A Message For The New Year

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There any kids for junior church that would like to be dismissed they made Well, it's about that time of year again for resolutions.
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I don't know if you have any New Year's resolutions yet. I don't have any I did read a
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Man who was 20 years old and he came up with 70 New Year's resolutions They weren't called New Year's resolutions, but in fact, they were called resolutions.
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Let me read you just a couple Resolved Never to do any manner of thing whether in soul or body less or more
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But what tends to the glory of God nor be nor suffer it if I can't avoid it
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Resolve never to lose one moment of time, but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can
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Resolve to live with all my might while I do live Resolve never to do anything which
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I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life Resolve to act in all respects both speaking and doing as if nobody had been so vile as I and As I had committed the same sins or had the same infirmities or failings as others that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself and Prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God There's about 65 more
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Written from a 20 year old man in 1723 by the name of Jonathan Edwards Every year he would read these resolutions to the glory of God.
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I can't even come up with one Or next year and I thought if I can't come up with one then what about the congregation?
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So instead of a New Year's resolutions list I'd like to show you 12 words in the Bible today
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That can be our watchwords can be our theme can be resolutions if you will for 2004 those 12 words are found in 1st
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Corinthians chapter 16 if you turn to the Bible there, please Again, if you don't have a Bible you may want to get one.
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It'll be an awfully long sermon without a Bible It may be an awfully long sermon with the Bible But you want to get a
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Bible to go through to see what God's Word says from 1st Corinthians chapter 16
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At the end of the chapters of 1st Corinthians after he's poured out his heart to this church it gives them 12 words for them to do 12 commands and There are 12 words in Greek.
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I think 23 in my English translations But 1st Corinthians was a church that was messed up.
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They didn't know what to do. They didn't know how to act they were pretty Fleshly pretty carnal and I asked myself the question this week.
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What should I tell the church for next year? What would be the marching orders for 2004? How should I spur our church on here at Bethlehem Bible Church?
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Certainly, I don't think we've got as many problems as Corinth does I think if you looked at the state of the church
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You could see both things that were mature in and things that were immature in Areas like women's ministries that are just taking off and they're going gangbusters mature and their development
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And then things like men ministries men's ministries who are in their infant stages yet I'm encouraged about it after our breakfast a couple weeks ago
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With some of the ideas that the men had I Think we stand for truth in this church
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Yet on the flip side, I think it's hard for us to live it out because we have the head knowledge But it's difficult to live out what we know.
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I Think at the church we have a heart for the loss, but sometimes Not a big enough heart and so we have a mixture of good things of the church and bad things of the church
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So what do you tell a church that has good things and bad things? About them. Well, the good news is by the way, we'll all be perfect one day
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That's the good news. And I think 2004 at least in my own mind It's going to be the one of the best years at least
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I'm looking forward to it the most With the possibility of hiring more staff We finally getting our missions program together with Bob Dunn and the men there just a lot of different things
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I think okay here we go We're finally kind of getting past those hurdles. So what do I tell you?
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First Corinthians chapter 16 just kept sticking out these 12 Greek words. They are Rapid -fire, they are staccato like they are kind of pointed and they are pithy
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Let's see if there's any of the P words that I could use They're peculiar, but they're just very interesting that tucked in the way tucked in the back of 1st
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Corinthians 16 is 12 Greek words that basically summarize
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The answer to the problems found in 1st Corinthians chapters 1 through 16 a what do you tell a church?
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That's messed up got some good things some bad things here. It is. It's very interesting First Corinthians chapter 16 verses 13 and 14
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Let me read these two verses and we'll see what happens today as we work through these verse -by -verse.
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We won't be in Ephesians today First Corinthians 16 13 be on the alert.
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That's one Greek word by the way stand firm in the faith Act like men
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Be strong. Let all that you do be done in love That is going to be my prayer for this church in the next year that we can by God's grace obey those 12
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Greek words I Love these words. They are ongoing words.
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They're continual words That means the God wants you never to let up do this all the time in other words.
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They're all imperatives They're not suggestions. They are not do this when you feel like it. This may be good on certain days of the week they are all imperatives and All of them except the last one have the idea of the church doing it it's not kind of individual
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Christianity it's us as a body and They're all except the last one military terms.
