Latest / HBCWestminster / 6.11.23 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 Pastor Danny Gardner

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6.11.23 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  And so with Bibles open, if you would stand in honor of God's word, allow me to read two verses, 1 Corinthians 16, verses 13 and 14, and then we'll pray and begin. The word of God says, be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong, let all that you do be done in love. And Lord God Almighty, with open Bibles and open hearts, we pray your blessing on our time.
• 0:31
  We thank you for your illuminating Holy Spirit, and we ask that you teach us according to your word. God, may your word act as a lamp to our feet and a light to our paths. And may we, like faithful soldiers, wield your word as a mighty sword. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Thank you, church. It was Ian Bounds who said, men are God's method. The church is looking for better methods. God is looking for what? You all see it up there?
• 1:05
  God is looking for what? Better men. What the church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations, more novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use, men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost doesn't come on machinery, but on men. He doesn't anoint plans, but men, men of prayer. The training of the 12 was the great, difficult, and enduring work of Christ. And consider for a moment the profundity of that statement.
• 1:32
  Of all the things Jesus did, the miracles, the walking on the water, the feedings, the sermons, the greatest and lasting legacy that Jesus had was the training of the twelve. It was to those men that Jesus would pass the torch of the church. We have Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John about the Lord. And then we have the acts of the apostles.
• 1:54
  To whom the Lord gave the first generation church responsibility of oversight of. He says that was the most enduring legacy that Jesus had. Now we know that he is alive and that he is seated at the right hand of the Father and he is building his church. But who does the Lord use to build his church if not us? It's not great talents that the Lord needs or great learning or great preachers that God needs, but men great in holiness. That's what he needs from us. It's not our talent and our skill.
• 2:23
  It doesn't matter if we're good at stuff. You know what he needs is our righteousness. That's what he needs. He needs our faith. We need to be great in love, great in fidelity, great for God. Men always preaching by holy sermons in the pulpit and by holy lives out of it. We actually have to practice what we preach. These can mold a generation for God. And I know that next week is Father's Day, but this year I'm going to take two weeks encouraging, exhorting, addressing the Highland men.
• 2:52
  The scriptures say that all scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for training, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. Multi-talented men who are tall and handsome, athletic and intelligent will often brag about being the total package.
• 3:19
  But the good book says that if you are not basing your life on the scriptures if you are not a man of the word Then you are not complete if you are not a man mighty in the scriptures then you are not whole if This book is not dictating your life to you if this is not your instruction manual on biblical manhood Then you are not the total package and so we are going to look at the instruction manual What does the Word of God say about? manhood this week
• 3:48
  Five characteristics of a godly man. Next week from Psalm 128, what will happen in our homes if we employ these five characteristics? If we really are men who fear the Lord, how will our wives respond? And what about our kids? And what about our grandkids? What will actually be the enduring legacy that we leave behind if we will become biblical men? If you're a married man this morning, the applications will be easy.
• 4:17
  If you're a single man, these are the qualities you should aspire to. If you're a married woman, these are the qualities you should encourage and praise in your husbands. If you're a single woman, these are the qualities you should look for in a spouse. We live in a country that suddenly cannot define manhood. Did anybody see that coming? Could you have guessed that, honestly, 20 years ago? The things we're arguing about now, 20 years ago, not that long ago.
• 4:49
  We find ourselves in this unexpected position of debating over what we believed to be the most fundamental and even obvious truths. We're arguing about obvious things. What is a man? What are you talking about? We all know what it is. How would you define manhood? Is it simply the ability to reproduce? I reproduce and therefore I am a man. I provide for my family because I bring home a paycheck. I provide and therefore I am a man. Is it some...
• 5:18
  inner feeling not based on anything credible substantial physical that can change that is flighty today i feel this way and tomorrow i feel this way is it as petty and trivial as the ability to grow a beard and therefore i'm a man i was forced to shave my beard several years ago the church had an unfortunate bathroom fiasco on the other side of the building required the removal of all of the toilets
• 5:47
  Pastor Nathan and I were tasked with hauling out the old toilets to the curb. Now, that is something to keep in mind in case you are ever under the delusion that pastoral ministry is somehow romantic. If you're a young man and you're like, man, the Lord is calling me to pastoral ministry, learn how to change toilets. I was unfortunately the first pastor on the scene, and I was confronted with a choice. Which end of the toilet do I grab? The choice was mine to make. I could grab the tank.
