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Hello, good morning everybody, Aloha kakaiyaka, kakou, hello and good morning, thank you Ryan for having me preach this morning and for the opportunity and thank you all for being here to make it, to hear the Word of God preached. Let's go right into this, the title of this message this morning is I Kaika, and the word I Kaika in Hawaiian just simply means strength, now we who grew up here in Hawaii have friends that we know who are called I Kaika, I had a friend growing up, his name was Patrick Murphy the third, but he grabbed his grandmother's finger and he had a strong grip and his grandma then nicknamed him at that point I Kaika, simply because he had a strong grip on a baby so we've always known him as I Kaika, and we need to as Christians need to be known for our strength, I'm not talking about just men, I'm talking about men, women, boy and girl. Unfortunately the world today looks at Christians as weak, soft-spoken, limp-wrist, watered-down, weaklings of this world, and they do this because the person that they claim to be Jesus is this long-haired, hippie, weak, soft-spoken person, that is not the Jesus of the Bible, the Jesus of the Bible was a strong man of God, the strongest, hardest preacher there was out there, and we need to mimic or emulate who Jesus Christ was, we are ambassadors in Christ's stead, and though Jesus Christ came meekly and humble, he also will come with power in his second coming, so we need to as Christians be known for our strength, and in 1 Corinthians notice what it says in verse 21, I have a couple of points that's going to help us understand how to be strong, and I'm going to primarily speak on physical strength, primarily towards men, that we as men need to have physical strength, that I'm not saying you need to be Hollywood Hogan or Dwayne the Rock Johnson or something like that, but we should not be known as Christians to be weak, limp-wristed, strong as men of God, and the Bible says right here, it shows us how we can become strong as people of God, it says in verse 21, for after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom do not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe, God we need to first strengthen our spiritual walk in Christ, you know the Bible talks a lot about walking after the spirit and not walking after the flesh, but let me tell you this, if you walk in the spirit, you will eventually gain wisdom, why? Why do we need to be strong as Christian men and women and children of God? The Bible teaches that it is a commandment of God to be strong as specifically men, you don't need to turn there, but it says in 1 Corinthians 16, 13, it says, watch ye stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. That last part of that sentence says to be strong, we need to, as a commandment, not like you should try to be strong, it's saying be strong, quit you like men, that's ultimately saying man up, you know in the Bible in Jeremiah we see God telling Jeremiah, quit you like men, and a lot of times this figure of speech is used, but not only that, the Bible says in Proverbs 24, 5, it says, a wise man is strong, yea a man of knowledge increases strength, so if you are smart, you know the first way to gain physical strength is by having spiritual strength, the next part to gain physical strength is to have mental strength, because it says a man, a wise man is strong, yea a man of knowledge increases strength, so if we get these orders of strength in our lives right, we will then manifest what is inside the heart of spiritual strength, mental strength, and we will be physically strong as well. Now like I was saying, I'm not saying we need to be body builder types, and people who are trying to, you know, be muscle men in that matter, but I do believe this is my own personal standard for specifically men, that if you can't run a mile in 8 minutes or less, you need to work on that, if you can't bench press your own weight limit at least once, you should probably work on that, and like I said, that's my own personal standard, and I understand that there are people in this world who are born with handicaps, people who are born with disfigured mutations in their body, there are people who have mental incapabilities and things like that, but you and I know, if you look on YouTube and things like that, we see so many inspirational videos of people who are crippled from the lay down, they cannot use their legs, their legs are unusable, you know, a funny thing I like to point out, because I was looking into being a fitness coach at one time, there's this picture that I loved to point out, and it's this guy, a normal, regular, able-bodied person, he couldn't even do one pull-up, but then there's this guy in a wheelchair, busting out like 10 pull-ups at a time, because we can go through obstacles in our life to gain physical strength, and there are so many stories and testimonies, you have people who have dedicated their lives to fitness and things like that, and I think that we as Christians need to take back the stereotype of being strong men, too much today, the evangelical movement, and people of this world will look at a Christian and think of an overweight, weak, soft-spoken person, and we need to take that back, it's just like the rainbow flag, the rainbow is a symbol of God, to tell the world that he's no longer going to judge the world and going to destroy it through water, and the sodomites take that as their emblem to signify their equality, things like that, we need to take the symbol of the rainbow back, and we need to take the symbol of strength back as Christians, these are godly attributes, and what does the Bible say? It says, I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me. If