Transcript

Sermon Transcript: Battle Cry for the Believer

7/22/2018 Jeff Schwarzentraub 41 min read

Well, thank you so much for choosing to worship with us today. Would you do me a favor? Welcome our Broomfield campus, who's worshiping with us? It's so great to have you. And as we've been worshiping and praying and celebrating the Lord's presence among us, let's prepare our hearts to hear his living and active word this morning.

Would you pray with me? Lord? Jesus, we just thank you for who you are. Lord, we thank you for the grace which you've extended to us through dying on the cross, being raised from the dead, and offering life to all those who confess you as their personal lord and savior. Jesus, we pray that you would be present here among us as we open your living and active word, Lord, give me the ability to preach it accurately and clearly.

And then, Lord, we just invite your holy spirit to do his work here among us this morning. And, Lord, for what you're going to accomplish and what you're going to do, we give you praise in advance. We celebrate you, the king of kings and the Lord of lords. And now, Lord, as we come before you, Lord, we want to hear you. So speak, Lord.

Lord, if there's any sin in our life that we haven't confessed, we confess it now, knowing that the blood of Jesus forgives us and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. Lord, you have a word for everyone here. And so, Lord, now we just pray that you would speak clearly to us and all of God's people who are ready to receive his word and put it into practice very loudly. Agreed. By saying with me, amen.

Amen. Amen. Well, I want to invite you to open your bibles to first corinthians, chapter 16. 1st Corinthians, chapter 16. While you're turning there, we're going to take a look at two verses this morning.

I was hoping to finish the book this weekend and got to studying this week, and I said, I'm not glossing over this. We're going to spend time on these two verses this morning because they're so important, because what Paul is pointing out to the church in Corinth and also to us is, as he's been writing songs, many things to this culture as to how to be stronger in the Lord and what to look like with this church that reflected oftentimes more of what the world looked like than what God wanted them to be. He's giving them these final exhortations and charge as a church for how they can live completely for Christ. And in one corinthians, chapter 16 and verses 13 and 14, he's really giving a battle cry for believers. He's really sounding the alarm for believers.

If you work as a fireman and the alarm gets sounded, it means it is time to wake up now and go do something. If you're in the army and there's a call to battle, it's time to go do something. Now, here in this book, what Paul is saying, hey, now, believers, because we've been over all these different things, let's go do something with it. And here's how you can do it. And so, if you have your bible with me, I encourage you to read along in one corinthians 16, 1314.

Here's what he says. Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Act like men. Be strong.

Let all you do be done in love. And there's the word of God this morning. For the people of God. Amen. Right.

Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Act like men. Be strong. Let all you do be done in love.

And that's Paul's message. And I'm telling you right now, I can spend five weeks on this message, right? Because it's so important. And what you're going to see are five things in this text that God wants us to own. I mean, I kind of picture, like a fist going up in the air, like, yeah, let's.

Let's go take the hill. These five things. And it's not just five things for you to do, it's five things for you to be. It's who you are. It's who Christ in you already is.

And it's an exhortation to be who you already are in Christ. Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Act like men. Be strong.

Let all you do be done in love. The first one. Is this ready? It means, be ready. Be ready.

The battle is real. Be on the alert. Means be ready. The battle is real. There is a battle that takes place for the soul of every single human being alive.

Okay? If you're here today, there is a battle for your soul. Okay. From the time that you were conceived, there's a battle for your soul. Now, let me first talk to those who are here who do not have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

You might say, well, there's no battle for my soul. There is a battle for your soul. Right? Here's what the Bible would say. The reason you don't know that there's a battle for your soul is because of what the next book, second corinthians, chapter four, points out in verses three and four.

Paul says, and even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the God of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. In other words, for non believers, what happens in your life is you have been blinded by Satan like every other single person that's born. So you cannot see how glorious God is through the person of Jesus Christ. You just can't see it. You're blind to it.

And here's what the lie is that you hear in your ear. I'm fine just the way I am. If God doesn't want me just the way I am, that's his problem. I'm fine the way I am. That means you're blind to what the Bible is calling and the battle that there is for your soul.

Here's the truth. Jesus Christ is the second person of the Trinity, God's one and only son who became incarnate flesh nearly 2000 years ago, who lived a perfect life, who fulfilled the law, who died in your place, taking your punishment for all the sin of humanity, was buried in a grave. Three days later was taken out of the grave fully alive by his father. He's been alive ever since offering life to all who confess him as lord. But in order to confess him as lord, you got to realize you have a problem of sin.

Now when you come to that place and you confess Jesus Christ as Lord there's still a battle that takes place. There's still a battle that takes place. Listen to this verse in Colossians chapter two, Colossians 213 and 14. But specifically verse 13 it says, for he rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son in whom we have redemption and forgiveness of sins. Here's what happens in salvation.

There is a transfer of kingdoms. You are born in the kingdom of darkness. You are born in the kingdom of Satan. You are born under the thumb of the devil. You are blind to the things of God.

That's what the Bible points out. Every person starts there. You start there. I start there. For those who would argue say, I've never started there.

You're still there. Okay? Everybody starts there. And salvation happens when you confess Jesus Christ as Lord and you transfer kingdoms. Jesus Christ is the Lord of my life.

I'm giving up my rights for God's rights. There's this divine exchange that happens. I am no longer my own. I'm bought with a price. I'm gonna honor God with my body, okay?

