2023 Women's Conference with Lisa Hughes | Special Event

Kootenai Church

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April 15, 2023

2023 Women's Conference with Lisa Hughes | Special Event This stream is created with #PRISMLiveStudio

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09:15: And two grown sons. As a pastor's wife for more than 30 years,
09:20: Lisa has honed her gifts as a Bible study writer and teacher to better serve women in her church and those the
09:26: Lord brings her way. Her great joy is to teach women how to study God's word accurately so they can apply it to their lives for a true heart of change.
09:35: Lisa is also the author of God's Priorities for Today's Women, Discovering His Plan for You. So she does have a book table in the back and she will go over the book when she gets up here.
09:50: And before she gets up, we're going to have Katie Moon lead us in worship and after that,
09:55: Lisa will come up for the first session. One more time.
10:18: Can you hear me? All right. Good morning, everyone. You may remain seated as we sing these worship songs.
10:27: In your folder, you'll see your worship one song sheet. So just be aware there's lyrics on the back as well.
10:41: What is our hope in life and death?
10:55: Christ alone, Christ alone. What is our only confidence?
11:05: That our souls to Him belong. Who holds our days within His hand.
11:15: Who comes apart from His command. And what will keep us to the end?
11:25: The rest in which we stand. Oh, sing hope's praise eternal.
11:41: Oh, sing hope confessed.
11:50: Christ our hope in life and death. What truth can calm the troubled soul?
12:02: God is good, God is good. Where is
12:08: His grace and goodness known? In our grave's
12:14: Redeemer's blood. Who holds our faith when fears arise.
12:22: Who stands above the stormy trial. Who sends the waves that bring us nigh.
12:32: Unto the shore, the rock of Christ.
12:39: Oh, sing hope's praise eternal.
12:49: Oh, sing hope Christ our hope in life and death.
13:05: Unto the grave, what will we see? Christ He lives,
13:13: Christ He lives. And what reward is to me than sin and death be destroyed.
13:34: And we will feast and endless joy. When Christ is ours forevermore.
13:47: Oh, sing hope's praise eternal.
13:55: Oh, sing Christ our hope in life.
14:09: Oh, sing hope's praise eternal.
14:26: Christ our hope in life and death.
14:33: Confess Christ our hope in life.
14:54: Of every blessing. Tune my heart to sing
15:00: Thy grace. Streams of mercy never ceasing.
15:06: Call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some old song by flaming tongues of old.
15:21: Some time fixed upon us three.
15:34: Thou hast brought me to this place. Safely home was
15:48: I set me with a stranger. He to rescue me from his precious plow.
16:07: Is how great a strain to me.
16:22: Hard to leave. Thrown to bondage. To take and seal.
16:47: I shall see the children.
16:56: How I'll sing Thy sovereign praise. Ascends to power.
17:40: Christ will hold me fast. When the tempter grows.
17:52: I could life's fearful path be found.
18:17: My Savior loves me so. He saves our history.
18:31: Christ will hold precious in His holy sight.
18:48: His promises shall last. Bought by Him in such.
19:10: My Savior loves me so. My Savior loves me so.
20:24: My husband lived in his later teen years in Garden Valley, Idaho, way up in the mountains.
20:30: And so Idaho is, you know, we're all like we have both of us have a lot of family in Idaho, but just in the southern part.
20:39: So we just always were are down there when we we do come to Idaho.
20:45: And I have never been able to be in Sandpoint my whole life. So I always wanted to be here.
20:52: And then to be able to be with you all is the best treat of all.
20:57: So I am very thankful to be with you. And I guess I need to update my bio because we have three grandchildren now.
21:06: And so our daughter and son in law live 12 hours away from us. So we drive get in the car and grandma drives to get there and I keep calling.
21:17: Don't let the kids go to bed. Grandma's almost there, you know, kind of a thing. And but we do get to FaceTime with our grandchildren every day, multiple times a day, which is
21:29: I'm so thankful for that technology so I can have a relationship with our grandchildren.
21:36: And our grandson even lets me play games with them. Our son in law so that I can sit at the table.
21:46: He's he'll set up a game. And then okay and he'll shine the phone. Okay, Grandma, which card do you want?
21:53: And so I get to play games even on FaceTime with my grandchildren.
21:59: Is that totally cool or what? So I'm thankful. So we have Fay, who's five, and a huge helper.
22:07: And then Seth, who's almost three. And then Finn is five and a half.
22:12: And just yesterday, rolled from his back to his tummy.
22:18: So that was so exciting. I was in the airport. It's like, oh, good job, buddy. So exciting.
22:26: So it's the little things in life, isn't it? The other thing I wanted to let's see.
22:33: I don't know what else I want to tell you. I wanted I guess I need to tell you about my book.
22:39: So I've written the Unmet Expectations book. And I think some of you might know about it and others might not.
22:47: Anyway, so the book has been a long time in kind of coming.
22:53: And the Lord just had me take a long time writing it because I have so many unmet expectations apparently.
23:01: And I needed to learn to live upon the truths that I was writing about.
23:07: And it was just a joy to really just live upon those truths.
23:14: But as you know, just because you think something is finished doesn't mean that the
23:21: Lord is finished. And so I'm writing further sessions just because the
23:26: Lord continues to teach me more about really what the book is about is when life turns out different than you think it's going to be.
23:37: And then how do you respond in that moment? How are you going to turn your thoughts, your reactions?
23:45: Are we going to have a pity party? Are we going to wallow? Are we going to curl up in a ball?
23:51: Are we going to be mad and bitter the rest of our lives? Or are we going to turn to the
23:56: Lord and trust in faith and hope and say, Lord, your word and your ways and your will is what's best for me.
24:05: And so that's what the book is about. So it's there. And let's see, who's helping me?
24:13: I forgot. Jen. Not Jen. Okay, Jenny.
24:19: There's a few of you. Okay, good. No wonder I was confused. She's helping.
24:26: And so if you want to get that, it's back there. But anyway, so that's it on the book.
