RESISTING EVIL

#1 · September 10, 2007, 10:58 am

Quote from Forum Archives on September 10, 2007, 10:58 am
Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>
RESISTING EVIL

September 9, 2007

Text: 1 Timothy 4:1-16

As everyone is well aware, six years ago next Tuesday America was viciously attacked resulting in the loss of around three thousand lives in the matter of a few hours. We soon learned that the attacks were planned and conducted by members of the al-Qaeda terrorist network led by Osama bin Laden. Americans have also learned that the prime motivation for these attacks, as well as several other major terrorist attacks worldwide before and after 9/11, is the call to Islamic jihad. What this means is that some followers of Islam believe that it is theologically and historically correct to force Islam on everyone through conquest. In our day, this means that resorting to terrorism through indiscriminate, mass destruction of their declared enemies is an acceptable practice in order to achieve their goals.

Now to me and most people I know, this reality of Islam and jihad causes me to conclude that Islam is a dangerous, threatening force in our world. Even so-called moderate Islam leaders have not been very forceful or convincing in their condemnation of this form of militant jihad. Yet, not long after the 9/11 attacks and not long after reports about those responsible and Islamic jihad in general came to be known, research indicated that the Islamic faith was growing in number! Most perplexing to me were the reports stating that this growth included areas that have been traditionally non-Muslim and areas where citizens are free to choose their religion. Even after the murderous attacks visited upon America because of Islamic jihad, America was one of those areas where Islam membership is growing! I do not understand.

Yet, what a remarkable, although unfortunate, testimony to the accuracy of Scripture and Biblical Christianity. The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. (1 Timothy 4:1) Well, these are clearly some of those later times because, as we easily observe, there are quite a few being deceived and allowing themselves to be deceived.

Now I can understand a little bit those who are searching spiritually and end up in a false religion because they do not intimately know the truth. Some may know of the truth, but not having experienced the truth of Christs saving love, they do not know any better than to fall prey to other deceptions. I do not suggest that this is right and cannot be corrected, but at least I can comprehend it a little. What I cannot understand is how anyone who has walked with Christ can allow himself or herself to fall prey to the deceptions of Islam or any other false teaching. Yet, this has unfortunately happened.

Following the 9/11 attacks, some churches put up messages on their signs that exposed the truth about the false teaching of Islam, especially so-called radical Islam. In October, 2001, Franklin Graham said, The god of Islam is not the same God of the Christian or the Judeo-Christian faith. It is a different god, and I believe a very evil and a very wicked religion. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Graham) Other evangelical Christian leaders likewise made accurate statements declaring the differences between Christianity and Islam. These Christian men and women of faith were in turn severely criticized for their statements, all of which are factually based, by Islamic organizations, the media, and, most sadly, by some Christian organizations. These churches and evangelical leaders were not being tolerant. Obviously.

This is bad enough, but it gets even worse. An article from the Seattle Times of June 17, 2007, reads, Shortly after noon on Fridays, the Rev. Ann Holmes Redding ties on a black headscarf, preparing to pray with her Muslim group on First Hill. On Sunday mornings, Redding puts on the white collar of an Episcopal priest. She does both, she says, because she's Christian and Muslim At the most basic level, I understand the two religions to be compatible [she says]. That's all I need. (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003751274_redding17m.html) Equally ridiculous is the August 2007 report that a retiring Roman Catholic Bishop from the Netherlands recommends that people of all faiths refer to God as Allah. Not surprisingly, organizations like the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) think this is a good idea. Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for [CAIR], a Washington, D.C.-based Islamic civil liberties and advocacy group, backs the idea as a way to help interfaith understanding. It reinforces the fact that Muslims, Christians and Jews all worship the same God, Hooper [stated]. (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293394,00.html) This is certainly, and again unfortunately, testimony to the validity of 1 Timothy 4: The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.