you have your step in life of being spiritually strong, first, he will then make you mentally strong, and if he makes you mentally strong, he will make you physically strong. What does the Bible say? It says in verse 22, where you are, it says, for the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men. Look, we don't need to be able to understand the science of this world and the atheistic world view of the Big Bang Theory, they have professed themselves to be wise. The wisdom of this world and the sight of God is foolishness, and we need to understand that. We derive wisdom, knowledge, and understanding from the word of God. So let's gain eikika, let's gain our strength as men, women, children, boy, girl, as Christians. Well, we figured out why we need to be strong, because it's a commandment of God, quit you like men, be strong. The Bible says if you are wise, you're going to seek to increase strength, but how? How do we do these things? We follow the chain of order. Now, I'm going to be preaching in the reverse order. I'm going to talk about what is the least important strength we need to gain to the most important, and that's going to be our physical strength, our mental strength, and then last, our spiritual strength. So first things first, let's talk about physical strength. Like I told you, my standard, what I think is to be considered bare minimum, man, bench press your own weight, run a mile in eight minutes or less. It's not crazy, it's not asking a lot. I know people have different standards for that, but you know what, that's just my opinion. But not only that, women, I'm not telling you to be able to bench press your own weight. I'm not telling you to run a mile in eight minutes or less, but women should also seek to be strong as well. Women is a godly attribute for you to be strong, but not to be stronger than your husband, not to seek to be stronger than a man. You know, there's a saying that I heard, and it makes so much sense, if you can't do it in a skirt, maybe you shouldn't be doing it. If you can't do it in a dress, maybe you shouldn't be doing it. Because look, if we look back in history, didn't women use to farm in a dress? Didn't women use to go horseback riding in a dress? Can't you go surfing in a dress? Look, it's possible, we can do these things, but I'm not telling you to try to be the next world elite surfer. I'm not telling you to try to be Ronda Rousey and to be the next UFC light heavyweight female kickboxing champion. But you should seek to be strong, and you should trust in your husbands to have that physical strength. And men, now when it comes to you and children, understand this, that one day you will be a man of your own home, and the reason that we should seek to be physically strong is so that you can provide for your family. Strength is an attribute that could be applied for our work. All the men in the Bible, don't you want to be used greatly by God? Don't you want God's blessing to be on you and to be an instrument of God that can be used sharply? And I know the hand cannot say to the foot that I have no need of thee, and I know that every member of this body in the church needs to have its own function, but for when it comes to just work alone, if you're going to be the sole provider of your household, you need to understand that physical strength is going to help you in the long term of your life. Not everyone has a blue collar job, not everyone does a physically demanding job, and I am going to talk on specifically physically demanding jobs, and since moving back here I got back into tree trimming. Now I used to do it in Kauai, and there's a nickname that I've had my whole life that is then I thought was a bad name, but now I look back and I kind of like the nickname. My friend one time deemed me slaved, because he says you just slave for everyone all the time and you work three jobs and you're just surfing, you're just a slave to everything around you. And at the time I thought it was a bad thing, but now as a Christian I understand that is a good thing to be known as a slave, so to say. You're really good at doing what you're told, and you're really good at physical accolades in your job, and the Bible teaches that God wants to use strong men. Do you think all these people in the Bible like King David, like Jeremiah, like Elijah, like the apostle Peter who was a fisherman, Joseph who was a carpenter were weak people? No, these were strong blue collar people. They weren't as strong as maybe Samson, but Samson was given the Holy Spirit to be able to do amazing strength things, you know, but nevertheless we don't want to be known as weak people. We want to be known as strong people, and that in our jobs we can apply our physical strength to better our working environment, to better our boss, make our boss more money. And in the example of my job, and you can take this into any blue collar job, if you have two employees, and I were a boss, and I had one guy who could barely pick up one log and drag it at a time, and I had another guy who could pick up three logs at a time and march them over every time, the guy who physically could do more is worth more to me. So if you want to be able to make more money as an employee, gain strength. Remember what the Bible says, a wise man seeks to gain strength. Now let's say you have a white collar job, you're a lawyer, you're an architect, or you're an accountant or something like that, we're going to address mental strength next. But turn if you went to Genesis 29, we see an example of God using a strong man of God to do a strong physical activity, and look what the Bible reads in Genesis 29, I'll give you a second to turn there, in Genesis chapter 29 verse 9, the Bible reads, And while he had spake, this is