Deeper at Life
Deeper at Life is a weekly conversation with the pastors of Life Church taking the Sunday sermon beyond the pulpit. Each episode unpacks the passage of Scripture more fully, exploring practical applications and truths for everyday life. Join us as we dig deeper into God’s Word and grow in our relationship with Jesus in a way that carries on throughout the week.
Deeper at Life
Immediate Action Required | S2E16
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As Paul closes his letter to the Corinthians, he leaves the church with five clear commands: be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong, and let all that you do be done in love.
In this episode of Deeper at Life, we take a deeper look at what it means to live faithfully in a hostile world. They discuss spiritual alertness, biblical conviction, Christian maturity, dependence on God's strength, and the central role of love in the life of every believer.
The Christian life isn't a playground—it's a battlefield. The question is: are we ready to live like it?
Deeper in life, we're back. Brought the extra energy. I don't know how to intro this thing, but we're back for another week, second to last week with Andrew, with Jason. Bringing bringing in. I mean, what a text. So feeling good. We had some laughs before we we went on. And um, yeah. I don't know if that was more energy or not. I can't scream too loud, but good energy, man.
SPEAKER_00It's great. I'm gonna I'm gonna compliment you a lot in this podcast.
SPEAKER_04You know what?
SPEAKER_00Appreciate that. Just because I felt like you took it deeply last time we met.
SPEAKER_01So uh did Andrew insult you last time?
SPEAKER_04He felt like I did, but I got insulted multiple times last episode, Jason.
SPEAKER_01So I'm here for you, Dom. Thanks. We won't bring up what I said right before.
SPEAKER_00He's in a good mood today, so you know. Welcome to the podcast. We're here with Dom Jason.
SPEAKER_04This is been yeah, we're in uh chapter 16, verses 13 through 14. So finishing up uh this chapter, uh very incredible text. This this piece of scripture is um awesome. You watch full stand firm in the faith, act like man, strong one for sure. So I don't know where we're gonna start, but you're gonna start.
SPEAKER_00So because yeah, I mean the study, the study of First Corinthians um has had big chunks of scripture, big deep truths uh in play. And uh this is this is not that. This is short, it's tight. Um one commentator called it crispy, uh crisp, clear and crisp, not crispy, I guess that would be like crisp. That's different. Clear and crisp, to the point, right to the point. Um and you know, we've we've used this, this text is used a lot, especially like in men's ministry, which is uh certainly applicable because it says that act like men, which we know I think a little bit more clearly that that's not just be masculine. It's uh it's a reference to a couple other things. But yeah, it's just tight and to the point. Um Paul's, I I think he's finishing out the letter and just uh making sure that some of those you know, last it's almost I think of it like a coach, you know, we're about to take the field. He's already done all of his pep talks, he's already done all of his instructions, and he's just saying, hey, don't forget this, these few things. Do this, do this, do this, do this, and do that. And um what's amazing to me is how a simple, I mean very short two verses really have uh the ability to have depth to them when you really are like, well, what does that mean? And where is that word used elsewhere? And what actually is Paul trying to accomplish here? So I I'm just I kind of amazed at how many people preaching through First Corinthians just kind of kind of attach that on to another point, give it a couple seconds, and uh and then just move on. And I'm like, I don't know, I just feel like that's such a such a missed opportunity for such a cool little verse. And so, little verse obviously in length, but not little in in punch. And so, yeah, I appreciate it. I appreciate the clarity it brings. I appreciate, like I said on Sunday, how it kind of lines up with a lot of our graduates finishing them one season of their life, going into the next. I think this would be an appropriate text for you know high school graduates to have as one of those like inspirational guiding verses for their entry entry into college and the next chapter of life. So kind of lined up pretty cool in a in a good way. But strong language, military type language, call to action language, kind of a let's go. So yeah, there's a lot to probably a lot to be said about these uh verses and points.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I love it. I mean, playground or battlefield was a big theme. This was cool. It's lined up very well with our text Sunday nights with our students, Colossians chapter four, verses two through six. So Paul is writing to the church in Colossae in chains, asking for opportunities to preach the gospel. Like we look often at our inconveniences, going somewhere or doing something, and Paul is writing a letter, you know, this is another example. So that's always cool when that happens where we line up like God lines it up to where I had 1 Peter 5.8 in my in my plan, and you you talked about that a lot. Be watchful. And the reality is we're in a spiritual war every single day. So you can either recognize that or not, but it's it is the reality.
SPEAKER_00And I think the tone of the language speaks to that. That's why I mean you just study 1 Corinthians, you realize they're in a hostile environment. Yeah, you know, they're in a tough situation where it's not like they are and we're not. It's we are as Christians, we're not home. Don't make this world your home. You make this world your home, you get distracted from what you're really here for. So there's a there's a reminder of this is a battlefield, not a playground. We live in a hostile world. Therefore, there needs to be some actions implemented into our life that are immediate and sustained. Like we've got to not just do these occasionally when things get tough. Uh, we need to make these a part of our life together or our life constantly while in this hostile world.
