Don’t give up 1 corinthians 16-13

1 Corinthians 16:13 (CWSB)
13 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.

Power To Change Ministry 

          Rev. Alvin Lewis

Powertochangeministry@gmail.Com

Powertochangeministry.org

973-583-7482

Transcript

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Grace and peace from God our Father and Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thank you for tuning in to the Power to Change Ministry, and this is our podcast. My name is Reverend Alvin Lewis, and I will be your host for today. I pray that you're experiencing the Lord in a way that it has changed your life to a way that you never even imagine your life could ever be. So we want to add to that. Today we are going to observe to apply 1 Corinthians chapter 16, verse 13. And the title of this teaching is Don't Give Up. Let me repeat that. Let's start with a word of prayer. Let's hear what God has to say. Father God, in the name of the Lord Jesus, we want to thank you for this day that you have made. Lord, help us to keep our focus on pleasing you and making sure that we never forget all that you have done for us through the completed work of Jesus the Christ on the cross. Father, touch this word today so that whomever hear it, it will have an impact on their lives, and they will never, ever be the same. And they will look to glorify you, to praise you, and surrender 100% to your will. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Thank you, thank you, thank you for tuning in to the Power to Change Ministry. And as I said, this is our podcast, and I am Reverend Alvin Lewis, and I will be your host for today. Don't give up. That's what it's all about. I know sometimes we feel like we uh we can't go anymore. Or things are not shaping up the way we desire them to shape up. You know, walking by faith and not by sight, God could be moving in your life, but you think it only could look the way you think it could look. And I always tell those that I um share the word with, or maybe I might just be a casual conversation. I said, well, and when you when you surrender 100% to the Lord, you giving him control to do whatever he chooses to do in a way that he wants to do it. So it may not look the way you think it should look, because it's not you doing the choosing, it's not you doing the doing, and God's the way he thinks is way different than what we can think about. So the scripture of observation and application, it's just one verse. I'm gonna let me let me um read it. Watch ye stand fast in the faith. Quit ye like men, be strong. And as I said, sometimes our faith, it feels like it has it has exhausted itself. There's no more. And we now have to examine, you know, what what what are we doing? Because see, struggles, they they are definitely real, but they're opportunities for spiritual growth. Because when I'm dealing with something and I'm trying to lean to my own understanding, and I try to go it alone and think I know the answer, I made the very worst decision that I could ever made by thinking that I know. So now nothing changes, and it might even get worse. But it helps me to reflect on God's track record in my life. What has He done for me in the past? And when I look at it, I can see that there's only victory when I am dependent on God. It is only growth, because now I learned how to be patient and to wait on the Lord with anticipation and excitement, because I understand that God will never fail. So difficulty produces endurance, which develops into experience, which ultimately generates hope rooted in God's love. That's Romans 5, 3, 5, 3 through 5. That's what it's going to do. Here, let me read it for you. And only so, but we glory in tribulation also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. So we see that that situation that appears to be showing that our faith, our faith is exhausted, is just a training ground so that I can adjust myself. Because sometimes we we might drift a little bit. We start thinking we don't, you know what, I got this, Lord. I I could do that, I know how to do it. That's simple. I don't need you for that. That's a mistake.

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I need God for everything.

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There's nothing that I don't need God for. I need him for everything. And see, when you get to spots like that, you you're tempted to abandon your faith when you start to think, I got this.

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I could do it.

