Take The Stand

ME-Count The Cost

When I first started following Jesus 16 years ago, a lot of things changed quickly. I had been used to partying with any group of people I could find... people in the factory I worked at, at the school I went to, and friends from my hometown. 

Every weekend we would try to find out what kind of stupidity we could get in.

And at work, almost all of us cussed like sailors, and I went right along with that too.

You see, when you work night shift in a car factory with a bunch of dudes, you talk about as much stupid stuff as you can imagine so you can stay awake and keep from going insane. 

But all that party life and those dirty words were just a cover in my life for a messed-up and depressed soul.

I think that’s true with many who are held hostage by sin.

Then I met Jesus and He set me free.

But all those friends kept calling to go the club, the Frat party, and the bar. 

But I was living for Jesus now, so I told those people no. Over and over and over again.

Many of those friends respected my new faith in Jesus, but didn’t understand why I wouldn’t go and do the things I used to.

Here’s why:

“If anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation. The old has gone, and the new has come.”

2 Corinthians 5:17

Jesus made me brand new; and the down, depressed guy that would try to drown his sorrows by drinking and pretending like all life was a party, the guy that was trying to put on a tough persona when he was hurting inside, was dead.

I was made new and Jesus gave me a new name: child of God.

I made a decision to live fully and stand up for Jesus when most around me wanted nothing to do with Christ.

I found the peace that I had been searching for.

BUT... I had to give up hanging out with those people, except for at work and playing basketball.

But even in those environments, I lived and reacted differently. No more cussing or raunchy jokes. No more getting insanely mad, ready to take someone’s head off on the basketball court. 

I gave up those things and many of those friends (which was hard for me)…

but I found SO MUCH MORE in Jesus.

WE

We’ve all had moments in our lives when doing the right thing wasn’t the easy thing. Sometimes we choose the hard and right path, and others times we back away from it. Let’s take a look at one man who chose the right thing in the midst of one of the most grueling days in history:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ergGhuEwYhg&feature=youtu.be

Harry Read probably didn’t feel like jumping into a literal war zone with bombs dropping all around. There was a good chance he would die or become wounded once he jumped out of that plane. But he chose to do it anyway because it was the right thing to do for the freedom of his country and the world.

So what do we do in those moments?

No, we haven’t faced anything as intense as D-day, but we do face situations when we don’t feel like doing the right thing because the other option seems so much easier.

Cheating on a test is easier than studying. But it’s wrong.

Lying to a parent is sometimes easier than fessing up to the dumb thing we did.

Still wrong.

Talking bad about someone because others are doing it is easy to do. But it’s still wrong.

And here’s the thing: every time we choose the wrong thing because it’s easy, it ends up being harder on us in the end.

We get caught cheating and get an “F” or we don’t learn what we should we don’t study.

Mom and Dad find out we’re lying and we get in a TON of trouble or we develop a habit of lying that’s so bad people can never trust us.

We find out the person we talked bad about is now struggling with depression because of our actions.

Our world tells us constantly to do the easy thing over the right thing. But that’s never what Jesus tells us.

For every Christian, there comes a time in our lives when we make a decision to turn away from the things that bind us in sin and give all that over to Jesus...

Maybe it’s friends that are influencing us the wrong way, habits that are unhealthy, or doing the popular thing even when we know it’s wrong.

Choosing to do the right thing will often cost us something.

But that cost is small compared to what is gained in the end: Life everlasting.

GOD

The Book of Revelation is known mostly for End Times Prophecy. It was my favorite book when I was younger. Today we’re going to look at every day, practical instructions on how to live like a Christian straight from Jesus Himself in the Book of Revelation.

Revelation 2:12–17 ESV

“And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword. “ ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’

Rev. 2:13-15

You’re staying true, but hanging around others who aren’t...

You live near satan's throne, but you are still true to me. Yet you're still putting up with people who follow fake gods and fake beliefs.

Pergamum was the political center of the Roman Empire’s influence in Asia.

It was also known as a “healing center” where a lot of rich and influential people would go to get medical care.

But listen to one way they treated you there:

At one hospital/health spa called “Asklepion,” patients entered through an underground tunnel. Then they drank a sedative, and spent the night in the dormitories of the Asklepion, while non-poisonous snakes crawled around them all night. They were told that the serpent-god Asklepios would speak to them in their dreams and give them a diagnosis.

