Sunday Sermons
The Good Fight - Part 2
The Good Fight
Every Christian is called to become engaged in the struggle between good and evil. This is readily seen in the command addressed to every Christian to put on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:11), and to contend earnestly for the faith (Jude 3).
The Struggle That Cannot Be Avoided
Controversy between Christians and the world is inevitable and indigenous to our purpose in serving Christ. No matter how much we would like to avoid direct confrontation with the world, it cannot be avoided if one is going to truly live the Christian life. Some of the reasons for this are as follows:
· Jesus taught absolutes (John 14:6; 8:32). He taught “either/or” choices. One either serves God or mammon (Matthew 6:24), is on the broad way or narrow way (7:13-14), is laying up treasure in heaven or on earth (6:18-21), is a true or false prophet (7:15-19), or has a foundation that is safe and secure or one that invites disaster (7:24-27). Jesus is the prince of Peace for those who believe in Him (Isaiah 9:6-7), yet for all others, He brings a sword (Matthew 10:34-39).
· The teaching of Jesus is unique; it is one of a kind. It is to be contended for in its unchangeable state (Jude 3). His teaching is not altered by time or culture (John 12:48), and any alteration brings condemnation (1 Timothy 6:3-5; 2 John 9; Galatians 1:6-9). “The facts and the truth of the gospel are not what they are because of circumstances. They are not susceptible to compromise and synthesis. Neither time, culture, nor circumstances are permitted to change the message”(The Evangelist and Controversy, Harry Pickup Jr., Focus Magazine, Issue 68, p. 5).
· The apostles, those men who originally revealed and preached Jesus’ message of salvation, often found themselves involved in a struggle for the hearts of men. They reasoned, debated (Acts 17:2-3), and lived in a constant struggle against the culture that surrounded them (2 Timothy 4:7).
The Struggle that First Starts Within
In the life of any Christian, one will face a struggle with those outside of Christ, and there are even times that one will face some controversy with those in the body of Christ. Yet the key in being successful during those trying circumstances is first to master the struggle or warfare that is going on inside of oneself. Every Christian is fundamentally in a struggle between two minds, dispositions, or attitudes that lie within him or her. Paul stated it this way, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another” (Galatians 5:16-17).
· We can only be successful reaching others for Christian, if we are first converted ourselves (2 Timothy 2:24-26).
· Winning the conflict that is going on in my life will determine how successful I am in the “outward” conflicts. “The key to honorable controversy is for the soldier to win the war ‘within’. Unless, he ‘walks by the spirit, he will have little success in the wars ‘without’” (p. 7).
The “Good Fight”
“I have fought the good fight….I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). This is a remarkable statement, for there are many less noble outcomes:
· Some men and women spend most of their lives involved in the wrong battles, including battles that do not matter or battles that that never arrive at the right answer for a real problem. Others fight the right battles but in the process get discouraged, or completely lose their faith and stray from the course. Some start the good fight and then get stop. They might not ever outwardly give up, yet at the same time they have inwardly stopped contending.
· Others fight the right battles, but in the process of fighting one battle after another, they intentionally or unintentionally learn to fight in a less than honorable fashion. It should be noted that the term “good” in the above verse is also translated in other passages, “honest” (Luke 8:15) and “honorable” (Titus 3:8,14). “Honor is a factor in holiness. The ‘good soldier’ is set apart and consecrated unto the Lord for ‘warring’. In all his living he is to ‘show forth the excellencies’ of His Creator, Ruler, and Redeemer” (p. 9). In other words, even when involved in the heat of controversy he is to act in a manner that glorifies His Lord (Colossians 3:17). The challenge for any Christian is to fight the good fight and remain honest, ethical, loving, concerned for the souls of men, patient, and spiritual while in the midst of such a controversy.
The Good Soldier
2 Corinthians 10:3-4 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh”
· In the midst of this struggle, the Christian refuses to use less than honorable methods in contending for the faith.
· He or she does not depend upon manipulation or a worldly craftiness; rather their trust is in the power of the gospel message (Romans 1:16; 2 Corinthians 10:4).
· Thus, the Christian will not lower themselves to the level of using carnal methods in trying to win souls.
· I do not need to misrepresent error.
· I do not need to twist a verse to make a point.
· I do not need to exaggerate.
· I do not need to attribute conclusions to those in error that they do not believe.
· The fact that the opponent lost is temper does not allow me to do the same.
· We must never subordinate honor to victory and feel that winning at any cost is justified. “The good soldier first seeks the salvation, the restoration, of the errorist and those under his influence. This story was commonly told in my youth. An outstanding debater was told that he misused a passage in meeting an error. He replied, ‘Did it answer the argument?’ The good soldier never uses such tactics” (p. 9).
It should be noted that even Michael the archangel did not make a “railing judgment” against the devil in his dispute with him (Jude 9). “He did not presume to condemn him in insulting words” (NEB). “The point of the story lies just here. If an angel was so careful in what he said, how much more should mortal men watch their words” (Green p. 170). That is, he was quite careful even when he was addressing Satan and opposing evil. The point is not that Michael did not say anything, rather, Michael did not act on his own authority, rather what he spoke was the word of God. He not only spoke the word of God, but did so in a manner which would be pleasing to God. In addition, Michael understood that he is not the judge, rather he allowed God to pronounce either condemnation or justification (James 4:12).
1 Corinthians 5:5 “that the spirit may be saved”
· Even when is comes to matters of church discipline, the good soldier remembers that the purpose of such discipline is not for personal retaliation, but rather for the salvation of the sinner involved.
· The ultimate goal is always the saving of the soul, for this is what God desires (2 Peter 3:9). Let us remember that the statement in the previous passage appears in a book that deals with false teachers (chapter 2). God desires that even false teachers repent and come to the knowledge of the truth.
Galatians 2:11 “I opposed him to his face”:
· A good soldier goes right to the source and confronts the person who is in sin or the person who is teaching something false.
Galatians 2:14 “But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel”:
· When opposing error we need to sharply contrast the error with the entire gospel message.
· An error needs to be dealt with in a way that the audience sees how this error affects the spiritual well being of souls. In Galatians Paul demonstrated how this particular error was subversive to the gospel message and especially the sacrifice of Christ (2:21). Thus the error was more than mere rudeness, or even hypocrisy, but something even more fundamental. In addition, in this case, the controversy was not over the act of circumcision itself but what the opponents made the act to stand for—that is, salvation.
Titus 1:11 “Who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families”:
· The good soldier picks his or her battles wisely and decides to spend his or her energy on those matters that will destroy faith among God’s people, “and thus they upset the faith of some” (2 Timothy 2:18).
Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net/mdunagan@easystreet.com
