Paul's Final Instructions
Lessons From 1 Corinthians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
Introduction
Greetings…
13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
Be Watchful
Be Watchful
Be Vigilant.
Be Vigilant.
As Christians we must always be “be watchful” or “be awake” when it comes to sin and temptation.
We must be watch and therefore be vigilant to keep an eye on our soul because if we don’t our soul can drift away into sin.
Deuteronomy 4:9 (ESV)
9 Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children
1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
We must be watchful or awake so we are able to keep guard of our ways and not be compromised with sin.
35 Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— 36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”
1 I said, “I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle, so long as the wicked are in my presence.”
We must be watchful or alert remembering God’s word so that we are able to discern good from evil and not to fall victim to temptation.
31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.
14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
We must be watchful in our communications with God so that we don’t grow apart from our God.
2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
Summary
Summary
Being alert and keeping watch over our soul so that we don’t fall into temptation must be a vital part of every Christians day.
Every day we are in a spiritual war fight the good fight of faith.
Not only does Paul say the church needs to “be watchful” he also tells them to…
Stand Firm In The Faith
Stand Firm In The Faith
Grounded In The Faith.
Grounded In The Faith.
The idea here is to have a faith that is rooted in the truth.
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.
26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
If we are standing firm in the faith because our faith is grounded in the truth we will find that we are also…
Persistent In The Faith.
Persistent In The Faith.
When our faith is grounded in truth it is unwavering.
1 Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool.
19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
Summary
Summary
Standing firm in the faith means we are grounded in the faith and persistent in “the faith.”
We won’t be tossed to and fro by wolves in sheep clothing or the false faiths they promote.
That doesn’t mean these “wolves” won’t attack when discovered and exposed which is why Paul told the church in Corinth that they must…
Act Like Men
Act Like Men
Be Courageous.
Be Courageous.
Though we live in a society that currently laughs at the idea that men and women are different and not the same in every aspect the fact remains men and women are different.
Men were created with a natural courage as the protector of women, families, and people in general.
Men have traditionally always been the ones on the front line and the ones volunteering for such positions when called upon.
This is why the apostle Paul says, “act like men.”
He isn’t trying to say women should strive to be more manly, because that is sin (Deuteronomy 22:5).
What he is simply saying is that every Christian must be brave and courageous in this spiritual fight we are in.
It takes intestinal fortitude to be a Christian, to be courageous and brave under persecution.
24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!
Philippians 1:27–28 (ESV)
27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.
Summary
Summary
John Chrysostom once stated, “A man without courage cannot long remain virtuous, for he is unable to resist vice.”
If we don’t “act like men” and be strong and courageous in this spiritual fight we are in we will not be able to “resist vice” and will fall to sin.
Which is why we must also…
Be Strong
Be Strong
Increase In Strength.
Increase In Strength.
The idea here is to never be complacent in what it takes to fight the devil and his followers.
If Satan is likened to a lion, we must be stronger with God’s help.
1 Samuel 17:37 (ESV)
37 And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”
James 4:7 (ESV)
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
1 Peter 5:8–9 (ESV)
8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.
God will give us strength to defeat Satan, sin, and temptation if we “want to keep the all of God’s word.”
Deuteronomy 11:8 (ESV)
8 You shall therefore keep the whole commandment that I command you today, that you may be strong…
God will give us strength to defeat Satan, sin, and temptation if “we put on the whole armor of God.”
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
God will give us strength to defeat Satan and sin if we “are confident in our salvation.”
1 You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus,
35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.
Summary
Summary
When we “are strong” and “growing stronger” spiritually every day we are not giving Satan the opportunity to deceive us because we can discern the difference between righteousness and unrighteousness.
Conclusion
Conclusion
… Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, and be strong…
Invitation
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,
32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.
8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.