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I know what to do here. I remember what happened before, so I I I could I I could take care of it. This this this is nothing. And things come in disguise. What you think is nothing is it it could be major. Because if your faith can be shifted just a little bit, if it could get me to lean into that direction of being independent of God and not maintaining a position of dependency in God, I I'm I'm willing. I'm a willing participant in an adversarial understanding, a temptation to get me to abandon my position of power, which is in Christ, and stop hoping in the Lord. Now, also, when you allow a shift in perspective, meaning understanding that what you see is only temporal, this will help to bring you back where you need to be. This is that that adjustment. And understanding the invisible things are permanent. You you now know that you know the stuff that you you looking at, and the stuff that you might put your hope in that you can see, touch, feel, and that includes yourself. If I touch myself, I'm temporal. I'm getting older by the breath, and at some point I will no longer exist in time. So now you you find that you you gotta adjust yourself. So you need you need some you need some spiritual facts. Cause you got physical facts and and and the spiritual facts, which we believe by faith. That what I don't see, I don't see the Lord, but I know he's there. Spiritually, I see his workmanship, and he is eternal, and he is forever alive. And that and that's what happened um so that we can we can adjust ourselves when we we think that faith is exhausted and I can do my own thing and and and I got this and everything is is all right. Now, as we get to the scripture of observation and application, let me give you some information about this epistle, the first the first epistle to the Corinthians from Apostle Paul. Now, it's dated to have been written 56 A.D., on his third missionary journey, and the purpose is to purify the church from divisions of and immorality. The church at Corinth was founded by Paul on his second missionary journey. It had become infected with the evil surrounding it in an evil, wicked, unrighteous city. Now the Greeks was proud of their learning and philosophy, but at the same time was addicted to gross immorality. They were especially fond of oratory. It is apparent that Apollos, an eloquent Christian Jew, had come to Corinth and captured the imaginations of the Greek Christians. Now, this fact led to the drawing of comparison between him with his silver tongue and other religious leaders, especially to the discredit of Paul, whose bodily presence seems to have been unimpressive. That sounds like us in 2026, that the more talented a preacher is, the more the congregation will like them, and they might not even be preaching and teaching the word, but it is stimulating to their flair, to their flesh. Now, the chapter where the verse is housed in, chapter 16, let's give you a little summary of that before we get to the verse, because we want to look and see what's going on there. What did God inspire? Said the passage discussed the collection for the saints, instructing the Corinthians to set aside contributions weekly as they are, as they are prospered to avoid last-minute gatherings. So we're talking about charity there. And Paul is talking about coming and visiting in the winter. And he he emphasized the importance of supporting Timothy and mentions Apollos will visit when convenient. Paul urges the Corinthians to remain steadfast in faith, act with strength, and conduct all things with charity. So we see love there. He acknowledges the house of Stephanos for their ministry and encourages submission to those who labor. And the letter concludes with greetings from various individuals and a personal salutation from Paul expressing love and grace. So these days, when you read, you know, when you get some time, go read chapter 16. You will see that those things, you know, that's a summary of that chapter. But the verse, the scripture of observation and application, and for those who may be new to this, to this channel, when we read, study, and comprehend the word of God, it is not just to know and memorize the word of God. That's the observation. And actually, observation could go deeper because I want to know what's going on. Who's doing what? Why. Where the the uh I should say the the problem or the issue come from that God inspired someone to answer it and to write