SPEAKER_01So as good as it was for our students and and anyone kind of maybe in a transition uh into a new phase of life, so good for our men as well. Um, we have a we have a pretty cool men's mentoring program here. And afterwards, I texted my guys and I just said, What is God teaching you from Sunday? What did God teach you? And one of my guys wrote me back and he he just simply put, I must not be spiritually complacent. I need to be in the word and seeking God daily. I must walk on my own two feet by the grace of God and through the spirit. Grow up. Pray for God to give me strength and change the ways that I make excuses and fall back into doing things my way. Such a good call for us men to grow up, uh, to mature, but realize that that maturing is maturing into Christ who gives us the strength to grow up.
SPEAKER_00That's cool, man. It's good. It's a good text message.
SPEAKER_04That's good. That's what I was just gonna talk about. That Andrew said that Satan's greatest strategy is spiritual complacency, not outright rebellion. Yeah. So I mean, we just do you think that's I mean, that's I'm sure has happened for thousands of years, but more because we have so many luxuries nowadays, or has it just been a thing?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, uh certainly that's a a factor, you know. I think uh I think we have a way of, I mean, in any context, you probably have a way of of settling into a rhythm, even if you're in a hostile environment that's more, you know, more hostile than America. Um but I just think life, life in its nature has a way of um just getting into the way of our vigilance, where you know, we're we're so focused on just, hey, let's let's do the next thing, go to the next event, go to the next practice, prepare the next meal, that there's a there's this. I mean, obviously it was something that everybody dealt with because Paul regularly called people to be watchful. Yeah, it wasn't an accident that he's like, hey, wake up. You even think about I didn't bring it up on Sunday, but you even think about when Peter and Jesus were talking, and Jesus is like, Hey, y'all, y'all are gonna, y'all are gonna forsake me. And Peter's like, not me. I'll never forsake you, I'll never leave you. And then Jesus is like, hey, before the um the rooster crows three times, you're gonna you're gonna have denied me. And he he said no. And and you know what's funny is that obviously by the end of the chapter, I think it's in Mark, it's all in one chapter, he does that. And what happened between Peter's declaration of loyalty and his failure in denying Christ? Well, what happened in between there was the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus brought Peter with him to the prayer time. Jesus goes on to pray and comes back in Peter's sleeping. And he's like, What are you doing? Wake up. This is not a time to sleep. You, this the Satan's trying to get you. He went to pray again, comes back, and Peter's sleeping again. And he's like, Wake up, be watchful.
SPEAKER_04So Yeah, he says, Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
SPEAKER_00Crazy. So the thing that happened between Peter's profession of loyal following and denying of Christ is he failed to be vigilant against the dangers of Satan. So obviously they did it and they lived following Christ. So I think human nature is to live into get is to um is to fall into a place of slumber and lethargy and just lighten up. And and and I think that's that's one of Satan's tact Satan's tactics is it's not got no, that's not gonna happen. Take it easy. It's not that big of a deal, you know.
SPEAKER_01So my natural bent is to be lazy, right? And I I think it's fair to say that most people and most dudes, um, their natural bent is to kind of maybe not lazy, but but but to go with the flow of society. Um, and absolutely um our enemy would love for us to lull us into sleep of, yeah, no, everything's fine. If your life is okay, you're just fine. Yeah. Um, and so yeah, complacency and and lulling us to sleep is absolutely like he's in the long game. He can care less if you are distraught tomorrow. Yeah, if he can ruin your life in 25, 30, 40 years, if he can ruin your marriage in 25, 30, 40 years, he is just fine with that. And if he can do that through complacency, if he can do that through laziness, if he can do that through not standing firm in the gospel, he's absolutely gonna do that. And he's got no problem weighting your laziness out. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04It's good, man. I mean, we talked about last week just inconveniences and and how important it is to care about discipleship. And Paul builds this so well, like in order. And so he starts by saying, obviously be watchful, but then he says, Stand firm in the faith. So you made the distinction between subjective faith and the faith, the objective biblical truth. So let's talk about that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so I think the definite article there, it's uh likely that he's not just saying stand firm in faith, he's saying stand firm in the faith. And usually that phrase, and and it's pretty uh commonly accepted that that phrase is the body of the Christian truth, the faith, the gospel, the the the words, the traditions, the truths revealed to us in scripture. Which which does include practice because what you believe affects the way you practice. But I I just don't I don't think he's necessarily saying it includes trust. I mean, if we say stand firm in faith, that's trust. So it includes that because standing firm in the faith means that you are standing firm, trusting, believing, full of faith in the faith, which is the truth of the gospel and the message of the Christian faith, right? So this is uh don't waver into apostasy, don't uh don't fall away from doctrinal steadfastness, uh, be strong, don't soften the truth, don't redefine what sin is or what scripture says. Um, don't evolve with culture, don't change with public opinion. Just get your feet in and planted in the truth that has been delivered to you through the the work of the spirit, through the men that he has raised up to give it to us. So the opposite of this would be slipping, slipping into you know, he listen, Satan. We said this, Satan can't can't attack your faith, your position, your your dependence on Christ. He can't take that away from you. That that's a gift from God. God, God gives us faith, God, God strengthens our relationship with him as we place our faith, all of that. But he can obscure the faith, meaning that he can start distracting us from the doctrinal truths of the gospel and bring us to a place where John MacArthur called it slipping into wrong thinking, wrong belief, and wrong behavior. And so when he's talking about that, is excuse me, standing firm when when the culture fights against truth, when when it costs you something to obey. This is this is what Paul tells Timothy when he says, be ready and instant in season and out of season to reprove and rebuke and exhort, to preach the word, even in the time when people will gather to themselves teachers having itching ears where they don't want to hear the truth anymore. They want to hear hear uh error and false teaching, just things that make them feel better. Paul is saying to Timothy, stand firm, preach the word, don't waver, because your temptation is going to be to round the edges to make it more palatable, and you're gonna slip into wrong thinking and wrong acting. This is the challenge to the church in Corinth. And so often we saw that Paul addressed that when he was talking about the influences of culture on them that yeah, you guys are thinking wrong about this. Stand firm in the faith. Here's here's the way you need to think about that. And I'll just stand firm in that. So, yeah.
