"Act Like Men"

English Standard Version Chapter 16

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done in love.

Now, this is a Father’s Day message, so most of my focus will be on the male human’s in the room. But ladies, don’t tune out, because there is MUCH for you to pray about, to affirm in the Scripture, and to rejoice in as you think about the truth of the Word of God today!

The passage before us in an interesting one.

Let’s read it again, and we’re going to spend all of our time here this morning, receiving from it all that we can in approximately 45 minutes.

Brothers, men, boys, male humans - listen up, sit up straight, tune in and intentionally enter the battleground today. Because the warfare is real, and God has called you.

For the sake of context, let me just remind you that this is Paul’s closing thoughts to the church in Corinth. This church was known for immaturity. Let me just name a few issues that Paul saw there.

-There were divisions in the body over the various teachers in the church.

-They were tolerating incest relationships

-Christians were suing one another instead of handling their matters biblically within the church

-Some did not know how to control their bodies, and excused sexual immorality.

These are serious issues, all of which Paul addressed with the Gospel. And then he comes to this final greeting in Chapter 16, to this messy church family, a greeting he writes with his own hand, and he gives this exhortation, ACT LIKE MEN.

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men.

This very idea is under attack today. What does it even mean to be a man, let alone, to act like one?

1. The Scriptures are not afraid of stereotyping biblical manhood with traits distinct and different from womanhood.

In an exhortation to the entire church, both men and women, Paul uses a specific idea of masculinity to set that bar. He’s not sexist. He’s biblical, and sees the distinction in God’s design as something good.

The phrase he uses could be rendered, “Be courageous like a man.” Can women be courageous? Oh there’s no question about it. Should Christian women be courageous? Absolutely they should, but Paul instructs the whole church to do so by saying, “Be brave LIKE a man.”

It’s like saying, “Man up!” or “suck it up!” to someone when they’re standing 35 feet up at the edge of the rock quarry looking down, and all the kids are waiting behind them for their turn.

Dude, man up! SUCK IT UP!

Now, I’m not advocating shaming people in their moments of fear. But do you know how many boys have learned, in part, some important manhood necessities by chocking down the fear, learning to control it, and then taking a risk for the sake of something great? That’s cool! That’s what we need men to do today for the sake of Christ and their families.

But I’m really not concerned with how many men, and fathers have done a cannon ball from 35 feet. The Bible’s interest in men who live up to their created purpose.

We can also notice in Paul’s exhortation that he calls them to act like MEN, not just males. Boyhood is necessary, and it’s good for a time, but when you look at what the church is called to engage in, the warfare, the fending off of wolves, the standing against evil, the protection of the weak and vulnerable, the steadiness and resilience in sound doctrine…it would be ridiculous to say - alright church, let’s act like boys, now.

The church needs spiritually responsible men to set the example, not immature boys.

The culture needs to hear this. The church needs to hear this. There are males in the adult age category who act like boys in their embrace of spiritual immaturity, apathy, and laziness. One of Henley’s bedtime story books was making this case when I was reading to her the other night. Little Tommy was being lazy, so his mom decided to give him a taste of his medicine. She wouldn’t clean, or cook, or wake him up in time for school, because she was “ too tired”, or “too busy” to do responsible things. In his frustration, it finally clicked and he began to help out around the house.

This is the attitude of a boy, not a man. So, when you see a man acting like that you think, stop it. grow up. act like a man. And there’s nothing to apologize for in that statement.

Paul makes this distinction to the church in Corinth by calling them from their immature embrace of sin and apathy, to being watchful, standing firm and being courageous like men.

Couple other places this distinction between boy and man is used -

Earlier in Paul’s letter, he uses a similar contrast to talk about the partial and the complete in relation to our knowledge of God. How we know him now, is not what it will be when we see him face to face. Watch how me makes to point in

1 Corinthians 13:11-12 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

See the intentionality there? It’s reasonable to think about a child thinking, speaking, and dealing with life in childish ways. But when he became a man, he gave up childish ways.

One commentator said this...He was no Peter Pan, refusing to grow up. He exercised the functions of adulthood with determination; he put childish ways behind him.

Another place we see this is in Luke 2 when Jesus, as a young boy in the care of His parents is on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for a feast day. Mary and Joseph leave to head home after the feast, but they lost track of Jesus who was teaching, at 12 YEARS OLD, in the temple. They finally find him, and in their frustration they’re like, “Why would you do this to us?”

Jesus replies these famous words in Luke 2:49 “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Or, as another translation puts it, “be about my Father’s business.”

Scripture says that they pondered these things, but didn’t quite understand them fully, so they went home. Then the chapter closes with these words… Luke 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

At 12 years old Jesus showed great maturity by his obedience to the will of His Father. He knew what his business was to be. And what marked his life from boyhood to manhood was his continual growth in wisdom, and in the grace of God. Jesus may have never sinned, but there were no doubt certain boyhood immaturities, that as a human, I’m sure contrasted his adult life.

