Life in the Fast Lane
Convictions: Holding Our Course On Slippery Pavement
2 Timothy 4:1-5
Woodlawn Baptist Church
October 24, 2004
Introduction
“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned to fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.”
Tonight I want to deal with a subject that is going to be increasingly more important as the day of Christ draws near – and it is this matter of our convictions. On more than one occasion in the Scriptures, the apostle Paul warned churches of the dangers of false teachings and of the importance of holding to the truths of God’s Word. False teachings abound, as do false beliefs, and unless we are a people of sound convictions we will find ourselves slipping down the road out of control, headed for a crash that could have been avoided had we only held our course with determination and sound judgment.
In our text, Paul charged Timothy, the young preacher and his son in the faith to preach the Word of God and to patiently counsel people with sound doctrine. He then told him why. Paul said that the time would come when people would not endure, or put up with sound doctrine. Now remember that doctrine is not a dirty word. It just means a teaching. In other words, people would not tolerate the sound teachings of the Bible. Why? Because they really don’t have any convictions about those teachings.
It is no secret that one of the greatest lies ever accepted by the Lord’s churches is that the success of Christianity depends on how popular it is, and that the kingdom of God and the glory of Christ somehow advance on the back of public favor. Listen to this assessment by pastor and writer John MacArthur,
“Christians have worked hard to position themselves in places of power within the culture. They seek influence academically, politically, economically, athletically, socially, theatrically, religiously, and every other way, in hopes of gaining mass media exposure. But then when they get that exposure—sometimes through mass media, sometimes in a very broad-minded church environment—they present a reinvented designer pop gospel that subtly removes all of the offense of the gospel and beckons people into the kingdom along an easy path. They do away with all that hard-to-believe stuff about self-sacrifice, hating your family, and so forth.”
Are we guilty of such thinking or practices? Do we bend what we believe in order to fit in or find our place in this world? Would we? They’re questions that deserve an answer. As Missionary Baptists, we hold to certain distinctions that set us apart in this world. We are not like most other churches, even many Baptist churches, and for good reason. But talking about beliefs and convictions goes beyond basic doctrinal beliefs about salvation and baptism and church polity to basic decisions about life in general: convictions about what a marriage is, about homosexuality, abortion, education, prejudice, and much, much more.
As we consider this subject tonight, I am going to deal with four questions: What are our convictions? What is a conviction? Does it really matter? and will we stand?
What Are Our Convictions?
Let me firmly assert that we do not hold to Baptist convictions; we hold to Bible convictions. We do not believe certain things because Baptists believe them, but because the Bible teaches them, and if we find that the Bible teaches something else, then we will change to follow the Scriptural position. I have given you a copy of our doctrinal statement, outlining twenty-one of the Bible’s key doctrines. Certainly there are more, but these twenty-one set us apart as being different and distinct. After these, I have added some others that are more ethical in nature. As you follow along, you will notice that I have provided a place for you to decide whether this is a conviction of yours, or whether you consider it to be a belief that you hold to, but it is really more of a personal preference rather than a conviction.
Love one for another as Jesus loves the believer manifests our discipleship, proves our love for God and symbolizes our authority as New Testament churches. Love is therefore the great commandment of the LORD Jesus Christ upon which all others are dependent.
The entire Bible is infallible, verbally inspired by God, and is the all-sufficient rule of faith and practice for our lives.
God is a Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, equal in divine perfection.
The account of Creation is provided in Genesis.
Satan is a fallen angel, the archenemy of God and man, the unholy god of this world, and his destiny is the eternal lake of fire.
Christ was virgin born and lived a perfectly sinless life.
Jesus Christ was fully God.
The Holy Spirit is the divine Administrator for Jesus Christ in His churches.
The miraculous spiritual manifestation gifts were done away when the Bible was completed. Faith, Hope and Love are the vital abiding Spiritual Gifts.
Man was created in the image of God and lived in innocency until he fell by voluntary transgression from his sinless state, the result being that all mankind are sinners.
The suffering and death of Jesus Christ was substitutionary for all mankind and is efficacious (produces the desired effect) only to those who believe.
Jesus Christ had a bodily resurrection and ascension, and His saints will also experience a bodily resurrection.
Christ will personally, physically return before His millennial reign as the crowning event of the Gentile age. This event will include the resurrection of the righteous to eternal heaven, and the Millennium will be followed by the resurrection of the unrighteous unto eternal punishment in the lake of fire and that the righteous shall enter into the heaven age.
The depraved sinner is saved wholly by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and the requisites to regeneration are repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that the Holy Spirit convicts sinners, regenerates, seals, secures, and indwells every believer.
All who trust Jesus Christ for salvation are eternally secure in Him and shall not perish.
God deals with believers as His children, He chastises the disobedient, and He rewards the obedient.
Jesus Christ established His church during His ministry on earth and it is always a local, visible assembly of scripturally baptized believers in covenant relationship to carry out the Commission of the Lord Jesus Christ, and each church is an independent, self-governing body, and no other ecclesiastical body may exercise authority over it. Jesus Christ gave the Great Commission to the New Testament churches only, and He promised the perpetuity of His churches.
There are two pictorial ordinances in the Lord’s churches: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Scriptural baptism is the immersion of penitent believers in water, administered by the authority of a New Testament church in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Lord’s Supper is a memorial ordinance, restricted to the members of the church observing the ordinance.
There are two divinely appointed offices in a church, pastors and deacons, to be filled by men whose qualifications are set forth in Titus and 1 Timothy.
All associations, fellowships, and committees are, and properly should be, servants of, and under control of the churches.
We freely worship without interference from the government and affirm our belief in civil obedience, unless the laws and regulations of civil government run contrary to the Holy Scriptures.
Abortion is murder in every case, without exception.
The Bible teaches the sanctity of marriage between a consenting man and woman. Homosexuality is a sin and an abomination to God.
The Bible teaches that God is no respecter of persons. All men and women, regardless of race are in need of salvation. The Lord’s churches are responsible for sharing the gospel with people of every race.
Parents have God-given authority to teach, train and discipline their children and are commanded to do so in the Scriptures.
Certainly there are more, but for the sake of time we must move on. You have marked whether these things are convictions to you, or merely preferences. Now let us answer the second question…
What Is A Conviction?
In order to answer this question, we are going to allow the Supreme Court of the United States to help us. What determines whether your beliefs are convictions, or simply preferences? Back in 1972, a Supreme Court ruling came down with a test that to this day helps them decide in religious matters whether a person’s religious beliefs are preferences or convictions. Regardless of who you are or what your belief structure is, every single religious belief you have is one of two types: they are either preferences or convictions.
First, let’s look at a preference. A preference is a very, very strong belief. It is a belief that you hold with great intensity and strength. In fact…that belief can be so strongly held by you that you go into full time service in the name of that belief. You can be a minister of the gospel, a Christian school teacher, or a missionary. That is a strong belief. The second thing that makes this belief strong is that it is a belief that you can hold with such intensity that you give all of your wealth to it.
The third thing is that your belief can have such strength and fiber to it you can be energetic in proselyting other people. You can stand on the street corner and witness. Every time there is Thursday night visitation you are there. Saturday morning you have a zeal toward spreading the gospel.
Now a fourth thing. You can be so convinced this belief is good that you can want to teach it to your children. According to the Supreme Court you can believe all of that and still only have a preference. Here is what makes a belief a preference: it is a very strong belief, but it is a belief that you will change. You prefer it, but you will change that belief under some circumstances.
Think about how you answered a while ago. Would you change your beliefs about any of those things? If you would, they are only preferences. There are several reasons why people change their beliefs.
Because of peer pressure
You study something in the Bible and say to yourself, “Here is something I know I must do.” You resolve in your heart to do it, then you go out and tell your friends, your church family and others that you are going to do this thing. But when they hear it, your friends say to you, “Hold on just a minute. You are right. We don’t say that you are wrong, but couldn’t you tone it down just a little? Couldn’t you fix it so that we can cooperate with you? Couldn’t you come around so that it is not so offensive to us and maybe you could still get done what you wanted to?” If you would change for these people, then what you have is a preference.
