The verses that we just read are at the end of Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians. And as such, these words are to be understood as a summation of what was written earlier in the letter. Paul had addressed several spiritual challenges that the Corinthians were dealing with. There were divisions, sharp divisions within the church. There was open sexual immorality in the church. They were suing each other in the civil courts. There was a lot of pride in the church. They were abusing the Lord's Supper. They misunderstood and misapplied their spiritual gifts. There was disorder in their worship services. And they were entertaining heresy concerning the resurrection from the dead. So having addressed all of these issues with the Corinthians, the apostle is now wrapping up this epistle, and he gives them these five commands that we just read, these five commands for how they are to proceed forward in obedience to the Lord. Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong, and let all that you do be done in love. Now, it's my intention to address each of these five commands over the next five Sundays. Lord willing, as we read and consider what His law has to say for us on the next five Sundays, we will better understand each of these commands that Paul is writing to the Corinthians. Today, however, I simply want you to note the tone and the direction of these five commands. Notice how each of them is worded positively. A negative command tells us what not to do, whereas a positive command tells us what we ought to do. The Holy Spirit could have inspired Paul to write, don't be complacent, don't let your guard down, Don't ignore what's going on around you. But instead, he, the Spirit, inspired Paul to write a positive command. Watch. And the Spirit could have inspired Paul to write, don't give in to the culture. Don't be misled by the world. But instead, he inspired Paul to write a positive command. Stand fast in the faith. Paul could have written, don't be a coward. but he wrote, be brave. He could have written, don't be a wimp, don't be a pushover, but he wrote, be strong. He could have written, don't be selfish, don't be prideful, don't be cold-hearted, but he wrote, let all that you do be done in love. Positive commands. It's not wrong to give negative commands. This should be evident simply by looking at the commands that God gives to us in the Bible. Some of God's commands are worded positively. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Honor your father and your mother. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Many of God's commands are worded positively, and yet many others are worded negatively. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. And as I've already mentioned, The apostle Paul has spent a significant portion of this epistle telling the Corinthians what they are not to do. But here at the end, he concludes with positive commands, telling the Corinthians what they ought to do, what they should be doing. And we learn a biblical principle from this. If you're in a position to command other people, maybe you're raising children, maybe you manage people at work, Maybe you coach a soccer team. If you're in a position to command other people, then it's okay to tell them what not to do, but you also need to tell them what they ought to do. If all you do is tell them what not to do, then you create an environment of uncertainty, an environment of uncertainty. Your children or your employees or your soccer team will never really know what they're supposed to be doing. Imagine if the soccer coach, if all the soccer coach said to his team is, don't touch the ball with your hands, don't let the other team steal the ball away from you, and don't kick the ball out of bounds. Right, if those things are necessary for the coach to say, that's not wrong for him to have said those things, but if he doesn't instruct his team on how to pass the ball to the other team members and how to, most importantly, kick the ball into the goal, then he has not done a sufficient job of teaching, of coaching. His players will be thinking, okay, don't do this, don't do this, don't do this, and so they're gonna dribble the ball around aimlessly on the field trying to not touch it with their hands or let it go out of bounds or let the opponents take it. That's how it is when parents only tell their children what not to do. It creates an environment of uncertainty. The children will lack clarity on what the parents want them to do. They'll know all the things the parents disapprove of, but they won't be certain about what the parents approve. So they'll be confused, and eventually they'll become frustrated. This is one of the ways parents provoke their children to anger. And the Proverbs says to train up a child in the way that he should go. Train up a child in a way that he should go. And when he gets old, he will not depart from it. So if you are in a position to command other people, recognize that you have a responsibility to direct them in a proper way, the way that they should go. Give them guidance. Equip them with understanding so that they can move forward in confidence, knowing what the goal is, what the intention is. It's okay to tell them what they need to put off, but be sure to tell them what they need to put on as well. And that's what God has done for us in his word, and that's what we need to be doing with each other. In fact, this is one of the ways that we can consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. These kind of admonitions from the word of God remind us of our need to repent, where the Lord has shown you your sin, where he has borne his spirit, has borne witness to you in your conscience, convicting you of your sin. Then remember that God, pardons and forgives all who truly confess their sins, repenting while trusting in the atoning work of Jesus Christ. Because repentance includes confession, we make a practice of confessing our sins to the Lord. It pleases the Lord when we come to Him in the name of Jesus Christ, acknowledging our sins and asking His forgiveness and His grace to walk in a more obedient path. And so let's take a moment to confess our sins to God. We're gonna have a few moments of silence. And during the silence, I encourage you to pray privately in your private communications with the Lord, confessing whatever sins he's burdened your heart with. And if that happens to be the sin of not commanding people in a positive way, but only a negative way, then you can confess that sin. But anything the Lord has revealed to you, bring it to the cross of Jesus Christ where there is redemption and forgiveness. And after a suitable time of silence, I'll conclude us with a corporate prayer of confession. Let's pray.