Act Like Men, Part 11

You know, we've been looking at what the Bible says in Acts 16, 13, what it means to act like men, and we've given you those principles.

They're inside your bulletin. I'm not going to review them for you this morning. They're there. If you had not been with us, then you've missed out on what each of those mean concerning our responsibility to be courageous and to be confident and to act like men, as Paul told the church of Corinth. And one of those ways that we're looking at now is point number 10, which is to live perseveringly, to be able to persevere all the way to the end, that stick-to-itiveness mentality. And we told you last week about the doctrine of perseverance, because it is so precious.

And that is that all those that God has called and all those that God has elected from eternity past, all those that God has chosen and justified, those individuals will never ever finally and fatally nor fully renege on their faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

They will persevere all the way to the end. The doctrine of perseverance is so precious to the believer, because the Spirit of God enables us to persevere. And so we looked at the promise to persevere. We looked at the prayer that causes us to persevere, Christ's prayer. And then we looked at the pillars of perseverance, because those are all important as to why the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is so precious. But then before we look at the principle of perseverance, I want to ask and answer the question concerning the perplexity in the doctrine of perseverance.

Because there is a perplexing problem, and you know of it. Because some of you will say to me, well, I know the doctrine of perseverance, but there are so many people that I know that said, and I was there, that believe in Jesus. And they walked the aisle, and they said the prayer, and then they got involved in the church, and they served in the church maybe for a year or two or 10 or 20 even maybe. And then all of a sudden, no more do they walk with Christ. They want nothing to do with the church.

They don't want to be involved in the lives of other believers. They don't want to serve anymore. They're done. It's over. They've walked away from Christ. They're living in sin. What do we do with those people? How is it that those people didn't persevere? If the doctrine of perseverance is so precious, and we had the promise of perseverance, and the prayer of Christ to persevere all the way to the end, and the pillars of perseverance, which set around the presence of God's spirit and the purposes of God in our lives, why is it these people didn't persevere to the end?

Why is it they reneged on the faith? Why is it they fell away from the faith? Why is it they didn't continue to keep on keeping on? Why is it they fail? That's a good question. And Jesus has already answered it for you. That's the good thing. You can ask a question, but you've got to go to the right person for the right answer. Because some of you say, mainly because they're family members, that I know they're going to go to heaven, although they're not walking with the Lord anymore. And we do that from an emotional standpoint, hoping that they truly are saved.

And one will say, well, they're just carnal. They walked away from the Lord for a little bit. They're carnal. That question needs to be answered, not today, but at a different time, because carnality is never a long state of existence in the life of the believer. Can't be, because the Spirit of God's presence in his life. So what do you do? Well, Jesus has already answered the question. This is how he answered the question. He talked to his disciples about the kingdom age, the age in which the gospel of the kingdom would be preached.

And Jesus came preaching the gospel of the kingdom. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. That's what John the Baptist said. Jesus followed on the footsteps of John the Baptist saying the same thing. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It was the gospel of the kingdom age that the king has arrived. And you need to repent, because the king is here. Now, they didn't embrace their king, King Jesus, but the gospel of the kingdom is still preached today. So he preached that gospel, because the gospel is about a king, a king to die for people that would believe in him.

And that's the gospel of the kingdom. So Jesus gives a parable. He says this. In Mark's gospel, the fourth chapter, he says, listen to this. Behold, the sower went out to sow. And as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seeds fell on the rocky ground, where it did not have much soil. And immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of soil. And after the sun had risen, it was scorched. And because it had no root, it withered away. Other seeds fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.

Other seeds fell into the good soil. As they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop, and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. And he said to him, He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Wow. So you say, well, what does that mean? Well, Jesus explains that parable to us. He says, do you not understand this parable, verse thirteen in Mark four? How will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. And these are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown. And when they hear immediately, Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.

In other words, the word of God has been spread. Some of it falls on hard soil. Satan comes and snatches it away, and they remain in their hardened state. In a similar way, these are the ones on whom the seed was sown on the rocky places, who when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy, and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary. Then when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. These are people who when they received the word, they did it with joy.

