Luke 9:23-26 (ESV)
23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”
1 Timothy 4:16 (NKJV)
Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
Acts 2:42 (KJV)
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Prelude:
With God – it’s all or nothing! There is no middle ground; there is no room for compromise! You either serve God or you don’t.
You’re either hot or cold – those lukewarm are spewed out of His mouth!
You cannot have a “build-a-Bible” and pick and choose those verses you like and discard those you don’t like.
It’s either God’s way or the highway!
I’ve come to declare the truth today and draw a line in the sand! Those who are willing to cross over the line may face persecution from man, but will walk with God and please Him!
In a day and age where some preachers are afraid to declare the truth, let it be known that I am NOT one of them!
My purpose today is simply to comfort those who are afflicted, yet also afflict those who are comfortable!
These are the last days and there is NO room for complacency or apathy!
We cannot just simply go through the motions and hope for the best – we must TAKE HEED TO OURSELVES AND TO THE DOCTRINE! We must continue steadfastly in the Apostles’ Doctrine, fellowship, prayers, and breaking of bread!
Doctrine divides…
- The teaching and preaching of the doctrine divides…
- …the wheat from the chaff…
- …the sheep from the goats…
- …the truth from the lie…
- …the saved from the damned…
Doctrine also unites…
- But the doctrine also unites us with God and His Word, creating a link – a threefold cord if you will – that will not be broken.
- What God has put together, let no man put asunder! Those who believe, love, obey, and live this Apostolic Truth find themselves pleasing God and seeing the blessings of God upon them!
Take this whole world, but give me Jesus… though none go with me, still I will follow… I have decided to follow Jesus…
1) Salvation:
Isaiah 35:1-4 (ESV)
1 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; 2 it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. 3 Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. 4 Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.“
I love the doctrine of salvation!
The Bible is replete with the plan of salvation; even in the Old Testament, we see typology giving us insight as to how one must be saved.
- Creation shows us the plan of salvation…
- The way God instructed Moses to lay out the Tabernacle shows death, burial, and resurrection…
- Elijah on Mount Carmel gives insight to death, burial, and resurrection…
- The prophets prophesied the new birth message, from Moses, to Isaiah, to Joel, to Ezekiel, and even David…
The message of death, burial, and resurrection is essential to eternity!
One must repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of those sins, and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost!
Jesus clearly stated this to Nicodemus – except you are born again of the water and of the Spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of God!
You cannot just accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. You cannot recite a few words or phrases and hope that’s enough to be saved.
You MUST be born again of the water and of the Spirit! That’s not my words – that’s the words of Jesus Christ Himself and the word “MUST” makes it an absolute! It makes it eternally essential!
We are identified by how we preach, teach, believe, and obey the Word of God concerning salvation! I for one will not allow the devil to commit identity theft on my life or the church I’m called to pastor!
2) Signs:
Isaiah 35:5-7 (ESV)
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; 7 the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
Jesus promised that signs and wonders would follow those that believe!
Especially in the apostolic movement, signs are one of the things that identify us.
We don’t have to follow signs – they follow true believers! God opens blind eyes, unstops deaf ears, heals the lame, makes the mute to speak, gives water in the desert, and makes a way where their seems to be no way!
In West Virginia, a young man who was born without heels on his feet was prayed for and made whole – God gave him heels and he was able to stomp his feet for the first time in his life! This miracle, along with many others, followed apostolic preaching and teaching and worship!
We here at Solid Rock have seen God do the miraculous – cancer has been healed, heart problems, Pastor David’s son brought back from the dead, pains of all sort made whole, as well as financial miracles and other miracles take place!
We are identified by how we preach, teach, believe, and obey the Word of God concerning signs also! I for one will not allow the devil to commit identity theft on my life or the church I’m called to pastor!
3) Separation:
Isaiah 35:8-9 (ESV)
8 And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. 9 No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there.
Holiness is not an option – it is standard for the true worshiper! Again, you cannot pick and choose what you want to hear and believe! It’s all or nothing! There is no “build-a-Bible” here.
The problem I have with mainstream Christianity today is that they preach a lot of grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness – but where are the messages about salvation, sacrifice, sanctification, and separation?
The emergent-charismatic philosophy says that one should have a conversation – but the world needs conversion!