That's what salvation happens. And when you're transferred, when you believe that you're transferred into the kingdom of his beloved son in whom you have forgiveness, you have redemption, the forgiveness of all your sins, that's what takes place. That's salvation. So just. I'm talking to you now.

Listen to me because I'm not talking to the person next to you. I'm talking to you. When did that happen for you? Okay? It's not that you were born into it.

You were born into the kingdom of darkness. It's not that you went to church and got your way out. It's not that you were a good person. It's not that you were moral. It's not that you're nice.

There's a divine exchange that has to happen in the life of every person when you cross over from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's beloved son, Jesus Christ. And it's a moment you will know, and it's a moment you will remember, because it's the moment where you gave up all rights to yourself for all rights to Jesus. It doesn't just happen without your will, okay? It happens when you give God the leadership that he already has and you acknowledge that he's the lord of your life. Okay?

That's why you have to be ready. Now when that happens, let me tell you what happens. It ticks off Satan, okay? When that happens, he knows he's lost you for all eternity. So there's this battle that takes place and you really have a battle from three different places.

The first is Satan himself. Okay? First, Peter five eight says, be sober minded and alert for your enemy. The devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Okay?

Christians, you have an enemy. It doesn't say, be fearful of Satan. It doesn't say be scared of Satan. It says be sober minded and alert. Cause you have an enemy.

He doesn't like you. Now in the life of the non believer, you know what he wants to do in the life of the non believer? Just blind him until the fact that they stand before the glory of God and get cast into hell for all eternity. That's Satan's strategy. He will do anything to keep you blind.

He can make you successful, he can make you rich, he can make you poor. He can do any number of things as long as he keeps you blind to knowing that your greatest need is Jesus Christ. That's what he does to non believers. He takes them all sorts of different ways to live for themselves so that they don't know they have a need for God. Once you've crossed over and realized you have Christ in your life, the battle gets real then, right?

Cause now you're no longer in Satan's camp where you're on his team. You're on a new team now. You're on team Jesus. And here's what the enemy wants to do. He wants to steal, he wants to kill, and he wants to destroy your life.

Now. I wish somebody would have told me this. I wish somebody would have told me when I got saved. Be on the alert, brother. Cause I grew up in church.

I thought I was a Christian. I thought I was a good guy. I mean, I thought everything was going right. And I trusted Christ at a young life camp, and everything changed, and I wept tears, and I knew it was different. And I was on the way home, and I thought if it was okay then, I mean, it's gonna be, like, awesome now.

It's like, my mind, I pictured that I was, like, joining, like, carnival cruise lines and, like, cruising off with Jesus, and it was just gonna be this big party, and it was gonna be awesome. And my life was attacked. I just didn't know I was gonna be attacked. I didn't know that Satan hated me. I didn't know that the battle was real.

Nobody told me that. Nobody told me that all my friends that I used to hang out with weren't going to be nearly as excited about the decision I made. Nobody told me that my family wasn't going to embrace the decision that I made. Nobody told me that all my friends, when I went up to college were not going to rally around me to help me grow in Christ. I didn't know any of that stuff.

The battle's real. When you cross over and you're in the kingdom of God's beloved son, you have an enemy, the devil who hates you, who is against you. Number two, you have this. You have temptation. You have temptation.

The Bible says, when we pray the Lord's prayer and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, it means temptation's real. You will be tempted as a Christian. Now, nonbelievers are tempted as well, but it's not a battle. Tempt me to do this. Of course I'll do that.

Sounds good to me. If it helps benefit me, I'm gonna do it right. Even if it hurts me, I'll do it. But when you become a Christian and there's temptation, you realize if you do it, you start wounding your soul. It hurts the sin.

You used to be able to sin. If you sin now, it'd be painful. It would hurt you more than the other people. And you would say yourself like many of us have said over time. Why did I do that?

Why did I say that? I knew better than that. Any christians? Give me a witness that you know what I'm talking about here today. Okay, this is what happens.

Cause we're in the kingdom of God's beloved son. We serve the king, Jesus. Before, we were just serving the devil. You're like, I didn't serve the devil. Yes, you are.

Even if you don't know him. That's who you're serving. Cause you're either serving the Lord or you're serving the devil. And when you become a believer, temptation becomes real. It's a real deal, right?

That's why we need each other in our life. That's why we need God's word in our life. And finally, is this. Here's another thing you have going against you. It's called false teachers.

False teachers, people within the church that are telling you something different than what God would tell you. And in second Peter, chapter one and verse. I'm sorry, second Peter, chapter two, and verse one. You see this? I mean, Peter's just gotten done talking about how there's no prophecy that had its origin in the will of man, but all scripture where men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

It means that this book here are the oracles of God. This is God speaking. In other words, every time we have a service here at brave church, whether you're on the Broomfield campus or whether you're here in Inglewood, whether it's Saturday night, night, Sunday morning, here's what happens every time the word of God is preached, which will be every time as long as I'm your pastor. Here's what happens. This is God speaking.

This is an invitation. Who here would like to hear God today because he wants to talk to you. That's what preaching is, right? That's when you preach the word. Let me just tell you something.

Not everybody preaches the word. Not everybody preaches the word. I mean, this is what Paul says. But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the master, who is our Lord, who bought them, bringing swift destruction among themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of the way.

Because of them, the way of the truth will be maligned in other words, there are people that don't believe this is God's word. There are people that don't champion this is the authority of God's word. Just the other day I was watching tv because I always try to listen to what preachers are saying. Like, do they believe this book or are they just telling stories? And there's nothing wrong with telling stories to highlight a point.

