Jump Start # 220

1 Corinthians 16:13 “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.”

  The fourth admonition Paul makes from this passage is, “Be Strong.” Two simple words. Paul told the Ephesians, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might” (6:10). Be strong.

  The opposite is easy to understand and hard to put up with, Weak. I’m not a coffee drinker, but I’m around many who are. When they declare, “This coffee is weak,” that’s not a compliment. Weak knees, weak backs and weak resolves never get much done. The expression, “weak heart” or “faint of heart” describes one who lacks courage. The cowardly lion in the Wizard of Oz was weak. His own shadow scared him.

  Paul’s words are simple, “Be strong.” Strong churches come from strong members. Strong families come from strong moms and dads. Spiritual strength is a blessing. It is from the strong that Bible class teachers are found. Elders are chosen from among the spiritually strong men. The strong take a stand for what is right. The strong jump into action. The strong charge the hill in battle. The strong carry the banner for right. The strong protects those who are not so strong.   The Bible is full of examples of the spiritually strong. I think of David. I think of the three Jewish men who refused to bow down to Babylon’s idol and were thrown into the fiery furnace. I think of Elijah standing alone against the prophets of Baal. I think of Paul. I think of Jesus.

  The strong didn’t always have an easy way. Often the strong stood alone. But their faith was in God. They were confident and sure of what needed to be done.

  Everyone can be strong. This is why Paul told a church, Be strong. It takes time to be strong. It takes a plan and effort to be strong. The easy way, the lazy way is to be weak. The things that are best often taken determination. Such is life. It’s easy to be overweight—just eat whatever you want. To be in shape takes effort. It’s easy to be in debt. It takes effort to stick to a budget and save. It’s easy to be weak spiritually—just go home and watch TV, until bedtime, every night. To be strong, you have to open your Bible. To be strong you have to think of others, especially the Lord. To be strong, you have to use your spiritual talents. To be strong, you have to be able to say “No.” First, you have to say no to yourself and then to your family.

  What a blessing spiritual strength is. Knowledge, confidence, conviction, courage are all found around strength. People enjoy being around spiritual strength. Weak preaching, weak elderships, weak churches do not attract, nor do they help anyone.

  Are you strong spiritually? God wants you to be. Paul’s words are not to just a few, but the Corinthian church…Paul’s words are to you! Be strong! Fill your heart with the word of God.

 Four great expressions: Be on the alert, stand firm, act like men, be strong. They are connected. Without each other they cannot exist. This is God’s picture of you!

Roger

Jump Start # 219

1 Corinthians 16:13 “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.”

  The third statement that we find from this great verse is, “Act like Men.” Wow! Paul is telling the Corinthians to “grow up.” I’d expect most of us would be upset if someone told us that. Paul’s first two admonitions involved outside influences. Being on the alert means being watchful of things around you.  Stand firm carries the idea of not being pushed around by others. But “act like men” is an internal thing. It doesn’t necessarily involve anyone else.

  By saying this, Paul is addressing the subject of maturity. Grow up means to act your age. Paul said, “act like men.” There is a spiritual maturity as well as a mental maturity. The mature are responsible. They are dependable. They can be counted on. The immature must be watched. You never know what they may say or do.

  The subject of spiritual maturity comes up in the book of Hebrews. There we find, “For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.” Did you notice the characteristics of maturity?

• The mature is accustomed to the word of God. He is familiar with the Bible. He is not only comfortable with the Bible, he knows the Bible. He understands the message of the Bible.
• The mature diet on the solid food. They discover the depth of God’s word. They have learned to lower the nets in their thinking. It’s not superficial, shallow thoughts but insight, understanding that has led to their maturity.
• They have trained their senses to know good and evil. They know the difference between right and wrong and can understand why.

  Act like men. Children cry when they don’t get their way. Children will run home when things don’t go their way. Children fuss. Children can be selfish. But you know what? So can grown up Christians. They get mad and threaten to leave. That’s real grown up behavior, isn’t it? When what they want isn’t being well received they get loud. Volume doesn’t win arguments. Grown up Christians can be selfish, especially with their time. Some would rather sit at home in front of the TV set than meet with other Christians in a Bible study.

  Growing up with two brothers, we never used the word “immature.” We just called it as it was, we’d say, “You’re being a baby.” That wasn’t nice, but brothers can be that way. Immaturity hurts others. The immature parent will cry and pout because he can’t buy what he wants until the others cave in and he puts the family in debt simply because he has no will power or self control. Immaturity hurts. Immaturity hurts the church. Folks promise to do things and then when it comes time to do it, they call and back out. It’s not a emergency or sickness as we all understand, it’s simply, I’m not ready or I changed my mind.

  The mature apologize when wrong. The mature is not concerned about who gets credit. The mature understands when is the appropriate time to speak and when is the time to be silent. We send men into battle, not boys. We need the mature in Congress to solve problems not children. And God wants His people to grow up and act like men. Satan is not going to toss you a soft pitch. No one is going to give you a free pass. The world can be mean, hostile and aggressive against those who stand under the cross of Christ. It’s time to act like men. It’s time to be counted upon. The church needs you. God needs you. We don’t need folks who have to be pampered, hands held and can never be left alone. God needs us to act like men.

  Have you seen the commercial where a guy is sitting on the couch telling his counselor that he is afraid of yellow? His counselor is a former Marine drill sergeant. Funny stuff. True to this passage. We hear the expression, “Man-up” these days. That’s what we need to hear once in a while. If we made a promise to Christ, then we need to act like men. No excuses. He needs to be able to count on us.

  Act like men…

Roger

Jump Start # 218

1 Corinthians 16:13 “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.”

  We return to the same verse as yesterday. We are looking at the four admonitions Paul tells the Corinthians. Yesterday it was, Be on the Alert.

