2 Timothy 3:16-17
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works”. If you remember last week, we’ve been going through this series called Peculiar People and been learning how to be different, not common. How God desires his people to be different. Last week we learned all about the Doctrine of Separation. I preached a sermon called “Peculiar through Separation”. This week’s sermon is going to be a continuation of that thought. Last week we learned about why we should live separated lives. Today we’re going to learn about how to setup standards for a separated life. I want to say this, if you’re here this morning and you didn’t hear the earlier sermons, you might be wondering why I’m talking about standards of separation. I want you to realize that question was answered in last week’s sermon. Sometimes when we go through these series, the sermons are building upon each other. So if you’re listening to today’s sermon and wondering “Why would I even want to do that”, then I’d encourage you to go back and listen to last week’s sermon.
Today I’d like to give 3 thoughts on how to setup standards for a separated life. And what I’d like to do is give you these 3 thoughts or ideas and if we have time, I’d like to give you some illustrations on how this looks in real life as a Christian. You’ve got to ask yourself this question as we start, do you have any standards for your life? Are there standards for your Christian life. You might say that yes you have some standards. There are things in your life that you’ve decided you will do or won’t do. Maybe you’re here this morning and you say that you don’t have any standards. Well you need to have some standards and we’ll talk about that in this sermon and how to set them up. But I want to just give you instructions on how to set up standards in a separated life. And just how you get there. How you become a Christian that lives a life of standards, that lives a life of separation through standards.
Number 1, we start with a scriptural principal. You always begin with a scriptural principal. If you look down at 2 Timothy 3:16, it says “all scripture”, now scripture is referring to the word of God. “and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness….” And we’re going to look at those words in a few minutes. But I want you to look at verse 17, why does God give us this scripture for these purposes? “that the man of God may be perfect”. The word perfect in our King James Bible means complete or whole. He says “that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished”. The word “furnished” means supplied or equipped. The Bible is going to help you become a Christian who is complete, perfect Christian who is supplied, equipped to all good works. See, it is the word of God that supplies or equips us with the victorious Christian life. It all begins with a scriptural principal.
Now you don’t have to turn there but in Proverbs 14:12 the Bible says “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man but the end thereof are the ways of death”. We talked about this last week so I don’t want to spend a lot of time on it but I want to remind you that we cannot trust man’s ways, man’s thoughts, man’s philosophies. When it comes to the guiding principals of our lives, we cannot be led by principals of men or the principals of this world. You say why? Because “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man but the end thereof are the ways of death”. I mean read the book of Judges. If you’ve ever read the book of Judges, it’s one of the most messed up books (with all respect to the Word of God) but the history and accounts of the people in the book of Judges is one of the most messed up. And yet what do we read a few times in the book of Judges? That every man did that which was right in his own eyes. So the lesson from Judges is that if you want to live a life that is a mess and out of control or crazy then go ahead and do that which is right in your own eyes. Go ahead and follow the world’s principals. But if you want a complete and mature life then you must be always guided by principals.
Notice what he says again in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable”. He gives us 4 areas that the Word of God is profitable today. I want you to notice these. #1 Doctrine. If you don’t mind writing in your Bible then draw an arrow to this world Doctrine and write “What is right?”. He says that all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine. Doctrine is what is right. How do we know what is right and what is wrong in this world? We know what is right and what is wrong because of the doctrine that we learn from the Word of God. You cannot base morality, righteousness or what is right or wrong based off of the world’s standards. Look, why is it wrong to kill? And the truth of matter if you want the answer of why it’s wrong to take someone else’s life, it’s because God says it’s wrong. That’s why. If you follow the world’s philosophy that you evolved from an ape, you evolved from a monkey then why is it wrong to kill you if you’re just an animal anyway. You don’t have a soul, you don’t have a purpose or plan. You’re just an accident and weren’t created anyway. See, when you follow man’s philosophies and thinking, it will lead you in the way of death. There is a way which seemeth right unto a man (like evolution) but the end thereof are the ways of death.