Hey, this is great. I want to be a part of the kingdom of God. I want to take Jesus. And so they receive the word with joy. But when affliction and persecution comes, they fall away. There was no firm roots. It was a superficial profession, not a true confession of Christ as Lord. And others, verse 18, are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns. These are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires of other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

These are the ones who, like those on rocky soil, receive the word with joy. They do. They embrace the word. This is great. Until the desires of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke out that seed, and they fall away. Again, they get on the Jesus bandwagon. But because there is no true confession, it is a superficial profession. They will not persevere to the end. So Jesus says, and those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil, and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit 30, 60, and a hundredfold.

And the great thing about the parable is this, is that those who receive the word, the good soil, they bear fruit. And the fruit is not some fivefold, tenfold, fifteenfold. No, it's some 30, some 60, some a hundredfold. Now, why does Jesus use that analogy? Because in Israel, if you receive tenfold, that was considered a bumper crop. That was an amazing turnover, tenfold. But Jesus doesn't go there. He goes way beyond that. He goes, these are the ones who bear fruit some 30-fold, some 60-fold, some a hundredfold, because when somebody gives their life to Christ, there is never this response.

I think they're saved. It would seem like there's, but I don't know. Jesus says, when you receive the word with joy, you bear fruit so much that there is no question as to whether or not there was a transformation that took place in your life.

Nobody sits back and wonders whether or not you're saved. They know you're saved. They know because you are bearing fruit some 30, 60, and a hundredfold. You are three times the bumper crop. You are overboard when it comes to fruitfulness. See that? That's very important. Jesus would go on to give another parable, the parable of the wheat and the tares, because he wanted the children of Israel to know. He wanted his disciples to know, look, when you go out to sow the seed, most people are not going to embrace that seed as a true confession of Christ.

Some will just turn away. Others will receive it with joy, but when persecution and affliction come, they fall away, or they'll receive it with joy, and when the deceitfulness, the riches, and the desire of this world overtake them, they will fall away. That's when they fall away. There was no firm root. There was nothing to hold on to because there was no spirit in their lives. They made a superficial profession. And by the way, that's the majority of people. That's the majority. The minority are the ones who receive the word, embrace it, and bring forth fruit some 30, 60, and a hundredfold.

And then he gives another parable about the wheat and the tares. Why? Because there are going to be some in the kingdom age who are going to look like wheat, but they're going to be tares that are sown among the wheat because Satan sows the tares among the wheat, and you won't know who they are until the end of the age. You see, you'll never be surprised, listen, if this was a true scenario, you know, you're going to get to heaven and everything's about the Christ anyway, but you just in case you get there, you will never be surprised by who's there, but you will be surprised on who's not there.

Does that make sense? You'll never be surprised about who's there because they brought forth fruit some 30, 60, and a hundredfold. You're not going to be surprised about who's there, but you will be surprised by those who are not there. Because those are the ones who will say in Matthew chapter seven, when Jesus says, well, they say, well, did we not prophesy in your name?

And did we not cast out demons in your name? And did we do many marvelous deeds in your name? We, we did the, we did the things for Jesus. We went on eight days of hope trips. We went to Russia and we went and served in children's ministry and we worked in VBS and we did all those things in the name of Jesus. And Jesus said, I'm sorry, I never knew you depart from me. Those of you who practice lawlessness, those are the ones that we will be surprised aren't there because they have all the outward trappings, but no internal transformation.

That's why Jesus gives the parable about the wheat and the tares. That's why you keep preaching the gospel over and over and over again. So people have the ironclad assurance of eternal salvation. They will know for certain that Christ reigns in their lives. You see in the church, even in church like ours, there are tears that are sown among the wheat. There are people in our church who have jumped on the Jesus bandwagon, but when affliction and persecution comes, they cannot stand to stay with Christ.