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How many people with military backgrounds do we have here? Several there are military terms kind of Bootcamp like terms and I like that short and sweet and to the point and you can just kind of See these things be on the alert stand firm act like men be strong Let all you to be done in love and that's a lot easier than memorizing 70 resolutions
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At least it's a lot easier for me And so we are going to look at these solution oriented commands for next year
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If the Lord Terry's maybe we won't even make it through this sermon. Wouldn't that be amazing? I would love that Number one, let's just go through these as quickly as we can number one be on the alert
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They're just going to be right from the text I'm not going to work on alliteration or anything like that because I want you to memorize these words be on the alert
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The first command that God gives the church at Corinth and now to us is to be on the alert found in verse 16 at verse 13 of 1st
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Corinthians 16 Do we have any Gregg's here today Gregory's? No Gregory's.
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Well, we have one that's right here in the text The word Gregory means to be alert to pay attention to have your eyes open to be awake to be alert
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And that's what he's calling the church to be to be alert to pay attention Temporally, well, no, but spiritually to be on the alert and on the lookout spiritually
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Be on the alert have your eyes wide open be diligent be vigilant be diligent
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Be spiritually awake You can ask yourself the question. What would be the opposite? The opposite would be for next year.
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Just sleep at the wheel Just kind of snoring through the whole year Drowsy kind of a ostrich in the head in the sand come see come saw
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No big deal coasting couch potatoing
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You could just kind of get all the contrast and all the antonyms here. It says be on the alert
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Now the question would be what should we be on the alert about? What do you pay attention for what spiritually do you want to be awake to what kind of no -dose spiritually should we be taking
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I'm in college taking all that no -dose to study for those tests late at night I don't think it worked didn't work.
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Help me study. It kept me awake. Oh, that's for sure Now you don't have to do that. You can just drink jolt cola all day or whatever it is
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Vibrant the church needs to be spiritually drinking jolt cola for the rest of the year Moxie, I think
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Moxie has caffeine doesn't it? Stay awake Well to what there are several places in the
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Bible that it says to be awake and alert for something in particular And so why don't you turn to Matthew chapter 24 and let me let me give you the most important one
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This church should be spiritually awake Primarily for the Lord's return
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Primarily for the Lord's return if this was my only point of the sermon that would be fine that we should remember that one day
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The Lord will fulfill his promise. He said he would come the first time through the prophets He did we celebrated it a few days ago
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He also said he would come back again And we are to look forward to his coming in such a way that will change the way we live
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So we need to be alert to his second coming because it does change the way you function day by day knowing that the
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Lord Could come back any time Matthew 24 42 Therefore what be on the alert same word for you do not know which day your
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Lord is coming But be sure of this that if the head of the house had known at what time the night of the night the thief was
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Coming he would have been on the alert. It would not have allowed his house to be broken into For this reason you be ready to for the
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Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think he will Jump down another chapter Matthew 25 same terminology verse 11 of the next chapter and later the other virgins also came saying
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Lord Lord open up for us and He answered and said truly I say to you. I do not know you verse 13 be on the alert then for you do not know the day nor the hour and So here they have the church at Corinth basically snoozing through their
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Christian life That's why they had little problems and now Paul inspired by the Holy Spirit is saying it's time to wake up Here's the wake -up call stop hitting that one button on that Clock that you have
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I know where my button is. It's right on the top. And what does it do? All the snooze button stop spiritually snoozing their eternal matters at stake
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And so instead of like just another ten more minutes just you know Eat drink and be merry and be faithful Christians after ten more minutes of snooze, you know, he's saying it's time to wake up Listen to Matt Mark chapter 13 verse 35
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Jesus said therefore be on the alert You do not know when the master of the house is coming You wake up and you kind of got that weird kind of hazy feeling where you don't know if it was a nap or if you slept all night and what time of the day it is and it's kind of just You can't really walk, right?
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You can't really focus you look at me Gregory Be alert.
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That's what Paul's trying to say. It's a picture of a man
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Sleeping kind of finally waking up after a long nap Mark 1337 it says again.
