This is “The Number One Responsibility of Every Man.” Every man is drawn away when he is tempted by his own lusts. Peter summed it up in Acts 2 when he said, “Save yourself from this wicked and perverse generation.” That leads us to the most important responsibility of every man and woman. It’s the one responsibility that will guarantee your impact, your influence, and your eternal destination.
the following program is sponsored by
friends and partners of Kingdom
connection
[Music]
you have your Bibles open them with me
please through the book of first Kings
chapter 20 and I want to speak today
primarily to everybody but I think it
will be applicable to every person under
the sound of my voice regardless of of
what gender you are but particularly I
want to speak to the men as a matter of
fact I’m going to preach today on the
number one responsibility of every man
the number one responsibility of every
man and it’s given to us in an Old
Testament story verse thirty-nine at
first Kings 20 as the King passed by he
cried out to the king and said your
servant went out into the midst of the
battle there was a man who came over and
brought a man to me and said guard this
man the King James says keep this man
guard this man if by any means he is
missing your life shall be for his life
or else you’ll pay a talent of silver
while your servant was busy here and
there notice that just got busy here and
there he was gone then the king of
Israel said to him so shall your
judgment be you yourself have decided it
the number one responsibility of every
man is contained in these short verses
the story takes place on a battlefield
battlefields in the Old Testament were
noisy places they would direct the
soldiers with trumpet blasts shofars
instruments of war the clashing of
swords and shields and the rumble of
chariots and horses and the screams and
the yells of men as it was in
hand-to-hand combat was very very noisy
chaos everything around you to be just
you know just can you imagine that kind
of battlefield you’ve seen Braveheart
you know what I’m talking about it had
to be hard to imagine anything greater
than that battle they were in and right
in the middle of the
kind of a battle the king comes up and
he says I have captured someone and he
says to this particular soldier I want
you to guard this man
your primary number-one responsibility
even though there’s chaos and there’s a
battle all around you this raging your
number-one responsibility soldier is to
guard this man keep this man the word
keep our guard means to hedge in with
thorns you are to hedge him in with
thorns put perimeters and boundaries
around him and make sure that he does
not escape and to add to the seriousness
of this order that he was given he said
if this man is missing when I come for
him then it will be your life for his
life that’s pretty serious this is your
responsibility to guard this man I know
there’s a lot going on out here
but you worry about this man I’m pulling
you off of the battlefield so to speak
to not be so engaged with this and that
that’s going on in this scream and this
trumpet blast and this sword clash and
this
rumble of a chariot I want you to be
focused more than anything else on
hedging with thorns and guarding this
man and the Bible said when the battle
was over the king came back the dust
settled the warfare was over and the
king himself came back and ladies and
gentlemen our King is coming back to
earth again and when the king came back
he wanted to know one thing from that
soldier did you keep did you guard the
man that I gave you the responsibility
for where is the man that I gave you
charge of and in this particular case
the Bible said that the man escaped
where’s the man that I
that I told you you need to worry about
more than anybody else where’s the man
how could this have happened how what
was so important that it could have
distracted you from the one assignment
that I gave you and that was to guard
this man and watch this man and keep
this man explain yourself
were you overpowered by the enemy no no
sir
were you seduced by a woman no sir
well did you forget the charge that I
gave you to guard this man no sir King
I didn’t his answer was a classic notice
what he said he said I just got busy
here and there the King said so shall
your judgment be you have lost the man
therefore you will lose yourself it’s
going to cost you your life if you don’t
watch this man the soldier wanted the
King to know that the man wasn’t missing
and didn’t escape because he was lazy he
began to explain I wasn’t lazy I was
busy I was busy
here and there and I got distracted and
I forgot about guarding the man he had
been very busy here and there he was
busy over here and over there distracted
and hindered from keeping the man
engaged in a lot of busy things like all
the men I’m preaching to at every one of
our campuses we’re all busy men like
most men he had responsibilities this
isn’t my only life just church stuff and
living for God I have responsibilities I
have a house payment I have a car
payment I have to take care of my family
I have to keep up our lifestyle
I’ve got I’ve got to get up and go to
work I’ve got to pay bills I’ve got
children that need my attention I’m a
very busy man
I was busy here and there and I forgot
to guard this man the king told me was