SPEAKER_04Do you think like thinking just super practical? And I don't know if I'm going backwards here, but I think about like obviously we talked about complacency, um, inconvenience, just laziness as a tendency. I'm the same way. When you go on like a mission trip, for example, like when I went to Brazil, like there was like, I don't want to say no opportunity for the enemy to get after me, but we were like on offense all day long. We're going and doing things, we're meeting people, we're talking about the gospel, we're only thinking about Jesus. Yeah. I mean, because you're just in it. Same with summer camp, right? We're about to go to summer camp with our kids, about to take, you know, their phones away. They're gonna be five days with Jesus and they're gonna come back and be like, this is the greatest week of my life. Yep. And they're gonna get their phones back, they're gonna get life. So the practical side of like just living on offense with the truth in the faith. Um, I don't know. I'm just thinking like practically for our people. Obviously, it's a long, it's a long game, regardless, all of us in the faith.
SPEAKER_00But yeah, but there there are seasons in life where you are in a mindset of let's go. Like we're here to go. And the challenge is is that um we we come off those places or away from those places, and uh the the rhythm of life just gets back into uh forefront and we just go back into this kind of rocking back to sleep kind of thing. And so I think the reality is that we're being called to in scripture is to live even at home with that locked-in mindset of we're on mission here.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Like we're not off the field. It's not like we came, we came back home to Las Vegas and we came off the mission field. No, we just we just came back to our mission field. That's right. And we need to live with that same kind of intensity. But the challenge is, and that's where the problem is, is that we don't always live with that same type of intensity unless we are forced to in our mindset. So, what do we need to do? Well, we need to renew our minds. We need to regularly lock in to be watchful and stand firm because the enemy wants us to. And and again, drift, drift from the faith or concerning the faith is not drastic. It's subtle. Right. It's round this edge. Yeah, that's I don't need to say that. I don't need to believe that. Let me just lighten this up a little bit. Whereas when you're locked in on the mission field, you're there for a purpose, you're focused in or you're locked in a camp, you're there for a purpose, and everything else just doesn't matter as much. If we could try to, and and I think that's part of maturity, as you mature, you hopefully can get to the point where you are living more locked in in your day-to-day, like you would on an intentional week or two away on a mission field or at a student camp.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And that's what I think Paul's calling on us to do.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I think, I think sometimes our immature immaturity shows uh in those areas because we try to do it on our own. Um, and we try to stand firm in our faith. And one of the most beautiful things that God has given us to be able to stand firm in our faith is our brothers and sisters, is the body, right? Sunday mornings are so important because together we get to gather together and be reminded, which oftentimes we don't remind ourselves throughout the week of just how glorious and how great Jesus is. And when we get in gather together in groups, when we gather together in mentorship, when we gather together with someone for coffee and remind each other of the battlefield that we're in, of the mission field that we're in, of the life that we're living in to not be complacent and to stand firm is why God has given us our brothers and sisters in Christ and why we need each other so much.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you're absolutely right. I think that's it's the regular, uh, it's the regular rhythms of uh discipleship. It's uh spiritual disciplines, right? Why do we believe that it's important for us to spend time in God's Word every day? Because it reminds us, biblical perspective, it gives us the reminder. Why is it that we should live in community and be built in community and go to small group and go because it reminds us. And so we've got to be reminded to see our home, not as this is a this is a time off. That's a battlefield we're waging right there for our children and for our marriage. So we're seeing this and saying, no, I'm gonna lean in in this context. But the problem is that we we forget that, especially when we neglect. That's why Hebrews chapter 10, he talks about gathering, don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together, but encourage one another. And it the whole idea there is that is unless you lose your watchfulness and are deceived by sin. That's the point. So one of the things, like you just said, that we have to remind us of that is the gathering together, where we are reminded, my reminding one another. And then he says, do that even so much the more as you see the day approaching, which is the coming of the Lord, which means things are just getting worse and worse and the enemy's getting act more active and more active. So this isn't the season of life to us to like fall asleep. This is the season of our life to trim our lamps, make sure we're ready, watch for the bridegroom comes, as the parable in the gospels gives us, right? So absolutely right. The people you hang out with and the people that influence your way of thinking affects the way you stay watchful and stand firm in the faith. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04So it's good. Yeah. Um I don't, yeah, we can just move into act like men. Do you have anything else to say on that? I don't have any other questions. So yeah, next he says act like men. So love this. This is probably super helpful for a lot of people that thought this was just a text for men.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So all the women were like, oh, good, he's preaching to the men today. Yeah, get my husband. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Get him. Yeah. Yeah, act like men. Um there's that there's an idea there, play the man or grow up is the idea. So it's important for us to realize. I uh it's it, it's there's not a he's not afraid to talk masculinity. That's not he he actually totally is talking about masculinity as it's as it as it is displayed in valiance and courage. But it's not even so much about masculinity as much as it is about um child childishness versus maturity. So, so in a sense, he's talking about like a like a man who is mature and strong and courageous and goes to battle, not like a child who stays at home hiding for fear, right? He's like, Don't, don't be like that. Be like the man who's taken up his armor, equipped himself with the sword, and is ready to go be brave on behalf of his family. So I again, not just men, it's it's men and women, it's people alike. But the idea there is absolutely don't don't be don't be immature, be courageous and bold. It's grow up. It's stop acting like little children.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. It's so cool when men I mean the church is always better when men grow up and lead. Um, when they mature. A society is better when men lead and grow up and and thrive in what God has called them to do. But there's so much beauty in uh when everybody is maturing and growing up towards uh their savior and becoming more like him. Um the body can't it it can only get better as the individual matures and grows because that starts to influence and impact the person they're sitting next to, uh, the person they interact with. Um, because it spills over. Maturity spills over. And so there's just such a beautiful thing that when one person starts growing up, another person around them starts growing up, and the body starts maturing and you start to see things um the way they they should be, right? A mature body should be. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04That's so good. You, Andrew, you said immature people seek comfort, mature people pursue obedience. We already talked about that, but I just thought that was a banger line. Um, you also said you referenced to the Corinthians, this whiny, divisive, emotionally driven, and selfish. I think about very that's like super modern. Like that's like if we're describing some some men these days. And I think about selfish, man. So many times have I been around men that are like, I'm gonna go do this, I'm gonna do this because this is what I want to do. Or I'm gonna, I'm gonna play golf three times a week. Like, and then your kids are suffering their discipleship, or your wife, or you're not leading your wife properly. And I just think um oftentimes it's it's these things that you're describing. Yeah. It's just
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I I think this what this looks like is um taking responsibility. Like I'm gonna I'm gonna own my my life, my walk with Christ. Uh I'm going to do the hard thing. I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna take charge of the things that I'm called to be responsible for. If you're a man, lead your family. If you're a woman, you know, lead and love, um, model. If you're if you're a child, if you're a teenager, you know, the the responsible thing to do is do the right thing. Like I'm gonna I'm gonna take ownership of the things that I'm supposed to do. Uh I'm gonna pursue holiness. I we have I've had these conversations a lot, it seems like this last week or two is um stop, stop, stop just seeking the easy way. Stop just seeking, well, that's fun. That's my friends. I want to hang out with them. I want to be cool, I want to be acceptable, I wanna, I wanna just fit in. Or that that's what I want to do. I don't know that we know how childish we sound when all we're trying to do is seek our own comfort and our own enjoyment and our own lives to be comforted and padded, right? So what we're doing is we're we're we're like a child. And I quoted Chuck Swindall. We're we're begging for our blankies, bottles, and binkies. Why? Because because I need it now. And and I was thinking about this in children. I was thinking about one of the ladies in our church was telling me about how she drove home and the baby cried the entire way. Why? Because the baby wanted to see mom. The baby wanted its way, and so it's gonna throw a fit until it gets its way. And we know babies act that way. We expect babies to act that way. But the problem is, is when we act that way as adults, when we shouldn't act that way, but we still act that way, especially when it comes to spiritual matters.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Or even life matters, right? Like you cry because you want to go play golf, which I don't want to bash golf too much because I want to play some golf. But like when you want to do whatever you want to do in neglecting of your spiritual responsibility. So, like, like if you're if you are prioritizing things out of comfort over things that are obedience, well, that's just you trying to protect yourself in immaturity. So take responsibility, pursue holiness, don't depend on spiritual crutches like like blankies, bottles, and binkies. Um, endure difficulty faithfully. Just stand up, do what's right. That's what he's calling on. And and and see to it that you take responsibility for the things that God has called you to take responsibility for. And the so the opposite of this is spiritual immaturity. It's just whiny, selfish. I want it my way. I'm leaving because I want that. This isn't the way I want to do it because this isn't the life that's easy. I work too hard to, you know, comfort my my life and protect my life from these things. And it's just not helpful. It's not what God's called us to, and it shouldn't be our goal in life.