I do not know what has brought about these individuals and others fall to such levels of false teaching. I do not comprehend for one moment how they can claim a relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and also seek to follow other doctrine. Maybe they are schizophrenic, I dont know. They are certainly deceived, because the Word of God makes it fundamentally clear that we cannot name and follow Christ as Lord and at the same time declare belief in another god. In response to Thomas question, Jesus tells all of his disciples, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6) Nowhere in the New Testament will we find any indication or implication that serving another god is acceptable. Early Christians, both men and women, forfeited their lives for the simple sake of not claiming belief in any other deity. They died horrible deaths just because they refused to accept anything else as Lord except for Jesus Christ. And now we have pastors and bishops and others attempting to convince us that we can walk with Allah as well as with Christ? How foolish can they be? How do we go about resisting this evil?

Naturally, we find our answer in Scripture. The final verse of 1 Timothy 4 instructs us, as Paul instructed Timothy, Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. A margin note in one of my Bibles reads, Imagine God gave you two plants to take care of, leaving you in charge of watering them, fertilizing them and making sure they get enough sun. In a way, Paul gives us this kind of challenge in verse 16. The two plants we are to watch over are our life and doctrine. (The Spiritual Formation Bible, NIV, 1999, p. 1578) In the examples I have used about abandoning the faith, watching doctrine closely has been left by the wayside.

None of us can resist evil for very long if we do not watch doctrine closely. This is not a call to a cold, inhuman dogma. In no way are we called to be persecutors ourselves of those who fail to follow a prescribed theology and Christology. But neither are we supposed to cave in to false teachings and deceptive evil for the sake of a mirage of human unity. God calls us to be faithful to one Lord alone, and that is Himself as revealed in the life of Jesus and illuminated in our lives by the Holy Spirit. God hates idolatry false gods as much now as He ever did in Israels history. Now is not the time to cave in to false teaching. Now is the time to resist evil.

Paul writes to Timothy, Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. This instruction was directed to Timothy, who apparently had the Spiritual gifts of preaching and teaching. But elements of this should apply to all of us. Reading the Scripture, whether devotionally or scholarly or even recreationally, keeps us grounded in the sound doctrine that is written here and elsewhere. Keeping the testimonies from and about Jesus fresh in our minds move us to watch our life and doctrine closely. Nothing in all of the New Testament indicates that Jesus is to be made equivalent to, or to play second fiddle to, any other system of religious belief. Its just not there.

One of the amazing elements of the choices of these two so-called Christian ministers to attempt to reconcile and equate Islam with Christianity is that Islam openly and clearly denies that Jesus died for anyones sin. Within Islam, Jesus is called a great prophet, but they also call him a liar by declaring that he was incapable of shedding his blood for the forgiveness of sin. A liar would not be such a great prophet, in my opinion.

In clear contradiction to Islamic teaching, as well as every other religious structure, every New Testament author declares that the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ reconciles us to God the Father and removes our sin. Paul declares this many times, including this same letter to Timothy. Read 1 Timothy 1:15, Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the worst. Of course, Jesus declared himself on many occasions to be the way to God and to be God. I and the Father are one. (John 10:30) These people who fail to resist evil need to explain to every believer how they set those verses, and others like them, aside. They cannot do it. And those verses do not allow for the accommodation of religious equivalency. The only way that anyone can create equivalent religions with Christianity is by neglecting sound doctrine and replacing it with deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.

Does this sound narrow and inflexible? Yes, it does. It is meant to be. There is no room for any type of compromise in this area. Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected for our sins, or he was not. It cannot be both. It is impossible to believe both. My recommendation for anyone seeking to serve both Jesus and any other false deity is to come to his senses, repent, and proclaim Christ as Lord once again. If anyone cannot do this, if anyone cannot resist this evil, then my recommendation is to leave Christianity altogether. Such a person should quit the charade and just admit that he is not a born-again Christian. Such a person could at least reclaim a bit of human honesty.