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I say to you all be on the alert And so what our church should be ready for in the next year is being ready to meet our master
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Face -to -face whether he comes or whether we die to live in light of that It's a good thing to remember because it will change the way you live
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If your theology says I'll have to give an account and the Lord could be back anytime I'd like to live in such a way as George Whitfield said when
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I go to bed There's not even so much as a pair of gloves out of order in case the Lord comes
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Ever seen my garage a Pair of gloves. It's much cleaner. Now.
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You can get two cars in it two little cars from Europe Robert Murray McShane said
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McShane said to some friends. Do you think Christ will come tonight one after another? I think not I think not
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When they had all given this answer he repeated this text the Son of Man cometh it in our way
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Same thing with Horatious Boner. He said In the morning when he wakes up perhaps today
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Lord when he went to bed perhaps tonight Lord and it changes the way you live
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Gee, Campbell Morgan said to me. The second coming is a perpetual light on the path Which makes which makes the present bearable
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I never lay my head on the pillow without thinking that maybe before the morning breaks the final morning may have dawned
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I never begin my work without thinking that perhaps he may interrupt my work and begin his own Like the lady who who didn't want the
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Lord to come because she had all her great plans first Corinthians 16 22
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Paul says come O Lord Maranatha Martin Luther said I preach as though Christ died yesterday rose from the dead today and was coming back tomorrow
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I mean if the Lord was coming back tomorrow and you knew it, what would you do differently? Whitfield said here's my daytimer.
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That's what I would do tomorrow Because he had it planned out. He was being alert. He was
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Alert and sober as 1st Thessalonians 5 6 is What else should you be on the alert for the
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Lord soon return? Secondly, you should be on the alert for enemies Why don't you turn to 1st
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Peter 5 8 we as a church need to be spiritually awake to enemies If you don't think there are wolves and perverse speakers who want to do damage to this flock
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You need to remember what the Bible says When truth is being proclaimed there is the enemy wanting to steal
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The Bible calls them perverse speakers 1st Peter chapter 5 verse 8 same terminology same root word on this whole idea of alert and awake eyes wide open
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You just imagine there's so many trials in life and you're trying to drive, you know 1 ,800 miles and you're just trying to keep yourself awake
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You know, you know you roll down the window you turn on the air conditioner you crank up the radio to some weird
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Station that you don't like some kind of I don't know I like jazz, but I don't like kind of jazz fusion where I can't figure it all out and just crank it up all the way
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Trying to stay awake trying to pay attention your your your physical soul is on the line and here he's saying
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You've got to be careful because there's somebody who wants your Eternal soul and their enemies be of sober spirit and there it is again be on the alert
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Your adversary the devil prowls about like a roaring lion Seeking someone to devour better pay attention.
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Satan's ready to wolf somebody down I'll poured his heart out into the church at Ephesus and he said in Acts 20
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Therefore be on the alert remember that night and day for a period of three years. I did not cease to admonish each one with tears
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Says they're going to be false teachers. These guys are going to be after you It was right
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That's why elders need to do two things teach sound doctrine. What's the other thing they need to do?
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Refute those who contradict we need to be a careful that there are people out there saying well the key to sanctification
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The key to justification to just be good do better. We have to be careful Turn to Mark chapter 14 you say well, what do
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I do about this alertness alertness? What's a good partner to alertness Matthew chapter 14 verse 38 the exact same kind of terminology?
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That Jesus gives say how specifically can the church be alert? How can we keep our eyes open the partner to alertness is prayer?
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Mark 1438 we're jumping around a little bit more today than normal, but that's alright Keep watching and praying mark 1438 that you may not come in temptation.
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The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. I Think we have miles to go in this church for prayer
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But I think we've started off on a good foot with Jack and with Bill and our ideas about prayer
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And you'll see in the coming year about 12 times that the church can get together for corporate prayer How do you stay alert?
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You can't just say to yourself be alert be alert be alert Be alert pay attention pay attention. I'm too poor to pay attention be alert.
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I mean you just can't do that No, you have to say God I'm going to have to have your help and hear
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Jesus saying if you keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation So we'll help you so you're not low like everyone is over time into kind of the lethargy and apathy and Whenever comes my way
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God saw I think we need to be alert in this church for areas of service
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You see something that the Lord places in your heart for something to you for you to do around here you do it You don't need the church's blessing
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Opportunities to evangelize we need to keep our eyes open. There's the oil man. There's the postman. Here's the bank lady here's all these people you say
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I need to be alert and awake eternity is soon All right.