SPEAKER_01I think a lot of people, I've I've heard a lot of people say, I want to be used by God. I want God to use my life. And part of growing up and maturing, and and in his phrase, act like men is shown in your care for other people, right? When we're immature, when we're not acting like men, we are thinking about ourselves. We're selfish. It's been said a few times now, right? But someone, one of the cool things about growing up is that you do start seeing God use your life to bless and to benefit and to care for other people. And so if you want to be used by God, grow up.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Grow up and mature in your faith, stand firm in your faith and grow up in your faith and let God use your life to care for other people and to bless other people and to be a benefit to other people because it is way better to live for God and to live for his people than to live for yourself.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And this is a don't waste your life kind of topic. Yep. Don't waste your life. Like, I mean, if you ever read John Piper's book on don't waste your life, read it. Because the the reality is that the life lived for the glory of God, the life lived on mission for God, is the only life that flourishes. It's the only life that's worth living. What you don't want to do is get to a point in your life where you regret wasting so many years living in immaturity when you should have been living in maturity. And I've always lived by, I heard it in college, and it just bounces in my brain constantly this idea that the pain of discipline is far less than the pain of regret.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So what he's saying here is you should not still be living in infancy. You should be living in maturity. Stop wasting years of that should be lived in maturity by still living in infancy.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So I mean, don't waste it. Let's go. And I don't think he's being unkind in it either. I think he's being tight and aggressive and like quick. But I think the the 15 chapters leading up to this have proven that he's willing to take some time to navigate these things with you. But it comes a point where it's like, hey, you know, you you know now, just let's let's go. Let's grow up, act like a man, and get this done. Right.
SPEAKER_04So we've seen Paul all throughout First Corinthians call people out. Serving was one thing, right? And this just I may think about this because he's like, You're what you just said, act like a man, stand firm. Come on. Like, and we've seen people start serving. And to your point, Jason, what you said earlier is like, yeah, we get to bless people when we serve them, but what God does through our like in us, like I can't even explain to someone my spiritual growth by serving in a ministry or serving someone else is beyond me. And so to think about like that, I just think about Paul's hit them from all angles and the growth that we've seen. I mean, even people that have come on to serve, and they're like mind-blown by like different ministries they're serving in. And it's like so incredible to watch that. But to see Paul throughout the whole letter, and then now finally, like you said, maybe not too aggressive, but but tight and concise.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and these are all uh first three already, right? Uh uh be watchful, uh, stand firm in the faith, act like men. They're they're not isolated, they are connected, right? They are they are feeding off of one another. It's a it's uh it's uh a trio so far. Like, wake up, stand firm, and be mature. So I just think about like, man, if that is a definition of a life worth living, that's cool, man. Like, alert. I'm alert. I know an enemy's out there. I know. And he may not have attacked in some time, but I'm not going to let down my defenses because he's out there and he's prowling and he's just waiting for an opportunity. I was thinking about that. I was listening to another podcast this morning where the guy brought out how sin seizes an opportunity. And what we need to be careful to do is not give opportunity because if we give opportunity to sin, sin's gonna seize it. So it's not about you being weak, it's about you being a sinner, and sin seizes the opportunities you give it. So eliminate those opportunities. So I just want to never let my guard down to give opportunity for sin to seize, to seize, to uh an opportunity for sin to seize and take advantage of to devour my life.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Like that's not an accident that Peter's like, yeah, that that devil, he's like a lion, and he's walking about seeking to devour. He wants to eat you up. Fierce wolves will come in and they will not spare the flock. So keep your head on a swivel. And in your alertness, you're standing firm on the faith. Like you could be an alert person always trying to be busy, but now you're also rounding edges. Well, that's not good. And that's a sign of immaturity. So these are all kind of connected in a different way to each to each other, which I think is such a cool way to describe the world in which we live or how to act in the world in which we live.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Be being reminded uh and and and living with the truth that our enemy is there is such a big deal, right? Uh a watchman who believes the enemy is way off is going to let down his guard. But the watchman who knows that the enemy is right around the corner is going to be standing guard and paying attention really well. And so I think sometimes we get lulled to sleep in that, well, our enemy is not that fierce. And so we take it as, well, I can just kind of let down my guard a little bit and and every everything's going fine. So I'm just gonna live this life, and then that's when the attack happens, which is a sign of immaturity.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, men recognize mature people recognize no danger's out there still. That's right. We're not letting it down.
SPEAKER_04Well, I think, yeah, it's so funny. When I was first when I first got saved, I'd read the Bible and I'd be like, man, Peter's so stupid. I'd be like, Peter just does the stupidest stuff, and he's walking it with Jesus. So I'd be like, I try to puff myself up or whatever. And then I'm like, no, I'm just as stupid, I'm more stupid than Peter, and that's a maturity thing. Like as I matured, I start to realize like I I definitely am worse. And um, so it kind of goes into the next point of be strong. Like, we can't do it. Yeah, we have to have an external source. So let's talk about that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's what I like about that. When you understand kind of the tense here, it's in the passive. So, you know, the strength is coming. So it's not, it's not even, it's probably better translated as be strengthened rather than be strong. So it's not about becoming strong, it's about being strengthened. And the strength comes from an outside source. So I'm looking, not within myself. And that's that's one of the that's a just a side note here. Anytime somebody says this, you know, dumb things like look inside yourself. The power's in there. You have the right power, you have the right heart. Just believe in yourself. And like that is so counter to the gospel. The gospel is never a believe in yourself. That's right. It is always you don't have the power. Yes, he will, he will put things on you more than you can carry. Therefore, you need to be strengthened by a source outside of yourself. And we know from scripture that source of strength is the Spirit of God in us.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And what a gift, right? That all these commands that we find in scripture to the believer isn't on our own strength. It is a gift to um lean into the strength of our Savior, um, who is absolutely powerful enough to defeat all of our sin. Uh, he has given us everything that we need to walk as a follower of Jesus because he's the one that supplies all the strength behind it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yep. Yeah, totally.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, that's good. I don't have much left on that point.