As I expressed at the outset, I cannot fathom how anyone can willingly choose to participate in a religion that teaches its followers to wantonly destroy innocent lives for the sake of advancing their beliefs. This is mind-boggling to me. But it does underscore and emphasize how deceptive the enemy is with those who fail to be diligent in the matters of life and doctrine. The lesson is clear: we must resist evil by walking closely with Christ every moment of the day. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Rev. Charles A. Layne

First Baptist Church

PO Box 515

170 W. Broadway

Bunker Hill, IN 46914

765-689-7987

bhfbc@bhfirstbaptist.com

www.bhfirstbaptist.com
-- To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: abesermons-unsubscribe@welovegod.org   

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

RESISTING EVIL

September 9, 2007

Text: 1 Timothy 4:1-16

As everyone is well aware, six years ago next Tuesday America was viciously attacked resulting in the loss of around three thousand lives in the matter of a few hours. We soon learned that the attacks were planned and conducted by members of the al-Qaeda terrorist network led by Osama bin Laden. Americans have also learned that the prime motivation for these attacks, as well as several other major terrorist attacks worldwide before and after 9/11, is the call to Islamic jihad. What this means is that some followers of Islam believe that it is theologically and historically correct to force Islam on everyone through conquest. In our day, this means that resorting to terrorism through indiscriminate, mass destruction of their declared enemies is an acceptable practice in order to achieve their goals.

Now to me and most people I know, this reality of Islam and jihad causes me to conclude that Islam is a dangerous, threatening force in our world. Even so-called moderate Islam leaders have not been very forceful or convincing in their condemnation of this form of militant jihad. Yet, not long after the 9/11 attacks and not long after reports about those responsible and Islamic jihad in general came to be known, research indicated that the Islamic faith was growing in number! Most perplexing to me were the reports stating that this growth included areas that have been traditionally non-Muslim and areas where citizens are free to choose their religion. Even after the murderous attacks visited upon America because of Islamic jihad, America was one of those areas where Islam membership is growing! I do not understand.

Yet, what a remarkable, although unfortunate, testimony to the accuracy of Scripture and Biblical Christianity. The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. (1 Timothy 4:1) Well, these are clearly some of those later times because, as we easily observe, there are quite a few being deceived and allowing themselves to be deceived.

Now I can understand a little bit those who are searching spiritually and end up in a false religion because they do not intimately know the truth. Some may know of the truth, but not having experienced the truth of Christs saving love, they do not know any better than to fall prey to other deceptions. I do not suggest that this is right and cannot be corrected, but at least I can comprehend it a little. What I cannot understand is how anyone who has walked with Christ can allow himself or herself to fall prey to the deceptions of Islam or any other false teaching. Yet, this has unfortunately happened.

Following the 9/11 attacks, some churches put up messages on their signs that exposed the truth about the false teaching of Islam, especially so-called radical Islam. In October, 2001, Franklin Graham said, The god of Islam is not the same God of the Christian or the Judeo-Christian faith. It is a different god, and I believe a very evil and a very wicked religion. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Graham) Other evangelical Christian leaders likewise made accurate statements declaring the differences between Christianity and Islam. These Christian men and women of faith were in turn severely criticized for their statements, all of which are factually based, by Islamic organizations, the media, and, most sadly, by some Christian organizations. These churches and evangelical leaders were not being tolerant. Obviously.

This is bad enough, but it gets even worse. An article from the Seattle Times of June 17, 2007, reads, Shortly after noon on Fridays, the Rev. Ann Holmes Redding ties on a black headscarf, preparing to pray with her Muslim group on First Hill. On Sunday mornings, Redding puts on the white collar of an Episcopal priest. She does both, she says, because she's Christian and Muslim At the most basic level, I understand the two religions to be compatible [she says]. That's all I need. (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003751274_redding17m.html) Equally ridiculous is the August 2007 report that a retiring Roman Catholic Bishop from the Netherlands recommends that people of all faiths refer to God as Allah. Not surprisingly, organizations like the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) think this is a good idea. Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for [CAIR], a Washington, D.C.-based Islamic civil liberties and advocacy group, backs the idea as a way to help interfaith understanding. It reinforces the fact that Muslims, Christians and Jews all worship the same God, Hooper [stated]. (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293394,00.html) This is certainly, and again unfortunately, testimony to the validity of 1 Timothy 4: The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.

I do not know what has brought about these individuals and others fall to such levels of false teaching. I do not comprehend for one moment how they can claim a relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and also seek to follow other doctrine. Maybe they are schizophrenic, I dont know. They are certainly deceived, because the Word of God makes it fundamentally clear that we cannot name and follow Christ as Lord and at the same time declare belief in another god. In response to Thomas question, Jesus tells all of his disciples, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6) Nowhere in the New Testament will we find any indication or implication that serving another god is acceptable. Early Christians, both men and women, forfeited their lives for the simple sake of not claiming belief in any other deity. They died horrible deaths just because they refused to accept anything else as Lord except for Jesus Christ. And now we have pastors and bishops and others attempting to convince us that we can walk with Allah as well as with Christ? How foolish can they be? How do we go about resisting this evil?