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Well, that's the first one. Let's keep going number two back to 1st Corinthians chapter 13 The first thing
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Paul tells the Church of Corinth to do is to be alert Secondly found in verse 13 stand firm in the faith 1st
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Corinthians 16 verse 13 First Corinthians 16 verse 13 stand firm in the faith.
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Now. What's he saying here? Be firm stand firm in the faith. Well, you can think of some of the words that are the opposite of standing firm
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I hate to do this to you, but you'll see I'm a child of my generation of pop culture What do they call those things that wobbled and they never fell down?
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That's right Weevils wobble, but they don't fall down for some of the kids are going. What's a granimal?
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What's a weeble? The idea here is you can just imagine the soldier terminology if the first one was you've got to pay attention while you're on sentinel
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Duty or you know what they would do matter of fact This is still back in point one if they found you sleeping on your post
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They would either kill you or they could light your clothes on fire in those days You're caught sleeping on the job.
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This will wake you up a little BIC action flick the BIC I'm awake
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So as the military sentinels should stay awake, they also were to stand firm.
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It didn't mean going backwards It didn't mean falling down. It didn't mean going back sliding They were to stand firm because they were going to try to attack the enemy and you'd not want to give up ground you want
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To at least stay firm or take new ground This is definitely military language. It's a command and he's saying hold on to your faith your personal faith
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Well, that's good, but it's not your personal faith. It's the faith Jude chapter Jude verse 3 the faith that was delivered
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This is standing firm in the Christian faith the faith that Jesus is God. He's man
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He was our substitutionary atonement. God raised him from the dead He's coming back all the essentials the fundamentals of the faith if you will
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Hold fast to that truth, and I'm telling you there's an attack on this truth wherever you go
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Scripture is not really inspired. Therefore. It's not authoritative and it's not sufficient There's no such thing as absolute truth the big one these days is open theology that God doesn't really know the future because you've got to have ultimate free will and if You had free will then how could
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God know the future? I mean the attack is coming and Paul is saying to the Church of Corinth stand up for what you know don't cave in or Here's a big one
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This verse would strike against everything that says, you know, what? Why don't you give a little of your doctrine for the sense of unity?
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You just need to all get along. It's Rodney King theology. Come on. Don't put up a big fuss Just all get along that you don't really need that You don't need to keep that you're justified in God's sight by faith alone you can kind of give it away it's all right
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Paul says be firm in the faith and Notice this isn't just leaders leaders mind your P's and Q's leaders.
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Make sure you know doctrine. No, he says leaders and the people For some of you may
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I encourage you or exhort you on how could you be firm in the faith? If you couldn't describe what redemption is what reconciliation is what substitution is what propitiation is?
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These are general truths. We need to know them. It's not too late What you could do you say
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I need to be firm in my faith. What could people in the church do? What could I do? Firstly take fundamentals of the faith.
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There's a great class. We have here called fundamentals of the faith and guess what we study The fundamentals of the faith so you can stand firm in them because you don't want to believe what this church teaches
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You want to believe that this church teaches the right thing because you know it because you've studied it Right, that's what we're after.
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Well, my pastor teaches forget what I teach you want to own it You want to say I'm standing firm in this faith because I know
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You could study church history, you know, there is nothing new under the Sun and when these new things come down If it's not called
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Jehovah's Witnesses, it's called arianism. It's not new How about this discipleship?
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Ask yourself the question male and female I have someone in my life who knows more than I do
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That is helping me and I have someone in my life who knows less than I do and I'm helping them It's a good way to stand firm in the faith that is passed down 2nd
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Timothy chapter 2 verse 2 How about this? How about use a precise Bible translation?
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You want to stand firm in the faith use a precise Bible translation Talked about this in Sunday school a little bit.
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I saw the new Bible translation the T and E TR W F a translation.
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I don't think it'll be a big seller Today's new easy to read warm fuzzy application Bible hot off the presses not true, but You get the idea
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If God speaks in a certain language and it's maybe 11th grade English But you're only adept at fourth grade
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English then let's study together. So we know the precision of his language You say well,
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I want an easy to read translation. I want to know the truth. How about you? The truth are easy and sometimes it is easy and you read for God so loved the world and you say
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I can get that Use a precise translation Let me give you something else so you could stand firm in the faith demand sermons that are not watered down Demand them.