They fall away. They can't handle it. Or because of the deceitfulness of riches and the desires of this world, they want the world more than they want the God of the word and they fall away. And I know that's hard for some of us to digest because we have family members who grew up in the church and there were children who sang in children's choir and were baptized in the church and made a profession of faith about Christ in the church and served in children's ministry and youth ministry and maybe even went on youth trips and sang in the youth praise band.

And for all practical purposes, they looked like they were saved and they went off to college and they fell away and they stopped going to church and they reneged on the faith and they fell into sin and they had no desire for the things of God because the deceitfulness of riches and the desires of this world have taken hold of their lives. You can't say that they didn't persevere because there was no spirit, presence of the spirit to cause them to persevere. There was no true conversion where God would be in them to move them toward maturity in Christ.

So they fall away. Boy, it's so important to understand that because the doctrine of perseverance is beautiful. It is so precious. But I want to talk to you this morning about the duty to persevere. Not just the doctrine of perseverance, but the duty of perseverance. The doctrine is precious. The duty is pertinent. It's a discipline. How do you make it through the tough times? And that's why God told Jeremiah, we talked about this last week, hey, listen, if you can't, if you can't walk with the footmen, how can you run with horses?

If you can't live in the land of peace, how is it you can stand in the thicket of the Jordan? Because your family will deal treacherously with you, Jeremiah. Jeremiah, you got to be careful. If you want to stop now, and you want to quit now, how is it you're going to be able to stand when things get really, really rough? And that was in Jeremiah 12. In Jeremiah 15, that's where Jeremiah came to realize after God said to him, Jeremiah, you got to stand strong because you got to preach the word. And the good news is you're giving forth my word.

The bad news is there's not one soul that's going to listen to what you have to say. Can you imagine that? Prophet of God preaching the truth of God and nobody listens. And but Jeremiah came back and said in Jeremiah 15, oh Lord, your words were found and I did eat them and they were the joy and the rejoicing of my heart. Even though nobody listens, that's all right. Because I have your word and that sustains me, that motivates me to continue on. What motivates us? Let's take, because it just happened with Dave's death, Debbie McCorkle.

How does she continue on? Her husband goes in for a simple surgery, has a massive heart attack while in surgery and is never conscious again to speak to his wife. And for eight days, she's in the hospital sitting beside him, praying over him, asking God to raise him up, asking God to heal his heart, to cause him to breathe again, to cause him to come back to their family, to be the husband, to be the father, the grandfather he was before he went to the hospital. Lord, do a great work and the Lord takes him.

How do you respond in times like that? Debbie responded and is responding in a way that you would expect her to respond. Have you spent many times, many days with her over the past week to listen to her voice speak, to listen to her strength in the Lord is a great testimony. It's a great testimony, but she's able to persevere. She's able to continue on. How? Let me give you some principles.

Don't have a lot of time left, but I'll try to finish it today. Okay. Hebrews chapter 12. See, I told you we'd be in Hebrews. Each week we're in Hebrews just to let you know that we're going to go back there soon. Don't know when yet, but we are going to go back to Hebrews. If the Lord allows me to live. All right. Hebrews chapter 12. Therefore verse number one, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, lay us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin, which so easily entangles us and let us run with endurance.

The race that has set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame and a sat down at the right hand of the throne of God for consider him who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself, so that you will not grow weary and you will not lose heart. Wow. Just those verses alone are powerful. Let me give you some principles.

Number one, if you're going to persevere, if you're going to fulfill your duty, which is so pertinent for your life, living each day, persevering for the glory of God, you need to look at the savior.

Look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, the originator of our faith, the leader of our faith, the perfecter of our faith. Look unto when your, when your legs get tired, when you, when you're exhausted, when you need to be refueled, when you are overcome with anxiety, when things around you seem to be crumbling down, look unto Jesus. You see, we always look somewhere. Our eyes are always looking for someone or for something to happen. We are looking for something or someone to comfort us.