That's great, but what are people walking away with, the story or God? So I always watch what people are doing and we happen to be watching at our house. And one of my children, as we were watching this preacher said, daddy, how come that preacher doesn't open his Bible? And I said, that preacher doesn't even have a Bible. And my child said, then why are you even listening?

I said, great point. You're being discipled. Well. And I said, that's what we're talking about at church this weekend. And even my kids get the fact, if you're not going to open the Bible, leave.

Like, what is somebody going to tell you? Quit following people. Listen to Jesus, right? I mean, that's the message. You have false teachers and here's how you know they're false.

I'm telling you, I could stand up here and spell out false teachers that would offend every single one of you here, but I'm not going to do that today. What I'm going to do today is say, if you're listening to somebody and all they do is tell the same thing over and over, and there's no whole counsel of God, or they skip over verses or they're not telling you everything Christ would say or they're apologizing for it, or they have some acronym sermon where they're just kind of flipping Bible verses in to make their story look good, run away from them. They're not speaking on behalf of God, right? And here's the truth, just be ready. The battle's real.

The battle's real. The battle's real. Now there's one thing we need to be ready for that's really good, and that's the return of Jesus Christ. The Bible says, be on the alert. You don't know at the day or the hour that that's going to happen.

I'm just telling you it's happening soon. I don't know what soon means, but it's sooner than it was when we started the message, right? That's what I know. And I don't know if it's in my lifetime or 500 years, I don't know. But I know it's soon, and I know when Christ comes, I want him to find me doing what I'm supposed to be doing.

So be on the alert. The battle is real. That's why all throughout the scriptures, I mean, we could go through a litany of these. We could make it the whole day today talking about why to do this. I mean, I've read these scriptures to you quite frequently, but two, Timothy 312.

Indeed, anyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Promise for those in the kingdom of God's beloved son. Ephesians 610. And following says, put on the full armor of God. Put on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the spirit, all the pieces of armor.

John 1633. Jesus said, in this world, you will have tribulation. But take heart, I've overcome the world. Even the picture of the church is an offensive weapon. When Peter says, you are the Christ, jesus says, you're right, and I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not be able to prevail against it.

Right? I mean, why would there be so much talk about persecution, tribulation, suffering, sacrifice. The only way to read the Bible and not see suffering, sacrifice, tribulation, turmoil, trials as normative is to be from America. That's the only way you could read the Bible and not see that. Because here's why.

You've been lied to. You've been told like I was told, just accept Jesus and everything in your life will be perfect. Can I just tell you flat out lie? Flat out lie. Jesus Christ, because of his beliefs, being son of God, was crucified.

All the other eleven apostles that survived, that were living for Jesus martyred, with the exception of one that was banished on an island. Find somebody that lived for God fully, that didn't suffer, and you did not find somebody that lived fully for God. Okay? I mean, that's the message. So be ready.

Because the battle is real, right? This is what the truth is. Second, he says this, be on the alert. Then what's he say? Stand firm in the faith.

Stand firm in the faith. It means this, be rooted, be rooted. The invitation to worldliness is enticing. So be rooted, be rooted. The invitation to worldliness is enticing.

Go back all the way to Genesis three. And what's the enemy's first question? Did God really say that? It's the same question he asks you, did God really say that? That's why knowing God's word is so important in your life as a believer, because the more that you know his word and the more that you're rooted in his word, the stronger that you'll be in your faith.

Because if the enemy says, did God really say that? And you're like, I don't know. Or it sounds like some fundamentalists believe that still. I don't know. I mean, you'll be wavering in your faith.

But when you read through God's word and you see when God speaks, it's authoritative. I'm not reading the Bible to say, do I believe this? I'm reading the Bible to say, this is my authority and I'm going to believe every part of it even if I don't understand certain things. Because God wrote this book and wants me to submit to it. It's a whole different thing and be rooted in it.

I mean, that's what the Bible says. God wants us to be rooted in the faith. He wants us to be rooted in the word. In John, chapter 15, this is what Jesus talks about. He says this in John chapter 15, verse four.

Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me. Fruitfulness in the christian life is always a result of rootfulness in the christian life, right? I mean, you can develop your root system. Only God can bear fruit in your life.

We're called to work on the root system. In Psalm chapter one, it says, blessed is the man who plan, who does all the right things because he's like a tree planted beside streams of water that yields his fruit in due season. It's rootfulness. It's what are you doing to build your root system? If you build your root system correctly, you will always produce fruit.

God will always bear fruit in your life. It's true 100% of the time. 100% of the time. Now this is why I want to tell you to be rooted, because the invitation to worldliness is enticing and many of you have just been lied to. Okay?

So listen to me on this. Listen to me on this. Most of us have the gospel wrong. Most of us think that the gospel is about us. Most of us think the gospel is about me.

And the question we ask is, how can I make God fit into my life? Because the gospel is about me. So Jesus died for me, rose for me. I get it. It's all about me.

That's why he came, because he loves me, me, me. So what are you going to do for me now that you died and rose for me. And if I can squeeze you in to my self centered life, still living in the devil's domain, I kind of want some of that. That is a lie. It's a lie.

The question is not how does Jesus squeeze into my life. The question is, will you submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ and give him everything that's salvation, that's crossing over. That's when the Holy Spirit is deposited into your life. That's when you're a new creation. That's when the old is gone, the new has come.

