Stand Fast in the Faith | 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 | Pastor Matt Nettesheim

Take your Bible if you will turn with me to first

Corinthians chapter number 16 We had a good time

and I appreciate the men the boys with our church

and I did not know that they had a frog video

there and My frog look like a frog act like a

frog jump like a frog But we had a wonderful

time. I want to start as you turn in first Corinthians

chapter number 16 just talk about the men we

we had a wonderful time of fellowship, wonderful

time with the games, but it was also a time that

was spiritual. And Brother Jerome, this afternoon,

he said, Pastor, it was almost like a revival.

And in a way, he's right. It was almost like

a revival in some of our hearts and our minds

with the preaching, thinking about God. There

was a revival in my heart, and I believe there

was a revival in many of the men and the young

men during this little camp meeting. Now, we

get to 1 Corinthians chapter number 16, and we

look at verse number 13 and 14. If you'll stand

with me for the preaching of God's word, or the

reading of God's word, I should say, and we're

gonna read those two verses together. 1 Corinthians

chapter number 16, starting in verse number 13,

we'll read 13 and 14. Ready? Watch ye stand fast

in the faith. Quit you like men, be strong. Let

all your things be done with charity. Now verse

13, watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you

like men, be strong. Now the theme of our camp,

we sang glory to his name, but I got up and I

preached on Thursday night, be strong, be strong,

be strong. And by the way, strong as far as strength,

praise the Lord for strength, but be strong in

the Lord. Be strong in the grace that is in Christ

Jesus. We need to be strong in the Lord. Then

Friday morning, we got up and we had a flag.

And the flag right there is a symbol. We live

in America. I'm thankful for the American flag.

I'm thankful that we live in the United States

of America. I'm not ashamed of that. I'm thankful

that the liberty that we have to read our Bibles,

the freedoms that we have, I am thankful to be

an American. But we talked a little bit about

a banner. And sometimes a Christian, we serve

under the banner of Christ or the flag of Christ.

But sometimes we pretend to be Christians, serve

under the banner of Christ. But in reality, we

act more like we are under the banner of the

devil. It's important for us men to not only

say we're Christians, but act like Christians,

live like Christians. We went a little bit further

and we got to Friday night and we looked at a

light, a light. Jesus is the light, walk ye in

the light. Many people don't walk in the light,

they walk in darkness and boy, we need to make

a concerted effort to walk in the light. And

then Saturday morning, It was important, we looked

at the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary

when he said, it is finished. And it is finished.

But tonight, we're gonna look at this verse,

watch ye stand fast in the faith, quit ye like

men be strong. Let's go to the Lord in prayer.

Dear Father in heaven, we love you. Thankful

for our church this Sunday night. Thankful for

what you did in my heart during those days of

the camp meeting, Lord. And Lord, I pray that

it continues tonight. maybe a little bit of like

a revivalistic service. I pray decisions are

continued to be made, Lord, and help us to have

a service that honors you. We love you, in Jesus'

name. Amen. You may be seated and you know, the

camp meeting ended with a pile of clothes and

we packed up on Saturday and I had so many clothes

with my kids that we filled the back of my van

with just dirty, wet. that nasty clothes. We

got home and we had to get laundry done. But

you know, as we came home with the dirty clothes,

we also came home with a spiritually filled heart,

filled with the word of God. Be strong. Boy,

the Christian banner, that was giving us a banner

to them that fear thee. Walking in the light,

it is finished. And it continues here in the

first verse there, verse 13, watch ye. Say that

with me. Watch ye. What does that mean? The Apostle

Paul writing to the church at 1 Corinthians is

a carnal church. It's a church with many struggles

and difficulties. They had lacked paying attention.

They had really gotten to the point where they

were more interested in themselves, their own

ideas. And Paul says, no, watch ye, watch ye.

Pay attention, stay awake spiritually, be alert.

By the way, the devil is as a roaring lion walking

about seeking whom he may devour. And when we

don't pay attention, when we don't. watch when

we don't, you might say, pay attention or stay

awake spiritually, that devil will devour us

spiritually and destroy our lives. The devil's

not playing games. Sin is not harmless. The Christian

life is not a game. It's real. And tonight, praise

the Lord, this is a tremendous crowd for a Sunday

night, but we need as Christians to pay attention.

