Act Like Men, Part 14

Today we conclude our series on 1 Corinthians 16, 13, act like men, a little phrase that we've looked at for the last four months to help you understand what it means to be strong and courageous to grow up. It's a phrase that Paul used, only used one time in the New Testament, many times in the Old Testament, all designed to help people understand what it means to be confident, strong, courageous to grow in their walk with the Lord Jesus Christ to be mature. And so we have just barely scratched the surface.

We've given you 12 words, 12 words that help you understand just from a surface standpoint, what it means to grow up, to be strong and to be courageous to act like men. There's so much more we could cover, but we've only given you 12 simple words to make it as easy as possible, to make it as simple as possible for you to be able to grasp so you can begin your pursuit of maturity. The Bible tells us that we need to grow up in our walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. To do so, we must understand what Paul said, act like men.

We told you four months ago, to do that, you must live purposefully. That is, you have one purpose in life, only one. If you have more than one purpose, you cannot act like a man. You must have one purpose and that's to honor and to glorify and magnify the name of Jesus Christ in all that you say, in all that you do. That's what it means to live purposefully. And then you're to live proactively. For those who know God, take action, display strength and take action, Daniel 11, 32. You can't be confident.

You can't be mature and act passively. You must act proactively. You must take the action necessary based on what God says in his word.

Then we told you, you must live prayerfully. Men are always to pray and not to faint. You are a man that lives on your knees because you commit everything to the Lord. If you live prayerfully, you live powerfully. Second Timothy chapter one, verse number seven.

God's not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline. So if God's given us a spirit of power, then why do we live such timid, impotent lives? If the spirit's in dwelling us and God has given us his spirit, we should live powerful lives for the glory and honor of his name. We are to live productively. John 15, verse number eight. In this is my father glorified that you bear much fruit, not a little bit of fruit, but a whole bunch of fruit for this is what brings glory and honor to the Lord.

So you are to live a productive life for the glory of God's kingdom. For the sake of his name, you are to live purely. That is, you're to live a life that's pure and holy before the living God. We are to be as pure as he is pure, as perfect as he himself is perfect. We are to be as holy as he himself is holy. We are to live pure and holy lives. We are to live prophetically. That is, we are to teach and preach the truth of God's holy word. We are the prophets of our homes. We are to live in a way where we tell people the truth of God's word.

You live a life of a prophet. You speak forth the truth of God's word. It helps people understand their eternal destiny, the truth that God has for each and every man. So therefore you live prophetically. Then you are to live patiently because if you preach the word in season and out of season, you have to do it with all long suffering. Paul tells us in the second Timothy four, verse number two.

So you must live patiently with people because they don't really get it right away. And so you must be a long suffering with people. Then you are to live progressively. That is, we are to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord. You don't live perfectly, but you do live progressively. That is, you're moving each day from point A to point B to point C. There's a progress about your life spiritually. You're growing in your walk with the Lord. You're not stagnant. You're not in the same place you were a month ago or a year ago or last week.

You're growing. There's progression in your life. You live progressively. You live perseveringly. You bear up under circumstances. You persevere under trials. That's what men do because they are to live for the glory and honor of God. Then you live pleasingly. 2 Corinthians 5 verse number nine, Paul says, we make it our ambition to please him who is invisible. That's our ambition. You live a life that's pleasing to God, not pleasing to man, but pleasing to God. And then lastly, number 12, you live passionately.

You love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your soul, all of your mind, all of your strength. There's a deep seated passion about your life. That's all consuming. You love him with everything that you have. You don't love him partially. You love him passionately. You don't love him temporarily. You love him always because he consumes your thinking. He consumes your way of life. You love him sincerely. You love him singularly. You love him supremely because he's everything to you. There's a passion about your life.

And that's just scratching the surface in terms of what it means to act like men. And yet you must conclude with this. And that is you can honor the Lord with your lips, but your heart be far from him. You can go through the motions outwardly, but unless your heart is completely his, then it's just an external action, not an internal commitment. Sir Walter Raleigh was one of Britain's great sea captains. He was an adventurer. He was one of the best friends of Queen Elizabeth, but he wasn't a first successor, James the first.

