But Me… I’m Different! – Lies of the Enemy #33– Purity 1045

Good morning. To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning, as I said already. Um, let's see, today's photo of a gravel roadway cutting through lush green farmland towards a lush spring forest under vibrant blue skies. It comes to us from yours truly as I captured this scene in the initial moments of an afternoon of hiking, uh, most of the Gallop Road at the Merck Forest and Farmland Center grounds in Rupert, Vermont this past weekend. Well, it's Wednesday, and tonight I will be leading us, uh, the second meeting of the Celebrate Freedom Recovery/Discipleship Growth Group at my local church. So I share this photo of a pathway that has the humps of some of Vermont's Green Mountains in the background. To simultaneously visually remind us of our arrival at the mid— middle of the work week and to encourage everyone to keep on walking and talking with God on the path of Christian discipleship. Leading discipleship groups can be a lot like hiking. It can be rewarding to encourage people to follow the Lord with the way they live their life, but it also can be a challenge when the people you have been given the responsibility to lead have different ideas about where you were going. When I was given, uh, the opportunity to lead this group at my local church, I was, I was given the Celebrate Recovery lessons on the 12-step/8 biblical principles model as a guideline for what was to be presented each week at the group meetings, with little instruction other than this is what we teach from. So being no stranger to Celebrate Recovery's format, I kicked off last week's inaugural meeting of the Celebrate Freedom growth group, uh, according to the structure that is outlined in the Celebrate Recovery materials. And I was given the initial feedback that it seemed, uh, to go well. Uh, but in between that first night and now, um, and today, I have received reports that some members of the group expected our meetings to be more like a growth group model that our church uses for the fellowship of small groups on a regular basis. I belong to a growth group that my brother-in-law runs, and in that model we come together for a meal, discuss prepared questions based on the pastor's sermon that week, and then separate the men and women for private sharing and prayer. Uh, the small group model, um, the growth group model is really not that different than Celebrate Recovery's model, with the exception that our church's small group, small group, um, let's see, small group model are a little more late, you know, small groups are a little more laid back, um, because the message, the sermons, the pastor's sermon has already been delivered or Whereas the Celebrate Recovery, with Celebrate Recovery, the message has not been delivered. Whereas our church's small groups can operate under the assumption that everyone has heard the message, Celebrate Recovery's material operates under the assumption that not only has not, has not everyone heard the message before, it also is operating under the assumption that people will actually slowly, bit by bit, one day at a time, with the Lord's help, apply the principles of the teaching to their actual lives. Celebrate Recovery operates under the assumption that not only do people want to hear a teaching, they have some very real hurts, habits, and hang-ups that they want to be set free of, and they are trusting the Lord to help them actually do it. Whereas our church's small groups are relational and encouraging and They provide a place where you can share your burdens. There's not necessarily the assumption that you want to be made well, and they are more social than ministerial in nature, or at least that's what I've seen. Um, there seems to be more concern about what's on the menu food-wise each week rather than an emphasis on really getting the gist of the pastor's teaching and trying to apply it to our lives. So I have tonight, uh, I, I have the task, um, of trying to be true to present the material from Celebrate Recovery, uh, that the message, but at the same time to have to make it more like a growth group, uh, even though I set out the Celebrate Recovery meeting format and the welcoming email to all the people registered for the group The church did call it a growth group, so tonight I'll be changing things up a little to try to make our meeting a little more relational by sharing the lesson quite literally with the group, as I'll be seeking to disseminate it to each person and asking them to do their part in presenting it. I'm not sure how this will be received, but I want to be responsive to the needs and feedback of the group. And to do what I can to help them grow as disciples. So, you know, I already have my freedom in Christ, and this group isn't about my— me teaching or preaching. I, I want it to be about each person coming to know who they are in Christ and to grow into the people that they and the Lord want them to be. While some may be challenged by something like this, I surrender it all to God and will take it as it comes. Being challenged, making adjustments, and doing something new is how God causes us to grow. And when we remember to surrender, to do things his way, we discover that his way is best and covers all the different situations we can face in life. Even though we have many different experiences, histories, and hurts, habits, and hang-ups, I know that God has the answer for them all. In Christ, while we are each uniquely gifted and called, none of us are different. And that brings us to our current series, The Lies of the Enemy, which is an examination of some of the common lies, sometimes sneakily whispered into our minds as first-person statements, that the enemy tells us to cause us to doubt our faith, lose our peace, cause division, or influence us to to not follow the Lord the way— with the way we live our lives. So today's big lie is lie number 33: I'm different. Um, today's lie seeks to separate us from the flock of humanity and the body of Christ specifically by telling us that we are not like the others, we are not one and the same. Although it is based on the truth of our individual characteristics, talents, and situations, The truth is used against us as the enemy attempts to push us to the extremes along the pride spectrum. I'm different can be used to make us think more highly of ourselves. These people are idiots, they're not smart like me. Or can make us think that we are broken, dysfunctional, or deviant in some way. The enemy doesn't care where the lie of I'm different takes you along the pride highway to hell, just as long as it causes you to not br— to not bring you to surrender to the Lordship of Christ and to live out your identity in Christ. The lie of 'I'm different' can drive us to heights of personal achievement and godlike levels of self-sufficiency, or it can keep us frozen in inaction, as 'I'm different' could cause us to not risk trying anything for fear of the company of others, um, or to fear— yeah, yeah, or to fear the company of others. My bad. I'm different can encourage our sin. This is what I do. I'm different. That's just the way I am. And some people will even say they are proud of their particular sin of choice as they made that activity their identity. I'm different in our current culture is some, some denying their own biology as they claim they are not who their bodies tell them who they are. Some claim they are really different because they are in the wrong bodies in terms of gender, or they are in the wrong species. Some people want to be their quote-unquote true selves as members of the animal kingdom. But as unique as our talents, characteristics, and experience can be, in the beginning and in the end, none of us are different. The Word of God tells us in Genesis 1:27, "So God created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." All mankind was created in God's image. We are not like the animals. And not evolved from them. Humans are unique, but all mankind have the similarity of being blessed by being made in our Creator's image. In terms of our bodies, the Word tells us here that we are made male and female, down to our genetic code, and we should accept who we are biologically and suspect that anything that would tell us that God got it wrong is a malevolent demonic spirit that would seek to confuse us, steal our true identities, destroy our natural bodies, and kill us. In terms of our sin and individual temptations, um, the Bible tells, uh, tells us we are more alike than different. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, no temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man. But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. Temptations are common to man, the same all over, and the power of sin— the way of this— the way of escape— yeah, the way of escape is found in relationship with God who is faithful. The power over sin— my bad— the power over sin. Yeah, the power over sin, the way of escape, is found in a relationship with God who is faithful to help us. So we have to have faith in order to overcome our differences. Um, let's see, everyone, every one of us can overcome in Christ, as our sin and individual differences are secondary to who God says we are when we put our faith in Jesus. Galatians 3:26-28 tells us, for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male or nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Those things that would divide us and tell us that we are different are washed away by our new identities in Christ. And it is through Christ we shall live, which brings us to the end, where God tells— God's word tells us that we are not different in our eternal destinies. Hebrews 9:27 says, and as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment. We will all die and we will all be judged. However, through Christ we can be saved from God's wrath and live with him. Romans 10:9 tells us that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Now I know there's a lot of people out there who define themselves of by how different how they are different, but the path that leads to life everlasting, faith in Jesus, is the one way to be truly different from those who will be dead in their trespasses and sins. So reject the lie that I'm different, because every man, woman, and child are, are the same in their need of a Savior, Jesus Christ, and instead proclaim that you are just like everyone else in that need. But you have decided to be the same as those who are called to be one in Christ. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verse is, uh, 1 Corinthians 13:13, and the word of God says, three things will last forever: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love. Today's verse encourages that— encourages us that unlike the rest of, uh, unlike the world that is fading away and perishing, um, there are three things that will last forever: faith, hope, and love. And as God is love, which is the greatest of the three, we need to have faith in Christ and live in the hope of seeing God's kingdom come. So love the Lord with all your heart, Put your faith in Christ alone and share the hope that comes from knowing him. As always, I invite all to go to mtforchrist.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we conclude sharing from Satan, Demons, and Satanism: A Sinister Reality by June Hunt. And today, uh, took a little extra time to, to get this resource on the end of today's blog post because today we're sharing, um Satanic symbols. It's not to encourage you to follow Satan, it's to give you a heads up of what these symbols mean, you know, basically that they're demonic. And if you want to see what those are, go to mtforchrist.org and you'll see them at the end of today's blog post, where we also share the selected bibliography from June Hunt's book. So if you wanted more more information about Satan. They give you another— other, uh, other resources that they— that June Hunt drew from to, to write the book on Satan, uh, and Satanism. And, uh, so we totally encourage you to follow the Lord. And not for nothing, you know, as I put all these symbols into the blog post, you know, a lot of them look familiar. And, you know, I was a little surprised And I really fear for some of my friends in the '80s who wore anarchy symbols and, you know, pentagrams and made the devil horn symbol with their hands, you know. So, um, yeah, it's— I really fear for my generation. Heavy metal culture was, you know, uh, you know, really rich in these, uh, symbols. And I don't think people, you know, really realized what they were doing was giving glory to the dark side, giving glory to the enemy. And I just pray that for everybody who unwittingly involved themselves with the occult and with the satanic, that they would repent and put their faith in Christ so they could be saved. And that's what this little blog and podcast are all about, is about encouraging people to follow the Lord, to be saved from the judgment that will come. Um, that at the end we'll have to stand before God and make account for ourselves. And if we have faith in Christ, we will live. But if we don't, we'll be found dead in our trespasses and sins. So let's follow the Lord. Let's put our faith in Jesus and live our lives according to what he would have us do. Let's walk in the Spirit. If you don't know what that's about or what it's like to have your freedom in Christ, uh, that's what we're here for, basically, to encourage you to find out and to experience your freedom in Christ. And so we offer our discipleship teachings that are based on the work of Dr. Neil Anderson. Um, Victory Over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, and Freedom in Christ are all available on our podcast and our YouTube channel. And if you want to take a deeper dive into the material, you can email me at mtforchrist247@gmail.com, and I would email you the class materials for each class free of charge. Just, uh, they're Word docs basically to, you know, help you with your study. We also encourage the study of God's word where it tells you the truth, um, not as someone would preach or teach, but we're straight from straight from the word, you know, right straight from the source, straight from God through his prophets and his apostles. He let us know what he had to say and what we needed to do to be saved and to, you know, live a godly life. So we encourage Bible study. We read a little bit today of Job and Micah, and, um, you know, we'll do it again tomorrow. Um, but because it, it teaches us, you know, who God is and what he would have us do. So we encourage Bible study, and we do that with a Bible study, topical Bible study, that we do with Arthur and Susanna Sincotti every weekend. Um, and, uh, if you want to be part of our Bible study, you can check that out on the podcast and our YouTube channel as well by searching for Bible study with the Sincottis. And then just a heads up that there won't be one, uh, coming up for the Memorial Day weekend as I'll be roughing it, um, by camping in a cabin, uh, having backpack to the cabin just a few miles. But, uh, you know, not for nothing, it's, it's no electricity, indoor plumbing, um, you know, for some solitude, um, with the family over, uh, Saturday and Sunday at the Memorial Day weekend. So there won't be a blog post, there won't be a Bible study for the Memorial Day weekend. Yikes. It'll be, you know, and not having either, that's sort of a first. For a long time, I don't think I've blown off the blog in forever. But that's okay, we can take a day off and So we're going to do that. We're not legalistic. We can change as we go. We can make adjustments. And if people want to be more relational instead of having a traditional teaching, I can certainly accommodate them, or try to, you know, because it's not about me. It's about Jesus, and it's about living, you know, encouraging people to live, you know, according to the way God would want us to. So let's pray. Uh, I apologize for the lateness of the hour. Um, those symbols took a long time in terms of loading this. Um, and I don't have to work today because I have to work Saturday, um, and thus, um, it's a little later than normal. But let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, we pray for anyone, uh, listening or reading today's message, Lord, that you would come alongside them and their prayer requests. Lord, we pray for you to come alongside them in their walk and to guide them where they should go. As for me, Lord, we just pray for you to go before us today, open our eyes to the things you want us to see, lead us in the things you would have us do, and, um, you know, show us the way. Because all we want to do is rest and relax and, and live according to, um, you know, the way you'd want us to. We want to represent you on the earth. But we need help with that, so we ask for you to come alongside us today. And, uh, well, we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.