Sermon Tone Analysis

Game I want to find out who the strongest guy in here is.

Arm Wrestle, Pushups, Wrestle

Demonic Phone Call

I was in my college dorm on September 7, 1991 @ 1:45am, drifting off to sleep when the phone rang.

My best buddy Bill answered...”Satan is angry.

You will pay.

Beware the sacrifice.

Beware postmortem.”

The phone call might have been a prank, but the weight of something evil had entered our room…a presence that we weren’t strong enough to take on our own.

We called our buddy, a former Satanist, and asked him to come over.

He sensed it too.

And had the most intense prayer time that I have ever been a part of.

We prayed for God’s protection & peace.

NOTHING...and the other presence was still in the room.

Guess what happened after that?

I’ll tell you later.

The disciples of Jesus were with Him several times when He had a confrontation with demons as well.

The way Jesus handled it was...a little bit different than how I did on that September night.

Jesus wasn’t afraid of the demons.

The demons were afraid of HIm!

When He told them to get out of a person, they got out!

Demons begged Jesus not to send them to the bottomless pit just yet.

The people of Jesus’ day were asking, “What kind of person is this that demons obey what He commands?”

I’ll tell you what kind of person He was.

Jesus was a STUD!

Many paintings and sketches picture Jesus as a puny little man pinned to a tree with a halo on his head and a smile on His face.

That simply couldn’t be further from the truth.

Jesus was a strong, young (early 30’s) man.

As a carpenter He would have to cut and carry wood on a daily basis.

Have you ever had to chop firewood or hand saw a bunch of lumber?

Jesus did a lot of traveling too, which meant He did A BUNCH of walking.

He was in good physical shape.

Now I hope you don’t get the idea that Jesus looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger, but please understand that Jesus was definitely NOT a weakling either!

But when I speak of Jesus’ strength I am speaking of the strength of His character more than His body.

Have you ever known someone who didn’t have the strongest body but was strong in character - the kind of friend you were glad was on your side, the kind of person who would stand up to bullies to protect another, the kind of person who would choose to do right even if everybody else didn’t?

That’s who Jesus is and it is from Him that we learn about true strength.

As we study together let’s ask God to change us, rearrange us, and make us more like Him.

When I say that Jesus was a STUD I mean that He was Strong, Tender, Unique, and Dependent.

Tonight we’re going to focus on being STRONG LIKE JESUS.

Strength (Webster’s)

1. having great force or power; not weak; powerful

2. able to last; durable; tough

That’s a great description of Jesus and He wants it to become a great description of us as well - STRONG - having great force or power; able to last; durable; tough

Jesus stood against the devil.

Jesus stood against false teaching and false teachers.

Jesus stood up for those who couldn’t defend themselves.

He always spoke the truth.

He was STRONG.

Jesus stood when nobody else would.

When others ran Jesus stood His ground.

And since the purpose of our lives is to become more like Jesus, to be conformed into His image, that is God’s plan for you and me too - to STAND STRONG.

The Christians in Corinth, like us, were living in a sin saturated culture.

Wrong had become right and right had become wrong.

Most people had numerous sexual partners and many were living a bisexual lifestyle.

Their worship didn’t lead them to purity but to impurity.

Men had sexual relationships with young boys.

People worshiped idols they had carved with their hands.

Many of the Christians in Corinth were following the culture instead of Christ.

Paul has written to them about living pure in the power of the Lord Jesus, and in his closing remarks he pens these words:

1 Corinthians 16:13 (ESV)

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

There’s more to that verse I’ll show you in a minute.

But for now, let’s stick to this part.

Other translations say “Be courageous” because that is what is meant by “act like men”.

But here is what Paul is saying, “Be a man!” Step up to the plate.

Stop being a wimp!

Be Strong Earlier we saw who was the strongest physically.

One day your physical strength will fade away.

I watched an older man who had a large structure SLOWLY make his way down some steps.

I guarantee you THAT GUY used to be a physical specimen of a man…but now…he is weak, frail, and careful where he steps.

If you and I live that long, the same will be true of us.

Grow your muscles.

Stay in physical shape.

That’s good.

But there’s something BETTER.

Paul writes about it:

1 Timothy 4:7–8 (NET 2nd ed.)

...train yourself for godliness.

For “physical exercise has some value, but godliness is valuable in every way.

It holds promise for the present life and for the life to come.”

The word for train is gymnazō, where we get gymnasium - that makes sense, huh?

So Paul compares being Spiritually FIT with being Physically FIT.

He notes that Physical exercise has some value, but godliness is valuable in every way - with benefits in this life and the next.

Paul thinks it’s good to spill some sweat in both physical & SPIRITUAL training.

Of course, if you had to decide between one or the other, it’s obvious that Spiritual Training is MOST IMPORTANT.

But it’s not something that suddenly happens.

Help me out: What are some ways we can train ourselves for godliness?

Training for godliness isn’t a once in a while thing anymore than going to the gym every once in a while would make a difference.

Training for Godliness will take much time & effort too.

Paul continues…

1 Timothy 4:10–11 (NET 2nd ed.)

In fact this is why we work hard and struggle, because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of believers.

Command and teach these things.

The word for work hard means “to grow weary”.

The word translated struggle is an athletic word from Greek root 'agon' which we get our English word agonize.

This gives the picture of an athlete straining and giving his best - giving his last drop of energy - to win.

This isn’t just for Timothy, a young pastor.

Timothy was to command and teach these things to the Church he was serving!

THEY were to train for godliness too!

And so are you - Church - Work hard and struggle - train yourself for godliness!