  Today, STAND FIRM IN THE FAITH. We sing a song, “Standing on the promises…” The idea of “standing” or “taking a stand” is based upon beliefs and convictions. There is this invisible line between right and wrong, often the world doesn’t see it, but the followers of God can. The child of God takes his stand with God. Paul’s words were, “Stand firm in the faith.” This is not a political statement. Some take a stand against raising taxes. Some take a stand against school boards and progressive education. Here, it is spiritual. Standing in the faith.

  Just a page before in your Bible, Paul said, “be steadfast, immovable…” Those words do not fly well in our times. This is the age of acceptance and tolerance. Folks that don’t go along are called names and accused of being prejudiced. God’s way is not a cafeteria in which we get to pick what we want to follow. Jesus is the Lord. He is unwavering in His doctrine. His way is one of  holiness, purity and righteousness. Stand firm is the call from God.

  It takes two things to be able to stand firm with God. First, you need a heart to know where God stands. You can’t look around and see what everyone else is doing, that doesn’t work. The only way to know is by reading your Bible and learning what God says. God has spoken about morality, sexuality, marriage, divorce, modesty, language, attitudes, money, and raising kids. Did you know that? Do you know what God says about those things? What if you don’t like what God said? Will you stand with God or will you do what you feel like? This is what Paul is talking about. Stand firm in the faith. Immodesty is in, but not with God. Sex outside of marriage is everywhere, except with God. A little dishonesty, a little impurity, a little lying—we justify those things by saying, “everyone does it!” Not God! Stand firm. You can’t stand until you know where to stand. That’s where it starts.

  Secondly, you have to plant your feet and be ready to take a few hits. They will come. As you are standing, others are walking right past you. They don’t stand where you stand. Some may be in your family. They get on you because you don’t do what they do. Others may be people you work with. Sometimes folks at church will pass you and God standing together on His word. They shouldn’t. They ought to know better, but there they go. You stand.

  You stand when people call you narrow. Because when they do that, they are calling God narrow. You are standing with God. You stand when people tell you that you are missing out on all the fun. You’re not, because you are standing with God. You stand, when Satan tempts. You stand when people ridicule. You stand when doubts arise. You stand when fears come. You stand and stand and never move from God. The world has passed God long ago. As disciples we are traveling upstream in a downstream world.

  The delightful thing about standing with God is that you know where you stand with God. You have confidence and courage because of what the Bible says. You know. And you know the end of the journey. Those that stand with God will be with God. Now those that have passed God, changed their minds a zillion times, who go back and forth with the crowds won’t have that blessed assurance as you do. They don’t know where they stand with God.

  Dare to stand…Joshua did. Moses did. David did. Daniel did. It wasn’t easy for any of them. But they stood. Their names are in our Bibles. What about all those around them who didn’t stand…forgotten!

  Dig you heels in today—the world’s going to shove you. Hang on, hang in, and STAND FIRM.

Roger

Jump Start # 217

1 Corinthians 16:13 “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.”

  As Paul ends his first letter to the Corinthians, he sends out a rapid fire, bullet point admonition. Our verse contains four strong statement. They are connected and they support one another. Without each, the others cannot exist. You notice, Paul doesn’t go into detail. He doesn’t explain the “why’s”, the “how come’s” and such. He just puts it out there. Let’s give some thoughts to these:

• BE ON THE ALERT. Today, we’d say, “pay attention.” School teachers say that. Parents say that. Here, through the apostle, God is saying that. Peter used the same expression, “Be on the alert.” But Peter added, “the devil prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Alert carries the idea of knowing what is going on around you. It is the reckless, the careless and those who walk through life asleep spiritually that get in trouble. When a person says, “I don’t see what’s wrong with…” It may be that they are asleep spiritually and are not alert. Even today, the Devil will throw darts at you. Do you recognize them? Sometimes they come packaged as a new and exciting TV show. Other times, Satan uses someone you know to influence you. He waits until you are vulnerable. He waits until you are tired. He waits until you are not sharp. Like a lion hiding in the tall grass, Satan can wait and wait a long time, watching you. He’ll try to snatch your marriage. He’ll try to chip away at your attitude. He’ll convince you that you’re missing out. He’ll mess with your head. He’ll parade hypocrites before you, to discourage you. He smiles when you lose your temper. But he waits. He watches. A bad day for you, is a good day for Satan. He moves a bit closer. Did you notice? He hopes not. Stress fills the day, and the lion moves closer. Fights with the kids, and he moves closer. Temptations pass our way and the lion moves a lot closer. He never takes his eye off of you. And what are we doing? We are the sheep. We are simply grazing on the grass of life, making a living, raising a family and trying to be decent people. Nothing special. We’re just common sheep. We’re not the superstars. We don’t grab the headlines. But Satan knows you are of value. He wants you. He watches. He waits.

  Being alert means being sharp. It is to recognize that things affect us and influence us. A steady diet of garbage and junk makes our attitudes stink. Being away from Jesus affects us. Paul says, “Be alert.” Don’t walk through life on auto pilot. Don’t just do what everyone else does.  Be sharp! Think first. Pray about things. Keep Christ right before you.

  You would never find a United States soldier on patrol among insurgents whistling and kicking rocks with his foot. No sir. He’s toast if that happens. He’s alert. Every movement grabs his attention. He’s trained. He’s looking. He’s careful. He’s prepared. He’s ready. He is alert! That’s what we expect from our surgeons. If the doctor comes in with a huge yawn, rubbing his eyes, we’d be looking for another surgeon. We want our pilots to be alert. And God wants His children to be alert.

  The lion is watching you. Do you see him?

Be alert!

Roger