• 6:18
  which was the end everybody wants to hold, or I could grab the bowl. The unfortunate thing was Pastor Nathan right behind me was going to see what choice I made. And so I very deliberately grabbed that nasty, still full of whenever it was last used bowl out to the curb.
• 6:40
  Nathan and I lifted and began walking. There was a lot of sloshing going on, some of which escaped its porcelain confines, splashed up on me and even onto my face. In an effort to get myself clean, I drove home, I took two showers, and I shaved my beard. I did. I came into the office the next morning. Pastor Sam, who has always struggled with a little bit of beard envy, who has until now been unable to grow one himself,
• 7:09
  looked at me and he said, you shaved off your beard? I said, yeah. And he said, that's just bad stewardship. Now, overhearing our conversation, Lori Wentz, our office manager, who you guys know is the most humble and gentle and encouraging person in the world, said, oh, Sam, you know, she's very quiet and mild-mannered. She said, oh, Sam, the ability to grow a beard has nothing to do with your manliness. And Sam,
• 7:38
  hopefully looked at her and said, wow, thank you, Lori. Can Kurt, your husband, grow a beard? And she said, of course he can. It was Byron Yan who said it this way. He said, no wonder men struggle so much. Society can't make up its mind about what makes the ideal man. Be tougher, some say. Be more sensitive, say others. And the expectations keep changing.
• 8:06
  Is there a place that we can go that gives us a definition of manhood which does not change, which is true, which fits with our life experience, which will bless us and provide with us the abounding joy in life that the Lord Jesus commanded? Is there something of unchanging definition? And I believe there is. I'm shocked at the number of men who grow up in the church that never stop being spiritual babies. The conclusion I've been forced to draw is this, that there's a big difference between growing up in the faith
• 8:37
  and growing up in your faith. You guys hear the difference? There's a big difference between those two things. A lot of people grow up in the faith. If you go and knock on your neighbor's doors, your coworkers and classmates and teammates and whatever, you just talk to them about spiritual things. There are all kinds of people in Denver who say they grew up in the church. Have you noticed that? And yet don't know the Lord? They say, I grew up in the faith, but that doesn't mean they grew up in their own faith. I believe it is.
• 9:09
  possible maybe shockingly possible to grow up in the church and yet never experience the life-changing work of jesus christ in your own heart is that possible you can grow up you can hang out with christians all the time and yet not actually have had that life transforming experience with jesus christ that's possible i believe that it is possible to be born and raised christian and yet not actually be one
• 9:34
  You know, the Lord desires more for us than our simple transfer of status from the kingdom of darkness into his glorious light. We would call that being saved. But he actually desires more for you than your own salvation. He actually wants you to grow in your faith to maturity, to adulthood. He doesn't just want people to cross over from death to life and then to just lay there.
• 9:57
  He wants you to get up and be active and grow and stretch and sharpen yourselves so that you are effective ministers in his kingdom. We are commanded in the New Testament to become spiritually mature. Those scriptures are filled, we know, with themes and sub-themes.
• 10:17
  these ideals which kind of run throughout the entirety of the plan of god from genesis to revelation there are these threads that you can trace through the entirety of the thousand page book but if we had to boil the entirety of god's word down all the new testaments the law the writings the prophets the history the poetry the wisdom gospels letters to persons letters to churches and prophecy if we took all of that and and distilled it
• 10:45
  if we boiled it down to one statement, what is the Bible about? That statement could be this one. God's desire is that mankind be sanctified, made holy. Notice it doesn't just say saved. It says sanctified.
• 11:01
  through the atoning and sustaining work of Jesus Christ. God's desire for us is that we would grow in our faith, not only come to the faith, but struggle against our sin and put to death what is unworthy, to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we've been called, to become mature. In fact, Ephesians chapter 4 words it that way.
• 11:24
  It says you're struggling, right, in your faith until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. To what? What is the spiritual goal? What does it say? To mature manhood. Become adults is what he's saying. Don't get me wrong. The Lord wants childlike faith, but he wants grown-up hearts and minds.
• 11:50
  He wants you to become an adult, mature to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ so that we may no longer be children. The Lord, in fact, has harsh words for those who are in the church, constantly exposed to the eternal truth and who just refuse to grow up. In Hebrews chapter 5, the argument the author is making regarding the superiority of Christ's high priesthood. He's talking about this very deep doctrinal issue.