“It was believed that the snakes carried the healing power of Asklepios,” and if a snake slithered across you while you were sleeping at night, that was a divine sign that healing power was coming to you.”

SNAKES. CRAWLING ON YOU. ALL NIGHT.

NOPE!

Could you imagine going to the hospital and the doctors and nurses just throw a bunch of snakes on you?

“Night night, sleep tight, don’t let the death serpents bite!”

“No thanks, bye FELICIA!”

So the people there worshipped a fake snake god, but that wasn’t even the worst thing there...the worst thing of all there was the Great Altar of Zeus, the king of the Greek gods.

*Show “throne of satan” pic*

Many scholars believe this altar is what Jesus says is the “throne of satan”

The Bishop or Pastor of the Christian Church in this city was named Antipas.

He cast out so many demons from people in this city that the priests of the fake gods reported him to the authorities.

He was ordered to make a sacrifice to a fake god, but he refused. Then he was killed for staying true to Jesus... on the great altar of zeus (the throne of satan.)

And check this out:

1,800 years later, in the 19th century, German engineers dismantled this altar and took it to Berlin. The so-called "throne of satan" went on display in the city's Pergamon Museum in 1930, just in time to inspire one of the most brutal dictators the world has ever seen: Adolph Hitler.

*Show Pic of Hitler*

Antipas stood up for Jesus even in the face of death…and many Christians stood up for Jesus in the face of Hitler’s death squads.

Opposition and persecution do one of two things: either make witnesses of Christians or destroy them

Witnessing in the face of satanic persecution is the real deal… something we have a hard time fully understanding. The church in Pergamum stood up and shouted the name of Jesus in the face of intense pressure to act like people around them and worship fake gods.

But… they still put up with some around them in the church who ate food sacrificed to fake gods and thought it was ok “Share” women in romantic relationships… even if they were married.

So they were doing some things well… but were terrible at other things...

Rev. 2: 16-17

Stop giving into these people! Repent and listen to the Holy Spirit, and I will give you a new name written on a white stone.

Jesus is urging them to stop letting these people mess things up and to get fully on fire for Jesus so that He can give them a new name.

Only a Christian themself knows for sure when the name of Christ has been engraved upon their character. The white stone stands for the purified character of Christians and shows that they are adopted as God’s children. God’s people are a purified people no matter what’s going on around them.

WHEN I STAND FOR JESUS IN A WORLD FULL OF EVIL, HE GIVES ME A NEW NAME AND PURIFIES ME.

That new name is Jesus written across our hearts. His holiness. His character. His love and compassion. His integrity. All that is good and true is in Jesus, and He wants us to be Holy and true as He is. So when we stand up for Him, honoring Him above all else, He blesses us with that new name.

Story of North Korean Christians

YOU

John 1:10-13 (MSG)

He was in the world,

the world was there through him,

and yet the world didn’t even notice.

He came to his own people,

but they didn’t want him.

But whoever did want him,

who believed he was who he claimed

and would do what he said,

He made to be their true selves,

their child-of-God selves.

In order to preserve our purity, it’s not enough for us to just be baptized and believe; we must live a life worthy of it.

Ephesians 4:1 ESV

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,

If you’re a Christian in this room, you have been called to a special calling by God. But you can’t recognize or fulfill that calling unless you are striving to live like Jesus Christ.

The call of Jesus is to trust Him to the end. When you come to follow Him as Savior, He promises to carry you along all the way home. Your job is to remain committed and be aware of what is out there that may try to take your mind off him. The promise of Jesus is that your identity is now in Him; He has given you a new name as His child. There is something powerful in receiving a new name.

(Ministry Pass)

WHEN I STAND FOR JESUS IN A WORLD FULL OF EVIL, HE GIVES ME A NEW NAME AND PURIFIES ME.

How will you stand for Jesus this week?

WE

What if we stood for Jesus together as a church?

How would that change the way our community sees us?

We would hold each other accountable to staying faithful to Christ.

No one could have reason to call us hypocrites because they would see nothing but Jesus in us.

We would place Christ and our relationship with Him above everything else.

Everyone around us would be drawn to Jesus Christ, because we would be reflecting His image, His character and His holiness to them.

Let’s stand together for Jesus...

*Prayer*