We are looking to grab a hold of someone somewhere. And the author of Hebrew says, you look unto Jesus. He is the author. He is the perfecter of your faith. And when you're looking unto Jesus, consider him. It's a mathematical term. If you know anything about math, that has a lot to do with addition and subtraction. Well, this is a calculation. It's a term of calculating. You calculate Christ. You consider the person of Christ. You consider the passion of Christ. You consider the purpose of Christ, his person, because he never quit.

He endured the cross. He endured the shame for you and me, because there was a passion in his heart, the joy that was set before him. What was the joy? The joy was the salvation of lost souls. And the only way they would be saved is for him to suffer the great pain and turmoil of crucifixion on a cross and to die a painful death, to take the place of sinful people and rise again. But there was a joy set before him, and the joy was the eternal glory in the presence of those for whom he died. Wow. Consider him.

See, you do not grow faint and lose heart and fall by the wayside. Listen, just because the doctrine of perseverance says that those whom God has elected, chosen, called, and justified will never finally nor fully nor fatally renege on their faith, it doesn't mean that your faith does not falter at times.

It does. It does in all of us. So we need to keep looking unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. And not only that, we need to be able to listen, leave all of our sins and silly habits and silly activities. Let us lay aside every sin in the context of Hebrews 12. And when we get to Hebrews 12 down the road a year from now, two years from now, we're gonna tell you that that sin is a sin of unbelief. But every sin is rooted in unbelief that God will not come through, that God will not do what he said he's going to do.

That's why I go my way. So lay aside every sin, every sin. So many times we can't run with endurance because we want to hold on to our sin, because we think that our sin will comfort us in times of turmoil. So we hold on to our sin. But if you do, it's futile. You'll continue to falter. So you lay aside every sin and every silly activity that weighs us down. You know that when you're running a race, you can't be encumbered with things that are not necessarily sinful, but they are an encumbrance. They weigh you down.

They keep you from running full and free. They hold you back. There are many habits and hobbies that we are involved in that hold us back. They're called silly activities. They're called encumbrances that weigh us down. They're not sinful. They're not sinful. Your phone is not sinful. It's all moral, right? But it becomes a silly activity if my whole time is taken up on my phone, right? And I'm looking for those who respond to me or those who are texting me and, you know, I'm all for having phones.

I'm glad I live in this age and not, I'm glad I live in the 21st century, not the 17th century. I know that for certain. Okay. And so we live in a great age, but there are many hobbies and habits that we get involved in that weigh us down, weigh us down. Gotta be careful about that. NFL ticket could be an activity that's not sinful, but can weigh you down. See, the ESPN app, which I have, okay, on my phone to get all the updates on Saturdays, okay, that can become a silly activity that weighs me down, that keeps me from running the race with endurance so that I'm unable to run with joy.

See, it just, we don't take note of those things and we need to, we need to. We get to Hebrews 12, I'll talk to you more about that. Anyway, look at the Savior, leave your sins and your silly activities.

And number three, listen to the scriptures. Listen to the scripture. The Bible says in Romans chapter 15, verse number four, for whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction so that through perseverance and the encouragement of scripture, we might have hope.

The scripture allows you to persevere. It gives you enduring power, enduring power. That's why on the Mount of Transfiguration, the voice, which is the voice of the Father in heaven said, this is my beloved son, listen to him. That's why Jesus says in the parable of the soil, he who has ears to hear, let him hear what the spirit says.

That's why in the book of Revelation, Revelation two and three, it closes each letter with he who has ears to hear, let him hear what the spirit has to say to the churches. You better be listening. You better tune your ears into what God says.

If you don't do that, listen, you're listening to someone somewhere, right? If I'm in Florida and I'm listening to the news, it's, it's terrifying. Not that I shouldn't listen to the news. I should, but if everything I hear on the news about the hurricane coming my way to my house, if that's all I listened to, let me tell you something.