The Bible says in Proverbs chapter four, it's

wisdom, it says, keep thy heart with all diligence,

for out of it are the issues of life. Watch ye,

watch ye, watch ye. There was a man who came

to our camp, and I got to talk to him. He's a

contractor for the military. And I spent some

good time with this man, a dear man. And he talked

about the Iran war and how his life has been

very busy helping out the military. And he talked

about when he was in Bahrain, he had stayed at

a hotel. And he talked about the Iranians bombed

the hotel that he had stayed after. And I really

didn't think about. much about it but he said

there's a lot going on behind the scenes and

then all of a sudden he said he went to the base

on Bahrain and he said it was odd when he went

to the base on Bahrain during during the Iranian

war he said there was no guards on duty he said

we just drove on to the base and I said just

drove on to the base say we just drove on the

bay I said that was odd and I don't understand

it all But when you have a military base or you're

at a military post and you don't have a guard,

you don't have a watch, You can allow the enemies

to come in. And when we don't stand watch, we

can allow the enemies of Satan to come in and

destroy our lives. Boy, our church needs to stand

our watchy, our individuals as men and young

men right now, we need to pay attention spiritually.

We need to be alert. We need to not be careless

because being careless, we've become an easy

target for the devil. Boy, as a church here tonight,

young and old men and women, pay attention. Watch

ye, watch ye, keep your heart with all diligence.

And it leads to this, are you paying attention

spiritually or are you just drifting? Are you

like that base set during that Iranian war without

a guard? Makes no sense to me. Look at the next

part right there in verse number 13. Watch ye,

what's this next little phrase? Stand fast in

the faith. Stand fast in the faith. Say it again

with me. Stand fast in the faith. What does that

mean? Stand fast in the faith. Do not move from

what you know is true. Stay anchored in the faith,

even when pressure comes. Stand fast, don't move

away from the faith. Don't move away from the

word of God. Don't move away from the great God

that you love. Now, if I could give an illustration,

Daniel, if you'll come up here, and this is a

young man, and boy, I'm a preacher, and I'm trying

to lead this young man to stand fast in the faith.

Now, young man. I want you to get busy in the

work of the Lord. You have a life lived ahead

of you that can be used in a great way for God's

honor and glory. I want you to stand fast in

the faith. I want you to take this nail, and

I wanna anchor it into the word of God. If you

could just pretend for a moment that this is

the faith, this is the word of God, and take

yourself and anchor yourself in the word of God.

Pick up a hammer, nail that into the... the board

right there, and it's young man, don't be negligent,

pay attention, and stand fast in the faith, drive

it deep into the faith, live for God, live for

God, have a heart for God, have a zeal for God,

have a love for God, hey listen to me, young

man, nail it, drive it deep, because when the

devil comes, when destruction is on your doorstep,

when you stand fast in the faith, you're gonna

be driven deep into the word of God, it's gonna

be hidden in your heart, and you can live for

the king. King of kings and Lord of lords, stand

fast, young man. Do you listen to me? Stand fast,

young man. Did you drive it deep? Young man.

Young man. The devil comes along. He begins to

look at what's going on. And he said, okay, young

man, you're now 16 years of age. You're gonna

be turning 17. You're gonna be turning 18. And

boy, young man. I'm glad that you're real about

this Christianity thing, and he's gonna send

some temptation your way. He's gonna send some

lust of the flesh your way. He's gonna send some

opportunities your way. Young man, listen, the

devil's on your doorstep. He's knocking at your

doorstep. Did you drive the stake deep? Are you

driving the stake deep? That's what happens to

a lot of Christians. Boy, it's not that they

don't have a parent or mom and dad who tell them

to drive the nail deep or stand fast to the faith.

They've got a parent, they've got a Sunday school

teacher, they have a preacher, they have the

word of God especially that says drive the nail

deep. And they look and smile sometimes and they

pound on that nail a little bit. But in reality,

many young men and young ladies and young men

and young women, they have the Bible. It's stand.

You can stand on it. And boy, it's good, the

Christian life. There's nothing better than the

Christian life. But sometimes we don't drive

it deep into there. Young man, boy, praise God.

God is a God of second chances. And listen. Satan

knocked you down, but a just man follows seven

times and rises up again. You've got another

chance. Stand fast in the faith. Drive the nail

deep. Drive the nail deep. Love God. Live the

Bible. Stand fast in the faith. You can trust

God. Go deeper. Boy, know why you believe what

you... The devil comes along and says, young

man, he becomes knocking on your door, but you

drove the nail deep. You drove it deep in the

faith. You know why you believe what you believe.

You've been saved by the blood of the crucified

one. You have an answer from God's word. You've

hit it in your heart. The devil comes along and

says, young man with temptation, oh, now he may

bend you a little bit, but he's not gonna break

you. Come on, man. He tries to hit you this way.

Then all of a sudden, And by the way, resist

the devil and he will flee from you. And boy,

sometimes a young man does not drive that nail

deep in the faith, doesn't drive that nail deep

into the word of God, just rides on the coattails

of maybe mom or dad. No, have your own faith.

