Hyper-Grace in the Bible #2

On February 1, 2014, the message was about how to determine if a church is teaching the relatively newly dubbed “Hyper-Grace”. There were at least 8 identifiers. I have already covered #1.

The following are signs of a hyper-grace church:
1. The preachers never speak against sin.

2. The lead pastor never takes a cultural stand for righteousness.

When issues like abortion come up, these pastors will shy away from mentioning it because they are afraid of offending new people. I can understand this to a point. But I counter that we as ministers of Christ are obligated to at least mention our positions publicly so that we use it as a teaching moment for the sheep following us. Not saying anything about an issue like abortion is another way of condoning it!

Exodus 18:
• 20 "And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do.
o Leaders, elders and parents are directed to teach all of the laws/standards of God.

Deuteronomy 6:
• 1 "Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the LORD your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess,
• 2 "that you may fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.
• 3 "Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the LORD God of your fathers has promised you-'a land flowing with milk and honey.'
• 4 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!
• 5 "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
• 6 "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.
• 7 "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
o All of the Torah (teaching) must be taught – not just parts of it
o We are charged to learn it all – have it in our hearts – so it becomes a part of who we are and how we live.

Judges 13:
• 1 Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
• 2 Now there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children.
• 3 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, "Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son.
o The child, before being conceived, was known to be a boy
• 4 "Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean.
• 5 "For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines."
o It was known before he was conceived that he was to be a Nazarite, with long hair, and will deliver Israel from the Philistines
• 6 So the woman came and told her husband, saying, "A Man of God came to me, and His countenance was like the countenance of the Angel of God, very awesome; but I did not ask Him where He was from, and He did not tell me His name.
• 7 "And He said to me, 'Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Now drink no wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.'"
o His parents did not know his name, but were told what to name him
• 8 Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, and said, "O my Lord, please let the Man of God whom You sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born."
• 9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came to the woman again as she was sitting in the field; but Manoah her husband was not with her.
• 10 Then the woman ran in haste and told her husband, and said to him, "Look, the Man who came to me the other day has just now appeared to me!"
• 11 So Manoah arose and followed his wife. When he came to the Man, he said to Him, "Are You the Man who spoke to this woman?" And He said, "I am."
• 12 Manoah said, "Now let Your words come to pass! What will be the boy's rule of life, and his work?"
• 13 So the Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, "Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful.
• 14 "She may not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor may she drink wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean. All that I commanded her let her observe."
• 15 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, "Please let us detain You, and we will prepare a young goat for You."
• 16 And the Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, "Though you detain Me, I will not eat your food. But if you offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to the LORD." (For Manoah did not know He was the Angel of the LORD.)
• 17 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, "What is Your name, that when Your words come to pass we may honor You?"
• 18 And the Angel of the LORD said to him, "Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?"
• 19 So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it upon the rock to the LORD. And He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on-
• 20 it happened as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar-the Angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar! When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground.
• 21 When the Angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, then Manoah knew that He was the Angel of the LORD.
• 22 And Manoah said to his wife, "We shall surely die, because we have seen God!"
• 23 But his wife said to him, "If the LORD had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have told us such things as these at this time."
• 24 So the woman bore a son and called his name Samson; and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.
o His name was Samson
• 25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to move upon him at Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Luke 17:
• 1 Then He said to the disciples, "It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come!
o God’s word will offend many
• 2 "It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.
o But we need to try to not offend.
• 3 "Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.
o We need to correct with humility in an attempt to not offend.

Ezekiel 34:
• 1 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
• 2 "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD to the shepherds: "Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?
• 3 "You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock.
• 4 "The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them.
• 5 "So they were scattered because there was no shepherd; and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered.
• 6 "My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them."
• 7 'Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:
• 8 "as I live," says the Lord GOD, "surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock became food for every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock" -
• 9 'therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the LORD!
o The church leaders do favor to no one by not teaching the whole truth of God