The Choice to Stand

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The Choice to Stand

April 7, 2024 • Steve Hinton • 1 Corinthians 16:13–14, Ephesians 4:13–14, Joshua 1:9, 1 Peter 5:8, Daniel 3:17–18

1 Cor 16:13-14 “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done in love.”

1. Be Watchful

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

2. Stand Firm

Daniel 3:17-18 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

3. Act like Men

Ephesians 4:13-14 “until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and for by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.”

4. Be Strong

Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Hebrews 11:36-38 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

5. Do All This in Love

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Ephesians 4:15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ

Ecclesiastes 4:12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

On This We Stand

March 31, 2024 • Steve Hinton • 1 Corinthians 15:1–8, 1 Corinthians 15:19, Romans 5:1, 1 Peter 2:24, John 14:6

1 Corinthians 15:1-2 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. 1 Corinthians 15:19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. Hope Comes When We Make the Choice to Remember 1. Remember the Gospel Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ 2. Remember the Basis for the Gospel 1 Peter 2:24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” Hebrews 10:10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Luke 19:9-10 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” 3. Remember the Fruit of the Gospel John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 1 Corinthians 15:55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace. Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. John 14:1-3 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you also may be where I am.” Revelation 21:1-4 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 2 Timothy 4:6-8 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearance.

1 Corinthians: The Choice for the Higher Love

March 24, 2024 • Steve Hinton • 1 Corinthians 13:4–8, 1 John 4:9–10, John 3:16, 1 John 4:19, 1 Corinthians 10:24

-God’s Love is All You Need. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends.” 1. See God’s Love. Luke 6:35b “for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.” 1 John 4:9-10 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 2. Receive God’s Love. Romans 5:8 God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 3. Walk in God’s Love. 1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us. 1 Corinthians 10:24 Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. Matthew 7:12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. (NIV)

1 Corinthians: The Choice for God's Design for Male and Female

March 10, 2024 • Steve Hinton • Ephesians 5:21–33, 1 Corinthians 11:3–14, Genesis 1:26–27, 1 Timothy 2:12, Romans 1:26

- 1 Corinthians 11:3-5: "But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. 4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, 5 but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven." The Answer to Gender is Neither Chauvinism nor Feminism but in the Divine Design 1. The Cultural Question of the Head Covering 2. The Eternal Principle Behind the Cultural Question - 1 Corinthians 11:3: "But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God." - Genesis 1:26-27: "Then God said, 'Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.'" - 1 Timothy 2:12a: “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man.” - 1 Corinthians 11:11-12: "Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; 12 for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God." - 1 Corinthians 11:14: "Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, 15 but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering." - Romans 1:26: "For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature." 3. The Practical Application to the Eternal Principle - Ephesians 5:21-26: "Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word” - Ephesians 5:32-33: "This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband."