1 Corinthians 16:13
Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Be men of courage. Be strong.
Be on the alert
The Greek word used here is "γρηγορεῖτε" (grēgoreite), which means to be watchful or vigilant. In the historical context of the early church, this exhortation was crucial as believers faced both external persecution and internal doctrinal challenges. The call to be alert is a reminder to Christians to be spiritually awake and discerning, recognizing the subtle ways in which the enemy might attempt to infiltrate or disrupt their faith. This vigilance is not passive but active, requiring constant attention to one's spiritual environment and readiness to respond to threats against the faith.

Stand firm in the faith
The phrase "stand firm" comes from the Greek "στήκετε" (stēkete), which conveys the idea of being steadfast and immovable. In the context of Corinth, a city known for its moral and spiritual challenges, Paul urges the believers to hold their ground in the truth of the Gospel. This steadfastness is not merely about personal conviction but is rooted in the collective faith of the Christian community. Historically, standing firm in the faith has been a hallmark of Christian perseverance, especially in the face of trials and temptations. It calls believers to anchor themselves in the doctrines and teachings of Christ, resisting the pressures to conform to the world.

Be men of courage
The Greek term "ἀνδρίζεσθε" (andrizesthe) is used here, which literally means "act like men" or "be courageous." This phrase is a call to maturity and bravery, urging believers to exhibit the strength and resolve that comes from a deep trust in God. In the cultural context of the time, courage was a highly valued trait, often associated with warriors and leaders. For Christians, this courage is not about physical prowess but about moral and spiritual fortitude. It is the courage to stand for truth, to live out one's faith boldly, and to face opposition with confidence in God's promises.

Be strong
The Greek word "κραταιοῦσθε" (krataiousthe) means to be strengthened or to grow strong. This strength is not self-derived but is empowered by the Holy Spirit. In the scriptural context, strength is often linked to reliance on God rather than on human abilities. The call to be strong is an encouragement to draw from the divine power available to believers, enabling them to overcome challenges and fulfill their God-given mission. Historically, the strength of the early church was evident in its ability to thrive despite persecution, a testament to the empowering presence of God among His people.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Paul the Apostle
The author of 1 Corinthians, Paul was writing to the church in Corinth to address various issues and provide guidance.

2. The Church in Corinth
A diverse and often troubled congregation in the city of Corinth, known for its moral and spiritual challenges.

3. Corinth
A major city in ancient Greece, known for its wealth, commerce, and moral decadence, which influenced the church's struggles.
Teaching Points
Spiritual Vigilance
Being "on the alert" requires constant awareness of spiritual dangers and temptations. Just as a soldier remains vigilant, Christians must be watchful in prayer and discernment.

Firmness in Faith
"Stand firm in the faith" calls for unwavering commitment to the core truths of Christianity. This involves knowing Scripture and holding fast to sound doctrine.

Courageous Living
"Be men of courage" (or "act like men" in some translations) encourages believers to exhibit bravery in the face of trials, standing up for their beliefs even when it is unpopular or risky.

Strength in the Lord
"Be strong" is a call to rely on God's strength rather than our own. This strength is cultivated through prayer, fellowship, and the Holy Spirit's empowerment.
Bible Study Questions
1. How can we remain spiritually vigilant in our daily lives, and what practical steps can we take to "be on the alert"?

2. In what ways can we "stand firm in the faith" when faced with challenges or opposition in today's world?

3. How does the call to "be men of courage" apply to both men and women in the church, and what are some examples of courageous faith in the Bible?

4. What are some areas in your life where you need to rely more on God's strength rather than your own?

5. How do the themes in 1 Corinthians 16:13 connect with the armor of God described in Ephesians 6:10-18, and how can this understanding enhance our spiritual walk?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Ephesians 6:10-18
This passage also emphasizes the need for spiritual vigilance and strength, urging believers to put on the full armor of God.

Joshua 1:9
God commands Joshua to be strong and courageous, a theme echoed in Paul's exhortation to the Corinthians.

