1 Corinthians 16:13-14 | "In The Meantime"

This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Good morning.

It's good to be all or with you all.

Last night was a long night.

Fourth of July.

You know what I'm talking about.

That's why Jason had me preach this morning.

Pretty sure of it.

Well, my name is Jeremy Gonzalez.

I'm the student and family pastor here.

Welcome if you're a first-time guest.

As Webb said earlier, we would love to hear from you, uh, get the opportunity to connect with you.

So if you could fill out that connect card, that would be awesome.

Also, um, this Sunday is the first Sunday that we have uh started nursery backup, and so uh that's a resource we would love to make available to you parents for children up to age two.

All the other children, uh we we have kind of a hybrid philosophy here at this church that I like to emphasize as often as I can.

Our hybrid philosophy is that we don't kick the kids out of our service, and we don't we don't get rid of children's ministry altogether.

We love to invite children into the worship service with us because they are part of the church as well.

They are learning how to do church with us, and so uh that means that it might get a little noisy behind you or in front of you.

Kids uh were designed with the wiggles in them, okay?

And that's okay.

That's okay.

We we love having them.

So uh welcome, kids.

We love having you here just in case no one has ever told you that we love having you with us.

Um but if your last name is Gonzalez, I expect really good behavior.

So please turn with me to 1 Corinthians.

1 Corinthians chapter 16 is where we are going to be this morning.

1 Corinthians 16 · chapter mention

And over the past several weeks, Pastor Jason has been speaking to our present moment in our culture, our present moment in history with all the things that have been happening over the past months.

And I'm hoping to put an exclamation point at the end of it.

I'm hoping to close it out with what Paul tells the Corinthians in chapter 16, verse 13.

13 and 14.

That's where we're going to camp out.

Paul writes to the Corinthian church, be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

Let all that you do be done in love.

Will you join me in prayer as we pray for this morning's message?

Father God, we come to you this morning because we are not watchful.

We we actually watch for things that concern ourselves, but we are not watchful for the things that concern you.

We come here this morning because we are infirm, we are incredibly weak.

We chase after things that we love instead of chasing after you, the rock of our salvation.

We are not courageous, we don't act as we ought to.

But Jesus Christ was sent to be strong for us and take our sins upon Himself.

The greatest act of love ever shown.

We pray this morning that your word would feed our souls in a way that we would be informed but also convicted.

May we know more of you, but also be compelled to live for you as we leave here this morning.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Well, it being Fourth of July weekend, I felt it appropriate to have an opening illustration uh with a kind of a war story, right?

Um during World War II, the first African-American military aviators in the United States, known as the Tuskegee Airmen, were assigned to the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the U.S.

Army Air Corps.

You probably know of them because of the color of their skin.

They were pioneers in desegregation of the military.

But the Tuskegee Airmen have a special significance in American and military history, not simply because of the color of their skin.

In Europe, at the time, U.S.

air bombers were getting shot down at an increasingly alarming rate.

Like if you were flying a bomber, it was almost as if it was a suicide mission.

You you would be considered lucky if you made it to your target and back.

This problem stemmed from the uh common tactic of fighter pilots who were charged to escort these bombers, and these fighter pilots escorting these bombers, as soon as they uh received an engagement from the enemy, they would peel off from the bomber and engage the enemy head to head.

They'd have dog fights, right?

And that would leave the bomber completely vulnerable and exposed.

Every lost bomber carried with it a crew of ten American servicemen.

The Tuskegee airmen, also known as the Red Tails, because they painted the tail wings of their aircraft red, they were brought in and they were given a different strategy.

The new strategy that they were given was never, ever, ever leave the bomber.

No matter what.

Under no circumstances are you to depart from the bomber's side.

You stay with the bomber until they reach their target and you come with them all the way back.

When the enemy attacked, they were to stay the course, defend their charge.

Under no circumstances were they to leave the bombers, they were ordered to protect.

The result of their steadfast devotion?

Only 25 of the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of bombers that they escorted were ever shot down.

Their stellar reputation became a legend.

If you flew a bomber, you wanted the red tails with you.

The Tuskegee Airmen are celebrated not just because they were excellent pilots, but because they never wavered from their duty.