Naturally, we find our answer in Scripture. The final verse of 1 Timothy 4 instructs us, as Paul instructed Timothy, Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. A margin note in one of my Bibles reads, Imagine God gave you two plants to take care of, leaving you in charge of watering them, fertilizing them and making sure they get enough sun. In a way, Paul gives us this kind of challenge in verse 16. The two plants we are to watch over are our life and doctrine. (The Spiritual Formation Bible, NIV, 1999, p. 1578) In the examples I have used about abandoning the faith, watching doctrine closely has been left by the wayside.

None of us can resist evil for very long if we do not watch doctrine closely. This is not a call to a cold, inhuman dogma. In no way are we called to be persecutors ourselves of those who fail to follow a prescribed theology and Christology. But neither are we supposed to cave in to false teachings and deceptive evil for the sake of a mirage of human unity. God calls us to be faithful to one Lord alone, and that is Himself as revealed in the life of Jesus and illuminated in our lives by the Holy Spirit. God hates idolatry false gods as much now as He ever did in Israels history. Now is not the time to cave in to false teaching. Now is the time to resist evil.

Paul writes to Timothy, Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. This instruction was directed to Timothy, who apparently had the Spiritual gifts of preaching and teaching. But elements of this should apply to all of us. Reading the Scripture, whether devotionally or scholarly or even recreationally, keeps us grounded in the sound doctrine that is written here and elsewhere. Keeping the testimonies from and about Jesus fresh in our minds move us to watch our life and doctrine closely. Nothing in all of the New Testament indicates that Jesus is to be made equivalent to, or to play second fiddle to, any other system of religious belief. Its just not there.

One of the amazing elements of the choices of these two so-called Christian ministers to attempt to reconcile and equate Islam with Christianity is that Islam openly and clearly denies that Jesus died for anyones sin. Within Islam, Jesus is called a great prophet, but they also call him a liar by declaring that he was incapable of shedding his blood for the forgiveness of sin. A liar would not be such a great prophet, in my opinion.

In clear contradiction to Islamic teaching, as well as every other religious structure, every New Testament author declares that the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ reconciles us to God the Father and removes our sin. Paul declares this many times, including this same letter to Timothy. Read 1 Timothy 1:15, Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the worst. Of course, Jesus declared himself on many occasions to be the way to God and to be God. I and the Father are one. (John 10:30) These people who fail to resist evil need to explain to every believer how they set those verses, and others like them, aside. They cannot do it. And those verses do not allow for the accommodation of religious equivalency. The only way that anyone can create equivalent religions with Christianity is by neglecting sound doctrine and replacing it with deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.

Does this sound narrow and inflexible? Yes, it does. It is meant to be. There is no room for any type of compromise in this area. Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected for our sins, or he was not. It cannot be both. It is impossible to believe both. My recommendation for anyone seeking to serve both Jesus and any other false deity is to come to his senses, repent, and proclaim Christ as Lord once again. If anyone cannot do this, if anyone cannot resist this evil, then my recommendation is to leave Christianity altogether. Such a person should quit the charade and just admit that he is not a born-again Christian. Such a person could at least reclaim a bit of human honesty.

As I expressed at the outset, I cannot fathom how anyone can willingly choose to participate in a religion that teaches its followers to wantonly destroy innocent lives for the sake of advancing their beliefs. This is mind-boggling to me. But it does underscore and emphasize how deceptive the enemy is with those who fail to be diligent in the matters of life and doctrine. The lesson is clear: we must resist evil by walking closely with Christ every moment of the day. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Rev. Charles A. Layne

First Baptist Church

PO Box 515

170 W. Broadway

Bunker Hill, IN 46914

765-689-7987

bhfbc@bhfirstbaptist.com

http://www.bhfirstbaptist.com

-- To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: abesermons-unsubscribe@welovegod.org