STAND ALONE

Are you prepared to Stand Alone? (Explain That you are never alone. God is always with you)

WHO AM (I)?

I want you to ponder this question while we go along and in a little bit I will answer it in a little bit. I don’t think it will be the answer you’re expecting but I hope you truly understand.

Daniel—The Triumph of God’s Kingdom Chapter 1: No Compromise

Dr. Bryan Chapell (former President of Covenant Theological Seminary) tells a story of the wife of a full-time student at Covenant Seminary. Like the wives of many seminarians, Karen was earning money to keep her husband in school and food on the table. In her case, Karen made her living as a quality-control inspector for a major pharmaceutical company.

One day, through faulty procedures, the automated machines produced a large order of syringes that became contaminated and therefore failed inspection. Karen reported the problem to her boss, but he quickly computed the costs of reproducing the order and made a “cost-effective” decision. Because so much money would be lost in replacing the syringes, the boss ordered Karen to sign the inspection clearance despite the contamination. She refused, but this did not get her off the hook.

Because of certain federal regulations, only Karen could sign the clearance forms. If Karen did not sign, the syringes could not be marketed. The boss urged and threatened, but Karen would not budge. The impasse between Karen and her superior led to a visit from the company president. He also computed the costs of reproduction and issued his decision: The forms must be signed. Karen would have the weekend to think over whether or not she would sign the clearances. The president told her that if she was still determined not to sign the forms on Monday, her job would be in jeopardy.

In fact, much more than Karen’s job would be in jeopardy. This was her only means of income, and it was a well-paying job, not easily replaced. Randy’s education and their family’s future were severely endangered. The hopes, dreams, and career plans of many years could be shattered as a result of the choice that had to be made in the next two days. When Dr. Bryan Chapell, the seminary’s president, told this story, he concluded with the following words: “For this young couple, all the theological jargon and doctrinal instruction about consecration, righteousness, and holiness suddenly came down to this one concrete decision: Could they afford to remain undefiled from the contamination the world of business practicalities urged Karen to approve?”

What would you do?

Better yet, what would I do?

Karen was definitely “Standing Alone” in this. The only question I have now and you probably do too is, did she continue to stand alone on her beliefs or did she cave.

I don’t know how this story ends because he doesn’t finish it. He was telling it in reference to not compromising, but when I read it I immediately thought about Karen “Standing Alone”.

The other thing I think about when I read this story is, Identity.

Was Karens Identity so rooted and grounded in Christ that she remained firm standing alone on her faith that following Monday when they told her again to sign the clearances?

I don’t know. I would love to stand up here and tell y’all she did and that everything worked out to the glory of the Lord. But I can’t.

I would like to stand up here and tell you with all confidence that i would continue to tell them no, I would not do it, but man, this is a major decision. Maybe this is why God had me prepare a sermon on this subject of “Standing Alone” so that it helps me as much as it helps you.

This where the rubber meets the road or where Faith meets a MOUNTAIN!

This is when you MUST have your identity firmly rooted and grounded in Christ or you won’t be able to Stand Alone.

So the first step in being able to Stand Alone is to make sure that your identity is in Christ Jesus.

Lets look at Daniel 1:1–2

Daniel 1:1–2 ESV

1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god.

I want us to take a closer look at these two verses. It was roughly about a century after King Hezekiah’s reign that King Nebuchadnezzar came and besieged Jerusalem, breaking down its walls and burning its gates.

In verse two we see that The Lord gave Jehoiakim (who was an evil king) to King Nebuchadnezzar along with some of the vessels of the house of God.

Now this attack on Jerusalem was prophesied by Isaiah to King Hezekiah during the latter part of his reign.

2 Kings 20:16–18 ESV

16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: 17 Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. 18 And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

We can literally see this prophecy happening in the first two verses of Daniel Chapter 1.

Hezekiah was a good king (the bible says that he did right in the sight of The Lord) but he had his moments of stupidity. He allowed Berodach-baladan who was the king of Babylon during that time to see all of his treasure house.

That was a complete moment of stupidity for him to show off all of the treasures in his treasure house.

When Isaiah confronted him, Hezekiah actually said “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries that I have not shown them.”

What a bonehead move.

He literally let the enemy come in to his treasure house and see all the treasurers he had. There was nothing that he didn’t show them.

So, fast forward to Daniel 1:1-2

We can literally see this prophecy happening in the first two verses of Daniel Chapter 1.

This evil King Nebuchadnezzar not only broke down the walls of Jerusalem, he also plundered the temple. This evil king stole vessels that belonged in Gods temple and he took them to the temple of his pagan god and put them in the treasuries of his pagan god.

This temple is where God dwelled among his people much like how the Holy Spirit dwells in the hearts of Born again believers.

If you are a born again believer your body is now the temple of the Holy Spirit. God doesn’t dwell in a church building somewhere. He dwells in your heart.

This is why you should guard your hearts. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit!

Paul said “Glorify God in your body”!

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 ESV

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

We might think that Paul is saying that we need to watch what we eat. Thats true, we should try to take care of our bodies by the way we eat. Maybe we should do some things to exercise our bodies also. I know I need to do more exercise and eat less.

Im not talking about that right now.

I am talking about what you take in to your body through your mind. Because if you take garbage in garbage is gonna come out.

Lets look at what Jesus said in Matthew 15:11…

Matthew 15:11 ESV

11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”

What comes out of a persons mouth shows what his/her thoughts are.

Have your ever heard of that saying “A drunk mans words are a sober mans thoughts?”