Because of family pressure
“This is what I’m going to do,” and your wife says, “Please don’t. You know what is right, but please don’t. We just got everything settled, let’s not blow it wide open again.” And as a consequence that man changes his beliefs.
Because of a lawsuit
What would happen to your beliefs if you were threatened with a lawsuit for them? Sound ludicrous? You just wait and see if that’s not what happens as the years go by in America. I was looking at the web-site of a Christian legal firm that is dedicated to protecting the religious liberties we hold dear, and read about a few cases they are working on today. A Bible study group in OHIO has been told they may not use a room in the library for their meetings because they will be studying the Bible. The librarian told the group that library rooms may only be used for civic and educational meetings. An evangelist in right here in TEXAS has been told he may not speak to others about religion in the city’s recreation center or invite anyone to church while he is there. Students on college campuses in INDIANA and NORTH CAROLINA are being told they may not form Christian groups on campus if they intend to limit the leadership in those groups to practicing Christians. The right to tell another person about Jesus Christ or to invite them to church is being challenged across our nation. Some have been followed around by police and warned not to knock on any doors. A few have been arrested.
Let me ask you something. Do we knock on doors because we believe that Jesus told us to do it? Would we quit if we were threatened with a lawsuit? Let me give you a good example to consider. When is it OK for a woman to teach in a church? Let’s suppose you were the pastor here and you had a woman who wanted to teach an adult class? Do you have a conviction about such a thing? If you do, would you ever change that belief? Could the circumstances be changed so that you would allow it? What if you told a woman she could not teach an adult class, and she sued the church? Would you back down under the threat of a lawsuit? If you would, then what you have is only a preference.
Because of threat of jail
Would you go to jail for a matter of your faith? No one is going to understand why you have gone. You would be slandered, misunderstood, discredited, not to mention the abuses that you would suffer inside the jail. Read the Bible through and through and you will find its pages filled with stories of jailbirds. History repeats this pattern. Would going to jail cause you to change your beliefs? Just how firmly do you believe that homosexuality is sin? Would you go to jail to defend your belief? Could you watch your family suffer jail time as you defended your beliefs?
Because of threat of death
What about death? Would you deny or change your beliefs if threatened with death? Would you change them if your wife or husband were threatened with death?
You see, here is the difference between a preference and a conviction. A conviction is a belief that you will not change, no matter what. What is it that creates a conviction? It is the belief that God ordered the belief or demands the belief in His Word. It is a matter of believing with all your heart that God requires this thing or this belief of you. You can think of people in the Bible like Daniel, or his three friends who had a conviction that God demanded that they not bow to Nebuchadnezzar’s statue. When threatened by their peers, by their families, even by death, they refused to bow. You see, their belief wasn’t just a preference; it was a conviction.
The apostle Paul endured suffering beyond measure because of convictions. He didn’t endure beatings because of his preferences. The disciples suffered martyrdom because of convictions. John the Baptist died because of his convictions. Stephen died because of his convictions.
Does It Really Matter?
“Brother Kevin, you are drawing a mighty hard line in the sand tonight.” No, I’m really not. What I want you to think about for a minute is this: is the Bible true? Does it really teach what we say it teaches? If the things I mentioned earlier are the teachings of the Scriptures, then would you also say that those things constitute sound doctrine?
Of course they do, and what did God say about sound doctrine? He said that a time would come when people would not endure sound doctrine. Do you know why? Because their beliefs were simply preferences. Listen, every thing that Jesus taught was the truth, truth worth living for, and truth worth dying for. If you don’t believe me, just ask Daniel, who went to the lion’s den for it, or his three friends, who went to the fiery furnace for it, or Paul, who was jailed and beaten for it, or any other number of martyrs who gave their lives defending the beliefs that have been passed on through the years to us. Listen to what A.W. Tozer had to say about convictions:
“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.”