But when we follow the Bible, when we follow doctrine, we learn what is right. I want you to notice the 2nd area mentioned there. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine and then he says this (for reproof). If you don’t mind writing in your Bible, I’d like you to write this beside reproof – what is not right. The Bible tells us what is right (doctrine) and what is not right (reproof). Reproof is when we’re telling somebody “That’s not right”. That is not a good thing. Then he says this “For correction”. If you don’t mind writing in your Bible, beside Correction write – How to make something right. So we have doctrine, that which is right. We have reproof, that which is wrong. We have correct, how to make it right. The Bible doesn’t just tell you what is right and what is wrong but it tells you how to go from what’s wrong to what’s right. It tells you how to fix that which is wrong and make it right. And the 4th area is for instruction. Just write an arrow beside instruction and put “how to do something right”. We have doctrine, what is right. Reproof, what is wrong. Correction, how to make something wrong in to something right. But then we have instruction, how to do something right to begin with.
You see all scripture tells how what’s right, what’s wrong, how to make something right and how to just do something right to begin with. When you follow the Biblical principals then you will be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. Here’s where I think we have failed as Independent Fundamental Baptists. The average Independent Fundamental Baptist Church in America is dying. Now I praise God for the work he’s doing here at Verity Baptist Church and how we’re a thriving church and growing church and the Lord has blessed us over the years. But the truth is that the average IFB Church that is conservative, King James Only, Soulwinning is dying today. They’ve got huge auditoriums that are empty. Few people, older people, they’re losing the younger generation. They don’t have young married couples starting life together. They don’t have young children in their churches. I believe that one of the reasons for that (and not the only reason) but that the Old IFB did a really good job of telling you what to do and what not to do and preaching good sermons about righteousness and standards and don’t go there and do go there but because their sermons were shallow, they never connected what we do with what the Bible says or why the Bible tells us not to do those things. See it’s not enough for you to know what is right and what is wrong, you need to connect that with a scriptural principal. If somebody asks you “At your church you do X, Y and Z or the ladies and men dress a certain way or don’t do this. Why is that”. If your answer is “Well that’s what Pastor said.”. You’re wrong!
You can’t live your life and say “Well that’s what my church said. That’s what my Pastor said”. You need to search the scriptures and find out what the Bible says. Every standard must begin with a scriptural principal. Every thing you do must be connected to the Word of God. And I believe that why our church and churches like ours have so many young people that are zealous and interested in the things of God is because we’re not just telling them don’t do this or do this but we’re telling them do this and here’s why from the Bible. Do that and here’s why from the Bible. And that might mean that you have to slow down when preaching the Word of God and that might mean that you don’t get to just write a sermon in 30 minutes but you have to write stuff down, develop some things and teach some scripture and help people with some things but we teach people the Word of God because good standards and right standards always begin with a scriptural principal. So here’s my question, if you have standards, do you have a scriptural principal connected with it or a verse that you can point at to say “here’s what we do but here’s why we do it”. And if you don’t then you need to ask yourself why. Because the word of God teaches you how to do what is right and not go down the path of doing wrong.
So we begin with the need first for a scriptural principal. Look we always have to start with the word of God. When I was growing up in Christianity I was taught, when the Bible is your boss you’re a Baptist. As Baptists we are Biblicists. We believe in Biblical Authority. The Bible is the authority in all matters of faith and practice. So we always must begin with the Word of God. We always must begin with a scriptural principal. Then out of those Scriptural Principals, you develop a solid conviction. I’d like you to write that down, solid conviction. You begin with a scriptural principal but then out of that you develop a solid conviction. What is a conviction? A conviction is something that grows out of a Biblical principal. A conviction is when you decide that this is a place I’m going to stand and it’s not just a conviction that was given to me by my church, denomination or Pastor but a solid conviction grows out of a scriptural principal. But you’ve got to have some things that you are willing to die for and say that “This is a conviction of my life”.
Today a lot of people have the wrong idea of a conviction and I’d like to just give you 3 characteristics of a solid conviction. What is a solid conviction? And I’d like you to write these down as well. Because when you’re developing convictions, you start with a Biblical Principal and develop a solid conviction, you need to realize that convictions have certain characteristics to them. And I want you to write these down because as you’re developing your convictions, you need to make sure you’re not forgetting these characteristics. So let me give you some characteristics.