24:31: And so the Women's Committee chose these sessions for you, but I've already thrown a little wrinkle in for them.
24:44: And so our last session, I'm actually going to change up on you. I was really praying about it a lot, and I had met with the
24:54: Women's Committee last night. And I really just felt like that this new session that I'm going to give you this afternoon will be better for you.
25:07: And they were gracious and said, sure, no big deal. Just throw us in the air.
25:13: It's no big deal. So thank you, ladies, for going along with the flow on that.
25:19: I actually very rarely switch things up, but I wanted to make sure that you had exactly what
25:28: I think that the Lord would want for you to have. And I just was feeling very constrained by the
25:34: Lord that the last session needed to be changed. So this is what the
25:40: Lord has for us today, and I am very thankful. I love the theme, and you have the bookmark on there of Proverbs 31, 25, that strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future.
25:59: And I love that verse because that's the kind of women that we want to be, that we want to be women who are clothed with strength and dignity and that we can smile at the future.
26:12: And as you know, when we look at the future, how easy is it to smile about that?
26:21: It's not that easy to smile about the future. And so when we look at that, then we have to ask ourselves, well, what makes the difference?
26:33: How can we be women who smile at the future? What is it that needs to be in place in our souls from the
26:42: Word of God that will help us? And so that's what this day is all about.
26:49: And it has been something that has kind of been in my mind and heart for even just the last couple years as everybody, you know, all of life got blown up and everything's different in these last couple years.
27:06: But what I feel like what we are needing is just that shoring up, this more, this we're no longer, you know how before we had the whole lockdown and stuff, it just kind of felt like though there were bumps along the way, there was just this certain expectation that this is kind of, this is life.
27:28: It's life in the U .S. or whatever. And I kind of liken it to, it's kind of like Hobby Lobby life.
27:36: You know, you go in there and it's just so wonderful and fun. And, you know, you get to wander around and you're kind of just thankful.
27:47: And then now we are actually, I think we're not Hobby Lobby life living anymore.
27:54: I think we're more like Home Depot gals. And we are going in and we've got our list of, all right, what do
28:03: I need to do? Because I need to prepare for what's coming down the road, not only what of what
28:12: God is doing globally, but what God is doing around me and in my own heart and life.
28:20: So this whole time of preparation and just thinking and looking ahead is really,
28:26: I think, a theme that God is doing not only in our church, but I think he's doing it in the churches, in his churches.
28:36: He is preparing his people to stand firm in hard times.
28:43: And I think that is one of the most exciting things ever, that we, in this time, in this season, are the called out ones.
28:53: We are called to live and to stand firm, to smile at the future in this season.
29:00: We don't know if the Lord is going to return today or tomorrow or in 200 years.
29:09: He is coming soon and he's coming back sooner today than he ever has before.
29:15: So we know that, but his return is soon. And we know that difficult days are on the rise and that those will come before he takes us to be with him.
29:29: And so we want to be ready. We want to be ready, don't we?
29:35: And so we're preparing. Well, let me open in prayer and then we're going to jump into our first session, which
29:41: I haven't changed up on you. And that one is Romans or 1
29:48: Corinthians 16, 13 through 14. What's it called? Facing uncertainty with godly courage is where we're going to be.
29:57: But pray with me. Father, we do thank you for this time. I thank you for these ladies.
30:03: It's such a privilege, Lord, to gather with your people and to enjoy the sweetness of fellowship where we have a common father.
30:17: We have your Holy Spirit residing in us. We have the joy of true
30:24: Christian fellowship because we love you and love your word. And Father, I thank you for this new day, this gorgeous, gorgeous new day,
30:37: Lord, of spring. And Father, we thank you for that. We thank you that your mercies are new every morning.
30:44: And Lord, we thank you that most of all for preserving your word for us so that we can study it, that we can stand upon it, and that we can learn to thrive upon your word and not merely survive in these times.
31:04: And so, Lord, we ask for your help. We ask, Lord, for your strength, for me, clarity, for your spirit to take your word and apply it deeply into our own hearts.
31:18: Father, I pray for these ladies that you would have a blessing for them from your word today. In Jesus' name, amen.
31:28: All right. So, let me just—what I want to do in setting up this section here is
31:37: I'm just going to read a section of different verses, and then I'm going to pull them together. So, it's going to sound scatterbrained, but it actually has a purpose.
31:46: Okay, so Isaiah 7, 1 through 2 says this, and you can turn to these if you want or whatever works for you.
31:54: Okay, so Isaiah 7, 1 through 2 says, Now it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin, the king of Aram, and Pekah, the son of Ramaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not conquer it.
32:13: When it was reported to the house of David, saying, The Arameans have camped in Ephraim, his heart and the hearts of the people shook as the trees of the forest shake with the wind.
32:28: David and the—and so what we see here is not David, but Ahaz. His heart shook like the trees of the wind.
32:39: He was afraid, and they were terrified at the news that the
32:44: Arameans were on their way to fight against them. Then in Isaiah 8, 11 through 13, turn there if you'd like, it says this,
32:56: For thus the Lord spoke to me with mighty power and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,
33:02: You are not to say, It is a conspiracy in regard to all that the people call a conspiracy, and you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it.
33:14: It is the Lord of hosts who you should regard as holy, and he shall be your fear, and he shall be your dread.
33:23: And in Isaiah 8, what we see is a situation very much like what we have been dealing with for the last couple years, where the world is saying,
33:33: It's a conspiracy. There's this. They're doing this. They're doing this. And there's alarm everywhere.
33:39: And yet God's counsel to his people in when they were dealing with that very same situation is, is you are not to fear what they fear.
33:50: Do not be in dread of what they are in dread of. Don't worry about those things.
33:58: Instead, fear me and regard me. Then Luke 21, 7 through 9.
34:07: The disciples questioned Jesus, saying, Teacher, when, therefore, will these things happen?
34:14: And what will be the sign when these things are about to take place? And he said, See to it that you are not misled, for many will come in my name, saying,
34:25: I am he, and the time is near. Do not go after them. When you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified, for these things must take place first.