SPEAKER_00Well, I think let me say a couple more things in. I think that um that prayer of Paul in Ephesians 3, man, read that and pray it. Pray that for your kids, pray that for your church, pray for that for your leaders, that that you would know, that you would have the awareness to know what he has made available to you that according, this is his prayer, that that according to the riches of his glory. So just think about that for a second. Like, if I if I said I will give you a certain amount of money a week until my money runs out, you've got like two weeks, right? Like I gave you $100 a week until my money runs out. You got two weeks and it's running out. So, what am I doing? I am giving you a certain amount of money every week according to my riches, relative to my riches. But if I were Elon Musk, I don't know what he's worth these days. Is he worth a trillion dollars now? Uh I think so. Probably. And he says, I'm gonna give you $100 every week until my money runs out, you're like, cool, according to his riches. And so when Paul says according to the riches of his glory, he will grant you to be strengthened. So, relative to the amount of glorious power that God possesses, he will provide you with the power to live and operate in this world through his spirit in your inner being. So, where how do I get that? How do I get the power downloaded to me? Well, he indwelled you with his spirit, his spirit indwells you. So greater is he that is in you, that's the spirit, than he that is in the world. That's the lion prowling, looking to devour. He's greater, and the strength that he provides is uh uh the power that he provides through his spirit is relative to the power that he possesses in glory. And that power is not a trillion dollars, it's unlimited. It's it's it's it's uh undiminishable, right? Yeah, and so he's like, listen, uh uh you've got all power. So be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Yeah. So what we're talking about in Christianity, and I just want to make sure that we're clear that we're not a church, we're not a theological perspective that believes that you have in you the what it takes to live this life. You absolutely do not have in you what it takes to live this life. You absolutely do not have in you what it takes to stay alert. You absolutely do not have it in you to stand firm in the faith. You absolutely do not have it in you to be mature, you absolutely do not have it in you to be the kind of husband or wife or employee or Christian that God is calling you to be. And that's the cool thing is that what he calls you to be, he empowers you to be. And so he is not calling you to buck up, get in the gym, work out a little harder. He's calling you to surrender. So our daily spiritual disciplines aren't gymnasium type activity. Those are recognition of our own weakness activity. So I'm fasting, declaring I don't have this. I can't handle this. I'm praying, declaring again, I don't have this. I'm reading because scripture tells me it'll make me equipped to every good work. That's my dependence on God. I need this. I'm living in community because he's given me that, and that's a source of grace, and I need grace. So, so that is what the promise is. And then Paul says in Philippians, it is God who works in you, both to will and to work. So here's the reality of what he's saying to the Philippians. God is the one who is not only giving you the power to do it, but the desire to do it. So when God comes in you through the present and dwelling spirit that he gives us that salvation, he is producing in us both the will and to work for the glory and pleasure of God. So when this idea is you have in you what it takes, or God will never give you more than you can handle. Like those are immediate cues. This guy's a quack. That's not gospel centered. Gospel-centered says, you absolutely don't have what it takes, and he absolutely will give you more than you can handle because he wants a people who are regularly immediate and uh and sustained, dependent on him, going to him and surrender. So this prayer be strengthened so that I can be mature, so that I can stand firm in the faith, so that I can um be watchful is a it's a step of dependence and surrender. That's what this ultimately is about.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Gideon could not defeat the army in front of him. And God made sure that he knew it and that everybody else knew it as well. Why? So God could get the glory, right? God is in it for his glory and he is okay with showing his glory in your life and will absolutely do that. But this is also what you were saying earlier, why it's so important what you know about the God you believe in. Because if you believe your God has limited wealth like you, then yeah, you're gonna be like, I got to do this on my own strength because God's not gonna come through for me. Yeah. But if you see the God who spoke creation into existence, um, who has all the power in the world, who takes care of his children really, really, really, really well, you're gonna be able to trust the strength that comes from that God. So what you know about God absolutely matters to your faith and following him every single day.
SPEAKER_00What's Daniel say? They that know their God shall do I the word is something, shall do mighty, powerful exploits. They shall, they shall do great things because they know their God. And then and then the other prophet says, Not by might nor my power, but by my spirit, says the Lord.
SPEAKER_01That's right.
SPEAKER_00So those that trust in chariots and horses, yeah, they're gonna get that. But those who trust in me, they're the ones that are gonna live in the flourishing power uh of life. So that's what we're after.