Jacob, with them, Rachel, came with her father's sheep. For she kept them, and it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban, his mother's brother, that Jacob went near and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban, his mother's brother. And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept. So there's two things I can point out here. Number one, if you read the story in context, it usually would take two or three people to roll the stone away from the well's mouth, and there was a certain time of day it was to be done. Jacob, by himself, decided just to roll the rock out of the well's mouth to be able to water the flock of Laban's sheep, and in doing so, he then goes and kisses Rachel. Now, ladies, let me ask you this. What is an attribute you're looking for in a man? Someone who's weak or someone who's strong? For those of you who don't know, it's actually appealing to a woman that you're strong. This is actually another thing we can understand as men, is that women aren't looking for someone who's weak. That's right. They're looking for someone who can provide for them and future children and things like that. Like I was saying, if there's someone in the church who is strong, and a woman looks at their husband and they're like, ah, man, my husband's a weakling, he can't do things, that's a bad attribute to have. We should be content with the things that we have, but for singles or you kids who one day want to look into being married, kids, look to be strong, and you know what? You're going to attract a right kind of Christian woman, and you yourself are going to instill confidence in this woman to be able to show them that you can provide for them, and this is an attribute that we need to apply in work. You may get a raise because you're physically stronger than someone. You know, like I was saying earlier, the person who can barely haul one log and then the person who can haul three logs at a time is worth more money. Jacob rolled the rock out of the well's mouth by himself. So God shows us an example of a man of God who is physically strong, and God uses physically strong people, not weaklings. Now of course we see the example of the apostle Paul, who maybe wasn't physically as strong, he was mentally strong, and that's the next point we're going to go into. But on top of physical strength for our job, why else should we have physical strength as men? Well, I believe we should seek to be physically strong because we as men like to be protectors of our family. We need to learn to protect our families as men. The Bible reads, you don't need to turn there, but it says in Mark 3, verse 27, it says, no man can enter into a strong man's house, spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man, and then he will spoil his goods. So a thief, a robber, someone is going to go break into a strong man's house, think twice. It says no man can enter into a strong man's house. They are afraid of the person of that house because they are strong, they're doing their sins in secret, they're trying to hide from them, they're afraid of them, except they bind the strong man, they're not able to take his things, and it should be that robbers and thieves are afraid to break into the homes of men of faithful work, I'm sorry, Sure Foundation Baptist Church's houses. If you come to one of our houses, you should be afraid to break into our house because they know that a strong man of God is in that house, and that if I were to go and attempt to smite the Lord's anointed, God's wrath would come upon them. So we need to, number one, get strength for our career, for our jobs, to provide, to get raises, to be better as an employee, but also to protect our families. Women are attracted to men who are stronger. I'm not saying you have to, like I said, marry a bodybuilder for that matter, ladies, but just don't try to marry some skinny leg, skinny jean wearing feminine guy. It's not, in the long haul, it's not going to be something you're looking for in a man. You want to know that he's going to protect you, he's going to provide for you, and things like that, and this is what the Bible teaches, but not only that, we're not big on the military in this church, and Sure Foundation Baptist Church, we don't believe in sending our young men off to a military of a horrible, wicked government that goes and fights foreign battles that we have no dealings to go into. It's one thing if people come into our soil and attack us and we defend ourselves, it's another thing to then volunteer to fight a battle that has nothing to do with us. So we don't believe in going out to fight wars that aren't ours, but nevertheless, if a Christian is a soldier, or there is a Christian who is in the military, it is good for you to understand, to trust in the Lord for your safety. It says, for instance, in Psalms 140 verse 2, it says, I am, this is King David, the Psalm is King David, I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war. And we can apply this here at home to soul winning. You know, soul winners, you and I know that when you hit the door of someone who's a little bit caustic to the gospel, a little bit upset that you came and stopped their day to preach to them the good news of Jesus Christ, they're a little upset about that, aren't they? And I know here in Hawaii, it's very receptive, there's a lot of people who get saved and there's a lot of people who are open to hearing the gospel, but just like anywhere, there are people who are willing to fight against the Lord, who are willing to even stretch out their hand against the Lord's anointed themselves, because you really got to think about it. You know, the Bible teaches that the horse is prepared under the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord. Though