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I think you should kick me out if I stop preaching the Bible and frankly some days I don't really feel like preaching the
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Bible. I mean intellectually I do but I'm just like, okay, here I go I'm gonna say this today and I know
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Jim and and then Julie and Jill over there aren't gonna like it I don't mean Jill O 'Leary or anybody else with those names.
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I'm just picking things I go I'm not gonna like it who wants to do that, but you say we want the truth Where else are you gonna get the truth?
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What I'm not watered down Wall Street Journal Well, maybe they're gonna give a little truth.
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Who knows? How about beware of? Always wanting to go for balance.
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That's a bad way to slip. That's an easy way to slip I always want balance. I don't want to go too far here too far there.
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Sometimes that's true But it's a biblical truth. We want to stand up for the truth How about Plan in Oh for what doctrine you'd like to study in the
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Bible pick an ology I have in my notes what ology would you like to study in Oh for and then own it?
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Oh, I don't know much about the Holy Spirit. I'll study spirit ology our pneumatology Well, I don't really know how we got the
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Bible and what the Bible is all about so I'll study bibliology Would you pick one ology this year and just study it?
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We have all the resources in the library and taped you could master an ology and in nine years you would master all the ologies
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How's that sound? firm in the faith Additionally, I would suggest that if you want to stand firm in the faith, you should avoid best -selling
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Christian books now there are exceptions the best -selling Christian book is the Bible second best -selling
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Christian book is the Pilgrims progress. There are good books that a lot of people have but these days if you open up CBD or look at the cover or you walk into your your
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Your your evening moon bookstore and you just look at the front How you look on the the plant that's on fire bookstore, whatever one you go to I'm not picking on the stores
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But their idea is not necessarily to bulk you up in firmness of faith. Their idea is they sell books
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It's a business more than it is a ministry So if you go there and you say well,
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I'm just gonna read all these Christian books Beloved have somebody who knows more than you do help you before you go in there
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So you don't spend a bunch of money on just the latest trends and fads that will make you a mile wide and an inch deep
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You want to go for the good stuff, don't you? Yes, it's harder. Yes, it takes more out of you But you say
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I want to go for the good stuff You just want to be aware if a book is sold 1 .5 million copies to believers and unbelievers
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I think you should run from that book For the most part. I read the purpose -driven life this week and actually it's worse than I thought it was and after I read every page
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That's not going to help you grow. You're not even gonna understand Christianity if you read that book stay away from some of those books
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You know love languages the five love languages and all these things get some meat and you say I don't know what to pick
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Well, Nate does a great job Just go to the book table over there and pick any book and you'll say this has been approved by the elders of the church
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Something else you could do to keep you firm in the faith. You could pray for ourselves here in the church and Colossians 412 says that we may stand perfect and fully assured and all the will of God God help us to be stable
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God help us not to fall away. First Timothy 4 1 says the Spirit explicitly says in later times some will fall away from the faith
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So I'm charging you like a soldier to say I'm on the alert.
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I'm standing firm Thirdly, here's a good one When we want to get
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Gracie all riled up all the kids simultaneously say don't upset the applecart and she's like Upset the applecart here comes the applecart upset number three
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Act like men Act like men now some of your translations may say be brave not accurate
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Have courage not accurate the men and women of courage not accurate. It's a one word in The Greek that has the root word of masculine
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What's the male hormone? Testosterone this word has not general mankind
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Anthropos this has man and nair it doesn't mean All the women have to act like men in all the areas, but in the spiritual area.
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Yes It's good to have a church that is Mature in a church that has courage.
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That's the idea here act like men Andre is a root word and I said to the men at the chef at the
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A Men's breakfast Andre the Giant remember him It's a good word picture because he's big and tough and he would never lose a fight unless the
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WWF was rigged And here it was so he lost you mean that guy's gonna lose anything He's twice the size of Hulk Hogan.
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How would he lose? I? Only watched that when I was an unbeliever. I don't watch it anymore. So please no letters.