They never left their charge, no matter what happened.

They stayed faithful to their calling.

These men were characterized by their devotion to duty.

And if I were to summarize this final admonition of Paul to the Christians in Corinth, it would be the same.

Stay steadfast in your duty.

Just as the red tails were never to leave the side of the bombers that they were charged to protect, the Corinthians were to never leave the side of the Savior they were called to follow.

They were to remain steadfast in their devotion to Christ by being watchful, standing firm in the faith, acting like men, being strong, and everything that they did was to be immersed in love, which is the defining characteristic of a true Christ follower.

Now, in order to grasp the weight of this final admonition that Paul gives us, we need to kind of get a handle on the situation of Corinth, which Pastor Jason has given us some idea as to what's happening.

If you're like me, you read, you read a passage like chapter 16, and then you find in the middle of it this set of imperatives, right?

He's going through kind of administrative things.

He's talking about comings and goings of certain people, and then just all of a sudden, in the middle of it, he gives them this set of imperatives.

And you're like, well, that seems kind of odd.

That seems out of place.

Why didn't he say that earlier in the letter?

Well, let's let's again remind ourselves of what's happening in Corinth to try and make sense of it.

The situation can be summed up in one verse, and that's in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 1.

1 Corinthians 3:1

Paul writes, I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.

You know your situation is bad when the apostle Paul is calling your church a nursery.

You're a nursery full of grown baby Christians.

They were a divided church, factions forming around certain personalities, rather than forming around, united around Christ.

Some would identify as followers of Paul, others would identify as followers as Apollos, some would say, Well, I follow Peter, and then some as kind of a matter-of-fact, like a like a I'm better than you.

I follow Christ.

Well, that sounds very, very noble when you say it to deride others.

It's not as noble as it would seem.

And that was what was happening.

They were a church that placed value on sophisticated philosophies rather than the wisdom of Scripture.

They tolerated sexual immorality, a kind that was not even named among the pagans around them.

They were a church that took legal action against one another, Christians suing Christians, taking each other to court.

They were confused about whether they can eat food offered to idols.

They were confused about how the church should conduct itself in worship.

They were confused about spiritual gifts, using what they had to leverage their superiority over others.

They were confused about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

They were confused about communion, getting drunk, and having feasts rather than partaking so that they could remember the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And they were a church lacking in love.

This church was a mess.

If you feel ever at any point that this church is like a mess, read the book of 1 Corinthians.

You'll feel maybe a whole lot better about what's happening here.

The pressures of the culture in which this church existed was beginning to create fractures in the church, allowing toxic thinking, toxic beliefs, toxic practices to seep into this body of believers.

And in this letter, Paul, like a physician treating a wound, begins to clean out the toxic thinking and practices with the disinfectant of the gospel and the healing balm of Scripture.

He offers correction and guidance in where they have gone wrong and imparts encouragement on who they are in Christ.

But they're not removed from the pressure that caused the fractures in the first place.

They still remain in Corinth.

Corinth is a hotbed for immorality, it's a hotbed for idolatry.

It's a place where all the wise people gather together to hear each other espouse different ideas that sound intelligent.

All the issues stemming, seeping into the church stemmed from the cultural issues around them.

And if we can think of it this way, while Paul gave them guidance, direction, and affirmation, they were still in the middle of a battle.

And just like you and I, the Corinthians are in the middle of what Paul calls a spiritual battle, the good fight of faith.

That's why he calls it in 1 Timothy 6.

You're probably familiar with Ephesians 6.

In fact, this is what we're going through with our children, with the VBS at home on Wednesday nights, Ephesians 6.12.

For we, that is, Christians, those who are in Christ, do not wrestle against flesh and blood.

Means we don't wrestle against people, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Basically, the things that you and I wrestle against are things that are unseen, but are very real.

That's what the Corinthian church was embroiled in.

That's the battle that you and I are in.

Being in a battle, they could greatly benefit from having someone like Paul to come in and help them out, right?

A good theological heavyweight.

They could use some reinforcements coming in to lead the charge for reform and to right the ship.

And this is why I believe Paul spends the first 12 verses in chapter 16 talking about sending reinforcements.

He's planning on coming to them, but it might be a while because an opportunity of ministry is open for him in Ephesus.

