BE DEFENSIVE
INTRODUCTION: Have you ever known a word but when someone asked you what it meant you found yourself at a loss for words? You knew the word and what it meant but you couldn’t think of the actual definition or the correct way to explain it. That’s the way it is for some Christians. They know what they believe but when someone challenges them to really define what they believe they are at a loss for words. For some, it’s just because they haven’t been adequately taught how to defend their faith. For others, however, it is because they say they believe but when challenged, find out that they aren’t as firm in their belief as they thought. It has been indicated that 80 percent of college-bound students who profess to be Christians leave for school and return home no longer believing as they did. Why? It was found that students were incapable of defending their faith against the onslaught of professors who tried to discredit the Bible. We need to be solid on the truth and know how to defend and communicate God’s truth. Let’s see how.
1) THE ATTACK. The devil is on the attack. He’s relentless; he doesn’t stop. He’s on the attack through the various temptations Christians face on a regular basis. He uses people to entice or provoke sinful behavior from us. The attack zone is all around us. Satan also wants to attack our belief system. He wants to hit us where we’re weak. If we struggle with trusting God, he will try to trip us up by tempting us to doubt God’s provision when we’re in a situation where we need to rely on God. When something happens that we don’t have answers for Satan will attack our faith. When it seems our prayers aren’t being answered Satan will try to get us to think God doesn’t care. When he can successfully do that, we start to question God. If we are questioning God, how are we going to be able to defend him when people raise arguments that we’re still unsure about ourselves? Say what you want about Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormons, they are solid and fixed about what they believe. And they are well trained to communicate their message. But if we are going to effectively defend the truth we need to be solid about what the truth is. In the Barna Report: What Americans Believe, 1991, George Barna, the church statistician, states that there is “a great deal of ambivalence among Americans with regard to their beliefs. For instance, while 62 percent of the respondents said they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ, 65 percent said the term “born again” does not apply to them; fewer than 50 percent strongly agreed that the Bible is the written word of God and is totally accurate in all it teaches.”
2) THE DEFENSE. 2nd Cor. 10:4&5. We live in America-the land of freedom. We have freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Because of that there are many different religious beliefs all around us. And all these religions will claim that the teachings they follow hold the truth. The Muslims and the Koran, the Mormons and the Book of Mormon, the Jehovah’s Witnesses and their version of the bible, and so on. But we need to understand that it is impossible to be a true follower of Jesus Christ and embrace this all-encompassing pluralism that says that all belief systems are equal. We can’t be true Christians and reject the idea of absolute truth. One might challenge, ‘so what makes you so sure the bible is the only truth?’ This is a legitimate question that deserves a legitimate answer. We can’t just say, ‘because that’s what I believe’. We need to have supporting evidence.
· Biblical Evidence. The Bible contains 66 books, written by over 40 different writers. These writers came from all aspects of life including judges, tentmakers, kings, shepherds, priests, prophets, doctors, and fisherman. It was written in different places like tents, in deserts, on mountains, in cities, in palaces, and even in dungeons. It’s last writer died approx 1500 years after its first writer. But despite all these differences in time and culture, in background and status, you have a book that doesn’t vary in opinion or belief. A book that doesn’t hold contradictions. Where else can you find a book written by over 40 different people, living under different circumstances, practicing different occupations, writing in different periods of history whose writings form one perfect book of unity? No human being could be behind this writing; this is the word of God! 1st Thess. 2:13, “And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.” Josh McDowell said, “Take 10 different contemporary authors and ask them to write their viewpoints on one controversial subject. Would they agree? Absolutely not!” The bible itself lends credible evidence to its authenticity. It is the only truth.
· Historical Evidence. Skeptics have tried in every way possible to discount and destroy the authority of the word of God, and can’t! It has undergone intense scrutiny from archaeology, science and philosophy. Yet, despite all the attacks, the Bible continually proves itself to be true on every front. Nelson Glueck, a renowned Jewish archaeologist, states, "No archaeological discovery has ever refuted a biblical reference." Dr. William Bright, who was not a friend to Christianity and who was probably the foremost authority on Middle Eastern archaeology in his time said this about the Bible..."There can be no doubt that archaeology has confirmed the substantial history of the Old Testament." In Genesis 19, we read about the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah. These cities were destroyed by fire and brimstone. Critics said that the story was created to communicate moral principles. Yet, the story was proven to be accurate by excavation in the late 60’s, and early 70’s in the area. Dr. Bryant Wood, in describing what he saw, stated that a fire began on the roofs of these buildings. Eventually the burning roof collapsed into the interior and spread inside the building. This was the case in every house they excavated. Such a massive fiery destruction would match the biblical account that the city was destroyed by fire that rained down from heaven. Wood states, "The evidence would suggest that this site is the biblical city of Sodom." Another city believed to be Gomorrah was also found. In some places the city was covered under 7ft. of ash. Another example is found in the Biblical account of Jericho and the falling walls. Skeptics maintained for years that it was myth. However in the 1930’s Dr. John Garstang made a remarkable discovery. He states..."As to the main fact, there remains no doubt, the walls fell outwards so completely, the attackers would be able to clamber up and over the ruins of the city. In the March 1990 issue of Time, an archaeologist named Kathleen Kenyon says that the walls fell suddenly, and that the city was conquered quickly. Further study found that the date of the fall of Jericho matched the timeframe in the Bible. Bible Scholar Donald J. Wiseman says that over 25,000 sites have been discovered dating back to Old Testament times. The Dead Sea Scrolls found in the Qumran caves between 1947 and 1956 has provided the best archaeological evidence that the scriptures we have today were accurately translated. They include some of the only known surviving copies of Biblical documents made before 100 BC.