we prepare ourselves to be physically sharp, though we go out and work out or work a physically demanding job or something like that, when we go soul winning, you know, I have a rule of thumb that if I hit a door and someone wants to physically attack me, I myself am not going to retaliate. Now I am a big advocate of self-defense, but when someone comes into my home and tries to break in at night, that is where the line gets drawn. I don't know what your intentions are, even if you're just trying to steal the refrigerator, I don't know what you're up to. So therefore, like I said, people should be afraid to enter into the home of a member of this church's house. But if we go to the door of someone, we're on their turf. I'm bringing the gospel to them. Jesus says, go ye there into all the world and preach the gospel. So I'm coming to their house and I'm preaching to them the gospel and if they're upset with me and I've heard it said that if someone balls up their fist and punches you over that, they will defend themselves. I myself personally do not believe in that. I believe when Jesus said if someone smites you on the luncheon to offer them the other as well. Back to physical strength. We as men should be known to be able to handle taking a punch. It's too much nowadays that men are getting weaker and weaker. I'm not saying to go out and get yourself punched in the face all day long, but it should be able to take a punch as a man. And this is what Christ was saying when he says if someone smites you on the one, offer them the other also. If you can take it, you can make it. You know, Christians throughout all history have been persecuted and there has been tribulations and imprisonment and beaten and all these things. Can you take a punch for the cause of Christ? Is that all right with you? Is your pride going to be that tarnished and hurt to be able to retaliate? And not only that, I've been taught in my life, because I used to do like kickboxing and things like that. And like I said, I was trying to be a physical fitness trainer, that if you can take it, you can make it. I can take a punch. Can you take a punch? And if you can't take a punch, your rule is if someone balls up their face to hit you and you decide to defend yourself, that's your rule and you can do whatever you want. But most street fights, you and I both know, barely last five minutes. If you run around in five minutes, most people will get winded, lose their breath, sit there huffing and puffing, dying of exhaustion. So in any case, which has yet to ever happen to me, praise the Lord, and I'm not trying to get it to happen to me, but if someone ever physically attacks me out in the soul-winning streets, if someone physically attacks me, I will not retaliate, but I will try to tire them out to the ill, the error of their mistake, and then eventually go back in. Look, Paul said, beaten many, beaten more than they all, imprisoned more than they all. Can you take a punch for Christ? I think we should. We should be known as strong men of God. If your standard's different and your family, your parents tell you otherwise, listen to your parents. I'm just telling you what I think when the Bible teaches you that when someone smites you, I'm not saying open hand, I'm saying smite you in any way, fashion, offer him the other also. So why? Why do we need to be physically strong as men, women, boys, and girls, as Christians? Because God has commanded us to be strong. How? How do we gain strength? Well, physical strength comes because of spiritual strength, but spiritual strength will give us mental strength, and that's where we're going next. David, I don't work a physically demanding job. I don't work, I'm not in the military. I'm not able to work out as often as the next person, but this is what the Bible means when it says a wise man is strong, a man of knowledge increases strength. What if you work a white collar job? What if you are someone who is working with computers or technology or things like that? And what if you're handicapped? What if, you know, God forbid, you're born as a dwarf, you have a physical handicap, you have a withered body, a mutation, look, this happens. People are sometimes not physically able to do these things, but then you know what you should do? You should then strengthen your mind as a Christian. The Bible teaches that a man of knowledge increases strength, and that our mind acts like a muscle, that we shouldn't be known as Christians to be ignorant, we shouldn't be known to be stupid or simple or not wise when it comes to matters of this world. We need to be ready always to give an answer to anybody that asks us for the hope of the reason that is in us, or weakness and fear. But for application of just your everyday life, let's say you do work as a engineer, a lawyer, a doctor or something for that matter, if you increase your knowledge, you can then get a promotion. You know, a doctor who wants to go into the medical field decides they want to then, you know, specialize a skill and get into brain surgery, you're now worth more. How many brain surgeons do you think there are on the planet? You know, there's a saying called supply and demand, that when you are able to specialize in a certain skill, let's say you're a lawyer, but you specialize in heinous crimes, or you specialize in a certain type of specialty in your field, you're actually worth more. You can gain wisdom as a Christian, and even as a Christian yourself, as a man of God, you know, there are some gifts that are given to different people. Some people are given the gifts of understanding, some people are given the gifts of speaking with tongues, to be able to speak other languages. How many of you here can speak a second