So don't count on him.

He's busy doing other good things.

His young protege, Timothy, he might show up, but Paul says, if he does come, please send him on his way to me.

Apollos, a faithful Christian leader who was eloquent, knowledgeable in the scriptures, would have been a great help to the Corinthian church.

He was being urged by Paul to go to Corinth, but he wasn't willing to come to them at that time.

And Paul says, Well, when he's ready, he'll come to you guys.

You have a church in recovery, no promises of reinforcements, and a battle that continues to wage for the heart and soul of God's people.

What are they to do in the meantime?

That's what I've I've labeled my message here this morning.

In the meantime, let me ask you that question.

What are we to do in the meantime?

Are you waiting for something to happen?

Are you waiting for some form of reinforcement?

It's like the right person to enter your life before you take the next step in your spiritual walk.

Are you waiting for that one person or that one church that will help you straighten things out in life?

Are you are you waiting on the promises of God to come to fulfillment where he will right every wrong?

I am.

Are you waiting anxiously for the return of our Savior?

Let me tell you guys, I'm tired.

2020 has been exhausting.

And now Kanye West is running for president.

And six months ago I would have said, Yeah, that's a long shot.

Who knows?

I'm just tired.

You see the injustices not just happening in our own country, in our country around in the world around us.

You hear of our brothers and sisters in places like China, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, undergoing severe persecution.

You read about children being hungry, fathers abandoning their families.

We could keep going through the laundry list, and I'm just tired, and I want Jesus to come back so soon to establish his kingdom on earth and execute perfect justice.

But we don't know when that's happening, so what do we do in the meantime?

What do we do in the meantime?

Be watchful.

Stand firm in the faith.

Act like men.

And if that phrase, if you're a woman here and that phrase is making you nervous, don't worry, we'll we'll talk about that.

Be strong.

Do everything in love.

That's the command that Paul gives to the church in Corinth in the meantime.

And this is the command given to you and I.

If you're not sure what we should be doing in the meantime, if you feel kind of exasperated because you're looking for something to do, but you're not quite sure where to start, what do I want?

What does God want me to do?

Let me give you an idea because the Apostle Paul gave the Corinthians some commands, some imperatives for them to do.

The Corinthians were to be steadfast in their commitment to Christ, which would lead them to live out these imperatives that Paul outlines in verses 13 through 14.

So if you'll join me in the text, we're going to tackle the first imperative, and that is to be watchful.

Be watchful.

Literally to stay awake or be aware.

Paul is commanding focused attention.

Focused attention.

In light of everything happening around them, they were to be focused and to keep watch.

But what were they to watch for?

If you say be watchful, the natural question that follows is for what?

I'm convinced that everybody is watchful for something.

You sit in on a church service in Denver on a Sunday morning when the Broncos are kicking off at 11:30 and 1124 starts to roll around and the pastor hasn't even finished the first point of his message.

You could judge for yourself, but when you see yawning faces suddenly perk up when their ESPN app starts buzzing in their pockets, you begin to conclude that it's not a matter of having an attention problem.

It's just being aware and being watchful of different things.

What are you watchful for?

Many of us are watchful for our kids.

We watch out for them.

We want them to live happy, healthy lives.

We want them to grow and be successful, contributing citizens of our community.

So we watch out for our kids.

Some of us are watchful in our career.

We keep a close eye on those things that concern our advancement and promotion.

We make sure that the paychecks keep coming, not a bad thing.

We keep a close eye over our money and positions, but of all the things that we could be watchful for, what are we supposed to be watchful for?

What are we supposed to be watching for?

I'm convinced you cannot give your attention to the things of God and the things of this world.

You cannot be watchful in the sense that God wants you to while also looking over your shoulder constantly at the things of this world.

Remember the Tuskegee Airmen, the red tails, were constantly encountering distractions, things that would rightfully demand their attention, that would that would tempt them to steer off course, to be watchful of other things, and yet they were supposed to stay the course.

The entire objective of their charge was compromised the moment they decided something else was worthy of their attention.

So what are we to be watchful for?

This is not an exhaustive list, but in my study I came across four specific ways that we are to be watchful.

And the first is that we are to be watchful in prayer.