And James the first ordered Sir Walter Raleigh's execution. The executioner happened to really like Sir Walter Raleigh, but he had to obey the orders of the king. And so he would go to Sir Walter Raleigh and to ensure that his execution, his decapitation would be swift. He would tell him how to place his head on the chopping block, to which Sir Walter Raleigh replied with these words. It matters little friend, whether or not the head is right, as long as the heart is right. Oh, how true he was. The heart must be right.

And I wonder having spent the last four months looking at what it means to act like men, if your heart is right. It was Solomon who said in Proverbs 4, verse number 23, watch over your heart, guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it flow all the springs of life. Guard your heart, protect your heart, watch over your heart and do it diligently because Proverbs 12, 27 says that diligence is man's most precious possession. Do it diligently because from your heart springs everything. Everything in life comes from the inner part of a man.

Do you guard your heart? Do you protect your heart? Do you treasure God's word in your heart? Solomon would go on to say in Proverbs 23, verse number seven, for as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Guard your heart, protect it with all diligence, because out of it flow all the springs of life. As a man thinks in his heart, because the heart is the center of man's thinking, everything that you think about is motivated from the inside out. So make sure that your heart is right. Solomon would also say in Proverbs 23, 26, my son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways.

How do you know God has your heart? You delight in the ways of God. If you don't delight in the ways of God, God doesn't have your heart. Give me your heart, my son, and let your eyes delight in my ways. Your heart, my heart, the Bible tells us, is desperately wicked. No man can know it. And yet the Bible tells us to protect it, to guard it, to watch over it, to make sure that God himself has the heart. If we're to love him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, God must have the heart.

So let me talk to you about your heart. So you can ask the question and the answer to the question, is my heart right today? Matters little whether or not your head is right, but it matters a lot if your heart is right. How do you know your heart? Is right. Number one, simply this, you have a converted heart, a converted heart, a changed heart, a transformed heart.

The Bible says very simply in 2 Corinthians 5 verse number 17, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.

Why? Because he has a new heart. That was a promise of the new covenant. Ezekiel chapter 36 verse 25. I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and you will be careful to observe all my ordinances.

I will cause you to observe all my statutes. Why? Because I will put a new heart in you. And if I put a new heart in you, everything changes. Isn't it interesting that in today's day and age, we just assume people are Christians because they tell us they're Christians. We just assume that people love Jesus because they tell us they love Jesus. But there has been no conversion, no turning, no transformation. If you got your Bible, turn me to Mark chapter 5. In Mark chapter 5, you have the conversion of the demon-possessed man in the country of the Gerasenes.

Now, if you've been to Israel with me, you have been to this location. I've preached on Mark 5 on location there around the Sea of Galilee in the land of the Gerasenes. To help you understand this man who was filled with legion. And Jesus and his men would come ashore there in the land of the Gerasenes. And this man would come running down. And from the place in which we are at, you can see the caves by which this man would come running down from when Jesus would arrive on shore. And he would come running down completely naked, unable to be bound by chains because whenever they bound him, he would just break the chains.

The whole city was in terror because of this man's life that was demon-possessed. And he would come running up to Jesus. And Jesus would do a miraculous work. Because in all reality, everybody who's not saved is demon-possessed. Right? You're either a slave of Jesus or a slave of Satan. You're either moved by God or moved by Satan. We might not be filled with legion, but we're on Satan's side until there's been a conversion. And when there's been a conversion like the man in Mark chapter 5, you're put in your right mind.

In other words, unless you're converted, you're in your wrong mind. But when you're saved, now you're in your right mind. The Bible tells us when the people came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down clothed and in his right mind and the very man who had the legion and they became frightened. I thought they were frightened because the man was demon-possessed. No, they were more frightened because of the work of the Son of Man in the life of this individual. Because God transformed his life.

Those who had seen it described to them how it happened to the demon-possessed man and all about the swine and they began to implore him to leave their region. And as he was getting to the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring him that he might accompany him. And he did not let him, but he said to him, you go to your people, go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you. And now he had mercy on you. And he went away and began to proclaim at Decapolis, the 10 cities, what great things Jesus had done for him.