Read every scripture in the New Testament and you will see christians always, 100% of the time, bear fruit. They all do, right? Cause when you get in good soil, you get 30, 60, or 100 fold. Christians always produce good fruit. Jesus even said this to people.

You will know them by their fruit. No fruit, no Christian. Well, Jeff, now you're talking about works. I'm not talking about works. I'm talking about true salvation produces true fruit.

I don't produce fruit. God produces fruit in me. That's what salvation does. No fruit, no Christian. That's the word of God for the people of God.

And some people are like, I don't like that gospel. I like the gospel that says I can just take Jesus at my own leisure and add to him as I feel like maturing. That's not a gospel. That's damnable. Okay?

The gospel is Jesus Christ is lord. He died. He wants your full allegiance. When did you exchange your life for him? I'm telling you, the battle is real.

You've been lied to, right? I was lied to my whole life. I still watch liars that preach on tv all the time that tell you, do whatever you want to do, live however you want to live, and it's all going to be good in the end. Let me tell you what's going to happen at the end. Every single one of you will stand before the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You know how it talks about God in the Bible? Father, son and Holy Spirit? You know how the Father's described as a consuming fire, as a jealous God, as one who is going to cast people out into hell. And every single person who ever takes the breath will stand before that God. And the only way through that fire is the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ by being covered in his blood, by confessing him as your personal lord and savior.

That's it? There's no other entrance? I'm sorry, that's not what the Bible teaches. Well, I'm going to go to another church where they teach something different. You can.

You can go anywhere you want. But this is the truth of God's word. There's an invitation by Christ to believe that he's Lord. And you become his slave. Because, see, some of us are like, oh, I hear this all the time from people when somebody dies.

Oh, but he's such a good, moral person. Such a good, moral person. I'm sure he's in heaven because he was moral. Okay? Now, I would argue that if you're under the lordship of Jesus Christ and you bear fruit, God will produce morality in your life.

That's good. But if it's just about being moral. And that's the only admittance into heaven, then Jesus Christ owes the Pharisees an apology. He owes the rich young rulers an apology. I think he personally owes me an apology.

Because I thought I was pretty moral before I got saved. And let me tell you something. Jesus doesn't owe anybody an apology. Jesus Christ said, I'm the only perfect one. And all of you come up short.

And if you sinned in just one area, you broke the entire law. And nobody gets in without the fulfillment of the law. And I'm the only one that's fulfilled it. So. So if I'm not on the inside of you through my imputed righteousness, you don't get in, right?

That's what he says. But, Jeff, what about not just morality? I mean, what if it's just belief? Just believe in the Lord Jesus and you'll be saved. It's just belief.

Okay, let's talk about that for a second. I'm gonna tell you about what the devil believes. The devil believes Jesus Christ is God's one and only son. The devil believes in the Trinity. The devil believes that Jesus Christ became incarnate flesh.

The devil believes that Jesus Christ lived a perfect life. The devil believes that Jesus Christ died on the cross, the sins of humanity. The devil believes Jesus Christ rose from the dead. He saw it with his own two eyes. The devil believes Jesus Christ is still ruling and reigning.

And the devil believes that the only way that human beings can ever have a relationship with God. Is to submit to him. Devil believes all that stuff. Belief doesn't do it. It's placing your faith in what you say you believe.

The devil has never submitted nor never will submit to the Lord Jesus Christ. So when did you do that? When did you submit to the fullness of the lordship of Jesus Christ? See, that's salvation. That's what the Bible discusses is salvation.

And there's a lot of people that die every single day that stand before the Lord that say, but I thought, but I didn't know. Jesus even says, there will be many on that day that will say, lord, Lord, did we not cast out demons in your name? Did we not preach your word? Did we not heal in your name? And then he's going to say these words, depart from me, you workers of iniquity.

Why? Why? Why? Because I never knew you. We never had a relationship.

You didn't believe in me. You didn't believe in the lordship of me. You didn't place your faith in me. You weren't banking on me. You lived for you, right?

This is big, heavy stuff, isn't it? That's why Paul's telling, hey, be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Be rooted. Abide in Christ.

And here's what you have against you. You have against you what the world celebrates. I'll give you three things that the world celebrates. It should be up on the screens. The world celebrates number one, independence from God and others.

The world celebrates it. I mean, if you really want to be a success, you don't need God. You don't need other people. You should be the best. You can be like you live for you.

You celebrate you, man. And if you really arrive, you'll arrive at a place where you don't need anybody else and you don't need God because your life's going for you. Here's what Jesus would say. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and yet forfeit his soul? You got nothing going on without God and other people.

But the world celebrates that. I mean, here's a fun little exercise for you to do. Fun little exercise for you to do when you watch television, watch commercials and say to yourself, what scriptures can I use to back what they're saying? Or what scriptures would I use to refute what they're saying? It's a pretty fun exercise your way right away.

Where can I find that in the Bible, right? I mean, just find it. Is there something that might say something opposite of that? Right? I mean, see what the world celebrates, celebrates independence from God and independence from others.

Every infomercial is all about you and how you don't need anybody else and you don't need God. You just need you. Second thing is the world celebrates ignorance of God's word. The world doesn't just dislike God's word, it celebrates the ignorance of God's word. The world doesn't want anything to do with God's word.

Get that fundamentalist book that's thousands of years old out of here. We've gone beyond that now. We don't need God's word, right? We don't wanna live under the authority of God's word. Who cares what God says?