something that as we see in scripture. So I'm uh I'm observing the situation. And most of the times you can it is relevant. It is relevant, even though the to your life today, even though this word is written many years ago, it is relevant today because there's nothing new under the sun. We're dealing with the same issue. The adversary says you don't need God. And God's word telling you that you do. Now we have to make a choice. Do I want to believe the adversary, the devil, or do I want to trust God? So the more that you know about God, I'm telling you, you're gonna believe you you'll see I need to trust God because God tells you in the Word. He tells us about who He is, He tells you about who you are, He gives us understanding who the adversary is, He gives us an explanation of the atmosphere that we live in, the world that we live in, how things are functioning, and He gives us a plan of action, how we should live. So that's why the scripture of observation and application. Once I have understood what God is talking about, I hear him and I understand what he's saying, now it must be applied. Do not get in the way of the application, so that it will now be a part of your life. It will be a guide, because the word of God is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. So that's that's where the scripture of observation application comes from. So now the so 1 Corinthians 16, 13. There are four commands in this verse. It says, Watch ye, that's a command, stand fast in the faith, that's a command. Quit ye like men, that's a command, and be strong, that is a command. So sometimes we think commands are telling me something that I cannot do. That's not true. I can do it, but what the command is telling me to do, it's not advantageous to me to do that. God is warning me that there is danger with this decision and the action that will conclude with what I decide. If I choose not to listen, there are some consequences that I will have to endure that won't be good for me. But if I follow the commands, now I am going to receive the blessing of the Lord because I will be happy, I will have joy that I have chosen to follow God's instruction. And it proves to me that I trust him, and that I believe that he knows what he's doing, and that he has my best interest at heart. So I want to go with him. So now God inspired Paul to write this based upon the situation and circumstance in Corinth, and he's encouraging them with this command: watch ye stand fast in the faith, quit ye like men and be strong. Now, again, Paul wrote this letter as a uh to address a real problem. And it emerged in the roughly three years between departure from Corinth and the letter's composition. Now, the divine inspiration behind this epistle served to restore a spiritual immature congregation struggling with the gravitational pull of the pagan environment. Okay? So we see that the Corinthian church, it was battling sexual immorality, internal turmoil, and a misuse of spiritual gifts. See, when you immature when it comes to dealing with God, you look at him as a genie who only is there to grant your wishes. You don't understand, as of yet, that it is way deeper than that. When you understand the crucifixion, you know, well, well, let me go back. When you understand the weight of God seeing the condition that his creation is in as sinners, after Adam broke the Commandment of God, and that there was no way to get forgiven and get back in the right relationship with our eternal Father. And that if we were to die that way, we will receive eternal damnation. So understand that we are standing on an edge, a slippery edge. And if we and if we make the wrong step, we will fall to our doom. But thanks be to God for his eternal understanding and his way and his will, his love, as he sent his only begotten son, none like him, to be sinned for the world. And if we believe, then we will be forgiven and restored back in the right relationship with him. So that's a problem. So we see here that this problem, it it just it stays there. It's nothing new. The Corinthian church didn't understand it. Some of us in 2026 don't understand it. And so that's why it makes these more these warnings and this understanding of scripture to know that it needs to be applied and to see the impact that God is warning us about when He inspired Paul to write this letter to the Corinthian church, but now we are reading and studying it in 2026 that this is something that we could apply to our lives. We need this.