34:39: But the end does not follow immediately. So what we see here is that we are not to be misled.
34:49: The scriptures have told us, Jesus has told us that what's going on in our world right now has to take place before the end.
35:02: This is that's why what I think is so exciting for us. We are living in this.
35:09: Don't be misled time. Don't be. Don't worry about what's going on. These things must take place first.
35:16: And though our world is an upheaval, that doesn't mean that we need to be in upheaval.
35:23: We don't need to be caught up in all of their fears or their worries. Though my plane when
35:31: I was flying into Spokane yesterday was diverted because a volcano exploded in Russia and the plume was affecting our flight in.
35:44: So, I mean, talk about things happening, huh? OK, so then as Second Thessalonians 2, 1 through 2 says this.
35:55: Now we request, I always stumble over request. Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our
36:05: Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us to the effect that the day of the
36:18: Lord has come. And what we see from Second Thessalonians 2 is pretty much the same thing as what
36:24: Jesus had just been talking about, that there's don't be disturbed by when false teachers are saying all these kinds of things that the day of the
36:35: Lord has come. You don't need to fear. You will know that when the
36:41: Lord comes, you don't have to worry, ladies, that you're going to miss it, which is super encouraging, isn't it?
36:49: But there is what we see in Second Thessalonians 2 is just that added layer of being discerning.
36:55: Don't be quickly shaken. And I think that's the point that I want you to get from Second Thessalonians 2 verse 2 is don't be quickly shaken from your composure.
37:07: Don't be disturbed in your spirit by what you're hearing in the world at large.
37:13: But remember that the Lord has prepared our hearts. He has given us his word and we can trust him.
37:22: Second Thessalonians 2 verses 13 through 15 tells us this. But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved by the
37:31: Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the spirit and faith in the truth.
37:39: And it was for this he called you through our gospel that you may gain the glory of our
37:44: Lord Jesus Christ. So then, my brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you have been taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.
37:57: And what we see in that last little bit is that Paul is urging believers who are in difficult and troubling times to stand firm and to lean upon and hold to the truths that they had been taught.
38:10: They weren't to go looking for new ways to stop their fear or anxiety.
38:16: And this is something that we see happening. Oftentimes people want to look for, well, yeah, yeah.
38:23: You know, it's just you've told me that Bible verse. This isn't enough. And we we discount the the power of the word of God to be enough for our souls when we are afraid.
38:38: And what we see in the Christian world at large is they are they're looking for experiences still.
38:46: They're still looking for things, the next new thing, the next thing that comes along. But God's word tells us that we are to stand firm and hold to what we have been taught.
39:00: And you all have been taught well. And so you want to continue to hold to what you have been taught.
39:10: So from that hodgepodge of all those verses, you just kind of think, my, what what is all of that about?
39:18: Well, I think, you know, as we looked at those verses, we started out with just the example of that.
39:24: Even the kings can have have their hearts be terrified by things that are going on around them.
39:32: You know, we we looked at in Isaiah and King Ahaz and that his heart shook like a tree.
39:39: And I have had times when I have been so afraid that I've been like that, that I've been that fearful.
39:46: And most likely probably you all have, too. And we've we've definitely have seen the scenarios of the whole, you know, conspiracies and all the things that the world is afraid of right now.
39:58: They are so afraid. And God's counsel to us is do not be afraid like the world.
40:05: Fear me. And we see Jesus even preparing his disciples and because his word has been preserved for us and we have that, we see that we are to make sure that we are prepared as well, that we are not to be misled, that we are not to follow after the things that the world or even so -called
40:29: Christian teachers are saying. We are to trust that these things are to be coming upon us for a purpose.
40:38: God is sovereign and he is in control of every event. And even all that yucky stuff that's on the news, that is from the
40:48: Lord. And then we saw from the second Thessalonians verses, just that admonition for us to stand firm in the
40:58: Lord. And what we see here is just all of this information, just that kind of this encouragement for us to prepare our hearts, to be thinking rightly.
41:11: And so our text here in 1 Corinthians 16, all of that was intro, is just another way that we can prepare our hearts.
41:20: Now, y 'all have probably heard of muscle memory, you know, like if you're,
41:27: I don't know, you're a guitarist, a pianist. If you shoot, if you shoot a bow, if you do anything, basically, where we need muscle memory for something, just to remember to do things.
41:45: Typing, all of that is muscle memory. And basically, the whole idea of it is that when we are untrained in something, that then we keep doing it and we keep practicing and keep practicing until our muscles remember what they are supposed to do.
42:04: And well, what we want to do in this session is look at how we can have spiritual muscle memory.
42:11: And so we want our spiritual muscle memory to become so honed and trained by God's word and how we need to think that we will just respond.
42:26: And that's what I'm sure is in your heart. Lord, how can I respond more quickly to the truths from your word so that I'm not fumbling around?
42:38: It's that fumbling around while we're trying to remember what am I supposed to do next that gets us into trouble at times, doesn't it?
42:46: And so we want to have that quick spiritual muscle memory. And this text in 1
42:53: Corinthians 16 is part of that training ground that will help us be ready no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in.
43:03: And our text gives us five ways that we can practice our spiritual muscle memory skills so that we can respond in a
43:11: God -glorifying way to the Lord. So our first command, and let me just read the text.
43:22: It says, be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong, and let all that you do be done in love.
43:31: So that's where we're headed. And our first command comes right off the bat, be on the alert.
43:37: And this is a present active command, which tells us that we are to always and continually be on the alert.
43:44: And as you know, I mean, we don't need too much information about the word alert.
43:49: It just means to carefully watch, to be on guard, to take notice, to keep an eye out so that calamity doesn't suddenly overtake you.
43:59: To be watchful means that we aren't careless, indifferent, complacent, or easily deceived.
44:07: And I think that's kind of the idea behind even my comments about, you know, the
44:12: Hobby Lobby life versus Home Depot life. Because we are to be on the alert.
