Marching Orders for the Current Age
Notes
Transcript
Do you know what happens when you give a kid some sugar? Some kids have a worse reaction than others. I know some kids that are related to Dean and Nancy who are very susceptible to sugar. In fact, after a period of the grandparents continually feeding them sugar, the parents were very tempted to feed the kids sugar and then send them over to the grandparents.
Thankfully, the lesson was learned one way or another.
Sugar brings on a specific attitude. Initially, sugar can make someone hyper, excited, feel good. However, an excessive amount of sugar has been known to fuel anxiety and depression.
Teaching in the school, you can tell the kids who are fed excessive amounts of sugar, vs the kids who have a steady, healthy diet. What we put into our body affects our attitude.
The same is true spiritually. What we put inside affects our attitude. If we are followers of sports, making that our life, our savior, we will have a specific attitude, especially while on the sidelines watching our kids play. If we make politics our life, our savior, we will have a specific attitude, especially around election time, before and after.
But, if we are followers of Jesus Christ, making him our life, filling ourselves with him,
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
being transformed by the renewing of our mind, taking every thought captive, we will have a specific attitude in life.
Paul writes, in this last chapter of his letter to the Corinthians.
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.
Short and sweet, but so hard to live. We are going to look at each of these phrases, as we consider how our faith produces an attitude.
Let’s pray.
1. Be on Guard
1. Be on Guard
Paul urges the Corinthians to “Be on your guard.” It speaks of vigilance, zealously keeping watch.
It is the man in the deer stand, sitting, watching, waiting, for hours on end, until finally the perfect deer steps in front of him.
Maybe a better picture is the guards at the tomb of the unknown soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. The tomb is continually guarded by a soldier. They have an amazing ceremony for switching the guard. When I was a kid, I used to pretend that I was that guard.
Vigilance, zealously keeping watch. Making sure nothing happens to the thing that is in your care.
This phrase was used by Jesus.
Jesus told his disciples:
“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”
This was in the Garden of Gethsemane, on the night that Jesus would be betrayed. He urged the disciples to not fall asleep, but to keep watch for him.
Well, they didn’t. They fell asleep, and when they woke up, a crowd of soldiers had gathered around Jesus.
What were the Corinthians to be on their guard against or for?
Other places of Scripture uses this phrase of being on guard or being watchful.
Paul wrote:
But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober.
But, Paul mostly uses it for a different purpose.
After he wrote the letter to Corinth, he traveled back to Jerusalem and stopped in around Ephesus and visited with the Ephesian elders.
He exhorts them about a bunch of things and then says:
I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.
Peter says the same thing in his letter to the gentile churches:
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Our faith produces an attitude of guardedness. Watchfulness. Vigilance. Why? Because we have an enemy that is trying to tear our church apart.
The Corinthians were not on their guard. They were allowing all sorts of false doctrines and beliefs into their midst. Paul was calling them to wake up, grab their gun, and stand.
Some people have asked me why we are going through the doctrinal statement, because it is important for everyone to know what they believe. We are not so proud as to think that we have everything together. That’s why it’s important to go over what we say we believe to see if we actually believe it and whether it is actually true. There are somethings that we are going to take out of it. There are somethings that we are going to add.
Because we want to be on our guard against false doctrines or beliefs that might pop-up in our midst, or that might have popped-up in past generations.
We are to be on our guard.
2. Stand Firm
2. Stand Firm
Paul says:
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.
Stand firm!
I spent some time in Pensacola, FL. My favorite spot is called Naval Live Oaks. It is a National Park filled with live oak trees. These trees are amazing. The way the branches grow, doesn’t seem natural.
But, what is even more impressive is the ability of the tree to withstand hurricane force winds and water. They grow that way because of how they have been brutally treated by the elements.
Those trees stand firm.
Standing firm sounds great, but what are we to stand firm on?
Jesus told a parable:
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
We know that story. We hear it all the time. But, sometimes we don’t listen to it.
The teachings of Jesus, found in the Bible, are a solid rock. The person who lives according to those teachings will not fall.
Paul said it this way:
So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
When Paul is pleading with the Corinthians to stand firm in their faith, he is not referring to some “quasi-psychological state of faith.”
“Oh, just have faith and you’ll be fine.”
Paul always had an object, or a basis for faith.
As the book of Hebrews says:
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
The author of Hebrews details through that chapter these men in the Old Testament and historical record who had faith in God and acted upon that faith.
What is important, is that their faith was not an emotional thing. They weren’t compelled because of how they were feeling, or because they had a spiritual unction, persay.
They had recieved the promises of God, based upon the truths of God that had been passed down to them. And they stood firm in them. They stood firm in their faith.
It’s truly amazing how it is a cycle. Because of our faith, we stand firm, which strengthens our faith, which causes us to stand firm.
Paul in these two sentences throws up two sides to a coin.
We are on our guard against the false doctrine, beliefs and teachings.
We stand firm in our faith, in what we know is true. And we don’t move from it.
What does that look like?
Hurricanes of life come billowing through. Sand is whipping up around us. Telephone poles are snapping. Roofs are peeling. Streets are flooding with water and all sorts of trash.
Everything that could go wrong is. We take a note from the live oak trees. We dig our roots deep into the truth and we hold on.
People come speaking some nice stuff that seem to be exactly what we need, but they are different from the truth that we have believed, so we hold on to the truth. We hold onto our faith, no matter what.
We are in school, and the waves of culture and false teaching come flooding over us. And we hold firm to our faith, knowing that this is what is true. Nothing else. This is what will last. Nothing else will.
We stand firm in our faith.
3. Be Courageous
3. Be Courageous
This is a fun word. Courageous.
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.
Now, I just need to read the New American Standard to you.
Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
King James, ESV does that as well.
