Grace & Truth - Stand Firm, Love Well Series - April 1, 2020

GRACE and TRUTH

Part 1 – Stand Firm, Love Well Series
Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Text: Daniel 1:1-6 (NIV)

Daniel 1:7 (NIV) The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.

✓Change our IDENTITY .

Daniel: “God is my judge”
Belteshazzar: “Lady, protect the king” Male
Hananiah: “Yahweh has been gracious”
Shadrach: “I am fearful of God”
Mishael: “Who can compare to my God? No one!”
Meshach: “I am despised, contemptible, and humiliated”
Azariah: “Yahweh has helped”
Abednego: “the servant of Nebo”

 

When culture shifts, we must know WHO WE ARE.
Daniel 1:8 (NIV) But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.

✓Compromise our STANDARDS .

When culture shifts, we must REAFFIRM OUR CONVICTIONS.

Daniel 1:9-10 (NIV)

Daniel 1:11-14 (NIV) Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, "Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see." So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.

✓Create a CONFRONTATION .

When culture shifts we must RESPOND THE RIGHT WAY .

John 1:14 (KJV) And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

TRUTH : God’s standard.
John 17:17 (NIV) Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
GRACE: GOD’S FAVOR .

Ephesians 2:8-9 (NLT) God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

Without truth, we are CORRUPT . Without grace, we are CONDEMNED .
Without truth, WE BECOME WORLDLY . Without grace, WE BECOME JUDGMENTAL .

Truth without grace is MEAN . Grace without truth is MEANINGLESS .

Truth and grace is MEDICINE .

Grace INVITES us to be free. Truth SETS us free.

 

John 8:1-11 (NLT) Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

HOLD HIGH God’s truth.

FREELY GIVE God’s grace.