44:19: And for me, when I connotate Hobby Lobby life, I mean, you kind of go in there and you don't, you're not on the alert.
44:27: You're just kind of like, ah, you know, the hymns are playing. I'm just going to go through here.
44:33: And oftentimes, you just bring your little coffee with you and you just stroll. And we're not on the alert at Hobby Lobby, are we?
44:42: At Home Depot, there's a whole different idea, you know, because we go in and it's like, I need to take care of these things.
44:49: I have got a purpose. I've got a plan. I need to acquire something. And so that's the idea behind alert, is how can we be vigilant?
44:59: And so how can we? What should we be alert about?
45:05: And the scriptures tell us. They give us very specific things that we need to look out for or pay attention to if we are going to be alert women.
45:16: And the first thing is we need to be alert to the Lord's soon return, which we've already talked about a little bit.
45:23: Matthew 24, 42 tells us, Therefore, be on the alert, for you do not know which day your
45:30: Lord is coming. We are called to be ready for his soon return.
45:37: And Christians have been looking for his soon return since Jesus went up in the clouds.
45:43: You know, about even on the road to Emmaus, you know, how Jesus even talked to the disciples there on that road about that.
45:51: And the angels even rebuked the disciples. Why are you looking in the sky? We're waiting for his return.
45:59: So they I guess they must have thought he was going to come right back down. But we're still waiting.
46:05: But it's soon. It's soon. And so we are to be alert to the Lord's soon return.
46:11: Number two, we are to be alert to an earthly focus. And when
46:16: Jesus, when he was talking and teaching about the end times, he told his disciples that the end was near in Luke 21, 34 through 36.
46:27: And he said, Be on guard so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life.
46:35: And that and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap, for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of the earth.
46:45: But keep alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place and to stand before the
46:54: Son of Man. And so Jesus encourages us and tells us to keep on the alert, especially to keep on the alert for an earthly focus.
47:06: Do I have an earthly focus? He says, Don't be weighted down by sin.
47:14: Don't be weighted down by the worries of life. Don't don't be thinking, focusing on that.
47:20: Be alert to that focus, because if so, you're going to miss that the
47:26: Lord's is returning soon. You're not going to be thinking about those things. So we're to be alert to the
47:31: Lord's soon return. Be alert to an earthly focus. Number three, be alert to false teachers.
47:38: Paul warned the Ephesian elders to be on the alert for false teachers in Acts 20, 28 through 31, because they will come in from among them and lead them astray.
47:51: And Paul uses very descriptive words, and we're not going to look at that verse, but just that they will be like savage wolves.
48:00: So we are to be alert for false teachers. Number four, be on the alert in prayer.
48:06: Paul writes to the Ephesians in Ephesians 6, 18, and says with all prayer and petition, pay at all times in the spirit.
48:14: And with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.
48:22: And then in Colossians 4, 2, he says, devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.
48:30: So we are to be alert in prayer. And number five, be alert to your spiritual condition.
48:38: First Thessalonians 5, 6 says, so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.
48:46: And so we need to be considering what is my spiritual condition? Do I know the
48:52: Lord? Is he my savior? Has he transformed my life?
49:00: Or if I do know him, how am I doing in him? How am
49:06: I, am I thriving or am I just surviving? So we need to be alert to our spiritual condition.
49:13: We are not to be asleep. We are not to be indolent sluggardly. We are to be paying attention to how we are doing in the
49:22: Lord. And then number six, we are to be alert because our enemy is lurking.
49:29: Peter writes to encourage believers in their trials. And in 1 Peter 5, 8 through 9, he says, be of sober spirit.
49:37: Be on the alert. Why? Because your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.
49:45: But resist him firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.
49:55: And so what we see is there's a lot actually in the scriptures that we're told to be alert about.
50:02: And even as we pay attention to those just few, just six things, that's quite a bit, isn't it?
50:09: It gives us our marching orders for today. I need to be bright eyed and bushy tailed. I need to be paying attention to these areas in my life so that I am ready for what
50:21: God is at work in in this world. And so we are commanded in our text in 1
50:27: Corinthians 16, 13, that we are to be actively on the alert.
50:33: And we've talked about what that is and why from those examples. And this is significant,
50:40: I think, because of the uncertainty of our times. And it's so kind of the
50:47: Lord that he's giving us, he's telling us, you need to be ready. You need to be ready. And yet, the longer it takes for the
50:55: Lord to come back. I don't know. Some of you may be this, you're not like this.
51:00: But when our daughter was learning how to drive and we would be at the stoplight.
51:08: And she would be very alert when we were at the stoplight and it was first red.
51:15: And then the longer it took for it to turn green, then she'd get more distracted.
51:22: And we kept telling her, no, honey, the longer you're at the light, the more you need to be ready to go.
51:28: You know, it's going to change green soon. But it took her a little while because she just kind of thought, all right, it's red.
51:35: And then she'd be ready to just do something else. Like, no, sweetie, you know, drivers need to be ready to go at any moment.
51:44: And this is what this text is reminding us of. That we need to be ready to go at any moment.
51:52: And yet, the longer we kind of wait around, it's easy to be distracted.
51:57: It's easy for us to get kind of lazy. Sometimes we get worn out.
52:04: We get tired. But the Lord is calling us to is present active.
52:11: We are always to be doing this. And we are to be engaged in it. We are to be on the alert.
52:19: And it just means to be vigilant, to be watchful, to be prepared, to be thoughtful, to be thinking about how we're doing.
52:27: And Proverbs 24 .10 says, if you are slack or faint in the day of distress, then your strength is limited or small.
52:38: And I love that verse there in Proverbs 24 .10.
52:43: Because it just kind of says flat out, if, you know, if you find in the day of distress that your strength is limited, in other words, that you're just not doing well spiritually, then it means that your strength is small.
52:57: Well, why would my strength be small in the day of distress? Because my heart isn't prepared.
