Week of Monday December 14 – December 21
Accountable – Man as Battle Buddy
Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.” - Revelation 11:15-18 ESV
The Apostle John brings to us the sobering truth of the reality of God’s judgment upon the earth. Every act of fallen individuals, every thought and deed, every action and inaction will be carefully examined. We all have a court date with Deity, either at the judgment seat of Christ as a child of God (see 2 Cor. 5:10) or at the Great White Throne judgment at the end of this book (see Rev. 20:11-15). For the believer, there is the prospect of eternal reward. For the unbeliever, there is only the prospect of eternal punishment. One way or another, the judgment of the Creator will be accomplished!
For many men, however, the thought of such accountability is a daunting challenge. We live in a culture that does exactly what Adam did in the Garden when confronted by God with his sin. We try to pass the buck and shift the blame to someone else. Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines accountability as: “Liable to be called to account: answerable to a superior. Every man is accountable to God for his conduct.” Let’s take this concept of accountability a step further. We are not only accountable to God, but we should also strive to hold others accountable as well.
Now I realize the thought of that can sound a bit intimidating, but I assure you holding others accountable, when done with biblical motives, is an expression of our love for the other person. Think about your kids. If you don’t hold them accountable for bad behavior, is that loving? Discipline is proof of love, not the absence of it. So it is with accountability. There are men in your life who sometimes need another man to step up and call them to account for attitudes and actions that are not godly. And there are times you need another man to step into your life and do the same. As a Battle Buddy, we can encourage the one called to account make a course correction and hopefully avoid further consequences, and visa versa. Think of it as training and preparation for the day of judgment.
Pastor and Bible teacher, Dr. David Jeremiah, told a story about a young man in suburban Chicago, who tried to escape during his trial, as he’d seen done many times on television. While being led out of the courtroom, he broke free, ran across a walkway, and tried to leap through a window. Here’s the problem: The bulletproof glass didn’t break, and the man bounced off, landing on the floor where he promptly was rearrested, this time in worse trouble than ever. Pastor Jeremiah observes, “There’s no escaping… God’s judgment except through the grace and pardon of Jesus Christ. He is our Advocate, our Barrister and our Defense Attorney (1 John 2:1).”
This is one of the reasons the Christmas season touches the heart of many because Jesus was born to take the judgement of our sins upon Himself. There are men we brush shoulders with daily who are not ready to stand before their Creator in the judgment. May we be used by God to bring that message of the coming judgment, but also the message that Jesus came to be our advocate, dying for our sins, taking our place and punishment, so that we could avoid eternal punishment and enjoy eternal reward. Sharing that message is part of the mission of a Battle Buddy.
• Do you have an accountability structure in place in your life as a man of God? Do you have a battle buddy?
• Can you think of a man you brush shoulders with at work, in your neighborhood, or a member of your family who needs to hear both sides of the Gospel message – the fact of a coming judgment but also that the only way out is Jesus?
• Pray and ask God to help you identify the men in your life who could provide you with some accountability and for whom you can serve in the same way
Accountable – Man as Battle Buddy
Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.” - Revelation 11:15-18 ESV
The Apostle John brings to us the sobering truth of the reality of God’s judgment upon the earth. Every act of fallen individuals, every thought and deed, every action and inaction will be carefully examined. We all have a court date with Deity, either at the judgment seat of Christ as a child of God (see 2 Cor. 5:10) or at the Great White Throne judgment at the end of this book (see Rev. 20:11-15). For the believer, there is the prospect of eternal reward. For the unbeliever, there is only the prospect of eternal punishment. One way or another, the judgment of the Creator will be accomplished!
For many men, however, the thought of such accountability is a daunting challenge. We live in a culture that does exactly what Adam did in the Garden when confronted by God with his sin. We try to pass the buck and shift the blame to someone else. Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines accountability as: “Liable to be called to account: answerable to a superior. Every man is accountable to God for his conduct.” Let’s take this concept of accountability a step further. We are not only accountable to God, but we should also strive to hold others accountable as well.
Now I realize the thought of that can sound a bit intimidating, but I assure you holding others accountable, when done with biblical motives, is an expression of our love for the other person. Think about your kids. If you don’t hold them accountable for bad behavior, is that loving? Discipline is proof of love, not the absence of it. So it is with accountability. There are men in your life who sometimes need another man to step up and call them to account for attitudes and actions that are not godly. And there are times you need another man to step into your life and do the same. As a Battle Buddy, we can encourage the one called to account make a course correction and hopefully avoid further consequences, and visa versa. Think of it as training and preparation for the day of judgment.
Pastor and Bible teacher, Dr. David Jeremiah, told a story about a young man in suburban Chicago, who tried to escape during his trial, as he’d seen done many times on television. While being led out of the courtroom, he broke free, ran across a walkway, and tried to leap through a window. Here’s the problem: The bulletproof glass didn’t break, and the man bounced off, landing on the floor where he promptly was rearrested, this time in worse trouble than ever. Pastor Jeremiah observes, “There’s no escaping… God’s judgment except through the grace and pardon of Jesus Christ. He is our Advocate, our Barrister and our Defense Attorney (1 John 2:1).”
This is one of the reasons the Christmas season touches the heart of many because Jesus was born to take the judgement of our sins upon Himself. There are men we brush shoulders with daily who are not ready to stand before their Creator in the judgment. May we be used by God to bring that message of the coming judgment, but also the message that Jesus came to be our advocate, dying for our sins, taking our place and punishment, so that we could avoid eternal punishment and enjoy eternal reward. Sharing that message is part of the mission of a Battle Buddy.
• Do you have an accountability structure in place in your life as a man of God? Do you have a battle buddy?
• Can you think of a man you brush shoulders with at work, in your neighborhood, or a member of your family who needs to hear both sides of the Gospel message – the fact of a coming judgment but also that the only way out is Jesus?
• Pray and ask God to help you identify the men in your life who could provide you with some accountability and for whom you can serve in the same way