And everyone was amazed. Why were they amazed? Because the man had been transferred, according to Colossians 1, from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son. Why is it today we don't see transformations like that anymore? Could it be that very few people who say they are saved really are? You see, there's a work of God in the life of a person. Why don't we just assume that God just didn't do as great a work in you as he did in me? Or as great a work in you as he did in that guy over there?

Why don't we assume that God's mighty power didn't do a transforming work in your life when he did it in somebody else's life? Does God have different methods of salvation, different ways of saving people? No, he takes you from the kingdom of darkness and puts you into the kingdom of God's dear Son. And that automatically causes people to stand in amazement. Why is it when people say they're saved today, nobody's amazed? Maybe they were never saved to begin with. Did you ever think about that? You see, if God has your heart, there's been a conversion.

There's been a turning around. There's been a transformation. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation, not just positionally, but practically as well. It doesn't mean you're a perfect individual, but there has been an evidence of a changed life. Something's different about you. Jesus lives in you. You have died to self. You have taken up your cross. You have followed Christ. See, I'm afraid that in today's evangelical church, we have watered down Christianity so much that people today think they're getting saved and they look just like the world looks.

And we just accept it as so, but I don't think it's accepted as so in glory. I don't think so. I think we need to go back and ask, does God have your heart? Because if he has your heart, your life has been changed. So God has your heart. You have a converted heart. God has your heart. You have a cleansed heart, a cleansed heart, a clean heart, right? The Bible tells us very simply. These words in Psalm 51, you know, the verses Psalm 51 verse number 10 created me a clean heart. Oh God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from your presence and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit that I will teach transgressors your ways as sinners will be reconverted to you. David had sinned and whenever you sin, you lose joy, right? That's what happens when you sin. The joy is squelched until you confess your sin, until you are cleansed from that sin. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. Isaiah 59 says, the Lord says, my hand is not shortened that I cannot save, nor is my ear deaf that it cannot hear.

But your iniquities have separated you from me. We are cleansed positionally, but there needs to be that daily cleansing, right? Where if I confess my sins, he is faithful and just to forgive me my sins and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. The mark of a converted life is a life that so desperately wants to be cleansed from all of its impurities. Just does. Doesn't want to stay in sin. Doesn't want to live in sin. It wants to be set free from that sinful behavior. So it goes to God, it confesses its sin because he truly wants to be right with his God.

Right? How do you know your heart's right? It's clean. You confess your sins. You ask forgiveness. You want to do the right thing. None of us is perfect. But yet when we sin, we truly do at the depths of our soul, want to get it right with God. So we confess our sins because he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Matthew 5, a blessed, a pure heart for they shall see God. Second, within seven of verse number one, Paul says these words, he says, therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Isn't that your desire? Don't you want to do that? Don't you want to be cleansed from your sin? If you don't want to be cleansed from your sin, there probably hasn't been a conversion. Ask yourself that question. Matter's not the condition of your head, but only the condition of your heart. You must have a converted heart. If you have a converted heart, not a counterfeit heart, then you want a cleansed heart, not a corrupt heart. And if you have a cleansed heart, you certainly want to have a communing heart.

You want to commune with the living God. That's why the demoniac in Mark 5 wanted to go be with Jesus. I want to go to, let me in the boat.

Let me be a part of what you're doing. I want to be with you. And Jesus said, no, I need you to be light on this side of the sea of Galilee, in this 10 cities of the Decapolis. I need you to speak forth the truth of the word of God. But there was that desire to commune with this God. How about you? Don't you want to commune with the living God? Don't you want to spend time learning about the living God, knowing more about him? Let's know what it says over in Psalm 119. We shared this on Wednesday night.

The Lord is my portion. I promise to keep your words. I sought your favor with all of my heart, all my heart. Be gracious to me according to your word. I consider my ways and turn my feet to your testimonies. I hastened and did not delay to keep your commandments. How do you know you sought the Lord's favor with all of your heart? You did not delay in keeping his commandments. That's how you know there is no slowness there. There's just a quick response because you want to honor the Lord. You want to commune with him.