Anxiety fills my heart. It's hard for me to persevere and to live a life of faithfulness to my God. But if I listen to what God says about the one who causes the wind and the one who causes the rain and the one who causes the tide to swell, I have a different perspective on hurricane Irma and I can live a life anticipating what God's going to do through the work that he's caused.

So important. That's why God told, told Martha that Mary has chosen the greater thing. The one thing that's needful to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to what he has to say. Listen to what he has to say. That's why in Ecclesiastes five, when you come into the house of the Lord, come forth to listen.

We have talked to you about this so many times over the years. We need to hear what God has to say. When you listen to the scripture, it empowers you because through the scripture you gain staying power. The spirit of God uses the word of God to empower our lives. Are you listening to what God says?

We were giving scripture to, to Debbie and I read some of them to you on, uh, on, uh, Wednesday evening during our time of praise and prayer about some of the verses that God would use to encourage her. Hosea one, seven was one of those verses where God told Hosea that he was going to deliver them, but not with swords and soldiers or horsemen and horses, but through his divine power because he wanted Israel to trust in the living God. And that's where God wanted Debbie. That's where God wants us to trust in the living God.

Can't trust in doctors or surgeries, surgical procedures. You can't trust in, uh, all the machines that doctors use to keep you alive. None of those work except for the sovereign power and grace of almighty God. God's in charge. And so we trust him and we all need to listen to what Jesus says.

And as we do, we are in tune with God's plan. It allows us to persevere, to move through difficult times. And so as we cling to the scriptures, God uses his word to speak to us. So if you look to the savior, if you leave your sins and all those silly activities, you're free yourself up to listen to what Christ has to say, right? If you're engaging in sin and so enamored with your hobbies and habits, you have no time to listen to what Jesus has to say. And it hinders your ability to endure. So look at the Jesus, look to the savior, the perfecter, the originator of your faith.

As you do, you'll grow increasingly aware of all your sin because he is holy. And the more you see Jesus, the more you see your sin. So you lay aside your sin, you lay aside your silly activities, and you listen to the scriptures, listen to what Jesus has to say. And then number four, you lean on the spirit. In difficult times, every one of us leans on something or someone. We do. We need a prop, right? And so we're going to lean somewhere and we need to lean on the spirit of the living God. Colossians 1 says this, for this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will and all spiritual wisdom and understandings that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might for the obtaining of all steadfastness, all endurance, all staying power, and do it with joy.

Paul says, we pray that your inner man would be strengthened through the knowledge of the living God. If you're listening to the scriptures, you hear what God has to say. You come to know the true and living God. Now the spirit of God works in conjunction with the word of God and you become strengthened in the inner man and you're able to endure, listen, with joy. Wow. Does it get any better than that? Let me tell you something, my friend.

Every one of us goes through the Jordan of the thicket or the thicket of the Jordan. Every one of us has to learn to run with horsemen. And if we look to the savior, if we lay aside and leave our sins and silly activities, we are freed now to listen to the scriptures and all that Christ has to say, which now allows us to lean in the spirit because now the spirit of God uses the word of God to strengthen the heart of a man that he might be able to stand strong for the glory of his name. That is fabulous.

Aren't you glad you came today? Boy, I'm glad you came. I'm glad I came. I'm glad I'm here because this is good for me. I'm preaching to myself up here. Number five, number five, long for the second coming, long for the second coming.

You know, the Thessalonian church was given a letter by Paul in the first Thessalonians, every chapter ends with a promise about the second coming.

And in that letter, he says this about those in Thessalonica, in first Thessalonians, chapter one, he says this, we give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers.

Isn't that great? That would be like Paul writing to Christ's community church saying, I give thanks to God for all of you, not just your leaders, your pastors, your study school teachers, your workers, your ushers, your greeters. I give thanks to God for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers, constantly bearing in mind your work of faith. Your work was produced because of your faith, your labor of love. You worked hard because of your love for God and your steadfastness of hope, your enduring power, your perseverance because of your hope.

