A Call Unto Watchfulness And Steadfastness

A Call unto Watchfulness and Steadfastness

Study Text: 1 Corinthians 16:13-15

Introduction:

- There is a need for men to stand up and show themselves as men.

- This call unto manliness with godliness entails certain important truths:

1. It is a Call for Vigilance.

- To Watch means to be awake, alert, constantly on guard, never sleepy or sluggish, and never to let down one’s guard.

1 Peter 5:8, Ephesians 6:12

- The church of Christ is now at war against the world, the flesh, and the devil. The night is setting in. Let every one become a watchman. Mark 13:37

2. It is a Call for Steadfastness.

- To Stand fast in the faith means to stand your ground, and stand for the truth.

2 Thessalonians 2:15

1 Corinthians 15:58

- We need a steadfast heart, which no unworthy affection may drag downwards.

- A heart that is fixed on Christ and His purpose, which no unworthy purpose may tempt aside.

3. It is a Call for Manliness.

- Quit you like men means to make a man of, show yourself to be a man.

- It implies to be courageous as real men, and stop living like immature men.

- God is searching for men who will stand up as men with a life pleasing unto Him. He is looking for men of God.

- We shall be discussing the topic under two subheadings:

1. The Right Priorities

2. The Right Principles

1. The Right Priorities

- Men who show themselves men are men who have the right priorities:

1. God is first in their lives. Matthew 6:33, Malachi 1:6

2. Family is next to God

a. Love your wife

Ephesians 5:25

- Husbands in a Christian marriage are to mirror Christ’s eternal commitment to His bride, the church. Which involves self-sacrifice and always involves treating one’s spouse as equally or more important as one’s self.

- Loving your wife as yourself means three things:

i. You so deeply identify with your spouse that you feel the effect of your behaviour on your spouse.

ii. You think first of making your spouse’s life better.

iii. You want the best for your spouse even when your spouse can’t see what that is.

Colossians 3:19

b. Love your children

- After your wife should come your children

Ephesians 6:4

- Almost any man can be a father, but it takes a man with a heart for God to be a true father.

3. The Church is in third place

Ephesians 5:25

- Christ died for the church, the body of believers, the people of God.

Hebrews 10:25

- Men of God work for God in the Church, get involved in the ministry of the Church, support the Church in your giving, fellowship regularly with the body, and faithfully attend Church.

4. Occupation in the fourth place

1 Timothy 5:8

- Your career is the means that God has given you to meet your needs. Your career should never run your lives.

- Do your work honestly as unto the Lord. Romans 12:11

5. Recreation

- 1 Timothy 4:8 "For bodily exercise profits little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come."

- People who cannot find time for recreation are obliged sooner or later to find time for illness. Mark 6:31

- Jesus knows we must come apart and rest awhile, or else, we may just plain come apart.

2. The Right Principles:

- Men who show themselves men are men who stand for the right principles.

1. Maintain a Holy Standard

- They " stand fast in the faith" 2 Thessalonians 2:15

- What we all need today is not a return to the gold standard but to the God standard.

2. Do not compromise Truth for Culture or Comfort

Ephesians 4:14

- Do not seek to please your wife, children or community by paying the price of compromise.

- Yield to all and you will soon have nothing to yield. How much better it is to remain true to the Lord Jesus Christ.

3. Live consistent lives

- James 1:22 "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves."

- The problem with Christians is not that Christians are not where they should be; the problem is that they are not what they should be right where they are.

- Men who show themselves men are men who stand when everyone else has sat down. Ephesians 6:13