language? Not too many, right? So with that being said, it's like we have to covet the best gifts, and that is why there is a function in the church of leadership. They're helping us to better our weaknesses, and I know my personal weakness, always growing up, and you can ask my mother, I was stupid my whole life. I grew up in Kapaa Elementary Middle and High School, and I was this stupid surfer bum who thought it was never important to gain knowledge, because I couldn't even read until I was in the sixth grade, and I was barely reading Dr. Seuss books, barely, like, you know, it was a miracle. And to this day, when I talk with my mom, she's blown away that she sees her own child who couldn't even read in the sixth grade is now quoting the King's English, King James Version Bible verses, and she's blown away, like, you are that same kid that I knew growing up, that I knew my weakness. My weakness was that I was mentally not strong, and we need to, my physical strength has always been there, but my, what good is physical strength if you do not have mental strength? What does this say? Work smarter, not harder, but I don't believe in that philosophy either. I think we should work both smarter and harder at the same time, but if that guy that I was pointing out earlier, who hauls three logs every day, who the other guy could barely haul one log, and what if here's the thing, that guy was smart enough to create a dolly who could haul that one log faster than that one other guy could haul three logs, he's now worth more to me, because he's figured out a smart way to save his back, and to get that log from point A to point B, and the other guy, though the other guy is physically strong, the other guy is mentally strong, and this is what I'm saying, that we need to as Christians, the way to get physical strength is to be mentally strong, and I know there are people who are born with physical strength right off the bat, I'm not a big advocate of saying genetics play a big part in your physical ability, but it is a fact that it does help some, there are people who are born with certain blood types and body types that actually give them a notch in life to be physically stronger than the average person, but don't end there, that increases your mental strength as well, how David, how do I increase my mental strength? Turning to 1 Peter, 1 Peter says, well actually before I read 1 Peter, I'm going to read from you from Daniel 9 too, it says, in the first year of his reign, I Daniel understood by books the number of the years where of the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolation of Jerusalem, how do you increase strength? Read books, you guys, the world is getting you more, you know why the world is becoming dumbed down, I believe to be the idiocracy of the world today, look, the odds are stacked against you, technology, things like this are a helpful tool to increase your strength, the Bible teaches that in the end time, wisdom will, I'm sorry, knowledge will increase, and if we look at the technological revolution, I always make a joke, why do they make smartphones? They make them for dumb people, as you're relying on the phone for your information, it was said back in the day that if you wanted to learn something, you read a book, and I know you can read a blog, I know you can read a manuscript on a phone, I get that, but the thing is you need to read, and reading will help you to increase your mental strength, your brain is like a muscle, Daniel said, and look, Daniel was used by God greatly because when he was a child of the children of Judah, he was considered to be smarter, he was better off, and he says, I learned by books, we first go to the King James Bible for our wisdom and understanding, but we don't stop there, we need to continue our education and continue our knowledge, don't we need to know about science, shouldn't we know about that? Of course, shouldn't we know about history and math and all these other realms, we should be known to be smart as Christians, it shouldn't be that a person looks at a Christian and says you're just a stupid, ignorant simpleton who just believes in a book that a man wrote, let me ask you this, who wrote your college book, a man? Well there you go, books are where we're gonna gain wisdom, but we don't seek after the wisdom of this world, we use the lens of God's word to help guide us in all truth and understanding, the Holy Spirit that dwells in you will show you how to gain wisdom, we do that by reading books, but in 1 Peter, I didn't finish my point of the why, but let me tell you more about the why, 1 Peter, look down at chapter 1, verse 13, the Bible reads, wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus, and it said, Jesus Christ has obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the form of lust in your ignorance, but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, because it is written, be ye holy, for I am holy, holy there means complete, you need to be complete as a Christian, and it says gird up the loins of your mind, a better way for you kids to understand this is, you know when you put on your pants and you put on a belt, this is girding up your pants, this is fast, get your pants to fit you, it's saying tighten up your mind, minds can run away on all matters of things, we can run away on our YouTube, we can run away on games, we can run away, and we need to control what we think, and I get that the odds are stacked against you guys, you don't realize that the world is trying to drown your mind out with bad things, but coming to a church, especially a church like this, and listening to your parents, you're gonna know how to strengthen your mind and to gird up your mind, get ready to understand your place in the world, to