Nuggets of Wisdom from Mr. Lightner!

“It is common in the evangelical church today for people to verbally acknowledge that the Bible, as God’s Word, is the final authority for both what they believe and how they live. Yet in reality, a clear connection between that public confession and personal conduct is rare.”

-John MacArthur

Men

This rarity of pure conduct is spoken of in Scripture (Prov. 20:6), and has seeped into the church in epidemic proportion. The Bible calls these people hypocrites, or liars (1John 1:6, 2:4) and warns that they would have been better off not knowing the ways of righteousness at all (2 Pet. 2:21).

Christian men should be doers of the Word and not hearers only (James 1:22); walking in integrity (Prov. 20:7), purity (1 John 3:3) and truth (1 John 2:5), loving His commandments (2 John 1:6).  The Apostle Paul writes to us in the book of Titus explaining how Christian men are to conduct themselves – “be sensible; in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach” (Titus 2:6-8), “showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect” (Titus 2:10). 

This standard of behavior is not to be taken lightly, as it can never be achieved by man alone. We must first be completely transformed from within (Titus3:5-8) and indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:13,14) so we will be able to exhibit authenticity of holiness and purity (Gal. 5:22,23) as commanded by God (1 Pet. 1:16). We must also be watchful that we are not caught up in the external behaviors (Matt. 5-7) to the point that we let them solely define our assurance of salvation. These traits are commendable, but remain merely to be external modifications and are not biblical Christianity’s primary concern.

God aims directly at the heart (1 Chr. 28:9b; 2 Cor. 4:6), which He renews (Ezek. 11:19,20), establishes (1 Thess. 3:13), and finally enables to manifest itself in a truly changed life (1 Cor. 6:9-11); with purity inside (1 Tim. 1:5) and out (James 1:27).

We have been given the Holy Spirit to walk us through our sanctification, preparing us for our glorification. It is my prayer that these resources will provide men with a comprehensive, diverse, and effective set of tools to help them accomplish what God has set out for them to do to the glory of God!

Marriage

In a culture that does not hold a high view of marriage, it becomes increasingly commonplace for couples to divorce. Society does not view marriage as a gift from God to be treasured and cultivated, but simply a life choice, or merely an experience to be had; like choosing to go to college or hitting a homerun. This causes a very haphazard approach to the concept, reality, sanctity, and permanence of a marriage (covenant) relationship. How are we as Christians to battle this predominantly self-serving worldview and present the marriage relationship as the epitome of self-sacrifice?

It must begin with a dedicated focus and extremely high view of God. Only from there can our marriage become what God intends it to be; stemming from a desire to love and honor Him first and foremost. What better way to love and honor God than by sacrificing ourselves (John 15:13) to give Him glory in all that we do (1 Cor. 10:31)? To give a brief example of this we will look at what the husband’s primary motivation is to be in marriage (Ephesians 5:25-27); showing a sharp contrast between the man-centered and Christ-centered views.

​Husbands

​  In a culture that does not hold a high view of marriage, it becomes increasingly commonplace for couples to divorce. Society does not view marriage as a gift from God to be treasured and cultivated, but simply a life choice, or merely an experience to be had; like choosing to go to college or hitting a homerun. This causes a very haphazard approach to the concept, reality, sanctity, and permanence of a marriage (covenant) relationship. How are we as Christians to battle this predominantly self-serving worldview and present the marriage relationship as the epitome of self-sacrifice?

It must begin with a dedicated focus and extremely high view of God. Only from there can our marriage become what God intends it to be; stemming from a desire to love and honor Him first and foremost. What better way to love and honor God than by sacrificing ourselves (John 15:13) to give Him glory in all that we do (1 Cor. 10:31)? To give a brief example of this we will look at what the husband’s primary motivation is to be in marriage (Ephesians 5:25-27); showing a sharp contrast between the man-centered and Christ-centered views.

Complete in Christ: A Husband’s High Calling for Sacrificial Love (Eph. 5:25-27) 

He purifies and cleanses the mind of his beloved as he leads her with his sacrificial service in word and deed. His ultimate goal is to present her holy and blameless before God; loving her sacrificially; giving of himself because he cannot bear for his beloved to be led astray or stained by iniquity and impurity. He puts himself and his pride to death daily; lest he be argumentative or the like and tempt her to sin in any conceivable way. He aims to uphold her virtue, her holiness, her purity. To truly love her, he must desire her very best; to see her best coming to fruition she must be completed in Crist-likeness. There is no fault in his beloved, for he has striven to present her to Christ; bearing no sign of blemish or imperfection.

The loving husband must die, so his beloved might truly live.

-David Lightner