Watchful in prayer.

Seems kind of counterproductive because when I pray, I close my eyes, and when I close my eyes, I can't really see anything coming.

Like when my kids throw a lego at me while I'm praying.

It happens.

Matthew 26, verse 41.

Matthew 26:41

They do it out of fun, not of spite.

Okay?

Just Matthew 26, verse 41.

Matthew 26:41

Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.

This is Jesus addressing his disciples at the Garden of Gethsemane.

Jesus is going off on his own to pray before the pinnacle moment of his ministry where he is about to bear the sin, the guilt, the burden of all of his people whom he would redeem.

This is a pivotal moment.

This is huge.

It's so stressful, it's so um heavy that it causes Christ to sweat drops of blood.

And he brings his disciples with him and he just says, Watch and pray.

Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation because this is a pivotal moment.

This is an important moment.

The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak, is what Jesus says.

1 Peter chapter 4, verse 7 says, The end of all things is at hand.

1 Peter 4:7

Meaning, we're just kind of waiting for Jesus to come back and establish his kingdom.

We don't know when it's going to happen, but it's at hand.

Could happen at any moment.

Therefore, be self controlled and sober minded, but also read awake, watchful.

That's literally what sober minded means.

Some translations put it that way be watchful.

For the sake of your prayers.

Are you watchful in prayer?

The watchfulness that we are supposed to have begins first and foremost on our knees.

It is there that we can discern with the Lord's help what it is we are to be watchful for.

The most watchful people are those who spend the most time in prayer.

And I say this to my shame.

Because a lot of times I like to think I'm hyper-aware of things going on, but when I realize I'm not, it's because of my lack of prayer.

Watchfulness begins in prayer.

We are to be watchful in prayer.

Second thing we are to be watchful for, second way we are to be watchful is to be watchful of our sin.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians in chapter 10, verse 11, giving them examples of the Israelites.

The same Israelites who witnessed God bring an entire nation to its knees, the most powerful nation on earth, the nation of Egypt.

Bring them to their knees, and then part a sea, right?

With water on both sides.

They get out to the desert, they get thirsty, so God gives them water from a rock, they get hungry, He makes bread come from heaven, and sends in some quail.

These are acts of God that they are witnessing.

And yet they still find opportunity for idolatry.

Find opportunity for sin.

And in light of all that, Paul says that these things happen to them as an example, written down for our instruction on whom the end of ages has come.

Therefore, because of this, therefore, anyone, anyone who thinks that he stands, take heed lest he fall.

Don't become too arrogant.

Don't think that you are knocking it out in your Bible study that you are completely untouchable.

Don't ever develop the attitude that you could never fall.

We're to be watchful of our sins.

1 Corinthians 15, 34, Paul tells them, wake up.

Stay awake from your drunken stupor, meaning they're not being watchful.

They're kind of getting drunk in their own sin.

They're not able to see things clearly.

So Paul says, wake up, be watchful as is right, and do not go on sinning.

Stop your sinning.

Be watchful.

Do not think that you are so spiritual, so biblical, so theological that you could never be touched by the desires of your own heart.

We're to be watchful in prayer, watchful of our sin, and we're to be watchful of our enemy.

We have an enemy, church.

We have an enemy, and he hates you.

He hates you.

Ephesians 4, 27.

Peter says, give no, I'm sorry, Paul says, give no opportunity to the devil.

Warren Wearsby says, Satan hates God and God's people, and when he finds a believer with the sparks of anger or lust or envy or discontentment in his heart, he fans those sparks, adds fuel to the fire, and does a great deal of damage to God's people and God's church.

Paul also writes in Ephesians 6 that we are to put on the whole armor of God so that we would be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

You ever think of the devil being a schemer?

Someone who's actively drawing up plans to attack your faith, to get you to backslide, to draw you away from Christ as much as he can.

The Apostle Peter puts it this way: he says, be sober-minded.

Oh, and look at there again, be watchful.

Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, just looking for somebody to devour.

Satan is on the prowl.

It's not an idea.

This is a reality.

Charles Spurgeon says Satan's principal aim with believers is to bring their appetites and his temptations together, to get their souls into a dry and seared state, and then to strike a match, just like Warren Wearsby said, to add fuel to that and make them burn.