• 12:21
  We have a high priest in Christ who is not only our high priest, but also our king, our prophet. I mean, how does he fulfill all of these different offices? He's talking about this very deep doctrinal issue, and he pushes pause in Hebrews chapter 5 to rebuke his readers because of their spiritual immaturity. He says in Hebrews 5 and verse 11 about this, that high priesthood of Christ. We have much to say, but it's hard to explain. He says, I've got so many things I could say.
• 12:51
  about the high priestly line of our Lord. And he says, but they're hard to explain since you've become dull of hearing. That phrase dull of hearing could also be translated as slothful, lazy in your faith. It's God's greatest desire for us that we know and understand spiritual truth. Therefore, any lack of knowledge on our part can only be explained one way. We have failed to exert
• 13:23
  any effort in figuring it out god wants your spiritual maturity is that true and according to first peter he has provided you with all things pertaining to godliness you have every resource you need for your spiritual maturity is that also true therefore if you lack spiritual understanding and maturity whose fault is it ours or god's ours you see what he's saying if you've been saved forever and you've not grown in your faith you can't blame it on him he's given you every opportunity he's given you
• 13:55
  Every resource, he says, you become dull of hearing, slothful, lazy in your faith. He continues, for though by this time you ought to be teachers, the congregation at this Hebrew church were saved. They've been saved for a long time. They've been saved so long, in fact, that the apostle says, you ought to be teaching others. In light of how many years you've known the Lord, you should be helping others, feeding others, and no longer relying on others to feed you baby food.
• 14:26
  Last evening, the Porges family, Sam Jellica and their six-month-old son, Hudson, came over to our house for dinner. Hudson was sitting in one of those little baby chairs that's not like a high chair, right? It's not a full thing. It's one of those little portable ones you can stick in a backpack. You put it together, little pieces of plastic, and he sits in this thing. It sits up on top of the table. We were laughing about the fact that he was sitting higher than everybody else looking down on us as he's eating this green goop. Jellica is spoon-feeding this six-month-old baby, right? Spoon-feeding this.
• 14:56
  green slop into his mouth and then he was just lapping it up and half of it was going down the gullet and the other half was going all over the front of him and all over his mom and we're all laughing we all thought it was very cute and he's gurgling and spluttering and making all the cute baby noises and when they're six months old it is really cute but what if he were 16. angelica says okay hudson climb up into your chair and he climbs up on the table and he sits in that little chair
• 15:25
  right, with his little bib, and she starts spooning him the green slop, and he's spitting and splurting and whatever, and you're like, you know what? It stopped being cute. This is weird. You guys are not invited over anymore, right? This is not okay. There's something not okay. At some point, it becomes not okay, and honestly, you guys who have had kids, you know that point's actually not far from him.
• 15:49
  Six months, and at that point, you're like, okay, now it starts going down the hatch. You know, make sure it goes down the other way. No more spitting on mommy. At some point, you make that change. Your expectations on him change. It's not cute anymore.
• 16:02
  And what the author of Hebrews was saying was, you know what, you guys have been saved long enough that me feeding you baby food, he says, this is not how it should be. You ought to be feeding others, not feeding yourselves. Why do you still need me to do this? He says, you need someone to teach you, again, the basic principles of the oracles of God. Therefore, let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity. The author's rebuke is followed by an exhortation to action. Remedy what has so far been a spiritual failure.
• 16:29
  that we should not live under the faulty assumption that spiritual maturity comes automatically with age. Just because you've known the Lord for 30 years doesn't mean you've grown every one of those 30 years, right? There are probably periods where you've grown, you've been walking closely with God, sometimes it's been flat, sometimes you've regressed, fallen back into sin that you struggled with, you thought was gone, and now I've fallen back into it. He says, continue to press forward.
• 17:01
  become mature adults. And so you'd ask the question, well, how does the Bible define manhood? 1 Corinthians 16 gives five distinctive qualities of a mature man. I'm going to call them highland men. What kind of men does highland need? And notice first, the highland man must be watchful. Must be watchful. In fact, it just states it that simply, verse 13, be watchful.
• 17:29
  The word Paul uses for watchful could also be translated the vigorous, awake, wake up, be on the alert. And it's used often in the New Testament referring to being spiritually alive. The scriptures give us at least six things that we ought to be on the watch or awake for. 1 Peter 5 and verse 8 says, watch out for your enemy. Notice what it says, be sober-minded, be watchful.
