He knew the other prophets were liars right away Jehoshaphat did look back at first Kings 22 and look at verse number verse number five So remember they had all these prophets that were just like oh you're gonna win the greatest battle And all this stuff and look at first Kings 22 in verse number 5 where the Bible says that Jehoshaphat Said unto the king of Israel inquire. I pray thee at the word of the Lord today then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together about 400 men and Said unto them shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to battle or should I forbear and they said go up for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king and Jehoshaphat said I Mean right away Jehoshaphat says is there not a prophet of the Lord besides that we might inquire of him He's like he's like what a joke He's like, is there someone that we could ask that actually is a prophet of the Lord? That's what he's saying the very next thing. He's like, I mean think of it 400 prophets I'm like go to battle you're gonna win and all this and he's like is there a Joseph that's like is there a prophet of the Lord here? anywhere anybody Look at verse number 11, how did he recognize it? Well, first of all, you know, Jehoshaphat and I'm sure was saved and you know, he recognized this this lying spirits Right, but look at this in verse number 11 in Zedekiah the son of Chania Made him horns of iron and said thus saith the Lord with these shall thou push the Syrians until thou have consumed them Look, this is like the the biggest, you know Weasel that's trying to you know Just butter up the king is what he's trying to do, right? He makes these horns and he's like this is you King Ahab, you know, and Joe I mean you can just see Joe's valley We're probably gonna die, you know, could we get a real prophet anywhere here? Look at Proverbs 29 in verse number 5 Another thing that Jehoshaphat recognized was this look at Proverbs chapter 29 and verse number 5 So he recognizes just this over-the-top You know flattery Basically is what it was in Proverbs 29 5 says a man that flattereth his neighbor spreadeth a net for his feet This is what Jehoshaphat recognized. He's like look, you know, this is gonna probably get us in trouble he's like this guy these people are not telling us the truth and You know something about he could tell the spirit within him. He could tell that this was not right So look at verse 22 of 1st Kings chapter 22 where the Bible says and the Lord said unto him Wherewith and he said I will go forth and I will be at see this is what happened This is God was judging Ahab Okay, God put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets and in verse 22 it explained this explains this to us and says in the Lord said unto him wherewith and he said I will go forth and I will be a Lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets and he said thou shalt persuade him and prevail also Go forth and do so right. So look basically a Lying spirit was put into the mouth of all of Ahab's prophets So he would go into this battle and die because that's what God wanted to happen to him And here's Jehoshaphat hanging out with them. I Mean, there's a good good lesson on who not to be your friends, right? So look in verse number seven Joseph has like is there anyone else we can ask and he got what he asked for? Here Micaiah comes in and he tells him the truth He's like look you're gonna be like sheep scattered without a shepherd and he's like you're gonna die He got godly counsel. He got exactly what he asked for Micaiah came in and Bravely told the king, you know prophesied what the Lord actually wanted him to hear but the problem was is that Jehoshaphat didn't listen That was the problem All right, so the first thing that we see is that you need to seek godly counsel That's the first step Jehoshaphat got that part right, but you have to get both parts right or it's worthless Okay, and the second part is receiving counsel. Remember in Proverbs 1 it says to know and to receive So it's not good enough that somebody just gives you counsel. You actually have to receive that counsel and Do something with it and and and follow that counsel Otherwise, it's worthless. I mean All that came out of this was Micaiah got I mean poor Micaiah just got thrown in prison. That's it That's all that came out of the whole thing He got smacked in the face by Zedekiah the guy with the horns of iron and he got thrown in prison He's like, yeah, so I'm good. You know, thanks for calling me Thanks for asking the advice that you know, I was supposed to give you they throw him in prison and feed him You know the bread of affliction so look Receiving counsel is the next step now you would think that this is the easy part But unfortunately and especially in the Bible. This is where most people go wrong and in In our lives too. This is where most people go wrong turn to first Kings chapter 12. Let's look at another example of this Let's look at another example of this another king of all things First Kings chapter 12 Down to verse number six. This of course is King Ray of Boem King Ray of Boem Solomon's son, you know, he is he's faced with a question. He asked the people He's like hey what you know, what do we need? What do I need to do? You know to for you to follow me and the people say hey, you know lighten the load on us And I'm not gonna get into the whole story, but they're basically like your father had this yoke that was heavy on us He taxed us too much. He worked us too hard and you know lighten the load on us And you know will serve you and so he goes and he consults in verse number six. The Bible says in King Ray of Boem consulted with the old men that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived and said how do you advise that me answer these people? So these old men are the men that that that consulted Solomon, I mean think about who these men were I mean these number one they were old men number two, they were counselors to the wisest king