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I was trying to act like a man Andre means man and Andre the
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Giant gives you the good idea where you want to be a man Of course, there are great qualities about ladies, but that's not you know
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Paul says that of in second first Thessalonians chapter 2, you know, I love you like But here when there's all these issues and you say here comes the
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New Year act like a man Church. I Love King James. It says quit you like men play the man
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Get out of the diapers get out of the baby food distinctly male in courage and maturity he
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W Tozer just strikes a nerve when he says the church at this moment needs men the right kind of bold The talk is we need revival that we need a new movement of the spirit and God knows we must have both
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But God will not revive mice He will not fill rabbits with the Holy Ghost We languish for men who feel themselves expendable in the warfare of the soul
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Who cannot be frightened by threats of death because they have already died to the allurements of this world The true church's leaders heard from God and went ahead wholly independent of popular support are the lack of it
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They knew their Lord's will and they did it and their people followed them sometimes to triumph oftener to insults and public persecution and their sufficient reward was the
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Satisfaction of being right. Isn't that good?
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Maturity and courage and of course all the church saying we need to act like a man in terms of strength and maturity
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But also within that it's time for the real men to rise up And I'm sure your wives will do nothing else besides just sit there and clap say go get him boy valiant brave and How do you do that?
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How do you grow? How do you grow from being a baby to a teenager to a man? There's only one way and how do you do that?
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The direct way turn to 1st Peter chapter 2. We'll take a look at this Our men need to strive for the
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Word of God our ladies to be Spiritually masculine in this right kind of way need to strive for the
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Word of God There's no quick zaps everybody runs around and says, you know I want this demon in my life of alcoholism rebuked and I want the demon of a bad temper
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Rebuked and I want my demon of distemper rebuked and all these other things. It doesn't happen that fast of course
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It's easy to walk down the aisle and say slay me and knock me down and now everything's better and it is better till tomorrow
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Then what we need real growth You know the passage it is so wonderful, but to be reminded of it again is good first Peter 2 2
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Long for the pure milk of the Word like what like newborn babes. I love that I wish
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I had another little one Little tiny because then you just take your finger and what do you do by their cheek?
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You just kind of rub over here I mean it you're just built in wherever it's close and it doesn't even have to be something that has milk in it
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But it just they're just around they go they want food and it's not one time a day It's not two times a day.
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It's 15 times a day If you let that baby eat It's the only imperative and all these first 10 verses of chapter 2 long for the pure milk of the
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Word He says long for it eight for it. I can't get enough of it and I'll show you people who are in junior church
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Spiritually and I'll guarantee you one thing about them They're either a new Christian on their way up Are there an old
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Christian who will not long after God's Word with the hankering with the desire saying I want to know
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Now, of course, it's not enough just to know God's Word, but you have to start by knowing You long to see someone it's like, okay,
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I'm in India at 17 days. I can't wait to get home I can't wait to see Kim. I can't wait to see the kids. You're just thinking about it over and over and over That's the kind of longing and the desire and the hankering were to have for God's Word David Livingston when he went across Africa, he started off with 73 books 180 pounds were the books trekking across Africa finally after 300 pounds.
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He said 300 miles He said I've got to get rid of a few So he left a few down at the end of his journey into the heart of Africa.
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He had one book and one book left the Bible Loved that Exactly what he's talking about and you'll grow with respect to salvation.
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You want growth it comes to the word I want this church to grow like man next year
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But I'm not talking about numbers. I'm talking about you. I'm talking about me. That's real growth all these mega churches
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You want to have a church here that's growing God's Word Like Jeremiah the words were found and I ate them
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Like the psalmist how sweet are thy words to my taste sweeter than honey It's about the sweetest thing they had back there is honey.
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Just imagine though. You just get get a white pink Yellow and a blue tear the lids off of all those little fake sugar things and real sugar things and pour it all in your mouth
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Get that sweet taste That's an overkill Yeah, I don't think you want to do that.
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But you just imagine something sweet and you go. That's what the Bible is to me It's a love letter from God and I'm going to just devour it
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Maturity being a man spiritually comes from meat. I said this to the men. We're no longer going to have
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Cotton candy diets around the church. We're going to have jars of fluff around the church. No, we're gonna have a new church slogan here
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It's the Atkins Church meat only And you say well, yeah, but sometimes that's too hard to digest
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I know that's why you have all week to go home and study But if you only get fluff from the pulpit, what are you gonna get every other day?