• 17:53
  Your adversary, your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Resist him firm in your faith. Church, we must live as though we have an enemy. Why? Because we have an enemy. And we can pretend like we don't. But church, there is an adversary. There is an enemy of our souls who hates us and who wants us to fail. He rejoices in our failure.
• 18:25
  And so Peter says, watch out for him. Be on the alert for him. Do not treat your souls casually. Watch out for the enemy. But notice it continues. Watch out also, Mark chapter 14 says, for temptation. Jesus speaking, watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. I like that he combines these two. Watch, which means do your job. Pray and ask the Lord to do his job.
• 18:53
  Our sanctification, our spiritual success is a community project between us and God. We must pray and ask God for help in combating sin. We've got to stay alert ourselves, vigilant to protect our own souls. Our guard must ever be raised, our eyes ever open to defend our own hearts. And then we've got to pray like crazy that the Lord would give us spiritual success. Watch out for temptation. Notice also, watch out.
• 19:23
  For apathy. Revelation chapter 3 and verse 1. I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you're dead. So wake up. Strengthen what remains and is about to die. I've not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Wake up. You thought you were alive, but you're actually spiritually dead. We've got to watch out against spiritual lethargy and indifference. The difficulty with spiritual apathy is it numbs our spiritual sensitivity. It's actually difficult to detect.
• 19:58
  Spiritual apathy is like soul Novocaine. You go to the dentist and he shoots you all up with that stuff. Your mouth goes numb. You start drooling on yourself and others, right? It would be like him giving us Novocaine and starting to work on our mouths and then him asking us what he's doing. Describe for me what I'm doing. You're like, I have no idea what you're doing. I can't feel anything. I'm assuming you're doing something because my head keeps moving and you're going to charge me a lot of money. So you got to be doing something.
• 20:26
  But I can't feel it, and that's the point. Spiritual apathy actually makes our souls numb. So we may not even know that we're causing spiritual harm to ourselves or others. And you may ask, well, what do we do to combat spiritual lethargy? What do we do? How do we combat apathy? How can we stay awake? Let me tell you the key. The key, the answer is surround yourselves with believing friends. Believing friends are vital for your soul, and you are vital for theirs.
• 20:58
  The more strong believers you have around you, the more you can really take heart and comfort in the fact that you're not all going to go spiritually numb at the same time. Does that make sense? I may go spiritually numb, but my friend over here, he can still feel, and he's going to say, Danny, you're causing yourself harm. Get out of that.
• 21:18
  His faith can cover my faith when my faith falters. His spiritual sensitivity can cover my spiritual insensitivity and vice versa. Surround yourselves with a community of believers who will hold you accountable so that you don't slip into apathy, into lethargy. 2 Timothy 4 says to watch out for false teaching. False teaching, notice what it says. The time will come, and I believe it's here, when they will not endure sound doctrine.
• 21:49
  According to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers. They will turn their ears away from the truth, be turned aside to fables. But you, rather, rather than falling into those fables, into that false teaching, you be watchful in all things. It's the same word here as sober. Be free of intoxicants.
• 22:10
  The watchful man should be level-headed, well-balanced, and in control. If we are to be faithful teachers, we must be stable, unwavering, steadfast. In an ever-changing world, the faithful minister remains committed to the changeless truths of God's Word. We must be uncompromising, not given to ear-tickling, pleasers of God, and not men. In fact, Galatians 6 says this. Am I now seeking the approval of men or of God? If I were trying to seek the approval of man, I wouldn't be the servant of Christ.
• 22:40
  If it were man's approval I was after, I would have to stop serving the Lord because these two are contradictory. The world does not want you to be a servant of God. So if you're going to try to serve the world, he says you've got to stop being a servant of God. Watch out for false teaching. Notice 5th, watch out for each other. Psalm 130 verse 6 says, My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. They look out for others. Let me ask you, you guys know what a watchman is?
• 23:08
  stands on the top of the gates or on top of the ramparts of the city wall. He's looking for enemies coming. Let me ask you, for whom is he up there? Is he up there for himself or is he up there for the good of the city? Does he volunteer to be a watchman so that he can get the first alert so I can get my stuff and run, right? Enemies coming and he runs down the steps and he grabs his stuff and his wife and his kids and they're out of there and he never raises the alarm. That's not what a watchman does. A watchman is not up there for himself but up there for others.
