In the sermon 'Quit You Like Men', James Lundquist discusses the exhortation from 1 Corinthians 16:13, calling on believers, particularly men, to be vigilant, steadfast, courageous, and strong in their faith. He emphasizes the need for spiritual maturity within the church, urging men to act with godly courage and confront sin and disorder. Lundquist provides four key directives: be diligent watchers who are alert to sin, stand fast in the faith with humility, act bravely in confronting challenges, and grow in spiritual strength through the Holy Spirit. Fathers are encouraged to be theological leaders in their homes, teaching the gospel to their families regularly. The sermon also uses the metaphor 'eat the frog' to describe tackling difficult tasks head-on, encouraging men to address their daily challenges with resolve and courage.

You can turn to 1 Corinthians 16, verse, I'm looking at verse 13, short verse, what we're looking at. Our God, our God, please teach us what it is to act like men, to be brave, be courageous, be strong. Teach us, God. Correct us, encourage us, exhort us through the power of your Spirit, through your word. Amen.

1st Corinthians 16 to 13. The King James, I know that at Sovereign Redeemer and Hope we're focused on New King James, but the King James says, watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. The ESV, the NESV, say act like men. In the New King James, it says, be brave instead of quit you like men or act like men. It says, be brave.

The NIV says, be courageous. The bottom line is the word there is intentionally and is completely male-focused. Act like men. Quit you like men. Act like men.

Be brave men. Be courageous men is what that is. It is very distinctly male. Now this church in Corinth had sin. All churches have sin, not all churches, right?

Very few churches are revealed like in scripture where your sin is on display, but God has their sin on display recorded for history. And this church is full of immorality, full of drunkenness, full of disorderly, especially in worship, and women issues. It's full of this, and God is exhorting them. And exhorting them through Paul throughout the book, not to be children, but here, he's saying, men, quit you, act like men, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong, and get that church in order. If you would act like men, you wouldn't have the disorder that you have.

You still have sin that needs called out, needs corrected, needs rebuked, needs gently taught on at times. But this should not be a problem if you were acting like godly men, if you were brave and courageous and facing this. And I say, Father, sons, quit you, act like men, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong in all your areas to the glory of God by his transforming power. You're promoting, you're being a witness to the transforming power of the gospel by being this type of a godly man. So let's look at four areas from 1613 where Let's watch, stand fast, act, and be strong.

So number one, be diligent watchers. Be diligent watchers. Watch, Be vigilant, be awake, be alert, take heed. I think this section, this point especially, I think Mr. Moody is gonna be talking quite a bit on in a few minutes, but this is one that observes, you heard that last night, one that observes and listens and is assessing the situation and then acts righteously.

You're seeing what's going on, and you're acting. And in order To do that, you have to know what to watch for, what to be alert for. And the best way to do that is to be a diligent studier of truth, just like somebody that's looking for counterfeit. They diligently study the truth, what is real, so they can recognize the not real. So we need to be diligent studyers of God's truth to know when a wolf is about, to know to recognize when another gospel is sneaking in.

You need to be a watch and alert to recognize sin, not just in others, fathers, your own family, but especially in ourselves. How am I gonna recognize that? How am I gonna be an alert for that? How am I gonna see when it's sneaking up on me if I'm not diligently studying the truth to recognize when sin? I need to study what is right, what is good to recognize the sin.

I need to be diligently, you need to be diligently watching for what is coming into yours and your family's eyes, what is coming into your home, what is coming into your ears, what is influencing you and the members of your family, you are responsible for that. Hey, Satan hates your gospel-proclaiming marriages. Satan hates your gospel-proclaiming families. Satan hates your gospel-proclaiming church. Be on alert.

Be on alert. You're his enemy. And He wants to present a false gospel to the world that there is no power to transform you and that it doesn't matter. Sons, sons, as God warned Cain, as God warned Cain in Genesis, watch for sin that lies at the door and rule over it. Watch for it, it's there, just waiting.

It's there for the taking. Don't take the bait. Don't take the bait. Be diligent watchers. Number two, diligently stand fast in the faith.

Diligently stand fast in the faith. Be steadfast, be resolute with humility. Here's what Paul's telling the Corinth Church in 1 Corinthians 10. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he falls. There was some pride in this church.

