INTRODUCTION: “Steel and Velvet” Think of a well-built bridge: inside the concrete rebar runs, hidden steel that holds the weight. But on the surface, there’s a smooth roadway that serves people. Biblical manhood is like that: steel on the inside, strength in the Lord, and velvet on the outside, everything done with charity. If you have steel with no velvet, people get hurt. If you have velvet with no steel, the first storm takes you out. Paul commands both: “be strong… let all your things be done with charity.”

3-PILLARS OF BIBLICAL STRENGTH

1. BE STRONG IN THE LORD

a. We are given a SPECIFIC MANDATE as to where we are to BE STRONG.

i. Ephesians 6:10 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.”

b. Paul doesn’t say, “Be strong in yourself,” but “in the Lord.”

2. LET LOVE MOTIVATE YOUR STRENGTH

a. STRENGTH without LOVE turns into HARSHNESS and PRIDE.

i. John 15:12-13 “This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath

no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

b. But the Lord Jesus, the strongest MAN, used His STRENGTH to SERVE and to SACRIFICE.

3. REMAIN STRONG UNDER PRESSURE

a. Many can START STRONG; MATURITY is shown by FINISHING WELL.

i. Galatians 6:9 “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

b. The SEED you SOW in FAITH often GROWS out of sight before it appears. God promises a due season, His

time, not ours.