53:05: Because I haven't been vigilant over my heart. I haven't been living in the
53:11: Word of God. And so this admonition from 1 Corinthians 16 .13
53:18: is a great encouragement for us so that we won't turn into Proverbs 24 .10
53:23: women. We want to make sure that we are believing the
53:29: Lord. And God says spiritual sloth of just, you know, spiritual laziness on our part, even false teachers, the evil one himself, those are all threats to us.
53:43: But God's answer for us is to be vigilant in prayer, to be watchful over our hearts, to look for areas of laziness or sin that might lull us to falling asleep spiritually.
53:57: But the biggest reason that we are to be on the alert is simply because the Lord is going to return soon.
54:05: The times are uncertain. Change is coming. In fact, I can say without a doubt, change is here, isn't it?
54:14: Yeah. And so we are not to be in a sleepy stupor so that we will be caught off guard.
54:20: The second command in 1 Corinthians 16 .13 tells us where and in what way we can be prepared.
54:28: It says stand firm in the faith. And the word stand firm is one word in Greek, but it means to persevere, to persist, to keep on standing firm.
54:40: It's another present active command. So it means that we are always and continually and actively to be persisting in our standing, in our standing firm.
54:55: To stand firm in the faith means you don't waver in uncertainty or in doubt in your faith.
55:01: And this is, I think, really encouraging because it's to be, it's not anybody's faith.
55:10: It's your faith. Are you standing firm in your faith?
55:17: We're not posts in the ground where we're just standing firm, just stand firm.
55:23: But why? You know, stand, no, it's to stand firm in faith. In your faith and in the faith that has been delivered to us.
55:36: Joshua 3 .17 gives us a picture of what it might look like to stand firm when
55:42: Joshua and the nation of Israel were getting ready to cross the River Jordan.
55:47: And it says in Joshua 3 .17 that the priests carried the ark of God, ark of the covenant of the
55:55: Lord, and they went in through the river, the River Jordan, and they stood firm on dry ground.
56:03: In the middle of the Jordan until all Israel had crossed on the dry ground and all the nation had finished crossing the
56:11: Jordan. So the Israelite, the priest had went and the water, you know, you would think, well, when a river stops flowing, it's not going to be instantly dry.
56:23: God dried the land, the ground. And so the priest stood there in the middle while all Israel crossed through, but they stood there on the dry ground.
56:31: They stood firm. They didn't move around. In Daniel 10 .21, an angel comes to Daniel while he was praying and basically his prayers were a spiritual battle was taking place in heaven while he was praying.
56:49: And it says in Daniel 10 .21, one of the angels tells Daniel, there was no one who stood firmly with me against these forces except Michael, your prince.
57:01: And what we see there is the angel is telling Daniel, well, while you were praying, there was a spiritual battle happening.
57:09: And this angel who's talking to Daniel says that Michael, the archangel, was standing firmly with him.
57:18: So what we see, even from those two different texts, is just this example of standing firm.
57:25: And so we have to ask ourselves, OK, so we know what it means to physically stand firm. But what does it mean spiritually for us?
57:33: Well, the answer, again, is in our text. It's where we stand firm.
57:39: We are to stand firm in the faith. And it just, when we're talking about that and we're looking at that, it's the scriptures.
57:49: What do we know? What have you been taught? Where are you standing here in the word of God?
57:56: It's when we see that phrase in the faith. It's everything from the gospel to all of the teaching and training that we get in the scriptures.
58:09: And if we don't know what the truth is, then we're not going to be able to stand firm in it.
58:16: And I know you have Bible studies and you get all kinds of great teaching and you're getting things, you're receiving things.
58:24: But that's not enough. You have to be in your own time, in your home, with you, with the
58:35: Lord alone. You need to be in the word. That's coming and receiving what other people are giving you is wonderful.
58:45: And it is part of the shoring up. But it's not enough. And it's not enough as time gets more difficult.
58:53: And so we need more of the word, not less. And so we need to be in the word, in the scriptures.
59:01: Whether it's you're doing a Bible study, you're reading, you're memorizing, you're spending time.
59:07: We've got a reading plan, whatever it might be, but you're in the word. And as a habit, as often as you can, daily, multiple times a day, in whatever means that you can get.
59:21: Colossians 1 .23, Paul writes to the Colossian believers and tells them,
59:27: Continue in the faith, firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard.
59:37: You know, we are seeing Christian leaders, even ones that we have respected in the past, who are moving away from the hope of the gospel.
59:49: They are departing from the scriptures. There's person after person who's getting sucked into the whole acceptance of the
01:00:00: LGBT, everything. They're moving away from the hope of the gospel.
01:00:10: And we must be on guard. We are to be firmly established and not moved away from the tradition, from the teaching that we have been given.
01:00:22: If it is new, it is not true. Basically, it's what
01:00:27: Charles Spurgeon always used to tell his people. If it's new, it's not true. And that's certainly the case for us.
01:00:36: We have to be rooted in the right soil, which is why this command here in 1
01:00:41: Corinthians 16 .13 tells us where to stand. It's that we are to stand in the faith, but it also means that we are to stand in our faith.
01:00:53: You must make sure that you have a faith that stands. First, Titus 1 .13
01:01:02: tells us that we are to be sound in the faith, which means that we are to be healthy in our faith.
01:01:09: That is to be whole, growing and mature. It's to be free from error.
01:01:15: But the only way that we're going to be sound in the faith is from reading and studying and meditating on God's word.
01:01:24: Now, I don't think there's any one of us here who hasn't felt a little buffeted or tossed about by the events of these last few years.
01:01:35: And yet, what we see here from what we've been looking at is that God is telling us how we can be steady, how we can be firm.
01:01:44: And though there's these big winds that come through, we don't have to be hurt by all the events that are going on.
01:01:55: We might blow with them, but we're still going to remain firm and steadfast because we're rooted in the soil of God's word.
01:02:06: Now, there are some things that can keep us from standing firm. You know, you can't stand firm if you don't know the
01:02:13: Lord because there is no firmness to life without him. We can't stand firm if we're in rebellion against him.