There we look at it and go, what's there to be prideful about? Who are you? You think you're good, but you're letting this happen over here? You may not be the actual one sending, but you're not standing fast and saying, not here. Steadfast, resolute with humility by the power of the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 15, you just turn over a page, 15, 58, or 1 Corinthians, yeah, 15 verse 58. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding, always abounding, listen, when God says always, percures up, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. It's telling them, hey, if you were steadfast, if you were concerned about what about always abounding in the work of the Lord, this wouldn't be happening. You wouldn't stand for this. You would step up and say something, whether you're an elder or not.

Doesn't matter. To stand fast in the faith, similar to what I just said a few minutes ago, to stand fast in the faith, you must know the faith well. And it starts with knowing the gospel well. Teach it to your family often. You have to know it.

You have to know it. A lot of men do not know it to be able to present it well. You know it enough for salvation. I'm not saying you don't know it enough to be saved, right? It can be very simple for that, but you've got to know it well and the application of it well and how to apply it to everything.

And like, hey son, because of the gospel, because of the gospel, this is why we work. Because of the gospel, that's why I love your mother. Because of the gospel, this is about church. Because of the gospel, this is what we think about this sin or that sin. Because of the gospel, this is what we think about grace.

You have to know it and teach it well. Hey, I know at Sovereign Redeemer, at Hope Baptist, we have the Lord's Supper every week. Hey, don't tune out for your Lord's Supper meditations. I am never, right, I do it a couple times a month. I never know enough about the gospel.

I can never be affected, I can always be affected more by hearing about the gospel. Don't ever tune out. Do some things to help you. For years, using nine marks, just simple, God, man, Christ response. Used it for years.

God is perfect, I am not. I'm gonna do it very simple, but it helps me when I'm witnessing or talking to my family or counseling, I can jump off at any point. God is holy, I am not, commands me to be holy, right, commands me to be holy, I am not, the wages of sin is death, I deserve the full wrath of God, Christ came, lived, Christ who is God came, lived the life that in my place, lived perfect in my place, died the death I deserved, taken the full wrath of God, full wrath of God. All the wrath once and for all died, rose again, and for all that repent and trust in Christ's loan for salvation will be saved. I didn't do that just from doing that yesterday because I've been saying that for years and then I can expand that as need be.

But you need to know that and teach. Fathers, to stand fast in the faith, you must be the theological leaders of your home. You must be the theological leaders of your home. You must be the theological leaders of the home. Here's one that really just came to my attention a few months ago from another brother that raised this to me.

I hadn't considered. Hey, women tend to read more than men. And that can be dangerous in your household. Right, you need to be ahead of your wives and your daughters. You need to be ahead of them.

Right, your choices, you have a couple choice in that. Hey, wives and daughters, read less. That's not the choice you make. Fathers, you be ahead of them. You've got time in your travel, you've got time in your day to listen, do other things.

You've got time, Read with them. Read with them. You got time for that. And you need to know, therefore you need to know how to evaluate everything that they're reading in your household and whether it's good or needs to be thrown away. You need to know how to evaluate things quickly.

You need to be men of the Word that can defend truth and apply to all of life. That you can exhort with the Word of God. You can encourage with the Word of God. You can comfort with the Word of God. You can rejoice with the word of God.

You can lament with the word of God. You can correct with the word of God. You need to be the theological leaders in your home and you must be churchmen. You must be churchmen, members, with active participation in all your church life. You're an active member around your brethren.

The number of things you're gonna learn and be exhorted from and the friendships that will deepen just from that drip, drip, drip of being around your church cannot be measured. It is just invaluable, invaluable. First Corinthians 14, 20, brethren, First Corinthians again, brethren, do not be children in understanding, but in understanding be mature. He has this, he says this about three times, three or four times throughout 1 Corinthians, of don't be children anymore, grow up, mature, act like men, get your house in order. Number three, number three, diligently quit you like men.

Diligently act, be brave, be courageous. This is a man of action. These are action words. This is a man of action. He's not asleep at the wheel.

And he's not driven by feelings or emotions. I say a lot, feelings will lie to you. But I also need to follow that up more with, but emotions and feelings are given to you by God. And they can be very helpful. They can be.