Stand fast in the faith, go be seated. Boy, that

one nail that's driven to you, it holds, that

one little nail that's a little tapped in there,

it's loose. And when pressure comes, that deeply

driven nail remains, but that shallow one gives

way. Standing fast is not pretending to be strong

on the surface, but standing fast means you drive

your faith deep down inside. You know why you

believe. By the way, this is interesting. Ephesians

Ephesians 6:13

chapter 6 verse 13 says this. Wherefore, take

unto you the whole armor of God that ye may be

able to withstand in the evil day, and having

done, not some, but it says having done. all

to stand. The world's going the wrong direction,

and oh boy, the pressure of this sin -sick world

is on the next generation. We need to stand fast

in the faith. It's interesting, I read an article,

this is recent, and this is the title of the

article, the three giants players, the San Francisco

Giants, three giants players attacked. the LGBTQ

community and weaponized the Pride rainbow. And

you begin to read it, here's what it says, three

San Francisco Giants pitchers disgraced themselves

at the team's Pride night. weaponizing the Pride

rainbow and attacking the LGBT community. And

then Leydon Rupp leads anti -gay attack against

LGBTQ pride. Starting pitcher Leydon Rupp and

reliever JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker, who collectively

lost the game in a five to one drubbing, chose

to wear the rainbow pride caps. And please forgive

me, this is just what's written here. And as

a middle finger to the LGBT community, the size

of a Kuwait Tower, they wrote a Bible verse on

their caps. They wrote a Bible verse on their

caps, drenching it with hate. The verse inscribed,

Genesis chapter nine, verses 11 through 16, each

player had a different variation of exactly which

verses. It's supposed to be an empowering gesture

from God, supposed to be an empowering gesture

from God, declaring the rainbow as a covenant

between him and mankind, promising to never flood

the earth again. It's in Genesis. Instead, these

three players weaponized that verse, choosing

the giant's pride night specifically in attempt

to steal away the only symbol the LGBTQ community

has to unite us, the rainbow. We stole that from

the LGBT. We've had that a lot longer than they

have. It's God's rainbow. It's God's rainbow.

And you know what I mean by the stand fast in

the faith because in the world today, have you

ever read the comments? I don't like reading

comments. But if you ever read the comments of

stuff like that, you know one comment said this,

wow. the imaginary man in the sky. And when I

read that comment, I said, well, one day you're

gonna stand before that imaginary man in the

sky, and you're gonna answer them, because of

the point of the one man wants to die, and after

that, the judgment. And so you have to understand,

we need to be men who stand fast like men, who

are deeply driven in the faith in the word of

God. Stand fast. Then look at this, in verse

13, watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you

like men. Amen. Quit you like men. Quit you like

men. What does that mean? That means act like

a man. Act like a man. Be courageous. Be mature.

Be responsible to the men. Be an example to the

young men. Grow toward a manly, godly adulthood

right there. The world has a lot of males, but

it doesn't have very many men. And in our church,

there's nothing wrong with being a man. We live

in a world where some of you ladies, they attack

a godly lady and make you feel inferior for being

a virtuous woman of Proverbs 31. But can I just

tell you the Bible says a virtuous woman, her

price is far, far above rubies. And listen, you're

not second rate citizens. You're greater than

great. You're something that is precious in the

sight of God. But you're a woman. That's the

way God created you. And you women are something

that I am not. God created me a man. There's

nothing wrong with being different. There's nothing

wrong with being a man. And there's nothing wrong

if you're a woman of being a woman, but the world

begins to blend things and mix things. Quit you

like men. And the world has a lot of males, once

again not enough men. Godly men take responsibility.

Godly men tell the truth even when it's hard.

Godly men work hard. Godly men protect what is

right. Godly men control their spirit. He that

hath no rule over his own spirit like a city

that is broken down and without walls. A godly

man is not ashamed of Christ. Quit ye like men.

Quit ye like men. Boy, stand fast. Quit ye like

men. Be a man. Be a man. Well, we need some strong

Christian men. It was interesting at the camp.

I went over there to the Well, I did, I did,

I did, I went to the ice cream shop. Oh yeah,

and I bought ice cream, not for myself, no, no,

no, no. I did it for my son. Now, he shared,

he shared, you know, three scoops, he shared,

you know, he shared two scoops with me. And,

you know, pretty quickly, like, man, I'm gonna

do what a dad has to do, I gotta help him out,

you know, that's what we gotta do. But over there

was a young man that came to our Bible Institute

many years ago, Kerry Charles. and Kerry Charles

came over there. His dad was the pastor of Central

Baptist Church in Yorktown and Kerry Charles,

his dad, preached at our Bible Institute many

years ago. I have the video of that and taught

an amazing lesson and just of being a man of

God and living for God. I'll never forget the

night that he did that. By the way, about a year

and a few months ago, John Charles preached at

our church, Kerry Charles' dad, and dying of

cancer. And if you were here this night, John

Charles, the pancreatic cancer, he came in here

and he was filled with the spirit of God, had

the joy of the Lord, and preached a message that

was powerful and wonderful. At the end of the

message, you were here, there were tears shed

galore. I remember coming down and my heart was

moved, and boy, he preached a powerful message.