#1 Convictions are not subject to consideration. Convictions are not subject to consideration. Here’s what I mean by that. Once you’ve decided that this is a solid conviction that was developed out of a scriptural conviction, then that conviction is not up for debate. You don’t take time to consider or reconsider, once you’ve made your choice, a true or pure conviction is not up for consideration. You know the story of Daniel, he and his friends were brought out of Judah as captives in the land of Babylon. Daniel 1:8 “But Daniel purposed”, you ought to underline or circle that word. “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat.”. When they got to Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar wanted them to eat certain things, drink certain things, to do certain things but Daniel had a conviction that came from a scriptural principal. They were living in the Old Testament under the Mosaic Law. They were told that they weren’t supposed to eat certain things, drink certain things, do certain things. And from that scriptural principal, he developed a solid conviction that he would not, look it wasn’t up for debate. But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Let me give you another example from his friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
If you remember, Nebuchadnezzar built an idol of himself and everyone was to worship that idol, bow down to that idol. And Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had a scriptural principal from the Word of God that you’re not to bow yourself to idols, you’re not to worship false gods, you’re not to worship statues. And from that scriptural principal, they developed a solid conviction that they were not going to bow down to this idol. And we know this was a conviction because it was not up for consideration. Daniel 3:12 “There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon,” (These are the enemies of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego talking to Nebuchadnezzar about that fact that they aren’t willing to bow to his statues). “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? Now if ye be ready” (Here’s what he’s saying. I’ll give you another chance. You already didn’t bow down when I told you to. But “if ye be read that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well:” (He’s saying I’m going to give you another chance. If you bow down when you hear the music then great. That’s fine. I’ll let it go. “But if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?”
I want you to notice the response of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Here’s how we know they had a solid conviction. Because it was not up for debate. It’s not something they had to consider. It’s not something they had to talk about or pray about. They made a decision a long time ago and were willing to die for it. Daniel 3:16 “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.”. They said that we don’t have to think about it. We don’t have to pray about it. We’re not going to mince words. We have a solid conviction and listen, a solid conviction is not up for consideration but is something in fact you’d be willing to die for. A conviction is something that you say has grown out of a scriptural principal and I’m not going to debate it. I’m not going to consider it. I’m not going to have a conversation about it. The decision has been made and if I have to die for it then I’ll die for it. And look, if you’re a Christian and there is nothing in your life that you’d be willing to die for then you’re living a shallow Christian life. I mean is there something you’d be willing to die for? Would you bow down before the abomination of desolation put forth by the antichrist? Or would you say like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, I don’t need to consider it. I don’t need to think about it. I don’t need to pray about it. The decision has already been made. I have a solid conviction. I’m not going to bow to it.
I want you to notice that not only are convictions not subject to consideration but convictions are not subject to compromise. Talking to Nebuchadnezzar, “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace,” ( I love Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and the wisdom they have because they say that) “our God is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not,”. Because this is where most Christians mess up. Because if God delivers me from my trials then I’ll serve him but if he doesn’t then I’ll get bitter and angry and backslide. See they said, if God delivers me then great. “But if not be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”. You say, why? Because their convictions were not only not up for consideration but they were not subject to compromise. A conviction is something where you’d say “I’m not going to compromise on that. I’m not going to change my mind on that. I don’t have to reconsider it. I’ve already purposed it. I don’t have to reconsider and once the decision is made, I’m not going to compromise.”. Look Nebuchadnezzar, do what you gotta do. And God is able to deliver us and if he chooses he will deliver us but if he doesn’t choose to deliver us then we will not worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
I’d like you to notice the 3rd characteristic of a conviction. A conviction is not only not subject to consideration, it’s also not subject to compromise but a conviction is not subject to circumstance. Remember that Daniel in Daniel 6 is now a leader and he has enemies that want to attack him. His enemies notice that Daniel prays in a certain time and certain place and he’s been doing this for a while. So what they do is create a law that makes that action illegal. The circumstances have changed for Daniel. He was praying when it was legal. Now it’s not legal. What does Daniel do? Well we know he has a conviction because it does not change due to circumstances.
Daniel 6:6-7
“Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever.
All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.” Here’s what they’re saying, we’re going to make a law that no person is allowed to ask any God or any person anything except for you, king.
Daniel 6:9-10
Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.
Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God,” (You say why is Daniel doing this? Is he trying to cause problems or be a trouble maker?). Notice the last part of verse 10 “as he did aforetime.”. This is something he did when nobody noticed, nobody cared, when it wasn’t illegal. But when the circumstances changed, do you know what he said? My convictions do not change due to circumstances. See a conviction is something that is not only not subject to consideration (we don’t have to open the conversation), it’s not subject to compromise (we’re not going to give in), but it’s also something that is not subject to circumstances. Please listen to me very carefully, make sure you’re not being a hypocrite with your convictions. Your convictions should be consistent in every situation. Before you take on a conviction, you might want to consider the different situations that your conviction might play a role in.