that had ever lived So, I mean this is a serious advantage to have men like these able to counsel you and give you counsel So basically he asked them what to do and they're like, hey, you know, listen to the people, you know Be nice to them, you know Listen to what they need and lighten their load and and he's saying be a good king to them listen to their concerns and instead You know Ray of Boem goes and he listens to his buddies who basically said I just tell him how it's gonna be and he Forsakes the counsel of the old men so he received he seeked the counsel But he did not receive it see same mistake that Jehoshaphat made So look he just said, you know Do what I say to the people and it didn't work out, right? So look it's harder I just want to point out that it's harder to work with people, you know, that's what Ray of Boem must have been thinking right? It's harder to actually listen to what the people want and try to make things better for them It's much easier for him in his situation to just be like do what I say, right? So this is the road that he takes just to drop the hammer on these people and look it It's usually what everybody else is doing is why people would you know reject counsel as well? But look Jehoshaphat in the whole situation where he did not receive the council it almost cost him his life number one and Ray of Boem lost the kingdom I mean he literally the kingdom was split and he lost all but two tribes of the kingdom So, I mean it didn't work out So, I mean they may have thought that it was the easy road at the beginning to not take the council But it didn't turn out to be that way at the in the end in the long run Of course, we have the whole Bible in front of us We see how it all worked out and we're like man these guys what a bunch of morons but at the time They rejected the council. So it's something that we need to take seriously and look at it, right? So why the question is this why don't most people take counsel all that to say this? Why don't most people do it? Because most people number one most people will always take the easy road Most of the time in your life The correct road that the council is going to give you is not Going to be what seems like the easy road to you And of course you we look at the story of Jehoshaphat You know where he went into this battle and he was literally running and fighting for his life And you think is that an easy road? But at the time at the time look at the time it was the easy road it to just not offend Ahab To just go along with the flow You know to just just go with I mean look it takes it takes strength to swim against the current It takes strength to do that. Look he would have angered King Ahab Maybe he lost an ally if he would have done that and said hey I'm gonna listen to Micaiah and I'm not gonna go with you. Who knows maybe it would have been war between them But that's the road that should have been taken But it wasn't the seemingly easy road in front of him All right So look until you look back at the consequences his actions head on Future generations of his family it might seem like it was the easy road at the time, but we know From what Jehoshaphat's family looked like one two three generations down the road from this situation We know that he did actually not take the easy road Even though it seemed like it at the time Look in Ray of bones case it was much easier to just say do what I say That that that seemed like the easy road to him then to work with them to be nice To collaborate with them to listen to their concerns to try to figure out where the best solutions were It seemed like the easy road so most people, you know, a lot of people reject counsel just because it seems like The easy road is to just keep doing what they're doing Okay, but we know from these two situations that You know It turns out to be the very difficult road that you're putting yourself in once you reject counsel If you reject godly counsel, you're heading down a long and painful path Unfortunately, so what's the second reason people reject counsel turn to Proverbs chapter 12? Proverbs chapter 12 The second reason people reject counsel is this Look at Proverbs 12 in verse number 15 The second reason is this people are foolish and prideful It's it's that simple the Bible says in Proverbs 12 15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise Turn to Proverbs 13 verse number 10. So there we see the way of a fool is right in his own eyes But he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise. So if you don't listen to counsel, you're a fool the Bible says Look at Proverbs 13 10 only by pride cometh contention But with the well-advised is wisdom. So look, let me explain how Proverbs works Proverbs works in these opposites, right? So what it's giving you here is the way of the fool is right in his own eyes but If you don't want to be a fool, it says hearken unto counsel. Okay, so it's giving you these opposites It's giving you one side of the coin the other side of the coin and then in 13 10 It says only by pride cometh contention, but with the well-advised is wisdom So it's saying look the well-advised are not prideful or better said is you know? The prideful will not be well advised Does that make sense in Proverbs 13 10? It says if you're prideful you will not be well advised Meaning you you won't seek it. You won't want it You won't receive it. Even if you do seek it, even if you do get it, you're not gonna receive it so being prideful is You know, this is the guy who just knows everything right? Yeah. I mean haven't you ever said that like man? You can't tell that guy anything This is the prideful guy This is the guy who's gonna learn everything the hard way because you can't tell him anything. That's what the Bible is saying here Maybe that one of the most dangerous aspects of pride right here. Is that look when you get counsel, you will not listen to it. I Mean that's that's a dangerous, you know, that was Ray of Owen by the way, that was his main Problem was