He is so crafty and wily with the experience of many centuries that human beings who are a but yesterday can scarcely be can be considered a match for him.

Satan's been doing this for a long time.

He has been mastering his craft of devouring people, trying to pull souls away.

He knows what works, he knows what doesn't, and he's coming after you.

Be watchful of your adversary, the devil.

Be watchful of your enemy.

And then lastly, be watchful for your savior.

Be watchful for your savior.

My friends, we are not merely constantly looking around the corner, uh anticipating danger all the time.

That's not always the way that we are to be watchful.

In those past two, it kind of sounds that way, being watchful of our sin and being watchful for our adversary, but we are also to be anxiously awaiting the return of Christ.

Jesus in Matthew 24, when he's telling his disciples about the end times, the end of all things, and his glorious return, he concludes by saying, Therefore stay awake, for you do not know what day your Lord is coming.

Stay awake, be watchful.

In many of Jesus' parables, Jesus concludes with the admonition, the command to be watchful, such as the parable of the talents.

He compares the kingdom of God to a master who calls his servants and he gives them talents.

A talent was a sum of money.

He gave to one servant five talents, he gave to another three and another one.

And then the master departed.

He left, he took off, but he charged his servants before he left to do business on his behalf until he returns.

And so the first two got busy.

The guy with five talents, he began investing it.

He invested aggressively.

The second guy, he probably took a medium-risk investment.

And then the third guy, servant, with one talent, decided to bury his in the dirt.

It wasn't that he wasn't expecting the return of his master, but he was not being watchful.

And what I mean by that is when we are commanded to be watchful, that doesn't mean we just kind of know Jesus is coming back.

We are to be active until Jesus comes back.

That's what it means to be watchful when it comes to Jesus' return.

Out of those three servants, all of them knew their master was coming back.

The first two were commended because they took what was given to them and they invested it to the benefit of their master.

They invested it for his kingdom, but the one who squandered it, went and buried it in the dirt, and didn't really care about how to use it, and just thought he could pull it out and give it back to his master.

He was considered a wicked servant.

Because he was not active.

He was not watchful for the return of his master.

We are to be watchful in that we are to be actively working towards leveraging what God has given to us for the benefit of his kingdom until he returns.

That's what it means to be watchful.

We're to watch in prayer.

Watch for ourselves, our sin, and watch for our enemy, and to be watchful for the return of our Savior.

We're to be watchful.

This command to be watchful leads into the second imperative that Paul gives them, and that is to stand firm in the faith.

Don't leave your post.

You're given a post, you're to stay watch at your post, and you're to stand firm in your post, right?

Literally hold your ground.

Don't waver or cave in.

It's the kind of mentality that says surrender is not an option.

Now, I'm very, very good at standing firm.

I bet you are too, right?

I'm very, very good at standing firm in my opinions.

Oh, I've I've got some strong opinions about a whole host of stuff.

Much of it might make a lot of enemies.

Oh, but I got some opinions, and I can stand firm in those opinions.

We hold to those opinions as if they are gospel truth, don't we?

We stand firm in what we think rather than what we know.

I'm also very good at standing firm in my preferences, right?

Standing firm in our preferences.

I know what I want, how I want it, and when I want it.

Standing firm in our preferences is often what leads to divisions in the church.

I'm thinking of the church fights that often take place around matters such as worship, usually are fueled by standing firm in preferences rather than standing firm in the faith that Paul commits to us here.

That's not what Paul wants us to stand firm in.

He doesn't want you to stand firm in your opinions, he doesn't want you to stand firm in your preferences.

He wants you to stand firm in the faith.

We are to hold our ground, but only.

Only in what he calls the faith.

We are not to waver or surrender, but only in the faith.

So you're probably asking the question, what is the faith, right?

What is this faith that he's referring to?

Is it simply like what I choose to believe in, what I choose to have faith in?

That's not exactly accurate.

If we look back to what Paul says in chapter 15, we'll see exactly what Paul wants the Corinthians to stand firm in.

In chapter 15, verse 1 and 2, he says, Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preach to you, which you received, in which you stand.

What they are to stand firm in is this gospel that Paul preached to them.

So what is this gospel?