1 Peter 5:8-9
Peter warns believers to be sober-minded and watchful, similar to Paul's call to be on the alert.
Strong and LovingAlexander Maclaren1 Corinthians 16:13
The Word of Command to Christian SoldiersJ.R. Thomson 1 Corinthians 16:13
St. Paul and His Purposes; His Friends; Earnest ExhortationC. Lipscomb 1 Corinthians 16:6-18
Etiquette Amongst MinistersJ. Lyth, . D. D.1 Corinthians 16:10-16
Ministerial SolicitudeT. Kelly.1 Corinthians 16:10-16
Paul's Affectionate Recommendation of Timothy Teaches Us that Young MinistersJ. Lyth, D.D.1 Corinthians 16:10-16
Personal NoticesF. W. Robertson, M. A.1 Corinthians 16:10-16
Wholesome Teaching for the Older MinistersD. Thomas, D.D.1 Corinthians 16:10-16
A Fivefold ExhortationE. Hundall 1 Corinthians 16:13, 14
A Manly ChristianityJ. Lyth.1 Corinthians 16:13-14
Be StrongT. T. Shore, M.A.1 Corinthians 16:13-14
Be StrongS. Martin.1 Corinthians 16:13-14
Christ Satisfying the Instinct of CourageDean Vaughan.1 Corinthians 16:13-14
Christian SteadfastnessJohn Stevens.1 Corinthians 16:13-14
Christian StrengthB. Beddome, M. A.1 Corinthians 16:13-14
Christian WarfareW. Linn, D.D.1 Corinthians 16:13-14
Four Points in the Christian LifeD. Rhys Jenkins.1 Corinthians 16:13-14
ManlinessD. Macleod, D.D.1 Corinthians 16:13-14
Manliness in ReligionJ. N. Norton, D.D.1 Corinthians 16:13-14
Stand Fast in the FaithJ. Lyth, D.D.1 Corinthians 16:13-14
Standing Fast in the FaithT. B. McLeod.1 Corinthians 16:13-14
StrengthJ. H. Burn, B.D.1 Corinthians 16:13-14
The Demands of ChristianityD. Thomas, D.D.1 Corinthians 16:13-14
The Manliness of GodlinessJ. De Kewer Williams.1 Corinthians 16:13-14
The Requirements of the Christian WarfareCanon Garbett.1 Corinthians 16:13-14
Three Kinds of TemptationPrincipal A. M. Fairbairn.1 Corinthians 16:13-14
True ManhoodArchdeacon Farrar.1 Corinthians 16:13-14
True ManlinessW. B. Stewart, D.D.1 Corinthians 16:13-14
True StrengthNew York Observer1 Corinthians 16:13-14
Vigilance NeededJ. Halsey.1 Corinthians 16:13-14
Watchfulness Needed1 Corinthians 16:13-14
Watchfulness, Steadfastness, Manliness, Strength1 Corinthians 16:13-14
Wise CounselsJ. Lyth.1 Corinthians 16:13-14
People
Achaicus, Apollos, Aquila, Corinthians, Fortunatus, Paul, Prisca, Priscilla, Stephanas, Timotheus, Timothy
Places
Achaia, Asia, Corinth, Ephesus, Galatia, Jerusalem, Macedonia
Topics
Acquit, Act, Alert, Courage, Courageous, Faith, Fast, Firm, Quit, Stand, Strong, Unmoved, Vigilant, Watch, Watchful, Yourselves
Dictionary of Bible Themes
1 Corinthians 16:13

     5184   standing
     5330   guard
     5714   men
     5766   attitudes, to life
     5953   stability
     8028   faith, body of beliefs
     8162   spiritual vitality
     8221   courage, strength from God
     8251   faithfulness, to God
     8359   weakness, spiritual
     8416   encouragement, promises
     8459   perseverance
     8485   spiritual warfare, conflict
     8493   watchfulness, believers