my number
responsibilities in this life you don’t
understand this isn’t the only thing I
had to do Church stuff I have a lot of
obligations and I have a lot of
responsibilities and I just got busy
King the man said he would stay here he
promised me that I didn’t have to worry
about him that he would stay behind the
thorny hedge that I put him behind
he even crossed us on this in the Bible
I’m making this up but he even crossed
his heart and hope to die he swore that
he gave me a Boy Scout honor but he
would stay there and I could just be
doing my busy stuff and it probably
wasn’t some quick thing it was just a
gradual thing just here and there and
probably got a little further away from
where he had him hedged in and then he
thought I need to do this and oh yeah
and remember my number one
responsibility as the guard that man and
keep that man and oh but I’m gonna go a
little bit further and a little bit
farther and a little bit farther and
before he knew it he turns around
because he’s thinking about it less and
less and less and less and the man has
escaped I’m saying to you today that
that man the King knew he needed to be
guarded that’s your old nature if you
hadn’t figured this sermon out yet your
little slow then we’ll help you with it
the king is Jesus and he says to
everyman your number-one responsibility
is you are this man you are to guard who
you are you are to guard your heart with
all diligence you are to keep this man
keep him from the lust of the eyes the
lust of the flesh and the pride of life
you’re the hedge hem in with thorns and
have some parameters and some boundaries
and some standards that you don’t just
let him go Wow because this man is a
liar this man you can’t believe what he
will do he’ll tell you he won’t do
things but if you don’t guard him if you
don’t watch him if you don’t hedging in
he’s crazy he’s a loud man your flesh
cannot be trusted the paul said there’s
no
good thing in my flesh and you have to
guard this man he’ll try to get out you
have to hedge him in with thorns the
soldier was not a bad man he was just a
busy man he was trying to accomplish
things for his life and maintain a
lifestyle for his children
he was just like most of them in here
got something supposed to do busy here
busy there got a flat tire why didn’t
you go to church got a loan McGrath why
weren’t you there last week where we had
to go get groceries and why weren’t you
there the week before well I had this
and I had that it’s not it is not a bad
man he’s just a busy man and you’re not
guarding the spiritual man he didn’t
lose the man on purpose most of the time
it’s just we just drift away little by
little just a little here and a little
there and before you know it you’re far
from God
far from who you once were far from the
character that you have the anointing
that you had the presence of God you
have to guard this man you have to keep
this man worshipping and praising God
keep this man in church keep this man
paying his tithe keep this man in
obedience to the word keep this man
reading the Word of God your number-one
priority is not your children is not
your wife they’re going to have to
answer to God for themselves and here’s
the deal well I’m so worried about my
children if I don’t keep this man
there’s no way I’m going to win my
children if I don’t keep this man
there’s no way I’m going to influence my
wife if I don’t keep this man there’s no
way that I’m going to have an impact on
hundreds of men under the sound of my
voice right now the key to this thing is
I have to keep this man I have to keep
him from porn on the internet I have to
keep him from a bad attitude I have to
keep him from wrong television shows on
satellite TV I have to keep him and we
don’t like to talk about this stuff but
the truth is if you don’t hedge this man
in and guard this man the enemy will
cause
that man who escaped and if you lose him
you lose yourself we get so busy and the
man is gone who is the man the world is
a battlefield the battlefield is the
flesh the world and the devil and
there’s noise and there Cait chaos but
one day the king is going to come back
and when the King comes back he’s going
to ask one question did you keep this
man did you guard this man every man is
drawn away when he is tempted by his own
lust Peter summed it up in Acts chapter
two when he said save yourself from this
wicked and perverse generation a man’s
greatest responsibility is to keep this
man and folks there’s never been a time
when there was more opportunity to live
immoral and get all kinds of stuff
attached to you but I have to keep this
man from addiction keep this man from
alcoholism keep this man from perversion
keep this man from doing things that he
shouldn’t do and you have to hang this
man in with the thorns of the hedge of
the Word of God I get so tired of this
little nicey-nicey always just live like
you want to live know there’s some of
this that once Jesus saves you he says
now you got a spirit and the Spirit is
safe but you got a body and you better
learn how to hedge that body in you
better learn how to bring your body
under subjection both it I buff it my
body
I’m brutal on myself because I know I
can’t let my flesh do what it wants to
do so I have to keep this man because
the trumpets going to sound and the king
is going to come and when he comes back