You need to control them. You don't have self-control in them. But you're not driven by them. They're not controlling you. He's brave.

He's courageous. He's ready and acting on what is right. This could be very simple as just sitting with a friend, weeping with them when you see these things happening, to standing in front of the abortion center. It could be from dedication of your family to family worship, to reviewing your family's closets, their clothing, modesty. It could be sons, sons, this acting and being brave and courageous, here's an area where you might need to be brave in the face of your friends, where you will not allow dishonoring speech of your parents in your presence.

You will honor your parents in your speech. I know your parents sin. I know that I had a possibly sinful look at my son earlier that day and wasn't very happy with him, didn't come across well, but you are honoring your parents in front of your friends. And when your friends aren't honoring their parents in front of you, you call them out. So you will not talk about your parents like that in front of, you will not do that in front of me or behind my back.

Right? You know what that's preparing you for, sons? How you will talk about your wife. That's what that's preparing you for. Fathers and sons, there's going to be opportunities, there's going to be situations that happen in life that are time sensitive to you acting.

And you only get one shot at trying. You may not get it well, okay. Or you might hear heartbreaking news. Go pray, go act, go send a text, or maybe just need to sit with them. Get those meals ready, go meet needs, get to that hospital, drop what you have, go to that hospital, take some children with you.

But it's also in rejoicing. You hear great rejoicing, you may be having one of the most sad days, but you can go, but find out how I'm gonna go rejoice with that brother or sister. You got that opportunity, go rejoice, Go hug on them. And go rejoice with them. Be joyful in their joy.

And fathers, have an eye and an ear out for those events. Let your wife know, hey, help me. I'm not going to hear everything. Children, help me. And we're going to go and let them be part of that.

These are not fearful and reluctant men. You're gonna get it wrong sometimes. You're gonna get it wrong sometimes, but if you're standing fast in the faith, you're steadfast in the faith, you're being brave, being crazy, you're gonna act. And you're not gonna get it right all the time. But you're going to see, especially in the brethren, you're going to get a gracious response even if you get it wrong, because they know your character.

They know your past. Hey, here's one area where men tend to be fearful and reluctant. They're fearful to be wrong. They're fearful to be wrong in this area. Questions asked and discussions happening, and they won't put their thoughts out there.

And you won't answer the question. And you miss a huge learning opportunity. If you're not putting your thoughts out there to discuss something or answering a question, how's anybody going to know, how are you going to know if your thoughts are even correct. They've got to get out there, talk, discuss things. Let your sons hear you discuss things.

And let them ask questions. Let them ask questions later. Sons, open your mouths to your dad and mom's questions. Open them. Family worship, walking by the way when you're driving, when you're lying down, when you're rising up.

Answer their questions. Open up. If you're wrong, you're going to learn and probably be the better for it. I talk a lot. I have a lot of opportunities to be wrong and learn.

And I get it. I get corrected. I have lots of questions offered to me because I have a lot of words out there All right, you're gonna get it wrong, but but act in in my house in my house We have a phrase it might be in your house because I didn't originate it We have a phrase on it until on acting on acting like men It's with my daughters as well, but it's called, eat the frog. Eat the frog. What is that item on your list today?

That's another discussion, have a list. But what is that item on your list today? That's another discussion, have a list. But what is that item on your list today that you just dread doing? Or you just know it's gonna be so, so tough?

Well go act, go attack it. Eat that frog, oh it's gonna taste bad. But eat it. And tomorrow you might have to eat the same frog again the next day. But you know what?

In working with my sons, two weeks from now, a month from now, it's not that frog anymore. It's a different frog. That frog's not so bad. That one's tasting like, tasting real delicious now. Not too bad, right?

But attack it. Here's Matthew Poole on this. 1600s, a gentleman in 1600s. If you don't know Matthew Poole, get to know him. Matthew Poole, you are as soldiers fighting against the world, the flesh and the devil.

Do not behave yourselves like children, whom the least opposition will terrify and throw down, but like men, with a spiritual courage and fortitude, becoming such who have so good a captain and so good a cause. Number four, diligently strong. It says here be strong, but it's not telling you to be strong necessarily. What's underneath that really is be strengthened. Grow in strength is the intent of this word.

