THE STRICTER STANDARD
What Behavior Standard Does God Expect From Man Once His Grace Has Departed ?
1. The standard includes all people in the nation. *”…Every man…” (Jer. 26:3)
A. God’s requirement is on all of a specific category.
– In the last days. 2 Thes. 2:12
– A past requirement. 1 Sam. 15:3, Joshua 10:28
B. The sheep and the goat nations. Matt. 25:32-33
C. The wages of sin applies to all people. Rom. 5:9
2. The standard requires absolute perfection.
A. Without grace, only law exists. Gal. 3:10 & 11, 5:3, James 2:10
B. The consequences of failure is the same. Rom. 6:23
3. The standard cannot be reached without grace.
A. For salvation. Eph. 2:8
B. The blessings of Abraham. Rom. 4:16
C. Cannot be in any part through the law. Gal. 5:4
4. God has already seen what men will do.
A. His offer of forgiveness will be rejected by judgement generations.
Rev. 9:20-21, 16:9-11
B. The judgement generation today. 2 Thes. 2:11-12
Sinners Want You To Be Tolerant of Their Talk, But Are Hostile And Unwilling To Hear What They Don’t Like
1. Unwillingness to hear the truth. (Jer. 26:9-11) 2 Kings 17:14, Rom. 11:8
A. Results in deafness, unable to hear God, or truth even when confronted with it.
People then seek whatever they can hear. (Bad choice !)
B. Results in blindness, loss of vision, loss of seeing self as you really are.
Thus, false image replaces truth.
2. The pain of not listening to God’s Word. (Jer. 26:12-15) Deut. 30:17
*Techniques: avoidance, selective interpretation, blip-out syndrome, denial.
A. God will curse your blessings. If one asks for healing but fails to praise
God for it or fails to use their time for Him instead of self, will God keep
blessing ? Mal. 2:2, John 5:14, 8:11
B. God will stop answering their prayers.
Zech. 7:13, Ps. 66:18
3. The curse of the judgement generation. (Jer. 27:8)
A. It spreads to weak and nominal believers.Matt. 16:6
B. It involves real-time judgements. Col. 2:8, 2 Pet. 3:17
THE YOKES OF LIFE
Is Serving Someone Else Rather Than Ourselves Always A Bad Thing ? Worldly People Think So !
1. The yoke of Israel to Nebuchadnezzar.
A. Made them learn they could not be self-sufficient. Needed God.
Ex. 15:2, Ps. 62:7
B. Shepherd with rod. Makes sheep dependent on himself. Psalm 23:4
2. The yoke of family.
A. A wife to her husband. Rom. 7:2
B. A husband to his wife. Eph. 5:23
C. Parents to their babies. Amos 9:7
D. Children to their parents. Eph. 6:1
3. The yoke of employment.
A. Management depends on labor. Col. 4:1, Eph. 6:9
B. Labor depends on management. I Pet. 2:18, Titus 2:9
4. The yoke of life’s work.
A. Doing the things God wants done. Acts 15:28
B. Going through the trials of life. Matt. 11:29-30
C. Can become tied down by the world. Gal. 5:1