This is why my wife and I try to tell people that we do not believe in situational ethics. Now there is a way that seemeth right unto a man but the end thereof are the ways of death. Society will tell you today that in one situation what is right or wrong than another situation. That is not what the Bible teaches. Look, right is right no matter what someone does about it, says about it, writes a law about it, it’s right. And if it’s wrong, it’s wrong. It doesn’t matter who you’re with or where you are, convictions should not change based on circumstance.
Let me give you an example, if some lady walked in today in the middle of our auditorium and she was in her underwear, everyone here would be appalled and say “I can’t believe that”. And look, here is what I’d say. The most worldly Christian or even unsaved person would say “That is ridiculous. That is shameful. That is wrong.”. But here’s what’s funny. That same woman can basically put on the exact same outfit on the beach and it’s acceptable. Your convictions must be consistent in your circumstances. Well look, if it’s not right for her to wear her underwear to church then it shouldn’t be right for her to wear her underwear to a pool party, lake, beach, water park.
What I’m telling you is that as a Christian you need to develop some solid convictions that are developed from some scriptural principals that are not subject to circumstance, compromise or consideration. This is something you’d be willing to die for. This is something that does not change. And look, I know for some of you that this is radical Christian teaching but this is how you live the victorious Christian life. You want to be perfect, thoroughly furnished to all good works? You must have some solid convictions. You must have some convictions that are consistent. You say “I would never do this here. I would never do this with that person. I would never do that in this situation. But I would do that in this situation.”. You are a hypocrite. You say ya but that’s what the world teaches. There is a way which seemeth right unto a man but the end thereof are the ways of death.
So #1, we start with a scriptural principal. And #2, out of the scriptural principals we develop solid convictions. #3, We keep our convictions by following some safeguarding standards. We keep our convictions by following some safeguarding standards. We talked about Scriptural Principals. We talked about Solid Convictions. Let’s talk about some safeguarding standards. What is a safeguarding standard? A safeguarding standard is a standard that regulates your convictions. A standard that you’ve already decided is your conviction, you’re willing to die for. I will not compromise on it. I will not reconsider. It will not change based on my circumstances. It doesn’t matter where I am or who I’m with, this is a conviction of my life. It was developed from a scriptural principal but then you must set up some standards around your life to safeguard that conviction. Some safeguarding standards to regulate your convictions.
2 Thessalonians 3:6
“Now we command you brethren in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly”. Notice this “And not after the tradition which ye received of us”. See, we’re going to talk about traditions for a little bit. Often when we talk about traditions we talk about the negative traditions that Jesus was preaching against the Pharisees over. But I want you to notice that Paul speaks about people not walking after the traditions learned from them. Now what is a tradition? It’s not necessarily something with a scriptural principal. It’s not necessarily something with solid convictions. But it’s something we’ve placed around our convictions to safeguard us and prevent us from violating our convictions. See, there’s nothing wrong with a good tradition or standard. We need to be careful not to make too much of our traditions but there’s not wrong with having traditions.
Let me give you some examples. Here’s an example. At Verity Baptist Church we have a rule that you don’t stand up to preach without wearing a shirt & a tie. That’s our standard. You say give me a verse for that. I don’t have a verse for that. Well what gives you the right? I’m the Pastor. That’s what gives me the right. It’s a standard. Here’s the truth. Am I willing to die for that? If the government sent their military police in here and held a gun to my head saying “You will not longer preach with a tie”. I’ll take the tie off. It’s not a conviction. It’s my standard. It helps safeguard our convictions. Here’s what I’ve noticed. Everyone who preaches without a tie is a liberal. Now I’m not saying that everyone who preaches with a tie on is good. Joel Osteen wears a tie. He’s not good. But what you notice is that those who are the good preachers wear ties and when you have the skinny jeaned, t-shirt wearing Pastor, he’s usually preaching heresy. He’s usually a liberal, all the time. I mean show me the fire breathing, hell fire and brimstone preacher in skinny jeans in America. Show me one. Now that’s a standard. We can disagree about standards and that’s fine.