be smart mentally, you need to be smart, gain strength in your mind, and gain strength in your body as well, but it also says in Ecclesiastes 7 and 25, it says I find mine hard to know and to search and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly even the foolishness and madness, we need to know that when we seek wisdom and understanding, you're gonna have friends, we're gonna have co-workers in our life that are telling you, don't listen to the Bible when it says don't look on the line, when it turns itself a riot, it's fine to drink sometimes, don't listen to them, it is a foolish thing to take the world's advice on matters on alcohol, drugs, a spouse, or anything like that, let's use the lens of God's Word to teach us these things, that we look at the world and see the foolishness and the folly of what they're doing, and say to ourselves, yeah I don't want to go into that direction, turn if you would to Proverbs 4, Proverbs 4 verse 5 says get wisdom, get understanding, forget it not, neither decline from the words of my mouth, forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee, love her and she shall keep thee, wisdom is the principle thing, therefore get wisdom, and with all thy getting, get understanding, this is a commandment of God that we need to seek to be smart, we need to have ekaika in our manao, or in our thoughts, or in how we think, we need to have ekaika in our ekino, or in our body, in our physical strength, so we get it Dave, be strong in your mind, we get it Dave, how do I get strong mentally, read books, how do I get strong physically, work out, well I work a white collar job, take time in your day to also go to a gym, do an extracurricular activity, surf, hunt, hike, there are other ways to gain strength as a man of God or as a person of God, we don't have to be body builders, but we should try to instill confidence in our employer that we're strong enough to grab the paper and put it into the print, I mean there are people out there who can't even do that for trying out loud, and you should be able to when your boss tells you grab two logs, okay grab two logs, grab that 4x4, grab the 4x4, you know, and I could get into a whole other discussion on when it comes to physical strength in the blue collar world, but I already explained what I think to be the standard, bench press your own weight, run a mile in eight minutes or less, you'll be fine, well if we want to get these things aligned, we need to first be spiritually strong, and spiritually strong is brought up a lot in the Bible, the Bible teaches a lot about walk in the Spirit, walk not after the flesh, we need to not grieve the Spirit, but rather we need to pick up our cross daily, follow after Christ, and neglect ourselves, I want to, the sinful man, sin that is in me, that is in my flesh, does not want to do the things of God, but the Spirit, the new creature, the new man wants to do the things that are with God, and there is a war waging in our hearts, in the minds of Christians, to do what is right, or to do what the flesh wants, the flesh wants to sit at home, eat burgers, watch TV, do nothing, the Spirit says there is a world out there, of people who are dying and going to hell, and I strongly believe we need to not grieve that Spirit, get on our feet, walk over to the door, go into the highways and hedges, and preach the word of God, you just gained wisdom by doing this, you just gained strength by doing this, because the average soul winner in this church, churches like ours, probably walks on average of five miles a week, because of just soul winning alone, I'm not saying other extracurricular activity, but just being able to function, if you're soul winning, one, two weeks, two days of the week, you're already walking more than the average person, on top of your job, on top of school, on top of whatever else you do, so we need to gain spiritual strength. The Bible says we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, we're not out fighting a physical battle anymore, unless you're in the military, but you shouldn't even be there, but if you are, just make sure you trust in the Lord, you know, it says the horse is prepared under the day of battle, you can work out all day long, you can mentally strengthen your mind all day long, but safety is of the Lord, if the Lord is against you, you know, it says it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God, if God is against you, even as a born again believer in Christ, know this, Samson, the great strong man Samson was, God was able to abase him, because he spiritually was weak, he spiritually did the wrong things, as a Nazarene, what was expected of him was to never drink wine, he did, he was not supposed to touch the carcass of anything, he then ate honey out of the carcass of a lion that he killed, God took his strength from him, and God can take your strength from you, you know what, he can even take your mental mind from you, as he did to Nebuchadnezzar, he took his mind from him, if God is against, if God be for us, no one can be against us, but nevertheless, if you're not doing the right things, God will come down on you, and unto whom much is given of him shall much be required, you guys here, men, women, boys, girls, you are given the oracles of God, you are given sound, heart, preaching, you are given salvation, you are given so much of you shall much be required, and I know we are all going to fail, we cannot always live by the Spirit, it is impossible if we have this flesh, but we can try to pick up our cross daily, and when we do wrong, forsake it, ask God for the forgiveness, and move on with your life, putting behind those things which are behind, and moving forward into those things which are to come, so turn if you would to 