he’s going to ask did you keep this man
if I’m not a godly example then my
children won’t be saved
most of the men who are lost in the
Bible were not lost
in the battle Samson did awesome in the
battle the Bible said at times everybody
say at times the Spirit of the Lord
began to move on him at times and the
power of God would come on in and he
would fight a thousand Philistines with
the jawbone of a donkey and kill him my
lord he would at times the Spirit would
come on him mightily one place said and
he and he and he and he he slew a lion
with his bare hands ripped his jaws to
pieces that’s powerful and anybody can
live for God when the Spirit of God is
upon you mightily but what about the
in-between times we’ve got to learn the
art of living for God in the in-between
times when we’re not in a service and
they’re not singing praise songs and
everybody’s mind is on good things but I
want to know what about in the
in-between times when you’re not in a
mighty service and you’re just out
living life that’s when I’ve got to use
listen big word discipline to keep this
man chief its anger keep his tongue keep
his heart keep this body keep his mind
keep his eyes keep his ears keep
everything under subjection thorned him
up in a hedge say there are limits there
are things that I will not let you do
and see there will be times when God
will move mightily that’s important when
you’ll get in services if you come to a
good church like this there will be
services we’ve had them recently where
people were just overwhelmed by the
presence of God but most of the time is
not the Spirit of God is only mightily
most of the time is in between time and
I’m just going to work and I’m just
doing life and I’m just living and I’m
just paying bills that’s when I’ve got
to keep this man oh this generation
needs to hear this and here’s the deal
if you can keep this man and be in
between times
but when you get up and you preach or
you sing or you minister you’ve got a
call on your life in business the Spirit
of God will come mightily on you because
God watches what we do in the in-between
times more than he does what we do when
it’s mighty my greatest times of Prayer
in ministry are not in this pulpit there
when I’m walking my little trail in the
woods and I’m talking to the Lord
because I’ve learned the secret to this
thing is what I do in the in-between
times I got to keep this man in prayer I
got to keep this man fasting I got to
keep this man reading the Word of God I
got to keep this man going to church
you gotta guard this man I love my
family I’d die for him I take a bullet
for any one of them just like that but
the Lord said the greatest thing that I
can do for my family as I studying this
message is just keep this man because if
you keep this Manuel influence Drake and
you’ll influence Courtney and Kristen
Caroline and Connor
you’ll influence urease if you just keep
this man
keep it in prayer keep it godly keeping
holy keeping loving Jesus keep its heart
pure keep his eyes pure keep his spirit
pure don’t let anger and bitterness and
wrath get old
stay clean before God KJ min if you have
to have some boundary some you know a
battery has positives and negatives all
we’ve got is a positive gospel now but
if you want power
you can’t just hook up the Plus you know
he’s got a plus and it’s got a minus on
your battery your car battery do any of
you men know what I’m talking about and
you can’t just have you if you just hook
up the jumper cables to the to the
positive side oh you’re never going to
crank the engine and get power you got
to have some negative so you need some
now shalt not commit adultery thou shalt
not lie there shalt not kill them you
need the
at thorny head if you want power I guess
what I’m trying to say to you is the
reason the king said keep this man
hedging in with thorns is you can’t
trust you you look real good in church I
look I look like a preacher almost
except much the shirt tails out and that
ain’t right but but but but most time
you know I look like a preacher I guess
I goes I don’t know but but I try to be
like a preacher live right but the truth
is you can’t trust you I’m a preacher
and I don’t even trust me if I put
myself in situations if I don’t have the
hedges up
I don’t trust me you’ll lie to yourself
I’ll never do that and then you just
look around and some days just one he’s
just wandering off he’s just wandering
off there’s an old preacher who took a
trip with a bunch of younger preachers
on the mission trip for nine days true
story
this old bishop got on the plane and
those young men all of them about seven
of them had not seen their lives in nine
days and they were ready to see their
wives I need to explain that to you they
were ready to see their life and he said
God is my witness while we were sitting
there on the on the runway on the jet
the jet was loading all of us had seats
together he said there was a woman who
walked down who was absolutely drop-dead
gorgeous and he said she had a biblical
dress on lo and behold and oh my
goodness she she had a figure like a
coke bottle and you if you don’t know
what a coke bottle is I said whatever
this generation needs a lot of help she
had it she was a brick house come on do
you understand that
she had it and every one of those young
preachers he said he looked around and