Now if they come in here and say you’ll no longer preach from the King James Bible. Well I’ve got an issue with that. That’s a conviction. That’s not up for debate or compromise. It’s a decision we’ve made and I’m willing to die for it. See, in your mind you need to know the distance between a conviction and a standard. A conviction is something that’s not up for debate, consideration, compromise or dependent on standards. But standards need to be set up around our convictions to safeguard us from violating our convictions. We may agree on Biblical Principals. We may even agree on convictions. But we may disagree on standards. Be careful for looking down on people if your standard is higher than theirs. I’m all for people having high standards but don’t become a Pharisee about it. Now let me give you some examples.
These are just some examples I pulled out to help you understand this. Here’s what I want you to do. I want you to go through this process when you have a decision. What will I do with my children, with my marriage in my personal life. You have to go through these 3 steps. Is there a scriptural principal? I must develop a scriptural principal. Can I develop a solid conviction from that scriptural principal. And can I set some safeguarding standards around that conviction to protect that solid conviction. Here’s some examples and I realize some of these may offend you. But what else is new at Verity Baptist Church.
“In like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel. In shamefacedness and sobriety not with broided hair or gold or costly array”. Here we have a scriptural principal that women adorn themselves in modest apparel. Modest means not bringing attention to yourself, not flashy. So here’s a solid conviction that my wife and I have developed from this scriptural principal. Here’s a solid conviction: That ladies (or anyone for that matter) should not dress flashy to attract attention. That’s a solid conviction that we have. You say, well how do you regulate that. Well again, let’s just take 1 example. You may agree with this standard or you may disagree with this standard and that’s fine. Let’s talk about makeup. What are the standards that we’ve set up around our convictions to protect the conviction of women not dressing in a flashy way or drawing attention. My 2 oldest children are boys but then our next 4 children are girls. My oldest girl is 6 so we are a long ways from this and we don’t have to worry about this now but we’ve already had this conversation. Here’s what we’ve decided in our lives and you may agree with this or you may not and that’s fine. You’ve got to come up with your own standards but here’s what we’ve decided for our girls.
We don’t want them to wear makeup until they’re 15 years old and when they do wear makeup we want it to be light and natural. Meaning we want it to be light makeup that matches their complexion. Here’s what we mean by that, our girls are not going to be 12 years old with makeup and they’re also not going to be 15 years old with glitter. That’s a standard that we’ve set. Now some people have a standard that says no makeup. My wife will not wear makeup, my daughters won’t wear makeup. The point is that you must make some standards to regulate what your convictions are. Now let me just make this clear. Because this is where fundamental Baptists get off rail. They start making their standard the scriptural principal. And if you say that neither my wife or children will wear makeup then more power to you. I know people that look down and say “We must be better Christians than them because his wife wears light makeup”. You say, how can you say that? Here’s how I can say that. You can’t show me a verse that says women aren’t supposed to wear any makeup. You can’t show me a verse that says it’s a sin for a woman to put makeup on.
So if you want to have that high standard then go for it. But don’t judge others based on your standard. That’s your standard. Look, you shouldn’t look down on people for your high standard. But let me say this, you shouldn’t try to get people to bring their standards down. What does it matter? It’s not any of your business. Hey brother, I noticed that your wife doesn’t wear makeup. What? Are you some sort of Amish? What? That’s between him and God. That’s between him & his wife. See on both sides, you ought not to look at someone with a higher standard and try to bring them down. You’re never supposed to get people to sin against their own conscience. But at the same time, if you have a high standard, don’t look down on others because now you’re a Pharisee.
Matthew 15:1-3
“Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?”
See, the funny thing is that people make up standards that aren’t even in the Word of God but then they sin against God by gossiping or being critical or being judgmental in an unrighteous way against their neighbor and now you’re sinning by your tradition. So look, nothing wrong with standards. You need to have standards in your life but realize that your standards are your standards. And if someone has higher standards than you then don’t try to bring them down. But if someone has lower standards than you then that’s between them and God. You say “Well I think that guy let’s his teenage daughter wear too much makeup”. Look, whether I agree or not or whether that’s my standard or not or whether that’s what I’d do or not, that’s none of my business. Look, this facebook generation would do well to stay out of matters that don’t involve them. To not meddle in business or strife that doesn’t belong to them. Look, if you don’t have authority in that situation to change something then stay out of it.