he was prideful. He went to his young buddies and they what did they do? They lifted him up just like, you know, all the prophets did to King Ahab. They lifted him up He was super prideful and he just wasn't gonna receive any counsel. It's that simple So look, let's look at some tips. Like how do we not be this way some tips for receiving counsel? Look Here's the first one right here whenever you receive counsel just expect that it's not gonna be what you want to hear Just expect that If you ever go and say hey, I need counsel on this situation, you know It's it's never gonna be the easy path that you have in your mind. Just just decide that before you even ask for counsel I mean think about like some examples like a career path Okay, I mean look people that people that make enough money to support a family have gone through a long road of education and training and Experience and look it just didn't happen overnight It just didn't they just didn't wake up and we're like just got some dream job that just allows them with no experience or anything To you know support their family. It didn't happen like that So don't think you're gonna get in a similar spot without traveling, you know a road that's similar to that You know, that's that's simple. So if you receive that type of counsel, you have to just kind of expect that You know, I mean it's the same with with anything else raising kids, you know in order to raise your kids properly You have to discipline them properly You know that takes diligence and work. I Mean it takes just effort, you know, it's it's but it look it's just much easier to just say hey don't do that You know, it's much easier to just just say hey stop Then it is to actually get up and and grab them and properly discipline them. Look It takes time it takes diligence it's not the easy way So when you get counsel that that tells you those things it's much easier just to like keep doing what you're doing You see what I'm saying? So the answer is this I'm sitting there. I'm thinking about this sermon and I'm like how You know, it reminded me of this phrase in the Bible and how this phrase happens twice in the Bible So you're saying how do you convince people to go down what they think is the difficult road in their life? You know, how do you convince people so I mean here, you know, we're talking and you know, I'm telling you Hey, this is the road. You need to go down and you're like man, but I just want to go like right there It seems easier, you know other than this long complicated path of whether it's you know Anything in this Christian life, right? How do you convince people to take the hard path or what seems like the hard path of them? Because look it's it's actually not the hard path Right because if you don't do these things the right way you're gonna you're gonna it's gonna be a long painful journey for you Let's put it that way But what there's this phrase turn to 1st Samuel chapter 4 is this phrase used in the Bible that kind of popped into my head When I was wondering about and this is mainly I'm gonna beat up on the guys a little bit here But This is mainly for the guys here But in 1st Samuel chapter 4 there's a phrase used twice in the Bible that kind of explains You know the methodology of how to handle, you know When you get you know wise godly counsel and how to make sure that you follow that counsel look at 1st Samuel chapter 4 Look at verse number 8 The Bible says woe unto us. So this is that the Philistine army. So they're they're going to war against Israel And they see that the Ark of the Covenant has come into the camp and they said woe unto us Who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues and the wilderness beast and then the their commander says be Strong and quit yourselves like men Oh you Philistines that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews as they have been to you quit yourselves like men and fight Turn to 1st Corinthians chapter 16 So we see this this phrase used in 1st Samuel 4 that says quit yourselves like men and fight And in 1st Corinthians chapter 16, we see the same statement And look what it says in 1st Corinthians 16 and verse number 13 1st Corinthians 16 verse number 13 the Bible says watch ye stand fast in the faith Quit you like men be strong So quit in this phrase means act that's what it means So what he's saying what the Philistine commander was saying to them and what you know Paul is saying here is he's saying act like a man Well, you say I don't know how to act like a man. Well, I'm gonna tell you so that's why you came to church this morning So what does that mean? What does that mean? So we see that quit you like men that act like a man in these two cases it means be strong and In the case of the Philistines it means to fight right so they were to fight turn to 1st Peter chapter 3 1st Peter chapter 3 and look at verse number 7 1st Peter chapter 3 in verse number 7 So we see in these specific cases that they're to be strong in 1st Corinthians 16 and that it meant quit yourselves like men and fight in 1st Samuel chapter 4 look at 1st Peter chapter 3 in verse number 7 The Bible says likewise he husbands dwell with them according to knowledge giving honor unto the wife as Unto the weaker vessel and as being heirs together of the grace of life that your prayers be not hindered So here the Bible says that husbands your wife is weaker than you Okay, so your wife is the weak one in the relationship. She's physically weaker You know, she's emotionally weaker than you, you know, the Bible says that the women are the weaker vessel Alright, look, I mean that's just the way God designed it So that's why the Bible is saying be strong fight act like a man Okay, don't be weak So look, let me give you an example where I'm headed with this many times raising our kids I would get a call at work from my wife and she would say, you know, so-and-so did this and You know, she was usually you know a little irate over the situation so and so did this and you're gonna