Talk to Kerry Charles. And I was reminded of

Kerry Charles as living for God. Kerry Charles

has the joy of the Lord. Kerry Charles, boy his

dad in his 50s moved on into eternity, but Kerry

Charles watched his dad be a man. Watched his

dad in a difficult situation continue on. Watched

his dad dying live for God. And boy, look at

that, and I said, that is a great man, a man

with a trial, with a difficulty, but he followed

the example of the Bible, quit you like men.

Look at this last one, if you will. Watch ye,

verse 13, stand fast in the faith, quit you like

men. What is this last one? Be strong, be strong.

Oh, that was the first message we started with

for the men and boys camp. Be strong, Joshua

chapter one, verse six says, be strong. Joshua

chapter one verse seven says, only be thou strong.

Joshua chapter one verse nine says, have not

I commanded thee, be strong. And then we went

to second Timothy chapter two, thou therefore

my son be strong, be strong. And oh, we had a

strength contest on Thursday night. And we had

some of the weakest men were ended up being the

strongest men. I had a 45 pound weight and they

were to throw it. and the first men, the hulking

ones, threw it and went about, some of them,

seven feet. Then one of the littler guys, I think

one of my sons, rather than throwing it, he rolled

it, and it went way far, and so he won the strong

man's, he was the smart man's contest, I should

say. But be strong, be strong. This is not talking

about physical strength, but spiritual strength.

And it's important, finally, my brethren, be

strong in the Lord and the power of his might.

Well, be strong in the Lord. You know, have you

ever thought about that? I am weak, but thou

art strong. Thinking about my life. My life,

how many times that I have failed. How many times

I've said something that I regret. How many times

I've felt helpless in the will of God. Helpless

in doing the will of God. Now, I know it's the

will of God, but I feel helpless. And then I'm

reminded that that's the way we all are. In reality,

we all are helpless. And it says this in 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12. It says, The apostle Paul, and lest

I should be exalted above measure through the

abundance of the revelations, there was given

to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of

Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted

above measure. For this thing I besought the

Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And

he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee,

for my strength is made perfect in weakness.

Then the apostle Paul said, most gladly, therefore,

will I rather glory in my infirmities that the

power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I

take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches,

in necessities, in persecution, in distresses

for Christ's sake. This is the famous part, for

when I am weak, then am I strong. You know we

are weak, but you know when we're weak and we

realize how weak we are? It causes us to look

up to the great God we have who is not weak at

all. And he is a powerful God, a holy God, a

righteous God, a God that'll help us in a great

way. Like again, what I'm saying, sometimes I

feel weak, very weak, helpless, and struggle.

I look at the responsibility I have as a husband,

as a father, as a pastor, and I say, in my mind

sometimes, I can't do it. But then I realize

I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens

me. And you know, I feel weak, but when I realize

he has the strength, boy, all of a sudden, it

takes a weight off my shoulder. It was a weight

that I was never meant to carry, and I come into

that yoke with the Lord coming to me, all ye

that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give

you rest. God gives us strength. We're at the

very end. Men, young men, ladies tonight. When

you go home from this Sunday night campout, remember,

watchy, are you paying attention? Are you paying,

are you standing fast in the faith? Young men,

have you driven this deep? Drive it deep. I didn't

drive it deep enough. But it would be a good

thing, you know, you think about that. Stand

fast in the faith. It may be a little bit ridiculous,

but I hope we get the point. When you damage

the floor, I'd rather damage the floor and get

something to remember in our life that won't

damage our life. It's important, stand fast in

the faith. Quit you like men. Boy, be strong.

Let's pray. Dear Father in heaven, we love you.

I love the men, the young men. I know you have

a special plan for them, but I pray that you

help us to take seriously your word. I pray that

we watch, that we pay attention. I pray that

we stand fast in the faith. I pray that we quit

ye like men. Help the men to be men and realize

that's okay. Help the ladies to realize that

it can be ladies, virtuous women. That's not

only okay, it's wonderful. God, I pray also that

we're strong, not in ourselves, but in you. I

pray that we drive this home in our hearts and

our minds, and we go home and remember these

truths. We love you, we need you, bless the invitation,

in Jesus' name, amen. Stand with me, if you will.

We're gonna have an invitation. Remember where

we started, Brother Jerome, you said this morning,

Pastor, it was like a little revival. You'd gone

home and you used that thing, be strong, be strong,

be strong. We all should go home. And some of

those things we should say is, boy, I'm gonna

pay attention. I'm gonna stand fast to the faith,

I'm gonna quit you like men, and I'm gonna be

strong in the Lord, do business with God as the

piano plays in the organ.