"Men of the Hour"

“Men of The Hour”

– by Aris Metaxukis, (April 26, 2012 - ANVIL Guest Speaker)

Luke 12:37 "...It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching   
                      when he comes."

Aris's Background:

As a young boy, Aris grew up on the northern part of the island of Cyprus, which was later invaded by Turkey.  Although Greek was his native tongue, he lost much of it when he moved with his family to Guelph, Ontario.  Growing up as a teen in Canada, he recalls living a troubled teen life, getting into trouble and using some of the readily available “soft” drugs.  He knew he was going in the wrong direction and somehow he sensed God working in his life.  Without being assisted or influenced by another person, Aris started to pray on his own.

Aris began working in the food service industry, and in his travels in downtown Toronto in the 1980’s, he attended a ministry coffee shop called "Evergreen"  on Young Street in downtown Toronto.  There he met “Arnold” who was apx 65 years old and a Christian.  He was drawn by his joyful persona and they began a conversation on the walk home.  The conversation lasted two and a half hours, during which time Arnold explained salvation using Romans 10: 9&10.  Arnold asked Aris if he was saved, and then after he explained what being "saved" meant, Arnold asked Aris to bow in prayer.  Aris decided to pray in Greek to hide his embarrassment of asking for forgiveness for his sin. Arnold then surprised him by asking him to repeat the same prayer in English.  Aris prayed earnestly, and meant every word of his prayer. He became a child of God that night!  Surprisingly, although seemingly in good health, Arnold died a few months later.

Aris began to grow ever deeper in his faith, and soon began to take bible college courses.  God has blessed his life in so many ways; a very close Prescence with God, a Christian wife, a son and a granddaughter are some of the many things he is so thankful for.  Aris was an encouragement to our ANVIL men as he gave us his testimony and encouraged us to be “Men of the Hour”.  Here are several highlights of his speaking points Thursday, April 26, 2012 for the benefit of the men who weren’t able to make it out.

“Men of the Hour”:

Introduction:  

“The 'Call to Watchfulness' in this late hour”  (- Luke 12: 35-48)

During Roman times, a watchman (or guard) was kept over a settlement to keep a wary eye on dangers that would occur from enemies wanting to inflict damage on the community, especially during the night.  The guards would work in shifts from 6pm to 6am.  (4 watches x 3 hours each = 12 hours; cf. Mark 13: 32-37). 

Jesus spoke of similar dangers to christian men using the "watchmen" analogy.  We need to be watchful as christians, on guard against our enemy Satan - He is a liar, He is called the "deceiver of the brethern" and so our challenge is to be on guard against his evil schemes, especially for men who are assigned a protective role as head of the home, and "high priest" so to speak, of the family.

The Watchmen's ground-rules were:

1)      No Sleeping on your watch!  ; it is paramount for security

2)      Luke 12:35-48 –

a)      V. 35a -“…let your waist be girded…”  (Eph. 6:14 – Mentally focused, prepared with God’s belt of truth…”)   

b)       V.35b – “…and your lights burning.” Lamp: the presence and power of the Holy Spirit needed today to illuminate, empower us…

c)      V. 37-38 – God expects us to be alert, watching for the day is evil

d)     V. 39-40 – we do not know the hour of His coming, so we need to watch for FAMILIES, MARRIAGES, CHURCHES, NATION, REVIVAL.

3)      V. 42 God expects us to be faithful: “…who then is that faithful and wise steward…?”  this is a challenge to us…!

4)      V. 45-48 – “A warning to not assume anything or take God for granted”

Conclusion:

1)      How are you watching?  ; …Are you God’s “man of the hour”?  You can be!

2)      Where I’d like to be is ….”here I am Lord; I am available and willing.”

Thank you so much Aris, for your insightful thoughts tonight!