Standing Strong

"The more of God's Word you know and love, the more of God's Spirit you will experience." ~ John Piper

C. J. Mahaney “Today, the greatest challenge facing American Believers is not persecution from the world, but seduction by the world.”

If you want your life to have maximum impact, you must learn how to navigate successfully through the issues of others… Everybody is an expert, right? You know what an expert is right “ A Drip under pressure”

I. Standing Strong is knowing what we are in a Battle.

a. Our study and application of God’s Words need to go beyond our own lives. It needs to affect our families, our friends, and those over who God has given us oversight.

b. David Jeremiah, Jesus' Final Warning "This is a time when all of God's people need to keep their eyes and their Bibles wide open. We must ask God for discernment as never before."

c. Why? Because there is some really bad theology out there.

d. “One of the leading Pastors in my Beloved Denomination 3 Buckets

One Bucket Scriptures that express God’s heart, character and timeless will for human beings.

Two Buckets Scriptures that expressed God’s will in a particular time, but are no longer binding.

i. Third Bucket that never fully expressed the heart, character, or will of God.

Second Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”

ii. The world is calling us to embrace all sorts of craziness!

1. Every ill in our society has been because of changes to our foundation.

2. Winston S. Churchill A love for tradition has never weakened a nation, indeed it has strengthened nations in their hour of peril.

3. The season of ministry that you are currently in was given by God, in God, and for God, 1 Cor 1:27 “to display his glory and his ability to work through the weak and foolish things of the world”

II. Standing Strong also is Who are we Battling “Wolves from the outsiders. 29

a. vs 29 Jude 1:10 Jude calls the false teachers "brute beasts," Jesus called them "ravenous wolves" (Matthew 7:15).Paul called them "savage wolves" (Acts 20:29) They have sunk down to the level of animals in that their only desire is to satiate their own soul, They really cannot comprehend the higher values because they only think in terms of gratifying themselves. All they want is what they think is theirs—their position, their food, their gratification, and their prestige. The object of their desire makes no difference. If they want it, if they feel they need it.

c. This is precisely what happened in the churches of Galatia.Paul called them "savage wolves" (Acts 20:29) Paul called them who came into the church to bring people into bondage false brethren infiltrated our ranks…” Galatians 2:4

e. Peter warned the little flock of believing Israel of the same thing. 2 Peter 2:1 -3

f. Paul warned that these wolves will enter among you, not sparing the flock. These kinds of people do not care about the health and well-being of the flock, but rather, they are concerned with their own self-promotion and their own agenda. And their next book!

III. Standing Strong is Standing against what is not true.

a. Notice they ( distort the truth) KJV speak perverse things.

b. This word perverse means “to distort; to corrupt.

c. In other words, they twist words and distort stories to make themselves look good and others look bad. Just like the wolves we looked at, they have their own agenda, and it’s not about furthering the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

d. Paul wrote in 2 Thess 2:15 “So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.”

Jeff Greenway and Mike Lowry’s Book Multiplying Methodism: A Bod Witness of Wesleyan Faith. “Alister McGrath defines heresy this way: “A heresy is a doctrine that ultimately destroys, destabilizes, or distorts a mystery rather than preserving it.”

Francis Schaeffer “People drift from generation to generation, and the morally unthinkable becomes thinkable as the years move on.”