Towards the end of last year I took some time to pray and ask the Holy Spirit which message/series He'd like me to speak on next, and the phrase that I believe I heard in my spirit was, "Take a stand".
When searching for the definition of the phrase on the Internet, I came across the following: To take a stand means to have a firm position about an issue. It means to defend one's point of view or beliefs, or to speak up about something important to you, or to support an issue or topic. It means to come to a decision, draw the line, resist, put up a fight, be resolute, steadfast, assert. It means to take a position in favour of, or in opposition to, someone or something.
After taking the above definitions into consideration, a question that came to mind is, does the Bible speak about "taking a stand"? ... I then looked up scriptures that either directly, or by implication, indicate to us that God expects us to "take a stand" (and more specifically on where we stand regarding our relationship towards Him)
Please see below examples:
🔵1 Kings 18:21 ESV
And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.
🔵Joshua 24:14-15 AMPC
Now therefore, [reverently] fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and in truth; put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the [Euphrates] River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 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 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.
🔵2 John 1:9-11 AMPC
Anyone who runs on ahead [of God] and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ [who is not content with what He taught] does not have God; but he who continues to live in the doctrine (teaching) of Christ [does have God], he has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine [is disloyal to what Jesus Christ taught], do not receive him [do not accept him, do not welcome or admit him] into [your] house or bid him Godspeed or give him any encouragement. For he who wishes him success [who encourages him, wishing him Godspeed] is a partaker in his evil doings.
🔵Revelation 3:15-16 NIV
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
🔵Matthew 6:24 ESV
No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
🔵2 Timothy 2:4 AMPC
No soldier when in service gets entangled in the enterprises of [civilian] life; his aim is to satisfy and please the one who enlisted him.
🔵2 Timothy 2:12 NKJV
If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us.
🔵Luke 14:25-35 NLT
A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’ “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.
🔵Matthew 10:32-33 NLT
Everyone who acknowledges me (Jesus) publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.
🔵Mark 8:34-38 NKJV
When He (Jesus) had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
From the scriptures that we've just read, I think it's quite clear that God expects us to be certain about where we stand regarding our relationship towards Him. To me these scriptures point out that there can be no uncertainty or ambiguity around where we stand. That we're either with God or we're not; and that if we claim to be with Him, then there's a level of commitment in speech and action that accompany that claim ... but the main take away from today's message is that it's clear that God requires us to take a stand.
In conclusion, based on what we've just read, I'd like us to consider the following questions:
When He (Jesus) had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
From the scriptures that we've just read, I think it's quite clear that God expects us to be certain about where we stand regarding our relationship towards Him. To me these scriptures point out that there can be no uncertainty or ambiguity around where we stand. That we're either with God or we're not; and that if we claim to be with Him, then there's a level of commitment in speech and action that accompany that claim ... but the main take away from today's message is that it's clear that God requires us to take a stand.
In conclusion, based on what we've just read, I'd like us to consider the following questions:
- If God expects me to take a stand, have I made that stand?
- Is it clear for others to see?
- Am I satisfied that my claim to stand for Christ matches up with my level of commitment towards Him (not just in words but in deed - do I back up what I say by my actions)
- If someone was to ask me what I stood for, would Christ be one of those answers?
- Have I been firm, bold and diligent regarding that stand?
As we embark on the year ahead I believe there's an expectation from God for the church to take a stand ... to stand for truth ... and to know what they stand for.
until next time, Take a Stand!