You are able to persevere because of the hope that is in you. What's the hope? It's the hope that Jesus is coming again. That's our hope. That's what allows us to continue on. Knowing and believing that Jesus could return at any moment is a strengthening of the soul. So you long for the second coming.

And let me give you two more. Then you learn from the saints, learn from the saints. Remember second Timothy chapter three, second Timothy three, verse number 10.

Paul says, now you follow my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance. Timothy, you follow my enduring power. You, you follow my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings, such as happened to me in Antioch, and Iconium, and at Lystra. What persecutions I endured and out of them all the Lord rescued me. See, see what the Lord did for me, Timothy. He rescued me out of my persecutions. He rescued me out of all my adversity. You follow my example, Timothy. Learn from the saints.

And it goes on to talk about how he learned from his mother and grandmother, Lois and Eunice. You need to learn from those people who have walked with the Lord. You need to be observing their testimony. You need to be able to sit down and just listen to Debbie McCorkle speak and learn from her as she explains what God is doing in her heart and life. You need to go and talk to those people who have gone through enduring problems and persecutions in their family. And how do they handle it? Sit down and listen to them.

Learn from them as they speak to you about what God has done. God has given us a body, a body that helps us to grow. So we have older and younger people. You younger people latch on to those older people and you say, teach me, teach me, teach me. I want to learn from you. How did you do this? How did you handle this problem in your marriage? How do you handle this problem with your family? How do you handle this problem at work? Teach me. What did you do? I need to learn from the saints on how to endure difficult times because God has taught them very, very much.

And so many times you look at the old people and say, ah, they're just old. I know that because I'm getting there. And my kids look at me as the old man.

What's the old man know? Oh, let me tell you what I know. I know a lot. Been around the block many, many times. You're not even halfway around the block. I've circled it a thousand times. You want to learn from the saints who have walked with the Lord and endured difficult times. And lastly, I know we're, I know we're late and we're late and we're going to get later, but you got to love to serve. You got to love to serve because serving gives you a proper perspective. Serving is that one element of your ministry of your life that allows you to look at others and esteem them higher, esteem them above yourself.

A lot of times we have no enduring power because we can only think of poor me. What if Jesus would have thought that way? Poor me on the eve of the crucifixion. No, my disciples are only concerned about who's the greatest in the kingdom. Nobody cares about me. All they can care about is themselves. And here I am going to die, going to hang on a tree tomorrow for the sins of the world and nobody cares. What if he had the poor me attitude? He wouldn't have gone to the cross. That's why I took a slave's apron and served his men to show them that amidst your greatest pain, you got to serve.

Get your eyes off yourself, on everybody else. That's why I love Epaphroditus, who was sick unto death, but was upset because everybody knew he was sick and going to die. He wasn't upset that he was sick and dying. He was upset that everybody in the church knew he was sick and dying. He didn't want anybody to know because he wanted to be involved in the service of the king and did not want to be sidetracked from that service by everybody coming to him and saying, oh Epaphroditus, oh we're so sorry you're sick.

He didn't want to hear that. He wanted to serve his fellow man. He wanted to reach out to his fellow man and minister to them in their point of need because he knew that loving to serve his God was staying power. Get those eyes off of himself and other people. Paul was the same way, same way. How about you? You can only love to serve others if you are longing for the second coming.

And the only way you get along with the second coming is for you to lean on the spirit and to learn from other saints.

And the only way you can do that is if you're listening to what God has to say. If you don't lay aside and leave your sin and all those silly activities, you can't hear what he has to say. So keep looking into Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith, because he endured huge persecution. But for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame. And that's our example. He's our testimony. He's our model. And that's why the duty of perseverance is so pertinent. The doctrine, yes, it's precious.

But the duty, the discipline is so pertinent for you and me. And may God give us the grace to follow his word. Let me pray with you.

Lord, thank you for today, all that you do. Thank you for a chance to be in your word. Truly, you are great. Pray that the words we heard today would stick deep in our hearts. In Jesus name. Amen.