01:02:23: If we are harboring sin in our heart, if there is bitterness, if we're not right, if we're not enjoying fellowship with the
01:02:31: Lord, we are not going to stand firm because that is going to erode our spiritual moorings.
01:02:39: We won't stand firm if we harden our heart to obeying God's word.
01:02:45: And so we need to consider, Lord, am I being tender towards you and your word?
01:02:51: Am I following through and obeying what you have given us in your word?
01:02:59: Everything that we've talked about, everything so far, really boils down to do you know the
01:03:06: Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior? Because that's the starting point. And yet, we know that we can grow up in a
01:03:16: Christian home. You can come to church. You can be there all the time.
01:03:23: You can be serving. You can be part of Bible study and be spiritually dead. There have been pastor's wives who have been in the ministry for 30 some years and finally get saved.
01:03:38: We can be dead and not realize it. And so we must consider, how do you know that you are real?
01:03:49: Have you seen that your heart is transformed? Are you seeing growth in your life?
01:03:56: Is there a quickening in your spirit towards the word of God? Are you sensitive to God's word?
01:04:04: Is the word of God living in your life? Do you love
01:04:10: God's word more today than you did before? Are you seeing changes in your life?
01:04:18: But all it takes, if you're not sure, the answer for you, no matter where you are in your walk with the
01:04:24: Lord, if you see some things that are dangerous or if you don't know him, the answer is always the same.
01:04:30: Turn to him. Ask him for help. Repent. To just pray,
01:04:35: Lord, I need you. I am afraid to go any further in this life without you.
01:04:44: That's all it takes. And he hears that prayer of faith to just, as you turn from your own independence and turn to him in dependence, that he will rescue you.
01:05:00: Because we are commanded to stand firm in the faith. So we must make sure that we are in the faith.
01:05:09: The times are uncertain. Change is coming and we know change is here.
01:05:15: And we are to be on the alert and we are to stand firm in the faith. And now we come to our third command in the text in 1
01:05:22: Corinthians 16, 13. We are to act like men. This is like, ooh, what are we talking about now?
01:05:30: And I love this command. It's actually, this word is one of, have you heard the word hapoxlegomena?
01:05:41: Okay. Well, basically what that is describing is a word that only appears once in the
01:05:49: New Testament. And so the word here that we're given, the Greek word here, is a hapoxlegomena.
01:05:57: It only appears this one time here in the New Testament text.
01:06:03: And it's also a different kind of command. The tense is different than the first two.
01:06:10: The first two commands were the present active. This one is in present middle imperative.
01:06:16: Now, what that means is when it's in the middle, that means that we, the subject, participate in the action.
01:06:25: In an active verb, you're going to be doing it. You're going to hit the ball.
01:06:31: In a passive verb, the ball hits you. You know, it's done to you. In the middle verb, you are participating in the action.
01:06:40: Somebody is helping you hit the ball. And in this instance, what we see here is that we are to act like men.
01:06:50: In other words, God is going to help us act like men, which is fascinating, isn't it?
01:06:58: It's like, well, what does this mean? And the first,
01:07:03: I think, is just encouraging to know, even in this command, that might be a little challenging for us to understand that God has already pledged himself to help us.
01:07:15: He is at work. He saves us. He gives us gifts. He gives us the
01:07:20: Bible. He gives us resources. He gives us the Holy Spirit to reside in us. And in this text, he also gives us what we need.
01:07:31: He tells us that he is going to help us, as women, act like men.
01:07:39: Okay, so now, it's like, whatever does that mean? And how can we, as wonderful Christian women, act like men?
01:07:49: And what's that going to look like? Because I don't want to be manly and walk around like this all the time.
01:07:56: What is that? Well, we want to make sure that we are acting like men in the truest biblical sense, which is to have courage.
01:08:08: That's what acting like men is about. Men are known for their courage. They're the ones who have, they're the protectors.
01:08:17: They go into battle. They run first. And so we are to all, all believers are to act like men in the truest, most biblical sense.
01:08:32: That we would have courage. That we would have conviction. That we would have strength of character.
01:08:38: That we would do the right thing. Even in the face of temptation and resistance and persecution and difficulty.
01:08:50: Even in the face of fear. And this text, you know, when you remember, this letter to the
01:09:00: Corinthians was read in a church service. So that means, you know, the kiddos were there.
01:09:07: The little mommies. The dads. The older ladies.
01:09:14: The older men. Everybody. Everybody was there. Young and old.
01:09:19: And everyone by this command is told you are to act like men.
01:09:25: But it's not something that you are doing all by your little lonesome. You are, so that's one of the things that's encouraging about this.
01:09:34: And of course they, as listeners and understanders of Greek, would have gotten that right away.
01:09:41: We have to study it and figure it out because Greek is not our first language. But it's so encouraging when we begin to understand this.
01:09:50: Amy Carmichael said, I love that.
01:10:03: I think that's a great example of what we are being asked to do here.
01:10:10: When everything in you wants to stop, acting like a man says no.
01:10:17: I'm going to keep going. I'm going to persevere. That dogged persevering of going on.
01:10:25: And yet, God helps us to do that. It's not just us. We're not pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps.
01:10:33: We're not just gritting it out. God helps us to do this. John Calvin was a thin, frail, sickly, pale looking man.
01:10:43: But he was used mightily by the Lord. And he showed much courage in many trials and storms.
01:10:52: And yet, he was this sickly kind of guy. So he didn't look like much on the outside.
01:10:58: But he was manly. George Whitefield was a weak, pudgy, sickly man who had one eye that looked in a different direction than the other one.
01:11:08: But he was known for his manly courage. Whitefield was beat up, stoned, and pelted with rotten tomatoes and eggs for preaching the gospel.
01:11:20: At one time, a crowd even threw a dead, maggot infested cat at him.
01:11:25: And though he was rejected by the established church, he kept on preaching and doing what
01:11:31: God had called and gifted him to do. Why? He was manly.
01:11:36: He had courage to keep doing what God had called him to do, even in the face of opposition and difficulty and trial.