1 Timothy, 1 Timothy the Bible reads in chapter, I'm sorry, 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 7, the Bible reads, but refuse profane and old wise fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness, for bodily exercise profiteth little, but godliness is profitable to all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. Does it say bodily exercise doesn't profit, or does it say it profits little? It profits little in the scheme of eternity, in the scheme of the soul that needs to be saved, your physical accolades is irrelevant to that soul who needs to be saved, but your spirit that is strong, if you preach the word of God boldly, and change the lives of those around you by preaching hard against sin, and helping people to get sin out of their life, you may change the life of a Christian, and they'll become a great soul winner, and they'll become a great man of God, and as Paul told the people I think of, the Philippians, you know I expect fruit on your account, you know if you preach the word of God, those whose hearts are sown on the good ground will learn to get the sin out of their life, and they will be able to bring forth 30, 60, 100 fold, and how strong you are is irrelevant in the scheme of eternity, but it doesn't say it doesn't profit. So how do we gain spiritual strength? Read your Bible, come to church, if you can three to thrive, if you can do extra for the church, if you can go soul winning, one, two, three, four, as much as you possibly can, and we're not expecting you to go crazy on your soul winning, we're not expecting you to read your Bible as much as maybe the pastor does, but don't you have 15 minutes a day to read, don't you have an hour a week to go evangelize, like can't you give to God and the things that are God, the Bible teaches that it is our duty to give our bodies a living sacrifice, I mean I've said it before, the least I can do for God is give him everything that I am, because he gave me everything that he was and died on the cross for me, I don't have to go evangelize, and I don't have to read my Bible, but you know what, unto whom much is given of him shall much be required, so that's ultimately what we're trying to get, let's read our Bibles, let's go to church, let's soul win, let's gain our spiritual strength, and when we do that we're going to mentally be stronger, and if we're mentally stronger and spiritually stronger, we will physically be stronger in the end, so what about you women, you know, like I said, there's something in here for you too, this isn't just for men, you know, women, turn if you would to Proverbs 31, this is the, you know, famous Proverbs 31 woman, and ladies in here probably know where I'm going with this, but nevertheless, this is an attribute that you women can also have in your lives to help in your daily life, like I was saying earlier, if you can't do it in a skirt, maybe you shouldn't do it or in a dress, but you can still seek to be strong as a woman, the Bible reads in Hebrews 11, through faith, trust in the Lord, also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful, who had promised, because she spiritually was strong, she trusted in the Lord, because of that she said into her heart, because I am old, will my Lord provide unto me a child, you know, she was out, she laughed, and then because of that God said through strength she was able to conceive child, so because she was spiritually strong, she was manifested to be physically strong as well, through the promise of God, but in Proverbs 31, the famous Proverbs 31 woman, the woman who is someone that you ladies can look up to for your spiritual high point of what you're trying to do, we should always look to Christ, but obviously this woman has things that you can apply to you directly, it says in verse 17, it says she girded her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms, see strength is also important for you ladies, now don't try to be stronger than your husbands, that is ridiculous, if your husbands, if your dads, if your grandparents can haul three logs, can haul three babies, don't try to outdo him, just do what you can do, but strengthen your arms, you know, if you can carry a baby, carry also the diaper bag as well, you know, I mean, you can get stronger as a woman, and when you're stronger, it's only going to better you for your daily tasks of cooking, of keeping the home and other things like that, or making money outside or in the home, as it says, as it keeps going, it says she perceiveth that her merchandise is good, see we're talking about her merchandise, her candle goeth not out by night, she layeth her hands to the spindle and her hands hold to the distaff, she strengtheneth her hand to the, or stretches out her hand to the poor, she reaches forth her hand to the needy, she's not afraid of the snow for her household, for all her household are clothed with scarlet, she maketh her coverings of tapestry, her clothing is silk and purple, her husband is known in the gates, when she sitteth among the elders, when he sitteth among the elders of the land, she maketh fine linen and selleth it, and delivereth girdles unto the merchant, so she's mentally strong, she's able to make money from home, she's physically strong, she stretches forth her hand to the distaff, she sews, she makes good clothing, she's not worried about her home, but she also is able to make money from home, so she's mentally strong as well, but not only that, she's spiritually strong, how do you know David, it says in 25, strength and honor are her clothing, and she shall rejoice in the time to come, she opened her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness, she looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness, her children will