“Pastor Jimenez, do you think that guy should be letting his teenage daughter wear eye shadow that dark?”. I don’t care. It doesn’t matter. Now if his teenage daughter is fornicating, that’s a scriptural principal that we’ll deal with. But when it comes to a standard, it doesn’t matter what I think. It’s the mom’s situation to deal with or the dad’s situation to deal with. That’s between them and God. Stay out of it. Don’t meddle with things not belonging to you. Let me help you out, you don’t have to give your opinion of every little thing on facebook. It doesn’t matter. Can you change it? Then stay out of it. And worry about yourself. Develop some safeguarding standards for you. Develop some safeguarding steps for your family.
Let me give you another example. 2 Thessalonians 5:22 “Abstain from all appearance of evil”. Here’s a scriptural principal. Abstain from all appearance of evil. What does that mean? God not only wants you to avoid evil but God wants you to avoid the appearance of evil. So here’s a solid conviction that we’ve developed in our family. I will do the best to not look like I’m doing something wrong. I will do everything in my power not to look like I’m doing something wrong. You say why is that a solid conviction? Because it comes from a Scriptural Principal of “Abstain from all appearance of evil”. So what are some safeguarding standards? Now look, you may agree with this or you may not agree with this.
But let me give you some examples. For me and my wife, we have a weekly date night. Sometimes we walk in to a restaurant and they tell us there is a 30 minute wait but there are 2 seats available at the bar. There’s no wait at the bar. We say, no that’s alright, we’ll wait. They say that you don’t have to order at the bar. You can order from the menu. That’s alright, we’ll wait 30 minutes. You may think that’s ridiculous but I’ve got a safeguarding standard that protects me from violating my conviction. I’ve got a safeguarding standard of never walking into casinos for any reason. I don’t care how good the hotel deal is. I don’t care how good the buffet is. I don’t want in to casinos ever. I know a certain Pastor that if he had a safeguarding standard of not walking in to casinos then that would have saved his marriage. You say, oh you’re a little over the top. I’m just telling you that you’ve got to develop some convictions in your life. And set up some safeguarding standards around those convictions that make sure you do not violate your convictions. Here’s the question I have. Do you have any standards in your life? Do you have any convictions in your life? Do you have anything that you would be willing to die for? Is there anything where you would say that I will not compromise. I will not change.
I’ll give you 1 more and we’ll be done. We start with a scriptural principal. Here’s a scriptural principal. Hebrews 10:25 “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”. Here’s a scriptural principal “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner” (manner means custom or habit). Here’s what he’s saying. Some people have a custom or habit of forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. Some people have made a habit of skipping out on church. That’s what it’s saying. “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more”. We need more church, not less. We need more preaching of God’s word, not less. Some people say, oh that’s not about church attendance. That’s about quitting church altogether. How do you make a habit or custom of quitting church altogether. Once you quit church altogether, that’s a 1 time thing. You did it. It’s talking about skipping out on church because you make it a manner of life. It’s a custom. It’s a habit of life. It’s something you keep doing on a regular basis. Here’s all I’m telling you. The scriptural principal is that we are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. So here’s a solid conviction that I’ve developed for that scriptural principal, I will not skip a church service for any reason which I can control. This is my solid conviction, I will not miss a church service for any reason which I can control.
Now let me say this, there are obviously reasons to skip church which are out of your control. Your kids are sick & throwing up and you stay home to take care of them. That’s fine. That’s acceptable. That’s not what we’re talking about. Or you were on your way to church and your tire blew. You weren’t able to get it fixed in time or whatever. I get it. I’m just telling you that for me and my family, that we have a solid conviction that we will do everything in our power to not miss church that’s within our control. So here’s a safeguarding principal, we schedule our lives to not miss church. When we go on vacation, we don’t miss church. We leave on Monday or we leave on Thursday. Or if we’re gone long enough, we find a church to go to on vacation because we don’t miss church just because we’re on vacation. You say, that’s a little extreme. No, you no what, I want to teach my kids that we take a vacation from school, we take a vacation from work, we take a vacation from the regular things we do in life but we don’t take a vacation from God. We don’t take a vacation from God. In all things he must have the preeminence. It’s worth it take the effort to drive somewhere on a Wednesday night to teach my kids that God is a priority in our lives.
