Dare To Be Different

Dare to be true

How can we be different? How can we be true?

The modern church/ The early church

Warnings to the Church

Ephesus - They left their first love

Pergamum - They became greedy like Balaam who led the children of Israel into idolatry and they also followed the false teachings of the Nicolaitans

Thyatira - They tolerated the teachings of the woman Jezebel who posed as a prophetess and led the church into compromise and immorality

Sardis - They had a name for being alive, but they were dead spiritually

Laodicea - They became luke warm, they became complacent because of wealth

The two spiritually stable churches

Smyrna - The persecuted church who experienced tribulation and poverty, they were faithful unto death

Philadelphia - The slandered church,

There are two things that cause a christian to miss the mark and not receive the prize

Sin, and a religious spirit Both are mortal enemies

Sin makes us unrighteous and separates us from God

Hebrews 10:26–27 NASB95

26 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.

Hebrews 10:30–31 NASB95

30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

A religious spirit makes us think we are OK, and in the end separates us from God

Romans 3:20 NASB95

20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

James 2:24 NASB95

24 You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

2 Peter 2:1–2 NASB95

1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2 Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned;

Galatians 5:7–8 NASB95

7 You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you.

So what is the remedy?

It begins with the fear of The LORD

Psalm 33:8 NASB95

8 Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.

Psalm 119:120 NASB95

120 My flesh trembles for fear of You, And I am afraid of Your judgments.

Romans 1:18 NASB95

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

Deuteronomy 4:24 NASB95

24 “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Psalm 7:11 NASB95

11 God is a righteous judge, And a God who has indignation every day.

Nahum 1:2 NASB95

2 A jealous and avenging God is the Lord; The Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies.

The fear of The LORD leads us to desire maturity

1 Peter 2:2 NASB95

2 like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,

1 Corinthians 14:20 NASB95

20 Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.

Hebrews 5:12–14 NASB95

12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

The journey to maturity leads us to find and desire truth

Psalm 25:4–5 NASB95

4 Make me know Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths. 5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day.

Psalm 89:14 NASB95

14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You.

Psalm 119:160 NASB95

160 The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.

John 8:32 NASB95

32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

Why is it hard for the immature to embrace truth?

Galatians 4:16 NASB95

16 So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?

Truth always grates against our sin nature

What is truth?

Ezekiel 18:4 NASB95

4 “Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die.

1 John 1:6 NASB95

6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;

Ephesians 4:20–24 NASB95

20 But you did not learn Christ in this way, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, 22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

Full truth package

John 3:16–21 NASB95

16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

The final Question

What would you change in your life, if you knew that you had to stand before God in your final judgement tomorrow morning?