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Thursday, January
24, 2008
The Not So Great Debate
2 Timothy 2:23-26
But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender
strifes. (24) And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle
unto all men, apt to teach, patient, (25) In meekness instructing those
that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to
the acknowledging of the truth; (26) And that they may recover themselves
out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
(KJV)
As Christians,
those who should be imitators of Christ, we should be avoiding foolish and
unlearned questions about our faith especially from those that are not
truly seeking a closer relationship with the Lord, but rather are trying to
discredit the sacrifice the Son gave of Himself for the salvation of the
world. Secondly, no one wins an argument; the fact that you engaged in the
situation puts you in a no win outcome because you have lowered your
standards to those of the world and have entered a realm that God doesn’t
operate in. Does God need you to defend Him? When I look through the Bible
I see where He has handled things just fine; and when He decides to get His
point across He is more than capable of doing it without man’s help or
approval. The only way someone is going to recover themselves out of the
snare of the devil is when they make a choice to serve the God of love and
not some self righteous loud mouth who thinks they will be heard for their
much speaking. You want to fight and argue, go on the Jerry Springer show.
You want to serve the Lord, then quit engaging in silly dead end debates
which only breed more strife and contentions.
Matthew 6:5-7 And
when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love
to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that
they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. (6)
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut
thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth
in secret shall reward thee openly. (7) But when ye pray, use not vain
repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for
their much speaking. (KJV)
Why all these
silly debates about prayer in schools or any other public venues? If that
is not enough, then they pull out the soapbox and stand in front of other
public institutions and whine and
debate over the Ten Commandments or the lack of them. Pick your battles
folks and use some wisdom. The Bible says we are to pray without ceasing,
so until this body gives up the ghost I am free to do that no matter what
anyone else thinks or says. So why do you need an audience or a public
venue to pray in when the Bible tells us just the opposite? Are your
prayers going to be more effective if you can say them in a schoolyard or
in front of a government building? I don’t think so. Many run around and demand their
constitutional rights and ignore the wisdom of God and His instruction on
how to live in this world and to keep oneself unspotted from it. You want
to pray in public? Then you have your reward. If you wish to receive the
reward of inheritance then do what the word of God says and avoid this
foolishness and nonsense.
2 Timothy 2:3-5
Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. (4) No
man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he
may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. (5) And if a man also
strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.
(KJV)
Again if you wish
to receive the eternal crown of life which the Lord will give to His people
then it can only be achieved by doing it according to what the word of God
says in agreement with the law of faith. There are differences in battles
and different strategies that will allow you to be victorious, knowing the
difference and rightly discerning what is of God and what isn’t can save
you from an old fashioned behind the woodshed beating.
2 Chronicles
20:13-15 And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their
wives, and their children. (14) Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah,
the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the
sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the
congregation; (15) And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants
of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be
not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle
is not yours, but God's. (KJV)
The difference in
battles is simple, when you go into a situation on your own or should I say
engaging in debates because of your self righteous attitude, you then
become subject to defeat, a realm that is not a part of our Lord. However,
if you enter a situation that the Lord is leading then you already know you
are victorious; and a perfect love will cast out all fear and doubt. Given
the fact that the Lord is undefeated and no one has knocked Him off His
throne or even come close, why would someone think He needs us to defend
Him? Why would God need us to defend Him when not only is He forever
settled in heaven, so is His word?
Ephesians 6:12
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places. (KJV)
Why do you put a
physical face on a spiritual situation and end up like Paul wrote, shadow
boxing, one that beats against the air? If you spent your time in the word
of God and prayer you wouldn’t be wasting so much time in endless foolish
debates and striving over things that are not only of this world, but you
have now lowered yourself to the standard of this realm and are fighting a
losing battle on your own.
Matthew 12:18-20
Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well
pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the
Gentiles. (19) He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his
voice in the streets. (20) A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking
flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. (KJV)
Matthew 12 verse
19:
[He shall not
strive ...] He shall not shout as a warrior. He shall be meek, retiring,
and peaceful. Streets were places of concourse. The meaning is, that he
should not seek publicity and popularity. (from Barnes' Notes)
The Lord Himself
is this servant that is being referred to and He set a perfect example for
all to follow. Even though the people tried to make Him a king at one time,
He knew His kingdom was not of this world but that He was sent here to
deliver a message of salvation. The more you realize that our calling is to
deliver a message of salvation in meekness and love, the less likely you
will find yourself getting caught up in a bunch of senseless not so great
debates.
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