Verse 3 I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, that is Peter, then to the twelve.

Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen.

If you're here and you're a skeptical and you're wondering if if this whole Jesus resurrection bit is true, I'd encourage you to examine that statement right there.

Because when Paul wrote this, many of his contemporaries were able to validate the resurrection by the people who were alive and saw him.

It was not a group hallucination, it was not a massive scheme that a couple of simple fishermen thought up of to deceive the entire world.

This was an actual event that at one point had over 500 witnesses to it.

I digress.

This gospel that Paul delivered, and the faith that he is commending them to stand firm in is that Jesus Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scripture.

That is the faith.

And that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures.

I want us to pause there and take notice that there's an airtight relationship between God's word and Paul's gospel that he is making.

Because God's word reveals what the gospel is.

The faith in which they were to stand in was not a mere belief in an event that happened, but also the revelation of God's words coming to fruition.

If we are to stand firm in the faith, we must know the gospel.

And if we are going to know the gospel, we must know God's word.

If we're to stand firm in the faith, it requires a knowledge of the scriptures.

When we feel like we're waving in our relationship, wavering in our relationship with the Lord, it's often because we have lost sight of the gospel and we have lost sight of the gospel because we have not stopped, uh because we have stopped seeking Christ in his word.

Stand firm in the faith.

Not just in your belief of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, but of all the promises that flow from it that God has revealed to us in His Word.

We're to stand firm in the faith.

We're to be watchful.

We're to act like men.

Now we get to it, right?

Ladies, I know you've been sitting on the edge of your seats.

Ooh, what does this mean?

Let's let's hear old student pastor explain what acting like men is, huh?

Okay.

Well, bear with me, I'm gonna give it a go.

The church in Corinth was not made up of primarily men.

So these imperatives here are not directed primarily to men.

This was a letter written to be read to the church aloud, corporately, right?

So, what does it mean to act like men if this is not directed towards a specific gender?

This phrase is translated from a Greek word andrisomi.

That equates courage with manliness, which is why some translations will put it be courageous or be men of courage.

This word is used often when referring to courageous acts, especially as it pertains to the courage of men on the battlefield.

It's meant to evoke an image of courage and bravery in our minds, as a soldier engaged in a battle, so that we would all be compelled to such courage.

It's not a specific gender imperative, it's a broad imperative that is meant to get you to think of acting courageously as a soldier on a battlefield.

Courage is required if we are to stand firm in the faith.

To stand firm in the gospel of Jesus Christ and to rest all your hope in the pages of Scripture requires great courage.

You'll be attacked, you'll be mocked, you'll be ridiculed, you'll be dissuaded to follow Christ and persuaded to follow the passions of your life and your sin.

It requires courage to deny yourself daily and take up the cross of Christ and follow after him.

We have uh after the death of Moses, Moses' assistant Joshua, he was next up.

He was on deck for 40 years, and now it's time.

It's time for him to step into the batter's box.

He's called up by God to lead the Israelites into the promised land.

It was a land filled with fortified cities, it was a land filled with large and powerful armies.

God's people at this time were just one generation removed from being slaves, not a warrior people.

If you're looking at their odds of success on paper, it's not looking too good for the people of Israel.

But look at what God tells Joshua in the first chapter of the book with the same name, Joshua chapter 1, verses 1 through 9.

Joshua 1:1–9

God tells him, I'm sorry, after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, Moses, my servant, is dead.

Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people into the land that I am giving to them.

I'm giving you this land.

Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon, I have given to you, just as I promised Moses.

From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the great sea, toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory, because I am giving it to you.

No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life, just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.

I will not leave you or forsake you.

And think about this: the confidence that Joshua now possesses is not a cold confidence.

It's not God coming down on him and saying, Hey, be courageous and get in there, kiddo.

Like, like suck it up, right?

And get in there and fight hard.

That's not what he's telling him.

The courage that he's about to command of Joshua is based on the promises that he has given to him.

It's on the basis of these promises that he says in verse 6 be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.

Joshua's confidence to stand firm in his faith of God's promises is directly motivated from the word of God as well.

Look at what he says in verse 7.

Be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses, my servant, commanded you.

Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.

This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but shall you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.

For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

There's a connection between the promises of God, the word of God, and the courage that God is now commanding of Joshua.

And concludes it all in verse 9 Have I not commanded you, be strong and courageous.

Do not be frightened, do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Dear Christian, we have that same promise.

Before Christ ascended to his throne in heaven, he gave you and I a task of making disciples.

And what were the words he spoke?

Behold, I am with you to the very, very end.

There is a promise of God and his presence and his word that he has given to us that ought to inspire courage within us.

It's the kind of confidence that we have that sings with the psalmist, knowing God is with us.

He is fulfilling his promises with us, he has given us his word.

Now we can join the psalmist in Psalm 118.

He says, Out of my distress I called on the Lord, the Lord answered me and set me free.

The Lord is on my side.

I will not fear.

What can man do to me?

Let me ask you, what can man do to you?

What can any person on this planet do to you, dear Christian, if God is with you, if God is for you, if he is on your side?

The Lord is on my side as my helper, I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.

We are to act like men and having courage, great courage.

The courage that we have will help us to stand firm and be watchful.

Now, before moving on, I want to emphasize a point that I believe Paul is making in.

Our text based on the word he uses.

And Drisomy, this Greek word which draws a connection between courage and manliness.

There are many words that Paul could use to convey courage, but he chooses this one.

I think he does it for a specific reason.

You see, the men in Corinth were deferring their leadership.

They were deferring their leadership to the women in the church and to other people who were coming in who had no business leading that church.

And rather than courageously leading, they were complacently following.

And the church suffered as a result.

Before I finish what I'm saying, let me clarify what I'm not saying.

I'm not saying that women cannot be leaders.

We have evidence in Scripture that women are very capable leaders.

I'm not saying that women are somehow spiritually less mature than men.

Oftentimes the conviction I bear in my heart is a result of my wife bringing scripture to bear on a situation.

I owe much of my sanctification to the woman in my life.

These are usually the objections that are raised when we take scripture at its word.

When it addresses leadership in the home and in the church, and there's absolutely no basis for them.

What I am saying is this men, you were designed by God to lead.

Men, you were designed by God, Genesis 1, to lead.

You were designed to lead.

To lead your wife, your children, and your church.

The road towards abandonment of the gospel begins with men deferring their leadership to others.

Abandoning their God-given role of leadership.

Men, I want to ask you a specific question.

What is keeping you from being courageous?

What is keeping you from boldly leading in your families?

What is boldly keeping you from leading in your church?

Are you being courageously watchful for the sake of those around you?

Men, you have a God who is always with you and a savior who has forgiven you.

With these promises, we should embrace the call to courage, the call to lead as personally applicable to each of us.

I pray that this morning you men would be emboldened to embrace this leadership, this role of leadership that God has called you to.

Both leadership and courage require strength.

And that's why Paul says, be strong.

Be strong.

We are to be watchful, we are to stand firm in the faith.

We are to be courageous, to act like courageous men, to be strong also.

There is this idea that permeates most cultures throughout history that the greatest virtue of all is strength.

Weakness is undesirable.

We exude the appearance and persona of strength constantly.

As often as we can because we are afraid of being seen as weak, right?

We want to have the appearance of having it all together.

We want to have the appearance of being in better shape than we actually are.

We want to have the appearance of never feeling physical pain or emotional pain.

We want to give off this idea that we are actually stronger than we really are.

That's why we don't confess sin.

We don't acknowledge failures.

We hate the idea of being weak so much that we don't talk to each other about what's really going on in our lives.

We refuse to let other people in.

We're afraid of letting others in because we are afraid that they are going to see our weakness.

Jesus Christ flips the script on weakness and strength.

This imperative that Paul gives to us to be strong is not at all what you would think.

Let's start in Ephesians 6, verse 10.

Ephesians 6:10

Paul says, finally, be strong, which is similar to this imperative, this command, right?

Be strong, but it doesn't end there.

Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

You know, your strength is not necessary to live the Christian life because you are commanded by Scripture not to be strong in your strength, but be strong in the Lord and in the strength of your might.

That means depending on God and acknowledging your weakness.

And again, we don't like this idea of weakness, but weakness is when God reveals his power in your life.

In 2 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul's telling the Corinthian church about a vision that he had, and he's trying to stay humble, so he refers to himself in the third person.

2 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

There's a guy who had a vision, and he saw some things, and whether it was in the body or out of the body, I don't know, but God knows.

And in order to keep this man humble from the things he saw, the Lord sent him what Paul calls a thorn in the flesh, a means of causing suffering.

Something that's going to cause Paul pain.

The purpose that Paul gives is so that it would keep Paul humble from going about bragging about all the things he saw when God brought him up to heaven and gave him vision.

But listen to what Paul says in verse 8 about this thorn in this flesh, that the pain he was experiencing, the weakness he had at this moment in his life.

He says, Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.

God, please take my pain away.

Take this from me.

It hurts.

I can't do what I'm supposed to do.

I can't be effective for you in ministry.

Lord, please take this from me.

But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you.

For my power is made perfect in weakness.

God's power is made perfect in your weakness.

God's power.

And so, for the sake of Christ, Paul writes, I'm content with weakness.

I'm content to be in weak.

I'm content to be in pain.

I'm content to deal with this.

Why?

For when I am weak, I am strong.

Paul's content to endure weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.

Because when Paul is at his weakest, Christ is at his strongest in Paul.

If we are to be strong as Paul is commanding us here in this text, it's not a call on you to muster up strength on your own.

It's to admit your weakness.

To admit that you can't.

To admit that you're frail.

And to trust in the power of Christ working in and through you.

Be strong.

Be watchful.

We're to be firm in the faith.

We are to act courageously.

Act like men.

We're to be strong.

And lastly, it says to do everything in love.

Do everything in love.

At the risk of sounding like we're beating a dead horse here.

I know Anton's preached on love a bunch of times.

Jason just preached on love for three weeks.

Golly, can you just enough with the love?

What's the love got to do with it?

All you need is love.

Many of these, these actually two verses I have here to close our time together are not new to you.

They've been read very recently.

I want to remind you again that love is the defining characteristic of a Christian.

Again, it is possible to be watchful.

It is possible for you to convince yourself that you are standing firm in the faith.

It is possible to think you're standing strong in the Lord and being courageous, but is your life marked by love?

Love adds the aroma of Christ to each of these imperatives.

He says this in John 13, 35 by this all people will know that you are my disciples.

Everyone will know you belong to me if you have love for one another.

The love for Christ motivates and drives us towards a love for others around us.

What's the basis for our love?

I love the Apostle John, the way he puts it.

In 1 John 4 9, he says, in this the love of God was made manifest, the way it was revealed to us that God sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him.

God sent his son, Jesus Christ, into the world.

Not because you're floating on a life raft in the sea and you just need a little bit of rescue.

No, you're dead in the water.

We are dead in our sins, is what the Bible says.

And God sent his son Jesus Christ to take your sins upon himself, die a sinner's death, be raised again on the third day.

Why?

So that we might live through him, so that death is not the final endpoint for us.

So we might live through Christ.

And this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation, which is a long fancy word meaning payment, the redemptive price for our sins.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

If you want to know how we are to love others, I want you to think hard and deep about how God has loved you.

He did not hold back his only son.

He gave you Jesus Christ.

He handed him over to vile, sinful people who would falsely accuse him, try him under false pretenses, have him beaten and crucified, and it was done all for you.

God did not hold anything back when it came to his love for you.

Now you draw the conclusion as to what that means for you loving others.

There's a lot less boundaries than you think when it comes to our love for other people.

Be watchful.

Stand firm in the faith.

Act like men and be courageous.

Be strong.

Do everything in love.

Let's pray.

God, we thank you for this word.

And while we're here on this side of eternity, we often wonder what do we do in the meantime?

What do we do while we're waiting?

And in that same spirit, I believe Paul addressed the Corinthian church and you gave us clear instructions.

And I pray that we would we would be so moved to be watchful because you have awakened our souls.

We would stand firm in the gospel and all its promises revealed in Scripture.

We would be courageous, not wavering in our faith, not bending our knee to cultural pressure or even to the lusts of our own heart and sin, but we would be courageous and be strong in your strength, not our own.

And may your people be defined by love for one another.

We pray this in Christ's name.

Amen.

That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.

Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.

You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.