- This diabolical philosophy says “Preach Jesus” but the Bible says to “preach Jesus Christ AND Him crucified!” You cannot have one without the other!
- The same Jesus that said, “Neither do I condemn you” also said, “Go and sin no more!”
- The same Jesus that healed the lame man also told him, “sin no more or a worse thing will come upon you!”
On the HIGHWAY OF HOLINESS, lions and ravenous beasts are not allowed. When you pull onto I-95, you will see signs giving instructions as to what is prohibited from the highway.
Some say, “I’m being tormented by the devil; he’s picking on me, he’s chasing me, etc.” Well, I’ve got a question for you – are you walking on the HIGHWAY OF HOLINESS? If you’re not, then you’re susceptible to being tracked by lions and ravenous beasts.
2 Corinthians 7:1 (ESV)
Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
God is calling His church today to be HOLY which means separated. Just two verses earlier (2 Corinthians 6:17) we are commanded to come out from the world AND BE SEPARATE and touch not the unclean thing!
Holiness of the spirit (within):
- You’ve got to keep your heart and mind right!
- Do you keep your mind focused on pure things?
- From the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks – is your heart holy?
- Holiness of the heart and mind are important – we are instructed to not even look on a woman to lust after her, because that’s the same as committing adultery as far as God is concerned.
- Hypocrites are despised by God – He commands our love to be genuine and without hypocrisy!
- Don’t say one thing with your lips and have another thing on your mind or in your heart.
- Don’t be two-faced, double-tongued, or unholy in any way in your heart or mind!
Holiness of the body (without):
- “The inside matters but it’s the outside that people notice.“
- What do you do, where do you go? How do you live, act, and dress? What do you refrain from?
- God’s Word says that for a woman to wear what pertains to man or a man to wear a woman’s garment is an abomination! That’s God’s Word, not mine!
Deuteronomy 22:5 (NKJV)
A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the Lord your God.
- Some want to say that Deuteronomy 22:5 is a part of the law which Jesus fulfilled when He died on the cross; however, the last phrase of the verse changes everything – for all who do so are an abomination to the Lord your God. Jesus did not fulfill “abominations” when He died on the cross!
Revelation 21:27 (NKJV)
But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
- God’s word says it’s a shame for men to have long hair and that women should have long hair. The Greek word for “long” in 1 Corinthians 11:15 means, “to let one’s hair grow long: to not cut one’s hair.” (from Greek-English Lexicon Based on Semantic Domain. Copyright © 1988 United Bible Societies, New York. Used by permission.)
1 Corinthians 11:6 (ESV)
For if a WOMAN will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a WOMAN to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head.
1 Corinthians 11:14-15 (ESV)
14 Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, 15 but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering.
Be holy…
God is omnipresent (everywhere always), omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all powerful)… God is love… God is holy… Yet the only characteristic that God said we should BE is holy! Why? Because God knows that’s the only one we CAN BE!
Leviticus 20:7 (ESV)
Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God.
1 Peter 1:15-16 (NKJV)
15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
There is no way we can be omnipresent, omniscient, omnipresent, or even be love – we CAN love, but not BE love. But we CAN BE HOLY! We MUST “BE” holy! God requires it! Only those who are holy will see the Lord…
Hebrews 12:14 (NKJV)
Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:
We are identified by how we preach, teach, believe, and obey the Word of God concerning separation! I for one will not allow the devil to commit identity theft on my life or the church I’m called to pastor!
Apex – Singing or Sorrow; Your Choice:
Isaiah 35:10 (ESV)
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
It’s all or nothing! Those that reject any part of what I’ve preached today will have sorrow; however, those who accept it and obey it will go forth with singing, rejoicing in the everlasting joy that is promised by God!
You can’t pick and choose what you want to believe from the Bible – it’s all or nothing!
If it pleases God, it doesn’t matter who it displeases! If it displeases God, it doesn’t matter who it pleases!
I will be able to leave today knowing that I have pleased God by what I’ve preached to you – now it is up to you as to what you do with it.
Trampoline of Truth – frame (Word of God), springs (Doctrine), the mat (True Worship), the net (Separation): Separation is our SAFETY!
Take this whole world, but give me Jesus… though none go with me, still I will follow… I have decided to follow Jesus…
