ON THE OFFENSE
This morning I read this passage of Scripture “Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” (Ephesians 6:17)
During the Korean War, a unit known as Baker Company was separated from the regiment, and enemy forces were advancing on them. For several hours, no word came from Baker Company. Finally, radio contact was made, and when asked for a report of their situation, Baker Company replied: "The enemy is to the east of us. The enemy is to the west of us. The enemy is to the south of us. The enemy is to the north of us." Then, after a brief pause, the voice continued, "And this time, we're not going to let them escape."
It seems that way in the life of the believer. The enemy is at every turn. Yet some Christians don't realize that the Christian life is not a playground, but a battleground. They are oblivious to the fact that a war is raging. And in this war, they are either winning or losing.
In a battle, it's always better to be an aggressor rather than of a defender, because the defender is simply waiting for the enemy's next attack, hoping he will survive. If we, as believers, are always defending, then the devil is in the superior position. But if we are attacking, then we are in the superior position. When the apostle Paul wrote about the armor of God in Ephesians 6, he mentioned one offensive weapon: "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (v. 17).
Make no mistake about it: there is authority and power in the Word of God. God's Word sticks. God's Word breaks through. God's Word impacts. When the enemy has you surrounded, keep him on the defensive with the Word of God.
This Sunday at Gatetree
Our current message series, "iTruths for an iPod Generation" has been one of the most well-received series ever. This Sunday I will focus on why it is important to grow in wisdom and understanding of Scripture. I am calling the message "iGrow." If you're in the Gatetree area, I invite you to join in with us. You'll be glad you did!
4 comments:
P. Tom,
I have learned that through my thoughts, the enemy can find me at my most vulnerable. Often my ideas, so called logic, make sense to me but don't line up with the Word of God. Growing up in "liberal" California tolerance of homosexuality/marriage rights and "Women's" reproductive rights are accepted as the norm. What is your response when being nice, loving your neighbor, is not Biblical?
God is Love,
A
There is NEVER time when being nice and loving your neighbor is not biblical.
Jesus always loved people and tolerated them. However, he did not tolerate their ideas, lifestyles or sinful lives.
Therein lies the rub--can you seperate the person from their sin? If you see sinful people as the enemy then they just ceased to be the mission field. We can't let that happen.
Pastor Tom,
I guess I can not wrap my head around the idea of the “Homosexual Agenda”. While I see abortion as taking a life (and therefore a sin), I don’t see how the love of two people is also a sin. The Old Testament tells how Sodom and Gomorrah and its sexual perversions, not just homosexual practices, were destroyed in an instant by God. The OT also states that one should not wear clothing of two different materials, we should not trim our hair on our temples and should not eat anything with a split hoof or an animal of the sea that has scales and not gills (or something like that)…how is it that shrimp cocktail, lobster bisque and a ham sandwich are equal to homosexual practices and therefore detestable to God?! I can not imagine that one would choose to be gay and face the persecution and condemnation of our society. With any population of people there are bound to be a few bad eggs, certainly there are in the heterosexual population, why are we holding gays to a higher standard of morality (ie: no rape, no torture, no abuse of minors) than we hold for ourselves? I myself am not homosexual but have some gay friends who are much kinder, better parents, and more Godly than I will ever be. I have learned so many lessons in kindness, charity and philanthropy from my these people, how is it fair that I judge their sexual preference as wrong when I have no idea how to keep a marriage together, raise stellar children and donate so much of time, energy, and resources to the poor, needy and lost?
I hope you do not read my words as an attack; I really am trying to understand your manner of thinking. I know that you are a very kind, considerate, educated and sincere man. I greatly admire your dedication to our Lord and the time you dedicate to the poor and needy in our community.
Thank you so much in advance for your response. I appreciate our “chats”.
God is Love (1 John 4:16),
A
Sorry for the delay in reponding, I don't check older blogs on a regular basis.
I, too, have had homosexual friends who were genuinely kind and enjoyable to be around. However, those admirable traits hold no weightiness when compared to truthfulness of Holy Scripture. In other words, we can not allow our affection for people to overshadow the authority of Scripture in our lives.
Does God consider homosexuality to be a more grievous sin than adultery or fornication? Categorically, no, and I will tell you why. When you have any listing of sins in the Scripture, for example, in 1 Corinthians, chapter 6, Paul writes, in verse 9, "Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortionists will inherit the kingdom of God" [1 Corinthians 6:9-10]. Categorically, you have got everything in the same list. Probably when you compare sodomites to homosexuals, some would say that homosexuals could refer to what were called Catomites, those who submitted to homosexuals, maybe the younger boy who submits to the pedophile--that kind of thing, so you have two different terms used for homosexual activity. Some would even use those words to refer to people like transvestites or what they are called today "transgender" people. But when you look at a list like that you see that they are all outside the kingdom. So categorically they are all in the same situation--they are defined by their sin. Verse 11, then says, "and such were some of you," so, the point being, that those are all sins that are characteristic of people outside the kingdom, but they are all forgivable--right?--because, "such were some of you." He's saying to the Corinthian church, "you know, that list is a list of what you used to be and some of you were here, and some of you were here, and some of you were here, and so forth." So, if it is true that that sin along with many others defines life outside the kingdom, (and that sin is forgivable) then in that sense it is no worse a sin than any other.
So while homosexuality is a forgivable sin, and categorically no worse than others, when it happens on a societal level, it is evidence that when a society affirms it, when it becomes normal in a society, that is evidence that God has turned that society over to their own sin (see Romans 1). If you look at America you can look back to the sexual revolution of the 60's, which has now become a homosexual revolution of the 90's in which the homosexuals have redefined themselves as a minority, like a racial group of people demanding rights. So I think as far as individual sin goes no more damning than the other sin and as forgivable as any other sin. When it becomes the pattern of a society it is evidence that God has turned that society over to that sin, it may be at that point an evidence that many in that society are not redeemable because they have gone past the "age of grace."
In response to that, we hate the sin of homosexuality (not homosexuals) because of its baseness and because of its perverseness, but at the same time we understand that it is a sin like any other sin and we have to call that sinner to repentance and offer that individual sinner the grace and the forgiveness of God. We can't play God and while God may be turning our society over--God may be no longer striving with us; He may have abandoned us as a society, still He is saving individuals who respond to the gospel.
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