Library
Strong and Loving
'Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. 14. Let all your things be done with charity.'--1 COR. xvi. 13, 14. There is a singular contrast between the first four of these exhortations and the last. The former ring sharp and short like pistol-shots; the last is of gentler mould. The former sound like the word of command shouted from an officer along the ranks; and there is a military metaphor running all through them. The foe threatens to advance; let the guards keep their
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Anathema and Grace
'The salutation of me Paul with mine own hand. 22. If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maran-atha. 23. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 24. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus.'--1 COR. xvi. 21-24. Terror and tenderness are strangely mingled in this parting salutation, which was added in the great characters shaped by Paul's own hand, to the letter written by an amanuensis. He has been obliged, throughout the whole epistle, to assume a tone of remonstrance
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

The Faithful Steward
"GOD IS LOVE." Perfectly blessed in Himself, he desired that other intelligences should participate in his own holy felicity. This was his primary motive in creating moral beings. They were made in his own image--framed to resemble him in their intellectual and moral capacities, and to imitate him in the spirit of their deportment. Whatever good they enjoyed, like him, they were to desire that others might enjoy it with them; and thus all were to be bound together by mutual sympathy,--linked
Sereno D. Clark—The Faithful Steward

The Twenty-Second Psalm.
The Cross of Christ. THE Twenty-second Psalm contains a most remarkable prophecy. The human instrument through whom this prophecy was given is King David. The Psalm does not contain the experience of the King, though he passed through great sufferings, yet the sufferings he speaks of in this Psalm are not his own. They are the sufferings of Christ. It is written in the New Testament that the prophets searched and enquired diligently about the coming salvation. The Spirit of Christ, which was in
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory

Of the Duties which we are to Perform after Receiving the Holy Communion, Called Action or Practice.
The duty which we are to perform after the receiving of the Lord's Supper is called action or practice, without which all the rest will minister to us no comfort. The action consists of two sorts of duties:---First, Such as we are to perform in the church, or else after we are gone home. Those that we are to perform in the church are either several from our own souls, or else jointly with the congregation. The several duties which thou must perform from thine own soul are three:--First, Thou must
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

The Apostolic Scriptures.
"And I think that I also have the Spirit of God."--1 Cor. vii. 40. We have seen that the apostolate has an extraordinary significance and occupies a unique position. This position is twofold, viz., temporary, with reference to the founding of the first churches, and permanent, with regard to the churches of all ages. The first must necessarily be temporary, for what was then accomplished can not be repeated. A tree can be planted only once; an organism can be born only once; the planting or founding
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

The Clergyman and the Prayer Book.
Dear pages of ancestral prayer, Illumined all with Scripture gold, In you we seem the faith to share Of saints and seers of old. Whene'er in worship's blissful hour The Pastor lends your heart a voice, Let his own spirit feel your power, And answer, and rejoice. In the present chapter I deal a little with the spirit and work of the Clergyman in his ministration of the ordered Services of the Church, reserving the work of the Pulpit for later treatment. THE PRAYER BOOK NOT PERFECT BUT INESTIMABLE.
Handley C. G. Moule—To My Younger Brethren

"And Watch unto Prayer. "
1 Pet. iv. 7.--"And watch unto prayer." "Watch." A Christian should watch. A Christian is a watchman by office. This duty of watchfulness is frequently commanded and commended in scripture, Matt. xxiv. 42, Mark xiii. 33, 1 Cor. xvi. 13, Eph. vi. 18, 1 Pet. v. 8, Col. iv. 2; Luke xii. 37. David did wait as they that did watch for the morning light. The ministers of the gospel are styled watchmen in scripture and every Christian should be to himself as a minister is to his flock, he should watch over
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

For if they be Urged from the Gospel that they Should Put Nothing By...
31. For if they be urged from the Gospel that they should put nothing by for the morrow, they most rightly answer, "Why then had the Lord Himself a bag in which to put by the money which was collected? [2572] Why so long time beforehand, on occasion of impending famine, were supplies of corn sent to the holy fathers? [2573] Why did Apostles in such wise provide things necessary for the indigence of saints lest there should be lack thereafter, that most blessed Paul should thus write to the Corinthians
St. Augustine—Of the Work of Monks.