The word literally means: Act like men. But, some modern translations didn’t like the gender-stereotyping. Fleshed out the term to say: be courageous.
Which is one aspect of what Paul is writing. However, it is just one aspect. When a writer at this time told some to man-up, they were telling them to be courageous. The men at this time were called to fight the wars, go through hardship and starvation, protect the women and children. Courageous things.
Josephus uses this word to describe men who courageously stormed a defended city-wall, knowing that they were heading to their deaths.
So, yes, “Be Courageous” can be an exceptable translation.
However, there is more at stake with this phrase than perceived masculine vs feminine attributes.
One also uses the term for an adult vs a child. As I grew up, my parents called for me to start acting like a man, and stop acting like a child.
I’m already having some of those conversations with my kids, that growing up is rough, because we have to start sacrificing for the good of others.
Earlier in this letter, Paul writes about being spiritual adults.
Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?
Ten chapters later he wrote:
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.
Be courageous!
He is urging the Corinthians to stop acting like spiritual kids, being pulled about by desires, and emotions, by culture and people’s opinions. To stop working for their own good and start working for the good of others. To start diving deep into the things of Christ, desiring the richness of the meat of the Word.
Becoming an adult takes courage. As a recent t-shirt said: adulting isn’t for the faint of heart.
Being a spiritual adult is the same. It is saying that I will be on my guard against false teaching. I will stand firm in my faith. And I will make decisions based upon this. Instead on what the culture tells me, what my emotions tell me, what my enemies tell me.
Which often times requires courage.
I will remain distinctively Christian.
Paul says: Be on our guard. Stand firm in our faith. Be courageous.
4. Be Strong
4. Be Strong
Paul tells the Corinthians:
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.
I’ve been very word based with this sermon. And I need to get a little more technical.
This word is not active. This word is passive. It does not speak of someone strengthening themselves, but of being strengthened by someone else.
Consider the life of John the Baptist.
And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.
He was not strong himself. He was strong because of the spirit of the Lord that was in him.
Consider what Paul wrote in Ephesians:
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
Same word. The Ephesian Christians were not to strengthen themselves. Paul was praying that the Spirit of God would strengthen them.
Paul tells the Corinthians
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.
Be strong!
When we see this phrase, we could think of someone at the gym, lifting weights, doing the rowing machine, doing stuff to gain strength.
But, this is not what Paul is referring to. We are to be connected to the source which produces strength.
Consider the prophet Isaiah:
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
What is the key to strength? Having a big sword or an automatic weapon, standing like Rambo: Come on Satan!
The key to strength is hoping in the Lord:
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Standing firm on our faith, we turn to Jesus and say: Help!
My soul is weary with sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word.
Standing firm in our faith, we turn to the Word of God and say: Help!
Being strong, spiritually, is admitting that we are weak, that we cannot do anything and we turn, falling flat on our face before the one who does everything.
And when we do that, we are strong.
It is crazy to me how many times I feel weak, and I try to muscle through life, through decisions, through temptations. I want to be strong. I want to be someone people can look up to. I should be able to do xyz.
However, we are never able to muscle ourselves into strength.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
We are not able to take a stand against the devil’s schemes, unless the Lord’s strength is flowing through us. When we turn to God and say: help!
Think about salvation. The gift is given to those who give up, who admit that they are weak, and they allow God to do everything.
Paul says:
Be strong. Be courageous. Stand firm. Be on your guard.
5. Love Well
5. Love Well
Finally, He says:
Do everything in love.
Verse thirteen and verse fourteen are like two sides to a coin.
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.
This is a very long way of saying what Paul wrote elsewhere:
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.
At first Paul speaks of standing firm for truth: be on guard against false teaching, stand firm on the Gospel, be courageous and spiritually mature, be strong in the Lord. It’s about truth!
Then, he turns to love. Everything must be done in love.
Everything.
The First Epistle to the Corinthians A. Concluding Exhortations (16:13–18)
“All things” would include the quarrels in the name of leaders in chaps. 1–3, their attitude toward him in chaps. 4 and 9, the lawsuits in 6:1–11, husband-wife relationships in chap. 7, the abuse of the weak by those with “knowledge” in 8:1–10:22, the abuse of the “have-nots” at the Lord’s Supper, and the failure to edify the church in worship in chaps. 12–14. If they were to “do all things in love,” then these other things would not be happening.
We are the family of God, and as such are called to love each other and love those who are not part of the family.
The old song goes:
They will know we are Christians by our love, by our love, yes they will know we are Christians by our love.
Most churches do one or the other. They either live verse 13.
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.
or they live verse 14.
Do everything in love.
They stand firm on truth, making sure that nothing which spells of false doctrine comes into their midst.
Or they love people, accepting everyone into the folds of the church.
We have those extremes. Historically, we as a church have done better with the truth, than with the love. But, we have grown and God has brought people in to help teach us how to love better.
It is very hard to do both. To teach truth and love well.
How do we do that?
By remembering the Gospel.
Paul wrote:
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
God declared the truth. That we are sinners. That everything we do is sin. That every part of our being is marred by sin. Our sin separates us from God. Our sins deserves death, both physical and spiritual. We deserve to be in eternal death, separation from God and all that is good.
That is the truth. And that truth is love.
Because, through that truth, God shines. He sent his son, because of his love, to die for us when we didn’t deserve it.
God spoke the truth, demanding that we live according to the truth, but because we didn’t, he fulfilled the truth by sending Jesus because of his love.
When we realize the Gospel, when we have fallen on our faces before the king of kings and the Lord of Lords, accepting his amazing gift. We will begin to live according to the Gospel, to speak truth and love well.
We live in a world that needs a group of people who will live the Gospel, speaking truth and loving well.
May we be that people.
Let us be on our guard, standing firm, courageously, strong, doing everything in love.