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So if you get meat from the pulpit and meat from other places, then it spurs you on I still think we should do it hand out little jars of fluff to people and say you tired of fluff
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You study sometime from Amy Carmichael to William Carey and find out what was the common denominator in these people's lives
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They were hungering after God's Word You won't read of a
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Christian biography up in the library or anywhere in the world of someone who just lollygag through the scriptures hunting peck pick and choose kind of like spiritual audibly for the football fans for 23 632 814 just kind of walking through No, they studied and they studied and then they studied some more
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The maturity comes from meat maturity comes from truth Proverbs 19 20 says listen to counsel and accept discipline that you may be wise the rest of your days
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Turn to Ephesians chapter 4. Let's see what this maturity will give us. It will give us stability The new thing comes down the pike will know it
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Ephesians chapter 4 verse 14 We're gonna be well grounded and firm.
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It's gonna be the Word of God tossed Ephesians 4 14 as a result.
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We are no longer to be children. See notice. We're not going to be children anymore We want to be men. I'm gonna be grown -ups tossed here and there by waves
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You can just imagine some kind of ship just Caught in all these huge waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine
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You've got a sail up and the new wind of doctrine is God doesn't know the future and you're just blown away by it
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Here comes the new things you do these things for 40 days. Everything will be right. You'll be transformed.
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That's not true Look at by the trickery of men by the craftiness in deceitful scheming
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Very interesting word there about this by sleight of hand or by trickery. It's the root word where we get the word cube a
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Cube Rubik's Cube No a dice key where you have deceitful schemers who know how to roll the dice the right way
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Except almost like Vegas, but not Vegas doesn't do it. They're weighted and Here these unbeliever false teachers are throwing the dice and they're weighted dice and they try to trick you theological dice -playing tricks
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And if you're a child you go, okay, like Dave Jeffrey says what's one attribute about a kid that every kid does?
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Whatever they have they just put in their mouth, don't they you say? No I'm not gonna put that doctrine of my off because I know that's wrong and I've studied
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Work better when you said it than when I said it should teach me not to put you know Objects in my mouth some church growth thing going on up here.
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All right, we've got two more to do so we better We better hurry number four be strong Be strong 1st
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Corinthians chapter 16 verse 13 stay awake Stand firm act like men now be strong all military terminology good for the church to hear this word strong It's the word crot where you get autocrat where somebody is a self ruler
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This is to be strong. And if you notice the text, which you probably can't tell in English It is a passive tense.
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You say what's that? It is not something that you do. It's something done to you You need to be strong, but you can't do it.
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God needs to make you strong And so let me ask you how are you to be strong God command you to be strong? But you can't be strong on your own.
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So what do you do? That's exactly right. How are you strengthened?
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I mean think of Ephesians chapter 3 that you're strengthened in the inner person in the inner man by the Spirit of God God says be strong and yet we're what we're weak.
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How can this happen? Psalm 31 24 says be strong and let your heart take courage all you who hope in the
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Lord Ephesians 6 10 finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might
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How are you strong? We're number one pray and ask the Lord for strength To tell yourself how the world thinks
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I'm strong I'm gonna jettison that The world says, you know strong natural leader this that and the other whatever it takes for me to be strong I'm not gonna buy into the world's methods
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How can you be strong? Get rid of your schedule that has only hedonism in it
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That's the case. And lastly ask yourself the spiritual disciplines What kind of disciplines that Don Whitney book spiritual disciplines about prayer and the
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Word of God and memory and service? All right, lastly and we need to hit this one because I need it our church needs it
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Fifthly, let all that you do be done in love You think that word love there is eros love erotic love.
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Do you think it's phileo? brotherly love Philadelphia love Do you think it's store gay a natural love a family affection love or do you think it's agape a love that gives even if?
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Nothing comes back Guesses the last one agape let all that you do that everything that you do all your affairs be connected with love
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All said in 1st Corinthians 14 verse 1 pursue love Let me give you a few things to help clear up this whole
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Sticky situation of love number one love does not love does before it feels turn back to 1st
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Corinthians 13 Love does before it feels I? Fight this all the time.
