Notes And Quotes For Today
The 79th Anniversary of Peoples Gospel Hour !
Here We Stand Without Compromise,
Building And Battling – II
Battling:
Biblical Fundamentalists are also militants for the Faith and also for the Truth. Successful building for the faith involves militancy without which no soldier of the Cross can be successful, if he ignores this trait. An old time defender of the faith said once, “Today we are witnessing a deterioration in fundamental rings. The old militancy is gone. Positivism has taken over and New Evangelicalism is the popular mood. Seldom do we hear of a warrior of the faith who dares to fight apostasy and sin. As a result the present and upcoming generations do not know the issues.” and how sad but true.
We believe that “ historic Fundamentalism is militant Fundamentalism.” This term is not to be abhorred but to be admired! It is impossible to engage in necessary Scriptural battles apart from militancy. Unfortunately many formerly “ fighting” Fundamentalists have become “fearful” and “frightened” Fundamentalists who shun any and all forms of Controversy due to fear of man. We strongly believe that, “ if believers are not contending for the Faith, they are compromising.”
Undoubtedly the biggest problem within the professing Fundamentalists today is the silence of many brethren who should be speaking out about vital issues, but instead keep their mouths shut. Such silence is a step towards New- Evangelism. An old time Fundamentalist of yesteryear once said, “ the non-militant attitude of the rank and file of Christian leaders is surrendering the next generation to Satan.” And how true! All we have to do is look around, hardly we find any church that is left you can call, “Fundamental independent Baptist Church.”
In the Apostle Paul’s treaties in 1st And 2nd Timothy writing to his younger pastor, friend, and co-laborer in Christ, he uses a great deal of military language where he exhorts Timothy to wage a militant warfare against the world, the flesh and the devil. In 1st Timothy 4:12 Paul exhorts Timothy with a staunch charge to wage a strong warfare against the enemies of the faith saying, “… Fight a good fight of faith.”
In 2nd Timothy 2:3, Paul reiterates this military oriented command when he admonishes Timothy to, “ endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” and he goes on to say that, “ no man that warreth entangelth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who has chosen him to be a soldier.”
Paul entreated all believers to “ put on the whole armor of God” for the spiritual battle they face against Satan. In 2nd Corinthians 10:4, he refereed to the spiritual “ weapons of warfare,’ which are “ mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.” In Romans 8:37, he declared that we are “more than conquerors though him that loved us.” Dearly beloved, we are not fighting for victory, we are fighting in victory, and the greatest victory we can win is the victory over ourselves.
Paul’s militant battling continued right up to his death. As he prepared to lay aside his earthly uniform and leave his bodily tabernacle in which he had vigorously batted the world , the flesh, and the devil all his life. And just before his final “sign-off” prior to his martyrdom, Paul, sums up his battle for the faith when he states in2nd Timothy 4:7, “ I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”
From the fourteen Epistles, The Apostle penned by inspiration of the Holy Ghost, it can be seen that he was a militant for the cause of Christ all his life! During his ministry which includes three missionary journeys, Paul never backed down from a necessary battle. While he desperately sought to promote genuine peace between younger and older brethren in the faith. There is a silly idea around today that you ought never to talk about a man publicly until you have talked to him privately. But the Apostle Paul was not son; he manifested a battling militancy as he vigilantly fought against the evil forces of sin, Satan and Apostasy. Paul battle against every heresy and false teaching that he ever met. He valiantly contested against:
. The Charismatic heretics at Corinth
- He vigorously fought the Gnostic’s at Phillipi
- He battled with the Judiazers at Galatia
- He combated the false teachers in Rome.
In 2nd Timothy Paul delineated the nature of the apostates as being, “profane and vain babbling”; but then he also disclosed the name of the apostates as being Hymeneas and Philetus. In 2nd Timothy 4:10 he exposed the nature of the compromiser as one who “ loved this present world,” but he also exposed the name of the compromiser – Demas, in that same verse. So many want to bear the name of Christ, but not the shame of Christ. Beloved, God does not judge a nation because of the wickedness of the wicked, but because of the compromise of the righteous.
The most loving thing we can do for compromising brethren is to warn them and tell them the truth, even if they hate us for it. Friends may we all be reminded of this one truth: it costs to follow Christ, but it costs more not to. Beloved, we have a battle to win, and the one and only battle we can win by surrender is surrender to Christ. If we surrender our hearts to God, He will tied up all the loose ends!! For the greatness of man’s power is the measure of his surrender.
Beloved,
It’s easier to be a diplomat than to be a defender.
When we get to Heaven, God is not going to look us over for medals but for scars!!
To be Continued…………………………………….
From The Peoples Gospel Hour Staff