SPEAKER_04Dude, what a gift! Like what a gift, what a gift our weakness, accepting our weakness can be the strength in him. Just thinking, I've just finished my research paper on it, and it was Christ and Isaiah, and just seeing all throughout Isaiah, just the prophecy that is just like mind-blowing that Jesus came and fulfilled. And just, yeah, the more knowledge that equips me to be even more mind-blown. And then me and Chris were talking about it this morning. Just like, how many times in the last year were we been like worried about something? And then we're like, God, God does something unbelievable. And we're like, Yeah, we're so silly. And so this this last week we had something happen, and we both were just like, okay, well, God's gonna do something, and he did something today, and it was like mind-blowing, you know, just because he's beyond, he's infinite. He doesn't, there's no power that is exhausted. So he closes it out. Let all be done, be done in love. So hard transition there.
SPEAKER_00It kind of feels like Paul wants us to love one another. Like, how many times you gotta bring this up, Paul? Like, come on, bro. Yeah, he's not adding a fifth disconnected command. It's not do this, do this, do this, do this, and do this. It's a those things that I just said, and all things, not let it be done with love, but let it be done in love.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So this this spatial element, right? This is a atmosphere of love. Uh, let it let it happen in the realm of love. Let love saturate, let love be every part of this thing that you do. So I I just think that love has this way of of softening. I think I even quoted, I think MacArthur said it well, it's a softening principle, the beautiful softening principle. That it that that when we when we do the other things without love, man, they become rough. When we uh are watchful without love, we just become, you know, grumpy waking everybody up kind of people, you know. If we're standing firm in the faith without love, we just become dogmatic and abrasive and jerks. And if we're if we're mature and acting like men in love, we're just we're hard to be around. So there's just this element where those things flourish in the realm and atmosphere of love. And I just think that, I mean, we know what love is. We could talk about it again. It's agape, it's sacrificial, selfless love, it's intentional love. It's it's not just loving like Phileo love or even Eros love, where it's you look beautiful to me, or I have to love you because you're my brother, but it's it's loving in the in the the most severe of circumstances. It's loving your enemies. It's uh loving like the good Samaritan loved the the Jewish man beaten up by robbers. It's sacrifice, it's it's not not afraid to be inconvenienced. And I just think that like if if I it here's one of the dangers I think of being on a topic or a topic coming up so much is that we become so familiar with it. Oh, I know what love is. Yeah, Agape Love. We've got all of that, we have all these sayings. Man, I just think that if we would stop and not just define the word, but analyze our lives and posture in light of the word, would we still feel like I totally get this? Or would we be convicted by the reality that I don't, I just don't know that I love like apparently Paul wants us to love, and I really need that um to be more present in my life. So I'm gonna depend on the spirit more, surrender that to the Lord more and ask him to bear that fruit in my life more, you know. So I don't know a lot to be said about that, but it's a cool, it's a cool way to put the phrase. Let it be done in love.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. All those things are wonderful things, but when not done um through love and with love, uh, like you said, they become really rough. Yeah. Um, and then really can have the opposite effect. Um, when God has designed those things to grow up, to mature, to be like men, we actually start without love, we start to shape them like the world would shape them, and then they become tainted and they become distorted, and then and then they actually tear people down rather than build people up because they're not actually done in love.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I mean it's good.
SPEAKER_00And be careful not to define love. I said that on Sunday, and I think that's important. You don't define love. That's right. He defines love, and that's why we live in 1 Corinthians 13 and say, what's this, what is this love? What does this love look like? We want to try to, you know, think of love as the freedom of self-expression, uh, the fruit, the tolerance of everyone. Love who you want, love how you want, love where you want. And that's not love. Love is principled, love is um in submission to what God shows us love is, and then we live out that love dependent upon the spirit of God.
SPEAKER_04So yeah, man, it's so good. So many different things to be convicted of for sure. I mean, I'm still even flowing off of a couple weeks ago. I don't think it was last week, the week before was like, Do you enter a room? Are you lifting people up? Like, are you encouraging people? So I mean, yeah, are we loving people properly? Like, are we loving in love? You know? So loving people, loving difficult people, something that's interesting, but so I don't know. I don't uh you guys kind of answered all the questions I had. Even I had MacArthur's quote and you read it. So I don't know, practically yeah to round it all out. I mean, I don't know if you want to round it all out.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I just think if you stack these, um it it I I it's simple, it really is simple, and I love it. that for for this this time it's the simplicity of this statement so so what do you remember from from a text like this well you gotta remember that danger's constant never lets up never relents the enemy's there he wants to he wants to devour so stay vigilant just head on a swivel yeah driving like I talked about my daughter driving I was thinking about several ways in which this exists think about our kids play baseball you're at a field and there's four fields and foul balls come over the fence and every parent yells heads up heads up and uh you just got to have head on a swivel every time that you hear a ball hit a bat you listen for the heads up and then you turn and you look and why? Because you're there and you never are at ease because you always know that if there's a game going on on the other field that ball could come and whack you in the head and I've watched at that one field multiple times people get hit with balls. So what so my point is is like we just never we should never we should never get into the point in this life where we're not aware that so that's a big one. And then in order for you to stay grounded in the truth I think it's important for you to get grounded in the truth.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So get into a place where truth is is being established and taught where discipleship is happening. Now listen every church I've ever been a part of no nobody does this perfectly I'm not saying that we are a church that does this perfectly what I am saying is get into a church and it it be a church where you can seek out discipleship and somebody there or there is context there where you can be grounded in truth. That's my point. So I we we try our hardest to think about this, to preach through this, to teach on these things, to have groups and studies be right. But what what I can say that with confidence is that life church is a place where if you come and you're like I want to be discipled there are people in this church who will walk you into and through getting grounded in truth. So to stay grounded in truth you've got to get grounded in truth. And then if you're gonna live courageously like a man in maturity uh you've got to do the things that mature people do. So mature people have a proper diet they have proper things that they engage with they read they study they pray they live in dependence they they they surround themselves with people who are going to push them to the next level they challenge their thinking if all I ever did was hang out with my seven year old I probably and all I ever did was hang out with seven year olds I probably would think like a seven year old with Transformers and dinosaurs and whatever else my son is doing. I'm gonna get around people who are beyond me who are pulling me forward and strengthening me. And then never never do these things in self-reliance never do these things in self-reliance and never do these things without it being just saturated with love. That's that's the kind of Christianity Corinth needed that's the kind of Christianity Las Vegas needs. Not weak not cultural not shallow steadfast strong advancing dependent so it's almost like you have two pictures strong and advancing but dependent I'm doing this but I'm doing this in the power that he supplies and I'm doing it not mean and aggressive I'm doing it with love but I'm still bold and courageous in at the same time.