• 23:41
  And we ought to be those kinds of people, men and women, looking out not only for our own souls, but also for the souls of others. 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 14, we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the faint-hearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone, right? Come alongside others and help them.
• 24:02
  Galatians chapter 6 and verse 2, bear one another's burdens. Hebrews 3, exhort one another every day as long as it is called today that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. I love that one. Look what it says. Exhort one another. How often? Every day so that you will not fall into the deceitfulness of sin. The implication there, if you work backward, the implication is that you can be deceived by sin
• 24:33
  In one day. That's as long as it takes. You can be doing great today and fail tomorrow. And so come along aside to each other and encourage one another, admonish one another every single day. And finally, what do we watch out for? The Lord's return. Look at what Jesus said. Therefore, stay awake. You don't know what day your Lord is coming. The two great motivators for faithful Christian living involve the past and the future.
• 25:05
  Remembering the past, the crucifixion, the resurrection of our Lord will spur us on to grateful obedience, but the prospect of a future coming should also motivate us to fearful and hopeful expectation. Philippians 3 and verse 20, our citizenship is in heaven, and from there we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. The highland man must be on the alert. He must be watchful. But notice second, the highland man must also be immovable in his faith. Look at what verse 13 says.
• 25:35
  It says, be watchful, stand firm in the faith, immovable in his faith. Charles Hodge has worded it this way, we must not consider every doctrine an open question. Isn't that true? There are some doctrines which are not open to debate. Maybe there are some secondary doctrines, sometimes they're called tertiary, which is just a fancy word for doesn't really matter, okay? Secondary doctrines, they're still important, but they're not the big ones.
• 26:06
  There are maybe a dozen doctrines that we must insist upon. Like what? The Trinity. Right? If you don't believe the Trinity, we believe different things. What else? The Bible. What else? Grace by faith. Grace alone. Not by works. What else?
• 26:30
  One way, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that's it. If you think you can get to heaven somewhere else, we believe different gospels, the virgin birth, the deity of Christ. There are some things where we're like, hey, we've got to insist on that. There are some other things which if you believe differently, we can still link arms and advance the kingdom together. We'll see you in heaven, right? But there are some doctrines which are not open to debate. Standing firm in the faith means that we would become men and women who would be willing to take a stand on these doctrines.
• 27:00
  There are some things. Church, I could change my mind about some doctrines. Ten years from now, I may believe differently. But there are some, and the big ones. The bigs, I will believe the same way in ten years and 20 years and 30 years. And as long as the Lord gives me breath, I will believe the same thing. And then on the day when my breath ceases and I hit the ground and go to heaven, He could correct everything I was wrong about. But there are some things which I hold firmly to and I will not change.
• 27:30
  And that's what it means to stand firm in the faith, that we would stand on issues, believing not only that we are right, but that there is a right to defend, that there is truth. In a culture which has lost its mind, we will be the ones who will take a stand for the truth. Amen? And we will not falter. Notice third, the highland man must be active.
• 27:58
  Must be active. I love how he words it in verse 13. He just simply says, act like men, as if in response to the question, are you men, the apostle would ask. They would all reply with, well, yes, we are men. And then the apostle would say, then act like it. Paul's command to act like men expresses the idea of having courage enough to respond. We all know that fear can be a crippling agent if it is dwelt upon, but mature men and women have learned to act.
• 28:30
  despite their fear, despite what may be overwhelming odds. Crawford Loritz has worded it this way, a man is one who chooses to do not what he wants to do, but what he has to do. Let me ask you guys, when you were getting married and you were saying your I do's and all of that was happening, before you had kids, were you not living in this blissful ignorance? And when you had kids, did that...
• 29:04
  reality not come screaming home? I mean, did the romance, honestly, did the romance diminish a little bit? When you're like, I cannot believe what I have to do right now. I can't believe what kids produce. And you're like, you know what, this was, it was all very cute, you know, years ago, but now the reality comes home and you're like, man, you have to, as parents and as grandparents, you've got to do some things which you would never have chosen to do, but you're going to do them anyway. Why? Somebody has to do it.