Your mouth reveals your mind and your world of thought.

You see, what ever you fill your mind with is whats gonna come out of your mouth.

If you fill your mind with the things of this world like watching movies with excessive cursing, violence, sex, homosexuality. It doesn't have to be movies it can be just TV in general.

It can be video games. some of those can be really rough.

What about pornography?

Lets take a look at some mind blowing stats here…

Over 40 million Americans are regular visitors to porn sites. The average visit lasts 6 minutes and 29 seconds

There are around 42 million porn websites, which totals around 370 million pages of porn

The porn industry’s annual revenue is MORE than the NFL, NBA, and MLB combined. It is also more than the combined revenues of ABC, CBS, and NBC.

47% of families in the United States reported that pornography is a problem in their home.

Pornography use increases the marital infidelity rate by more than 300%.

Eleven is the average age that a child is first exposed to porn, and 94% of children will see porn by the age of 14.

56% of American divorces involve one party having an “obsessive interest” in pornographic websites.

70% of Christian youth pastors report that they have had at least one teen come to them for help in dealing with pornography in the past 12 months.

68% of church going men and over 50% of pastors view porn on a regular basis. Of young Christian adults 18-24 years old, 76% actively search for porn.

59% of pastors said that married men seek their help for porn use.

33% of women aged 25-and-under search for porn at least once per month.

Only 13% of self identified Christian women say they never watch porn – 87% of Christian women have watched porn.

55% of married men and 25% of married women say they watch porn at least once a month.

57% of pastors say porn addiction is the most damaging issue in their congregation. And 69% say porn has adversely impacted the church.

Im gonna go ahead and say this.

With statistics like this I think it would be safe to say that more than one person in this room has looked at porn at some point in their life. Maybe some one you’re sitting beside right now has either looked at porn in the last several days or possibly is addicted to it and is looking at it daily.

If you have a problem with this and want help. Please please reach out to your pastor and ask for help. I promise you that you will not be condemned and that it will remain with him!

I mentioned earlier about movies with excessive cursing, violence, sex, homosexuality.

Now i’m not saying that because you play violent games or watch violent movies that you’re gonna go out and do the same thing. Im just saying we need to be careful what we take into our bodies through our minds because it does have an affect on us.

When we are continually exposed to stuff it will eventually dull our senses.

Take for instance TV. It used to be that you would never see anything on TV that had anything to do with Homosexuality. Now you can’t hardly watch one thing with out it having a gay couple in it.

The TV industry started slowly creeping it in over the years and now for some its normal. Our kids don’t even know what its like to NOT have homosexuality around them. It has become completely normal to them.

I am not trying to be hateful at all with what i’m saying. God does not like homosexuality. He says it plainly in his word. He also says to love in his word too.

Love the sinner and hate the sin

Their sin through their life style is no worse than any other sin. We are the ones who classify sin. Sin is sin is sin.

Romans 6:23 ESV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Gods word says “For the wages of SIN is death”

He didn’t say for the wages of homosexuality is death

He didn’t say for the wages of adultery is death

He said “For the wages of SIN is death”

Hate the sin not the sinner! Christ died for them too

Love them enough to tell them the truth in LOVE!

Don’t allow this worlds negative things to enter your heart. This is what satan wants. Much like what King Nebuchadnezzar did to Gods temple. He wants to plunder your hearts too because he wants to make you doubt your faith. He wants to dull your senses so that when you look at sin you say oh thats not to bad. He wants to make you ineffective for Christ. He knows that your saved so he lost that battle but if he can make you ineffective for Christ then you won’t share the gospel to others and it will stunt the growth of Gods Kingdom through you.

So guard your hearts!

YOUR BODY IS THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT!!!

Don’t compromise your heart by allowing satan to come in to the temple of the Holy Spirit and plunder your heart.

Because he will. He will take your love, joy, peace and he can cause you to misplace your identity.

You see, your actions flow from you identity. And if your identity is in Christ then you will be able to Stand Alone on your faith. You will be able to Stand Alone on Gods word.

Remember that question I asked at the start? Who Am I?

Who

Am

C_h_r_I_s_t

If your “I” is not in Christ then your Identity is misplaced!

Is your identity misplaced?

Has your personal devotion time has dwindled

2. Does your beliefs keep shifting

3. Have you lost your passion for Christ.

4. Are you constantly seeking approval and validation from the world or man

5. Have you lost your joy.

6. Do you not have a sense of peace?

A lot of us find our identity in what we do and not in who we are and who’s we are.

If this is whats happening to you, then lets put our “I”back in Christ!!!

Lets find our identity in him

Start spending time daily in his word and have a quite time with him. It doesn’t matter if its a long time or a short time. Just be consistent

2. Actively spend time in prayer

3. Intentionally live your life according to the values and teachings of Jesus

4. Allow your identity to be shaped by His love and grace

If you are a born again Christian remember who you are in Christ.

You are loved, redeemed, and chosen by God

You are a child of the most high king

When your identity is in Christ you will be able to “Stand Alone”

Speaking of Standing Alone.

There was someone who stood alone for all of us and his name is Jesus.

Lets look at how he stood alone for us.

Remember last week Jeff talked about making it personal when we refer to Jesus sacrifice and that he was your sacrifice.

Well we’re going to continue that here because he Stood Alone for you. He endured everything for you. He sacrificed himself for you!

Matthew 27:27–31 ESV

27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. 28 And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. 31 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.

Matthew 27:45–46 ESV

45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”