Our preaching theme for this year is Dare to be Different and it is a theme that will cause each of us to examine ourselves. This evening I want to I want to encourage you to Dare to stand firm in your attitudes and actions.
If you know Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, you know that God has called you to be different in your attitudes and your actions.
The words of Romans 12:2 are very clear, “Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
Some Christians live as if this verse is an optional extra to their lives. Their behaviour, their actions or in-actions are no different to what the world says is permissible but God says is unacceptable.
Spirit-filled, born-again believers and disciples of Jesus are meant to be different - different in the way we live, the way we act, the way we think.
Our focus is not meant to be on our wants, needs or desires - our focus is meant to be on God - His good and perfect plans and purposes for us.
We are not meant to be indistinguishable from an unbeliever. We are not meant to be bound by sinful desires. We are not meant to disobey God’s call and purpose for our lives.
Are you allowing God to change and transform you? Are you allowing God to change and transform the way you think? Will you allow God to bring difference to your life?
Friends, God has called us to live differently. The Holy Spirit is able to work in us and through us to bring change and transformation. God has called us to live lives that are holy and acceptable to Him. Galatians 5:1 says, It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (NIV)
When we come to Christ, we are freed from the consequences and burden of our sin. We are free from the punishment our sin deserves because Jesus has paid the price for our freedom, but that does not mean we are free to live as we want. Our daily lives should bring honour and glory to the one who has died to set us free.
Many in the modern world think what we believe about God, sin, salvation and the Bible is pointless, but we know the truth, Christ has died to set us free. The foundation of our faith is Jesus, and Jesus alone. The world may attack our faith, the world may dismiss our opinions, the world may think we are crazy for following the ways of God.
But, we must dare to be different, we must dare to stand firm in our faith, we must dare to proclaim the truth that Jesus Christ is Lord, we must dare to proclaim the word of God, we must dare to share the truth of the Gospel with those who are heading to a lost eternity in Hell. We must dare to be different, we must be different.
If I’m honest there are parts of the Bible I struggle with, there are passages that I wish were worded differently, but the Bible is the inspired Word of God and it is the truth. My preferences are not as important as the proclamations of God.
Over the years, I have met people who think I’m crazy or stupid for following words written down thousands of years ago. Man’s ideas and ideals may have changed, God’s Word has not. God’s plan and purpose have not changed. We are to stand firm, rooted in the truth of the Word of God. The world may ignore or distort the truth of God but we must not turn away from the truth God has revealed to us in the Bible.
We must stand firm in our belief, even if everyone we come into contact with thinks we are a sandwich-short of-a-picnic. Belief in Jesus, belief in the word of God are the foundations of our faith, we must stand firm in our faith.
Years ago, the Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatian church to encourage them to stand firm in their faith, to stand firm in the truth.
Listen to Galatians 1:6-10, "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel – which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: if anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse! Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ."
The words of the Apostle Paul are sad, there were people who had heard the truth of the Gospel but instead of standing firm and following the truth they were wandering away and believing lies. I think what saddens me the most is that the Galatian church was one of the churches Paul planted. Paul had taught them the truth, the people had responded to the Gospel and accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.
Now, some of those who had responded in faith were no longer standing firm, they had allowed themselves to be fooled into following the words of men who denied the message of salvation by grace through faith. They had allowed the foundation of their faith to crumble and erode instead of standing firm.
After Paul had left Galatia, false teachers came and spoke against Paul and his teaching. The false teachers undermined Paul’s authority and attacked his theology.
Paul is emphatic, the only way of salvation is through the grace of God shown by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. In Galatians 3:1-3, Paul wrote, “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?"
God has completed His work of salvation to save us from our sin: Christ has come, Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ has ascended, Christ is Coming back.
Jesus Christ is Lord and by repenting and turning to Him we are forgiven, we are free from the burden of our sin, we are saved.
Paul was astonished that those who had been brought from darkness to light, those who had repented, those who had said Jesus Christ is Lord were not standing firm. They were and wandering away from the One who had died to set them free.
The Message Bible paraphrases Paul’s words in Galatians 1:6-10 like this, "I can’t believe your fickleness—how easily you have turned traitor to Him who called you by the grace of Christ by embracing a variant message! It is not a minor variation, you know; it is completely other, an alien message, a no-message, a lie about God. Those who are provoking this agitation among you are turning the Message of Christ on its head."
I suppose there are some questions that need to be asked here - Have you become fickle in the way you follow Christ? Are you copying the behaviour and customs of this world or letting God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think? Are you daring to be different by standing firm in the truth?
In this world, there are some people who are more comfortable with the tangible than the intangible.
There are those who are more willing to trust what they can see instead of having faith in what they can not see. For some of the Galatians, trusting and believing in the Grace of God wasn’t enough, they were being taught they needed to work to impress God to secure salvation. Paul wanted the people of Galatia to stand firm in the knowledge it was God’s grace and God’s grace alone that made them right with God.
Friends, our salvation is the work of God. We may say something like “I remember when I found the Jesus.”
The truth is we didn’t find Him, He came to find us. He came to rescue you and me. He came to call us to Him, and everyone who responds to His call is saved. The Greek word Paul uses in this verse for 'called' is 'kalesantos', which means, “to call, to call aloud, utter in a loud voice, to invite.”
Paul uses the same word in 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15, "But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter."
Stand firm, hold fast to the truth, God chose to save you. God called and you answered.
In Jesus, Father God provided the way for you to be saved. Jesus came to give His life to pay the price for your salvation. Jesus came to restore your relationship with God. Jesus came to bring us from darkness into light. Jesus came to bring us from death to life. Jesus came to save us from death and Hell. Jesus came to give us eternal life and guarantee a place in Heaven for all who believe and trust in Him.
If you are in Christ, stand firm because God has chosen you. 1 Peter 2:9, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light."
In Christ, you can stand firm, not in your own strength, but in God’s strength and power. 2 Peter 1:3, "His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness."
Praise God! He has chosen you. He has called you. He has freed you. He has saved you. You can stand firm in His power, in His strength.
At some time in all of our lives, each of us will experience difficulties, trials, disappointments, or temptations, in every situation, we can stand firm in Christ. Whatever storms rage around you, Jesus will carry you through. Jesus is your secure foundation stand firm in His love.
Finally, I want to return to the verse we began with, Romans 12:2, “Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
Trust God, allow Him to continually renew your mind and transform you. Be different in the way you live, the way you act, the way you think.
Dare to be different, dare to stand firm.
Audio for this sermon is available at: https://sermons.estuaryelim.church/20190120_apm_dean_courtier(daretostandfirm).mp3