See, that's what the world would celebrate. We don't care about God's word. And therefore, because they're ignorant of God's word, I would say this. There's indifference to God's will. There's indifference to God's will.

I don't care what God wants. I care what I want. I'm not living for God. I'm living for me. And it makes me mad when other people start telling me I need to live for God.

Who are they to tell me what I need to be doing? I mean, just think about it for a second. I mean, the Bible talks about this, and the Bible says that when a child is conceived, from the time that child is conceived, it's a living being that God created. That's what the Bible would say. The Bible would make it clear that that's a life that God's given and that no one can stop that life.

And stopping that life, the Bible would call murder. That's what the Bible says. Does the world celebrate that? Does our world celebrate that? That's not rhetorical.

Does our world celebrate that? No, the world doesn't celebrate. You're afraid to say yes cause you're afraid somebody would even hear you say yes. The world hates that. It's a life.

Taking a life of the unborn is called murder. According to God. According to what he wants, according to what his will is. The world doesn't want that. What about marriage?

The Bible makes it crystal clear what marriage is. God designed it. God created. It's between one man and one woman till death be apart. There's no such thing as marriage between a woman and a woman.

There's no such thing as a marriage between a man and a man. There's no such thing. God doesn't honor it. You say that in our world. Do you think the world celebrates that?

Heck, no. You have that view. You're a bigot. You're a liar. You're all the.

No, that's what God said. God designed it. God gave you your sexuality. There's a way it aligns. Right?

I mean, we live in a world that says, hey, don't worry about it, don't worry about it. Just live however you want. And that's what the Corinthians were doing. The Corinthians were basically saying, we'll take Jesus in the way that we want to take him, and we'll live our lives any way we want. And we really don't care about what God has to say or what his will is.

We're going to live for us, because living for God's just too hard. Here's what he says. Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. And then how about this one?

Act like men. Act like men. What in the world does that mean? I mean, if we were to ask every guy in here on both campuses, hey, write your definition of what it means to be a man down. We'd have as many different definitions as there are men.

What's it mean to act like men? It means this. It means be courageous. The tendency is passivity. Be courageous.

The tendency is passivity. Now, when you see that word in your Bible, act like men. The version I'm reading from is a more literal translation, which is exactly what it means. Andridzomai means to act like a man, but to act like a man literally means to be courageous. That's what it means.

Might I be dare so bold as to say it even means brave?

That's what it means to be a man. Right? And that's what Paul's telling them, act like a man. Like when the Septuagint came out. What?

The Septuagint is the Hebrew Old Testament scriptures, translated into Greek, that came out in about the third century. Every time the word act like men was translated in that Andridzumi, we see it in our english bibles as be courageous. Remember in Joshua, chapter one, verses six through nine, have I not told you, be strong and act like a man. Be strong and act like a man. Be strong and act like a man.

For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. To act like a man means that you are strong in the things of the Lord in such a way that when women and children see how you live, they would say, whoever God, whatever God they serve, that's the God I want to serve to. That's what it means to act like a man. Right. How are we doing as a culture?

I'll tell you this. We're broken. We're broken as a culture. The feminist movement has started because we're broken as a culture. The feminist movement is the most damaging thing I've ever seen to women.

It's damaging to women. The Bible even tells you in Genesis three, when women rise up, men put them down. It's damaging to women. What the world needs is not women rising up. What the world needs is godly men empowering women and children to be their best they can be for God.

Act like a man. Right? That's what the Bible says. That's why Paul's talking to the men. Why would Paul talk to the men?

Well, let's do this because I haven't gotten hate mail in a few weeks, so let's just do this again.

So in one corinthians, chapter eleven, here's what he says in verse seven. I didn't write this book. God did. He's talking about man since he is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of man. Men and women both created in the image of God, both co equals in value before God.

But what is man? Man is the image and the glory of God. What is woman? Woman is the glory of man. Now, what's glory?

I mean, holiness. It's tough to describe glory. Holiness is God's character. It's everything awesome about all that he is. His glory is what emanates from him.

His glory is when you see different things, you're like, oh, my goodness. Literally, oh, my God. That's his glory. You know, you see a sunset, a beautiful sunset that emanates God's glory. You see the stars radiate.

That's God's glory. What are men in the Bible called to be? They're called to be the glory of God. That when people see men living for God, they would live in such a way that it would be very easy for women to fold under that leadership and kids to fold under that leadership, because men are living for Jesus. Now, I've done counseling for 30 years, and I can count on my hand, less than a hand how many times somebody has told me that the most severe pain they've experienced in their life is from a woman.

You can count on my hand hundreds upon thousands of times. It's a man. It all goes back to the garden. And even when somebody's told me about the woman that hurt them, I'm like, do you think they were hurt by a man? Then I get to hear their story about how they were abused by a man, right?

It's men. We're called the lead. You're like, well, how does this apply to me? I'm a woman. I'm here.

Don't you not value me? I totally value you. Be courageous for the Lord. Live the way he wants you to live for the Lord. I mean, there's so many scriptures in here that tell us how to live for the Lord.

We're all called to live for the Lord and be courageous in the Lord. I mean, that's what he's saying here, saying, live for the Lord. It means this. If we're going to be courageous, if God's calling us to be courageous, it means take a step. It means do something.

How about this? Faith is not passive. It's doing something. Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Well, how do you know he believed God?