have to give him a Spanking when you get home and I'm like, okay Many times I would get home not every time but many times I would get home I'm sorry, honey, many times I would get home and she would say, you know what? We worked it out and it's fine. He doesn't need a spanking And I'm just like, I'm sorry the jury has already ruled guilty and I would take The child that needed the spanking and I would administer the spanking Okay. Now what do you think that I want to come home from work? And the first thing that I do is spank my kids. No, I Want to come home and I haven't I've been at some dumb job That I wouldn't go to if they didn't pay me. I'd rather be home with my family every day But I go to work and I make money and I come home and I want to I'd rather just play with my kids I'd rather go outside and throw a football around. That's what I would like to do But instead, you know you put aside your emotions and You act like a man That's what you do. You quit yourself like men Women are more emotional. Look. Thank God. There's two parents. It balances nicely. That's why God designed it that way, but You are to act like a man So when you're ruled by your emotions turn to turn to Jeremiah chapter 51 We we need to be able to as a man you need to be able to see what needs to be done and Just do it Regardless of how you feel about it. That's where I'm headed with this That's why God gave you know families a mom and a dad turn to Jeremiah chapter 51 Jeremiah chapter 51 look at verse number 30 as a man if you're ruled by your emotions here you are right here in Jeremiah 51 verse number 30 The mighty men of Babylon have foreborn to fight. They have remained in their holds their might have failed. They became as women They have burned their dwelling places. Her bars are broken You say you know, I just I just don't want to I just don't want to Spank my kids when I get home because I that make that makes me sad. Well, you're like a woman That's what the Bible says and You know, the Bible says that look the Philistines were they were they were being ruled by their emotions they were afraid They were afraid The guys like act like a man Don't be ruled by your emotions It's very simple Look, I don't want to make all these changes in my life that are all constantly talked about in this in these sermons because because it's it might offend people and It might make people uncomfortable act like a man That's the answer quit ye like men Don't be ruled by your emotions You know I don't want to go down this road for my career there where the council has been given to me because it's just like it's Really hard. It seems like you know seems difficult and that stresses me out to even think about it quit being quit acting like a woman Is what I would say quit being ruled by your emotions You know what you need to do do it that is acting that it that is acting like a man That is being strong that is standing fast in the faith in the faith. Look there's many times It says stand fast in the faith quit ye like men Because there's gonna be times when you don't feel like coming to church or you don't feel like Going soul-winning or you don't feel like doing what you're supposed to do, but you know what you're supposed to do So act like a man So what I mean don't be ruled by your emotions that's that's one way to just get past a lot of this for the men conclusion If you're prideful if you're prideful, let me just talk for a couple minutes on pride, especially men If you're prideful, you're not going to receive any counsel Pride pride will destroy you You know, that's what destroyed your a bone If you're prideful, especially men or if you're ruled by your emotions, you will not heed any counsel And there's a to look there's a tough road ahead for you If that's that's who you are if you're gonna be ruled by your emotions and or you're prideful You're just you're just gonna the pits in your life. You're just gonna fall into every single one. I Mean who wants to do that? Every single pit you'll fall into every single obstacle. You'll smash into it with your face I mean who wants to do that? Who wants to live their life that way? And look, especially the men I told you I was gonna beat up on the men. Here's the thing People will suffer with you Because you're in charge so if if you cannot get past your pride if You cannot get past, you know, just being ruled by your emotions and just like, you know being as a woman Look I'm not I'm not Denigrating women. It's just different roles and you're not to have that role, man You're not to have that role I mean, thank God that there's a woman in a family to just like poor love and emotion constantly on the kids I mean, thank God for that I mean, thank God that you know, I mean you don't think look I we took some classes Like we did foster care many years ago, and we took some classes on on early childhood development and I was shocked at how much how important it is for Like a mom just to hold her baby and to just you know I mean all these connections are just being made and the kids minds from zero to like two years old And if they don't have that they don't have that mother that's just constantly touching them and loving on them and all these things look They just don't they don't develop right? I Mean, it's designed that way So it's it's supposed to be that way But look men if you don't get this right you don't take counsel and in whether it's your pride or your emotionalism or whatever It is, you know, look people are gonna suffer with you. You're gonna take I mean, there's other people on the ship with you and And and you know, you could steer it in the wrong direction and they're all me look at Jehoshaphat He destroyed generations of his family over one Thing that he did it's a it's an incredibly sobering story in the Bible It what counsel is a blessing that God has provided for you for your safety And for the safety of your family Use it hear it and Receive it both things. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer