IT’S TIME TO RESIST!
2 Cor. 10:5
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. Over the Christmas break I heard about some ladies who were shopping non-stop for several days.
2. In one of the many parking lots, they ran into friends. One friend complimented the shop-a-holics on their new car and asked if it was had any special features – like was it an economical car.
3. The shop-a-holics added up their last three days and said, “Well it does get about 20 MALLS TO THE GALLON!”
B. THESIS
1. We live in a time where evil –immorality, profanity, and violence – are sweeping our society. Everywhere the morals and teachings of the Bible are contradicted and opposed.
2. Many Christians are not anchored, and like ships on a tide, are being carried away and subverted by it. They are not consciously rejecting or resisting the drift of the new godless generation, so they are becoming like their environment.
3. This is cause for concern and corrective action by the Church. The Church must hold the line against the changing morals and beliefs.
4. I remember when I went to seminary I was assigned a book to read and be tested on. It taught many unbiblical ideas and attacked Christian beliefs from many angles.
5. I found that the only way to maintain my Christian beliefs was to identify every statement contrary to the Bible and write a rebuke in the margin. If I didn’t, I found myself accepting his ideas. This approach worked.
6. My swordsmanship “parried” the enemies blows, or raising my shield of faith absorbed the flaming lying missiles. It caused me to have victory over all the enemies’ deceits.
C. TITLE
So tonight I want to discuss three things; 1. The Church’s duty to resist evil; 2. What we’re to Resist; and 3. How we’re to Resist it. The title of this message, “It’s Time to Resist!”
I. THE CHURCH’S DUTY TO RESIST
A. FIXING A WRONG INTERPRETATION
1. Now some people have misinterpreted Matt. 5:39 in the KJV. Jesus said, “But I say unto you, That you resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
2. This wasn’t talking about moral evil in society, but persecution by an individual person. It really means, “Don’t fight back against the person who is persecuting you; just take it.” He mentions being slapped, sued, etc. by persecutors.
3. So nowhere does the Bible say we’re not supposed to resist moral evil.
B. OUR DUTY TO RESIST EVIL
1. “With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him” Dan. 11:32. This was a prophecy about Antiochus Epiphanes (215-175 B.C.) king of the Seleucid Empire, who tried to destroy the Jewish religion. The Maccabee family did resist him and liberated the Jewish nation around 160 B.C.
2. Two other verses speak of resisting the enemy; “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” James 4:7; “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith…” 1 Pet. 5:8-9.
3. The 2 N.T. verses above both use the word “anti” against and “histemi” to stand; thus it means “to stand against, to oppose, to withstand.” They all mean to resist all that is contrary to the Word and will of God.
4. Just like when it was suggested to the Lord Jesus by Satan that He turn a stone into bread, Jesus refused and countered the thought with the Word of God. God’s will was His will. So when the enemy pushes you, push back with the Word!
C. LET’S LIGHT A FIRE!
1. Elton Trueblood, the Quaker scholar, once compared evangelism to fire. Evangelism occurs, he said, when Christians are so ignited by their contact with Christ that they in turn set other fires.
2. It is easy to determine when something is aflame. It ignites other material. Any fire that does not spread will eventually go out. A church without evangelism is a contradiction in terms, just as fire that does not burn is a contradiction. “GOD, PUT A FIRE IN US!”
II. WHAT WE’RE TO RESIST
A. SO CALLED SCIENCE
1. “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to your trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called” 1 Tim. 6:20.
2. It’s interesting that the KJV translates “knowledge” as “science” (as do several other translations). Science is the study of the natural world and its uses. Many areas of science do not contradict the Bible, but are simply the findings of studying the natural world.
3. Where “science” crosses the line is where they theorize about things they can’t prove – like the origins of the universe, the origins of life, whether life evolved from one species to another, and how the strata of the earth was laid down.
4. Those are areas where science becomes an anti-God philosophy. They are areas where history can’t be replicated, so it can’t be proved. It’s really “sham-science.”
5. Then there’s areas where science crosses moral boundary line – abortion, gender-manipulation, sexual acts, etc. Violations of ethics in science. There are also false directions such as animal rights and where the Earth’s welfare is put over humans. These are all wrong thinking.
B. RESISTING ARGUMENTS AND IDEAS
1. When we talk about “resisting” our culture, we’re not talking of burning tires and throwing rocks like they do in France and the Middle East countries.
2. We’re talking about resisting arguments and ideas which contradict the Word of God in our culture. Right now the liberal left is winning the arguments because the Christians aren’t engaging them in debate.
3. The Bible will always be proven true in the end – by history and science. Eventually evidence will surface that will vindicate the Bible. This has happened many times in archeology. It happened in genetics. We need to be confident that it will be vindicated in every area.
4. Paul knew where the battle lines were drawn; “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” 2 Cor. 10:5.
C. LET’S HAVE THE RIGHT MESSAGE
1. It’s amazing how many people try to share the good news with a sense of rage and hatred. It won’t help to rant about a particular social ill and trying to polarize people.
2. People rant about LBGTQ, long hair and tattoos, drinking and smoking pot, or whatever. They say, “God’s going to get them for that.” Will there be a judgment at which God will punish sin? Absolutely. But we will never win their hearts except by love. And the only sin that will send you to Hell is the one you won’t repent of! All of them will do that.
3. But let me tell you something – judgment is not the theme of the gospel, nor of the Bible. The theme of the good news is RESCUE! Jesus has rescued us from the judgment and wrath of God, and that rescue is available to anybody who looks to Christ!
4. God Himself, by His example, shows that only LOVE would ultimately win the hearts of people to Him. That’s why Jesus came. God wants willing servants; not ‘beaten-into-submission’ servants.
III. HOW WE’RE TO RESIST IT
A. STAND BY THE WORD
1. “Those who forsake instruction [from the Word of God] praise the wicked, but those who heed [the Word of God] resist them” Prov. 28:4. This verse only says “instruction,” but what kind of instruction does it mean? Godly instruction! And what instruction is more godly than the Word? None.
2. Any Christian who abandons the Bible strengthens the hands of the wicked. But all Christians who stick with the Word and use it as their standard are resisting wickedness.
3. Our attitude toward the Bible is so critical that it helps evil or resists it! Wow! Be a light by standing with the Word and shining it on sin and corrupt culture!
B. BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT
1. The Bible says about Stephen in Acts 6:10, “But they could not stand up against [resist] the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.”
2. The Apostles chose Stephen because he was “full of the Spirit and wisdom” Acts 6:3. So when he spoke and confronted the hypocrisies of the Jewish leaders, they couldn’t resist the Holy Spirit’s wisdom!
3. We’re also supposed to resist evil. If we’re full of the Spirit, we will have the same power to overturn the worldly philosophies around us by the truth.
C. DEMOLISH AND CAPTURE ARGUMENTS
1. “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” 2 Cor. 10:5.
2. We must explain God’s order and purposes from the Word of God. “God has not left Himself without witness” (Acts 14:17)
3. Paul told the people at Lystra in Iconium that God’s signature, His fingerprints are in His creation. They can know Him if they want to. That even the natural world bares witness to His reality, if they’re open to seeing it.
4. Many today don’t want to see the truth because it would disturb their justification of their sinful practices. But we must “speak the truth in love.”
5. To be silent isn’t love. “Open rebuke is better than hidden love.” If we love them we’ll speak to them. The key is, we need boldness. That’s what the early church prayed for regularly and it will make a difference today!
6. Peter said, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” 1 Pet. 3:15.
6. Our MANNER of our speaking to them matters. We’re to be gentle and respectful, even to some who don’t treat us the same way.
7. As Mark Barclay said, “Sinners are not our enemies, they're our targets.”
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. You don’t have to have a certain level of knowledge or education to be a witness for God.
2. In the days of John Wesley, lay preachers with limited education would sometimes conduct the church services. One man used Luke 19:21 as his text: "Lord, I feared You, because You are an austere man."
3. Not knowing the word "austere", he thought the text spoke of "an oyster man." He explained how a diver must grope in dark, freezing water to retrieve oysters.
4. In his attempt, he cuts his hands on the sharp edges of the shells. After he obtains an oyster, he rises to the surface, clutching it "in his torn and bleeding hands."
5. The preacher added, "Christ descended from the glory of heaven into … sinful human society, in order to retrieve humans and bring them back up with Him to the glory of heaven. His torn and bleeding hands are a sign of the value He has placed on the object of His quest."
6. Afterwards, twelve men received Christ. Later that night someone came to Wesley to complain about unschooled preachers who were too ignorant even to know the meaning of the texts they were preaching on. The Oxford-educated Wesley simply said, "Never mind. The Lord got a dozen oysters tonight." Our Daily Bread 9th April, 2008.
B. THE CALL
1. Let’s pray to have a greater commitment to the Bible. To quote it is to resist evil!
2. Second, lets ask God to fill us with His Spirit so we can let the Spirit speak through us and give us wisdom to answer people’s questions, with gentleness and respect.
3. Third, let’s ask God for boldness to be witnesses and believe He will give us the right thoughts and words.
4. Prayer.