Because he took Isaac up on the hill to sacrifice him. He did something. He said he believed it, and you knew he believed it because he did something. In Colossians chapter two, verses six and seven, it says, therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, there's that word. So walk in him, do something with what you say you believe.

Having been firmly rooted, there's that word again. And now being built up in him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed and overflowing with gratitude as you receive Christ the Lord, walk in him, do something. I mean, here tends to be the tendency among all christians, male and female, boys and girls, that I know is that they will hear the Lord clearly in a message and tend to do nothing with it. I'm going to pray about it some more, and they pray about it some more, and it comes to them, like, here's what I want you to do. Okay, well, then I'm going to pray about, I'll get some more people together and we'll pray about it, too.

Some of you, God's told you what to do, and you know what you need to do. And he's been telling you for weeks, months, some of you, even years, and you've done nothing. Being courageous means I'm gonna step out, but I don't have all the answers. But I'm gonna trust that God is going to do through me what he says he's going to do. There's no such thing as a passive Christian.

I mean, you don't hear the apostle Paul wrestling like tent maker business looking pretty good. I mean, I could fund the church or I could actually do ministry, but who am I? Cause I was killing christians. And he heard God and he went and did what God called him to do. What are those things inside of you?

I'm not telling you. Go just do a bunch of activity. I'm talking about that thing in your heart that keeps thumping when you hear the word of God. This is who you need to be. This is the husband you need to be.

This is the man you need to be. This is the wife you need to be. This is the mother you need to be. Hey. This is what God's calling you to be as a child.

I mean, this is who you are. This is who you need to be in the workplace. This is what you need to look like. You're hearing that because if you start taking steps the way God wants you to be, it will either accelerate in the current situation you're in or God will open up new doors. It's that simple.

I mean, I started hearing God in my heart before I went into ministry. I'm like, I'm not doing ministry. I'm not doing ministry. I'm not gonna be one of those guys, right? But I'll do whatever you want me to do.

So I started teaching Sunday school, and I started leading people to Christ, and I started doing all this other thing. I got more excited about doing that than I ever got about selling life insurance. And so I watched God open up doors. I'm like, now I'll do that full time, and I'll do this full time. Right?

Just do what God's calling you to do, where you're at, and he will throw doors wide open. Cause so often we're waiting for, like, the future. Like, God, show me what it's gonna look like in 25 years, then I'll talk to you, whether I'll pray about it with my spouse, and if it sounds really good, we'll go for it. God will never work that way. God's saying, act like a man.

God's saying, be courageous. God's saying, be brave. Do something with it. Now, let me tell you something. If you're gonna do this, you're gonna have to know God's word.

I mean, and the way you grow in God's word is not just by doing Bible studies. The way you grow in God's word is by doing something for God. Then you're gonna need his word. I mean, you start acting on behalf of God, and people start saying, well, what does it say? That you better know what it says.

And then you go back and start doing it. You want to learn the Bible? Start evangelizing to people. All I know is that Jesus died and Rose. That's all you need to know.

Go tell people to make him their lord. And then they'll ask you a million questions you don't know the answers to. And you'll need to go back to God's word. Every skill. Let me tell you this.

Every skill that you ever learned takes time to learn the skill, right? So let me give you two things about maturing in Christ that you need to know maturity in Christ. Number one, it won't happen without action. It won't happen without action. You can come here, sit here every single week and never put anything into practice, and you'll be the same 20 years from now as you are right now.

That's how most churches are. Okay? Maturity will not happen without action. You have to take action. And number two, let me tell you this.

When you take actions, you're going to fail. Did you know that? Don't look at me like that. You're going to fail. Christians are afraid to fail.

God's already paid for all your failure. You don't need to worry about failing. When I was four years old, I learned to ride a bike. I mean, most of us learned to ride a bike between the ages of three and six, right? I mean, so you learn how to ride the bike.

Remember when you rode a bike? How many know how to ride a bike in here? Okay, most of you. That's good. Some of you can.

There's still time, right? But I remember what it's like to learn to ride a bike, and I was four and I'd wobble on it. And you know what it's like. You start with training wheels and then you get the train wheels off and that gets exciting. Maybe you have an older brother or mom or dad that's runs behind you, coaching you and doing all that stuff.

And eventually you don't even need them. You're on your own. But even when you're on your own and you're young in it, you're not very good at it. I remember the day still to this day, when I was four years old, they tarred and chipped the street that I grew up on. And I was out riding my bike and my bike tire slipped and I fell down.

I skinned the whole side of my face off. And this was back in the day. Now check this out, guys. We didn't wear helmets back then. I mean, we didn't have protective gear, knee pads.

I mean, we didn't even wear seatbelts back in my day, right? We just built forts in the back of the car, right? And I go cruising home with all this stuff. But it wasn't like my mom said, oh, you'll never be a good bike rider. Don't ever try that again.

No, I was up on that bike again and keeping going. Now, here's the thing. Any skill set you've learned has taken time. Any skill set you've learned, you failed in. What do you think is harder life skill sets or being fully engaged in the mission of Jesus Christ?

What's harder?

Okay, let me ask again. Is it harder to learn to ride a bike or obey God fully? Okay, you're with me. Good. Of course it is.