rise up, and call her blessed, her husband also, and she perishes, and he praises her, many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excelest of all, favors deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised, if you fear the Lord, and you spiritually get right with God, you're gonna mentally get right with God, be able to help provide for your home, get able to help with your, what your responsibility is as a wife, or a mother, or even just a normal lady, who is a single lady, or even a teenage girl, or a younger girl, these are things that you need to understand, and even all of us can strengthen ourselves in all these ways, and in doing so, you should seek to be strong, stronger than your husband, no, stronger than your dad, no, but seek to be strong, what's the conclusion of the matter, turn to Ecclesiastes, if you would, chapter 9, and actually, also keep a finger in 1st Corinthians, where we started, this is the conclusion of the matter, there's always something we can strengthen in our lives, like I was saying, not everyone can physically be strong, not everyone can mentally be strong, there are people with mental handicaps, there are people who are, you know, have down syndrome, there are people who have Alzheimer's, elderly people, there are people who have mental incapabilities, but you know what, we can all gain spiritually, even a person who is in the side of the world to be a simpleton, who cannot grasp the deep teachings of wisdom and understanding, who cannot physically gain strength, they are withered, they are handicapable, if you're handicapable, seek to be smart, if you're handicapable and can't be strong, seek to be spiritually strong, we can all seek spiritual strength, if we have strength in our, you know, like I said, we should have ikika in our kino, strength in our body, we should have ikika in our mano'o, strength in our thoughts, if we have ikika or uhane, strength in our spirit, God is able to lift you up in due time, and we need to defend the doctrine of strengthening ourselves, let's not be known in this church to be weak people, the men of God who preach from these pulpit need to be preaching boldly the word of God, standing strong on doctrine, standing strong on the things, the principles, and the teachings of Christianity, and the world should look at the men of us and be afraid to break into our homes, afraid to call out these people because they're gonna be called out for being stupid if they're gonna come at us with the evolution theory, if they're gonna come at us with false doctrine, how many times, you and I know, when you hit the door, you tell someone about Christianity, you're preaching to them the word of God, and they bring up stupid things like, well, judge God, let's you be judged, it's like, wait a second, you're not even professing to be a Christian, you're gonna tell me about Christ, what the Bible teaches? No, let's stand strong on these doctrines, let's stand strong on the doctrine of strength, but in Ecclesiastes 9, where I had you turn, look at verse 10, the Bible reads, whatsoever thy hand findeth to do it, do it with thy might, for there is no work, no device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whether thou goest, I return and saw unto the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle of the strong, neither yet bred to the wise, nor yet riches to the men of understanding, nor yet favored to men of skill, but time and chance happeneth to them all. It doesn't matter how strong you are if you're not serving God, it doesn't matter how smart you are if you're not serving God, learn to strengthen your spirit. What did it say in 1 Corinthians? Go back there, what does it say? It says, for Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdoms of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect, for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved. It is the power of God. You want the power of God? You want the strength of God upon you? Preach the cross, preach the Bible, you will be strong as a man of God, a woman of God, a child of God. You know, it says, for it is written, the word of God is where we get power, how it will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? If not God made foolish the wisdom of this world, for after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom, do not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. The world looks at Christianity as foolishness. We don't, just because that's what they say, doesn't make it true. And what is the last thing? Say in verse 29, it says that no flesh should glory in its presence. You know, we need to humble ourselves on the side of the Lord. It says not very many wise are called, and it says the weak things of this world to confound the mighty. Not weak as in weak physically, weak in comparison to the world. If I knock the door of a big biker, 300 pound sole egg, who's calling me out for preaching to him the word of God, you think I'm afraid of him? He ought to be afraid of God. I'm not afraid of what man can do unto me. We ought to be afraid what God can do unto you and him. And he's the one who needs to be afraid. Let's stand boldly. Let's gain strength in our body. Let's gain strength in our mind, and let's gain strength in our spirits. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this church. Thank you so much for everyone who is here to hear your word. Please help us in our week and in our lives to gain strength in you, to help us to serve you, and that will help us in our further life. Please be there for Greta with the baby, that everything goes safely and that everyone's fine, and that your will be done and be with us for the rest of this afternoon. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.