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We need this.

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Because there was instability in this particular church. Now let's look closely at these commands. Now it says watch. That means remain alert. And that is particularly concerning Christ's return. We don't know when that's gonna happen. Now the vigilance guards against spiritual complacency and deception. Sometimes we can get bored because we're not focusing on the right things. If I am going through a situation and and and it's a situation that I'm uncomfortable with, and and I myself personally, I'm in a situation just like that right now. Now I'm not gonna go and I'm not gonna talk about the situation because it's technically irrelevant. Because if you're going through a situation that's making you uncomfortable and it's adding pressure to your life, it's the same as mine, even though it's showing up different. It's pressure. So I'm gonna stay focused on the Lord and his word. But it is a situation that I don't like and I don't want it there. But it is teaching me something. Because how I look at the situation, how I perceive the set situation and how I contemplate the situation, and how I figure out how I'm going to respond to the situation is through God. So in all thy ways, acknowledge him, and he's gonna direct your path. So it is showing to me, where am I? Am I really walking by faith and not by sight, or do I wanna give up? You know, and give up could mean I don't want to apply faith to this situation. I want to do what I want to do right now because I have some old ways that that will fit this circumstance, and I'm ready to execute them right now because I'm ready for this situation to be over. I want to let the air out of this situation. No, can't do that. I gotta, as Paul is saying here, he said, watch, so that I'm paying attention to my situation. He said, stand fast in the faith. All right. Now I know it's heavy. I know it's hurting. I know it's it's it's it seems like it's taking up all of the air in the room. I know it seemed like it got you backed in the corner and you have no, I mean, you so tight in that corner, you can't even inhale and exhale because your chest can't come out. But that ain't so. You're gonna look to the Lord and you're going to depend on God. Because if it was gonna kill you, and if it could kill you, you'd have been dead already. Because the enemy, he don't come to play, he ain't coming to play with you. He's coming to kill, steal, and destroy. So he you you he just kill you and move on. If he sees the opportunity to take you out, I got you now. Nah. So we have to understand, don't give up. And you say, give up what? Trusting in God, walking by faith, depending on the power of God. Don't give up remembering the love of God through Jesus the Christ. Don't give up understanding that God created you and you are the image and the likeness of Himself. Don't give up understanding that God is stronger than the situation that you're dealing with. So see, as you watch and stand fast in the faith, that means remain firm in doctrine since false teachers undermine moral conduct. That's it right there. So if you, as we experience here in 2026 and we have been experiencing, some preachers are very talented. They might look good to you, they might smell good to you, they might sound good to you, and they might even talk right, and it's and and it's having an impression in your mind and in your heart. But what they're talking about is pure garbage. They're not talking about God, they're talking about themselves. There is no power in you listening and following me unless I'm telling you, come follow me as I follow the word too. I'm trying to show you what's working in my life. But if I'm not telling you that the word of God is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path, but I'm trying to give you some type of philosophy and some cliche or something that makes you feel good about your situation where you stop paying attention to the power of God. Don't you listen to me. You get away from me quickly, you leave everything that's there and you get out of there. Because you're powerless if you don't have the word of God, you destined for defeat if you're not in the will of God, and if you trust in someone, something temporal as me, who is gonna fade away and be removed from time in God's divine time, oh yeah, you're gonna run out of gas. You ain't gonna bear there and do it. I've seen it. Whereas the church is packed, people coming and going, then the pastor died, and those people they they walking around lost. Because there's no power in the individual. It is the word of God that never, ever die. It never fades, it never loses power. It has the answer for all of the questions in every situation that you're going to face. So, Paul here, he's telling them to remain firm in doctrine since false teachings undermine moral contact. We see here that that that uh that faith that Paul is referring to is all is refers to both to trust in God and to the content of Christian teaching. That's the doctrine. If it ain't talking about Jesus the Christ, him being crucified and risen from the dead and going back to the Father, that is the path of perfection for the believer, and for which is giving us the forgiveness that we need, showing the love of God in action, then you you need to you need to leave that alone. Then Paul says, quit ye like men. Now he says, display courage and resolve. This involves enduring troubles, dangers, and temptations with many c with with mainly courage and the spirit's strength, depending on the power of God. I cannot depend on me. I don't have enough power. I don't understand. If I'm just depending on me, my flesh, my thought process, or what I think I know, I'm gonna fail. I don't know enough. I don't understand how to respond to every situation. I I don't know when something surprises me, how I'm gonna stand fast and be strong in my faith. It's like when somebody jumps out and scares you and say, ah, I don't I don't know how to deal with that by myself. But if I'm walking by faith and I am trusting in God and I believe what the word of God said, He tells me I can do all things through Christ, because that's where I'm gonna get my strength from. Then I'm not walking according to what I think I see and how I feel and how I want to respond, but it's all hinge on what God will give me at the moment that I need it. And I know he's gonna give it to me because I'm dependent on him. I'm paying attention, I'm watching, I'm standing firm in my faith. And I'm gonna be courageous because I know some stuff coming. I know it. But God got me covered. He knew it, he knows it's coming too. But he knew it was gonna come before I got to it. So I'm good. And then Paul, he ends it, he says, be strong. That means resist caving in to anti-Christian teachings and morals. And we live in an unholy world, just like the Corinthians. You know what I'm saying? We got the same situation and the same problem. Sin is everywhere. People have become comfortable with sin. They ain't even thinking about God. They act like God never ever exists, let alone existing now. And if you are walking by faith and not by sight, there could be a time where something will pop up and say, wow, they look like they're having a good time. And and and I, why I can't do that.

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And you gotta rebuke that. That's temporal. You don't want that, it look like it's forever. No, it's not. No, it's temporal.

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There is an expiration date on that foolishness. There is an expiration date on self-dependency. There is an expiration on unholy living, unrighteousness, wickedness. And now, anyone who is engaged in it, you're going to have to stand on that grateful day for judgment by yourself. And I know I can't handle it. So the suggestion is make sure you're covered in the blood of Jesus and stay that way. Make sure you continue to walk by faith and not by sight. I'm making my way. This is my conclusion, and I'm making my way to my benediction. The blessing. But you need to ask yourself: who am I dependent on?