Now, if I fell on my bike, then I got to understand, if I'm going to start walking with God, I'm going to fail him. So I'm telling you as your pastor, you're going to fail. But there's nothing wrong with failing when you are pursuing the very one who offers forgiveness and mercy. When you fail, he already knows you're going to fail. I mean, for me to stand up here for the husbands and say, okay, we're going to talk about how to love our wives, and we're just going to open our bibles to ephesians, chapter five, and I'm going to help you.

Men love your wife like Christ loved the church. The end. Go. Are we going to get it right on the first time? Men.

Anybody here get it right on their first time when they got married? If you've been married more than an hour, you haven't got that thing right. So what does it even mean? And how do we work it out? And it takes a lifetime to work out what God wants us to do.

And if we said, I'm not gonna put that into practice, Kim, until I'm 100% sure I'll never fail you, she'd be dead before I try it, right? I learn what the scripture means by putting it into practice. Well, how did Christ love the church? Well, he was spit on by the church. He was hated by the church.

He ended up being persecuted by the church, he was beaten by the church, and he ultimately died for the church, doing it with great love in his eyes. Yeah, but you don't know my wife. I don't need. You need to. If she spit on you and she hates you and she beats you and she's terrible to you, you get a greater opportunity to act like Jesus than any other man in our church.

Go for it. That's the word of God, and that's how we learn. And so, so many of us were like, I want to be courageous. I want to do this. But we're afraid of one thing.

I don't want to fail and look stupid in front of people. I'm just giving you permission as your pastor. You'll work in children's. You never worked in children's. You're going to fail down there sometimes you want to have kids, you're going to fail your kids.

You want to get married? You're going to fail in your marriage. Hey, you want to do anything, you're going to fail. Being courageous doesn't mean I'll never fail. Being courageous means I'm willing to get back up and keep going.

That's what it means to be courageous. That's what it means to act like a man. Right? I mean, the question becomes, when we listen to messages or we hear God's word preached should be this, what am I going to start doing? What am I going to stop doing?

Or what am I going to start doing differently? I mean, if you're sitting here today listening to this message, your question should be, how do I apply this thing? What's the one thing God's telling me to do that I'm going to do as a result of that? Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith.

Act like men. Be strong. Here's number four. Be strong means be confident. The Lord is with you.

Be confident. The Lord is with you. Majority of christians I meet are scared. Majority of christians I meet live in fear. A majority of christians I meet are anxious.

I mean, here's the truth. If you're a Christian, God has you. God not only has you now, he's got you for all eternity. Your whole future is secure. He's going to take care of you according to his riches in Christ Jesus now and all of your eternity is secure.

I mean, that's what's going on. So it doesn't matter what Fox News says, it doesn't matter what MSNBC says. It doesn't matter what fear you're feeling in your life or how the world's going. It doesn't matter. What matters is you're secure.

You know, and I read all these Bible stories, and the same ones you read that inspire me are not people that sat on the couch eating bonbons. They were doing something. They were confident in what the Lord could do in and through them. They weren't sitting back saying, well, God could never use someone like me. Or what if this goes wrong or all this kind of stuff.

They realized they served an awesome, empowering, encouraging, forgiving, building up, challenging you to try again kind of God. I mean, Moses went to Pharaoh and we read about all the plagues and the parting of the Red Sea, right? He didn't want to go. He didn't feel like he was qualified for the job. We read about Joshua and the walls of Jericho and leading the people.

He didn't feel like he was qualified to go. I mean, what God calls you to. There's nobody qualified to do. But if you go and do it, God will empower you with supernatural grace to do what he needs you to get done. But too many of us, we think that the gospel is waiting on somebody else to do something for us.

And then we get to sit back as spectators and decide whether we liked it or not. No. Here's what the Bible says. Hey, if Christ has saved you, walk in it. Be confident.

Cause you're not walking alone. You're not walking alone. If I had to do ministry alone, I'd never do ministry. I do ministry. Cause I know Christ is in me doing the ministry through me.

And to the extent that I'm faithful in the things of God, God uses what I do in the extent with the gifting and the graces that he's given to me. And guess what? He does the same thing for each one of us. All of us have been gifted differently. Be confident in how the Lord has gifted you and go do it.

Don't wait. I know when God was calling me into ministry or calling me to be a youth pastor, or calling me when God called me to go to seminary, I'm like, I know that has to be God because there's no way I would ever want to go do school ever, ever again, right? And I went for another eight years, right? I mean, God is the one that goes. When God called us out here to plant a church, when God called me to plan a ministry, when God called us to start a seminary, like this fall, we're starting a seminary.

We're starting a seminary. It means we're going to train men to go out and plant churches. We're not starting it because we know everything about seminary and we have all the answers and it's all figured out. We have all the resources and it's so good and no, we're starting it and saying, God, you called us to do this, and we know you're going to back it and bring people. And that's what we do.

That's called faith. That's what it means. It's what it means to be strong. It means to be faithful and active and do what God wants you to do. And then finally this.

This is the most important. This is the most important. Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Act like men.

Be strong. Here's the thumb for the fish. Ready? Let all you do be done in love. Be loving.

The need is essential and indispensable. Be loving. The need is essential and indispensable. You can't do what God wants you to do without being loving. Why?

Because love is the marker of the, it's the hallmark of the christian faith. I mean, Paul devoted an entire chapter, we read in one corinthians 13 to what love is. And patient and kind and not jealous or boastful, not arrogant or rude, not insisting on its own way. But think about what the Bible says about love. In one John four, it says we love because he first loved us.

