Sit up, stand up and speak up!
1. SIT UP!
A. Sit up and take note (Eph. 5:14)
1. Become aware versus sleep walking through life!
2. The Ephesians described (2:1; 2:11; 4:1)
B. Sit up for a better Perspective!
1. It is hard to see physically what is going on from a prone position! Life is not very attractive! Compare spiritually!
2. Before we can get a grip we must be able to see God! See His love, grace, mercy, compassion and nature.
See something beyond the here and now--something which will outlive us
Isa. 9:6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Psa. 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
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2. STAND UP! (stand for something or fall for anything!)
A. Take a stand for God!
1. Make a firm decision--it's a commitment.
Gal. 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
1 Cor. 16:13 Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.
Phil. 4:1 Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved.
2 Thess. 2:15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.
2. Society does not help us make firm decisions, Marriage, jobs, children, etc.
3. Note Biblical concepts/words which call for a decision to stand for God
a. Dead to the world of sin---baptism is a decision to die to sin
b. Unwavering--not be moved from our purpose
c. Unflappable-- not easily shaken
d. Definitive-- no other gods
B. Stand to the end!
1. Matt. 10:22 And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.
We must come to the calculated conclusion that Christianity is not a sprint but a marathon-- endurance race.
One of the saddest things is to play three quarters, eleven and a half minutes of the game and then quit and forfeit!
Rev. 2:10. 2 Pet. 2:20-22 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”
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3. SPEAK UP!
A. What to speak?
1. Speak the truth Eph. 4:15; John 17:17; John 8:31-32 1 Tim. 2:4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 2 Tim. 4:4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
2. Speak good news (Acts 8)
3. Speak encouraging words
1 Thess. 5:14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.
1 Thess. 2:11-12 as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.
4. Speak boldly
Acts 9:29 And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Hellenists, but they attempted to kill him. Acts 14:3 Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
Acts 18:26 So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.
Acts 19:8; Eph. 6:19-20.
Note:
you get the point! What New Testament spokesman for God could do, we can do!
2 Tim. 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
B. Don't stop speaking!
1. Acts 4:13-20.
2. Acts 5:17 Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with indignation,
3. Acts 16:14 Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul.
4. Acts 16:25-34.
CONCLUSION:
A. I cannot help but speak. The love of Christ compels me! I cannot quit talking about the greatest thing of all time---the greatest story!
B. Sit up, Stand up and Speak up!
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