It matters where your heart is. Is it a converted heart? Is it a cleanse heart? Is it a communing heart? Next, number four, is it a contrite heart? Listen, a converted heart that's been cleansed and truly wants to commune with the living God is a contrite heart because it's broken over its sin and it's broken over its unwillingness to obey the Lord and is submissive to the King of kings and Lord of lords. A broken and contrite heart the Lord will not despise. Isaiah 66 verse number two, to this man will I look to him who is broken and of a contrite spirit who trembles at my word.

Psalm 34 verse number 18, the Lord is near to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Contrite heart, is that you? A converted heart is a cleansed heart. A cleansed heart is a communing heart. A communing heart is a contrite heart. A contrite heart is a compliant heart. A compliant heart. I delight to do your will, oh my God. Psalm 27 verse number eight says this, this is a compliant heart. Hear, oh Lord, when I cry with my voice and be gracious to me and answer me. When you said, seek my face, my heart said, your face, oh Lord, I will seek.

See that? That's a compliant heart. When God said, do this, my heart said, I will do that. When God said, seek my face, my heart said, your face, Lord, I will seek. A compliant heart. A contrite heart is a compliant heart. A communing heart is a contrite heart that's compliant. A cleansed heart is a contrite heart that communes with God and is compliant. But that only comes because you have a converted heart. Your heart's been changed. The unchanged heart is not compliant with what God says.

It rebels against what God says. An unconverted heart could care less what God says. But a converted heart is a compliant heart. Ephesians 6, 6, you do the will of God from the heart. It matters. The condition of your heart matters more than you know. Is your heart right with the Lord? A compliant heart is a consecrated heart. A compliant heart is a consecrated heart. Listen to Psalm 86, verse number 11. Teach me your way, O Lord. I will walk in your truth. Unite my heart to fear your name. A united heart is an undivided heart.

A united heart is a heart set aside, consecrated for one purpose and one purpose only, and that is for the service of its maker. That's a consecrated heart. It is a united heart. It's all one dimensional. It's focused on God and God alone. So the psalmist wanted his heart to be united as opposed to being distracted. An unconsecrated heart is a distracted heart, is a divided heart. But a consecrated heart is not distracted. It's not divided. It's one dimensional. It's focused on the Lord God himself.

And that's a consecrated heart. That's why Paul could tell Timothy that no good soldier entangles himself in the affairs of this world because he wants to please his commanding officer. In other words, no good soldier of Jesus Christ is so enamored and encumbered with the things of the world that he entangles himself in the everyday affairs so much so that he can no longer live a consecrated life to the Lord. We've seen that song, have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way. Thou art the potter, I am the clay.

We want God to have his way in our lives. That's a converted heart. A converted heart wants God to have his way in my heart. An unconverted heart doesn't want God to have any way in my life. Converted heart does. So what is the condition of your heart? Has it been converted? Has it been cleansed? Does it want to commune with the living God? Is it contrite? Is it compliant? Is it consecrated to the living God to serve him and him alone? A consecrated heart is a controlled heart. A controlled heart.

Give me your heart, my son. Colossians 3, 16, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Let it be at home in your heart. That's the controlled heart. It's controlled by what? The truth of God's word. The spirit of God. It submits itself to the control of the living God. That is a controlled heart. It's controlled by the living God. A controlled heart. Listen, that's a consecrated heart. That is a heart that is compliant and contrite. Listen, is a calm heart. A calm heart. It's at peace. It's tranquil because it's controlled by the word of God.

It's controlled by the spirit of God. And therefore, the Bible tells us this in Psalm 131. Psalm 131, verse number two, these words, Psalm 131, one and two, says this.

Oh Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty, nor do I involve myself in great matters or in things too difficult for me. Isn't that good? I don't involve myself in great matters or things too difficult for me. Surely I have composed and quieted my soul. Like a weaned child rests against his mother, my soul is like a weaned child within me. Oh Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. Do you have a calm heart today? Or is it restless? Unsettled. A calm heart happens because it's controlled by God and his word.

A heart that's controlled by God and his word is a consecrated heart set aside only for God. It's not divided. It's not distracted. Because he wants God to control his heart. Next, a compassionate heart, a compassionate heart. The Bible tells us in Matthew chapter nine, verses 35 to 37, these words, Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. And seeing the people, he felt compassion for them because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.

