Sometimes We Must Stand Alone

Sometimes We Must Stand Alone

Scripture: Joshua 24:14-15; John 6:60-67; Matthew 7:13-16

Good morning, Strangers Rest. The title of my message this morning is, “Sometimes We Must Stand Alone.” The eleventh chapter of Hebrews records those of the Old Testament who walked with God in faith. It records both men and women who withstood opposition in order to walk with God without compromise. I want to read what is recorded in Hebrews 11:35. It says, “Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.” After detailing a list of those who walked by faith this verse says something that is striking. It says, “….Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.” This verse says that some were tortured and instead of ending their torture and accepting deliverance by giving in and doing what was being demanded of them, they chose death, knowing that they would receive a better resurrection by standing firm on their beliefs. They believed serving the one true God and being tortured for their beliefs was better than denying their faith and living. How many of us can make this same statement?

I have been here now for almost five months as your interim pastor and I know that the honeymoon phrase has ended. Since entering these doors my only desire has been to fulfill God’s will and do whatever I can to help this Church prepare for its future. Although we do not know at this point what that future holds or how much longer I will be with you, I have been led to spend my remaining time here speaking to the hearts of those of you who has an ear to hear. When Jesus spoke to John about the seven Churches which John recorded in the book of Revelation, He ended His review of each Church with, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 2:29) In several instances He added a phrase “…to him who overcomes…” followed by what they would receive if they overcame. So beginning this morning I will be speaking to those of you who desires to hear what the Spirit is saying to this Church. And just so you know, when you have an ear to hear, you do not get offended when you hear the word, even if it stings, because you know that when acted upon it perfects us – it makes us better. So again, I will be speaking to those of you who have an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying to Strangers Rest.

Since I have been here the one biblical truth that I have talked about again and again is our freewill, our ability to make choices. God has given His children freewill because He wants us to love Him enough to choose Him and His ways – even in the midst of intense pressure to do otherwise. And because we have freewill and He does not control what we do, we can choose to follow God – our Heavenly Father – and His Word, or we can choose not to follow God and His Word. Remember the admonition that Joshua gave to the children of Israel in Joshua 24:14-15 just before he died. He said, “Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD! (15) And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:14-15)

Joshua’s message to the children of Israel was simple: you will either choose to serve God or you will choose to serve yourself. And this is another message that we see here: if some of the children of Israel chose to serve the gods of the Amorites, they would be at odds with those who chose to serve the God of their fathers. When you read what Joshua told the Children of Israel on His deathbed, he was asking them to make a choice. He was not trying to make them choose how he had chosen, he wanted them to choose for themselves what they were going to do. He told them the two choices they had: to serve the God that brought them out of Egypt or the gods their fathers served in the land they were now dwelling. He finished by telling them that regardless of the choice they made, he and his house would serve the Lord. Joshua told them that his family was willing to stand alone with God if they made the wrong choice. He let them know that their final choice would not change the decision that he and his family had made. They were willing to stand alone.