he said they were they all got about
their Bibles and their missionary trip
and everything they’re mine and he said
I spoke up listen to this and he said I
said right out loud on the plane as she
was walking by good job Jesus instantly
they came right back in when they heard
that name I love that
good job Jesus that same preacher told
me he called me one time he said Jenson
he said there’s two reasons why I don’t
commit adultery number one God’s against
it number two they tail click now that
will save your life right there we need
some plain talk to me and to say you
better keep this man and God begin fit
and don’t you ever fool yourself sooner
or later they failed you can’t trust you
turn to your neighbor and say you can’t
trust you you better keep this man you
better keep him from idols John said
King yourself from idols
what’s an idol I looked it up putting
anything before God is an idol Wow
nothing comes before God for me in my
family
nothing nothing comes before God if it
does it is an idol to you and you’re not
keeping this man I’m done preaching
that’s pretty much it
stand to your feet at every campus lift
your hand time for just a moment no one
moving and say god I realize today like
never before
you’ve not put me over a platoon you
didn’t tell me to keep this company keep
this this this this whole army you told
me to keep this man the one number one
responsibility of my life is to keep
this man today I give you myself again
on every man under the sound of my voice
every man you don’t have to be a father
every man under the sound of my voice to
get out of your seat and come down here
as close as you can get if you’re ready
and serious about guarding this man
guarding this man
[Music]
[Applause]
I got to do it and what I’m preaching
today is vital the character matters
integrity matters purity matters what
you look at what you listen to what you
give you heart to it matters because if
you lose the man you begin to lose
yourself that’s not who you are you’re
better than that that’s not who you
really are
don’t lose yourself in the myths of
losing the man being busy here and there
and Father in the name of Jesus I pray
for a revival among our men a purity and
holiness and godly character like we all
need that today we would put up a thorny
hedge around areas of our life that we
are all vulnerable to if we don’t
clearly keep this man and we don’t guard
this man and father I pray the guard go
back up that we not be distracted by the
battles all around us and forget our
number one responsibility that the king
is going to ask us about when he comes
again is did you keep and guard this man
so my name is crystal see burning life
before new beginnings was lonely it was
dark
just being in addiction and the life
that it took me down you know the way
that it took me down was horrible
I had burned every Bridge in my family
had no relationship with anybody in my
family whatsoever my uncle had custody
of my son
I was facing four possessions of
methamphetamine and possession of
methamphetamine with intent to
distribute so I was in Johnson County
Jail it was the day before I was
supposed to get released officers at the
calm gel worked together and you know
talked to granny and I did a phone
interview with granny and so it wasn’t
for her and new beginnings and dorm
three you know reuniting me and my son
like I don’t know where I would be right
now or where he would be for that matter
you know cushions he just helped keep me
grounded he’s helped
he’s just been motivation for me to
continue on this journey on to continue
to be obedient to the Lord than what he
he called me to do him and I’ve been
here our lives have changed as a whole
there’s a bond there now you know I go
to work and come home and he’s meet me
at the door you know mommy how was your
day just those small things that you
take for granted there’s a hope for us
now there’s a future for me and my kids
they’re in frustration the future is
promising I just want to thank keen and
connections for all that they’ve done to
contribute to new beginnings and the
expansion of new beginnings
just a lot more women and families that
are going to be changed and brought back
together because of your country because
of the generous support a Friends of
Kingdom connection just like you we
continue to see millions of families
like crystals be changed and restored
for the glory of God the enemy is trying
to tear down the walls of righteousness
and faith around the world but we can no
longer stand in the shadows waiting for
our children and families to be
destroyed we must fight for our family
our mission is to see the attacks of the
enemy hindered and to help families
rebuild a strong foundation of faith
this month when you give a gift of any
amount to help families like crystals
and new beginnings we’ll send you the
fight for your families Proclamation
bookmark to encourage you and your
family or for your generous gift of $40
or more you may request the proclamation
bookmark as a reminder of your
commitment to serve the Lord as well as
Jenson Franklin’s 3-cd message series
fight for your family be a part of
changing the lives of millions of
families around the world please visit
us online at Jensen franklin TV
[Music]
[Applause]
you
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Music]