A compassionate heart sees people like a sheep without shepherd. Distressed, wondering, no purpose in life, nowhere to go. And a compassionate heart knows the destiny of the soul and points it in the right direction. That's why Christ would go on to say these words, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into the harvest. That is a compassionate heart. A compassionate heart is a confident heart. If you're counting, that's number 10, a confident heart.

Psalm 112, Psalm 112, verse number seven, says these words. It says, verse six, about the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments. Verse six, he will never be shaken. The righteous will be remembered forever. He will not fear evil tidings. His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is upheld. He will not fear. A confident heart. Why is he confident? Because he needs not fear anything, because he fears only the Lord. And because he fears the Lord, his heart is steadfast.

It will never be shaken. And therefore, all of his confidence is in the Lord God of Israel. A confident heart. A confident heart is a committed heart. This is number 11. A committed heart. Remember we told you on Wednesday night, Psalm 63, verse number eight. My heart followeth hard after thee. That's just a great verse. Because for most of us, our hearts don't follow hard after thee. That's the committed heart. It follows hard after God. Now your translation probably says, my heart clings after thee.

But the old King James version says, my heart followeth hard after thee. It's committed. It will stop at nothing to accomplish that which God has for it. The Bible says in Psalm nine, verse number one, everything is with all my heart.

Read Psalm 119. The psalmist over and over again says with all of my heart, with all of my heart, with all of my heart. Why? Because it's a committed heart. A committed heart encompasses everything about it. And lastly, a courageous heart. Only a confident heart can be a courageous heart. Only a committed heart can be a courageous heart. The eyes of the Lord run to and fro over the earth in order to strengthen the heart of those who are totally his. Second Chronicles 16, verse number nine.

God is looking for those whose hearts are committed to him. Psalm 31, verse number 24. Be strong and let your heart take courage. All you who hope in the Lord. What kind of heart do you have? What kind of heart do you have? Is that characteristic of you? Psalm said in Psalm 44, verse number 18. Our heart has not turned back and our steps have not deviated from your way. Good. Good. If your heart doesn't turn back, your steps will never deviate from the way of God. If your steps are deviating from the way of God, it's because your heart has been turned away, turned back.

We can talk about acting like men. We can talk about living a purposeful life, a proactive life. We can talk about living a prayerful life and a pure life and a prophetic life and a pleasing kind of life. But if God doesn't have your heart, you'll honor God with your lips, but your heart will be far from him. God wants your heart. It's all he wants. Just your heart. Because if he has your heart, he has everything else. Is it not true? Sure he does. He has everything. But if he doesn't have your heart, all he has is lip service.

Folks, we can't afford to give lip service to God. We must be sold out to him. In my prayer for you and for me, in order for us to be mature, to be steadfast, to be courageous, to be confident, act like men, God must have a heart. And it begins with a true, genuine conversion. Let me pray with you.

Father, we thank you for today. And we thank you, Lord, for the opportunity we have to re-examine our lives. And my prayer for all of us, Lord, is that you would truly have our hearts. Everything about us would be yours. It truly matters where our heart lies. It needs to lie with thee. And my prayer, Father, is for those among us whose heart might be swayed by the world. That, Lord, you'd work in all of our hearts that we might truly be committed and consecrated solely to thee. Lord, if you have our hearts, you have our marriage.

The reason our marriage has failed is because you don't have our hearts. If you have our hearts, you have our money. The reason we suffer financially is because you don't have our hearts. Lord, if you have our hearts, you have our ministry. Whether it's a preaching ministry, a teaching ministry, a serving ministry, no matter what that ministry might be, you have that ministry. It's yours because you have our hearts. And our prayer, Lord, is that you'd have everybody's heart in this room. And, Lord, we would pray that your hand would be heavy upon every heart in this room that's not yours.

That you would not let that heart rest until it finds its rest in thee. That you would not let that person sleep at ease until you had their heart. Lord, we know what your word says. We know the truth of your word. And all you ask is that we give you our hearts. That's our prayer. That's what we want to fulfill on this day for your glory and for your honor. In Jesus' name, amen.