• 29:35
  Somebody has to do it. And you know what? It falls on us. We're the parents, and so we're going to have to do it. I'm not doing what I want to do. I'm doing what I have to do. And can I encourage you Highland men to be the men who will do what no one else will? Plunge the toilets. Why? Because that's a dad job. It's not the mom job. Moms sometimes have to do it. But that's the dad job. Do you see what I'm saying? Empty the grease traps. You guys have one of those?
• 30:02
  I got one of those big flat-top griddle things. I cannot believe the stuff that comes out of bacon. Dude. And you scrape it into that grease trap, whatever else you've been cooking on there, and you've got to empty that thing. Not Hallie's job. You see what I'm saying? Make Dirty Jobs your favorite television show. Like, I just love it. He's climbing around in the sewers, and he's kicking rats out of the way. Yep. It's what I do. More importantly than that, those are kind of the petty, trivial things.
• 30:30
  You be the kind of guy who has the awkward conversations that have to be had. It's my job to ask my sons about what they look at on their cell phones. Let me see your phone real quick and see how nervous they get. Oh, why do you want to see it? Oh, because I'm your dad and it's my job. You be the dad. You be the uncle. You be the grandfather who talks to your young ladies that you've been given oversight of, your young ladies, about the importance of dressing modestly.
• 30:59
  It's an awkward conversation. You guys, you don't want to do it. You're like, I don't want to talk to my little girl about that stuff. You know what? But it's what has to be done. In other words, the apostle would say, act like men. Be active. Notice fourth, the highland man must be strong. He just, again, simply says it. Be strong. The Greek here is in the passive voice, which means it could have been translated, be strengthened. It's not this idea of muster strength from within because we all know we are not strong enough. Amen?
• 31:30
  I fail every day. Anybody else? You know what's even worse than that? I fail in the same things every day. I'm not a man who struggles with a thousand different sins. I'm a man who struggles with three a thousand different times. I know the temptation that's coming. I know the strategy of the enemy. I know the weakness of my own flesh, and yet I do it again.
• 31:56
  It makes it so much worse. I struggle with the same things over and over and over. And hear the scripture say, ask the Lord to strengthen you from within to stand on that day.
• 32:10
  Colossians chapter 1 and verse 28, notice how the apostle words it. He says, him we proclaim, warning everyone, teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ. He says, I'm grinding for the sake of the gospel. For this I toil, struggling. The word he uses is agonizing. A Greek word, agonizomai. It's where we get agonized. I'm agonizing with whose energy? His energy.
• 32:37
  which he powerfully works in me. I'm doing my job and I'm asking the Lord to strengthen me to do my job. Notice finally, and in verse 14, the highland man must be loving. It says in verse 14, let all that you do be done in love. Taken without the fifth, those first four characteristics of maturity would become militant and harsh and ineffective. Like a barking father constantly criticizing the action of his kids.
• 33:09
  so is the man or woman without love love is what makes the man without love no amount of strength or courage will matter for the kingdom love complements and balances all else first peter chapter 4 says above all keep loving one another earnestly anytime the new testament uses those words above all right our ears should perk up more than anything else he says love one another earnestly love covers a multitude
• 33:37
  of sins. You know, we love a lot of things. We love our sports teams. We love our hobbies. We even love very important things like sound doctrine. We love sound doctrine. I wonder if we're as good at loving people. You know, Highland men, it's not about your beard. It's not about your ability to produce or provide. Those things are important, of course, but not all important. More important than those, are you watchful?
• 34:11
  Are you looking out for your own soul and also for the souls of others? Are you firm in your faith, spiritually predictable? I will believe the same thing in 20 years that I do today. Are you active? Are you the one willing to do what no one else will? Are you strong, strengthening the inner man? Are you loving? Do you love above all? We're gonna look next Sunday, and I'm gonna give you a little sneak peek. We're gonna look next Sunday at what will happen in our homes if we employ, if we apply these.
• 34:40
  Five characteristics. Listen to what Psalm 128 says. It says, if you'll do these, you shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands. You shall be blessed and it shall be well with you. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house. Let me ask you guys, is that not what you want? Don't you want your wife to be a fruitful vine? It says your children will be like olive shoots around your table. That's what I want.
• 35:04
  I want my children to grow in their faith and admonition of the Lord. I want them to understand the love of God. I want them to be green olive shoots and not brown, dead olive shoots. Behold, thus shall be the man who fears the Lord. That's our text for next week. And Lord, I pray a blessing over the preaching of your word. May it find soft, good, and fertile soil. In Jesus' name, amen.