Five Things to Do

Text: 1 Corinthians 16:13-14

Series: Restoration Sermons

Date:

Speaker: Ed Rangel

Location: Waupaca Church of Christ

Bible Version: NASB 1995

Sermon Type: Expository

Learning Objectives

By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:

1. Recite Paul's five charges in 1 Corinthians 16:13-14.
2. Apply each to Christian conduct — watchfulness, steadfastness, courage, strength, and love.
3. See that these five together outline the Christian life.

Thesis

Paul's five rapid charges — watch, stand fast in the faith, act like men, be strong, and let all be done in love — together outline the whole of Christian conduct: alert, steadfast, courageous, strong, and governed by love.

Burden

Some Scriptures instruct, some comfort, some command — and some, in a single breath, map out a whole way of living. First Corinthians 16:13-14 is one of these: "Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love." Five short commands, and between them they cover the Christian life — vigilance, steadfastness, courage, strength, and love as the governing spirit of it all. The burden of this lesson is simply to take these five seriously, one at a time, and let them shape how we actually live.

Introduction

Some Scriptures are instructive, some are commands, some are comforts, and some outline our duty. This text outlines Christian conduct in five short charges. The outline takes them in order: watch, stand fast, quit you like men, be strong, and let all be done in love.

I. "Be on the Alert" — Watch (1 Peter 5:8)

1. See things as they are — "let us be alert and sober" (1 Thess. 5:6).
2. Be watchful — "your adversary, the devil, prowls about... be on the alert" (1 Pet. 5:8).
3. Watch yourself — "let a man examine himself" (1 Cor. 11:28).
4. Watch others to help them — "do good to all" (Gal. 6:10).

The Christian is awake — alert to danger, to himself, and to others' needs.

II. "Stand Firm in the Faith" (James 1:8)

1. How many falter! — steadfastness is rare and needed.
2. The double-minded man is unstable in all his ways (Jas. 1:8); faith holds firm where doubt wavers.
3. The outline illustrates from history — as General Bee at Manassas pointed to Jackson's brigade "standing like a stone wall," and as Grant resolved, "I am going to Richmond" and would not be turned. Steadfast resolve holds its ground.

The Christian plants his feet in the faith and does not drift.

III. "Act Like Men" (1 Corinthians 16:13)

1. Behave like men, not like children — mature, not petty (cf. 1 Cor. 13:11; 14:20).
2. Meet difficulties rather than running from them.
3. Do not give up to pleasures — refuse to be ruled by appetite.
4. As at Trafalgar, "England expects every man to do his duty" — the Christian, even more, is called to do his. Spiritual manhood faces hardship and does its duty.

IV. "Be Strong" (Ephesians 6:10)

1. God wants strong Christians — "be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might" (Eph. 6:10).
2. Spiritual food and exercise are necessary for strength — the word and active service build it.
3. Weak Christians are spiritually diseased — weakness is not the normal state.
4. Strength is the normal condition God intends for His people. We are meant to be robust, not feeble, in faith.

V. "Let All That You Do Be Done in Love" (1 Corinthians 16:14)

The crowning charge governs the other four:

1. Do nothing through revenge — love, not retaliation, must drive us.
2. Love God, Christ, and the church.
3. Love even your enemies — "love your enemies, and do good" (Luke 6:35).

Watchfulness, steadfastness, courage, and strength can all go wrong if love does not govern them — a watchful, steadfast, strong man without love is merely hard. Love is the spirit in which all the rest is to be done.

Application

Take Paul's five as a checklist for your own conduct. Are you watching — alert to temptation, honest in self-examination, attentive to others' needs — or drifting through the Christian life half-asleep? Are you standing fast in the faith, or are you double-minded, blown about by every doubt and fashion? Are you acting like a man — meeting difficulty, refusing to be ruled by pleasure, doing your duty — or behaving like a child? Are you strong, fed and exercised in the word, or spiritually diseased and feeble? And, governing it all, is love the spirit of what you do — toward God, the church, and even your enemies — or have watchfulness and strength curdled into hardness? These five, kept together, are the outline of a whole Christian life. Live them.

Conclusion

"Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love." Five charges, one life: alert, steadfast, courageous, strong, and loving. Take them up together — for love without strength is weak, and strength without love is hard, but the five together make a complete Christian.

Invitation

Before you can live these five, you must belong to the One who commands them. Come to Christ: believe on Him, repent of your sins, confess His name, and be baptized for the remission of your sins (Acts 2:38). Then take up the watchful, steadfast, courageous, strong, and loving life He calls you to. Come while we sing.

Word Study

Scripture Interlock Table

---

Converted from H. Leo Boles, Outline 64. Doctrinal audit: no doctrinal issues; an exposition of the five charges of 1 Cor. 16:13-14 as an outline of Christian conduct. Style audit: OCR cleanup; "Love your enemies (Luke 6:36)"→Luke 6:35 (the love-enemies verse; 6:36 = "be merciful"). The Bee/Jackson (Manassas), Grant ("going to Richmond"), and Nelson/Trafalgar ("England expects every man to do his duty") references are preserved as Boles' brief historical illustrations of steadfastness and duty, rendered neutrally. Supplied supporting references (1 Cor. 13:11; 14:20) flagged; Boles' own citations verified and retained.