Tithing
"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine house, and prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it" (Mal. 3:10). Down deep in the heart of every Christian there is undoubtedly the conviction that he ought to tithe. There is an uneasy feeling that this is a duty which has been neglected, or, if you prefer it, a privilege that has not been
Arthur W. Pink—Tithing

The Fourth Commandment
Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day and hallowed it. Exod 20: 8-11. This
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Differences in Judgment About Water Baptism, no Bar to Communion: Or, to Communicate with Saints, as Saints, Proved Lawful.
IN ANSWER TO A BOOK WRITTEN BY THE BAPTISTS, AND PUBLISHED BY MR. T. PAUL AND MR. W. KIFFIN, ENTITLED, 'SOME SERIOUS REFLECTIONS ON THAT PART OF MR BUNYAN'S CONFESSION OF FAITH, TOUCHING CHURCH COMMUNION WITH UNBAPTIZED BELIEVERS.' WHEREIN THEIR OBJECTIONS AND ARGUMENTS ARE ANSWERED, AND THE DOCTRINE OF COMMUNION STILL ASSERTED AND VINDICATED. HERE IS ALSO MR. HENRY JESSE'S JUDGMENT IN THE CASE, FULLY DECLARING THE DOCTRINE I HAVE ASSERTED. BY JOHN BUNYAN. 'Should not the multitude of words be answered?
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Tithing
There are few subjects on which the Lord's own people are more astray than on the subject of giving. They profess to take the Bible as their own rule of faith and practice, and yet in the matter of Christian finance, the vast majority have utterly ignored its plain teachings and have tried every substitute the carnal mind could devise; therefore it is no wonder that the majority of Christian enterprises in the world today are handicapped and crippled through the lack of funds. Is our giving to be
Arthur W. Pink—Tithing

Concerning Worship.
Concerning Worship. [780] All true and acceptable worship to God is offered in the inward and immediate moving and drawing of his own Spirit which is neither limited to places times, nor persons. For though we are to worship him always, and continually to fear before him; [781] yet as to the outward signification thereof, in prayers, praises, or preachings, we ought not to do it in our own will, where and when we will; but where and when we are moved thereunto by the stirring and secret inspiration
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

Jeremiah, a Lesson for the Disappointed.
"Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord."--Jeremiah i. 8. The Prophets were ever ungratefully treated by the Israelites, they were resisted, their warnings neglected, their good services forgotten. But there was this difference between the earlier and the later Prophets; the earlier lived and died in honour among their people,--in outward honour; though hated and thwarted by the wicked, they were exalted to high places, and ruled in the congregation.
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

Ten Reasons Demonstrating the Commandment of the Sabbath to be Moral.
1. Because all the reasons of this commandment are moral and perpetual; and God has bound us to the obedience of this commandment with more forcible reasons than to any of the rest--First, because he foresaw that irreligious men would either more carelessly neglect, or more boldly break this commandment than any other; secondly, because that in the practice of this commandment the keeping of all the other consists; which makes God so often complain that all his worship is neglected or overthrown,
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Questions About the Nature and Perpetuity of the Seventh-Day Sabbath.
AND PROOF, THAT THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK IS THE TRUE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. BY JOHN BUNYAN. 'The Son of man is lord also of the Sabbath day.' London: Printed for Nath, Ponder, at the Peacock in the Poultry, 1685. EDITOR'S ADVERTISEMENT. All our inquiries into divine commands are required to be made personally, solemnly, prayerful. To 'prove all things,' and 'hold fast' and obey 'that which is good,' is a precept, equally binding upon the clown, as it is upon the philosopher. Satisfied from our observations
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Things Pertaining to the Kingdom.
"Now is there solemn pause in earth and heaven; The Conqueror now His bonds hath riven, And Angels wonder why He stays below; Yet hath not man his lesson learned, How endless love should be returned." Hitherto our thoughts about "The Kingdom of Heaven" have been founded on the teaching of the King respecting His Kingdom recorded in the Gospels. But we must not forget to give attention to the very important time in the life of our Lord extending between His Resurrection and Ascension, during which
Edward Burbidge—The Kingdom of Heaven; What is it?

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