And if we say we love God but don't love our neighbor, we're a liar. And the truth of God is not in us, right? If we really love God, whose love is in us, then we'll love everybody that we're around. It means be loving everywhere you go. It's not do loving things.

It's be loving. It means in every conversation that you have, you're face to face with anybody. You're the witness for Christ in that situation to be who Christ would be in and through you. Be loving. There's not one of us that gets it right every time.

There's not one of us that got it right all week. There's not one of us that got it right even today. I mean, but be loving. Let that be the marker. I mean, here's what Jesus says.

In John chapter 13, verse 34 and 35. It says, a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this you will know. By this all men will know that you are my disciples. If you have love for one another, how's the world going to know that Jesus is Lord by the way?

We love one another. That's how you know. I went back to the book of acts and did a little study this week, and it wasn't comprehensive, so don't hold me to this, but study it yourself. I mean, I went back this week and said, how devoted were they to evangelism? Because I'm like, wasn't that one that they were devoted to?

And I started in acts, chapter two. They weren't devoted to evangelism. They were devoted to the apostles teaching God's word. They were devoted to the fellowship. They were devoted to the breaking of bread, and they were devoted to prayers.

Well, what's the fellowship? They were devoted to the apostles teaching God's word. They were devoted to the fellowship which was our love for God and our love for each other. They were devoted to the breaking of bread, which was the Lord's supper, signifying that Jesus Christ is still Lord and that through his shed blood should be championed in all that they do. And they were devoted to prayer, and God added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Why? Because people on the outside were saying, wow, whatever God they're serving, whoever he is, it's translated in love for the body of Christ in a way I've never seen. I want in on that thing. That's what the church is. The church is our representation of how much we say that we love God, and it's demonstrated by how much we love one another.

And when the world looks on and says, ah, church is fraction, all they do is back by gospel. That's our message to the world about the God that we serve. Right? Be loving. It is an indispensable need for the church.

You can't get rid of love. You can't just have a mission like you can in the business world and just go out and make t shirts or go out and make cars and be like, I don't care if we love you or not. We're making cars. I don't care if we love you or not. We're making t shirts.

Here's the truth. We don't love each other. Our mission dies. Love is the heartbeat of our mission, a love for God and a love for others. And while you're listening, just be careful.

Be careful not to say this. Yeah, I wish those people in that church would be more loving to me. No, that's not. The question is, how can I be more loving to God's people? And sometimes we get it right, sometimes we don't.

But you know what? When we get it right, where we have love for God and love for others, it feels. There's great joy on the inside, isn't there? I mean, just this week, I got invited to go to the drag races with my sons at Bandimere. My son at Bandimere Speedway.

Let me tell you, on a scale of one to ten, how excited I was to go see drag racing at Bandimere Speedway. Zero. Okay? On a scale of one to ten, I was a zero. I just don't do that.

I don't know anything about it. I don't know how to do cars. I don't have a toolbox at my house. I mean, I don't get into that thing, right? But I asked my son, because our friends were like, hey, ask your son if he wants to go.

And I asked him, he said, dad, I'd love to go. I'm like, then we're going. I'm going for him. I'm going because he wants to go. And we get there.

My whole attitude was changed the whole way there. He was talking about how excited he was. And during the night, he looks over at me and he says, dad, I don't want to make you mad, but I like this more than football by a lot.

And I was like, that's totally fine. I was like, you know, I want you to be happy. And I was having so much fun watching my son get thrills. I mean, he was loving it. And because he was having so much fun and we were with good people, I started having fun, too.

And we're driving home that night, and on the way home that night, I was like, bro. I was like, you just seem so excited. I'm like, you were so fired up. He's like, dad, I love that. And I'm like, well, let me tell you, I'm like, the only reason I wanted to come was because I love you.

Like, that's not, like my thing, but I love seeing you happy. And you know what he said to me? He said, well, dad, he goes, I liked all that. But he goes, the best part for me was that you and I just got to spend time together. Isn't that the heartbeat of God?

I mean, and I wish I could tell you every story in my family ends that way. It doesn't end that way, I promise you. Don't cry and say, don't nudge your husband and say, why can't you be like that with our. It doesn't always go that way. Okay?

But when you hit it right, it feels good, doesn't it? And sometimes we hit it right where we have such a love for God that we're able to love somebody else in a supernatural way that shows them the love of Jesus. And guess who the benefactor is? It's us. It's us, right?

Why do we do what we do for the Lord? Because of him and because of others, right? That's what motivates us. That's what brings us great joy. Be loving.

Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Act like men. Be strong. Let all you do be done in love.

Amen. That's the kind of church God wants us to be. And so I thought the best way to end our time today on both of our campuses was to celebrate by taking the Lord's supper, by taking communion, by celebrating the shed blood of Jesus Christ and his body that was broken for us, so that we who were broken could be given new life in Christ. So what I'm going to do for both campuses. I'm going to pray for us.

The elements will get distributed. If you've confessed Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and savior you're welcome to take this supper on both of our campuses and then I'll come back up on our campus and Pastor Michael will come back up in Broomfield and we will take the elements together as one body of Christ. But let's pray together. Lord Jesus, we give you all the glory, honor and praise. Lord we love you.

We bless who you are Lord, we thank you so much for dying in our place for our sins. The amazing grace we've experienced through you lord as we hold these elements in our hand remind us of when we came to you and all the sin you've washed away as we've given our lives to you. And then Lord remind us that we are completely forgiven so that we can go live and act for your great name the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.