Being true to our convictions as Missionary Baptists and as Bible believers matters because when we fudge or give up ground on any truth found in the Scripture, we do three things. First, we dishonor God’s Word. If it teaches a thing, then we dishonor the Word by allowing the truth to be perverted. Second, when we stray from the truth we run the risk of leading others astray. If you want to believe a thing, that is one matter, but to teach it or allow someone else to teach it or to sit back and be passive about it is to allow someone else to fall into a lie. That’s why Paul was so adamant that folks who taught heresy be dealt with swiftly. “A little leaven leavens the whole lump.” If you have something that is 100% true, and you change it so that it is only 99% true, is it true anymore? Third, when we give up ground on our convictions, we are giving up ground that in most cases cannot be won back.
Let me share with you a case in point. For many years the Southern Baptist Convention as a group held the position that a church was local and was only local in nature.
“In 1963, in that Convention a new statement of faith was adopted. “The Baptist Faith and Message” had a new paragraph added to it under ARTICLE VI – THE CHURCH. The new paragraph was a new thing among people called Baptists…It reads, “THE NEW TESTAMENT SPEAKS ALSO OF THE CHURCH AS THE BODY OF CHRIST WHICH INCLUDES ALL OF THE REDEEMED OF ALL OF THE AGES.”
Now, I am using this example only to show you what happens when a group gives up ground on a belief. I have some fine friends who pastor in the SBC, and there are many fine believers in their churches. However, since that time when the vote was passed by only a small majority, today the church is believed to be universal in nature and it is commonly accepted as such. Now the SBC calls itself the largest Protestant Denomination in America. Not only is the church not universal, Baptists are not Protestants. When they gave in to their convictions, they lost ground that cannot be taken back now.
It can happen to us. Clinging to our convictions matters. In the book of Jude, the Bible says,
“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”
The rest of that letter goes on to talk about those who had forsaken the truth and had fallen into heresy. Where they once were running along in a straight path, they were now slipping and sliding their way right into the ditch of error.
Will We Stand?
As our church grows and as people come to know Christ as their personal Savior, what Christ said in the Great Commission about teaching people to “observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you…” is going to continue to be of utmost importance. That’s why Sunday School and Wednesday evening Bible studies are so critical. Not only do people need to grow in matters of Christian living, but they also need to grow in matters of doctrinal truth.
Paul told Timothy in verse 5 of our text to “watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.” There are four phrases there.
“Watch thou in all things” – this means to be observant. As a church body we must carefully observe the times in which we live and observe how our church responds to changes in Christianity. We must keep a close eye on whether we are holding true to our convictions. If we are not, then we must either repent and turn back, or admit that what we really have is a preference in those things.
“Endure afflictions” – this means that it is not going to be easy. People will get mad. We may not be the most popular church. We may get badmouthed or even sued. No matter what challenges we face, we must endure them for the sake of the truth.
“Do the work of an evangelist” – this is a reminder that while we must watch and endure, we are never commanded to make that our purpose. Some churches think their purpose is to hole up and hold out faithful. Our primary purpose is to reach the lost and teach them to follow Christ. We must not forget it.
“Make full proof of thy ministry.” – Let me sum it up this way: Most Christians and most churches aren’t doing anything. If you want to think of an army that is in battle, God wants us to win, but what most churches do is gather together for weekly briefings, then they never go out to fight. God intends for us to storm this community for Christ, and to do it with everything we have.
There is no reason why we cannot do all of that and stay true to the clear teachings of God’s Word: those beliefs we cling to that we call convictions. Times are changing, people are changing, churches are changing, religion is changing, Christianity is changing, but God’s Word is not. As we close tonight, I want to encourage you to purpose in your hearts to make God’s truths your own. Study them, love them, teach them, practice them, and last of all, let us stand for them.
Works Cited
MacArthur, John. Hard to Believe (Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN) 2003
Dr. David Gibbs has given a wonderful lecture titled, Preference or Conviction. The material under this point has been borrowed from this lecture and is modified to fit the needs of this message.
Gibbs, David, quoted from a lecture titled, Preference or Conviction?