Such as Ephesians 6, 10, finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. So just 1 Corinthians 13, 11, when I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I put away childish things. This is a maturing spiritual growth in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is not pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.

I couldn't save myself, I can't mature myself. I need the power of the Holy Spirit to mature me. But he will. If you're a Christian, he is within you and he can't help but mature you because he's completing the work within you, conforming you to your Christ. He will mature you.

Expect to have that and if it's not happening, something's wrong. If You're a Christian. And fathers, help your sons, especially ones that are saved, but also if they're wallowing and they're not saved, let them know, son, what else are you gonna expect without the Holy Spirit helping you? To grow takes exercise. To grow in strength takes exercise.

Exercise your faith diligently. Pray to be strengthened. But when you pray that prayer of growth to be strengthened, beware. Beware of what God will do to do that, to accomplish that task. When I pray that prayer, God grow me, strengthen me.

And I'm honest in that prayer. I have a list of things I know that he's done in the past to grow me and strengthen me. And I have no idea what else he has in mind to do that. But I know at the end of all those things, there was growth, there was strengthening, and it was good for me and my family and my friends and the church I'm part of. Which reminds me, and I'm ending with the words from a song, if you don't know it, we sing it.

If you don't know it, you should, by John Newton, I ask the Lord that I might grow. Let me read this to you if you haven't done this, and if it's not in your church, get this in your church. I ask the Lord that I might grow in faith and love and every grace, might more of his salvation know and seek more earnestly his face. Amen. All right.

We're good now. We're good there. Twas he, twas God who taught me thus to pray, and he I trust has answered prayer, but it has been in such a way as almost drove me to despair. I hoped that in some favored hour, at once he'd answer my request, and by his love's constraining power subdue my sins and give me rest. Instead of this, he made me feel the hidden evils of my heart, And let the angry powers of hell assault my soul in every part.

Yea, more with his own hand he seemed intent to aggravate my woe, crossed all the fair designs I schemed, humbled my heart, and laid me low. Lord, why is this? I trembling cried. Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death? Tis in this way, the Lord replied, I answer prayer for grace and faith.

These inward trials I employ, these inward trials God employs from self and pride to set thee free and break thy schemes of earthly joy that thou mayst find thy all in me. Men, fathers, sons, be diligent watchers, be steadfast in the faith, quit you, act like men, Be strong. Let's pray and I'll give you a couple items for discussion. Our God, thank you for your word. Oh my, where would I be without your instruction?

How what a wonderful grace your word is to us. Thank you for the hard instruction, for the great exhortations. God teach us, make us be men by the power of your Holy Spirit, brave, courageous, strong watchers for your glory, for the proclamation of your gospel witnesses of your transforming power Amen two things for your discussion fathers When was the last time you told your sons the gospel I want you to tell them the gospel. They may hear it every day from your wives. They hear it every day from my wife.

Amen, fantastic. When's the last day I heard it from you? Tell them the gospel. It could be short. Hey, if you don't know it that well, and you struggle through it, at least tell them God, man, Christ response, if you can learn those four words.

And then self-evaluate yourself. You need help, go talk to your pastors. Hey, pastors, elders, I need help. Just how to explain this well for my sons, for my daughters, for my wife, for my family, for my co-workers, I just, I need to be able to get this down better, right? So one, fathers tell your sons the gospel.

Number two, we all have daily frogs we need to eat. And eating, what are yours? Hey, it helps to know each other. I love knowing my son's frogs in the morning. I love that.

Son, what's your frog this morning? Man, it's my math today. All right, son, I'm praying for your frog. And then later on, maybe about 10 o'clock, get that first. 10 o'clock I come down from my office.

I don't say how your math, do you eat that frog? Yeah, yeah, it's done. It went down bad, but it's done. Right? Right, but we can just look at each other.

And I tell my sons my frogs, and we can look at each other throughout the day. Dad? Dad, did you prepare for that meeting? Yeah, I did. How'd it go?

You know, it went well. I hated all that reverberation. I got it done. It's behind me. The rest of the day, I can coast, right?

Whatever it might be. But you got them. Hey, ask what your sons or frogs are. Fathers tell your sons what your frogs are. And make that a pattern through your life.

And encourage you want to know. You're going to learn a lot. Great conversations, lots of laughing, and it can be good. Let's discuss.