When God is abroad in judgments, He would not have His people alarmed. He has not come forth to harm but to defend the righteous.

He would have them manifest courage. We who enjoy the presence of God ought to display presence of mind. Since the LORD Himself may suddenly come, we ought not to be surprised at anything sudden. Serenity under the rush and roar of unexpected evils is a precious gift of divine love.

The LORD would have His chosen display discrimination so that they may see that the desolation of the wicked is not a real calamity to the universe. Sin alone is evil; the punishment which follows thereupon is as a preserving salt to keep society from putrefying. We should be far more shocked at the sin which deserves hell than at the hell which comes out of sin.

Mark 8:35 "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it."

It befuddles me sometimes to think on the very fact that some Christians sometimes forget what we are here for. Some Christians seem to want forget whom we serve. If you are saved then you are a child of the living God, a soul that God showered much grace and mercy on by delivering you from evil and darkness. You live in light, you are a child of the King, and you are now above all other creation by being a child of God. What an honor indeed! However some seem to have forgotten how God has blessed them. They have turned their backs on God to better themselves in this world and that is a no, no. The Lord said "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it;" If one gives up their relationship with God to gain in this world, what have they gained. As Christians our lives are to bring glory to the Lord and not to us. The Lord may or may not bless us with worldly riches but we are not to give up the Lord to get them. It we do then we are subject to God worst punishment, death. Not in the life hereafter but here and now. The Lord has not blesses them that have removed themselves for glorifying His blessed name, Satan has in order to make you believe that God has done it for you. All of those will soon find out those blessings were not of God. God will not bless those that fall away from Him in worship. 1 John 1:5-6 "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

(6.) If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:" If you do not attend church you are not in fellowship with the Lord. Our text scripture goes on to say "but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it." That is those that truly worship the Lord and bring honor and glory to His blessed name. He will, even if it cost him his life will gain in glory for it. The honor you receive in glory will a million times be greater that the riches of this earthly life.

"But I would have you to know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God." (I Corinthians 11:2)

........Many articles have been written on this topic, and many sermons have been preached about it. However, I am going to take an approach to the subject that few have done. It seems that many preachers want to blame the women for trouble in the home and in many cases that is the truth. Yet, as I look around the country, many times the problem is the men.

........In our text, we have God's ordained headship. In many articles and sermons, the focus is the woman's rebellion against the man. While it is true that many women have rebelled against their own husbands, it is also true that many men have rebelled against Christ. Perhaps this is the root of the problem. After all, why should we expect the women in the church to follow us if we are not following Christ?!? What kind of an example do we show our wives?

"For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him." (Genesis 18:19)

........The problem in today's homes is that the men will not be leaders. Many of today's men are just plain lazy. They will not lead their families in the things of God like Abraham did in this passage. While some men are just rebellious, others don't understand how to be a good leader. Let's look again in I Corinthians:

"Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ." (I Corinthians 11:1)

........Even in secular circles, people will tell you that the best leaders are good followers. We as men need to first learn to follow Christ before we can ever expect the women to follow us.

."And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:15)

........Notice that Joshua was a good leader because he was a good follower. No doubt his family had a great respect for him and followed him because of the example that he gave.