01:11:45: When we read in Hebrews chapter 11, when we're looking at the by -faith people that are listed there in Hebrews 11, all those men and women that are listed in that chapter that showed such courage in the face of persecution and trial, we see that they acted like men.
01:12:06: They were manly in their courage. Recently, I listened again to, and I listened on audio this time,
01:12:15: Fox's Book of Martyrs by Harold Chadwick. And if you have never read or listened to that book, it is wonderful.
01:12:25: But in it, it's story after story after story of men and women, and even children, who showed manly courage in the face of tyranny and intimidation and threats and torture and death to hold fast to their faith.
01:12:45: And even in that book, many children even exhorted their parents, do not give up your faith.
01:12:54: When mom and dad were feeling fearful because the children were being threatened with torture, the children told their parents, do not deny your faith.
01:13:07: And what we see is just that all these people that I just listed, those examples, they were all acting like men.
01:13:15: They were all exhibiting manly courage because they lived out Psalm 112, verses 7 and 8, that the righteous will not fear evil tidings.
01:13:26: Because his heart is steadfast, he is trusting in the Lord, and his heart is upheld, and so he will not fear.
01:13:36: Having a manly courage in the face of evil tidings, you know, just the things that we see and hear, that is because our hearts are upheld by the
01:13:50: Lord, that we are trusting in him. We are trusting the Lord, and we are not going to be trusting in the experts.
01:13:59: We're certainly not going to be trusting in our world leadership. We're not going to be trusting in government.
01:14:06: We're not going to be trusting in money. We're not going to be trusting in anything else.
01:14:12: We don't need to fear the evil tidings if we know the Lord. And our hearts will be upheld so that we can act with manly courage, so that we will be women who can smile at the future.
01:14:28: The times are uncertain. Change is coming. Change has come. And we are to be on the alert.
01:14:35: We are to stand firm in the faith. We are to act like men. And we come to our fourth command, which is be strong.
01:14:43: This command is closely related to acting like men. And this word means to be made strong, strengthened, to gain power, to resist the temptations of the world, the flesh, and Satan.
01:14:55: And yet, it also has a different verb tense, which is really interesting.
01:15:01: It's not in the active tense, where we're being called upon to, you do this.
01:15:06: And it's not in the middle tense, where God helps us to do it.
01:15:12: The command to be strong is passive. It's a present passive command, which means today you are receiving from the
01:15:23: Lord this action. Strength. Isn't that interesting?
01:15:32: Now, we would never get that as we're looking at this in the English, would we? And yet, as we study it, we see that more literally, it could be translated that we are to be strengthened by the
01:15:44: Holy Spirit who resides within us from the word of God. And I love this shift in tense, that God is not telling us to be strong in ourselves.
01:15:55: We are to receive the strength that He gives us. Only His strength is sufficient for us to have that manly courage that can smile at the future.
01:16:08: If we proceed in our own strength, we will fail. We will not stand firm.
01:16:16: We will never be able to apply these commands in 1 Corinthians 16, 13, and 14 if we look to our own strength and ability.
01:16:24: But when we lean on the Lord and His ways, then we can stand firm in a whole different way that will bring glory to the
01:16:33: Lord because it won't be of us. He will be put on display in our lives. And the
01:16:40: Holy Spirit helps us to obey this command, which is why Paul prayed for the believers in Ephesians 3, 16 to be strengthened by the
01:16:50: Spirit in the inner man. Paul prayed that the believers would be strengthened by the
01:16:57: Holy Spirit in their spirit. Colossians 1, 11 says to be strengthened with all power according to the
01:17:05: Lord's glorious might. So this is something we can ask the Lord to do for us.
01:17:11: Lord, would you strengthen me in my soul? Your Holy Spirit is residing within me.
01:17:18: He will help me to be stronger, to be strengthened in my soul so that I will show manly courage.
01:17:28: 2 Corinthians 12, 9 through 10 says when Paul was struggling with his own kind of struggles and trials and difficulties and things, and he was asking the
01:17:41: Lord, will you please take this trial from me? And he was struggling in the midst of that.
01:17:47: And it says in 2 Corinthians 12, 9 and 10, Jesus told him, my grace is sufficient for you.
01:17:54: For power is perfected in weakness. And Paul's response to that truth from the
01:18:03: Lord Jesus to him said, then Paul said, well, then most gladly, therefore, I'll rather boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
01:18:13: That's courage, isn't it? That we would be glad in our weaknesses if God's strength would be put on displayed in us.
01:18:23: And Paul goes on to say, he says, I'm well content then with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, because when
01:18:36: I am weak, then I'm really strong. And he doesn't explain, but it's in the context that the strength that he has is the strength from the
01:18:47: Lord Jesus himself. When we come to the Lord and we receive that strengthening, we don't have to be strong.
01:18:56: We can be weak. We can be insulted. We could be in the middle of distresses. We can be in the middle of persecutions.
01:19:03: We can have difficulty upon difficulty, and we can feel like complete losers.
01:19:08: And we can still be strengthened by the Lord because when we go to him and ask him,
01:19:17: Lord, will you please be put on display in my weakness? Would your strength be seen?
01:19:24: That's what the Lord will do for us. And that's what our text is teaching us in that be strong command.
01:19:32: Philippians 4 .13 is another place where we're told about being strong.
01:19:38: In Philippians 4 .13, Paul is talking about learning contentment and being content in all circumstances.
01:19:45: But he explains that the only way that he can do that is by the Lord's help. And he says in 4 .13
01:19:51: of Philippians, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And I love this precious verse, and it's definitely a
01:19:59: Hobby Lobby verse. We've all seen it. And its power and grandeur to a certain extent has been diminished,
01:20:09: I think, because it is so common out there, isn't it? And it's kind of been turned into a
01:20:16: Christian version of the Nike slogan, just do it. And it's like, I can do it.
01:20:22: I can do all things. And it's become this aberration that God has never intended it to be.