SPEAKER_04Yeah let's go I don't yeah I'm I'm ready to fight yeah so I feel like I want to fight in love in love in love yeah fight saturated with love I don't know how is this the this does not have anything to do really with anything but uh is this the law what's the longest you that a book has taken you to preach through in your career. No I don't I think I don't know what a career as like uh your ministry career I guess that would have been better.
SPEAKER_00I don't know this this is a good one. This is almost two years right or nah I I don't remember what number I'll go back and number the sermons. Um but no yeah this is a good one it's been probably I would say uh the equivalent of about 12 months or a little over 12 months of preaching because we took uh summer off then the Christmas season off so we started this at the beginning of 2025 we're now going into the summer of 2026 so I would say it's probably about a 12 month um let's say what 50 50 to 60 sermons through a book of the Bible yeah yeah it's cool well I'd love to hear feedback like have we it's kind of feels we surreal that like we're about to finish this it's almost sad it's like all right well that was fun no dude we have done the cra this has been the crazy I mean I've only been in church for like not that long so I can't say it's the craziest it's the craziest for Dom.
SPEAKER_04I don't know how everybody else feels but I mean we talked about divorced spiritual gifts on here singleness head coverings bro like this has been wild first Corinthians is that dude and for a while we were topic after topic after topic after topic and it was like oh my gosh like how are we gonna prepare? And then God did unbelievable things and he worked it out and it was great.
SPEAKER_00It's another level of dependence right Lord I don't know how I'm gonna preach this but let's go. And we always do like a pre-service meeting and for like several weeks in a row I was just like hey we're just gonna have to deal with this because it's gonna be about head coverings or it's gonna be about singleness or it's gonna be about I don't know crazy things. But it's good. It's super practical and I think if you have an understanding of Corinthians you you have a pretty good understanding of how the gospel should just kind of inform every area of our lives. That's right. And that's what's so cool about it. So it's been good. Romans is a long one. We're not there yet we're gonna do it eventually so that'll be a fun one.
SPEAKER_04You just kind of tease that out a little bit on the calendar for 2023 may come eventually yeah those are a couple that in the next 10 years you'll hear from how about we tease out what's actually coming up an awesome series this summer in the ready for 2035 Romans from Life Church.
SPEAKER_00I'll be 72 but it's gonna be great and not in 2035. I don't know how it's like 10 years ago right now I'm not on my birth certificate. So I can be said some crazy math. Yeah oh man all right well yeah one more week one more week yeah we'll summarize it all up put a bow on it uh there's some closing comments Paul has to say to us that I think are that are helpful and then we'll just try to put it all together and then we'll gonna get into a summer series through Proverbs.
SPEAKER_04So let's go it's gonna be fun.
SPEAKER_00Pray us out. All right well thank you Lord again for the opportunity to do this what a what an incredible opportunity what a joy it is to be able to talk about your word that you gave us a revelation uh that you gave us minds to understand it engage with it fill this with your spirit that we might be led into more understanding all of that's just such an incredible incredible privilege and certainly we know that what we're called to even in this text is is only possible through the power of the spirit in us. That happens when when we become a Christian when we're saved and so I I just always want to be careful not to see a list and think of it as okay somebody else has another to-do list and make themselves more appealing but these things are possible to those who are dependent upon Christ who've run to Christ who've been transformed by Christ and so spare us from ever even giving a hint of legalistic activity. We want to we want to trust you. But then when we trust you we ask that you would produce these things in us that we we really would be watchful that we would be standing firm grounded in the truth that we would be mature that we would be strengthened by your strength that you provide and that we would do all of that in an atmosphere of love.
SPEAKER_04May that be true of us our lives those listening our church go before us we love you thank you in Jesus' name amen thanks for listening to the podcast you can check out our latest sermon at lifebaptistchurch.com we can't wait to see you this Sunday