You know I’m thankful for parents that taught me that. You say I think you’re a little extreme Pastor. Maybe I got it from my parents growing up. I remember growing up that we used to play baseball. That’s the sport we played, my brother and I. When we played baseball we’d have practice and games on Saturdays. But 2 days were baseball games. Saturdays were game days and Wednesdays were game days. Games started at 4 or 5 on Wednesdays but you know that baseball games last for like 4 hours or something. So they would get done at 8 or 9 at night. But Wednesday Night Church started at 7 pm. You know what we did? We put on our little uniforms, and cleats and socks and went down to the park at 5. We warmed up and we played the 1st inning and 2nd inning and 3rd inning and right about 6:45, my mom or my dad said “Get your stuff kids”. “Oh where are you guys going?”. All of our friends “The games not over yet. Why are you leaving?”. We’re going to church. The coach “Why do your guys parents pull you out of the game?”. We go to church. We don’t miss church to play ball. We don’t miss church to do anything. We’ll skip school before we miss church. I’ll call in sick to miss work before I miss church. I’m just telling you that’s something that’s a standard in my life. You might not have that standard but I’m thankful that someone taught me that standard. You think I liked that as a kid? I’d rather have stayed and played ball. But I wonder if that shaped my life. I wonder if I’m a Pastor today because as an 8 year old, 9 year old and 10 year old, someone taught me that God comes before anything else.
Now look, you may not agree with that and that’s fine. But I’m just telling you that I have a safeguarding standard that says I’m not going to miss church to go on vacation. I’m not going to miss church to do anything. I’m going to schedule my travel around church. I’m going to schedule my vacation time around church. I’m going to schedule my working schedule around church. I’ve got a scriptural principal of not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. I’ve got a solid conviction of doing everything I can to not miss church if it’s in my control. Realize, there are some things out of our control. Look, I’m not going to stay home from church to watch the Emmys. I’m not going to stay home from church to watch the Super Bowl. Whether or not you should be watching those at all is a different standard all together. But I’m not going to skip church to watch these.
You say, “Pastor, why are you so strict?”. Here’s why I’m so strict. No one who quits church ever just wakes up from being here Sunday Morning, Sunday Night, Wednesday Night, Soulwinning and then the next week they’re just backslidden and leaving for the world. It never happens that way. Do you know how it happens? I’ve been doing this for 8 years now. I’ve seen it more times than I care to talk about. You know how it happens? Someone is Sunday Morning, Sunday Night, Wednesday Night but then they miss a Wednesday Night. Then they’re back to Sunday Morning, Sunday Night, Wednesday Night but then they miss a Sunday night. Then they are back to Sunday Morning, Sunday Night, Wednesday Night but then they miss a Sunday Night and then they miss a Wednesday Night. And after a while, it just so happens that people stop missing them. And then people are like “Where is so and so?”. And I’m thinking, so and so hasn’t been here for like 6 months. Because that’s how it happens.
So you know what I’ve got? And look, I’m a man like anybody else. I get tired and lazy and backslidden like anybody else. So you know what my safeguarding standard is to avoid that from happening? I’m just not going to miss any church which I can control. Now look, if you’re sick or you have same major issue that is out of your control, I’m not preaching about that. But look, I’m not going to miss church because I’m taking my kids to the park or taking them to play ball or going to Disneyland or whatever. That’s a whole different standard too. I’m just telling you that you need to have some safeguarding standards. If my conviction is that I will not drink alcohol, my standard is that I won’t even sit at the bar.
So let’s just go over the point and we’ll be done. Begin with a scriptural principal from the Word of God. If you have a standard and you can’t point back to a verse or principal in scripture then you’re wrong. Begin with a scriptural principal and out of that principal develop a solid conviction. How do you know a conviction is a conviction? Because it is not up for consideration, it is not up for compromise and it does not change due to circumstances. It’s something you would be willing to die for. There are other things such as wear a tie or not wear a tie, whatever. But a conviction is something that you say “I will not compromise on this.”. And then you set up some safeguarding standards to protect that conviction and make sure you don’t violate that conviction. And be careful with your standards because that’s usually where we become Pharisees. Realize that you may have a high standard and someone has a low standard but that’s between them and God. You might take it this far and they might take it that far and that’s between you and God and them and God. But have some standards. And look, within your scope of authority with your family or your wife or your children or your church, then develop whatever standards you want to protect you. And then don’t look down on others for not having those or try to get others to sin against their own conscience by trying to get them to change on those. So be careful with your standards but we must have standards for a separated life. I hope that makes sense. I hope I wasn’t incoherent in my sermon this morning. But let’s close in a word of prayer.