· Scientific Evidence. The following is from www.godandscience.org. “For example, the Bible says that time was created by God when He created the universe. The bible speaks of certain truths that were in place, “before time began.” Stephen Hawking, George Ellis, and Roger Penrose extended the equations for general relativity to include space and time, demonstrating that time began at the formation of the universe. Of course, the biggest coup of the Bible was to declare that the universe had a beginning through an expanding universe model. The New Testament even declares that the visible creation was made from what was not visible and that dimensions of length, width and height were created by God. In addition, the Bible refuted the theory that the creation of matter and energy has ended long before science made that determination. The Bible also states that the universe is subject to decay and will wear out. The existence of the second law of thermodynamics, coupled with recent discoveries indicating that the universe is expanding at an increasing rate, with an insufficient amount of matter to stop that contraction, guarantees that the Bible is correct on this claim, also. Besides these stunning revelations about the nature of the universe, the Bible describes several properties of the earth that were not confirmed by science until hundreds of years after the Bible first made the claim. Examples include the claim that air has weight, the existence of valleys and vents on the bottom of the sea, ocean currents, and the fact that winds blow in circular paths. These are remarkable claims that could not have been directly observed by a bunch of nomadic sheepherders. Where did this information come from? God.” Col. 2:2-4.
· Personal Evidence. Some of the best evidence doesn’t come from an archaeological dig; it comes from you. When people want to know Jesus, they want to know what Jesus has done for you. Credible evidence is derived from your testimony of how Jesus saved a wretch like you. You’ve seen those weight loss infomercials that have the before and after pictures. Well you get to present a before and after shot of your life to people. People’s skepticism can melt away when they hear about how Jesus changed you. We need to be a voice. We can’t expect God to be happy with us if we are trying to be closet Christians. Just going along in life, content that we’ve come to believe without caring if we bring that message of salvation to anyone else. Content to just either go about our business or worse, conduct no business at all. Just sit in our homes and vegetate while the false religions are being brought door to door. Another group that often gets ridiculed are the ones who stand on the street corner downtown with the signs shouting their message of repentance to passersby. Regardless whether or not you agree with their approach or ideology they do have this going for them-they are willing to deal with the weird looks and the laughter. Just like the JWs and the Mormons are willing to deal with people avoiding them or slamming doors in their faces. We could learn something from these groups. We don’t necessarily need to adopt their methods, but we do need to adopt their willingness. Are we as passionate?
3) THE VICTORY. We know the attacks; we know the weapons and the strategy, how can we experience the victory?
· Luke 21:8-15. Victory comes in not being deceived (vs. 8). The victory comes in not being afraid (vs. 9). The victory comes in not having to worry about what to say (vs. 14). The victory comes in knowing that our adversaries cannot stand up to our words or wisdom in the Holy Spirit (vs. 15). Stephen had this victory in Acts 6:8-10. No matter how educated or eloquent the opposition seems we have power that is greater than theirs. We can be prepared and confident in the power of God.
· 1st Peter 3:13-16. There’s victory in knowing that we’re blessed for defending our faith in Christ (vs. 14a). There’s victory in fearlessness (vs. 14b). There’s victory in knowing there is an answer to every attack (vs. 15). We wouldn’t be told to be ready to give an answer to everyone if there were some ways in which we could be speechless. Although there may be some questions that no one but God knows the answer to, we can be confident in knowing that the God who knows everything has answers to every question, riddle or point. There’s victory in knowing that if we defend with gentleness and respect it will cast a shadow of shame and doubt to those who speak maliciously against us (vs. 16).
· Romans 10:12-15. Here Paul states the challenge to every believer with incentive for victory. There is victory in knowing that regardless of opposition, there are plenty of people that are going to want to hear the good news. They will consider it beautiful that we would be willing to bring them this Gospel message. This is the great victory: bringing souls to Jesus. Even if 9 out of 10 reject our defense, there is the one that will be won over by our ability to be bold and passionate about what we believe. They will be won over from the dark beliefs they were enslaved by to the side of truth. All because we were prepared to give a defense.
CONCLUSION: A. W. Tozer said, “We have gotten accustomed to the blurred puffs of gray fog that pass for doctrine in churches and expect nothing better. From some previously unimpeachable sources are now coming vague statements consisting of a milky admixture of Scripture, science, and human sentiment that is true to none of its ingredients because each one works to cancel the others out.
Little by little Christians these days are being brainwashed. One evidence is that increasing numbers of them are becoming ashamed to be found unequivocally on the side of truth. They say they believe, but their beliefs have been so diluted as to be impossible of clear definition. Moral power has always accompanied definite beliefs. Great saints have always been dogmatic. We need a return to a gentle dogmatism that smiles while it stands stubborn and firm on the Word of God that lives and abides forever.” Know the truth, be solid in the truth and communicate the truth to others. When people challenge what you believe, get defensive.