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Am I 100% giving over to my Lord?

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And when you say my Lord, that means that He is in control of everything that has to do with my existence in time. Because I am living my life now with anticipation of being in the presence of God in eternity. I want to do that now. It's like when you get ready to go somewhere. You get your clothes out, you pick out what you're going to wear, and you iron it and get everything set out, you know, sit it out and everything. You take your shower and, you know, get everything right. Then you start putting your clothes on, you're looking in the mirror to make sure everything is where you want it to be, and now it's time to go. And that's what life is. It's a dress rehearsal. Lord, I trust you. I believe your word. Apply it to my life. Because I don't want to give up. I don't want to change my mind and start giving, you know, giving over to some of this temporal fun. And I always say, I had a good time when I was sinning. But I'm grateful that God allowed me to understand the errors of my ways on how I was against him. Even though I wasn't hurting nobody else. I thought, well, I'm free to do what I want to do. This is my life. But I was hurting the one who gave me life. I was hurting the one that I belong to. And that ain't good. So now ask yourself, who are you dependent on? And also, the pressure of this life, I know it's real, but we need a, and it's strong, and I but we need a force that's greater than the opposition. And the only place you're gonna get it is with the Lord. You and that, you you can't even collect enough people to have the strength that you need to deal with the situations in this world. It ain't gonna happen. Mm-mm. It ain't gonna happen. And also, understand this in our weakness, God is his strongest in our life. Because now you get humbled. You get you got time to look it over. So, what am I doing?

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I can't do this. I I don't even know what I'm doing.

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I tell those all the time, you know, I don't know, I don't know nothing. Except for what God give me. Anything that I think I know, it ain't nothing. It ain't it's nothing. If God didn't give it to me, I I I don't have nothing. And I stay right there. I don't try to make myself be something that I'm not, I'm dust. See, we forget that. And if it wasn't for the breath of life that God breathed into that dust man, then we wouldn't be here. And I can't stop my deterioration. I'm I'm moving. When I came into the world, I was making my way to the exit. As a baby. Or, matter of fact, as I was in my mother's wound, I was on my way to the exit.

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Gotta remember that. And this right here, trust God. That's it.

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Now, and I wanna say this to you. It might be some things that you might not understand yet. That's all right. Credit to his account. Lord, I know you're gonna give me the understanding of things I need. I'm just gonna trust you right now. I don't understand this, I don't understand that, but I know you're gonna you're gonna fill me in as we go. I'm just gonna trust you. Because I'm telling you, ain't nothing in this world you can trust. It ain't because it'll give you all kinds of understanding, but it ain't worth nothing. Mm-mm. You you're gonna you're gonna be digging a hole so deep, and it's gonna have you so ignorant that after you dig the hole, you're gonna throw the shovel out and complain, you know, about the hole that you dug and you made for yourself. And now you're gonna be living a frustrated life. So don't give up. Don't forget, walk by faith and not by sight. And don't live just to be blessed, live to be a blessing. Think about somebody else. Imitate your eternal father. Because he was thinking about us when he looked on us with an eye of compassion after we became sinners when Adam broke the commandment of God. He crossed into an area that God was one. Look, don't go over there, man. I'm telling you. Awake from that tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because that day you're gonna surely die. And death is separation from God spiritually. That is the disconnect. Because, see, it could be deceiving. If I look at my physical body and I think everything is okay, I think that I'm living, but I'm really dead. If I have not given my life back to the Lord, I'm dead in my sins, I'm not connected spiritually, which gives me the life that I can enjoy in the presence of God. You can't get no better place than that. Everything you need is in the presence of God. There is no lack there. So don't live just to be blessed. Live to be a blessing. Want for your brother what you want for yourself, want for your sister what you want for yourself. All right. And thank you for tuning in to the Power Change Ministry. Uh, and God willing, we will be here again next week with another word from the Lord. And I pray that you will consider what has been shared here, and you will not get in the way, and God will apply it to your life, and you will see that your life will never be the same. Now, my benediction. Now to him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. To the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion, and power, both now and ever. Amen. God bless you and your family. Go in peace.