Men, make it your business to put away what is childish in you, to be about the business of God, always growing in wisdom and the grace of God.

I want to press a little further into the text in 1 Corinthians 16:13.

We’ve considered the phrase, act like men, and we can understand Paul’s clear and ultimate intention is to set the eyes of ALL believers on Christian maturity, to growth, and to Christlikeness. But he’s choosing to do so by unapologetically placing men of God on a pedestal, not to be worshipped and praised as superior, but to be leaders and examples. When Christian men fail at this, families, societies, and whole cultures suffer. And we indeed are seeing this. But it can change. By the power of God it can change!

So let’s look at these other phrases Paul used surrounding this idea of being a man.

Be watchful

This carries the tone of an alertness in battle. Not allowing a sudden calamity to catch you off guard. This takes more than just not sleeping.

To be a man is to be watchful, putting an asserted effort into being spiritually awake.

Jesus said to his disciples “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”Mathew 26:41

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Men, you need to be watchful for the sake of your own souls first, so that you can then lead those around you. Your wife and your children NEED you to be watchful.

Be watchful of the enemy, the prowling lion. Be watchful of temptation to sin, for it is creeping at the door and it’s desire is to have you. Be watchful of spiritual laziness.

Cool thing is, men are wired for watchfulness. A man can sit in restaurant with his family thinking about 14 unique ways to defend the entire place from an intruder with items found only at our table. But these very same men can at that very moment let their entire spiritual lives slip away into apathy, while Satan robs them blind. How many Christian men are seeking the Lord about 14 different ways to grow, to pray over their families, to challenge their children spiritually, to preach the gospel to their own hearts and to the dying world around them?

Young boys, from the beginning, are built to dream about watchfulness, protection, conquering darkness. This is good, and godly. If you’re a young man here today, know that God has designed you for this, not to be used selfishly, but for the good of others and for His Kingdom. Again, these are generalizations, but generalizations teach us something about the order with which God has created around us. And it is sin to go against God’s order and design for manhood.

Next I want to look at strength. Paul says to

2. Be strong

There is a reason why God created men to be stronger in general than women. Men, on average, have thicker skin by about 25%, bigger muscles on average, and in general are taller. While women show greater levels of natural affection, compassion, tenderness, empathy, and care. Keep in mind that Scripture does not say that women are weak. It says women are the weaker vessel out of the TWO genders which God created. And nature certainly affirms this design. Men should be strong, and seek to grow in strength in a variety of ways, but not for vanity’s sake.

So, what is Paul saying? He’s saying exactly what Scripture would affirm. He’s most certainly recalling the strength that God called his people to throughout history, like Joshua to as he led Israel.

Joshua 1:6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.

Joshua 1:7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.

And again in

Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

This is your call, brothers. Men. Fathers. Young boys.

Set the Lord before your eyes and be strong in His strength, so that what frightens you would not paralyze you.

Listen to these words of a father, King David, to his Son, Solomon...

1 Kings 2:2-3 “I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself a man, 3 and keep the charge of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies...

Show yourself a man. Be watchful. Solomon, Act Like a man. If you don’t feel like it. Seek the God who made you, and do not depart from His ways.

Finally

3. Stand firm in the faith, and do everything in love

This is at the center of it all. If you have watchfulness, and love, and strength, but you have not Jesus Christ, then you have nothing of eternal value.

Men of God who trust in Christ, the God-man, have learned that down is up, and up is down. You succeed in strength through humility. When you seek to keep your life in your own hands, you actually lose it. When you try to rise to the top in your own strength, you plummet in everything that truly matters.

But you cannot listen to your heart on any of this. Part of being a man, and even just a Christian, is to be like Christ who denied himself, and embraced the hard and sacrificial road that led to the cross upon which he died for sinners.

The reason you, brothers, can stand firm in the faith is because Jesus is standing firm on the covenant He made with you in His blood. He’s upholding you by His grace. He remains faithful even when we’re faithless. Thinking about manhood can drum up all kinds of masculine thoughts of, “I’m going to do this, and change this, and be a better father, and husband.” And that’s all good. But the most important thing a man can do EVERY DAY, is repent from sin and love and follow Jesus. Repent and follow Jesus. Repent and follow Jesus.

John Wesley - Give me 100 men who hate nothing but sin and love God with all their hearts and I will shake the world for Christ!

So, who’s ready to shake the world for Christ? Is the Spirit convicting you of sin? Are you ready to hate your sin and Love God with all your heart, and stop making excuses? I’m going to ask every male in this who wants this today, and doesn’t want it to fade away tomorrow morning, to stand right where you are so that the church can pray for you.