Where Have All The Good Men Gone?

Where Have all The Good Men Gone?

Genesis 14

Ya know, Men have gotten a pretty Bad rap here in the United States. Every where I look, it seems like the role of the Man is being attacked and belittled by the culture, by our media, and even by our government officials. Single women are told, that they don’t need a man to start a family: a father isn’t really that important after all. You’ve got clinics where you can go: why wait for a husband? A quick look on the internet, will find literally THOUSANDS of websites, dedicated to demeaning the role of the father, as well as males in general. And this, of course, is all in the name of acceptance and equality.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all in favor of equality. But

let me tell you something: there is NOTHING we need more today than a few good men. “Where have all the Good men gone, anyway?” Where are the righteous men?! Where are the men that have a backbone where it counts?

It is shocking to me the way men in our society behave today. There are men that will break your nose for leaning against there car. There are men that will shoot you, for holding your hand in the wrong way. For the last fifty years, violent crime has increased in the U.S. at an EXPONENTIAL rate. Rape, murder, domestic violence, gang violence all of these have skyrocketed. You can find scores of men that will hurt you for stepping on their shoes, but will pay you for murdering their unborn child. . Yet rare is the man who will stand up for the Word of God.

This is all part of an alarming trend I have been noticing lately. There is an almost complete lack of younger men of faith. I don’t have any studies to back me up, but everywhere I look I see men that are less and less concerned with matters such as faith, and honor, and a growing number that are seeking nothing more than the instant gratification of their every whim.

Ya know, I’m pretty sure if I asked Willy or Walter how many Godly men they know in their age group, they would probably be able to name off quite a few. I bet they know men, outside of this church, who have hands and eyes that are glued to the Word of God. But if you ask me that same question, I can count on one hand the number of dedicated Godly men my age that I have known in my entire life time.

And I bet if I go to some of the young men out there in our youth building, and asked them how many guys there age they know that they could honestly call faithful men of God, I doubt they could name more than one or two. Certainly if I clarify it, and I asked them about how many men they know that study the Bible regularly, and are unafraid to speak the word of God, that are saving themselves for marriage, or go out of there way to help others, SURELY I would not get a very positive reply.

Now you need to understand the kind of men that I am speaking of here. I’m not talking about men that go to church. We have plenty of men that just go to church: we don’t need anymore of those. I’m speaking of men that are completely in love with and sold out to Jesus Christ, and aren’t afraid to do something about it. I’m talking about Godly, Holy men, who will FIGHT evil tooth and nail, wherever it might be found.

This was an eye opening study for me. I was forced to see some things about myself that I can’t exactly say I’m proud of. I ask that as we go through this material (whether you a man or woman), you would hold up your life to the things we are going to discuss, and see how you measure up.

So with these things in our minds, we turn to our text, to look at a true man of God. We’re going to be reading from Genesis, Chapter 14 so if you would turn there now.

1 About this time war broke out in the region. King Amraphel of Babylonia,* King Arioch of Ellasar, King Kedorlaomer of Elam, and King Tidal of Goiim fought against King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (also called Zoar). 3 This second group of kings joined forces in the valley of the Dead Sea. For twelve years they had been subject to King Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled against him. 5 One year later Kedorlaomer and his allies arrived and defeated the Rephaites at Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzites at Ham, the Emites at Shaveh-kiriathaim, and the Horites at Mount Seir, as far as El-paran at the edge of the wilderness. Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (now called Kadesh) and conquered all the territory of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites living in Hazazon-tamar. 8 Then the rebel kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (also called Zoar) prepared for battle in the valley of the Dead Sea.* 9 They fought against King Kedorlaomer of Elam, King Tidal of Goiim, King Amraphel of Babylonia, and King Arioch of Ellasar—four kings against five. 10 As it happened, the valley of the Dead Sea was filled with tar pits. And as the army of the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into the tar pits, while the rest escaped into the mountains. 11 The victorious invaders then plundered Sodom and Gomorrah and headed for home, taking with them all the spoils of war and the food supplies. 12 They also captured Lot—Abram’s nephew who lived in Sodom—and carried off everything he owned. 13 But one of Lot’s men escaped and reported everything to Abram the Hebrew, who was living near the oak grove belonging to Mamre the Amorite. Mamre and his relatives, Eshcol and Aner, were Abram’s allies. 14 When Abram heard that his nephew Lot had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men who had been born into his household. Then he pursued Kedorlaomer’s army until he caught up with them at Dan. There he divided his men and attacked during the night. Kedorlaomer’s army fled, but Abram chased them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 Abram recovered all the goods that had been taken, and he brought back his nephew Lot with his possessions and all the women and other captives.