01:20:31: It has never been, I can do all things. It's, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
01:20:42: And so we are told that in 1 Corinthians 16 .13
01:20:48: that we are to be strong. But the only way that we will ever be strong is through Christ who strengthens us.
01:20:56: And the Lord is doing that to us. Proverbs 3 .5 -6 helps us see how to put our text into practice in our lives.
01:21:07: And it says, trust in the Lord with how much of your heart? All of your heart.
01:21:14: Trust in the Lord with all of your heart. And do not lean on your own understanding.
01:21:21: And in all your ways, acknowledge him. And he will make your paths straight.
01:21:26: And he will help you have manly courage. The times are uncertain.
01:21:33: Change is coming. In fact, change is here. We are to be on the alert. We are to stand firm in the faith.
01:21:38: We are to act like men and be strengthened by the strength which God supplies.
01:21:45: And finally, we come to our last command. Let all that you do be done in love.
01:21:52: And this command is like the command in Act Like Men. It's in the middle voice, which means that we participate in the action.
01:22:02: It means that God's going to help us do all things in love. 1
01:22:07: John 4, 19 tells us we love because he first loved us. And because God is love and he loved us and he desires that we love others and that we act in love in all that we do, then he's also going to help us to do that.
01:22:25: And he helps us in this command that we are to love others and put love on display in our lives.
01:22:34: Jesus said that love is needed in the times when he comes back.
01:22:41: In the times leading up to his return, love is needed. Matthew 24 in verses 3 through 14, it's kind of a lengthy passage, so if you would like to turn there, you can, but you don't have to.
01:22:55: Jesus says this, as he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately and said, tell us, you know, when will these things happen?
01:23:05: And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? And Jesus answered and said to them, see to it that no one misleads you, for many will come in my name saying,
01:23:15: I am the Christ and will mislead many. You will be hearing of wars and rumors and wars.
01:23:20: See that you are not frightened, for these things must take place. But that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom in various places.
01:23:32: There will be famines and earthquakes, but all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.
01:23:38: Then they will deliver you to tribulation and they will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name.
01:23:45: At that time, many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many because lawlessness is increased.
01:23:58: Most people's love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.
01:24:05: This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached to the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
01:24:14: When sin increases and people cast off the Lord, love is not seen.
01:24:22: We are not seeing a kind, generous, open -hearted, patient world, are we?
01:24:29: That is not the place in which we are living. And yet, we need to make sure that our love does not grow cold.
01:24:39: In 1 Corinthians 16, 14 tells us that we are to let all that we do be done in love.
01:24:47: Why? Because the world in which we are living is growing more and more hateful, and so when love is put on display,
01:24:56: God is magnified. He is put on display, and the darkness is given light.
01:25:08: And we are to let all that we do be done in love. Paul says the same thing in 2
01:25:13: Timothy 3, 1 through 4. Realize this, that in the last days, difficult times will come because men are going to be lovers of self, lovers of money.
01:25:22: They are going to be boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious, gossips, without self -control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God.
01:25:41: And yet we are to let all that we do be done in love. And this command here is just a good reminder that no matter what, even what we're doing is to be done in love.
01:25:56: We can look at verse 13, and we could be tempted to be stridently on the alert, to pridefully stand firm, to aggressively act like men, to boastfully be strong.
01:26:11: But this command, let all that you do be done in love, sweeps away every fleshly response that we might be tempted to engage in.
01:26:20: And we are to respond with gentleness and patience and selflessness because that's how
01:26:28: God wants us to act. Ephesians 4, 1 through 3, Paul says,
01:26:33: Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love.
01:26:47: Be diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. The times are uncertain.
01:26:55: Change is coming. Change has come. We are to be alert. We are to stand firm in the faith.
01:27:01: We are to act like men. We are to be strong by the strength which the
01:27:06: Lord supplies for us. And we are to do it all and more in the love which
01:27:12: God supplies for us. There's an old hymn that is this rousing call to arms called,
01:27:21: Rise Up, O Men of God. And the men always love singing it. I think they probably sing it at every men's retreat.
01:27:27: But it's for us because we are to act like men and show manly courage.
01:27:35: Rise up, O manly women of God. Have done with lesser things.
01:27:43: Give your heart and soul and mind and strength to serve the King of Kings. Rise up,
01:27:50: O manly women of God. His kingdom tarries long. Bring in the day of brotherhood and end the night of wrong.
01:28:00: Rise up, O men of God. The church for you doth wait. Send forth to serve the needs of men.
01:28:06: In Christ our strength is great. Lift high the cross of Christ. Tread where his feet have trod.
01:28:13: As brothers of the Son of Man, rise up, O Son of God. Rise up,
01:28:20: O saints of God. Rise up, O women of God. Have done with lesser things.
01:28:27: Give your heart and your soul and your mind and your strength to serve the
01:28:32: King of Kings. Because we want to be on the alert, to stand firm, to act like men, to be strong in the
01:28:41: Lord's strength and doing all things in the love that we get from the Lord.
01:28:48: Hebrews 13, 5 and 6 said, Jesus says, I will never desert you.
01:28:53: I will never forsake you. And so we have confidence to say, well, the
01:29:00: Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? When we remember these truths, then we can be women who smile at the future.
01:29:13: Father, we thank you for this time. We thank you for just this simple little text in 1
01:29:19: Corinthians 16 that has such weight and import for us, Lord. Thank you for preparing our hearts.
01:29:27: Thank you that you desire that we be found ready. Lord, help us to consider our hearts.
01:29:34: Help us to consider our ways so that we can be more faithful to be
01:29:39: Home Depot gals. When we pray this in Jesus name, amen. Okay, thank you so much.
01:30:14: We appreciate that. And we'd like to thank you for your way to faithful teachers. At this point, we're actually going to do what's called table talk.
01:30:21: And at this table, there's a list of three questions to kind of get the discussion going. But the real purpose of this is just to really talk about what we've learned and how we can actually apply it in our lives.
01:30:33: And so we'll do that for about 10 minutes. I'll come up and announce a break after that. So you guys can go ahead and get started.