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I would imagine you fight it too where you feel like doing something But here the
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Bible says you're going to do it before you felt it I'm not sure there was a lot of Feelings that Jesus had wanting to go to the cross to die for our sins
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As a matter of fact, he said let this cup be passed from me, but here you do before it feels This is the kind of love let all that is done here at the church be done and with action before feelings
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Feelings are fine, but they'll follow 1st Corinthians 13 for look at these action words Love is patient love is kind it is not jealous love does not brag and is not arrogant does not act unbecomingly
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Verse 5 it does not seek its own. It is not provoked. It does not take into account a wrong suffered
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It does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth Love bears all things love believes all things love hopes all things love endures all things and love feels all things before it can do the above all things
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Get my point Say we're gonna love each other and it's gonna be a do before a feel Some of you may not say well, there's other people in the church and I don't feel love towards them.
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That's okay But you can do love towards them Another misconception about love is this is it should be directed first towards man and then
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God that's a misconception It should be first directed towards God and then man. Here's what
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I mean. Well That person's just not very well they preach the truth and they're just not very loving but choose me as an example
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Well beloved before we get to that point of I'm not very loving to the congregation. Here's how
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I have to do it How do I love God God says if you love me you will what? Keep my commandments
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Secondly, if I love the people I will preach the Bible to them Now if I do it in a harsh way in a mean way and I'm an ogre inside the pulpit not of the pulpit
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I'm sure I am sometimes in the pulpit. That's why I'm so nice to your kids outside the pulpit So the next generation thinks
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I'm very kind except when you walk up here But love it's not well, that's unloving same thing with you evangelize.
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Well that person evangelizes and they're not very loving Well, what do you mean? First of all, they're loving by saying
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God I'll obey you and evangelize Second of all they're loving because they know what the people need and they want to give them the gospel
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Thirdly and way down the list important but way down the list is the way we go about it Did you get that we love
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God by obeying we love the other people by giving one that what they need either the truth or Ministry and then we do it in a loving way.
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I Want to be more loving and I'm sure I can get more loving and so can you but I would rather have your love This way instead of a walking around with some amoeba like love more thing going here
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I want you to obey God by serving doing what the body commands and then I'll help other people by giving them what they need
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That's love All the all the warm feelings will come won't they My old
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Bible teacher said love complements and balances everything else. It is the beautiful softening principle
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It keeps our firmness from becoming hardness and our strength from becoming domineering. It keeps our maturity gentle and considerate
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It keeps our right doctrine from becoming obstinate dogmatism and our right living from becoming smug self -righteousness
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As much as I can say, it's only loving God and loving you it is the way we do things, too But I think it's got to be in its place
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Well, if you look at this passage again, first Corinthians chapter 16 verses 13 and 14 What would the opposites be?
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Sleep through o4 Wobble all around and don't stand up for any truth act like a baby
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Be weak and don't pray do everything because You're in church to get instead of to give but the 12
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Greek words. Can you imagine? To think that we could be awake and watching and God would help us
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That we could be firm in the faith and we don't have to say, you know, I can lose my salvation I can lose this and lose that I can get better God helped me to be a man and to be strong.
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God helped me to pray so you could Strengthen me and God just helped me to love of it.
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It's a lot easier than 70 Yet it's a lot harder than 70. Let's pray our
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Heavenly Father. We acknowledge today that these charges Sound just like they're coming from a boot camp commander and father.
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They're charging us for the year. They're charging us for every day And father I feel inadequate to try to preach them because I know
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I need to live them as well as this congregation And father your word is true and you preach through vessels
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Weakness, so you might be shown strong and we would ask that the same would be true in our church Father I pray for the men of this church
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Especially for the leaders that are leading their families and leading the ministries here at the church I pray that you would spur them on to more
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Godliness And father the men who have yet to lead their own families are lead here in the church
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Father how great it is that? repentance is Welcomed by you father that you don't hold grudges and that you don't even take account seeing
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Great today would be a great day that your spirit would would stir up the name And the ladies would be great to follow would be happily happy to follow
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And father for those ladies who were here that don't have husbands to follow. I pray that you would give them Desire to study and to be masculine in their faith as it were to be strong And father this might be a church where they would know us by our love our love for you