|
|
 |
| NEWSLETTER ARTICLES |
No Time to Remain Silent
by Charles R. Swindoll
I’m a Texan — born and bred.
And for most of my younger years, I believed the South hadn’t actually lost the American Civil War; they just “ran out of time and ammunition.” It wasn’t until my junior year in high school, sitting in an American History class, that the truth dawned on me — the South had truly lost the war. Can you believe it took that long for me to discover the truth?
Growing up as I did, I believed that Northern troops and officers were some of the worst kinds of rascals on the earth — hateful warmongers. How wrong I was! Studying history and reading literature convinced me that Northerners hated war as passionately as Southerners. In fact, it was Union General William T. Sherman — the one who supposedly said, “War is hell” — who best summed up the nature of war. “You cannot qualify war in harsher terms than I will. War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it. . . . I want peace.” Sherman continued, saying he believed peace could not be reached until “the mad passions of men cool down.”1
General Sherman’s statement is true on and off the military battlefield. But just as war is occasionally necessary to protect a nation’s property and freedoms, so at times it is essential to defend the truths of our faith.
Misunderstandings, errors, and false teachings thrive inside and outside our churches. They always have. Skeptics and apostates deny the claims of Christ and seek to mislead people into counterfeit truth. That’s why Jude sounded the alarm bell: “I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith” ( Jude 1:3). The word contend refers to “a vigorous, intense, determined struggle to defeat the opposition.”2 We are to strive valiantly for the faith. Peter gave a similar command: “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15). In other words, Christians are to “defend the Bible against . . . false charges by presenting a verbal defense for it, refuting the statements of the destructive critic.”3
We never seek a fight, but we dare not remain silent when the claims of Christ come under assault. As the letter of Jude points out, there are four reasons why we must fight for the faith. First, the skeptic faces a certain doom ( Jude 1:5 –7). The cynic who rejects the authority of Jesus is headed for judgment and eternal punishment. So are the ones who come under this cynic’s sway.
Second, the disbeliever blasphemes the things of God (1:8 –10). They speak of dignified and reverent things but with gross indignity and irreverence.
Third, the cynic is spiritually empty (1:11–13). They are, as Jesus said, “like whitewashed tombs . . . full of dead men’s bones” (Matthew 23:27).
Fourth, the skeptic is ungodly ( Jude 1:14 –16). He or she engages in deeds and words that are not honoring to the Lord. As Jude observed, “These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage” ( Jude 1:16).
There you have it — four reasons why we must fight for the truths of the faith. But before you go out locked and loaded, there are a few things to keep in mind, to help maintain the balance. Many Christians do nothing but fight. However, other Christians either remain unaware that a battle is raging around them or they refuse to stand up. Neither extreme is correct. Somewhere in the middle is the balance, and that’s where we want to go.
Balance is achieved in four areas. Number one: know where you stand. You cannot afford the luxury of being ignorant or ill-informed when it comes to biblical truth and faith. So educate yourself in the common areas that come under attack: the Bible, the Trinity, the person and work of Christ, and the means of salvation.
Number two: know where the enemy stands. Learn the tactics of those who oppose the truth. Satan is wily and is as “crooked as a dog’s hind leg.”
THE BIBLE IS THE ONLY TANGIBLE, OFFENSIVE WEAPON THE LORD HAS GIVEN US IN OUR BATTLE AGAINST FALSEHOOD.
Number three: search the Scriptures consistently. The Bible is the only tangible, offensive weapon the Lord has given us in our battle against falsehood; the
apostle Paul called the Word of God “the sword of the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17). Learn to wield it with skill and wisdom.
Number four: stand alone if necessary. We need more men and women like Esther, who risked her life to save a nation . . . like Daniel, who refused to compromise his principles . . . like Paul, who, though condemned to death, stared in a madman’s eyes and preached the gospel.
Looking back now, it was silly to believe the South didn’t actually lose the war. But there is nothing silly about the battle for the hearts and minds of people. We must serve Christ in protecting sound biblical truth. If enemies infiltrate our ranks with destructive doctrine, if they attack the faith of our weaker brothers and sisters with lies, if they continue to lead others down the soft path of destruction, then we who are stronger must fight. And fight we will, to keep others from hell.
___________________________________________________________________________
1. William T. Sherman to James M. Calhoun, E. E. Rawson, and S. C. Wells, Atlanta, Georgia, September 12, 1864, in The Civil War Reader, ed. Richard B. Harwell (New York: Smithmark, 1994), 297, 299.
2. Kenneth S. Wuest, “The Exegesis of Jude,” in Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979), 235.
3. Wuest, “First Peter in the Greek New Testament,” in Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament, 89.
|
|
|
|
|
|
